RoxanneGoat

The name's Roxanne. Roxanne Silverscreen the Capricornian.

(Lovely artwork of Roxanne by SylphSylvia)

I went by many names, some familiar for those who followed me since... gosh high school. "AvgJoeDirt," "Atomic117," "Atomic Alicorn," and "Astral Jumpjet." However, none of those usernames really had any staying power, felt silly, and dare I say even unoriginal. It never captured the real me as much as I would have wanted it to, if that makes any lick of sense.

So like, why re-brand again? What happened to moving new accounts with "Astral?"

A number of things. It felt wrong jumping names abandoning my previous work & having "Astral" take its place with barebones content. I sure as hell didn't have a Core membership to change names at the time, and I definitely didn't want to give DA any money ever since the infamous Eclipse UI update in 2020 (Though I did now, but... only $3!). Admittingly, I was also lacking the drive to re-visit my older stuff with updating my watermark/signatures, which is pretty ironic (more on that later). What definitely didn't help was how I felt about the community as a whole. It just felt like everyone I once followed left this site for Twitter or to other greener pastures. I felt out of place. I also had Astral Jumpjet deactivated.

What happened while you were gone?

A lot of things. Health issues still being a thing, saw my partner IRL for two months (Yes, I am bi!), dived feet-first into Virtual Reality in like early 2021 with my own Quest 2, and my entire social life changed; for once, it being for the better. Met some old friends, made some new ones. Found myself feeling more in-place among furry circles, though me being tied to the whole "Optica" thing for a decade also deserves some credit.

Err, "Optica?" Wait, don't tell...

Optica Screenplay, yes. The one who crafted unsavory, lewd acts with cartoon horses. Why even share this? Well, transparency. It was clear that my work output here has been low because I've just been so damn busy under Opti. Technically that hasn't changed, but what did was me scheduling time for other things, even though my efforts under Optica did help me financially. I haven't worked since 2014, mind you.

I suppose I was also afraid to tell in general. I mean, I started using the internet during a time where cringe culture was at its peak, and I was just afraid of being painted as a target, like for example, end up on ED, Kiwi, some 4chan thread or some other horrid shit. People like to bitch about "cancel culture" today for saying something racist that they obviously shouldn't, and yet back in my hayday, you'd get bodied for being gay, a furry, or writing bad fanfiction. These days, I just stopped caring, as so did the rest of the sane world. Cringe Culture is dead.

So you're a furry, now?

"uM aCtUaLlY," I've been one since childhood, in hindsight. Me buying into the pony craze during the 2010s should have been my obvious hint. As for why an alien goat? Maybe I adored the idea of being this adorable gremlin who liked getting into trouble. It fits me in more ways than one.

"OH, SO YOU'RE GOING TO BE A FURRY DEGENERATE ON MAIN??"

Calm your ass lmao. That's what "Optica" is for. Me being a furry isn't going to stop me from making otherwise fun art. If I like something, I'll make it, furry or no. Worst case scenario, I make a slightly suggestive pinup of... oh idk, maybe Diane Foxington? She's cute.

So, what happens now?

Well it's not like I've been sitting on my fat goat ass for the past three years. Obviously I made some art that I need to re-post from the now-deactivated Astral account, and ofc I will always have more fun ideas to make, some stories that have yet to be told. Either as artwork, or a video on YouTube and TikTok. Yes, I am also on TikTok, now!

I also found myself front & center of the modding community for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. My most recent job being this fun port of Total War from Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Circling back to earlier, I did go through the effort of updating my old artwork. Not just with the signature/watermark change, but I went a step further & made it more definitive. Slight color tweaks, corrections here & there in Photoshop, and for many older pieces, AI upscaling, courtesy of Topaz Gigapixel. I also, ofc trimmed out some really dated uploads, especially the crappy pencil sketches. An artist always hates his earliest work, after all.

Anything else you'd like to add?

*checks notes* Trans rights are Human Rights. Go see the new Puss in Boots movie. I love Nanachi. The Boys Season 3 was a little mid. Zipp Storm is best new pony. Go buy Halo MCC during a sale; it's the best value next to the Valve Complete Collection. Lastly, never stop loving yourself; sing a song about life.

Until then, don't change that dial! There's more to come.