Well hello again ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to another issue of The GUN Insider. Where I show you another side of the members that are part of our beloved community. The following interview is dedicated to our GUNniversary and to make it even more special it’s not just a simple interview but a double interview.  Yeah you read it right, this time you’ll be getting two interviews for the price of one. It will tell you the other side of our most dynamic duo @Pharah and @Mercy. For this one I had some help from our main overseer @DVAted.


Q: Hello! Would you like to introduce yourselves? Of course, keep it general or go into detail as much as you're comfortable to disclose."

Pharah: Hello! I hope you're all doing well. To be honest, I am very surprised that we were chosen for the interview all of a sudden. And that's not a bad thing of course, of course not! I'd say that I am just not really used to such attention to my persona (and I am genuinely flattered), but I am more than willing to answer all your questions. Well, most of them, for sure! My real name is Taymir, I'm from Moscow and while my official post of a Gabritel Art Studio Vice-President serves me well, most of my profit come from very different places where I've put my investments and which didn't backfire at me. Nothing to be afraid of, it's just my attempts to support people's creative ideas! But the irony is, despite my love for art and people's creations, I've finished studying with a law degree. And I doubt that I'm ever going to use my diploma. But well, having one doesn't hurt, does it?

Mercy: My name's Mark Nightgun (yes, thats my real last name >.>) but most people know me by a lot of names here. Diamond, Kira, Aniki, and Mercy. I live in the U.S, Montana way. I'm sort of a jack of all trades in real life, want me to do manual labor? got it, want me to do a mundane desk job? gotcha. I have a degree in Media Design and currently looking into Medicine and that general area of profession. I speak 3 languages, English (obviously), Japanese, and a tiniest bit of Spanish because of my Grandpa. I'm currently learning Russian because of a certain someone lol. I'm currently working at a bank but plan on find other job offers (doesn't hurt to have options ya know).

Q: What brought you over to G.U.N the very first time?

Pharah: I'm a very big Metroid fan and I remember running into some Fallout 3/NV screenshots demonstrating mods made by Tesvixen, one of the famous GUN members who sadly doesn't visit us too often now - Varia Suit, Zero Suit, Samus Aran herself and some other stuff from Metroid which literally made me drool. My first reaction was - "Okay, what the hell, whom should I kiss to get those!?" Few days later, MaybeNextTime, who has been very friendly to me, told me about GUN's (VGUNetwork back then) existence. Sure, I came for mods like any other person, but I was happy to find such a friendly and dedicated community with so many interesting people who quickly became my friends, including Tesvixen.

Mercy: Basically, NCRVet uploaded a video showcasing dragbody's fabulous work, showing off ported armors and custom races, and I was just getting back into modding after having a sort of lull with it, because of real life stuff. I thought it was cool, and really wanted to know where I could get those mods. Checked the description of his video and found a link to, what was at the time, VGUNetwork. I registered and found myself being very enthralled with a modding community like this, even if it was a bit rock at first because of my cluelessness with forum rules.

Q: There always seemed to be a particular chemistry between you two, often having matching profile images and even usernames, seeming very much atuned to each other. Where do you think that your special connection sprung from?



Pharah: We jokingly call it being "in sync", as it just happens that we often think about same things and then say them out loud together, as if we could read each other's minds. And it happens that most of the characters whom we really like are being paired together, which makes it only funnier. "EVERY TIME!" - we react like this, searching for some drawings and finding exclusively our characters being paired together. And its just fun being these two fools who are just bound to each other. As for our chemistry, it goes much deeper than that. But that's another story, as I'm too shy to talk about such things.

Mercy: It's almost supernatural how much we have in common, it's pretty crazy when you think about it. We call it many things, Twisted Fate, In Sync, etc. We have a very interesting past with each other in terms of our "chemistry". We learned things about each other as time went on, learning what we liked, didn't like and grew accustomed to our personalities and likings, even adopting each other’s likings. It's a bit more complicated, but to sum it up, we just are two for two, plain and simple.


Q: Did you two meet on G.U.N., or were you friends before you joined the site?

Pharah: Ohh-no-no-no. Trust me, we have a very funny history. To think about it, we were close to being enemies at the beginning. At least that's how I acted, being very mean towards Mercy (known as DiamondDog back then). I was a pretty paranoid person and I thought that I'm dealing with a guy I knew from another community who just happened to appear here, I felt like he was just following me around, trying to get my attention since most of our interests appeared to be suspiciously similar. When I was a Staff member, I did my best to check on him and make sure that I will be around if he makes a mistake. I have to admit, I've been an ass. But suddenly we began to talk a lot on the VGU (It still was VGU back then, right?) chatbox, learning each other better. And here we are now.
 
