Due to the popular demand of absolutely nobody, I added a new folder category for a specific type of my work that I could only imagine has been long due.

Enjoy.

Just an FYI, I colored the Riolu TF Animation (mostly) and am calling it complete now. If y'all want to partake in my greatest TF animation to date: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48631605/

So I was perusing my journal entries one day when I came to the discover that I don't ever write any journal entries. Why would that be, I asked myself, and then it hit me. I don't have very much to talk about. As a result, I don't do any talking, which is the primary source of starting and maintaining conversation, and conversation is what causes people to have something to talk about. For you see, it provides them with reference material in which to discuss because it's information coming from a relatively unreliable source: word of mouth. These sorts of sources require verification, and thus conversations arise in which folks compare experiences and come to a conclusion after debating facts and theory. Questions and answered, and all rise from the experience having benefited and bettered themselves both in the art of dabate, and the art of conversation.

And I'm not doing that! AAAAAH! I need more verification of facts! Hence, maybe I'll start writing journals. Like, ever.

Good ones, mind. Positive ones. Goodness knows why there are so many negative ones out there. I don't want to read that nonsense. There's a lot of different sources for negativity out there, but not as much for positivity. Which, in my opinion, is a much more worthwhile cause. It'll take effort, but oh, will it be rewarding.

Alright, after giving you guys a generous amount of time, I have tallied up the results for the voting for the ending. No more votes. This is it.

Final count:

Turn Back: 20
Leave Alone: 20

...

... well shoot. I was not expecting this. Instigating a tie-breaker on my own wouldn't be an ethical end to this story... hmm...

... alright, then. Congratulations, guys. You have unlocked the secret third ending! I'll draw it out soon.

What am I going to do for 2020? ... usual stuff. No big plans or ambitions. This is a hobby, after all.

New site layout looks great, by the way! Huge thumbs-up for the developers adding the ability to switch back to classic mode, but I don't think I will ever need to use that.

https://www.deviantart.com/vinomath.....NERS-814955856

Yay! Got honorable mentions for my story: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32823855/

Thank you.

Seems to be a common theme here, thanking people for clicking a button that results in one of the simpler gestures of respect; notified updates of the user's continued work. It means that you like the sort of work I put out, and wish to not leave anything to chance. Should I decide to release something new, you will devote yourself to perusing it over other random pieces of art, regardless of whether or not they deserve it more. Not only that, but rather than manually seek me out whenever you have an inking that I have added new content to my gallery, you have taken the time to automate this process, meaning I am not taking up as much of your time as I could be.

And I appreciate that. I wish to take up as little of your limited mortal time as I can.

You should use it for more interesting things! Go out there and appreciate as many events as possible! Try something new everyday! Go ahead and make a big mess, see what the inside of your alarm clock looks like, dismantle the door to your room with a screwdriver and nail it to your ceiling, and-

... hm. I may have gotten a bit carried away there. Never mind, disregard that last set of commands. I am in a very odd mood indeed.

Case and point, I thank you all for your time and appreciation, as well as the constructive feedback. Working on continuing and hopefully finishing what I started. Be patient, and remember to click the Watch button if you don't want to keep seeking out my name. Save yourselves the time.

I want to tell you all a little about Adomm.

While we don't really consider each other as friends, we still recognize each other down the way and have the respect enough to utter each others names as greetings. Initially, I saw her as simply another spirit wandering the realm, playing around with matter composition as a hobby to distract herself from an otherwise boring, pointless existence.

But as I encounter her more and more, she seems like she is growing bit by bit. As though she picks up a new piece of trivia, and when we make eye contact, she holds it for just a couple milliseconds longer each time. Sort of like she dares me to ask, "So, what have you learned this time?"

I tried it once. She found a way to lecture me for an hour on the glowing spool of thread in her hand. So much detail behind something so simple. As it has been so long ago, I don't dare do it again in fear I may discover that even I am insignificant to the mysteries of the thread.

Nevertheless, our greetings have begun to evolve into inquiries of our well-being. Then, occasionally, one of us would dare to ask if anything "interesting" happened to the other. This is how I got her stories recorded and placed here for your entertainment.

