Believe it or not, I joined this website more than a decade ago this year. I was an autistic kid with unrestricted internet access and my own laptop... I had already starting lurking on DeviantArt before this, mind you. But, for some reason, I just really wanted to join here. In this quite frankly too long journal I will tell you the origins of my fursona, my exposure to my kinks and furry adjacent media, and give many thanks to friends and acquaintances who have shaped me into who I am today. And with that being said, let's do it to it!

The Origins of Shard
Well, it was middle school. I was starting puberty, like any young man would. And, my first friend group was a club for Lego Ninjago. All four of us were assigned a ninja of the main group, and I got Zane. So I really gravitated toward him... his mannerisms, his backstory, and so on. Due to a certain series coming out in 2014 (we'll get to that!) I began to draw... and... I decided I'd like to be an arctic fox. And I thought, Shard was a cool name. And it stuck. Shard has evolved and aged alongside me in the years since then, and he's my favorite white fluffball.

How I Became a Furry
Ever since I was a kid, I had enjoyed and watched certain media. While not always prevalent, there were certain animal characters that I loved more than the rest. Tom & Jerry, Pokémon, even those "style of the time" Looney Tunes rejects the Loonatics were perhaps the ones that spearheaded the awakening within my kid brain. That, and... well... on certain occasions, especially depending on the episode, there'd always be a scene that would make me feel weird. Not to mention that I always played with inflatable stuffs as a kid... it was no surprise that I became this dork you see today. And how I became a furry was the perfect storm of the 2010s... My Little Pony and FNaF. I was, somehow, a brony. And I barely watched the show out of fear of being told "but that's for girls." However... FNaF was different. It was like... your favorite candy. You try it once and you're fucking hooked. Once the bits and pieces of lore came out, I sympathized with Foxy the most... shocker. And he's why, along with Zane, that I'm like this, along with multiple other factors.

Special Thanks and Shout-outs
It is a pleasure to say that I didn't go through this journey alone. I would love to thank those that have affected me in ways that have shaped how I am today. Thank you to the dearly departed Cetas, who took the time to talk to a stupid kid like me when I was starting out in the fandom. To the ever talented and whimsical Mr. Satsuma, who has the honor of being the artist of the first inflation art I ever saw. That Keldeo is still cute all these years later. Thank you to ErinRedFen/Addie, who helped steer me on a path of loving everyone no matter what or who they are. And finally, my many friends on Discord who have been there for me, for the memes, for the roleplays, and many more. Thank you all who have crossed paths with me... for better or for worse.

Now, what have I learned after all these years? ... Quite frankly, I think Sonic the Hedgehog is handsome. But that's not that important...