All Too Human - All Too Human

D'oh!

5/31/2015

Don't you just hate it when you've put a lot of time and effort into an idea, only to realize someone else has beaten you to the punch?

In this case, remember the wolf-vamp-zombie story? Well, I just discovered a tonally-nearly-identical concept that already exists, just substituting zombies for magi and throwing in some hunters, called Unique. I'd have to actually buy the book and read it to be sure, but from the TVTropes description of it, it's exactly the same sort of thing I was going for with my setting: slice-of-life for the most part, while going about dealing with the increasingly-broken Masquerade and rather a bit about the different factions.

Ah, well. I really shouldn't be surprised.

New stuff!

5/31/2015

So today I haven't yet done too terribly much, though I've done a little bit of thinking, refining the "What If" scenarios into a full episode (basically, Ruby has in her employ a vampire who goes by Oracle, with the power to visit, and it serves as a training episode because she learns vampiric skills from her full-vamp self [Glamors, mainly], refined battle techniques from another version of her, and renewed confidence in herself from seeing the world without her.), and also thinking up an episode where she'd undergo an interview. Mostly fluff and filler, doing some worldbuilding and whatnot, which I think would be good.

I also amused myself by playing around with the current incarnation of a fish-shaped origami that happens to also look vaguely spaceship-like. (You'd be surprised how much the profile of a fish and a starship have in common, though when you think about it, I suppose hydrodynamics have some similarity to aerodynamics and we tend to think of spaceships as being a combination of the two.) It started out no differently than previous incarnations of that paper (long story), with me profiling the ship's class and abilities. (Prior versions have been fighters, interceptors, and I think a bomber. This one was a cruise ship, meant for rapid long-distance travel.)

The standard fluff was there, as I described how it was far more dangerous than it looked. Viewed from the nose (front) in the position generally meant to be "flat" to the "ground", it has fairly tight maneuverability on the X-axis (side to side), but truly excels at the Y-axis (up/down), able to make near-instantaneous 360s, yet alone, a 180. Of course, that puts the ship upside-down--not a problem in space, but potentially an issue in a gravity-environment. (Also, while generally not an issue, it can still be slightly disorienting because ships DO have an internal sense of what should be "up" which is disrupted--something that can be adjusted to but which is still an issue.)

However, though not QUITE as sharp, its rotation around the Z axis is almost as fast. (Think rapid barrel rolls.) So it's maneuverable. It's the fastest for long-distance slipstream jumps, able to go longer in slipstream with greater accuracy and less cooldown time, plus an absolute master at making short-distance slipstream jumps, too. It's well-armored, such that the only thing capable of taking it down is heavy-weapons fire, save for hitting the exhaust port on the back, its one weak spot. This, however, is quite the weakness, because the ship--while lightning fast in slipstream and generally maneuverable--is for its size a fairly slow vessel in normal space, making it incredibly vulnerable to being surrounded.

A fact made worse by only having a single cannon as a weapon--mind you, a single cannon is able to rip any fighter to shreds with a direct hit, but they actually have to hit and with just the one, if outnumbered, they're screwed.

So in general, it's considered one of the weakest vessels in the fleet of the power that controls it. (I'm thinking a Republic, thanks to the markings on the origami paper.) Yes, weakest, in spite of its maneuverability, long-distance speed, cannon, and armor. That's because other vessels of its size have better armor (one is virtually invincible), better weapons (one has FOUR cannons not to mention a bundleload of missiles and smaller projectiles), faster low-combat speed, and still maintain decent slipstream capabilities. (I'm mainly thinking that the reason the war is even is that while the side with the cruisers has the far superior small-craft, the opposition has far-superior larger ships, and the sheer numbers needed to operate a fleet of that magnitude...including many, many more small-craft.) The cruiser's main purpose is to get someone from Point A to Point B as rapidly as possible, and that's pretty much ALL it was designed for.

...Still, though, some prefer to use it, because it makes an effective hit-and-run vehicle: jump in, hit the target, jump out, before they even know what struck them. They're speed is slow, but since their maneuverability in the Y plane is the best of any ship, and their maneuverability in the Z-plane is still one of the best, and their maneuverability in the X-plane isn't too shabby, they can hide their weak spot well, all the while picking off enemies one by one with well-placed shots. (Cruisers have good sensors, which technically can be damaged but have repair nanobots installed that will fix any damage to them in short order--so it's possible to blind a cruiser for a while, a secondary weak spot of sorts, but not for long.)

That wasn't my focus, though. My focus was on an elite pilot of one, sure, but he was transporting a VIP, when basically the entire enemy fleet showed up in a sector of space they had jumped to in order to stop them. They were forced to travel into a VAST section of space where long-distance jumps are impossible and only short-distance jumps could be made, the heart of the enemy's trap, and I decided it might make a good video game after finding out what they did. They pulled a Millennium Falcon a couple of times, with debris from a fight they won once and asteroids the second time, having laid a trap the first time and being desperate the second. (They had managed to outsmart the enemy by utilizing their superior jump capabilities, but again, entire enemy fleet, both fighters and big freakin' huge battleships spread out everywhere, albeit with focus in certain areas.)

