Welcome to my personal void

No one knows what goes on here, least of all me

Tag: AssignmentIdea

  • Final Blog Post: Story and Summary

    Chosen Assignments:

    What do you get when you get a bisexual mess of a woman in the year 2197, cybernetic augments, and a recently discovered affinity for psychokinetic magic?

    A fucking headache, that’s what.

    The name’s Alana. I was born in the New Germany sector, and now live in what was once the Pacific Northwest of the now decrepit United States. Nowadays, independent countries like that are obsolete, instead replaced by a worldwide republic known as the Unified Nations of Gaia.

    Not many of us humans still live here on Gaia (or Earth, as you 21st Century individuals called it), now that intergalactic travel is commonplace. I’m just one of the ones who couldn’t quite afford it. Instead, we’re kept under surveillance by the power-hungry bureaucrats and corporations that took power a couple decades ago. You’d think it’d become some dystopian nightmare written in old society texts, but it’s not actually that terrible.

    – A metal identification card, recently issued after the individual turned 25 and received their cybernetics

    Most are required by those above us to get cybernetic implants once we reach the age of 25, under the reasoning of it “extending our lifespans” and “improving us beyond our human limitations”. It’d be pretty swell if they told you about the whole “tracking your location and what you see and hear at all times of the day” thing, but for most, that’s not really much different from the external surveillance everywhere in the major districts. At the very least, they do allow us to customize what kinds of modifications we get, although most true “superhuman” upgrades cost far too much for anyone but the elite to access. I personally went with improved neural abilities and senses via a special headset.

    (ignore the NPCs and the pet slime in the house, they’re not here in this narrative but I made this for a playthrough and I don’t have anywhere in-game to relocate them to)

    As for my personal life, I currently own a little house near a lake far away from the hustle and bustle of any districts and spend most of my days crafting any kind of tech for any interested party. I’m not a big people person, so I don’t really question what they ask of me or what they’re using it for as long as they pay me and leave. I have admittedly been developing feelings for a certain someone, however; Merete, a beautiful lady with a biomechanical arm who frequents my shop for new tech and repairs. She exudes the energy of someone who knows that they’re gorgeous and powerful and owns it, and yet you can tell she has a soft side to her under her down-to-earth and rigid exterior. I just hope one day she can notice my feelings so me and her can connect as partners in something other than business.

    (a mixture of Laufey “From The Start” and Good Kid’s cover of it, I attempted to upload it to Soundcloud but it was flagged by the system since it contains someone else’s song. Unfortunately not much I can do when merging two preexisting songs.)

    It’s a simple life, but I enjoy it well enough. Well, at least, I DID enjoy it until all of it was thrown to hell a couple days back.

    – The cosmic rock that granted Alana her psychokinetic powers

    About a week after getting my enhancements, I was working on my bots as I tend to do when I heard a massive crash come from outside. When I went outside, I saw a greenish smoke coming from about a quarter mile away. My gut was telling me to stay far away from it and report it to the authorities, but something in me was refusing to let me, so against my better judgement, I went to investigate.

    Upon arriving, I found a pretty sizable crater, astronomically larger than the singular green gemstone sitting squarely in the center of it. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I decided to take it. Perhaps it could be of use in one of my machines, and if not, I’m sure I could sell if for a fancy sum when I next take a visit to one of the market districts near me.

    Upon grabbing it, however, it started glowing a magnificent green, and before I could drop it, it flew up to my head and embedded itself in the neural headpiece that I mentioned before. The pain was tremendous, and if not for said headpiece, I’m sure that I would not have lived the experience. When my head finally stopped hurting enough for me to think, I felt a weird kind of clarity in my mind, like I was thinking so much more than before and for myself alone.

    I went home shortly after to try and sleep it off, but by the time I got back, there were a pair of officers sitting outside my home, one tall and lanky and the other short and with an impressive mustache. I asked them why they were here, but then something in my head told me to move immediately. Startled, I did so, and barely dodged an electroshot they fired from their pulse pistols. The short one tackled me to the ground, and as I attempted to wrestle out of their grasp, I felt some feeling of energy wash over me as they were blown backwards.

