Not for me

 Ryuuie just got the word from a mechanic the transmission in his car is shot. He doesn't have the money to replace the transmission or the car atm. He's offering commissions to raise money and has the GoFundMe reopened, if anyone is able to donate a few bucks. He's also working retail at BestBuy but they've been slow to give him hours (and he needed his car to get to the store he was assigned to)

https://www.gofundme.com/f/fixing-o.....o-help-me-work

Any help to boost or donate goes to keep a fellow fur homed and working.

Had a very nice birthday. Slept in a bit. I intended to go out to breakfast, but they were doing roadwork outside the house, so I just stayed in. had a lovely time mostly talking with folks. Got some very nice gifts. Proud I got some writing done. (https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/6239665 I'll post it here eventually. NSFW!)

Got dinner from a favorite childhood pizza place it was mostly good, if a little flawed (tater tots had a slight freezer burn taste, the breadsticks were a little chewy like they were old) I came away satisfied.

Finally sat down and watched Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, what a blast of a movie, funny, sweet, insane, loved it.

Overall it was a good birthday. I feel loved. I have so many wonderful people in my life I'm excited to share it with every day, I'm thankful to know y'all. Things are tough, but we will get through this all together.

Thank y'all for the well wishes and gifts, I deeply appreciate it.

I'm old D:

But I'm not working today and have plans to do fuck all all day :D Maybe go out to eat. My only solid plan is to watch Everything Everywhere All At Once (a friend got it for me ^^) So we'll see where the day takes me!

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....ight-chapter-1

Rick Fox has gotten his personal comic project off the ground and has started a campaign for it. Looks pretty fun!

Hey all,

Trying not to spam with this stuff. I mean for the couple dozen folks that pay attention to my journals anyhow >>

Anywho! Trying to drum up some support where I can and I still nominally have followers here.

 Ryuuie is still trying to claw up out of some big bills while he waits for his retail job to schedule more hours for him, this includes an overdue phone bill and the property tax bill for his home, while still trying to pay the mortgage (which is honestly pretty close to being paid off!) So any help is appreciated

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dom-pay-phone-bill

Then boosting for Ren/Vampire Banana
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-smit.....elp-if-you-can

Fellow suffered a bad knee injury and has been struggling to find work and keep his rent paid. Currently VB is offering commissions to folks that donate, offer is here:
https://bsky.app/profile/modestyjor...../3lkwoaqqmhs2k

And then DelShark is currently being forced to move cross country, any donations help!
https://ko-fi.com/delsharkart

With some details here:
https://bsky.app/profile/curiah.cit...../3lkyaqhvev22f

Thanks to anyone that can spread the links/campaigns around or, even better, donate.

Hey all,

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage

 Ryuuie has updated his gofundme. Thanks to previous efforts the February mortgage payment was paid on time to avoid foreclosure, he was able to put his tax refund toward some of his utilities, but he still needs assistance with managing the others until his retail job gives him more hours (Supposed to pick up in March) So boost it, donate if you can, anything helps. Appreciate everyone that has helped so far!

hey folks,

been a little while!

 Ryuuie was able to get through September/October, so thanks to all the folks that helped then. He was able to get a job at Best Buy, but only as a seasonal hire and now the holiday season is over, they haven't let him go but they're also not giving him any hours, so he needs some help again. If you can post it, boost it, or donate, anything helps

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage

https://bsky.app/profile/ryuuie.art...../3lhjwxnteo22j

 Korak_sinatra is open for commissions! He's trying to get a new job while working a pretty stressful one and side income would help

https://bsky.app/profile/avisheep.b...../3la2rmgcrhx2f

Been wanting to make this journal for a little while now and been trying to think of how to put it exactly.

The baseline is that I am pretty much always lowkey depressed or anxious. I can put it off pretty well if I find something to do or someone to talk to, that is, if I manage to be active or engaged then it's tucked safely to the back of my mind. But it is always there lurking.

I'd call myself functionally depressed (there's probably a better term for it, pretty sure I'm just cribbing off of 'functional alcoholic'). To put it another way, I'm sad most of the time but I still manage to get at least basic needs done, laundry, shopping, work, generally feeding myself, the stuff that I -have- to get done I can manage, whatever mood I'm in. Sometimes the feeding myself is lazy or indulgent like just getting fast food or ordering a pizza and I've probably let my dishes pile up a little more than I should (to be fair, I have a -ton- of them and it's 90% silverware, so it's easy to put it off when I still have tons of clean forks, knives, and spoons) and laundry sometimes doesn't get put away until just before bed. But the basic point is that I get it done so it doesn't trip me up worse later. Of course that doesn't make any of it easy and at times it's still a struggle, particularly if I'm at a dip and find it hard to motivate myself to get going. For some stuff I mostly manage it because I just stick to a fairly rigid schedule, like I do my grocery shopping sunday mornings since a lot of the stores are quiet while everyone is at church or I usually eat dinner around 6 or 7.

But in the in between moments, basically when I have free time, I struggle to keep myself active. I catch myself just checking between a half dozen sites like bluesky or my e-mail or FA, usually to find something to engage with, even just to leave a comment or fav/save a pic or something. Finding a new artist is always momentarily exciting as I check through their feed or gallery for more stuff I might like. Or I'll check my bank and investment accounts to see where everything sits for the day.

