Alright folks, we're about a month off from Furry Fiesta and I need to crack down on my convention plans. First up, puppy chow. Pick 2 of the following, especially if you plan on attending Furry Fiesta this year.

Original (Appeared last at MFM)
Strawberry Raspberry (Appeared last at Oklacon)
Mint (Appeared last at Oklacon)
Dark Chocolate Orange (Appeared last at Oklacon)
Honey Apple Cinnamon (Appeared last at Oklacon)
English Toffee (Appeared last at MFM)

Four flavors will be taken to Furry Fiesta, and like always, new flavor ideas are welcome!

After some lamenting over mistakes made, I've taken the time to correct them and reupload the Mongrels OST. The sound level is more appropriate, there are lead-in and lead-out periods of silence, and each file now is properly tagged. I also uploaded the collection as a .zip for those who don't feel like picking up WinRAR.

http://tobias.kemonoart.org/Media/Mongrels/

I've still got plans for the Lyrics, and it's almost fully filled out. I picked up some subs to Season 1, so those songs are perfect. And most of Season 2 was pretty easy to understand. I just need to make some webpages to share it in a cleaner way. :)

I recently took a trip to the Austin Zoo, where the two attempted "Sibfox" purchases ended up residing after a long story with an unhappy ending. However, since many here have been curious for some new information about the Institute's foxes, I wanted to take the time to share. There's very little info about them currently out there, and I've always been frustrated by this.

Here's the link to the playlist for these little guys - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis.....542464FD1F2CCE

Personal favorites are "Konichiwa Kitsune and Fox Nips" and "Nibbly Nikolai" which show how friendly the two foxes are to people that want to give them attention; "Hello People~" shows them reacting favorably to someone who likely smells nice; and "Extreme Playtoy!", "Close-up Basket Noms", and "A Long Bout of Play-Fighting" are good clips if you just want to see them being cute.

For those who were interested in comparisons between a farm fox or wild fox and the Russian foxes, I'm afraid I can't help you there. Not until visiting a friend in Arkansas at some point. I can say, however, that their odor is very mild. Present, but I didn't smell anything until downwind and next to the enclosure, and the smell was quickly forgotten. I can compare this to a maned wolf where I could smell it from several exhibits away.

I'll answer what questions I can, and you're welcome to comment here, on YT, or both. Just try and keep personal opinion of zoo operating procedure out of it. I'm already opinionated and would rather avoid leaving a tirade strewn about the videos.

They were out in the open and able to be seen. I got about 40 minutes of footage of the cute guys. By the end of it, I could actually tell them apart. I'm working on uploading the videos I took but the net speed here is pitiful so it'll take a while for each to appear.

Keep an eye open - http://www.youtube.com/user/TobiasAmaranthh - And feel free to pass them around (or click the ads ;3)

And no, I'll never be able to pet these two, or even get footage of the zookeepers interacting with them in a domestic manner. They're very anti-exotics so they won't provide the opportunity for such footage. Makes sense, but it's a little too conservative.

For all those lazy pirates out there, since my server has so much unused bandwidth... - http://tobias.kemonoart.org/Media/Mongrels/ All of Season 1 and 2, including a self-ripped OST + Lyrics. This provides an alternative for those who don't understand/use torrents.

You still will need CCCP if the file doesn't play.

Also, I finished transcribing the songs from the series, I just have to figure out how to best share the lyrics aside from the txt file. Preferably in some way that I can gain some form of publicity, for either myself or my Werewolf stuff. I'm thinking of hosting them on that domain and then spreading the links around, with the index page linking back into the Werewolf information. :)

Here ya go folks! - http://tobias.kemonoart.org/Mongrels%20OST.rar - Ripped all of the songs from the series. Mwah hah hah. Such a great show. ^___^

http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/meatatarian Pick it up today for $10, free shipping. $15 after today.

Grats Fable for the print. Here's hoping for the Husky shirt tomorrow (or later this week as an editor's choice)

Wooooooooow.....