Mercy: Hilariously, we weren't always so fond of each other as we are now. At one point, I could, and excuse my French, say I fucking HATED him. He would always be extremely rude to me for no apparent reason. It absolutely floored me, I didn't know who he was, or even spoke to him and he would always be very passive aggressive towards me. It confused me, and only made me wonder if I met him before, or I came off as rude towards him. We really got to know each other in Share a Tune, and by know each other, I mean both of us sort of flipping each other off and once in a blue moon complement each other if we posted a song we liked. It wouldn't be until January of 2015, where we got to know each other, after talking 1 on 1 in the sites chat box. We ended up clearing up a misunderstanding he had about me (still give him crap about it from time to time lol) and we ended up having a lot in common. We talked for a long time and ended up moving over to Skype with 2 other friends and got to become very good friends from there.

Q: Do you now regard each other as buddies, best friends or brothers?

Pharah: I'm too shy to answer that, how about you ask my wife/husbando? Ouch, damn, I actually said that, didn't I?

Mercy: Why wasn't Boyfriend on that list of options? ;3

Q: If you haven't already, do you plan to meet up in real life? Or is that not as important as your current dynamic?

Pharah: That will surely happen, but we're comfortable with what we have right now. The distance doesn't really mean anything to us.

Mercy : It will definitely happen, I feel like it's a must between us, it may not be soon. But I will be longing for the day that we can.


Q: We know you've been on G.U.N. since pretty much the beginning, but you've underwent several name changes over the years. Do you recall how many usernames you've had since you've joined our community, and what inspired each?

Pharah: Think my previous names were KrizalidBrando, Dio Brando and then finally Pharah. KrizalidBrando comes as a fusion of the "The King of Fighters" character named Krizalid and Brando as Marlon Brando, who's one of my favorite actors and who was born the same day as me (3rd April). Krizalid was one of the hardest fighting game bosses I've encountered during childhood and he left a big impression on me after destroying all my nerves. Dio Brando is a villain from my favorite manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, who happens to share same last name and whose name Dio is inspired by the metal legend Ronnie James Dio. As for Pharah, me and Mercy are really into PharMercy Overwatch ship. I guess that doesn't need to be explained.

Mercy: DiamondDogVs, DiamondDog, Kira Yoshikage, Mercy. All have particular meaning in their own right. DiamondDogVs, is a mix of two things. Diamond Dog named after my least favorite David Bowie album of the same name, It's meant to be ironic, I am a Metal Gear Solid fan and when I learned the faction in the latest one at the time was being named after an album I hated, I jokingly took it because I thought it was funny. The "Vs" is named after the album by Pearl Jam, of the same name, one that I'm am extremely fond of. Kira Yoshikage named after the villain in the Manga series "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure". One that Dio (Pharah) showed me, and I became enthralled by this character and quickly attached myself to him, and ironically, he was modeled after one of my favorite musicians, David Bowie. Mercy is named after Mercy, of this pretty underground game, Overwatch (you might have not heard of it).

Q: Is it true the Hotliners group was made at your suggestion, after you were the first to reach 2k posts?  What was the inspiration behind the group name and title color?
And would you like to have that chance again, maybe at 5k posts?

Pharah: We were really into Hotline Miami back then. Pink color played a big role in the game's aesthetics which of course drags a lot of inspiration from Miami Vice TV series, as the pink+blue combo really speaks 80s. But I guess that you can also add Drake's Hotline Bling to that list now (Dammit, Drake!). I don't have any ideas about the 5k posts group right now, but if we'll come up with anything as outrageously flamboyant, you will certainly know about it!

Mercy: We both liked Hotline Miami, and ran with the idea of naming a group after the game. The pink was chosen mainly because I thought it would be hilarious for a group to have pink as its color. But it also ties into the game, which often uses pink and purple as it's "aesthetic". As for 5k, I don't know about that to be honest, but it would be absolutely neat.





Q: How do you experience the growth of G.U.N.? Do you think it has potential to be better for you, and how?

Pharah: GUN will always have a special place in my heart, even many years later. I cannot really tell where the road will lead us in the nearest future, but I'm sure that this place will have many new good people who will stay for the community, rather than just disappear after downloading all interesting mods. Currently I don't see GUN as a place that has to offer me something to keep me entertained, but more like a place where I can hang out and have fun with people who share similar interests. And that's more than enough for me to continue visiting these forums.

Mercy: I've been here since it was "VGUNetwork" and this sites come a long way, I've seen it go through many phases, many trials, and saw so many cool things happen these past 2 going on 3 years. I love this site mainly because of the people who I've met through it and the certain someone~ I met through here coughs in Russian. It has potential to grow if it becomes more engaging to the users, maybe having a monthly theme or having events that have mass appeal.

