I was going to go into a long, drippy retrospective about the five years I've spent in this nutty furry cult thing, but decided against it cause there really ain't all that much to it.

Just a few things I can think of that are different now versus when I hopped online and created my character 5 years ago:

Online vs. Live interaction:

I sort of ghosted the furry fandom for a few months before officially diving in. Pretty much started as an art aficionado (as many here did) and learned more and more about the ins and outs of the community. Before furry, I pretty much kept behind the scenes in any online interaction. Once I created the characters and pieced together the story I began to write about them, I jumped into communities such as this one and began to interact with people. It didn't take long to become overwhelmed by all the amazing creativity and brilliance this fandom has to offer at its best. Still, I preferred online vs. live interaction, with the sole exception being the first two cons I went to (FC 2008 & 2009).

Jumping forward to today, I think it's safe to say I much prefer live interaction. I now have several cons under my belt and more planned for the future. For this FC coming up, I'm planning to host a gathering that I hope to see many of you at. For this stage in my life where I spend very little of my time actually being "furry", I treasure the moments when I can cut loose a bit and enjoy a gathering of my friends as opposed to firing up a chat client and rp'ing the night away.

Writing:

That's pretty much stalled out at the moment. There really just isn't much time to work on it and I've sort of reached a point in the story I began 5 years ago where I've sort of wrote myself into a corner which will be hard to get out of. I've sort of substituted that with fursuiting and some video work for any so-called "contribution" to this fandom. It's possible I may pick the pen up again one day and finish, but right now it's not happening.

Online Communities:

As you can see, I haven't been overly active here for awhile. Other areas I used to haunt have gone by the wayside as well, such as IRC. I still stubbornly cling to my LJ and try to post something of semi-significance to it once in awhile, but not nearly like I used to. I'm pretty active on Twitter, but I'd say 80% of it is of non-furry significance. I don't necessarily mind cutting back on cyber contact a bit, but I still long for something like a lively LJ with thriving communities like there used to be. As far as art here? I do have a few commissions I'll likely post when I can get consent from the artists. I'll likely commission some other artwork down the road, but it's not on the forefront of my priority list.

The Future?

Eessh! Who knows? Right now I don't even have my con schedule down completely for next year. There may be a special trip in store in the new year that may have a furry component to it, but right now that's still up in the air. I just hope I can continue to meet and interact with more wonderful folks from this community and continue to forge stronger friendships. :)

See you all in the new year!