Earlier today I got asked to do a horse character, which I am in the process of doing, though I had to stop the stream because vici and I had to drive up to Chicago for the night because tomorrow we go to the Ren Faire! I'll be back Saturday night, but most likely pretty late, so I won't get back to the commission until Sunday. Tentative plans are to stream around noon and try to get the rest if the coloring done, as well as anything else the commissioner wants done for the character.

So far it's an interesting color palette and I'll be working my best on it when I get back. I even left a couple notes on another layer to remind me to ask questions about possible ideas to toss around. But for now, I rest. It's going to be a big day tomorrow!

A few days ago, I posted a picture of the character I designed very quickly to practice my coloring skills . Now, I know I could maybe make a quick buck by selling it off or set up a quick auction for her, but would that really be the best thing? Should I just sell her? I mean, I have no attachment to her, but is it right to just sell her off?

Seriously, should I just sell her?

It honestly has been a while since I've tried to do a TMI Tuesday journal as they usually don't get any questions, but you can shoot me a question or a question at one of my characters ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13675073/ ).

Recently, I got the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds after hearing some good things from the Game Grumps (Barry did a Hot Pepper Gaming review and Arin/Egoraptor did a mention during his Sequelitis about Zelda) and other people. And it's amazing! Having only had it for about a week or so, it's a super fun game that is smooth and nostalgic. It looks like Link to the Past with upgraded graphics with the added puzzle mechanic of merging with the wall.

Now, as a kid, I didn't have a SNES so I never played any of the Zelda games until high school where I watched a friend play Ocarina of Time on N64. It was an awesome game, but I will admit that even the Wii and 3DS remakes have some touchy controls. I don't like the fact that I can't take off the reversed Z-axis (flight-style) controls while aiming, and what Arin says about the auto-targeting is true. Sure, by today's standards, Ocarina is a clunky game. But this...Link Between Worlds is just fun and slick. Hell, I'm almost to the point where I'm fighting the final boss, but I still have a whole dungeon and collecting all the Maiamais because I want to upgrade all my items and get the new spin attack. It's a fun adventure and it makes me feel good adventuring.

Once I'm done, I'll probably go back to playing Pokemon Y because I need to finish it. Hell, I only have one gym badge. It's sad. But, vici showed me a video yesterday that was a new preview of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Secret bases are back! Now, I didn't play through Gen III of Pokemon pretty much at all. I had the games, but it was just one of those things where my GBA was in storage for a long time. I did play Diamond and Platinum which had secret bases, and that shit was fun. The only thing that I wished with the more recent games was something similar to secret bases, but not necessarily the same thing. Like personalizing your room, like in the original Silver and Gold. Yeah, you could do that. Look it up. If they had done that in X and Y, which is totally what I thought you could do considering the empty shelf space, it would have made me feel nostalgic. But they didn't, and I guess secret bases is the trade-off. Honestly, I feel like with all the money you make from being an awesome Pokemon training, and the Champion, should net you the ability to get an apartment or house somewhere and then you can decorate it. But that's silly.

Enough about me harping on video games for a bit. Time to talk about something Vici and I talked about in the car last night. My birthday is coming up in less than a month and I'll be 30. Honestly, I'm not scared about being 30 as it's just a number. No, what I wanted to talk about was the sense of receiving things for my birthday. I'm sure my friends and watchers will give their well-wishes, and that's great. What I don't get is why artists and other members put up wishlists that they expect random strangers to buy them or expect free art from their artists friends. Nope, not this guy. If you want to do something for me, you don't have to. Most likely, if I get free art from someone, I'll send them a tip because they deserve something for their time. I'm not worth the 2-3 hours or however long you took to draw me a thing just as a birthday gift. I'm simply happy to get comments saying "happy birthday" or "go fuck yourself, old man" or something in between. The only people I'm expecting real gifts from are Vici and my relatives.

...

Okay, that's it.

vici and I are now officially registered as of a couple minutes ago. While I know vehliayn and kojikogel won't be able to show up, I'm sure we'll see a whole bunch of others. Midwest Furfest last year was our first furry convention ever, and we only went to Saturday and Sunday. This year, we plan on showing up for all three days, and even showing up Thursday so we can get our badges a bit early. If anyone else is going, we are totally up for hanging out or just meeting up.

The lead-up to MWFF is going to be interesting.

