Just a quick Happy Halloween for everyone.

I hope you all have a fun and safe time this Halloween.

It's been a while since I last updated, mostly with work and other responsibilities, but the situation with our mentally unstable Sister is getting worse. To sum it up, she has been to jail a few more times, she has been stopping by our home demanding money, yelling crazy insults at us, and just a couple of days ago, she started throwing random crap from her home onto our front yard that we have to clean up and find some places to put them, which we don't. Now she has lost her home and is officially homeless, and she is staying with us for the time being. However, she is staying in the camper in the backyard of our home. She manages to convince our mom to do this, but Mom did tell her that if she starts throwing her Bull Shit around, she will be out.

So that's what's going on right now. I don’t know what's going to happen next, but expect commissions, art posts, and streaming to be a little slower than usual.

I saw the new Superman movie a few days ago, and I have to say I wish our Dad were still alive, because he would have loved this one. He grew up reading superhero comic books, and his favorite superhero was Superman. This movie is just a big old love letter to those comics, and I know he would have loved this one.


While I became more of a fan of Marvel superheroes, especially with the X-Men, I have always respected Superman for being the first superhero, and this movie does a great job of portraying him.

The movie is great fun, all the actors are great playing their roles, and David Corenswet is probably the best Superman we've had in a long time, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor is great in this role, and if you didn't like Lex Luthor before, you're going absolutely hate him by the end of this movie. Krypto is very cute and a fun addition to this movie, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane is once again the best Lois Lane we've had in a long time. And all the other superheroes, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, etc., in this film are great, and help expand this new DC universe.

Overall, this movie is just great fun with great action, great characters, great special effects, great story, and a great launching point for the new DC cinematic universe.

I saw the new Pixar movie, Elio, over the weekend, and here are my thoughts.

I wouldn't say this movie will become one of Pixar's top-tier films like Coco or Inside Out 1 and 2, but overall, it's a good, fun movie. The characters are likeable, the aliens have fun, and cute design and well animated.

The movie's overall message tackles themes of loneliness and finding a place to belong, while it does a good job of conveying those messages, it is missing that extra push to make the message more clear, like with most Pixar films, which is why I'm saying this movie will not become one of Pixar's top-tier movies, but it sill a good movie and worth a watch.

Just got back from watching the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon.

Okay, let's get this out of the way first. Yes, this is almost a scene-by-scene remake of the original animated film with some minor changes and edits (mostly setting things up for the 2nd movie). But I feel it works for this case, all the actors play their characters well, all the CGI Dragons look good, and they stay true to the original design of the dragons, but updated them just enough to fit in a live-action setting, and it still keeps the original messages of the animated movie.

Overall, I like it, and it was still a fun movie to watch. Will it replace the original animated film? No. But it will add more to the Dragon franchise in the end.

What's sad about this, I know the internet is going to rip this movie apart for not being original enough, and yet we got some live-action remakes like Lilo & Stitch that made some changes to fit a more modern setting that the internet didn't like either. So there's no way a remake could win. So, no matter which way they went, keep it the same, or make some changes, someone online will complain about it, and it just gets tiring seeing this every time a remake is announced.

So, at the end of the day, it's just going to depend on how well a remake is done and whether you like it or not.

Okay, here's my counterpoint to these two big issues the internet is raising about the Lilo & Stitch 2025 remake.

1. Gantu being removed and Jumba becoming the main villain

I understand why Gantu was removed. It was mostly because of the budget of the movie, and they didn't want to make a complete scene-by-scene remake of the original, so the only other character that could be used as a villain, and that made more sense for the plot of the movie, was Jumba. I have no issues with this change, it makes more sense in a realistic setting, and let's be honest, Jumba should have gone back to jail by the end of the animated film, cause he is a convicted criminal, and they just let him stay on earth with Stitch? that shouldn't have happened in a real-life setting.

But I could see how they could change that in a sequel, and let's be honest, the remake has made a ton of money already, so it's more likely that a sequel is already in the works. They could bring Gantu back in as a bounty hunter since that's how he ended up becoming in the series, and they could bring back Jumba and give him a proper redemption arc for the sequel.

