Subject: I'm still baffled!
Author:
Posted on: 2015-03-02 00:05:00 UTC
I know for a fact that it's blue. I've never seen it as anything else, what utterly confuses me is why there's any question at all about its nature, as try as I might I cannot see the illusory color!
No, sadly, this is not the interlude I promised earlier. I will get to work on that soon, and I thank everybody who participated in the RP that the interlude will be set in. However, something happened in real life that I had to address in the PPC.
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Printworthy was humming to himself, as he opened the door to his RC. “Marvin! I have returned, with a pristine Analysis Device.”
“Cool!” Marvin called from the other room, over the sound of his shower. “Just put it with the stuff.”
“And which particular clump of clutter should I shove this immaculate machine into?”
“The one with our gear!”
Printworthy rolled his eyes, but laid it neatly on the shelf by Marvin’s spear. It was around then that he noticed that things were organized. Indeed, orderly. Too orderly. “Marvin?” he called, looking around the room. “Is Rartiy well?”
Marvin turned the corner, lazily drying his hair with a Twilight Sparkle towel. “Yeah, she’s fine. Why, something up?”
“Rather, something isn’t up, nor floating and spinning around listlessly. Indeed, our sofa remains in its proper location, against all odds.”
“I don’t… Oh! Yeah, that.” Marvin chuckled. “Here,” he said, waving Printworthy over, “lemme show you.”
Pritnworthy shrugged and turned the corner, into an absolute whirlwind of fabric. A sea of cloth swirled around the room, blue satin tearing itself to form, red silk stitching together with black lace, and purple ribbons tying bows in all manner of shapes. In the center of it all sat a small draconequus, sweat pouring down its face, as it waved it’s arms about, guiding the chaotic storm of clothing. “By Celestia’s Light…”
Marvin beamed. “Cool, huh?’
Printworthy shook his head, trying to wrap his head around it all. “What is this?”
Marvin stepped through the fabric storm, batting aside a piece of pearly frills. “Well, I knew how much Rartiy’s chaos annoyed you. So, I decided, why not turn her natural chaotic energy toward something more creative. I thought, well, since she’s named after Rarity, she might like dress making too. I brought over some fabric and just let her play. She seems to like it so far.” He made it over to the other side, lifting a neatly folded dress from the corner. “She even finished a dress. Isn’t it pretty?”
Printworthy lightly took the dress with his magic, guiding it through the chaos. He winced, as he accidentally knocked several buttons and bodices off their intended path, earning him a glare from Rartiy. When it made it through the room, Printworthy spent some time analyzing the dress. He spun it around, admiring every angle. “I have to say, I am impressed. The pearly white silk is wonderfully accented by the golden trim, providing a classical form of elegance. The way the golden fabric catches the light would help to slim the shoulders, while the rippling fabric of the body thins the waist. Overall, very high quality work.” He looked over to Rartiy, grinning. “Well done.”
Marvin shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He waded through the felt, a piece of black ribbon tying itself around his head. “It’s pretty, yeah, but where are getting this white and gold stuff?”
Printworthy cocked an eyebrow. “Where am I getting it? Marvin, the entire dress is white and gold.”
“Dude, you’re insane. It’s a blue dress, with black trimming. More of a night dress, bring it to a late-night party, you know?”
Printworthy looked at the dress, then back to Marvin. “I can almost see where you could confuse the white for a shade of blue, as there is a light blue tint to it.”
Marvin shook his head, grabbing the dress from Printworthy’s aura. “No, not like a light blue. Like a dark, navy blue. I have no idea where you’re getting gold.”
“And I see not a single black thread in this dress.”
The two agents bickered back and forth, shining the dress under various lights, stretching it at various angles; even having Marvin wear it to be sure they were seeing it properly. No matter how they tried, Printworthy insisted the dress was white and gold, while Marvin saw only blue and black.
Marvin threw off the dress, tossing it on the sofa. “You must be colorblind, dude.”
“I know for a fact my vision is unimpaired, save for minor farsightedness. If anyone is colorblind, it would be you.”
Marvin grumbled and stormed away, pulling his pants back on. “Whatever. Continue being insane if you want. It’s just a stupid dress anyway.”
Printworthy huffed, trotting towards his writing desk. “If your delusions give you comfort, I am happy to allow you continued residence in your twisted mental world.” He pulled out his favorite quill, and laid out some parchment. “Now, if you do not mind, I have a mission report to compose.”
Marvin grumbled to himself. Why was he getting so worked up about this? It was just a dress. But Printworthy was just… wrong! How could there be any white in that dress, much less gold. It was clearly black and blue! It just…was. He dared a glance and the infernal piece of clothing and froze. “What the…” He walked over to the sofa, lifting the dress. Against all reason, the blue fabric had seemed a lot lighter, almost white, while the black trimmings had turned brighter, turning a darker orange. As he continued staring, he saw what Printworthy must have been seeing all along. “Printworthy!”
