Hello people~!

It has come to my attention that occasionally, messages won't get sent to me (so far, only with MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger), whether appearing online or offline or in my lady's chamber -- I realized this when signing into Trillian on my iPhone, and suddenly getting bombarded with messages that each perfectly fit all the conversations I thought the other party had abandoned. x3

So if I ever leave without responding, that may be why~!
I shall attempt to fix this with all due haste~

So a few things have been going on with me recently and I figured I should just throw down a journal because I have a half an hour before work and maybe someone out there will be interested in reading it. x3

Good:

1) I got a major promotion at work I'd been working towards for some time, one that'll enable me to earn more money doing a fantastically better job -- less constant effort, longer breaks, with co-workers I get along with very well, as well as more hours at a significantly better rate. I won't take the position full-time until one of the senior members retires in October, but right now I'm still doing it most of the time anyways due to how many people are on vacation~ <3

2) I got accepted into the Final Fantasy XIV Beta, something I've been looking forward to for a long time -- I had a friend who got into the Alpha, so I got to see the pre-pre-release version, and the idea of playing the Beta is pretty exciting since I played a fair bit of Final Fantasy XI in my time, and XIV is looking to be quite a worthy successor~

3) I got a nice new bedroom set with an awesome queen-sized mattress that was so low on sale, I simply couldn't refuse~ It's about time, because prior to that, I'd been sleeping on a single bed my whole life -- if there's anything you should upgrade, it's your bed, since a person spends like, at least 1/3rd of their life in it, I think~ l3

4) Fuck, I have 1,150 watchers, Jesus Christ. I haven't uploaded anything in over a year. x3 I've been feeling particularly Yoshi-tastic lately, though, I will have you know~ Maybe my lack of proper computer will compel me to act upon it~ l3


Bad:

1) The Final Fantasy XIV Beta installer required Windows XP Service Pack 3, so I went to go get that shit -- I installed it, and Windows exploded irreparably. x3 It blue-screens me anytime I try and load Windows in any mode, and even my Windows XP install CD blue-screens (after failing to detect my hard drive.) So... shit. x3 I'm using my laptop now, and I might have to take my hard drive out, attach it to my laptop and backup everything, as that's really what I'm afraid to lose. :x This might coax me into finally upgrading my desktop as it has sorely been needing... was top of the line 4 years ago, and now you can spend $700 and get something way better today~ l3

2) Been stuck on Midnight shift for three weeks, and it's so hard to resist sleeping all day -- seriously, of this week I only woke up and stayed up one day for three hours prior to work -- every other day I've slept from 10:00am to like, 9:00pm. x3 Damn right I'm good in bed -- I can sleep for days~ l3


So like yeah~ <3
That's all she wrote~

I just spent the last week or so with  ixyao,  saberstorm and kirkland in Canada's capital for Canada Day, and it was pretty delicious~! So if anyone's been wondering where I was, well... that's about it. l3 I did have internet access technically, but we were busy like, all the time, and what time wasn't spent trodding around the core's attractions and restaurants was spent being totally devoid of energy as a result thereof. x3

I bought a big Yoshi figurine, and it makes me wanna do more Yoshi porn/do more Yoshis, if y'know what I mean :3~~~~

Super Mario Crossover!
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/534416

This is the kind of things kids like me only dreamed about twenty years ago~
Thinking, 'hey wouldn't it be cool if...' -- I think this is why the internet was invented, this game right here. ;3

Each character acts just like in their own games, save for the number of hits being relative to mushrooms/fireflowers obtained, just like Mario would~ Just with their own unique abilities -- It's pretty amazing to watch Bill R gun down the mushroom kingdom in pursuit of the missing princess~ <3

Canada won the Men's Hockey Olympic Gold~! <33

Watched it live, and it was fucking insane. I don't normally care about sports, but I guess I'm Canadian enough for this to be a big deal -- truly a proud moment to be Canadian. :3

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-medals/ -- As well, that puts Canada in 3rd place overall, with the most gold medals ever obtained by a single country in Winter Olympic history~! 'Bout time we made up for the shameful previous hostings of the Olympics in Canada~ l3

http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/new.....ware_on_monday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSbslfm3aoE

First Vigilante 8 and now Blaster Master...
Someone is watching me very closely~ <33

Hey kids~

Edis Krad had this journal a while back about a Firefox addon or some-such that could be used to specifically filter out the appearance of certain journals based on words they had in them (such as "Ustream"). Since he left the internets forever, I can't seem to find it -- that FA Extender utility is a Firefox addon, but it's not the journal filter. Anyone know where I could find that thing? :3~

http://img13.imageshack.us/i/graestand001.png/
So I decided to give this thing another go, since my last encounter with it was both brief and extremely awkward. I'm liking it thus far now that I know what in God's name I'm doing!

