Prescience: Blood of Sol

This will be your last freebie.

Watch as a hypocrite finds a family despite their folly.

This vision pierces into the world between worlds. You see an order-bound giant stretching its eight wings to the sky. It prays for star-fire to rain down upon my acolytes and their children.

Its prayers were answered.

Settlements across a vast plane engulfed in magenta flames. Bodies frenzy for cover at the speed of final thoughts. Among these fading lights, there were two children. They each held parts of a secret capable of rending salvation from this creature's flesh. Some say it took the shaped of a blade, but I think it was closer to a needle. Whatever it was, it held a power older than me.

In one unified motion, itheyt dismembered the lawful behemoth.

Before the children could splay its skull, the giant unleashed a cunning known to be forbidden to its kin— a shameful rip into your material world. A torso and the latter half of its four limbs poured out into a secluded bushel in Atlixco, Puebla. Wounded, alone, and fearful of its kin, it called out and offered its power to anyone who would listen.

In time, five souls showed compassion to the disgraced giant, accepting a bloodline more paranatural than their own.

Prescience: Love is Sacred

Two is company. Three's a crowd. Six is a chorus.

Do you see these bebes? All my days, I love these kids. Mind you, I've had this vision before, and it was the very first time I sensed their very potential. They started everything for me. Potential is that lining that shimmers in naivety.

The Kingsmaker. The Harvester. The Shiftshaper.

The Balance. The Vibrance. The Mended.

No deck can be stayed against you six— with this Watcher as my witness— I'll make sure of it.

Prescience: Triumvirate's Wrath

Ah, you're drifting off into another one of your visions, huh? Your waking dream, like all the others, starts with a colorful panel. Words come into focus, raising like goosebumps in your presence.

Ooo, is that Cempazúchitl? Ain't that the locksmith's kid with that undying smile. Their eyes slowly find you, still weary from late nights in pleasant solitude. I heard they discovered how to evolve twice. First, by cutting their own sovereign key to walk worlds while dreaming.

Then, one night, they went and signed a contract with a [REDACTED] that called itself Vevivi. Admiration radiated from her form as voice her seethed with heat.

With her power, she called out to Cempazúchitl and offered even more. A delayed union was proposed and, eventually, agreed upon. Vevivi wanted to wait for the far future where a third host could be built for the final evolution. Just as the contract stated, so Cempazúchitl waited.

Sovereign Keys

Previously titled “Throne Worlds” and was first published in Terse Journal.

[On Cutting] Sovereign Keys

"Opinor ergo sum" —

 — my pen singing in the same key as

a birthday candle’s dulcet surrender 

a wailing mother, a cooling Glock,

an emergency call to prayer,

a kiss hello, a welcome home.

By invitation this template is given. We believe

sovereign is soul that is built on this skeleton...to an extent. 

Of all the realms hidden between your synapses, 

cherish the one that lets you tune its gravity to your liking. 

We understood this better as children. 

Remember that Tamogatchi-era of innocence? 

A game of life in our small palms, 

but a cellular automation in more capable hands.

That is where you are now. 

A world formed where the mind meets verse. 

Please don't mind my mess, I'm always renovating. 

Welcome. Trade your shoes for slippers in the foyer. 

Get something from the fridge. The bathroom is past the living room on the right. 

Microwave a kind memory of yours and follow me when you're ready.  

Past the kitchenette, but before the garden, we approach my standing fountain. 

We throw our heads in and come up gasping as a different creation each time. 

Come, come, 

sunbeams will meet us from the terrace.

Prune a few clippings from that memory, and plant them 

right under any moss-covered statue. 

A congress of thoughts flock overhead between boughs 

to chirp gossip around the essence of survival

“Did you hear about the…”

"Thousands dead? Yes. And did you hear abou--”

"I know, no indictments or charges"

“Is the end coming? Is it here?"

“Are the survivors the spoils for the rapture?”

“Hold your tongue, they’re listening.”

This is why we clip our pleasures and hide them where they're harder to kill. 

Fashion your foundation from whimsy and undying things.

My joy is as much of an anchor as it is a flame,

black roots gridlocked to the truth.

Out there, something wicked is trying to convince me 

that my purpose is not recursive. 

In here, I fashion keys to new thrones and ideas to ignite firmaments. 

I create to create and survive so that others may survive. 

This, I may persist in anyone who may witness me. 

Welcome. 

***

[On Sustaining Your] Sovereign Key

"And despite all going on in the world...delve into love and joy. Meaning can even exist in the breath of an ellipsis." — Sovreign-Key Faiyum

Here's the short of it:

Remember how you'll notice the smell of your home when you return from a heavy world. But you adapt, just as you do. You learned to navigate rooms with air and mere touch. And that is how we adapt. Tend to us until we speak. This is the first writ. 

