Back in 2022 my husband - then boyfriend - visited me for three weeks in September to meet in person, and celebrate my birthday. The following year he did the same, and proposed, and we didn't want to wait years and years. I'm sure folks who follow my work also know that sweet story, so I won't rehash it, but suffice it to say that once I moved to Germany we found what is starting to be our new tradition here.

Eurofurence.

Now, my husband doesn't identify as a furry, but he loves the fluffy fun side of the fandom. And so, in 2024 we went. I was nervous how he'd handle such a big ball of the fandom all at once, but he was absolutely enchanted by all of the fursuiters, the stuff in the Dealer's Den, and the events! Oh, the events. Comedy, music, plays, dancing... he was genuinely upset we couldn't get into Paws on Fire because there was simply no more room by the time we were able to get in line. But he had so much more fun than I expected, and it felt so special to me. Years of going to conventions alone, and this time I got to really enjoy it with the love of my life (and convert him a little in the process lol).

Fast forward to this year, and we weren't sure we could manage it. But, over the summer he reviewed our budget, made room for it, and surprised me with the news in June. And then it just so happened he'd also go to Berlin for his job immediately following, so it turned into this whole big 10-day tour of Germany. Eurofurence was even better this year than last year. We saw some friends we made last year (shout-out to Sasa Creations!), went to event after event, got some cute stuff from the Dealer's Den, and had a wonderful time.

As we made our way to Hamburg that Wednesday morning we'd already accepted we'd miss opening ceremonies. We arrived after a load of traffic, checked in, refreshed, went to register, and then intended to just wander and check things out. But when we passed by where opening ceremonies had been, it seemed they were still going on. So, curious, we thought we'd be fortunate to catch the final leg of it. As it turns out, there was such a technical delay that the ceremony hadn't started yet! We got to watch the whole of EF's mascot Greeny's travel from deep space to the con, and all of the shenanigans that went on throughout. It was such a treat to get to see this particular ceremony. So, while I empathize with everyone upset over delays ... well, technical difficulties happen, especially with a convention growing as Eurofurence is, and ... well, we were quite fortunate lol ... so, hey, thank you EF as it worked out for some of us.

This year we saw some phenomenal performances. Uncle Kage's Story Hour is always a treat, and I'm glad he does a charity event version as well. We got to see both dance competitions this year - Enter the Arena and Paws on Fire. I am genuinely inspired... once I get a fursuit I want to try Paws on Fire just to say I did it. We saw an amazing dark comedy play, Starfall, which ... if you get the opportunity to see this, I implore you to do so. It was very well-written, funny, memey and tropey in just the right ways, with some great plot twists and endearing moments. We also saw Soul Seekers, a very clever puppet show that was also just as well-written, endearing, and like Starfall was self-aware just enough to let the jokes land well.

Many thanks to Rainquack on YouTube for uploading these!

» » Starfall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55PpXFKG5I8
» » Soul Seekers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfcLVFo6a4Y

We also got to see performances by Pepper Coyote, Fons and Friends, and Fox Amoore. I didn't know quite what to expect, as while I knew and enjoyed Fox Amoore's music, and knew of Pepper Coyote but not his work... but it was just excellent. A lot of songs I fell in love with, some that stole my heart... I became a fan of a lot of artists that night lol

Honestly, the whole Eurofurence experience was inspiring. It was the first time in a long time that I really felt there was more possibility for me to flex creative wings in the furry fandom. I'm a writer, and dabbling in art. But I think there may be a future for me as a lyricist collaborating with other musical artists, or even a musician as I'd love to learn to make synthwave music. Maybe I'll even segue into DJ. Who knows what the future holds for me? I have the time, the support, I'm finding my focus, and I'm sure that come this time next year I'll be on steady ground with where I'm going with my writing.

Also, my husband was already looking into booking for next year during closing ceremonies lol

We stayed in Hamburg until Monday morning, since we'd be checking into our Berlin hotel later Monday afternoon. We went to an immersion museum, basically a large room where video is projected everywhere so you feel the presentation all around you. Then met up with one of my husband's local friends, had dinner, and took a boat ride. And then we went to my first-ever Dead Dog Party. In all of my years of going to furry conventions back in the day I never went to a Dead Dog Party, because I'd always go home Sunday afternoon or even Saturday night. But this time my husband and I went to the venue, slammed back some drinks, and had such a great time just vibing to the untz untz untz lol ... and my LED sneakers got lots of compliments, too!

