I'm once again in that kind of do-not-work slump that I tend to hit right at the end of the year, with the expectation that once the new year hits I'll have a full schedule of projects to dive right into. And, at least in this case, I do. |D Even unemployed or underemployed, I never lack something to work on.

Although right now, I've mostly just been playing video games all day, and trying to do it as guilt-free as possible. Since my little bro is here for Christmas and I rarely see him otherwise, we kinda use this as our own hanging-out-time, anyway! I've started Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, which has been a lot of fun so far, even if I fail at a lot of it. (Like throwing bombs...horse-riding...using a shield...etc.) It really is such a lovely game; I can see how it's endured so long. My bro also started me in on Paper Mario while he's here with the Wii, so it looks like I've been doing a bunch of oldschool games. That one is also fun, and ridiculously cute.

However, I caught a bad cold on Christmas Day, and it gave a whole lot of tiredness and stuffy nose-ness. Thankfully, I think I'm getting over it now, and it's not leaving me with a horrible cough or anything.

Also, Sophie is all fresh and clean after a bath, and there was a lovely sunset today!

Now, let's go in for my first post on DW with an art and LP dump...

Three new episodes of the KH2 LP!







We've also got a poll up where you can vote or give thoughts on Kia and I's next LP:



Happened to get a bunch of All Hearts done at once...

( All Hearts - Tarzan, Jane, Clayton and Sabor )

And then more waking-up drawings:

( Under-covers drawings 262-270 )

Drawing: Mostly All Hearts and reindeer stuff

Writing: Tags everywhaaaar

Aaaah, apps for It's Just A Game coming up!...


And speaking of games, this past weekend I went and finished 'Ghost Trick' for the DS, since universejuice and ggmoonycrisco kept insisting that I play it. XD

Aaaand frankly, I enjoyed it a lot! Would totally recommend this for anyone owning a DS! For one thing, the sprite animation was really great; some smooth stuff that looked awesome. It says something when you can totally tell what a character is like just from their silhouette, and not even being able to see their facial expression. All the characters were fun, with complex histories and motivations. And some of them were even sooooo cute! *looks pointedly at Missile* XD It's a fun puzzle-solving game, and for the most part I was able to solve all the puzzles through trial and error. There were a couple that I had to look up online, especially if they were puzzles that involved split-second timing (like helping Jowd escape from prison).

And oh man, I'm a sucker for time paradox stories, but even here the ending time paradoxes kinda made my head spin. XD And I was really not expecting the ending, with them explaining who Sissel really was. I think I may need to play through it again to catch all the little hints here and there about it, because apparently there's a ton of hints throughout as to Sissel's true identity.

So yeah...buy this game! I need to do some fanart for it, although it'll probably be spoilery. XD

Two more episodes of Kia and I's Kingdom Hearts 2 LP are up!





And there's a bunch of new waking-up drawings...

( Under-covers drawings 141-144 )

Including a color version of one of them:

( Rock Paper Scissors )

Drawing: This, still more practice, need to do a commission today

Writing: Tags and such!

New Lunargyros page is up today; read it here.

Did Disneyland on Sunday with the usual crew, and it was much fun! We were specifically going for all the new rides that just opened. First things first, we did Pirates (which is now featuring Blackbeard at certain points instead of Davy Jones...they use about the same lines anyway, so there's not much difference there). We had reservations at Blue Bayou right after, and finally got a waterside seat, woo! I've always wanted waterside for Blue Bayou. XD

Then it was lining up for Star Tours. The wait time listed two hours, but this was a lie...it was more like 3+ hours. We entertained ourselves as best we could (I brought my PSP and sketchbook), and we did word games, but man after three hours in mostly-sunny queue, it got kinda difficult. (I'm also pretty certain I got sunburned.) Luckily, the ride was worth the wait! There's a bunch of different combinations of places you can go for the revamp, and we ended up getting the pod race in Tatooine and then vs. Boba Fett in the asteroid field. I know a lot of people don't like the Episode I stuff, but I maintain that pod racing is much better suited for a ride or video game than a movie. It was fun! I wanna try and get other planets, as long as we make sure to get a fast pass next time.