    The tall one looked shocked at his much bulkier partner being launched, but before he could do anything about it, he suddenly fell over unconscious. Behind the two collapsed officers stood Merete, having just swung at the tall one and with a grim expression on her face. Without time for me to recuperate, she rushed me inside and explained what she knew of what was happening.

    Apparently, the gemstone planted into my headpiece is the most recent of several stones which have fallen from the sky. Merete reveals that she has a similar stone to mine, only red instead of green and imprinted on the hand of her robotic arm, and states that they appear to disconnect the individual from the larger surveillance system as well as improving the functions of the tech it imprints on. For her, that means that her physical strength is massively enhanced, and as for me, it grants me the ability to mentally will things to move in the physical world. She says it’s a magic called psychokinesis, and that we could further develop our magic if we trained with it, and while normally I’m a firm believer against the existence of such nonscientific ideas, it’s hard to argue with what I’ve just experienced.

    It’s been roughly a week since that incident, and things have only gotten more chaotic as things go. Me and Merete have been on the run from the law, as they’ve appeared to want to detain us for our unwilling powers. We’ve also picked up a man named Ike along our travels, who appears to have gained incredible speed through the blue gem imprinted on his mechanical legs. We’ve experimented with our powers a bit, and I’ve started being able to lift things from afar. Nothing super heavy or far, but it’s something.

    Oftentimes, I look at what I’ve become and wonder if I’m even still the same woman I was only about a month ago. I’ve abandoned my home and work to go on the run, I have both cybernetic and mystical augments, and I don’t even know what our ultimate goal with all of this is. All I know is that nothing is the same, and that I can’t stop now that I’ve gone this far.

    So yeah. That’s my story. Just a country bumpkin who’s found herself a fugitive, cyborg, psychic, and hopelessly in love. Certainly not what I expected for my birthday, but you know how life is, it never is quite what you predict. Tomorrow morning, we’re heading out to try and seek information on our predicament from the region’s central district. Wish us luck, and this has been Alana, signing off.

    And that was my final story for this class, hope it wasn’t too shabby. I’ve learned a lot over the course of this class, and while it’s been a massive headache and I’m not sure I’ll end up using most of these techniques in my future career, I’m still glad I ended up taking this. I Definitely feel that audio was the biggest hurdle for me to understand initially, but once I got the hang of it, I actually found video to be the hardest and most time consuming.

    I’ll be honest, I don’t think I could ever going into this field or teaching a class like this. There’s just so much to consider in terms of not only the story you’re telling, but how you’re going about it, and I just don’t think I’m equipped for all of that. If I did theoretically take over the class, however, I feel like I’d probably send out a lot more emails. Not that we weren’t supplied information and feedback, anything but that, but I know myself well enough to know that I’d end up worrying a ton about keeping track of my students and their progress.

    As for my favorite project, definitely the Lyric Video I did last week. Not only is it something that I put a lot of time into, and thus feel proud of the product for, but I felt like I contributed to the internet as a whole since I couldn’t find anyone else who made the same video for that song.

    I don’t really have much else to add, so I wish you a good summer and good luck with your future classes!

  • Intro to Video Part IV-3: Lip-Sync Along

    http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/lip-sync-along/

    It’s dark out. The pilot hears nothing but the gentle hum of their plane’s engine and the wind blowing around them. The Captain’s sent them out on a night patrol of the seas near the island base. The pilot doesn’t understand why they’re out this late on such short notice, but they don’t question it. The Captain is always right.

    The pilot has been out at sea for roughly four hours by now. Outside, a flock of albatross sail by, heading to rest at the nearest piece of land. The pilot does not follow. The Captain has yet to order them back, and they dare not to act against their orders. The Captain is always right.

    The engine is starting to sputter, its fuel running low and its cooling fans becoming overheated. The pilot starts to get worried, and considers the possibility that The Captain didn’t wish for their return. But as soon as that thought enters their mind, they shake it off. The Captain loves them too much to do such a thing, and even if they did, it sure would be the pilot’s fault… right?

    The plane starts to descend towards the waves, and the pilot does nothing.

    After all, The Captain is always right.

    God, rewatching this before uploading this is hurting me, I feel so cringe in that video. Oh well, it’s for the assignment and sometimes you gotta be a bit stupid to have some fun. Also, it was like, 3:20AM, of course I’m not gonna be at the top of my game.

