Came home from work today to find out my internets had failed, and Verizon needs to send a technician to unfail them. This will require my presence, and since they only send technicians during standard work hours it's a REALLY good thing I already had Friday off.

This is actually the second internet failure discovered literally about an hour before starting a stream up. The first happened on Saturday, for the Giant Pokemon event, but they were able to remote reset it. Not so much, this time.

Currently, my internet access is limited to 2-3 bars of EDGE tethering... Yeah, not gonna stream on that. Sorry.

If the tech gets done in a reasonable time period, I MAY consider streaming on Friday, but not likely. I'll probably just end up pushing it off to Sunday or Monday (since it's a U.S. Holiday).

Times are subject to change if something comes up. When the stream is starting up, I'll pre-post it's submission in whatever category I expect to be most appropriate, and once we're done I'll replace that with the actual stories.

Streams will be held at www.livestream.com/VDOPlus and are open to everyone interested. I'll be writing various stuffs for you to read.

All time zones are in EST (UTC -0500).

---

Wednesday, May 25th: CANCELLED/POSTPONED due to Verizon failing, possibly to be rescheduled for this Sunday or Monday of next week.
Subject will be COMBAT! This doesn't HAVE to be two furs punching each other in the face, though- any type of competition, whether fighting, comparison, growth contesting, etc., will be considered.


Saturday, May 28th: Starting at 1300
Interact with my characters! Ask some of my OC's questions. Have them encounter one of your OC's in some interesting situation. Learn more about characters I've only just barely introduced... Or haven't even introduced at all!
This is a little odd, but, basically: for this stream, assume all of my OC's are present and available to interact with. NONE of it is 'canon,' but everyone will remain fully in-character. This means that you're not going to see, for instance, Tasha letting anyone push her around, or Okamitsune even THINKING about shrinking anything. If none of my OC's you know of seem to fit what you want, feel free to ask me about others- I've got LOTS of characters I still haven't posted about or who are still being developed!


Questions welcome! Insults and tomatoes not welcome! Carrots okay as long as they aren't thrown too hard.

Y'know, in case you missed the announcement.
www.livestream.com/VDOPlus
Come gimme some inspiration, I can't think straight!

EDIT: Done for the night. Four stories done! Posting momentarily...

Times (but PROBABLY not locations) are subject to change if something comes up. Unless something changes, I won't be posting up a journal for each stream, so I don't flood your inbox with notices that end up obsolete after only a few hours.

Streams will be held at www.livestream.com/VDOPlus and are open to everyone interested. I'll be writing various stuffs for you to read.

All time zones are in EST (UTC -0500).

Tuesday, May 17th: 1900 - 2100
Subject will be short stories written for viewers- Whenever I finish a story, I'll request everyone watching to link me to a pic. I will pick one and write a short story inspired by it. The owner of the pic is free to post it as well.
EDIT: Nobody showed up, so I just ended up watching a Let's Play of Live-A-Live. Wanna be disappointed, but... Honestly, Live-A-Live is awesome.

Thursday, May 19th: Starting at 1900
Same subject as Tuesday.

Saturday, May 21st: Starting at 1000
EDIT: I've decided that Saturday will be Giant Pokemon day. The audience can submit a trainer/owner, a species (preferably from Gen4 or earlier), a final size, and a 1-word "nature" (doesn't have to match an official in-game nature) for the Pokemon- we'll see what I can come up with from there.
Requests for anthropomorphic Pokemon, and/or for specific scenarios (ex. Pokemon starts macro and gets bigger; morphic Pokemon wants some sexual satisfaction after growing; and so on) will be considered, but NOT assured.

Questions welcome! Insults and tomatoes not welcome! Carrots okay as long as they aren't thrown too hard.

I'll be streaming for a while at the same place ( http://www.livestream.com/VDOPlus ). I will need to take a couple breaks to do laundry, and will be leaving to visit a friend a bit after 1800 PST, but I can possibly do a bit more when I get back, too.

My intention is to finish the short stories featuring Tasha and Alex today, and we'll see what happens if I get those done early.


EDIT: Out for a couple hours, will update this journal if I come back.

EDIT 2: Back, but not up to more streaming tonight. My plan for tomorrow is to come up with an advance schedule for streams throughout the week, and post it on Monday. That way I won't need to flood your inboxes with new streaming notifications every night! Aren't I generous and kind and handsome?