We then headed on over to the new Little Mermaid ride in DCA. A much shorter wait, but that could have been because it was a lot later in the day and people were starting to shift over to ElecTRONica. I love how it was built a lot like the oldschool darkrides in Fantasyland, including the not-quite-on-model paintings where you enter the ride. It was fast-moving, basically like getting onto the ride at Haunted Mansion. Very pretty ride with great atmosphere and animatronics. However, Kia and I totally freaked out on it because...OMG INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET! It's a very obscure reference, but oh man I remember watching that movie a bunch when I was a bitty! Kia spotted him on the other side of the main characters in the "Under the Sea" section, hiding behind some rocks and plants. Seeing Mr. Limpet on the ride totally made my day. XD

After that we hung around ElecTRONica for a bit and then did some shopping. We didn't stay long because line-waiting drained most of our energy. Man, I haven't stood in a line that long at D-Land for a looooooong time. But at least we did what we set out to do!

Also, I went to the doctor yesterday, and it turns out that I do have a sinus infection. XP Yuuuucks. I'm on antibiotics now, so hopefully that will help, but doctor says that I'll probably have balance issues for a couple of weeks. Dumb ears. :P

And random thoughts on E3 conferences so far:
- Really don't care about anything Microsoft is putting out.
- Not that much with Sony, either. The new Uncharted game looks really sweet, but considering the fact that I don't have much fun trying to get through shooters, no sense worrying about it.
- PSVida? Huuuh. I'd rather not have to buy yet ANOTHER console (already getting a 3DS eventually) but hmm we'll see...
- Speaking of, NNNNGH NO KH NEWS. PLEASE GIVE US SOME INFO ON KH3D?!
- Nintendo stole the show again. DAYUM, THAT CONTROLLER. That's some pretty cool stuff. I want to see what they can do with that. (Doubles as a drawing tablet, weee!)
- New Zelda game looks shiny, as does new Smash Bros and everything else they're doing!

Newest waking-up drawings are below...

( Under-covers drawings 78-80 )

Drawing: More of LG

Writing: Transcribing

I've got one more storyboard to share with; this one got out a lot faster but ironically think is a bit better than yesterday's. I think those study-four-movies-a-week sessions are paying off...just in the sense I'm getting more of a feel for the "language" of movies.

In any case, short lil' section of a board for a Bremen Town Musicians animation! I've probably posted stuff from that before, because Bremen Town Musicians is one of my favorite fairy tales and I've never seen a really great animation of it. I wanna do it sometime.

( Once again, lots of images under here )

Speaking of, I've updated my portfolio website with this new stuff, and a few other things.


Also, I'm having a really sudden and inexplicable urge for video game creepypasta...or just video game creepiness/scariness, especially of the oldschool variety. Not that I've played much of that at all ('cause I haven't), but still got an urge for some creepiness.

SO FLIST. Please link me some creepy/scary/interesting stuff from really oldschool games! Glitches, boss battles, certain weird areas, I don't care. Link me some YouTube (or otherwise) of it! FYI, I've already seen stuff like Pokemon Creepy Black, Lost Silver, the haunted Majora's Mask game, Giygas boss battle, and Eversion.

Drawing: Now that these are done, need to decide what to focus on next until some freelance thing picks up...

Writing: More of reindeer story when I can get it in

There's a new Lunargyros page up today; check it out here.

ottering, I got your card, and it was so cute! :D Thank you!

I've been thinking about doing that Final Fantasy 30 days meme, but I don't know if I'm really "qualified" for that, considering I've only played four of them. 8|

Haven't been up to much lately...trying really hard to let myself relax, considering Christmas is just around the corner! I've been watching my little bro play through BBS, as we usually seem to share gaming during the holidays, and as such have been laughing over jokes and freaking over plot stuff a lot. He's finished Aqua, and is now playing Terra (since he decided to play them out of order.) There's been no sense in going outside, since it's been raining nearly nonstop. I've never seen this much rain around this time of year. @_@

I was a total idiot today and spilled orange juice all over my pants, my floor...and my keyboard. 8( I tried to clean up everything that I could, and I think I got most of it, but now several keys on my keyboard are failing to respond. I'm going to take it apart tomorrow the first chance I have and give it a good scrubbing; hopefully that'll be enough to fix those borked keys. Aaaaand if not...well, I have a spare keyboard, so it's not as horrible as it could be. But man, wish I hadn't done that. Maybe I just have bad luck with orange juice.

