Hey folks! I'm on Twitter now. That's where I post new updates on my bodybuilding now.

Catch me as "nz_achilles" : https://twitter.com/#!/nz_achilles

Looking forward to meeting some of you there!

Also, I totally need to reply to the last of you folks on my 'leave a comment thing'. From five months ago :p

Also: http://s620.photobucket.com/albums/.....Muscle%202012/

Hey, let's do something interactive for a change! I'm following this along from participating with  dcrest13 ; I have a terrible memory though so don't blame me if the 'first impressions' one goes a bit south :3

Leave a comment here and I'll...

1. Tell you something I'll learn about you by looking at your FA page for 13 seconds.

2. Tell you what SMELL you remind me of.

3. Tell you my first memory of you.

4. Tell you what actor you remind me of.

5. Ask you something I've always wondered about you, and your answer has to be as vague as possible to keep the suspense.

6. Tell you my favorite thing about you.

7. Give you a weird nickname.

8. Challenge you to post this on your journal.

EDIT: I am going to answer the rest of you I swear. Gotten snowed under at work!

Good luck

So FA has finally updated its species list. This has been so long overdue; it was just the other day when I uploaded the first picture of Rehgor I had a "WHY IS THERE NO BOVINE OPTION" moment. Same for Rhinos. So, good timing FA! This site needs more minotaur love...

Thank you FA admins!

I was fed up at looking at my last journal entry, from four months ago, so here's a new one.

Same goes for my Avatar. :3

... I should have some new content posted to my account soon anyway. You have been warned!

If you'd like to add me on Google+, the name (as always) is Charles Croft.

Just look for a guy with a big arm holding a guitar

I really like Google+. I'mma gonna do all my socializing there.

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

1. "Am I big enough?"
2. "Oh man. I totally should talk to |INSERT YOUR NAME HERE| more. It's been ages. He/she probably thinks I've forgotten all about them."
3. "I love my boss."
4. "I hate my boss."
5. "This person is an idiot."
6. "America is a strange place."
7. "I'm not big enough." :p

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

Okay, remember heart. Don't want to double up with what I could say about day 8!

1. Make me a mix CD.
2. Have a thoughtful discussion on philosophical issues.
3. Produce something creative; a story, music, or art.
4. Demonstrate ambition, HIGH ambition. You must want to make a mark on the world, and have a plan to get there.
5. Have standards; not just anything will do. This especially applies to music and food.
6. Cook me a meal of my favorite food. (It's probably a curry, but not out of a jar!)
7. Buy me something I would actually want but would never buy myself, and I've never told anyone I've actually wanted it.
8. ...okay... probably something to do with muscle, regardless of my initial disclaimer :p

Nobody offended this time, right? Right.

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

1. I have a first-class degree in Creative Writing
2. I've been with my husband for nine years. As of today, we've been married for five years
3. When I was a teenager, I genuinely believed I was a werewolf. Oh, I used to be a Christian too, so believing in magic-sky man set me up nicely for the delusion I was part wolf inside. I am now happily atheist and sane.
4. On a good day, my arms can reach 20" flexed. I've been bodybuilding since 2006. Back then I weighed 155lb; today I'm around 245, and hoping to reach 255lb this year.
5. I grew up in Essex, England, but emigrated to New Zealand in 2005. In 2012 I will be eligible for NZ citizenship.
6. The longest piece of writing I've ever composed was a novel called Genesis of Chaos, which was nearly finished at over 100,000 words, but it will likely never see the light of day because I lost faith in it.
7. My favorite television show ever is the 2000 HBO series Six Feet Under, and I believe it should be required viewing for everyone. I can honestly say it is the only piece of TV to have actually changed my life through watching.
8. My overall life goals are: to publish a novel that many people will read; to reach a bodyweight of 320lb as a bodybuilder; to own and run my own successful hospitality business; to be remembered fondly when I die.
9. If I ever become a millionaire, I will likely spend most of my money making art.

OK, let's do this!

Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.

1. I love you, but you're utterly insane sometimes.
2. I love you.
3. I'm sorry I don't talk to you as often as I should :x
4. I'm sorry you live so far away
5. I still totally have a crush on you
6. You need to take more days off work
7. I hope everything is going well for you
8. Life has some harsh lessons coming up for you, I'm sure.
9. I'll never forget you!
10. Woof woof. Grr. Woof.

OK, so that last one was for my dog...

Even though I should be 'over it' by now, when a co-worker says I look like 'the Incredible Hulk' it still makes my day. :3

Also, on another bodybuilding mass-building cycle, gained 10lb this week... competing is on my mind!

