Ananiem (A - NAh - nEEm) (Clouds in Hebrew)
I chose her name to mean clouds because that's what her whole design and coloration reminds me of. I've really come to like naming characters with Hebrew names, it gives them special meaning behind their names, even if only to me.
Personality:
Daydreamer
Ananiem prefers nights to days, and so mostly spends her days dreaming away, often half asleep. Her daydreams often include night, her favorite time of all. Running softly through her forest world or pondering what would happen if trees could talk, she dreams of all sorts of things in her daydreams.
Gentle
Wherever she goes, Ananiem is careful to never hurt anything. She steps softly through her forest world and helps the other animals that live there. She would never harm a fly, I didn't say anything about mosquitoes though. This part of her personality will peel away and disappear in an instant if her world is threatened, if someone or something deliberately tries to hurt her world, she'll be everything but gentle on them.
Loving
Ananiem easily loves things, the little sparrow singing out it's beautiful song to her from the weeping willow tree, or maybe the small bush sprouting at the foot of a birch tree. She just loves her forest world, and cares for everything within it, even if it means going out of her way, which for her, is simply doing what she normally does.
Cloud watcher
Clouds fascinate her, how they got there, and why they take the shapes they do. She loves looking at the clouds and trying to pick out different shapes and forms. She herself can be compared to clouds, drifting though her forest world and taking different shapes in the lives of the other beings in the forest. Some days running swiftly along with the wind, mind determined and set to her goal, other days just lingering and enjoying what she has.
Likes:
Cloud watching, rain and snow, fresh water, stars, is absolutely fascinated by the moon, and the soft black blanket that is night
Cloud watching is just part of her personality, and it's one of her favorite things to do as well. Especially at night when the star's lights shine though them and make them look even more beautiful. Rain replenishes her forest, and while it does so gives you comfortable sleepy days that make you love your home even more as you stare out at it though the roots of the tree that you've taken refuge under, moss bundled all around you. Snow is just beauty, turning everything a sparkling white color and giving you days filled with fun, rushing down snowy slopes and romping through it's cold whiteness. Fresh water just tastes amazing, and swimming in it washes you off, but doesn't leave your coat all stiff and weird smelling. Stars are just things to wonder about, hovering in the night sky and filling it with light. Then there's the moon, in a whole different category of wonder. The sun of the night, shining so bright as to turn the world a silver hue. You can actually look at it, unlike the sun, and admire it's beauty. And night, everything comes back to night. It's like a soft black blanket that gently cloaks the world and brings peaceful dreams.
Dislikes:
Thunder, lightening, salt water, blackberries (bleh!), things that clomp around and don't care about the damage they do to the world around them, nights without the moon
.Thunder scares Ananiem, the sound seems to shake her whole world, and it's partner lightening has set some of the tress of her forest on fire before, so she has no love for it either. Salt water leaves her fur stiff and weird smelling, when all Ananiem is trying to do is get clean. And blackberries, the worst tasting stuff in the world! They may look nice and sweet, but their always bitter and make Ananiem feel ready to throw up. The creatures that pass though her forest, clomping around and destroying nearly everything without even noticing they do so, well, why should she like them? They hurt her forest world, and even if they stay for only a short time, it is a long time before what their presence did to her forest is gone. Nights without the moon are like days without the sky. Not days without the sun, days without the sky, at all. Ananiem loves the moon, the way it turns everything silver and brings light to the soft blackness of night. Night just isn't the same without it's pearly white sun.
Why you want this JBD:
I've been looking for a JBD for quite some time now, and she is simply stunning.
Ananiem just reminds me about clouds, nights filled with stars, and all things that feel soft. I just looked at her and thought of those things. Neon catches your attention one way, but Ananiem's pale and beautiful designs catch your attention another way. Like a soft tugging at the edge of your eyes that just draws you to look at her. She doesn't specifically jump out at you, screaming for attention, instead she draws you to her in a quiet way, so that you only barely notice her at first, but in the end she's the one that sticks in your mind.
Art:
I really love Ananiem, planning on making some more art, going to try doing a picture of her caring for the tree. I think I've got three more ordered pieces of art coming as well, but I don't think they'll get here before the end of the contest.