This story will be filmed in front of a livestudiostream audience!

Yes, I'm going to try out my new LiveStream account at http://www.livestream.com/VDOPlus in just a few minute's time! This first night I already have plans for what I'll be writing, but who knows? In future streams, I may start taking some requests for short stories and such from the audience.

See me write the usual brand of nonsense live, in person (except not really)!
Ask questions about my characters and my plots!
Insult my obscure and unusual tastes in music!



EDIT: First stream is over, and I think it went awesomely well! Wrote up a few stories for TigerClaw and almost finished a set I'll be posting after I (hopefully) finish it in a similar stream to be held tomorrow!

I moved into a new house during the week. Verizon is coming to install the internets for me on the 27th. Until then, my internet access is limited to phone tethering (on 2-3 bars of Edge connection).

Expect even LESS commentary and posting from me for a while.


EDIT: ffff 600+ new submissions

Bad Dog Issue #4 is coming!
...
Oh, right, uh, link probably NSFW.

Taskmaster is awesome, and I've got a 100% usage rate for Ammy. I'm happy. Give me UDON Tasky, and I'll be ecstatic.

Also, holy crud, Daisuke Ishiwatari did the Hard Corps: Uprising soundtrack?! I saw the trailer and went "OMG, that can't be him, can it?" And it was!


EDIT: WTF, Capcom. I just went to see what's needed to use the Special Edition DLC codes. Not only do I need to make a Capcom Unity account, the registration page has "Signup Form Text goes here." Dead serious. WTF, Capcom?

EDIT2:
"Signup Form Text goes here

Ohai! Captcha correct "
I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

"Forever" is just a shorter way of saying "from Christmas day until New Year's Eve," right? Huh? No? Oh. Sorry, my mistake.

I'll be out visiting relatives in Arizona. Expecting it to be slightly warmer out there than here on the East coast.

I will probably be able to access FA every now and then from my phone, but given that it's just an HTC Magic/MyTouch3G original model, don't expect me to be doing too much more than checking notes, if anything.


EDIT: OK I'm back.

LONG VERSION:
More info can be found in DNA's journal here, but the tall and sweet of it is this: DNA's drawing 8 free comics for 8 lucky (and/or talented) viewers who suggest a good enough idea.
Using my incredible talents of LEAPING TO WILD CONCLUSIONS, I immediately assumed the contest required stories to be about Pokemon, but even after being corrected I still think my best idea so far has been my original, Arcanine-based story.

Rather than rush in and submit something a month before the due date and then realize I forgot something obvious, I decided to post what I've got planned here and take user input while considering my own improvements. After all, these are stories for ALL of DNA's fans, and that's probably most of the macro fans out there. Barring anything crazy, I'll post this story up to the entry journal in a week or two.

This tale was taken (in some cases, almost scene for scene) from a story I've been adding to now and then which involved basically the same premise except with Okamitsune handling the role of Deus Ex Machina. Except in her case it was literally Deus and not so literally Machina and everything went REALLY crazy.

SHORT VERSION:
Plz read and critique/suggest thnxkbye

STORY:
PENDING REWRITE

So... That's what I've got so far. Thoughts?

So from the looks of things, I've just crossed a threshold which I consider at least kinda significant. I've now got more people watching me than I've got being watched by me... Or however you phrase it. I'm sure a few have left or don't actually check up on artists they watch, and then there's that one bear who seemed to be trying to watch every single artist on FA for some reason (maybe to get crazy pageviews and watchbacks?). But still, I've got the numbers to show that I'm entertaining at least a few of you.

So, thanks!

Yeah, I've got a fursona. For now, I'm going to keep the info on him and his girlfriend in this journal. Y'know. For reference purposes.

Shared Info:
Alex and Tasha are both Macrodon crocuta sapiens, more commonly known as Great-Fanged Hyenas, even more commonly known as Sabertooth Hyenas, most frequently known as simply 'saberyenas.' In their world, Hyaenidae is a Family, at the same level as Canidae and Felinidae. They're distinct, but share quite a few similarities with both.

The easiest way to tell a Saberyena apart from other 'yena species is the big pointy stabby spikes hanging out of their muzzles. The second easiest way is their pelt, which is something of a blend of both spotted and striped hyenas. Their limbs are spotted, their extremities are a single solid color, while their back and upper arms/legs are striped. Basically:
Forearms, face, and lower legs: spots.
Shoulders, back, neck, upper arms, and outer thighs: stripes.
Hands, feet, and muzzle: solid dark.
Belly, chest, crotch, and inner thighs: solid light.