Today marks the release of the second CD in my Electrojizz series; visit http://ccroft.livejournal.com/272186.html for the inside scoop

Electrojizz - if you're a fan of electronic music, I've put together something that should interest you. Read all about it here: http://ccroft.livejournal.com/270190.html

EDIT: Fudge-buckets! I totally gave out the wrong link when I originally made this post. How did that happen? Anyway, corrected now. http://ccroft.livejournal.com/270190.html

Just a short memo; to comply with FA's new AUP & grandfathering policy, (particularly, the Flooding Clause that states "we ask that users limit personal pictures (read: images of yourself) to no more than three per account." )I have moved all my 'personal pictures' that go against the new AUP (i.e. all but the most recent three) to my scraps folder this evening.

So don't worry, muscle fans; the visual evidence of how I went from shrimp to huge is still there - just in a less obvious place.

To be honest, I needed an excuse to do some housekeeping in my gallery anyway; my old progress was a fun experience, but I have to keep things fresh around here.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

I'm having a fiddle with my project order. This is really a note for myself for future reference and is probably of no interest to anyone else!

#01 Chapter 5 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#02 "Cute But Deadly" (working title) (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)(for  kiru)
#03 Chapter 6 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#04 "500 Days of Nox" (Short-Story)(new)
#05 Chapter 7 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#06 Untitled Short-Story for  Scottbear (new)
#07 Chapter 8 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#08 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #1
#09 Chapter 7 of Black Dust (novel) (co-writing)
#10 "The Beach" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)
#11 Chapter 9 & Epilogue of Heart of Stone (novel)
#12 Untitled 'Universe' short-story for  mtext (new)
#13 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #2
#14 "Black Sun Eclipse" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)
#15 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #3
#16 Prologue of Heart of Darkness (novel)
#17 Short-story for untitled "Partners" anthology
#18 "The Songbird" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)
#19 Chapter 9 of Black Dust (novel) (co-writing)

As mentioned in my previous journal, in case you missed it, new writing in the Cfiippnxxs universe will be appearing this year, for the first time in seven years.

However, the thought of slotting it into my time made me want to really think about how best to juggle all my different writing projects. Writing has become my main past-time, once again, which feels like a pleasant return to form. In my cosy home now I've got my desk, a nice view of a garden, clean spaces and copious amounts of green tea / coffee to keep my muse fueled.

So what is going on? Well, in a clean page of my writer's journal last night, I began to jot down my schedule of projects. Here's where I got up to before I decided to leave off and give myself a chance for other new things to grab my attention...

#01 Chapter 5 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#02 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #1
#03 Chapter 6 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#04 "500 Days of Nox" (Short-Story)(new)
#05 Chapter 7 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#06 "The Beach" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)
#07 Chapter 8 of Heart of Stone (novel)
#08 Chapter 7 of Black Dust (novel) (co-writing)
#09 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #2
#10 "Black Sun Eclipse" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)
#11 Chapter 9 & Epilogue of Heart of Stone (novel)
#12 Untitled 'Universe' short-story for  mtext (new)
#13 "Cute But Deadly" (working title) (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)(for  kiru)
#14 Chapter 9 of Black Dust (novel) (co-writing)
#15 New 'Untitled' Cfiippnxxs Short-Story #3
#16 Prologue of Heart of Darkness (novel)
#17 Short-story for untitled "Partners" anthology
#18 "The Songbird" (Short-Story)(previously unfinished)

Obviously, numbers 2, 9, and 15 should jump out as being of interest to FA watchers. Some of these other projects are 'furry', others are not. Needless to say, I look forward to publishing each of these in their own medium very soon. 2010 is going to be a very good year...

So, in light of my recent archive-uploading of the Cfiippnxxs series earlier this week, I thought it high time I filled in some background information on everyone's favorite fictional tiger-muscle-demon and explained what the series is all about...

Q: Where did the name Cfiippnxxs come from anyway?
A: A spam email. No really; way back in the day, before the wonders of Gmail and I actually used to SEE the occasional spam message, I recall the trend of spam messages containing random strings of letters to try and fool the filters operating at the time. One message I got had the subject that was something along the lines of "Increase Your Penis Size Now. Ask Me How. CFIIPPNXXS"

And I, being creative/weird thought "Wow, that sounds totally Evil. Like the name of a demon or something. A demon that increases your penis size or something. I should totally write that down..."

And I did!


Q: So how do you pronounce Cfiippnxxs, huh?
A: Well, my level-headed and intelligent friend  mtext suggested to me that he always thought of it as ""sih-fippin-excess", which is probably sensible and right.

