Just something I felt like posting, both for my own reference and so people can see what I'm working on/plan to work on.

Art-related:
- Kin and Jerry playing together
- One of my characters (probably not Jerry, but we'll see) dressed as Gaara from Naruto
- Work on my bunny-chipmunk hybrid character
- A cover picture for a story I'm working on
- Possibly do some gift art.


Writing/reading-related:
- Work on the aforementioned story.
- Get caught up reading Naruto, and maybe start on a new manga series if I finish that (which I probably won't).
- Finish reading my library books that are due on the 5th.


Other:
- Work on my schoolbooks and finish the ones I've still got here so that I can get more. @_@


That's about it. Hope everyone has a good week!

This is a short scene/writing that I got in my head, and just had to write down. Yes, it's a bit symbolic of several things.

The coins made a loud splash in the water one-by-one, and he closed his eyes tight every time he heard the noise. In the darkness, vivid shadows danced against gray walls: one for who he was supposed to be, one for who he was, and one for how the world saw him.

They had told him it was pointless, but he did his best to ignore them. It wasn't pointless to him.

He inhaled, feeling the bitter night air fill the inside of his nose and bite gently at its hairs. Along with it was a sprinkling of what may have been dust, but was imagined as fairy dust. For as long as it could, it remained inside of him, until finally breaking free several seconds later, carrying with it a wish.

What the wish was, though, remained a secret as he didn't dare whisper it. If anyone heard, they would intervene, and it would never work. That was how wishes worked, after all.

Once certain that all of the wish had left with his breath, he repeated the process. Same procedure, same wish, always.

Because if you wish for the same thing every day of your life, perhaps it will actually come true.

A comment on one of  sesamebun's journals inspired me to do this. I got to thinking about different connections within my own little world, including family connections and 'groups'. This led me to write these down, and post them one-by-one. They are fairly long, though, so I decided to link them from my external blog if anyone wants to read them.

World and state history

Upper-Mendell Street Families
The Munk Family
The Skunk Family

Oh okay, it is... Well, now that you're here, might as well:

Comment and I'll respond to you with the following...

1) Tell you something I learned about you by looking at your FA page for 13 seconds.
2) Tell you a colour you remind me of.
3) Tell you my first memory of you.
4) Ask you a question.
5) Tell you something I like about you.
6) Tell you the object that is in front of me.
7) Dare you to do this yourself in your Journal.

Meme stolen from... places. xD Originally by  damionwolfycub

Using song names from only ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions...Try not to reuse a song title-it's a lot harder than you think... pass this on to some of your friends, re-posting as "My life according to ________"

1) Who is your artist?
Vertical Horizon

2) Are you male or female?
The Man who would be Santa

3) Describe yourself...
Trying to find purpose

4) How do you feel right now?
Japan

5) Describe where you currently live...
I'm Still Here

6) If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Here

7) Your favorite form of transportation?
Angel Without Wings

8) Your best friends...
Lines Upon Your Face

9) Your favorite color?
Call it Even.

10) What's the weather like?
Sunrays and Saturdays

11) Favorite time of day?
Sunshine

12) If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
Famous

13) What is life to you?
Carrying On

14) Your past relationships?
Forever

15) Your fear?
Save Me from Myself

16) What is the best advice you give?
The Mountain Song

17) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
It's Only Me

18) Thought for the day?
Echo

19) How I would like to die...
Goodnight My Friend

20) My soul's present condition...
Children's Lullaby

21) My motto...
Willingly

New icon, courtesy of  tavimunk

Also, I feel like doing some trades. Does anyone want one?

My pageview counter just reached 5800, so I think it's time to announce my next kiriban, at 6,000 (yeah, obvious =P). Just note me with a screenshot of my 6,000th pageview for a free full-color request of your character with simple shading (limit one character + a simple background).

If multiple people manage to screenshot it at the same time, the person whose note I get first will get the pic, but up to two runners-up will receive a lineart from me (limit one character + no background, free to color yourself).

Good luck!

In addition to my character project thingy, I've been thinking about timelines as well. Like sometimes I get ideas of certain events that happen in my characters' lives, and I feel like writing them down, but I can't write them as a story. I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing this kind of thing from me?

Every-so-often I get the idea of one of my characters inside my head, and for a few days I can't do much except things related to them. I've decided to use this opportunity to refine them a bit more individually, making biographies, ref sheets, and whatnot... I was going to call it 'character of the week', but I don't trust myself to be that consistent, so...

