To my fellow countrymen and women of the United States of America, but to all my associates abroad as well, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a day of celebration, to express gratitude for that which you have earned, through either diligence, thrift, or benevolence, and more so the things you are blessed to have.

Of course, this doesn't have to be delegated to just one day, nor should it. It is impossible to live a life with true, meaningful happiness without gratitude. No matter how little you think you have, only by being thankful for it can you truly appreciate it, and then it won't seem so small. If you're reading this right now, it means you have access to electrical power, a computer device, and the internet; that's an extraordinary amount to be grateful for. Yet you could have all the world, but it would be but a hollow trinket unless you cherished it for such the wonderful thing it is.

It's been a wild year so far. I have lost many things, but gained many, too, and held onto things I hold dear. I am thankful for the friends I still have and hold so close. I'm thankful Reee Tardy Oswald missed. And I am thankful for you, yes you, reading this, and that you've stayed with me through it all, or found me again after my greatest loss this year... though, if one social media account on a crumbling art (and AI slop) hosting site was the worst thing to happen to me this year, seems like a pretty good year.

To use the topic of social media as a segue, that begs the question for something that I've been pondering for a while:

Should I get a Twitter account?

With Deviant Art slowly going the way of Tumblr, and being the largest social media website on the planet (and very notably lax terms of service for art that's posted there), Twitter by default seems to be slowly overtaking Deviant Art as the world's largest art hosting site, if it hasn't already. And though I have seen growth on both my Fur Affinity and Pixiv sites, my audience on all my current galleries combined is still barely more than half of the audience I had on DA.

However, even putting aside the kind of discourse and chaos cultists that abound on the site has likened me to compare Twitter to taking a stroll through The Warp without any Gellar Fields active (watch the movie Event Horizon if you want to know what that's like), I have also personally disparaged how Twitter is, bar none, the absolute worst layout for assembling portfolio of your artistic work. It's endless, single-file feed system means your invalidating and burying your own work. Yet, unfortunately, Twitter's user base is still astronomical, and is also the main if not sole site that many artists post their work, even those whose work I highly admire, like Raikovjaba.

So, below is a poll that I'll be linking to on all my accounts: should I also set up a shop in the greenest pastures of all, or close myself off to it like a Custodian closing his mind to prevent Slaanesh from entering? (No more than he/she/it has already gained a foothold, at least.)

Should The Hungry Lurker get a Twitter account?

IMPORTANT NOTE: I cannot stress this enough, even if the overwhelming super majority vote "Yes," Twitter is not the site I want to become my primary gallery, due to how truncated conversations on posts are by strict character limits, and my aforementioned disdain for the site's browsing layout. Therefore, I would only ever upload teaser thumbnails of pictures, current and new, with links in each post to my current galleries, where I actually want my audience to engage with me and my art.

Again, on this day of thanks, thank you.

As some of you are probably already aware, my main account on Deviant Art was deactivated on Thursday, April 18th, 2024. This was not by my choice. It was terminated by Deviant Art Staff.

Here's what happened.

UPDATE: Italicized text is just speculation of the possibility of one event playing into another, and given the second update bracket, is likely inconsequential. While the timing is certainly suspicious, "suspect" is not a synonym for "guilty."

On April 11th, I got into an argument with another user named iamtheladyoflight, a fundamentally untalented "artist" whose work all screams "mid-to-late thirties spinster with baby rabies" and whose existence I only mildly tolerated, over, of all things, her pro abortion beliefs. (Stew on that divine comedy irony for a minute.) I didn't have the foresight to save the whole argument before she hid it, which lasted only a total of six comments, but I was keen enough to screenshot the first half, linked:

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56334959/?upload-successful

Afterwords, we blocked each other and went our separate ways... or so I thought.

On April 16th, I had four of my pictures -- Massive Maternal May, Persona Permaberry - Ann Takamaki, Carmine, the Indigo Blueberry, and Happy Birthday from Hilda -- removed by Deviant Art on the claims that they contained "sexualization of underage characters," despite the fact that I made an effort to both show and explain that all the characters within them were meant to be depicted as eighteen years old or older. But others were targeted as well, such as Not To See, But To Feel: Part 3 (I'll be honest, that one doesn't surprise me), but so was "Nice Blue Balls, Bro." deleted for "violation of sexual policy," despite the fact that there isn't even any nudity in that one.

I was only on the site as TheHungryLurker since Christmas of 2021, but I've been lurking Deviant Art since some of my watchers were still in diapers, so I know that the NKVDeviant Art staff don't typically remove something unless somebody reports it, and Lady herself once said to me "never underestimate what I can do with enough spite." I'll admit this is speculation on my part, but there is at least a suspect and motive.

Either way, after those first four pictures were deleted, I attempted to reupload them in a heavily edited state, where almost everything but their heads were obscured. This just resulted in more take downs, and a permanent ban.

I've filed an appeal, but for all I know that's just going to amount to piss in the wind. Even if my original account is reinstated, I'm going to direct people more towards and increasing my standing on my accounts outside of Deviant Art, such as this one. And if I do make a new DA account several months from now when the heat has died down, I'm going to do the same thing. For now, none of my current plans involve Deviant Art. Time will tell if my future plans don't involve it, either.

[sighs] Rimou was right.

UPDATE: A user claiming to be iamtheladyoflight has contacted me and stated that she had nothing to do with my pictures being reported, only that she blocked me after our argument and moved on and offered their condolences for the situation. I personally cannot independently confirm or disprove if this user is Lady, or if she is, that she is indeed telling the truth on the matter. Then again, I have also stated from the start that my speculation of her involvement is exactly that: speculation, and that I also cannot confirm or disprove her involvement. So don't go doing anything rash like mass report her profile without irrefutable evidence of her involvement. We must abide by the precept that people are innocent unless they can be immutably and objectively proven guilty.

