Circumstance, Consistency, and Realization

It's that time again, when I touch on thoughts about why I add my bits of data to the interwebs, and share my thoughts and such.  But first, other things(besides starting with a preposition) -

I recently had the unfortunate circumstance of having an episode of my Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, and it took me out of commission for four or five days.  The main reason I bring this up is to talk about how I lack much consistency in my posting to social media, and in fact a lot of my life.  If I am to site circumstance as a reason for inconsistency, then it seems I should seek to encourage circumstances which promote consistency and productivity.  There's somewhere this all goes though - Realization

I don't mean if I have a schedule I'm going to be realized, but rather, I might better realize myself and my own potential.  I keep telling myself I need to get a daily routine and structure my life, and each day I keep finding that more and more true.  So am I reminding myself?  Yes.  If you needed a reminder or idea too, sweet boost, it's not a bad thought.

I need to encourage a consistency of circumstance which aids in self-realization.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Here's A Thought

Thanks pbsideachannel for the title, but anyways

Every so often I come back to the question of why blog and vlog and such, what are my goals and motivations I guess.  It's kind of fuzzy for me, I'm not entirely certain myself.  As I keep doing it though, I'm learning more and more, especially about myself.  Which might be a side-effect, or part of my motivation, or I dunno.

Here's my thought though - Typing my thoughts and making videos of them and generally attempting to share myself and my ideas, has caused me to spend a lot of time with myself and my ideas, helping me to see them and realize them better(myself included).  I guess in some ways it's a bit of an exploratory process, to see what happens.

Late Night Philosophy

I was up late the other night, as I often am, so I guess I was awake... early the other morning... anyways and I was playing LOTRO and chatting with a kin-mate while the other guy was afk.  He forgot something and I replied -
"As the Elves say, 'Silly humans, forgetting everything.  Eventually how to live as well.'"
I followed up after his lol to mention how dying was actually sometimes referred to as the Gift of Men, since they didn't have to carry their sorrows and troubles for an eternity, forever being bound to Middle-Earth.  The Silmarillion was a fun to read as a fan of fantasy and history, I recommend it for fans looking for a longer read.

Knowing that we die has shaped human culture more than we can reasonably perceive, even if we could break it down and make a list.  Face it, a million is not something we can really grasp, except as a large quantity, with a scale that allows us to compare and contrast.  In the situation of this, how do you really draw a line so you don't just say everything is based on the fact that we die?

I don't know, and that was more of a rhetorical question.  I was reminded of this conversation a little when I was thinking about cancer.  Cancer sucks, and it makes sense to try to defeat it.  When I think about humans as creatures in an ecosystem, I can't help but feel like we disregard any niche and just power forward.  Maybe that's just how humans are so that's how it should be?  Asking these questions don't really provide a helpful answer, almost ever.

I still think it's good to think things in complex ways,
Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Checking In, Updates, and Such

All I really have for you tonight is a blog post, but a blog post with the promise of more to come.  I have tomorrow off, and used my morning to get myself ready to do lots of stuff tomorrow.  So keep an eye out on my YouTube channel, expect some character sketches and drafts on G+(Alturiigo), and hopefully including a surprise from some of my archived(piled in closet or drawer) Visceroth Cluster material.

NaNoWriMo is happening, and while I don't think I'll finish a novel, I've had a story on the backburner and this is as good an excuse as any to work on it.  And work on it I have, through a couple thought-drafts and some sketches(the ones to be on G+).  Anaira Valencia is decidedly the character cast across Aldrin Gant in the story I'm calling "Finding the Sky" as a working title.  This is the "steampunk" story I've been wanting to work on.  The story follows Aldrin Gant, and is told from more or less a limited third-person... I guess you could kind of imagine like a third-person game.

Anaira is a character originally cast in the Visceroth Cluster, as a citizen of the planet Nevus, living in the city of Kinstyr.  She was met in a campaign on the jungle planet of Mure, where she was investigating a company called Pyrcill, which she suspected of producing bioweapons which had caused the local outbreaks.  Upon resolving the investigation of the facility and her goal, she helps the player locate their quest location, and also(can) joins the player's crew.  In the campaign, she also plays a role as a scribe or narrator of sorts, following the player as they uncover... trouble.  Any more than that and you should just play it.

When I started thinking about this story, I wanted a really cool woman to be right there in the main cast, embodying something awesome.  Sorry, I just find that really awesome.  So, not really sorry.  I wasn't sure though how I wanted her to be as a character fully, but I had some ideas.  The phrase "well behaved women rarely make history" is probably well-suited to this character's personality(as a history-maker(writer?)).  I wrote a short bit a while ago as a demo for myself, and was having these thoughts that she might be a journalist or in maybe another way of putting it, a truth-seeker.  Whether she funds herself, has money, works for someone, I'm not fully certain, though, I'm strongly leaning towards freelance.  I realized that this character strongly resembled many of the ideas of Anaira Valencia.

It's not just a recasting of the same character, they rarely ever are, but the inspirations and comparisons I find to be helpful in discovering this character as a new Anaira Valencia.  She has the same beauty mark and they wear their hair similarily, being two examples of inspirations drawn from the design.  In both castings, Anaira wears pants.  I find this especially character driven in this Steampunk casting, since it tends to draws from an older time setting, when it was kind of a big deal for a woman to be a pants-wearer.  I'm not pretending I'm going to write some feminist icon, but I really like this character and she's been fun to get to know and develop.

I'll stop myself here and bid you adieu and good night

Trot On Everypony,

Alturiigo

OH HAI Another One?

Maybe you know this and maybe you don't, but I like to pretend to be creative or artistic or what-have-you, to the point where it's what I do with a lot of my free time.  I draw, I draft up thoughts and arcs and characters and ideas, imagining whole new worlds and... systems I guess.  There's a lot I've already made, and I'm continuously doing something or other, so at this point I'm tired of hoarding all this ideas and stories and characters.  You don't know hardly any of them, and you certainly don't know them as well as I do, but many of the characters and stories have been stewing for years, and there's so much more to them than I ever imagined when I began dreaming up characters, like Spaz the Stickman and Sven "Danger" Kirschtorte.

sfjigmjigrd lrklgdklfkl fk

Is the best answer I can give as to why I bother posting my drawings, blogging, vlogging or generally sharing, since I think it's a messy thing to argue about, people sharing their ideas.  Who even cares what I have to say?  I don't address these questions rightfully, because just trying to answer that seems unproductive.  Why would I do it if I didn't want to do it?  So clearly, this is something that I am personally inclined to do.  I'm digressing.  Anyways, you can also follow me on:
Google+ - Alturiigo
Tumblr - Alturiigo
Twitter - @AdamLese

Trot On Everypony

Thoughts on the Day

As I sit here and listen to Ein Astronaut on YouTube, I've been thinking on the day I had.  It had much suck, but it also showed that life has seems to have a karmic ebb and flow to it.  I'll elaborate, since you should have more context(I'll add that karma isn't really part of my faith, more like the name for a concept.  So as far as my view on its legitimacy... I don't know what to tell you).