I'm doing okay on money. I make enough that my basic needs are met. A big part of my anxiety the last few years has been family and inheritance/estate stuff. For those that don't know, in brief, all my grandparents have passed away and on my father's side that got Complicated. And then in July of '23 my father passed away. I'm not going to detail everything other than it was extremely stressful, particularly everything leading up to it (drug use was involved, not on my part). But long story short, I'm going to be inheriting his house with my sisters, whom I'm going to buy out of the house and I'll be the sole owner, so pretty much ever since I've been fastidiously checking all my assets and going over the plan pretty much daily to make sure that, yes indeed, I can make this happen. It will involve taking out a loan in the end, I simply don't have enough saved up. I'm not thrilled to have to do it during record high interest rates but it's also not going to be an amount large enough that I'm going to struggle to pay it every month. And hopefully in a couple years or so interest rates will drop low enough I'll have the opportunity to refinance or something. But there's a difference between "I think I can make this happen" and "This happened and worked out" and I'm still in the former stage (cuz California estate stuff is long, drawn out, and the Complicated portion of my grandparents stuff has dragged this out to farcical levels). And just the whole legal mess has left it so any time I get a text I get anxious, particularly from my sisters, that something has gone wrong or there's another legal hurdle or something to deal with. It's getting better slowly, but I'm not really going to stop being anxious about it until I'm on the other side and like 95% of it is completely settled and done with.

And of course I miss my family. I really don't have much of it left. There's my 2 younger sisters and their kids (and my brother in law) We never got along much as kids, we've mellowed out more now but it's hard to not still feel that wedge between us and knowing they can just as easily default back to old habits if I do something to upset them or disagree. Fortunately they have been very amiable about all the house/inheritance stuff so that's been a relief. But yeah. I still miss mom and she's been gone 9 years now. Her mom (my last grandparent) passed away in '23 like Dad. So it hasn't been a great couple years. I even miss Dad some, but the last couple years with him really strained things because of what he was going through and chose to do to himself. So holidays get me a little blue naturally.

I have my friends of course, which I'm very thankful for. But no one local, except an old high school friend I haven't seen in person in years as he's usually just busy with his family. I have a lot of coworkers I'm on good terms with but I keep them at a remove, that is, I only ever see them at work because I still live and work in a deeply conservative town (I don't have to tell you how uncomfortable it was the day after the election) So they don't know all that many details of my personal life and absolutely nothing about my sexuality or fandom interests. I'm just the quiet polite nerdy guy and I can carry small talk pretty decently. So the bulk of my interactions are still over text and that is fine, I communicate better over text anyway where I can consider my thoughts a little better and be more articulate.
But talking online has it's faults. Folks get busy, folks get into moods, folks have their own things going on, can't respond right away or even maintain a conversation. And that's fine, everyone should have their own thing going on. We're all people. I don't need someone to entertain me 24/7, but yeah there are times where I'll be sitting by myself, lots of unreads on the other end, or trying to get folks attention and just getting frustrated. It's an easy way to crash my mood, where I'll just look for something to distract myself with, a game if I'm up for it, a book maybe, but more often I usually just go curl up for a bit.
And relationships aren't easy. I'm always worried I'm being annoying or too much or spamming someone. I can be very one track minded. And a lot of friends are very kind and accommodating and even tell me not to worry, though when I'm looking for reciprocation it's not really a comfort so much as just making me feeling tolerated, which is in a way worse. Especially if I'm trying to be intimate, I don't want to feel just safely ignored. That kinda hurts worse than just being told no, like it's just a wild hair that'll pass. And I do admit, I know I get attached to folks and can feel very strongly for them to the point I'm doing a lot of heavy lifting in the relationship and can and will burn out eventually. I'm a pleaser and a try hard and that can just rub folks the wrong way or make them unsure how to respond, or worse feel like they're not contributing if they can't match me, so they just stay quiet. It's always a juggling act where I am trying to accommodate and not overstep boundaries. It's hard to remember everybody's exact likes/dislikes and I know I step on more than a few toes from time to time, particularly those whom I'm very affectionate for but have very tight/small boundaries they don't want me crossing.
And I know a can make people feel stupid. I mean I've been told as such lately by a few folks. I am very aware I can come across as a smug know it all correcting people and lecturing them, particularly if I feel I'm in the right. I try not to and I try to catch myself when I do that. It's a little too easy to do, especially if it's an area where I feel I'm pretty knowledgeable and trying to be caught up on the news and latest political goings on is just always a minefield. So I have to step carefully and check myself.
Have also just been more hyper aware of growing distant with people. I've lost some folks that still kind of haunt me. I just don't handle loss that well anymore and it doesn't even have to be someone passing.
I've had one friend whom I knew for years and years and I was very intimate with and he has very clearly developed a pretty severe mental illness. It started slow, small things, he just slowly got meaner and more paranoid. He'd see things I was commenting on and just turn it into an argument, very often news related stuff. But it got weirder, stuff like claiming COVID was a fungus and he could 'see' it in the air. It got bad to the point that I just had to break contact. It was just too much to handle. I've still kept tabs on him (he's a fur) but he's very clearly gotten worse and I just don't have any resources or means to help him and I don't know that he has anyone close to him to help either. It's just watching a very slow motion car crash that's either going to end with him harming himself or somewhere else and I don't really have anything I can do about it.
I had another friend, a frequent RP partner, again that I knew for years and years. We didn't always talk but we were never quiet too long, we'd still play off and on frequently. And then one summer a few years ago right toward the end of the pandemic he just started to ghost me. Stopped responding, except one drunken new years well wish that quickly went back to ghosting. It hurt and I wasn't sure what I'd done to warrant it, maybe politics, maybe embarrassing him on facebook a couple times (all accidentally). It wasn't until about 6 months ago I finally hit him up out of the blue and got a response. His answer was pretty unsatisfying, all told. Basically just told me he just stopped feeling horny. He offered to still remain friends. But I mean, if you think you can ask that after 3 years of ghosting without explanation... it rings a little hollow y'know? But it was an answer at least, so we've parted ways again. But I still just feel used up and discarded after nearly a couple decades of loyalty. So yeah I still think about it. i'll let it go eventually I think.
I am, unfortunately, sort of used to people just getting tired of me and moving on. When they figure out that they aren't going to get what they want from me or they realize that no, this is just how I am most of the time, they just poof. But that's the nature of the internet ya? People are fleeting and finding good friends is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Still hurts every time it happens, particularly if it's someone I was more attached to or got along with.

