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DenFur 2025 was a blast!
General | Posted 3 months agoDenfur is over and I've gotten some time to compile my thoughts....
It was an INCREDIBLE experience to get to go for the whole weekend this time. Last year was a great day-out sort of experience, but I didn't really know what to make of it all in the moment. Didn't do much exploring or even that much talking. Definitely put in work to rectify that this time around.
Woke up early since I had decided to commute down to the con for the whole weekend. Definitely the right decision for my wallet, way cheaper than finding a place in downtown Denver. Ate up a quarter of a tank of gas each day plus parking, but those were manageable. But I digress.
I had made sure to get most of my stuff in the car the night before, so I didn't have to worry as much the day of. Pretty much just had to get the glamrock Freddy cosplay I'd been working on into the car and change when I got there (not like a suit or anything, more like an outfit based on the design). Grabbed some quick breakfast and refueled on the way down for good measure.
Lucked out in how early I got there, and managed to get pretty close to the front of the line too! Early enough to be able to go to the opening ceremonies. That was fun to experience. Afterwards visited the Heart Leaf Games table and picked up a couple of their pins. Did some shopping around artist alley, picking up another couple of pins as well as a pair of small prints.
Along the way got my paws on the badge I had commissioned from HowdyLake. Still obsessed with the little Polaroid badge! Still wild to look at art of Ryker that I can hold in my hands. Sure I can always just print off what I've commissioned but it's not quite the same, y'know?
Later on went to my first panel of the weekend. Recipe swapping! Side note: I had printed off a bunch of copies of some of my recipes to bring and just give to people at the con. Real glad I did that. It was nice having something unique of mine to share with others. Took up a lot of space in my backpack though, so I'll probably try to make it smaller so it's easier to bring along. Thoughts for next time I suppose. The panel was a little bit of a bust though, the panelist didn't show up, so we kinda just traded recipes by ourselves before awkwardly leaving. Though, got to meet a new friend at that panel! (Definitely want to have stickers to share next time. Don't have any of those...yet. Pending for next year.)
Did some more shopping in the dealer's den and bought even more pins. Had to restrain myself from buying more. There were a lot of really cool pins at the con this year. There were plenty of cool ones last year too, but I feel like there was just so many MORE pins to look at and want to buy this year! Also picked up a lanyard to put my badge on. It was weird and awkward having it on my backpack up to that point.
Wandered back near the Heartleaf games table to eat a snack while waiting for 4 PM so I could join a D&D adventure. Coincidentally the new friend I had made was also there and we got to be in a party together. The adventure was broken up into two sessions one of Friday and the other on Saturday. Got to play a Paladin Bear, smiting monsters! It was real fun. It was SO refreshing to get to play D&D after so long and actually get to finish a story. During this first session we got to explore a fantasy cruise ship (the first of its kind in the lore) and meet NPCs, ending with a kracken attacking the ship. I'll get to the second session when I get to Saturday.
Though there wasn't that much to do on Friday. When the session was over, we dispersed again. Finally remembered to eat some food at a food joint next to the hotel. Very good empanadas. YUM!
The last thing I got to do was visit the TF panel during the after dark period of the day. Wanted to go to the VN panel too, but by the time the TF panel was over, I was getting too tired and had to call it a night. I had to migrate north for the night, afterall. I did bring a bag with stuff to stay overnight somewhere if I did get to a point where I was too tired to drive, but luckily it didn't come to that. I know my limits well enough.
A little bit of a later morning than Friday. Didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn just to get in line for registration afterall. Brought my mason jar of pins this time for the pin trading panel that afternoon.
Starting things off by checking out and witnessing the big fursuit group photo, no parade this year sadly. Seeing all the cool fursuits got me wanting one of my own that little bit more. Someday...
