Returning to the guitar?
Many years ago, I took up casual guitar lessons using my mom's classical guitar. At the time I was young and more comitted to going through motions of prep than the practice itself. I never really took the time to learn well, eventually stopped the lessons. But I always loved how the guitar sounded.
Recently, I've been thinking about it again. I'd first thought of snagging an electric guitar to learn on, but now I'm not certain I want to go that route. I miss the tone of an acoustic guitar, and I want to go that route. I decided to ask a friend who has been working on guitars for decades about it, and he's helping me out with picking out a starter, and encouraging it. And that's really helpful for me.
It sounds silly I'm sure, but a part of this kinda inspired a comic idea, too, with Kay. But there's a little background and character detail I want to go over as well, to help.
Kay is really my fursona anymore. I'm silly and bouncy like he is, and get very giddy and giggly. But despite his toony, toyish nature, he's not just a toy. I think of 'toy' as more like an additional feature of him, not something that reduces or subtracts from him being a coyote. And I feel like that's kinda different as far as squeaksonas go. He has a normal job (like me), goes hiking and backpacking (like me), and loves music (like me). He can be happy and bouncy, or sad and morose, depressed even. Being a toy-type doesn't remove that at all. So that puts art involving him in an interesting place, trying to figure out or help an artist figure out in future ideas juxtaposing his slightly toony nature with perhaps more-serious situations. Which brings me to the comic idea.
Note: this goes into depression territory.
Kay, after his permanent transformation into a toy, possibly 'courtesy' of Coyote or some other deious entity, is a tremendous waterfall of feelings. Whilst he's always adored balloons and inflatables, being one, despite the excitement of it, is also terrifying. Though he's immune to most concerns of puncture and the like, there's the fears about being taken seriously anymore, about what others will think of him, about how he'll keep going in school and studies, and jobs later. Of what his parents would think. Even if he enjoys the form, he hates it (at first) as well. This has a huge toll on his psyche for canonically several days, maybe weeks. Even if he's enjoyed some inflationy fun with close friends, it still doesn't take his mind, ultimately, off of the "problem".
Going home the night after his TF, it's dark in his dorm when he arrives, wandering in with the lights off, and slumping onto his bed. He catches sight of his guitar and, after a moment of adjusting, finds he can still play, this wasn't taken from him. Playing slowly helps give him a little bit of a boost, to make him feel at least a little more like it's alright.
Damn. Writing it out like that... Maybe this doesn't need a comic. ~~Maybe this needs a short story, and a picture to go with it. Wonder what I can do in a thousand words. Doesn't seem like enough.~~ So I ended up writing out a short story of 1000 words, including articles, for it. May go back and update it to be 1000 words without articles, just to help it stand on its own better. It's right here.
Anywho, just a musing thinking about it. I'm excited to get back into this. I want to hear that sound again from my own fingers. I'm starting to take a bit of flight of my own in many ways, and this is just one of them.