Friday, November 4, 2011

Winter

Bonus Content: Music that inspired, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOgDzgqQ93I

Claire weaves herself through a thick forest, cradling DC in her arms. Her casing showing signs of severe physical damage, as every step she takes causes a piece to pop out of its attachment. The woods finally begin to thin, with the falling snow now becoming noticeable. She glances at the back of her hand, a red display showing that her internal temperature is reaching critical levels. Her internals make audible clicks, as her power supply arcs. As cold as it is, it doesn’t seem to be doing her temperature any good.

She reaches a giant glade, with an enormous complex adorning the center. She decides to run towards it to at least get a chance to rest. The closer she gets, the more the complex begins to resemble a sort of abandoned temple, or maybe even a home. Reaching the outer wall of the building DC begins to stir a bit from his unconscious state. Claire puts him down, seating him against the wall. His eyes blink open as he looks around. “What... Where, “his eyes focus to Claires, her solid blue eyes giving a soft glow. “Claire? Wait, what are you doi-, where are we—“ A dark figure emerges from the forest, running up to meet with the pair; the figures face wearing a grin that only comes from a predator enjoying his hunt.

“Brother! I see that your ingenuity knows no bounds!” 

A cold sterile feeling shots up DC’s spine. As if by instinct DC tries to stand up into a defensive stance. “Ah!!” Letting out a scream he falls back down limp. “Don’t move” Claire says as she attempts to comfort DC. DC’s shock now becoming replaced with the realization that his body is completely inoperable; his muscles are shot and by the severity of the pain it seems their ligaments have been completely torn.

“My apologies brother, your little toy seems to have delayed the inevitable.”

Claire turns around in response, putting up an offensive stance as she faces the figure. The figure stops a few meters away from them, as he stands proud.

“And it seems as if this little computer of yours still has some fight left. Tell me, how long ago was she built? You were housed for quite a long time you know.”

“Claire, don’t. Just keep running. I can deal with him.” DC tells Claire, unsuccessfully hiding the tone of pain from his voice.

“Giving her the illusion of consciousness are you? I never figured you’d be one to partake in cruelty as well. I understand the envy you must have of me but there is no reason to force such expectations on another. Especially an expectation so out of reach to a machine.”

The figures words cutting through the snow, as DC and Claire remained still in silence.
“So Claire was it? Do you really think you can gap the advancement of technology? I not only house your decrepit creator’s ego, but they were nice enough to not waste such a consciousness into a sack of meat. And believe me they spared no expense as you can see by the state I left him. This androids body strength is only matched by my own will.”

A low click sounded inside Claire’s casing. Claire began to step forward towards the figure. DC’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the sound. He realized the figure wasn’t bluffing about Claire’s antiqueness. Claire’s already used up all the power she can naturally withstand. The run she made and up to this point have all been done exceeding the power she can handle. As Claire closed the gap between her and the figure, the glow of her casing grew more defined as light began to leak out of the cracks, as well as the noise emanating from her back climbing to a roar.

With a particular smugness, the figure spoke directly to Claire. “Cute. Following your logic regardless of the reality you’re in.” He turned his gaze to DC “It’s these types of actions one influences with those lies brother!”

Without hesitation Claire’s pace continued, her glow now reaching the trees off in the distance. Her casing begins to crack at the seams, as electricity attempts to escape its confines. DC screams “Claire what are you doing!? You can’t draw any more power! You won---“

As her next step lands on the ground her body lets out a blinding flash. Her outer casing fractures into pieces and are ejected outward into the distance, revealing the skeletal framework underneath. Her silver frame exuding ropes of electricity, creating a shine that is practically blinding. The arcs project off her silver framework, whipping the ground with such force that they inflict deep scars into the ground. She stops her movement as the electrical charges continue radiate off her body in wide arcs. She stands exposed, her inner components being held by netting attached to the frame. Her eyes cast a powerful blue glow to whatever she stares at. The giant copper flower fan that adorns her back producing a flurry with the falling snow as the sound it produces reach jet engine decibel levels. The electrical surges finally begin to subside to intermittent spark. Even then, they still seem to give a loud crackle every time one escapes.

