Just expressing something that came to my mind today.

In between working on my book and some larger stories like Siblings with Benefits, I do occasionally work on small mini stories involving my characters. They're usually only about a scene or two long and just have some quick character interactions, usually with some sex involved, and they're fairly low effort and just a fun thing to do in between. Hence none of them have ever been finished or published.

The question I want to ask is, would anyone be interested in reading these sorts of stories? There wouldn't be much plot involved, it'd mostly be to show snippets of how my characters interact with each other and capping it off with some sex.
If this is something people are interested in seeing, I can polish some of the ones I've already made and upload them, and do the same for any others I write.

I have...a lot of thoughts over how things went down today in the States. I've had the entire day to think about them all and I think I have a clear enough mind to compile them all together and say how I feel about it. This will be a long one, and I do apologize in advance.

First off I want to say, if you are a Trump supporter, if you voted for him, or if you celebrate his election at all, then do us both a favor and unfollow me. You are not welcome here, you never were welcome here and you never will be. If you are at all curious what I think about you, I think that if you voted for him despite all he's said, all he's done, and all he's stood for, you are an irredeemably bad person. I'm not going to mince words or play nice with this. There is no excuse or reasoning this time around—if you support him, you are a bad person. Period.
If you would rather argue this point than simply unfollowing me, don't bother. All you will accomplish is getting blocked and having your comment deleted.

Now, as for how I actually feel over the whole thing...I'm not gonna lie, I haven't taken it well. Word of caution: crying isn't a good idea when you're right on the heels of a cold. It sure has a way of triggering some intense coughs while you're doing it.
I can't really say I cried because Harris lost, though. Admittedly I have no love for Harris, I haven't seen a whole lot of reason to do so. I felt there were some indicators that she could steer things in a positive direction, but that's about as far as it goes. I also can't say I cried out of fear for my own life. I'm pretty lucky to have moved out of the States all those years ago and am stable enough to not have to worry about such things.
No, I cried because of what this victory for Trump means. What it means that he not only won, but won by a landslide in both the Electoral and popular vote. What that means about the culture I associate with, what it means about the place I come from. And the sad reality is...it is a hateful and ignorant place. Always has been. It is a country founded on slavery, genocide, and exploitation, and we are simply being shown that it has not shaken off the influence of this past yet. Really after Trump's first victory this shouldn't be a surprise, and now there's no denying it. Donald Trump, Republicans, and conservatives in general aren't the enemy. It's the American people as a collective, as a culture, as a society, that needs to be fought against.
Obviously not every American is guilty, most everyone I know and follow is as distraught over this news as I am, and the same probably applies to many of you reading this. But Americans as a collective, as a society, is what needs to change, not just us as individuals.

I've been hearing people all day try to rationalize the outcome. That it's the Democrats fault, that it was Harris's fault, that they had a faulty campaign that didn't convince enough people, etc. etc. etc. And frankly, I don't buy it. I would buy it if this were Trump's first time running, or if it was a different Republican who was running. But that's not what happened. Trump's been showing off who he is and what he believes in loud and proud for 8 years now, ever since his first election and ever since he lost the follow-up. Regardless of what one thinks of Harris, the line should've been drawn the moment he said "vote for me and you won't have to vote again." You can point to any number of reasons and failings on the Dem's part, but it doesn't really change the core fact. People chose Trump. People knew who Trump was, and they still chose him. They still felt that he was the better alternative, and no amount of finger pointing will change that.

I cannot proudly call myself American after that. Legally I still am, but I will no longer claim to be one unless I absolutely have to. I have no desire to be associated with a culture who can look at a convicted felon and rapist, a veteran-disrespecting warmonger, and collectively say "yes, I want him to run my country."

It's pretty clear that hate is strong enough to win elections after this. That hate can overcome love if collectively stirred enough. And with this revelation I can say that if these are now the rules by which we play, then I have absolutely zero qualms about returning the favor.

In the meantime, I will use what little power and security I have to try helping my friends still stuck in there, and I will hope that the Republicans will be as historically incompetent as they always have been so that some of their worst policies don't ever go through. This won't be the end. The fight will still continue, and I will be helping it however I'm able to, and I won't stop until the States literally crash and burn.