Q: Can you mention any memorable moments you were a part of in the G.U.N. community?

Pharah: I won't lie, I really love forum drama. It's not healthy, it's not great, but I just enjoyed moments where people begin to talk about the most ridiculous things and for a very odd reason it made me crack a smile. There were even moments where we would intentionally start very provocative topics. I'd say we used to act like a bunch of hooligans. But our intentions have never been harmful really. It's more like a weird sense of humor that we needed to release from time to time.

Mercy: I've seen a lot during my years here, but one moment cemented my comfort with this place. I won't name names for the sake of privacy and to not allure to anyone. But a particular user who was quite infamous at the time, decided to make a topic announcing his campaign to become an Overseer. He did it all, he name called, he shit talked, he was absolutely braggadocios with his topic. He insulted staff and users, and I got a real kick out of it, I know that's a bit immature of me, but I couldn't help but laugh at how unruly he was.


Q: What type of video games do you enjoy the most, and, should they have enough potential for activity, would you like G.U.N. to feature new sub forums for any of them?

Pharah: Now that's a really sad subject for me, as most of my favorite game series are pretty much dead. Silent Hill, Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid - three series, one company, all dead. I'm waiting for a good Metroid game every E3 and that didn't happen since Metroid Prime 3, which came out back in 2007. Parasite Eve? Dead. Devil May Cry? Sudden reboot and no news about the proper sequel. I can still find joy in fighting games, I really love them. Tekken, Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, The King of Fighters, Virtua Fighter, Killer Instinct - I love all of them. I dig role-playing games as well, yet I keep noticing that most of them really lack their main aspect lately - role-playing. Morrowind, Deus Ex, Planescape: Torment - probably the best RPGs I've played. I'm a big fan of the Souls series too and while Bloodborne doesn't really belong to the series, it shares similar playstyle and ideas. And it has to be my most favorite game that came out in the last 7 years, so that definitely means something.

Mercy: My first taste of video games was Sci Fi, a little game for the N64 called "Perfect Dark" and I LOVED it. It introduced me to the FPS genre and from that, explored others at the time. Horror, Fighting/Beat-em-up's, RPG's, you name it. But perhaps RPG's have the biggest place in my heart, it basically allowed me to live the life of other characters, or make my own and live in my own fantasy world. I'm a mixed bag though, I like a little bit of everything, I'm not that ignorant to stick to only one or a few types of games. I would personally love to see a fighting game sub forum here, as I am an avid fan of the genre. My favorite game of all time is Dino Crisis, I love red heads, I love Dinosaurs, I love survival horror, it's a match made in heaven for me.

Q: Have you created and released mods that you'd like to remind us about or draw our attention to?

Pharah: I wouldn't call myself an experienced modder, as I'm not one. I've released a ENB for New Vegas here which you still can download, but my current Fallout activity stays within writing a story about the alternative universe "NWD", which I constantly post on Nexus and repost in the Screenshots topics on GUN. As you can see from the short description on my nexus profile, it's a "universe with its own rules, different technological and social progress, characters and organizations, where the main protagonist is Aya A7-01 - a synth agent, an android who works for the Institute". It's a really fun hobby that keeps me playing that game to enjoy the characters and stories that I have created, while sharing it with others and letting them also enjoy what I'm doing.

Mercy: I created a few sound replacing mods for Fallout New Vegas, but that's about it, to which all of them are available here on the forums (have fun, well, if you want them). I've never been much of a modder to be quite honest, I'm a storytelling type of guy, I have something in the works, but my laziness and real life stuff really can't permit me to work on it right now.


Q: Is there something you still want to contribute to the community?


Pharah: If it comes to me properly learning 3D one day, I will do my best to give life to all the ideas that I've carried in my head through years. And if that happens, I will definitely share my works with the community that became my second home.

Mercy: I wanna be GUNetworks first MC, check out my mixtape this coming fall, definitely going to be hot as fuck my dude.

Q: What are a few of your favorite mods and modders? (in no particular order)

Pharah: There are many fantastic modders both on GUN and Nexus who help me in my creativity, but if I had to only choose few, I would suddenly go back to New Vegas and remind you all about a wonderful person named Bunsaki who has created very beautiful cyberpunk-inspired armors. All my characters were only wearing his outfits, I just couldn't help it.

My next mention is densaleagion with his wonderful XCinema ENB that masterfully mimics VHS effects and grants you the most beautiful cinematic experience that you can only imagine. I was really honored to become the "face" of his ENB, as I was a big fan of his work since the earliest versions.