Berlin was less exciting for me, but still quite fun. My husband's job was about three minutes' walking distance around the corner from our hotel, so we were able to go out to dinner a few times. One night we went to a fabulous sushi place around the corner, another night had us going to Madame Tussauds followed by a nice specialty burger place, another night had us cozy in the hotel room ordering in some schnitzel, another night had us meeting up with lupestripe for Korean and some drinks, and then finally ... Friday night I had Burger King lol ... anticlimactic, yes? My husband had had it for lunch Thursday, and what he described sounded so nice ... and I do love a good Whopper ... listen, in Germany everything is better, even the fast food lol

But, enough about food.

I got a great deal of work done for Assimilation and the greater story I plan to have follow it. As many of you may know, years and years ago when I used the handle foxymccloud I'd written the first six chapters of what was intended to be a lengthy story. Novel. Whatever it was going to be. I'm still not sure what my plans were back then. But over the past few years since returning to the furry fandom I've been poking at the idea, as I wanted it to be something more than something I never got around to finishing. I loved the story of Nekko and Koga as it was unfolding, and want to tell their story. But, I also have no idea what I was planning back then, as I was just pantsing it.

Now the story has evolved to Assimilation being my The Hobbit to a greater story. I don't want to oversell my intentions, but I am intending on Assimilation leading into a trilogy about the founding and evolution of CyberGenesis Innovations, a setting/company I have been seeding some mythos in here and there through various short stories (tentative title is actually CyberGenesis). This trilogy then opens up possibility to explore CGI's shenanigans and influence in short story anthologies, and even off-shoot novellas. I then have SynthWave as a series that follows CyberGenesis, set in the far future (which does require some retconning of my five-part SynthWave series, but that's a future-me problem lol).

I've been working on the plot of Assimilation, intending to keep the six chapters I'd written as the core inspiration, so it will, of course, follow Nekko's gradual transformation, Koga's gradual understanding of humanity, ex-boyfriend Todd being a douche, and we'll finally learn what's up with that mysterious person Todd meets at the end of the former chapter six. I've been working on the backstory as well, everything that happened prior to the events of Assimilation so that it not only flourishes this story, but also the story beyond. I want Assimilation to be a stand-alone story, but I hope you'll join me on the journey beyond.

This does mean my previous note on how I'm going to work on Dragonfly next is relatively out the door. Well, not necessarily. I've be working on that for years, and will hammer it out soon. I have plenty of time, plenty of inspiration, and plenty of drive. I've just been quiet, because ... well, I'm writing! lol As is expected. But, no worries, the little notions of that will come into fruition soon enough, likely right after I have finished writing Assimilation and started presenting it here.

As mentioned, I'm going to start veering my Patreon so I am sharing one chapter of Cotton Candy each month, as well as a short story involving the CyberGenesis setting. Lab accidents, trials, good ol' fashioned rubbery tf'y fun. More or less seeding where the story is going lol ... so, please look forward to it.

On an aside, FurAffinity got a bit of a facelift while I was away! I love the PDF integration for stories. My PDF's were already rather well done if I do say so myself, but it does seem like a sideways solution for a complaint I've had. When you upload a new thumbnail for a story, clicking on the story shows this unseemly 'Image Not Found' on the story's page. Perfectly fine in galleries, but not on the page itself. It's irked me for quite some time, as I'd love to redo all of my icons. Well, I can just personally ignore that 'Image Not Found,' and use my icon in the actual PDF now! And I've wanted to go for a different font on my PDF's as well ... Garamond has been a good family for me with RainGlow, so I'm thinking of using that or another serif font that matches the vibe I'd generally be going for. Anywho, it's a bit of a task, but I'll be revising my old submissions here to better take advantage of the new PDF integration, so please look foward to that as I follow a new format moving forward while cleaning up the back catalogue.

We'll see what I do once SoFurry finally comes online lol... another future-me problem.

I'm also wanting to revise my website, likely looking into WordPress at the recommendation of a friend. I like the blog feature, or at least what could be a blog, as I do love to yapyapyap and FA journals might not be the best place for that. It's good, and nice, but I've always viewed FA as more of a library of my work rather than my gabfest. Some people are just here for the pr0nz, some are here for me, and that's okay (also part of why I'm planning to remove my author's notes from my stories, because they tend to just be boner-killers lol).

Anywho, enough of my babble. Many good things on the horizon. Just have to stay tuned! Keep on shining 🌈💫