#I will digitise them at some point

[loganlermanstanaccount]

my college au Miguel fic has invaded my brain and i have so many little sketches of everyone and how j picture them it's just sososososfhfj

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Do Necron Warriors have any semblance of sentience left in them? Are their minds simply locked behind powerful inhibitors or are they just irreparably wiped clean?

So, this is a cool question. Necron warriors are not supposed to retain anything in the way of real sentience. At all. The biotransferrence involved the effective digitisation and transition of Necrontyr consciousness onto engrams (basically fake brains) with the quality of engram and amount of personality and memory being retained coinciding with your position in society.

Nobles, Crypteks, Lychguard, Triarchs, and individuals with perceived importance or connection were usually given their full approximated suite of mental faculties and personality. Middling soldiery and servants (like Immortals) received a fittingly middling amount of engram quality. Basic soldiers, civilians and those without perceived merit were turned into warriors, their memories and personalities consumed forever.

At least, as I said above, this was the intent.

Necron engrams are one of (if not the most) advanced and complex pieces of technology in the entire setting. The complete and effective translation of the mind into data is unthinkably sophisticated, to the point that not even the Crypteks, the masters of physics and material science, fully understand how they work. It's not like the intelligence cores the Admech use, it's not like the AI the T'au construct. It is almost the synthesis and digitisation of the soul. It is properly fucking nuts.

So, are necron warriors supposed to be wiped clean? Yes, basically. Are they? Demonstrably no. Some will let out horrific screams when they're properly killed. Some will display tiny little ticks and flickers of personality or inkling. Most notably, warriors that become flayed ones have been known to target specific Necrons/people, as if holding unbound grudges or desires.

Between these events, and things like the destroyer virus and the assorted quirks and emotions that all Necrons can develop, it is abundantly clear that the full extent of the consciousness and wherewithal granted by engrams has exceeded function and intricacy beyond the comprehension of even the most gifted Crypteks.

Bit of a long answer, but I hope you found this helpful!

[finnlongman]

"And his hand in the hand of Láeg mac Ríangabra..."

My previous posts about the variants of Oidheadh Con Culainn were getting very long with all the reblogs and ramblings, so I thought I would do a summary.

Last week, I was idly paging through NLI MS G113 to check the terminology it uses for Láeg. This manuscript was written in 1703, in Co. Cork, by poet Uilliam mac Cartáin. I discovered that in this version of the text, Cú Chulainn dies "with his back against the standing stone and his hand in the hand of Láeg mac Ríangabra".

Although Láeg is usually present in this scene, I had never seen this particular detail before, and being the #1 fan of Láeg mac Ríangabra, I was obviously extremely intrigued and emotional. (Code for: I cried and then I screamed about it to everyone I knew.)

Not only this, but after Cú Chulainn's death, Láeg went back to kiss Cú Chulainn's body, hold him, and grieve for him, which is something he isn't given the opportunity to do in any of the versions that I knew. Wow.

Yesterday, I decided to check for other digitised manuscripts of this text, and I found RIA MS 23 M 25, a slightly earlier manuscript written probably in Co. Cork in the late 17th century -- probably 1684 for this section. To my amazement, it also contained this line:

Further investigation found it in two more Cork manuscripts -- a late 18th century one (RIA 23 G 21) and a 19th century one (Newman College O'Donnell II), both by scribes of the Ó Longáin family. The 18th century one isn't digitised, but I was able to read a transcription of it produced by Julia Kühns in her 2009 PhD thesis; the 19th century one is now held in Newman College in Melbourne, Australia, and looks like this:

All four of these manuscripts contain the detail that Cú Chulainn died with his back against the standing stone and his hand in the hand of Láeg mac Ríangabra.

All four of these manuscripts were written in Co. Cork, though chronologically they're quite dispersed.

There are two more manuscripts that Kühns groups alongside these in her study, one which has a strong Cork connection and one which doesn't. These aren't digitised and she didn't transcribe this passage, so I can't be certain it's there (her grouping is based on other elements, and she doesn't discuss this detail), but I would imagine it must be. I hope to go to TCD at some point and view them.

On the basis of the evidence I've got, though, it seems to me that this was a Cork variant of the story. The wording of this line is identical -- if they're not all copying from each other (and there are some other variations that might suggest they're not), they're definitely copying from a shared source. What that source was and how far it predates the 1684 manuscript, I don't know yet.

But so far, only G113 contains the scene where Láeg grieves and says goodbye to Cú Chulainn. Given that this MS was written by a known poet who wrote a lot of laments and emotional works, it may be that he added this to heighten the emotional experience. To my admittedly inexpert eye, it shows some strong signs of Munster Irish, which lends credence to the idea that it was locally composed, and since it's not in the other MSS, there's no reason yet to think it's not Uilliam's addition for the sake of feelings. In which case, it worked. Thanks, Liam, you made me cry 221 years later.

And now you're caught up!