For those out there still struggling, know that you still have allies in these times. We will make it through this together, even if I have to drag some of you out of there myself.

Hello all! Last night I went ahead and gave a big update to my commission prices, making everything more concrete and giving a better idea of what one can expect to pay if they wish to commission me. I also gave an update to my terms of service as well to reflect some of these changes.

Commissions aren't open yet, but I'm hoping to have them open by mid-May, so if anyone wants something from me, that'll be the time for it!

If you want to see all the changes made:
Commission Prices
T.O.S.

Yep. I'm gonna do it.
Soooo totally gonna do it...
Any time now...

But yes, I'm gonna try my hand at creating 3D art for myself. There's a lot, and I mean a lot of art ideas I have, but nowhere near the amount of money needed to get it all. And choosing between 2D and 3D, the workflow of 3D seems to be one I can probably wrap my head around easier.
I technically have Blender downloaded and installed already, I just haven't touched it yet. Perhaps if there's a bit of peer pressure/expectation of stuff to come from me, it might push me to finally getting started. ^.=.^'

Anyways, hope you all are doing well, and wish me luck on this new artistic endeavor!

So, I've been sitting on these thoughts for quite a while now, considering things whenever I hear more about it, and I think it's about time I get it all out.
I was finally inspired to do this when someone I follow on YouTube, one who makes a lot of fantasy ambiences which I use for writing, announced he'd be holding an "AI art competition" on his Discord. When asked why not just host a normal art competition, he replied "because real art takes time, effort, and talent, and I don't want to have a real artist put in that effort for such a low reward." And, on the one hand, he's right. Real art does take a lot of talent and effort, compared to the minimal effort AI art uses. On the other hand, I don't think he quite gets the implications behind this and the potential effects it may have.

Now, I'm not going to go in-depth on whether A.I. is something to be concerned about or the exact effects it'll have, because I don't know enough about either AI or the art industry to give much of value. There's plenty of arguments both for and against AI being a real worry, and both sides make good points, I feel. But in the end, I do feel that the worry for AI's influence is rather well justified, especially for those in official art-related jobs such as concept artists.
No, what I want to talk about is the response of these AI developers. Or, rather, the lack of any response at all.

For the record, I don't think AI for art is a bad thing in principle. I can very easily see AI being used either to streamline the art process or to experiment without too much hassle. In fact, some artist are already trying that. AI has real potential as a valuable tool for artists of all kinds, from amateurs to professionals.
The thing is that these AIs were never designed with that in mind. They were never designed to help artists. Quite the opposite, there's a lot to suggest they were designed to replace them entirely. That much is probably news to very few. But consider this: the outcry against AI art is inescapable. No matter which corner of the internet you turn to, you're going to find a lot of people expressing concern and worry over it. There's no doubt that these developers have heard a good portion of it. And if they were in any way considerate of artists or had them in mind, they very well would've released statements assuaging their worries by now.
But they haven't. In fact, some (such as Musky boi himself) have even made clear how little they respect artists and the art industry.

I've heard at least one person (one of the artists mentioned experimenting with AI as a tool) explain how the AI doesn't actually use the art which acts as its training info, merely analyzes it and picks up on elements from that. In that case, there's three things I have to say on it.
1.) Why is this information not made publicly available by the developers?
2.) It's still a huge invasion to take someone's art as training data without their knowledge or permission.
3.) This still doesn't address the concern of AI replacing many art jobs, and being designed to do so.

I think it's pretty telling that the upcoming music equivalent of one of these AIs, from the same developers of Diffusion Models, will only be using public domain music as training data. Why? I imagine at least part of the reason is because music has a lot of money in the form of record labels behind it. And if one of them were to find out that a song under their name has been used as training data without their knowledge or permission, it's not hard to imagine them immediately filing a lawsuit over it. And potentially winning.

In the end, if you're not concerned over AI replacing you, that's fine. If you want to try experimenting with using AI as a tool to help your art, that's fine. But I, myself, really cannot support any of this art AI in its current form and usage. Not because it threatens to replace artists. But because it was designed to do exactly that.

Hopefully I covered everything well enough. If anyone has anything more to add, feel free to comment on it!

