Hello fuzzbutts.

It's been a hell of a while since I last wrote anything on here, I've submitted commissions sure, but the last journal is a good 6 years old. Consider this a small update on what's going on with me.

I reached the milestone of having attended a total of 20 conventions this year and, if it wasn't for COVID, 2024 would've marked my 10 year anniversary of attending my first real convention at Eurofurence 20. I gotta say that's it's been a hell of a ride, met a whole lot of wonderful people, went to crazy parties and, through convention staffing, I've acquired experiences that are still amongst my most cherished.

After COVID, I kind of fell out of the international convention sphere. I had plans for them. Oh boy did I have plans, but alas, the world disagreed. During lockdowns, I lost my motivation and dropped out my international con staff obligations and concentrated staffing on my local convention; FinFur Animus. In retrospect, I was probably allocating too much of my life to running around the world at conventions, so perhaps it's good that I got out of that loop before I got too seriously involved in it.

Part reason why I havent returned to the international convention scene, is the fact that the conventions I'd like to visit have all just become too bloody big and expensive for my liking. Too many people in one place causes all sorts of phenomena I'm not a fan of. What also I'm not at all a fan of is the Multi-Hotel model that many of the larger european conventions have adopted. In my opinion, a convention should fit into one building, too much hassle bouncing after friends between multiple hotels and convention centers. Other than the aforementioned, there are other personal reasons that I don't feel like discussing on an open forum like this. Will you see me at a non-Finland-based convetion again? Maybe, not completely ruling that one out, but don't count on it. If you absolutely want to meet me in person for some reason, come to Animus, it's quite accessible to international furs.

The last Animus also made me realise how long I've been involved with the fandom, almost long enough that people born around the time of my entry are now old enough to attend furry spaces, conventions and other events. I've taken it upon myself to educate the young-'uns on the past of this scene in my country and sorta stumbled into the title of "Furry Historian" at the same time. I've chipped away at creating some kind of chronology of the Finnish fandom, since we lack any kind of concrete written history. For three years I've held events on Animus related to the local fandom's history. Their popularity and positive reception surprised me greatly and I intend on continuing this little project.

Entering my proto-greymuzzle stage like this, it's been interesting to observe how the newer generation does things differently. People who my generation of furs used to strongly associate with fandom are not generally on the new furs' radar and some of the "classic" furry lingo has fallen out of their lexicon. Imagine my surprise when the word "Popufur" seemed to be alien to many.

Here at the end, I wanted to add that art submissions will continue, albeit at a slower pace than before. The usual themes that you all know and love will resume. Don't worry, I haven't had any major change of tastes or heart.

All the best!
- TEF