A few days late, but...

Happy New Year! I hope it's a good one for everyone. Just posting a life update of what happened so far and what my plans are.

So let's get the depressing part out of the way. It was a rough two months for me. Of course, there was the election here in America, but I won't bore you with the details on that, other than that I've accepted it and will go on from it. Not to mention the holidays, which are always stressful. It gets busy at my job around this time, but it's more due to family. There's always some form of drama every year, and I hate dealing with it. This time, however, the biggest stress factor involved was my mother.

You see, she had problems for a while with her esophagus and intestines. This affected her eating habits and caused problems for her body. Because we live in a small town, any major medical issues outside our local hospital's capabilities, the patients get sent to a "better" hospital the next state over, which is an hour away from us. This lead her to get a surgery for her esophagus, then a second one immediately afterwards to reduce the swelling in her throat, and a third one a few weeks after to actually fix the problem. These didn't work and effected her ability to eat, for she couldn't eat most of anything or she'll through them back up, even water. She then went to the local ER to get IVs in her for nutrients. And then, a fourth surgery to get a stent in her esophagus to help her take in food easier. This seemed to work at first, but the problem was still the same. Come Christmas Eve, she looked so miserable sitting in the same chair for weeks, and we were told by the local doctor and my father (also a doctor) that she would die in a couple of weeks if nothing gets fixed fast. This filled all of us with dread that night, and basically ruined Christmas. At least for me. Then a few days after Christmas, she had a fifth surgery to fix a second problem. It turns out that she had a blockage in her lower intestines that prevented her from taking food. In fact, the surgeons food her stomach filled with Ensure drinks. This answered a lot of questions. So, they treated the problem, she'll get a surgery to fix that issue ASAP locally, and already she's more better than she was in months. And just in time for New Years Eve. That night felt like a weight was finally lifted off me. I honestly thought my mother was going to die soon. I am very thankful to the local doctor who cared and made an effort to get her surgeon's butt in gear. With the holidays and my mother's dilemma out of the way, I can finally breathe better and focus on my projects.

The projects I'm working on is my PMD fan comic passion project, my naughty comic Toby's Pirate Days, and updating/making OC refs. Obviously, the passion project will take a long time to complete, but I'm hoping to finally work on the first chapter later this year. I just need to work on the story part a little more. Toby's Pirate Days just needs a few more pages sketched out, revised a bit with my friend, and I'll start to release one page at a time. This can help give me an idea on comic processes and how long it takes to do each page. After this is completed, I'm thinking on doing another one based on a story I posted here. And finally, the next ref will be of Toby. I have at least one more to do after him, and then afterwards I may work on personal art and/or commissions. It's time to get back into gear on my passions. After this weekend, though. I was taking time for myself and need to clean tomorrow anyway.

And for me personally, I'm working on morning streches, practicing meditation, and taking care of myself better in general. And also learning new things as I go. And the Zen Word app game is nice and relaxing, not to mention addicting. Hope everyone looks forward to what I have to share as I go and have a good one. See you all soon. ^^

First off, I've locked my Twitter account and am solely on Blesky, and you can find my SFW account here https://bsky.app/profile/zaffrelucario.bsky.social and my NSFW account here https://bsky.app/profile/zaffrelewds.bsky.social. I'll be posting regularly on things. Art, life, photos, ect, so do check it out. Just don't expect a face pick hehe ^^

Next, I'm considering making journal posts a little more often than I usually would, and do so to give updates on my life and what I'm working on. Maybe some posts to talk about something, express my views, and maybe it can give words of encouragement to some of you. Don't worry, politics will be VVVVEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYYY rare, if EVER mentioned. I know they're sensitive topics, but I feel they need to be discussed sometimes, at least on ways we can do so in a civilized manner, and just express them with the outmost respect. But again, I won't make a habit of it. But anyways, I'm more talking about past experiences and lessons I've learned and stuff that bothers me. A sort of way to get things off my chest and share those thoughts. Who knows, maybe there's someone here that has similar views and problems and would like to know they're not alone. It's like with my last journal where a couple of people reached out and thank me for it, and it made me happy and proud. And I like to try and continue that.