Hey all!

So, something's been on my mind for quite a while lately and I think it might be a good time to bring it up. As the title suggests, I'm considering changing the name of my main sona.
If you haven't noticed yet, I like giving my characters all Latin names and having those names translate into something ("Draco Solis," for example, means "Dragon of the Sun." Likewise, "Phasma Atrum" would mean "Black Ghost"). Thing is that Draco is a rather...generic name for a dragon, and there's probably a ton out there with that name. And since I'm gonna be changing up Carmen's name at some point, I'm wondering if it might be time to update Solis's name as well.
I'd likely keep the "Solis" part of the name, but I'm considering changing the first name, at least.

What do you guys think? Think a name change might be worth it? ^^

Well, I finally did it! I manage to finish the rough draft of my novel! WOO!!!
It took a little over a year to do, but it's finally done! 422 pages later. xD

At some point I'll see if I can get a kickstarter for it running so I can get everything needed for the second draft. But for now, I'm going to sit back and bask in this victory. ^^

Title pretty much says it all.

A few hours ago, Ukrainian cyberpolice sent requests out to 30 VPN companies requesting that they end cooperation with Russia. While the reasons given are to prevent anonymous online users from spreading misinformation and performing illegal activities against Ukraine, many Russian citizens rely on VPN to get news and info from the west, as well as to protect them should they voice their opinions online.

Should this actually happen, this will likely mean no more FA, social media, or payment platforms for Russian citizens. This will also eliminate any chance of Russian civil resistance.
Keep in mind that Russian citizens have nothing to do with the war, and many of them—especially here on FA—are explicitly against it and are disgusted with their government. Banning VPNs will effectively lock them off from the rest of the world, and at that point Putin will automatically win the information war and the Iron Curtain will effectively return.

I don't have a very wide following, but if anyone on here wishes to, feel free to pass this information on. With any luck, these VPN companies will realize the damage of pulling out and decide not to fulfill this request.

I've also posted about this on my Twitter if any wish to share from there. It also includes source links on this request: https://twitter.com/dracosolismusic.....30907678789634

Welp, I just woke up not too long ago to hear that Russia's initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

To all those who are affected, please stay safe, however you can. <3

Hello all! Just want to give a quick update on how things are going when it comes to my own creations.

For starters, I do apologize for the lack of any stories being uploaded lately. IRL stuff has gotten a bit busy and tiring and, while I'm still trying to keep my creative process up, I've been pouring almost all my writing energy into getting the rough draft of my novel finished before I potentially burn out on it. Once that's finished, though, I may be able to get started on writing more short stories to upload on here. My music production doesn't help in terms of time and energy, though, as that alone is also an incredibly time-consuming process.

When it comes to original stories, though, I can confirm that I will be working on a semi-canon story for Solis and Carmen! I say semi-canon because this isn't necessarily a full backstory that comes into play whenever I use the characters. This is more like a re-imagining of the story which they came from before they became my sonas, and a way of showing them off in a sort of narrative. This story will most likely be told in the format of several short story sections, each between 4 - 6 chapters in length detailing different parts of the story on their own and all being interconnected in some way. This will basically make the story easier for me to handle in between everything while allowing consistent releases.

In the meantime, I'm going through the process of revamping all the stories I've released on here so far, tightening up the prose and bringing in some minor changes to them. Once they're all updated I'll make another journal announcing it. ^^

Hope you all are doing well in the meantime and I'll cya all next time I'm around!

So, I've had the idea for a while to at some point write the canonical story for my sonas, with their lore and everything in it. It's something I wanted to do for a while but haven't known how to approach it.

Now, it will definitely have quite a bit of erotic focus, but where I'm stuck on and where I want to get some feedback on is how far it should go.

So, what do you guys think? If I write my characters' canon story, would you prefer primarily erotic with some seriousness in between? Or a balanced mix between the two, like a "porn with plot" sort of thing?

First of all, I want to wish everyone a happy New Year today! As we head on out of this year, regardless if it was a good or bad year for you, let us all hope for a much better year in 2022.