Drawing: Just 10HAD and lots of LG

Writing: Working on a fic...

TRON: LEGACY AT MIDNIGHT AT THE EL CAPITAN TONIGHT, WOOOOOO

Considering I've been up since 6:30 this morning, hopefully I can handle how late it'll go. XD But I'm looking forward to it! SHOULD BE FUNTIMES ALL AROUND.

My little bro has returned back home for the holidays! This means likely family gameage...he needs to play BBS, while I need to play TP and Epic Mickey (assuming we get it for Christmas). Woo!

In the meanwhile! Finally finished another KH fic I'd been poking at for ages a little bit at a time. I guess this would be considered the third (and therefore final) installment in the trilogy about Sora and Riku's parents on Destiny Islands. To round things out, this fic is about when the trio comes home at the end of KH2...and of course, what happens after that. Sorry about the title fail; I couldn't think of anything... Since this is the last bit of a trilogy, it may help to read Islands Like Glass Towers and The Locked Room first.

Title: Home Beyond the Sky
Rating: Safe for childrens
Disclaimer: I don't own a massive video game franchise or anyone in it.
Spoilers: Some slight SPOILERS for the end of BBS and Re:Coded!

( Home Beyond the Sky )

ALSO ALSO ALSO. I commissioned voodoobob awhile back and she did a great pic of Taro and Emi for me! So I have to include it! It is shiny! :D

( Taro and Emi )

Drawing: 10HAD, LG and a whooooole lotta thumbnailing

Writing: Finished this!

Oh man, so I've been trying to get the last two secret bosses in Birth by Sleep. Why? Because I'm insane, obviously. They're all that stands between me and that 100% trophy! AND ARRRRRGH, I AM SO CLOSE. I managed to finally beat the Vanitas Lingering Spirit, even though that was totally nightmarish. I can't even count how many times I died at that battle, and most of those attempts were within the first five seconds. 8( Then I went on to try the Mysterious Figure. THAT WAS ABOUT FIVE TIMES AS NIGHTMARISH. I haven't beaten him yet, but on one attempt I got REALLY SUPER CLOSE. He had less than half of an HP bar left before he went invisible and whipped out the laser orbs on me. Stupid bastard is the biggest cheater boss in all of boss history.

And now because of them, I have lost all feeling in my left thumb. D: I should probably wait for it to heal before I attempt to kick MF's butt again. Or attempt to die 50 times in a row again.

Aaaaaaand I thought I would do a little creepy-silliness for Halloween...

( You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? )

Have a happy Halloween, everyone! Have fun and get delicious candies!

Drawing: 10HAD, hopefully will do lil' more on freelance stuff...

Writing: Ficbits

BBS ENGLISH TRAILERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR



- I do like all the voices. Aqua's voice takes some getting used to, but I actually think it fits her (calm, serious, rather formal way of speaking)
- Does anyone know who's actually voicing Terra? He sounds good to me, too.
- Okay yeah, Hamill is definitely Eraqus.
- Hmm, so most Keyblade Masters are older?
- Oh shiz I just realized that's the ice titan!
- So who's this black coat dude?
- NNNNNNNGH VANITAS GO AWAAAAAAAAAAY 8(((
- OKAY SO. Obviously Re:Coded is coming to the DS. So what the heck is this KH game that's supposedly coming to the 3DS? It's got KH1!aged Sora and Riku, in Traverse Town...remake of something? Another side story like they hinted at earlier? EXPLAIN, SQUARE! EXPLAAAAAAAAAAIN!
- On a side thought...if it is a remake, a redoing of KH1 with a working camera and some extra playable areas wouldn't be half bad.