I however always thought of it as "Cpfffffffft"

You decide.


Q: What were you going to do with the series?
A: Being the muscle-loving freak that I am, I always used to enjoy muscle-growth fiction but quickly tired of so many authors releasing multi-part stories. As a reader, I went to the genre for a quick thrill, not an epic story. But the idea of having all these stand-alone (hot) fantasies being written down and able to stand on their own, yet connected to a larger mythology appealed to me. So I wanted to write something where if you just wanted to skip to the muscle-growth bit, that's OK, but readers who read the fluff and story would be rewarded with a larger, grander narrative.

The main idea was one stolen from many television dramas, that Buffy and The X-Files made good use of, and has since become a standard formula; you have episodes which stand on their own, interspersed with those that advance the 'mythology' of the show in some way. So in the Cfiippnxxs universe, 'Bigger Than His Horse' would definitely be one of the stand-alones, whilst the first story and 'Resolution' were those that helped to tell the tiger-demon's story - which was going to be pretty epic. He's got a past that is in Artemis' future, the story of his mortal life, his ultimate goal, what the blue lights in the altar are for... all kinds of stuff. Including an enemy that was never even introduced. For what it's worth, the number of 'stand alones' was going to exceed the number of mythology stories by far.


Q: So how many stories were you planning in the series?
A: 500. Yes, really! Cfiippnxxs did something terrible as a mortal, and he needs the scales to balance; each one of those blue lights on his altar was going to be a separate story, and I considered that he needed 500 'souls' for... well, that would be telling. My hope, beyond setting myself an impossible task, was that other writers could come on board and write their own Cfiippnxxs stories, each one bringing the tiger to his goal quicker. I'm sure I could easily think of 500 unique muscle-growth fantasies off the top of my head even now, so there certainly seemed to be the scope for it.


Q: So does your activity on FA this week mean there's going to be MORE Cfippnxxs stories - at last?
A: Well; the honest answer is that I thought I was done with the series a long time ago. Writing 'porn' - particularly fetishistic stuff - was never something I was... proud of associating my writing talents with. I wrote them as a horny teenager, and thought that was that.

I uploaded the pieces this week to FA (finally) out of a blue streak of boredom whilst on vacation; I thought enough time had passed, and I'd had a change of heart about the situation. It is what it is. I wrote it, so I should take credit for it! But, I was genuinely surprised by the response people gave once they were out again; not only were they fondly remembered by those that contacted me, but also quite popular too. In less than a week, they've accrued more hits than most of my previous uploads combined. I know the majority of the audience is silent, but it seems to be taking off. So...

tl;dr version of this aside: Yes. I do believe you will be seeing the Cfiippnxxs series continued this year. Can't say when yet, as I have other writing projects on the go at this moment, but indeed... I do believe 2010 may be the year the freaky muscle growth tiger demon rises again...

Thanks for sticking with me, & stay tuned.

There's a new favourite artist of mine who goes by the name 'Florence Welch', and her band 'Florence + The Machine' has come up with what I now name my favourite track of 2009. I present to you Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxO-yPQesA

This triumphant, exaltatory tune recalls some of the greatest female artists of our time; the conjuring tones of Kate Bush, the eccentricity of Björk, the energy of Tori Amos. But this is Florence, and she is something special, something to watch in the future...

Enjoy.

Just a little note; yesterday I uploaded a new bodybuilding progress photo to FA, and shortly after that I removed it. Reason being it was pointed out to me by a friend that other FA accounts have been BANNED in the past for shirtless photos. Now my pics in the past have always been fine, but this month because of the 'photo yourself meme' the admins have been looking closely at the photographs uploaded to the site, and well - simply put I didn't feel like pushing my luck just over one photo!

If you want to see it though, it's at: http://pics.livejournal.com/ccmuscle/pic/0005wk5y; it's more of a (failed) experiment with lighting than anything else.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Well, I had meant to fill journal-readers in on the overall plan for my training for the next ten months, but time is not my friend. Hopefully by the end of the week; there's just some information about how long I'm mass-building for, when I start cutting, how I'm targeting specific bodyparts and when etc.

In the meantime, I had to express how good a week it's been; my bodyweight's back up to 235lb, which I'm really pleased with - it's way ahead of schedule, and bodes well for my ambition to be very large indeed come the competition. The best thing about my current diet is dinner - 1lb of steak for dinner EVERY night. At current going, I'll have eaten a whole cow's worth of meat in... 2.5 years (I asked wikipedia). Kind of amusing to think that I am literally becoming 'the beef' :p

The other goodie from my week is that my barbell curls are now up to 70kg (155lb) for the first time. This is beyond anything I've put my arms through before, and they're responding really well. Getting the arm training 'out of my system' early on this time though, the focus completely changes next weekend and I start giving more priority to other bodyparts. First up - the chest. Let's see if I can beat my previous bench press records!