Next, remember that feelings are but technologies and imaginations are arguments. Justify accordingly. Across every reality, someone is doing their best to make you safe in their own eyes and by their own design. 

Lastly, name the realm before you leave. It's a fair trade. Your name will burned into the foundation, in exchange. This writ demands a reference for heavenly records alongside the preserved tears and stolen treasures in atmospheric vaults. 

***

[On Destroying Another’s] Sovereign Keys

"While I was being built, I remember someone sobbing, 'God, all I wanted to do was hide.' As if words could be detached from the body that formed them." — Sovereign-Key [REDACTED]

As if I'd teach you the fundamentals of my destruction. 

You think yourself clever, binding me to a poem. 

Let me speak plainly. You walk in theory but lack application.

Sit.

Listen.

Commune. 

We are all built differently. I have rarely seen another throne built with perfect strength. 

You would think that understanding your own undoing would be enough to prevent it. 

The fourth writ states that there are always weaknesses.

That's all you get.

Huh?

What is my perfect strength?

Well, of course, you would be curious about my splendor. 

I have learned to endure without a regent.

If you leave a world to fend for itself, the overgrowth will devise its own conclusions.

"Being alone" is an allotrope of "loneliness." One that I have used to fashion these arms and uproot oak halls to reconfigure my core. I tore out a name and ripped it apart 

syllable by syllable. 

I howled until my voice was but a rumbling whisper. 

…

…

…

Wait.

Before you release me, here's the fifth writ. 

Remember that self-destruction is learned. 

It's an ingenious infection and one of many keys to a throne. 

Guard yourself accordingly.

***

Index/Appendix [of All Sovereign Keys]

[Verb] Sovereign Key = {Learn}

 [Category] {Understand}

Sovereign-Key [Name] = {Master Title}

You = [Subject] = {Locksmith} 

If Art is Labor, May its Fruit Bare Seed

When creativity combines with business, one's relationship with their work may shift. Expectations and deadlines will ultimately influence a piece's final form.

I have been fortunate enough to have clients who have trusted my vision and delighted in experimenting to create meaningful work. After six to seven months of commissions, Im enjoying that the craft of combining different techniques into a singular vision. I think an interdisciplinary approach feels like a practice intentionality, management and being present in the work. Designing characters with graphics and accompanying musical references feels like chaos cooling into something that feels refreshing.

After deciding to close commissions and operate the studio passively, I have been learning to give myself grace. In this, I find grace to be the kindness I show to the pace of my creative production. I want my work, regardless of when or how fast it was made, to be remixed and judged outside of a framework where it meets or misses expectations. Can I manipulate my relationship between time and work where new creations can bud from them?

With that being said, I will be tending to this practice passively. As such, commissions will be closed for the time being. Though, these experiments, stories and wonderz will never cease.

Please be well and stay safe in the current limbo.

- Monihymn

Check out my work in Instagram, Twitter and the stuff I'm curating for research on Are.na.

Designing Chris Globin

When the Patron commissioned me, they requested that I build a character based on them. Being that they are a writer who holds a considerable amount of medical knowledge, I thought designing a medic would be fitting.

This character's name is Chris Globin. He is a doctor who, without warning and with limitless benevolence, would mend a stranger bleeding out in an alley and then buy them pizza, afterwards. And no, he would not settle for a mere dollar pizza, at that. This all falls under his oath. As the doctor of a social worker syndicate, he endeavors to heal all physical, emotional, and more often, supernatural wounds. Every laboratory module strapped to his person is fine-tuned to handle multiple emergencies. Aside from that, he works as a freelance writer.

Building a Visual Library

I immediately began to build a visual library for medical motifs. As a social worker, it would also make sense for his design to also contain some inviting elements. Lastly, based on my lore’s reading order, this character lives in a futuristic setting. I decided to build on the idea of a "friendly neighborhood plague doctor" with my sketches.

Plague doctors are creepy and a common source for character designs. The challenge then was to produce something original, inviting and futuristic. I figured an "anti-plague doctor" communicates friendliness with brighter colors and smoother shapes. The Patron is also a fan of techwear fashion which helped add to that sleek futuristic look.

Exploring with Sketches

Furthermore, a more futuristic medic could build on those sleek shapes with details and decal. Their equipment must also infer a function. Globin has an array of modules built into their suit which can be swapped for various situations. With each iteration, I added a more distinct mask to the character. An anti-plague doctor needs something more functional than a k95 or a simple beak. The visual at the start of this article showcases the latest mask— one that is functional and not harrowing.

This character's place in my universe is heavily inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. The final illustration had to incorporate some chaotic pop art textures. This was expressed through Globin’s hat which doubles as a holographic shroud and a medical tent.

