OhmygodsoCUTE

x3 Thanks!

Oh my god, this is adorable, Nyaasu! *sparkling eyes*

xD

I think when I have a nice segment of free time (like, in a week), I'll spend some time with some felt and stuffing, and see if I can't make a plushy paopu fruit. We shall see how well it does or doesn't go…

Aww, okay. Good luck!!

Oh, yeah. It's gonna be a solid and busy week for me and my dad. Which is good, because business has been a bit slow in the past few months. Lots of jobs over the next month.

well that's always good, that means more money, right? x3 And we all need more money.

Quite. Gotta start saving up for that 3DS and KH3D copy. :B

YEP.
Me, I gotta save up for an upcoming anime convention that I'm prooobably not going to get to go to. xD
...But just in case.

*snaps fingers* Oooh, thanks for reminding me! I gotta remember to check the dates on Fanimecon, see if I can go. I don't think I'll go as Harry Dresden this year, that costume was too hot. But maybe Arthur Dent would be more comfortable…

Awww~ That's so adorable!

x3 Thanks!

Oh my gosh! How can Riku be so cute!

xD I thought he was cutest as a bunny, but I'm sure he prefers to be a dog. xD

who doesn't prefer being a dog :p

I would prefer to be a dog. D:

ya me too that's what i said

xD I'm just agreeing with you!

...And I wish I could be one! x3

puppusssss <33333333, riku is more adorable than i thought he'd be XD

x3 Riku is always a cutie! ...Unless he looks like Ansem. Then he's scary.

Very cute.

*psst* It's not like you to be up so late.

*psst**psst* We still need to talk about a certain someone's bday surprise in June.

HOW WAS THIS NOT THOUGHT OF SOONER? <3

Because I was busy figuring out how to make Kingdom Hearts make sense. I didn't have time for cute ideas.

Step 1: Give every Disney movie a lock

Step 2: Hide the lock and blame it on the darkness

Step 3: Make Sora the landlord and have him find the locks

Step 4: ????

Step 5: Profit

That's pretty much what I was able to get from it. :P

Unlike many other things, step 4 here is easy.

Step 4: Release the game.

XD

xD I don't know! But...IT HAPPENED FINALLY! xD

You forgot about Kairi XD

x3 The winner will present it to her.
Not sure how good a condition it'll be in by then though.

Since it's currently a squeaky toy, I imagine that the squeak will be dead by then.

*smiles* We got Doxsee a squeaky toy last Christmas. He killed it in about two minutes. Then he killed our other dogs' squeaky toys. Because so long as it was squeaking, it was still "alive." Vicious little guys, those dachshunds can be. I thought it was so funny… *sniffles slightly*

Aww...My dog tears out the squeaker and eats it. Like a plushy heart. ...Ew.

*Hugs*

*hugs* We're all doing okay, I think. Couple of moments here and there. Surprisingly, my dad's mom took it really hard. I ended up sending her a nice long email filling in the details, what was happening and why we made the choice. I think it helped.

You know...a very long time ago (when my dad still lived with us, which means I was like....3? 4?), our cat, Ashley died. I had never seen my dad cry before, and it felt...wrong, I guess. I mean, he'd even fallen off the roof of our trailer and got a ROCK impaled in his foot, and didn't shed a tear, so...it was weird to see him...holding the dead cat, and crying.

Sometimes I guess, our dads can get very attached to pets, and I guess it's hard to see it until the end.

Oh jeeze, ouch. The, um, physical injury thing. And the cat. And… I'll just stop before I shoot myself in the foot here.

Sorry about your dad. I think I've heard bits and pieces of this, but not the full story. You don't need to go into it. *hugs*

Oh, yeah, it was hard on my parents. But it was my grandmother taking it hard that surprised me the most. I don't know why, but it just seemed… odd. Like, she only sees him maybe a week or two out of the year, but she still took it really hard. Like, my aunt was worried about her.

OH! I just realized you said your "dad's mom", not your dad. xD That's why I told that story about my dad. x3 Oops...

You know what though...? My nana only sees my rat every once in a while, but she absolutely loves her. LOVES her. She tells everyone about her, and she never stops talking about how funny she acts when she's at her house, stealing her mail to make a nest. xD I think sometimes people get really attached to an animal, even if they rarely get to visit it.

