Heya all! If you're following me, you probably like growing hyper folks and ridiculous sizes, but also are a bit sentimental. If so, you should definitely check out the latest from   Mr-Walrus , a story titled Cope and commissioned by yours truly!

It's an expansion to another story (heh) they wrote a while back, The Facts of Life For Fredric K. Samuels. It kinda spoils that one, so if you haven't read it, maybe start there first. Major themes are normal folks in a regular world that's dealing with sudden hyper outbreaks. If that sounds like it's up your alleyway, check it out! And if you haven't give Mr-Walrus a follow as well, they do fantastic hyper stories and the occasional picture too, very talented artist.

Firstly, if you're interested in my particular brand of excess and massiveness, you owe it to yourself to check out   Mr-Walrus and their library of exotic and fantastic erotica. Its latest entry is a joint venture between myself and   Cupricfox about what happens when you bite off more than you can chew. Check it out here!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/32756165/

Hey everybody! So my MMO addiction flared up again, and I started playing Maplestory2. But I want to have a ton more furry friends online, so if you play on NA East, add either Russano or Aureia to your friends lists!

  dissidentlove has just launched a Patreon, and you all should know about this.

Why should I care, you may ask? You may see dozens of folks asking for your hard-earned dollarydoos every time you open your journals. What makes this one special?

Well first, Dissident Love is an extremely talented writer and creator. Now yes, the works they produce are usually pornographic in nature. They often feature herms, hyper furs, growth, and other kinks related to bigness and size. In my experience, the ratio of literary to visual artists in such fields is very biased towards visual arts, so I think supporting those creators that write great stories is even more valuable. Hey, we've all got our fetishes, so if that's your thing, you really owe it to yourself to support them.

If so, what makes Dissident Love stand out from the crowd? For me, it's the added emotional aspects. There's plenty of wank material out there that does the job, but is fairly bland overall. Hot, but not fulfilling. But Dissident's stories are more than that - they're about emotional struggles, about self-discovery, about finding meaning within and outside yourself. Very few writers can consistently deliver on those things, and fewer still can do so while still delivering on quality written erotica. Dissident Love is of that rare breed. These are stories that both makes your heart sing and your loins throb without either suffering for it.

So between the under-represented genre and the quality of the output, Dissident Love richly deserves your support. If you haven't read their works, do so: Br'er Rabbits is a great standalone piece, to give you a sample of their work. They have longer-running series too, such as Amber's 69 First Dates, which explores growing up as an outsider, trying to find love and self-acceptance in a world that you don't quite fit into. If you like what you see, you owe it to your self to contribute to future projects like these.

As to the Patreon itself, it's very reasonable - $2 a month gives you access to all Patron posts, which is an absolute steal. The cameo tier is only $10, which is a bargain compared to other Patreons. Dissident Love is not asking for a lot, but you get far, far more than what you give in the process.

If you need more convincing, read Dissident Love's own journal about their goals and processes for the Patreon, or check it out directly yourself at www.patreon.com/dissidentlove. If you find words touch you in ways images don't, if you want stories about sexy creature doing sexy things, or if you want a richer reading experience, then your support will go a long way towards giving you precisely what you want.

Where are you staying?
The main event itself!

What day are you getting there?
Friday Morning, as early as I can manage.

How are you traveling?
Drivin' on south in my car.

Who will you be rooming with?
As of this moment, no one. But hey, if you know someone who needs roomage on Friday & Saturday night, lemme know!

What is the best way to find you?
Definitely @AureiaHoss on Twitter!

Are there any panels you might be attending?
Mostly the storywriting panels over the weekend. Wonder how many attendees those are going to have. :P

What do you look like?
Dark brown hair, blue eyes, big heavy nerd build. I know that narrows it down basically none.

Will you be suiting?
Definitely not.

Do you do free art?
Want some stick figures? Then sure!

Do you do trades?
If you're up for it, but you're probably not going to get a good deal.

Do you do badges?
Second verse, same as the first.

What is your gender?
♂

How tall are you?
5'7".

Can I talk to you?
Sure! Just introduce yourself first.

Can I touch you?
Unless I know you beforehand, I'd appreciate it if you didn't.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
A little bit louder, a little bit worse

Can I visit your room?
I'm probably not going to do much there except sleep, so there's not a super big reason to, I feel.