[transmutationisms]

how'd you learn to read french? could you point me to some resources? ideally free, i don't got them dollars or euros.

i took it for about 7 years in school, but a lot of that was kind of useless as far as reading knowledge goes because they were trying to teach us conversational skills lol. i had three semesters in undergrad that exclusively focussed on reading, which helped a lot, but since then i've just gotten stronger by practicing.

what i would recommend is just to download a 'french for reading' book (there are 5 different ones on libgen for english -> french; i believe i used the palmeri in college, but they're probably all fine) and work through at least the basic grammar that way. then it's really just a matter of starting to translate things.

iirc my coursework started us on larochefoucauld's maxims and pascal's pensées, then we did some descartes and rousseau's émile, and then switched to literature: racine's phèdre, one of molière's plays, baudelaire's fleurs du mal, rimbaud, and passages from proust's à la recherche du temps perdu. but there's nothing magical about that sequence -- what would be most helpful to you will depend on what sorts of things you want to read in the long run (eg, for me personally it would have been more useful if i'd learned on biology texts or something, just to introduce me to that vocabulary set earlier, but oh well).

you can also find collections of children's stories (i did this for german and found it boring but often helpful; fairy tales might be fun but be aware of the literary passé simple tense vs the more common-use passé composé) or you can also start on news articles since those tend to be written in plainer language with limited tenses. we used to use le monde in high school lmao. in any case just try to pick texts that have translations available so you can check your work.

i'd also strongly recommend wordreference.com if you don't already use it (online dictionary, but it'll give you examples of the word in sentences and in unusual usages, plus there's a discussion forum feature that is actually useful sometimes) and linguee.com, which lets you search phrases and shows actual documents and websites where they occur. most of the corpus is things like government websites, but it still saved my ass a good few times when i was starting out and would run into usages i just hadn't learned in the classroom.

& if you're looking for historical sources, the french national library's digitised collection is free/searchable at gallica.bnf.fr, and includes texts that have translations available as well as ones that don't.

[nitricaciddd]

I made a concept design for a Dark/Bug type Mega Yveltal as a possibility for Pokémon Legends: Z-A!

Now you may be wondering, why Bug? Yveltal is a Bird!

Well, if you check one of it’s dex entries,

Note the word choice of “Cocoon”. Now, I’m only looking at that direct word, not what it could possibly have been mistranslated from, and you know what cocoons are?

Usually they are a silky barrier created to house a larva undergoing metamorphosis! AKA, BUGS!

I haven’t noticed anyone else make this same thought process and found it interesting. I’ll insert my initial thought sketches below, I’ve got a Mega Xerneas idea in concept as well which I will digitise soon!

My personal favourite detail of this is turning the neck fur/feathers into a stylish swarm of flies! I thought it would be cool to also have it around the wrists, originally I was going to connect the cloud flies to the neck like chains, but I figured that’s be too complicated.

If anyone happens to know Gaismagorm from Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, I see the relationship between Mega Yveltal and its flies to be the same as Gaismagorm and the Qurio: The small flying things steal life force from other creatures, and then bring them back to the host creature. This would help make Yveltal’s destructive powers even MORE threatening as a mega!

Anyway, that’s enough yammering from me, if you’ve read until this point, woah thanks! And I hope you have a most wonderful day, stay hydrated and please don’t forget to check out some of the pages of Gaza families on here and repost and/or donate if possible!

Tara for now,

Nitric

[deadgirlwalking91]

Ooh for the WIP asks, how about a little bit about I Don't Dance? 👀 (Or dealer's choice if you get asked about it more than once ☺️)

Hey, Sloane! (and sorry for the double tag - I messed up the formatting of my original post because I was on the fly 😂)

Thanks for the ask!

I Don't Dance is about Adam convincing Lute to go out with him and the other Exorcists to the club, which she's not keen on. Especially because it brings up some memories she doesn't have the guts to talk about...

I'm planning for it to have three parts, and there will be flashbacks woven through as well! It was inspired by a tumblr ask about Adam and Lute dirty dancing at the club. The mental image of them grinding and getting handsy was too good to pass up!

Here's some rough dialogue from the opening scene:

“Fucking stupid, piece-of-shit reports,” he grumbled. “Why can’t we digitise everything?”

“Because,” Lute said, stifling a laugh as Adam bumped his head on the underside of the desk. “What if the computers crash, and we lose everything?”

“What if the office catches fire and we lose the paperwork and everything in that, huh?”

“Respectfully, sir, it’s Heaven. We don’t have fires here. Besides,” she added, pointing to the stack of files she’d managed to gather from the mess he'd made. “I need to take these home and work on them so we can meet Sera’s deadline.”

Adam snorted derisively. “Like fuck you are. Come on, come out tonight.”

Lute shook her head as she grabbed her bag. “No, Adam. Goodnight.” 

[several-ravens]

@jo1sstuff i'm going to reply to this in its own post so i can find it and add to it later more easily if i need to

also it's under the cut because it's a demonstation that's long af

tldr: technology

so here is the line of thinking that got me to this conclusion:

1) episode 65 presents something totally different from any other category we've met so far, and that is analog horror (so found footage, creepy videos, possessed digital devices, and the likes). usually it is about something that's old, or older than the person who uses it (just like tessa winters in 2017 who finds the (alleged) program made by sergei yshanka in the 1980's)

and analog horror has been a very important part of the 'new age' of horror as technology and the internet grew. there are some very famous things like the movies the ring and blair witch project, or mickey mouse whistling, or the scp foundation, or the new doom mod, or creepy pasta, you get the idea

my personal comment: it's very meta to have an episode on analog horror which is literally an ancestor and relative to tma itself, and i LOVE this

2) tessa winters makes a loooong monologue about the differences between analog and digital and draws our attention to jon's tape recorder

which reminded me of the very first episode where he explains why he records some statements on tape: "I plan to digitise the files as much as possible and record audio versions, though some will have to be on tape recorder, as my attempts to get them on my laptop have met with… significant audio distortions." (unofficial transcripts)

3) in episode 62, gertrude says: "Who does the book come from?" and mary keay responds: "The End, of course." (unofficial transcripts)

notice how she said 'who' and not 'where'. so my guess is the categories are not only there to classify the different types of fears but also have an 'entity' or a 'god' attached to it

my personal comment: i like the idea that they are similar to the great old ones from lovecraft, who also plays a very fundamental part in today's horror

4) i'm then reminded of american gods by neil gaiman (<3), where the gods of the old worships have a war with the new ones (technology, media, etc.)

which brings us back to our point no.2 (analog vs. digital), and the fact that apparently the only things that won't go into jonathan's computer are the statements that fit into the categories, so that are associated with our 'old gods' (the end, and the 13 others)

"why wouldn't they go digital?" you might ask. well, because they are at war with digital and the new technologies (or something of that kind). here i quote the unofficial transcripts from mag47: jonathan says: "You make it sound like there’s a… war." to which delirium michael responds with: "[heh] Then I will say nothing further. I wouldn’t wish to tarnish your ignorance prematurely."