In her stories, I find that she improves herself in some way. Sometimes she discovers something new about the threads. Sometimes she discovers something about her mortal... "canvases", she calls them. She is gradually getting better at the human language too, despite not really expressing an active interest. I believe I told her that the reason I studied the written and spoken work of the majority of the mortals is because they too had their own stories and experiences. Ask, and they will answer, I found.

I mean, when they see a being like me, they will tell me anything. It's usually under the pretense that I'm a part of a dream or a hallucination, or under the expectation that I will grant them three wishes or something. The latter, I've... well, I've tried that too once. Didn't go very well. Upon asking for a magical palace, I drew and handed her a picture. She was very disappointed that I did not materialize a twenty-story purple-colored castle out of thin air. No pleasing some people.

So, as of late, I've been asking her things. Simple things.

For example, I asked her once how she was able to change her canvas's hair color. She showed me how she twisted the strings themselves tighter as she tied them down so as to change the pigmentation's wavelength of reflected light.

And wow, just watching her hands at work. They flowed like a swarm of bees, her fingers spilling upon the threads and siphoning out several strands at once. Each went to a specific position, each was twisted an exact amount, and each was knotted and tied together so perfectly they did not even cause friction as they tightened. They were just... in perfect place.

I never thought three fingers and a thumb could do so much in one handful. And when she uses both hands... I- I can't even describe it. It was... it was just... no, I got nothing. It was beyond beautiful.

I would stay by her side. I really would. Become her official chronicler, or liaison to the human world. But, she likes to do her own thing. Alone. I respect her for that.

So I leave for a while, let her do her own thing for a few weeks, and then suddenly "encounter" her once again. I say her chosen name. She says mine. I ask if she had learned anything new since last we met. She answers the question, but does not ask me back. She is not interested in my own endeavors. Just her hobby. Nothing more.

It's all she needs.

Going to be honest. While I'm interested in transformation, there's a whole lot of the same thing out there.

Simply the act of morphing from one creature to another is inspiring to many. It's surreal, it's unnatural in a good, interesting way, and it's very impressive once creativity really takes hold. Sort of like slowing pouring milk into a cup of dark tea and watching the colors change. It's not just a simple fade into a brighter color. There's almost an explosion from the bottom of the cup, like a blast of clouds.

But there's also an art on the psychological side of transformations. Of the characters actually experiencing the event. This can take plenty of forms. On the positive side, it can mean the start of a new life or a new career. A whole new, exciting experience completely different from the norm. Or simply just something different about their day to day life.

On the other side... ah, now we have conflict. Now we have something interesting. A dilemma. A transformation gone awry, or a curse, or a punishment. In some way, being stripped of their status and abilities as a human is meant to punish a person. In some cases, by shunning them out of society, or even degrading them down into something a lot more primitive.

For example, a person gets turned into a cow on a farm by some magic-practising farmer. Or, better yet, a pig. Sounds fitting and not so bad, eh? Live the rest of their lives with other animals, just hanging out, being... well, animals. Good times, right?

Now, what if it was a meat farm? Suddenly, there's conflict. The awareness of danger. The need to escape. The character knows their fate, and for the sake of their life, they must get away.

Now we have ourselves an old fashioned horror movie, where the victims run away from the bad guy, who could be anywhere sneaking up on them. Once they're found, game over. Deadly game of hide and seek. Exhilarating to some, scarring perhaps to others.

Add in the element of transformation, and the conflict escalates to dramatic proportions. First off, how can the character escape using limbs he's not accustomed to? Where even standing and walking is a challenge in and of itself? Next, the ability to use tools with opposable thumbs is lost to them, and even doorknobs become tedious in a situation where precious seconds spell the end. Then, even if they manage to somehow escape, how can the character communicate to another human for help when, by all rights, they're simply livestock being harvested? Suddenly nearly every person who would've otherwise protected them from harm turns into an enemy.

They have no choice. They must either somehow reverse the effect themselves, or escape into the darkness of the forest, or hope that, by some luck, they find a human that adopts them out of compassion and morality. And even if that happens, what then? Live the rest of their life as livestock, or figure out a means of communication and attempt to convince the other humans to take action.

