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Not an Eclipse rant. Please read

So after today, when I awake the old comfortable site will be gone.... I thought I would take this time to tell my DA story. Perhaps as a kind of memoriam. Again this is not another rant about how much Eclipse sucks. This is just my tale and how I got involved. It's going to be a bit of a personal tale. Also done spur of the moment so bear with me....

I knew about DeviantArt for awhile often times while scrolling through Google for inspiration I would see artwork I liked. But I didn't have an account, I'm very choosy about what sites I actually make an account for. But I kept seeing amazing pictures, and stories. Eventually I caved in and made an account just to comment on artwork I liked.

It was like a secret for me, I had a soft spot and interest in anthro characters. Something I would never admit to anyone at the time in my real life. You see the only thing I knew about anthros was how much people hated them, and the darker side of the fandom, and that infamous episode of CSI. So it was something I kept to myself.

Oh I had other interests too on DA. I found artwork of history, fantasy, and fandoms I loved. But I found myself drawn more to peoples original stuff. In particular was an interstellar love tale by It made me want to share my own original stories. Writing was another thing I kept to myself, I was so afraid of someone ripping my ideas off or if I shared I would never finish the story I was working on. Regardless I kept to myself still, only being a commenter and faver.

Other than posting a silly action figure photo that is:

One day I stumbled across a writer on DA whos works I liked Seeing his writings and that he wasn't also an artist like so many others, gave me the encouragement I needed. I posted my first story one I had done for a short story contest(it didn't place):
A Night FlightThe Lancaster quivered as the wind whistled through her wounds. Every now and then the aircraft shuddered as if it were death throes. My vision was blurry with pain and exhaustion and my eyelids kept trying to slide over my vision like curtains. I shook my head to clear away the fog and moaned. Outside the cockpit, I could only see the darkness of night, heavy clouds blotted out the sky and no lights of towns or cities shone on the ground. It was like I was flying through a void.

Simmons, my copilot, groaned. For the past few hours I’d thought he was dead, and then he’d moan.

“Hang on Simmons.” I said weakly. I wasn&

But I was still leery about sharing, I was worried about theft and that if I posted a story on DA it could NEVER be published, or I'd have to take it down. During this time I had a lot on my plate, one of my fave forum sites where I'd made some good friends closed down permanently, and while yes a new site was made to replace it. It just wasn't the same, it lacked the ease of use and polish. Thankfully I kept in touch with one of my good friends from there and we started working on a collab. My girlfriend at the time also found me out on DA, she'd seen I'd used MercenarBlade a lot and I confirmed that, yes that was indeed me.

She's now my wife

But then I got more pressing real world stuff. During this time I was still active duty in the Air Force, and I got deployed. Thankfully this wasn't anywhere dangerous. (Kuwait) It was hot yeah, but I'm from Texas. But this aside I knew I was going to spend months away from family, friends, and the familiar places. This was all during the time when ISIS was making trouble for everyone in Iraq right next door. So there was some uncertainity involved that things could escalate for us.

I worked 12 hours a day six days a week running the gymns and later the DFAC (Dining facility, AKA Messhall) Easy work, and safe but tedious. There wasn't much to do for entertainment. The theatre showed movies at certain times, there was a few recreational activities, but mostly I spent time throwing darts, or on STEAM playing TF2, or Bioshock Infinite. Occasionally I would venture off base with a group and see the sights, and there were quite a few unique sights to see. I also developed a love for Shish taouk. So yummy.

Anyways it was during this deployment, where I was cut off from so much that my same friend I'd been collaborating with encouraged me to post more on DA. So after a lot of going back and forth I posted the first Red story I ever wrote.
Red's Tales: Saving Maggie Part 1 of 4Red sat in her office. It was a slow day as usual. She yawned, showing off a maw of sharp white teeth. Like most Daedalians, Red had two rows of canine teeth, long pointed ears, a tail, a canine muzzle, and, most unusually, red fur. Red was an unusual fur color for a Daedalian; gray, brown, black, or gold were the most common colors, but red was a very rare fur color. Daedalians typically resembled jackals from Earth, even though most of them had never even heard of a jackal.

Red was a tracker and hunting guide by trade. Her natural senses made her one of the most sought after guides in the town of Chohe and possibly the entire planet of Cal

So all of you can give none other than thanks for encouraging me to post and overcome my fears.

It felt great to post. I got some of my first feedback from and

Then I got my first fanart:

I met a lot of other great people during this time like We really clicked since we both like the old pulpy stuff. There were many others too, and somehow in those long work days/weeks I found time to keep working on my writings. DA was just one of many things that got me through the months till it was time to go home.

I've met many great people on here, had some fun, and I plan on sticking it out for those who are still here. Because you all mean a lot to me. My writing has improved, I have people to share ideas with, and I love seeing all of your own works.

So stay awesome- Merc