My sister and brother-in-law moved into the area, which was swell - except that in doing so I lost my room, and through simply unfortunate events, his move also forced me to transfer work locations.  So yeah, what was something to be happy about brought about a lot of suck, but such is the way of things.

Since moving to this area, my social circle doesn't extend very far out of my coworkers(which I now don't work with), so in some ways I lost contact with many of my established social connections.  Getting transferred to a new store means I have to learn to work with a whole new group of people, and they will be learning me and feeling me out, deciding whether or not they like working with me.  Either way, I try to be helpful since I often think about how nice it is when someone helps me, so I've stayed later for people, and picked up shifts.

The early part of my day was just suck.  I got to work, and found out that instead of be the 2 I was the 3, and I couldn't work all night - because my hours were nearly to overtime, since I had stayed late so often and picked up so many shifts.  Because I had been so willing to help, my work load was lessened and I got to go home earlier than I would have.  Also, for whatever rhyme or reason, most of my coworkers seem to find me to be likable, if not funny, and surprisingly not horrible at singing.  What's my point?  I dunno, just I guess maybe that like the weather, our lives are beautifully intricate systems continuously shifting and shaping themselves, from floods to droughts, storms to sprinkles.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Some Old Things I Wrote

I've dabbled in writing, often little bits here or there, about this and that.  If you've been following along, you've probably seen at least one or two bits(like this post).  Some time ago, I wrote a few... monologues I guess.  I guess they were kind of like the character narrating a moment in time.  Here's one of them, I think it was a combination of the beauty of letting go, and deciding what's important to yourself.


I couldn't remember what happened after that moment, the screen faded to black. A touching score moved all to tears, the feel-good moment of the week. My confusion soon sorted into a new understanding. I decided to improvise. "Goodbye." The romantic comedy turned tragedy.  I gave up everything. Damn, nothing never felt so much like something.

This next one was about... I think the phrase would be "modern excessivism" or something.

She looked at me, those eyes that shimmered like the lights on her empty martini glass. Every step a pick up line, confident yet desperate. Each sway of her hips cried for my validation, or any man who would fall into her wake. She stood before me, pouring forth her charm, cascading over me like her designer perfume. When did too much become just enough? This is growing up.

I'll leave it at those, and bid you adieu,
Trot On Everypony, Alturiigo

Why Haven't I Gone Back To School?

I find this to be a good question I ask myself, especially since years of thought on it have only given me a vague sense of my internal forces directing my decision making.  I mean, growing up it always just seemed like something I would do, as much a part of my life and future as going through k-12.  I've always loved learning, about almost anything.  I think the world around us is a fascinating place, filled with amazing and spectacular things.

Another note, this isn't an argument for or against it, merely a presentation of thought.

With the advent of the internet, and a viable means of global sharing and networking, a huge amount of the world's information is at our fingertips.  Once, a person would have to be given access to the material, often through difficult channels.  This is to say, if I wanted to learn about quantum physics, I'd need to pretty much go to school for it to have the materials to learn from.  Yes, educational systems also provide better structures for learning as well, so this is much to their benefit in a comparison to simply looking up the information yourself.  So sure, it seems like in some part I seem disinclined to spend thousands of dollars to learn something.  My love of learning also means that the idea of picking one thing to learn about still seems... daunting?

There's more to it though for me, I'm certain.  I feel a sense of frustration about the notion that I "should go to college" because well, that's just what you do.  As though whether or not I've attended university decides whether or not I'm of much "value" to society.  So am I that stubborn and irrational? Maybe.  Here's a thought though -
I made a choice, a conscious choice to alter my life and experience in a way that was not how I originally saw myself, or how others saw me.  This wasn't (just) childish spite, I'd be a fool if I let that govern my adult life.  It was a choice about they way I would live my life, it governed the people I've met and the things I've done.  Have I impacted a lot of people, or really changed anything?  I guess that depends on your scope.

I've been blessed with meeting many amazing people who have enriched my life, and as it turns out, that's often a mutual thing.  So sure, I didn't end up going to school to study linguistics, or fashion design, or programming, or almost any of the other things that fascinate me.  I was the one making decisions in my life, and every one of them has shaped me into the person I am today.  A person who I am not ashamed to be.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Do Dogs Smell In Color?

Sure, that sounds like a pretty silly question, but let me add a little change of context.

This thought occurred to me the other day as I was considering how much better a dog's sense of smell is than a human's.  I couldn't help but think it would suck horribly, I mean consider smelling something rotten, then multiply that.  Not so rad.  Dogs have a very broad "spectrum of smells", let's say, allowing them to also pick out smaller more localized odors, such as a drug dog, or dogs which are trained to identify cancer.

Senses are pretty amazing, since they're actually a process of interpreting an experience or stimuli.  So while we can be ever so sure that red is red... there are other humans out there which see something different.  If that was what they learned to be red, then it would all be peachy-keen(well for the most part).  So we see in colors, a broad spectrum in which we are able to distinguish between very small differences in wavelengths of light and their interactions with our eyes.  Your nose works in a similar way, reacting to molecules and generating an odor or scent.  Without a nose(the very idea of what a nose represents), things don't have an odor.  Think about it though, seriously.  They don't.

Anyways, my thought is like this; Maybe we can best understand a dog's sense of smell through our understanding of our sense of color and in some ways sight(like using scent to track something).  Which brings me to one of my favorite thoughts -
One sees the world through a lens of oneself, but through We, may one hope to see beyond themselves, and appreciate the beauty of Us.

Alturiigo, minding my T's and Q's

What Does Being A Gamer Mean To Me?

I find this to be an interesting question to ask myself, especially as the "gamer culture" has been growing and changing, or in some ways, resisting change.

So let's back it up a little bit, how do I think about the phrase, "gamer"?  I suppose to me it means some one who both uses games as a major source of entertainment, and identifies as a "gamer".  Kinda circular, huh?  I can't find an immediately obvious way around that.

Personally, I don't only see video games as a source of time-killing amusement, but also as a medium to tell stories and display art.  Some games even take this further and as a player you create things inside the game, and shape your own story as you play.  This is a large part of why I enjoy video games so much, my desire to pretend I live in another world is small; I still enjoy imaging characters in other worlds and realities, and the fantastic stories and adventures that go with them.

All this being said, this is specifically how I view video games, and it doesn't really speak for all gamers.  Also, how I choose to express myself socially and my beliefs are not the same as all other gamers.  This has been made pretty obvious to me by a review of GTA V that seemed to light gamer-trolls up in a fury.  Why? Because a woman reviewed it and gave it "ONLY A 9 OUT OF 10!?!?!?" and mentioned also that it didn't do a very good job of including and portraying women(EDIT:No one really expected it to, but it's still something to hope and aim for).  I'm still trying to get past to baffled stage of trying to grasp such a strong and violent overreaction.

Anyways, games are great story-telling devices and artistic mediums, and there will be some stories and art I like, and some I don't.  Just like with not-games.  Funny how that is.  We're all different in so many ways, yet we still often use our similarities to try to drive each other apart.

