My third Xbox 360 just shit the bed.

One week to the day after getting Street Fighter 4.

One month to the day after my Best Buy replacement plan expired.

Fuck you, Microsoft.

I just posted a sequel to Dastardly Device. In doing so, I made myself acknowledge when I wrote the original. WHERE THE FUCK DOES THE TIME GO?

Anyhow, happy 2009. Are updates required? I guess so.

Not writing or drawing much these day. Want to, but can't. See the title of the journal for my reason why.

Playing lots of video games though, which doesn't help the creative flow. Gears 2, Left 4 Dead, and of course good ol' TF2.

As for progression on certain other long-running projects...uh...again, see the title of this journal. >.> <.< >.>

Ten Internet Points to whomever can name the source of the quote serving as my journal title here.

I'm kind of rambling, but I'm typing stream-of-consciousness here, trying to think of what's new. The sad truth is: not very much.

Question for everyone: Would you be interested in commissioning a story out of me, and if so what would you pay and what would you expect for that amount of money? I'm considering testing the waters of literary commissions for some extra spending money.

Battlestar Galactica is back. Ten more episodes before I can decide if Ron Moore is brilliant or a complete cocktease. Still waiting on new Venture Brothers episodes. :sadface:

Go check out the following artists/writers:

 AmonOmega
 eltonpot
 strikersa
 settaflamowitz
 katyakitten

That's it for now, I guess. I'm outta' here. Peace!

Just some random thoughts on TF2 PC vs TF2 360 since I made the switch:

- The skill level is much higher on the PC. Maybe it's because of the mouse/keyboard controls, or maybe it's because people play the PC version more. Maybe both. It's a nice challenge, though.

- Demomen make me curse. A lot. I'm not part of the NERF DEMOMAN NAOW crowd, but I get this feeling that sticky bombs aren't being used the way Valve intended most of the time.

- I like the huge map selection on PC. 360 only has the out-of-box maps and empty promises of Badlands/Goldrush.

- Love dedicated servers. I suffered through a lot of matches on the 360 where once things were back to the lobby, the host either quit or poweridled.

- There's still lag on the PC version, apparently. Nowhere near as bad as the 360 version, but it's there. I hear folks complain about it often.

- The "sidegrade" weapon sets are interesting. I don't know that they really serve the gameplay that much, but it is nice to have options.

- Crabspy is COMEDY GOLD.

I want to skullfuck every last fighting game designer, specifically the person who approves the final bosses. I don't care what series, either. DOA, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Guilty Gear.

I am so tired of fighting final bosses who can beat you in two hits and can block everything you do, INCLUDING blocking throws and grapples. Is this seriously the best they can do in designing a challenge? "LOL, just make him unbeatable, and then tone it down a hair. PERFECT NOW WHERE IS MY MILLION DOLLARS?"

RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.

Tried the demo, purchased the game last night.

Beat it this afternoon.

Absolutely gorgeous soundtrack, beautiful art style, enjoyable platform-gaming (outright Super Mario Brothers clone), clever gameplay twist (time-puzzles).

Complaints? Suffers from what I call "video game pretentiousness". That's when a game thinks far too much of it's own controls or gameplay, you see. In other words, it asks you to do very tricky things with the assumption that it's controls or mechanics are better than they really are.

It also has a bad habit of presenting puzzles where the solution lies in powers or gameplay mechanics that you never knew you had or had never had explained to you before that point. It's like being asked to solve a puzzle on a lock, and then when you go, "I can't figure it out," someone replies, "hurf durf, that's 'cause you need this key I was hiding in my pocket and never told you about!"

There's a story to the game, and it's very bittersweet and engaging, and touching and mysterious, but unfortunately the ending is also very ambiguous. I suspect the developer wanted to encourage interpretation; I fear he may just piss a lot of paying customer off instead.

If you own an Xbox 360, go download the demo now. I hear it's due to PC sometime this year as well.

Long story short: Free time and motivation have not lined up much for me lately, then I had second thoughts about the arc of the current CC story, then I lost my goddamn mind and accidentally deleted the most recent copy of CC: Parting Ways, thus losing like a third of the story.

So it's officially moving to Duke Nukem Forever time, i.e. "I'll post it when it's done."

The battle plan is for CCIII to be three LARGE parts instead of the usual ten small ones.

I'm on Steam a lot now playing TF2 (going to post my TF2 sprays here soon) when I'm not motivated to write or draw. Find me there as Nocturnefoxx (but please: Don't ask me about CC there.) :3

And a big welcome back to FA. :)

And then my mom got scared and said, "You're movin' with you auntie and uncle in Bel Air."