But yeah.
If anyone's on there and wants to dick around (both figuratively and literally >3) poke me (I have lots of poseballs <3~) -- the name I go by on there is "Kewnicus Mactavish". I had the name Graedius on my old account, but it's all borked and I think this flows together nicely-er. l3

...was recently added to Nintendo's Virtual Console service.

If you've got 500 Wii Points laying around, and can handle the physical presentation and difficulty of old games, you should totally check this one out -- it's one of my very favorite games ever, and I'd recommend it to anyone~ >3

You play as this kid who's got this big tank-car, and you go through a Metroid-esque side-scrolling world, blasting enemies with cannons and missiles and lightning bolts, exploring around and finding areas where you can set out on-foot and go into top-down view to fight the bosses face-to-face, acquiring items for the tank to increase firepower or mobility, and explore new areas and places you couldn't go before~ All with a pretty sweet soundtrack, and truly classic sound effects! There is no innate save or password function, however with the Wii's state-save thingy when you return to the Wii menu, you functionally get one.

It's pretty ball-bustingly hard at times, but for the right reasons. <3
If interested, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_Master for more information.

Christmas time is possibly my favorite time of the year, what with the food and bright lights and shiney things and eggnog and snow and winter-eyness~ <3 And to make it all better, I got a week off next week, right during the middle of our Christmas work-rush (we get four days off for Christmas, but as a result, they overwork us before then to make up for what we lose during that time. x3) ... so as a result, I get extra time off on top of that, so kinda looking forward to it. l3

I'm gonna really try and draw something and finish it up, since my last significant upload was December 31st, 2008... pretty shameful. On the upside, I found my tablet pen I thought I lost -- which is crucial to it's operation, otherwise it's just a plain ol' laptop~ l3 Now that I played through the whole Metroid Prime Trilogy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I'll probably devote a lil' more time in that direction~ l3

Anyways, I hope all you furkids have amazing Christmases~
Especially now that FA's back~! <3

Now then.
http://webzoom.freewebs.com/graediu.....n_graegay2.png -- time to get started on those traditions. >3

I was talking to a group of devilishly handsome people earlier, and I mentioned a question I'd been thinking of idly~!

What do you think is the best powerup in any game, excluding any powerup who's sole purpose is to provide invincibility? Like, no starman, hyper candy, invulnerability shields, etc. In this instance, invincibility (or temporary invincibility) can be a side effect, providing it's not the primary effect and reason to use it (such as hyper mode from Metroid Prime III.) It can be something temporary or something permanent, such as an item or ability you acquire permanently (such as one of Link's items.)

Any platform, any type of game. :3
Gogo!

Hahah, oh man~

You know those things you have to fill in, those images of wobbly, garbled text that y'gotta fill a field in for on some sites when you sign up or download files? Those things are called captchas, if you're dumb like me and didn't know that until like, a week ago. x3

Anyways!
A friend of mine sent me a zip of porn stuff, and this was the captcha I got:
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/.....aturelyunf.png
I couldn't even make that up. x3

So I downloaded Trillian since MSN was being tardtastic, and I'm really liking it -- especially letting my AIM contacts be on the same list, as often they would get left to the wayside and very rarely see me log on as I often forget about AIM. It's nice, slick, minimalistic (in the manner I have it) -- and I love the name change feature. <3

Yes, everyone's telling me Pidgin is better, but this was all after I got and installed and tweaked Trillian. x3

Lately I've been having problems where my internet randomly disconnects for a tiny period, enough tocause problems in all regards -- looks like somehow, the new version of MSN is the root of the problem. (Every time it starts, the "MSN connection client" has an error, prompting me to do that whole send-error-report or not, thing -- I can just move that window out of the way and the program continues to run, but it looks like that's doing something to fuck it up.) Because when I'm not running it, there's no problems, so~

Looks like I gotta redownload it, or something. Might use this hack thing I saw to trick it into letting you run MSN 7.5 (the best version out there, IMO~). Something. l3 But I may be unavailable there for a lil' bit 'till I figure it out. :B~

EDIT: I'm running super-old Windows Messenger 4.7 right now and it's super primitive, but has plus -- I'll use this for the time being so we can talk~ <3

EDIT 2: I cannot talk to people who appear offline like this, so be wary.