Can I buy you a drink?
Most def! What's on the menu?

Do you accept gifts?
Gifts freely given, sure!

Are you nice?
I try to be!

Do you have an artist table?
Nah, strictly an attendee.

Will you be going to parties?
An open event maybe - my plans aren't fully nailed down right now.

Will you be performing?
Nope, purely a spectator.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Something like, "Yo, Aureia/Russ! It's <X>!"

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
Slumming it in the Artist's Alley or the Game Room in between panels.

What/where will you be eating?
No clue yet, but I am packing down snacks just in case!

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
I don't have a hookup - hell, I'll probably be following others around.

Can I look in your sketchbook?
I should procure one first... >_>

Can I draw in your sketchbook?
Totally!

Can I take your picture?
I'd appreciate it if you didn't - I'd like to keep my online persona pretty separate from me for now.

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Have fun and don't go broke! :D

Regardless of the event, if it's with blood relatives, your family of choice, at a gathering with lots of others, or a quick message, make sure you show some love to the important people in your life this season.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Festive Saturnalia, Merry Festivus, Sacred Solstice, and many many more traditions from all around the world.

Hey folks. This is a quick update, since this is the place where many who don't already know will find it rather quickly.

I completed my degree back in May, so hooray for no more classes! Better still I just started a new job in my degree field as well. I count my lucky stars every night that I get to do what I'm actually trying to do as opposed to just whatever I have to in order to make ends meet.

The only drawback to this is that I had to move to "the big city" on rather short notice. It's a big life change right now, both in the adjusting to professional life, living somewhere very far removed from what I'm familiar with, and trying to start a new chapter in my life.

I know I'm not the easiest person to get a hold of for a conversation on a good day, but this is a major shake-up in my life and routine. I am looking forward to a time where things have settled down some and I can reconnect with people. When precisely that will be is still up in the air, but I hope it comes sooner than later.

Because I just discovered Small Town Brewery's Not Your Father's Root Beer. It's a spiced ale that uses the same flavors as root beer, and except for an undertaste of alcohol, tastes the exact same. I am an absolute fiend for root beer, so now there's a beer I can enjoy almost any time. There's now four six-packs of the stuff in my refrigerator.

If you like root beer at all, try and track this stuff down. It's mindblowing just how good it is.

Regardless of what you celebrate, make sure you do it with the ones who matter the most. Show 'em you care.

So I just got Pokemon Y, and am loving the tar out of it. Feel free to add me to your friend lists and such!

My friend code is 2466-2059-8187 and my Friend Safari has Dendenne, Mawile, and Clefairy in it.

I dunno what I'm supposed to feel about having a Fairy-type safari. I'd much prefer to have, like, Ice or Psychic...

I do job. Not perfect, but I do job. After scans, no contraband slip through my point. Didn't let Ezio through. Refused Ezio money as well.

But when Inspector come to talk about Ezio, and I give them evidence, I get arrested. What has come of Arztoska when patriot cannot do their job? Wrong! Very, very wrong.

So, due to some problems at home, I've lost internet access there. This means I'm going to be on messengers and F-List a lot less.

I'll still get e-mails and other messages, so if you want, you can send me those. But in case any one wonders why I've gone radio silent, this is why.

There's talk of having it restored in the near future, but no definite date or anything like that. Just whenever it happens. I hope it's soon, but who knows.

Hope to talk to you all again soon. Russano out.

Kion is undertaking a rather ambitious project: he wants to remake the ending theme to Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Super Sentai Hero Getter, with furries. That's nearly 200 characters remade into furs.

If you want to contribute your character to the effort, check his journal here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3934998/ There you can request a specific Sentai warrior, give Kion a character reference, and then share the link with others so that it spreads. He needs a loooooooot of peeps to make this happen, so let's lend him a hand, shall we? Plus, free art!

To see what he's recreating, look below:

So it's been a month or so since I let people know how things are going on my end. Things have changed significantly since I made that post, so in the interests of being a good citizen, I figure I should give those who care an update.

