#mainframe chic

[pepryll]

visualiser for an upcoming exhibition: un/real (2024)

decided it was time to put my idea into something more tangible than the notes app, at first i was leaning toward more mid-century futurism but i rarely stick to an initial plan

[cocaina-kiyori]

♡✩ 2286✩♡ par Cσkɑïηɑ 🐼 Via Flickr : ❥ #Niko* Faina Locations Tres Chic maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tres%20Chic/53/131/74 Comment Event Opens: 19th january to 10th Feb ❥ #*ZEROICHI* GLASSES FP package Mainframe event maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mainframe/128/20/26 ❥ #KNIFU. Tarot Gauges *MAN Cave** Opens Jan. 17th ** maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Match/171/128/46 ** Tarot Gauges - Unisex - Texture Hud - Swallow XL& S Mod/Copy/ No Trans. **KNIFU Socials linktr.ee/knifu666 ❥ linktr.ee/alessiakiyori

[askoverlordvox]

Vox can't help but smile. It's been impressive, watching Angel Dust not only stand up to Valentino but rebuild himself in such a way. A lot of Val's formerly held souls were lost without the big bastard moth to control their every move; seeing Angel step into the void he left and do so with such class was rewarding, in a way. Val might've gotten Angel back under his thumb if Vox hadn't abandoned him when he did; Vox's leaving drove Val to... well... he never was particularly good at thinking through his most impulsive actions.

The question pulls his back from those memories and he sighs. "As well as could be expected. We've got some new developments coming down the pipe. The NV-U is preparing to launch; it's like the V-watch but more chic. Apparently, most people aren't a fan of having a screen that looks like my face strapped to their wrist, so we've redesigned it a bit to be more functional."

He winces. "I've got a meeting with Carmilla scheduled in a month but... I might have to cancel. I was originally going to attend with Jenn but I don't want to push that line just yet. Plus, Carmine's liable to rip my throat out on a good day; if I'm not at the top of my game, I'm not leaving that meeting in good condition. Assuming Zestial doesn't convince her to cancel first."

Vox shakes his head and sighs heavily. "I've got a lot of work to do. I'll probably... take some time in the mainframe. Get my head right or just get some work done. Maybe in between all that, I can figure myself out a little more."

Angel’s phone buzzes.

Angel. It’s Vox. I need somewhere to just… be. Five minutes. You don’t have to say anything.

Please

((@askoverlordvox))

C’mon over. Sheets are clean. Room is mostly clean.

Angel sets his phone in the center of his bed and rolls off, opting to stand by his vanity to give him privacy if he needs it while still not being caught by surprise if he tries anything. He doesn’t think Vox would, but enough time with Val will teach you not to trust… well, anyone really.

[carleybenazzi-blog-blog]

7.95

  BODY SKIN  | Tres Beau Makeup – Aurelia HEAD | Genus Project – Genus head – strong face BODY | Studio Exposure Makeup– Legacy applier (New) HAIR | Stealthic – Verge braid OUTFIT TOP | United Colors – Leyanahall Wedding Dress – NEW! ACCESSORY | LYBRA -02 Helmet -black – NEW@Mainframe Event BACKDROP | Minimal – Light Room Backdrop -2- @Kustom9

[locktobre]

also s/o to the last anon i got before turning my whole ask off for 6+ months who asked how mattel is racist even tho I was literally posting about bpa and johan at the time so it was obvious and also that's not even the first (or last) time mattel, as a company, has had racist media and/or dolls (the freak du chic/haunted/great scarrier reef clawdeen wolf dolls come to mind immediately but I know there are way more examples).

also later on post-ask close I checked the tag to see if I was still really the only one talking about the racism in bpa bc I just can't leave shit alone and I see an anon asking a different blog if bpa is racist bc they asked someone else and didn't get it or something like that. yes I saw that and it couldn't even be funny to me bc I just don't get how anyone can watch the movie and just not get the implications of a country called Johanistan being taken over by a white girl and this being seen as right. I know barbie fans are young but you can't be that young if you are here on tumblr dot com.

