Flame On! (yeah, I know...)

Aloha Everyone!

This is a test of the early blogging system. Had this been an actual emergency, you would not be here.

If you have several questions that need answering, I know a great number of people at my College willing to share.

Despite the odd ball sleep pattern, life is becoming increasingly more enjoyable. Interests in Anime and Games are limited to irregular patterns of interest, but I do very much enjoy the hard work that goes into each production.

Titles include: Evangelion, particularly "Endless Waltz"; Final Fantasy and very recently Darksiders 2.

 Sideline interests are Environment, Education and slew of others - including my current Major Graphic Design. Currently, I am not taking work outside of class just yet. Nightmare course load going on.

Other than all of those lovely syllables...

How are you doing?

Later cowboys.... (Cowboy Bebop)

Editor's Note: This is the first post by one of our newest contributors, the fantastic Jonathan Allen! He's one of the my good buddies from the Navy and I'd like to extend my personal welcome and you all do the same. -DraconisTheory

What? A Girl? On Raptor Inc.?

Oh yes. A female has been added to the team, and a redhead at that. I’m Auverin – the newest and palest face at Raptor Inc.

This is how I wear a Raptor Inc. t-shirt:

I don’t really like to talk about myself a lot because I am weird and awkward and I tend to leave important things out…mostly I forget to warn people that I am weird and awkward. But you have been warned, so now I can get to the important stuff.

I am indeed 100% female, and the very lucky girlfriend of DraconisTheory (as mentioned in a recent news post, I believe). I’m a starving college student. Well, not starving, but I’ve had popcorn as a meal more than once this week. I write, I paint, I play music. And I do game on occasion. I wouldn’t say I’m avid enough to beat any of these guys at anything, But I do play enough to kick some ass in RPGs and occasionally give DraconisTheory a spear to the face.

I can’t quite say what sorts of things I am going to post, because once again I am rather odd and prone to act on a whim. I can say that I am helping out with a brand new project that will be rather expansive. As it was said earlier in the month, the project is still in a conceptual stage, but I am its writer, and therefore I am held responsible if it never gets done. So that will be my job for the next few months. Getting that shit finished. Somewhere in there I might actually post something relevant. Who knows?

I don’t have anything else of merit to say, so I’m just going to end this awkwardly and abruptly.

Tschau.

Amnesia Comic

This comic is based off my experiences in Amnesia - The Dark Descent ; a wonderful horror game by the creators of Penumbra, Frictional Games. You can't defend yourself, only hide in the dark, but, if you're in the dark too long, you begin to lose sanity and the monsters will hear you. You have a lantern for convenient light, but, the monsters thank you for it too. They wouldn't have been able to find you in the dark. It's a hell of a challenge but is intense and worth it.

Dillon's SAW #2: What Lurks in the Dark

Many fear being in or around the dark alone. A few see it as something that changes the nature of objects and people, no longer being helpful, passive, or friendly, but aggressive, hateful creatures bent on harming them in some way. Some see it as more, something palpable, tangible, as if it could creep up on them and consume them whole. Some fear having one of their senses become useless, having to rely on the others of self preservation. Those who don't fear it see it as just that, dark. A space where light does not enter. Nothing changes there, it is just the same as when light is gracing it. Some people describe this fear as not a fear of the dark itself, but what may hide in it.

Right now, someone is looking down a hallway. It is nighttime, the bulbs in the ceiling light have burnt out and the entire area is occluded by darkness. They have to go through this hallway. Once they've mustered up the courage, they start to move, but then a sharp rattling sound echoes down the way. What goes through their mind? That it is just their house and it is just darkness, a can probably fell, or the cat ran through, nothing has changed, that the rational mind assures it? Perhaps it is the darkness attempting to lure them deeper in, so they may not escape. But what if it is something of unimaginable evil, lurking in the blind spot ahead, lying in wait for them?

They have to get through. They once more gather their strength and start walking, quickly, but not in a panic. Steps sound behind them. They walking turns into a more hurried jog. Is it just an echo, or is something behind them? Halfway down, the jog turns into a sprint out of fear, moving a fast as possible and slamming into the door at the end of the hall. Opening it and taking shelter inside, slamming it behind them. The room is dark as well. The lightswitch is beside them. To the rational, it will illuminate, to those afraid of the dark itself, it will destroy it. But what of those afraid of what's in the dark? Will the light make the evil go away? Or will it just make it easier for it to see them? They hit the switch, only one way to find out.

___________________________

I like this story more than the last, but it is not perfect in anyway. Well, part 2 of my 3 part experiment is done. One left, I already have an idea for it and am working it out in my head. Maybe it wasn't Jet-pilot-tyrannosaur-bombing-triceratops-awesome but close enough. Anyway, part 3 ahead. On the way!

Dillon's SAW #2

Welcome back to Dillon's SAW(Story A Week)! Last week we had the first and I truly and honestly HATED it. I went back to a writing prompt website today to find a prompt and it came up with this;

"The story is of death with a movie double as the main character and a receipt as the plot device. Set this in a laundromat."

And to this I say,

Fuck
That
Shit

No. That is ri-god-damn-diculous. No. SO! Instead, I came up with my own idea. This week, expect my new story of whimsical adventure that is awesome:

What Lurks in the Dark

How awesome will it be?

At Least This Awesome

The Dragon's Cave

So, this idea came from a text I sent to Frankie, when he asked me to tell him a story.

"There once was a knight and, being a knight, went into a cave to fight a dragon. He met the dragon and, as it reared to breathe fire, he held his shield high. He was incinerated. The shield was wooden."

He said it should become a comic and thus this was born. I would release my mediocre version and he would redraw it into an epic version is the plan. Oddly enough, this is some of my best drawing in a while, especially the dragon view. I noticed the time and said, "Oh shit! I forgot to put in fire but don't have to time photoshop some or draw some!" and thus I cut some out and put it in. I am still deciding whether or not to color this, it's weird, though expect improvement.

Side note, I have an article coming up, on some of the psychology used in video games. Stay tuned!