But not really.

So, the little "mid-episode" of CC is going well. I'm enjoying writing it, because it's letting me get out of the usual formula of the series. I'm really excited to be able to start showing off the world outside of the Hall of Combat.

That's still on schedule for a Spring release. Once that's done, I'll work on CCIII over the summer. BUT...

I think I'm going to change up the format. Instead of doing ten ten-page episode, I think I shall break CCIII into three or four thirty-page parts, delivered "when it's done". Two reasons for this.

A) When I'm late on an episode, it's not fun to post a mere ten-pages for a 6-month wait. Considering my RL, other hobbies, social life, and job, some WILL be late.

B) I think it'll just be better for the story that I'll be telling this time around.

Feel free to chime in on this idea.

In other news, I recently purchased a PSP. I really didn't want too. I've already got a 360 and a DS. A third game console is just another hole into which money will be thrown.

Unfortunately, the DS hasn't been cutting it as a portable console for me. It was great at first, but the game output for "hardcore" gamers has been lackluster, and Nintendo's direction for the system seems to be heading towards casual gamers. I like casual games like Animal Crossing, but I want some "portable PS2" as well. I mean, I'm looking at the PSP and thinking, "They fit fucking GTA on this thing? Seriously?"

Plus, there's Castlevania Chronicles for the PSP. Ahem. >.>

Anyhow, so I broke down and bought the PSP "Daxter" bundle. I've already added GTA: Vice City Stories and Castlevania to my collection. Guilty Gear and Star Wars: Battlefront aren't far behind.

I'll be trading my DS collection, save for the DS and a few titles in, and moving on to the PSP. The little Sony portable started slow, but this thing really has come into it's own.

On the 360 front, I'm back into Halo 3 after tearing through a bunch of other shit like Devil May Cry 4 and Team Fortress 2.

GTAIV will be my next challenge. Did you hear that it's going to feature 16-player multiplayer with the whole city open to play on? That's some "tight shit, yo".

>:3

1/21/08

HABEEB IT.

So, I know I've been silent for some time now and my output of literature (smut) and art (smut) has stopped. I've been meaning to write an update on certain projects, but quite frankly I dun' wanna' git' yelled at. D:

Carnal Combat II/9 is nearly done. It's BEEN nearly done for months. All of the non-smut scenes are written. Unfortunately, I haven't been in that kind of mood to write the funky stuff. Since that's why a lot of people read, I don't want to write any of it half-assed. On top of that, I have personal reasons to want this particular chapter to be the best of the ENTIRE run.

The other project I've mentioned - the sci-fi story - is in the same exact boat.

I've drawn a pik-a-ture here and there too, but nothing worth posting.

Maybe it's the weather or something, but lately I've noticed a lot of new folks getting on the CC bandwagon. New readers and watchers, and several folks asking about the status. I just want you all to know that the story is not dead, not by a long shot. I want to finish it, I want to keep telling the story, but I'm not forcing it. When the gang is ready to resume their adventure, I've no doubt they'll kick my ass into gear.

Oh, and also: BioShock and Halo 3. Those are my other excuses.

No, not Stardust the fighting pony girl. Stardust the Neil Gaiman story, now a Major Motion Picture.

I'm a pretty loyal Neil fan. He and Stephen King are my two biggest literary influences. I really love Neil's work on Sandman, and Neverwhere is one of my favorite stories evar. Ever. Ahem.

American Gods was the last Neil story I'd read before Stardust, and I thought that American Gods was solid, if a little slow. Stardust though...sheesh. First book I'd quit since The DaVinci Code.

I kept plugging away at Stardust because it was a Neil story and so it MUST get good at some point. About half-way in I threw it into the Drawer of Shame, and forgot about it.

My good friend, however, is a huge Neil fan. I actually introduced him to Neil's works, but he REALLY latched onto them. Seriously. Like, I think he masturbates on his copies when his girlfriend isn't around.

Anyhow, he insisted I finish Stardust before we saw the movie. I never did, and I didn't really feel any urge to see the movie with him tonight. Because I am slightly crazy, however, I did.

Folks, wait for the DVD. Stardust The Movie is just as boring as Stardust The Book.

Stardust actually originated as a graphic novel with Charles Vess (actually, it was more like an illustrated short story). Then, Neil went and stretched it into a novel. I think that's Neil's weakness; he doesn't know when enough is enough. A story that may have worked as a short story just feels fluffed when you turn it into a novel, and that absolutely carried over to the film script.

