I will not be working on either On Our Own nor Arturos Academy during the month of December. This is because I've decided to spend December working on something I've neglected all year, despite wanting to do more with it, because I've not had the time.

I will be working on making an update to the visual novel project, Visual Stimulation, that I started in 2019. I decided that I wanted to spend December working on it as a way to give people a Christmas give of sorts to look forward to. Whether you've played past versions of it or this will be your first time checking it out, hopefully you will like what you see.

It doesn't really have much in the way of art or backgrounds yet, because I'm not an artist, but hopefully you guys will enjoy what you see anyway. So yeah, keep on the lookout on Christmas Day for a link to it.

For anyone interested, here is a link to this year's Halloween project. This one is a creepypasta of my favorite game. Happy Halloween!

https://youtu.be/cKkUjfu_UR8

You guys might remember, back in June, I did a cover of the song "A Sunny Day is Watching over You" from the visual novel Nekojishi. Well, today I had planned on working more on my creepypasta for the year, but because my roomies had some stuff they wanted to hang up on the walls today, and thus there was going ot be a lot of hammering, I decided, instead, to do something I'd been planning to for a while but just never got around to it.

I found a copy of the opening video for the VN and grabbed it, without sound, so I could put my singing on top of it. It took a little bit of extra work to get timings and stuff right, but I got it done. If there's anyone interested in giving it a look, you can do so here.

I've sent an e-mail to the creator to ask for permission to upload it to my YouTube channel, to be used alongside my Let's Play, and if given permission, I will be doing so, but in the meantime, there it is for anyone to watch.

My friend  muzykamagician got word a few days ago that his mother's ICD (Implanted Cardiac Device. She has a Defib/Pacemaker) isn't working as it should and she's in class 4 heart failure and they want her to under go a cardiac ablation to create scar tissue to block nerves to restore her heart rate. But even still, doctors have told her the odds are not good it will actually work 50/50. And that she basically can drop dead at anytime. As a result of this, his mother has asked for him to come see her and be there for her. He does not have the funds he needs to make that trip happen though, and he needs what financial help he can get to make that happen.

Full details can be found here. Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated, because I know how much his mother means to him.

I've decided that I'm going to do another Creepypasta reading for Halloween this year, but I can't decide on which one I want to do. I'm probably going to do another video game related one, but I thought I'd ask you guys for your opinions. What are some of your favorite Creepypastas?

Sending this message so people are aware of it. Earlier today, my roomie got an e-mail from Paypal saying that he purchased several hundred dollars worth of t-shirts. Seconds later, he got the purchase confirmation e-mail. Obviously, he knew he didn't make any such purchase, so, in looking at the e-mail (no links in it were clicked) , the address was clearly NOT Paypal. As such he reported it to Paypal's spoof department.

Just prior to this journal, I received the same two e-mails. If they show up in your e-mail inbox, just report them to spoof[at]paypal.com

For anyone that wants to see what my island looks like, here ya go: DA-4591-9970-5652

I've gone back to the bios page for the characters and updated it with some new information, such as their occupations, Caster's Orb color, etc. Master Wolfyre Fangor's info has also been added.

For anyone interested. you can find the bios here.

I made a third course today, which you can find with the following course code: 74C-JYD-62G

Just today after actually figuring out where it was, I made note of my Mario Maker 2 ID as well, which, using it, will show any and all courses I make from then on if I understand it correctly. So for anyone who wants to see my past courses or any of the ones I make in the future, my ID is: SG5-NK5-PJF

Got another idea, so I made another course. The code is: YVY-Q3S-RBG

Got another idea, so I made another course. The code is: YVY-Q3S-RBG

I was bored tonight, and, after having had the game for a couple weeks, I came up with an idea for my first course. It's not the most creative, but, for anyone interested in giving the course a shot anyway, the course ID is : CQM-D7X-XPF.

If you end up playing it, let me know what you think.

I've now been living in Washington for the last two weeks, and things have not been too bad. Still adjusting to being in a new place, but I'm pretty happy. Just got the internet connected in my room today, and sometime soon I'll be getting back to working on my audio story stuff.

A few things you can expect to see from me in the next few weeks are:

- A cover of the song "A Sunny Day is Watching over You" from the visual novel, Nekojishi
- The song to the next chapter of On Our Own, followed soon after by the actual chapter
- The next chapter of Arturos Academy, which will be scripted in the next few days and recorded once I've finished the above two projects

Stuff is slowly getting back to normal, and I look forward to getting back into my audio stuff. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it too.