but bc I’ve been away for awhile and I’m still pissed about this I will oblige this evening.

let’s start with just the fact that this unseen kingdom with a brown guy ruling it is called Johanistan. just that fact alone. I know how barbie kingdoms are named, I have made a list of them, and fun fact, 14 out of 32 end in the generic latin/greek suffix -ia, which is commonly used in english and also scientific naming. the only one to use -stan is Johanistan, for the kingdom of an antagonist. it stands out immediately, mostly bc the -stan suffix is persian and commonly used in central and west asia. altho Floravia is explicitly in the mediterranean so idk what business they have in central/west asia? I mean why are they in conflict with Johanistan at all? why does Johanistan have to give up its sovereignty and its own monarchy to join with Floravia? this is never explained or even touched upon, but I mean... aren’t the implications pretty bad?

I know this may seem like making out of a molehill, and so what about the kingdom names, and so what if Johan is brown, it doesn’t mean mattel is racist! except movies have to go thru so many layers of approval and development, and apparently, nobody at mattel (or mainframe, the animation studio, altho idk how much control they have) thought to stop and say, Hey, maybe we shouldn’t have our first brown antagonist be the antagonist bc he doesn’t want his kingdom taken over by a white girl over an ill-defined historical conflict between their countries of Johanistan and Floravia. nobody thought to say that, apparently! or if someone did, it didn’t matter bc the movie came out like that anyway!

and BPA came out in 2020. the same year that mattel put these two statements on barbie’s instagram in support of BLM (in may and june), and had Nikki on barbie’s vlog to talk about racism (in october), and also started developing Brooklyn (I assume, given the second statement). so like, sure they can do stuff like that, but they can also be casually and thoughtlessly racist and ppl just give them a pass bc they don’t even recognize it. but I mean, I feel like it’s pretty obvious if you think about it critically for even a minute.

this doesn’t even get into the broader problems in BPA, like the fact that Amelia has no personality or ambition, and she’s queued up to be queen but doesn’t really want the job... and somehow Johan, the ruler of the other country she’s about to take over, can’t take over her country instead bc...? he’s mean? I guess? bc he would be bad at ruling? even tho we are given no indication that Amelia herself would be good at ruling, since again, she has no personality and in fact expresses that she doesn’t like royal life multiple times... but Johan is mean so he can’t have anything. even tho. again. Amelia doesn’t even want the job and we have no reason to believe Johan would be incompetent. so the historical conflict leading to this stupid arrangement isn’t fleshed out, and neither is the current conflict. like the whole plot of BPA is trash even without the racism, like if Johan was white it wouldn’t be a racist movie but it would still be a mess bc nobody at mattel can write anymore. but whatever I’m getting off track.

tl;dr you can argue about whether the treatment of Johan/Johanistan is racist or not but you have to at least acknowledge that it’s weirdly racialized for no fucking reason and that does not help an already stupid and half-assed plot.

[oldhead-blerdette]

Punk in Media Pt 5: Cassette Futurism

Cassette Futurism/Formicapunk is another of my favorites and is often described as “mainframe chic” with clunky, geometric technology with either loud bright colors or plain ones. Most works take on the mid-late  '70s, '80s, and '90s. I personally like to include Vaporwave as part of the aesthetic, though it emerged in the 2010s. 

When trying to pin down cassette futurism, I think VHS, cassettes, Polaroid, radios, and retro gaming systems. Mostly cassette futurism is the aesthetic of outdated technology in a neo-world. Sometimes its future technology in an outdated world.

I don’t have many sources to give you on this one unfortunately. Though I’m sure you’ll do some research of your own.

