Figure I might as well...


How do you want to be addressed?
Ryan, Fox... some people call me "Foxy"... honestly, I'm not too picky =p

Gender?
*looks down* It appears I'm a man.

Age?
29

What do you look like?
Somewhat average height, short, dark brown hair, a little chunk'd up... you'll more or less be able to identify me for wearing gaming T-shirts... I have so many gaming T-shirts... I might also have a silly hat that kinna looks like my fursona. Last year, it sat on my backpack (kinna hot to wear it in the summer) =p

Where/how can I find you?
On Friday, I'll be a part of the Artist's Alley, trying to sell some swag and such. The rest of the time, I'll be all over (mainly with Derr, Sier and teh Droo).

How are you getting there?
Driving (first time doing the driving myself... kinna nervous)

What hotel are you staying at?
Westin - fighting elevator nazis at every turn

Which days will you be attending?
All of them. (Thursday - Sunday)

Do you do requests?
The chances are kinna low... especially in AA...

Do you do trades?
The odds are better than requests... though it depends on my AA work load.

Do you do commissions?
Very yes. Like I said, I've got an AA table on Friday.

Will you have prints, CDs, or merchandise?
I'll be selling commissions and badges... that's about it.

Will you have Art in the Art Show?
Not this time (maybe next time...)

Who will you be with?
 Derranged - My girlfriend
 Androo - The "talent" XD
 Sierra - The late-arriver

What is your main purpose for attending?
Having a good time (don't wanna stop at aaalllll...)

Can I talk to you?
Feel free ^-^

Can I take pictures with you?
Sure, but ask first, ok?

Can I touch/hug/cuddle you?
Uuuuuuhhhhmmm... better ask first...

Can I hang out with you?
Can't see why not.

Do you go to parties?
Not really...

Do you fursuit/costume?
No, not really interested... though I might have on a silly hat...

What is the best way to reach you?
Find me at AA on Friday or at the Zoo occasionally.

Anything else?
Can't think of any...

Hey, all!

For the first time, I am opening up commissions online. For the time being, they are simply going to be badge commissions for this year's Anthrocon (which I am currently attending). This year's theme:

Webbed Up
The idea is relatively simple - if any of you have watched me for any length of time, you'll know I have a black widow spider character ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4192794/ ). The idea came to me to do badges this year where characters will be wrapped up and hung in webbing cocoons. The character and cocoon will be drawn (any angle), so long as their head is showing, while the "webbing" used to hang the cocoons will be silvery-white string. All badges will be done on thin bristol and coloured with Prismacolor markers.

Here is a sample of the badges (without lamination or string): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7976116/

Pricing:
Currently, prices are $10 for a webbed up badge. This includes the badge, which will be secured to a string. If you order a badge from me before Anthrocon, your badge will also be laminated. I will not have a laminator at AC, so I cannot offer this service on-site.

Payment:
Simply contact me via comment or note and I'll note you over specifics.

Pick-up Info:
Badges can be picked up on Friday in the Artists Alley (under the assumption I get a table that day). If in the off chance I am unavailable in the Artist's Alley (IE: I wasn't able to get a space), I will contact you with an alternative (more than likely the Zoo during a time period). If you prefer getting the badge ahead of time, we can negotiate it and it can be mailed (though pricing may require adjustment to accomodate shipping).


---


If you like my badges... and are looking for more before AC...
Check out these two artists - both are selling badges at AC as well (and we'll all be together)
 Derranged
 Sierra

Hey, guys!

Any fans of Phantasy Star Online? If so, you probably know by now that Phantasy Star Online 2 is in devellopment and is being launched in Japan this summer (hopefully to be released by the end of the year here). Other information you may or may not know:

-The game will be free to play with an internal Cash Shop
-The game runs on PC and Playstation Vita through the same servers (both platforms work seemlessly)
-Android and iOS can play a "mini" version (that lets you manage equipment and do small, single-player runs)

There's a lot more out there, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Like I said in the title, a Character Creator demo has been released to the public yesterday. It's entirely in Japanese, but the interface isn't too hard to figure out.

If you want to check out the demo, download it here:
http://download.pso2.jp/PSO2_CC.zip

It may take a little time to download and it will be a little choppy on older computers, but you should be okay.

