Massive Issue 04

eZine lover (@eZine)

Published in 

Massive

 · 21 Aug 2019

  

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 ;$$$i   `7$$$b$  7$$$$$$b, 7II88$$$$$$$F'',d$&&F'    EL MASSIF NUMERO QUATRO!    $$$I;    `7$$$i  7$$$$$$$b,`III88$$$$$$$dIIIIIIb,. 
  $$$$i      `7$$i  `7$$$$$$$b `II8$$$$$$$$8888IIII;  Four months in and still 
 i$$$$I     b, `7;    7$$$$$$$b ;I88$$$$$888888IIIF' going strong, it's the 4th 
 i$$$$$;   ;$$b  '    ;$$$$$$$$; II8888888888F*ý'   issue of Massive, the ascii 
;;$$$$$i   i$$$$;    ,d$$$$$$$$i ````'''~``` scene emag. A lot has happened 
__'```    d$$$$F    ,d$$$$$$$$F'  in the past few weeks since I release #3; I  
'''      '``````  ,d$F**ýý''`received a lot of feedback from people wanting 
                            to help out with Massive in the future and a lot of 
that shows in this issue. Next month you'll be able to access all the issues of 
Massive and keep up with the emag through Massive's web site which is being  
constructed by Speed Freak and friends. In other news, as of the December issue 
Massive will be released in standard coded emag format. After thinking about it 
for awhile I realized that Massive would appear more organized and be easier to 
view if I released it that way. Finally, starting in December the Picks of the  
Month are going to go interactive. This means that you, the reader, will be able 
to select the Picks of the Month through the Massive web site. That's enough   
talk for now. Thanks for all the feedback and I hope you enjoy this, the fourth 
issue of Massive!           

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 `'ÀÀ'`,d$$$b, `7$%:    7$$$$$$$$lll ÌÎ'       MASSIVE #4          `7ÎÎÎÎ 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ ³#S S$$$b`/$$$$$$$/¿,Ú7Ù'd$$$$$$$ll ̵                       ,Úss¿, `ÎÎ 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$ $$$$$b, `À/$$$$$$$s#S$$$$$$$l³³ ̵ 1. Introduction       ÎÎÎÎÎ||88 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$ $$$$$$$³/¿,  `'À/³³$$$$$$³\À'   ̵ 2. Monthly Update     `ýÀÀ',dÎ 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$#ss#S$$$$$³7'    ,Ú Ìµ 3. Lack of Inspiration  @%gÎÎ 
yÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$s$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$³7   ,Úd$ll Ì|    by Gravedancer.      ÎÎÎÎ 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7   ,d$$$$ll Ì; 4. Mmcfiles Explained!  `7Î 
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$l$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7  ,d$$$$$$$$ Ì:    by Black Jack.          
`7'``'7ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7 ,d$$$$$$$$$$ Ì: 5. Quotes? Utter Posh!    
        |ÎÎÎÎÎÎ $$$l$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7Úd$$$$$$$$$$ll Ì;    by Black Jack.        
  ,b¿,,ÚdÎÎ  ÎÎÎ $$$ll³\Ù',d$$$$$$$$7d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ì| 6. Shrimp's Tantrum     
 ,dÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ× $$7Ù'  ,d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ì´    by Pariah            
 ÌÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ×      ,d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ì´ 7. Remorse #26 Review  
  ÌÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ×××     ''^``^'ÀÀÀ*/$$³³$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ̵ 8. Karma #5 Review    
   ÌÎP',dÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ××Ø    dSSS#####ss¿¿d$7 d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ̵ 9. Mimic #4 Review   
    P',dÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎØØØ    :%$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$³7'  ̵ 10. Picks           
  . ',dÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎP',d³³    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$³7   d ̹ 11. Outro          
    ,dÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎP',dl|||    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7    d$ ÈÊ----  --       -   
 +`,dÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊP' -ÄÄÄ--   
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MONTHLY UPDATE WITH YOUR HOST NORM MACDONALD! 

Not that much happened in the ascii scene this month. A lot of what  
happened involved people bitching and really isn't news worthy. Here's the stuff 
that was actually somewhat important. 

* Cain and Polymorph, both of Noname fame, left Mimic after joining in the   
  Mimic/Noname merger two months ago. They cited lack of respect from certain 
  members in the group for the late Noname as their reason for departing. 