I can't imagine how sad my nana would be if something happened to Anna...so I'm sorry about what your grandmother is going through.

Heh, it's okay. They had a rough few days too.

Huh. Interesting. Does Anna have any choices in mail, like… junk mail, political mail, or regular mail?

Um, sorry, was getting into a weird tangent there. Yeah, I guess stuff like that just happens from time to time. Though one of our other dogs (Maggie) seems to be interested on usurping Doxsee's visiting rights to my grandparent's cottage (my other set of grandparents live with us). She keeps going over to visit now. It's kind of silly.

Gossip magazines. She LOVES those.
I imagine her reading them as she lays in her nest, too. xD
(Actually that's just the kind of magazine Nana has lying around her house)

Awww, well it might be a good thing. Sometimes another pet can step in when they are needed -- for example, I had a rat named Klaus, not sure if you remember him, but he was my cuddler. He would sit in my lap and just relax with me. When I lost him, I thought my cuddlerat days were over, because my other rats weren't so...relaxed (Lucas...let's be frank, I think Lucas hated me, and Mochi was just very nervous, even with me). But one day Mochi just came over while I was arting, and fell asleep right next to me. After that, he became my cuddler. :)

...Man...all this chat of passed animals is making me teary eyed. But it's not really a bad thing...in the end...I'd do it all again, even knowing where it always leads.

...That reminds me of a poem, by Rudyard Kipling...I love this poem, but I warn you...it's gonna hurt:

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in--Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

Tell me about it. Though I think we'll be able to keep mom away from the thought of a puppy for a while, at least until Maggie's gone. We don't need three massive dogs in our house.

Oh god, short term loans… okay, story time that I might have told you before, but it fits the mood. We had a puppy named Roxie, a long-haired rott like Shamus, several years back. While you may prefer adoption from pounds and such, we got our last three rottweilers from proper licensed breeders and trainers: Maggie is actually a champion show dog and long-retired breeding bitch, while her nephew Shamus is a purebred long-haired. And little Roxie wasn't doing very well. She didn't move much, our first rottie didn't play with her, she was having trouble peeing… it turned out that her mother had eaten some of that contaminated dog food going around like seven years ago while she was pregnant with her litter. She and her most recent litter of puppies got very sick, but in the end they only ended up losing like, two of the puppies. One was our Roxie. Her little kidneys were shutting down and she was slowly dying because her blood wasn't getting filtered right, and there was nothing we could do, so we had to put her to sleep. We only had her for two weeks. I cried just as hard when we lost her as when we lost Spicy and Doxsee. She was only a couple of months old too. Poor little thing.

And with Doxsee… he was a right pain in the neck. Old, grouchy, stiff, cantankerous, sometimes forgetful… but there were times in the past few years where I realized how little time he had left, and I just felt all that melt away… sorry, just teared up again. Thought I was out of these. Guess not. And I'll admit that while my cat Aston may be annoying, I'm glad she's got at least another eight years or so before I have to start really worrying. They'll take your heart, whether you want it or not.

It's part of the reason why I think Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files is actually extremely lucky, despite the crap that goes on. Wizards like him can live to be hundreds of years old: his grandfather fought during the French-Indian War, so Harry will probably out-live all of his mortal friends (given his lifestyle… yeah, he'll probably croak before they do). His dog, Mouse, turns out to be a temple "foo" dog, a semi-divine creature that is highly intelligent and extremely magical. And Mouse will have a lifespan long enough to match a wizard's, is tough enough to shake off getting hit by a van, and can heal rapidly from most injuries… Harry Dresden have a companion that will last a lifetime, no matter how long that is. He is one lucky, lucky, man.

That's so sad...about Roxie...the poor little thing... :( I read about the contaminated dog food, but wasn't sure what it was contaminated with, exactly. I didn't realize it was something that serious. The poor little pup...

Oh, and for the record, nothing wrong with getting purebreds from licensed breeders, especially those who actually show their dogs. I do like to help the homeless dogs, for sure, but there's also the fact that shelter dogs...fall within my price range. xD I spend plenty at the vet once I have the dog, no shame in the dog itself being $20 with a free neuter coupon. xD

...But someday, I may get a dog from a breeder, myself.