The simulator is pretty fun... your body and facial features are surprisngly customizable. There is a lot to do with it... so enjoy! ^-^d

Just wanted to update my journal and wish everyone a happy holiday season!

There. Done. Cya! XD

If you see anyone walking around in a "V for Vendetta" mask today, don't immediately assume Anonymous is running around. Remember the true meaning behind those masks and what today stands for...

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !

A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol'Pope is dead.


Happy Guy Faulkes day, everyone!

Hey all...

...just decided that, with all the BS going on this week (and it's only Wednesday), I thought I'd do a journal to vent it out a little.

So, Sunday night was already starting pretty sour for me - my parents had attempted to "fix" our home internet connection and in doing so completely bricked it. That meant that we'd have a tech in during the day Monday to fix it... of course, as I work nights, this means I'd either be woken up during the work or woken up ahead of time if I'm the only one home (more on that later).

So, working Sunday overnight, when at about 5am, some rather distraught women come to the store looking for my manager. They had delivered the unfortunate news that our assistant manager (who's younger than I am, I might add) had passed away during the night. Obviously, I was shocked and called up the manager and regional manager to relay the bad news.

Clearly this is the worst of the story, but things always tend to pile up to compound things.

So after work, feeling kinna numbed to the whole "your co-worker died" situation, I went to sleep... only to wake up 4 hours later to be the watchdog for the tech working on the internet connection (as I would be the only one home). And, to make things oh so much fun, a routine 10 minute job ended up taking 2 hours. I finally was able to get some sleep after, but in the end, I didn't get all that much more and went to work that night tired.

Tuesday I saw  Derranged and  Sierra, though I was a bit sleepy from (again) not getting too much sleep. I went to work last night... pretty effin' tired. When I get to work, I get the fun job of cleaning up the messes of my co-workers (not gonna get into it), but fortunately some of the work couldn't be done, so I skipped it.

Then, around 5am again (seriously, what the heck?), I get a phone call from another co-worker (no, seriously... what... the... heck?). This guy managed (at another job he works at) to severely wang his head on a ladder and had to go to the hospital for stitches (and possibly a concussion). He asked me to relay to the manager what had happened and that he may not be able to cover the shift he'd be working today.

I should also add that we're already short-staffed from Sunday's tragedy... AND another co-worker (who I won't get into either... lazy prick) booking off the weekend.

So, I decide to not phone the manager and just wait for her to come to replace me (she works the next shift) to tell her, so I wait till 7am...

...by 7:10, I notice that the manager is... not in... nor did she phone to say she was going to be late. So, I call her cel phone, which immediately goes to voice mail. Annoyed, I phone her home, wake her mum up, who in turn... wakes HER up. Turns out, she was still asleep (alarm not going off, whatever) and, obviously, she'll be late.

So, here I am... pretty much exausted, worked overtime until about 7:45 (feels worse than it was, of course) and... yeah... only Wednesday. >.<'''

Also, being in Canada, this weekend is Thanksgiving for us... which I'll be missing due to work.

So, if I can sum up this week so far in one word... it'd be more like...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!1one2eleven


Okay... done ranting... bed time now. *thud*

Hey, everyone!

 Derranged is having a wee bit of financial issues and has decided to open commissions.

Trust me when I say that you definitely get your money's worth with her artwork - she is very good.

Now, she's only giving out lineart commissions at this time (inked, of course) and is trying to keep it clean for the time being (no pr0nz, sorry). Still, she can definitely do some great stuff... also, I can't say if she'll be open for negotiation or not. Feel free to ask if you really want.

Anyways, her journal is right here to explain everything, so please feel free to check it out:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2655870/

Yep! It's my birthday today! I always like letting people know, but in the end the day is pretty low-key around here.

So yeah... birthday. Already got my first present. My sis got me a stylized hatchet from a native reserve (since I tend to collect swords n knives off and on). It's really cool-looking. Perhaps I ought to take a pic sometime.

So yeah... 29 now. I never "feel" any older, really... who does? All I know is that another year's past and I get to celebrate it.

To anyone else (I know one or two of you are out there) who share this day with me, happy birthday as well!

