#LM Publishers

[jurjenkvanderhoek]

KUNSTENAAR KLEURT EEN ZWARTE BLADZIJDE VAN DE VADERLANDSE GESCHIEDENIS

Keti Koti een gezicht geven. Letterlijk. Dat is de taak die kunstenaar Maartje Jaquet zichzelf heeft opgelegd. Met het boek ALA SMA TORI geeft zij daar vorm aan. Het boek is vooral een herschrijven van de geschiedenis. Want het slavernijverleden van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden is een periode die doelbewust is vergeten. Weggestreept uit het collectieve geheugen. Deze zwarte bladzijde is uit de geschiedenisboeken gescheurd. Wel werd de kinderen op school onderwezen hoe best Nederland was, hoe tolerant en vooral christelijk. Maar niet dat dit zelfde Nederland, handelsgezind als het is, de aanzet heeft gegeven tot het doelbewust verschepen van talloze tot slaaf gemaakte mensen. Nergens in de vaderlandse geschiedenis is dat terug te vinden, althans tot voor kort. Maartje Jaquet probeert met haar boek dit gat te vullen, de zwarte bladzijde in te kleuren.

Keti Koti is Sranan Tongo, de Surinaamse taal, voor ‘de ketens zijn gebroken’. De ketenen waarmee de tot slaaf gemaakte mensen letterlijk aan hun eigenaren en elkaar vast zaten zijn doorgeknipt. De slavernij is onder druk door Nederland 160 jaar afgeschaft in Suriname en op de Caribische eilanden. De officiële datum dat dit plaats had is 1 juli 1863, maar nog tien jaar langer was er onder Staatstoezicht onbetaalde dwangarbeid. Dit jaar 2023 is daarom uitgeroepen tot Herdenkingsjaar Slavernijverleden. Maar al langer vieren de Surinamers en de mensen van de Caribische eilanden de Dag der Vrijheden.

logo Gertie Jaquet

Drie jaar geleden is Maartje Jaquet begonnen met het verbeelden van Keti Koti. Eerst op 1 juli 2020 tekende en schilderde zij portretten van voorbijgangers en feestvierders. Op de plek ging ze en plein air de mensen met pen en papier tekenen, nadat ze deze eerst om toestemming had gevraagd. Later maakte ze foto’s en werkte deze naderhand thuis uit in een schilderij. Op die manier heeft ze een groot aantal personen vereeuwigd. Deze portretten staan alle in het boek ALA SMA TORI, dat zoveel betekent als ‘verhalen van een ieder’. Want naast de portretten vertellen de afgebeelde figuren hun persoonlijke verhaal. In een gesprek met de kunstenaar laten zij openhartig weten wat Keti Koti voor hen betekent. Welke druk het slavernijverleden op de familie legt. Dat dit verleden nog na echoot in hun eigen dagelijks leven. En waarom ze de 1e juli jaarlijks als herdenkingsdag in Nederland willen zien, met een gelijke status als 4 en 5 mei.

De mensen in de verbeelde Keti Koti zijn alle onbekende figuren voor de meeste van de lezers van de uitgave, voor mij dus. Maar door de verhalen die ieder van hen in het boek heeft laten afdrukken krijgen zij een gezicht, letterlijk en figuurlijk. Het zijn overwegend emotionele verhalen, want dit stuk door ons vergeten historie is nog voortdurend levend bij hen. Jaquet beeldt hen in meerdere opzichten sprekend af. Ze weet met pen en waterverf de ziel van de mensen te treffen. Het is een groep mensen die breed lachend het leven inzien. Ondanks het trieste verleden dat hen nog altijd tekent. De families zijn feitelijk ontworteld. Die eeuwenoude roots liggen nog daar in het land van herkomst. Wreed werden de mensen ontheemd en weggevoerd naar onbekende streken. Verhandeld als beesten om voor een hongerloon zwaar werk te doen. Het staat niet met naam en toenaam in de geschiedenisboeken, maar toch is dat zo langzamerhand wel bekende informatie.

Het is een pijnlijke geschiedenis die Maartje Jaquet voor het voetlicht brengt. Op haar manier geeft ze hier aandacht aan, met haar kunst en door de verhalen uit de eerste hand. “Verhalen spelen een belangrijke rol in de overdracht van dat deel van de geschiedenis dat bij mij op school niet werd behandeld. (…) En, hoe confronterend en verdrietig de waarheid ook is, we moeten deze in de ogen kijken. Alleen dan kunnen we samen helen, en kunnen we samen verder.” In het boek kijkt de waarheid mij hoopvol aan. Wordt de waarheid luchthartig aan mij uit de doeken gedaan. Er spreekt optimisme uit de woorden en de beelden, kracht en doorzettingsvermogen. Een volharden om vrij te zijn. Het verbindt deze mensen, omdat ze een gezamenlijk verleden hebben. Zij zijn er omdat hun voorouders hebben overleefd.

Jaquet hoopt met dit boek een steen bij te dragen aan een open en gezamenlijke toekomst, Nederlanders en medelanders. Omdat, zo schrijft ze “wanneer we meer over elkaar weten, we naar elkaar luisteren, we elkaar beter kunnen begrijpen”. Om dit te realiseren heeft ze van ALA SMA TORI niet alleen een kijk- en leesboek gemaakt, maar dit ook zo opgesteld dat het als lesmateriaal op de basisschool in de bovenbouw en in het middelbaar onderwijs gebruikt kan worden. Daarnaast kan ermee gewerkt worden in buurthuizen en bij ouderenverenigingen. Het is breed inzetbaar om gesprekken en uitwisselingen tussen groepen aan te gaan. Een boek voor tieners, jongeren en volwassenen om erkenning en begrip voor de gevoelens die er leven te kweken.