After having gone back and listened to the way I originally did Echo's voice, I decided I was bothered enough by how I made the voice sound in Chapter 8 that I decided to re-record his lines. The chapter is otherwise unaltered, but if you want to give it another listen with Echo's voice the way should be, feel free to do so here.

I'm 35 now, so I guess that's a thing. I just wish things weren't such a mess right now. Really hoping that, with everything that's been going on lately, I'll still be able to move next month.

So, the end of the year has finally come. What all has happened?

Bad:
- Lost a very dear and close friend (Rest in Peace, Wessy)
- Dealt with a lot of stress-related issues and headaches, far more than I can count
- Multiple hospital visits that ultimately ended with nothing being done, despite discovering there actually IS a problem

Good:
- On Our Own is progressing fairly nicely, despite a few hiccups I've had along the way
- Started Arturos Academy of Awakening, which seems to be getting positive feedback thusfar
- I've managed to keep my Let's Play vids coming at a consistent pace
- My weight has stayed mostly consistent, aside from around holidays

So yeah, 2019 has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I'm hoping that 2020 will be better. I've made my resolutions for the coming year as well. These include:

- Doing the chapter edit work for On Our Own myself. With the fact I've begun doing it myself with Arturos Academy, and I'm feeling pretty confident with it, there is little reason to keep asking Dipper to do it. By doing it myself, it lessens the stress on him. Obviously, he'll still be doing the voices and song cleanup for me (since I don't have the song editing software) but I intend to stop relying on him for the majority of the work.
- Keep making content for my YouTube channel. This one's not really that hard to do, seeing as I've been taking advantage of having vids sceduled ahead of time, but I want to make sure my viewers always have something new to look forward to.
- Continue to maintain my weight. Again, another somewhat easy one, but with my weight being where I want it to be, I want to try to keep it there. That gets hard sometimes, as temptation seems to hit more often than I'd like, but I want to keep proving I'm stronger than the temptations I see.
- Work more on my visual novel project I started. I put Visual Stimulation on the back burner for most of the year because I couldn't decide how to best move forward with it. One of the things I want to do is get that going again, because, while I may not be able to get decent art for it right now, I think my idea for it is something people would enjoy, so I want to try and get more of it written.

Aside from my resolutions, there's one major change for me that is coming in 2020. In April, I will be moving from Lansing, Michigan to a place called Lilliwaup, Washington. I'll be moving in with someone that used to live with me here in Lansing. The reason for the move is largely because rent here has gotten FAR too expensive, and, when I move, my rent expenses are going to be cut down by nearly half, which means I'll be able to start saving money to be able to do the things I like. This should also, hopefully, eliminate two of my major stress factors.

That's it for my rambling for now. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my journal. I hope everyone has a great New Year, and here's hoping 2020 treats everyone well.

This is Holloween: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/33642754/

Easter Egg - Snow on Mt. Silver Creepypasta Reading:
https://youtu.be/i0kQuE8nAII

Some of you might recall that, last year, I did a reading of the creepypasta story called Ben Drowned, seen here https://youtu.be/be6iXjZmF2Q

Well, I decided that, this year, I'm gonna cover a different one. Which one? You'll have to wait for Halloween to find out.

My friend  kittybird needs a bit of financial help. She has a journal with the details posted here.

Please help her out if you can. She also takes commission too and does really good work!

My good friend  kittybird is opening herself up for commissions for sticker sets and chibi-sona pics. If you have the extra cash, please send some her way. Details can be found here.

Name: Maximus Regulus Arcanis
Age: 13
Species: Corgi
Height: 4'6"
Weight: 114 lbs
Caster's Orb: Pink (Heart)
Familiar: Riptide (Raccoon)
Occupation: Student
Physical Description: Reddish-brown and white fur, yellow eyes. Thin but has a bit of a muscular build.
Personality: Friendly, protective of those he cares about, observant, smart.
Background: Maximus has lived with his father all his life. His mother mysteriously disappeared shortly after his birth, and he has not seen her since. Though he was born into a magical family, he had no knowledge of that fact until his 13th birthday, when he received a letter from Arturos Academy, at which point his father began explaining things to him while helping him prepare for his first year at school. Max's observant nature led to him noticing many strange occurrences that happened around him, which he eventually pieced together was due to people around him using magic. After learning he would be attending the school, Max eventually met his raccoon Familiar, Riptide.