By me, I made a detailed lineless version as well.
By cinnamon~toastie, it's being made into an JBD editable now as well. But it's not colored in from the editable, it's what the editable is based off of.
By TessaKitty
By me
Stories:
Cloud gazing at night
Ananiem padded up the grassy hill, enjoying the touch of cool grass on her paws. The night wrapped her forest in it's soft darkness, and the full moon had turned everything silver. The birds had all stopped singing, except for the silent owls that had just come out to soar the skies. With a soft sigh of contentment, Ananiem reached the top of the hill and laid down, turning her eyes to the bright, starry sky. The stars gleamed brightly in the dark sky, piercing the pale clouds with their light. The moon, it's beauty took Ananiem's breath away. Hanging like a precious pearl in the center of the sky, it glowed softly with it's silver light.
As she watched the clouds, dew slowly gathered on and around her, so when she got up, everything gleamed with the reflected light of the stars and the moon. The whole hill before her, and her forest as well, sparkled like a single gleaming jewel in the night. Ananiem simply stood on top of the grassy hill for a moment, admiring it beauty of it all. Then with a huge yawn, Ananiem turned and started heading down the hill, her night of stargazing, cloud watching, and beauty over.
Caring for the tree
The bright light of day streamed though the forest canopy as Ananiem walked softly though her forest. She noticed a small tree poking out of the ground, a little white birch sapling. The dirt around it looked dry, it had been unusually hot the past week. She couldn't stand to see the little sapling wither up and die, so she marked where it was in her mind and took off for the river. Once she reached the wide, slightly deep river, she immediately plunged in, getting soaking wet. Ananiem climbed back out of the river and half-walked, half-ran back to the sapling, trying to loose as little water as possible on the trip. Once there she stood over the sapling and shook herself, casting water everywhere. She cast a critical eye on the dirt around the sapling, making sure it would be wet enough. It wouldn't be, the sapling wouldn't have enough water again soon under the heat of the burning sun. Ananiem walked back to the river this time, knowing that the little tree would be okay for a while. Immersing herself in the cool water again, Ananiem took a moment to enjoy how the water seemed to make the heat beating down on her disappear. Then she pulled herself back out of the river and headed back towards the small white birch sapling.
Ananiem cared for the small sapling every day until the heat spell broke, it slowly grew, getting a centimeter or so taller each day. Then, deciding that the tree would be able to survive on it's own, Ananiem left it alone. A few weeks later, Ananiem stopped by to check on what she remembered as a small sapling. She was surprised by the young tree before her now, the crown already thick with pale green leaves. It was beautiful, with the sunlight streaming right down onto it. Ananiem smiled to herself, then curled up at the base of the young tree to sleep off the hours in the warm sunlight until night eventually fell.
Defeating the monsters
Ananiem, who had been sleeping between the roots of an ancient weeping willow tree by the river, woke to loud noises and yelling. She scrambled out of her hiding spot, going wide eyed when she saw the two humans. They didn't notice her, they were too busy setting up a tent noisily and trampling the poor grass into the dirt. There was a male and a female, and now that she looked around, she noticed their small pup splashing around in her river, scaring away the fish and crushing the eggs they'd laid on the bottom of the river. Ananiem had been looking forward to the day when those little eggs would hatch into fish, and now that day would never come. With a growl rising in the back of her throat, Ananiem turned and ran into the forest. The female turned, having noticed Ananiem's movement in the corner of her eye, then with a slight shug turned back to setting up the tent.
Ananiem paced the sunny clearing, the weather quite the opposite of her mood. She had to get rid of those monsters before they recked her beautiful forest. No ideas came to her though, so Ananiem decided she would just have to act when she saw an opportunity. She padded quietly through the forest towards the river, until she could see the humans gathered together on the side of the river, holding sticks over the water. She had no idea what they were doing, so she watched them from behind a bush, peering though the leaves, until the male gave a small cry, reeled something on his stick, and dragged a fish out of the water. Ananiem felt another growl rising in the back of her thoat, because then she noticed that he pulled it off a thin string and tossed it on a pile of other fish. A whole pile. More than he, his mate and his pup could ever eat before the fish went bad. The other thing that bothered her was that they weren't even giving the fish a chance. The male plucked a worm from a small white container and pierced it's small body on a hook, then tossed it back into the water. The fish would come along, and thinking of an easy meal, eat the worm, and then get pulled out of the water and die. It was trickery, and Ananiem was going to make sure they paid for it.