That sentiment definitely lingered and totally did not inform my decision to buy a pre-made tail during the day's trip through the dealer's den. Nope! *looks around suspiciously* (I don't think they noticed)
But seriously, one of the other big reasons I bought the tail that I did was due to the particular shade of red the fur was. Like, oh! This is the perfect shade for a potential future Ryker suit someday.
After putting that on, I made my way down to the pin trading panel and made several trades, like way more than I was imagining I would end up trading. Good trades though, really happy with the stuff I got!
Ending up going straight from that to the Colorado furs meet and got to learn a little bit more about local furry events and connections before heading off toward D&D again.
Session two was a lot more combat heavy. After landing the final blow against the kracken, the ship turned into a floating, moving dungeon on the high seas. We ventured below deck, fighting monsters and saving our fellow passengers from the monsters that had taken up residence in the transformed halls of the ship. That session ended with a fight against a demi-kracken down in the ship's magitech engine room that had caused the ship to turn into a dungeon in the first place. Turns out putting a dungeon boss monster inside the engine of a ship has consequences.
Not quite sure how I ended up being the one to also land the final blow on this kracken too. (It did nearly kill me though, had real low health by the end of that fight.)
Had so much fun playing that I planned to pick up the book at their table the following day (since the table had closed for the day by the time we were done.)
Ended up being a slightly earlier exit that night, not any late night panels that I absolutely HAD to go to over getting home and sleeping.
Started off this day at the con going beelining for the Heartleaf Games table to buy the book. Looking forward to reading through that later! Afterward went to a Christian Furry Fellowship panel. Had some burning curiosity that needed satiating. Turned out to be a really good discussion!
Afterward met up with a mutual over on bluesky and wound up talking the day away with them talking their ear off about Pikmin. I tend to be pretty shy and bad about starting a conversation, but once you get me going, I turn into a yapper. Talked so much of the day away that the only other thing I did that day was go to the closing ceremonies before leaving.
Didn't win the fursuit charity raffle, as expected. The odds are rarely in my favor. But it was worth a shot and the money went toward the charity. I forgot what its called, probably should have written it down at some point, but it was like a shelter for little itty bitty kittens. (They brought a few and they were in fact the most adorably sweet little kittens I had ever seen.)
Going into this con, my main goals were to go for the whole weekend, make new friends, and learn more about my local furry community, and I think I succeeded quite well!
Denfur 2025 was a great time, and I'm excited to go again next year! Maybe next time I'll bring some caffeine so I can get through all the late night panels without passing out from exhaustion.
It was an INCREDIBLE experience to get to go for the whole weekend this time. Last year was a great day-out sort of experience, but I didn't really know what to make of it all in the moment. Didn't do much exploring or even that much talking. Definitely put in work to rectify that this time around.
Day 1: Friday
Woke up early since I had decided to commute down to the con for the whole weekend. Definitely the right decision for my wallet, way cheaper than finding a place in downtown Denver. Ate up a quarter of a tank of gas each day plus parking, but those were manageable. But I digress.
I had made sure to get most of my stuff in the car the night before, so I didn't have to worry as much the day of. Pretty much just had to get the glamrock Freddy cosplay I'd been working on into the car and change when I got there (not like a suit or anything, more like an outfit based on the design). Grabbed some quick breakfast and refueled on the way down for good measure.
Lucked out in how early I got there, and managed to get pretty close to the front of the line too! Early enough to be able to go to the opening ceremonies. That was fun to experience. Afterwards visited the Heart Leaf Games table and picked up a couple of their pins. Did some shopping around artist alley, picking up another couple of pins as well as a pair of small prints.
Along the way got my paws on the badge I had commissioned from HowdyLake. Still obsessed with the little Polaroid badge! Still wild to look at art of Ryker that I can hold in my hands. Sure I can always just print off what I've commissioned but it's not quite the same, y'know?