So, anyway, I think I'm now outcast from my Geek Group for the week since I didn't like the movie, or the book, and made that clear. Which is cool, actually; I now get to go curse at Elite Beat Agents some more. Later!

There was a lot of very nice thing said in the comments for the latest Carnal Combat, and so I'd like to give a large THANK YOU* to everyone who commented. I really, honestly appreciate it.

As soon as I have some free time, I hope to go down the list and reply to the comments specifically. >:3
































* (CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL)

http://ds.ign.com/articles/799/799910p1.html

Come on, guys. You've ported Ultimate MK3 twice already. It was packed in with Armageddon, and then you released it AGAIN on Xbox Live Arcade. I bought Armageddon, and still I bought the XBLA version so I could get some of the Achievements.

Boon, Midway...can't you do something new on the DS? Or at least "remake" it with 3D sprites? I mean, adding online play is great, but the Puzzle Kombat is lame. Cut that and gimme' some 3D play!

...yeah, I'm still gonna' get it the day it drops, though. :3

My two biggest literary influences are Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. King in particular fascinates me because he can write horror. I'm not talking about horror as in a genre, but as in he strings letters together to form words that trigger actual terror in the reader.

I am, however, one who will concede that King is not always on his "A" game, and cinematic adaptations of his works rarely come out good.

Having said that, I have to strongly encourage you to go see 1408. I saw it despite trailers that made it look like King was ripping himself off by doing a small-scale The Shining. He isn't; this is a psychological thriller merged with a haunted house story, and it's simply a thinking man's horror film.

You should support this movie if you like scary stories. It proves that you don't need to show someone getting tortured and mutilated on-camera to create an unsettling atmosphere.

Okay, the question has entered circulation, and so it’s time for me to finally get offa’ muh’ ass and write up a reply and explanation.

Short story for the tl;dr crowd: Carnal Combat is not dead. It is merely on an extended sabbatical.

Long story is that various events came into play a month or two ago that sapped me of time, of mental energy, of physical energy, and of creative energy. The time when I had been writing the CC stuff is no longer available to me. The time that IS available is a bad time, as by the time (ITT, we say time too much) it rolls around, I’m tired and not particularly eager to write or draw.

On top of that, the creative ‘umph’ just hasn’t been there. I simply refuse to write without that bit of inspiration and motivation, because anything I write will be crap. I already had to re-write one chapter of the story because I didn’t give it my all, and I’m not really looking to have to do so again.

So, with all of that said, I’m going to try to get back to the story soon. The last week or so has seen me getting a little more free time, and more importantly motivation. I do miss the characters and the writing, so I’m keeping that front-and-center on my free time To-Do list.

The same goes for that “other story” thing. Hell, that’s been like 85% done since March.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

It's more likely than you think!

It still surprises me that folks enjoy the CC world enough to want to write their own stuff set in it, but I'm all for anything that gets people writing and reading. It's a great creative output.

Anyhow, Kyo Redpawed from Yiffstar recently wrote a piece of Combat fanfiction. It's actually something of an "Ultimate" take on the universe, as he's changed a House, and made a few tweaks of his own.

It's well worth a read, and I'd encourage y'all to go give him your comments and feedback; be kind and constructive, of course!

You can find Carnal Combat 1 - Another Spin at http://yiffstar.com/index.yiff?pid=21003

...you find out that someone beat you too it.

So, when I created Hitomi and selected her name, I had a very simple reason for my selection: Her name means "eye" or "doubly beautiful" in Japanese (or so I'm told). I thought that this was a fitting name, considering her handicap and that she is, more or less, one of the more beautiful Combat girls.

I thought I had a pretty good, original name there. Cue to yesterday, when I buy a copy of Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. I've never played a DOA game before, so this was my first go with the series.

Imagine my surprise when I'm looking at the character roster and find a nimble little anime babe named Hitomi. The sigh of disappointment was tangible, I tell you.

Luckily, DOA Hitomi is neither blind nor a female-biased nymphomaniac, far as I can tell. Guess you won't get her confused with my Hitomi!

Episode VII of CCII is done. Written, edited, and revised. It is, however, an extremely pivotal chapter in the series and thus I'm going to sit on it for another day or two before I post it. It's going to raise a few eyebrows, I'm sure. Hopefully, it'll be a good thing.

But at least I got that 1!