Now if you'll excuse me, I just got off work and it's time to sleep. Cya!

Hey all!

Well... it's been more than long enough... been procrastinating on a lot of things, so I figure I might as well get the journal out of the way this week. Lots of things to cover, so let's get into it!

Anthrocon 2011
Day 1: Took the long, 6 hour drive with  Derranged and  Sierra to the Double Tree in Pittsburg. Ran dangerously low on gas at the end as well. They made us park at another garage about 2-3 blocks away... but heck, the price was cheaper. If only we didn't bring so much in the way of snacks... and buy even more later on... *facepalm* But hey, finally met up with our buddy  Androo and got caught up a little before crashing for the night.

Day 2: Friday... decidedly our "shopping day" at the con. Sierra blew what little cash she had that day and got a bit mopey about doing so (this happens more often than you'd believe =p). I looked around for certain artists and, not finding too much merch I was looking into buying, I decided to pick an artist for a commission. I eventually went with  Tsampikos to do a pic of my lizard girl Tira. Not too much else worth noting I suppose.

Day 3: The day the girls and I decided to go for Artist's Alley. We had prepared for this one and even gotten some business and a portfolio made for our tables. We all even got picked in the lottery and got set up in a row. Unfortunately, despite my price list being very cheap, I only made about 28 dollars, selling one pencil sketch, one inked sketch and one pencilled Artist Trading Card. Derr and Sier, naturally, made considerably more - closer to 200 bucks each. This pretty much gave me flashbacks of AC 2009, where I'd made a table and was almost completely ignored by everyone who walked by. Although I'm often told not to let it bother you, it can be very crushing as an artist to have people completely walk by you without even a glimpse, but at the same time stop by every person around you. I did not even make back the money I spent getting the business cards made.

Day 4: We all decided to do one more AA run... and if Saturday wasn't bad enough, Sunday sure as heck was. For the first couple of hours, I was completely blocked off by the artist on my left - people who kept coming to see her would crowd around her table and spill over to mine. Not only were they completely ignoring my table, but they were making it impossible for anyone to even see me. I was about ready to tell them all to get lost, but they dispersed eventually... not that it mattered. The rest of the time I sat there, I was ignored in full anyways. Sier and Derr made a few more commissions in the meantime. I did not stay the full remainder of the day Sunday - around 2:00, I just said "fuck it" and gave up. Derr, of course, tried to get me to stop thinking about art for the sake of recognition and shit like that, but I was depressed. Even though I've felt definite improvement in the past 2 years, I felt as if it was for nothing. I've been virtually ignored here and completely ignored at AC. Even if you do art for fun, you still would like to get the occasional thumbs up from a bystander... and hell, even when everyone else is getting them sitting at a table drawing, I still get left out. The one good thing to come out of Sunday is that Tsampikos dropped by my table with the finished commission. He felt bad that he "could have done better", but I reassured him that it was great and that he shouldn't beat himself up over it. I think it cheered him up.

Day 5: Monday... time to go home, but not before a grand trip to IHOP. What can I say... I loves me pancakes and we don't have IHOP where I live. So, we said goodbye to Droo for the time being, loaded up our car (with more stuff than we had before we left... snacks included) and took the 6 hour drive home.

Yep... that's just about it for me from AC. But wait... there's more!


Art and Watchers
Well, a few days after AC, I did end up getting a little "recognition" in the way of new watchers (guess those business cards helped after all =p). After years on the site, I finally hit the 100 watcher mark. Sure, it's not much, but it's triple-digits... so it did lift my spirits. I thought I'd do a commemorative picture for it, but I'm not sure yet.

As for art, I have a few projects in the works... a pic I drew and inked at AC in my spare time at the tables and another I doodled up at work. They're almost done, but I'm at a bit of an impass on what to do for backgrounds for them =p

Also, I've decided to update my character reference sheets yet again. I feel that I can do better on them and, on top of that, I have some ideas to change some things on some of the characters, so I figure, might as well do the whole set.


Life
What can I say? Life's got it's ups and downs.