Comic:

Paper Girls

Television:

Battlestar Galactica

Movie: 

AKIRA (アキラ) 

Book: 

Back to the Future by George Gipe

For More on the Subject: 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CassetteFuturism

http://formicapunk.tumblr.com/

https://io9.gizmodo.com/12-futuristic-worlds-where-everybody-uses-obsolete-te-1646690502

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Kickstarting an antifascist cyberpunk RPG

Game designer Chad Walker is crowdfunding his latest game: SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists, shooting for USD10,000 in pre-orders to produce "a cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game about ethical insurgency against a fascist regime, taking place in a dystopian vision of 1980's America."

$16 gets you a PDF, $28 gets you a softcover rule-book; $37 gets you a hardcover. Walker has previously fulfilled his RPG kickstarters, making this a probable good bet for getting what you pay for.

SIGMATA takes place in alt-1986, before the Internet was a thing, and at a time when less than 10% of American homes possessed a computer system. The retro technology of the 1980s is full of constraints that make for exciting stories about Resistance organizing; from seeking a payphone in a dangerous rural environment, to smuggling floppy disks of mission critical data through Regime checkpoints, to infiltrating corporate facilities in order to access room-sized mainframes, to recording amateur VHS videos of Regime atrocities and playing them on public access cable channels. The Resistance must organize using payphones, dial-up modems, bulletin board systems (BBS), floppy disks, pirate radio broadcasts, photocopied zines, and word of mouth, all while avoiding Regime forces using technology, influence, and intimidation to hunt them down.

As a foil to SIGMATA's dark political vision, the game delivers a satirical take on 1980s media, fashion, pop culture, and consumerism, complete with all the embarrassing chic, uncritical jingoism, and style-over-substance cool we've come to expect from 1980s period pieces. Expect playful nods to the 80s film that inspired this setting, including Robocop, Red Dawn, Terminator, War Games, Escape from New York, and Videodrome, among others.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/02/alt-1986-resistance.html

[rpgsandbox]

"SIGMATA: This Signal Kills Fascists" is a cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game about ethical insurgency against a fascist regime, taking place in a dystopian vision of 1980's America.

Players assume the role of Receivers, the superheroic vanguard of the Resistance, who possess incredible powers when in range of FM radio towers emitting a mysterious number sequence called "The Signal." When the Signal is up, Receivers lead the charge against battalions of Regime infantry and armor or serve as the People's Shield, protecting mass demonstrations from the brutality of a militarized police force and neo-Nazi hooligans. When the Signal is down, however, Receivers are mere mortals, desperately fleeing from a powerful state that senses their weakness.

It's called the Sigmata, a Signal-induced stigmata, because it is a both a blessing and a curse. At least when you're marked by the state, you can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.

Two Receivers storm a Regime fortification, bullets bouncing off of their cybernetic flesh.

Regime propaganda, McCarthy's vision of an America under siege by the Interior Threat.

SIGMATA takes place in a dystopian vision of America where fascists have taken control of the government. The Regime fosters white supremacy, religious bigotry, and Cold War hysteria to turn America's fury against already marginalized populations, all while plundering America's coffers and thrusting the country into pointless proxy wars all over the globe. To punish internal threats to "Real America," the Regime rewrote the U.S. Constitution to establish the Freedom Fist, a complete merger of military and law enforcement, which dutifully executes the fascists' national program of mass incarceration and deportation.

Freedom Fist regulars protecting the State from the People.

The communities targeted by state violence have begun to fight back. The Resistance is bolstered by an unlikely alliance of radical Leftists, right wing militias, Christian extremists, and wealthy entrepreneurs, whose grievances with the Regime overpower the seething contempt they have for each other. As linchpins of the Resistance, the Receivers must take great pains to prevent the alliance from fracturing. If they allow ideology to trump strategy, the factions will fall back on their worst tendencies, handing the Regime the political victories it needs to maintain a stranglehold on the people.

A Resistance SysOp performs reconnaissance on Regime BBS systems using her blazing fast 300-baud Haze modem.