The result of their second confrontation was that they decided to launch a surprise attack on a battleship, passing through their defenses, blasting a hole in the hull near (but not on) the bridge, and then blasting their way into the bridge, where they manage to subdue the crew non-lethally (reduce Oxygen levels to below-consciousness yet not lethal levels) and jump the battleship itself away into a safe-for-now corner of space...where they basically propose to the crew one of three options: help them and be both rewarded and respected, remain neutral as effective prisoners of war treated with extreme care and a guarantee of release upon their safe return home (basically, not betraying their nation but not impeding the goals of the VIP and the pilot), or fight and then die.

Surprisingly, most choose the first, though a lot choose the second. This is where the game proper would begin--the battleship would act as home "base", moving through space at the rate of the plot, with the cruiser serving as the player-controlled ship, which would go out and do its thing: the ace pilot would clear the route, acting as a distraction, while also thinning the enemy forces. The remains would be salvaged, repaired, and then (for a fee, because the crewmen are still uncertain of this whole "betray their nation" thing) repurposed as upgrades to the heavily-damaged-initially cruiser, first to get it back into shape and then taking things beyond that.

I thought it was a neat idea, at least.

You'd think Saturdays would be free, but no.

5/30/2015

I got basically nothing done today, though in my defense, my sister offered me the chance to watch Psycho Pass again, and we went through ten episodes. (In two sittings, mind you.)

Did manage to catch the second movie of movie night, though. But that's about it. Woke up. Psycho Pass. Small break. More Psycho Pass. Movie. And now...I'm here, having only briefly paused to play a game. (Star Era, which I am enjoying more than Heroes, though I'm still active in both.)

Still need to get caught up on One Piece, though; this is getting kinda ridiculous.

Today's exactly what I needed.

5/29/2015

So today was actually pretty nice. I started the day with work, where I created a DayInTheLimelight episode focusing around...well, the lime light of Angel Wings, Ruby's spirit totem, basically with them being involved in a Whodunnit mystery...before it has occurred. (Angel Wings detected some wickedly powerful murderous intent, and could tell it was a vampire, but no other details. Ruby has to go incognito, because murderous intent doesn't count as VILLAINOUS intent, screwed up as that may be, so she can't go superhero.)

Then, came my trip to the psychiatrist. The trip itself, not so fun (lots of traffic), especially since my favorite water bottle sprouted a leak. However, since we got there an hour early, we went to Azteca to get some lunch...and the experience was AMAZING. The songs playing were Mexican, obviously, but they were better than most of the music I listen to. The place had a nice aesthetic, it was well-air-conditioned, the service there was incredible, and the food absolutely delicious. (I love Mexican food. My stomach, not so much; the wrong combo of food will give me massive amounts of digestive tract woes. But I THINK the salad I had was fine.)

Expensive, yeah (my mom and I ordered the same thing, and between us it came out to $40 albeit including the tip), and more than we could eat (we both wasted some of the food), but definitely a solid experience.

Quite the relaxing day.

Another one of those slow days.

5/28/2015

I mean, literally nothing to talk about. I suppose I should note in here for the Rubyverse that I named Whitney's family pub: Hart and Souls, a pun off of their surname being Hartley, the phrase "Heart and Soul", and the fact that as a pub they naturally serve spirits.

And even that was technically something from yesterday. Soyeah, really suck at this blogging thing.

Aaaaaaaaahhg!

5/27/2015

So yesterday didn't go well, and while I can talk about it, I really don't want to.
Today was going well, until I had quite a bit of a screwup at work--and while I WANT to talk about it, I can't.
It sucks.

Past Midnight, Shut Up, I Know L

5/27/2015

Stuff happened today.

...Yeah, if I wasn't such an awful blogger, you'd get more than that. But I can tell you that today's not been a very good day--I'd rather not go into the details of why; it may not be healthy to have the pent up rage that I do, but unleashing it makes me feel even worse.

(My family got a good dosage of it, and I'd rather not continue to spread it here further than I have elsewhere.)

That said, though, I've still had plenty of interesting stuff besides that. For instance, on the way home from tae kwon do, I was at exactly the right place and the right time to see cop cars chasing down a fugitive to arrest them--you know, the kind of thing that used to be on all those real-life cop footage shows?

Like...I literally saw the suspect, at the AM/PM across the street from me, and the cop car nearly run him over, with a second cop car and then a third boxing him in, the cop getting out of the car, and tackling the suspect. No kidding. This happened right before my eyes, and then another one or two extra cop cars came to the scene just to be sure.