Game On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Oh Adventure

People will be like "Oh you should go out more" and I'm all like "See, I totally go out-"

I ride all around, even, no especially, on starry nights.

And fishing is totally outdoors-y

I caught a glowing fish?

Let's make some stew! Remember, carrots are good

for your eyesight.

I remember learning about how these grow from

rocks.  Isn't nature a wonder?

But it's not always lonely, I have friends and kinsfolk

Here we're celebrating the Farmer's Faire

Sometimes I have dance-offs with Orcs

But mostly I like to go hill-surfing-

When I'm not playing my harp that is.

Adventures in Lord of The Rings Online, with Laerawyn(Minstrel) and Ithulraen(Rune-Keeper), members of the Whispers of Hope

Chapter 1(Intro): Just Another Day

The sun shone down brightly as Aldrin drifted through the City Park, happy to not have a passenger for a moment during this beautiful day.  He took a moment to breathe in deeply before banking off towards the park exit, taking in the clean smell of the air out here on the edges of Crastleton.  The fumes of the factories and ambient pollution of the industrial district were just a far off blemish, across a small city's worth of people and places.

Aldrin hadn't been having a bad day by any means, in fact most of his passengers had been either quiet or polite.  This still didn't stop him from wishing he could just enjoy the day, especially considering how bad his last week had been.  I'm not going home sober... not tonight... he thought to himself, wincing as he remembered the way she said those words, "If you want to do anything for me, just leave me alone."  Fine, you weren't that fantastic either...

After making his way slightly into a more occupied part of the city, Aldrin parked his cab and let the machine idle in a near-ready position.  He soon slipped into thought about his recent troubles, drowning out the electric hums and hisses of steam as Crastleton around him bustled with life, but more so, energy.  The city was one of the more developed cities, having taken great strides in harnessing the powers of steam and electricity to produce many modern wonders, like the FloatCabs he himself piloted.

FloatCabs were low-flying vehicles typically holding three to four occupants, often kept near a hovering altitude, but not limited to roads nor placing stress upon them.  These were in fact one of the older innovations that came from Crastleton, often known for trying to "better people's lives".  Aldrin didn't consider the Administration very highly, though it would be hard to argue that life there wasn't pretty easy.

A movement to his right caught his attention, pulling Aldrin from his reverie sharply to see a well-dressed woman part-way through her third decade, quite nearly sprinting towards his cab.  She seemed to have began her day well-kept, though the day's events had clearly taken a toll on her intended appearance, with locks of hair falling astray and a general look of... annoyance, perhaps?

The woman pulled open the door and quickly slid herself inside, nearly alarming Aldrin with the alacrity of her movements, despite the cumbersome and pomp dress she wore.  Clearly she was concerned about presenting herself well, but by all signs to Aldrin, something must have gone horribly awry.  Before she had even fully settled into the seat in that motion, she began directing Aldrin, smoothly saying "Drive west and out, with haste sir."  The moment later as she was firmly in her seat she turned to him and looked sternly as she continued, "Time is of the essence."  No sooner had she finished this statement as men wielding shock rifles came storming from the same alley the woman had came so suddenly out of.

Before Aldrin could decide how to react, one of the uniformed men fired his rifle in the direction of the cab, causing the situation to escalate in a heartbeat.  The woman raised her voice a little more and took quite the urgent tone as she said, "Like it or not, you are a part of this.  They can not stop us from showing the truth.  Launch goodman!"  Aldrin throttled his cab and took off in the direction the woman had told him, suddenly forgetting the peacefulness of the day and becoming unwillingly drawn into a violent chase, involving a woman who was rapidly proving to have far more about her than he might have guessed in any other situation.

Life is... Expression?

So here's an interesting way to think about life or existence - spontaneous or instantaneous existence.  Think like saying, all we or anything ever is, is a bunch of atoms and electric currents and other stuff, at any given right meow.  Existence would then be an infinite sequence of infinitesimally small... let's say frames or moments.  Anyways.

I would argue that consciousness, one of the major ideas centered around our thoughts on life and the debate of a soul, is a... vessel of and for expression.  I think those words are about right.  I like this because if you broaden your ideas of expression, you may say that a reaction is an expression of an action, like saying a flower growing is the expression of it's chloroplasts doing their job right.

As far as people go, I find it much more fascinating to apply this lens to, well, anything.  Even in choosing not to speak, act, or react, it is still a form of expression.  Abstinence of something can be an expression towards or about something.  Communication, which is important to all kinds of animals, is about utilizing different means of expressions to convey an idea or invoke an instinct or emotion.

Communication, Expression, and even Perspective(through Expression), are all incredibly intertwined.  So I think it might go something like this - from a need to Communicate, Expression... occurs.  Expression is an interaction between to entities(Expresser and Expressee(even if the Expressee is never truly existent)) and in such gives way to Perspective, which is the lens through which we understand Expressions.

So I guess maybe Existence is Communication, Expression is Life, and Perspective is Consciousness.  I like to think that your Perspective is your personal context applied to your personal experience, as a frame of reference for what you are perceiving(expression you're interpreting).  Anyways, I'll leave it off here and stop the late-night philosophy.

Exist On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Why Some Nametags Say "Team Member"

Also, why I often refer to the place I work at in the first-person plural -

I was watching the Equestria Girls movie, and there was a bit about school spirit.  I got to thinking a little about this, and as I look back on my own past and think about what that concept means to me, it seems like a pretty great notion.  I was in band, and I played pep band - I LOVED playing pep band.  The songs were fun, and having a reason to get together and play the crap out of your instrument wasn't too bad either.  Maybe you don't have that school spirit?  I can understand that.

People have varied interests, so we see it as kind of normal that people group together(speaking in generalities and opinions here) based on similar interests.  Which is cool and great, until those groups stop collaborating, for whatever reason, which may seem and be completely valid.  So what am I getting at?

I think School Spirit(heck let's throw Team Spirit in here too) can be a great and positive tool in seeing beyond one's own interests or goals, and to use them to help others find theirs.  We are all a part of Team Humanity, and have been attending Universe-ity(see what I did there?), so come on show some School Spirit for Team Earth!  WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

GO TEAM EARTH!!!

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Creativity Bursts

The reason I haven't been posting as much is that I recently started working on a character idea/story of sorts, and when I get a sudden wealth of creativity, I try to make the most out of it.  So... yeah, that's that, and keep an eye out I guess, I'm trying to decide how I'd like to present it, instead of doing like I normally do and just show the bits and such of my drafts.

But honestly, I think it's gonna be pretty cool.

A Scary Thought

I follow SciShow, CrashCourse, and The Brain Scoop, so that's where this is coming from.  A couple things I've recently been informed of were the disappearance of A LOT of honey bees, and the deaths of MANY bats.  According to the Brain Scoop(and honestly I can't help but to see the validity in the thought), we(as a planet) are probably approaching another mass extinction.  This time though, it probably won't be from some major natural disaster(at least not from the root);  Humans will most likely be the primary cause.