This is the kind of metamorphosis I'm more into. The kind where the body betrays the host, and stopping / reversing the changes become absolute top priority. The person does not want to change. It is strange and alien to them, and there are no guides to help them along. Nothing but confusion and fear, perhaps even escalating to panic and mindless action. There is no "acceptance" at the end of the five stages; they just sort of... loop indefinitely. Things are tried, methods are considered, hypotheses are made, but it just won't stop!

And at the end of it all, there is either the victory on things being restored to normal with nothing but memories of the experience remaining... or they don't. The metamorphosis finishes, and then... well, the story is over. That's how it ends. Does the character ever get turned back? Who knows. That's another story altogether.

These are the kinds of stories that are exciting to me. Not a story with transformation; a story ABOUT transformation! Suppose there's a term for that, but I'm not sure what it is.

Of course, I'm not saying this is the only way to go, nor do I intend to preach it until there's a whole cult following. Of course not! I'm just basically saying I like chicken more than beef. It's a matter of preference, and I'm simply explaining my thoughts behind it. I go through many different stories and I pick up a lot of different techniques that help keep the flow clean and exciting. There is a lot of talent on these forums.

Nevertheless, I'll keep looking for my preferences. I'll favorite any I find and try starting up a collection. Of course, I'll also write my own from time to time. Gotta contribute to the cause, after all.

Well, you're here. Reading this. That means you're either polite and respectful enough to give attention to any random sprit that wanders in here, you're bored enough to go flicking through users to see who's the most interesting, or you really should be doing something more productive right now, but can't get it out of your nature to distract yourself. Either way, you're here.

My name is Drigil. I am a... well, I don't think your tongue has a word for what sort of creature I am. A close approximate based on my currently chosen shape would be "alien spirit otter with tendrils". Or ASOWT, for short. Of course, I say "spirit", but I could otherwise mean "ghost" or "phantom". What with my body being mostly a transparent light with bright outlines caused by the curvature of the air around me, since my body mass itself is 70% black hole. I suppose there perhaps is a more scientifically accurate term for my composure, but I do like to keep things simple.

What else about me... well, I feed off of heat energy. That's interesting, I think. Not many beings do that. Usually they have to generate the heat from inside them with the consumption of various fuel sources rather than extract the energy from the environment directly. Such is the benefit of being 70% black hole. I otherwise don't eat or drink. No stomach or internal organs to process it. I could probably shove food into my body and it would hyper-compress into a small orb for later extraction, but I'm not sure what the point of that would be aside from being able to make any-flavoured jawbreakers on a whim.

Oh hey. Another benefit from a black hole body; I have my own centre of gravity. I'm not confined to having to use my legs to bear my weight to move around space, empty or not. Oh, and I am mostly formless. I just take on this Asowt form so I'm not just a random blob floating around. People here seem to be into animals, and I want them to feel comfortable with my presence.

I'd call this body convenient more than I'd call it cool, though; it does leave me unable to experience some of the senses you folk take so much for granted. All I can really do is hear and see things, so everything else comes from referencing other people's experiences that I've heard about. That's it.

So. Straight onto business.

Being a somewhat formless entity, I'm mostly into transformations and the stories involved with them. Watching folks react to their own bodies defying all they have known against their will is one of the purest, ultimate forms of betrayal. If one cannot trust their own soul's vessel to behave, they are lost. The struggles as a consequence prove to be some of the most interesting ones, as they must then learn to adapt to new features and a whole new lifestyle altogether, pitching in what little they know of the field and gradually evolving into it. Spectacular, isn't it?

But to me, transformation is a genre of horror. Always will be. A conflict that either needs resolution or adaptation. The more terrifying the concept it can be, the better, because the struggle against the self is real, regardless of whether or not any changes are apparent. Mankind has a harder time coping with change than one might think. Sure, some people desire it and other wish for it, but when it actually happens, there will always be a part of them that will miss how things were.

I am also into dragons. They are some of the oldest creatures people have invented from dream and experimentation, and the many incredible varieties of traits they have through mixing and matching is inspiring. You don't often see a fox covered in scales, or a bear with bat wings, but fur-covered dragons and dragons made entirely of stone are so commonplace that it's not hard at all to find intense works of art depicting their majesty at their peak.

So that's me in a nutshell. In the near future, in exchange for the wonderful contributions to the world around, I too will contribute to the collection. It's only fair, after all.