yozora_cutie is holding a raffle here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54274821/

Hello Hello everyone.

It's been a while since I last updated things here. So here's a few things going on.

1. I know it's been a long while since I last posted anything from the normal canon. I have not forgotten that, and will have a lot of new stuff to share in that. Including some new storylines, continuing storylines, and new characters to introduce.

2. The Superhero Victory City AU. I have some new stuff to post regarding that universe as well.

3. Scrapper Universe. I haven't posted this yet, but there's another setting Sly has been allowed to be put in which is Sci-fi based. Not too much to share there yet, but basically Sly is a "Scrapper" A wreck explorer that salvages parts and equipment from crashed spaceships and ruined colonies. It's a very interesting universe and I hope to get more from it soon.

4. Aurora. I know Aurora has taken on a life of it's own and has grown into a MUCH bigger story than I had initially planned. I'm enjoying it, and what I've posted is about half of what I have planned so far. I hope you're all enjoying it. Because this ride isn't over yet.

Any questions you can ask in the comments section below. I may be in the mood to drop hints if you ask about certain things.

Also I am liking the interaction I'm getting with the way I've been posting things this year. So I think I'll continue it. Posting the story with a thumbnail of the pic in question and linking to the art piece on the artist's side seems to work in getting people to actually read the story instead of just faving and leaving. And I want to thank everyone who takes a moment to leave a comment. It really means a lot to me that you do that.

Bring on the questions. My characters will answer.

Need a quick sketch of a character done?

 -censored- has a couple slots available for $25 each.

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10588906/

Good evening.

I'm aware this story has taken on quite a life of it's own. (Much like Thieves did before it) I have been working on it almost exclusively for about a year now. I have not forgotten about the normal canon; nor the Superhero AU. I will get back to those eventually. But for now I am curious how many of my watchers are actually interested in Aurora as a story. Leave a comment to let me know if you are and why.

I amthe beautiful city of San Jose, California once again for Fanimecon. Any of my watchers here as well?

Go here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/52157592/

 biers is holding a raffle for a pic of your character with one of his.

I want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to all my watchers it applies to. I managed to get a long ride this morning that took me close to the cemetery that my mother rests in so I stopped by to pay respects to her, my grandma, and my friend who passed last year.

It's that time again. Ask questions of my characters and they'll answer.

I'm interested in cosplaying as Bepo from One Piece at anime cons, and I'd like to have a fursuit head made for it. Anyone know anyone who does good work and is open? I'd need it before the end of May. So they'd have a few months.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!!!

It's 2023, the past year flew by in a flash, and was full of challenges, but we made it through. Hopefully we all will have a safe and Happy new year for 2023 as well. Stay safe, and take care of yourselves.

I just wanted to wish those that follow me (and everyone they know) a happy and SAFE holiday. No matter what you celebrate, have fun, and cherish those around you. Do so in a manner that is safe, and will lead to happy memories for years to come.

PS: I know I haven't posted much this year. I apologize for that. I promised myself I would have Chapter 2 of Aurora ready for posting today, and I have. I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 2: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/50359171/

It's been a little while since I last did one. Ask away.

I know I haven't posted much this year, but I have been working on this story for a good portion of it. The first chapter is posted, along with ref pieces for three of the four key characters in the story. I hope those of you who actually follow me for my writing will check it out, and I hope you enjoy it. If you know my likes and my style, then you'll know along the lines of what to expect. This first chapter is setup, and so doesn't have much in the way of sexy stuff, but I promise it won't be long before something sexy happens.

Aurora Ch. 1: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/50057056/

I hope everyone had a Happy and safe Thanksgiving. It was very nice seeing so many family members after literal years for some of them.

Not mine. Here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49949134/

Yesterday I completed my 35th journey around the giant ball of burning gas at the center of our Solar System we call the Sun, and today I start my 36th.

When you're not keeping an eye on it doesn't it?

This last half a year has been kinda touch and go work wise. I'm keeping my head above water thankfully, but still waiting on something that's making things more difficult to end. Hopefully it does, and soon.

Anyway I'm sure you've noticed I haven't posted anything in a while. That's not to say that I haven't been writing. I'll have a couple things to post soon that are from two universes that belong to other people as I alluded to in a previous journal. I'll go ahead and give a couple details in this journal about them.

First the smaller update because there's not too much to this one yet.  khanco has allowed me to add Sly into his universe of space faring scavengers looking for the next wreck to salvage. In it Sly's ship is called the Stardust Hunter and his crewmate is an alien bear like creature called a Foozle named Honeydew. (They're a species belonging to a user named  Cobalt) Unfortunately I don't have any art of Honeydew yet, but I do have a couple pieces of art and a story of Sly having an interaction with  khanco's lovely salvager Khenca.