The current character is Trey, my wolf character who is only occasionally seen in stories and roleplays. I'll have a bio sheet up for him sometime this week. ^.^

Every year (since 2011) I try to do as many submissions in the common '100 themes challenge', and then on New Years I reset it and attempt to do more the next year, since I've never completed all 100. Normally I only post this on DA, but I decided to post it here this year, too. ^.^

Also, I'm not going in any specific order, just whatever comes to mind...

Last year's progress: 6 out of 100

Progress for 2013: 1 out of 100

THE LIST:
1. Introduction-
2. Love-
3. Light-
4. Dark-
5. Seeking Solace-
6. Break Away-
7. Heaven-
8. Innocence-
9. Drive-
10. Breathe Again-
11. Memory-
12. Insanity-
13. Misfortune-
14. Smile-
15. Silence-
16. Questioning-
17. Blood-
18. Rainbow-
19. Gray-
20. Fortitude-
21. Vacation-
22. Mother Nature-
23. Cat-
24. No Time-
25. Trouble Lurking-
26. Tears-
27. Foreign-
28. Sorrow-
29. Happiness-
30. Under the Rain-
31. Flowers-
32. Night-
33. Expectations-
34. Stars-
35. Hold My Hand-
36. Precious Treasure-
37. Eyes-
38. Abandoned-
39. Dreams-
40. Rated-
41. Teamwork-
42. Standing Still-
43. Dying-
44. Two Roads-
45. Illusion-
46. Family-
47. Creation-
48. Childhood-
49. Stripes-
50. Breaking the Rules-
51. Sport-
52. Deep in Thought-
53. Keeping a Secret-
54. Tower-
55. Waiting-
56. Danger Ahead-
57. Sacrifice-
58. Kick in the Head-
59. No Way Out-
60. Rejection-
61. Fairy Tale-
62. Magic-
63. Do Not Disturb-
64. Multitasking-
65. Horror-
66. Traps-
67. 67%-
68. Hero-
69. Annoyance-
70. Playing the Melody-
71. Obsession-
72. Mischief Managed-
73. I Can't-
74. Are You Challenging Me?-
75. Mirror-
76. Broken Pieces-
77. Test-
78. Drink-
79. Starvation-
80. Words-
81. Pen and Paper-
82. Can You Hear Me?-
83. Heal-
84. Out Cold-
85. Spiral-
86. Seeing Red-
87. Food-
88. Pain-
89. Through the Fire-
90. Triangle- http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9616225/
91. Drowning-
92. All That I Have-
93. Give Up-
94. Last Hope-
95. Advertisement-
96. In the Storm-
97. Safety First-
98. Puzzle-
99. Solitude-
100. Relaxation-

So, of course, today is the last day of the year. Overall, 2012 admittedly was probably the worst year for me so far. I found myself struggling with a lot of aspects of myself and trying to learn to understand and cope with them, and although I still haven't gotten over many things, I feel as if I have made progress. 2012 marked my final full year as a legal teenager, which in itself was enough to put me on edge for the majority of it, but I am looking forward to turning eighteen and gaining more freedoms with it.

To go along with the typical 'reflection' journal, I thought of 12 points about this year, some good, some not so good, and some which are neither good nor bad.

1. I learned that my reality is much more than I can see. This is likely the thing I've struggled with the most, as I find myself desperately trying to hold on to the physical reality because I fear complete isolation from it. I am still learning to balance the two sides of me, but hopefully in the coming year I will make more progress.

2. I had and lost a relationship, and found my heart broken a few times by those I had feelings for, but whom didn't have them back.

3. I found myself exploring different connections with my little world, and establishing a timeline for it. I have been wanting to tinker with this more, and am thinking about starting a new art/writing project for next year (will post more about it later).

4. I started a personal blog as a means to get my thoughts out when I can't bring myself to tell them to others, or to process my thoughts before telling others. Although recently it's become more of a dumping place for my writing and character notes, it has helped me in other things as well.

5. I got in touch with a group of friends whom, at the start of the year, I only had a passing acquaintance. Through them, I found my little online 'niche', if you want to call it that.

6. I've allowed myself to open up not only to myself, but others.

7. Art-wise, I learned to use Sai. Although I haven't posted as much art as I hoped, I still think it's improving, and I hope to post more in the future.

8. Jerry, my main cub fursona, will be turning five on June 8th (the numerical opposite of my birthday, August 6th). Coincidentally, June 3rd will mark my 5th year on FurAffinity, but that wasn't the reason for me aging him up. I simply felt it would fit my personal growth in the physical world.

9. I started a story that got to 18 and a half chapters before it fizzled out, which is my biggest writing accomplishment thus far. I hope to return to it eventually, but if not oh well.

