I need to post more.

I really need to post journals more often than every couple years or so.

So my friend  naumwolf is thinking of doing a round robin writing exercise, something inspired by a podcast he was listening to and so far it's just the two of us. He's hoping to have a few more writers involved, here's the relevant journal entry if you want more information and/or if you want to volunteer. If you like science fiction, horrorish settings, feel free to join in!

“Autumn,” she responded, still snarling.

“What?” the tiger asked, confused. He looked up at the trees. “Yes, it’s autumn. You want to die because it’s autumn?”

Autumn barked. “That’s my name. Autumn. And you are?”

“How very human,” the tiger sneered. “You have a name. Names are for humans. Tell me, how did you find me, dog? I mean, ‘Autumn’?” He purposely exaggerated the sound of the M and N in her name.

Autumn snorted. “I sniffed you down, of course. How else am I supposed to find you?”

“Then you already know my name,” the tiger said as he laid himself down and started to groom at his paws.

Don't you just hate it when someone doesn't post a new journal entry for years?

BcelticsO7 8:59 pm
;) h

CWTyger 9:02 pm
So, you came back for more from the furry, eh?

BcelticsO7 9:02 pm
hey its brittany do you remember me?

CWTyger 9:02 pm
Sure. You messaged me the other day asking what I liked. And I told you, I like furries.

BcelticsO7 9:02 pm
i'm 24

CWTyger 9:04 pm
That's not what you told me two weeks ago. Let me guess: the Doctor took you through time and space.

BcelticsO7 9:04 pm
okay soo whats up?

CWTyger 9:05 pm
Well, first of all, I'm talking with a time traveller. I wonder if you saw all of space as well. Tell me: did you try out any of the rides at Disneyland Clom?

BcelticsO7 9:05 pm
nm just got out of the shower you?

CWTyger 9:06 pm
The shower. All of time and space at your disposal, and you took a shower. Don't tell me you got bored with it.

BcelticsO7 9:06 pm
yeah i can be a tease ;) h

CWTyger 9:07 pm
Well, doesn't the Doctor like a tease?

BcelticsO7 9:07 pm
ooo fun im sitting here in my towl playing with my nipples wanna see?

CWTyger 9:07 pm
Rather not. I'm into furries, remember?

BcelticsO7 9:07 pm
i have a hd webcam ill turn it on one sec.

CWTyger 9:08 pm
Meh, no thanks. I'd rather talk about space.

BcelticsO7 9:08 pm
no worries..thouhght u wanted to see me naked ..:)

CWTyger 9:09 pm
Well, first of all, you said you were 18, about two weeks ago, and now you're 24. That tells me you've been travelling through time for six years. Six years tells me that you had to have travelled through space, since six years of Earth history can get boring. So I would rather know about what planets you've visited.

BcelticsO7 9:09 pm
Accept the invite, if you need the link again its {link removed}

CWTyger 9:10 pm
Oh, I get it. You don't want to tell me any spoilers about the future. But then, if you could be wandering about reality, why're you here trying to show yourself off to complete strangers?

BcelticsO7 9:10 pm
love to show off :)

CWTyger 9:11 pm
Let me guess: Time Lords got boring, right? You want to show yourself off to new people.

BcelticsO7 9:11 pm
yeah i can be a tease ;) h

CWTyger 9:13 pm
You wouldn't happen to know any furries, would you?

BcelticsO7 9:13 pm
k click {link removed} wait for it to load then click the green "accept invite" button then we can play on cam...

CWTyger 9:14 pm
Meh, no thanks. Sorry, but if you're not willing to talk about your travels, I'm not interested. I prefer intelligence, not bare skin.

BcelticsO7 9:14 pm
no worries..thouhght u wanted to see me naked ..:)

CWTyger 9:14 pm
No, I don't.

BcelticsO7 9:14 pm
its 100% free babe.. just fill out your info & we will make a private 1ON1 chat.. credit card is just to verify your age.

CWTyger 9:15 pm
You were fun the first time, now you're just boring. Goodbye.

---
And right after that, I blocked it. I don't always feel like playing with bots, and I don't expect I will in a while. The first time, when I scared it away, was a fluke and it's the only reason I continued to play with it. I hope this log is as entertaining as the first one.

I just had this conversation a little less than an hour ago:

BcelticsO7 3:04 pm
heyaa!

CWTyger 3:16 pm
Meow?

BcelticsO7 3:16 pm
Hey qt.. how are you today?.. Wanna chat for a little? Im bored and wanted to meet some new people...