Vici and I are planning on making partials, as I believe I mentioned before. The initial start-up costs might look a bit bad as I don't have a job, but we can make it work. I've started to shop around for sewing machines on Amazon and, at Koji's recommendation, I'll probably get a Singer (probably the 4411). The next part after that will be getting finalizing the fursuit designs and getting swatches of fur to see what works the best for our characters. Then, I have to learn how to sew. From what I can tell, it won't be super hard. The hardest part will probably be the tails because of the hand-sewing done at the end.

Other than that, we also have to plan for the convention we're going to in February. Since we're trying to host panels along with Vici's brother, we actually have to do some hard work, though it shouldn't be really tough. Oh, expect links to a survey for Anime Feud later (no expected date).

vici and I went to the Miller Park Zoo, which isn't too far away from our apartment, for the morning. I'm really glad I brought my camera and telephoto lens because I got a lot of really good pictures. And we got to see the momma and baby otters getting fed! We also discovered that the zoo has three of my four OC species there: NA river otters, red pandas, and caribou. It's awesome!

Album of the best photos: http://imgur.com/a/5u7kr
Quick picture guide:
01-12 -- North American River Otters
13-16 -- Red Pandas
17-19 -- Snow Leopard
20 -- Bald Eagles
21 -- Red Tail Hawk
22 -- Kookaburra
23 -- Caribou
24-27 -- Birds

So, I just wanted to write down some more about Anthrocon because I did have a bunch of fun and there's a bit more to reflect upon. First, I'm glad vici and I stayed at the Omni. The lines for the elevators at the Westin looked crazy the couple times we walked by and we had usually no wait at our hotel. Also, the Omni was close enough to the convention center that we didn't have to worry about the shuttle at all. In fact, the one time we took the shuttle it took longer to get to the convention center than if we had walked.

Second, and relating to the previous point, I was a little surprised at the lack of free wifi in the Omni, but from a business standpoint, I can completely see where they are coming from. Most hotels aren't fully booked unless there is a special event going on, so the wifi isn't bogged down as much during normal operation. Then the furries, out-of-towners for the baseball game, a wedding, and numerous others descended. So it was a little nice not constantly jumping on the internet, watching YouTube or Netflix during the lulls or repeatedly checking my FA for updates. However, it would have made for the Ironclaw demo to go a bit more smoothly as I would have then had a spare copy of the main rulebook on my laptop.

Third, I love how much the area embraces Anthrocon. The only conventions that the locals really roll out the red carpet for in Chicago is...well, none of them. The local businesses know they are going to get extra cash, especially around McCormick Place (where the really big conventions are, like the Chicago Car Show) and the Stephens Convention Center (where Anime Central, Midwest Furfest, and numerous other conventions are held), the latter even having a shopping area closely located with lots of dining opportunities. Briefly talking about dining opportunities, it's been a while since I've been to a Giordano's, so I need to remedy that. I haven't seen any place show off a discounted price to convention-goers at the bowling alley near the Stephens Convention Center before, or any special deal at the Hofbräuhaus. Still, it's great that Pittsburgh has really embraced Anthrocon.

Fourth, the atmosphere was very similar to Midwest Furfest, though there were some things that were different. The dealer's den was much larger and spread out at Anthrocon, but I feel like the artist's alley was bigger at Midwest. Also, at Midwest, all areas around the escalators were strict no-standing zones and it was enforced, which is something that could have been a little better enforced at Anthrocon. Still, the general feel of everyone was, for the most part, the same. Everyone was friendly, courteous, and made me feel welcome.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the numbers of attendance. Midwest Furfest, which is stated to be the second largest furry convention, had an attendance of about 4000 people last year, which is respectable. Anthrocon had about 5600 last year. Vici and I were talking in the car about this as I had said that the numbers weren't very far apart, and if you look at many other conventions, I'm not wrong. PAX Prime 2011 recorded an attendance of over 70000 people, and Anime Central (the third largest anime convention in North America) in 2013 had over 28000 people in attendance. If you look at the stark difference between PAX and ACen, then the difference between Anthrocon and Midwest Furfest aren't very far apart, making the competition of "who is bigger" a little moot. Sure, there's bragging rights, but we also have to look at the fact that both cons take place in geographically different areas and therefor draw in groups from different regions. If anything, they both help represent that the furry fandom is growing and that it is becoming more vocal and public. Without large conventions, like Anthrocon, Midwest Furfest, Further Confusion, Furry Weekend Atlanta, and more, the fandom wouldn't be able to grow like it has.

Yup, I'm back home from Anthrocon, though I did get home with vici at about 11 PM, marking the end of our long 9 hour journey. We talked a bunch in the car ride about making partials, but plan on doing new characters for it. If we get them done, they will debut at Midwest Furfest in December and we might take them to Anime Crossroads next February.