5) the fear of our future being taken over by technology is a very real thing (detroit become human comes to my mind rn, also fallout somehow (even though it's more about capitalism but technology is still important, i.e. nuclear weapons), also the current discourses with ai, etc.)

so its just a draft for now, but my guess is something along the lines of 'technology' or like 'progress'

P.S. (i know editing a post after it has been posted is bad but honetly idc): you (jo1sstuff) said something about the 15th corridor not being there at the time of episode 35, which confirms this theory about 'technology' being a new, emergent deity

[elektrischemaidchen]

Bayreuth- Diary II: Wagner

The fever dream begins. And I swear, we didn't dream it. I asked Lacelove several times, if this experience was created from my sleep deprivation or Lisztober, but she assured me, everything was a real.

We have never experienced a museum like the Wagner Museum anywhere in our lives. And we really have been to a lot of museums, in Germany, Europe and also in the USA. And this was the freakiest experience we've ever had. By far. Fortunately, we had decided to come in civilian clothes and without costumes. When we took the first pictures of Wahnfried's outdoor area, we could already feel a museum attendant looking out of the window. So we dutifully showed our pre-purchased combined tickets in the entrance hall. ‘If you still want to see the „other“ museum, do that first. It closes at 12.’ ‘We've already been to the Liszt House.’ ‘...’ (WTF?) ‘Would you like an audio guide?’ ‘Gladly.’

‘We'll need your ID or driving licence as a deposit.’ We look at each other. Has there ever been a museum where we had to leave personal IDs as a deposit? Nope. The first exhibition - costumes and props - is in the basement. Everything is black. On the wall is a gallery of all the conductors who have ever conducted Wagner operas. Of course Franz and Hans von Bülow are missing, I say to Lacelove. We are alone in the room. A museum guard approaches us from the other side and says: ‘I'm sure you've noticed that a few conductors are missing here. The women (!?), for example, especially the lady from Sydney. (?) The collection is currently being digitised. Until then, the collection will remain as it is.’ Okay. Okay. He sends us on to the ‘Mensch Wagner’ exhibition, which is located in an empty corridor with a doorway to the left. It's there so that people outside can't look in. That alone is confusing. And the first thing we see there is this.

‘What you always wanted to say to Richard Wagner.’ LOL. Oh, that doesn't fit on any card. It doesn't even fit in a 3 minute song. And we do it. We tell Richard everything we ever wanted to say. In short form. And - thank God - we're not the only ones. ‘How does it feel to justify every immoral act with moral immunity?’, asks Pauline from Berlin. Hey, Pauline, if you ever read this, please get in touch with us. „RIP, Kitschbrother.’ Or critical questions about anti-Semitism, of which there is NOTHING in this exhibition, by the way, except one sentence. In any case, Richard's parasitism crops up very often, but he was just a little scoundrel. Uhu! Er hatte viele Schulden und er liebte alle Frauen!

And now it gets really weird.

Over to Wahnfried. Via a lift, all in black, with buttons that look like they're from a James Bond film. There are only the options ‘Wahnfried’ and ‘Below’, but maybe there's a secret swastika key that leads to the Führerbunker. We don't know.

  The lift ends in a black corridor with two corridors to the left (please take a look at the video from our post today and hear us laugh) and right. One of them ends in a Wagner bust and you are selectively bombarded with Wagner pieces. If there's anything more German than that, I don't know what it is.

At some point after this ghost ride with a lot of Japanese tourists nearby, you arrive at the ‘real’ Haus Wahnfried. And, God, @franzliszt-official , how nice it is to see your face. Please save us:

 

But everything in Cosima's parlour is covered with white cloths. Even in the library. Or under very important glass domes. Drama, baby. And I keep thinking: Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham would have touched herself for this:

 

Very important information on the first floor. Or not....

 

And, of course, Crazy Fritz is presented again:

 

 

And there are always museum guards everywhere. You're not even allowed to laugh. And we often laugh. This is a serious subject. A mausoleum of art. We feel like we're in a tomb that must be a tomb all the time. With all its German seriousness. So serious and arrogant that it's ridiculous.

At the end, when we go to collect our bags, the museum dude from the conductor's room stands in front of us again. ‘Have you looked at everything?’

‘Yes, of course,’ we say.

‘What did you like best?’

‘The library,’, says Lacelove, without batting an eyelid.

‘Did you look at all the books?’ (YES! LAME! Like we don't look at all the books...)

‘Yes, quite a few standard works.’ (Love you!)

‘More than that! Didn't you look on the right? The books on mythology! He read in 4 languages! And what he didn't understand, he had translated! Amazing, isn't it?’

No. Pretty much standard back then. And every humanities student today works with 4 languages. Can we please talk about what kind of cosmos Franz Liszt already had in his mid-20s without much schooling? No, we can't. Then we won't get our IDs back. And anyway....we shoot the rest of our video at home. Really. 

Weimar. I am really sorry, for every rant we have made about you so far. We love you. Please take us back.