De gekleurde bevolking in Amsterdam Zuidoost is in het boek aan het woord gelaten. Maar de kunstenaar vertelt ook ruimschoots over zichzelf en haar ervaring. Want, naast dat er een legio verhalen van anderen over Keti Koti gaan, is het toch zeker ook haar eigen beleving van en met het verleden, het heden en de toekomst van deze bevolkingsgroep. Het project is begonnen met de enkele portretten die ze drie jaar geleden maakte. In de jaren daarna heeft ze daar vele aan toegevoegd zoals hiervoor beschreven. En is Jaquet in gesprek gegaan met de mensen om meer achtergrond te krijgen. Daarnaast heeft ze van ieder van hen een uitspraak los gekregen, een soort van lijfspreuk, en deze op een lap stof geschreven.

Voor de inkt van het schrift gebruikte zij een grondstof die een persoonlijk belang en lading heeft, zoals tabak, koffie, paarse bramen en lijsterbessen, kurkuma, chocolade, sambal en tomatenpuree. Het maakproces van deze diverse brouwsels staat tevens afgebeeld in het boek. Verder maakte ze van de feestelijke herdenkingen veel foto’s en liet ze de geportretteerden oude en nieuwe foto’s uit de eigen familie inleveren. Al dit fotomateriaal naast de schilderijen en tekstdoeken maakt van de uitgave een kleurig geheel. Even kleurig als dat haar modellen in het leven staan. ALA SMA TORI, Keti Koti verbeeld, is een bijzonder project dat de zwarte bladzijde van de Nederlandse geschiedenis ruimschoots belicht. De nazaten van de tot slaaf gemaakte mensen in het stadsdeel Zuidoost worden ermee in het zonnetje gezet. Het is niet alleen een boek om de herdenking van de afschaffing van de slavernij levend te maken, maar ook een leerboek om het gat in de geschiedenis te vullen. Mede door dit boek kan niet meer hiervan worden weg gekeken. En door de excuses die zijn gemaakt is het onderdeel geworden van onze historie. Maartje Jaquet legt een kleurige steen in de Gran Rio en één in de Nederrijn, zodat het water daar nu andere lopen nemen dan deze voorheen deden.

ALA SMA TORI, Keti Koti Verbeeld. Door Maartje Jaquet. LM Publishers, 2023.

[syrupsyche]

On today's Les Mis Letters:

[psalm22-6]

An interesting letter from Paul Meurice and the rabbit holes it led me down

If you're bored and want something fun/french to read, consider reading the correspondence of Victor Hugo and Paul Meurice. You will find lots of interesting tidbits and really quite touching phrases. Here's a look at just one letter that caught my eye (the above portraits become semi-relevant later). So the letter is undated but contextually, it's from early June 1862. Hugo, in Guernsey, was in close communication with Meurice, in Paris, over the final corrections for Les Miserables and the publication of its last volume. Meurice writes:

Javert Derailed, The Death of Gavroche, The Grandfather, The Passion in the Sewer, the whole drama, the whole volume, the whole poem is splendid. My word! I must straightforwardly decline to express my enthusiasm to you. I would need to have your prodigious execution and your incredible form in order to explain the depths of my feelings. My emotions and my admiration are inexpressable. I can���t understand Barbey d’Aurevilly.* I’ll tell you simply: it is sublime! I cried! You are greater than anyone, greater than yourself!

*The phrase is "Je jette ma langue aux Barbets d Aurevilly." This gave me some trouble to translate. I figured that he is using the expression jeter sa langue au chien (which I gather means something like "I can't guess at",) but replacing chien with barbet, a type of dog that sounds like Barbey, and also possibly making some sort of pun about d'Aurevilly's distinctive barbe (aka beard)? I really thought he might be making a pun about Barbey's 'barbs' (as in cruel remarks, since his reviews were very negative) but it doesn't seem like 'barb' has that meaning at all in French.] Now bear in mind that in this next part, by "volume ten" he means the latter half of Jean Valjean, and by "these last four volumes," he means what we would call the last two, L'idylle rue Plumet, et l'epopee rue Saint-Denis and Jean Valjean

I have only read the first page of volume ten. We are very behind on the assembly, printing, and everything. Yet we will do everything so that it appears on the 30th.

And it was published the 30th! I don't remember rn what was causing the delays but it is surely mentioned in Bellos's book or in Leulliot's.

The effect and the success of these last four volumes will be immense. More irresistible and more unanimous than that of the other parts. Too irresistible and too unanimous from a certain point of view. It offends many people; some critics are cold, though they were well dispositioned before the book’s appearance. Don’t read into it, don’t hear things in these particular silences and particular reluctances: it can be felt, seen, and touched.

Fun to speculate about if Meurice was concerned about a particular person's silence (in which case, whose?) or if it was just in general. Hugo had expressed his frustration over the reception to both Vacquerie and even Jules Janin. I'd have to look over their correspondence again to see what Hugo said in particular to Meurice but he was surely aware of how Hugo felt. OKAY now on to the subject of the portraits, Meurice tacks on this aside at the end of the letter:

I am writing this to you in haste, having let myself run late. Do you remember a portrait of you, full-length, but young, made some time ago by Deveria? The painting is excellent but why! I never knew you like this…This portrait would have belonged to a M. le marquis de Valori! If it is truly your portrait, it’s very strange. You should remember it then. You are seated on a red damas couch. White pants, a small redingote. You are blond, thin, elegant. The person who has it wishes to sell it. She’s asking for 250 francs. Would it amuse you to have it? They’ll want your response at the end of the week.