Other highlights of the con:
- Met vehliayn and kojikogel and their friends MicroKero and SkySyke. They are an awesome bunch and I expect to see them at AC next year.
- I bought a prepose/YCH from blondevelvet that will be Oswald and Bonbon in a loving embrace. With clothes. It's cute. Stop judging me.
- Vici may have hinted at what she'll be getting me for my birthday, but I won't spoil the surprise for everyone. She might write a journal about it which I may need to ignore. *takes a quick peek*
- We got our non-furry roommate a kigurumi! His girlfriend had told him that she would love to see him in a dragon kigu, so we got him one at AC. We were originally thinking of getting one from lemonbrat but theirs are really expensive, whereas the guys from FursuitSupplies.com had some from Japan for much less. We got him a dragon like the Great Dragon from Dragonball.
- I bid on an awesome print that was on display in the art show and we won! The easiest way to describe it is "majestic galactic cock", but you have to see it. Vici posted a picture of me holding it and put it up on Facebook, but I've got my badges on at the same time. Whoops to all those who don't know that I'm a furry, because my Oswald badge is very visible in it. And we plan on having the print on display in our living room.
- The drive home was super easy. Almost no traffic the entire way. Vici took the first ~3 hours while I drove the rest, unlike when we drove to Pittsburgh where I took the first and last ~3 hours and Vici took the middle.

Things have been pretty awesome here in Pittsburgh, and I just got back from a couple writing panels and Uncle Kage's story hour . I've only seen him once before in person and once in a documentary about furries, both occurrences being great but here was even better.

Also, compared to Midwest Furfest, Anthrocon is much more spread out. The Daeler's Den is massive, pretty similar to how I remember my one time at Anime Central (circa 2005). The convention center is perfect here and the weather has been outstanding. I've been switching between shorts and pants all day, though I'm thinking pants may be the order of the next couple days mixed with the hoodie.

Oh, and I met kin-karo in the Dealer's Den today. Small world!

Because the Anthro Con site shows that Anthro Con is going from the 3rd to the 6th, I thought that Thursday was an actual day of the con, but after reading the program guide I realize it's just a regular three-day convention. That makes the drive over to Pittsburgh a little less hectic and makes me feel a bit more relaxed to just drive and check-in and then get our badges.

Speaking of badges, I got a look at the badge I'll be getting from Sigil. First off, it looks great and I can't wait to pick it up and start wearing it. It's done in the style of a card and I'll post it later, most likely tomorrow or Thursday after getting settled into the hotel.

Last thing, if you want photos taken of you in your fursuit at the con, I'll have my DSLR camera with me with two empty SD cards (a 16 GB and an 8 GB). I won't have cards or anything with me, though I should maybe get some 3x5's (or something smaller) and get people's emails/FA usernames so I can send them their pics. Most likely, I'll post a huge imgur gallery and link it on Reddit and people can shout out who is who.

Ermagherd, it's coming up in just a couple days! vici and I need to do some more preparations, like get some supplies and haircuts. We also need to pack. :P

Who else will be showing up?

Hey all! I'm glad to see some, if not all, have stuck around watching after the raffle. Here's a brief update on that front: I've sent payment to wolframkyo and she and arcticazurefoxpaws have both okayed the script for the comic. I don't have an ETA, but I don't want to pressure Kyo since she's been working hard recently.

Other than that, here's some other stuff:

- Anthro Con is just days away! I'm super excited and I love car rides. It's been a while since I've done a long car trip and I'm glad to be driving with someone else for a change. Right now, vici and I are planning on getting there around 1 or 2 PM, but that would mean we'd have to wake up super early.

- Pokemon is going slowly since I've already beaten the game and the post-Elite 4 is kind of dull. I know it;s the first game on the 3DS, but considering all the other stuff they pumped into Gen IV and V games, you'd think that they could make a more exciting post-Elite 4 experience. Also, only getting one of the three legendary birds is crap. I mean, I already have all three from a previous game, but there is the collector in me. I'll probably start hitting Y heavily in the next couple of days with the intent of beating it and getting all the mega stones.

- I've started using Roll20 and playing RPGs a bunch. I'm even in a game where each player is crafting a small section of the game world and GMing the other players there. I love world building.

- After Anthro Con, I am so super busy. I've got a wedding to go to, then the Ren Faire, my birthday, then school starts up.