On the upside, one of my oldest friends is back from being across the country in BC, military training and travelling through Europe (apparently), so I get to catch up with him. I've also been doing a lot with my other friends, including starting up a DnD-like game called "Anima" soon which sounds awesome. I've been playing a lot more video games lately, satisfying my inner gamer pretty nicely. I blew threw Saints Row 2 and then immediately bought inFamous 2 (which is awesome, by the way... highly reccomended).

On the downside, I've had a nasty cough ever since the first day of the AC trip... and it has not gone away to this day. Worse than that, I had a coughing fit that has almost completely trashed my voice (which makes work hard). I've finally went to the doctor's to see what's going on and have been put on a 10-day antibiotic regimen to hopefully get rid of the damned cough. Also, work has been really hectic with losing some employees and gaining others. My manager's even being replaced, making me one of the oldest and longest-working people there =p

Ah well... such is life.


Anyways, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll begin doing some uploading real soon. Until then, take care, y'all!

Hey all!

Just wanted to officially let you know that as of tomorrow morning (early), I'll be on the road to AC 2011. Here's the list of jokers I'll be staying with:

 Ryan-SilverFox Yours truely =p
 Derranged My lovely dwaggin' babe.
 Sierra My gal buddy
 Androo Our Pensylvannia correspondant of AWESOME (seriously, he's like, the freakin' pope)

Expect to see me in the Artist Alley at some point this year. I'll be attempting to get a lottery seat to do sketch/ink full-sized commissions or sketch, inked or coloured Artist Trading Cards. Drop on by even just to say hi!

Hey all!

Thought I'd take my rant down and update on some positive things.

First off, yep... the PSN is up (though the store is not). I found out on Saturday and updated at that time. They had me re-make my password (which is far better than the last one) and gave a big security update that took about 15 mins to install.

Either way, I'm just glad it's over. I don't play online that much, but I still pop on LBP2 often and check the PSN store for updates weekly for new stuff.

...and speaking of new stuff, one of the big games I'm playing lately (Blazblue: Continuum Shift) is getting a major update. Not only will there be the third and final DLC character available for purchase (Platinum the Trinity), but they are re-structuring characters and re-balancing them.

Despite being against fighting game "tiers", when I heard that my main character (Jin Kisaragi) was being moved to the top of the pile alongside Noel Vermillion, Hazama and Makoto (all of whom are characters my friends also main), I was very excited. It's mainly because this means there are major improvements to these characters that I can't wait to see. My Jin will become stronger... but my friend's Noel will too unfortunately (I say unfortunately, because my friend is already nearly unstoppable with Noel without being boosted).

Either way, I plan on building on what I know with Jin and making him a force to be reckoned with.

Finally, there's Anthrocon. Everyone's beginning to gear up for it (which will be in approximately 1 and a half months), so I thought I'd update anyone who's wondering (or cares to listen).

I am going... pretty much no matter what. There were three of us planning on taking the trip down to Pittsburg, two of which are drivers. The problem with this is that the other driver was not confirmed to be able to get the time off, meaning I'd have had to borrow my father's car (instead of driving my car, which I don't trust on the 6 hour drive).

Luckily, however, she has confirmed that she has the time booked off, so we'll be taking her car (though I of course may drive part of the way there and back to make things easier). This means we are all 100% confirmed for the convention. This is great, since the last time we tried to book off AC, we got royally screwed, leaving one of our buddies twisting in the wind. Well, we're not this time.

That's right,  Androo... we're all coming hell or high water!

 Ryan-SilverFox - confirmed
 Derranged - confirmed
 Sierra - confirmed
 Androo - thanks again for doing the bookings =3

Also, Derr, Sier and I are planning on being in the Artist Alley for at least one of the days... so if you're looking for commissions or buying some sweet swag, try to find us there! I'll be happy to meet any of y'all there if you're going!

...does your ass hurt? Mine does.

Soooooo... election day has come and passed... the politicions can stop flinging shit at each other (I'm looking at you, Layton.), ballots have been cast and, for the first time in a long time, we have a majority leader...

...the same leader we fuckin' had before this entire stupid ordeal began.