As the figure shields himself with his arms from the energy, DC sits shocked at the spectacle; bathed in a white blue glow. “Claire! Why!?”

Her head turns around to meet with DC’s eyes. Her head now only being a hollow rough frame shaped resembling that of a human; the frame only being adorned by her solid colored eyes.

“Because I choose to.”

Before DC could react Claire’s right hand is already gripping the figure by his neck and suspending him off his feet.

With a forced grunt the figure continues to mock Claire. “Tsk, just because you overclocked yourself doesn’t me-“ The metal rods composing her hand close around his neck, cutting through the outer flesh with such pressure that blood simply streams out in a single shot. Her fingers stop short of crushing his neck, being blocked by a metallic layer.

“Achk… Heh, looks like you still don’t have enough strength.” Before he could contort his mouth back to a grin, Claire’s body gave a final high pitch whir and her hands crushed through the metal neck. As the figures head severed from his neck, she and the figure became engulfed in an enormous electrical explosion. The force of the explosion knocked DCs head back into the wall, knocking him out. His body sat motionless, with a seated view of the remaining shards of Claire’s casing and the soft snow beginning to layer the field and covering the electrical wounds that were inflicted into it.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

WipEout Photography XXXIV

How's this for an anti-climatic ending. The last picture I have taken. I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I had making them. :3

Time to look for something else make a weekly update with. Stay tuned for maximum efficiency.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Night 213

[I think this is my 5th or 6th short story. It's rather emo/dark/melo-dramatic. So don't say I didn't warn you]

Night 213
 There have been countless cycles since I’ve found myself in this void, and despite my progress the light above me has only grown by a sliver.  The days have seemed to grow longer at the very least, hinting that these walls aren’t endless.  It gives me hope that I can exit this void. I can barely remember being thrown into the pits of my own mind. If it were not for this experience I would’ve never known such darkness existed, let alone was stored.  It has grown to manifest egos of its own; dark beings that mirror the discarded and suppressed emotions long forgotten. Such concentration amplifies them.  The pure feelings these beings can dispense can rival even the most potent of drugs. Pride, honor, morality: these buckle on top of the weight that is the repressed human emotion. Their ego forms just sharpen an already deadly tool. I’ve come to know these forms well. I was not prepared when I first encountered them and they dissolved my ego, making me nothing more than another wave in its black ocean.

That time was such a blur, that I barely remember how I was able to find the pieces they ripped from my own ego. I only remember the voices of my muses, reminding me that my self still existed. The voids’ hold on me has weakened since the day I finally managed to grip the sides of this cavern. An achievement that I cannot fully claim as my own, I am eternally grateful to the muses that guided me.  Even after being engulfed in such darkness, they offer respite in my climbs. The volatile darkness does not let go so easily. Even as my hands begin to callous over these rocky walls, they continue to attempt to reach me. It wishes only to drag me back down and assimilate me into their world.

A world knowing only misery and despair, a world my mind helped create. It is as much a part of me as the current form I managed to rescue. My muses have helped me stave them off, help me remember and define my ego. Without this distinction I will see no difference between me and that black abyss that constantly preys for me. I cannot afford to lose myself again.

I’ve managed to keep a steady pace since then, and the shadows power seems to be weakening. I’ve not had to fend them off for a few nights now. A fact that I take gingerly, as it has drained me of much needed energy.  These quiet nights are bittersweet; I am fully aware why they wait. My last brief quarrel left me rather quaint lacerations to my back which does not allow me to recover my energy. I am only hoping to reach an alcove in these walls to take a rest and allow time to tend to these wounds.  A hope that is fading as quickly as the light is in this void.

