Welcome to the Fink, the part of Intellectum where no one wants to live, not even the residents. The Fink’s official name is the Southern Valley District, but only people from outside Intellectum call it that. All Intellectans know the Southern Valley District as the Dragon’s Sphincter. Those who live in the neighborhood refer to their home turf as the Fink.
Continue reading Intellectum: The Fink [a neighborhood]

Intellectum, a fictional city that I first created in summer, 2010, lives! The city started off as a setting for the mythical, magical, sci-fi Library of Intellectum, which I explored in a series of digital renders. I entertained thoughts of doing a doll-based melodrama with the characters and places, but it never happened. Anyway, now that I’m using Daz for the characters in my head, Intellectum has resurged as a convenient place in which to deposit all those nifty ideas that will not appear in the mini universe with Jareth et al.

Here’s the Library of Intellectum again. Most of it is Block 17 from the Dystopia City Blocks series by Ajax, billyhome and Moebius 87. I changed the diffuse on almost all the elements to achieve Intellectum’s peculiar grungy, yet perky and pastel, look. I also added a Poser primitive for the dome and shade it with George Haze’s freebie metal shaders for Daz.

Continue reading Intellectum’s back!

Since I’ve been dinking around with Daz recently, my thoughts turn to one of my most cherished digital projects, the Library of Intellectum. This was a fantastical library that I created in August, 2010, full of book wyrms, ghosts, ILL teleports, librarians with brains jacked into the catalog, etc., etc. I developed a core cast, as well as some key settings, but never started tying things together with a story. Nevertheless, I have periodically thought about which 1:6 scale dolls would embody which characters and also how I would make the sets. Recently I’ve updated those thoughts [last draft was in 2011]…

Our protagonist was originally a library assistant, but now I’m thinking that she’s a library volunteer [like me!]. That would give her much more of an excuse to wander, poke, get lost and go on tangents. I’m still hung up on the idea of getting a Dollmore Melissa Hon for her, although I don’t know how I’d do that, as I can’t support them as a cheatin’ BJD co.

The head librarian, originally the protagonist’s ultimate supervisor, was, in last iteration, a Lumedoll Lucas head on a masectomized Lumedoll female body. Now I’m thinking of an Obitsu Slender Male body and any old female action figure head — because I can mod it with Sculpey.

The special collections assistant, the protagonist’s friend, remains a Lumedoll Koit — with eyes modded to be larger.

The ghost, another of the protagonist’s friends, remains an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head, but now on an Alchemic Lab Unoa Light Azurite body.

The book wyrm is still a felted Chinese dragon with wire inside for posing.

Scanty Sophie is [given the unavailability of silver Takara Cy Girls] any old female action figure spray painted silver.

The "little fucker" is [given the unavailability of DreamHigh Squee] whatever goblinish limited edition BJD from DreamHigh I can get my hands on at that point. 

The doll is a Takara MicroLady Material Force figure in white with microscopically painted features.

Sets have changed a bit too:

Stacks are still bookshelves facing each other, making a corridor. I’m thinking at least four bamboo silverware drawer dividers would make good shelves, two to a corridor side.

Any places needing pillars can be provided with some from the wedding cake supply section of the craft store. Resin columns are also available in craft stores and the like as planter stands or just decorative elements.

EDIT: I just discovered that battery-powered tabletop fountains can be had for under $25.00. Thus I think that the Pierian Spring should be played by one with a simple design.

EDIT 2: I have decided that the reading tables in the stacks are lit by miniature lava lamps — USB power optional — and little articulated lamps [available under "Tiny Tim book light" search terms].

This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1619994.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.

EDIT: All this talk of Lumedoll’s creations’ aptness for the Library of Intellectum makes me want to rush out and purchase the library assistant, the head librarian, the special collections assistant and the ghost right now!
—
Dost thou remember Intellectum? I do. It was a city that I created with the help of Daz Studio in August of last year. The focus of my creation was on the Library of Intellectum, which combined advanced technology such as interlibrary loan transmats, with myth in the form of a book wyrm, even the supernatural in the form of ghosts and magic. I even created a cast of characters and assigned them 1:6 dolls:

• The library assistant, our protagonist, is a Dollmore Melissa Hon. EDIT: Since Dollmore is a cheatin’ BJD. co. that I cannot, in good conscience, support by buying directly from them, the library assistant may have to be a Lumedoll Arine with a small bust and sharpened face.
• The head librarian, her ultimate supervisor, was originally an Obitsu W-03 head on an Obitsu slender male body, even though she is an old woman, but now I think she should be a Lumedoll Lucas head on a Lumedoll fem body, breasts removed.
• The special collections assistant, our protagonist’s friend, was originally an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head on a resin 1:6 male body, but now I think he should be a Lumedoll Koit.
• The ghost, another of our protagonist’s friends, is an Elfdoll Doona Ryung head on a Notdoll 25cm fem body. EDIT: For ease of use, the ghost could also be a Lumedoll Elin with a small bust and shortened legs and torso [just to be younger/smaller than the library assistant].
• The book wyrm is a felted Chinese dragon with wire inside.
• Scanty Sophie, the statue on top of the library, is a 2003 ComicCon Takara/BBI silver Cy Girl.
• The "little fucker" is a DreamHigh Squee.
• The doll, another of our protagonist’s adventures, is unassigned.
• Various patrons are also unassigned.