* Mmcfiles, the official file bot of the ascii scene has been created by Black 
  Jack and can be found in #ans, #ascii, #mimic, and #remorse. By simply typing 
  !new in any of those channels you can access all of the latest ascii scene 
  releases. (You can read more about Mmcfiles later on in Black Jack's article). 
* Mimeograph, the official emag of Mimic was first released in Mimic #3. The   
  emag is intended to serve as a forum for all Mimic members to release 
  articles. (Only Mimic members are allowed to contribute). 

* Necromancer has returned to the ascii scene! After a long hiatus Necromancer 
  has returned and is currently re-evaluating how Remorse should be coordinated. 
* As previously stated, the official web site of Massive is currently being   
  built. You can preview the site by going to www.thuglife.org/massive. Anyone 
  interested in helping out (with art/design) should contact Speed Freak at  
  antik@thuglife.org. 

* Massive is searching for an oldschool artist to possibly review oldschool  
  in future issues of Massive. Anyone interested should contact Pariah at  
  pariah@alienz.org or as pariahFAT on irc.  
   
* An introspective of the history of the ascii scene is currently in the works. 
  If you are interested in helping out or would like to be spotlighted please 
  send an email stating so to pariah@alienz.org. 

* What happened to Nahal, you ask? Well, after arguably releasing his best work 
  ever Nahal left Remorse and has stayed out of any other ascii groups. Instead, 
  he is currently coordinating Awe's ascii department.                             
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Title -  Lack of Inspiration                                Author - Gravedancer 
        It seems to me that people in the ascii scene seem to be lacking 
that certain inspiration to draw anymore. So many of the big names have decided 
to pack things up and leave the scene. It may be for good reasons or it can 
simply be because they find the scene disinteresting all of a sudden. It's 
amazing, I feel like I've been around and have seen a lot in the national scene 
since I entered it in the fall of '96. Of course there have been times when I 
have felt disinterested and uninspired by the scene but have always managed to 
get some decent art out. Want to know how, it's really difficult now. *sarcastic 
I just love drawing. I think back to when I first entered the scene and how new 
the entire art scene was to me. All you big artists, look back at when you first 
started drawing. Remember when you spent a whole lot of time on a piece of art 
and now you look back at it, it's a piece of shit? I remember being in awe 
when I saw other people's art, but I also am in awe of how much I've changed 
as an artist in this scene. Sure, I haven't been the most outgoing person in the 
scene because I see no reason to be the antagonist. But really people, look at 
the scene. Packs are delayed month to month, people are inactive and some of 
the art has been lacking. Look back at when you first started drawing and 
remember how much fun you've had. Think about why you're in the scene, and 
get back to your roots and start drawing because you like it. and most 
importantly, GET MOTIVATED! 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Title - Mmcfiles Explained!                   Author - Black Jack 
Oh shit.. there's a horse in the hospital. 
.. 
As the scenes roll on, we find almost no change in the current ansi/ascii situation. 
Not that it matters though... 
I've been asked numerous times if I would like to start an ansi/ascii group with 
another person (Since I wrote that segregation article on acheron.org).. but alas, 
I don't.  Mimic is running fine happily, and smoothly.  That gives me no 
reason to change.. dig? 

The scene is such a stupid place, even though we have a mass of knowledge available 
to us, and people are still ignorant as fuck.. but there is a solution to this problem.. 

The solution lies in one little bot.. MMCFILES! 

Ah yes, the (now known) ascii fserve bot is spreading his packs throughout the  
and.. and, yes.. this is the truth. 

Everyday, over 20 packs are sent out, on average.  Most of these requests don't 
come from #ascii, but from other scene 
related chans.. such as #ans, #asc, #dark, and the others which this cute bot   
says in. 

What does this mean?  It means anSi DooDleZ are actually looking at ascii packs 
.. they're actually seeing our crazy 
dollarsign designs!@$ 

Oh well, happy happy.. I'm just writing this to advertise the damn thing anyway 
.. 

!ascii - gives you a general syntax on all the commands. 
!packs - lists all groups supported. 
!new   - lists all new releases for that month. 
!diz   - extracts & sends a file_id.diz from a pack (still some bugs with packs 
that don't contain it.) 

... Word.. sounds good so far... anyhow, in the future, I shall be adding a request 
system ( you can request packs & upload them too ), and maybe a specific-file extraction. 

Who knows?  

The tcl script is on version 2.5 at the moment.. if you would like to get a copy of 
this.. please don't ask me.  When it's available, it will be offered.. 
so hold your pants on, nerds :) 

Black Jack (Mimic) 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Title - Quotes? Utter Posh!   Author - Pariah 
<blk_jack> I'm killing mimic. 

