Sierra-Alpha
An incredibly sensitive instrument.
- Hello, my name is Sierra, and I am a sad little man who likes to write and draw. My preferred method involves me shamelessly hacking off bits and pieces from the media I like and letting it meld into the imaginative bits of my brain — mostly because coming up with new ideas is hard. I let this creative energy stew in my soul, and I will it through my hands to create things that are typically painful on the eyes.
Within the same vein, a favored pastime of mine is homonculizing said pieces of media into one big, ugly uber-setting that I like to cultivate and refine — like bastard children, basically. I have a lot of these settings, and like actual children, I tend to neglect them in favor of the ones that I like the most. However, due to my ADHD, this tends to ebb and flow, and it's based on whatever is piquing my interest at the moment. By the way, these settings are what I prefer to write and draw about — creating fanfiction feels like I'm defiling the original media, in a way. But that's just me. There's a whole bunch of media I enjoy (it's mostly videogames), and you might be able to convince me to create something within one.
You might've figured this out by now, but you're currently reading through the "summary" tab of my plea. You can check out the other ones soon, I promise. But for now, here's a bulleted list of some stuff about me that I think you should know. Giant lists aren't exactly an interest of mine either, but I just want to be as clear as I can about myself. Please read through it with care.
- This should go without saying, but if you're transphobic, homophobic, or otherwise hold onto wack-ass reactionary political views, then don't bother reading any further.
- I'm a cishet guy and nineteen years old. I'm cool with everyone, but I'd much prefer to chat with other adults. I might be willing to make the occasional exception, though.
- I live somewhere in the desert within the Pacific Time Zone. I'm busy with stuff these days, but I'll always have a few hours on hand to chat or burn time. There will be times where I won't be able to reply, but I promise you it will never be for malefic reasons. I try my best to keep up — you'll never have to wait more than a day or a few for a response from me — but if circumstances ever change, I'll be sure to let you know. Also, I generally reply faster on Discord.
- I'm comfortable with writing in a wide array of settings and genres; even if I haven't directly mentioned something, I'm sure we can talk it out.
- I'm okay with writing furry or otherwise nonhuman characters — and I enjoy it, too — but I get antsy when there aren't any humans hanging around here or there. My favorite settings actually include a mix of the two; I enjoy the healthy variety, but I need my anchor — it's like ordering chicken nuggets on the side. Very good chicken nuggets, if I may add.
- I like grounded, believable settings — and analyzing their every minute, extensive detail. This treatment extends to the characters, too; it's merely a coincidence that my favorite types of character are those who're sad and profoundly fucked up in their own unique way. But to reiterate: I like detail, and I try my best to show it in my writing. I can talk or listen about stuff that intrigues me for the whole day if need be. Also, if you have any triggers, please let me know.
- When it comes to character relationships, while I'm not a huge fan of romance, I'm open to experimenting with it in any orientation. However, I must warn you that I'm fairly inexperienced in any of those fields — even, uh... my own. I don't really see myself making really lovey-dovey dialogue and whatnot; I prefer for the relationships I write to be a little more... complex (messed up). Anyways, I have no clue what I'm saying; maybe we can discuss it a little more in detail? That being said, I very much do like strong platonic relationships and found family.
- I know I haven't really demonstrated it well (or at all, actually), but I'm the occasional digital artist, and I enjoy it, too. Unfortunately, with me being afflicted by bad-brain, it usually takes me far too long to finish up something that I deem worth sharing — but, again, I enjoy it nonetheless. I haven't quite reached the confidence level to show what I've been working on within this post, but you might be able to coax it out of me if you ask nicely. I'd love to see your own art, too!
- I'm looking for friends first, creative partners second, and roleplay partners last. If our chats feel like making awkward small talk with a co-worker, then we aren't going to work well together. Talk to me — tell me what's on your mind. Let's share our creative works together and babble endlessly about our interests. We don't even need to work on something together if we click well enough — but I think collaborating with another person's art adds a certain magic that I love. I think that sounds fun.
- Don't ghost me. Period. I know it's selfish, but I'm just so sick of it when it happens. Please treat me like a fellow human being, and let's talk it out together before you disappear — or, at the very least, send me a quick message to alert me of your departure. Rest assured, I will always extend the same courtesy to you. I'm sorry for the change in tone, but I need to put my foot down for this one.
This seems like the gist of it, really. Well... unless I happen to be forgetting something important — but I'm sure we'll figure that out down the line. If I don't seem like the kind of person you'd mesh well with, then that's totally okay; it's safe to click off now.
