Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School Art Reference: Emma Booker (Patreon)

Hey everyone! With the wait finally over, I’d like to present to you the next person to have a reference arriving fresh off of the drawing tablet!

The next person on our list, is of course our favorite power armored human, Cadet Emma Booker!

Commissioned rank pending…

This first reference of her was intended to show her more in a casual sort of context and setting, as we mostly see her in ‘work-mode’, or ‘professional-mode’ within the Nexus, I wanted to show her more in her element at home. As a megacity-dwelling urbanite in the year 3047, Emma Booker proudly calls her megacity of Acela Corridor, home. Her personality, and fashion choices reflect this fact as well!

The Acela Corridor, being one of the most cosmopolitan melting pots on not just Earth, but the entirety of the human sphere, is the heart of a great deal of cultural movements. Most notable among these, fashion. Whilst the world of high fashion and trendy wear may exist somewhere within the sleepless city, most however are unburdened by the shifting trends and choose whatever they deem best. And with millenia worth of fashion to choose from, most people gravitate towards what most fits the occasion. Of course, business formal and casual remains more or less the same, suits and ties dominating the workplace, government offices, schools, and other formal functions. Home attire remains largely similar as well, with people trending towards what’s most comfortable and appropriate for home. Streetwear however? That’s where the real vibrancy of the big megacity truly shines through.

Because unlike formal or casual, streetwear is essentially the purest aspects of a person’s personal expression. Be that by subscribing to the latest fashion trends, or choosing to adhere to a personal style, or even alluding to a different era from a different time, the streets of Acela are nothing if not a hodgepodge of designs that border on the eclectic.

Emma, however, chooses not with the latest trends, or even an adherence to any one standard rule of outfit assembly, but simply with what is most comfy. Comfort followed by function is Emma’s motto, which is demonstrated most prominently in her loose fitting, soft, yet practical attire. From looser pants with a great deal of pockets, to practical boots lined with comfy padding, to a long sleeved  t-shirt and a short sleeved hoodie with even more pockets, Emma's choice is primarily focused on whether she believes she'd be comfortable and whether that particular outfit is capable of handling her propensity for carrying a great deal of stuff.

Speaking of ‘stuff’, we see several elements of future!wear and daily carry devices here too! Most notably in the form of her phone, which consists of a solid angular tube of metal the size of an oversized pen and several interface options hidden within. This metal segment houses the phone’s electronic components and batteries, and with a flick of a button, can either unfurl out a flexible glass screen, or project a holo-projected equivalent with which to interact with. This glass screen unfurls in a similar manner to a scroll, and in some models can be quite unreasonably long.

In addition to this, we also see Emma’s other daily driver, her watch! It’s simply a smart watch, and acts more like a glorified fitness and health tracker more than anything. Sure, more discrete fitness trackers and health monitors exist, but Emma has a bit of a retro streak to her fashion sense which is also seen in her choice of eyewear!

Whilst not explicitly required for day-to-day life or in the workplace, augmented reality has become something of an inescapable aspect of daily life. From accessing readouts of public services such as transportation or health services with just a quick glance, or simply the ability to multitask digital and online tasks with an unparalleled increase in screen real estate, augmented reality is more or less a part of the megacity lifestyle Emma leads. Whilst most people prefer contact lenses for this, Emma simply cannot be bothered. She’d rather wake up, and not bother with the process of applying on contact lenses. Instead, finding it much more practical to simply grab her glasses and go.

It’s also somewhat of a fashion statement for her, but honestly, it's also more about the convenience! :D

That’s about it for Emma’s fashion choice!

The only other thing to comment on would be how absolutely amazing the artist has been yet again in bringing my characters to life! Fashion was one thing, but to actually have an accurate representation of how Emma looks like another thing entirely! This is actually exactly how I envisioned her, with her Thai-American heritage on her mother’s side really coming through here as well as her father’s side’s British-American heritage!

Again, the artist did a phenomenal job on this, so please do check them out! :D

Artist Reference: re11arts on instagram