---

Name: Caspian Gunnar Arcanis
Age: 38
Species: Corgi
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 152 lbs
Caster's Orb: Pink (Heart)
Familiar: Roquefort (Mouse)
Occupation: Potioneer for Crescentview Clinic
Physical Description: Slightly dark reddish-brown and white fur, yellow eyes. Muscle-gut build.
Personality: Calm and relaxed nature, prefers to get tasks done immediately when given rather than putting them off.
Background: Caspian's father had hidden the fact the family was magical, much like he had with Max. However, in Caspian's case, the discovery came a year sooner than intended. At age 12, Caspian was playing with a ball when it got stuck in a tree. Without even realizing he was doing it at the time, he conjured a burst of wind which knocked the ball loose. Surprised at what happened, he went to his father, who then explained what happened to him, who then told him of their family history.

He met his wife during his first year at the academy, and became fast friends with her during their time at school. As Caspian got older. his bond with her grew to the point they began dating, and eventually married, and had a child together. Shortly after their son's birth, his wife mysteriously disappeared. Ever since then, Caspian vowed to always stay on top of things. He has a Familiar, a mouse named Roquefort, from his own school days, whom he communicated with only telepathically after the birth of their son, in an effort to surprise him when it seemed the school letter came out of nowhere.

Though magic seemed to go exceedingly well for him, he found he enjoyed Potioneering most. though not quite at the top of his class, his potions almost always worked the way they were intended. This eventually led to him taking a job making them for a magical medical clinic, which he did but never directly explained to his son, only telling him he worked at a clinic, but never explaining what he did until after he turned 13.

---

Name: Rory Tiberius Rothgar
Age: 13
Species: Wolverine
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 136 lbs
Caster's Orb: Dirt brown (Earth)
Familiar: Echo (Capuchin Monkey)
Occupation: Student
Physical Description: Crimson red fur, brown eyes. Chubby build.
Personality: Excitable, determined, somewhat clumsy, Frequently acts on his first instinct rather than thinking things through.
Background: Rory lives with his mother, and is always trying to help her however he can. He knows he has a father somewhere, but hasn't seen him since he was a baby. The day his academy letter came proved to be quite a shock to him, because his there was no history of magic in his family, so he didn't think he had any either. Despite his hastiness to do things, when he does do something, he puts his heart into it, not giving up on it no matter what. After learning he would be attending the school, Rory eventually met his monkey Familiar, Echo.

---

Name: Skye Morgana Rothgar
Age: 38
Species: Wolverine
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 151 lbs
Caster's Orb: None
Familiar: None
Occupation: Nurse for Heartworth Hospital
Physical Description: Ruby red fur, hazel eyes. Thin.
Personality: Loves to laugh, adventurous as a child, protective as an adult, logical thinker.
Background: When Skye was young, she was taken in by her grandmother and grandfather after an auto accident claimed the lives of her parents. Skye was sad whenever she thought too much on it, so she resolved to always try to think about and do things to keep her in good spirits. In school, she was always the one to suggest new things to do or places to go to her friends. She became close to one in particular, whom she eventually started spending time with more and more. Over many years, the two became closer and closer until the day they married. She gave birth to her only child, Rory, shortly after.

For about a year, the three lived together happily. One day though, Skye awakened to the realization her husband had disappeared. No attempts to find him produced any results, and when she was forced to inform Rory of this, she told herself, no matter what the cost, she would not lose him the same way she lost her husband. This led to her being extremely protective of her son.

When she discovered that Rory had received a letter to a magical school, she was suspicious that it was an attempt someone was making to take him from her, and it took a visit from Grandmaster Orpheus, who sat down and explained things to her, before she felt comfortable enough to allow Rory to attend.

Skye currently has a job as a nurse for a hospital near her home, and she is just as protective of the patients she tends to, wanting to make sure none of them is ever hurt worse in her care.