Later on went to my first panel of the weekend. Recipe swapping! Side note: I had printed off a bunch of copies of some of my recipes to bring and just give to people at the con. Real glad I did that. It was nice having something unique of mine to share with others. Took up a lot of space in my backpack though, so I'll probably try to make it smaller so it's easier to bring along. Thoughts for next time I suppose. The panel was a little bit of a bust though, the panelist didn't show up, so we kinda just traded recipes by ourselves before awkwardly leaving. Though, got to meet a new friend at that panel! (Definitely want to have stickers to share next time. Don't have any of those...yet. Pending for next year.)
Did some more shopping in the dealer's den and bought even more pins. Had to restrain myself from buying more. There were a lot of really cool pins at the con this year. There were plenty of cool ones last year too, but I feel like there was just so many MORE pins to look at and want to buy this year! Also picked up a lanyard to put my badge on. It was weird and awkward having it on my backpack up to that point.
Wandered back near the Heartleaf games table to eat a snack while waiting for 4 PM so I could join a D&D adventure. Coincidentally the new friend I had made was also there and we got to be in a party together. The adventure was broken up into two sessions one of Friday and the other on Saturday. Got to play a Paladin Bear, smiting monsters! It was real fun. It was SO refreshing to get to play D&D after so long and actually get to finish a story. During this first session we got to explore a fantasy cruise ship (the first of its kind in the lore) and meet NPCs, ending with a kracken attacking the ship. I'll get to the second session when I get to Saturday.
Though there wasn't that much to do on Friday. When the session was over, we dispersed again. Finally remembered to eat some food at a food joint next to the hotel. Very good empanadas. YUM!
The last thing I got to do was visit the TF panel during the after dark period of the day. Wanted to go to the VN panel too, but by the time the TF panel was over, I was getting too tired and had to call it a night. I had to migrate north for the night, afterall. I did bring a bag with stuff to stay overnight somewhere if I did get to a point where I was too tired to drive, but luckily it didn't come to that. I know my limits well enough.
Day 2: Saturday
A little bit of a later morning than Friday. Didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn just to get in line for registration afterall. Brought my mason jar of pins this time for the pin trading panel that afternoon.
Starting things off by checking out and witnessing the big fursuit group photo, no parade this year sadly. Seeing all the cool fursuits got me wanting one of my own that little bit more. Someday...
That sentiment definitely lingered and totally did not inform my decision to buy a pre-made tail during the day's trip through the dealer's den. Nope! *looks around suspiciously* (I don't think they noticed)
But seriously, one of the other big reasons I bought the tail that I did was due to the particular shade of red the fur was. Like, oh! This is the perfect shade for a potential future Ryker suit someday.
After putting that on, I made my way down to the pin trading panel and made several trades, like way more than I was imagining I would end up trading. Good trades though, really happy with the stuff I got!
Ending up going straight from that to the Colorado furs meet and got to learn a little bit more about local furry events and connections before heading off toward D&D again.
Session two was a lot more combat heavy. After landing the final blow against the kracken, the ship turned into a floating, moving dungeon on the high seas. We ventured below deck, fighting monsters and saving our fellow passengers from the monsters that had taken up residence in the transformed halls of the ship. That session ended with a fight against a demi-kracken down in the ship's magitech engine room that had caused the ship to turn into a dungeon in the first place. Turns out putting a dungeon boss monster inside the engine of a ship has consequences.
Not quite sure how I ended up being the one to also land the final blow on this kracken too. (It did nearly kill me though, had real low health by the end of that fight.)
Had so much fun playing that I planned to pick up the book at their table the following day (since the table had closed for the day by the time we were done.)
Ended up being a slightly earlier exit that night, not any late night panels that I absolutely HAD to go to over getting home and sleeping.
Day 3: Sunday
Started off this day at the con going beelining for the Heartleaf Games table to buy the book. Looking forward to reading through that later! Afterward went to a Christian Furry Fellowship panel. Had some burning curiosity that needed satiating. Turned out to be a really good discussion!