Certainly found that interesting.

I'm stuffed.

5/25/2015

Maybe a little too much, to perhaps even 'sick to my stomach' levels.

But...it was French Toast!
For supper.
I think I had six or seven pieces.

...Totally worth it.

Anyway, yesterday I didn't get a lot of work done on Red Hood Rider, mainly because my sister invited me to watch Psycho Pass with her...and we did. Eight episodes' worth. But I did do some, and have done quite a lot today. I've got basically every detail I need for a coherent story; at this stage, it's simply writing it all out explicitly as to make sure there's consistency. (I already caught at least one error, that being, the name of Vili's spirit totem. Originally, it was Divine Bolt, but now, I kinda favor Shooting Star--it carries the same meanings but moreso except in the case of the electricity connection which requires a bit of InsaneTrollLogic to exist but which I have all the same.)

So off to work on the notefinishing I go!

How do I go about saying this?

5/24/2015

So this may seem a bit silly, but there's something I've wanted to talk about for the last couple of days in regards to Red Hood Rider.

I'm not quite sure how to word this. The words aren't quite there to properly express it (curse my trouble vocalizing thoughts), so I'm not even sure where to begin.

I guess...well, with the fact that...obviously, you know if you've read my blog that Red Hood Rider has grown into an obsession of mine. I've made so many posts on it that it should be abundantly clear that I love it with a passion.

And, well...I think I figured out one of the main reasons why. Ruby was always, from the get-go, meant to be a fictionalized version of me. Ever since the first thought of a magical girl-vampire, she's been...well, ME. Except not me--a better version of me.

A more fantastical version. And I think...I think I'm so passionate about her because I want to BE her. I know it's silly to say. It's about the most cliched thing to say. On other works that I've written, I don't want to be the characters, or even live in their world. Even characters who were originally based off of me, I have no desire to actually be them.

This goes for every major work I've ever started, from my first novel to Disease to my currently-attempted webcomic. In some (especially my earlier novels), the characters looked like me, had my name, and acted as better versions of me...but I didn't actually have any particular urge to be them. I knew them to not be me, not really.

Yet with Ruby, it's different. I'm actually a bit jealous of her. All I can be is her writer. All I can be is the person who gave her life. I can't actually BE her. But what I can do is continue to see things through her, and her allies', eyes. I can continue to see that world...and increasingly, I want to bring it to life.

Obviously, it can't be mine. Magical girls (presumably) don't actually exist much as we dream of it. Vampires presumably don't exist and if they do would have done a DARN good job at hiding it. So I can't bring it to life, literally.

But what I CAN do...is write and draw. And that's what I want to do. Increasingly more and more. I feel terrible. I don't want to give up doing my current webcomic, because it means a lot to me and I love the characters and I want to work on it and bring the characters there to light as well...but with Red Hood Rider, it's becoming so much more important to my life in such a small span of time that...I kinda feel like it'd be disrespectful to not work on it.

No, not just work on it. To bring it to life. I'm...not a talented artist. Not enough to bring it fully to life as I want to by myself. So in order to do so, I'd have to cheat. I'd have to use reference images, maybe even flat-out tracing them rather than just copying/mimicking them. I wouldn't be able to waste much time with the colors and the lighting, keeping it fairly simple. (The art style I have in mind is basically colored manga.) I'd need to force myself out of bad artistic habits (like layer overkill and fear of losing the art), and I'd need to master the program I intend to use.

Heck, I might need to wait until my birthday to see if I can get a tablet (it probably wouldn't be as a birthday gift, but if I get a hundred dollars like I did last time, well, $200 should be enough to buy a tablet SOMEWHERE), because using the mouse (especially a laptop one) only gets so far.

I will need to keep my scriptwriting in top-form. No rambling. No excessive dialog. Tight, precise witty lines. I will need to get good flow on the pages, broken up coherently and organically rather than the artificial format I've limited myself to previously.

This will be a daunting task. I am an amateur. Not a professional. Yet what I'm setting out to do would put me near par with pros. Yet it's not impossible. I know this can be done. I'm not setting unrealistic expectations. I've seen it. It's in my head. It can be done.

And I want, NEED, to make it happen. It will be tough. It will not be easy. But it must happen.

Past Midnight, Shut Up, I Know IL

5/24/2015

Well, today my dad went away for the night, which meant...once again, my brother came over for the day, thus the late entry. I didn't get much of a movie night, but we watched ten episodes of Baccano! (it gets easier to follow along with as the story goes, since at the beginning with so many characters we collectively went, "Uh-oh..."), and once the Kill-la-Kill marathon started (I hope there's not anything NEW, since I'm certainly not watching it), decided to watch an additional four episodes of Parasyte, the anime we watched last time.

Soyeah, that was my day, basically. Today's going to suck, since even though I'm going to get more sleep, I know it will be less fulfilling.