___              __ 
/ __) mmmm   ___ (  )   ▀▀█ ▀█▀ █▀▀▄ █▀▀
\__ \ m m m / _ \ )(__  ▄▀   █  █  █ █▀▀
(___/ m m m \___/(____) ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀  ▀ ▀▀▀

smolZINE - Issue 9

2021-09-01

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The word of the issue is "eclecticy". Ok, maybe that is not actually a word but I think this issue has a pleasantly wide ranging selection of reading material. Enjoy!

Hidden (and not so hidden) Gems

なないろばたけ (translation: "seven-colored garden")

This is Salty's capsule of wonderful gemini treasures. Korean and Japanese children's songs complete with translations and remarks about the history and meanings and book recommendations. Quite a fascinating capsule!

なないろばたけ

Alyssa Rosenzweig's Capsule

A gemlog is the main feature of Alyssa's capsule. The posts are not super frequent but are always interesting and well written.

Alyssa's Capsule

the antipode

Maria's capsule has nice and quite active gemlog with topics spanning a variety of subjects.

the antipode

Choose Your Own Adventure

For this issue's bit of whimsy take a saunter through this gemini vesseled choose your own adventure game.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Emanations

Homebrew Videogames

by kelbot

The kind of thing I'm talking about is a videogame enthusiast making a game of their own for an often beloved retro game console. I find this kind of thing fascinating. In the same way one might enjoy an artist or musician's work a homebrew videogame is a similar expression of creativity. Not bound by mainstream marketability or need for financial success these homemade games can be silly, downright bizarre and sometimes even innovative. The creative freedom combined with the passion of someone making something purely because they enjoy doing it results in unique and beautiful creations.

Early game consoles are a popular playground for homebrew hobbyists due to the constrainst of the old hardware making it an easier task to complete a whole game on your own or with a small team. This also has the side effect of making it easier to try new or unusual ideas for a game. Part of the fun as someone that enjoys discovering these creations is the wacky themes and concepts. Often the games are a bit short or not fully fleshed out but it's still a fun experience even if brief experiencing this whole concept that someone put together. Every now and then you come across a homebrew that is so well done you would believe it was made by a big studio in the 80s if you didn't know better.

If this sounds like something you'd enjoy but don't know where to start I here is a list of my favorites to dive into

My Favorite Homebrews

Word Search

by Jone

Source Material: Brute Technology, Cunning Tecnology, by maugre

gemini://republic.circumlunar.space/users/maugre/210208-BruteTechnology.gmi

 v r n h r y d l p r q r h g x w u c i
 w l z p z h u i j t e g y i b a g o l
 i e e p a r s i m o n y d h l t y n o
 n o p e r m a c u l t u r e u t l s k
 d c n t x h f e c b c a o k a i n t s
 c u n n i n g y x c q l p b f t s r c
 a x g j j u h x g e a s o k h u q a a
 t r u k r z q m w r e h n f p d g i r
 c x a p o c a l y p s e i a q e z n c
 h z c o m p l e x i t y c b h e p t i
 e f o q u m d r p m h d s u r f m s t
 r i l y b v u v a t e c h n o l o g y
 s o l a r p u n k m t t j d s x r z i
 r f a v u l b s b r i p t a f p e j c
 z c p r t t b t s j c d e n s e f v s
 o z s z e z j l b h w e q c x r s x m
 g e e m p i r e d q b h l e s s s f c

abundance

aesthetic

apocalypse

attitude

brute

collapse

complexity

constraints

cunning

dense

empire

hydroponics

less

more

parsimony

permaculture

scarcity

solarpunk

technology

windcatcher

Word Search Solution

Community Contributions & Discussion

Please consider taking part in making this zine better and more diverse by contributing your thoughts and finds. If you are interested in contributing a short article or capsule picks email me at: smolzine (at) cyberbot.space.

If you have any feedback or just want to discuss anything related to gemini or smolZINE hit me up at the above email or ping me on the fediverse at kelbot@retro.social and/or use the #smolZINE tag.

Thanks

Thank you to fellow geminaut Jone for their contributions to this issue of smolZINE.