CWTyger 3:17 pm
I feel run down, honestly.

BcelticsO7 3:17 pm
nice im 18 yrs old im going to school in S.Florida... Can i ask u a question?

CWTyger 3:17 pm
Maybe.

BcelticsO7 3:17 pm
Do you like big booty girls that know how to shake there ass? or are you a tit kinda guy..

CWTyger 3:17 pm
Neither. I like furries.

BcelticsO7 is offline 3:20 pm

This is, apparently, me. According to a website that asked me questions and plugged them into an algorithm. Reducing us into numbers, you know? I figure I should post more often, but I'm feeling lazy today. So here, have the results of the test. My top ten traits are, according to that Signal Patterns thing, are:

Aesthetic

You appreciate art, beauty, and design; you know that they are not superficial but absolutely crucial to living the good life. You have good taste, and you're proud of it. Those with a high score on the "aesthetic" trait are often employed in literary or artistic professions, enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about the arts, reading, and travel.

You don't think it's pretentious to be moved by art and beauty. You're not one of those who believe it doesn't matter what something looks like as long as it does its job.

Creative

You are good at solving problems, coming up with original ideas, and seeing connections between things, connections that most other people miss. People with a high score on the "creative" trait often are employed in such fields as finance and scientific research, and enjoy avant garde and classical music as well as literary fiction and scholarly non-fiction.

You do not shun abstractions and concepts in favor of the concrete and tangible.

Intellectual

You are thoughtful, rational, and comfortable in the world of ideas. People find you interesting to talk to. You're the living embodiment of the saying "You learn something new every day." In general, those with a high score on the "intellectual" trait are employed in such fields as teaching and research, and are enthusiastic about reading, foreign films, and classical music.

You do not avoid abstract conversation, experimenting with new ideas, or studying new things. It bores you to stick to the straight and narrow of what you already know.

Accessible

You're comfortable expressing yourself in words and actions, with no self-censorship. You believe that if someone doesn't like what they see it's not your problem, but theirs. A high score on the "accessible" trait suggests that you have a lot of friends, socialize often, and enjoy rap/hip-hop music.

You don't see the need to keep your thoughts to yourself, or to have a zone of privacy that encompasses only yourself and a small circle of friends and relatives.

Prudent

You look before you leap, think before you act, consider what you're about to say before you open your mouth to speak; that's why you rarely have to eat your words.

You usually don't get excited easily or blurt out the first thing that comes to mind without considering the consequences.

Calm

You rarely become irritated, generally accept people as they are, take things as they come, and feel relaxed in most situations.

You do not let a minor annoyance escalate to a confrontation. You don't regularly snap at those around you or fly off the handle with little provocation.

Sympathetic

You have a knack for knowing what's going on in the hearts and minds of those around you, without their having to tell you explicitly. People tend to turn to you with their problems because they know you care, and that you will likely offer good advice and a helping hand.

You do not feel that people with sad stories are just looking for attention, or have brought their problems upon themselves.

Original

You are constantly coming up with new ideas. For you, the world as it exists is just a jumping-off place; what's going on inside your mind is often more interesting than what's going on outside.

You don't feel that the road to success is to be a realist and stick to the program; you never stop yourself from coming up with new ideas or telling the world what you're thinking about.

Impulsive

You trust your your instincts. What others may see as rash behavior is, for you, simply going with your gut. Individuals with a high score on the "impulsive" trait tend to try new, sometimes outrageous, things.

You are not timid. For you, spending time microscopically examining the pros and cons of every decision means never getting anything accomplished.

Organized

You like to think a task through before you embark on it. If it's the slightest bit complicated, you make a list (even if it's only in your mind) and methodically work your way through it. When you have a goal in mind, you're not satisfied until you reach it.

You are not one of those people who ignore the details, and you don't understand how anyone can get anything accomplished without thoughtful planning ahead of time.

For everyone who likes The Lion King...

http://www.theicecave.org/damage_co.....t-come-to.html

I just had to do it. Hey Rindi, if you're watching, top this!

I don't really do much on FA these days except fave and comment occasionally. So I don't really know why I'm announcing this except to let everyone know: I'm taking a trip throughout much of the United States over the next two months. I'm starting my trip next week and going to see many of my friends over September and October. It'll be fun and exciting and I hope to have material for short stories once I'm back. There are a few I've been meaning to write anyway, and I just hope that time spent in hotels will help me focus on writing. We'll see (I'm adding a bunch of games to my laptop as well...).