I've got Open Broadcaster going and I'm testing out furstre.am because why not. I'm going to be playing Plague Inc: Evolved for a bit to see if I can beat the Necroa Virus stage or try to get the Neurax Worm to not kill everyone.

No Mic // Game Music

https://furstre.am/stream/underclocked

Lessons Learned
1. I can run everything pretty well on one screen, but I need to make sure I run everything in windowed mode at 1280x720.
2. I didn't get much tested in the ways of the chat because no one really showed up. I'll advertise tomorrow for another stream, more likely to be run in the afternoon.
3. Because I don't have a mic for my desktop, I can't run audio without jury-rigging something. Most likely I'll run it through something like Mumble on my laptop and just turn off my speakers (on both my laptop and desktop).
4. I want to play games that are hard as hell. It was the reason why I played Plague Inc. It's fun, but super hard. I want to stream me playing the King's Quest games as well, but please not that I'll have a guide up because King's Quest III is fucking impossible.

How many times do I have to tell people that I game with that GMT doesn't shift with daylight savings? Seriously people! GMT is static. Maybe I should start using UTC so people will stop being morons.

And here are the results of the raffle.

https://youtu.be/4JHoY13mafU

The winner is: ArcticAzureFoxPaws!

Congratulations! Thanks again to everyone who participated, it was an awesome event and I'm sure to do this again in the future (not the near future, this was expensive XD).

Thanks a bunch to everyone who watched me in the last few days! Without you and everyone else who showed up to my page to help get my profile up to 1900 pageviews this wouldn't have happened. Also, I know I said that this would start at 2000, but it was taking forever, so let's kick this off. (EDIT: we finally did hit 2000 pageviews, so this raffle is still for that milestone!) And now, here comes the reason why you are here:

Win a comic with one of my characters!
As a reward to all the people who have been watching me and favoriting the art I get, I am holding a raffle for a one-page comic (4-5 panels) to be made by wolframkyo. The winner will co-star in said comic with one of my characters (the winner's choice). All species and genders are allowed, but no ferals unless it is SFW.

The winner and I will work out an appropriate script for the comic through notes (along with wolframkyo since they will be drawing this). I'd prefer as little dialogue as possible since it's only one page, so we'll try to keep it to just actions.

Rules
- Entries will be taken from now to June 18th (four days from today), closing specifically at 9:00 PM Central Daylight Time (GMT-5).

- Comment below to get an entry (or a ticket, in the old sense of raffles). You do not have to be a watcher. If you are one of my watchers, you will get a second entry for free (I will check at the time of the drawing).

- You can get an additional entry for signal boosting through a journal. You must comment a link to your signal boost here. It can be a Tumblr post, or FA or Weasyl journal.

- Any entry made by a brand-new or empty account will not be valid. Any entry made by an alternate account along with a main account will not be valid.

- Once entries are closed, I will take all entries and place them in a spreadsheet, assigning a number to each entry. The drawing will be using random.org and I will post a new journal with the winner.

- The winner will have the following choices to make:
SFW or NSFW
Characters, one of my characters and one other of their choosing and their ref. Please remember, if the comic will be NSFW the pairing must be appropriate (example: Jun and George will only pair off with males).
Notes on character personality and preferences.

I know that most of my watchers will just ignore this, but for those interested I will be having the raffle as planned! I got an artist and we've agreed on having a single page, 4-5 panel comic as the prize. So get those pageviews up and we'll get the raffle going soon enough.

I'm almost at 2000 page views, so I want to do something special. I don't want to do a kiriban because that's not as much fun as a raffle. So far, what I'm thinking is a raffle for "a night with a character" thing, or, in normal terms, a piece of art that I will pay for with an artist of my choice. There will be rules to the raffle, like "one entry per person" and "the pairing must be appropriate to my character's sexuality". I might add in a second entry for signal boosting as long as the boost is linked in the comments. What are people's thoughts?

If you aren't already following tktktk, then you should, but that's not the entire reason why I'm making this journal.

TK needs help, and he's put together an amazing folio of art to help pay for his mom's hospital care. It's pay what you want, but he's suggesting at least $10, and I would agree. It's easily worth $25 for the art alone, but it's also designed to help out someone struggling with troubles.

And if that weren't incentive enough, you'll get to see Oswald. In another tight speedo. So go buy it!

http://www.e-junkie.com/276330/product/497678.php

If you need any more incentive, just take a look at the ad:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13592667/

I recently viewed this image and wanted to say to the artist that the texture used in the image seriously hurt my eyes. However, because there is no social contract involved, especially since almost every piece of artwork doesn't have "critiques welcome" in the description, I tend to not give critiques that could help people. Plus, I feel like if I gave an unwanted critique the artist would get all butt hurt about me bad-mouthing their art.