I decided that most of the sets would be easy to make:

• the stacks [two shelves of books forming a corridor and facing each other, grey foamcore background]
• the book wyrm’s lair [grey foamcore background, cardboard tube pillars]
• the Pierian Spring [ditto, plus painted Styrofoam fountain]
• the Discard Bin [grey foamcore background, cardboard tube pillars, balsa wood coffins]
• the ILL center [grey foamcore background, plastic bank of computers]
• the exterior [computer rendered 3D scene from Daz Studio]

Of course, I didn’t have a plot tying all these elements together, but I enjoyed developing them.

Now, over a year later, I’m living in a small apartment with no room for my 1:6 stuff: dolls, clothes, sets and accessories. I have some 1:3 dolls to keep me company, but I greatly miss my 1:6ers. I also miss writing fiction, something I haven’t done for the past six months.

My longing for both 1:6ers and stories prompts me to think about returning to the world of 1:6 photostories that I left with Love Has Fangs. I wouldn’t go back to LHF; instead, I would return with the Library of Intellectum.

Maybe I’ll start working on some character sketches and plot ideas, just to satisfy my desire to be writing again, and I’ll see where it goes….

People in the Library of Intellectum keep finding it lying around on books like How to Create Your Own Homunculus, Artificial Lifeforms for Beginners and Ventriloquism for Fun and Sadism. Whenever a patron picks up the doll to give it to lost and found, the doll’s eyes glitter and follow the person, and it seems to start frowning. Inevitably, the patron, instead of giving the doll to lost and found, puts the doll in a dark corner of the library, hopefully never to be seen again. A few weeks later, the doll appears on an open book, seeming to read. It cannot be gotten rid of!

The ghost and the library assistant are very interested in the doll. The ghost likes the doll because…well, she wants a dolly, and she’s rather indiscriminate about what kind. The library assistant thinks that the doll is alive, possessed or cursed and somehow trying to communicate with people, but people keep banishing it. The library assistant and the ghost conduct experiments on the doll, and they’ve pretty much established that it moves on its own, even though they haven’t seen it do so. The library assistant thinks that she can teach the doll how to write, since the doll’s mouth is stitched up.

The doll is a V3 base with free Classic Elegance hair and a creepy, compelling texture by samildanach, Dulari Doll. Picture of naked doll below.
Continue reading Something is wrong with this doll!

…I have come to the conclusion that Daz and its ilk are used primarily by amateur pornographers who can’t draw.

Library assistant in modified Story Time [originally made for Millennium Girls].  Continue reading Library assistant in Regency-like dress

I’m still trying to find a hairstyle that suits her personality. Or I’m still trying to find her personality via her hairstyle. This one is Mint3D’s free Classic Elegance. 
Continue reading Library assistant with different hair

In order of appearance…

Scanty Sophie is a ComicCon 2003 special silver CG01. $20.00 at Echobase Toys.

The book wyrm is a felted Chinese dragon. $200.00-$300.00, probably commissioned via etsy.

The library assistant is a Dollmore Melissa Hon BJD. $234.00 at Dollmore.

The head librarian is probably a square-jawed Obitsu head [W-03] on an Obitsu slender male body. Head is $6.99 and body $20.99 at JunkySpot.

The ghost is a Elfdoll Doona Ryung with the open-eyed head, preferably on a Notdoll Miriam body. Elfdoll Doona Ryung is somewhere between $340.00-$380.00 on the secondary market, while Notdoll Mariam is $310.00 at Notdoll.

The special collections assistant is a Elfdoll Doona Ryung squinty head, preferably on a resin [SoulDoll? Alchemico Labo?] 27cm male body. Prices for resin 27cm male bodies are unknown, as they are very rare.

The "little fucker" would be a DreamHigh Squee. $160.00 from Luxour Academy.

The sets would probably be comparatively cheap and easy!

The digitally rendered scene would serve as the exterior.

The book wyrm’s room could just be a corner of grey foamcore, maybe with some painted cardboard tubing for a few pillars.