Human actions have helped lead to Colony Collapse Disorder, the cause of the vanishing of a majority of honey bee populations.  Studies have been finding increasing reason to believe that many of our pesticides and maybe especially fungicides are causing this problem, in which entire bee colonies seem to just up and... bee gone?

As far as the bats go, this is an American thing(as in North America, not the U.S.(IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT US)), since the fungus which is killing off so many bats(6.7 Million in the last 5 to 6 years) was originally from Europe, where it doesn't really seem to affect the bat population there.  It's likely that people visiting Europe have inadvertently carried the fungus back here to North America, and we all know how bad invasive species can be(BAD.  STOP TRANSPLANTING WILDLIFE PEOPLE COME ON).

Bees are incredible pollinators, and without them it will severely cripple many crops and the ability to grow them, and if we think outside humans... this is gonna be horrible for like, plants everywhere.  Scientists are still trying to find out what is the major causes, and what we can do to stop or slow CCD.  So bats... bats typically eat their weight in insects every night, and also help pollinate and disperse seeds.  Imagine insects(like mosquitoes and all the awesome gifts they give us) running much more rampant(okay so yeah we'd probably just use more insecticides... because that sounds like such a good idea.  COME ON PEOPLE) and not being controlled, spreading disease and eating plants and all that jazz.  The impact of these two creatures dying off on a huge scale has huge implications for ecosystems as a whole.  So the idea that another mass extinction is on the way, is a pretty real and scary thought.

The Brain Scoop on Mass Extinction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbKtBLDRfwU
SciShow on the Vanishing of Bees - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgc5w-xyQa0
SciShow on the Dying-Off of Bats - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q5oe33M15Q

Who is Alturiigo?

As time progresses, this becomes a more interesting question to me.  There was a character a long time ago for a pen-and-paper game I played which I had named Altur.  Much later, as I was beginning to dream up the Echoes story, I wanted to create another pair of characters for the story, who were another human and spirit who were bonded together.  Remembering the name Altur, I had the thought that maybe the spirit might be Iigo.  Maybe the ghost could help him look different, and that could be his... power?

The thought progressed as the character and the story became a little more developed, to the point where Alturiigo looks a lot more like this(->).
This is image is supposed to something of the two in a fully-bonded or merged state, where Altur's dead-pan/apathetic personality gains Iigo's wicked glint and mischievity.  When I was deciding what should be my PSN name, I figured why not use Alturiigo, since it seemed pretty fitting for a screen name.  So there's a backdrop for you.

Like a nickname, a screen-name is in some ways an aspect of who you are.  While you might be showing your full self, you're at least sharing the aspect of your thoughts(unless you solely plagiarize).  Something I think is interesting about this, is that the more I share as Alturiigo(or through them), the more realized they become as a character, even when being cast in different ways.  My best personal reference for this is that as a gamer, I reuse certain characters across various games, despite different settings and stories.  But I still feel a congruence of character for them.

I don't think I(Adam) have become Alturiigo, or that they are some sort of person outside me, but at the same time, the concept of them has become further dettached from the way I perceive myself.  I believe this is because... well, I'm not entirely sure.  Because it helps me think about things a little differently, and try to think about how I might approach it if I weren't me, but was.  So maybe like to say, if I could partition part of my thoughts to be a little more aloof and less biased(which is pretty much impossible to be rid of).

-Adam... mostly

Creating and Self-Esteem

I often refer to many of my drawings as doodles, and you'll probably never hear me refer to anything I do as art.  I'll take a moment to explain my reasoning for this, and also this is a perspective I have only towards myself, not towards the works and expressions of others.

I would mostly say that I dabble in things, or have various hobbies.  I like to write, but it's never very much; I have "chapters" of a steampunk story I have bouncing around posted in various places.  I draw things because it helps me explore my visual representation of them, in fact when I initially draw a character I don't necessarily know exactly how the will turn out.  A good example of this is Bec and Elara T'Surin.

Almost no given drawing or other thing I've worked on has ever had more than four hours of time spent on it.  I often work simply in pencil or pen, and it's as I'm thinking and creating.  What you see(including posts) is almost entirely unedited, and often is the actual act of the creation.  My vlogs are obviously edited because they would be longer and have plenty more awkward pauses.  I say anyways far more than you may realize.

Anyways, I also would not consider my creations to be of incredible standards, and I feel that that is a very honest and as close to unbiased as I can be.  This applies to a lot of things I've done, because while some things I've done quite well at, I would rarely be considered the "best".  I do feel that I can do many things quite well actually, though even typing that statement makes me feel a need to instantly retract it for fear of sounding like a narcissist.  In cards, the queen, king, and ace are all above the jack.  So being a jack-of-all-trades mean you may do well at many things, but excel at much fewer if any.

I believe that a good fundamental to have is to try to see things complexly, especially others and also yourself.  Sometimes I find I struggle to be happy with myself, and when I do it's because I'm often failing to see myself complexly.  For example, I still have apprehension to share my creations and thoughts, and I believe it is strongly related to my idea that I don't do anything well enough to really have it define me.  I'm not an artist, I'm not a scholar, I'm not a philosopher.  But you know what, I'm a human, and so is everyone else.  I have many friends that like and appreciate the things I do, so when I want to tell myself I don't have merit, maybe I should take a moment to respect their opinions.

Think On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Bringing Sexy Back

Back from where?  It went somewhere?  Was there a time that I'm unaware of in which people didn't think sexy was socially important?  

I feel like there's a lot more to be said on this, but to be honest I'm not even sure where to begin on that, or that it's something I even want to touch.  So maybe share your thoughts in comments, think for your own enjoyment, or just continue on your merry.

Trot On Everypony,

Alturiigo

Google+ Hangouts

This is a feature of Google+, and I think it's a nice integration of video chat.  Something that it's often used for is to allow bloggers and vloggers to interact with their community.  I'm thinking about it, and I'm maybe open to the idea of doing it sometime?  Of course I can't help but tell myself I'd be sitting with no one to talk to.  But hey how can I know that unless I put the idea out there and see if there's any interest in such a thing...

So, I pose a question to you the reader, would you like a chance to ask me some questions or share your thoughts and have a discussion on G+ Hangouts?  If it becomes something that people participate in and enjoy, it could even be more regular and have topics to discuss.

Just some thoughts, have a good Tuesday everypony
Alturiigo

Friendship and Effort

So, this is something I've been thinking about recently, and I suppose for a long time.  Friendship does not require effort or contribution; it's a poor idea to value friendship by what people do or the effort they spend on you.  But that being said...

If a "friend" fails to spend any effort on me, or treat me as an equal, it makes me question whether or not I should consider them a friend.  This thought is based on the concept that a friend shouldn't have to make an effort, but should choose to.  I struggle with this because I don't like to be petty.  But if someone doesn't appreciate you for who you are, or wants to spend time with you, then it's a pretty good sign that they don't really think of you as a real friend.