Man, I remember when it all began... the few days leading up to the non-confidence vote that started this whole election landslide. The Conservatives were in the hot seat, being crapped on by both the Liberals and New Democratic Party (NDP)... and up to this point, sure... there were some good reasons to do so... the G24 summit (and how poorly it was treated) comes to mind. Now, we're pretty used to the somewhat childish nature of opposing parties attacking the guys in power, but this one took the cake.

The last chance the Tories had to prevent the vote of no-confidence was their new budget plan, which was being presented the day before the deadline of the VoNC. Essentially, if this budget plan passed by the other parties, there wouldn't be a vote. So, the plan was presented... which wasn't breathtaking, but wasn't bad either. Essentially, it was modest - getting money to who really needed it, while not taking money from pretty much anyone else (or anyone who'd be screwed if they did).

From the impression I got, it wouldn't have mattered if the plan was written on construction paper with black crayon. Both the Liberals and NDP pretty much put their thumbs in their ears and went "LALALALALALA... CAN'T HEAR YOU... NON-CONFIDENCE VOTE TOMORROW!", by that I mean they shut it down entirely.

So... instead of a weak, yet modest budget plan... we get an election... which, of course, taxpayers have to pay for... again...

...and all of this culminates into Stephen Harper's Conservative party winning by majority... the same people who were in power were decided by the perople to remain in power.


So, essentially, the election went almost completely nowhere and proved what I and most of Canada already knew... this election was needless bullshit from the start.


Now, I've never liked mudslinging in elections in the past (instead of throwing shit at your opponent, how about giving the people reasons why they should vote for you?)... and this is exactly why I absolutely lost my last nerve over NDP candidate Jack Layton. I don't remember many times he spoke about what he would do for Canada, but rather how he wanted to fuck Harper and take his job. Hell, the day before the election on national TV, he was trying to rally the people with a cheer of "Together, we will take down Stephen Harper" and the like.

I don't particularily like Harper much (hell, I don't like any of these dipshits), but I really hate it when politicians base much (if not all) of their campaign time attacking their opponents. All this showed me is that Layton was more concerned about winning the big chair than the Canadian people...

...hell, if he even considered this, he would have called off the non-confidence vote beforehand. A poll taken before the budget plan was presented said that if Canada went into election, most people would have voted Conservative anyways, essentially dooming the election's chances at all.

Heck, this poll even predicted the chance of a majority election for the Tories... which is EXACTLY what happened!


Two things came out of this election... one is that Layton got the NDP promoted to official opposition instead of the Liberals (which is kind of impressive, since the NDP has always fallen far behind in the polls behind the Liberals and Conservatives). The other thing is that, because the Conservatives won by majority, the other parties are unable to do another vote of no-confidence and put us into another unecissary election (honestly, we've had 5 now in 7 years... which is well over the norm).


So yeah... this election did nothing more than rape the Canadian taxpayers in the wallet... so... does anyone else's ass hurt?

Hey, watchers!

Just wanted to wish y'all a happy V-Day.

Sorry, no flash cards this year - I've been REALLY busy as of late with work... so yeah =p

In other news, however, I may begin uploading more frequently as of late this month. I'm not sure 100%, but if things go well, you may see at least one pic a week... maybe as much as 3 or more.

Anyways, enjoy your V-Day Monday and take care, everyone =3

I really like this idea... basicly it's to spread the word about artists throughout the community =3

Taken from  dogslug

The first 10 people who comment on this journal will be featured here, along with three deviations/pieces/artworks chosen from their gallery by myself.

If you answer, you'll have to do the same in your journal, putting me on the first place, completing the list with 9 other people. The idea of this is not to get a free feature, it is to spread art around for everyone.

(ALSO, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY HAVE ART, EITHER DONE BY YOU OR COMMISSIONED IN YOUR GALLERY)

1)  dogslug
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5054213/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4471692/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1677950/

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Hey, friends and watchers!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2011 and I hope you all have a great one.

Me? I'm going to bed. Yep, missing the countdown this year... gotta be up at 6am to work. Yeah, I miss doing the entire get-together me and my friends were taking part in (though I was able to do a bit... won a Brawl tournament in a surprise upset), but I gotta work in the morning at 6am.

It sounds crappy, but I'm hoping that it means that everyone is too hungover and lazy tomorrow to want to go out anywhere until the afternoon at least (and might make my day quieter).