A friend of mine is letting me use his ~3 year old laptop pretty much indefinitely; he upgraded from it quite some time ago, and really has no intention of using this again. It's better than my old Macbook, so it'll probably be my primary computer for a while. I'm still going to get the old one fixed, since the repair place I took it to already did all the work and I want to support them. They're good guys. So I'm just as available now as I was a month ago, for what it's worth. At least through IM/Notes/Emails/etc.

The second big change is that I am finally an employed badger. A burger bar and grill called Juicy Lucy's (named after the type of hamburger) is opening soon, and they've taken me on hopefully full-time. At least, that's what I gave my desired hours and availability as. It's not the most lucrative nor prestigious job, but it's a hell of a lot better than sitting around the house not earning anything.

The wages from my job will probably be prioritized as follows: 1) Getting broken stuff fixed. Laptop and car, mostly. 2) Helping out financially around my uncle's and grandpa's house. My uncle says he doesn't need all that much, but some help paying the bills would make his life a little easier. The final thing is 3) saving up so that I can move out. As thankful as I am to my uncle, he doesn't create a healthy environment for me to live in, I feel. It's not intentional on his part; he and I just don't get along. Lord knows when I'll be able to afford a first & last, not to mention what my salary will allow for rent, but I'll burn that bridge when I get there. Honestly, living with four other guys in a shared bungalow on the cheap side of town sounds like a hell of a step up from where I am now.

So that's the pertinent information about how badger life is going at the moment. Hope things are going great for you all as well! Stay awesome.

My laptop broke recently. My uncle's skittish new cat knocked it off of my bed and killed the backlight in the screen, meaning that basically everything above the hinges will get replaced once I pay it off.

Being an unemployed badger, though, it's difficult to tell when that will be. I've worked out an agreement with the repair shop to pay $70 a month starting whenever I can manage to pay in July. That means with minimum payments, I'd get it back sometime in October. Like hell I'm going to make the minimum payments on something that important, but without any kind of income, I can't budget anything at all, much less that payment.

So as of this moment, I'm not going to be as active on the interwebs as I have been before. Given how much I tend to lurk, this may not seem like much of a difference to an outside observer, but for those who do care, I wanted them to be aware. I have access to the aformentioned uncle's computer while he's at work, so I can check emails and hold conversations until his shift ends at around 3:30 or so.

I'm also looking for a job. Ideally, it'd be one that would allow me to move away from my uncle, but just having a cash influx is worth it at this point. I've come to realize over the last few months or so that my uncle isn't the best person to be around for the sake of my mental health. He's not abusive, and I'm thankful to him for letting me eat his food and sleep under his roof, but his issues with anger and resentment put stress on anxieties and fears of mine. Hell, just informing him that I was going to look for a new job, and thus would be unavailable to watch his kids pissed him off, meaning that I nearly broke down when he acted like an asshole to me in response. I don't want to make him seem like a bad guy, and I don't have any problems helping him out with his kids or around the house or whatever, but if I'm going to deal with my problems, I don't need the additional stresses that he generates.

So yes. If someone who reads this profile wants to get ahold of me, either note me here on Furaffinity or through the contact methods that you are familiar with. I may not get them instantaneously, like I did before, but I'll do my best to keep up with peeps as I can. Wish me luck, everyone; I'm probably going to need it.

It seemed like today was never going to come, didn't it? I know we've all been looking forward to it, and now it's upon us. All of the waiting, planning, cursing, vexing, and wishing has finally paid off. Today is the day that you just hold your breath, close your eyes, and jump in.

So get out there with the one you're closest to, and get ready to blow the faces off of cyber-zombies and save the Earth from the massive robotic intelligences that threaten all life in the galaxy.

... wait, what did you think I was talking about? The Mass Effect 3 demo hits today!

1) What was your FIRST video game console?

*Rocked the N64! The nineties, whoo!

2) Name a few games you played on said console.

*Banjo-Kazooie & Tooie, Quest 64, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron...

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

*PS2 (currently slightly borked), Xbox 360, Wii.

4) Were you a Street Fighter nut? Any character in particular?

*Not really. I was more of a Tekken / Soul Calibur sorta guy.

5) Do you think Capcom is a FUCKING awesome company?

*Not particularly. They've made so many decisions that have pissed people off. Canceling Megaman: Legends 3 might as well be a crime against humanity.