The other update is much beefier. It takes place in  evilymasterful's world of exusian domination and vixen submission. In it Sly is a half breed as usual, but instead of being a wolfox as normal, he's an exusianox. What is an exusianox? A creature that is part fox, and part exusian of course. What's an exusian? Think of them as sabertoothed tigers when compared to cats. A bigger, more powerful species related to foxes. (Yes I used the sabertooth example on purpose. They do have Saber fangs) A captain of his own zeppelin Sly lives a life sort of between his two heritages. (But leaning much more heavily into his exusian side for obvious reasons) This story is over fifty pages long at present and introduces a few new faces. Slys harem pets; a red fox named Aria, and a fennec named Amber, and a new addition that has chosen it in lieu of a certainly worse fate, an arctic fox named Aurora. The story is told mostly following Aurora, but you'll get time with all four of the characters. I hope you like it when I begin posting it soon.

Today could be described as a battle of luck and preparedness. I was called by a friend who works at a local hotel to see if I could take a vacationing German couple to Las Vegas. A three hour trip from here. I quoted them my price and it was set.

When I picked them up they explained why they were in town when they'd planned to be in Vegas yesterday. Their rental caught a flat tire in the middle of the desert, and since it didn't have a spare it left them stranded. Luckily for them they were in a spot where they did have a little cell service. (A rarity in the desert between cities.) Their travel company called a tow truck and had the car towed, but the tow person would only take one of them with him due to covid restrictions. But again luckily a cop happened by a little earlier and gave them a ride to the hotel they stayed at last night.

Seems their spotty luck streak wasn't quite over yet though, as a third of the way to Vegas my car's low tire pressure light came on. But here's where my good luck kicks in. I just happened to have just gone through Amboy, the only place with a gas station, and cell service for two thirds of the trip. When the low pressure light came on I turned around and went back to the station to put air in the tire. But that wasn't the end of it.

Seems it wasn't just an atmospheric pressure difference problem this time. I actually had a flat. The couple are unbelieving that the same problem could plague them twice in twenty-four hours in two different vehicles. I tell them that a flat is a minor issue and I would have it changed in no time. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Seems whatever lazy or just stupid mechanic changed my tires the last time didn't use the correct lug wrench and two of the lug nuts were stripped. I.E. I couldn't take them off because my cross bar wouldn't grip them. So I was stuck. After asking the gas station attendant for assistance as well as some passerby I lamented that I wouldn't be able to get the tire off. But I had a backup plan. Triple A.

As a cab driver I always have had Triple A because it's always a good idea to have them able to come help when I find myself in a situation I can't get myself out of. We chilled in the gas station where I had to at one point console the couple to look on the bright side. We are stuck in a gas station, and not out in the 100 degree heat. There's AC, snacks and drinks there while we wait. Not to mention cell service so we COULD call for help. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes for the truck to arrive, but he got the lug nuts off (By hammering his lug wrench onto them with a mallet) and within minutes we were back on the road.

I got them to Vegas this afternoon (By admittedly pushing my spare a lot father than I should have) and they were very grateful. I stopped by a local Walmart where I found that unfortunately for me the Walmart I've been going to has been putting the wrong sized tires on my car. So I had to buy a new one. Costing me a third of what I made today, but eh. At least all my tires are the same size now. (even if they are the wrong size overall. Not sure what I can do about that but complain and hope they change them, even though I doubt they will.) I also need to buy new lug nuts at my earliest convenience so this doesn't happen again.

Anyway that was my day. Took twelve hours altogether.


Okay so I feel like I should type this out so I can always have a journal and reference to what at this point is my weirdest ride I've done in the 4 and three quarter years I've been driving professionally.

So I drop a marine off at the Palm Springs Airport and check in at the USO to ask if there are any trying to get back up to 29 Palms. This is something I do routinely when I'm in the area since the cabs at the airport have been known to charge up to $300 for any poor marine that doesn't have a ride back up, and they won't be let on base. (I will, and I charge half that.) They also position themselves between the airport terminal and the USO where they would obviously be told about myself and other drivers that live up near the base and would be able to help. There are no marines trying to get back up the mountain tonight. So I go back to my car. While I'm sitting there eating my dinner (McDonalds meal tipped by the client I'd just dropped off) a man walks up to the car and offers me $5 to give him a ride a few blocks over. I tell him "Sure. Why not?"