Of course when I read this I want to know what image he is talking about. I first thought of the image on the left (scroll back up)...the image on the left is a black and white photo of what is presumed to be a portrait of Victor Hugo at age 16 (I say presumed because that is literally how it is described on Wikipedia) (sometimes it is just described as Hugo as an adolescent) by Achille Devéria (although apparently it has been disputed which Devéria painted it?). The original was, supposedly, at some time in the collection of Prime Minister of France Louis Barthou. Where is it now? Perhaps it is in the private collection of Ms Taylor. Can we get a color photo of it? No. Swift. So my mind went to this image because the subject is young, blond, possibly Victor Hugo, and possibly created by Devéria. However, it doesn't fit the rest of the description. Then @pilferingapples kindly made me aware of the portrait on the right. From what I have found online, this one is attribution to Paul Gavarni, although the websites making that attribution are pretty sketch. The portrait was supposedly at one time in the possession of M. le D. F. Jousseaume, a bookstore owner. Where is it now? Also unknown. (The provenance of both of these is kind of sketchy tbh. I checked three books about Hugo that I have which include images (Victor Hugo: A Tumultous Life by Samuel Edwards, Victor Hugo: A Biography by Graham Robb, and Victor Hugo: S'il n'en reste qu'un by Sophie Grossiord, a curator at the Maison Victor Hugo) and none of them include either of these images.) Whatever the case, the image on the right fits the description in almost every way: it is full length (en pied), the subject is young, thin, there's the red seat, white pants, wearing a coat, and he's "blond" by french standards apparently (and consider that this photo may be a bad representation of the portrait). I haven't seen that image attributed to Deveria but it's possible (or possible that Meurice would believe it's possible.) Then there's the question of provenance. Why did M. le marquis de Valori have it and who was the woman selling it? My guess is that the man in question was Henri-Zozime de Valori, a writer who knew Nodier and who died in 1859. He had published a collection called Odes choisies: précédées d'un discours sur la poésie et les poetes lyriques anciens et modernes which was reviewed (by "S.") in Le Conservateur littéraire so he may have been aquianted with Hugo some way?

Anyways, evidently, Hugo didn't want the portrait because he never responded to that part of Meurice's letter and it eventually came into the hands of the bookseller D. F. Jousseaume. And where is it now? No idea! Okay, the end.

[kristipetersenschoonover]

Announcing 34 ORCHARD’s Spring 2025 ToC!

The ToC for 34 Orchard Issue #11, Spring 2025, has arrived! The issue will be released on Friday, April 25, 2025. In Issue 11, twenty-two artists tackle the challenges of “turning over a new leaf.” While the phrase may refer to flipping to a book’s blank page, it makes the work of taking a new direction sound too easy. It’s much more like the leaves of trees in an approaching storm: you’re going…

[the-novel-approach-reviews]

Review: How We End by LM Juniper

Title: How We End Series: How We Survive: Book One Author: LM Juniper Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited Length: 343 Pages Category: Dystopian Horror, Post-Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: LM Juniper metes out the fear in a perfect contrast to the strong emotions that come with loss and a growing bond. I’ll cut straight to the chase: How We End is perfection for…

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Lou Alcott

Yes, you heard me. There is substantial evidence that the author of Little Women was in fact a transgender man! He actually didn’t go by the name that Little Women was published under, with family and friends he would go by Lou, Louy, or LM. His children called him “papa” and “father” and his father, Bronson Alcott, called him his son. He said in 1882, “I am more than half persuaded that I am a man’s soul, put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body.” As a child, he said in a journal, “I don’t care much for girls things. People think I’m wild and queer.” He would pass as a man at masked parties for fun, and delighted in people’s reactions. For his entire life, he expressed this identification as a man, and the character of Jo in Little Women was in part a self insert character based on this. So why don’t we hear about him as a trans man? Well, it’s just not convenient for most people to believe that a beloved book about girls becoming women was written by a man.

[littlemssam]

Patch Updates

As always delete old Mods Files and the localthumbcache, when updating my Mods!

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Make sure to download the updated XML Injector when you Patch your Game!

Patch 1.110.265 Updates (All other Mods should still be compatible!):

Advanced Birth Certificate Anti Heat Pill (Pets) Autonomous Gardening Autonomous go Jogging when Sims are Stressed & Children can Jog too Better Butler (and Hire more Butler) Better Nanny (Second Nanny & more) Calendar Tweaks Carryable Performance Stage plus Sing Songs! Collectibles (Rock Digging) Rework (Slower/Harder) Flea Market appears every Sunday Food Delivery Service Go for a Walk with Cats Healthy Drinks Hire certain Vet Employees Hire certain Sims (incl. Family Members) at Restaurants Housewarming Party (instead of Welcome Wagon) Improved Kids Night Light Improved Practical Spells Kids can go for a Walk with Dogs Let Friends Age Up More Away Actions More Buyable Venues and new Venue Types More Woodworks My Little Neighborhood Objects don't share Inventory Parenting Skill for Teens & more Personal Objects (Computer, Tablets & more) Power Napping on Sofas Pregnancy Overhaul - Pregnancy Belly Part Pregnancy Overhaul - Can do more Part Retail Overhaul - Hire certain Employees Part Retail Overhaul - Go Shopping – More Options Part Sell more self made Woodwork at the Flea Market Sleep In Small Archaeology Overhaul Small Invite to Hang Out Overhaul Teach me the Rumbasim