Still, I don't mind.

Anyways, have a great new year, everyone!

Some little girl my mum babysat on our street used to say it and it began to go viral among our street a few years back... so... merry ho-ho XD

Merry Christmas to all and I gotta work today.

No, serious... gotta work.

No worries, though. I hadn't planned anything anyways and the extra money is always sweet.

Still, happy holidays to you all and I'll cya 'round!

So, I logged onto FA today and saw a thumbnail of a picture that interested me. As I often do, I clicked on it to see if the art belongs to someone I already know and watch or if it's a new artist to potentially press the + button...

...well, when I opened the image, I immediately began to notice something... familliar. So I went to look for the artist's page... and sure enough, at least two images in the 4 that had been uploaded on this new-to-FA user's pages are traces with edits made to show their characters instead of the ones orignally depicted.

The real problem stems from this user completely defending themselves and denying that they traced anything! To their own testimony, they used the original pictures as "reference" and that they were "damn near the original". When accused of tracing, they said they don't even own a scanner (which further adds to the problems... how do they get their art onto the computer?).

Where is the line between using somone else's art for reference and outright tracing and editing the artwork anyways? I'm sure other people would look at other artists for insipration and even posework and anatomy... but normally, does that not often mean they should credit the source at least?

Either way, the user in question is found here:
 daiziee

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Hulloa boys, Hulloa boys, let the bells ring.
Hulloa boys, hulloa boys, God save the King!

I'm surprised so many people forgot about today. I expected to see more journals. =p

Well, my birthday's done. Had it's ups and downs. Thanks for all who left birthday wishes and presents (all 3 of you =p). You definitely brightened up my day a bit =3

Now back to work today... >.<'''

Friday the 13th... not just a symbol of bad luck. Gotta go into work on the busiest day of the week during the busiest shift of the week and I gotta go in an hour early. Yay! *facepalm*

Hooray! I'm 28 today!

Wait... is that something to be proud of?

Whatever. It's my birthday! LOVE AND ADORE ME! XD

Hooray! I'm 28 today!

Wait... is that something to be proud of?

Whatever. It's my birthday! LOVE AND ADORE ME! XD

Hey all!

Well, it's August again... time for the maddness... lessee...

Saturday was  derranged's birthday (yes, it wasn't August yet... but just it helps add on to the madness. Sunday was my sister's birthday. I work on alternating days this week (today, then Wednesday), then have 2 days off, then work the "hell shift" on the weekend (that's a 3pm-11pm shift, followed by a 7am-3pm shift the following day). The crappiest thing about that is my oldest friend, who rarely ever gets to come back to town (he's training for the Canadian Armed Forces) has his birthday on that Saturday... and he is coming into town to celebrate (which I'll have to miss).

And then, of course, the 12th is MY birthday (take note, friends and well-wishers ^_~), but is also the birthday of another friend of mine (COINCIDENCE!), so I need to think of something to send to her...

...and make sure it gets there before the 14th, which is when she and  Krowy, another friend of mine, are moving back to their dorms for the next school year (and I have a few things I need to send down to Krowy anyways, so it works out XD).

Then, I get a couple of weeks of nothing to worry about (other than work) before BAM! Convention! A few my friends and I go to this one every year on the weekend of the 28th (we go on Sunday to hunt for swag). Heck, even my one good friend went last year on a sprained ankle he wore one of those shoe harnasses for! It's a hybrid convention of comics, anime, video games, sci-fi, horror... it's nerd heaven! Especially since people like Stan Lee and Summer Glau (from Firefly) are going to be there... not that I go to meet celebs. I... just hope that Major League of Gaming (MLG) thing isn't going to be there again this year... they dedicate more room than they need to for MLG... moreso than concession stands (think about a space required having over 1,000 people try to find seating to eat in an area barely big enough for 200 people...) which I think is pathetic... moreso than the farce of MLG and their "pro gamers" (Halo-tards and 360 fanboys who's only difference from mainstream gamers is that they get paid).

And then, August is over... =p

Time to get equipped with... Patience Shield!