My right hand grasps tightly to the rock protruding above me. My left hand falls limp. This is as far as I can go. My legs feel weak beneath me, barely being able to stay strong atop their footholds. I can feel my energy drip down my back. I can equally feel the dark below feeding from this energy. I have no choice, I must rest here. I’ve run out of energy, I’ve run out of reason. I can feel the bottom beckoning me and it begins to drive me delirious. It approaches. I begin to accept the loss of my progress. The shadows are darting upwards. I start to think of the difficulty of what I must continue to endure. Their egos begin to take their own twisted shape. I can only think of taking a rest. The poison darts to my being.

My left hand forms a fist over a nail and drives the nail through my hand; impaling my hand and burying it deep into the rock. The pain I would feel is quickly washed over by a wave of emotion. I am no longer progressing towards my own exit; I am back at the bottom. The shadows have engulfed me. I am swimming alongside these torturous emotions. I would not fall back down to them so they brought themselves to me. As if with glee they ravage my ego. Self-consciousness, self-worth, these are not for me. They begin to strip me apart, revealing the self I have built since they last engulfed me. 

They take to it with the ferocity of a storm on a leaf. I can feel them begin to play my emotions like strings. They begin attaching ivory keys to the end of these feelings of doubt, fear, hatred, jealousy, inadequacy, suspicion; making me nothing more than an instrument to my own scathing emotions. They begin to play the keys indiscriminately, later slowly joining together in the festivous tones of suffering. As they grow to form a dark entity they begin to play chords, harmonizing these piercing emotions. A symphony composed of emotional pain, mixing the tones of paranoia and rejection, flowing into self-hatred and creating progressions of guilt. Such orchestrations are what night terrors are filled with.

The shadow now becomes a silhouette, a dark mirrored image of me. I am losing myself again, harmonizing with the darkness. It begins to play its final ballad to bring me to its frequency. It seeks to become me. No longer satisfied with making me lost forever at the bottom of my own minds darkness, it wishes to live as darkness. To escape, taking my life and live it in desolation. We begin to share its destiny; I can feel it start playing on its own strings, on our own strings. It has become a copy of my self. And it suddenly reels in horror.

As it joins my mind it finally feels the pain. I have repaid the gratitude it showed me those nights ago. Without my being it cannot be wounded, living in an ethereal ‘mental’ state. Now it realizes the true nature of that sharp knife I am currently burying into the back of our right shoulder. The darkness surrounding us dissipates, and we are back in the cavern. His newly shelled body slowing losing its grasp to the wall, and I swallow the intense physical pain. With the last of my will I make a sharp twist in my shoulder and our right hand loses hold of the wall. I feel his essence withdrawal and fall back to the abyss he came from. The last thing I feel is the dull pain of my hand hanging on the nail skewered through it.

When I come to, dawn is finally greeting my surroundings. As I begin to see myself, I can feel the wounds in my back and shoulder cauterized. These wounds won’t ever truly heal until I reach the surface. Giving myself a moment, I look up hanging by one hand, and notice the top looking particularly brighter than usual.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

WipEout Photography XXX

If no one will be there for me, I will make sure to be there for others. <3 Sis & Rebbie.

Monday, August 29, 2011

WipEout Photography XXVII

I've never gotten this high counting in roman numerals. Any who, time to cheat. I don't know why there's two of the same shot, but that probably just means I never bothered to proof these Fury shots.



Friday, August 26, 2011

WipEout Photography XXVI

Yeah... That didn't pan out so well. Hm. Well, at least I post one once a week? I mean compared to some content-driven sites that's pretty good. But then again, I don't have much content to offer 'cept pictures. Hm. Ah well. How fitting that it even be a not-so-good picture. Yay Fury.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

WipEout Photography XXV

Alright, so I'm going to try a schedule type of updating since school started. This basically means that not only have I gone full circle, going back to the days of working full time and schooling full-time but it endangers my original plans to use this damn thing. I know I've just been posting pictures of WipEout for a couple of months now but I still plan on this being a spigot for my mind. Close friend of mind told me that I have creativity in there, it just has no outlet. We'll see how that pans out. Any who, here's today's picture:


Sunday, August 21, 2011

WipEout Photography XXIV

Weekend picture for Rebecca! This is my last picture for 2008, nothing special. I wouldn't come back to the game for entire year.