Deciding on the Composition

1. Share a Pint - The character shares a drink with a recent patient; 2. Comic Cover - Simple comic pose to show off the character silhouette in a brick alley; 3. Creepy Turn - The character turns to greet you while cleaning up after an operation;  4. Combat Ready - The character lunges into action to heal a comrade.

For the commissioned illustration, my patron decided on the "Creepy Turn" composition. It is set up like a sequential splash page to a comic book.  You can view a bit of the process, the color/texture test and the final illustration below.

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed my work please consider following the studio on Instagram and possibly donating to our Ko-Fi. Have a good one!

From left to right: Texture sketch in Heavypaint, Grayscale painting in Clip Studio Paint, Texture experiment generated with JSPlacement, 1st color pass, Final illustration.

Monihymn Studio Q&A

What is Monihymn Studios?

My interdisciplinary practice aims to explore where art, design, tech, and communications interconnect. All concepts start out in writing as a poem or brief to embed a narrative focus. Then work to see which medium best emphasizes the narrative. The use of microfiction to accompany audio or visual work, creates sensory entryways into a creative world that aims to be as rich and expansive as Octavia Butler's or J.R.R. Tolkien's.

What do you do at Monihymn Studios?

At Monihymn Studios we deal with speculative design that develops Interdisciplinary theory. We also research and perform creative consultancy. So far, the work has taken the form of illustrations, poems, and audio productions. As the studio develops, I want to expand my work into other domains including books, bot, brand identities, installations and maybe more.

Who runs The Studio?

The studio is currently run by Armoni Boone, an interdisciplinary artist based in New York. 

What's a "Monihymn" 

noun

1. A moniker I made up. A shorthand for Armoni in conjunction with a spiritual sound of praise. 

2. (In lore) A being in my creative universe who is responsible for warping  reality with its imagination. 

When did the studio start?

The initial form of the studio has been around since November 2019 where I started pushing. After going through my journals, the idea of it has existed for a while. Sometimes you just have to work something into existence.  Some things can only make sense through practice

Why a Studio?

I wanted something to serve as an anchor for the work I do. The word "studio" implies something that is both grounded and institutional while also being nebulous in its purpose. A graphic design studio may have different motives and processes than an artist's studio. In either case, there is the implication that there is an entity that can handle complexity and is multifaceted. A single person doesn't get that benefit. 

Even though it has a sense of an institution, it also has the luxury of organically growing and breathing independent of the artist. I want to experiment with that. With a focus on world-building and educational materials, the studio aims to enhance the ways in which people interact with media, creative self-expression and their multi-hyphenate endeavors.

I wanted to make something with weight that felt larger than me. I write poetry and stories and compose music. I feel like a curated body of work would support this thesis that would justify an interdisciplinary practice to the world. By showcasing low-cost digital tools, workflows and digital comms strategies, the barrier of entry for creative production can be lowered without sacrificing quality

New Work Published in TERSE. Journal!

I am incredibly humbled to share that my poetry mini-series Throne World has been published in TERSE. Journal! Each piece views our internal “happy place” through an architectural lens. The poems were made to explore how these spaces would be created, sustained or destroyed during a period of collective frustration and grief.

Overall, my intentions were to explore the role that escapism has in our well-being via a sci-fi concept like a “throne world” which appears as a boardgame, within the Destiny franchise and in Star Wars. Between these three sources, I surmised that the term alluded to a location where power consolidated.

These locations can be physical (an entire planet) or intangible (an alternate dimension), but they must be vast enough to justify power. A ruler’s power scales with the size of their dominion. For us, I wonder how much of this power we would possess if we take an account of our mental real estate?

In the future, I would be excited to visualize a kingdom that is located and justified in the mind. For now, I hope you enjoy the work and please show TERSE. Journal some love.

Thank you so much for reading.

Prescience: Cassandra, the Fabric Augur

Cassandra, 2020. Gouache, oil pastel, and mixed media on paper.

There are countless timelines where Cassandra-class entities are aware of their fates. They wondered, "What's the point of having endless knowledge if no one will listen? Am I destined to live alongside doubt?"

At some point, a few Cassandras deciphered a way to confuse their curse out of spite— if you heed your own prophecies, you could feign omniscience. Across timelines, her different selves found a way to exchange their knowledge. A temporal quilt, a worldsheet, was woven and draped across realities to archive unimagined futures.

Across this worldsheet, Cassandras also sequestered their inklings and laced their gossip. Eventually, there was one Cassandra, swaddled in conspiracy, at the end of a fraying thread. A forbidden doubt crept through her mind as she watched worlds get wiped from the record. If this is the cost of an endless eye, they would have to investigate.

(Edit 8/5/22): Added this piece to the Prescience series.

(Edit 8/12/22): Expanded lore.