Random Small Mods

Auto Grab Drink when Eating Purchased Items delievered via Mail Keyboard Piano sounds Copy Graduation Photos and Diplomas Better Power Water Production Higher Skill Faster Candle Making Bouncer Only Homeless Sims Fan Stans Only Homeless Sims New Hug Animation If Confident No Auto Club Gathering (Active Household) Horse Jump Parkour Teen Can Buy Lottery Ticket NPCs Auto Massage & Meditation Vampires No Cold Breath Lower Fire Chance Vacuum Time and Autonomy Changes Release all Ghosts & Get Urn for

Random Bug Fixes

Deliver Baby at Hospital Elevator Fix for Toddler & Pets Murphy Beds Fix Trait Buff Fixes Weather NPC Deaths

Probably obsolete, pls remove and test without it:

Stop Eating Spoiled Food Fix

EA patch fixed that in 1.110.265 "Sims will not eat spoiled food autonomously."

Other adopted Mods

Always keep a Doctor at Hospital Change Into Towel Everywhere Faster Gardening Homework Tweaks Immortality Potion Tweaks Keep Books after Publishing Kiss Neck for Adults More traumatic divorce for Children Play Cards Anywhere Subject Homework Tea for Children Violin & Guitar Bugfixes

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My Site with all possible Download Links: lms-mods.com

Support Questions via Discord only please!

[daedelweiss]

let me be a little transparent to you guys~

my mental health atm is shit. ik i moved months ago but it still hasn't picked back up. i'm sailing through this without the help of a professional (yet) because i can't afford it, my OCD is going nuts, and moving out of a difficult household is rough. i won't get into details because i'd rather keep my personal private but my lack of resources has taken a toll on the production of Life Mission. ik i promised an update but i'm still not feeling great mentally and i want to produce and publish LM when i am in a better headspace. idk when it will be up again. i don't really want to call this a hiatus. it's just a matter of time until LM is back. i just don't know when.

but rest assured it will be back. we will see leo save his brothers. raph's arc is still in productuon. just be patient~ ❤️🧡💜💙✨️

•

if you want to support me and help me set up my office so i can be in a better space to work in, my ko-fi page is in the LM website (l!nked on my bio💖) my set up rn is not ideal for producing LM so setting up my office space would be a huge help~

•

( 🪴 please do NOT repost, edit, trace, use, and/or sell 🪴 )

[daily-rayless]

Anne Shirley and Philippa Gordon from Anne of the Island.

I wanted to play a bit with the idea of Anne going to visit Phil's family and attending a fancy soiree with her. Many (most?) adaptations of the Anne books situate them in the 1900s and 1910s, around the time when they were first being published, and the visuals reflect that. I think we collectively have come to think of the Anne story in the terms of those fashions and aesthetics.

But internal evidence reveals Anne's actually born in 1865, so the first book takes place in the 1870s, and by the time we get to her college years, we're only in the 1880s. So I wanted to show her in that era. Unfortunately for Anne, puff sleeves aren't really in fashion, but I gave her some slightly puffed cap sleeves. I'm sure Phil would make the effort to include them, if Anne really wanted them. Both gowns' designs were inspired by actual 1880s dresses. Phil's was cribbed from a Sargent portrait, as she would probably have an extremely elite wardrobe, but Anne's gotten some lace and fancy draping too.

Also Phil got a brown gown because LM Montgomery apparently loved brown dresses.

[ofliterarynature]

25 books in 2025

Tagged by @bibliophilecats, thank you! Sorry it took me so long, I'm horribly indecisive lol (and @wearethekat I know this isn't exactly what you tagged me in, but here's some books I want to read in 2025!)

Continuing on with my theme from last year, this year I really want to keep my focus on my backlist and tbr, especially those pesky ones that keep slipping away from me despite my best intentions!

The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin (January)

Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee (1/3, April)

Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher

Penric & Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold (5/13, in progress)

The Doomsday Books series by KJ Charles

Feminine Pursuits series by Olivia Waite (1/3, in progress)

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison (March)

The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison

(a book published by Sarah Monette)

The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard

Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu and Mad Rupert

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie

Piranesi by Susanne Clarke

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (reread) (February)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (reread)

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (partial reread)

The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells (March)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (reread)

The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery (March)

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath

Loveless by Alice Oseman

I loved seeing other people break their lists down, so here we have series, new releases, books I own (to be read in print), books I own on audiobook, classics, young adult.

Every time I look at my goodreads tbr list I could find another dozen to add, but it's already February and I need at least half a chance to finish them all XD

[taelophone]

Treat this as an update for the LM “leaking dms” with Max post! As of now, the original poster on twitter and several of you have reached out to tell me the content of the DMs have been fabricated, and max has gone on record to say that their DMs are essentially Luigi telling him to stop being racist/sexist.

While this is good for us, if Max still plans to publish the DMS, that does not change the original posts reminder. Luigi is more than likely a centrist, and IF these DMs do get published, there is still going to be politics and other conversations or takes that make attempt to sway your perception of him. Let me remind you, HIS POLITICS DO NOT MATTER.