If you do feel like we'd work well together, then I implore you to check out the other tabs so you can learn a little more about the interests I have. After that, if you're still interested in what I have to offer, then feel free to send me a message on-site, but I also have my Discord handle somewhere in my profile if that's what you prefer. I like this method, too. And also, please don't reply to this thread! Send me a message on-site or reach me through Discord!
Oh, and... one last thing: Please don't be afraid to reach out to me if you're nervous about it. I struggle with social anxiety; bringing myself to click on 'Post thread' needed some courage, as silly as it sounds. But I don't regret it — at least, I don't think I do. But I guess we never find out if we don't try, right? - This should go without saying, but if you're transphobic, homophobic, or otherwise hold onto wack-ass reactionary political views, then don't bother reading any further.
- Regarding these settings, I'd tell you the silly names I gave for them, but my sense of shame really doesn't like that idea, so I guess little descriptions will do. The first one is the one, and the rest aren't getting dinner tonight. That might change a few months from now, though. Also, I must reiterate that these are my children. Some (most) of them are silly and dumb, but please be kind about it.
Also, there's a lot to these settings that I haven't developed past the surface. Is that completely against what I said about detail? Certainly. But I find that it helps to have a different perspective on things when you're fleshing this stuff out — someone to ask the questions that you would've never thought about yourself (or the questions you know the answer to, but never felt pushed to give a proper explanation for). If you're interested in any of these settings, ask me something about it — maybe even something that you think I wouldn't have the answer to. It'll be fun.
And if, at any point, you ask yourself, "Isn't this kind of derivative?" my answer is yes; it absolutely is. I can only hope they're far enough removed from the source material to allow me to deny the plagiarism accusations.
...I'm joking. Kind of. Anyways:
- Alright, get this: it's like Zootopia, but sadder. And more violent. Dystoopia, if you will — even though that name makes zero sense. Kinda like the first draft Disney came up with but ended up walking back on — but mine's cooler. It also includes humans and is vaguely based around late 1900s Europe — both of which most certainly contribute to the sadness. And violence. I'd like to think that what I have (so far) is nuanced and complex, and at the end of the day, the most important takeaway from this one is that we need to hold eachother more often. And there's a bonus setting, too! A sidegrade, more like. A medieval counterpart in the exact same setting that's just as sad. And violent.
- It's like Fallout but more grounded, and it's perhaps even more hopeful; it focuses more on the rebuilding of society and infrastructure. It has cars and stuff, too — kinda like Mad Max but way less intense — and it also leans very, very heavily into the wild west genre. I'd actually liken it more to Wasteland than Fallout, but not many people seem to talk about Wasteland much (I'm too dumb to properly get into the first one, but its sequels are really solid RPGs). I wish I had more stuff to say about this one (it's got robots and stuff, too!), but I think most of its potential comes from its possible storylines.
- What if by 'Space Piracy', you really leaned into that aspect? Like being able to take as much as you can from the age of sail and plunder and throw it out into space? No, I don't actually mean putting wooden pirate ships into space and having its passengers die of scurvy. Well... maybe there could be a little bit of scurvy. Alright, I'll shut up: This one takes place during the dawn of the space age when everything is new and dangerous. Colonialism, imperialism, piracy, space-racism, all that jazz. It's a tumultuous environment where everyone is scrambling to lay their hands or paws or pincers or otherwise grabbing apparatus on whatever they find, all the while making new, unproven technology to get an edge. Modern naval combat is boring: What if cruisers could interdict eachother while in FTL and force eachother to fight broadside to broadside while only a kilometer or so away? I just think it's an interesting concept.
- Alright, this one is really barebones, but I think something cool could come up out of it. Modern fantasy interdimensional roadtrip — I swear I'm not just stringing random words together. Yeah, yeah, I know: it's shamelessly based off of yet another videogame, but I think there's a lot to build up on with this one. Some twenty-something year old in the deep south likes to go on long rides in his 1996 Ford F-150 to escape his broken family, and he suddenly emerges from a tunnel he's never been down before into a magical fantasy land with all types of cute critters and wacky characters. It is, as he would put it, Liberal Hell (as in, a hell created by liberals, and not one intended for them). And he can't go home. How the hell would that play out? Those are the types of questions I want answers to. And that's just one storyline I came up with on a whim a few seconds ago.
Those seem to be all I can muster for the time being. I'm sure, however, that there are a bunch more ideas deep within the recesses of my mind just hoping for a stray neuron to light up that they can latch onto — and maybe you are the catalyst for that to happen. Like I said, I'm very much open to hearing about the settings other people are able to come up with; I live for that shit. Closely examining the art of others, I mean. How else would I come up with the ideas for the stuff that I make?