Friday, August 19, 2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

WipEout Photography XXII

We've passed the half-way point. I'm running out of pictures; it's all down hill from here.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

WipEout Photography XX

The ridiculousness of this photo goes to 100% if you've played the game.

Friday, August 5, 2011

WipEout Photography XVIII

This was more of a ridiculous save I did. As I was falling off the track I pointed the ship upwards and used a boost to get back on track.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Monday, July 18, 2011

WipEout Photography XI

Ah, so much fun this one track was for taking shots. One of my favorite things about WipEout was the hidden themes that were peppered everywhere. For example, as you progressed in WipEout Pure, you went higher on the island (WipEout FX300 took place on an island). And once you were done with that campaign, there was one where you went all the way up (Sol2), and then all the way back down (Vineta K).

Friday, July 15, 2011

WipEout Photography X

Weeee! Man, when I first played this track that drop scared the shit out of me. :3

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

WipEout Photography IX

It took me a while to get use to this Harimau schema, but it just made it worth it when you unlock the last one.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Preventative v. Curative/Palliative

This isn't really an all out discussion or debate on the matter. This is simply just an observation to add to it.

Recently (lets say for the past few months) whenever I decide to wake up early in the morning (<9am) I get afflicted with a runny nose that lasts till around noon. And when I say runny nose, I mean my nose is basically a faucet of mucus till the middle of the day. I've narrowed it down to the days where I have to go to school, when I wake up at around 7am. Now, I have woken up at similar times outside of school days where it also happens; but it doesn't match the severity as the school days.

It has gotten so problematic that I finally caved in and decided to get medci' for it. I got some anti-histamines (benadryl to be exact) and at first, they worked like a charm. It was pretty awesome, until I realized the awful, awful side affects. See, to my own surprise, I have been pretty attentive and operational in class at the hours of 8am-11am. However, when I take benadryl I feel like I'm back in highschool. My forehead was basically making out with my desk for the duration of the class. I've found a solution (take 2 the night before) but it made me start thinking.

This is a pretty good example to demonstrate the whole preventative v. treatment (Curative/Palliative) ideology. As far as I'm aware, there seems to be a physical trigger to my symptoms. Whether it's my personal morning biology, the fog of cat hair that hangs in my room, or the classroom itself. Fixing whichever one of these is causing the problem would essentially be "preventative"; i.e. solving the trigger so that I won't succumb to sickness in the first place. However, I choose the treatment route. Whether or not it could be attributed to my western upbringing is a different story. The point is I ended up simply treating my symptoms with some medicine.

Now, the problem I see with that is the underlining ailment is still there. Whatever is causing my immune system to activate is still in my environment. It is an extremely short-term solution (albeit one you can extend arguably forever). Not only that, the 'treatment' itself is (as most treatments are) basically a giant mallet; and if you're swinging for a fly you'r going to have causalities. In the case of taking antihistamines the side effect is basically an intense onset of drowsiness. There is no way around it, in fact the pills that say "non-drowsy" are only so because they also add a ton of caffeine in it to counter-act the main drug. So not only are you  "treating" your initial condition, but now you are treating the side-effect of the initial treatment. You're basically fixing broken duct tape with another piece of duct tape.

In the long-run that just means I'm trading one inadequate solution for another. What if the cause of my symptoms is in fact the cat hair? And by simply treating the symptoms, I'm forcing my lungs to breathe even more. Eventually I might end up with pneumonia because I decided to quell my bodies cries for help. What if it's the classroom? Maybe the tiles still carry asbestos and they're beginning to take affect. Again, instead of dealing with the warnings my body is giving me, I am brushing them off.