Now for what's going to happen for the next month and a half. It's the holiday season, and we tend to get a little busy closer to Christmas and New Years Day. The restaurant I work at hosts a lot of party groups who celebrate this time of year, including the staff from the sister locations connected to the restaurant. So I'll be a bit busy from Thanksgiving onward. I'll still draw. In fact, I got more done that I had in a while. My main refs are finally done, and now next will be our favorite sluttydile Toby. It should be easier, since I have a base for ref sheets. I'm still developing my PMD story and will update my character posts with quick bios. And my Toby's Pirate Days pages are almost all sketched out. After that, I'll revise them a little and start working on pages and posting them as they're done, one by one.

And that's it. Hope you all like what I post from now. Do stay tuned ^^

Before I get to the topic at hand, I need to make a little disclaimer

First, please, remain calm. It's tough, so just relax and take some down time for yourself. Make sure you're eating right, getting fluids, resting, and do something nice that helps distract you and soothes your mental wellbeing (and I don't mean abusing substances) And please, for the love of all that's good....Please, don't hurt yourself or attempt suicide. Things are looking dire and ugly, but there's no reason to do that. Believe me, I know. If you have these thoughts, please don't hesitate to call the 988 Lifeline, The Trevor Project, the Trans lifeline, or talk to a counselor or even someone you trust. It will get better. Maybe not anytime soon, but it will get better. I promise you all that. Make sure you check on your loved ones and friends, and comfort each other. We have a community and tens of millions of Americans in the same boat.

Second, I never get political because it's always controversial and usually leads to a screaming match, but I want to take this time to talk about what happened. This'll be the ONLY time I'll discuss politics, since I want my space to be all inclusive without drama. I'll just briefly let you all know about what's going on, my views and thoughts, with a hint of ranting, and some final words from all this. I'll start from the depressing stuff to more hopeful news. Now then....

Obviously, it's not looking good here in America. Despite hype for Harris and Trump facing controversy and clearly expressing fascist views, the people have spoken and want Trump back in office. The Republicans have control of the Senate and maybe even the House of Representatives. This means that he and his administration will have full control of government, if they get the majority in the House, and that will be bad news for minorities. The LGBTQA+ community (me), women's reproductive rights, racial justice, marriage equality, and the list goes on. This will all be part of this Project 2025, which will basically set us back by about 100 years, that was conceived by hardcore conservatives that were mostly appointed by Trump. We here call them MAGA members, and they have VERY extreme views. That's why a lot of us are scared and pretty down. Even more so with the surprising victory Trump had. And since people still voted for him, knowing full well of his views, his outbursts for redemption against his political rivals, seeking loyalty to him over the United States Constitution, working with white nationalists who believes this country to be a Christian Nation, and even push conspiracy theories of election fraud and Democrats controlling the weather to gain political ground. Honestly, I'm ashamed to be an American, and I feel I should apologize on behalf of my fellow Americans to everyone from different countries having to witness this. It's embarrassing, to say the least. I'm even having a hard time wondering what to do around Trump voters, regardless of their views. It's going to take a long time for me to forgive them. If I'm able too

With all that said, it's not entirely the voters' fault. The American political atmosphere is so polarized that we can't agree on one single issue, and this is mostly due to news media. Most mainstream news outlets are either taking the middle ground between two parties and their policies, and some others are mainly using their platform as propaganda to push extreme Republican views and lies (a big example is the #1 news channel Fox News). As a result, disinformation floods around and Republicans get most of the credit while Democrats get left behind, despite all the good they try to do, which leads them to keep losing and inheriting a bad economy every single time in MY lifetime (there's actual data of this btw). Now, I'm not saying all Republicans are bad, but we're in a generation where it just so happens that the Republican party has the most shady characters, and they take advantage of the media to give themselves an edge on winning elections. Politicians usually lie, but it's abundantly worse with Republicans intentionally telling lies and spreading misinformation. And conservative news media often praise Republicans whether they've done good or bad, including criminal allegations that can come back to roast any politician from past and recent misdeeds, like allegations of sex trafficking. Again, I'm not saying all Republican officials and voters are bad, we had issues of the media warping facts for a very long time. It's an issue the progressive independent media outlets on Youtube and the such are trying to remedy. To report the truth we deserve to know, and hopefully this will result in fairer elections not based on biased views and confusion.

