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Scifi - Blog Posts
i've started writing in notebooks again since it kinda helps me focus more and originally i wanted to write with a pencil so i could edit it. then i lost my eraser and even though i could easily get a new one, i refuse and continue to use my pencil. something something confining yourself to keep what you have already created or whatever
Exo-Walker
My concept of a heavy walker for the new Leagues of Votann. Though smaller then a Redemptor Dreadnought, the Exo-Walker makes up for it in durability, flexibility, and sheer scale of firepower.
Only deployed in the most important and/or dangerous situations, these walking juggernauts are piloted by specially trained Einhyr. From there, they can equip themselves with an array of heavy weaponry depending on the mission and the pilot’s preference.
So far I’ve loved the Leagues of Votann reveals - obviously higher-tech and better crafted then the Imperium, but still more “grounded” then the Eldar. They’ve so far succeeded in establishing a solid aesthetic for the faction - smooth, yet sturdy, somewhat retro-futuristic, and most importantly, visually distinct from existing factions. While I don’t think we’ll quite get what I’ve illustrated here, I look forward to future reveals for our returning dwarven friends.
(Can’t wait to see Land Trains and Living Ancestors!)
Hello! I really liked your post with sci-fi recommendations that aren't just books by misogynistic men. There are some books on the list already but do you happen to have a list of recs just for novels about robots/androids/AI? Preferably where they are the protagonist? No worries if not! Thanks
augh see i love robots/AIs but i have not read NEARLY enough books w them as main characters 😔 i can name a couple u might wanna check out tho!
klara and the sun by kazuo ishiguro (standalone, from the POV of a nanny robot taking care of a sick girl) is pretty interesting, esp in regards to the idea of robots having their own mythos and superstitions. v slow and thoughtful (tho a bit too uneventful for my tastes)
ted chiang has a couple good short stories about robots - exhalation (found in the short story collection of the same name) is a personal fav of mine! (there's also the novella "the lifecycle of software objects" - in same collection - but while i adore most of his stuff i really didn't like that one lol)
if u like YA, def check out the scorpion rules by erin bow (the prisoners of peace duology)! honestly on most levels it's a pretty average dystopian YA book, but then it also happens to have one of THEE most interesting and complex explorations of posthumanism through AI i've ever seen??? like not even in YA, in general (esp in book 2, it's not a major plot until the end of book 1)
if you're interested in the classics at all, i do recommend Asimov's short story collection I, Robot! it was surprisingly fun and it was cool seeing where the iconic 3 laws of robotics thing originated :)
also. i can link u to my own robot/AI tbr list knfdkgjfn
How to Use the Universal Translator - Registering a New Language
(this is a long post, but it’s my interpretation on how a ‘universal translator’ without mind reading software would actually work. Hope this helps you in some way!)
How to use the Universal Translator - Registering a New Language
First, prepare an object the target would be curious towards. It is recommended to use either the device the Translator software is on itself, but that may not elicit too much curiosity from civilisations with similar levels or types of technology. You may also use this as an opportunity to familiarise the target with equipment or items you will use later on, like medical supplies or transport.
Next, begin speaking, signing, or gesturing at the object, though they currently cannot understand you. Keep the Translator on Recording mode, and depending on how the target appears to communicate, switch between Audio/Visual modes as necessary (more modes will be added in the next update.) The aim is to provoke the target into asking, “What’s that”, or something similar/equivalent. When you believe the target has communicated such a phrase, select the phrase (now without the need to directly playback! Use the Translator’s in-built intelligent phrase detection system to select entire syllables, snippets, and cut out the hassle!), double-check, and select Save > New Language, where the phrase will automatically be saved in the first slot and labelled appropriately.
Now, switch to Replay mode. Using the recorded phrase, you can now ask what their word for certain things are. For example, you could point to them (be aware to not appear aggressive) to learn how they refer to themselves. You could also point to an object they do not know of and ask them how they would refer to that; which would likely give you a way to say ‘I don’t know’.
Remember to swap to Recording mode and to labelled saved phrases with your best guess!
Eventually, you should have a rudimentary way to communicate; barring that, a way to learn to communicate. Meanwhile, the Translator software will be cross-referencing and searching for patterns in the saved phrases to find individual words or the rules of the language.
Update: Grammar can now be mostly inferred after one hour of total saved phrases! Switch to Catalog mode to find all the inferences made (now with the ability to sort between grammar, repeated words detected, etc.!)
With luck, you will be able to communicate peacefully and clearly with the target. Hope you enjoy using the Universal Translator software!
Please be aware that due to the amendments made to the Knowledge Pooling for the Benefit of All (KPftBoA), the language file will be made public on the Universal Translator’s database once an actual language is detected. This is not opt-in. Thank you!
WAVEBREAKER
Concept art for a personal project I worked on for a cgma class I took recently. I wanted to create an older character trying to preserve cormorant fishing while living in a Cyberpunk world.
The Rebel
Finished this a while ago for a character design class I took through #cgma !