Saberyenas are also matriarchal. Males tend to be about a hair under six feet even, while females are more imposing (and equal-sized with the largest breeds of canine and feline males) at just over seven feet.

Alex:
Six foot three inches and built like pretty much any random guy off the street, Alex wouldn't stick all that far out of a crowd. At Tasha's insistence, however, he has begun a training regimen which is starting to show some slight muscular development. Although normally Alex is a friendly and easygoing sort who can handle his own issues, he will defer his own preferences in favor of Tasha's in all but the most extreme cases. Partially because it'd be hazardous to argue with her. Mostly because he just plain adores her. Tasha may seem out of his league, but their differences actually run the norm for saberyenas. Besides, he works constantly to prove his love for her, even going so far as to keep up with her in bed! ... Well, he attempts to, at least. Let's just toss out the phrase 'snoo-snoo' and leave it at that.

Tasha:
Eight feet, four inches. Yes, that's 8-foot-4. She is a BIG girl, even by the standards of their world. With her powerful hourglass figure, Tasha has the kind of presence that dominates an entire room, to say nothing of dominating her boyfriend. Pelt-stretching muscles, a huge and fluffy chest tuft, exercise-carved abs, gorgeous black hair, and a wild fang-filled smile that haunts Alex's dreams even more often than his nightmares all combine in her massive frame. But despite her passion for harassing Alex, she'd never intentionally cause him serious harm... Non-serious harm, definitely, but never serious. And every now and then, when Alex finds himself unable to crawl out of bed, Tasha will gladly carry him to his feet... After some ribbing, of course.

Visual References:
Alex: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4456025

Tasha: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7241913/
Even More Tasha: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4456040
More Tasha: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6140840/

Alex and Tasha: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5110555
Alex and Tasha again: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5148980
(Height Comparison) Alex and Tasha once more: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5364638

A bunch of short stories showing the two in everyday life: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5753147/

Dear FA:

Support Gay marriage.
The power of lesbians compels you.

Sincerely,
Lady Okamitsune the Most Incredibly Awesome And Sexy

Vulcans. Are. Space. Elves.
Klingons are space dwarves.

Right down to the ears.

WHAT HAS BEEN THOUGHT CANNOT BE UNTHOUGHT.

Apparently, this is not only the final day of Google I/O (featuring some delightfully sharp jabs at Apple), it is also a day to celebrate the birth of a certain talented hyena-loving Wolf, a day to openly mock some more extreme elements of a major religion (the site seems to have been nailed by excessive viewing or something and is down at this second), and even a day to celebrate that wonderfully adorable appendage, the furry footpaw.

I only knew about one of these things in advance.
Footpaw day was not one of them.

As glad as I am that we have an entire day to obsess over cute little (or big, or medium) paws, I kinda wish I'd had some advance notice. This happened with boobquake day, too.

My attempts to capitalize on this holiday have met with time deadlines, and I must therefore post my response a little late. It's really about time I got up a story with a focus on pawplay, anyway.


EDIT: FFFF I missed SquirrelKing day too?! Oh come on!

Do you ever come back to my stories? After you've already read them, I mean. If so, do you just browse back to my page, or do you save a copy to a hard drive and read that?

I tend to do the latter, personally. If I find a story I like, I'll save a copy to one of my external drives.

The main reason I ask is that I occasionally go through and make changes to posted works. Correcting errors, clarifying vague sections, improving word choice, etc. Does anyone want me to track that kind of change somewhere (don't worry, I wouldn't journal-spam it)?

... Why do you do this to me? To us?

You were turning things around, you really were:

- Windows 7 was a tremendous improvement over Vista, and a worthy replacement for XP.
- Windows Phone 7, while not my thing, still sported some interesting ideas and features, not the least of which was the potential X-Box Live tie-ins.
- I'm getting an X360. I'm just waiting for that new revised model to get revealed. The Wii is fun, but there's no way to argue it hasn't been gimped in the processing power department, and the PS3 is still trying to get over itself. Besides, Natal > Move.

But this?

I am sad, now.

Tomorrow is Earth day. I'm expecting big things from all you mega- and teramacros out there- literally speaking, of course. As for me? Well, I've got plans of only mildly huge sizes, but one in particular will at least be sizable in a figurative sense. I had been shooting for a release today, as a one-year-anniversary sort of thing, but that isn't looking likely so I'll just plan on a larger upload tomorrow.