Isn't that funny?  

Maybe it is to some, others it may be angering, while others.. wouldn't believe 
it. 
I, myself, wouldn't believe it.. and that's why I'm writing this. 

You see, some people are stupid.. others will believe anything.... 

As a lot of people know, I usually say a lot of shit on irc.. a lot of negative 
shit.. I do this, and am known for this.. 
Unfortunately, some people don't understand the difference between me meaning 
something, and me going crazy.. Here's a 
test. 

1) <blk_jack> Fuck, I hate Maestro. 
2) <blk_jack> maestro, what a joke.. that idiot should die. 

Which one of those is true?  Well, both, but normally, if I say something about 
a group or person, I don't REALLY mean 
it.. I just say it... and that's what a lot of people don't get. 

I, myself, am probably the worst person at this.. If someone quotes me, it's 
usually way out of context and makes me look like a nazi/racist/idiot/or asshole.  

I won't go into detail or name names, but when someone quotes another person, 
don't take it literally or truthfully. 
A lot of people in the scene quote religously (mostly euro, incidently), 
and those people should burn!  (And/or be thrown into a gaschamber).  I mean.. 
if we all wanted to, we could quote shit.. we could backstab, you know?  The works! 

But.. that's not what most civilized people do.. most people are kinder than that, 
they have respect for other peoples feelings.. 

*Shrug*, another one of my articles where I self promote or bitch.. 
I sound like filth.. ick. 

Bah.. 

Black Jack (Mimic) 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Title - Shrimp's Tantrum      Author - Pariah 
A lot of you probably remember Shrimp. He started out in Odelay and then 
joined several other ascii groups. You might best remember him for his Tg-like 
behavior in #ascii. He's now started his "ansi career" and has given up on   
ascii. Meanwhile he posted a little speil on Acheron that is intended to suppor 
this reasoning in giving up on ascii for the ansi scene. If only for a good laugh 
I suggest reading what he posted at www.acheron.org in the Discussions section. 

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     ..................... 
.... : rEMORSE pack? 26! : ....... 
:____:...................:____   : 
_\   \____ _ _____  _____ \   \__:__ 
_____   __ ____   \/  __ ___    / __/___  _ 
\  _/  /__\____\\    //  /_/  /__ __ _   _/_ 
_  \____    _ _//____\  / \____    _/   / 
/__ _/_/  __ \_/   /   /_ __\_/   /_\   \_ 
:  _\  \  \_\  \___\    \_ _/      /_\    \_ 
: /_______________/_______\ _________\ ____/ 
: ...:...........................:  eR!: 
: :..: ................................: 

 Remorse #26 Pack Review by Mankind 

 
newschoolwise, remorse is clearly losing it, and it seems to be lowering its 
own demands constantly. the better artists were cleaner, discofunk, axb and 
tum. altogether, the newschool was a letdown, especially considering the time 
it took the seniors to release.  

74*.*        discofunk is always experimenting. it's a good thing, but it 
             works both ways. under the guise of originality, or innovation, 
             a lot of rubbish seems to slip through the net. font-wise, disco- 
             funk is unpredictable or fickle, if you will. the pic was just 
             delightful. 
axb*.*       it was fun to find out axb released something. and damn, he still 
             masters his unique style. 
cl*.*        i've known cleaner for quite a while now, and considering where 
             he comes from, this shit is pretty cool. very smooth. i especial- 
             ly liked the 'gin' ascii. 
hc*.*        some of the faces hex corrupt did were decent, but some of them 
             have fucked up proportions, or abominable shading. 
sh*.*        remorse is giving in to the happy-face it once made fun of. either 
             i don't understand this, or it's really, really wack. 
tum*.*       the eyeball looks photographically correct when you view it in 
             vga, which is cool. the other one is nicely shaded, but the whole 
             sucks. 
wr*.*        if one would apply to remorse with this shit, he would probably 
             be laughed at. not cool. 
zh*.*        idem. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE PACK - (done by Pariah) Discofunk. His logos (especially the   
greyscale ansi ones) are smooth and innovative at the same time and his one pic 
for Cell Block Four is, by far, the highlight of the pack. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

karma #5: apocalypse k. 
review (newschool only) by Ryuichi Sakamoto. 