I go to Hulu to watch the latest Family Guy / American Dad. One of the few things I don't get from torrents. On the home page I notice an advertisement/promotion for some sort of puppet thing. My mind typically blocks out anything sites try and 'show' me, so I'm already clicking on Queue by the time this registers. There's a canine puppet staring at me. Wait what?

"Back button! BACK BUTTON! ... Good, it's still there. Now let's see. What the hell is this? Is that a... fox?"

Not in the mood to watch it, but I probably will in an hour after I've done what I came here for. I click into it and favorite it for later. Well, later comes around, and I start the first episode. I get a 'mature audiences' warning. For a puppet show, huh? Not a first but... unexpected! It opens with a cat accidentally killing his elderly human uhh, lover? Followed by other vermin eating her dead body. o.o Okay it's much more tasteful than it sounds, I promise, but the show is just... Wow.

http://www.hulu.com/mongrels (To watch, you must have an account. Mature content after all! Like cursing. And peeing.)
Or for the lazy - Torrent - http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/631....._[BBC_3_ADULT]

British are awesome. :D And apparently this show was popular enough to have more than one season, there's already 6 episodes of a second season and I think it's still ongoing.

http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=58034

To vote, you must have made at least one purchase with woot, shirt.woot, or one of the other sub-sites at Woot.com.

Thanks guys!

Youtube Videos - http://www.youtube.com/user/TobiasAmaranthh

General experience

I have to say that is the most fun I've had at a convention. I did get a little stressed at times, but that just comes with being in charge of various events. I spent most of the con hanging out with  lunovulpes (<3) and  feliciachou. It was rather unusual for me to be hanging out with any specific people for the length of a con, but I really enjoyed it. I actually felt like I could relax, this con.

Thursday's frisbee was entertaining as always, and this makes three years now where I've managed to NOT get my orange frisbee completely lost. Dex's tree climbing was very impressive. Good job getting it out of the top of the tallest tree there. :P I knew I wouldn't be running in Pred Prey so I went all out during this and had a blast. Sorry to the one guy I hit in the face with the thing @_@ *feels bad* At least you're okay. :3

Friday I got to actually leave the immediate camp ground for the first time ever and check out the surrounding area. I'm hoping next year to go to more extensive exploratory lengths because there's definitely some neat trails around the park.

Saturday and Sunday didn't have anything too special outside of the below topics. It was mostly me running events. Sunday I went into town and bought some Pizza Hut, so I guess that's something? :) I still had other food but warm pizza just sounded perfect at the time.

And then Monday on the way out, I got a really nice treat. I pulled up and had a whole crew of people there to help me load my car. And then as I was getting ready to go, everyone started drawing on it. :D I've never had that happen before and it was really cool. (Though in the future, folks, make sure to keep it clean ;P) Then, before I could even get home, Luno called me up and insisted~ (:P) that we meet up for food. That took another hour and a half or so and we chatted about anime and six flags and stuff like that.

FANTASTIC convention, and thank you to everyone for your support in my events and in general. :D


Predator vs Prey

Predator vs Prey will be undergoing a few changes for next year. Not so much on the balance side of the equation but moreso on the leadership side. Namely, I will no longer accept assistance not specifically requested in running the game. Do not ask me to be in Pred Prey as a special character, I will ask you. You also would be required to help with setup and cleanup as a special character. With that said, a few specific people will definitely not be special characters next year, regardless of 'tradition'.

Now, thank you very much to everyone who DID pitch in this year. From what I hear, most players did manage to have a lot of fun. Due to technical difficulties, I didn't even get to watch the enjoyment. I just saw people horsing around in the center area, the "Hippie" breaking the game, and fairly inappropriate tasks being handed out. Next year, we're sticking to the sheet for how the game works. x.x;

 tybron will be the one helping me out with the game introduction next year. I will also work on assembling a proper conbook description of the game that presents it as something other than 'a fucked up game of tag', because that's really not what it is at the core.