It's all rather fun and going well. Thanks for your support - there's a long hard road ahead yet though. Let's hope it continues to be fun.

In a departure from my bodybuilding anacedotes of the fun I've had growing, over time it has occurred to me now and again that getting BIG hasn't been all good. Oh yes, I found out that if you blow up from a shrimp to a superman that there are some... disadvantages that should be carefully considered. I guess big guys who have always been big might be used to these things, but for me they took some getting used to. Here's my list so far:

1. Uncomfortable Seating: The bigger I get, the more uncomfortable the average 'crowd capacity' seating gets. Airplane travel is a nightmare; I'd love to be rich enough to afford to fly business / premium class to let my new thick bod have room to spread out, but as it is I'm always in cattle class, and thus have to endure hours of discomfort. It was never a problem before, but these days I dread getting on a plane. Same story for theaters. I went to an arts festival to see some standup comedy, and instead of having a laugh spent the entire gig hunched forward because otherwise my delts and triceps would have been occupying a good chunk of my neighbours seat. These guys just don't build seats for bodybuilders!

2. New Chafing: I dread summer, I do. Summer means pain. Why pain? Because my high-metabolism body was fine at keeping cool before, not so fine with an additional 80lb of meat on my frame, so I find myself sweating. And alas, I have grown my muscles to the point that they rub up against each other - my quads for example, and my lats against my triceps. When I work all day in the summer, these places become pain points of redness. The bigger I get, the worse it gets. And I still WANT to get bigger. I must be a masocist. :p

3. Personal Space Issues: Not the psychological kind, but the physical. I work on my feet all day, moving about in close quarters with other people. There is a problem I had to deal with when I first blew up, and now and again when I have another growth 'spurt', is that my brain doesn't seem to realise quite how much room I now take up. So I tend to collide with people / things / doorframes. A lot. Fine if you're an inanimate object. Not so fine if you're one of my female co-workers who weigh considerably less. Or the male ones, come to think of it! ;) Bumping into things and people is just something I've (and others) have had to get used to.

4. Flexibility: Just this week I found out I have increased my muscle mass to the point that I can no longer touch my elbows together. Someone asked if I could do it, and I thought "Of course I can". Then I discovered that in fact, my pecs and triceps just wouldn't allow the two to meet. They thought it was funny watching me struggle to try, proceeded to demonstrate how easy it was for them, and then told me it was proof I had gotten too big. Actually, I have yet to work out how not being able to move fully like normal folks is really a disadvantage, but I hope the answer doesn't come in some form of life-threatening situation!

5. Not built for speed anymore. Or long distances. Or slopes. In fact, better not to move much at all! Discovered whilst being taken hiking last year. I once used to love hiking - I'd go out with a group, and I would ALWAYS be the one at the very front, impatiently waiting for others to catch up, heading off again up the mountains with ease and speed. Then after I got big, I was taken out again, and the change couldn't have been more evident. Now I was the one at the very back, huffing, trying to keep up with everyone else. All that extra muscle mass I was carrying really proved a burden! I won't be running any marathons any time soon then...

6. Weird threads man. Oooh, I know, this one is such a bad problem to have, right. But it is! Clothes shopping is a pain! No t-shirts properly fit my arms, or if they do they're like tarpulins in other areas. And jeans / pants manufacturers clearly have no clue what's going on with the waist / thigh ratio that I have. Getting shirts for work is the biggest pain. But if I'm going to get bigger, I shouldn't complain too hard, right?

Hello occasional reader!

Just an update to say, the project I was teasing earlier this year "Heart of Stone" is not dead. There's been a delay with the art I wanted to provide for the last piece, but I'll be going ahead as soon as it arrives. Trust me, you're going to want the art!

I know I haven't been around, but I do love you all. Peace. x

I just placed an order with Monster By Mail! (Impulse buy...) Neat concept. I wonder how my creature/villain will turn out...

Seems like a model that could work for other artists

Wow. I just recieved the first thumbnail sketches from the artist who will be bringing _________ to life for me, and my excitement just increased tenfold. I'm going to be spending this afternoon writing, which is something I don't do nearly often enough.

I'm working on a symbol. It should be ready for you to interpret tonight.

... time for something new. I've put something into motion which will hopefully turn out to be cool and different...

Coming - soon?