And, @chopinski-official , if you ever talk to Wagner again...this is his heritage....

[saints-who-never-existed]

Hello! Hope all is well!

Did you ever find out more about the preservation process of the Peglar Papers? I've been looking into it recently, as well, but all I've found is elusive at best. Aside from one inconclusive Netherclift also linked with the Victory Point Note, most names that pop out during the search focus more on the skelleton and the pocket-book's interpretation :/

Best regards, wish you the best in this bit of research!

Hey there, mate! Hope all is well with you too, whoever you are! :D

As things stand, I haven't been able to find out any further information about the conservation of the Peglar Papers, no.

That's in large part because life has gotten somewhat in the way for me and I haven't had sufficient time to devote to any proper research these past few weeks.

But even before that point, I seemed to have reached the same impasse that you did - finding some information about this mysterious Netherclift figure and the Victory Point Note, but little beyond that. As you say, all information out there really does seem to focus on the discovery of the skeleton and on attempted decodings of the Paper themselves, rather than on their conservation.

I think perhaps I might try to enquire more directly for information from the National Maritime Museum in the near future, though I truly don't know what information that might actually yield.

I have a suspicion, from examining all the digitised images of the Papers, that the conservation work undertaken on them is really quite historic, and what that may mean is that said work was not well documented (as is often the case with conservation treatments of the past).

But then again, I could be entirely wrong, and no one will be more delighted if that's the case than I will!

Do keep me posted, anonymous friend, if you do have any breakthroughs in the near future. :)

[my-deer-friend]

Good luck on your source-finding journey friend! I am so interested in the process of tracking down sources and documents, but I've never done it before. Can you explain your process or do you have any tips?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask. This is not a research guide, just some pointers I've found useful (as someone trained in other forms of academic research who learned how to work with archives).

First things first – forget google. Google scholar is decent for tracking down secondary academic sources (though hardly comprehensive), but with a few notable exceptions, archive databases that hold primary source materials are not indexed on normal search engines. Instead, you need to spend some time finding the repositories where your sought-after documents are likely to be, and then running your searches inside those.

The one thing google is useful for is to see if someone has already gone to the trouble of formally publishing the documents you're looking for. You'll want to search for things like "papers of...", "correspondence of...", or "writings of...". If you get a result, see if you can find that book on google books, archive.org, or at your local library (definitely don't check on libgen, because downloading a free book would be bad and awful and terrible of you 🤫).

These collected editions are not always reliable (especially older ones, since there was a lot of gratuitous editing going on). So, to be rigorous, you still want to see if you can find the actual, original source.

The easiest starting point for tracking those down is to find a secondary source that has already done most of the work for you. A reliable book or academic article will cite its primary sources, which should include which archive or collection the author found the document in.

If you are immeasurably lucky, you will find that respoitory online, and it will have a fully-digitised collection their holdings, and a reliable, searchable index based on keywords and transcripts. In that case, just type in your search term and enjoy.

(Note: the search functionality on these sites is often very wonky. Always try several versions of your search term, and play around with the filters and boolean operators.)

But those sites are rare. If you're less (but still a little bit) lucky, you'll find an academic institution or research archive that has at least published a document called a finding aid. There should be one for each grouping of documents in their holdings (for example for one historical figure's papers, or for a specific bequest) which gives a summary of the contents and is used for on-site tracking of the physical items (these will have call or accession numbers, location of the documents, etc.). Finding aids vary immensely in quality and level of detail ("miscellaneous other papers" my behated).

If you do indeed find a record for something you want to look at (and it hasn't been digitised), you need to figure out the process for requesting the document. This varies hugely depending on the institution (with differing lead times, querying methods, fees, limitations, and ensuing publication/reproduction rights) and is virtually always explained somewhere on their website. Mostly, they'll ask you to complete a form, or to send an email following a template. Don't expect a quick reply, and don't expect digital copies to be free.

Of course, this all presumes that the instituton that holds your materials 1) has a website and 2) has actually put useful things on it. Sometimes, you just need to enquire. I followed up on a footnote I saw in a hundred-year-old book that gave the location of some letters, found the local town library that was mentioned and emailed them about it. (Yes, they had them, and the librarian I corresponded with was simply delightful and very eager to help.)

Be courteous and clear when you email these folks. They will almost always want to know your name, your contact details, a clear description of what you are looking for (the more detail the better), a summary of your research project, and whether you intend to publish the documents you are requesting – so save a few back-and-forth emails by providing that information upfront. They are very happy to answer requests from independent or hobby researchers, so don't let that hold you back.

The least helpful of all, in my experience, are holders of private collections. They simply don't have any incentive to take time out of their day to help you, and usually aren't trained librarians or archivists so they don't know what they have, or where it is, or how to give you access. (I tear up sometimes when I think of all the documents that are lying in some manor house attic, because someone forgot they were there or thought no one would be interested.) Sometimes they will respond (eventually) to an email query; often it's just a black hole.

I hope that helps! In all frankness, much of this is dull, repetitive work that all-too-frequently leads to dead ends (but it's so good when you succeed). Persistence and patience are key.

[wilteddreamsofbaldursgate]

2. Writing Set Up: Where to Write Your Draft

Before you even start writing, you’ll need to find a writing program/medium you feel comfortable working with. 

I promise you—from start to finish—you’ll look at your draft for a couple of hours at minimum, so I suggest you choose a program/medium that aligns with your individual needs. Now it’s time for you to identify what those needs might be. 

Here are some options:

Creativity strikes while you’re cuddled up in bed or on your commute to work? 