I did something rash, and my Deviant Art account got deleted for it.

I forgot to announce this on Christmas Day, due to working until six in the morning to finish Carmine, the Indigo Blueberry, then having to write the entire accompanying story the same day, posting it and Taoblockaka to all my accounts, having to contact a few friends, and getting less than three hours of sleep that day, but I decided to announce a special offer for everyone else who entered a candidate for the Christmas Drawing poll.

If you entered a suggestion that didn't win, if you would like to submit your request as a commission, I'll give you a 25% discount on the commission price!

Standard prices are as follows:

Line art: $15

Flat color: $40

Cell shading/coloring: $60

Full dynamic coloring and lighting: $80

Add a background:

Simple: $20

Detailed: $40

Complex: $70

If you'd like to reserve a commission slot, you will be added to my list, and your commission will be completed in the order in which it was reserved. This does mean it will take longer to get to than it took me to finish the drawing of Carmine, as I do have other commissions in front of it, but I don't ask my commissioners for payment until after I have gotten their approval to color the final line art.

I look forward to doing business with you.

Thank you again to everyone who submitted a candidate, and thank you for all the love for the picture of Carmine. I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and that we'll all go on to have a new year as filled with happiness as blueberry girls are filled with juice!

.... and a Happy New Year!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiKWZuaKds

(And a happy anniversary to me.)

With almost a full quarter of the 82 votes cast and over twice as many votes as the second place candidate, the clear winner of the Christmas Drawing Poll is...

Acrosianfan1's suggestion for:

Carmine of Blueberry Academy from Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC as a gigantic, flirty blueberry!

The matter is now out of your hands, and into mine, as I will be doing everything that I can to have this picture completed and posted on Christmas Day, 2023!

Thank you everyone who participated in the process! If your suggestion didn't win, don't feel too bad; you're still getting a free, giant blueberry girl for Christmas, and maybe even some other surprises as well!

Now I just have to finish a drawing that could take me up to 50 hours in a week... help me, baby Jesus...

I'll see you then, and Merry Christmas!

What a time it's been already! There have been some surprise standouts, multiple leads lost and taken, and some shocking upsets! There's still time left, but it's running out!

Cast your ballot, and share this poll with your friend, and you can get your favorite PokéWaifu inflated for Christmas!

VOTE HERE!

https://strawpoll.com/B2ZBEPABQgJ/

That's it; the primaries are over and closed. Thank you everyone who submitted a suggestion!

Now it's time for the real competition to begin! Below is a link to a poll hosted on Straw Poll, where all eighteen of the nominees have been listed with a name, picture, and a succinct description of their expansion/transformation.

The candidates were organized at random, so be sure to look over the entire ballot before casting your vote!

Everyone, of course, can only vote once, but don't let that stop you from sharing the poll with your friends or on your social media sites!

The poll will remain open until Sunday, December 17th, 11:59 PM, Pacific Standard Time, then the winner will be drawn and posted (God willing) on Christmas Day, 2023.

It's time to vote for the Christmas Drawing!

VOTE HERE!

With almost a third of all votes cast, this year's Christmas drawing is going to be...

Another Pokégirl!

Now for the next step. Leave a comment on this post (or send me a private message if you're shy) with one (and only ONE) suggestion for any female character from the Pokemon franchise, be she human or Pokémon, and whether you'd like to see her turned into a giant, busty blueberry, or inflated like a big balloon, or any form of inflation and/or expansion, or even just a simple, safe for work character drawing if you're so inclined, plus any other optional criteria that you'd like to add (size, position, camera angle, setting, her expression and/or state of mind, etc).

I will take suggestions until noon (Pacific Standard Time) on Friday the 15th, 2023, when I will then take each suggestion I find acceptable and compile them all into a linked, off-site straw poll, so everyone watching any of my galleries on separate sites can vote.

The poll will remain open until midnight (PST) on Monday the 18th, 2023, and the winner will be declared!

After which, I will do everything I can to finish that drawing by Christmas Day, 2023.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far, and good luck!

I set up a poll on my Deviant Art account for what I should draw for Christmas 2023. If you'd like to have a say, you can vote on it here:

https://www.deviantart.com/thehungrylurker/poll/What-would-you-like-me-to-draw-for-Christmas-8380839

You'll need a Deviant Art account to vote to vote in the poll, but if you don't have one, leave your vote here, and I'll add it to the tally.

I have more details about the criteria for each choice explained in the featured comment on the same poll.

I hope to hear from you!

So after I posted Genevieve's First Halloween as a Blueberry and during my rounds of obligatory "thanks for the fav" comments, I came across a Fur Affinity user named Braindead-Squirrel, who also just so happened to have a permapuffy Pokemon OC dressed in a shiny Snorlax costume for Halloween. Upon noticing this, I commented on the cosmic irony of the situation, and he was so inspired that he drew something extra to mark the occasion.

So, I'd like to give a special shout-out to Fur Affinity user Braindead-Squirrel, for drawing this:

Joule & Genevieve

And as long as I'm shouting out fanart of Genevieve, the permaberry Gardevoir, I should also call attention to Deviant Art user NeedToBeat, who drew this in her honor after the first picture I drew of her. You can see an archived version of it here

I'm honestly thrilled by their contributions. When starting up this moniker, I never thought I'd draw something that people loved so much that they'd draw fan art of it, but it warms my pervy artists heart. Go show them some love for their work and for giving the world more Genevieve, the parmaberry Gardevoir!