If you treat someone with respect and equality, take time to help them and make them happy(and even help them without them knowing just so things are easier or days go smoother), and they don't even seem to appreciate it... well, then they probably aren't worth spending the time on.  Fact of the matter is, while friendship isn't based on how much you do for the other person, if all they do is give them the impression that your efforts are worthless, then they probably aren't your friend.  Just sayin'.

So while you shouldn't have to break your back to maintain a friendship, you should be willing to take the time for your friends or at least show them you value them as a person and a friend.  Otherwise, they aren't that wrong in deciding to drop your sorry ass and spend their time and effort on someone who values them.

Alright, I'm done ranting, trot on everypony,
Alturiigo

Chapter... I Dunno Like 11 or 12 Maybe?

I wrote up a short story bit to play around with the story idea I've been working on lately.  So that's this.

Timing is Everything

I'm not a fan of statements about absolutes.  I generally am behind this statement though, I just like to keep a broader scope, like I do for most things.

In a video I did yesterday, I talked about winning or earning another's affection, and how it's something I've generally moved away from.  That's not to say I think it's bad or something I wouldn't do, but another important thing to think about in life is where you are at in your life.  I feel confident when I say that at this point in my life, I don't believe I would function properly in a relationship.  Doing what you want to do, and doing what you think is best for yourself can be important to think about, but you should also think about your external impact.

I also have a tendency to look back and look at my life as a stream of missed opportunities, but I usually stop looking at it that way minutes later when I remember that I made the choices in my life, and I was obviously guided by my own intent(that's what's great about choice and will).  It can be a vicious feeling to accept the weight of your own life though too.  So I'm gonna move on.

Remember that every moment in life is an opportunity to be you, and the timing of now is the realest of timings.

Some Thoughts To Share

I've been away from most of my occupancy lately, being sick and what-not, so this may be more like getting a few ideas out than an extrapolation on any.  Foreword done.

While part of me wants to see what form or post-apocalyptic currency(if any) will form in my "zombie" game, I also enjoy thinking on the matter myself. A thought I had was about using batteries; they have various denominations and actual use as well.  Not to mention a plausible and likely chance of stockpiling of said batteries.  Oh, and I feel like in a lot of the places you find random gold n' such in games, you would super-likely find random batteries, like in drawers and shelves and crap like that.

Nothing is pretty fascinating, and I'm probably going to vlog about that sometime in the near future, so if it interests you or not, keep an eye out for it(like also to avoid it if that's your jam).

Another thing I've recently been brought to think on is something akin to the idea of "flirting" or something.  More so maybe about thinking about the messages we send and how we send them.  For example, complimenting someone is generally a nice idea, but how one goes about it makes a HUGE difference.  And sometimes, it can feel like even a sincere compliment can be unwanted or frightening to give.  So yeah, there's all that.

Anyways, that's about all I have for you right meow, I'll be back soon with thoughts I'm sure.
Keep an eye out for me on:
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/Alturiigo
Tumblr - http://alturiigo.tumblr.com/
Twitter - @AdamLese

Have A Great Temporal Unit Everypony,
Alturiigo

Why I'm Opposed To Hashtags

I've been known to be a grammar police from time to time, but I'd also like to say that grammar shouldn't be used to shame others.  So I often try to be polite(or semi-polite) when correcting people.  It's also important to note that I'm not always spot on either.

I get hashtags, and they're kind of interesting in that you can tag an idea or concept(or... trend) for a post, so it helps categorize things.  My problem?  It's freakin' cluttery and I don't like how it looks.  I like my language certain ways.

There are times I'm less concerned with capitalization, for example when I'm texting or sometimes im-ing with friends, I may be lax about capital i's and the beginning of sentences being uppercase.  I view this as a modern day trend similar to less formal modes of speech, kind of like how one would address their friends differently than their teachers, or bosses, or something like that.

I love language, and the beauty of its versatility to express ourselves.  But you won't see me using hashtags, and there might be other things I do differently or oppose. As always though, I do my best to understand that it's not my place to tell others how to use language, since language is part science, but most importantly, a form of self-expression.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

BEST IDEA EVER!!

Okay that's probably a bit much. But still.

So, z10: Apocalypse is a variant of Future d10, also known as d10: Visceroth Cluster.  The Visceroth Cluster is a science-fiction setting, a space opera if you will.  The thing is though, I've imagined many moments that are both a part of that setting, and a part of getting to that setting.

It all begins with a near-future apocalypse, an electromagnetic storm that ravages the atmosphere and disables a lot of tech.  At this point, adding in a nuclear apocalypse might be a bit much, but it would further drive a need to go to space, and could house a neat story of conflict, intrigue, and opposing values.

Much later, the project which had caused the electromagnetic catastrophe is uncovered, and becomes redesigned to help create atmospheres on other planets by using the electromagnetic charge to ionize the atmosphere... or something.  Mars is colonized, then eventually Io, and finally Titan.  There's a whole substory here about Io trying to take over Titan before it was considered a member of the Coalition, known as The Titan Chronicles.  This actually helps understand the conflict in the Distress on Denore Campaign for the Visceroth Cluster Setting.

Needless to say, countless stories populate the history and the world of the Visceroth Cluster, and I realized, what if it was a series of novels in The StoneBridge Residents, because I had the idea that one of the characters wrote fanfic based on a character story that exists in the Visceroth Cluster, the character being Phoenix.  Anyways, it occurred to me that while I could include the idea of the novels in the z10 campaign, I could also think about it as a step of the origin to help set off the series of events that lead to The Visceroth Cluster.
I also like it because it's almost representative of how the system came to be, as it was originally a zombie game, that I altered to craft a sci-fi game, which I then sculpted a variant off of that to make z10.  So in a way, the idea that the z10 world has the Future d10 world in it, is a really fun/neat thought for me.

More Thoughts on Character Design

As I've mentioned many times before, I love making characters, and I enjoy the structure games give to thinking about characters.  So I'd like to take a step back and discuss a little about what I think is interesting and fun for me.

Sometimes, I decide to base a character of a loose concept, a minor facet of the character.  I'll use the concept of Blu(The StoneBridge Residents - Messenger's Story) as an example.  I had designed a variety of characters for Residents so far, and was trying to think of a new survivor/colonist.  The concept originated with a sewing skill, and I thought it might be neat if the character sewed well because they made their own cosplay costumes and gear.  I thought maybe she was a young woman who was well-read, and could easily find an answer to a problem in a pile of books, if not just a single one.

This was also fun for me because the idea of a character who can not only sew well, but is also good at making non-conventional clothing, seems like a pretty badass friend/ally to have.  I really enjoy exploring different character concepts, even very basic concepts, and seeing what really makes that character, and what all makes it work.  I especially enjoy taking a character who might traditionally be viewed as a weak character, and trying to discover their strength.  I will say, it's not often that the "weak" truly have no strength.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Self Discovery Through Expression

I remember when I was younger, thinking about how I hoped to be able to see things as I got older.  At this time, I also recognized that I would have to live to that point to be the person I would be, and thus see how I would see.  This is an important realization I had sometime in high school, that I could not analyze or study and learn how to be who I would be, or even how to be an adult, without having human experience to shape and define it.