SIGMATA takes place in alt-1986, before the Internet was a thing, and at a time when less than 10% of American homes possessed a computer system. The retro technology of the 1980s is full of constraints that make for exciting stories about Resistance organizing; from seeking a payphone in a dangerous rural environment, to smuggling floppy disks of mission critical data through Regime checkpoints, to infiltrating corporate facilities in order to access room-sized mainframes, to recording amateur VHS videos of Regime atrocities and playing them on public access cable channels. The Resistance must organize using payphones, dial-up modems, bulletin board systems (BBS), floppy disks, pirate radio broadcasts, photocopied zines, and word of mouth, all while avoiding Regime forces using technology, influence, and intimidation to hunt them down.

As a foil to SIGMATA's dark political vision, the game delivers a satirical take on 1980s media, fashion, pop culture, and consumerism, complete with all the embarrassing chic, uncritical jingoism, and style-over-substance cool we've come to expect from 1980s period pieces. Expect playful nods to the 80s film that inspired this setting, including Robocop, Red Dawn, Terminator, War Games, Escape from New York, and Videodrome, among others.

Mechanically, SIGMATA is a hybrid of a traditional role-playing game and a narrativist story game. There is a game master (GM) involved, but players will be doing most of the storytelling. Players make decisions about what tactics and powers their Receivers employ during structured scenes of combat, stealth, and intrigue, but who gets to narrate the outcome of decisions depends on how well players do on their dice rolls. When a dice roll is required, a player rolls a combination of D10 and D6 dice, depending on her Receiver's four processors (i.e. Aggression, Guile, Judgement, and Valor), hoping to get a result of 6 or higher on each die. The more successes a player rolls, the more control she has over the outcome in the story space. Rolling a single success permits her to narrate a story of marginal success, complicated by an element of tension or stress that the GM contributes to the story. Rolling several success permits her to narrate a story of dramatic success, emphasizing how skilled, strong, or courageous her Receiver is, without input from the GM.

A Receiver uses the Wrecking Ball subroutine to channel the Signal into superhuman strength.

Players aren't just rolling dice for a chance to own the story; they are playing to win. Scenes of combat, intrigue, and stealth are structured in a way where each player needs to manage a resource called exposure. Exposure represents danger; the danger of getting caught during a stealth scene, the danger of getting injured during a combat scene, or the danger of being outed as a Resistance spy during an intrigue scene. Each turn, the GM makes moves to increase the Receivers' exposure. In response, each player selects a tactic, allowing her to either increase the enemy's exposure (cautiously or recklessly), reduce her own exposure, or reduce the exposure of one of her allies. The end result is exciting stories told with a narrativist approach, influenced by a tactical resource management mechanic that emphasizes risk/reward and teamwork.

Of course, this is a cyberpunk genre game as much as it is a period piece, so Receivers also rely on superheroic powers (subroutines), performance enhancing cybernetic modules (blade servers), iconic equipment (peripherals), and the evocation of fallen comrades (memory) to press through their most challenging ordeals against the Regime.

SIGMATA also features a strategic meta-game that charts the Resistance's progress in toppling the Regime, based on real counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine. The Resistance's efforts against the Regime's military forces mean nothing if they are not also winning over the local population and the international community. The strategic strength of the Resistance not only tracks campaign progress, but influences the strength of the Signal, which the Receivers rely upon to fuel their most dramatic abilities.

As an artistic work, SIGMATA attempts a merger of the gritty, cyberpunk styles of Akira with the vibrant colors and action-figure motifs of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons (e.g. G.I. Joe, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc.), all executed by the mighty Ario Murti. With Ario as the game's sole illustrator, expect maximum consistency and continuity of setting materials, quality, and mood.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Thu, December 28 2017 11:46 PM UTC +00:00

Website: kickstarter

[spectrumscribe]

Can you tell me more about your tmnt crystal gems au? Like gem placement, headcanons, just whatever you feel like sharing! I really loved the fusion posts and I've been thinking about the AU a lot I lowkey (highkey) want to draw some fan art whenever you get around to telling us about the designs a bit! You're super talented keep up the awesome work!!