10. I gained a furry brother, Cody. :3 Although I tend to not do the typical 'furfamily' thing, I am thinking about opening mine up a bit more.

11. I've started to think more and more about what I want to do with my life, college, and career.

12. I opened up a bit to a few of my real-life friends. Although I'm still a bit away from being completely comfortable there, it's still progress.

That's probably good enough for now. I'm sure I am missing something important, but I don't want to make this journal too long, so I'll end it by saying that I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

- Jerry

I was reading the little story-scenes that  zee-zee posts in his journals, and I wanted to do some of my own. Then, I was re-reading a story I wrote earlier this year ("Seth's Morning"), and thought this scene up, which uses my seldom-seen teenage fursona and his triplet brother, the latter of whom makes a quick cameo in the story.

Chandler walked up to the steps of his house, jingling his keys in his right hand and whistling to himself when he opened the unlocked door and walked inside. The teenage fox let out a quiet yawn before flopping on the couch just inside the living room and closed his eyes, only to open his right one halfway when he heard a masculine voice speak to him. Chandler traced the voice to find its source: his brother, Matt. The red-and-black fox walked across the living room and sat down on the couch next to Chandler.

“Hey, Matt,” Chandler greeted the other fox, closing his eye again and smiling.

“Hey. Just got home from work?”

Chandler nodded, although his eyes were closed, so he couldn't check to see if Matt was actually looking. He yawned again and ran his fingers through the gold fur on the side of his head before speaking, “It wasn't too bad today. Apparently there's a new family in the city,” he grinned as he thought back to one of the many conversations he had that day. Somehow, that one in particular stuck out to him the most.

“Yeah?” Matt questioned.

“Yep. They were buying groceries,” Chandler explained before commenting more to himself, “obviously, since it was at the grocery store. It was a mother and son.”

“How old was the son?”

Chandler gave a small, barely-noticeable shrug, “Toddler. Probably not older than four. Puppy,” he replied, “maybe you'll get a new babysitting charge,” he added when he recalled how their sister had gotten Matt into babysitting a few months ago.

“Yeah, maybe,” Matt agreed, his voice trailing off somewhat thoughtfully.

“Your advertisement is still on the bulletin board thing at the community center,” Chandler commented with another yawn. No sooner than he had said that, he had fallen asleep. Matt lingered in the room for a minute afterward, before retreating to his bedroom.

My brain seems to be really in derp mode lately. @_@ I find myself sort of going into a rut and struggling to come out. So sorry if I go quiet for a while, but that's probably why...

My brother showed me these earlier. They're remixes of stuff from old PBS shows. So coool!

So yeah, I don't have much to say except Merry Christmas to all... ^.^

I've been working on-and-off on a larger writing project for most of this week, but I realized it's been a while since I've actually written something cute and cubby, and since I have an idea for a new alternate fursona, I wanted to do a story to 'introduce' him. I don't really have any more specific ideas, though, so I was wondering if anyone else did.

 sesamebun recently did a post talking about what she was like as a toddler, which proved to be somewhat of a learning experience. I decided to reflect on mine as well, and maybe post it there, or at least here.

I was born a month premature, and weighed only 4 pounds 13 ounces. Thankfully, the size was really the only side-effect. I was pretty happy and outgoing as a kid, particularly from toddler-hood to early childhood. I was curious about everything and loved to learn new things, and was quick to talk (though I had trouble pronouncing my R's until about 3rd grade) and read. I didn't really like physical contact with people I didn't know well, including family, and I cried somewhat easily. My favorite color was always green, and unlike a lot of kids I wasn't too picky about what I ate (though my favorite food was mashed potatoes and green beans).

I lived with my parents and my brother, who is nine years older than me. For a little while when I was between 1 and 2, my mom, my brother, and I lived with my mom's dad once he got sick and couldn't care for himself, and my dad stayed and watched the house. I spent my second birthday there, and my grandfather died shortly after that. His funeral is my earliest memory, which is actually somewhat sad when you think about it.

As for the 'babyfur'-related things, I was potty trained around age two, but for some reason or another was allowed to wear them at home until I started preschool, and wore them at night until I was five. Even after that, I still wet the bed on occasion until about age eight, but I never had any daytime accidents. Similarly, I had been allowed to keep my bottles and pacifiers at night until I was seven and nine respectively. My mom never breastfed me, only bottles. I always secretly wished I could be a toddler again, just so I could remember what it was like.

Unlike Sesame, I knew a lot of these things beforehand, but it's still interesting to reflect and relate the past to how things are now...