  • Intro to Video Part IV-2: Create a Lyric Video

    https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/create-a-lyric-video/

    Joan of Arc. A French patron saint who helped place Charles VII on the throne. A military expert who helped protect her country during the Hundred’s Years War. A feminist icon of self-empowerment and defiance of the patriarchy. She is a name of many accomplishments, and yet who she was as both Joan of Arc and simply Joan is lost to the ages. As time goes by, stories are told differently. Details change or are lost in translation. Eventually, identities and histories change forever from their original forms.

    This song, by the artist Madilyn Mei, discusses how her identity and how people remember her has changed over the centuries, and how history immortalizing her, the Joan of Arc we know and the true Joan will never be the same again. The song is part of her album “The Bard”, which talks a lot about self-identity and accomplishments throughout life in a folksy musical style. Madilyn Mei herself lives in Arizona and has become a popular artist among niche music communities. This lyric video is one I made using her lyrics, and attempts to embody the medieval vibes of the song and album by making the background a scrolling piece of worn parchment paper.

    Lyrics:

    Did God send you
    Marching in?
    Steadfast and true
    To the end

    Cut your long hair
    Be a man
    Kneel to the servant
    Call him your King
    Do what you must and then

    Run, go back to your home
    History is no one’s friend
    Now you’ll never be known
    As only Joan again
    As only Joan again

    Were you who they
    Say you were
    Lost to time
    Stories blurred

    Was your hair
    Brown or blonde?
    Were you ever there?
    Either way, now you’re gone

    Run, go back to your home
    History is no one’s friend
    Now you’ll never be known
    As only Joan again

    Run, go back to your home
    History is no one’s friend
    Now you’ll never be known
    As only Joan again
    As only Joan again

    Oh Joan

    I’ll twist and I’ll change
    My name rearrange
    Time makes us inhuman

    I’ll live and I’ll die
    But if immortalized
    You’ll never be you again

    Also, if I had a nickel for every folksy song from a niche internet music artist I discovered in the last 4 months that revolve around Joan of Arc, then I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

  • Intro to Video Part IV-1: Tell Your Character’s Story

    https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/tell-your-characters-story/

    Transcript:

    (All dialogue is made with text, as I don’t have anyone to help with voiceovers right now)

    (Video intro, with producer listed as “Polyp Studios”)

    MC: Ugh… What happened?
    (jungle sounds and background fades in)
    MC: I’m still in that jungle. But how… and why am I tied up!?

    ???: Ah, you’ve woken. Good.

    MC: Wh- who’s there?

    ???: Right, I should probably introduce myself. The name’s Cassandra. Sorry for knocking you out, by the way.

    MC: Nice to meet you, I guess. Now if you don’t mind, let me go!

    Cassandra: Sorry, no can do. Not until you Not until you can tell me how you got into this place. It’s been locked off from the outside world for decades, and if you could get in, surely that means that I can get out.

    MC: Decades? How…
    (Wait… those ears…)
    MC: Cassandra, are you-

    Cass.: An elf? Of course, how is that strange?

    MC: Well, last time I checked, elves have always been a work of fiction, and-

    Cass.: Fiction? How? From what I remember before coming here, our kind and humans have been eager and friendly partners for centuries.
    Cass.: I can tell in your eyes that you aren’t lying. Something must be terribly wrong… Listen, human! I’ll cut you free, but in return, you’ll tell me everything you know, then escort me out of this overgrown prison.

    MC: Prison…? Never mind. I’ll help you out. I want to find my way back anyway, and besides, I’m not really in a state to bargain right now.

    Cass.: Good.
    (In the blink of an eye, Cassandra takes out a blade and slashes at the ropes binding MC, freeing them)

    MC: (!!!)

    Cass.: Well? Are you just gonna keep sitting there, or are you coming?

    MC: …Right. Let’s get going.

    (The character and text portraits fade out, then the background and music)
    (Fin)

    And that should be the second part of the story started with last week’s assignment! It’s not quite as good in my opinion, I’m not a big conversationalist and thus don’t know how to script a fictional one. I’ll see about continuing this story next time, and may even do something with the characters on my own time, I think I’m starting to really get why people like this whole storytelling and writing thing.