Hello! It took a while to get back to this bc I hadn’t quiteworked out the gems for everyone. I have now, though! Because you reminded meto, lmao. also if anyone wants to get technical about the meanings or whateverof the gems I picked please don’t, I’m a lowly fic writer and did minimalresearch and don’t care to get super deep about things, thanks.

Alright, so I wrote that one ficlet a while back about Donnieand April, and they were the only two I had for sure down with what gems theywere. (I’ll recap them tho, in case folks missed it.)

Donnie = Purple Pearl.(because of reasons.) Gem placement is his forehead.

April = Yellow(or was it gold?) Tourmaline. Gem placement is her hip.

Raph = Pyrope.Gem placement is the back of his right hand.

Leo = Blue Iolite.Gem placement is between his shoulder blades.

Mikey = Jasper.(like, similar to canon Jasper, but smol like Amethyst ended up.) Gem placementis his chest, also like Amethyst.

Casey =(tentatively, may change if I feel like it) Onyx. Gem placement is his leftpalm.

Splinter = Fireagate. Gem placement is the same as Mikey’s.

They essentially move from planet to planet once the whole crew is together and have interstellar travel once again, staying outside the range of the crumbling empire’s reach, but mostly hang out on one specific planet that’s got very little sentient life on it. Very relaxing for a collection of people who really need to calm down sometimes. except Casey who is raring to go any time all the time and needs to be stopped

And here’s some descriptions and stuff, because hell yes I’d love fanart pls and thank you:

Donnie: He is thelankiest fuckin Pearl you will ever meet, tall as hell and kind of maybeashamed of that. Like, garnet type tall or something. Red eyes, which stand outweirdly against his color scheme. He’s this pastel purple nightmare, and has along gauzy see-through skirt type deal with shorts underneath; you know, pearltype chic. Long hair, usually in a braid that goes to his midback. Coloring….Uh, probably pale purple for the shorts and shirt, lavender purple for theskirt, and dark purple for his shoes. They are ballet shoes. He will break yournose with said shoes if you antagonize him.

April: On theshort side, not overly big but pretty thick regardless. She was designed for war after all, not forcourt regality. Standard pants plus sleeveless shirt dealio. Something close toJasper’s in SU canon, but more yellow/orange color scheme. Her hair is likeTMNT canon, and her eyes are blue. (which has ~significance~ for reasons.)

Raph: short,stocky, power house build. Taller than Mikey by a small margin. Light reds anddark reds are his color scheme, with black boots. Hair is short and dark andspiky on top, p close to being a mohawk. Green eyes, bc it’s my AU I can dowhat I want. (his reason for being ‘wrong’ or whatever shall be revealedlater.)

Leo: a slimmerbuild than Raph, more appealing to the upper castes to look at and be around. (It’sall about appearances with court gems)He’s designed for both combat andaesthetic, would’ve been a high class guard, maybe even captain of said guard.(except the whole desolation of the empire happened and that didn’t work out) Darkblue and darker blue for his hair and skin, and purpley toned light blue forhis clothing; plus black shoes.  Navy blueeyes obvs speaking, and I imagine his hair to be very short. Close croppeddealio. (similarly to Raph, his reason for ‘wrongness’ will be revealed later)

Mikey: evenshorter than Raph, and the same type of power house build. Basically has thesame color scheme and Jasper in SU canon, though his hair is less flowy andmore curly. Kind of coily? If that makes sense. Blue eyes obvs, but other thanthat he resembles canon Jasper/Amethyst strongly. (y’all can probably guess hisbackstory already)

Splinter: tol. Holyfuck so tol. He was a general of sorts in the empire, and a very high rankingone at that. Body type is like his canon ratdad self, and his robe dealtranslates into this AU too. Honestly he just looks a lot like Hamato Yoshi didas a human. Same sort of dark red color scheme too. (bleh, boring, on to thenext one who is not)