Sneaking around behind their tent, Ananiem examined what held it together. So, it was just a block of wood in the ground with some rope on it. Ananiem considered digging up the block of wood, but no, then they could put it back in the ground. She set her jaws around the thick, coarse rope and started chewing. When she finished chewing though the rope, the tent surprisingly stayed standing. Ananiem sighed, that rope really hadn't tasted good. She padded quietly over to the other rope and wood block and started chewing through the rope. This time when the rope snapped, the back half of the tent flopped forward onto the front half, completely collasping the tent with quite a bit of noise. Shouts arose from the humans, but Ananiem had already slipped back into the forest.
That night the humans sat bundled in blankets around a campfire, eating squishy white things from a bag as Ananiem watched them from the bushes. They had so easily given up on their tent, she had expected them to leave after losing their shelter, but no. They had retrieved their things from the fallen tent and spread out their bags on the ground outside the tent instead of inside it. As she watched, the pup got up, stretched, and padded over to a small bag on the ground. It crawled inside of it, then fell asleep. After a short time the male and female followed, each heading to their seperate bags. Ananiem had no idea how to get back at them now, except... Ananiem snuck out of the bushes when she was quiet sure the horrid monsters were alseep. She padded softly over to where they had stacked their things, and began to nose things off the pile so she could get at them with her teeth. She tore open bags, but didn't eat anything inside them, and only put things in her mouth from inside the torn bags to scatter them more thoughly around the area where the items had once been stacked neatly. She slipped back into her forest as dawn began to light up the sky to sleep under the roots of a tall oak tree. When she next awoke and padded warrily to the river, the humans and all their stuff was gone. Ananiem smiled to herself, glad of being able to get rid of the monsters before they could do any more damage to her home. It would take some time for the fish of the river to recover, but recover they would.
Snow days
With a delighted hop, Ananiem popped out from under the snow that had covered her during the night. She shook the snow from her fur and glanced around, excitement lighting her eyes. Yes! Her whole forest was a beautiful white, covered in a layer of fresh snow. Even now, small flakes of snow continued to fall slowly from the sky. Ananiem bounded though the snowy whiteness, paws spread as wide as they could go to attempt to stay on the top layer, like snow shoes. It didn't quite work, but Ananiem was fine with that. She loved having to bounce through the snow at each step! A snowshoe rabbit looked at her disdainfully as she bounced by, but rabbits always were the haughty kind. Ananiem finally reached her destination, the hill she so often laid down atop to watch the stars.
Ananiem climbed up the hill, not bouncing, but forcing her way though the snow now, clearing a path to the top. Once she reached the top Ananiem stood panting for a moment, her breath steaming before her in the cold air. Then she put her head to the ground, and used her hind legs to push the rest of her body over it, and so started tumbling down the hill, forming a snowball around her. Once she hit the bottom she leaped out of the snowball she'd formed on her way down. She shook the snow from her coat, and then ran back up to the top of the hill so she could roll down again. After nearly a full day of rolling down the hill, she'd effectively stripped it of any and all snow. She'd taken a break to head down to the river and drink, and had returned with small icicles on her whiskers, her river had never frozen over, but the water certainly got cold. On the way back she'd also taken a moment to strip a berry bush of it's delicious fruit. And now she tucked her tail around herself for warmth as she laid down on the hill, eyes watching the beautiful night sky expectantly. She was not disappointed, in around ten minutes the starry night sky suddenly bloomed with a ribbon of constantly changing colors. The breath-taking Aura Borealis, it's beauty nearly even put moon to shame.
Other:
This whole thing is a not a WIP anymore! I loved making this and working on it, it was a ton of fun. I'm really happy with how this has turned out and how much I got done~
Gosh, somewhere between the first piece of art, and writing her personality, I've fallen completely and utterly in love with Ananiem. I think I love her more than my fursona Bandit right now.