Aaaand some other thoughts from watching the livestream of the press conferences:

- Out of the three big consoles, Nintendo had the most interesting. More game content, more new features, less I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT WII SPORTS!
- I may be biased, but all FPSs look the same to me. :/
- New Zelda game looks pretty sweet...love the colors!
- Out of the new Sony stuff, Portal 2 and the Tron game are what I'll be buying. Everything else looked shruggable. Not planning to buy an XBox 360, so oh well on that.
- I am fast getting the impression that we are staring into the glass ceiling in terms of game graphics. Which may be good, because hopefully once companies and consoles slam their heads into that glass ceiling, they'll focus less on graphics and gimmicks and more on story and gameplay.
- Okay, Epic Mickey DOES look really awesome. It's kind of worrisome, 'cause I wanna play that game real bad, but I do not currently own a Wii. I've just borrowed my brother's, and soon he will be out of state for good. I may have to try and find a Wii somewhere just so I can play this sucker. 8(
- Seriously what is that KH game for the 3DS

SPEAKING OF VIDEO GAMES. FFIX is finally out on the PSN today, and I've been meaning to play IX for awhile since it looks like my kinda FF, so I'll be downloading that today! :D Wooo, can't wait!

Finally something non-gaming related...new Lunargyros page! Check it out here.

Drawing: LG, stuff for friends, and actually sketching some stuff on developing a Tiki Room story...

Writing: Finished chapter 12!

Days until BBS release: 83

WELL, I ended up doing it after all. I now own a PS3 (refurbished, 40GB) and a copy of Uncharted 2: Drake's Fortune. I imagine that soon I'll be preordering a copy of FFXIII, too. 8D; Now my wallet hates my guts and is probably going to call out a hit on me, BUT it is nice to have nonetheless and there should be many shiny things coming up for it! I'm going to set it up tomorrow and try U2 out then. SO PERHAPS THERE WILL BE COMMENTARY.

My family is pretty much gone for the weekend, so it's just me and the doggie. Speaking of, here's two more watercolors of Sunshine:

( Sleepy Dog )

( Fangirling! )

Drawing: Practice practice and more of it

Writing: Some arpee

Consecutive Days Gone Spoiler-Free: 15

I wasn't planning on getting a PS3 until KH3 came out, but now I'm strongly considering getting one next month or so. Aside from the fact that there are games I'd like to play on it (FFXIII for one, Uncharted 2 for another) I'm also fearing that I'm behind the curve in terms of where modeling/texturing is on the current gen games, so I better be up-to-date if I can get my modeling up to speed, too.

Of course, the issue is always monies, and I'm nervous making big purchases when I'm not employed, even though right now technically I can afford a PS3 without issues. I'm just terribly stingy about my monies on "frivolous" stuff. (Although this would count for professional, I guess!) I was thinking about doing another commission special month in March, so maybe I can put monies in that towards the PS3. :O

In the meanwhile, here's the life drawings I did in John's class today:

( WARNING: Includes some nekkid peoples )

Also, I'll be at D-Land tomorrow with Kia again, so if you don't see me 'round much, that is why!

Drawing: This stuff, more LG

Writing: Nothing big

Consecutive Days Gone Spoiler-Free: 10

So I'm at Gnomon today to do some modeling work. (Sheesh, I'm out of practice again.) And I come back in from lunch.

...And someone is playing FFXIII (in Japanese, obviously) on the hugeass 40-something-inch HD TV in the student lounge area.

Fugdamn that is one SERIOUSLY PRETTY GAME. Like honestly, the trailers and stuff I've seen online don't do it justice. That's the sort of game you're supposed to be playing on your hugeass 40-something-inch HD TVs. Really gorgeous art and animation, even in the non-cinematic stuff.

...And now I had to be in here and work instead of watching the dude play it. 8| FFFFFFFFFFFFF

More substantial post will come laters.

Drawing: So much stuff I don't even

Writing: Thhhhhings

Time forrrrr...Lynx makes commentary while playing silly video games! This time, it is while playing through Final Fantasy: Dissidia!