Casey: skinnymotherfucker, about the same height as Donnie, and the most ‘metal’ gem to haveever come into existence. His clothing is a mess of whites and greys and black,mostly because he ended up coming out of the ground… kind of wrong? His gem hasa shard of foreign material in it, so while he’s still perfectly good in afight, he’s not entirely a gem and thus didn’t stick to the physical design hewas supposed to. He also popped out of the ground without a lick of knowledgeabout the empire, or gems, or even who the hell he was, so he never took thename Onyx. He’s always just been Casey, and he was raised up with verydifferent ideals than what other gems got.

Anyways. Bandanna boy looks like this scruffy skinny thing, andtends to change his outfit every time he regenerates. (which is often. because he’sCasey and he is always getting intotrouble.) dark grey skin, and black hair, etc. Canon him, but worse, because he can regenerate himselfand his weapons as many times as hewants. Cue endless chaos.

 —-

Uh, as for headcanons, I guess I’ll give an assortment ofrandom things I have in my head about this AU:

-Donnie doesn’t like sleeping. He says it feels weird and isuncomfortable with being unaware of his surroundings.

-Casey and Mikey are the only ones who eat food regularly. Everyoneelse either partakes on few occasions, or outright refuses because it’s gross.

-Leo has a vintage collection of sci-fi comics and books,and adores them, despite having… actually lived a sci-fi adventure… literallyhis whole life…

-how each of the boys, and then April, took their new nameshad to do with the books and bizarre timekeeping policies that came from adistant planet that Splinter found at one point and became taken with.

-Raph keeps pets, but not often, since he outlives them alland it feels like they die too quickly to make the pain worth it.

-when they found him, Mikey hadn’t ever met another gem. It was…an experience. For everyone involved.

-the first time Donnie met Leo and Raph, he kicked Raph hardenough he fell down a cliff. Then Leo too. That was also an experience foreveryone involved.

-gardening is a hobby everyone eventually gets involved in.Since the planet they spend the most time on is mostly uninhabited, they cancreate enormous gardens and come back in a few years to see how things haveprogressed. The perks of living extremely long lives, am I right?

-fusion is an iffy subject at first, because everyone isstill shaking off the old social ideals of the empire, but eventually itbecomes a very regular occurrence. The first ones to fuse are Leo and Mikey,because of a dire situation. I haven’t decided their fusion gem quite yet, but I’llget to it.

-no one is sure why Casey’s weapon is a hockey stick, or… all that clear on what that really is… but thatdoesn’t stop Casey from using it in battle. And during their down time. Andpretty much constantly.

-Donnie gets reunited with an old, dear friend at somepoint. It’s an important reunion, since this person helped him find theconfidence to own himself, and belong to no one.

-April’s past is something she keeps hidden for a longwhile, until they find a ship that has information in its mainframe about her,and what she was designed to do…

-sleeping piles happen multiple times, okay? Even if somemembers of the pile don’t actually sleep during it.

 —-

That’s about it for now. I should get back to this AU, sincea lot of it is really wholesome and full of friendship things, and a lot moreof it is about insecurities and hidden pasts and self-image issues. All things Iadore. :3c

[carleybenazzi-blog-blog]

7.44

BODY

SKIN  | Tres Beau Makeup – Aurelia BoM for LeL

HEAD | LeLutka  – Fleur 2.0 (NEW!)

BODY | Studio Exposure Makeup– Maitreya applier (New)

HAIR  | [monso] – Lalisa hair – NEW@Kustom9

OUTFIT

DRESS | ISON – michelle dress – Saturday Sale 7/25/2020

ACCESSORY | unstable  – Seki Glasses – NEW@ MAINFRAME

POSE |  STUN – Maju 2 – NEW@Desolation

BACKDROP | FOXCITY – PhotoBooth  –New Beginnings –…