He is an innocent man by American law, so regardless of his political compass, we should still respect and support him regardless.

source for max;

[ndconceptarchive]

Her Interactive - Megan Gaiser and Robert Riedl interview for Adventure Gamers

It is somewhat rare to find a full-blown interview from Her Interactive done with a focus on a particular game, but on May 11, 2005, Adventure Gamers published an interview with Robert Ridel and Megan Gaiser done in promotion for Secret of the Old Clock.

You can read it at the link above, or here below. Some interesting notes from this interview:

During Stay Tuned for Danger, the development team visited a local TV station to get references.

Secret of the Old Clock featured Kevin Manthei bringing in live performers instead of the music being mixed in studio.

An explanation as to why the games were made with 2D backgrounds and 3D characters

Some of the background on Her Interactive as a company

Written by Laura MacDonald — May 11, 2005

We have another mystery. The place: Titusville. Nancy Drew, famous girl sleuth, is on her way to see Emily Crandall, an old friend. Emily has inherited the charming Lilac Inn, but all is not picture perfect. Instead, things are terribly wrong, and after receiving a desperate call for help, Nancy is soon speeding along in her blue roadster, blonde hair shining, on her way to her very first mystery.

Wait a minute…blonde hair?…roadster? Yes, you heard right. Unlike the previous games in this successful adventure series, this isn't the Nancy of today -- this is the original girl detective in the 1930s. Nancy made her book debut in a story called The Secret of the Old Clock, and this year, she is celebrating 75 years of sleuthing through danger and mystery. We think that deserves a little extra attention, and who better to talk about all things Nancy Drew than Her Interactive's CEO, Megan Gaiser, and Executive Producer, Robert Riedl.

LM: Hi, Megan. It is a pleasure to talk with you today.

MG: Nice to be here, Laura. Robert [Riedl] is also here with me for the interview. He heads up product development and designed many of our products as well.

LM: Hi, Robert! Megan, I wanted to start by asking you to touch briefly on your background. You started out in documentary film making; how did that lead you into the game industry?

MG: Yes, I was an editor and producer of educational documentaries for 11 years in Washington D.C., which is an interesting background to take into gaming. One of the reasons I wanted to get into multi-media was to get out of the editing room. I was intrigued by the non-linear nature of multi-media. There are also a lot of similarities between creating games and film, which we apply to creating the Nancy Drew games. The content needs to be compelling, with rich character development. The music and the environment all have to contribute. It is this synergy of components that have made the games work and make it easy to become immersed in the world.

As an editor and producer, I became really intrigued with the fact that there are so many different kinds of women. The same should hold true in the games offered to the female market. [At Her Interactive]... we are always saying there needs to be as many types of entertainment for girls and women as there are preferences. They tend to stereotype and pigeonhole women, which is why there's always been such a struggle to prove this market. Which is kind of ridiculous, because we're, you know, half the population. They target females for books and music, so why would they stop at computers?

LM: I know Her Interactive started independently, then you signed with DreamCatcher. Later you pulled back out and signed what looks like a one-game deal with Atari. Then you went the self-publishing route. I noticed a few retailers have Atari listed as your publisher. Are you still self-publishing?

MG: Just to back up on the story, we published our first Nancy Drew game in 1998. We had taken it to all the publishers and they said, "No, we aren't going to take it because all females are computer-phobic and they will never play video games."

They all thought there was no market for females in the interactive arts and entertainment media market. We were at a critical point as a company and we believed in our game. So, we decided if we can't get in the front door, we'll go around the back. We went to Amazon, learned how to self-publish, and the games took off. A high point was when the NY Times called that first game the "Un-Barbie of computer games." After that, our games were awarded consecutive gold Parents' Choice awards. Suddenly, those same publishers came back to us wanting to sign a retail deal. In 2000, we signed a publishing arrangement with DreamCatcher. Two years later, we made the giant step of becoming the retail publisher of our own games. That was the key right there, and was a huge step for the company. We selected Atari as our distributor.

LM: So you used them as a distributor only.

MG: That is what they are this year as well. We haven't changed that. We are still the publisher and this is a continuation of that same arrangement.

LM: Nancy Drew has appeared in books, but under a different character name, in countries other than the U.S. She has a similar fan base there as well. Have you considered selling the games in those countries?

MG: We actually have. She is the most popular in Sweden, where her name is Kitty Drew. In France, she appears as Alice Roy. We are speaking with people about localizing the series to France right now. We are doing one territory at a time, because the cost of localization is so high. Before you put resources and money behind localization, you want to make sure the move makes sense. France will probably be the first, and then Sweden.

LM: I know it is the 75th anniversary for the series, which began when The Secret of the Old Clock was first published in 1930. I assume that is why you are doing a classic Nancy Drew mystery and using the very first one ever written as the inspiration for this game. For that game, how did you handle the time period? Where did you go for your research, and what did you look to for inspiration in recreating the 1930s world of Nancy Drew?

RR: Like we would do with any character, we do a lot of research into the geography, into historical aspects. We would go to the library and get visual references there, as well as information on the era. We try to go to locations, as well, that we can use as inspiration for puzzles or content. For example, with Stay Tuned For Danger, we went to a local television station and got reference material from there. We always try to give a really good sense of the era or the locale. Not only with visual aspects, but the language, scenes, puzzle content, etc.

LM: Are you using the same source for your music?

RR: We are using Kevin Manthei, who has been our composer ever since the first installment. For this title, he brought in live performers.

LM: The music for this game will be recorded live instead of being mixed in the studio? That's great. Any chance of a music CD available from the game?

MG: We are looking into that!