Anyway, you probably won't even notice my absence, considering how little I do here anyway. But I just thought people would want to know that I'll be gone 'til November. :) (I'll probably still visit here during some of my downtime, but not too often.)

I was looking at a list of upcoming movies for 2010, and one of the movies listed was... "Furry Vengeance". Seriously.

Trailer here.

Yay, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year! Current word count: 2136/50000.

I'm seriously considering making this year's Rainfurrest my first furry con. Any advice for an inexperienced tiger? Things to do, things to avoid, horror stories? Take chances, make mistakes, get messy? I've not registered yet, but will be considering it for about another week or so. Gotta see if I can get time off of work, too.

Here's my latest journal entry of disappointing, I Have No More Stories For You Yet news. Except this time, I can tell you I've still been writing! Yes, all of my writing has been posted at my girlfriend's blog, Damage Control. I even wrote some fiction for it, too. If you can count an April Fools Day prank as fiction.

Here's hoping all of you are well!

I have a visitor! His name is Policho, and he's a dragon furry from Argentina. He has traveled all the way to Canada to meet me. Kinda makes the yearly trek to Anthrocon seem like an afternoon's stroll, doesn't it? ;)

It wasn't without its own problems. I was trying to make it to Kamloops to meet him at the airport (or the bus depot, whichever would've been easier), but my bus was delayed for nearly five hours, until it finally arrived in Revelstoke to pick me up. At that point, I was wondering if I should bother going or if I should just stay home and wait.

It all worked out because Poli's flights were delayed as well, and the Greyhound's ticket counter was closed for a couple hours anyway when he arrived. He and I pretty much entered the depot at the same time, from opposite ends. (Well, maybe a three or four minute difference.) We then sat down for a while before I decided that I was hungry enough to look for food.

Did you know that a tiger, when hunting for food, has about a one in ten chance of actually catching something? I think that's the statistic, but I can't quite remember. Anyway, we tried hard to find a KFC based on three different people's different directions (including one who said it was near something else when it was actually a couple blocks away from it), and by the time we reached it, it had closed. So we settled for Boston Pizza, which was actually a very good place to eat. After that, we made our way back to the depot (we had a much easier time getting to the depot than we did looking for the KFC) and sat and talked for a bit while we waited for our midnight bus back to Revelstoke. This bus was, fortunately, on time. So we got on and made it home and I was in bed by 4. I still had to work, so it was a short sleep.

This morning, I was happy as I was walking to work, because where I work, we don't get very many angry or irate customers, and my train of thought had been on many of the horror stories I have read from other people in customer service who have to deal with stupid or angry customers all day. I was feeling thankful that we don't have any of that... when I arrived at Stoke Music and saw a pile of shit on our welcome mat. "Wow, yesterday must've been interesting," I thought to myself.

Well, it may not be exactly the kind of writing you've been waiting for from me, but if you like gaming and nerd stuff, I've got a couple things posted on a blog called Damage Control, including a review I wrote back in early November, and only just got around to editing and posting on Sunday.

And I'm still working on a project, and hopefully it'll be up soon. It's definitely not going to be very long, but it'll hopefully make up for the fact that I didn't post a NaNoWriMo excerpt this year.

On the 1st of this month, I took an SAT, for I have finally decided where I want to attend college, and what I want to take, and the SAT is a step in the right direction. I finally got the results...

You know, they say that if you don't use something, you'll forget it. A skill you once knew that you can no longer use. And it has been eight years since I took a math course.

2110, including a 740 on my math section!

And come to think of it, they do say that once you learn how to ride a bike, you'll always remember how.

I am a lazy tiger. I haven't written in here in a long, long time, so I feel I should make a post and tell everyone what I've been up to.

I've been attending weddings and traveling to Philadelphia a few times, but I should be around more again. During my last trip, I occasionally looked around FA on my PSP, faving a few things and looking at random journal entries. But now that I'm back, I'll be more active.

I'm also doing NaNoWriMo again, but had to start late, so I'm going to have to write like the wind this year! Current word count: 2889. Wish me luck!

I am in Texas! I have taken a trip to visit my best friend, and I'll be back home on the 21st. I probably won't upload anything until then, and I may get behind on reading stuff, but hopefully there'll be time when I get back.

Until then I'll be working, on paper, on a story featuring the characters from Peaches, to be uploaded when I return home to Canada.