So, I was going to keep my mouth shut until I had content to post, 'cause I hate posting journals without something to show with them. BUT, I had good news today, and so I figure I should give a little update on the progress of things-what-you-kids-like.

Today I was able to take a major step forward in settling some of the aforementioned work issues that have been my highest priority IRL. With things now settled to a point where I feel I can relax and not worry about them, I can now get back to writing and drawing.

Well, except for the fact that I bought Oblivion for the 360, and it's the single most addictive game I've ever played, and I spend an easy three hours at it a day. That kind of steals time, to say the least.

Anyhow, I am back to work at all my projects here, full force. Carnal Combat shall continue shortly, as I've finally started to write the next episode and it's coming along smoothly.

The oft-mentioned mystery project is nearly complete as well. I should have at least something to show for that in the immediate future.

Basically the point of this thing is that things had been so crazy lately that I couldn't even write a word or draw a line, but with things settled I have eagerly returned to "work" here.

I'm pretty f'ing tired right now, so I'll keep this brief.

The latest CC episode took extra-long to finish for the following reasons:

A) I'm working on yet ANOTHER series at the moment. Expect to see the first act sometime around this weekend or next. Sci-fi stuff.

2) The real main big reason for the delay is that RL is, as it is want to do, enjoying screwing me around. It's work related stuff, mostly regarding my specific industry, but it casts a dark shadow over my future plans that in turn has me kind of in paranoid mode.

Three) Got me an Xbox360 week or two ago. Slaughtering zombies in Dead Rising has been about the only therapy for the second excuse/reason/explanation above. :3

So, I'm going to do my best to keep all of my stuff flowing at a acceptable pace, but forgive me if I hit long dry spells here and there. Obviously RL will take priority, but writing and drawing keeps me sane, so I'll do what I can when I can.

Thanks. ;3

If you have a Yahoo account, and haven't tried their Launchcast service, I highly suggest you do so. It's basically internet radio, but as the songs play you can rate them by artist, album, and song, and those ratings determine how often that artist, album, or song are played on your station. I've been rating stuff like crazy over the last few days, and my station is now rocking pretty hard. Lots of Collective Soul and Prince. :3

Anyhow, here's a link to my station for you Yahoo users who'd like to listen in. Let me know if this doesn't work: http://music.yahoo.com/lc/?rt=0&.....rp2=1793819198

Hey, gang. Sorry about the delay on Episode V of CCII. Also, sorry if you don't see it here; I'm only going to try to post it once. If FA 502's me out, I'm not trying again. So if you are reading this and there is no Episode V up on FA, go check Yiffstar. It'll be there.

Anyhow, I once again lost track of time. I didn't realize it had been almost three weeks since the last chapter. I know some folks take months between chapters, but I like to keep this stuff flowing steadily. Since I've got the whole damn thing laid out in my head and (loosely) on paper, I've got no excuse to not just WRITE it.

Well, I have one excuse. A new series started to boil in my brain, something to write after I retire Carnal Combat, or perhaps something to write in between Combat episodes. Something to give me a break and let me stretch my wings a little.

I've been wanting to write a serious horror/ghost story for sometime, but my idea for that is something that I think is best suited for when I eventually get the motivation to write a mainstream, publishable novel. We'll see.

In the meantime, this might satisfy my need to write something gruesome, something roughneck, and something with adventure. I'll pitch the premise to you guys, and y'all tell me what you think. You're the studio, I'm the hobo in the box outside of your suite window. Let me just preface this by saying that yes, it will be anthro and yes, it will be smutty.

Crystoil is the fuel that runs the galaxy. Starcruisers can't run without it, machines won't function on anything else, and some sectors even use the stuff as currency. While the "civilized" universe wantonly consumes the resource, they are ignorant to where it comes from and what some brave souls must endure to harvest it.

There are six planets, each with a wide array of mines from which the mineral known as Crystoil is retrieved. Slave labor is used to harvest the valuable material, but it's the Exterminators that protect the mines and the slaves from the horrors of what is know as the Crystoil Cluster: The Screamers.

The Screamers, the collective name for the many species of terrors that lurk in the mines, are creatures that hunt, rape, and devour the bipedal beasts that mine the planets. The Exterminators are the rag-tag mercenaries that the Crystoil mining guild hire to fight the ravenous beasts.

And the most notorious, the most ruthless, the most efficient Exterminator of all is the Duke...