This thought came about a couple minutes ago as I frustratedly close the video editing software which was failing to cooperate.  I had been working on something of a blooper reel... slash moments I really enjoy, from my videos.  It would not let me.  I guess the opening could also be viewed as me trying to condone the act of spending so much time editing video of myself because it actually entertains me when the bits of it come together.  Through all of the editing I've done so far, it's been really interesting watching myself from the third-person.  I've learned a lot about little ticks and such that I have/do, and it's interesting to hear my voice and the various tones and inflections I use.

The moral of all this is that somethings can only be fully learned through doing, or expressing.  It would be like saying the only way to have a full understanding of something is to experience it, though admittedly that statement sounds too... rigid, and lacking.  Observation and analysis are spectacular tools, and thought is also powerful;  I urge not to forget the experience as another viewpoint or position.

Anyways(secret lolz), Trot On Everypony
-Alutriigo

z10: Beta Reference Book

To look at a page more closely, a simple way is to right-click the image and open it in a new tab, if your browser allows.  Otherwise, doesn't it look like it might have something good in there if you could read it?

Character Design: Mouse Guard

The Mouse Guard RPG has a fun character creation model that helps shape your character pretty well, so the between-the-lines can actually be best seen through that lens.

Lynn is a young GuardMouse from the town of Port Sumac.  She is a talented scout and bit of a loner; While she does what she can to help everyone, she does so of her own accord and seeks little recognition.
Lynn spends much of her time scouting the wilderness, and has a keen sense of survival.  She continues to practice her trade of Cartography, often updating maps or making new ones if she blazes a trail.
Her mentor Tander always stressed being self-sufficient in the wilderness, and having studied under her father Laird as a hunter while growing up, Lynn has spent much of her time learning to live closely with the wilds.
While she finds the concept of blindly charging in to be a foolish one, Lynn does not like to hesitate when faced with any challenge or situation.  If she cannot take direct action, she will take proactive measures or prepare an ambush.


Name: Lynn
Age: 19
Home: Port Sumac
Fur Color: Grey
Guard Rank: GuardMouse
Cloak Color: Light Blue
Parents: Laird + Brynn(Hunter and Boatcrafter)
Senior Artisan: Faolan the Mapmaker
Mentor: Tander
Friend: Gamlion the Carpenter
Enemy: Serra the Captain

Belief: "Fear not cast aside, but knowing its place."*
Instinct: Never hesitate to address a challenge.

Nature(Mouse): 4
Will: 3
Health: 5
Resources: 3
Circles: 1

Hunter: 4
Scout: 4
Survivalist: 3
Weather Watcher: 3
Deceiver: 2
Cartographer: 2
Stream-Wise: 2
Herb-Wise: 2

*I changed the word Caution to Fear here, because I feel it is a little more fitting to Lynn.  As I thought about her perception of that belief as a statement, what it means to her is that fear is a good thing to be aware of, but to not let that fear overcome you or hold you back.  As a Guard it will be often that you must act in spite of fear, and it is important to put it "in its place".

Tribulations of Tabletop RPG's, Expense

So as I mentioned in a recent vlog post(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z5bb_yQdjs), I'm interested in checking out the Mouse Guard System.  After checking out the official Mouse Guard site and finding no link to purchasing just the core rule book, just the super expensive box set($179), I searched some more and found just the core rule book for purchase.  At $89 plus change.  I kind of get it... but it makes it hard not only as a GM, but the thought of finding players and trying to provide them time to use the books is disheartening.

I'm still gonna try to look more into it and see if I might go about getting it, but I just wanted to share this bit, especially since I recently have been facing a similar issue with my z10 system(the getting players book time, or their own copies aspect).  Tabletop RPG's can be a pretty expensive hobby, most core rule books run from $50 to $60.  Dice sets can be expensive, a decent battle map can run $20 to $25, and then there's the fun of errata books and supplements(which can help make this whole process even more expensive... but admittedly more fun too).  Anyhoo, that's my bit for now.

Trot on everypony,
-Alturiigo

Character Design

This is a character draft for The StoneBridge Residents, including thought bubbles that dictate certain concept moments during creation.

It was a lot of fun thinking about this character and all the ways they can contribute both to storytelling and gameplay.

Story Ideas

After finally fleeing the city, the pair finally found a place to make rest in a copse of trees, far from the hum and bustle of Crastelon.  Tossing his bag at the foot of a nearby tree, Aldrin slumped himself to the ground and let out a sigh.  He shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind, still not fully sure how he got into all this mess.     The scenes of the past couple days stirred through his mind, a barrage of one unexpected turn after another.

Realizing his loquacious companion had said naught a word since stopping, he opened his eyes and glanced over at the brown-haired woman, with her now-dirtied fancy-type dress and hair slightly a mess.  She was half-focused, half-dazed, as she put pencil to paper doing who-knows-what.  She made a face of displeasure for a mere moment and briefly scribbled at something before continuing.  Aldrin scoffed when he further noticed that she lacked the means to erase.  "Why not just use an eraser?" he asked, with a bit of snark in his voice.

The woman looked up calmly and replied, "Because I am in the business of Observation, and one cannot simply erase News, nor History, nor even a Life."
"Well then why did you scratch something out?" Retorted Aldrin, feeling chagrined by her high-and-mighty answer.
She held up her pad revealing doodles and sketches.  "The miserable bird flew off before I could finish."

----

Somewhat recently I was all like "I wanna do something SteamPunk-y", and while I was at a Rush concert yesterday, seeing their SteamPunk-esque set made gears turn for me.  Okay, so to be clear, the set nor music drove the process, just reminded me that I had wanted to work on a story.

Also, this is just a bit I came up with to think about the characters a little and the dynamic between them.

Creative Content: Self-Realizing Relationships

I'm not certain I mean what you think I mean, so I'll provide a basic explanation of idea; When creating content on many levels, the content itself gives more content by way of examining the relationship between congruent and varied content.

Let's say you want to write/create some kind of story, so you come up with some basic ideas.  As you start connecting those ideas, and exploring the how and why they do or don't work together, and the varying degrees between, it gives way to more content.  For myself, this is often expressed in bursts of creativity, where I construct a lot of ideas and conceptualize structures to facilitate content and its relationships.

I write this as part of the very idea behind this blog, which is to write when I'm facing writer's/creator's block, and I struggle to begin a chain of connectivity.  I find this idea to be one of the fascinating things about creating and thought, and how the brain perceives things in some ways by gauging things against each other, sometimes even with very unstable scales.  Getting ideas out, expressing them in some "social" fashion, seems to aid me in the creative process, best demonstrated by increased output when I collaborate with others.

So Brain.... get out of Standby Mode.  There's much to be created.

Collaborative Writing and Current Projects

Hey I like writing, and you sure might too.  So would you like to write stuff together?  Come on, it'd be fun!