I was recently discussing with a friend of mine about something, and I decided to throw the question out there since it affects probably 85% of the people who watch me, give or take a little bit~

Does an artist who annoys you (for whatever reason, be it their disposition, manner of talking to others, manner of typing, asshole-ish-ness -- y'know, that kinda stuff) turn you off from enjoying their art? Like, even if the art is amazing of quality and spot-on for content that you love, if you dislike the artist as a person, can you not enjoy the stuff they draw, even if it's as different as night and day?

Myself, if I really dislike the artist as a person, I find it very hard to bring myself to enjoy (see: fap to) their artwork, even if it is super amazing high-quality and hot as the core of the sun.

What do you guys think? l3
Avoid naming names if it applies to you, to avoid drama.
I could name a lot of names myself. x3

So I'm guessing some of you are like me.
You like a wide variety of electronic music, from different ages and styles -- a little of this, a little of that. But what is it all, really? Why is Hardcore different from Hardstyle, what's Gabbercore, what's Acid House? If you're like me, a lot of these terms are confusing at best and meaningless at worst. You like a song, but god only knows how to classify it, and thus find other songs like it on this complex series of tubes.

But then I found this: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

It's a flash based guide that, using a giant chart ordered by relations and age, you can read about and listen to samples from each genre and subgenre and sub-classification, to find out what's what, and why. I think it's pretty cool and informative if this kind thing is your deal~ l3

Hey furpeople~ l3
I have something I've wanted colored for a long time, but I'm far too lazy to do it myself (and I kinda want it to be in a similar style to the others in the set.)

I commissioned a few Carbuncle pics from Inuki, two of which are colored, one of which is only a sketch. I'm looking for someone who can color this: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/graediu.....0Inuki%203.jpg, character and background, in a similar manner and style to these: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/graediu.....0Inuki%201.jpg, http://webzoom.freewebs.com/graediu.....0Inuki%202.jpg. I asked her about it, but she never colors without inking first, and I actually have the physical sketch, so she's out of the question~

C'mon, there's 900 of you, surely someone is up to the task, or knows someone who is! <3

I showered naked with other men in the YMCA. :x

I feel like being adventurous, and I am a horrible person so let's do this :3
Ask me anything sexually related and I'll answer it~ l3

http://agnph.com/forums/viewtopic.p.....=5867&f=25

AGNPH is really good at pressing the 1 and 2 (A and B) buttons really fast, because this is like the fifth time they've refused to get KO'd by the hard-to-dodge punches of money problems, huge bandwidth, and Nintendo themselves!

New admin.
Maybe the place won't be so unwelcoming anymore~?
Anyways, yay for the largest collection of Pokemon porn there is :3

Hey guys, I recently joined up with a friend I made totally randomly on Youtube via videos showcasing chiptune songs, and we have this new forum devoted all to the subject: http://chiptuneforum.all-up.com/ind.....64d5424659e673! There's really next to nothing on there now, but it'd be nice to see some other people get involved, 'cause I'm definitely gonna offer all I've got in terms of completed songs as well as programs, software, trackers and links to tutorials and stuff as I come across them~

A genre as rare as this requires a little P2P love~ l3

















...by the way yes, I am going to draw something again sometime.
I have like, a 9 page comic that's just unscanned if I can ever get around to scanning it. I've been neglectful to do so because it's not quite done, but. x3

So!
I decided it has been long enough since I had a cute, fuzzy critter to call my own and pamper and show affection to needlessly and likely make increasingly fat with treats~ So I went out and picked up this lil' cutie!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a.....s/Hamster1.png
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a.....s/Hamster2.png
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a.....s/Hamster3.png
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a.....s/Hamster4.png

Very docile and friendly lil' thing~
Would be much more inclined to lick an extended finger than even consider nibbling~ l3
So I was thinking of calling him Wilburforce, AKA The best of Tulwar, AKA King Weenus Jr.... but he turned out to be she! So we went with Zoe (the Inquisitor). l3

No, I'm not gonna be one of those people that feels that FA should be a dumping ground for pictures of their pet. x3

After all these years, one of my greatest dreams have come true~

I saved it right to the very end, the last moment I could -- armed myself with the precious, one-of-a-kind legendary garment, and dashed through into the treacherous halls, the swiftness and valiance of a thousand pegasi on my side, my sacred weapon unable to burden my mission... entering his chamber, I squared off against my foe -- his smirk ripe with arrogance... Oh, how I'd longed for this moment, the moment to wipe that grin off his face.. it was so close I could taste it, my heart racing and my body trembling with anticipation, bolstered by the kind of adrenaline that makes a man unstoppable... with a grunt, his heavy, scaled frame lunged forward, his feeble mind absolutely certain in his ability to vanquish me... but he would not be the one to extinguish my dreams so near to their fruitition... never again. I raised my blessed arms, and with the burning passion of a desire that only years of failure and damnation could ever produce...