Long story short, I will be running it next year, but I'm running it on my own damn terms and won't be letting people walk all over me. This is an expensive game to run and takes a lot of time to make happen, so I want the joy of seeing it be executed properly. :3


Werewolves of the Dark Arts

A big thanks to my stand-in GMs this year, Raiu especially. He did a good job at keeping everyone under control. From the Open-GM session on Sunday, I'd like those that participated to give me as much feedback as they can on that help sheet. It's very much a work in progress, after all.

Thursday... was a bit of a disaster. That is fairly clear to see in the "Introduction" video on Youtube. I had to really fight to keep people focused and by the time Friday came around, I was fed up with the distractions. My apologies to anyone who felt like I was specifically trying to be a dick, but a large number of the people that come to my Werewolf event do so to participate in the deep strategy and social elements of it. Humor is fine to a small extent but people do not need to shout over each other.

I am happy with how much the group's composure shifted during Friday's and Saturday's gameplay. That made those games a lot of fun. I know they took a while but everyone was trying really hard to do well at them. :) Saturday's No-Reveal game is up on Youtube now, and I'm missing a few names. If anyone has information on these people's handles, please let me know. I'm not great with names, so apologies to anyone whose name I couldn't remember. :X

Sunday was a wind-down day, and meant to be relaxed and a bit silly. I sat back and watched how well an Open-GM session would turn out now that I had that help sheet and it worked a lot better than Sunday at MFM. So that's definitely an improvement. I do want feedback, not only on said sheet as I've mentioned, but on the entire convention's gameplay. If you ended up with any questions at all about the game or what the cards do, etc, ask me. I have a website with a bunch of FAQs that are mostly empty.

http://werewolfdarkarts.com/


Thanks again to everyone who hung out with me at the con. This one was a very good experience and you are all awesome. And remember, FEEDBACK! :D

Okay, still not doing my con journal yet, but I've got most of my videos up on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/TobiasAmaranthh

The epic No Reveal game is working on uploading. That's almost 5 gigs of footage, so it'll be a few days till it's all online.

Included are things like the Pred Prey introduction, and my Werewolf intro on Thursday. I didn't end up with much predator vs prey footage like I'd hoped, but it turned out okay.

Edit 1: The first two days of the No Reveal game are uploaded. ~3 gigs to go.

Edit 2: Day 3 is done, and the Night Phase 3 video is about half uploaded. That leaves 1.5 gigs of data to upload.

As a heads up to my new watchers, I am terrible with names. I caught a few, but I mostly will remember from faces and events.

I'll be back with another journal later after I've gone through post convention wind-down habits like unpacking XD

Edit 1: Mostly unpacked, working on uploading some basic stuff to YouTube. Dealing with laundry. Whee. :3

I'm going to have a tip jar this year after calculating how much four batches of puppy chow is running me. XD ~$30 in consumable materials this time around.

~70% Dark Chocolate Orange
Honey-based Apple Cinnamon
Strawberry Raspberry (Most popular at Oklacon)
Mint

In addition to the above, I'm doing something a little special for Werewolf this year. Mostly because it just sort of happened. Each participant will get a 4" glowstick and lanyard. When you're alive, you have a glowstick. When you die, the glowstick is removed. I bought 72 of these on Woot a few weeks ago, and with any luck, I'll be able to do a true 'night phase' ;)

Anyway, that's about $20 there. Plus there's some printing I had to get done, and some supplies for Predator and Prey. So, yeah, tip jar. :P No obligations, but any contributions are appreciated. :D I'll be getting in on Thursday, hopefully around 3PM. I may wander off Thursday or Friday to do some hiking, but I'll definitely be around in the evening.