My 2021 was very much a mixed bag. Stress has remained rather high, my alopecia showed signs of regressing only to flare back up in full force once more, my genderfluid sides have died down drastically as depression continues hitting me like a truck, plus all sorts of really nasty events that have plagued my personal life throughout the year. Yet on the other hand, even if not everything is ideal in my relationships still, I've had plenty of really nice moments with both my mates, visited some really nice places this year, got some really good gifts for them both, we for once have some sort of sense of stability, and for once I've finally gotten my artistic drive back! Which is honestly something that means a hell of a lot to me. My novel's rough draft is closer to completion than I've been able to give it in...years now, and I'm more regularly writing and making music again! So while 2021 has not been the perfect year, it's been leagues better than 2020 and had a lot of moments that I really cherish.

Speaking of getting back into art, though, an interesting thought came to my mind while I was doodling with my writing today, and since I want to write more stories featuring my characters together, I wanted to gauge how interested some of you would be in this idea.

In short, I was thinking of putting all my characters into a short, erotic fantasy series together, with a sort of overarching plot for them all to partake in. Each of them would be fitted into some sort of role in the story, i.e. Solis being a sort of ruler or king, Carmen his princess sister, Luna a dark enchantress, etc. It would provide some unique flavors of stories for them to partake in while possibly giving some thrills along the way as well.
The story itself would probably not be the most serious, nor would it be canon to the characters, but it could be something fun for them to partake in. Would most likely portray them all as feral dragons and likely have some of my favorite kinks thrown in, i.e. size difference, power play, seduction, incest, probably some nonconsent here and there, etc.
What do you guys think? Think it would be something interesting to try?

That aside, while I continue on with art, I will continue posting updates here whenever I get something interesting done in the writing department. I sadly can't effectively do updates on my music here, so if you're at all interested in seeing how that goes, feel free to check out my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB.....PwwbvX3Z_VENJw

Other than that, I hope you all have a good New Years day, and let us all hope for a good 2022!

Hope you're all enjoying the holidays and that all your days are going well today! The last two years have been rather turbulent but you all have managed to make it this far, and that's worth commending.

So to celebrate, free Christmas cookies for all!

My mate  valcyrie is looking for a writer's server and I'm passing the word on because I'm rather curious myself. XD Here's her journal for more info.

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9979414/
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9979414/
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9979414/

In case any of you have missed it in your submissions, recently I hit 300 watchers on my profile, my first big milestone!
I just want to give another thank you to you all for being here and for enjoying everything I've been doing up to this point, whether it's the art I commission, the stories I write, or the music I make! So to give back to those who have followed so far, I'm hosting a free music raffle! You can find more information on it below~

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41871798/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41871798/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41871798/

Thanks again for all of your support! I love you all!

Damn, I'm actually getting close to 300 watchers! Not the biggest number, no, but it's by no means small, either!
Of course I'm not quite there yet, but just a few more and I'll reach a new milestone for myself.

Because of that, I'm thinking that whenever I do reach 300, I may host a small raffle on my profile. Of what sort, I'm not sure yet, but if any of you have ideas, feel free to suggest them!

Until then, I just want to thank everyone who's already here for following me and I really appreciate that you guys like my characters enough to start watching me. Hopefully I'll keep things interesting enough for you guys to have fun sticking around! <3
Until then, I hope you all stay safe and have a happy Valentine's day!

I am now open for music commissions! I will be opening up three slots which will be displayed here.

Commission info: https://www.furaffinity.net/commiss.....ns/dracosolis/
Terms of Service: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9703647/
Make sure you read both before commissioning!

Commissions are not first come first serve! I will take your commission depending on whether I like your idea or not, so don't worry if you're in a different time zone!

Slot 1: empty
Slot 2: empty
Slot 3: empty

General Terms:
- I have the right to refuse any commission request for any reason
- I will not accept a commission for a song type or genre that is too far out of my capabilities (it's rather difficult for me to write a jazz piece, for example, when I don't listen to jazz and have nothing to make it with). All song types will have examples linked, so you can get a good idea of my general music style. If you're still unsure, feel free to ask!
- I cannot do vocals myself. If you want vocals on your song, you must provide them yourself. Any vocals provided must be recorded on a good microphone in as dry a room as you can manage.
- I would like to retain communication either over Notes or Discord. If communicating over Notes, WIPs will be sent via Dropbox. If over Discord, .mp3 files will be sent directly.
- I do require some artistic freedom when making songs, as not all ideas work out well in practice. However, I will always communicate when something isn't going right with the initial idea.
- I cannot guarantee a set time frame for each song, as it largely depends on what type of song it is and how things look for me IRL. However, you are always free to request an update to make sure that the commission isn't forgotten about.
- If you need a song done within a certain time frame, please communicate this from the start.