2. Nani is leaving for college by the end of the movie.

This is the one that the internet has the biggest issues with, and what makes it worse, everyone is posting this online without the context of what happened. First, Nani did not give up Lilo; they are still together by the end of the movie, and Second, it did not ruin the message of Ohana, don't get me wrong, family is important to have, but you have to make sure you are happy within your family and can follower your dreams even if it means you have to leave your family for a bit.

This is a different Nani than her animated counterpart. This Nani is younger and has not gone through college; the animated version of her is older, and based on the series, she has already gone through college. So the animated version was more capable of taking care of her, but even in the animated film still shows it's not an easy thing to do.

I'm sorry to say this, but the ending of the animated film would never have happened in real life, so I'm sorry the live-action remake took a more realistic approach to the ending, but what they should have done in this format couse you could get away with a lot with animation but in a realistic setting you can't do that.

Let's try to clear up some other things about this ending.

First, the Neighbor taking guardianship over Lilo, the movie made it clear that this neighbor is more grandmotherly and genuinely cares for both Nani and Lilo, even moving into their house (after it got repaired) so they could still keep their home.

Second, Lilo told Nani to go to college, which is another thing that everyone is leaving out, cause Lilo knew Nani wanted to go to college to study marine biology, so it's nice that Lilo gave Nani her blessing to go.

Third, they have a Freking Portal Gun!!! In the mid-credit scene, it is shown that Nani is using a portal gun that was established early on in the movie to visit Lilo whenever she wants, while she is away at college, and yeah, everyone is pointing out why Nani didn't go to the one in Hawaii rather than the one in California all I could say she didn't want to go to that one or a writing error in the script.

Overall, was this a perfect movie? No. Was this a fun, enjoyable movie? Yes, and at least the two title characters, Lilo & Stitch, are done well, and all the scenes with Lilo and/or Stitch were great, but I'll admit that scenes without them did fall a little flat. If you didn't like the movie, that's fine, but it's no excuse to go online and attack people who did enjoy the movie, or to give out misinformation and try to paint this movie in a bad light.

Cause remake and reboot are going to happen whether you want to or not, you need to accept that and move on, and you could still enjoy the original stuff.

Yeah, we watched the Lilo & Stitch live-action remake over the weekend, and I like it, I enjoy it, and I don't think it's as bad as some people on the internet say it is. Overall, the movie is cute and fun. The CGI Stitch is well animated, and the girl they got to plays Lilo is perfect for the role. And I think the remake stays true to the original animated film's feel and message.

But a lot of people on the internet don't think so cause they changed the ending from the original animated film and removed a big character that was in the original film. I don't want to get into spoilers, maybe I'll talk more about those later, but I think everyone on the internet is either misunderstanding the changes they made to the remake, or they are just pushing their agenda onto it.

If you enjoy the original animated film, then you'll probably enjoy this remake.

A quick Happy Easter and update about our Mom.

She is doing well so far. She has been staying at a recovery center for a couple of weeks and will stay there for another week. So, she will be home sometime next weekend.

Anyway, I hope you all have a fun and safe Easter Today.

It happened yesterday. She was out with my nephew, who had an appointment to go to, and she stumbled while walking down some steps out of the building they were in, and she fell and broke her ankle, and bruised her face on top of that. She was taken to the hospital and had to have surgery done to it.

Right now, she is doing fine, but she can't walk on her ankle for about 6 to 8 weeks.

So commissions will probably be a little slow for a while, but I'll try to stream when I can.

Yeah, today is my (as well as my twin brother's) Birthday. Thank you for all the wishes I got and will get today.

I took today off as a Birthday gift to myself. So I don't have any big plans for today, we already had our birthday dinner last night cause everyone has work and school today. Anyways, I'll probably be going to work on some personal stuff today, maybe I'll stream for a bit for most of it, or not, we'll see what today will bring.

These are just some quick updates on some past journal entries.

Family and Nephew

My nephew is now in the spare bedroom and my desk and PC setup are now in the corner of our family/TV area outside my bedroom ( https://www.furaffinity.net/view/59981638/ ), it's going to take some time to get used to the new setup and the new family situation cause we also took in my niece (my nephew older sister) as well.

To clarify the nephew is 16 years old so we are not taking care of a very young kid as some of you guys may have thought so sorry about that.