...(You'd be surprised how much a human being can actually cry without running out of water)
My friend, the one who feeds me and shares ponies with me, she had a horrible cat named Walter. Walter was VERY MOODY, and hated everyone but her mom. He would rub against you, sure! But touch him, and you were in for a world of hurt. x3 Once or twice, Walter set his evil sights on me, and wouldn't let me leave the bed, or go through doors. He would stand between me and my destination, and if my toe hit the floor he was on the move.

The cat was evil. But for all that, we were still sad to see him go. He was...unique. There will never be another Walter.
(I'm kind of glad about that)

I want a pet foo dog. D:

Yeah, she was a sick little thing. I don't know the specifics of it, but the results - sick dogs - hit a bit close to home.

Oh god, in that case, do NOT get a long-haired rottweiler. As far as I know, they tend to have some health problems. I love Shamus to death, but the poor guy has major skin allergies, needs to eat special food free of wheat and poultry, and costs us about 200 dollars a month in prescription medication. He is, however, an uncle several times over. ;)

I guess the water thing is like how in anime characters can bleed ten gallons or so of blood and still be stumbling around.

I've known a few animals like that. Strangely enough, I tend to do okay with them. I've had a few otherwise unfriendly cats let me pet and stroke them for a while. It was one of the first indications to me that I might get along with cats.

Oh I'm very aware of the health problems that I might have to deal with in the breeds I'm looking at -- it worries me, too. For example, the Irish Setter is almost guaranteed to get cancer, and young, too. I mean, I might be exaggerating a bit, but that really is what it looks like from what I've researched. And there are more potential problems beyond that, too.

There is a lot of controversy around the idea that mutts are "healthier" than purebreeds, and I understand the science that proves that statement wrong (to a point, from where I stand it's still mostly true), but I DO like my chances with mutts. xD That's another reason I look for my dogs in shelters. x3

When it comes to breeds vs mutts in the health department, it's sort of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, as far as I can tell, and it ties into what you said about Irish Setters. When it comes to established breeds, yes, you have to deal with the problems of (occasional ) inbreeding and the health problems associated with it, but the advantage of that is that you have a good general idea of what you're getting into with these breeds. The health problems are a known factor and you can plan accordingly, though in exchange, it also gives you a better idea of what will eventually take them away from you. But with mutts, it's a grab bag: you're never sure what sort of problems you're going to get, even if you're 100% sure of the parent's breed, and sometimes the problems can combine in odd ways. So, you might get a mutt that'll live a long and healthy life to the age of sixteen or so, or you might get an animal that'll have hip problems at seven and go blind early.

Not to call on my personal experiences any, but Doxsee was actually a pseudo-mutt: one of his parents was a standard dachshund, the other was a miniature, and we think that fed into his back problems. Regular dachshunds are fairly sturdy animals, like basset hounds: they may be low and long, but they have the body and muscle mass to support that body. Doxsee's body was a hybrid of the larger standard and the frailer miniature, giving him a somewhat less sturdy body. At least, we think that's what was going on. It's hard to be certain about these things.

YESSSSSSS It's like you literally read my mind, that's the exact conclusion that I have come to. x3
So when you browse for a breed, you should be looking for potential problems you are willing to deal with, just in case.
With mutts, you almost completely nix the exaggerated genetic problems, BUT that doesn't mean that they won't show up ANYWAY, because that's just...part of being a dog. x3

My family's had great luck with mutts, and also with purebred dogs, but that sort of ruined my view on "standard life of a dog", since, purebred or mutt, ALL of the dogs in my family lived to be 18-20 with ZERO health problems except maybe cancer, but cancer gets everyone and every thing. xD

Now I'm looking around at the dogs my friends own (which are usually purebred for some reason), and they are all dying at around 8-10, of horrible genetic problems, and at first these all seemed like sad flukes to me, but I'm starting to understand that THIS is the norm, and my family's "normal dogs" were just incredibly lucky.

Damn. Just… damn. You are one incredibly lucky girl.

But yeah, age ranges being all over the map is no fun. Like our first rottweiler, who was on the way downhill at eight or so, compared to our third, who at the age of twelve is in amazing health and is doing great. It's called the median age for a reason: it's the age at which 50% of the population will most likely have died. I think the old age record on a house cat is like… 38 or something.