Yoinked from  Necrodrone13


[ ] you meow/bark to get attention
[ ] you find pets toys amusing
[ ] you get hyper by the smell of catnip
[x] you growl/hiss when someone gets too close to your food (only as a joke)
[ ] you growl/hiss when someone you dislike is too close to you
[x] you purr/shake your leg when someone shows you affection (again, only as a joke)
[ ] if someone tosses a ball, you chase it and brings it back
Total: 2

[ ] you love to be scratched behind the ear
[x] you love fish/meat (why does that make me a furry?)
[ ] you like to stick your head out trough the window of a moving car
[x] you like when people pet your head (actually, that can feel pretty good =p)
[ ] people can make you stop doing stuff by hitting you on the nose with a newspaper
[ ] you think feathers are fun to play with
Total: 2

[ ] you sleep a lot during daytime
[ ] you enjoy scaring birds
[ ] you lick peoples faces to show you like them
[ ] you bite people if they annoy you
[ ] you tend to steal food from your friends/family's plate when you have eaten all of yours
[ ] milk or water is your favorite drink
Total: 0

[ ] you own a collar and you enjoy wearing it
[ ] you own a leash and enjoy wearing it
[ ] you own animal ears/tail/paws or a fursuit (my friend Kate gave me a 'fox' plush hat... but I don't count that)
[ ] you enjoy long walks in the park (I used to go into the forest in the park near my house)
[ ] you meow/bark when you see something you want
Total: 0

[x] you call your hands and feet "paws" (as a joke... sometimes)
[ ] you tilt your head when you do not understand what someone is talking about
[ ] you run to the door when someone mentions a walk
[x] you really enjoy cuddling (who doesn't?!?)
[x] you stretch your body and whimper a bit every morning when you wake up (groan, but yeah)
[x] you can wake up and go back to sleep right away after looking around (I do that... alot)
Total: 4

[ ] you have your favorite spot besides your bed where you like to sleep
[ ] you meow or bark very often
[ ] you hide when you get scared
[ ] you run to the door to see who it is every time someone comes in to the house
[ ] you like to chase flying insects and try to catch them with your bare hand
[ ] you tend to chew on stuff a lot
[ ] you like to do tricks to get a treat
Total: 0

[x] you own a wearable item/tag with your name on it (haha... my keychain has my name on it)
[x] you refer to your self as an animal (only as a joke)
[x] your username has something to do with animals
[x] your e-mail has something to do with animals
[ ] if you get a bleeding wound, you lick it to make it feel better
[ ] you look for edible stuff often
Total: 4

[ ] you often find yourself looking trough the window for a long time
[ ] you like to say hi to strangers
[x] you like to be petted when you have done something good (or just for fun)
[ ] people think you act like a pet
[x] you growl/hiss at stuff you do not like (mainly as a joke... more of a dracula hiss)
[ ] you like to eat grass
[ ] if you get wet, you shake to get rid of the water
Final Total: 12


Now, take your score and multiply it with by two to get your final score.

24% furry I think... at least that's what the test implies. It's funny that most of the answers are done jokingly though... it'd probably be lower if I didn't do those things =p

Anyways, anyone who wants to do this feel free.

So, yeah... quick journal today... thought it was worth noting.

So, at around 1:30pm today, from central Ontario (around the Ottawa area) to a few places in the northern United States, there was a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.

And yeah... I live in this area, so I kinna felt it...

...not so much as other people in the area (my mom was a bit nuts about it all).

Some places apparently took some damage (I saw a highway bridge on the news somewhere collapsed partly), but for the most part, it was just a 5-10 second shake. Considering that I'm living about 50 miles away from a cement plant that detonates ground charges every day around 2pm or so (which shakes the area a bit more than the quake did), this really wasn't panic-worthy to me.

Anyways, if anyone else was in the vicinity of the earthquake (and was awake to realize it... *ahem*), feel free to discuss your reactions.

Been a while since I did one of these... and I got a real doozy...

Lately, I've picked up Demon's Souls, a 3rd-person action RPG that was made by From Software. Many people considered it the best RPG of 2009... does it stand up as such?

To put it bluntly... HELL yeah!

