u/Brilliant_Knowledge5

My take on the description of her pepperbox pistol.

I went down a music rabbit hole and found this amazing long play of fantastic synth music by Valeriy Barishev, that really just fits what I imagined cyberpunk sound was in the 90s. I could listen to this for hours. Something about synths and 90s style breakbeats just sounds grittier.

https://youtu.be/TP9ZJZbHFLM

The Kanji in the corner is simply the word "Zen" which is sort of like saying "whole" or "everything you need" in this context.

Edit: On second glance, the word is probably Gold, not Zen. The biggest difference is the two strokes on either side near the bottom 金.

So far there's no in depth information on these Japanese cigarettes from Blade Runner seen on the billboard video through the film. Does anyone have any information on them? It looks like they covered a pack of Marlboros with some Japanese text and the hummingbird graphic. I've tried to use OCR on the Japanese but it's just giving me gibberish, which is typical of the film.

"Nsu no ta!"

"Hito oh 7 Chichi Roku 3 namame Kawa 1 Yo L. \ notto Hitomi e Mattsu Toki Keno SR = -AA n Hito yashitto"

Whish gives me:

"That's a lie!" "Person oh 7 Father Six 3 raw skin 1 Yo L. \ not Hitomi to wait Time Keno SR = -AA n Person yashitto"

😅

Edit: I've come up with something that is a lot more fitting for the advertisement.

‘Enchanting!’ ‘Do treat yourself to the smooth, deep, velvety flavor of Hummingbird cigarettes. Don’t keep the one you long for waiting! Let’s create a fantasy just for you!’

「魅惑的！」「ハミングバードブランドのタバコが持つ、滑らかで深みのあるベルベットのような味わいをぜひお楽しみください。憧れの相手を待たせないで！ あなただけのファンタジーを創り出しましょう！」

It's nowhere near the characters on the box, but makes a lot more sense with the fragments available.

When I read this, I think of the other places the sky is mentioned too. Poisoned silver, couldn't see the holograms because of the glare of the sky, smoggy, mean shade of grey. I picture an outside that is all these things, but where there are literally visible, sparkling, metallic particles in the air, and sometimes it's so bad people have to wear masks, or choke on the particles of metal and chemical. Not a nice place to live.

I've been rereading the entire Sprawl series, including the short stories in the same Sprawl universe, and I'm starting to think there's one character in particular that features in both the last book, and in a short story, but some people might not even recognize it.

Normally the reading order would be:

1)Johnny Mnemonic (makes sense since Molly later mourns him in another text.)

2. New rose Hotel

3. Burning Chrome (this is important to know for later in the series)

4)Neuromancer

5)Count Zero

6. Mona Lisa Overdrive

I wouldn't change anything except for one story, and I'll explain. You see Gibson, like many good writers, didn't just write what we read, he had a lot more in notebooks we never got to see. Narrative experiments, entire backstories, and future lives mapped out for people. Some of those survived as short stories bundled into the "Burning Chrome" anthology. That's what some of those stories are. The lives of people in the same neighborhoods that never met our main characters. And sometimes, they are those characters. Like with Molly. What we get a glimpse of is Gibson trying out characters, world building, seeing if his train of thought has merit enough to flesh out further.

In MLO, Komiko Yanaka, has a very powerful Yakuza father, goes to a good school, has a Dutch mother who dies tragically, and suddenly she is thrust into a totally foreign world. She longs to escape the drudgery of her protective prison, and Molly takes Komiko under her wing, much to the chagrin of a relenting Petal. Molly tries to mold her, and give her some worldly wisdom. It was necessary under the circumstances, because Molly knew that without that, Komiko would just be a package to drag around. Komiko had to be able to survive, to fend for herself, because the heat was coming down from every angle. I believe all of these things are referred to in another narrative.

In New Rose Hotel, Sandii is half Dutch, half Japanese, is a gun for hire, has a father who fell from grace with Hosaka, and a lingering tragedy that pushed her to desperation. X talks about how she was constantly reimagining her own childhood, changing her story as a coping mechanism, trying to imagine different scenarios that might sooth her demons, but it was obvious she was not facing the truth of her life. And she was also concealing it from others. Out of necessity, of course.

It's entirely possible that Komiko's father rose in the ranks after the Yakuza war, until he had gained influence within Hosaka. Maybe that was necessary too. But it's also very possible Sandii just told a lie to X, mixing the truth with the lie. It's entirely possible that Komiko and Sandii are the same person, but Sandii is Komiko all grown up, bitter at Hosaka, has an axe to grind, remembered the influence of Molly, and decided it would be a good idea to be like her. Maybe that was her only option now. Fending for herself. Molly helped her navigate the dangers of London, showed her how to double cross people, and avoid becoming a hostage. All while her own father was trying to shelter her from the evils of the world. But Molly gave her one thing, The unfettered truth. That's something that'll stick with a girl's memory.

Molly changed her name several times, there's no reason Komiko wouldn't mimic Molly's behavior. In fact, if her father was a Hosaka pariah, she'd almost have to do that to gain their trust, & be involved in helping Hiroshi escape. Even if that wasn only a cover story to conceal his position with the Yakuza, she'd still have to tell a different story. She'd only have to tell half truths to her co-workers on a job, because they just had to be believable enough. It wouldn't matter later, especially if she burned them while on the job, or if the cleaners came after the other team members. But she'd also tell made up stories about her childhood out loud. Almost as if she was trying on new lies right in front of the people she was already misleading. Like she was doing a fashion show, to see what looks good, or taunting them when they didn't even know it.

And here's the biggest one of all... What if X is hiding out in the same Cheap Motel that Henry Case was in all those years ago? What if Cheap Motel, was really New Rose Hotel? They're both capsule hotels, which people refer to colloquially as "coffins". Capsule hotels with barely enough room to turn around in. Not the luxury digs that they portrayed in the movie. What a twist of fate that would be, for everything to come full circle and end up in the same closet sized room with minimal amenities. Where it all started before. That's the William Gibson I'd expect. Maybe some of you wouldn't, but I would.

So I would put New Rose Hotel last in the reading order. It takes on a whole new meaning.