Try writing on your phone/tablet (unless you’re the one driving, of course!)—you can use pre-installed apps like Pages (iOS) or your Notes/Memo app. You can also download free writing applications like Google Docs. Google Docs works on and offline on basically any mobile device, which is great for when you’re on the go! 

You prefer writing/typing on a computer? 

There are many desktop writing programs like LibreOffice (free for Windows, Mac and Linux), MS Word (needs to be purchased/subscription-based), countless online text editors or the browser version of Google Docs. 

You need to physically feel the words flowing through your body? 

Well, imagine you’re a classic author and write them down by hand on generously perfumed paper (preferably with royal blue ink)! Of course, you can also use Post-it notes or that coffee-stained notebook from 2013. Regular paper will do, too, though it’s obviously not as cool. 

Of course, there are many more options to choose from, but since you’re just starting out, I suggest you try free and more readily available programs first. Everything has its pros and cons, but digital writing is generally pretty clean-cut and saves you the trouble of digitising hand-written drafts (which you’ll need to do if you want to share your writing online! Unless you want to share scans of your beautiful handwritten writing, of course!). 

But before you settle for one (or more!) program/media of your choice, you might want to consider a few things: 

Is your writing easily accessible to you? → Can you add to your draft whenever and wherever creativity strikes? 

Does your writing program save your progress automatically? → You don’t want to lose hours upon hours of work because you forgot to save your progress! 

Is your writing secure? → Is your writing uploaded to a cloud? Will you still be able to access your writing if your computer crashes or you lose your login data/ phone/notebook? Can you easily create external backups of your files?

It really doesn’t matter what you need to write down at this early point. Be it an idea, rough outline, dialogue, stream of consciousness, mind map or a finished draft—you just want your entire writing process to happen in a secure, accessible location that you feel confident working in. There is no perfect writing program; whatever program works best for you is the best program for you! 

For example: 

I almost exclusively write on Google Docs since it meets all my personal writing needs: It’s a free cloud service that syncs my files all across my devices (phone, laptop, tablet) regardless of where I am. It has an intuitive interface with all the basic writing/formatting tools I need. 

Once a month, I download my most recent drafts as “.docx”-files and back them up on an external hard drive—so even if I can’t, for whatever reason, access my Google Docs account, my files are still secured in a different location. 

Sometimes, I make use of handwritten notes, too—though I keep losing them or can’t decipher my handwriting…This seems minuscule or even funny, but it’s hard to come back to an idea when you’ve literally lost the physical manifestation of it! 

Next: The Idea: Coming Up With and Developing Your Idea (with examples)

Masterlist

[archandshri]

22nd March ‘24 - [arch] Mad About Munch, Warm-up sketches and daaarknesss???

Good evening, Shri! I forgot that it is Friday, but at the beginning of writing this, I have an hour and 27 minutes until Friday is over, so I WILL be on time!

Wow, like a lot has happened? But I also don’t have tons to show for it. (it’s because I’m working on cool secret project that I’m not allowed to talk about which is fun!)

Stuff i have been doing

Museums :0!!!! I have been travelling and in my old age apparently, I like old art now???

Gathering a lot of reference images - photos, but also general inspiration

Finally organising my digital space a bit! I backed up like 3 years' worth of Procreate images and cleared out half my iPad

Getting some of my sketchbooks, especially comic development, digitised and onto Google Slides! I follow a similar process to when I was at uni still, with a huge PowerPoint for a project that contains reference images, inspiration, plot bullet points, and links to google docs where I write the scripts, development sketches and finals. It makes it super easy to go back to important parts of the development and be reminded of things I might have lost in the development process

Warm-up sketches because you bullied me into it (affectionate)

Continuing to explore colour

2 things I would like to tell you more about: 1) Edvard Munch!!!!!! If you ever get the chance to visit the Munch Museum in Oslo, do it!! I hadn’t seen a whole museum dedicated to one guy before, but seeing so much of his work in one place, in person really helped me understand it better. They also had a fantastic audio tour to rent that made it super accessible. I had just come from thinking about colour last week and becoming more comfortable with darker colours, and I had been thinking about personality and narrative in settings and backgrounds - both of which he does really well. In particular, The Sick Child, Eye in Eye, and The Sun stood out to me.

2) Play. AGAIN!!!!! I feel like I’m constantly having to fight myself, reminding myself to let go, play around, and explore without the expectation of a final outcome. You told me to try some 20 min warm-up and cool-down sketches - which I’ve been doing and has been going great! They’re not all perfect and aren’t supposed to be, but I’ve also had some really fun outcomes that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I also feel like I’m getting more of a grip on colour :0

Plus, I’ve found that I haven’t wanted to post my terrible sketches or even my better ones?? Which has been nice to make without the need for sharing. However, I have found myself craving a final image to share with all of Tumblr and Instagram, thinking of possible images that would do well on those platforms. I think there is a small part of me that wants to create those because it would be fun, but I think it’s mostly to fix the number-shaped hole :/ Hank Green made a good video which mentioned the fact that platforms are EXTRA BAD with teaching creators to be addicted to them, even more so than consumers. Video here. It’s good.

I was listening to the Imp and Skizz podcast earlier (Episode - Rendog pt 1), it’s a great podcast, they chat about Hermitcraft a bit but mostly about what being alive is like and being a creator, I really recommend them too. Anyway, Skizz said he was once told to ‘create videos that he wanted to watch.’ And I think it’s a good approach to have when creating. What do I wanna see/ read?

I would love to chat to you about the balance between dark tones and silliness in storytelling too, but it is 11pm and I do have to get up early tomorrow. Plus, I’m not sure I have enough thoughts yet. But for now, it’s left me thinking: what do I want to make? Am I campable of silliness in stories? I want to tell stories with an undertone of darkness, that discusses difficult themes, but how to we do that while keeping it entertaining and not just Too Much(™)?