I wanted to do an antihero archetype for a cyberpunk world where the presence of Gods is something tangible and just as real as the science used to make implants. My idea for him was someone who struggles against the idea of Gods playing influence over peoples lives but is someone who is chosen against his will. 🤔🎨
I have a name for this species now, they're called the Heriheri! This is Mitra, he's a different subspecies to Watama but they're both pretty similar. He is wearing a necklace of seed pods because they rattle, and that's useful since his job is feeding/sacrificing people to the Mother of the Deep, which is a massive blind cave creature a bit like an olm (she recognises the rattling sound and knows not to eat him). The long spines on his head can move, and he wiggles them about to show different emotions. They fall off every year and he grows new soft ones. Also, don't be fooled by Mitra's cute exterior and the fact that he's only about the size of a dog, this guy is Evil.
[click for better quality :)]
My horrible son, Watama. He is a sophont living in a series of caves in a big colony along with other creatures of his species (not sure what I will call them yet) and technically he is a subtroglophile since his species has to leave the caves to get food etc (they are omnivores but eat lots of bugs. Yummy). His species is nocturnal, hence the big sad wet eyes. Also his species usually wears clothes of some sort since it's quite cold where they live, I just haven't drawn them yet. Watama is a male, but like the Kerilone who he is distantly related to, when he reaches a certain age and body fat percentage, he'll become a female, and get a lot larger and more sedentary, and lose the red pigmentation around his chest spiracles. This won't happen for him for a long while though, since he's pretty skinny for a whatever-he-is, although you can't tell because of his thick layer of plumulaceous feathers. He is quite a drab example of his species, but they aren't generally super colourful anyway - there's not much point if you live in a dark cave.
Mono. He is called this because of his serial number, 3020 (it's on his arm). If you write that vertically it looks like "Mono". I'm unsure of his precise backstory details right now but he is sentient (infected with the MorningChorus virus). He is a former guard of Selaphiel (evil mantis priest popstar robot) but now he protects the Archive or whatever it's going to be called, which is a sort of robot hive mind thing.
Chi Chuha. She is a very famous 'gladiator arena' fighter in PARADISO and also a bounty hunter who hunts down androids infected with the MourningChorus virus, and also livestreams it. This is her PARADISO form, but in reality she is a shy teenager who isn't particularly good at fighting and lives with her mum (and two pet rats), who has no idea who she is. She is way more confident in the virtual world. Also, she goes by the name "DOUBLECROSS" in PARADISO.
Akane Nari, also known as "SW1FT". This is her PARADISO form (basically her avatar in a big virtual world that everyone uses). She was originally a human until she was (almost) killed, and her consciousness was uploaded into an android body. Now she does gladiator fights for fun and annoys her girlfriend Kepri by playing hyperpop at 2AM.
Hallway (warning: horror, death, blood, gore, violence)
The PA system boomed
“They’ve made it into the school.
Lock and barricade your current room.”
I was in the hallway.
A stampede of bodies arose,
Living turning to dead to decompose.
Frightened and running through pools,
Slipping on blood in the hallway.
Beings crammed behind doors,
Quasi train cars as hopeful shields from doom.
Fearful faces cowered from windows,
Hiding from monsters in the hallway.
The growls approached.
The claws made their presence known.
Limbs and organs covered the floor.
The monsters were hungry for more than those in the hallway.
Hate to love light pollution cause DAMN I can easily make an exception😍
City Center, Corpo Plaza, Union St. and Lincoln Blvd.
The final animation!
The cool stuff your party is doing without you
When you decide to do your own thing and miss all the cool stuff your party does
I'm laaaate
Crossing lines with toxic Space Mom (TM)
Little scene from my last SciFi-Pen&Paper!
Gonna turn it into a small comic!
Oh, the stories he could tell...
My character for a SciFi-Pen&Paper, 3LL15 91K3 aka Ellis Pike! They're a shape-shifting android.
Fun Facts About Jira, my world building project #2
Jira can largely be classified as a Science Fantasy world but because of the scale of the Jira project it's more accurate to categorize the different eras of Jira into different genres. For now they are as follows:
Prehistory - Speculative Biology
Surface era - Medieval Fantasy
Dispace era - Underground Fantasy
Early Island era - Fantasy
Era of science - Steampunk
Modern Era - Modern Contemporary
Cyber era - Scifi
Post Cyber era - Eco Scifi
read book of the new sun read book of the new sun read book of the new sun
also I started weaning myself off of traditional art via ms paint
wahey
LEGEND OF ZELDA: SHATTERED STARS
The Triforce is lost, the Ocarina is shattered, and for untold millennia the holy cycle of Hero, Goddess, and Beast has remained stagnant. We have forsaken our birth-world of ancient Hyrule, and the eternal war between the Church of Hylia and the armies of Demise has spread bloated and carnivorous to the very stars. Blink-ships of the Great Sages and agents of the Gerudo Sisterhood comb world after world, fulfilling their centennial mission to find their reincarnated leaders and groom them for a life as figureheads in a war with no victor.
But now, for what may be the first time in the recorded history of our wizened cosmos, the winds of change blow through the aether and rattle the foundations of a ruinous system. The newest reincarnation of the Beast has escaped his Gerudo handlers, and the Hero and Goddess have evaded discovery for twenty years now. Rumors grow of the Red Lion- a lone ship crewed by a smuggler named Link, a warrior-cyborg named Zelda, and a mutant technomancer who is reticent to use the name of Ganon.
Have the fates spun a new tale? Have the reincarnated three found each other anew, free from the machinations of the Church or the Sisterhood? And if they have, what are three outlaws against all the horrors of this dark future- a future which has known only war?