... Jeez. Some days, I feel like macro puns write themselves.

Wait, what? I didn't even know they were working on it.

I've definitely been out of the video game loop for too long. What's a good spot for a fur (or anyone, really) to get their fix for video game info these days?



EDIT: ... "ROBOENZA?"

While browsing recently, I noticed someone mention 'Megamorphics.' I'd seen the name before, but never done any investigation. I did some now, and it looks like it was (and now is again) a magazine for macrofur fans. I don't suppose any of you guys know any more? This sounds interesting.

EDIT: Got some info from a member. It's kinda... 'exclusive,' I guess would be a way to describe it, but still quite relevant to my interests. I'll keep it in mind, for when I've gotten my writing back into high gear again.

Been a while since I posted anything. To be entirely honest, I've done next to no writing since before the holidays. I've finally started at a new job with much better pay and consistent hours, but that's about all I've got worth mentioning. I'm still trying to play catch-up with a month's worth of furry goings-ons, but as of tonight, I'm... still way behind, but not as far behind.

So that's all. Just posting to let everyone know I'm only slightly dead. But I've been getting better.

GENERAL
*Are you a furry?
Yes in that I like furries, no in that I'm not convinced I'm the reincarnation of a chihuahua or something. So yes.

*If you have a Spouse/SO - Is he/she a furry too?
No spouse/girlfriend. Yet.

*How long have you been in the community?
It's been... Between six and eight years, I think.

*How did you find furry?
My introduction to furries was from some lame kid's signature and avatar on an old forum I once frequented. By association, I gained a strong dislike of furries (the poster wasn't offensive, per se, but they were immature, and simultaneously overly-vocal and overly-defensive about their furriness). I don't remember what the point was where my libido overcame my dislike and I just admitted to myself, 'screw it, I like part-animal chicks.'

*What's your reason for furry (what interested you to get into the community)?
I like chicks with fuzz between their tits, to quote a certain image by RomusZ. I just prefer it to normalcy.

*What's Furry to you?
I've been wondering about that myself lately. I'm having a hard time answering it in a way that leaves me satisfied.

*If someone found out you're a furry and asked you about it how would you respond?
Depends entirely on who it was. Most of the time, I'd try to downplay it, probably. Focus on the positive side.

*What are your favorite aspects of our community?
We tend to be pretty lax, for the most part. Many of us recognize just how insane some of our fetishes are, and therefore don't automatically condemn others for minor things like skin color or sexual preferences. There are downsides to the openness, certainly, but...

*Do you use any furry terms? (i.e. yiff, paws, murr?)
Outside of technical terms in my writing (ex. I frequently use paws as an alternative for feet), not really.

*What do you wish furry was NOT associated with?
Beastiality. Drama. Fursecution.

*How strongly do you feel about someone bashing the community as a whole?
It happens. People bash all communities. Oh well.

*How strongly do you feel about anyone bashing you yourself for your interest based on the media's aspect of what furry is?
Probably amused, since most of the standard complaints do not apply against me. Not that there aren't plenty to level against me, but the standard "CSI/4chan/ThatTalkShow says you're a bunch of dog-****ers," stuff is way off.

*We all know furries have a lot of sexual aspects in this fandom, What's your opinion on it?
I consider it a fetish. I know quite a few people who aren't in it for sexual enjoyment, but this is a question about my personal opinion.


PERSONAL
*What is/are your fursona(s)?
A member of a race of made-up hyena-like creatures. They've got both canine and feline traits, as well as saberteeth. They're also matriarchal, obviously. He's still kinda WIP, but then again so am I.

*Do you have any fetishes that pertain to the fandom?
Better question: do I have any that don't? Digitigrade, tails, fur, floof, claws, fangs, muzzles, all sorts of things.

*If you could magically morph into your fursona would you?
Not unless I could change back... In which case, you better believe it.

*Do you believe you have a spirit animal?
Nope.

*What other fanbases/groups are you a part of?
None at the moment. I've been in a few, though.

*Anthro/Feral, Therian or Kemonomimi (Not a furry, just a human with animal ears and a tail)?
Anthro is greatly preferred.

*Are you a fursuiter? If yes, how many do you own? If No, do you ever plan on being a suiter?
Nope. I really don't understand the appeal. We haven't managed to climb out of the uncanny valley in terms of fursuit realism yet, as far as I'm concerned.