LM: On the other upcoming game, there has been some mild confusion about what it is called. What exactly is the title of the upcoming Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew game?

MG: Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon.

LM: Will the Hardy Boys be physically present in the game?

MG: Yes, they will.

LM: Will we play multiple characters or as Nancy Drew, in first-person only?

RR: Stay tuned! [laughter]

LM: Okay, I can see that information isn't for public consumption yet. When can we expect to see these two new titles released?

MG: The Secret of the Old Clock is scheduled to ship in late July this year, and Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon is scheduled in late September.

LM: You have always tweaked your games a little bit; experimented here and there. You also started having some "actiony" feeling moments or more dynamic timed challenges in them. Are we going to see challenges like this, and possibly a bit more of them in the Hardy Boys game?

RR: We always try to challenge our players a little bit with each new game. So we will venture out and mix it up a little bit, so it doesn't feel stale or formulaic. We are trying to do something a little bit different and see how it goes, and also improve upon the product as well. Because you may have a good idea, but you just have to get it right.

LM: Blackmoor Manor had a more non-linear flow to the gameplay than previous games. Are we going to see this model of gameplay repeated in either or both of the new titles?

RR: It is purely a style preference. We have different designers coming into play and marketing has different requirements. In Curse, for example, we wanted it to be really challenging. What is the mood; what are the five main elements we want to convey with this game, and then that dictate our choices in all aspects of the gameplay. Complexity of puzzles, narrative, the locations... how we treat the location. Is the emotive component light or more intense? Is it a gothic horror or is more of a caper? And it is nice to do this, so we have a mix. We want people to be surprised by the title. So they think "wow, this has a feel of novelty."

LM: How do you decide what the next title is going to do?

RR: It is really the lead designer's responsibility and choice on how they do that. Everyone does give input. The designer will say, "I am going to choose the next game. Give me input as to what you would like to see in environments, type of artwork, and the particular era." We get these parameters and people will give out titles. There are certain perennial titles that come up every time we look at the books. The lead designer will read through a lot of stories. Everyone in the office will have their favorite(s). The designer will also have his or her favorite. Then we have a meeting with our advisory panel. We will say, "Okay, pitch an idea, come to the meeting with a book that you think would be really neat." From all that, we whittle it down to one selection. We take the top five choices and submit them to Megan, marketing, and the lead designer. Also, what we have done in the past affects the choice as well.

LM: That makes sense, to guarantee a mix of the plots from game to game. I know you have a teen advisory board that you use in-house. Who is on it? How was it formed?

RR: They are local, but we do have some who are out of state. We sort of advertise it on our site. It is comprised of about 40 people. They correspond roughly with what our current market is. So 30% are adult women. We also have some men and boys on it, as well. I see them as almost another department of our company. It has become a source for inspiration and ideas.

LM: About your publishing schedule, it seems like you keep to a very steady routine of two games each year -- the summer being Nancy Drew lite and the fall title providing the more challenging experience. Any intentions of expanding the production past these two games a year?

MG: We are looking to expand the product offering with another series of games. We are in talks with a couple of different licensors and we're on the verge of making that step.

LM: Any hints in what direction this is?

MG: We can't discuss it in more detail until it's a done deal.

LM: While some developers have made the move into 3D, you have made a design choice to stick with 2D backgrounds and 3D characters; the so-called 2.5D look. Why is this?

RR: The original impetus for going into 2D backgrounds is you get a lot more detail out of the artwork. Even now, when you are in a 3D world, you can't get that same detail to the environment. Also the type of play lends itself better to the 2D environments, because in a 3D world it is all about movement. Action or movement is a very important component to the gameplay. You are running away or you're chasing something. In our games, our players say they like to kind of graze. They like to take their time without feeling pressured. They want to amble about in the environments and explore. They want to become totally engrossed in the environment. So for that reason, we went with 2D and continue to use it. The other problem is that 3D doesn't actually work with this sort of gameplay and our market. Those that have gone with 3D, there is a lot of backlash against it. Broken Sword 3, URU… I just don't see the benefit to going to a 3D engine at this time.

LM: E3 is on the horizon next week, so I wanted to ask you about that. I noticed that the German equivalent in Liepseig has a much different approach than E3. They have a much more family-focused presentation vs. E3, which is pretty wild and woolly and at times seems more of a industry party or club mentality. I wanted to toss out a quote from a recent article on the show in LA and get your reaction.

"E3 should be about innovation; it should be about the games. Let's make sure the voice E3 is supposed to promote is not lost in the fury of silicon and peep shows."

Any reaction or thoughts on that sentiment?

MG: Actually, it is interesting you brought that up because we have been kicking it around here. The issue of responsibility for the content of games we develop is getting a lot of attention.

RR: I think E3 has gotten a lot better. GOD (Gathering of Developers) no longer has the lesbian nuns across from Staples anymore. I kind of have mixed feelings. On one hand, our hardcore gamers are young men and a lot of the content caters towards them. I think that's okay. There are other things being pushed at E3 like the Nintendo display and the various attendees located in Kentia Hall. Those guys can't afford the booth babes and there's a lot of interesting things going on down there. Sometimes you can find a gem in the rough.

MG: All I can say to that is tradeshows -- any tradeshow -- are all about glitz and over-the-top showboating. And we're in the entertainment industry! Pair that with the fact that this industry has historically been male-dominated, and I don't think sexism is any surprise. I will add this. We're seeing a steady increase in the amount of women playing games, creating them, marketing them, and producing them. As the ranks fill out with women, sexism will ebb off as this industry continues to become more gender-balanced. However, creativity is the great equalizer. Girls and women provide a fresh perspective and generate entirely new parameters for creative development... Listen to them.