I still have a lot of friends. I love them and I'm very thankful for them every day. I'm always there to help and support them and I know they rely on me. We're all going through tough times. I try to lend an ear when I can and advice if it's something I can talk intelligently to. Though I know I have a habit of seeing a problem and trying to fix it to the extent I can and I don't always have the tools or resources to deal with that. And I know I can overextend myself and try too hard to kinda keep everyone up while I'm letting myself suffer.

And I know I'm loved. I know I'm cared for. I know I'm not just 'useful' to people. They even tell me that, some frequently. I appreciate it very much even if I don't always have the words to express that. When my mood is really down, I tend to dip hard into imposter syndrome. And it's devastating to hear someone say they love you and not feeling worthy of it. It makes me feel ashamed and often I'll just curl up feeling worthless. It usually passes. But it's something I always carry because it's just very hard for me to accept that what I do, what I make, matters. And I know it does. But it's one thing to be told it and an entirely nothing to just.. accept that internally. It's something I'm still working on. And probably where I have my lowest lows with.

And I can't fix everything. I have so many friends and so many of them have problems that just can't be fixed easily. Health problems, mental problems, social problems, money problems, problems with family or friends. I'd have to rearrange heaven and earth itself to fix everything. So all I can do is try what I can, even if it doesn't feel enough for me I know it helps and I try to take comfort in that. And I just have to keep trying. I know things can and will get better, we have to try to help each other when and where we can and we'll carry through past the worst of things. but man does it feel sisyphean in task at times and every set back is a new discouragement. But that's life, ya? When it rains it pours and all that. But the sun always rises the next day and as long as there's breath in my body I'll keep going as best as I can. Sometimes I just have to realize I need to pace myself or when to step back from a problem that is too big for me.

Obviously I'm stressed about the incoming administration. Quite a few folks saw my thread on bluesky discussing how bad my anxiety was election night. I don't have high hopes the next few years will be anything but a repeat of 2016 and on (read: total shitshow). I have fewer family to worry about, but on the other hand, this may affect my job, so I have that to worry about. The only tiny saving grace is that if things really go south, I have enough in my 401k to cover the loan I'll have to take out on the house and live off for a while til I find something else. Though it doesn't thrill me I even have to think of that as a back up plan. I'm shakily confident it won't come to that but I never know when the next curve ball is coming.

Trying to work on my health. I'm really happy that I've made a lot of good progress with my cholesterol to the point my doctor was actually jealous as my numbers were under his. I am still working on my blood pressure though. Trying to walk more, which thankfully work is good for (on good days I can walk about 3 miles or so) but the weather lately has put a damper on that. And I'm trying to eat better, less fast food, less sugar. I've quit soda and curbed back a lot on my sugar intake. I'm still working on fixing food for myself, like actual cooking, rather than relying on pre-made stuff and soups and sandwiches. I do still have a bad habit of stress eating so whenever my anxiety hits I'll end up snacking a lot or I'll go seek comfort food, like some ice cream or pizza. I am aware of it and working on it, but it's slow and..I'm a very anxious person these days. And its the holidays so there's been an extreme amount of temptation and high calorie treats. My best discipline is simply not putting a temptation where I have easy access to it and that's completely out the window when coworkers bring in donuts or cookies or have a potluck etc. So all I can do is manage what I have control over, which I like to think I am improving on.

My writing is stalled. I have ideas and projects I want to work on. But as noted above, with all the stuff I'm stressed and anxious for, it's been hard to let myself get into the right mindset to work on stuff. And I have a bad habit of trying to do things to please others, which is made all the worse when they just don't respond to it or say thank you or the like (This is not always the case. A lot of stuff I write specifically for folks is well received and I'm excited when I can do it for someone) I know I need to work more at doing things for myself and just for my pleasure. I have taken to tossing some scribbles up on pillowfort when it strikes me enough. But I want to do more than just pick at snippets and I have a few projects in mind I want to work on. I've had a little comedy sex novella I've wanted to do for a while (some of the character art is even in my gallery) and I have some stuff with Magus Springtome I'd like to do. I've also just been wanting to use my doberman Lance more for some just pure self indulgence. So it's all baby steps.

Intimacy wise, I am of course still single, if all the above wasn't a clue. I do get lonely, certainly. But for the time being I am comfortable enough being single. I do kind of wish I could be closer with people (No this is not an invitation). I don't really get physical relations much except when I travel to see friends and travel makes it kind of hard to want to be horny. Most of my stimulation just comes from online stuff, which is overall fine. I'm a very stuck in my head person, so stuff that's mentally stimulating gets me off plenty well. But I do struggle with trying to communicate to friends and partners what I really like. It seems like it'd be obvious to me, and I try to herd folks toward that. But I still feel a disconnect and folks just... doing things that I'm not into that much. Like, I am very comfortable identifying as a submissive bottom, I'm a pleaser, I like to do things to people, and I like reciprocation but often people reciprocate with what -they- like, if that makes sense. Just feels like a constant uphill battle of trying to get folks to understand what my buttons are or that I'd like them pressed more often. Or that I'd like more than just foreplay and teasing. Those can be great! Again I enjoy casual intimacy. But there's only so many times I can be teased or get just up to the fun part and then not do it before I... want to actually get to the fun part? It's another thing that can get me down because sometimes I just feel like I'm barking up the wrong tree, just leaving me flustered and unsatisfied. A lot of times I just feel like my needs aren't being met, to put a point on it. I do miss when I had more regular playmates to do stuff with but that's been whittled down quite a lot over the years, like some of the above I've mentioned.
Anyway, Relationships are complicated, particularly when it comes to sexy stuff.