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas, and a more than wonderful 2008. ^^

“I could help her control her power if only she would let me,” Coyote lamented and he let out a howl. He actually lifted his head to the sky and howled his high pitched howl. My heart went out to him. I don’t know why, but even considering his thousands of years of life, Rusty’s rejection of him must’ve been a major blow to him. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling, if a squirrel’s decision not to let him teach her would cause his very heart to break and remain broken for years afterward.

“Coyote, are you alright?” I asked. Actually, if you ask me, it was stupid of me to ask that, because if you have to ask someone whether they’re alright or not, they usually aren’t, and end up lying to you most of the time.

This was one of those times. “Yeah,” Coyote said after a moment, and the trickster lowered his muzzle and pawed at his eyes. “I’m alright. I just... no, it’s dumb. I shouldn’t be going on about this. I tend to get very talkative during November, but then again, don’t we all?”

I was getting a little tired of everyone blaming their out of character behaviour on a simple month on the calendar. “What is it about November, anyway?! I do my best out of character acts in March!”

Coyote looked at me as if I was crazy. “I don’t know anyone who writes novels exclusively in March,” he finally said.

Current word count: 30686

Now here is something I didn't anticipate: my reward system has developed a buffer.

Here is what my reward system consists of:
-special prizes I have pre-purchased and set aside for when I pass the required 25k and 50k marks, as well as a big bonus prize for reaching 100k words. This, I have no problem with.
-a Reese's peanut butter cup every time I write another 2500 words. At my current word count, I have earned a total of 6 so far. Whenever I'm in the zone, though, I end up passing two 2500 word milestones, which I suppose is good for me, except...
-every 1000 words earns a mug of hot chocolate.

Right now, not counting the mug I have in front of me, I have a buffer of four. I didn't anticipate writing so rapidly, nor did I anticipate that I wouldn't drink as rapidly as I wrote. The hot chocolate idea is a carry over from last year, when I used it at the end to motivate me to finish as fast as I could. This year, my pace for the first six days has been more rapid than the pace I wrote at during any point in my first six years participating in NaNo, with the possible exception being the end of the 2005 attempt. Knowing I already have four more mugs of hot drink coming my way just inspires laziness.

My current word count can be found here, but at the time of this journal entry, it was 16068. My brain is fried already from writing, so I think I'll go play a video game. I've more than earned it by now.

Well, I'm about a half a week into NaNoWriMo. It's at this point where during my first six attempts, I pretty much set the stage for whether or not I would be ahead or behind for the entire month. Despite early leads during my first five attempts, it was day four or five where I began to slack off. The first two years, I crashed and burned without much to distract me at all. I don't really know what happened. I think it was 2003 that I finally got a PlayStation. Interestingly enough, 2003 was the first year that I finished. So I guess it goes to show: if I have video games to distract me, I get more writing done.

My 2003, 2004, and 2005 attempts were finished despite much procrastination on my part and the addition of a Game Boy Advance to my inventory. I even achieved a pretty decent first week in 2005, and then promptly developed supreme laziness beyond that which a tiger should have, had the worst three weeks I could've ever had for writing, and then ended up writing something like 15000 words during the last couple days. On the morning of the last day, I refused to sleep until I wrote the last required ten thousand words of the novel and got it validated. After that, I never touched it again.

The very next year, I got off to a pretty good start as usual, but then something incredible happened. Somehow, (and that was a year that I finally bought a PS2 and also got a DS) I managed to stay ahead all month, and I finished about two or three days early. My novel from that year is only half finished, and I figure I need at least another fifty thousand words to finish it. But I had managed to not only finish with flying colours, I also broke my previous record for words written in November.

This year, I have added a GameCube to my inventory. Does this mean that, despite the sheer volume of distractions lying around in my room, I'll end up finishing in ten days? We'll see.

I think I'm just so exhilarated that I've managed to write 10038 words in four days, that I felt the need to post this.

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time to buy up a bunch of candy in preparation for the big event: the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short! Who needs a Halloween costume when you can literally take up residence in a fictional world for a month and be whatever you want to be?

Come to think of it, that makes me sound like one of those Everquest nerds. Anyway, this year, an extra hour has been added to NaNoWriMo, courtesy of the United States and Canadian governments (and possibly others), in the form of the end of Daylight Saving Time. That's right: if you've been considering NaNoWriMo in the past but thought, "I could never do that, I don't have enough time to", then this year is your year, for there has never been more time to write it than there is now.