And finally, I should mention Vicn. This person is responsible for the most creative and fantastic DLC-sized quest for Skyrim that just speaks to me with its Dark Souls and Berserk-inspired designs. And the lore-inspired stories around the daedric creatures and princes which just blow your mind if you are familiar with the world of Elder  Scrolls!

Mercy: I'm a bit of a vagabond when it comes to this sort of thing, I have my own likings and don't really consistently follow things or people, only very few cases when it does happen. The only modder I really have any sort of major respect for that I would like to bring attention to, is Vicn. The guy made arguably one of the greatest quest mods for any game ever, by himself.... BY HIMSELF. The story he told and the content he provided, was just astounding, and it seriously impressed me. (Seriously, check this guy out, me and Pharah adore his work)

Q: What other means of entertainment do you feel closest afinity to? TV shows, comics, manga, music, etc.?


Pharah: I really love reading Sci-Fi books (my favorite genre is cyberpunk and William Gibson is my favorite writer). I almost start to suffocate if I have to live at least a day without the music that I usually listen to, as it just happens that it dictates my mood and serves me as my main source of inspiration. My favorite genres have to be industrial (with all its subgenres), Synthwave and probably grunge. Picking favorite musicians is hard, but I can name one which is following me my whole life - Trent Reznor and his project "Nine Inch Nails". I guess I love all his albums identically, except for the album "With Teeth", where it just happened that its sound appeared being way less industrial for my tastes. But it's a great piece of work nonetheless. I love reading about space, but I always catch myself thinking that it's probably my most pointless interest, as I am forever cursed to have zero influence on the endless world that lies beyond our imagination and possibilities. As for my favorite artists, I'll name two which never stop to amaze me: Zdzisław Beksiński and Hans Rudolf Giger. It's easier to ask me what movies I don't like rather than make me list them all. But if I had to choose one favorite director, it would be David Lynch. Mulholland Dr. and Eraserhead will never stop to amaze me.



Mercy: Music, I consume all of those types of media, but Music has absolutely affect me the most. It shaped who I am and pretty much changed my world. My family is very into the arts, mainly film and music, and I grew up hearing and watching a lot of these things, being exposed to the most obscure stuff, and it heavily played a hand into what I would grow up to like and not like. The album Happy Bivouac by The Pillows forever changed me, it introduced me to the world of Alternative rock, and Japanese music to a degree (which would influence me to learn the language a few years after first listening). Shoegaze, Ambient Electronic, Synthwave, Prog Rock, and Industrial are some of my favs in terms of genres for music. I also have a fondness of rap, believe it or not. As for the others, they are all apply to me, but only because of how I was affected my music, and how it was essentially a gateway for me to these other forms of media.


Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to our members, especially those who have just joined G.U.N.?

Pharah: I know that people are being polite and friendly to each other to create a good image of themselves, but I really hope that their behavior comes from their hearts and not their desire to kiss anyone's sit. It's important to create a strong community of genuine people who are kind to each other not because they are afraid of the Big Orange Brother watching them, but because they are just made that way. Don't be afraid of making friends and never misjudge people around you (like I did). And who knows, maybe that might eventually lead you to another PharMercy of GUN.

Mercy: Be yourself, do not hide what you like from others. This is a big community of people, that like many things and you are bound to meet another who shares similar interests. You will meet someone who can be your best friend, and you wouldn't even know it. I met someone extremely special to me and to my heart that changed me, all because I was honest with what I liked and what interested me. Never pretend either, you don't have to lie to fit in, just go with the flow.



Well there you have it folks another interesting interview, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for your time and stay tuned for the next issue of The GUN Insider. Also many thanks to @keatit71 for fixing all my mistakes :p.

Could you maybe change the purple color to something else ? The background color makes it kinda hard to read.

Anyway, nice read . I really enjoy these interviews.

pleasure to call these two dudes my friendos and always good to learn more about people, great job to all involved.

Enjoy these interviews and i loved the responses to the last question, really builds community's and that's what i've come to enjoy from this site.

Nods sagely This turned out really great, glad I could do this, and maybe get people familiar with me and @Pharah. c:

Shoutouts to @Mattafex for being our adopted daughter.

I read it all. Best interview in my life. I can die happy.

Isn't it amazing how the Internet can bring people together? The relationship between you two is wonderful!

Loved the interview, it was an interesting read while having breakfast this morning lol.

Great work to both the interviewer and the interviewees

@William Lionheart Another excellent interview and a great read. It was really neat to learn more about two people who been here for a long time @Pharah and @Mercy. I liked reading this and learning about these two in particular cuz they're funny af. I would've never of guessed that these two hated each other at the beginning (Who would've thought?) and now they're all over each other.

I think my favorite answers were the last ones, it's great advice for new members.

Great interview Will!