He goes to hop into the back seat and I tell him "Hop in the front seat." Partially because I know most people prefer to ride in front, and partially because I want to be able to keep an eye on him, which I can more easily do when he's in the front as opposed to the back. When he sits down he does that "Four points Cross" thing that Catholic people do. (I do not know what it's called. They touch their forehead, lower chest, and both shoulders in sequence.) Now this didn't set off any red flags at first. I just thought. "Oh. He's Catholic. Okay." He tells me the first couple of turns. Now I did notice that he did the cross thing about five times in the span of two minutes. Which did make me raise an eyebrow. He was also muttering under his breath which could have been prayer. The only words I could make out was "I'm sorry." I figured he was nervous about where he was coming from, or where he was going. I also noticed that he smelled like shit, and his clothes were dirty. (I have a ton of patience as most artists that I've worked with will attest to, and try to carry myself as a professional. And I've had quirky and smelly passengers before, so I didn't think anything of it outside of hoping that the ride was as short as he claimed it would be.)

Then I felt a touch on my thigh. It was a light touch, almost a caress, before he tapped my leg. I raised an eyebrow at it, but figured he was just tapping my leg. I logged that in the back of my mind, and would tell him not to touch me again if he did so again. He's only about half my size if that, so I have no doubt I could take him if he tried anything. He tells me a few more turns, and I take note of where we're headed. It's not toward any shady area, it's toward downtown Palm Springs. Well lit and well trafficked.

Then I felt a touch on the back of my neck, and this time it was definitely a caress. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, he's not looking at me, but he's reaching over to touch my neck. I tell him. "Yeah I'm going to have to ask you not to touch me." He doesn't say anything, but he does stop. He continues to tell me where to turn. Now at this point I glance down. I have two phones. One is a normal phone, the other is just used as a music player. Both were set in the cup holders of my car when he got in, now one of them is gone. My actual phone. So I ask him plainly. "Did you just steal my phone?" To which he replies "No..." then quietly puts it back into the cup holder. It was hidden between his legs.

At this point I have to reckon with the idea that something is off about this one. I've had tweakers (Drug users. Usually Crack, or Heroin) in my cab before. Just gotta watch them and not piss them off. I turn a little to the right so I can watch the road, while keeping an eye on him, and my phones at the same time. (I have good peripheral vision) And to be frank I have sized him up, and if needed could strike him in, or grab him by the throat without turning to fully look at him.

Now I am aware that most people would have tossed him by this point, but again. I try to hold myself to finish the ride since we've gone a ways and should be nearing the end. Another caress to my thigh though and I grab his wrist and tell him. "Don't touch me again." He apologizes and tells me that his destination is coming up. He points to the right and I start to pull over, but he says the stop is on the other side of the street light I'd come to. So still keeping an eye on him, I note his hand moving toward my phones again. I grab his wrist as he picks up my music player phone this time. "Drop my phone." I tell him. He drops it, and the immediately tries to pick up the other phone. I pull over and tell him. "Get out of my car." He says that his stop is a little up the road. I repeat "Get. out. of. my. car...Now!" At this point he shrinks away from me and huddles against the passenger door. He tries to open the door but can't quite get it to open. I tell him. "Push the door." in the same tone of voice and the door opens. As he's getting out he reaches down and grabs the badge from the anime convention I had attended a few weekends ago in Phoenix. So he was going to take SOMETHING with him. He looks at the badge as he walks around my car, and then drops it to the ground and turns to try to hail another ride.

Given what I have dealt with in the past and given his demeanor and state of being I assume the man is homeless and likely was on something, or just not quite all there in the head. I never felt as if I was in any danger from him. Unless he had a knife or gun I really didn't have much to fear from him. (I keep a pocketknife myself in my pocket) But anyway this definitely takes the cake for the weirdest ride I've done to date. So I figured I had to type it out.

Ask away. My characters will answer.

So would anyone be interested in hearing about Sly's exploits in another alternate universe?

Not saying I've abandoned any of my characters in the normal canon, or in the other universes I've been allowed to play in, but I'd be lying if I said that I had anything really to show for them since I've been writing for this new story. And since it's multiple chapters in and has taken on a life of it's own at over thirty pages currently with much more planned already I figured I may as well let the cat out of the bag and tell ya'll why I haven't posted much in a while.

I'm at an anime convention this weekend. First one I've been able to attend in three years thanks to covid. I drove up wednesday night. 8 hour drive. When I got to my hotel at 7:30am they told me that check in time was at 4pm, and if I wanted to check in early I would have to pay an extra $75. This is a new rule, and another way for the hotel to squeeze more money out of guests.