*How many of your friends are furry?
None that I know of in real life, quite a few online. The only other 'confirmed' furry I ever met was a friend of a college roommate who started drawing anthro art during a visit. I just kinda looked at it, looked at him, and shrugged. He was a decent artist, too.

*How many pets do you own, if any?
None at the moment, but I've had several.

*Aside from furry what other interests do you have?
Programming, reading (not as much, anymore), video games.

*Are you confident enough in yourself to say that you're a fur, no matter what the media says?
I've just done it, haven't I? The media gets stuff wrong on a daily basis. Some days, on an hourly basis.


MEETUPS
*Do you attend any cons? If no, would you attend any cons? If yes, which cons have you been to?
Nope. I might go to one some day, but I'd need motivation. Like, 'making money' or 'meeting close friends' motivation.

*Do you go to local meetups(bowling, public outings...etc)?
Nope.

*Have you ever attended a furry party? If no, would you attend one?
No, and probably not.


ONLINE
*Have you ever met up with a fur you talked to online?
Nope.

*What furry websites do you attend?
FA. I used to frequent FChan, but I phased it out. Yiffstar's interface made me ill, and although I regularly browse TGDFB, I don't post there.

*What non furry websites do you frequent?
Gamasutra, Lifehacker.

*Has the fandom done anything for you that you're thankful for? Has it taught you anything or brought you anything you treasure greatly?
It's certainly improved my writing skills.


And, on an unrelated note, my life has re-settled, so I'm going to set the new release deadline for noon on Thursday, 10/15.

... Consider the book reviewed here: http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/200.....jamaica-layne/

This was published. As in, released to the public, by a company, with the expectation that people would pay money in exchange for the privilege of suffering through it.

Kinda scary, huh?

I'd been a little down the last few days (death in the family), but this really just made me laugh. It was too ridiculous not to share.

... was pretty interesting, really.
It begins at about 3:00 AM, partially because I'm an idiot, and partially because Scribblenauts is an awesome game.
For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Scribblenauts sees you as Maxwell, a funny looking little guy in a 'rooster hat' with the power to generate objects from words. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like:
If you type 'car,' a car you can drive will appear.
If you type 'tiger,' a tiger will appear and try to eat you.
If you type 'mech,' a giant armorsuit that you can ride and shoot with will appear.
If you type 'boomstick,' then, yes, you will see a shotgun. The developers had a great sense of humor.

It's a very fun game. I think my favorite event so far has been the time I was trying to find a way to get a bee out of my way, and accidentally summoned some kind of pirate ship. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good galleon, I simply dropped it on top of the bee, trapping it.
Like I said. Very fun game.

ANYWAY! I was playing Scribblenauts at 3:00 AM, and I looked at the clock, and just kind of said, "well, ****. My 5:45 AM shift today is going to suck."

I woke up a little bit rushed, naturally, but my stomach also felt kind of woozy. I didn't have time to get/make anything I felt like eating, but I didn't want to skip breakfast, so I ended up just snacking on some pistachios and almonds I had handy.

At work, my stomach didn't really settle very much, for obvious reasons. When I got to my lunch break, I knew any kind of meat or sauce or cheese would probably go down hard, so I just walked to a nearby Acme and got a cucumber. That was my lunch. It was surprisingly delicious and stomach-calming.

Literally about five minutes before the end of my lunch break, though, I finally got a call back from a guy I'd interviewed with last week. He informed me that he'd given his people the OK to offer me a job- a real programming job, over at the Aberdeen military base. It's a government job, so the background checks and paperwork will take up to four months to clear, but hey- I've finally got something in my industry lined up!

I called up my immediate family to notify them, then ran back and clocked in and finished out the day.

I got off at 2:45, and proceeded to go home and sleep, to help make up for the 'only 2 hours of rest last night' thing. I had a real meal for the first time all day, and am currently eating dessert: oatmeal, brown sugar, and chocolate chips.

I've got a very strange diet.


In summation: Scribblenauts is awesome, and if you have a Nintendo DS, you should try it out. I also will be getting a job, soon.
One more thing: expect a rather... large upload before the first of October.


Hm... Maybe I shouldn't write journals while sleep-deprived.


EDIT: That rather... large upload is going to be somewhat delayed... Okay, somewhat more delayed. Sorry.