Commercial Rights:
- I retain full commercial rights over any commissioned songs created, including the right to publish, share, and distribute the song under my name, as well as adding them to any portfolios I make or releasing them as part of an album.
- You have the right to share any lossy audio files of your song (such as .mp3 and .aac) wherever you wish to. Lossless audio files (such as .wav and .flac) are for yourself only!
- When sharing my song, you must give me proper credit under my name.
- You do not have any commercial rights to the song created and may not distribute the song, take credit for it, remove my name from it, or use the song for any other commercial purpose.
- If you wish to use the song commercially, or you do not wish for me to use it commercially myself, you must purchase a commercial license along with it. This will add +50% on top of the total song price.

Payment Terms
- Pricing policy can be found in Commission Info.
- All payment will be done via PayPal, either through Goods & Services or via invoice.
- Payment is only done after the initial piano sketch is approved. Payment must come within 72 hours of approval, or you risk losing your slot.
- If you wish to cancel a song that hasn't been started, I will refund you the full amount that has already been paid. I will always notify you when a song is started.
- If you wish to cancel a song that has already been started, you will be refunded for any work that hasn't been done so far.
- If I need to cancel work on a song for whatever reason, you will be given a full refund.
- Fraudulent PayPal disputes will have you immediately blacklisted and you will be forbidden from using any of my work for any purpose. I will still hold full commercial rights to my work and may use them for my own purposes.

Payment Plans
- Commissions reaching €300 and over may be paid in installments if you cannot pay for it all up front. Details on this payment plan can be discussed in DMs
- To prevent fraud, work will only be done based on the amount of money already paid. If payment is halted or delayed, I will not continue further with the song until payment resumes.
- If you must delay payment for any reason, I require an update about this ahead of time, preferably with an estimate on how long the delay will last.
- If a month goes by without a proper update on the next payment installment, I will message and ask for an update on it. If I do not get a response within a week, your commission will be cancelled.
- If payment is delayed by three months or longer, your commission will be cancelled and you will lose your commission slot.
- If your commission is cancelled for either of the above reasons, you are not eligible for a refund based on the work already done. I will still hold commercial rights over any work done and may use it for my own purposes.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

Hey all!

So, as some of you following me may know, I have music production as a huge hobby of mine. I've been publishing all my music under the name Lumen et Tenebrae, back when I wanted to primarily make metal music as a one-man band. But, over the past couple years, I've been noticing my music starting to take a different turn, and I've been focusing less and less on metal music lately. I'm starting to desire less to be a one-man band tied to the metal community, and moreso wanting to be my own composer making whatever music I wish to make. So, because of that, I've decided that I'll be giving my YouTube a major update and will be abandoning the Lumen et Tenebrae name!
If any of you happen to be following me on there, the channel will remain up and you'll remain subscribed there. But, all content on it will be wiped, and everything from Winter Sun and onwards will be re-worked and re-uploaded on a regular basis.

But, before I do that, I'll be partaking in Spooktober this year, and I'll be doing it in collaboration with my mate  valcyrie ! Every weekend she'll be publishing a new story and I'll publish a short, quick song to go along with it. I'm quite curious as to how it'll turn out!

I'm very much excited to start this new chapter in my music career and I hope many of you will be able to join me for the ride!

Edit: I also have a Twitter account now! I'll be posting occasional updates there, music content included, but it is not a dedicated music page and will be a lot more personal and informal.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38052594/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38052594/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38052594/

Hope all of you are having a good day today, and hoping all your Christmas parties and whatnot are going along good. ^.=.^
Hope you all got some rather lovely gifts~

And cookies. Never forget about the cookies.