I thought it was 35! Either way, man, if Bug lived that long, it'd be the most awesome 35 years ever. xD

...she won't make it that long though, if she keeps getting into the dog food and eating herself into a coma. -_-

Seriously she ate so much today that she barely moved for HOURS, and I didn't realize she ate dog food, so I called her, and put food in the bowl AND SHE DIDN'T TOUCH IT.

Geeze. Not much advice for this situation besides figure out a way to secure the dog food from her. We eventually had to hide my mom's cat's food behind their bed, on a specially-built shelf, so that our dogs couldn't get to it.

xD Pets are annoying sometimes.
We usually keep the dog food in a plastic container with Bug-proof locks, but this bag hadn't been opened and emptied into the container yet when Bug found it. xD

I will draw her sometime! The winner will give the Paopu plush to her. x3

This is just the cutest i have seen today!

x3 Thanks!!

mhm

Ahhhh this is so ADORABLE!!! x3

x3 Thanks!

A double shot of adorable. Just what I need before bed. :3

Also, how did you decide on Riku's breed(s)?

Actually, I made a poll on deviantart. xD Everyone chose Siberian Husky...butttt...that was the thing I wanted to draw him as least, so I just mixed the two others I thought suit him best. xD

Ah. Okay then. I quite like this combination.

Husky Riku.....just doesn't seem as fitting to me for some reason. :/

Yeah, me either, so I was hoping no one would vote for it -- I should have left it off the poll, really. xD

XD
Put Husky on a poll and it will always be one of, if not the most popular answer.

D'awww, that is truly adorable

:D Thank you!

KYAAAAH!!~ Kawaiiiiiiiii!!!

*ehem* You perfectly captured the friendly rivalry between Sora and Riku. But you managed to accomplish this in a small and fuzzy form

x3 Thank you!

Positively adorable^^!!

:D Thank you!

Kairi dog accepts the winners soggy gift XD

xD

Gorgeous work I still can't get over how clean your line art is

Aw, thank you! :D I use OpenCanvas for inking, I wouldn't be able to do a thing without it!

Yay! Sora x Riku! Share paupu fruit! :veryhappy^

They're gonna get maried! lol

xD xD xD

That's cute

:D Thanks!

Yw I like riku

You are such a dork. XP

I know. x3

awwwww super cute x//3

:D Thank you!!

aww there so cute

:D Thanks!

go sora go! heehee.
very adorable!

x3 Thanks!

im psyched for DDD too :D

:D :D :D

AWWW Riku looks like a little wolf pup! The breed you chose just fits him so PERFECTLY XDD <333

x3 Thank you!!

They are adorable, and great background!

:D Thank you!! The background was actually fun...usually they aren't. xD

aww :3 cute pic

:D Thanks!

hnng <3

x3

*dies from the cuteness* @.@

xD Don't die!! They need a referee!

Nyaasu! U and I will share teh paopu fruit togezzur!!! *steals u and teh froot and runs faaaaar away <3

xD xD xD Where we goin'?

*stops and then shrugs* I'unno.

Japan, maybe? Akihabara? I got some Famicom games I wanna pick up.

Omg this is absolutely adorible!!!

:D Thank you, I am glad you like it!

Yoiur so welcome!!

Y

u give me cavity of cuteness.

xD Sorry for the cavities...do you have dental insurance? I don't...

*Eats candy and drinks soda all day*

I don't know. o.o
D:

So adorable. I love the poses and the expression. Riku looks like he's taunting Sora and Sora's just as determined as ever.

Love the shading and the coloring as well.

Nice work. :)

:D Thank you very much!!

No problem.

This rocks and is a little cute! I really like Riku's freckles.

x3 Thanks! Freckles on a dog are always cute!

You're very welcome. They sure are.

This picture make's me want to play Kingdomheart's again.

:D Which one? The original? That's my favorite. :3

ya the original.

Awesome, that one is my favorite. x3

Mine two :)

It's adorable

Too cute~! <3 This even gets me more hyped for Kingdom Hearts 3 X3

x3 Thanks!

xD Hey, any pairing's cool with me, really!