I fucking killed Bowser with the Hammer Suit in Super Mario Bros. III (NES).
http://old-wizard.com/wp-content/up.....ammermario.jpg

Historians believe that Mario's baddassery earned him the God's highest favor and he was immediately lifted into Valhalla as an exalted warrior for all eternity.

1) What was your FIRST video game console?
Nintendo Entertainment System, bitch. That shit was amazing~ I remember the first thing I ever saw, I came downstairs and saw my sister juuuuust beginning level 1-2 on Super Mario Brothers, and form that moment on I was intrigued forevermore~ l3

2) Name a few games you played on said console.
More like name a few games I didn't! Stuff I legitimately owned as a kid? Super Mario Brothers 1-to-3, Zelda 1-'n-2, Kirby's Adventure, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Blaster Master, Yoshi, Bubble Bobble, Bible Adventures 1-'n-2 (seriously.), for a while I had this crazy 24-in-1 pirate cart thing that was awesome~

3) Excluding handhelds, how many VG consoles do you own presently?
Seven.

4) Were you a Street Fighter nut? Any character in particular?
Not really. I kinda played it a little when I was kid, but really never got into it. Not really much into 2D one-on-one fighting games, really.

5) Do you think Capcom is a FUCKING awesome company with ''creating characters that looks so good you forget to focus on the game?''
No, but they did create Megaman and Megaman X, two of my favorite game series, so I have to say they're pretty amazing for that~ I've played a bunch of games that were co-branded by them, so yeah~ :3

6) Here's the scenario.. You had some friends over and you all ate FRIED CHICKEN! After the meal you all decide to play some video games. As your friend reaches for a controller you notice his/her hands are very "greasy." Are you the type that would insist they wash their hands before pawing the controller, or is it no big deal?
You're goddamn right I will.
I've insisted particular friends to take a shower, and that's not even related to games! (But often is because the same friend often gets easily worked up and smells a lot while playing games. :x)

7) What's your favorite RPG/Action RPG?
Final Fantasy VI for RPG, and Secret of Mana II (Seiken Densetsu III for those of you who refuse to use English localizations of things) for Action RPG.

8) Do you prefer 2D games or 3D games?
I generally prefer @d, but that's the kinda world I grew up in~ I love it when modern technology is used to create 2D sprite games, just 'cause consoles like the Xbox 360 have a sick amount of power that can make super-smooth, high-res and crisp 2D games.

9) Are you an SNK fan?
No. Haven't played a single one of their games.
No actually wait, I did, a really awful baseball game on the NES called"Baseball Stars" . x3

9) Are you good at DDR?
I am not, but I kinda wanna play it summore sometmie. l3

10) Who wants to kick that dog's ass from Duck Hunt?
Boom, headshot, etc.

11) Have you skipped out on important events in life because of video games?
Nothing significant, but I did skip out on dinner once because I was playing a demo of a PlayStation game and I had gotten pretty far in it (long demo) and I wanted to make it to the end, and on most PlayStation Magazine demo discs, the demo would default to he main menu after 15 minutes of inactivity or some such. :x

12) Do you listen to video game music?
Like all the time -- my favorite genre of music, Chiptune, is both derived and heavilly inspired from Video Game music.

13) Have you ever cosplayed a VG character..?
I have not. I'm not cool enough to go to big gatherings of nerdy people :B
I don't know who I could really cosplay effectively anyway~ Maybe CDi-Link 'cause I have long hair. Just need to sit on a carpet in heavy winds.

14) Have you ever been in an arcade playing a fighting game, KICKING ASS, and then some 6 year old asian kid comes in and OWNS YOU??
I've had very little experiences with real arcades, sadly -- a part of classic gaming history I was basically devoid of. D: They were always so cool and magical, though~ <3

15) Name three games you would love to see remakes of if it was done properly.
• 3D Final Fantasy VI
• Zombies ate my Neighbors in HD, like Xbox Live Arcade
• Fuckin' Blaster Master, seriously. None of this awful-sequel shit.

16) Mario or Sonic?
Mario, simply because I had way more exposure to him as a kid~ Sonic's old games were really excellent too, but lately, everyone knows how Sonic rolls -- at least Mario is still involved with quality titles. (Even if the number is starting to wane.)