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?

*I probably wouldn't even have noticed their greasy paws, so to speak. Hell, I've done just as bad to my own controllers.

7) What's your favorite RPG/Action RPG? I will allow a second and third fave if you insist.

1. Mass Effect 1 & 2 (My current obsession)
2. The Grandia Series (Probably the reason I love RPGs to this day)
3. Persona 4 (Do I even frikkin' need to say anything?)

8) Do you prefer 2D games or 3D games?

*Why can't we have both?

9) Are you an SNK fan?

* I couldn't even name one of their games.

9) Are you good at DDR?

*Bloody fuck no. Goes against the way I move my body.

10) Who wants to kick that dog's ass from Duck Hunt?

*Probably everyone who played the game and didn't know the trick to killing him.

11) Have you skipped out on important events in life because of video games?

*Curse you, World of Warcraft!

12) Do you listen to video game music?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARy0ISY8kJQ

13) Have you ever cosplayed a VG character?

*Went as Luigi and Link for Halloween. Does that count?

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??

*Usually it was the older guys who had been playing since the 80s that would stomp me.

15) Name three games you would love to see remakes of if it was done properly.

Dragon Warrior Monsters, Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer, The Oracles Series in Legend of Zelda.

16) Mario or Sonic?

*Mario all the way. The Paper Mario series rocked face!

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?

*The only tie-in game that I played was the Iron Man game. I'm an Iron Man fanboy, and while it did something moderately interesting, not to the degree that I'd hope.

18) What is your LEAST favorite genre of video games? (ex. fighting, sports, shooters, etc.)

*Sports games; never had any interest them with or without a controller in my hand. Loved Blitzball in FFX, though; dunno what that says.

19) Is there a game out there that you feel was unique and didn't get enough love?

*Trenched on XBLA. DoubleFine deserves all the money in the world, and it's a unique take on tower defense and third-person shooters.

20) Have you ever verbally abused a game because you couldn't beat one of the levels and/or bosses?

*I did while filling out this meme!

21) Do you own any VG apparel?

*I proudly wear my Majora's Mask t-shirt.

22) What are your thoughts on the live-action Super Mario Bros movie?

*Never seen it. Heard it was whiskey tango foxtrot, though.

23) On that note, what did you think about the live-action Street Fighter?

*Never saw either of 'em. OF COURSE!

24) Who's hottest out of the KOF chicks?

*Who what in the where?

25) Do you say "old-school" a lot when you're having a VG conversation?

*If it's a conversation about older games, then probably so. It's not something I talk about 24/7, though.

26) Have you ever lent someone a game and they returned it to you damaged?

*Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

27) Do you own any imported games?

*Not really an importer. Had a ROM of the N64 Animal Crossing game once, but it was untranslated, and I can't read moon runes.

28) Are you ready for this meme to be over, or could you keep going?

*There's two more bloody questions! If this were ten questions earlier, then it'd be worth answering. Were you so desperate for content you couldn't think of anything else?

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.)

*An N7 logo over my heart would be bitchin'. I'm a hairy-chested motherfucker, though.

30) Have you ever cried after you beat a game? If so why?

*The first time I beat Elite Beat Agents, I bawled out of a mix of happiness and sorrow. The sorrow coming from the infamous even-more-tear-inducing Christmas level.

All right, it's been three days and about 75% of the moving has been completed. Wi-fi is functional, clothes have been put into the newly-installed dresser, a sewing machine table has been re-purposed to be a TV/console stand, and the mattress is drying in the sun due to improper storage conditions. I still need to unpack kitchen supplies, but that's a sorta low priority right now; maybe having them in the room with me, staring at me might motivate me to unpack them.

I'm still looking for good paying work here, though in the meantime I'm passing the time by helping out around the house in between job applications. Cooking, helping with cleaning, what have you. The house does look a little better, but when one resident is practically an invalid due to pain and another is a four-year-old girl, then things tend to accumulate quickly.

So yeah, still just puttering around here, slowly moving towards some objective, except now, I can bust out some 360 or Wii gamage when I get bored. Talk with you all soon!