The Pierian Spring would be more grey foamcore for the backdrop, more cardboard tubing for pillars, painted pie tins and other shallow vessels for the fountain tiers.

The Discard Bin could just be suggested by one coffin and ye olde grey backdrop with a rose window drawn on it.

The ILL center could be ye olde grey background with colorful, grungy window frames drawn on and some computers added.

A set of stacks could be made with two large bookcases full up, facing, making an aisle between them. Making each book out of paper and wood would take the most time.

Why am I spending so much time on this idea? It’ll never reach fruition.

Known to the employees of the Library of Intellectum as "little fuckers," these things run around the library. No one’s sure whether they feed on books, come out of books, or what. They make a high-pitched whispery snickering noise that infuriates almost everyone who hears it. When the employees in the oversized quartos section are really bored, they build elaborate simple machines to flatten them. The newest library assistant distinguishes herself by having compassion for them and urging people not to wantonly destroy them, but she has trouble convincing people of her message.

Now she is modeled after Elfdoll’s Doona Ryung.

Base is Millennium Girls. Texture is from a character called TenTen by Yamato. Outfit is another permutation of the wonderful, intricate Story Time. Hair is Studio Maya’s Spiral Twin Tail.  Continue reading Improved ghost of the library

This is her again, this time with free Short Layered Hair by Studio Maya.

She’s serious and curious, prone to losing herself in the stacks and basements, and in wonder at it all.Continue reading The library assistant with even better hair

Here is one of the assistants in special collections in the Library of Intellectum. The best friend of the newest library assistant, he focuses on archiving personal histories and journals in special collections. He likes to tell people that he gets paid to read other people’s secret diaries. He dislikes his librarian’s blues, as he thinks they are too drab and not flattering enough. Besides cerebral palsy, he was also born with alopecia totalis and was raised by a single mother, from whom he learned to apply eyebrows in a rather more arched shape than might be expected.

The special collections assistant is a Victoria 3 base [with male morph], V3 basic texture and V3 Morphing Fantasy Dress. The wheelchair is a free download by ziggie.
Continue reading A boy in blues: the Library of Intellectum’s special collections assistant

The Library of Intellectum has a ghost, whose reality is accepted much more thoroughly than that of the book wyrm. More people have seen the ghost than the wyrm, after all. She is about 10 years old, precocious, demanding and bossy. Since she can’t make physical contact with anything, she often asks people to get books down from the shelves for her and flip through the pages so that she can read them. In this way she has learned much beyond her years, and she enjoys shocking patrons with her foul mouth and her detailed knowledge of sex. Anyone who spends a little time with her, though, knows that her arrogant demeanor hides a deep core of loneliness and vulnerability. She wishes that someone would pay attention to her and treat her as a daughter, but doubts that anyone would want to.

Modeled after Soom’s Mini Gem Garam, the library ghost is standing in the Discard Bin. She is made using Poser Girls’ free Alina character for Victoria 2 [login needed] on the free Daz Millennium Girls base, with the Capsces Litl’uns morph package [formerly sold at Renderosity]. The hair is Kozaburo’s free Alice hair, while the beautiful outfit is Daz’ Story Time.
Continue reading The Library of Intellectum’s ghost

This is the head librarian of the Library of Intellectum. She is checking out the transmat functions in the Interlibrary Loan Center. The head librarian sees nothing external in her left eye. Instead, she hacks into the library’s electronic systems; she has the whole catalog directly in her head.

No one knows much about the head librarian’s past. She might be older than the library itself, maybe even as old as the book wyrm. Some say that the library started with her personal collection of books, and she certainly seems to be on a first-name basis with the volumes now housed in special collections. It is known that she has apartments somewhere in the corner of the Magenta Monstrosity. The head librarian treats patrons like tiresomely necessary intruders into her private home. She has a special room somewhere to detain those who are caught defacing library property.

She is made with the Rayne morph package and standard V3 textures, wearing Laques hair and Daz’ Morphing Glasses, along with V3’s Morphing Fantasy Dress and Daz’ free Cyberhead for V3 [login required]. Her pose is one of V3’s standards. Apparently Andrea was right; the librarians at the Library of Intellectum all wear neutral blue robes that they call librarian’s blues.  Continue reading Head librarian supervises ILL transmats

This is the corner of the Library of Intellectum’s Interlibrary Loan Center where books are delivered to and returned from institutions that participate in the library’s interlibrary loan program. The pink beam transmats books out, while the blue beam transmats books in. This system only works, naturally, with libraries that have two-way transmat capaibilities, which is why the interlibrary loan system extends only within Intellectum’s many branch libraries. Because the beams are calibrated only to act on inanimate objects under a certain weight, there is no danger of people teleporting to participating libraries! The console over at the right runs the beaming technology.