17) When a movie shows up in the theaters, let's use Spider-Man as an example, are you likely to buy the GAME version?
No, because more often than not, it's a very average or sub-par game, although there have been a few notable exceptions to that rule. I was particularly fond of Jurassic Park on the SNES, even though the game was really hard and oftentimes extremely vague. x3

18) What is your LEAST favorite genre of video games? (ex. fighting, sports, shooters, etc.)
Probably all three of those you just mentioned!
That covers it real well. Well, if by "shooters" you mean "First-person shooters".
Those things are a dime a dozen these days.

19) Is there a game out there that you feel was unique and didn't get enough love?
E.V.O. -- The Search for Eden, for sure. A side-scrolling action-RPG where you transcend history as an ever-evolving creature in a bid to achieve sentience~ Spore really, really reminded me of this game, and I thought it was a pretty cool one. Oftentimes, a little too hard for it's own good, though -- many bosses could one-shot you, even with maximum health. x3

20) Have you ever verbally abused a game because you couldn't beat one of the levels and/or bosses?
Oh hell, lots of times... so many times it's hard to think of a particular moment.
I think one of the prime examples was the S-Rank license test in Gran Turismo 2 -- fucking fuck that shit was hard. You had to be pretty goddamn perfect on some of those to make the cut. In fact, not even just the S-Rank license but the iA and iB ones, too. God fucking god damn hell. I hate how you always have to do that shit in each game, and just knowing I'm gonna have to is a huge turn-off for playing Gran Turismo 5 HD someday.

21) Do you own any VG apparel?
Plenty :3 A few Zelda shirts, lots of Mario-themed ones, a ROCK BAND shirt, some other stuff~ Bought some online, as well as a bunch at the Nintendo World store in New York when I was there last year~ <3 As much as I love the Xbox360, I can't bring myself to wear a shirt with it's branding, though.

22) What are your thoughts on the live-action Super Mario Bros movie?
It's been a long time since I saw it, and only in bits and pieces, but I remember it had such vague reference to the original that it was awful to the extent that Nintendo wouldn't even try and touch them for copyright infringement just to avoid any relation to the thing, I'm sure. x3

23) On that note, what did you think about the live-action Street Fighter movie?
Now this one was so bad it was amazing. Everything from the characters who didn't at all represent the game versions, to the mutation of Blanka with colorful bags literally labelled "mutogens", this movie was fantastically horribly amazing. So bad it's good. the only thing that made it better was Street Fighter: The Movie. the game about the movie about the game that was worse than the game the movie was about. <3

24) Who's hottest out of the KOF chicks?
I'm a furfag who wants to have sex with Pokémon. :B

25) Do you say "old-school" a lot when you're having a VG conversation with others?
I do! Apparently, judging by anyone who's ever done this meme, I'm a horrible person now? If country music afficiandos can say "Honkey-Tonk" and nerdy glasses-wearing kids can say "Wiggy wiggy wig" then I can say "old-school" x3
-- if you don't like it, you can apply your tongue to my avatar :B

26) Have you ever lent someone a game and they returned it to you damaged?
I lent someone Final Fantasy IV and I never saw it again~
Does missing in action count as damaged? Presumably.

27) Do you own any imported games?
Umumumumumumummmm~
No, I don't think so. :B
Unlike Europe that got shat on for awesome SNES releases (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars!), I can't think of a lot of games they got that we didn't -- the only instance I can think of is Terranigma (a game worth importing, mind you.)

28) Are you ready for this meme to be over, or could you keep going?
Yeah, I'm kinda getting tired of typing~
If one thing can get me talking, it's video games~ <3

29) In this scenario, let's pretend you're going to get a video game tattoo! What would you get and where? This can be simple or elaborate.
I like Shippomaru's idea of getting CDi-Link's "I won!!" expression tattooed on my chest so that I can rip my shirt off and have it be a second O-face. <3

30) Have you ever cried after you beat a game? If so why?
I cried when I couldn't get those god-damned licenses in Gran Turismo 2, seriously. >|

So I got this awesome Phoenix character I'd had a design for for a long, long time but had sorto f abandoned until lately~ I got two super awesome artists to draw him up ( ruaidri and  yuki-chi respectively)~!

► http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1992480/
► http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1973526

Those who know me well know my strangely unfounded affection for birdies of all things -- the bigger and more elaborate, the better~ But for this particular fellow, I have no name, and cannot think of a excellent one. :x Something eccentric. Magical. Awesometastic. If anyone has any cool ideas, I'd appreciate it! <3