Huns Valen

Resident Since: 2003-05-03 (23 years, 4 months ago)

"Zydrate comeþ in a luytel viol of glas. And þe luytel viol goþ into þe instrument, and ȝeveþ it strengþe to worche. And þe instrument of Zydrate is leyd aȝens þi body. And whan þe instrument is smyten, sparkes comen þerof, and þou art redy for cirurgerie."
- Chaucer

I do a lot of aerobatic flight while listening to music: https://prmfd.co/p/CB2uCK9Zh7Q8

For me, aerobatic flight is always a music video. The flight itself is driven by/an interpretation of the music. I like to give rides. Feel free to ask, as long as you don't get carsick. I throw the airplane around a lot.

I'm a furry, and I like furry/fantasy/robotic avs. For myself, I prefer the more fantasy/cartoonish/less "photorealistic" type. (See Scott McCloud on amplification through simplification / masking / universal appeal.) With rare exceptions, every avatar I wear (especially the heads, and anything remotely robotic/mechanical-looking) uses my own geometry + textures + scripts. The rest is usually store-bought.

I spend most of my time in-world as an electric space lizard, the color of which typically changes several times per day. (Not dragonkin/kobold, though I do like them. The evolution of my character's species converges with theirs.) I originally built the av in 2006. In 2026, I started redoing the head in Blender, starting from the original prim geometry. That's an ongoing project. I'm deliberately keeping it very similar, and only cleaning up areas where the prim geometry wasn't doing what I wanted.

I'm neurodivergent and queer. Trans people are right good friends of mine. If you don't like them for being trans, I can't see us having anything to talk about. I don't like any other kinda "punching down" either. Anything right-wing is a no for me as well. I don't want to be around it, or hear anything about it. I grew up around a lot of that. It took years to deprogram myself of it. I realized that certain ideas I'd inherited from my family were putting me at odds with people I cared about, and for no good reason. The people won. They are the point of life. Ideologies are not.

Virtue and vice are properties of thoughts and actions. They are not properties of race, gender, orientation, or national origin. Valuing one person over another due to such attributes is nonsensical. I won't treat anyone unethically over holding competing views, but that's as far as it goes. I didn't systematically weed that out of my mind so I could have more of it.

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» Admiral of Kazenojin, SL's oldest aviation community and operator of its oldest extant airport. Visit us in Gray.
» Head of Valen Heavy Industries, creator of aircraft, weaponry, and robotics since 2003.
» Good with aircraft flight physics as well as robotics (particularly CNC, inverse kinematics, and motion planning.)
» Private Pilot (ASEL). SL motivated me to earn that license, and the experience behind it motivated me to script my aircraft to behave as realistically as possible within the confines of LSL.
» Favorite places to fly: The old neighborhood (Ahern/Rizal/Balance/Lusk area), the Blake Sea, and that bridge by SNO.
» I also do architecture, often as a way of learning more about Blender while putting off overhauling my old avs. (ADD and all that.) I prefer Craftsman, mid-century, and "organic" architecture. (cf. Greene & Greene, FLW, John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, Robert "Boulder" Thorgusen.) See picks.

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» I like to dance, and am usually approachable. Feel free to DM.
» Probability of me sending the first DM = your av + anything interesting in your profile + (you talking to me in local * 100). Avatars tell me something about style, but I don't get attracted to vertices and pixels by themselves.
» On the spectrum. If you're not getting my attention, try being more direct. Non-verbal communication counts for a lot.

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» Non-monogamous bi dom.
» DTC, but ask first unless I tell you otherwise. Evidently different people have different values/expectations here. I don't get into that with people if I don't think they have a good sense of boundaries.
» My writing style is high-res sensory prose, focusing on warmth, connection, and safety. A sentence or two, not paragraphs.
» My av is 5'11 (1.8 meters) tall like I am IRL. For any interactions that go beyond friendship, I prefer human-like scale. Not averse to size differences, but my brain doesn't know what to do with extreme tallness, gigantic muscles, mega-hips, or other hyper proportions.
» With rare exceptions, I'm more likely to stick around if we get to know each other and cross lines slowly. I thrive on anticipation and gradual escalation.
» If you DM me and I think you're looking for love, and I don't think it's likely to work out, I won't answer. Silence > awkward conversation that can't change anything. By the same token, if I contact you and you're not interested, please do likewise. I'd consider it a favor.

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Current priority list:
» Finish the new airport in Noyo. (Done.)
» Redo my space lizard avatar head in Blender. (I'm already wearing a rough draft.)
» Modernize A-15 Aerobat + Nav/Tac HUD. (In progress.)
» CNC-controlled "moving head" lamp with G-code control. (In progress. You can see it in northeast Albion.)
» Work on Blade Element Theory-based replacement for my 2010-era flight physics engine. (BET is used in X-Plane.)
» The new physics engine is being developed for use in a new compound autogyro called Exocet. Current testbed is an old sculpted hull. Production version will be mesh, and will look much nicer.
» Once the Exocet ships, produce new mesh versions of the Nimbus twin-jet and Avocet seaplane w/ new BET physics engine. They will handle somewhat similarly to the old versions, but the enhanced realism will make them a LOT more fun.

I'm moving to a BET-based engine because the SL vehicle system has inherent limitations that have weird side-effects once you push the physical realism far enough. It's not a problem for linear forces, but it actively gets in the way of applying angular forces. I want emergent effects such as stalling and spin entry to be a natural side-effect of the physics calculations, and BET is the best way I know to accomplish that given the limitations of LSL.

This adds significant complexity: you're talking directly to Havok, and you have to provide full fly-by-wire automation of joystick and pitch trim. This involves PID controllers and other things you don't normally see in SL aircraft.

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James Linden: I need a "chocolate fetus rotate" object
Gomi Mfume: i have seen santa with muscles more than 95% of the population of earth at thius point

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