Introduction post.
I'm Halceon (they/he; viņš/???) [xælsiɔːn; xaltseoːn] and I do things and I do thinks. And like a [simile] this post comes to you in [number] of parts
The Making
I think a lot about games and specifically how the confluence of rules and mechanics creates stories and meaning. Which is also why I make games. Most of the time that doesn't amount to much. At last count, I had around 30 works in progress. But for most things that are finished in a more or less presentable way, you can go and check out my itch.
Things you can find there include:
- A ttrpg about being a nasty goblin with the severest attention deficit you've ever seen
- A game about fitting books into boxes as a metaphor for freelancer burnout
- A larp about being deeply isolated from other people in space, but still trying to support each other
Here's an extended chost about that There is also a long neglected tumblr that has smaller games, but I won't link that. I'm just gonna migrate them over to itch instead. Probably. Maybe.
I've become a big fan of mechs as an aesthetic and metaphor, and so I got into Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack. Mechs, but also LEGO®. For example

I don't do it often, but when I do, it's fun.
On a similar note, there is Mech Wednesday. I have work meetings on wednesdays and I use that time to doodle some mechs.
The Enjoying
Overlapping with what's been said above, I enjoy games, especially wants that have interesting systems, tactics, and/or emergent storytelling. Recent favorites include Victoria 3, Phoenix Point, Into The Breach and (vibrating excitedly for the steam release of) Dwarf Fortress.
I'm likely to write down thoughts about them when I play them. Including the possibly first cohost community fort. (It only has 2 generations at time of writing, but go down the posts and maybe add to the legacy?)
I don't just make rpgs, I also play them semi regularly. I'm currently running a weekly Stonetop game and play a Vanguard in a very irregular Dungeon World game. I'm also part of the Roll +Bond community and we do yearly charity streams.
Relatedly, I've been known to enjoy a boardgame or 7, but trying to play Pandemic Legacy 2 over the pandemic has... dulled that drive.
I am also a listener of podcasts, I enjoy the fun interactions of Friends at the Table, the spicy 12ft skeleton takes of Waypoint Remap Radio and the grim laugh-just-to-not-cry itude of Well There's Your Problem.
I studied linguistics (didn't finish) and enjoy a lot of things to do with languages. In fact, as a linguist I like ambiguity more than most people. I speak 2 languages fluently, 2 with some difficulty and can find my way around ~2 more. I have strong opinions about geographic commas. And while I'm here, y'all should be reading Sylvain Neuvell, that man writes good.
The Being
I am a gender-apathetic latvian social democrat with medium roast depression.
That is.
I don't particularly experience any internal feelings of gender, and so I don't ascribe any particular value to how I'm gendered by others. Except when they try to enforce gender based expectations on me, then I might get mean.
I'm a Latvian speaking Latvian from Latvia. I am shaped by a past of Soviet occupation, an ongoing present of being from a small state on the border between Russia and the rest of Europe, an overall being from a smaller culture group.
I am a member of the social democratic party Progresīvie, but also I don't have like a strong stance on any specific flavor of leftism. I'm the kind of activist who goes along to yell at the government, not the kind that writes manifestos.
I've had some expressions of depression since my teens, possibly longer. I don't get suicidal, but it's easy to stop caring about myself, hard to imagine future satisfaction, and easy to imagine future negative consequences.
And if you've made it this far, thanks! Here's a little treat for you. I made it myself.