The rest of my free time I usually spend with books or games. Most of my reading these days I tend to just do on my lunch break but I've been hitting points where I'll curl up with a book at home, usually to finish it so I can have a fresh book ready for work the next day. I picked up quite a lot of classic Doctor Who books, the New Adventures with the 7th doctor, so I've been really liking those. And I finished the original Shadowrun trilogy, which I enjoyed quite a lot too so I'm interested in picking up some more in that setting.

Games-wise, WoW is still my main go to game. Dragonflight was a revitalizing fresh of breath air after the back to back shitshows of Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands. It still wasn't perfect, but it was such a massive step up that it's flaws pale in comparison to it's strengths and it was the most fun I've had in WoW since probably Legion. War Within is shaping up pretty decent so far too. It is in a bit of a lull atm until the new patch but that's fine, it gives me time to check out other stuff. I've been playing Eiyuden Chronicles more which as been a massive treat and makes me very happy I backed it on Kickstarter. It's definitely been filling that jRPG niche I've been missing. I'm really looking forward to the next couple Deltarune chapters and of course, Hollowknight:Silksong.
I did finally quit Overwatch. I've just grown very disillusioned with the game. Moving to 5v5 free to play and pushing the cash shop at every chance and massively overpriced cosmetics has just killed a lot of interest I had in the game. Honestly even if they fix the mechanical issues and made the game more fun again, I don't know that I want to go back. They've given up on developing it as it's own property and it's now just Overwatch: Fortnite Lite, except it's -really bad- at being Fortnite because A) Fortnite is fortnite and that isn't changing soon and B) Overwatch's most interesting brand is Overwatch itself, but they've cut PvE and let the lore wither on the vine. It's really a massive shame because the setting and characters are excellent and ripe with potential but it's just been hollowed out in favor of soulless (and clueless) crossovers that have nothing to do with the game other than 'this is a famous property you nerds might shell out money for'. And I think with Marvel Rivals we'll see a big migration in the player base. I tried it a bit and it's pretty decently fun, more fun and less frustration with it than i've had in Overwatch the last couple years, to say the least.

I haven't kept up with any shows or movies. Last year I killed my satellite subscription because I only used it to really watch a couple channels and keep tabs on a show or two. Since then I just have a little roku device that lets me stream a lot of stuff for free and since I mostly use TV for background noise when I'm doing something it's worked out nicely, with channels dedicated to anime, classic doctor who, star trek, and MST3K there's usually something I can flip to and just let go in the background (Or even watch stuff I haven't seen before, like some classic trek and who stuff). I did see Beatlejuice Beatlejuice recently and liked that a lot. Not a perfect sequel but fun enough I had an okay time. Have found myself leaning on youtube for stuff as well, been watching gamegrumps regularly and a few other gaming and cooking channels with interesting or relaxing stuff to watch.

Anyway I think i've tapped about everything I wanted to talk about and vent some. I had a couple nice holidays in spite of the anxiety and I still have a few more days to relax and maybe work on stuff or finish some games or the like and then it's back to work. I'll be attending FC in a couple weeks and I'm excited for that. I am cautiously hopeful the next year won't be as big a trashfire as I'm expecting but I know things will still be pretty bad. I'm trying to recognize more when I'm doing unhealthy doomscrolly type behaviors and try to do something more productive. I'll still try to get by and do what I can. We all will. Take care of yourselves everyone. Lotsa love.

2024 sucked, we all know that.

2025 is extremely likely to suck worse.

We will get through it though, like we've gotten through all the other shitty years, by doing it together. We're all very tired, but remember that we're not alone. Hang in there everyone, we'll fight to make it a better year however we can, just know, surviving is a perfectly valid way to fight.

I've locked my twitter and cleaned a bunch of stuff off it.

So if you're interested in following me on social media, my main platform now is:
https://bsky.app/profile/tredain.bsky.social

I also post a little bit to Mastadon but it's extremely tertiary atm
https://mastodon.social/@Tredain


But I've also been writing a bit more this week, just some shorts for practice and I've been tossing them up on pillowfort since it allows NSFW and it can do blog style posts

https://www.pillowfort.social/Tredain

Hi kids. We've made some progress for folks, but some are getting really short fuse (but are super close to their support goals!) Also added another friend having surgery in about 5-6 weeks.

1. *URGENT*
 Ryuuie is currently having issues covering expenses for his mortgage and utilities after inheriting his house with the passing of his mother last year, consider his gofundme or kofi
https://x.com/Ryuuie/status/1826031936474853572
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage
https://ko-fi.com/ryuuie

UPDATE: He has until the 20th of September to raise over 900 bucks, as you can see, only partway there. Please help here!
UPDATE 2: Ryuuie was stuck in the hospital for a week with RSV and dehydration, he's behind on bills and the mortgage company is threatening foreclosure if he can't make the payment. He's -nearly there- on the 900 needed for the payment, please consider pitching in, even 5 bucks helps.

2. *URGENT*
https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-sick-m.....ith-their-rent
https://bsky.app/profile/modestyjor...../3l3dvu6j4hx2o

This is a friend of a friend, he's been ill and taking care of his father and cat and trying to raise rent money to get them through a couple months. BUT
if anyone is able to donate 30$ or more and send a DM to the folks I'm going to link, you can get a B&W sketch (from one of the two folks mentioned, up to their discretion) They are trying to raise some money by the 10th, so every dollar counts here!

Update: They made September's rent, the push is now to October and finish their goal and then hopefully they'll have benefits taken care of by then.

