#Antique Power

[reality-detective]

Old Lighters 🤔

[windowstothepast]

I'll Do It My Damn Self, 1920s

[illustratus]

The Sword of Damocles by Richard Westall

[marzipanandminutiae]

"doll" is in this context a slangy way of referring to trans women, for the record

and for a moment I was so lost in the Queer Doll Collector Subculture that I forgot queer slang existed

oops

well there would be more of those, too! and the world would be blessed for their presence. how very 1940s Wise-Cracking Hero of them, slang-wise

[bobcat9]

Little Red

[adtothebone]

Just add a quart and she should be ready to go.

[eddieintheocean]

very beautiful. very powerful (but from 1959)

[emerald-dragonflame]

Kinda wanna make my Christ-analog in the Lost Locket a Pixie, cause it genuinely makes the most sense for His role (at least on that planet in this story).

A people generally not known for having amazing powers and being unable to speak Human or Fae tongue preforming miracles and literally dying for the sins of those more noticeable species?

A man who most would believe would be born perhaps a Hume, or maybe a Centaur, is actually born the smallest of the small, but literally is God in the flesh?

The God who created all, small enough that His iconography could be life size in the poorest of homes

[littleblood]

[joeiannandrea]

[prolibytherium]

Absolutely death gripped clenched trying not to comment on reductive posts on ancient greek homosexual relationships

[pulpsandcomics2]

[widowshill]

VAMP ROGER AU QUESTION! how would he and barnabas interact together (if they ever interact)? :3 💜

tagging @tortoisesshells because she's my co-conspirator <3

excellent question! this family and their sharp-toothed men will be the death of ... well, several community members of Collinsport, i suppose.

to start — Barnabas gets out of the box slightly differently than in canon, which colors his relationship to Roger and the rest of the household. Roger kills Willie after his attempted assault on Carolyn and Vicki (who is, by that point, his wife); Willie's mysterious disappearance and Roger's suspected involvement makes Jason that much more panicked, desperate, and correspondingly aggressive. Liz goes searching for the lost family jewels in a last-ditch attempt to buy Jason off, and, inadvertently, lets their ancient family sin out of the tomb.

ergo she's made Barnabas' thrall instead of Willie, but this goes unnoticed for a while — even though her brother would, in theory, recognize the signs, and his suspicions are raised, but she's already acting so much unlike herself with Jason around that he doesn't suspect anyone else of doing her harm. yet.

at the start, he and Barnabas get along very well, even before they discover their shared affliction: they're both relatively sophisticated, well-traveled, intelligent people, and for all that Roger decries Liz's emphasis on the Collins name, he leans towards familial connections instinctively (Roger hasn't got much in the way of friends outside of the house even in canon, and he's even more isolated as a vampire).

after he finds out Barnabas is also a vampire, things get a little more complicated, but overall, they're still friendly. Roger doesn't have much sympathy for Barnabas' relentless self-pity and decrying his doomed fate to live as a monster, because Roger on the whole enjoys his vampirism and has made a decent un-life for himself out of it (thanks in no small part to Vicki). but having someone like him around is a comfort in ways he wouldn't have expected, he's no longer solitary or uniquely monstrous out of the Collins family, he has someone else around through the night, and someone who understands the sufferings of bloodthirst and being shut out of the sun.

furthermore, Roger's very much interested in his family history and stories of the past, the building of Collinwood, Jeremiah's ships – and Barnabas was there. there's potential for some very interesting conversations about the past, and the arc of the Collins family history to the present, not to mention literature, travel, fashion, politics and the rest. Roger's his cousin's mirror in modernity in many ways, and that's something potentially interesting to explore: the world changes around them, but Collinses do not.

as an aside, they both have a funny sort of relationship to Burke. Barnabas hates him for his resemblance to Jeremiah and envies his friendship with Vicki and thinks he's crude, and Roger ... well. it's complicated. it's closer to antagonism than not, and Burke has tried to kill him once in this au, and Roger resents his flirting with Vicki, but then there's everything else with their past. so I don't think Barnabas' treatment of him would sit particularly well with Roger, he'd take the attitude of hey, only I can be a dick to Burke >:(

the definite fracture point is Barnabas imprinting on Vicki. Roger's already jealous and possessive by nature, and it's amplified by the supernatural nature of his relationship to Vicki (being closer, bodily and mentally; being necessary to each other; being, quite literally, sustenance) so he's already a little on edge when Barnabas starts paying attention to her, giving her presents, and appreciating the scenery — Barnabas doesn't, exactly, tend to have much in the way of moral inclination to leaving women alone when they have prior engagements, but it's fair to point out the irony of everything Roger was doing with his bloodbag governess when he was still very much a married man.

anyway: Roger finds foreign bite marks on his wife's neck, and he's understandably immensely upset by this. partially out of territorial sentiment, but he also knows Vicki, and he knows that she wouldn't have invited another vampire willingly — which means that she was forced, or hypnotized, or attacked in secret, and there's only the one potential suspect. this is already enough to lose his good will, but he might have been willing to let Barnabas go with a "hands off," had this discovery not lead to finding out what he'd also been doing to Liz. the combination of the two is unforgivable, and it's Barnabas' error to have made an enemy who is very personally aware of all his vampiric weaknesses, and Burke's already carved a stake.

[isilrina]

Happy ArtMonday!

Today I can finally show this artwork ^^ It is a revisited piece, reborn from an original drawing I made 15 years ago

In the heart of Edinburgh lies a haven of secrets, guarded by three sisters, in a world teeming with darkness and mysteries.

In this meticulously artwork, the youngest sister, Rina, stands amidst a labyrinth of knowledge, her sanctuary against the creatures of the night. But she is more than a mere guardian of books—she is a keeper of secrets, a seeker of truth, and a sentinel against the shadows.

Painted with over 170 hours of painstaking detail and imbued with rich symbolism, 'The Lorewarden' is a true labor of love and dedication. Two full days were devoted solely to labeling the 250 intricately detailed books of this extraordinary library. From real tomes to fictional volumes, each book adds depth and intrigue to Rina's quest for knowledge.

Crafted with unwavering determination, this illustration captures the essence of a universe where darkness lurks just beyond the veil of ignorance.

Enter the realm of "The Lorewarden" and join Rina on her quest to uncover the truths hidden within those countless pages. Here, magic, myth, and mystery collide and every word holds a secret waiting to be unveiled.

Are you ready to lose yourself in the exploration of these shelves, discovering which books are fictional and which are not?

Story/Universe is © @valkblue, Character is © both of us.

Software used: Clip Studio Paint.

[magicclam]

Progress on the Heathkit amplifier project!

This sequence shows the progress of the power supply unit I'm building to power both Heathkit amplifiers. Since the inside of the power supply is just plywood, I used a dark gel stain to unify the wood and make it look a little nicer. Then put on a few coats of satin poly.

Next I added the internals. There's a power transformer which supplies 5 volts for the rectifier tube as well as B+ voltage for the plates, then there's a secondary filament transformer which provides 12.3 volts for the tubes in each amplifier.

Pictures 5 and 6 show the decorative cedar enclosure which will fit over the power supply. I'm particularly pleased with how the power light looks when lit!

Last picture shows one of the amplifiers plugged into the side of the PSU. The other amp will plug in on the other side.

I have a little issue right now where my B+ voltage is low under full load. It's supposed to be 390V, but I'm getting more like 360V. Right now debating whether to swap out the power transformer or just run it on lower voltage than the schematic calls for.

Will keep you posted, stay tuned!

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

... red ...