This scene is made up of Aery Soul’s Gothic Prison 4 for the walls [free], Aery Soul’s Well Room for the beams [free] and Daz’ Dystopian Console Station [currently free, but may not be in the future].  Continue reading Part of the Library of Intellectum’s Interlibrary Loan Center

Here we have the Tomb of the Unknown Librarians, or, as it’s colloquially known amongst library employees, the Discard Bin. This scene is made up of elements from Caligo Fanum, Daz’ free Radiance of Spirit rose window [login required], Daz’ free Stone Coffin and Pedestal [login required] and the not-free Tomb. The senior librarians come down here ostensibly to contemplate mortality, but younger employees whisper that they are worshipping the ancestral spirits of librarians long dead [see brazier].  Continue reading There’s a lot going on underground at the Library of Intellectum….

The library assistant with free Spiral Twin Tail Hair by Studio Maya. She appears to be reading an invisible book…. Continue reading Library assistant with better hair

She has no name yet, but this is her. She is my attempt at replicating this 12" BJD, Melissa Hon, in a realistic morph with the help of the Rayne morph package on a Victoria 3 base. Her hair is Laques hair by seisui. As she contemplates the Pierian Spring, she is wearing a neutral, unrealistic outfit, the V3 Morphing Fantasy Dress. I like her long chin and androgynous look. She is, obviously, the hero of the story. Continue reading The newest assistant at the Library of Intellectum

…lies a fountain fed by an underground aquifer. Library employees call it the Pierian Spring, after the fountain of Greek mythology that was supposed to impart knowledge to those who tasted its waters. No one dare drink from it, for they remember Alexander Pope’s admonishment on the subject:

"A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring…."

Everyone forgets the next two lines:

"There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again."

…Which imply that a long, strong drink of Pierian water would do no harm. Anyway, like the book wyrm, the Pierian Spring remains a legend among library denizens, most of whom don’t go belowstairs [for fear of getting lost in the many passageways!]. There are rumors, however, that certain drinking fountains in the library are fed by the same spring, although no one can specify quite which ones.

This set was made from pieces of Caligo Fanum [the floor and back walls], Daz’ free Mansion Staircase [the pillars around the spring] [login needed] and Daz’ free Fonte Aretusa [the fountain and cobbles around it] [login needed]. Caligo Fanum is getting quite a workout these days. I never thought I’d use a product that I downloaded for free [many months ago] so frequently. Continue reading In another of the Library of Intellectum’s labyrinthine basements…

…Sleeps in the basement. Which came first, the library or the book wyrm? No one knows. Most people don’t even believe in the book wyrm, but, then again, most people don’t get down to the library’s subbasements.

This scene is made from elements of Caligo Fanum with the Eastern Dragon. I had to fight with it to get it to curl up sleeping, but I think the beautiful results are worth it. Doesn’t it look like a welcoming book wyrm, even in its sleep? 😀 😀  Continue reading The Library of Intellectum’s book wyrm

Intellectum Common now has benches, trash cans and a central information kiosk instead of a fountain. It’s very accessible!

Grass is a texture from somewhere on sharecg.com. Trees are from Daz’ Days of Cider. Park bench is a Renderosity freebie by 3dpmr. Trash cans are cylinder primitives made green. Info kiosk comes from Daz’ NeoStop.
Continue reading Library of Intellectum from across new, improved Intellectum Common

I added trees, sidewalks and a reflecting pool to Intellectum Common.

Continue reading Library of Intellectum from across Intellectum Common

…Just so I can create a wedge of a futuristic city with a library complex at the center of the scene. Behold the Library of Intellectum! It’s made of some pieces of the aforementioned Dystopia City Blocks, colored in nice bright pastels by me.

The Library of Intellectum occupies the whole block in the center of the picture. I don’t know very much about it yet, but I do know that the green building with the pointy dome is the earliest surviving library structure. It is easily 200 years old. When the city was small, it originally housed the entire library. Over the years, additions and other buildings have been erected. The large wedge-shaped building behind the green one is known as the Magenta Monstrosity. Still controversial, even though it was finished over 50 years ago, the Magenta Monstrosity excites revulsion because of its color and because it’s kind of out of scale with the rest of the smaller, older library buildings.

The Library of Intellectum fronts on one of the city’s parks, partly shown, but currently undeveloped. Intellectum Common still needs trees, paths, benches, trash cans and a sculpture garden. It has a long, interesting history that I haven’t made up yet.

Daz does have its strong points, namely in the rendering of peopleless scenes and beautifully constructed buildings. I’ll never again use it for people, though, no matter how diverse their body shapes, because they all end up posing unnaturally. Besides, I can’t touch them the way I do with my dolls.

Continue reading Now I have Daz back on my computer…