I dunno, just thoughts I’ve been having. I wanna get them down, even if I don’t have any solutions yet. In the meantime, please accept these sketchbook pages in lieu of philosophical answers. 

Thank you for listening to my rambles once again!

Love <3 Archie

Ps. I saw Frozen the musical and it was Very Sibling, and I cried. It made me think of you and I think you would like it (it’s only a bit different to the film but it makes such a difference omg)

[startreksetplans]

Voyager and NX plans for the Archive - coming soon

Recently managed to buy a large stack of plans from both Voyager and NX Enterprise. We have:

Voyager 32 sheets

Bridge [partially scanned and uploaded - in progress]

Ready Room [scanned and uploaded]

Conference Room

Mess Hall

NX Enterprise 22 sheets

Bridge [scanned and uploaded]

Ready Room [scanned and uploaded]

Launch bay

Stage 18

Transporter Corridor

Armoury [scanned and uploaded]

Engineering

Warp Core

The plan is to take them in batches to a scanning shop (with a large enough scanner) and get them digitised and uploaded to the Set Blueprint Archive

This process is going to take some time as I have to travel a fair bit to the shop (it is a city away), so its going to take at least several weeks if not more.

I will announce when each batch is scanned and uploaded.

Looking forward to seeing what fan art and fan films are made with these plans as a starting point.

[evoblue]

It’s been difficult to stay away. As soon as he had arrived home to be met with silence and irritation from Blue, the more he wanted to talk to her and be in her company. He had worked for many things in his life—his skill in battle, his knowledge of pokémon, the Battle Tree. And such experiences were being met here.

He had only come by his grandfather’s lab to drop off his results for a particular experiment they was running. He had thought it would be a quick visit: he would say hello, check in, then fly back out. However, he had found Blue there. He had immediately abandoned his initial expectations, deliberately dawdling how long he would be there so at some point, the woman would be forced to at say more than a few words to him.

Green had situated himself in the lab, busying himself for the last two hours by helping to digitise reports, check samples, feed the pokémon that remained there. It had been little to nothing so far, but his efforts were not to be in vain.

The two of them were now in the library. He stood upon a ladder to push some books back into the shelves which were handed to him off a cart by Blue. “I need you to take this one back for a sec,” he says, pushing the book back into her arms. His eyes were not on her, instead focused on one of the covers. The corner had bent upon beginning to be slotted in between two other books and ever the perfectionist, he retracted it immediately so he could push the one he was holding without damaging it. He took a further step upon the ladder and push his fingers against the corner carefully. It was soon flush against the dark wood of the shelving.

Green nodded slightly as a way of acknowledging his own work. He glanced at Blue and offered his hand out. “Book?” he asked. His eyes remained on hers, and cool expression taking upon his face. He moved to return to the original step he had been on, but upon moving his foot down, it had slipped. His hazel eyes widen as he had leaned too far now in the direction of Blue when he went to transfer his weight. He raises an arm to help brace the fall, and the skin lands upon the opposing shelf. Blue had landed beneath his form, and his shaking gaze met hers from mere inches away.

He was not physically on top of her, Blue pushed against the wall and looking up at him, him half standing clearly caught in trying to stop himself from falling. He stares at ber, clearly shocked, and it takes him a few seconds, a beat too long, to realise.

His breathing was calm and quiet, relishing in her stare, before he blinks and pulls back slightly.

“I… Sorry.”

When she had stopped by Oak's lab to deliver some parcels for Rowan, she hadn't expected to run into Green.

Viridian is just a stone's throw away from their tiny little hometown, so it's not ridiculous, but she always figured he'd be too busy with his duties, focused on himself and his own things... or Red. That is, unfortunately, the Green she best remembers.

The Green that made her feel invisible.

Maybe that's why she can't bring herself to quit giving him the cold shoulder, even as they maneuver around each other while they help Oak in the lab. There's no reprieve from the tension hanging in the air. Wherever she goes, she feels like he's simply there... Is he doing this on purpose?

Eventually, there is but one task left to help the good professor, and one that will most efficiently be completed as a team, so she bites the bullet. She works well in tandem with Green, alphabetizing books on the fly and handing them to her old rival so he can slot them into their proper spots on the bookshelf. He seems engrossed in this task, almost dutifully so, and she finds herself sneaking a glance over at him when he returns one of the books back to her, knowing the chance of their eyes meeting now is close to none.

Oh. Her lips part slightly in quiet surprise. She's spent so much time being cross at him over the last few months that she hadn't really taken the time to look at him but... Green's changed a lot. Gone are the soft lines of his face and ever-present sneer, replaced with sharp angles and gentle eyes unfitting of the hot-headed rival of her past. Green has the kind of face that stops people in their tracks. He'd be so soul-crushingly handsome if she didn't know him to be so arrogant and self-absorbed...

'Book?'

Blue startles at the sound of his voice. She suspects that she might have been caught staring but says nothing, aiming to keep a calm exterior as she holds out the thick volume she'd been cradling in her hands—

—Mew, it all happens so fast.

Her eyes widen as Green suddenly loses his footing, his body lurching toward her. In a rustle of pages, the book she was holding ends up gods know where as her back hits the wall, her rival hovering dangerously over her.

Her pulse spikes as she realizes just how close they are.

Cobalt blue locks on warm hazel, wide from shock, and her breath hitches. They both remain painfully still for what feels like far too long, long enough for her to notice his stupidly long lashes and the flecks of green in his honeyed irises. Her lips part, forming around the shape of his name when he suddenly straightens, putting some much-needed distance between them. She takes the opportunity to look away.