Afterward met up with a mutual over on bluesky and wound up talking the day away with them talking their ear off about Pikmin. I tend to be pretty shy and bad about starting a conversation, but once you get me going, I turn into a yapper. Talked so much of the day away that the only other thing I did that day was go to the closing ceremonies before leaving.
Didn't win the fursuit charity raffle, as expected. The odds are rarely in my favor. But it was worth a shot and the money went toward the charity. I forgot what its called, probably should have written it down at some point, but it was like a shelter for little itty bitty kittens. (They brought a few and they were in fact the most adorably sweet little kittens I had ever seen.)
Conclusions
Going into this con, my main goals were to go for the whole weekend, make new friends, and learn more about my local furry community, and I think I succeeded quite well!
Denfur 2025 was a great time, and I'm excited to go again next year! Maybe next time I'll bring some caffeine so I can get through all the late night panels without passing out from exhaustion.
Still Chugging Along!
General | Posted 4 months agoBeen a busy past month in the life beyond furry. Work's been busy, training new hires and such. Learned a couple weeks ago that our owners are planning on reopening the poolhall across the way from us. It'll be interesting when it gets to open. Haven't been able to play pool in years.
July had also been a month mostly focused on costuming. Finished assembling all the pieces for a glamrock freddy-inspired outfit! Just working on finding a couple accessories to finish tying it together as well as waiting for the makeup to arrive in the mail. Really excited with how it's turning out!
Also on the subject of costumes, I've been trying to learn how to sew a shirt and draft patterns for a different costume relating to the Halloween project I'm working on. Side tangent, I'm less certain that I'll be able to finish it all in time for Halloween, but we'll have to see. Currently working on making a sample piece to wrap my head around the shirt construction and sizing. If this new sample turns out well, I'll feel good enough to start working on the final pattern I want to make! But, for now, I gotta stick to a simple t shirt until I feel comfortable enough to make something more complicated. Maybe I'll submit what I make to the county fair next year, if it turns out okay.
Regarding the Halloween VN project itself, been struggling to draft the story. I've got an outline I'm happy with, but I've had a hard time getting anything done beyond the opening scene (that has now seen at least 4 iterations). We'll keep working at it...
This month isn't really going to be any less busy. Gotta do some car maintenance alongside updating the registration and also gearing up for DenFur at the end of the month.
Been feeling the itch to get back into writing more Homestead lately. That and wanting to write a few flash fiction-y shorts that've been rattling around in my head lately.
Been REALLY wanting to get back into developing recipes too. With the kitchen at home FINALLY working properly again, I feel like I can cook at home again. The past several months have been pretty miserable on that front. Long story short, the landlord has been pretty damn slow about repairing/replacing things that we've needed.
I think that's all the updates I have to share right now. Kinda feels like I'm starting to bounce back from an extended depressive episode. Honestly, if I can get through the rest year without dipping into another one, I will count it as a win.
Even as the world keeps burning, I'm trying to keep my chin up. One day at a time.
Stay safe out there y'all
July had also been a month mostly focused on costuming. Finished assembling all the pieces for a glamrock freddy-inspired outfit! Just working on finding a couple accessories to finish tying it together as well as waiting for the makeup to arrive in the mail. Really excited with how it's turning out!
Also on the subject of costumes, I've been trying to learn how to sew a shirt and draft patterns for a different costume relating to the Halloween project I'm working on. Side tangent, I'm less certain that I'll be able to finish it all in time for Halloween, but we'll have to see. Currently working on making a sample piece to wrap my head around the shirt construction and sizing. If this new sample turns out well, I'll feel good enough to start working on the final pattern I want to make! But, for now, I gotta stick to a simple t shirt until I feel comfortable enough to make something more complicated. Maybe I'll submit what I make to the county fair next year, if it turns out okay.
Regarding the Halloween VN project itself, been struggling to draft the story. I've got an outline I'm happy with, but I've had a hard time getting anything done beyond the opening scene (that has now seen at least 4 iterations). We'll keep working at it...