Also, I suppose I should preface this by saying that thusfar I have only completed TWO of the original FF games: FFX and FFXII. I know the basic story of FFVII (and played Crisis Core), the basic stories of VIII and IX, and vague knowings-on of the rest.

( And here we go... )

In other geeky gaming areas, here is a pic of the Okami cookie I made, since I made a Sora cookie last year:



Ammy brings the sun! ~♥

I think it came out a lot better than the Sora cookie, but I'm still not at that the level of finesse and detail that my mom is with these cookies. Looking at it now, I think it would've been smarter to use piping for the outline and then fill it in with a thinner glaze, rather than use piping for the whole thing. (Also, my mom made a batch of black frosting RIGHT after I finished it with blue outlines, oops. :P)

Thinking about it, if I was able to get a lot more practice on these and got faster at them, it'd be fun to sell sugar cookies like these at a con. XDa


Also, I NOW HAVE DISSIDIA. HUZZAH!

Tonight I finally finished Okami! I didn't get all the extra stuff (like all of the stray beads, the Bloody Gate, all of the praise, etc. etc.) but my running around netted me about 2000+ more praise, some completed sidequests and some more moves from the dojo.

The final series of boss battles weren't that bad. I used a bunch of exorcism slips on Ninetails, so that helped things go a lot faster. (Also finally figured out how to kill Blight faster than whatever I did last time.) The final boss battle was time-consuming, but honestly, I suffered worse injuries fighting the canine warriors. |D

I totally teared up at the end of the game, when all of Ammy's friends were praying for her because of all the good things she'd done for them, and it grants her the power to raise the sun again. Also, just the whole bit of Issun spreading his drawings out to all so that they can believe in her. So much BAWWWWW. (And I'm correct in thinking that Issun was the narrator all along?)

Overall, the game was so much fun to play, absolutely beautiful to watch and listen to, and the ending was satisfying. I think the gaming world needs more like Okami: not just for a different kind of play style, but also because it wasn't afraid to be a positive game, with no dark-gray-morality-grizzled-antihero sort of business. Your job is to save the world, and you do it by feeding animals and planting flowers AND kicking ass, and it's fun! It was just a great feel-good game that was also just challenging enough. I'd recommend it to all. :D


Slightly related, I have a question to my flist and others, although sadly I cannot create polls with this account so I just have to ask without a poll. Question is: who got you into gaming in the first place? (And when?) Was it family members, such as parents/siblings, or friends? Been discussing the gaming industry as a whole with dudes, so I'm curious. As for myself, I never had consoles growing up because my parents didn't like video games, so basically I got into it because of friends.

Drawing: Assignments and sketches

Writing: Nuttin'

Got to hang out with gaelic_bohemian a bit yesterday, which was fun 'cause we haven't hung out enough! Went to Malibu Seafood for an early dinner 'cause I had work, and had some pretty good discussions.

And as if dudes couldn't tell, I was all EEEEEEE YAY at all the new BBS stuff that was released yesterday, naturally. 8D HOLY CRAP ZACK. Soooo I had to draw a quick lil' pic of Aqua holding baby!Kairi, because they are just soooo adorable together!



And here's a little more Okami playage from the other day; I've been busy lately so I haven't gotten to it as much.

( IT'S A SNAAAAKE )

Uhh, there was something else I was going to mention...now I forget what.

Drawing: The rest of commishes, storyboards for that one project, and other things

Writing: Little

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! I hope all dudes had delicious food and hopefully a not-too-stressful Black Friday. My Thanksgiving was pretty dang good, we got some delicious foods and a bit of chatter with family. Mom and dad stayed later while us kids came home to take care of the doggie.

Dudes said I should do another running commentary while playing Okami, like I did for Days. XD; Aaand I gave in! Even if it is starting late.

( Okami commentary start! )

BTW: Does anyone know where you can get the Okami soundtrack?

Drawing: Finished up a drawing/paiting today!

Writing: Caaaards

If you wanted a Christmas card from me but forgot to ask, there's still time to do so, on this post!