I can almost guarantee that the shirt won't be sticking around an extra week. This wasn't a forgiving week for 'cute'. :P $15 http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/foxfall

The Hoodie also will only be around until either Sunday at 24:00 or Monday at 12:00. $25 http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/foxfall-hoodie

Don't wait, buy them now. :)

And see some of you at Oklacon in a few days!

I need some help from someone who has GM'd a few games of my Werewolf. More details later. Mostly needing a second opinion on something.

http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/foxfall - $10 for 10/10 Only, $15 for 10/11+
http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/foxfall-hoodie - $25 for 10/10 - 10/23, Unavailable after that.

 fablefire's http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/zombie-candycorn is also available again for a limited time. :)

Okay, taking a small break from Diablo 3 (Yeah, you heard me, Diablo 3 bitches. ;3) to do that whole con-report thing that I've been putting off. I blame the bug reports I've been writing for Blizzard. Anyway.

Thursday started off pretty weak. Not much going on, MFM doesn't seem to be a good con for Thursday hangouts like Furry Fiesta is. I got pestered (in a good way :P) by a fursuiter by the name of Puppy who literally followed me around for about an hour that day like some sort of fuzzy shadow. I swear I have no clue who this guy is out of suit. Or maybe I do and I just don't know it. I'm -really- bad when suiters act all buddy-buddy like they know ya and I have no clue who they actually are. @_@ But in any case, it was rather amusing, and a good way to pass the time.

Eventually, Werewolf happened. And eventually, we had to leave the game room. Sure enough, I encountered a problem with the social room. However, I've got to say that it wasn't directly the convention's fault. However, there is one thing MFM really failed on, and that's advertising what that room was for. A large portion of the convention, that room was entirely empty. Many people I spoke with had no clue what it was even for. It said Poker Tournament on the door, and that was it. Bad planning, is all I can say. That said, they did keep their word and had the room open on Sunday night, and it worked out quite nicely for Werewolf on the remaining days. So much that we moved Werewolf exclusively to there for Sat/Sun.

A thanks goes out to Keefur for his contributions to my Werewolf obsession. He hooked me up with some really neat Puppy Chow flavor cards and some cut and trimmed fliers to help direct the flow of awesome to find the game. He's got a Tennessee based fur con in the works called Fang, so keep an ear open for how that starts coming along.

Umm, really, I can't think of anything else to note about the con at this point. No staff problems which was quite a nice improvement. I had an okay time overall, but the restaurant selection in that area is total crap. I'm very glad to have brought some sandwiches and jerky with me so I could get some reliable sustenance.

The actual Werewolf games were good except on Sunday night. This isn't a jab to any one person, because it's meant for quite a few more than one person, but I cannot stand it when intoxicated people attempt to join in on Werewolf. I've got no objections with them watching from outside the gameplay circle, but actual participation of such people is very obnoxious for both myself as a GM as well as the more advanced players that try to enjoy the game for the strategic value.

I also learned a few things based on the results of the 'screw it, I'm gonna go wander around while I let people GM the game on their own' experiment. My help cards are not sufficient, and I need to come up with some better GM assist material. Maybe a 'crash course' flier with some of the bigger FAQ bulletins on how to be a good GM. What to do if you forget something, how to handle 'pure anonymity', why it's important to follow the call orders, etc. Not to mention at some point I really need to come up with some tangible advice for deck building. I wing it based on many factors such as the people playing the current round (skill level, personality) and the results of the previous round(s). Stuff like that. But that's something I've learned to do by experience.

*shakes head* I have a long way to go on publishing, I think. :P For those interested in owning a copy of the game... I'm working on it. I don't have any good solutions right now. I need to dig around and find some publishing options and figure out things like packaging and card design specs, etc. I did, however, come up with a few new ideas for improving communication of card abilities. The changes are threefold. First, the basic redesign will extend the art's background to where it's more obvious that the BG is what's important for alignment. As it stands, the red is nice, but overpowering enough that the art background isn't obvious enough to many of even the most intelligent players. Next, all card description will now refer to the player as the role rather than approach the role in the third person.