Not Sure I Care To Title This

In all the mixy-moshy pamtan of thoughts I have, interesting ones emerge from time to time.  I like interesting, because it's... broad.  Something can be interestingly bad, or interestingly different.  "Interesting" I suppose is more like a description of the noun's relationship to the perspective.  Anyways that wasn't what I was getting at.

"Why it sucks to be a white male" seems like an Onion article, or something of the like.  Colbert did it in an article for... I don't remember.  It sounds like the beginning of a joke, mostly because it is.  But why can it only be a joke?  As I think about it, I don't exactly enjoy being villain-ized for my race and gender.  To which one would say "Doesn't feel good, does it?"  I never said it did.  I didn't oppress anyone, I'm not out there harassing people.  I get sexually harassed, but it's supposed to be okay because I'm a guy?  Oh and here's a more fun thought before this spirals.  White guys are the bad guy like a huge amount of the time in stories and history.  No one else likes to be judged for the actions of a few bad people who share basic human characteristics with you, I don't either.  I guess I'm just trying to say that if you assume someone is sexist or racist, you're perpetuating hate too.

But back to happy thoughts of ponies in fields, or whatever. That was just a mini-rant not really worth having that I needed to get out of my system.

Trot On,
Alturiigo

Laerawyn, the Wandering Minstrel

Oh so I just remembered about my main from Lord of The Rings Online, and how much I love her as a character.  When I decided to try the game and make a character, I wanted to work with something I hadn't in a long time, and also rarely use.  So I used what I figured would resemble this game's bard class.  So I did, and the simple character I can up with was instant fun.

Laerawyn is a free-spirited bard who travels the lands of Middle-Earth, playing her harp and stringing sublime tales of the resilience of hope.  She wanders the lands with her feet bare, loving the feeling of the earth beneath her feet.  She can be a bit withdrawn and somber, but deep within she believes in the good of the world and in Eru's Children.

Yeah!

A z10 Trailer? A Video Post(or Attempt)

I enjoy talking as well as typing, so here's a vid-post for z10: Apocalypse - The StoneBridge Residents... and suddenly it feels waaay to long of a title.  Anyhoo.

Nevermind.  Fail. So here's a link for it on YouTube instead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZf8alNxiq8&feature=youtu.be

SQUEEE! And WereGeek

So I stumbled upon WereGeek, an amazing web-comic, through G+.  Major squees, lots of laughs, and absolutely stellar nerd/geek references, especially for us pen and paper gamers.  And the major systems they touch on... I've played almost all of 'em! So it's super super awesome for me! GAH!

This unfortunately also makes me realize that my pen and paper life has been pretty much memories for the last few years, and it saddens me a little that something I love so much has fallen out of my life.  So I gotta make one of my initiatives to get it back!  So I gotta get the StoneBridge Residents up and running as a campaign, I need to get my players started, and I suppose I gotta make core play packets(mini-rulebooks).

Woop wow actually just got sidetracked starting that so I should wrap this up.

Pen and Paper RPG's, in fact a lot of RPG's in the non-video mediums(there's a lot out there), are really great ways to create stories with your friends and are a really fun way to hang out.  Maybe next time you're hanging out with some friends, start a game where you have to start making up some kind of story.  Sentence by sentence, maybe by paragraphs.  Whatever, but it might be fun if you give it a shot.  So get your friends together and make a story!

Trot On Kindly,
Alturiigo

Being Sick, Plans, All That Jazz

So I'm back after spending a few days severely under the weather.  Okay, so I suppose literally I spend most of my time "under" the weather... so yeah. I was sick as all hay.  Better?  Sure.  Anyways, for anyone who doesn't know, I have CVS(Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome), and it's kinda like migraines for your stomach.

Basically, I experience horrible nausea which comes with anxiety at no extra charge.  Episodes can last as short as 4 to 6 hours, though most of the time they tend to fall in the range of 8 to 16 hours.  If an episode reaches 48 hours, it's starting to get out of hand and my dehydration requires medical attention(like a hospital).  There isn't really any treatment of medicine for this, just treatment for the symptoms.  I was born with it, and as far as all signs can suggest, I will die with it.  Anyhoo.

I'm thinking on starting to work a little on the StoneBridge Residents(working title for reference), which is the flavor/setting/n'such for z10 Apocalypse, the "zombie" variant of the d10 Engine I've been working on for a few years.
Here's a terrible picture of a cover draft -

So yeah, and I should be back again for a while... I hope anyways.

Kindness and Motivation to Be "Good"

So, while thinking about motivation and intent, as I seem to touch on regularly, I considered its implications for kindness.  Another aspect I'm going to throw into this is the all-too-applicable ulterior motive.  So why should we be nice?

It's hard to not sound pretentious for this discussion, so... let's just go with it.  Let's go ahead and say that you should be good for goodness sake(too soon?).  Let's rearrange the words and add an article with the beauty of language to get "be good for the sake of goodness".  This still turns out to be a pretty vague statement as far as how to think about goodness, but I think we're on the right track.

Let's look at ulterior motives as reasons other than the sake of goodness to perform such an act(or inaction). One might do something in the hopes of causing someone else to consider them of greater value in some way, or to establish a credit with said party. Please note that these are not the only two forms of ulterior motives.  There is also doing nice things in the idea that this will increase your "good" levels.

This is the silliest thing to pick a fight with, so I'm going to.  Let's approach this from the perspective that the last idea is a self-defeating concept.  It's the thought that counts... but we should all be able to agree that this is too vague of a concept.  There are times that I feel like I do nice things out of spite, anger, or frustration.  This causes me to evaluate why I do nice things, so I decide it's because even though the end result may anger or frustrate me, I have some human impulse to do something nice.

Now to make sense of all the ideas I threw out there.
Wanting to be good is a human behavior, and I'd like to argue that ideas like religion and government are stemmed from this.  If you perform goodness to be gooder, you're doing it wrong.  Decide that you want to do goodness because you want to do goodness, and hold yourself accountable for your own awesome.

I'd like to finish by saying -  sure, being gooder isn't a bad thing to strive for.  Just do it because you want to, not because you think you should.  Though you should.

The Service Industry

I currently work as a bartender, and have worked as a delivery driver for a good length of time on previous time spans.  Both of these jobs/professions share something in common; the concept of tipping.  As I get into this topic, it's mostly focused on the food service industry, though not so as much the "fast-food" industry.

Working in a tip-based position(to say, one which you do not make "minimum wage"), your income is a rather variable amount.  The base income, is not however.  It is often $5 less than the national minimum wage for other professions, and often has a much different model for staffing and scheduling than other business models.  This has benefits, but there are considerable drawbacks as well.

When going out to eat at a restaurant where a tip is considered customary, overhead cost of food production is reduced due to reduced wage.  This is to say that in some ways, the cost of the food includes very little cost towards the service given.  If said service was poor, then it has a low worth, meaning a smaller tip.  This allows the guest to decide the value of the service, instead of paying a flat amount(accounted for by increased cost of food).  An obvious benefit is the encouragement of the wait-staff to give better service.  This is not the case one-hundred percent of the time.