Now for the question: do you, as an artist, prefer unsolicited critiques? If so, would you prefer them in the comments or by note?

vici and I were talking a couple days ago about what pokemon we would be. I love garchomp because he's a bad ass, but Vici was saying she would probably be a togekiss or a gengar (specifically the shiny mega). I would maybe also be a chesnaught, now that I think about it, or a charizard, but I just love so many pokemon to make a truly definitive decision. Garchomp is still my main choice though.

Also, we're doing a massive transfer of pokemon from our Gen IV games all the way to Gen VI. It's a long task, but we've got all four of our DS systems on and working (my two DS Lites and our 3DSs). Vici is now thinking of getting her own copy of Pokemon Bank, though I could give a crap if she used mine. It's going to be a long process of getting our favorites from Gen IV to Gen V since it's a bullshit process. I hate the Transfer Lab minigame with every fiber of my being. Still, I can't wait to have my champion team from Sinnoh in Kalos, though that team has some similarities to my current team. *cough* Charizard.

Finally, I just got my first level 90 pokemon: lapras.

I've been hitting Pokemon X pretty hard recently because I want to complete my pokédex. I'm getting close to completing the Kalos Central, and about 1/3 of the way done with the Coastal and Mountain, so I'll be doing that more and more as the days go on. If you have Pokemon X or Y, hit me up and I will also help you finish off your pokédex. My friend code is at the bottom of my journals, also don't forget to send me yours or it won't work out all that well.

Now, onto the Anthro Con meme, which I took from vehliayn.

Where are you staying?
The Omni.

What day are you getting there?
Afternoon on Thursday.

How are you traveling?
My car, and it's a long drive.

Who are you rooming with?
and , possibly her boyfriend as well.

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
More than likely and her crew of misfits. Other than that, no one planned.

How is the best way to find you?
Look for my dopey face or see vici.

Are there any panels you might be attending?
I haven't seen a list of the panels yet, but I'm sure that I will be attending ones with Uncle Kage as he is hilarious.

What do you look like?
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/11788639/

Will you be suiting?
I don't fursuit, but I do have a hoodie of Oswald that I will wear around.

Do you do commissions?
No, but I buy commissions.

What is your gender?
Male and I identify as a male.

How tall are you?
5' 10"

Can I talk to you?
Yeah, I don't know why you couldn't. This isn't Russia.

Can I touch you?
I'd prefer it if you didn't. If you ask and I'm in a good mood, I might say yes.

Can I visit your room?
Only if you are invited.

Can I buy you drinks?
Absolutely! I love free booze as long as there are no other drugs slipped in!

Are you nice?
I like to think that I am, but I'll leave that up to the opinion of others.

How long are you going?
Thursday to Sunday.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Approach me from the front, make eye contact, and don't look creepy. Stop three paces away and greet me.

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
Most likely at the convention, hitting up the dealer's den, maybe getting art from folks.

What/where will you be eating?
What do I look like, a menu?

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
Sure, just don't be a creeper. Be nice and ask/alert me of your intentions.

Can I steal you away for.....
I may be skinny and fairly light, but I do not get stolen.

Can I take your picture?
Eh...I don't like pictures, but if I'm with my friends and we're having a good time, sure.

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Experience points. I need to level up.

vici and I like to eat from a small chain restaurant called DP Dough and with our last order, we got a sticker that has the following printed on it:

I <3 DP

Obviously, it's not done exactly like that, but it's totally "I (heart) DP". Roxy would totally wear a shirt that says this, but that's because she's kind of a slut and because she likes DP. Hell, she would even wear it with the link to DP Dough on it.

Now I just need art of her wearing that shirt...for reasons...

Got any questions for me or my characters? Go ahead and shoot!

My characters: Oswald, Jun, Roxy, Aiko and Keiko, and George (WIP).

I never would have imagined hitting that may page views in what seems like a very short amount of time. I feel almost like a popular kid! Suck it, middle school me!

If I were better at drawing, I'd totally do a kiriban or whatever they're called. Or, I'd offer up the opportunity to have art done with any one of my characters and I'd be paying because that's a nice thing to do, but would anyone really want that?

Oh well. I'm going to be done with finals soon and once I am I'm going to hit the page hard and start getting back into drawing. I've got some books to help me and I'll have pretty much nothing but time.