"I-it's fine. Not like you planned to do that... Are you okay, though?"

That could've been a nasty fall if he hadn't caught himself.

@wishmcker

[sirfowlman]

Digimon World lore & a crackpot fan theory about digital humans & Digimon Adventure

Ordinarily, I wouldn't bring up any fan theories or any connections between the World & Adventure; other than they shared some locations, like File Island. Then I found out that, storywise, Digimon World 2 was indeed a sequel to Digimon World 1 (thank you, Wayneisboss) & that DW & Adventure were pulling some ideas from the franchise's early lore but obviously went in different directions.

This fan theory came rushing through my head as I was watched the aforementioned Wayneisboss' review of Digimon World 2. Sorta like this!

You know those abandoned human objects & buildings that were strewn about in the Digital Worlds of DW1 & Digimon Adventure? In Digimon World, these items were confirmed to be abandoned by humans from Earth that were trying to colonise File Island. For one reason or another, a schism broke out between humans & digimon, which resulted in the humans fleeing the island.

In DW2, all of the humans (including our playable character) were revealed to be the descendants of said human survivors that fled File Island. The survivors had went on to settle the Folder Continent & had built Digital City.

Now on to Digimon Adventure. What if something similar happened to their Digital World? What if humans also tried to colonise Adventure's Digital World at some point, but failed? Though unlike their DW counterparts, the majority of them were wiped out, leaving only various man-made objects, autonomous vehicles, empty buildings, & perhaps a few survivors like Gennai, his clones(?)/kin(?) & NotKen McPedo the Mysterious Man, who were digitised at some point.

I think some other Digimon media have featured similar stuff, but I only singled out World & Adventure as they're the most familiar to me. There are also other digital humans similar to Gennai, but their origins are quite varied. From androids, to A.I.s, to digital clones.

Okay, I think that's enough theorizing for one day.

[airadam]

Episode 181 : Still Rollin'.

"Come on and give me my props..."

- Diamond

Fifteen years! We started this ride in June 2009 and here we still are all these years later. Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you'll stay with me for as long as I'm able to keep putting these shows together. The point of this podcast has never been to prioritise new releases, or to only ever look to the past, but a blend of the two. With that in mind, this month's mix certainly has some old personal favourites, a sprinkling of new music, and some obscurities and rarities! Listen, enjoy, and please do spread the word as widely as you can - as I always say, I have a lot of things, but no advertising budget 😆

I was racking my brain trying to come up with cover art that would reference the theme of fifteen...then realised that the infamous "4, 5, 6" combination sums up to that very number!

Mastodon : @airadam@mastodon.me.uk

Twitch : @airadam13

Events : events.airadam.com

Playlist/Notes

The Thryday : Fantastic

The album this was ultimately released on is only available for silly money on the second-hand market, but at least I had this from an old mixtape ("WJLR Radio, Volume 1") to share with you! The Dutch master Nicolay is on production for this North Carolina group who were part of the Justus League family and appreciated by those in the know. This same beat, with the same name, is also on Nicolay's "City Lights" and the "City Lights 1.5" version, but with the rhymes that elevate it so...much harder to get!

[J Dilla] Jaylib : The Red (Instrumental)

You already know! One of the best-loved instrumentals from Dilla's post-Slum career - certainly if the reaction when I drop it in a set is anything to go by - and one that will move your speakers for sure. The original is from the famed "Champion Sound" collaboration between Dilla and Madlib, where each rhymes over the other's production, and now the full set of instrumentals is available, making the deluxe release a 100% must-own.

Jigmastas ft. Mos Def, Mr. Complex, Pharoahe Monch, Shabaam Sahdeeq, and Talib Kweli : Lyrical Fluctuation Remix

This is a true all-star MC roster from the late 90s-early 00s independent scene, with DJ Spinna of Jigmastas on remix duties, bringing a different vibe to Joc Max's original, based on crazy short chops of a classic soul sample and having them cheerfully bounce along. I only got this 2000 release in the last few weeks, but have already played it on Twitch, digitised it, and am now sharing its eternally-fresh energy here!

Ghostface ft. Wigz : Outta The Way

"...in the gym throwing the dumbbells all out of order" - disgraceful conduct... Another usage of the same sample from the "Lyrical Fluctuation" remix, this Anthony Acid beat is more straightforward, with Ghostface and Wigz busting through with the energy of two guys rushing a bank! This was one of the standouts on the 2005 Ghostface and Trife "Put It On The Line" LP, though not released as a single despite the potential.

Mobb Deep : Feel My Gat Blow

The soundtrack to the Saul Williams-starring "Slam" was very much a mixed bag in the vein of many 90s-00s soundtracks, but certainly had a few standouts and otherwise-unreleased cuts from some greats, of which this is one. Havoc's beat sounds like a mix between a medieval court and 90s NYC, and the lyrical content is trademark Mobb.

Redman : Winicumuhround

As much as I love Redman's "Dare Iz A Darkside" album (which, notably, he doesn't - reminds him of a bad time), I had all but forgotten about this track until I pulled the vinyl out for a front-to-back listen recently. Erick Sermon and Redman combine on production to have this one thump along with a killer bassline-lead track, and Red is in fine form on the mic. With the voice of the late Hurricane G appearing as part of the densely-packed hook, this is a Def Squad heater for sure.

Pete Rock : Death Becomes You

Definitely one of my favourite Pete Rock beats of all time, but we had to wait a long time to get an instrumental! The original track was on the soundtrack for the 1993 classic "Menace II Society", but it wasn't until the 2019 release of Pete Rock's "Return Of The SP1200" album that we got this version. Absolutely flawless in the sense that there's not a single thing, as a listener or a DJ, that I would have wanted him to change. 