Speed freak.  this kid shows some mad potential for future rock in the ascii medium. 
5F-MASS3.ASC has one hep pic.  problem is, speed freak hasn't been in it  
uite long enough to get those ultra-smooth curves.  but as he learns his way are 
und the ASCII character set, speed freak will rock yo' whorl', white 
bread.  court on it. 

Arlequin.  I think that arlequin gets worse at newschool every month. 
this shading is inexcusably bad.  the odelay logo is also downright hideous.   
arlequin:  ou're a great guy and a cool scener and what-not, but stick to oldschool. 
the  ewschool jive just isn't your cup of coffee. 

Drax.  endless nameless reincarnate, i'm actually a fan of drax's work 
represented in Apocalypse K.  although it took me for-fucking-ever to decipher the face  
t the top of the work, I did finally get it (about 15 viewings later).  i'm a big  
fan of the coloring up in this piece, and the outer line traced about the logo 
is cool as well.  MAD ULTRA-UPS, YO! 

Gravedancer.  pic-tastic!  though not mankind-smooth, GDR turns it out in a big 
way.  logo-lacking, but that's okay - these pics (esp. the second) are worth 
their weight in...oh, wait, ascii files are intangible entities without weight or  
ubstance.  well, these are good.  trust me. 

Haji.  my hero!  everyone gets a kick out of the Haj, self included. 
though H4-MERR.ASC was pretty so-so, the karma logo (not to mention "apocalypse k" 
work [esp. file_id.diz]) was a lot better than some of the other talentless, repetitive 
drivel he's produced.  an extra-special "fucking a" goes to the mesmerizing 
"mimmikarma" logo (from joint with blackjack).  this kid busts it out, telephasic-like. 

H7.  as far as I can tell, this new find doesn't have a handle.  he does, however, 
have ascii skills to spare.  not the smoothest, but who ever IS at first? 
these logos and pics show the sense of quirk which I appreciate regardless of 
technical know-how - generally cool-looking stuff.  h7 goes straight for the 
jugularand hits you hard in the aesthetic gland.  ROCK. 

Metal Militia.  m7m has the magical gift at making every logo he does look 
pretty much the same.  every one mentions some electronic-incorporating musical 
outfit and rips the stylistic skills of the lord god polymorph. 
not BAD material, just forgettable and unoriginal. 

Mydknight.  KARMA STOLE HIM!! MIMIC OWNS HIM!! non-partisan viewers like myself 
can give a flying fuck to all this bullshit and personally thank god that this  
uy's releasing in the first place.  "thanks, god - mydknight rules, and i'm really 
glad he's releasing for a national group so's I can view his excellent art.  
oh, and i'm sure he's sorry abojut the inverted cross.  sincerely, ryuichi 
sakamoto."  see?  everyone else should do that, too. 

Mankind.  hey, these pics rule!  unfortunately, the logos do not do this guy justice. 
the haji style was nothing more than repetitive cut-n'-paste used to maskan 
obvious lack of technical skill, and those who could easily shape anything th 
hey wanted shouldn't waste their magical fingertips on using alt-codes to copy  
tuff - they should be painting elaborate ascii tapestries of nekkid women for me 
to masturbate to.  that's what i'm thinkin'.  regardless, these pics are fuckin 
g amazing, and the logos are still pretty good (esp. the "geek security" logo). 
i'm just convinced that mankind could do a lot better than this. 

Overall.  karma did a lot better this time around than last (mankind and haji  
work together to form a strong pack just like haji and the prodigy used to). 
everybody involved could probably do a BETTER job if they tried, but that's  
not detracting from the fact that this pack was phenomenal.  definitely a keeper. 
ryuichi sakamoto out. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE PACK - (done by Pariah) Gravedancer and Mankind. Two excellent 
pic artists contribute two excellent pics. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 
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   profile on anarchist. 
   Story by luke skywalker. 