In other news:

I saw Rocky Balboa over the weekend. I'm a tremendous fan of Rocky I-IV; the original Rocky is one of the best character pieces ever written or filmed. Well, let me tell you: Rocky Balboa is a worthy finish to the series. It's what Rocky V should have been. Go see this film; it's refreshing to see something with heart like this over films like...well...like a film that they ran a trailer for before Rocky.

This trailer starts off kind of cool, in a "I'm a 50-year old suit trying to write hip for the Angry Young Goth crowd" kind of way. Hot chick in creepy church, wolf-worshiping cults, possible reference to werewolves being in it...and then the killer: FROM THE PRODUCERS OF UNDERWORLD.

"Shit," I said. "So much for that. Can't get any worse than..."

"HOLY SHIT," says my room mate, next to me. "LISTEN TO THE SONG THAT'S PLAYING."

I listen, and realize that the song the trailer is playing in the background (while pretty young people act angry) is Within Temptation's "Stand My Ground".

I wanted to cry. First Nightwish gets put on a shitty Uwe Boll movie soundtrack, and now Within Temptation is on a FROM THE PRODUCERS OF UNDERWORLD soundtrack (I'm holding back on the title 'cause it's so LULZtastic). I'm a huge fan of Within Temptation and Nightwish and the whole Euro symphonic metal scene. I took comfort in knowing that no matter how bad American rock got, with all the punk and Evanessence schlock, that I would always have Nightwish and Temptation.

Well, so much for that. I guess I'll always have Blind Guardian and Blackmoore's Night instead. The day I hear, like, "Ghost of a Rose" on a movie soundtrack will be the day I get in my big rocket ship and fly to the moon.

Oh, by the way, the name of that FROM THE PRODUCERS OF UNDERWORLD werewolf movie? "Blood and Chocolate".

I wish I was a fly on the wall of the executive who gave THAT title the okay...

Seriously. Fuck FA. I just spent the last half hour trying to post a goddamn sketch to my gallery, and all I got was 502 after 502, and two times where it posted the fucking entry WITHOUT THE PICTURE.

A gallery you can't actually post pictures too is useless. I apologize to you kids if you see two bogus entries from me in your Submission list; blame it on the FA servers.

I'm going to keep trying to get this picture uploaded just on principle, but after this I'm not posting on FA until they get this 502 shit straightened out. All future Carnal Combat stories will be on Yiffstar in the meantime.

Forrest Griffen just got TKO'd by Keith Jardine. Jardine is a great fighter and more power too him, but...Forrest is my boy.

I take some comfort in seeing how PISSED Forrest was at himself. He's going to slaughter whoever he fights next. He's going to train his ass off for his next fight.

I really hope Liddell knocks Tito out tonight. That'll make the Forrest loss a little more tolerable.

EDIT: LIDDELL WINS! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

So, got me some Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the NintendoDS this Christmas. Also got a nice set of 007 films, but they'll be watched later to-day.

Anyhow, back to good ol' Castlevania. I love Castlevania. I even love the bad ones, like Curse of Darkness. The portable Castlevanias, though - that's where it's at, for now. The basic formula (big castle, explore, level up) is getting VERY worn out, but the fact that with each entry they come up with fresh little additions makes the formula last.

The nice thing about the DS versions is that they now have the horsepower to render 3D objects in a 2D enviroment. I've been saying they should do this in Castlevania for YEARS. They started to do it a bit with 3D backrounds in Dawn of Sorrow, but they really use the effect in Portrait of Ruin. Now, if only they would go ahead and do a full-blown sidescrolling 3D Castlevania, a' la' New Super Mario Brothers...

So yes, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is a fantastic DS game, and a fine entry in the Castlevania series. I don't agree with some 'Vania fans that it is the best portable entry to date - I think I still prefer Dawn of Sorrow. The game is still solid though, and if you own a DS and have ever enjoyed any of the post-Symphony of the Night 2D Castlevanias, I'd totally recommend this game to you.

Now, here's the kicker: I need to beat this and Final Fantasy III before March, because that is when Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass comes out on the DS. While I despise the Wind Waker art style that they're using (God, Harmonica of Time and Twilight Princess look gorgeous), the portable Zelda entries have never let me down. Link's Awakening is still one of my favorite games ever.

So, in preparing CCII, I did about two-million drafts of the fight bracket. I THOUGHT I put the final one in the CCII story file, but apparently not! So, while it is fixed now, early birds may have the old file with:

Daichi vs Suki
Rhane vs Reiko

That is wrong. It is now:

Suki vs. Reiko
Rhane vs. Daichi

Sorry!