I can personally say that on many occasions, I have given a guest or guests service that they have been pleased with, and seem to enjoy the interaction I shared with them.  They will often return, being familiar with the experience and being pleased with it.  However, it is often enough that I receive no tip for the service I have provided.  I do my best not to personally condemn people for not doing so, but it is frustrating none-the-less.  Some people may not know that the person receives less than minimum wage, not to mention the job market and economy.

Here's the thing.  People working in the service industry can often be faulted for not being as friendly as they should.  I'm not trying to say that we in the industry are without blame.  That being said, I do my best to be respectful as I deal with others, and from what I've experienced this often creates a respectful interaction.  This still requires both parties to participate in respect and understanding.

So this is what I'm getting at:  Please remember that the human being taking your order(whether at a table or on the phone) wants to be treated with respect, just like you do.  The standard tip rate is considered respectful, because it pushes the wage for the person to THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE(what we seem to have decided as a country is the LOWEST amount a person should work for).  I can't disagree with the ability to tip less for poor service, that only seems reasonable if good service can be rewarded in the complimentary fashion.

I'll wrap this up now.  People... please think about the messages your actions and behaviors say to the people you interact with.  Anyone can be the first person to give respect, don't be afraid to try.  We're all human - remember that.

Love and Tolerate Everypony,
Alturiigo

Interests, Review, and Who I Am?

I had this thought where I was like, "Hey, maybe I should give a rundown about me to give an idea of what I'm about".  So I threw together a video to do such a thing, and when I finished I was interested by the result.

The video ended up feeling pretty similar to the Checkin' It Out series(starting Saturday!), so in other words to describe myself, I talked about various media and games that I liked and shared why I like them.  This isn't exactly a self-description, but that was my intention(to describe myself).  So why does this interest me?

It kinda seems to say that I have some level of notion that part of what makes you who you are is the things you like and such.  There's a lot of things that make a person who they are, more than just what they like.  Maybe you have some thoughts yourself on the matter, if so, let me know!  Leave a comment and join the discussion!(the imaginary one where people care what I talk about)

That's about it for now, back to doing my thing
-Alturiigo

Structure and Such

As I mentioned in my last post(pretty sure anyways), I'm planning on doing a Thoughts and Questions vlog every Wednesday and a Checkin' It Out every Saturday.  While none of what I'm doing is necessary in any real way, it's important that I give myself deadlines and structure.  I've brought up my aimless ambition, and giving myself guidelines and trying to force a feeling of necessity and responsibility are a couple things that help me actually accomplish what I set out to do.

On a side note, the last TnQ post was earlier today(Thursday) which meant it was late.  But I also had to work for a little over 15 hours yesterday so yeah.  Anyhoo, I'm sure there are things I need to work on and attend to, so catch ya 'round every-pony.

-Alturiigo

p.s. the ice cream truck is driving past right meow, and this amuses me

Back in Action

Had a bit of a vacation of sorts, helped some excellent friends celebrate their wedding.  Now is the hard part, pulling my momentum and drive back to my current projects.  That being said, another Thoughts and Questions video will be up Thursday, and on Saturday I will begin the Checkin' It Out "review" series.

Congratulations to Tim and Olivia Farmer on their beautiful wedding, which was also amazing being a part of(not apart of... language).  I took the Amtrak for the trip, and it was my first time riding on a train.  I haven't traveled much in my 25 years, so I'm more inclined these days to appreciate as much as I can when I do.  It was a neat experience, and to be honest I plan on doing it again sometime, maybe travelling some place across the country.

I guess sometimes I have a false nostalgia, for times before I was born.  Trains represent a lot of time periods, so it felt a little like hearkening back.  Also, as our technologies progress, a lot of things are being phased out.  There can be fault found in holding on to things for too long, but it still saddens me.  This also has a place in my love-hate relationship with the internet and modern technology.  But that's a rant I'll avoid.

Stay Kind, Strong and Generous,
Alturiigo

A New Character

The character I'll be creating as/to write this is Leah Moruul, sister to Lynn Moruul.  But first, I'd like to start with a brief explanation for context.

Lynn Moruul has existed in my head canon as a good evil character for a few years now, and often casts as the skilled assassin in game settings.  In Rock Band, she was the bassist.  I started a second version of the band Love Robot(originally my lil sister and I with my brother-in-law), but with my cousin and friend.  Lynn was still in the band, but now her sister Leah played lead guitar.  And that was the birth of Leah Moruul.

I dabbled once with the character, supposing that in the Visceroth Cluster setting she might be a nanite user(tech-magic).  I'm not sure really though where to go with her.  So maybe I should think about who she is as a character.
Okay. Her older sister is a well-renowned assassin(as much as an assassin can be).  Looking up Lynn's info, I can see they grew up on Selenar, living in the capital city of Ankus.  It also tells me that Lynn is skilled at espionage and infiltration.  Let's suppose that Leah wanted to do her own thing.

Alright, when Leah was 17-19(I'll decide later), she boarded a ship and made her way to Baila, the jungle planet known for its excellent medical schools and hospitals, also home to the Narina species.  Nanite technology requires expensive cybernetics.  As a field medic in a government position such as a Defense Force Soldier or EMT would have more direct access to financial support.  I like EMT's, I think they do great things, so I'm going to develop her with that in mind as her trade as I progress her through her personal timeline.

Such a field requires various skills, from medical knowledge to being adaptable in stressful situations.  A good sense of perception is required to assess situations, and hey as it turns out, Perception is a Primary Attribute for Nanite-Users.  Anyhoo.  More thoughts about who she is and might be come up.  She's probably good in clutch situations(yes d10 has a Talent for that).

Is she tough and hardy, or nimble and quick?  Maybe neither?  Maybe she really is the "little" sister, and her intelligence and perception have been the basis of her success.  I like that.  Maybe she's a bit of an organizer, and in that way a strategist as well.  That would mean she could potentially have a leadership role of some level.

Alright, I'll cut it and sum it up here.  Leah Moruul is in her mid-to-late 20's, a petite woman who is a senior EMT for Miamar City(the capital city).  She is a generally friendly person who enjoys working with people, to the contrast of her older sister Lynn.  She first started as an EMT when she was 19, after she had moved to the city of Chioth on Baila.  Since then she has made a name for herself and established a solid reputation in her field as someone who works well in high-stress situations.  Even when training and going through schooling she excelled, demonstrating her academic prowess.  She continues to love learning, as well as reading, and often reads old Narina tales.

Maybe next for is an aesthetic draft, but I'm spent for now.

Peace peace,
Alturiigo

Ha, an Example... kinda

So again on the topic of character design, specifically "aesthetic persona", I'd like to use a doodle as a reference/example/whatever

I've spent a lot of time working with these characters and developing their aesthetics, so it was really fun for me to draw them all.  I also enjoyed working in this style, and doodles like this help me keep going when I find my well of creativity less... bubbling?

And that's just Bec. Anyhoo, I have other things to attend to.

Trot On Friends,

Alturiigo