So I went back to my car and drove around the city to find a place I could park for free. I stopped at a Denny's and had breakfast. And was falling asleep at the table by the end of the meal. The server was doing fine, until I was done and asked for a box, then she ignored me for fifteen minutes. (Which is why I started falling asleep. I was tired and wasn't actively doing anything) I get back in my car and look for the nearest park. Find a spot nearby and take a one hour nap. My car's seat isn't very comfortable, reclined so I wasn't going to stay there until 4pm.

So I decided to start doing things I was going to put off until after I'd had some sleep. First was a trip to the nearest Walmart so I could get some white socks for my cosplay. I also forgot my facemasks that I bought for the con, so I bought a box of cheap ones too. At least I did after I realized I'd forgotten my wallet in the car and had to walk back out to get it.

After I left Walmart I drive by the con center to go to the bank nearby. Nope. It's closed. The nearest one isn't too far away, but there's no parking nearby. (Parking is pretty rare in this city, even rarer that it's not metered or a paid lot. If I had to already pay to park my car at the hotel, I might as well stow it there and just pay that.
So I drove to the hotel and parked my car. Walked the half mile to the nearest light rail station and rode the train into the middle of the city. When I got off the train I walked to the bank. Deposited some cash. Then remembered that there were two pharmacies nearby and I could pick up some anti cramp cream my dad told me about. Walked around for a while, but couldn't find either pharmacy. Looked it up on my phone. Both were gone now. A new one had opened up, but it was 2-3 miles up the road.

So I trekked it. By the time I was there my legs hurt. And I picked up some epsom salts while I was there because now I would need them to soothe my sore legs. At this point it was 3pm. Registration for the convention opened at 3pm. So I walked to the convention center. (A good 3 miles) I stopped at my favorite restaurant around here that's thankfully still in business. And got a sandwich to go on the way.

When I got to the convention center they were trying a new app to check people in. I was skeptical that it would work since the last time they tried something like this it led to a 5 hour wait in line. And like clockwork the app broke as I predicted it would. After I finally get my badge I shuffle over to the shuttle pickup area and watch the shuttle going to my hotel pull off as I get to the door. I couldn't go any faster than I was and had no way to signal the driver. At this point I am running on fumes and at risk of collapsing in all honesty. After a wait where I did get to sit down another shuttle came by and even though he was supposed to be going to one of the other hotels, because only people were waiting to go to the one I'm staying at he went there instead. I got checked in, and finally got my room.

So I decide to take bath and soak before I lay down in bed, because if I do I'm going to pass out. The tub stopper doesn't work. Because of course it doesn't. I call the front desk and they send up a mechanic who does exactly what I did to try and fix it even though I told him I did. Then he just gives me a new stopper. Unfortunately I wasted some of the epsom salts because of the drain issue, but I did soak.

I'm still a little sore this morning. And still tired. I slept about 10 hours. Someone back home kept calling me for a ride in the wee hours of the morning ignoring the text I sent stating I was on vacation until I actually answered the phone to deny her.

That was a breakdown of Day 0 which is usually used to travel to the con, get the badge, and rest before the actual con starts. It was an eventful...and annoying one this time.

SO. Anyone else attending this con? I doubt it since every time I've asked in the past has yielded no response.

Check out this submission to enter: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47122503/

*Maneki approches the camera*

"Um H-hello everyone. It's been a while hasn't it? Master has been away for a bit. But he sent me a postcard that he wanted me to read to you all." *Clears throat*

"Hello everyone. Sly here. I know it's been a long while since anything has been posted of the "normal" canon. My creator has been invited to dabble in worlds that have been created by other creators. And wherever he goes I have to go as well as his sona. That's why you've seen some posts in the "Victory City" setting where I'm a superhero known as Shadowlight. He's been having fun in another setting where I'm instead of being half wolf and half fox, I'm half fox and half exusian which has been interesting. Saber teeth are a little weird in all honesty. I'm also a zeppelin captain in that world with a new harem of Pets. I will eventually return to the "normal canon". My creator knows there's story beats he needs to continue, and there's a lot of his other characters that need attention too. Currently my creator is working on a trade story. I'm not in it, but it's still taking his attention away from the normal canon for the moment. Anyway I'm starting to ramble. You all have a good day. And Maneki, tell Luck, Pips, and Sakura that I miss you all too."

"So there you have it. I hope Master returns soon. Have a good day. New pets? And what's an exusian?" *Maneki wanders off wondering*