Lastly, and this is the magical revelation that I had on the drive home, the cards will all have printed targeting rules. This will avoid all the incredibly distracting and often stupid questions that come up during card explanations. Yes, the Crone can target themselves. Yes, the Oracle can pick the same person over and over again. Etc. You see, each card with targeting has two options, and two results per option. Can they target themselves? Can they target the same person two nights in a row? SELF and SAME. Each will either be yes, no, or completely N/A. Being able to transfer these things to a non-verbal form of symbolism should free up a substantial amount of card realestate if done right, as well as make card explanations much clearer.

---

Alright, the other point of this journal is to say what I've been up to the last few weeks. The two words forming that answer are Xenoblade Chronicles. This is a Wii game not currently available in the US. It's been released in Japan, and in Europe. Some may know of it.

Well, I just beat the game earlier today (yesterday? XD) and my final playtime was 101 hours. Let me point out, yes I did pretty much all of the content. I missed a few very late game things, but that's about it. I ALSO was running through 70% of that time at 3-times normal movement speed. One flaw of the game is that while the OCD collection elements are fun, the run speed is like walking everywhere in WoW. There's no mount, either, so it can get a little frustrating when you aren't getting that one drop you need. ANYWAY, my point is, this is a very, very, very long and FUN game.

The plusses are the music. The music is actually quite memorable and I'm looking forward to remixes and medleys of this game. The different environments are really unique and enjoyable. The pacing for the sidequesting is nicely done, in a way that you spend just the right amount of time in an area before moving around, only to come back later when it's back to being fresh. The storyline is also very epic at times, reminiscent in emotional strength to classics like FF6/FF7/CT.

Right, how does it play. I guess I should say that. It plays like a cross between WoW, a basic ARPG, and your higher-quality JRPG. It's easier to just see it in action. There are some semi-official Youtube videos I recommend watching, and beyond that, I highly suggest you get this game when it hits the US. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6dgXE9BcTs

I think that's really all I have to say for right now. It's almost 6AM and I'd like to go play a bit more Diablo 3 before going to bed. Thumbs up to anyone who actually read all that. I'm not sure I would have, if I wasn't the one who typed it. ;3

Puppy Chow Flavors
English Toffee - Turned out decent
Mint Chocolate - A little too much peanut butter, oops
Original - Used a little extra peanut butter this time
(New) Apple Cinnamon - With HONEY instead of Peanut Butter, turned out perfectly.

Werewolves of the Dark Arts
Werewolf will be held in the gaming room until that room starting at 10 PM every night and then move to the Oak room (24 hour social room) until attendance falls short of being able to continue. There will be some fliers scattered around with the information. Puppy chow will be available to those who join in and play. :)

How to Spot Me
I will always have a custom headband on. I have long hair and a goatee. My usual attire is a Woot shirt and jean shorts. I switch shirts before running Werewolf, so don't count on seeing the same shirt in the evening as you might see earlier in the day. Once Werewolf time starts, I'll be running games, and this year hopefully I'll be playing them. Look for a circle of people arguing with each other. ;3

Hey folks, I know many of the people who watch me have tried the Puppy Chow that I make for furry cons. You know that I've created a lot of interesting flavors over the years. These days, I bring four flavors to the conventions I go to. Unfortunately, that's the MOST I have room to bring. And... well, my flavor list has grown beyond this number. Here's a list of the current flavors I make. :D

Original - Semi-sweet chocolate and peanut butter like all of the others, but no flavoring oils added. A requirement? Perhaps not.
Mint Chocolate - Less popular these days, but it's still one of my favorites. My next attempt with this one will be about half-as-much stronger on the Creme de'Minthe. That may or may not be done for MFM.
Strawberry Raspberry - A mix of two different flavoring oils, this flavor has been rather popular in the past, but do people want it brought back?
Dark Chocolate Orange - Tastes quite similar to the chocolate oranges you can get conveniently around Christmas. It has a slightly darker chocolate base, and orange oil. A tasty concoction for sure. But those are generally only sold during the holidays for a reason.
English Toffee - The newest flavor added to the list. And judging from the reaction at Furry Fiesta, this one almost certainly will be sticking around! Unless the other flavors are more requested, that is. :)