Sketch info: (UPDATED LINK)
https://bsky.app/profile/ratgalacti...../3l4f7f7y2z32z

3.  RolandGuiscard is having hernia surgery in a little over a month and could use assistance paying for it
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-.....ealing-journey
https://bsky.app/profile/rolandguis...../3l53quz2jrq2t (also several links for other ways to support him including buying from his ebay/dealers den or hiring him)



4.  Kharnak has been supporting his mother and dealing with a lingering infection and waiting for some benefits to get approved/start
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10945717/
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=.....=1725201066885


5.  DarwentheOrca has apparently been homeless the last couple years and living out of his van, which now needs to be replaced.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-.....-need-of-a-van


6. https://bsky.app/profile/phlashdark...../3l3jymoflln2o
Fellow looking for assistance with some dental issues

And again as always if you know someone that could use some help SPEAK UP, please share and will boost however I can!

It's  Cyberklaw's birthday, consider giving him a birthday well wish!

Hey all! Again some folks taken care, some folks still in need (some that have a VERY SHORT timeline). Please share around if you can or donate if able.

1. *URGENT*
https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-sick-m.....ith-their-rent
https://bsky.app/profile/modestyjor...../3l3dvu6j4hx2o

This is a friend of a friend, he's been ill and taking care of his father and cat and trying to raise rent money to get them through a couple months. BUT
if anyone is able to donate 30$ or more and send a DM to the folks I'm going to link, you can get a B&W sketch (from one of the two folks mentioned, up to their discretion) They are trying to raise some money by the 10th, so every dollar counts here!

Sketch info:
https://bsky.app/profile/ratgalacti...../3l3lbidrv7w2e

2. *URGENT*
 Ryuuie is currently having issues covering expenses for his mortgage and utilities after inheriting his house with the passing of his mother last year, consider his gofundme or kofi
https://x.com/Ryuuie/status/1826031936474853572
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage
https://ko-fi.com/ryuuie

UPDATE: He has until the 20th of September to raise over 900 bucks, as you can see, only partway there. Please help here!


3.  Kharnak has been supporting his mother and dealing with a lingering infection and waiting for some benefits to get approved/start
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10945717/
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=.....=1725201066885


4.  DarwentheOrca has apparently been homeless the last couple years and living out of his van, which now needs to be replaced.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-.....-need-of-a-van


5. Gaymingbear is looking for donations after the extremely recent passing of his mother
https://x.com/GaymingBear/status/18.....09672888369567
https://ko-fi.com/bearlynewgaymer



6. https://bsky.app/profile/phlashdark...../3l3jymoflln2o
Fellow looking for assistance with some dental issues

And again as always if you know someone that could use some help SPEAK UP, please share and will boost however I can!

Browsing round found a few projects some folks may be interested in

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....mel-pins-vol-2

Some cute FF7 chibi pins. Hoping the cait sith one unlocks m'self

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....p-dragon-plush

Really cute dragon plush! Absolutely huge (and price to match) Tempted if I had anywhere to put one that wasn't just in a corner gathering dust. Likely to nab that cute pin though.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....d-visual-novel

Neat looking sci fi visual novel, with a sassy robot cat! What's not to love?

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....tsu-fighters-1

Promoting this for the wordplay title alone. Style looks neat though!

Very happy to say that a couple of the folks from the last journal have been taken care of. No idea if my boosting helped at all, but still happy to see!

anyway some updates that were given me by some other folks and some of the others was hoping to boost last time:

 Ryuuie is currently having issues covering expenses for his mortgage and utilities after inheriting his house with the passing of his mother last year, consider his gofundme or kofi
https://x.com/Ryuuie/status/1826031936474853572
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage
https://ko-fi.com/ryuuie

 Kharnak has been supporting his mother and dealing with a lingering infection and waiting for some benefits to get approved/start
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10945717/
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=.....=1725201066885

 Knuxlight is coming to the end of the month and due to medication supply issues hasn't been able to cover everything he needs for expenses
https://x.com/tehknuxlight/status/1.....73486559429062
https://ko-fi.com/Knuxlight

However he has opened for some butt and pec icons on bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/tehknuxlig...../3l2soukfkob2l

 Spooktoons is currently looking to get one of his young male cats neutered, any bit will help cover the roughly 100$ fee!

https://ko-fi.com/spooktoons

 DarwentheOrca has apparently been homeless the last couple years and living out of his van, which now needs to be replaced.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-.....-need-of-a-van

Gaymingbear is looking for donations after the extremely recent passing of his mother
https://x.com/GaymingBear/status/18.....09672888369567
https://ko-fi.com/bearlynewgaymer

As always if you wanna give a shout to someone feel free to add in the comments, even if its promoting yourself!

hey folks!

Been a couple weeks and there's some more folks that could use a hand up or are just open and looking for business!

 Spooktoons is currently looking to get one of his young male cats neutered, any bit will help cover the roughly 100$ fee!

https://ko-fi.com/spooktoons


EDIT: Mark has reached his goal! Thank you all that were able to help and/or boost this! :D
 Markwulfgar has gotten some massive help with his credit card debt, still a bit to go before the end of the month so any help is appreciated! he's also opened for commissions to cover his normal expenses

Ko-fi & explainer
https://bsky.app/profile/markwulfga...../3kzhxinqeei2k
https://ko-fi.com/markwulfgar

Commission prices (don't mind the title, it was from another opening)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57038241/
https://bsky.app/profile/markwulfga...../3l2duhrxj5x2q (can also DM him on bluesky)

Knuxlight is coming to the end of the month and due to medication supply issues hasn't been able to cover everything he needs for expenses
https://x.com/tehknuxlight/status/1.....73486559429062
https://ko-fi.com/Knuxlight

However he has opened for some butt and pec icons on bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/tehknuxlig...../3l2soukfkob2l