The unicorn continued writing. “What is it, Marvin?”
“I see it!”
“See what, exactly?”
“The dress! I don’t get it, but it’s totally white and gold. I have no idea how, but, there it is.”
Printworthy spun around. “What are you on…?” His eyes widened. Now that he looked at it again, he saw a lot more blue in the dress then he had before. Indeed, the golden accents were darkening rapidly in his mind’s eye, turning a pitch black. “I can’t believe it.”
“I know! I’m sorry, man; I have no idea what I was seeing.”
Printworthy held up his hoof. “No, I should be apologizing to you. Clearly, this is an elegant midnight blue dress, emphasized with pitch black silk.”
Marvin turned the dress back to him. “No, you were right. Totally white and gold, there’s nothing else it could be.”
“Marvin, there is no need to lie for my benefit.”
“I’m not! It’s totally white and gold!”
As the agents fell back into bickering, continually trying to make the other see what they have already seen, Rartiy chuckled. Just as planned.
Well, draconequus magic does make more sense than 'white-balance trick.' For anyone wondering about the actual dress, I think Friday's XKCD and this gif may help out some.
http://xkcd.com/1492/
If I look only on the topmost part of the full image, it appears to be a very pale blue, and the stripe at the neck may be bronze (if I hadn’t seen Iximaz’s post, I would have called it dark gold), and I can nearly imagine how somebody would see it as white and gold. But when I scroll down to see all of it, it’s clearly navy blue and black or dark gray; I cannot make me see anything else.
He dared a glance and the infernal piece of clothing and froze.
You meant "at", didn’t you?
continually trying to make the other see what they have already seen
I think this should be "had already seen".
HG
Oh, very well done! I'm starting to hate that stupid dress (for the record, I've only ever seen it as blue and bronze, which earned me the ire of my classmates). I did see an interesting article about how and why people perceive its colors differently, though, so that was interesting. I could totally see Discord, or at least a mini one, make a dress like that.
But seriously, blue and black? White and gold? You people are all nuts. ^_~
This dress thing is a wonderfully silly, strange thing that would fit perfectly into the PPC. If I didn't write about it, hS or SeaTurtle or somebody else would have!
I mean, can't you see agents across the PPC just screaming at each other:
"White and Gold!"
"Black and Blue!"
With some, "Shove a sock in it, you tossers!"
GACK! DON'T HURT MEEE
Wouldn't seeing the dress in real life just let everyone see it as the same color, though? I'm pretty sure the dress only seems to change color when viewed through a screen.
Wired did a color analysis on it. The dress is blue, the first stripe ends up bronze-brown, and the rest are somewhere charcoalish.
I actually see it the same way the computer did, oddly enough.
(When I asked my father what color it was, he said, "The purplish part or the brownish part?")
Francis has solved it for us! So, now we can stop arguing!
(Francis is a character made by Boogie2988, one of my absolute favorite youtubers. The Francis character is foul-mouthed and angry. There are some f-bombs here. You are warned.)
But this is the PPC. Logic never follows here. It would be "Red Hat, Green Hat" all over again!
When I first saw it, it was firmly white and gold. There was no way in Tartarus that thing could be black and blue. My brother, on the other hand, saw black and blue. After looking at the image long enough, I found the dress changing, and saw it as black and blue. Now, I switch back and forth between the two.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is the image everybody has been talking about the last few days:
Not only am I firmly seeing this thing as blue/black, I cannot perceive any way of seeing it as any other colors. I just see a kind of glossy dress with a strong white flash illuminating it, no unusual optical effects at all.
When I first saw this meme, I was convinced that the whole point of it was to claim that the photo was some other color when it clearly wasn't, but unless KYM, the Board, and my own mother are in on the joke, I must conclude that maybe I have some sort of extremely rare colorblindness that has remained undetected until now (or ESP).
Here's the link to the Amazon page, apparently, there's no white/gold version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roman-Womens-Detail-Bodycon-Dress/dp/B00SJEUCWU/ref=cmcrprproducttop
Also, I love the reviews.
I know for a fact that it's blue. I've never seen it as anything else, what utterly confuses me is why there's any question at all about its nature, as try as I might I cannot see the illusory color!
I think it really depends on the lighting and what your initial judgment is on the coloring. The first time I saw this picture, it looked white and gold. The one you linked is firmly black and blue, and I can't see it as anything else anymore.
Oh well.
Anyhoo, this dress is obviously blue and black with a ton of filters and bad lighting to boot. FIGHT ME IF YOU DISAGREE
So that's what the so-called white dress looks like.
I like the blue one better.
Besides, what else is there but dank memes?
...I feel dirty writing that.
(I blame the ridiculously strong backlight. Also, Mad Props for the interlude.)
Depends on the size of the image, I think. The original dress is definitely black and blue, but the crappy lighting gives the impression of a gold color.