GeminiShadows

Welcome to 2017! Let's give this another go, eh? ^_^

Temp Edit: DERPI-LINKVALIDATION-135CD46DBB

I know that this year was pretty miserable for a lot of people, and it was no exception for me. I don't often talk about personal things here (or at least not in quite a few years), but I feel the need to put all this down, perhaps as a sendoff so that I can put it all behind me mentally before I ring in the new year. 

So that's your warning. This is a bit of a rant journal where I talk about a lot of depressing things, so if you don't care to read something like that, go away. I'll be posting another journal after midnight so that this isn't on my front page for long.

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This year has easily been the worst of my life up to this point. It started on a down note from the very beginning and just kept kicking me pretty much the entire year. Even the good things ended up going sour by the time the year closed out, so I'll be mentioning them as the journal goes on as well.

In early January, our family dog was put to sleep. He was quite old and had been degrading in health for quite some time, so it was kind of inevitable. Still sucked though, as he'd been with us for most of my life (and the entire time we'd been in this house). He was annoying with his constant yipping, but the silence that replaced it has been unnerving.

In February, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. I had been struggling with it for quite a few years, due to a lot of things that have been going on in my life, but it was quite difficult to bring myself to get checked out. I went on medication, which helped a bit after a while.

Also in February, I began to date a wonderful lady. The resulting relationship was easily the highlight of the year and I'll remember (most) of it quite fondly.

In April, I got extremely ill from the flu, which resulted in me being bedridden for over a week. It was easily the worst bout of the flu I have ever gotten... I had a fever of nearly 104 when I was taken to the med check, and I had to cover my eyes and ears due to the severe migraine. It was pretty rough and I don't ever want to experience anything like it again. 

Also at this point, I was at my lightest weight I'd been in years, as a result of a better diet and actually exercising properly. However, the additional weight loss from the illness hit me hard and broke my resolve. I began drinking soda and eating junk food again, and that didn't end well (as I write this, I am at my heaviest weight ever and struggling to fight my way back to a better lifestyle).

The summer months took it easy on me, which was nice. Outside of the usual stresses of my job, it was a good break. Then fall happened.

In September, my mother ended up in the hospital again, this time for pneumonia.  I had gotten used to her being hospitalized, as she had been fighting cancer for quite some time (about three years), but it was still no fun. I visited her a few times, but she really wasn't doing well.

Then, also in September, I lost my job. I didn't terribly like it (for reasons), but it was a good pay check and I really did like the team that I worked with. So, I lost my source of income and with it, my insurance as I couldn't really maintain the costs (which meant I went off of my medication shortly after).

At the end of September (it was a really rough month), my mother moved to a rehabilitation facility to try and help her recover enough to head home. That's when things went downhill. She went from managing decently (not great, of course) to suddenly doing very poorly. Within a few days, she was brought home from the facility for hospice care. 

Through the start of October, most of the family visited the house to see her and say their goodbyes. I attended to her over the nights, as I am a night owl. On the 9th, she passed away, surrounded by family. I am still reeling a bit from the loss and, despite our many differences, I miss her greatly. 

In December, my relationship became strained as a result of a rather heavy conversation. My girlfriend moved out of the house and we took a break for a few weeks. When we next met up, we decided to try to keep things going, but that fell apart quite quickly. As of yesterday, we split up as a couple (though we plan to remain friends). Even though I had most of the month to prepare for it, it's never easy to deal with.

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So that's that. The year in review. A year that will hopefully remain as the low-point in my life. 

When the sun comes up in the morning, it will be time to start anew again. I know that the new year is just an arbitrary mark of time, but I need to think of it that way so that I can maintain hope. Hope that things will get better.

I hope that you all have a happy 2017. 

And to 2016, I say goodbye and good riddance.

Edit: Due to what appears to be a major lack of interest this year, this event has been cancelled. Anyone currently signed up (aka just Avering) will automatically be receiving their request, even if they do not qualify. Thank you for wanting to join in.

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Wow, nearly a year since my last journal entry...

So, I brought this back last year and it was so enjoyable that I have decided to give it another run this year (but this time with a CATCH, please read below). For those of you unfamiliar, I will be taking art requests that will be done, one each, in the twelve days leading up to Christmas. Details provided below.

Rules:
- You must QUALIFY! (see below)
- One slot per person
- First come, first serve
- Up to two characters
- SFW requests only

Request should include the following details:
- Picture reference links
- Pose/Action suggestion [Optional]

I am requiring picture references as I will be doing these in a relatively short time span and need something to quickly visualize by. For the style, this year the pieces will be sketched traditionally, then scanned and digitally colored. Some examples of this style can be found in the following deviations: Rusty Color, Trixie (Lighting Practice), Liadan (Color).

HOW TO QUALIFY: There is a catch to qualifying for the event this year... Due to the nature of the season that inspired this event, in order to receive art, you must first give it! That is, you must contact another user (that is not me!) on this site and give them a gift of your own art. This /must/ be a new piece specifically for this event. No using gift art made before signing up for this event to qualify! I highly suggest that you ask for a prompt of some sort, similar to the way this event's request system works, but you can do it however you feel most comfortable (Note: Please ask for permission beforehand if you intend to use the recipient artist's characters!!!).

Comment below with your request and I'll add you to the list below, which has the date that your piece will be made. You must then supply a link to the gift art that you gave out for this event BEFORE the date in which your art is scheduled to be made (I live in EST, so before midnight in that time zone, please!). Otherwise, no art!

There is a full month before this event starts, so I am giving you quite a bit of time to qualify. If you do not think that you will be able to finish a piece of gift art in that time, please do not sign up for this particular event and leave the space for someone else who may. I may have additional events in the future that do not require such a qualification, so it would be best to wait for those.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or in a note. Thank you!

Schedule
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Date - User
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13th - Avering
14th - 
15th - 
16th - 
17th - 
18th - 
19th - 
20th - 
21st - 
22nd -
23rd -
24th -

Edit: This event is now complete! Thank you for everyone who submitted requests so that I actually had something to do for it (I only had about half slots filled last time).

Hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in general!

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So, I haven't done this in a few years but I felt that maybe it was time to give it another go. For those of you unfamiliar, I will be taking art requests that will be done, one each, in the twelve days leading up to Christmas. Details provided below.

Rules:
- One slot per person
- First come, first serve
- Up to two characters
- SFW requests only

Request should include the following details:
- Picture reference links
- Style preference (traditional sketch or digital color)
- Pose/Action suggestion [Optional]

I am requiring picture references as I will be doing these in a relatively short time span and need something to quickly visualize by. For the style, the sketches will be shaded like most of my traditional pieces and digital will be a simple cartoon style similar to the recent pieces. 

Just throw your request into the comments and I'll add you to the list below, which has the date that your piece will be made. If you have any questions, let me know below.

Date - User
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13th - Osieu

14th - LoveableKittyMamiko

15th - IceCreamLink

16th - SapphireGothicLolita

17th - Invidlord

18th - Trixingno

19th - Starfluff

20th - Luminix-pony

21st - Toujika

22nd - MoonlightBlume

23rd - kittyofart

24th - Kittara-Mirrou

Today, I turned 25.

I have reached a quarter of a century, which is also just about one-third of my life expectancy. Looking at where I am and what I've accomplished so far in life, I feel pretty miserable about that fact.

I mean, I have accomplished quite a few cool things so far, but overall I've done so little of what I hoped to do by this point. In all honesty, I'm currently not happy with where I am and I don't currently know what I need to do at this point to make things better.

Hopefully things will improve over the next year.