Ryuuie is currently having issues covering expenses for his mortgage and utilities, consider his gofundme or kofi
https://x.com/Ryuuie/status/1826031936474853572
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dominiqu.....their-mortgage
https://ko-fi.com/ryuuie


EDIT: Bluebear has also reached their goal! Thanks to everyone that helped support and signal boost! :D
The Bluebear27 is currently going through a lot trying to support her family while dealing with a large tax bill and other issues
https://x.com/thebluebear27/status/.....87620508045751
https://ko-fi.com/thebluebear

87Octane (also known as Shenanigan) is currently open for commissions
https://87octane.newgrounds.com/news/post/1413519

Glamdoodle over on bluesky is open
https://bsky.app/profile/glamdoodle...../3l2quim3bgk2j

Asteron likewise open on bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/asterondra...../3l2rky5yqec2r


As always if you wanna give a shout to someone feel free to add in the comments, even if its promoting yourself!

Hey folks!

Heads up, but if you check in with your local pharmacies they should be getting the '24-25 COVID Vaccines (moderna or pfizer) in the next week or two, you may already be able to schedule an appointment!

A long time friend  Kharnak has been hitting a lot of issues of late, there's some solutions on the horizon but in the mean time he could use some support if anyone can pitch in a few bucks

Latest journal:
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10931767/
https://ko-fi.com/kharnak
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=.....=1723699685619

 Markwulfgar has had issues dealing with a credit card he didn't realize had an insane interest rate. Any help getting it down is appreciated

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10930300/
https://ko-fi.com/markwulfgar

 Redvelvetbat still has an adoptable for sale! Cute pug gal only 65$
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57243406/ (Edit: She sold!)

 Thehearthfox is currently open for commissions and could use the income (see twitter for commission rates)
https://x.com/TheHearthFox/status/1.....98240609575185 post with rates
https://ko-fi.com/dangerfox

https://x.com/murrcatter
https://x.com/Billcatter
 Marcothecat has been doing some really fantastic work but has been a little ill off and on so if anyone wants to toss a tip or sign up for a commission (you'll have to message him for his discord!)
https://ko-fi.com/billyfore

Cozylittleartblog is also doing a summer sale for the next few days
https://www.tumblr.com/cozylittlear.....f?source=share
They have a lot of cute goods!

And a few other folks spotted on other sites that I don't know as well but happy to boost:
https://bsky.app/profile/redfuchs.b...../3kzmeezt6yd2b
https://x.com/coolartcorner/status/.....91875202707651

As always if you have anyone else you know needing a boost please feel free to post!

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56667861/

A very cute bunny for sale, if you know anyone interested give them a heads up. line art by  Spooktoons and colors by  Redvelvetbat

Hey folks,

just dropping a few plugs.

Edit: Link removed. The gofundme has ended, the surgery was not needed! <3

 RolandGuiscard is looking to raise some money for one of his dogs

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-.....y-and-recovery

Don't know this person but was ask to spread the link


And then just advertising a friend's sticker shop, the more sales they make here the fewer commissions etc they have to sell so every lil bit helps

https://www.redbubble.com/people/Ro.....ont/shop?asc=u

Figured I'd write up a lil journal on my weekend trip up to washington to visit  Donryu

I don't travel too much, mostly 1-2 cons a year. Part of that is I don't have a local airport and the closest ones that are worth a darn are 2ish hours away. Makes travel a bit annoying. But it happened Southwest had a really nice deal going on for tickets and I was able to use points so I was able to get around trip ticket up to Washington for my birthday weekend.

So the trip started Friday the 10th at 2 am. As I said, I'm not close to any decent airports and i had a 6 am flight, so I drove down to Ontario (California) airport in the dead of night. Traffic luckily wasn't too bad and I had napped a bit and got some food and caffeine in me before hitting the road. The worst part was the freeway but it's luckily only about 10 minutes of the whole trip. I got to the airport without any major trouble (just a bit of stress) and got through security pretty quick. I didn't need to check luggage since I just brought a backpack with a few odds and ends I needed (I usually have a suitcase, but with no need to lug stuff like sketchbooks around, I could travel much lighter). The wait wasn't too bad and I got on my first flight no trouble.

I don't even remember the flight as I managed a cat nap through most of it, though I did miss the drink service which was a lil annoying. I had a few hours of layover in Oakland which.. the airport is very reminiscent of LAX, just big long hallways without much around, though I will say it had more seating than LAX does (or did, I haven't gone through LAX in an age) The late hours finally caught up to me though so I started dragging tail pretty badly. I wandered around a bit scoping out food places with some interesting options, settled on a breakfast sandwich. I won't say how much it was just that it was kinda overboard expensive even for airport food, and worst of all it wasn't even that good. Blandest sausage I've ever had. Eggs, bun, and the aioli were okay, though the tater tots were actually quite good. Fueled up I was able to power along the rest of the layover and the flight was pretty easy, I ended up snoozing through half of it and then just read my book the rest.

Washington was very beautiful. Just trees and greenery and lots of snowy mountains with a lot of really pretty seaside views, lot of little islands and boats. Extremely scenic. The bellingham airport is pretty small, was off the plane and out to the curb within just a few minutes (again it helped I had no checked luggage). After a few minutes wait  Donryu and  Zexyz picked me up ^^ We talked a bit and grabbed a late lunch, since all I'd eaten was that overpriced airport food and a couple fiber & protein bars. We went to the local mall, which had a really nice foodcourt with a lot of great smelling options. I settled on Two Guys and got a buffalo chicken cheese steak with some very decent bacon cheese fries, while Donryu got some chipotle and Zex got some tacos. We were very tempted by some cinnabon but decided to forego, besides an interesting cookie that had a mini cinnabon inside. Also had our pictures taken by some high schoolers that said we had her 'cousin's vibes', so we're probably on some deep fake scam as we speak now!

