I hope he exists in real life, though… because I just bought a pocket watch from him.

Okay, it’s not so much a pocket watch as it is a pocket tree. But I digress.

From what I’ve gleaned through the regular stalkerish Google-esque avenues, the man behind the mask is one Thomas Girard, a twenty-five-year-old mild-mannered web developer by day who has called Toronto his home for the past three years.

You’re probably wondering what the hell this has to do with a site about relationships and gender-based gaming. Well, if you must know, he’s married. And he likes video games. Unlike some married gamers, however, sometimes he gets all artsy about it.

And this is one of the myriad results.

According to Steel Bananas, the catalyst that turned Girard’s vivid imagination loose upon the unsuspecting world of art was a gift from his wife. “It was a pair of felt robots mounted on paper and hung with ribbon,” he writes, “and I just loved it so much that I wanted to turn some of the images swirling around in my head into something physical.”

Okay. Before we go any further, let me be honest here. I’m not a fan of the art scene, especially in metropolitan settings like Toronto. In fact, I find many downtown artists pretentious and selfish (and I’d rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than have to talk to one). But there was something about Thomas’ work (and his twitter pic) that evoked the word “whimsical” in a way that, refreshingly enough, did not make me want to punch him in the face.

Seriously. How can you hate a man who makes Shadow of the Colossus-inspired collage art?

So I asked him if I could pick his brain a bit whilst he was sitting in his apartment (or magical tree or wherever the hell he lives), adjusting the chain length of my newly purchased toy.

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