The Tax update

if you guys remember I posted a journal about having to pay Federal taxes of over $400 this year cause I made so much money from doing art commissions that PayPal had to send me a tax form for it. One of my older sisters (not the mentally ill one) suggested having the company I work for withdraw more money from my paychecks to cover the extra tax from PayPal. I am in the process of getting that taken care of, so hopefully that will help when I file my taxes next year.

I am going to keep an eye on how much I'm making through my commissions as well and make sure I won't go over the limit I have set.


Anyway, that is all and hopefully things will turn out well soon.

Quick life update.

If you remember from the last journal I posted about my sister ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11062599/ ) we may have to take her youngest son (my Nephew) away from her for his safety if the situation worsens. Well, it got worse and now he living with us.

So this weekend we're going to move stuff around, we're cleaning out my office/art studio so he has a place to stay and all.

So I probably won't be streaming this weekend, it will depend on how quickly we get my desk and PC stuff moved out and set up at the new location for it. Either way, I'll be inactive for a while while we figure things out and get used to the new normal.

...and I owned Federal over $400 cause I made too much money on my PayPal last year that I have to claim it.

Luckily, I have the money to pay for it but it did take a big chunk out of my savings and I'm going to have to figure out how to make that money back, I'm going to have a hard thought about my commission business moving forward.

I'll talk more about that later, right now, I feel depressed and frustrated and I need time to relax and think.

As I mentioned in my last journal one of my older sisters is having some mental issues that have been slowly getting worse over the years and last year and the start of this year have been the worst of it so far and probably won't get any better from here. We don't know what the cause of it was it could be drug-related or stress-related or whatever all we know is that she needed help and she won't let us help her cause her mind won't let her, It's funny how the mind works sometimes whenever we try to help her whenever she said she needs help and we try to do help her something in her mind switched and she thinks we're out to get her or her money or her kids (which I'll talk about that later) and pull away and start saying crazy untrue craps about us. We don't know how to help her.

I could go on and on about all the crazy things she had done so far but I don't have the time. So to sum it up she has been to jail more than once so far and Mom had to bail her out (in fact Mom had to bail her out yesterday paying with her retirement money) and two of her three kids don't live with her at this time. her oldest son (my nephew) has been living with my oldest sister until he finished the last few years of high school and her second oldest kid her daughter (my niece) been living with us since November of last year when my sister attacked her daughter that put her in jail the first time and as far as I know the third kid the youngest son is still living with her but been staying with friends and or family whenever my sister is going through one of her mental issues. Which brings us to one of the main points of this journal

If the situation with my sister keeps going as is we may have to take her youngest son away from her for his safety and if/when that happens we going to have to make some changes to the house setup cause the only other room we have available is the room I have been using as an office/art studio where I do most of my commission works and streaming in. So if we have to take in my youngest nephew we will have to clear out my office/art studio room so can at l least get a bed in it so he has a place to sleep. So we have to move my desk and PC to someplace else so I could still work on commission and stream and all. My youngest nephew could end up living with one of my older sisters but if that does not happen we will have to clean out that room.

I'll let you guys know if/when that happens and if it does I'll be inactive for a while.

Yeah, it's not a positive title for this kind of New Year journal but I can't say 2024 was a great year for me and my family, and the way things are going right now with a family situation I don't know what the future will bring this new year.


2024

2024 was not a great year for us from Grandma passing away to some unexpected car payments and a family situation that has been slowly developing which I'll get into later.

Of course not everything has been bad, at last, I manage to get my Mr. Piranha & Mr. Shark Growth Story comic project finished and out before everything went to crap and hopefully, I'll be able to do more projects like that this year but we will see.


The Family Situation

I don't want to get too much into this but you guys should know what's been going on.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but it is a close family member one of my older sisters in fact and she is having some mental issues, we are doing our best to help her, but it is hard to help someone when they don't think they need help.

That is all I'll say about it for now, but I am hoping, and praying it will not get any worse.

Hopefully, this new year will be better for us but it is hard to be certain about it.

https://bsky.app/profile/caseyljones.bsky.social

Yeah, I have a Bluesky account made now, I'll start posting stuff there soon. I'll post things on my X (Twitter) account for now, but eventually, I'll probably stop posting there soon.

Yeah, a quick journal on what is happening with my life and other things.