This month isn't really going to be any less busy. Gotta do some car maintenance alongside updating the registration and also gearing up for DenFur at the end of the month.
Been feeling the itch to get back into writing more Homestead lately. That and wanting to write a few flash fiction-y shorts that've been rattling around in my head lately.
Been REALLY wanting to get back into developing recipes too. With the kitchen at home FINALLY working properly again, I feel like I can cook at home again. The past several months have been pretty miserable on that front. Long story short, the landlord has been pretty damn slow about repairing/replacing things that we've needed.
I think that's all the updates I have to share right now. Kinda feels like I'm starting to bounce back from an extended depressive episode. Honestly, if I can get through the rest year without dipping into another one, I will count it as a win.
Even as the world keeps burning, I'm trying to keep my chin up. One day at a time.
Stay safe out there y'all
It's my BDay again!
General | Posted 5 months agoAnother year of life, another year survived.
I wanted to have the next chapter of Homestead ready for y'all to read today, but I haven't had time to finish editing it yet. Rest assured it is coming soon; however, it is going to be the only chapter for a while as I shift my gears toward finishing the script for my VN project this Halloween and making sure it's as ready for production as can be.
In the meantime, here's a small excerpt from the current draft of Homestead Chapter 7!
“We are waiting for my associate to arrive with your formula. If you recall from yesterday, I believe I said that it would take us all night to synthesize the G.A.F.s for you and your cohort.” There was a buzz before a frantic older man burst through the door of Dr. Zoh’s office, carrying a metal briefcase under his arm and a shaking cup of coffee in the other. “And there he is. Mr. Pradden, this is my associate and colleague Dr. Mitchell. After today, he will be the one guiding your transition.”
Ryker looked at this older man. He seemed to be somewhere in his forties, quite a bit older than the odd doctor standing next to him. The man’s salt and pepper facial hair lined a sharp, square jaw, joining with a scruffy head of scrambled hair. Dr. Mitchell’s eyes were sunken and worn from lack of sleep. His whole body seemed to shudder violently, no doubt on his fourth or fifth cup of coffee that morning.
“Good morning, you two. Sorry I’m late. I ran here as soon as the formula was done.” His voice was low and rough like a character from an old western movie Ryker had watched once. Despite the exhaustion in his tone, it held a genuine warmth behind it that put Ryker’s doubts of the man at ease. The pair waited while Dr. Mitchell set his things down on the desk and got himself organized.
I wanted to have the next chapter of Homestead ready for y'all to read today, but I haven't had time to finish editing it yet. Rest assured it is coming soon; however, it is going to be the only chapter for a while as I shift my gears toward finishing the script for my VN project this Halloween and making sure it's as ready for production as can be.
In the meantime, here's a small excerpt from the current draft of Homestead Chapter 7!
“We are waiting for my associate to arrive with your formula. If you recall from yesterday, I believe I said that it would take us all night to synthesize the G.A.F.s for you and your cohort.” There was a buzz before a frantic older man burst through the door of Dr. Zoh’s office, carrying a metal briefcase under his arm and a shaking cup of coffee in the other. “And there he is. Mr. Pradden, this is my associate and colleague Dr. Mitchell. After today, he will be the one guiding your transition.”
Ryker looked at this older man. He seemed to be somewhere in his forties, quite a bit older than the odd doctor standing next to him. The man’s salt and pepper facial hair lined a sharp, square jaw, joining with a scruffy head of scrambled hair. Dr. Mitchell’s eyes were sunken and worn from lack of sleep. His whole body seemed to shudder violently, no doubt on his fourth or fifth cup of coffee that morning.
“Good morning, you two. Sorry I’m late. I ran here as soon as the formula was done.” His voice was low and rough like a character from an old western movie Ryker had watched once. Despite the exhaustion in his tone, it held a genuine warmth behind it that put Ryker’s doubts of the man at ease. The pair waited while Dr. Mitchell set his things down on the desk and got himself organized.
