I've done it for the last 3 years, so fuck it, I'll keep doing it for this year as well to help myself keep track of the things I want this year. I'm so forgetful, these actually help remind me of goals I want to achieve.

1. Try to finalise Huluvoo's design
2. Commission hand paws for Atlas
3. Fix Boulevard's head and make her more comfortable to wear
4. Custom Kigurumi of Fester (Curlworks, MangoIsland?)
5. Get Boulevard a new refsheet
6. Commission Molten_Cheeese for a kutarri Huluvoo
- Maybe kutarris of Atlas, Boulevard and Ghost as well
7. Commission arm sleeves and hand paws for Boulevard

Four days into 2020, I think this is a good start for the year. Oh, and when I'm referring to Fester and Atlas, I'm talking about my other accounts for my Dutch Angel Dragons Fester and Atlas!

8. New floor dragger tail for Fester
9. Repair Atlas' fangs and balaclava
10. A floor dragging tail for Boulevard to match her updated refsheet
11. Commission new paws for Bou that match her updated refsheet

I don't have much use for the journal setting, so this is mostly because I'm ridiculously scatterbrained and will most likely forget a few things. This list is to keep me right about goals to achieve for this year, or more like things I'd just like to get done before the end of the year! Such as;

1. Try to finalise Huluvoo's design
2. Get new hand paws for Fester (CityMutt? Someone on Etsy?)
3. Commission hand paws for Atlas
4. Buy an 'Outer This World' pin from NeonSlushie's storenvy
5. Custom Kigurumi of Fester (Curlworks, MangoIsland?)
6. Commission Molten_Cheeese for kutarri Huluvoo
7. Custom patterned Converse from Furry Fursuit Maker
8. Arm sleeves for Fester
9. Sort out time/money for Confuzzled 2020

EDIT (01/01/20); I got a couple of things, but not everything. It's a good start though! On to the next year!

Wow, okay, it's almost the end of July already and we're nearly into August, so I know a list of things I'd like to achieve this year is probably a little late, but that's kind of the story of my life already. Since it's nearly 2019 already, I'm going to make my list far less ambitious than last January, because I had a lot planned that wasn't going to happen. It's hard to keep your goals realistic when you want to be hardcore trash, but we'll see how I manage - this is also to remind me about things I want because I'm forgetful and lists are great for me.

I can actually already cross out a few things on this list, because most of this is just being transferred from a list I've been sort of going along and writing on my phone, so in no particular order;

1. Get Huluvoo a refsheet with proper anatomy
2. Buy and test some fursuit sprays
3. Get new hand paws for Fester (CityMutt? Someone on Etsy?)
4. Try to finalise Huluvoo's design
5. Buy an 'Outer This World' pin from NeonSlushie's storenvy
6. Commission Molten_Cheeese for kutarris of Fester and Huluvoo
7. When she's finished, find a maker with the right style for Huluvoo
8. Custom patterned Converse from Furry Fursuit Maker

And I think that's ambitious enough for this point in the year, I'm going to stop there before I disappoint myself because I can't afford to be the level of furry trash that I think I should be at, so oh well.

Photos of the bandana can be found here!

The art and bandana was made by MoltenCheeese on Etsy!

Since I know I won't be getting any sort of fursuit of my Otteroo for a while, I wanted to get something that I could wear to represent her, and since I already have two bandanas from this maker for my Dutch Angel Dragon, I thought they were also the perfect person to make a custom bandana for my main fursona! And you know what? It came out exactly as I'd hoped it would, I'm over the moon with it! Now I can wear it to cons when I don't feel like fursuiting in Fester, and my local furs will still be able to know who I am!

The seller was in contact constantly with me, and gave me updates and WIPs of both the bandana and the artwork for the embroidered patch! It was actually her idea to include the gold heart that's on Hulu's chest, I hadn't even considered putting it into the design, but I really love how it turned out, it's awesome!

Score: 10/10, there's nothing I would change
Would I buy from them again?: This is my third bandana from them, so absolutely, they're an excellent seller!
Would I recommend them?: Without a doubt! Super friendly, great communication, and lots of WIPs to be kept up to date too!

These are just some goals I would like to achieve before the end of 2017, but of course, they're all subject to money restrictions and if commissions are open at the time (if applicable). Not specifically in this order;

1. Finalise Huluvoo's design and get her a refsheet with proper anatomy
2. Get Fester a full proper refsheet
3. Commission sleeves for Fester from Citymutt Fursuits
4. Commission feet paws for Fester from Citymutt Fursuits
5. Possibly commission a kigurumi of Fester (Mango Island, Curlworks?)
6. When she's finished, look into getting Huluvoo's head made
7. Custom bandana for Fester from Furrinfoxdoe on Twitter

I think that's a good start for now, I just hope none of this is too much for me to accomplish. Ideally I'd love everything to happen, but beggars can't be choosers, and I'll be more than happy with whatever I can afford to get.

EDIT:

Just a few more things that I would really love before the end of the year, which is coming up frighteningly fast, so this is turning less into goals and more into a sort of longterm wish list.