Tomorrow, I move out of my childhood home and into the great big scary world out there. Between the chaos and the effort of moving, I will be hard to get a hold of online. Well, harder than usual, anyway. I'm having issues setting up wi-fi in the new place, for one. Also, the 360 is packed up, so I won't be on Live either.

If you see me online, then feel free to message me, and I'll still try to check FA once in a while. Hopefully I can get installed in a place soon and can be a bit more active, but there's no real time frame on that yet.

Thanks mucho for those who took the time to read all this, and I hope that I can talk to you crazy people sometime in the near future.

Because if this is a thing that exists, then I need to play it.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vid.....e-Announcement

So apparently a game came out for XBLA called "Section 8: Prejudice." You can read more about it here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art.....ejudice-Review , but basically, it's all the gameplay and quality you'd expect from a brand-new mega-hyped $60 game on a disk, but is a quarter of that price and a download.

This game seems like a hell of a lot of fun. A lot of the stuff discussed is right up my alley (focus on achieving group objectives as opposed to racking up kill streaks, mechanics and methods from the campaign mode being equivalent to multiplayer strategies, etc), and the multiplayer is a big element of the game.

So, if I was to get this, would anyone else who pays attention to me want to play?

I, Russano Greenstripe, being of sound mind and firm belief, must make an announcement.

I am a brony. And a member of Team Gurren Lagann.

That is all.

Some of you may or may not know this, but I'm a huge nerd for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I played the demo game of it when it was new at Best Buy when I was just a tot. MM was the first video game that I remember playing and liking, and it's what got me into video games, programming, and a whole host of nerdy things. Suffice it to say, my life would be drastically different if I had never found it.

Well, I decided to go and run through it one more time for nostalgia's sake. I have it on my Wii's Virtual Console, so I can play it whenever I like. For those of you who haven't played it, there's a pick-up you can get out of a tree in the hub city; you have to climb a little kid's play castle in order to jump into the tree and get it. There's a slide on one side, and a set of blocks on the other side of this play castle. That slide is a bitch to go up, as you may imagine; the way I used to do it was use a transformation you get about mid-way through the game to roll up the slide. Today, I found out that you actually don't have to go up that slide, and can actually jump on the blocks up to the pick-up.

I reiterate: I've played this game for almost 10 years now. I've beaten it more times than I can count. I've got the whole game memorized at this point. I could beat the game in my sleep! I know how to get (nearly) every piece of heart, every mask, and beat every boss. Having missed such an obvious answer to an easy puzzle in my favorite game, the one I've beaten the most times, is... frankly, disheartening. I feel like the biggest fool on the planet. It's like if you had spent a good portion for life without realizing that your stick-shift car had a fifth gear right after fourth, to make highway driving easier.

This is probably a silly thing to get flustered over, but I am shocked beyond words at just how blind I must have been to miss that simple method.

http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/.....r/facepalm.jpg

Now I understand why social media exists: to spread awesome stuff like this around.

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/po.....mash-brothers/

Imagine a pond, quiet and tranquil. The surface of the pond is smooth as glass, and reflects the moon on clear nights. Beneath the mirror, however, is stagnation: the slime of beasts and eggs of insects collect in the still water, polluting it with foreign contaminants. Thick muck has collected at bottom, and refuses to let go of what its settled upon. When this placid tableaux is disturbed, then the pond and the image have no recourse: they shudder and reel from the disturbance, distorting the facade and thrashing chaotically until calm is restored.

Imagine a stream, fast and cool. The water churns and writhes upon the rocks, frothing white before flowing on. Errant leaves are swept up in the current, powerless against the forces that drag and pull it along the way. Fast fish dart amongst the stones, going with the flow when it's useful and swimming against when its needs conflict with the current. And yet, the river always flows one way, across the same stones and into the same seas while never straying from its banks. As time goes on, the stream will cut deep, then wide, and become a river, but continue to wash clear.

Imagine a flood, merciless and powerful. Some ancient construct has been destroyed, and now unstoppable forces cut a swath of devastation. The water is brown with mud as it tears across the countryside, caring not if tree, stone, man, beast, or building is swept away. No force can prevent it from doing what it wants to do. But once its energy is spent, it's gone. The devastation and destruction remain, but its causes have since vanished. What was there may never come back, or might grow back next season, but it won't be the same thing that was washed away in the deluge.