New icon is by  orangetabby106 :3

Also I'm thinking of taking regular trades, but I'm not 100% sure. Feel free to pitch me an idea for one, but don't be surprised if I say no. I'll probably only take like one or two.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something Christmassy. I'll even do one for you in return if you want, or a regular picture if you don't want an icon.

I might take more than one of these, but I'm not sure.

Hi, how are you?

I hope you remember me. A year is a long time after all so it might be hard to remember every cub ever, but I'm sure you can do it cause you're Santa. But I understand if you forgot me. That's why I'm writing, so you'll remember me.

I tried really hard to be good this year, but it's been really really hard because sometimes I don't know how to deal with my feelings, and they boil up and I say the wrong things or don't say the right things. So I made some mistakes and I'm really really sorry for them, and I understand if you put me on the bad list cause I probably deserve it...

This is gonna be my last year being four. I decided I'm ready to grow up and be five so on June 6th I'll turn five and I'm scared I might not believe in you then. I'll try to, but I've never been five before, and I don't know how to do it right.

So anyway I should probably get to the main reason for this letter. What I want for Christmas. It isn't much...

1. I want some new pencils and a sketchbook because mine is almost full. I promise to draw lots of pictures for my friends over the next year!
2. I want my friends to be happy because a lot of them aren't.
3. For my cat to stop having fleas because she's been having them a lot and nothing we do will make them go away.
4. More time to spend with those I love.
5. For the world not to end like they say it's gonna. At least not for a little while longer, because there's still a lot of things I need to do and I might get in trouble if I don't finish them.

That's about it. I hope you get my letter and I promise to leave cookies out for you on Christmas Eve, and I promise to only eat two of them... okay, three of them.

From,
Jerry

Gotten from  sesamebun!

My 'inner cub' age tends to vary lately, so I'll just say these answers are accurate for the majority of my childhood.

THE GOOD --

Favorite toy

Then – My Sonic plushie, and computer games.
Now – Don't really have one.

Favorite TV show

Then – Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh
Now – Avatar (both The Last Airbender and Korra)

Favorite movie

Then – Stuart Little 2
Now – Stuart Little 2

Favorite color

Then – Green.
Now – Red.

Favorite past time

Then – Playing on the computer.
Now - … Playing on the computer. ^^;

Favorite food

Then – Mashed potatoes.
Now – Don't really have one.

Favorite band or singer

Then – Avril Lavinge
Now – Vertical Horizon

Best subject

Then – Reading.
Now – History.

Best friend

Then – Didn't really have one.
Now – Lots. =3

Best memory

Then – I... don't remember a lot of my childhood.
Now – Dunno.

*****************

THE BAD --

Most hated food

Then - Cheese
Now - Beans

Most hated activity

Then - Homework
Now - Homework

Most hated chore

Then – Vacuuming
Now – Vacuuming.

Most hated subject

Then - Math.
Now - MATH!

Most hated TV show

Then – Most of the stuff on Cartoon Network (besides Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh)
Now – Most TV.

Most hated band or singer

Then – The Backstreet Boys.
Now – Don't really have one.

Most hated color

Then – Pink.
Now – Don't really have one.

Worst enemy

Then – None.
Now – Myself.

Worst memory

Then – Nearly drowning in a lake.
Now – Ehh...

*****************

ASPIRATIONS --

What do I want to do most with my life (or what are you doing now that you enjoy or would rather be doing)?

Then – Be a doctor or a dentist.
Now – Be an artist, or some other self-employment.

What do I define success as?

Then – Getting homework done on time.
Now – Progress.

Where do I want to live?

Then – I didn't know much about the outside world. I was pretty much content to just stay put my entire life.
Now – I want to become a nomad.

What would you say to your other self?

Then – How different am I?
Now – Don't be afraid to actually do things.

My last journal is nearly a month old, so I think it's time for a fresh one!

Except I'm not too sure what to say... So maybe I'll do one of those 'ask me anything' journals, since I haven't in a while.

Also, random thought: I wanna draw lions. Kinda like what I did a while back with beavers.

For some reason I feel like my art (what little of it I've posted recently anyway) is missing something, but I can't really figure out what. Lately my focus has been more on characters, and less on the art itself. That's usually the case, but... I dunno, sometimes it feels like it isn't enough...

Sorry if I'm at all confusing. ^^;

Just been in a kinda quiet mood lately. I've been drawing and writing every day, so maybe I'll do a sketch dump sometime soon. Otherwise, my brain's been in somewhat of a fog, but I'll be fine.

Hope everyone has a good week.

While I'm here, have a song:

Yeeep. This was needed.

Why I like this song: I really, really can't put it into words. Just, the sound, the feeling of it, kinda... yeah.