It's Summertime! What's new?
General | Posted 6 months agoOh, not much. How about y'all?
But seriously, let's get into it.
Homestead is still coming along nicely. The next chapter is already well underway, and I'm feeling good about it! Not much else to report on that other than its still chugging along!
Its working title is: Ferrum Solis. I'm planning it as a Visual Novel (VN) project. It's still pretty early in the drafting phase right now, but on track to be ready in time for Halloween. So that's good! It's not intended to be super furry, but I think y'all will still like it. I know that I'm really excited about it!
Sadly, I haven't been doing much cooking lately, since the refrigerator at my place keeps breaking down. Kinda hard to store leftovers/ingredients if there's nowhere to store it safely after all. It's definitely been getting on my nerves and hurting my mental health and wallet. I just get mad when I think about that, so let's move on.
It's getting scrapped. No more chapters or anything. While it sucks to leave a story unfinished like this, I just don't see a good way to keep it going that isn't going to further hurt it. There are just other projects I'd rather work on right now. Maybe sometime later I'll release the proto-short story that the Draconian Adventures thing was written to replace. Maybe.
I'm going to be attending DenFur again this year! I'm really excited about that! The time I got to spend last year was really fun, and I really want to get to spend more time there this time around.
Why DenFur? It's state local for me and also I have very little experience with traveling in general.
Y'all have undoubtedly noticed the uptick in commissioned art lately. It's been fun to get to commission some pieces here and there. If anything, it's been a great way to get better connected to other people in the furry fandom.
Anyway, I think that's all the news I have to share right now. I hope y'all are having a great day and stay safe out there!
But seriously, let's get into it.
Writings and Stuff
Homestead
Homestead is still coming along nicely. The next chapter is already well underway, and I'm feeling good about it! Not much else to report on that other than its still chugging along!
Halloween Photography Project?
Its working title is: Ferrum Solis. I'm planning it as a Visual Novel (VN) project. It's still pretty early in the drafting phase right now, but on track to be ready in time for Halloween. So that's good! It's not intended to be super furry, but I think y'all will still like it. I know that I'm really excited about it!
Narrative Recipes
Sadly, I haven't been doing much cooking lately, since the refrigerator at my place keeps breaking down. Kinda hard to store leftovers/ingredients if there's nowhere to store it safely after all. It's definitely been getting on my nerves and hurting my mental health and wallet. I just get mad when I think about that, so let's move on.
Draconian Adventures
It's getting scrapped. No more chapters or anything. While it sucks to leave a story unfinished like this, I just don't see a good way to keep it going that isn't going to further hurt it. There are just other projects I'd rather work on right now. Maybe sometime later I'll release the proto-short story that the Draconian Adventures thing was written to replace. Maybe.
Other Things
Furry Convention
I'm going to be attending DenFur again this year! I'm really excited about that! The time I got to spend last year was really fun, and I really want to get to spend more time there this time around.
Why DenFur? It's state local for me and also I have very little experience with traveling in general.
Art
Y'all have undoubtedly noticed the uptick in commissioned art lately. It's been fun to get to commission some pieces here and there. If anything, it's been a great way to get better connected to other people in the furry fandom.
Anyway, I think that's all the news I have to share right now. I hope y'all are having a great day and stay safe out there!
50 Watcher Story Raffle Type Thing: CLOSED
General | Posted 6 months ago50 Watchers! Neat!
Thank you all for taking a look at my little corner of this community! As a thank you to you all, I want to try something new and do a short story raffle. I have no idea if this will be at all successful as an experiment, but its worth exploring!
Transformation or at least some level of physical change.
I wanna keep things pretty manageable, so my goal is to aim for a ~2000 word short focused on the transformation itself.
To kinda help this along, I have just a couple of scenarios to pick from.