And, uh... if I worried you with my recent comments, I promise that I would never take the hard work of someone else and try to pass it off as my own. Ever. They're all little pieces of our soul that we show to the world, and while I let others mold, shape, and influence my own, I would never stoop to the level of ripping it away from someone else and claiming it as mine. - Alright, get this: it's like Zootopia, but sadder. And more violent. Dystoopia, if you will — even though that name makes zero sense. Kinda like the first draft Disney came up with but ended up walking back on — but mine's cooler. It also includes humans and is vaguely based around late 1900s Europe — both of which most certainly contribute to the sadness. And violence. I'd like to think that what I have (so far) is nuanced and complex, and at the end of the day, the most important takeaway from this one is that we need to hold eachother more often. And there's a bonus setting, too! A sidegrade, more like. A medieval counterpart in the exact same setting that's just as sad. And violent.
- Okay, what the hell does that acronym mean? Why, it's none other than...
Sierra's List of Wicked Baller Videogames (A-Z).
Dumb theatrics aside, you might've picked up on my affinity for videogames — and I think I've got very good reason for it. I am of the strong belief that, despite being a very recent medium (it's kinda mixed-medium, technically?), videogames are capable of producing the most thought-provoking and profound pieces of art that we're able to experience in the modern day. Some of them are really fun to play, too.
Every facet of it — every line of code — that goes into the creation of these things can be analyzed, studied, and appreciated. That's... probably selling it too much, but my point still stands: I love them for what they are, and there are so many to discover and play. Consider this section to be a love letter to them, in a way. It is, however, mostly for you to gauge what kind of a person I am from this specific, hand-picked list of mine.
Not that into videogames? I, uh... that probably lessens what we can talk about quite a bit, but that's okay. You can pick whatever you want from this list, and I'll have something to say about it — some of them are rather beginner friendly, too, if you ever feel like branching out. Admittedly, I might not have as much as I would like to say about some of these entries, but that's a flaw on my part. I really need to revisit some of these titles...
Also, keep in mind, just because I think a game is fun, it doesn't mean it made the list. There are so many that didn't make the cut; Halo is one of my favorite franchises, but none of its titles are in here. And for some of them, there's definitely people that think they suck, and that's okay; none of these games are perfect. Let's just say that everything is on this list for a reason. It might be for a reason I might not be able to articulate well... but that doesn't matter. My heart made these decisions, and I have listened.
Alright, that's enough talk for now. Let me show you what I have in mind. Also, there are a few titles that I don't think made the cut, but I absolutely still felt the need to mention them. And, uh... there's also a few extra in another category:
Sierra's List of Wicked Baller Videogames (A-Z)
- Citizen Sleeper
- Disco Elysium
- Hotline Miami 1 & 2
- INSIDE
- Laika: Aged Through Blood
- LIMBO
- Night in the Woods
- NORCO
- OMORI
- Outer Wilds
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- The Last of Us: Part 1 & 2
- Undertale
- Wandersong
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Honorable Mentions
- Firewatch
- Gods Will Be Watching
- Nuclear Throne
- Psychonauts 2
- Tunic
"I haven't played these enough (or at all) to make an informed opinion about them, but I still felt an obligation to include them in this list because what I've seen or heard about them interests me in a really good way" Mentions
- Cocoon
- Cruelty Squad
- Gris
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Kentucky Route Zero
- LISA: The Painful
- Pathologic 1 & 2
- Pentiment
- Psychonauts (the first one)
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Roadwarden
- Signalis
Oh, and if you forced me to pick only one, it'd be Disco Elysium. It's literally not even a competition.
Alright, I think that's enough of me for now. If any of these picks got you thinking about literally anything, don't hesitate to ask me about it — the internal panicking will be done on my end. Again, some of these picks were made by my heart, and my brain might struggle to explain why, but I'll still definitely try to explain my reasoning.
Then again, who cares about what I think? Or even what games I specifically decided to include on this list? I really like videogames; I try my best to sample everything on the platter, so to speak. Do you have something in mind that you think I might be interested in? I can guarantee you I'd like to hear about it more than you'd like to tell me about it. I mean, it doesn't even have to be a game if I think it's interesting enough. Books are cool. And movies. Yeah, movies are cool, too.
That's... everything. Assuming you cycled through the tabs from left to right, I don't really have much more to say about myself, I think. Well, to strangers, anyway. Would you like to change that?
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