---

Name: Ravi Aslan Alcero
Age: 13
Species: Lion
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 132 lbs
Caster's Orb: Purple (Darkness)
Familiar: Pascal (White rabbit)
Occupation: Student
Physical Description: Tan-colored fur, yellow eyes. Thin.
Personality: Constantly questions his own worth and abilities despite being quite intelligent. Extremely friendly and tries to make friends when and where he can.
Background: Ravi lived with his mother and father together until an accident took the life of his father when he was around eight years old. This hurt him quite a bit, and he constantly blamed himself for it, despite his mother saying it wasn't his fault. A year later, his mother started dating a woman she grew attracted to. It was around this time that Ravi learned he had magic, despite the fact no one in his family line ever did. Despite not actually believing it at the time, Ravi wanted to learn more and started asking a lot of questions about it. Around another year after that, his mother married the woman she fell in love with, which made Ravi grow even closer to the two of them.

Eventually, Ravi met a kangaroo named Noah at an arcade, who had moved into a house on the same street he lived on, and the two of them became fast friends. His friendship with Noah helped him to start feeling better about himself, because of how Noah would always put aside anything he was doing to help him.

When Ravi turned thirteen and got his letter, he was so stunned by it that he went to his now-stepmom nearly in tears, because he didn't think he was deserving of the priviledge of attending the academy. It took several days before he was calm enough to actually accept it, and when he did, he ventured to Starcrest Way with his mom, stepmom, Noah and his family, where he eventually met his Familiar: a white rabbit he named Pascal.

---

Name: Noah Romulus Langston
Age: 13
Species: Kangaroo
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 140 lbs
Caster's Orb: Blue (Water)
Familiar: Ty (Blue fire phoenix)
Occupation: Student
Physical Description: Light brown fur, dark brown eyes, slightly chubby.
Personality: Optimistic, helpful, compassionate. Will do anything he can to make his friends smile.
Background: Noah lives with his mother and father, The three of them loved to travel and would frequently make trips to other countries. Just before turning eleven, Noah and his parents moved to the home they live in now. Even though they no longer traveled as much as they used to, this didn't stop Noah from exploring the city he now lived in.

Due to his photographic memory, it didn't take him long before he could navigate to anywhere in the city. When he visited an arcade one day, he met Ravi, whom he helped with a game that the lion was struggling with. As they played, they learned they both lived on the same street and began hanging out together. Noah learned that Ravi struggled with finding his own worth at times, and he would frequently help pick him back up whenever he noticed Ravi talking down about himself. As time passed and the two became better friends, it reached a point they did almost everything together.

The day Noah got his academy letter, he visited Ravi only to discover that, despite getting his sometime before, Ravi didn't feel he deserved it and thus, hadn't even gone to Starcrest Way yet. Between him, and Ravi's mom and stepmom, they managed to get Ravi to believe he deserved to go, and they all went together. During their shopping that day, Noah got his Familar: a blue phoenix he called Ty, short for Typhoon.

---

Name: Alderan Fangsworth Orpheus
Age: 162
Species: Dragon
Height: 7'2"
Weight: 414 lbs
Caster's Orb White (Light)
Familiar: Odin (Gryphon)
Occupation: Grandmaster at Arturos Academy
Physical Description: Steel blue colored scales, with the underside of his wings and his stomach being a slightly lighter blue. Green eyes, usually seen wearing rectangular-framed glasses when reading, though not needed for other tasks. Heavyset build, but surprisingly quick even when he isn't flying.
Personality: Has a knack for knowing things even when he's told nothing about them. Generally a very serious creature, but lightens up whenever he is teaching or otherwise in a good mood.
Background: Alderan's magical history goes back several generations, and, as such, he was raised knowing a lot about magic. This led to him learning to do magic and a very young age, though he frequently had problems controlling it. Once he enrolled in the Academy, Alderan met his Familiar, Odin. During the time he was a student at the academy, he quickly became top of his class. Due to his studious efforts, although he had a good amount of friends, he never pursued a romantic interest in anyone. This didn't stop him from being helpful when a classmate was having trouble with assignments though, and he seemed happier when he was teaching them.

Alderan eventually took on a job with the High Magic Council, which eventually led to him being offered the position Grandmaster of Arturos Academy, replacing the school's previous Grandmaster who retired shortly after. He has since held the position for nearly a century and loves the job just as much now as he did when the position was first offered to him.

---

Name: Wolfyre Lapiro Fangor
Age: 128
Species: Wolf
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 253 lbs.
Caster's Orb: Silver (Mind)
Familiar: Morpheus (Chameleon)
Occupation: Master of Creature Mysteries at Arturos Academy, Galaxiam Hallmaster
Physical Description: Grey wolf, yellow eyes, heavyset build.
Personality: Extremely friendly and helpful. Loves to answer questions, because he views knowledge as a powerful tool for the future and believes it should be passed to others whenever possible.
Background: Wolfyre was introduced to magic when he was eight years old, having walked in on his mother and father repairing something. The wolf found the concept interesting and began asking for details about the magical world. He was so eager to learn about it that he started reading any book he could find on the subject, just so he could learn more. He stayed up all night the night before getting his Academy letter because of how much he wanted to get to the school and learn more.