LM: I couldn't agree more! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with all of us at AG.

MG & RR: Thank you, Laura, and all the adventure gamers for your continued support!

[free-luigi-mangione]

According to Dickey, his manifesto isn’t a separate piece of paper at all, it’s a part of his notebook. The guy who leaked the manifesto claims it was in an envelope separate from the rest of his notes. Either way, three pages can be explained away.

The issue is that his notebook supposedly contains details of how he went about planning it. This is where the dating comes in, because if he’s writing back planning for months it shows premeditation which screws him over under both stalking and terrorism charges. They might not be able to validate 100% of it, but they don’t need to. They just need to prove the important parts. For example if he detailed plans of how he went about printing the gun - if they find a delivery for the silencer he ordered on the same date, if they find traces of him downloading the design on any of his systems on the same date, if they find some record of him using a 3D printer on the same date. It is incredibly risky for them to do this instead of just faking only the manifesto.

Again, I’m praying for him to walk free (as blunt as I might sound) so I hope that the Feds have already leaked the worst of the notebook. But if there’s more, and if it’s traceable in any manner, he truly is toast. The longer the premeditation, the longer the sentence they’ll gun for.

Even if they do manage to get a neutral jury, we need to keep in mind that between BT’s murder video, his autopsy, pictures of his dead body, his children’s impact statements, the jury might feel that LM deserves some level of punishment and unfortunately that “some level” is a minimum of several decades by law. A notebook with homicidal, ruthless rambling during what was certainly a dark period in his life is really going to fuck his case over.

wait where did the envelope come from?? i've never heard about that until now :O

i understand what you're saying and i am genuinely not arguing with you, what i find so surprising about this is why would the authorities not release all of it or any of it?? why would the alleged notebook and the alleged feds letter be released on a substack by an independent journalist who very rightly claims that mainstream media did not publish the whole thing despite knowing its contents and happily quoting parts of it?? what exactly are they afraid of?? also is there actually any more to it?? or are they trying show the public that they're doing a great job?? and that their charges are not flimsy anyhow?? and if they do in fact have more to release in front of the jury, why go and release the alleged feds letter on documentaries in an attempt to deliberately taint the jury?? i have so so many questions about their behaviour and i feel like they'd probably go completely unanswered anyways.

also nah you don't sound blunt about wanting him to walk free. most of the people following the case feel that way. and i at least feel no remorse or shame about that and i cannot think of any time when i'd regret feeling that way.

also wait, the ceo's kids can speak in court??? that's something i didn't consider either :O what are they going to say anyways?? we lived with our mom and we're adults/almost adults and dad was a heartless murderer of thousands through his perfectly white collar job and ohh he also frequented strip clubs and yeah mom and dad were still married at the time of his death and we think he's a hero?? anybody with a thinking brain would understand that guy (and his pals too tbh) was a devil walking on earth.

i genuinely hope evidence gets thrown out and the jury thinks very selfishly about what would help themselves and use their hearts while judging Luigi and let him walk. if i were a juror, i'd be sitting in the courtroom with my ears shut, i couldn't care less what the prosecution wants people to believe now or during the trials.

[obsidianpen]

So I get different headspace but hear me out: I won’t even offer u sexual favors in return for ur writing (lowkey was whore behavior hermione would be disappointed) um ur writing is the greatest thing I read ever read. I think u should be published everywhere. I tell my friends “oh have u read obsidianpen” and they r like bitch is that another fanfic writer. U r my queen u r my god and I hope u have the greatest life. With that being said lm a little upset with u bc never in my life did I consider reading harrymkrt, halfway through b and g while im waiting for an update im like oh lm gonna go see what she has going on. Now im obsessed with a 70 year old man fucking a green eyed bitch and I don’t even know what to do abt it. If ur not gonna update no glory can u PLEASE PLEAZE PLEAZE give me a little snippet. Love you the most!

(Hermione might not be that disappointed she’d hoe out for more reading material) but lollll ‘is that another fanfic writer’ 😂😂 no obsidianpen is my natural born name, how dare they mock me. And I’m not upset even a little bit, welcome to harrymort, you thought tomione was dark? You let me know once you’ve stumbled upon a fic where Harry is forcibly impregnated with snake monster eggs because Voldemort was just fucking bored, wondering why you even clicked on that despite the tags at three in the morning on a Tuesday, then you’ll really question your ao3 experiences 😂 gosh I’ve been here too long

[mariacallous]

A Mayan city lost in the dense jungle of southern Mexico has been revealed. The discovery occurred in the southeastern state of Campeche, and archaeologists have named it Valeriana, after a nearby freshwater lagoon.

“The larger of Valeriana's two monumental precincts has all the hallmarks of a classic Mayan political capital: enclosed plazas connected by a broad causeway; temple pyramids; a ball court; a reservoir formed by damming an arroyo (a seasonal watercourse); and a probable E-Group assemblage, an architectural arrangement that generally indicates a founding date prior to AD 150,” says the study, published in the journal Antiquity.

The city's discovery didn't require breaking through the jungle with machetes or patiently excavating with brushes and spatulas. Nor did researchers need tape measures, binoculars, or compasses to find their way through the thick foliage. Instead, they employed state-of-the-art technology: lasers, drones, and satellite maps. With these tools, they discovered a city hidden for centuries beneath the thick Mexican jungle, unearthing pyramids, enclosed plazas, and an ancient reservoir.