Grandma Passing

Since the last Life Update journal was about our Grandma Passing away so a quick update on that. Overall the funeral went well, we just had a small graveside service and then went to one of her favorite picnic spots and had a big family picnic. Like with our dad, we going to miss her.

Taking a Break from Commissions for a bit.

Yeah, I'm taking a break from Commissions and Sketchmissions for a bit to focus on other projects like The Buff Fanart Images pack. I'm also doing some YCH and Adopt auctions as well so look out for those.


Raising Commission Prices

Yeah, I'm giving you guys a little bit of a heads-up I'm thinking of raising my commission prices again due to some unexpected car repairs recently I have no choice but to raise some of my commission prices when I open up again. I don't know how much it will be raised either by $5 or $10 more but we'll see when we get to that.

I'm sorry but as I said I'm left with a few options for keeping up with these bills.

Yeah, A quick journal to give my respect to him.

I did not know him personally but FurAffinity has always been my go-to Website for posting my Buff Furry Artwork and looking at other Buff Furry Artwork, his being the founder and the main manager of this website is a heavy blow to this website and community to take and we don't what the future will hold for this site and its community but we going to have to wait and see.

FurAffinity may not be a perfect website but it is the only one that fully supports furry artworks and their artists.

Rest in Peace, Dragoneer.

Yeah, I got the news this morning that Grandma did pass away after a few days of struggle. I took the rest of the day off work to see her one last time and comfort our mom and other family members.

We're planning to have the funeral this Saturday at the latest. So I won't be streaming this weekend and Commission/Sketchmissions will be slightly delayed, but I will get them done soon.

At least she is with Grandpa now in their log cabin in the sky.

Yeah, a quick update from the last journal I was slightly misinformed this morning as of now Grandma is still alive but her days are still numbers they are saying that she may not live past today or tomorrow give or take a day or so. Our mom is planning the funeral with her sisters today so that they are ready when she has passed, So I may be able to go to the funeral after all.

I'm so sorry for jumping the gun this morning. It is still not good news all around. I still appreciate all the condolences and best wishes I got so far.

My brother just told me this morning that our Grandma passed away sometime overnight and her funeral is today.

I guess they want to have the funeral with the immediate family so I won't be attending it and I still have to head to work but it still sucks to get told this right before heading to work.

Anyway, I'm still working on the last two pages of the Mr. Piranha & Mr. Shark Growth Story comic and some Commission/Sketchmissions might be a slight delay but I get them done soon.

Just a quick update from yesterday's journal I was not able to win the Stitch: Rock Star Promo Card from the Disney Lorcana TCG tournament last night I didn't even make it into the top 8. Oh well, I still had some fun either way.

I probably do a quick stream soon.

Hey everyone, I'm letting you know that I entered my first-ever Disney Lorcana TCG tournament tonight. The grand prize is a special Stitch: Rock Star promo card, and a playmate, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winners will also get the promo card and a booster pack for every win.


It will start tonight at 6:00 pm and end sometime around 2:00 or 3:00 am. So yeah I probably won't be doing any streaming tomorrow I'm more likely going to be sleeping in late tomorrow so sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

I'm going to do my best to get to the top 4 so wish me luck

Yeah, here is a quick update on what is happening with our lives and other things.

Grandma is Moving Out

About a year or so ago our Grandma had to move in with us because her mental health was getting bad and she couldn't live alone anymore, now we had to move her to an apartment in an assisted living facility cause it was getting to where we can't take care of her on our own anymore. so we are in the process of moving her and her stuff to the apartment this week.

Buff Fanart Projects and Commissions/Sketchmissions

As I said before I wanted to do fewer Commissions/Sketchmissions and more personal projects like Buff Fanarts. I'm getting close to starting working on some Buff Fanart projects, I just finished a big comic commission, and now I'm going to be moving on working on some Buff Fanart projects starting with characters from the movie The Bad Guys. I'm going to be working on a muscles/macro growth comic with two of the characters and some Buff-up images of the other characters. I'll post more info on these projects soon.

Yep. Today is a rare occasion where Easter Sunday falls on my twin brother and I's Birthday. We're turning 40 years old this year, so yeah we are getting old.

Anyways. I want to thank you all quickly for all the Birthday wishes I got and will get today and a quick Happy Easter as well.