His first year at the Academy, his desire for learning led to him getting the best grades of any young mage in Galaxiam. He quickly became the one people went to for help, and was always willing to help provide info to any who needed it. After his first year, he found that the thing he found most curious was the animals of the magical world. Although he still remained among the top students in Galaxiam, it seemed Creature Mysteries was what fascinated him most. When he eventually graduated, years later, he was the first in many decades to receive perfect marks in the class.

Even then, he continued studying the animals of the magical world, eventually taking a job as a Creature Healer, which he kept for 30 years, until receiving a note from the Academy, sent to him from the Master of Creature Mysteries at the time, asking him if there was any interest in taking on the job, which he finally did at age 50. He has been in that position ever since.

---

Name: Callum Phineas Vexan
Age: 131
Species: Tanuki
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 275 lbs
Caster's Orb: White (Light)
Familiar: Illius (Arctic fox)
Occupation: Master of Aural Energies at Arturos Academy
Physical Description: Reddish-brown fur, dark brown mask and tail rings. Heavyset build.
Personality: Peaceful and pleasant. Quick to aid others and always does so with a smile. Has never been seen angry even when others are cruel toward him.
Background: Callum lived in a family of mages that frequently used their magic to help others. When he was five years old, as he was playing in a park one day, he got hold of his father's Caster's Orb and, repeating words he'd heard him say, unintentionally caused a gust of wind to knock his father into a large mud puddle. Despite the situation, his father seemed more pleased than upset, as it was the first sign of magic within him. As the years passed, Callum began paying closer attention to things whenever magic was involved. It was his mother that sparked his interest in learning about auras, and whenever he could, he would have her tell him more about what she knew.

When he got to the Academy, it was no surprise that he excelled in his Aural Energies class, and always seemed to know exactly how to best use his aura to make his magic the strongest it could be. During his second year, that skill proved to be extremely helpful, as, by having properly taken advantage of his knowledge, he saved the Aural Energies Master's life when a spell had gone horribly wrong. This got him a lot of attention. Some good, some bad. He never let any of it phase him though, because he did what he knew he needed to, and didn't want to see someone lose their life.

In his final year at the Academy, he found love, in the form of a vixen who, much like him, had a Familiar that was an arctic fox. Callum had started helping her when she was having trouble with several advanced spells, and did so by showing how her aura could help her. Throughout that year, whenever she struggled, Callum would help her, and as the end of the year came, the two officially became a couple.

Before taking the position as Master of Aural Energies, both he and the vixen worked together in a therapy clinic, using the knowledge they had to help guide furs through their problems. When Callum was offered the position at the Academy, around age 45, he initially refused it, due to feeling his knowledge was best suited where he was, but he was convinced by his girlfriend-turned-wife a year later to take the position, with her reminding him that any help he would give the young mages would be things they would carry with them well into their adult years, so taking the position would be beneficial in its own way. With that in mind, Callum agreed, and has been happily teaching young mages what he knew ever since.

Due to needing to edit something in the original file, I tried to replace the submission, but for some reason the file now would not play properly, so I have removed it and uploaded it again with it fixed.

For those that watched my most recent life update video, you'll know I mentioned I'd be starting a new audio story soon. I've had an idea brewing in my head for quite a while, and finished writing the first script yesterday. As of this journal, the lines are recorded and ready for editing, so I hope to have the first chapter ready for posting soon.

This new story is called Arturos Academy of Awakenings. Think of it like a furry version of Harry Potter. It will have similar elements to the movies/books, but will have a lot that's different as well.

When it is ready to be posted, the first chapter (as well as any other chapters in the story) will be posted here.

This version has the first day for the second character completed. Feedback is welcome!

https://bobbythornbody.itch.io/visual-stimulation

My buddy  maxgoof has made a Casting Call page to assist him in finding voices for his audio story, called 'Life Goes On". Specifically, he's currently looking for voices (both male and female) for characters Dipper will interact with while in the Air Force Academy. For anyone interested in trying out, you can find all the needed info on his journal here.