Some more uplifting news, if you want to call it that, most state ballets voted for allowing abortion, even though two states voted for banning abortion. 3/4s of Americans support LGBTGA+ , and that statistic is improving year by year. These factors are what gives me hope, minus conservative small towns, and believe that we'll be better one day. Hopefully, one day, this country will be able to stay informed with truths, be more accepting of each other, and make everyone feel safe. There's a lot of work to be done, but perhaps this is the start. This may be my believing the impossible, but it could happen. You never know.

We missed a chance to keep a dictator out of the White House, the fascists have most control of the government, possibly the house of representatives too, all seems bleak, and we can't predict what will happen. But that doesn't mean we have to accept whatever comes out way. A battle is never truly lost until we give up completely. We survived a revolution, a civil war, two World Wars, the Great Depression, riots and violent protests, and the Trump presidency on top of a global pandemic. So we'll live through this too. What I'm trying to say is, we can't give up. We need to keep fighting and make our voices heard. I have my dreams, and I won't rest until they come true. The same should be said to you. I'll keep drawing what I want, saying what I want, feeling what I feel, loving what I love, and dreaming what I dream. No one can take that away. If they try doing that or threaten me, then bring it on. I won't be afraid of them and stay quiet.

For now, let's take the time to process all this. Take care of yourself, make sure you're eating and drinking right, make sure you're well rested, make your mental wellness your top priority, get out in the sun while you can before winter, smoke pot or have some drinks to relax (but do so responsible), and above all, never ever lose hope. There is always hope. And my circle is always open for anyone, no matter who or what you are. And I don't care if you're a green Martian with a cone head from Pluto who sings extraterrestrial gibberish, I'll be here and welcome you with open arms.

As for me, I'll relax and detox from all this. And then I'll get back to my passion, and keep moving. One step, one day at a time. Maybe one day I'll forgive those who voted for Trump, but for now, I hope they learn what they've done and see why we wanted him gone in the first place.

There is always hope

I think I'll leave off with this iconic scene that says it much better than I ever will

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY1Xg6X20

Hello! Hope everyone's doing ok. Let's start of with how everything was with me.

I've been losing my creativity lately and decided to take a week from pretty much everything. I guess it was one of those days where you feel down and recent events exasperated it (my fellow American brothers and sisters may guess what those events are, but I won't waste time on that). Sometimes, it's best to step away from things to clear your head, or even distract yourself with cleaning or organizing. I'm feeling much better now, and I'm getting inspired again. I've made some progress with my PMD comic, I've FINALLY got my refs done for my oc, and I've made decent progress on my Toby comic. The latter, I think, may need no more than a dozen pages, maybe less, and I can start getting that out. Plus, I can work on other small projects I had in mind, but more detail on that for another time. For now, it's my PMD comic, Toby comic, and new refs of my ocs.

Now, the holidays are just around the corner, and I hope everyone will enjoy their Thanksgiving and Christmas (if you celebrate either of those). Hope you enjoy the art I make and commission and will start posting more soon. Later ^^

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/58573396/

Go check it out ^^

And he's right here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/58328810/

Ok! Aside from a few things to take care of, I'm slowly returning to normal. I've changed everything from my passwords, usernames (the websites that allowed me anyways), email, bank account, debit card, credit cards, checks, and my phone number once all of that is sorted. I even decided to abandon my discord account and make a new one to start over. This is to make absolutely sure the hacker is gone and out of my life for good. I'm sparing no expense. But I've learned my lesson. Not only should I think twice on what people send, even your friends who maybe hacked and acting out of character, but to not beat myself up so much for being vulnerable. This is what hackers do. They do any means necessary to trick you to giving them money. Basically, he posed as a friend that he hacked and then as a "Discord Admin" making me think I was in legal trouble and needed to prove I wasn't part of this phishing scam. But long story short, I lost $300, which could of been MUCH worse then it could of been, and I learned from it.

After all of this, I have all my friends to thank for being there for me and lending a hand when I needed it and asked for it, especially the few who went the extra mile to spread the word (you know how you guys are reading this). They all, in a way, offered condolences to my hacked account. It's funny, if you think about it. I've always had problems connecting and opening up to others for as long as I can remember. I was apparently a courageous child, once upon a time, and it seems like I retreated into a shell as I grew older. My father even said I was a brave child before. Even now, I'm very reserved around people. In Discord, however, I opened up to others in recent years and made some of the best friends I've ever made in my life. I have grown from a shy boy to a more confident man today. This is why I decided to make a new account. It's a sort of.......reawakening of myself. A brand new me to welcome and be an inspiration to others around me, however in any small way I can. I have returned, in a way. Zaffre returns.