We stopped by their very nice apartment to drop things off, then went to the beach and a very nice little coffee shop to kill a little time. It was lovely, though the coast is fairly rocky so not quite your usual sun and sand, it was a nice view and lots of folks were out enjoying the very sunny weather. We went back to the apartment and met their roommate  Alsong who was very pleasant. We chatted a lil while. We considered getting some pizza for dinner but a lot of the places they recommended were nearly closed and we were all still a bit full from lunch. Instead we opted for indian at Alex's suggestion and piled into the car and hit up a place they knew. It was really fantastic! I got a very wonderful chicken tikka masala (a favorite) with some okay garlic naan (they used cilantro in theirs and it kind of overpowered the garlic, but still tasty enough and an excellent compliment to the chicken) We all had a very satisfying meal and decided against dessert. Then went just a couple shops down to check out a trading card/game shop that carried all sorts of trading card stuff and old games, including systems! Was pretty neat.

We came back to the apartment and settled in and watched The Menu, a favorite of Donovan's and a movie I hadn't seen yet. Loved it! Dark, biting, disturbing, and funny in a lot of places. I recommend it! It's demented fun and is very (darkly) entertaining. It was a great watch and a lot of memorable moments and lines.
After the movie I forget who but someone mentioned that the northern lights were visible so we all piled out of the apartment. There was a fair bit of light pollution unfortunately so to the naked eye it looked mostly like overcast at night, just kind of hazy with a bit of color. But using our phones we could see with the night vision and I got a few neat shots!
By then it was fairly late so I showered and we wrapped up, was pretty tired and worn out (since at best I hadn't slept more than 2 hours in the past 24) crashed out on their very comfortable couch.

Slept in a bit ^^; Zex and Alex went off for the day so Donryu and I had the day to ourselves. We started with a very wonderful breakfast at a cafe called Skylark's he's very fond of. We shared a artichoke dip served on crustinis that was stellar (and a lil molten! ooey gooey goodness) then I had a lemon poppy seed pancake with blueberry compote (and butter and syrup) and a white wine sangria (they were doing a mother's day special and I've never had sangria. It was good! Sweet and fruity) Donovan had a french dip that looked quite tasty. With breakfast done we went just up the street to a really large bookstore, it took up a couple floors and even had a nice little cafe/coffeeshop on the 2nd floor. I always like seeing movies in theaters with friends so we decided on Kung Fu panda 4 since it was still playing (and nothing else really jumped out at us). There was still time before the movie so we went to a nearby coffee shop he uses to do commission work. I got a very tasty lemon iced tea and we chatted while he worked til it was time for the movie.

The movie itself was okay. Just okay. The visuals are excellent, the music is fine, the character designs are the series' usual (furry and fine). The story and characters kind of fall flat. The furious five aren't in the movie at all. The story skips by very rapidly and does the 'story by bullet points' thing where they just knock out plot points rapid fire to get the check list done, nothing really has any time to breathe, and the villain is very underbaked. overall like a C+? it wasn't the worst way to kill an afternoon but the series definitely peaked with 2. I still loved getting to watch a movie with my friend ^^ And we had fun razzing it and talking about it afterward.

It was still a bit early for dinner so we went back to the apartment and watched some stuff, I hadn't seen Record of the Lodoss War in ages so we watched a couple episodes of that and he played a bit of Hollow knight, then we walked back over to the theater and the conveyor belt sushi place that was next to it for dinner. I've always wanted to try one of these places and it was great. For those that haven't seen one basically the chefs prep a bunch of different dishes, sushi, chicken, some desserts, place them on colored plates (each color corresponds to a different value, so like yellow plates are 2.95) and then stick it on a conveyor belt that runs around the whole restaurant. If you see something that looks good, you take it. And when you're done eating they just tally up the plates for your bill. We got to try a whole bunch of stuff. I had a couple plates of ebi (shrimp) sushi, my favorite, some tamago (egg), crab, squid (which I find I don't like! Thing learned) a few rolls we couldn't identify though they were good, including one with a smoked salmon on top that had a nice spiciness to it. One of the best things about the place is every plate has 2-4 pieces so we shared quite a few of what we grabbed. Also tried some macaroons and red bean balls. And I tried a lychee martini. I'm not a big vodka person but it was my first time trying lychee. They look like skinned eyeballs (from the photo i sent my sister she assumed they were scallops) and the texture is about the same but the taste is quite good! very floral and sweet. Overall it was a really good meal. We both came away extremely satisfied and content.

That didn't stop us, once we walked back to the apartment, from going to a cookie shop though. A short drive and we picked up 2 a piece, but they threw in a 3rd for me for free since it was my birthday ^^ I had an oatmeal raisin and a peanut butter cup cookie, with the extra a normal peanut butter. All really stellar.

Then we went into his studio so he could work and watched Murder on the Orient Express, which is an absolutely fabulous movie. Loved everyone in it, lot of top notch performances, the visuals are lovely, the characters are sharp and stand out, the dialogue is witty, funny, and heartbreaking. Really wish I'd seen it in theaters, I probably would've cried (even more than I did!) Then Donovan showed me the original version of Vampire Hunter D (the first 10 minutes or so) so I could compare it with the Blue Ray Re-master which is night and day different, not just clearer and crisper but like, lot of stuff simply -isn't visible- in the original because of the quality. It's one of my favorite old anime so it was a treat seeing it in such great condition ^^ After that we were kind of tired so put on some Lupin and I got tired enough so we turned in.