To me that demonstrates why I wholly prefer preventative over just treatment. With preventative, you attempt to look at what's causing the problem, and grasp the big pictures. It's a long-term solution that makes you stronger. Where as with treatment, when you're just medicating the symptoms and not the problem itself, it leads to a very lacking short-term solution. You might not only be causing more harm than the original symptom thanks to side effects, but you are weakening yourself in the long run. It's like not brushing your teeth and simply filling in the cavities till you have to get dentures. Sure it works but in the end you lose all your teeth.

WipEout Photography VIII

This should be the last of the first-day glomping of WipEout HD. So if you've actually stuck around for the last 7 then your patience might be rewarded. If not, you're a cheater.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

WipEout Photography VII

Holy fuck can benadryl knock you the fuck out. Jeez. All I wanted was to not have my nose run like a faucet in class, not have my forehead make love to the desk.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Regenerative Health

This is just a template, I'm going to come back to this, but I really want to put it on the door step sort to speak.

I hate the use of regenerative health in games in an attempt to fake tension and suspense. Regenerative health is fine and dandy in adventure games like Myst and LA Noire. The point isn't to survive in those games, it is to explore and solve puzzles. In those situations it makes sense that it would be a means to inject quick fire fights to add to the narrative experience as a whole.

No. My problem lies mainly in FPS games containing regenerative health. It takes art and delicacy to craft a game in which every step lurks danger and challenge. To make sure that the game as a whole is balanced from beginning to end, like a river flowing and ebbing to the bay, with a near rhythmic quality. It completely irritates me that such creativeness is now a rarity.

It's almost insulting how cheap this tactic is. It literally just throws in "firefights" in a vain attempt to capture any feeling of urgency and danger. You no longer are playing a game, you are simply traveling to these "hot spots". It becomes more of an interactive movie than a novel, taking a tram rail to the next 'game' portion, get a brief 2 minute gameplay period, and go back on your way to the next station. The veil is so thin that it nearly disgusts me, it makes me question why they even bother with controls; just put it on a blu-ray and let me watch whatever asinine story they were attempting to tell.

Game-play and story are suppose to be intertwined, this is what allows me to consider them interactive narratives. Making game-play a cheap vehicle to traverse a super-polished road of story makes the entire experience akin to watching a movie because the book it was based off was too much of a read. It makes things bland, linear and standardized. No longer does effort and skill come into the equation to color a games experience. Everyone simply is able to strap in, digest the pre-chewed food, and say "please sir, may I have another."

Remember when you could talk to your friends about the same game and how that conversation was novel and interesting? Yeah, I know you don't, because now you all play the exact same game.

WipEout Photography VI

Rock concerts, water slides, laser beams, oh my. Happy (late) 4th gal/uys.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

WipEout Photography IV

Another early shot, nothing fancy(or good). I promise I'll post some other things soon. In fact I have a rant in mind about preventive v. treatment medicine in mind since Tuesday but I've been coming home late and/or tired. So bear with me, this pictures are mainly to get me in the groove of coming here daily.

WipEout Photography III

Ah Harimau, so awesome. Making an early morning post before work to make up for missing yesterday. Yes. I said it. Awake early in the morning. Also work. :3

Monday, June 27, 2011

WipEout Photography II

I guess I'll be going in order then. I snapped this the day WipEout HD came out. I was completely blown out of the water when I played it. It not only exceeded my expectations, but destroyed them and rebuilt better ones. As such one of them being the photography option. It seemed a bit limiting and odd at first (This was me figuring out how to work the shoulder buttons) but eventually it became pretty straight forward.

Friday, June 24, 2011

WipEout Photography

Hi blog. Hi non-existent blog readers. Decided to revive this for a bit to post some WipEout HD pictures I've taken. I was a bit shock to read in my Fury stastics that I've taken over 300 photos in WipEout; especially since I only seem to have about 40 or so. However I am a bit of a perfectionist and I absolutely love everyone of my shots. This one below is my absolute favorite, but there'll be a lot of other interesting and cool ones. (And yes, a lot of them will be Harimau because it is in fact the best WipEout team ever. After all, they brought back tigers from extinction!)