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Another year; another Artfight. It's crazy to think I'm getting closer and closer to my tenth year participating. I set my goal a little too lofty this year, but I certainly got close! I can't be disappointed at all. I think I could've grinded a little to reach it, but I don't want to burn out!

I feel proud when I look back on the years where I struggled to make many attacks. My relationship with art has healed so much in the past year. I made 30 attacks last year, and I'm so glad I've been able to keep up the momentum!

This was the first year (genuinely!) I've had OCs with stories! People complimenting my stories, or even making art incorperating pieces of them has motivated me so much to keep sharing more and more. Overall, I had a really different and exciting Artfight. It's definitely helped re-motivate me to post publicly and start using some of my social media accounts again. I miss interacting with other artists. We'll see!

Where from here? I haven't had much time since my holiday and Artfight, so I'm full to the brim with ideas! I'm working on a short story to turn into a comic. It explores themes of loneliness, friendship and nostalgia; that's all I'll say! Maybe I can show it off some time. I'm so much more aware of the type of stories I want to tell, and I hope I can share my inner self with the world one day.

Alongside this, I've been floating around the idea of a merch shop or convention vending again. My relationship with selling my art is still a bit complicated, so I want to ensure I'm in a great place before I leap into this. I've been sketching up lots of ideas though! I have so many!!

If you can't tell... I'm trying to be more personal here. It's scary! However, I've been trying to transfer my "loneliness" into my art. My art can be so much more than the pieces I've been sharing online, and I want to fully unlock that side of myself without fear or restraint. Let's create something wonderful from our hearts! I'll never give up!

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I'm glad that I still love taking planes. I hadn't taken one until 2022, and I still think it's an incredible thing to experience. Being above the clouds; we take it for granted!

Anyway, this was officially our first day in Kyoto since landing. The weather was warm with big white clouds and a deep blue sky. My absolute favourite, despite a forecast of overcast and rain. There was no plan for today, just how I like it the most. We walked where my heart wanted to go, that was all!

We found a cafe themed after movies which was cute, then a small shrine by the road where we fed the fish in the pond. The hydrangea flowers had bloomed too; my favourites!

We carried on walking towards the mountains in the distance, exploring everything we saw on our way. I loved seeing so many different animals. Even turtles! I saw a kid wearing a mask and talking to himself. It was really giving Keita to me, LOL. I hope he was having fun.

My favourite sight of the day was a small shrine we found in a forest at the foot of a hill. It was hidden out of sight and we came across it by chance. I love the feeling of being deep in the woods on a warm day... We had to leave when we saw a few giant hornets though...! Otherwise, it was so nice.

In total we walked 40K steps on this day. I... don't know why we went that hard! Hahaha. Our feet hurt so much by the end of it and it was hard to keep walking, but I think this first day was probably one of my favourites. I'll have to make a folder or page here to share more of my photos in the future.

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It's 4:50AM, and I just finished my replay of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. I paced myself with this one, and it ended up taking me over a year to complete everything. It was a nice change of pace, and felt like a really nostalgic way to play.

I won't make this too long since I have a page specifically to talk about games, but so many moments in this game stuck with me. I remembered this being "my favourite game ever!" after I first played it, but I really didn't anticipate how well it would hold up today.

My characters were based off something meaningful to me, and I felt the emotional moments between them very deep in my heart. It really reminded me that whilst games with giant budgets and gorgeous graphics are great, they're not a necessity for telling a heartfelt story.

Something about stories like this really gets to me for some reason... I just wanted to remember the day I finished this.

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Today I went with my friends to Stratford-upon-Avon as a pre-birthday treat! We started with big Tesco for treats, then my friend drove us all the way. The weather was so nice all day, and it felt just like Summertime!! There wasn't a cloud in the sky!

The butterfly farm itself was amazing! It was really hot inside, it felt like we'd been transported to a tropical island. Getting to see the huge butterflies all around was so much fun! We also saw lots of ants, caterpillars, stick insects and various other critters. It was the perfect place to visit~

Afterwards, we rode on the ferris wheel! It went around really fast, and it was a lot of fun getting to see the views from high up. We got ice cream and explored the town afterwards. We even saw Shakespeare's birthplace (which had some kind of Shakespeare cosplayer taking photos outside of it, lol.) Before the end, we walked alongside the river and played at the playground. They had a zipline!!

My friends gave me really nice cards for my birthday, and thoughtful gifts too. It made me really so, so happy. I hope I can always remember it! Today was one of the best days. Thank you!

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Tonight I'm going to watch the Inazuma Eleven GO movie with my friends from work. They don't even know the series, but they asked to see it with me. It's a very warm feeling that I wanted to write down so I could remember it.

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The first entry in my new journal! I might write up the old entries some time, so I don't lose them, but we'll see. Today I went to see the movie "Flow" in the cinema. I wasn't sure what to expect but I realised just how much I've always wanted an animal film without any dialogue or narration. It reminded me of Night on the Galactic Railroad with the repeating theme of being kind and self-sacrifice. I really loved it! Especially the more abstract moments. I know it's only April, but it's most definitely going to be my film of the year!

I've been feeling happy this week! Things have been nice. I was invited to a small server with some friends, and it's been a lot of fun. I feel very accepted. Part of this site has been to help express myself online, and it's definitely served that purpose so far. I hope things can continue to get better and better.