  • Intro to Sound Part IV-1: Write Your Own Story

    https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/create-a-place/

    You are a traveling adventurer exploring any kinds of wonders you can find, be them manmade or natural beauties. You heard about a mysterious cave off the side of the coast where many had gone, only to seemingly vanish. Some would say you were brave, others would call you foolish, but either way, you decided to visit this cavern to figure out what mysteries it held. (Begin recording)

    (00:00-00:29) You stand here, at the mouth of the cave. You can feel the salty breeze of the sea against your skin, the cold wind blowing from within, and the faintest sound of dripping water deep inside. Sitting upon a new adventure, you steel yourself and push forward. You take a few steps into the cave and take in the atmosphere. The small streams rushing through from the outside, the quiet sounds of bats from within, and the sound of your own footsteps are all you hear for a bit.

    (00:30-00:55) Suddenly, you hear a cacophony of falling debris behind you. You whirl around just in time to see the entrance of the cavern caving in before everything goes dark. You sit there in silence for a second, and then pull out your flashlight. It’s worn and creates an irritating hum, but it’s better than nothing. After a bit of contemplation, you decide that since you’re trapped in here anyway, you might as well venture further in and finish what you came for.

    (01:00-01:45) As you continue forward, you start hearing the sound of water get louder and louder, drowning out almost everything else. After a while, you start to lose your sense of time, and wonder if you’ll be able to find a way out. Eventually, your flashlight gives out, but just in time, you spot a light coming through the end of a hidden passage to your right. You run in that direction, but as you start hearing the rushing sound of falling water, you could not have prepared yourself for what you heard.

    (01:50-02:35) You exit the tunnel to find yourself somewhere unrecognizable from the coastal cliffside you started on. You find yourself surrounded by massive ferns and leaves on all sides, and in front of you stands a waterfall larger than you have ever seen before. The sheer sound of it almost drowns out your own thoughts as you wander, wondering how such a lush and massive jungle could have existed so close to people and never have been found. Eventually, you stumble upon a tree full of the largest fruits you have ever seen. While you don’t know how long it’s truly been, you feel your stomach rumble, and thus go to take a bite. However, right before you chomp down, you feel a sharp pain on the back of your head, and collapse to the ground. The last thing you hear is the sound of someone speaking before everything goes black.

    And consider that the first chapter of this story. Will there be future installations? I don’t know, that’s a decision for future me.

  • Intro to Design Part IV-2: Album Art

    https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/create-rad-album-art-from-photos

    “First, take some photos of friends, family, yourself, your dog, or anyone that strikes your fancy! Then, turn it into some rad Album art! Experiment with filters, add shapes and colors, and think about how you can create a design out of your photos.”

    Your definition of you is something that you can decide, and you should feel free to grow that you into fruition. Unfathomables is a queer jazz rock band that seeks to encourage those who feel they want a new coat of paint. Come see us perform as [[REDACTED]] and let your true self break free for just a night.

    I have many emotional connections to the trans and genderqueer communities, and want to help others feel comfortable in learning who or what they are. As such, I’ve formed this band to build support and awareness*. Our music explores themes of identity, and the connection between one’s body and soul. Many of our songs use vulgar or otherwise non-child friendly language, so most events are 13+.

    *Unfathomables, my band, does not actually exist. However, I do associate with the trans and genderqueer communities as someone currently questioning their gender identity. As such, if you are actually interested in this kind of music, there are multiple queer bands out there for one to enjoy, with examples such as Ma Rainey and Esperanza Spaulding.

  • Intro to Design Part IV-1: Personal Trading Card

    https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/personal-trading-card/

    “Immortalize your character on a trading card! You know you want to. Use the Visual Thinkery Trading Card Remixer (https://remixer.visualthinkery.com/r/1YgU14YCP4e7puXTdMxS), add an image, customize the colors and change the text as necessary.”

    Shibark, a creature created by me, paired on a card meant to mimic the stats on a Pokemon TCG card.

    Shibark are curious nature spirits that take the form of a fox when encountering humans. Many farmers leave offerings out for them in times of famine in hopes of bringing stronger crops. In truth, while their presence does bring a minor boost in vitality to nearby plants, it’s rarely enough to greatly impact a damaged harvest. It was once commonly believed that ancient humans took inspiration from Shibark’s tail when designing the first farming scythes. However, new historical records appear to indicate that this is not the case, and that the similar shapes are pure coincidence.