In my novel this year, which probably will never see the light of day, my character CW encounters a demon born from his own amnesia, and must defeat him once and for all. Said demon has taken over the body of one of his own cubs, of which he has no memory of, and who comes back to kill him. Meanwhile, his daughter Sara meets a certain trickster god... but said god will soon find he is in over his head, for Sara has had more than enough experience dealing with her own best friend Rusty.

Which reminds me, I really need to finish the time travel story I started during last year's NaNoWriMo.

I need to jot this idea down, it came from a dream I had last month, possibly from reading many books where spiders featured as major characters.

I had a dream where I was in another world, a fantasy setting. Just like most published authors in the fantasy section of my bookstore, no one explained the setting, just that it was a fantasy setting.

Water seemed to be present in abundance, kind of like on Naboo, Spira, or in Dinotopia, and there was a... pedestal? kind of like something I saw in the Tomb of the Unknown King in Final Fantasy VIII. There was one in the city proper, one out in a large pool of water, possibly a waterway of sorts leading out of the city, and who knows how many others. There were designs on it, but I didn't take a close look at them.

The pedestals began to crumble and leak the water within them and then break, as if they'd reached their expiry date (remember: throw out any old cake mixes you have, for they only have a shelf life of about a year, and only buy what you intend to eat). A kind of glowing sigil (I see them a lot in fantasy video games, but this one seemed to be an original design generated by my dream) was seen moving on the waterway until it found the crumbling pedestal out there, and when it was finally destroyed, there was a churning and out of the water came what looked like a rather large spider (I'm talking giant: the spider was larger than a trailer building in a small city) with a human body in front, something like a drider. She looked around threateningly, and when she focused on me, I tried to bluff her. I asked her if she was like a goddess. I was certain it wouldn't work, but she seemed to not mind the comparison. She said something about making up for what her generation had done. "If I could..." something something. She offered to take me for a ride because she was going to leave, and I climbed onto her back (she still had her human torso, even though it was replacing only a spider's head). Her back was... only somewhat hairy. It wasn't covered in hair, and yet it wasn't free of hair either. I suppose it resembled what a human torso would look like if the occasional wild hair grew over thousands of years. After I hugged her from behind, she started swimming. It seemed like the start of an adventure, and it was a shame that I had to get up for work, because I would've loved to see more.

I got the impression that she was the last of her kind, and that she'd been sealed away for some reason. I also got the impression that the rest of her kind were evil and that a war had been fought against them in the distant past. I also got the impression that she was repentant of the past deeds of her kind.

When I call it a fantasy setting, I don't mean it was medieval or full of forests and trees. It was definitely not sword and sorcery fantasy. It could've been sword and sorcery back when the war happened, but now it was more like a pure fantasy world. Spira from Final Fantasy X/FF X-2 as opposed to Ivalice from Final Fantasy Tactics/FF Tactics Advance/FF XII.

I want to turn this into a story or a novel of its own, for it deserves it. I just hope I don't ruin the setting by trying to define what the dream didn't. If I do define it, I'll probably want to make water a major element of the world, but unlike Suikoden 4, there will be substantial landmasses as opposed to the occasional island.

I have no idea what adventures will happen to the unnamed hero (I dont' want to name him after myself) and heroine, or if they'll even hold the traditional roles of hero/heroine at this point. I kind of don't want them to perform heroic deeds like Hercules or Jack Bauer. I want it to be less sword and sorcery and more... I don't know, Indiana Jones/Final Fantasy V-style with magical artifacts and stuff.

I hope you forgive my stream of consciousness here, and that this entry actually makes sense. I just want to get this idea out because up until now, it's only existed as short notes in my notebook. I've not experienced any more dreams in the setting, but I've returned to past dream settings before, so I'm hoping.

I did promise to show you some furry stuff. I just didn't say it was going to be mine. ;)

I'm tossing an idea around in my head involving my Sara the winged lynx, and the trickster god Coyote, and am hoping to write that out as soon as I have some free time. To give you an idea of what she looks like, and a little insight to her character, I'll show you what I got in the mail recently.

On Tuesday, this in the mail (full view is recommended). Grygon does some very good art, and I was especially pleased with the commission. It made my day when it arrived.

Gryg's still open for commissions, too.

Sara is the daughter of CW, and her wings came about because she saw her father's wings and wanted a pair herself. Magic granted her wish. I have a rather long history for her already partially written in half finished stories, and really hope that this new idea doesn't suffer a similar unfinished fate.

Other than work and reading, I guess nothing's been going on with me lately. You know, I really aught to use my LJ as well, since that's what I got it for.