Slept in a bit again, had my birthday cookie which I'd saved ^^ Let my phone and stuff charge (while getting a lot of very wonderful birthday wishes, so thank you everyone), then we went back to the bookstore from saturday while he worked on some commissions. Had a very tasty pastry, a 'savory pinwheel' with smoked ham and gruyere. Very tasty. We killed time until it was time to pick up Zexyz from an overnight out of town trip. Picked him up and decided on pizza for lunch (something else I love sharing with friends) Alsong was around as well so he met up with us (and gave me a very nice card for my birthday). We went to a place called Fiamma was really good, I had some garlic knots to share (which were more cheese than garlic or knot, but still super good) and Donovan and I split a shrimp and artichoke pizza with pesto, while alsong had a pineapple pizza and Zex had a pepperoni pizza and a salad. We all came away very satisfied. We took a walk to an ice cream shop they all liked but unfortunately they were closed due to the heat. Not to be discouraged, we decided on gelato, but not before checking out a really nice comic shop that was just wall to wall comics. After some browsing we hiked back and got into our cars for the gelato place, which was actually back near the cafe & bookstore we were at previously. A nice little walk and we all had our gelato. I got a 3 scoop with strawberry lemonade (super tasty) pistachio (so good! tasted very like pistachio) and oreo (my standard favorite). Also tried tastes of rose petal (tastes exactly like a rose smells, which is disorienting to feel in my -mouth- and not my nose. Interesting, though not one I'd order for myself) and double chocolate, which was very dark chocolatey (which I also like).

We returned back to the apartment, talked, hung out a bit. Considered on what to do for dinner, and instead of going out settled on Zex making some tacos. Alsong popped out for a couple things and very kindly got a little cake for me. Donryu needed to get a couple things from the store too so I walked with him. Was very nice, we got what he needed and I got a little cherry clearly canadian, it's a flavored sparkling water brand I used to really like as a kid and they've started bringing it back. My mom used to get them for me all the time as a treat, clearly canadian and a snickers, so made me happy to get one and be reminded of her. On our walk back we took a nature trail which went right up to the back of their apartment and even saw a hummingbird chilling out on a tree along the way, really neat to see!

Then we watched the Barbie movie. I hadn't seen it before so it was a treat. I laughed, I giggled, I cried a bit. it's funny and well written and hits some good issues, has a nice emotional core to it. Which is not something I'd ever thought I'd say about Barbie. It's a treat and I'd recommend it. And the tacos were really good too, with some rice and tater tots on the side. And then they sang me happy birthday while I blew out a candle on the lil oreo cake. Was very sweet.
After that we settled in for the night. Donryu and I stayed up a bit while he played some games and talked some more. Neither of us really wanted to go to bed, so we stayed up a bit. We did finally get some sleep. About 3 hours, since I had to be up at 5 am for my flight. Got dressed quick and Donryu drove me to the airport. The airport barely had anyone there so security was (relatively) quick and my first flight was again quick and easy and I catnapped through it.

My layover was in vegas this time. I was a bit surprised (when I shouldn't have been) that there were slots in the airport. I wandered a bit, found my gate, ate some of my last protein/fiber bars. Had a gate change so found my new gate and then wandered some more. I tried the slots a bit. I'm not much of a gambler and I know it's easy to sink too much money in too fast. I just burned a bit of my leftover trip money. Actually won a bit! I was up to 155 at one point but just kept playing just to see if I could do further (I could not, so that was the end of it, played out my last credit and just stepped away). In retrospect I probably should've just cashed out and had some of my trip covered, but cest la vie.

Second flight was much shorter since it was just an hourish hop to my airport. I finished reading the book I had (A New Doctor Who Adventures novel, the 2nd Timewyrm series. I won an e-bay auction for a lot of 40 of them! So been working on those, they've been fun so far!) and since I didn't have any luggage to check was able to make my way straight to my car and hit the road. The drive was pretty uneventful and when I got home my little dog was extremely excited to see me (my sister had been taking care of her while I was gone).

Overall it was a very fun trip. Watched a lot of fun movies, had some amazing meals, and got to spend time with some wonderful friends. Easily one of the best birthdays I've had in a while and I'm glad I was able to make the trip. Only kind of sad note is that Southwest, the usual carrier I fly with, is discontinuing service to Bellingham in a few months. a shame but I can fly other carriers and work other ways for future trips. We'll see.

But a big thank you to  Donryu,  Zexyz and  Alsong for making it a very memorable weekend, and thank you again to everyone that wished me a happy birthday and especially to those that got me something. I feel very loved and blessed for all the fantastic people in my life and I wouldn't be anywhere without you all. Hope you enjoyed the read, it's been a week so details are a little fuzzy but it was still a really solid time and I have some pics to remember it by. Definitely not one I'll forget any time soon!

Been a fantastic trip so far and now I'm a whole year older ^^

Gonna travel for the first time for my birthday. Usually I just stay home, leave it low key and maybe do a dinner with my family, which has been.. fraught the past few years for various reasons if you've been following me.

And it lines up on Mother's day again, which happens every so often, so I really don't feel like being home alone and reminded of mom on my birthday of all days. (Still miss her).

So, gonna go pester  Donryu for a few days :3 Seemed like a fitting way to celebrate, particularly since I had to miss out on FC this year.

Things have overall smoothed out for me, I think. At least the worst stuff I was stressing out badly about seems to have either reduced down to something more manageable or not been a big deal at all. here's hoping that keeps up!

Hey kids,

For those in (most) US states don't forget you gotta file taxes by the 15th. If you are scrambling to get it done, file an extension. If you end up owing a lot and can't pay right away, consider contacting the IRS to set up a payment plan, they'll work with you.

And for a handful of states, you might be eligible for free file with the IRS directly!
https://directfile.irs.gov/

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....namel-pin-set/

Already funded plus some bonus designs. Pretty neat!