Luke Auld-Thomas, an anthropologist at Northern Arizona University, made the discovery. His analysis revealed a huge network of previously unexplored settlements.

Auld-Thomas and his fellow researchers have succeeded in mapping the city beneath the jungle thanks to airborne laser scanning, better known as lidar (light detection and ranging), a remote-sensing technique that uses pulsed lasers and other data collected through flyovers that can generate accurate three-dimensional models of surface features, revolutionizing the way archaeologists explore the hidden past.

Laser pulses generate a topographic map in a manner similar to how a bat uses echolocation: Laser light is fired from an aircraft, bounces off objects on the ground, and returns to the detector located on the underside of the aircraft. In Mexico, although only a small fraction of the pulses pass through the dense jungle, the large number of pulses emitted allows enough light to reach the ground, creating a map with a resolution of up to 1 meter. Based on the timing and intensity of the returning pulses, the detector can map the contours of the terrain, revealing hills, ditches, and ancient ruins covered in vegetation. The technology is also being integrated into autonomous cars to help them avoid crashes.

“For a long time, our understanding of the Mayan civilization was limited to an area of a few hundred square kilometers,” Auld-Thomas says. “This limited sample was obtained with great effort, with archaeologists painstakingly scouring every square meter, hacking away at vegetation with machetes, only to discover they were standing on a pile of rocks that might have been someone's house 1,500 years ago.”

While Auld-Thomas knew that lidar could be a valuable tool, he was also aware of its high cost. Funders are often reluctant to invest in lidar surveys in areas where there is no visible evidence of Mayan settlement, despite the fact that this civilization reached its peak between 250 and 900 AD.

Campeche: A Center of Dense Urbanization Since the Mayan Era

In this case, the lidar data was originally collected over a decade ago, for completely unrelated purposes. The scans were completely in 2013 by the Mexican firm CartoData, using a Riegl LMS-Q780 sensor. Processing was carried out by the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), and the data was made publicly available a few years later by the M-REDD+ Alliance.

The dataset includes three transects and three study blocks. The transects have an approximate width of 275 meters and a total length of 213 kilometers, covering an area of 58.3 square kilometers. The survey blocks cover a total area of 64.1 square kilometers, distributed in three locations: south of the town of Xpuhil, near the archaeological site of Río Bec; near the villages of Dos Lagunas and Bel Ha; and near the town of Ucum, in northern Campeche.

The study mentions that the analysis of 6,764 structures in the lidar data blocks reveals a settlement density of 55.3 structures per square kilometer, comparable to other research in the region. These data are useful for assessing settlement density on a regional scale and exceed values recorded in Belize and Guatemala. However, they do not provide a complete picture of the level of urbanization, which requires analysis of local variability and density gradients. For this purpose, a kernel density estimation was applied to the study blocks, the results of which are consistent with the densities recorded in other Mayan archeological sites such as Oxpemul and Becan.

Archeologists in the 20th century were correct in stating that the interior of Campeche is a substantially anthropogenic landscape, i.e., human-modified, with urbanized areas where rural populations interacted with dense cities. Settlement density data, ranging from 49 to 61 structures per square kilometer, indicate that cities and dense settlements are common in large parts of the central Maya lowlands. New discoveries, such as the city of Valeriana, reinforce this view, showing that urbanization was a widespread phenomenon in the region.

Archaeologists increasingly recognize that the world's tropics and subtropics hosted a wide variety of urban forms in antiquity. Many of these settlements followed a pattern of spatial dispersion, commonly called “low-density urbanism.” However, it is now being recognized that these urban landscapes were not uniform, but exhibited significant variations in settlement density, both within and around cities and between subregions.

At the same time, the growing body of research has revealed a greater abundance of settlements and cities than had previously been contemplated. This has generated a tension between two developments: On the one hand, the recognition of high variability in settlement density and, on the other, evidence of a more densely urbanized past than previously thought.

Although lidar was developed in the 1960s to study clouds and atmospheric particles, its application in archaeology is relatively recent. It was not until the last decade that archaeologists began employing it to unearth hidden landscapes. In 2009, archaeologists Diane and Arlen Chase of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, pioneered the use of lidar to map a Mayan city, revolutionizing the way ancient civilizations are detected and studied.

According to the study, some researchers argue that the discovered landscapes reflect a high population density, while others suggest that the surveys are biased and overrepresent the most densely populated areas. This leaves open the question of whether as yet unexplored areas could confirm the existence of a higher urban density or show less dense occupation.

[iilmunchkiin]

𝚆��𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝙴𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

Name: LM

Gender: Demigirl, responds to she/they/it

Age: 18 years

Notes: Entity will bite you as a greeting, wear protective and thick clothing when handling LM.

Danger level: Some content they make contain dark/triggering themes, suggestive undertones and gore. Continue with caution.

𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚜

#LM art #iiLMunchkiin: Entity's drawings

#LM animation: Entity's animations

#LM whispers: Entity's thoughts

#LMcore: Posts the entity relates to

#Gifts for LM: Art made for the entity

𝙴𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚐𝚜

August 20,2024

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛…?"

Drawing Program: Clip Studio Paint Ex

Drawing Tablet: Wacom Intuos BT M

Brushes: Answered an ask about this.

Date of Publish: 4/29/20XX

File number: XX

Unrestricted access to this document will result to a FINE and IMPRISONMENT depending on the degree of offense: Leaking government files, selling controversial data, vandalizing existing data. etc.)