    Shibark tend to be quite friendly with others, including most humans. However, they are also quite spiteful, and if they feel that someone has harmed the environment around them, or if they deem their offerings inadequate, they will single out something belonging to that individual and either steal or destroy it. Because of this, areas frequented by Shibark often develop cultures focused on conservation and spiritual practices.

    As the world urbanizes and becomes less and less intertwined with nature, Shibark have become quite an uncommon encounter in most places around the world. As such, many cities and suburbs have lost their traditions of providing offerings and sanctity to these spirits, and thus vandalisms caused by them become more frequent. Nowadays, many places consider them to be pests despite their usually kind demeanor.

    Shibark is a design that I personally made two years ago, and just recently redesigned to be more cute and well-drawn. I originally made them as my first ever fan-made Pokémon, and now intend to use them as one of the first partners in the eventual game that I plan to make in the far future. The name is a combination of Shiba Inu and Bark (both the dog kind of bark and tree kind of bark), and it’s meant to look like it’s inspired by Japanese mythology, as well as the game Okami and its playable character Amaterasu. Their eyes are meant to mimic the thin eyes on your traditional Japanese fox mask, and while I can’t show it off incredibly in the photo, those markings on its body are intended to lightly glow when under stress. I hope that this design serves this assignment well and is something that can be appreciated, as it’s one of the designs that I’m most proud of making.

  • Intro Visual Part III-4: World Pup (Draw-It)

    “Take a photograph of something (If you take a picture from the internet, make sure to be nice and cite the original) and transform it through GIMP, Photoshop, etc, into a drawing.”

    One day, there was a corgi, and with her was her trusted ball. Now this dog was not the brightest or the most graceful, but she had a dream. This dream was to one day win the World Pup, the ultimate test of talent for any soccer-loving canine around the world. So every day and every night, this pup trained her hardest to become the best soccer dog ever. Her bounds went from clumsy to calculated, and she scored goal after goal after goal. Every single move she made, she made with her favorite soccer ball.

    Finally, she felt ready. She convinced her owners to take her to the World Pup, and got prepared to team up with her fellow corgis to take home the trophy. They won the first round, and then the second, and found themselves squaring up against the Australian Shepherds. They played their hearts out, and were evened up with the much larger dogs until tragedy struck. Our corgi’s favorite ball, in the heat of the game, tore upon and got destroyed!

    She was absolutely devastated, and while she still tried to play, it just simply wasn’t the same, and in the end, they just barely lost. Her ball was gone and she didn’t make it to the top. She went home in a slump, and thought she would never play again. However, when she woke up the next day, she saw a miracle: her owners has taken home her ball and put it back together, good as new! Our corgi friend realized then that she didn’t care about being the best, or for winning the World Pup. All she cared about was that she had her favorite ball back.

    My Dog and Her Ball

    This has been my story, based on my own beloved corgi Maggie. Her favorite toy is her fake soccer ball, and we often make jokes about her joining the World Pup, so I decided to roll with this and spin it into a story of attachment, heartache, and most importantly, a very, very good dog.

  • Intro Visual Part III-3: Magic of Nature

    I saw one about creating some nature-themed text, and I decided that I wanted to take my hand at that with a little sorcerous flair to it. One, I just like magic and think it improves the contrast of the photo to have a magic missile soaring through, but two, there are so many things in nature explained as science that I refuse to believe isn’t just magic we somehow understand. Like, what do you mean worms can just duplicate when cut apart? That’s straight magic and I refuse to hear anything else.

  • Intro Visual Part III-2: Favorite Photo

    I’ll admit, there’s not really much deep reason as to why I chose this as my favorite photo I’ve personally taken. For one, it’s probably one of the higher quality photos I’ve taken, but more importantly to me, it’s of my dog Maggie that I’ve had for years at this point. I rescued her from a shelter before I moved here and she’s been one of the most important faces in my life since, and I can’t imagine myself without her.

    The apple on the head just adds to her overall silly nature, she is a complete brat and goofball and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.