8. A custom Touken2 doll of Fester
9. Finalise Bints' design and get him a refsheet
10. Comfy pair of sock paws for Fester from either Furry Fursuit Maker or Alpha Dogs Studio
11. Full refsheets for Zaphod and Fenchurch

So it's been well over a year since I last wrote a journal entry, and a shitload has happened between last October and now, but I just wanted to share my experience with the furry fandom with everyone, and how much it's effected my life.

I first became aware of furries back in 2009 after watching a beastcub video on YouTube here, and I thought it was so cool that I'd convinced myself that I wanted one really badly, even saving up a little money and telling my parents all about it; they told me to wait, for obvious reasons, and I soon forgot about it. It wasn't until a few years later, 2012 I think, that I finally learned what a furry was, and then I gingerly entered the community with very innocent eyes of a curious 17 year old. I used to go by Snowpelt (I know, creative), and she was an albino river otter, but I liked to call her an Old World Otter, it made her sound more unique than she was to me.

I spent two years as Snowpelt, popping onto fur forums every now and again, never really connecting with this half-arsed sona I'd created for myself. Then in 2014 I got into a relationship with my now ex who was very anti-furry, and that really put me off because I had loved him at the time, so hearing his horrible opinion of furries made me not want to be one.

We broke up at the beginning of 2015 and I got into another relationship with this person that I'd been getting close to, and I hid the furry thing from them for a while until it came up in conversation one time, and we actually both admitted to having an interest, so we were able to encourage each other and I went back to Snowpelt and updated her, a lot. I changed her name to Huluvoo and gave her a new look, adding blue into the mix and giving her a pouch, turning her from a regular otter into an Otteroo - an otter-kangaroo hybrid.

Fast forward a few months and I was browsing on FurBuy one night when I came across an auction for a rather strange looking thing called a Dutch Angel Dragon, which I immediately googled and found the official website. I gave it a few reads over the next day or two, while showing my boyfriend this weird new thing that I'd become obsessed with, and he loved it as much as I did. So, after a brief discussion with my parents, they encouraged me to bid on Fester the Undead Dutch Angel Dragon, who had been made by CityMutt fursuits and put up for sale. I kept a close eye on it, thinking I'd won until someone else bid, and I realised I couldn't not have this strange looking thing, so I clicked autobuy and suddenly he was all mine.

I was able to pay Fester off in two transactions and he was delivered to my house near the end of October, just in time for a convention, Belfast Film & Comic Con, where Fester made his debut, and I wore him for about 14 hours all together over the two days, which I felt pretty impressed by for my first furry outing. I learned two things during that con; 1) water was vital, and 2) I needed to get a fan to keep myself cool. I got some really cool photos with some cosplayers, and people seemed to love him, which made me feel good and gave me a little confidence boost.

Since people seemed to like him, I made him an FA page, and then I was asked if I had things like Instagram and Twitter, and I had to say no, because I'd never thought of doing that. But before I knew it, Fester had a vine account, an IG, a Twitter, and even a tumblr blog, and I've met a lot of great people across all those sorts of media.

Fester has given me the opportunity to be more active in the community, and for the last year I've been the most active because of him. He's allowed me to branch out into the fandom and try new things, find some great artists, and make some good friends. It's been a long journey, but I wouldn't change it at all, and I'd do it all again.

Don't let other people get you down, do your best and the rest will follow.

As of the 22 of December, Fester has been completely paid off and I shouldn't need to fork out anymore money for him. I'd paid for his head after winning his auction on FurBuy, then proceeded to commission a tail and paws along with him. I must have sat for hours and worked out how much I needed to pay all together, including P&P as well as customs charges.

Paying for Fester was the easy part, the additional postage and packaging cost I was just about able to pay, but what really skinned me was the customs charges that FedEx charged me just for handling and delivering, almost £50. My partial came in a large enough box, but it's still very light, so that amount of money is a bad crazy.

But over the past few months, after getting my dutch angel dragon partial at the end of October, he's now been fully paid off and I don't have to worry about any extra charges, so that's just a great weight off my shoulders. Now if I could only save up for some feet paws to complete my partial, that would be great! Fingers crossed I can get the funds together eventually, I'd love some outdoor one, just so my partial looks better.

I had an amazing time over the weekend there, it was my first outing as Fester the Dutch Angel Dragon, and it felt really good to be able to walk around in him at the Belfast Film and Comic Con. My tail was trampled, a lot, but most people apologised, so it was relatively alright; I wasn't too bothered about that.

The thing that really made me happy was how the kids there reacted to me there, it was honestly the best thing ever. I was expecting more of them to be terrified of me, but they were running up to me and waving, saying hello and asking what I was; I even got plenty of hugs, so they were really loving it. I must have gotten a picture with almost every kid there, and yet I can't find a single bloody one of them! But oh well.

There was one thing that I didn't particularly appreciate, and that was when I heard someone say look down and I saw a kid or two smiling up at me, then looking up to see a camera or a phone pointed at me and without so much as asking, just assumed I'd pose for the photo. Manners don't cost anything, and the people who asked me to pose with there kids, I was more than happy to do so. It was just very rude, and made me feel a little bit used that they thought I would just automatically pose because they pointed a camera at me, and the only reason I didn't walk away was because of the kids standing at my feet.

But, the overall experience of being in him for the first time was just amazing, and I hope to do it again sometime soon! If that was how it felt running around in a partial, I really can't wait for the day when I'll be able to walk around in a fullsuit!