Moving on now. The busy summer season at my job is FINALLY over! That means I have more me time, including drawing. And I'm working out an art schedule for myself to help with maintaining my projects. Sometimes, it helps to be on a routine and stick with it. I'm thinking Mondays and Tuesdays will be dedicated to my PMD passion comic, Wednesdays and Thursdays will be for Toby's Pirate Days (or any other lewd comics or projects I may think of), Fridays and Saturdays for miscellaneous work (personal art, commissions, etc.), and Sundays for a free day (game, take a break, or keep going with drawing). For now, though, I'll take a break from my PMD comic and work on other stuff and come back to it with a fresh mind. I'm sort of stuck on it again.

Now, time to unwind, relax, and get over this horrible allergy I'm getting. Stay tuned for more ^^

Long storyshort, I was sacmmed by a hacker and went to change my password and email and logged out, only to realize I didn't add my number. So I'm occially locked out of Discord. I hope to get back on there soon. I just wanted to let you all know.

 anakonda230 is featureing an art raffle. If you're interested, have a look. ^^

I wanted to address something someone mentioned on a Discord channel I'm on. That person basically said we shouldn't sink to the hacker's level and start a "witch hunt." There are rumors going around (particularly X) suggesting that the hacker was identified and payed heavily for it, but that doesn't mean it's the truth. These are rumors for a reason, even if something seems like the truth doesn't mean it is the truth. So we should wait to hear what the proper law inforcements have found, like the admins posted. Even if the rumors were true, even if the trolling and clowning and revenge is well deserved on the hacker, we shouldn't innact on this. The hacker messed up, and they will be fully punished for theirdisgusting acts in due time. What we should do is be thankful the site is back and running again, change our passwords, and go about our day. Let's put this drama behind us. I'm just glad everything turned out fine.

Moving on, time for me to work on a schedule to help with my PMD comic project and Toby's Pirate Days, as well as miscellaneous drawings I'm planning on. Stay tuned for more art by me and other artists I commissioned.

Until next time! ^^

 haylobun is doing a free art raffle. Go and check it out, if you're interested. ^^

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57.....#cid:181095408

First things first, before I get to the life update, I'm sure everyone heard the news of :userdragoneer: and his untimely passing. I've been here for about 18 years, and it's only until in recent years that I started to open up and express myself on this site and others thanks to special friend's I've made. So it's kinda hard to not acknowledge what Dragoneer has done for this site, despite it's flaws. I won't pretend to make a speech about how Dragoneer is a legend and all that since I never really knew or heard much about him, so I won't even try. WIth that said, to those who read this my sencere condolences go out to the friends and family of Dragoneer. I am truely sorry for your lose.

Next for the update. This has literaly been the most stressful summer I have ever witnessed, especially at my job. I've work in the same restraunt for nearly 16 years, and I have never ever seen dozens of staff that are lazy, arrogant, and disorganized in my entire life. This all leads to my being affected on how I do my job. This is the worst summer I've worked, and the record breaking heats here and across the world doesn't help at all, more so on two days where the ac gave out and the temperature was like 90 degree fahrenheit. Even before than, I was dealing with personal family issues, which have been slowly getting better bit by bit. In short, this severely limited my personal time for art and working on my comic projects. I've barely scratched the surface of my PMD fan comic and only got the cover for Toby's Pirate Days done. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep after the long hours and exhausting, busy days.

Now for the good news, at least on my part. The busy season is almost over. I just need to get through this week, which is expected to be the biggest we had so far. After this week, it should start getting slower and slower, then our "last hurrah" on Labor Day weekend, and finally things should going back to normal, with the weekdays being slow and only having to worry about weekends and holiday events. And all the extra pay and hours is really helping me financally.Plus, I'm tackling my ADHD and started taking Aderal, and hopefully this helps with concentration and getting things done. So, soon enough I'll be back in full swing with my comic projects and maybe some commissions. I'll just first make an art schedule for myself to make things a bit easier and smoother for me. What day to work on a project, which day to do a commission, or a day to take some down time for myself, ect. I really hope you all like what I have in store.