And also, if you wanted a Heartless commission from me, you now have less than a week to ask for one! I at the very least need all requests in by November 30th, if not payment, too. Last chance, so if you wanted one of those, please don't forget to ask! You can see all the ones I've done thusfar on my DeviantART, and info on prices and how to ask for them is here.


And it's gaming geekery tiems yet again...

So I borrowed Okami from Kia before she went home, and OMG, this game is SOOOOOO PRETTY! The art and animation is just droolworthy, and best of all it's actually fun to play! Cute characters, beautiful music, and a really interactive way of playing that's a bit tricky with PS2 controller (using the brushes would be much more intuitive with a Wiimote or DS stylus) but still a lot of fun. I seriously can't wait to get off work tonight so I can play some more of this. How did I miss out on Okami for so long?!

And in BBS news, OOOOOMFG

SERIOUSLY IENZO, YOU ARE THE BITTIEST BITTY

LIKE EVEN TEENIER THAN VEN

IN HIS LITTLE SCIENCE CLOTHES

Are they going to explain this age difference I MEAN SERIOUSLY but aaaaaaaaaaa


Drawing: Storyboards, hopefully some of my own stuff, too

Writing: Cards

So, I'd like to make another trip to the zoo really soon (maybe next week) to do more drawings. However, I'm trying to decide if I should go to the LA Zoo or the San Diego Zoo. The SD one is better than the LA one...the only problem is is that SD is a really long drive, especially since I'd have to leave super-early in the morning. It's not really much fun to drive down to San Diego by myself. So I was wondering...does anyone want to go to the San Diego Zoo with me? You'd have to be willing to start early (like 4:30-5:00 early) and also put up with a sketchy artistperson who's going to sit in front of one animal for half an hour anyways. But I'll buy you zoo food in return! If no one wants to go with, then I'll just go to the LA Zoo, since it's closer.

And in nerdery news:
- Sheesh, Over 9000 Days comes out on Tuesday! @_@ That totally snuck up on me. Once I nab it, I'll probably be giving play-as-I-go updates. XD
- I am seriously, like, 30 Pokemons away from having a complete National Pokedex. XD Does anyone wanna do trades with me?

Drawing: So many sketches and stuff.

Writing: Finished the sporking!

In my attempts to distract myself from my huge software woes, I've been occupying myself with a) organizing my music, and b) playing Pokemon Platinum. Holy cow, the music-organizing is TAKING. FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. I'm not even organizing it that meticulously and it's still hours and hours of work. It turns out that I have bazillions of duplicates of a lot of my songs, so I'm trying to get rid of duplicates and triplicates and just free-floating songs that aren't organized properly. It's spring cleaning time and I can only think do it on my computer. Geez. :|

I just beat the Veilstone Gym in Platinum, so my team is around level 30. I think I've set up my WiFi connection now so that I can battle with people! I haven't actually used it ever yet so I'm not certain how to go about it. Anyone wanna meet me on IM so that we can do ourselves a Pokeymans battle? :D I wanna try it!


Also, to everyone going to ACen, take care! And hugs for the rest of my flist too!

Drawing: Not much at all. ._.

Writing: More in the RI threads

Chapter five of Lunargyros has officially started! You can read it here.

Hum. I've sent off a bunch of my storyboards to places and have heard back from most that they received them, so now it's just a matter of playing the waiting game and hope hope hoping. I really do hope something works out, since so far all the other places I've been applying to have had a lack of funds, a lack of projects, a lack of time...just everything stopping in its tracks. It's...a little frustrating, over and over and over. -_- I really need to have something starting up by May.


So I've been playing Pokemon lately (specifically Pokemon Yellow.) FUN FACT: I did not grow up playing Pokemon. At all. I never finished any of the games of any generations. And yet, for some reason, I got a sudden bizarre craving to play it out of nowhere, so I borrowed Kia's copy of Yellow and have been doing that for most evenings. I've been naming all of my Pokeymans after DC characters. 8D /nerd
Right now I just got to Rock Tunnel, and I don't have Flash. Crap!

Drawing: More on Calnavory, and I started on a real quick "Up" fanart.

Writing: Little.