Lemme give you the basic story (all of which is given pretty much in the opening FMV for you). There is a kingdom (Boletaria) that has been going through hell lately. It was built over a resting place of an extremely powerful being... but now, that being is beginning to stir and it's causing a lot of problems. For one, a dense fog has envelloped the land around Boletaria and all who've gone out to explore it have vanished. As well, demons have begun appearing... pretty much doing what demons do. If a demon is killed, you gain it's soul, which can make you more powerful. Some people use this power for good, others grow mad off it's power and do what they can to get more, practicly becoming demons themselves.

One final brave soul has decided to brave the fog... but what is their true intentions? Are they here to save the world or plunge it further into chaos?

That, my friends, is up to you...

You play that "final brave soul"... and you choose what they look like. Seriously! Their entire facial structure is customizable, their skin, hair, eyes... customizable. You have a TON of potential here! You also have the choice of "classes" to begin as, each having some advantages to play style over the other builds, as well as different weapons to begin with. The beauty of this, however, is that you are not stuck at ALL with with what you can do. You CAN start out as a beefy barbarian, but while the game progresses, you can become a powerful magician. There are no limits to stat allocation in this game, nor is there a limit on what weapon each class can be. In a way, the opening "classes" are irrelevant. All that matters is your playstyle.

The game plays out of a centrala hub called the Nexus. This is where you go to choose the area to tackle next, to store items and most importantly, where you go to level up. Levelling up is not like other RPGs where killing monsters fills up an experience meter. No, instead, you collect the souls of your enemies and use them as a form of currency (seriously, folks... souls = money in this game). Talk to the "Black Maiden", and for certain amounts of souls, you can level up your stats. Be warned... as you level up, you need more souls to boost a stat.

Souls are also needed to make, upgrade or repair your weapons and armour at the blacksmith... though to upgrade things, you need materials you find from enemies. This, for the most part isn't too difficult to do, however.

Now, the storage NPC... he is VERY important. This game has some form of realism - you cannot carry everything you want and everything you carry has some weight to it (except souls, naturally). If your "item burden" gets too high, it becomes harder to dodge enemy attacks and so-on. This is where "Stockpile Thomas" comes in. He will hold onto almost anything you give him with no cost whatsoever... and he has an infinite storage capacity. This is good, because (unfortunately) there is no such thing as selling items.

There are 5 areas of Boletaria you can explore, each with about 3 or so sections you can venture to as you progress. At the end of each section is a boss - a demon with a rare soul that is commonly a difficult enemy to take down. It is not, I repeat NOT a good idea to go through each section of 1 area, then go to the next area and so on! First and foremost, you'll realize that you actually can't - after getting through section 2, you can't continue until you've killed more high-level demons in other areas... but more importantly, the difficulty pretty much is the same in all areas (section 1 is easier than section 2 in all areas... for the most part). Each area has a different theme and different enemies.

I have to warn you right now, ladies and gents... if you've heard about this game before, you probably would have heard one thing - this game is nut-bustingly hard! There are situations practicly set up for you to die if you don't pay attention and use some form of strategy to get through. Enemies try to ambush you, blow up TNT barrels with fire attacks when you get by... even high-level monsters (like dragons) try to nuke bridges when you attempt to cross (meaning you need to time your attempt and run like hell). Death is easy and you will die a lot. In fact, there is a tutorial stage at the beginning in the game where death is pretty much guarenteed at the end. This introduces you to the "Soul form" system this game has. When you die, you become a "soul". You can still fight as if nothing has happened... but your health bar has been cut in half. You are a bit stealthier, however. In order to get your body back, you need to kill a boss demon. If you die as a soul, you just pretty much die and come back as a soul as before with little concequence. Now, there is one other very large disadvantage to dying (as a human or soul). Any souls you were carrying at the time, you lose! Sounds like a real piss-off since you die so much in this game, but fear not! There is a way you can get them back! You need to return to the spot you died and touch a bloodstain that is glowing with souls. This is your bloodstain - indicating where you died. Touch it and all the souls you had when you died there return. But don't be hasty trying to get back there - if you die before reaching that bloodstain, that bloodstain (and it's souls) disappear forever, replaced by the bloodstain you just made in the location you just died at.

There is a lot more about this game that I could go into, but the rest is something you just have to see for yourself.

Score: 9.5/10 - MUST BUY!