Mimic #4 reviewed by Pariah 

 
AK-E21.ASC - (Mediocre) The idea and layout behind this ascii is good, but a   
lack of smoothness in shaping brings it down. A good idea would be to work on  
smooth curves and shaping techniques.  
BJASC*.*.ASC - (Excellent) I liked the first ascii a little more in the joint  
version, but it's still a great pic. The second Noname tribute pic is nicely   
done as well. 
DS-MIM10.ASC - (Good) I know it's intended to look weird, but this pic looks a  
little too weird. The use of blank space is overdone in some parts. Still a nice 
pic, though. 
GDR-MIM1.ASC - (Excellent) Gravedancer pulls off another smooth comic-ish pic. 
Smaller than last month, but still superb. 
GNK*.*.ASC - (Mediocre) His inverse style is pretty good, but the coloring style 
is completely uninspired. Gnk should stick to greyscale or come up with his own 
coloring technique. 
IS-*.*.ASC - (Good) The colly isn't that good, but the two 23 liners are very  
nicely drawn (especially the second one). I dig the unique coloring style. Gnk 
could take some pointers from this guy on being innovative. 
KA-ROOTS.ASC - (Mediocre) Cain can do much better. This logo looks like it was 
done in a rush. The shaping isn't smooth and the proportions are off.  
KO-*.*.ASC - (Good) KO-DUST is a little too bright and has a tad too many ansi 
characters for it to come out clearly as a pic. The oldschool inverse pic is  
excellent, though.  
KTR-*.*.ASC - (Mediocre) This would've been good, but Keetar re-released an   
ascii from Mimic #3. The 23 liner matrix looks pretty nice, but perhaps it would 
have been better in greyscale or not two-toned. 
MP-*.*.ASC - (Excellent) Meatpod's been going all out the past few months, and  
it really shows. The warez info file is extremely smooth (I really dig the new  
small logo style) and the two pics are near perfect, showing off Meatpod's  
ability to draw comic rips. Overall, another stellar release from Meatpod. 
PM-MIMIC.ASC - (Good) Pretty good, but certainly not one of Polymorph's best 
pieces. If this were released by anyone else it would be really good, but Poly- 
morph's one of the best. 
SCK-*.*.ASC - (Good) Better than last month's disappointing release, but still  
lacking some basic shaping techniques. As with a lot of the newer ascii artists 
it'd be a good idea to work on drawing smooth curves and basic techniques before 
tackling large pics. 
US-ALIFE.ASC - (Excellent) Black Jack and Konami. 'Nuff said. 
US-MMK.ASC - (Excellent) Haji adds some interesting shading to this Black Jack  
pic and makes it a lot more mysterious and innovative. The logo is nice too. 

OVERALL - An Excellent release by the Mimic crew. Last month was a bit of a drop 
in quality but they make up for it this month. The mix of good art from artists 
relatively new to the scene and excellent art from established artists works out 
pretty well. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE PACK - Great logos and great pics. That's what Meatpod drew and 
that's why he gets Highlight honors.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Just to let you know, the "Highlight of the Pack" section included at   
the bottom of all reviews (even the ones that I don't do) is an early indicator 
of the Picks of the Month. There was a lot of great art this month, and in turn 
many Picks. 

El Pickos Del Monty (in viewing order): Meatpod (The Afterlife), Mydknight  
(Sex), Discofunk 1974 (Cell Block Four), Gravedancer (Blue Grass Boogie),   
Mankind (Lynx), Black Jack and Haji (Mimikarma Joint), Gravedancer (Mimic  
Promotional), and Meatpod (Blue). 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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  ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ,`À*@$³$@*Ù'              Well,  l$l   ,        ,$$' 
  ÙÙÙ''''```            that's it for this  `$QlÚ,    '   -           ,l$Ù' 
     issue. Thanks to all the people who helped  `Ùl³³$@**ÚÚÚ,,.,,¿¿¿**S$$Ù' 
  out; especially Black Jack, Gravedancer, Speed  ``''ÙÙÙ**@@*ÙÙýý''` 
  Freak, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mankind, and Mydknight. In the   
  next issue you can look for the return of interviews. Also, oldschool reviews 
  will possibly be added to Massive as of the next issue. As always I'm in need 
  of articles and other contributions for all future issues of Massive. Anyone 
  can write about a subject they have emotions for, so all of you should feel  
  free to write up articles, etc... and send them to me at pariah@alienz.org.   
  Like I said in #3, articles are a big part of an emag, so in that sense the 
  success of Massive is determined by whether you guys help out or not. I hope 
  you enjoyed this issue of Massive and look for Massive #5 to hit the shelves  
  November 25th!                       

  -- Pariah             == send all feedback/contributions to: pariah@alienz.org 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
<meatpod> when's ASSive coming out?     
it's out, lovey! 
This, and all other issues of Massive will self destruct on your hard drive on 
December 31st, 1999 as a signal of the coming of the apocalypse. Subsequently   
all copies of Aciddraw, Ciadraw, Netscape, mIRC, Netterm, Acidview, and Iceview 
will be deleted. Oh, and all .ASC and .ANS files will be deleted as well. With 
that in mind, have a great day!