And finally about this site. I have read posts lately about the future of this site, more so than ever after Dragoneer's death. This isn't a time to panic, but a time to hope for the best and expect the worst. So as a safety net of sorts, you can find my on different sites listed on my home page. Deviantart for my PMD comic, inkbunny (aside from cub art), I may start up Itaku and will make a link when I have the time to start an account there, Disord and Telegram to chat, and Bluesky to do psot art and random stuff.

Now, stay safe, enjoy your day, relax, and if in the U.S. like me go vote in this yet another streesful election year.

Feel free to ask me any questions as long as they're appropriate, and stay tuned everyone

See you all later.

I had ups and downs this year, but I've learned much abkut myself and hac=ve things planed for 2024. So, I hope you like what I bring. May my and yours year be bright and fruitful ^^. And even if 2024 is nothing but darkness for my I'll look for the light from my friends and from the moon in the night. This is my oath as a loyal friend and ally

I'll be using that instead of twitter, because...well...it's dead. But seriously, it's a chance for a fresh start and to post commissions or my personal art there. If you guys are interested here's the link https://bsky.app/profile/zaffrelucario.bsky.social

I've been busy lately and will continue to be through the summer but now can finally talk about this.

You already know about FA's resent changes and policy updates, so I won't go into a rant about it. However, if for some reason I'm having problems on this site, be it taking down uploads on my page or getting suspended or banned, there's always inkbunny: https://inkbunny.net/zaffrelucario plus I'm thinking of making an itaku account. We'll see.

I know where I stand in all this, and I'm honestly a little worried about this site. But if I need to move on then so be it. But again, we will see what happens

Have a happy summer

 checkhoff is doing a free chili art raffle. If you're interested come check it out here https://www.furaffinity.net/view/50680999/

Hello hello all,

Happy early holidays and seasons greetings to all. A simple question, if I may ask. What is something you like to see this winter season. Can be a kink, within reason, on one of my characters, can be something in general, etc. I like to here your opinions.

Hello hello all. It's been a busy month in October. Busy with family and work, got a new car, went on vacation, and now I'm back home in my normal life.

Now, since I have a new car I need to pay it off for a few years. Which means there won't be as much commissions or patreon awards to post for a while. I'm going to be on a strict budget until I get my finances straight.

But the good news is that I'm getting more and more into drawing my own art, and I'm back to working on my Pokemon Mystery Dungeon comic. Aside from the holidays I'm dedicating my time and energy to get this working. Hope you like what's coming soon. ^^

First of all, thanks so much for liking what I post, and giving me a watch. I really appreciate it. But make sure you check the artists I commissioned . They deserve lots of praise.

Now, for the announcement. I'm getting back into art and retraining myself in illustration. I've found an art app for my pc to draw on, getting a hang of drawing digitally, and already I'm getting some praise here and there. So, I'm going to start drawing for myself more often, and I have LOTS of ideas. In fact, I'm working on a biiiiiiig project I've dreamed of for years. You'll see more of it sometime this year, but I just need to get through my day job during the very busy summer season. I'll give you a hint, though. Looks around and leans in closer It's related to PMD, but more PG or PG 13.

Why am I announcing it, you ask? Well, again, I'm getting back into art, but I need lots of practice. I'm experienced in art, but not so much when it comes to drawing. That's where all of you come in. I need everyone to offer constructive criticisms and advice to better myself. Offer ideas or suggestions. Anything you think may help me. I want to get better. Especially, for my future projects. And, who knows, if I get good enough I'll start offering commissions. We'll see. Oh, and another thing. If you have questions, feel free to ask away. Just make it appropriate and no funny business, please. ^ ^

Thanks for your time and hope you all have or had a good summer. See you soon!

Hello all!

Let me introduce myself. I'm Zaffre Lucario (but call me Zaffre or Zaff), and I guess this is my first official journal post. Don't expect too much for I don't see myself posting journals much, at least not as frequently as most, but I thought I should formally introduce myself.

Anyway, I'll post mostly commissions and patreon rewards, be it tame or naughty, or even personal stuff, like character creations or whatever else I make. I'm working on making more OCs for myself, and I have lots of ideas and can't wait to draw them, show you all, and eventually feature them in commissions. If you have questions for me ask away (just don't make it too personal).