RPGs.  All day, every day.  She can cast magic with her eyes closed, level up a character with one foot while having a snack with the other, plus a casual conversation.  EXP is the spice of life, but it's how you use it that really matters.

Estelle is the third and final chocobo made specifically for Desert Bus for Hope's charity auction. If you're interested in getting this gal for yourself or checking out the rest of the handmade geekery up for auction, please check in with Desert Bus for Hope on November 17.  If at all possible, there will be previews available the week before.

Standing at 9.5 inches in height to the very top of her crest (just over 5 inches from chest to tail, and 3.5 inches at her widest point) she's a little bigger than my standard adult chocobos.  But all rules go out the window with rainbow birds, y'know?  Her body is soft and squishy and poseable to a point, made of acrylic yarn and filled with fiberfill.  Underneath layers and layers of yarn, her feet are wired for balance and poseability.  (And she should be able to hold up relatively light figures just fine, hint hint.)  Her eyes are blue fiber optic/"cat's eye" beads that have a really lovely glow that the camera decided it didn't really want to capture.  Pft.  If not already obvious, this is not a toy for the young'uns.  I do hope she'll manage to make a fine gamer's companion, though; especially when you've got a lot of grinding to do.  There's nothing wrong with teamwork and trading off.

Fighters, brawlers, racers; Ferdinand is a fan of them all.  You wouldn't think six toes and a beak could manage to pull off a dozen special moves in a row, but he's more than happy to prove you wrong.  Don't make any bets, okay?

Ferdinand is the second chocobo made specifically for Desert Bus for Hope's charity auction. If you're interested in getting this guy for yourself or checking out the rest of the handmade geekery up for auction, please check in with Desert Bus for Hope on November 17.  If at all possible, there will be previews available the week before.

Standing at 10 inches in height to the very top of his crest (5.5 inches from chest to tail, and 3.5 inches at his widest point), he's a little bigger than my standard adult chocobos.  But all rules go out the window with rainbow birds, y'know?  His body is soft and squishy and poseable to a point, made of acrylic yarn and filled with fiberfill.  Underneath layers and layers of yarn, his feet are wired for balance and poseability.  (And he should be able to hold up relatively light figures just fine, hint hint.)  His eyes are drilled stone beads, though exactly what stone has been driving me a little nuts.  They're obviously dyed, regardless.  And obviously this is not a toy for the young'uns.  I do hope he'll manage to make a fine gamer's companion, though.

This is Nadia.  Oh sure, she looks sweet and innocent now, but if you haven't had the experience of watching a chocobo own your posterior playing an FPS with her feet, then you ain't seen nothin'.  She likes adventures, too.  RPGs.  Hack and slash, on certain days.  Platformers are a favorite.  She'll help you through horror games and wait with you until that one game you've been desperately waiting for finally gets released.  But she's not snobbish about digging into the classics, either.  Look out for your snacks, though.  They may just "disappear".

Nadia is part of my contribution to Desert Bus for Hope; specifically, their always amazing charity auction. If you're interested in getting her for yourself or checking out the rest of the handmade geekery up for auction, please check in with Desert Bus for Hope on November 17.  If at all possible, there will be previews available the week before.

Giant chocobos tend to take about 10 full days of work from start to finish, though admittedly I never started counting with her.  Can you blame me?  She's incredibly soft and huggable, made of super snuggly acrylic yarn and polyfil, with big beautiful aqua glass eyes--so she's not for the young'uns.  She sits at a full 16.5 inches to the very top of her crest, is 9 inches from chest to tail, and every so slightly over 8 inches at her widest point.  Every single knot made in her creation is a surgeon's knot that's been further reinforced with just a touch of fabric paint medium; a perfectly clear and utterly undetectable way to assure she remains in tip-top shape for those gaming sessions.  Or, you know, hugs.

By the way, if you’re interested in contributing to the Desert Bus Craft-Along, there’s still time before the must-be-physically-at-headquarters deadline, October 12!  You can get all the details in this video.  Then e-mail Tally, the magnificent Desert Bus for Hope Craft-Along Coordinator, with your proposal!  (And please be patient, as she’s probably ridiculously busy.)

Speaking as someone who knows a thing or two about “video game therapy”, this cause is kind of important to me.  And it’s fun to watch these poor people be paid to torture themselves with the most boring video game of all time, isn’t it?  Major plus, in my opinion.

("Nadia" means "hope", by the way.  It seemed appropriate.  ...But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly influenced by Nadia G.  She's my hero.)

Benny's a pretty normal adolescent chocobo.  He likes to hang out, eat, see the sights, chase cats, dig for... whatever it is he likes to dig for.  I bet he'll be a real ladies chocobo when he grows up, though.

There are plans for this guy, oh yes.  He'll be available in the near-ish future...

Likes: oranges, digging up shiny stones, wind chimes

Dislikes: those who don't appreciate the little things, baked potatoes without sour cream

I wanted to go for simplistic. I'll bet my idea of "simplistic" is very different from anyone else's. Zarina has 17 Swarovski crystals on her body, and another 8 on her fully removable (but why would you want to?) necklace.

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Likes: heroes, chocolate pudding, glowy things

Dislikes: "the man", hot sauce

Her eyes are actually a very dark green rather than the black they keep showing up as in pictures. You can kinda tell, depending on your monitor. About the name... uh, yeah. Well. What can I say.

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Likes: attempting to see if she can fly (she can't), jumping high, watching other birds "to see how they do it"

Dislikes: being told that she can't fly, beetles

I promise, she's a very interesting individual.

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Likes: ice cream, swimming, and long summer days

Dislikes: cold and bodies of water with "no swimming" signs

You would not be in terrible error to think that he was named after Mark Twain. It's a nice bit of dedication, right? But (old) computer nerds are going to recognize TWAIN. This came about because I was repeating in my head, as I was finishing him, "I am not going to name him Tron. I am not going to name him Tron. ...But maybe I can get away with Twain." Ta-da.

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