So, what I want to hear from those who watch me, from those who have tried puppy chow (or even those who haven't!) is which THREE of those FIVE flavors do you most want to taste again. Particularly this will decide what I bring to MFM in a few months. I say three because I may create a new flavor after investigating some. On THAT note, if there's any particular flavor ideas you may have in mind, SUGGEST them! I want to hear input.

--All Puppy Chow recipes consist of chocolate found in baking bits format, and a small amount of peanut butter and butter, coated over Crispix cereal--

So this journal will be the non-ranty one, but there currently -are- problems getting space for Werewolf at MFM this year. If you plan on attending MFM this year, please comment! To say little, I need support. I'll provide more information later if things don't get cleared up over the next week.

http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/playful-foxes

$10 for Thursday, $15 after that until it vanishes.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comm.....potato_glados/

Youtube link at the top of the page. Was recommended to post it to reddit.

Made out of a real potato!

http://www.solarobo.channel.or.jp/pedia/index.html
http://www.solarobo.channel.or.jp/c...../chara_01.html

I highly recommend watching every commercial. There's some priceless moments within them. Number 9, for example.

Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th
Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th
Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th

Letting folks know that yes, I will be at Wild Nights this year. Werewolf will be run every night starting at around 9 or 10 PM. Werewolf is a game for 8-∞ people, though I figure we'll get 20-25 max. I still have 5 base decks and 3 expansions left for Werewolves of the Dark Arts, so if you're interesting in purchasing it, get with me at the convention.

I will also have these games available:
Apples to Apples - 3-∞ people
Pirate Fluxx - 2-8 people
Nuts - 2-6 people (Heh, heh, heh. New game. To quote Stroker and Hoop - "The furries are going to love this!" (Click this))
Innovation - 2-4 people

I will -not- be bringing Carcassonne, Betrayal at House on the Hill, or my other Fluxx sets this convention.

In addition I will not be running Predator and Prey at Wild Nights. I'm not sure who they found to do it this year, but I plan to let them use my supplies (bandanas and beads) and I wish them luck in running it. I haven't decided if I'm going to participate, special character or otherwise.


I do have space left in my car, if someone local is interested in carpooling and splitting gas costs. And because some people are cynical and say I go to too many conventions, that I don't have the money for it, let me break down how inexpensive this con is.

Transportation: 2-2.5 tanks of gas for the round trip. $120-$150
Registration: Pre-registered at basic level. $35
Food: Aside from the Jerky I will buy on the way up, food is covered at the convention. Any snacks and the sodas I buy before hand are all covered under foodstamps. Jerky is not covered. $25
Lodging: I already own a sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket, sooooo, free. $0
Puppy Chow: Oh hey, this is covered by food stamps as well, and I plan on bringing three flavors to Wild Nights. Dark Chocolate Orange, (at this rate, I'll have an old batch, about a month old but still good, and a new batch. It's a popular flavor :3) Mint Chocolate, and a new one, English Toffee. $4 for the recent English Toffee oil purchase..? Tips appreciated though. ^_^

So, yeah, $200 for the con. Having someone come with and split on gas would save me 1/3 of the costs. And this isn't even the cheapest convention I go to.

Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th
Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th
Pre-registration closes at 11:59 PM, April 15th

Alrighty, looks like I'm good to go for this con. An early fall towards sleep, an early rise for my first airline flight in several years, and a few weeks in Washington state. Gonna be a fun trip, I hope. :3 Check out the scenery, meet a few friends, rock the social life at the convention, lounge around for a bit, and who knows what else. I sure don't. :D But that's part of the fun with something like this, isn't it?