Roots Manuva ft. Big P, Blackitude, Fallacy, Rodney P, Skeme : Witness The Swords

I'd be willing to bet that while most listeners, especially in the UK, will be very familiar with the classic Roots Manuva single "Witness (1 Hope)", most won't know this! It's a blend of the lyrics from "Swords In The Dirt" from Roots' second LP "Run Come Save Me" and the "Witness" beat, from the same album. As far as I know, the only place to find this one is the 2002 "Extra Yard (The Bouncement Revolution)" compilation on Big Dada Records, which is worth picking up for some quality UK cuts.

Big Boi ft. Cutty : Shutterbugg

As a photographer, I really should dig this one out more! Big Boi co-produces with Scott Storch on this single from his solo debut "Sir Lucious Left Foot : The Son Of Chico Dusty", which was actually a much bigger hit in the UK than in the US, where it somehow didn't even break the top 50 in the R&B charts. It's a hectic-sounding track which unexpectedly takes a sudden quiet break in the second verse - and it's at that point that we move along...

Stro Elliot : Soul II Stro

...and so we move with a quick transition into another track that not just references but heavily samples the classic "Back To Life" by the UKs own Soul II Soul, a Stro Elliot workout that's just undeniable in its groove. The samples of Caron Wheeler's vocals haunt at times before coming firmly into the foreground, while the drums and bass thump along with an accompanying keyboard line. That Stro Elliot sampled that 1989 classic on his self-titled LP twenty-seven years later is a testament to the power of the original.

Kokane ft. Lil Half Dead : Ghetto Music

When I saw the garage-filmed (high-quality though!) video for this, I kept waiting for the rapping to start - but nope, this is just a funk product from start to finish which, as the track says, will make you want to move! Despite "Da White Album" only being released in 2022, it was apparently recorded back in the early 00s while Kokane was working on Dr. Dre's "2001" LP but shelved for over twenty years. It manages to sound vintage P-funk, 90s G-Funk, and modern all at the same time. Kokane is a real "if you know, you know" artist who has been putting in work for many years, has collaborated with almost everyone you can name, and keeps on bringing the heat!

[Erick Sermon] Tha Truth : Red Lights (U Gotz 2 Chill '96) (instrumental)

If you know me, you know I love Zapp and Roger Troutman, which means that EPMD's classic "You Gots To Chill" single is a firm favourite. On this R&B single from Tha Truth, who only released one album back in 1997, they came out of the gate strong with Erick Sermon on production, reprising his sampling of "More Bounce To The Ounce" and even throwing in the "chill" sample from his original beat. Shout out to DJ Melo D of Beat Junkies, who was the only person I've heard playing this and the one who told me (on Twitch) what it was!

Diamond D, Sadat X, and Lord Finesse : You Can't Front

A great album cut, loved by those in the know, taken from the early 90s classic "Stunts, Blunts, and Hip-Hop". Buckwild and Diamond's production is both clean and still vintage SP-era magic, with Diamond also grabbing the mic to spit a verse between two other greats. Sadat X was the perfect choice to go first, with his unique tone drawing you in immediately, and Lord Finesse brings it home strong.

Common : Dreamin'

For those that have missed the early chatter, here's a sample of the upcoming Common and Pete Rock LP, which promises to channel the specific forms of energy that each artist brought to their 90s work. If this beautifully-produced tale of a dream of a walk with Black greats both living and transitioned is anything to go by, we're in for a treat!

The Kid Daytona : Fly Lullaby

A deep cut from the 9th Wonder production discography, working with a loop that Pete Rock teased us with between tracks on "The Main Ingredient". The Kid Daytona is definitely a grown man now, but this was an early release from the Bronx native on his "The Interlude" mixtape from 2010 - where every track sampled some kind of intro or interlude from another Hip-Hop track. This is exactly the kind of overlooked track I like to throw in for anyone who might have missed it!

Dogg Pound ft. Snoop Dogg, RBX, and The Lady Of Rage : Who Da Hardest?

A grand reunion - would have left it to the last song as it is on the new Dogg Pound "W.A.W.G" album, but it fit so well here sonically that I changed my mind! For a coming together of West Coast legends, the biggest surprise is them bringing DJ Premier in on production, and maybe the most welcome is the featuring of The Lady of Rage, who has been a universally-loved MC since her star turn on "Afro Puffs". It's pretty long, but there's no instrumental outro and I didn't want you to miss out any of the MCs, so you get the whole thing here!

Terrace Martin & James Fauntleroy : Butterfly Effect

"Gotta stop taking life advice from songs" - I'd say that was good advice, but then that's also what you might call a circular problem! We go fully chill at the end of this section, with the undeniable and unmistakable voice and vocal production of James Fauntleroy alongside modern jazz legend Terrace Martin with a track from their joint "Nova" EP.

Marco Polo : Yung Feathers

The man from Toronto with a trademark bit of modern boom-bap on this final instrumental, a track from his "MP on the MP : The Beat Tape Vol.1" release, a great pickup for anyone who appreciates good Hip-Hop production.

M-Beat ft. Nazlyn : Sweet Love

A big switch-up to end the episode, with a vintage UK track - a jungle remake of Anita Baker's 1986 classic "Sweet Love" with Nazlyn on vocals. Even as someone who didn't like jungle when it first emerged, I couldn't deny this one, an absolute classic reworking. I understand it actually sold well - hitting a high of no.18 in the charts back in 1994 - which goes to show that just sometimes, the public at large catches on to some real quality.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!