While backpacking through the Rocky Mountains, you come across an old wooden cabin. It's getting late, and the hope of a warm bed lures you in. Turns out the cabin is occupied by a peculiar and charming old woman! She kindly lets you stay the night and offers to feed you some freshly baked treats. While she says her secret ingredient is love, there's an odd aftertaste to whatever she fed you...
A short written in a style similar to my Narrative Recipes with a transformative twist.
Whether by choice or by force, you find yourself down in one of Dr. Zoh's underground laboratories, and he's eager to use you for one of his experiments...
A short written in the world of Intramorph. This story would exist within the canon of Homestead: A New Breed.
Winner of the raffle gets to decide scenario, transformation, and trigger.
A short with major aspects chosen by the winner.
A) You must be following me here on FA.
B) You must express your interest to be entered to win in the comments down below.
C) Please include which scenario option you would like a story of. (If picking Option 3: Winner's Choice, be sure to include a very brief description of the scenario you would like such as: Transformation Farm, Pills with Side effects, Potion Tester, Curiosities Shop, etc. Just keep it SFW okay?)
Once entered into the raffle, each entry will be assigned a number. When the raffle closes, one number will be chosen at random. The winner associated with that number will be notified via Note here on FA. The winner will have 24 hours from the time of the note being sent to acknowledge, so we can move onto next steps. If there is a failure to reply within the 24 hour period, the next winner will be drawn and the process repeated.
Lastly, the Raffle will be open from the point of this journal going live to May 12th, 2025 at 5 PM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
I hope this was clear, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them down in the comments. I'll do my best to clarify anything.
Thank you all for taking a look at my little corner of this community! As a thank you to you all, I want to try something new and do a short story raffle. I have no idea if this will be at all successful as an experiment, but its worth exploring!
So What's This Raffle About?
Transformation or at least some level of physical change.
I wanna keep things pretty manageable, so my goal is to aim for a ~2000 word short focused on the transformation itself.
To kinda help this along, I have just a couple of scenarios to pick from.
The Scenarios.
Option 1: Cabin in the Woods
While backpacking through the Rocky Mountains, you come across an old wooden cabin. It's getting late, and the hope of a warm bed lures you in. Turns out the cabin is occupied by a peculiar and charming old woman! She kindly lets you stay the night and offers to feed you some freshly baked treats. While she says her secret ingredient is love, there's an odd aftertaste to whatever she fed you...
A short written in a style similar to my Narrative Recipes with a transformative twist.
Option 2: Intramorph Experimentation
Whether by choice or by force, you find yourself down in one of Dr. Zoh's underground laboratories, and he's eager to use you for one of his experiments...
A short written in the world of Intramorph. This story would exist within the canon of Homestead: A New Breed.
Option 3: Winner's Choice
Winner of the raffle gets to decide scenario, transformation, and trigger.
A short with major aspects chosen by the winner.
How do I Enter?
A) You must be following me here on FA.
B) You must express your interest to be entered to win in the comments down below.
C) Please include which scenario option you would like a story of. (If picking Option 3: Winner's Choice, be sure to include a very brief description of the scenario you would like such as: Transformation Farm, Pills with Side effects, Potion Tester, Curiosities Shop, etc. Just keep it SFW okay?)
How Will the Raffle Work?
Once entered into the raffle, each entry will be assigned a number. When the raffle closes, one number will be chosen at random. The winner associated with that number will be notified via Note here on FA. The winner will have 24 hours from the time of the note being sent to acknowledge, so we can move onto next steps. If there is a failure to reply within the 24 hour period, the next winner will be drawn and the process repeated.
Lastly, the Raffle will be open from the point of this journal going live to May 12th, 2025 at 5 PM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
I hope this was clear, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them down in the comments. I'll do my best to clarify anything.
Sorry, more delays.
General | Posted 8 months agoI know I said I was gonna try to be consistent and that I'm still focused on getting this story finished this year, but damnit life always has to keep setting up roadblocks for having time enough to write and edit.
Chapter 5 is finished, but I don't have time this week to do final checks and uploading right now. A)tax week. B) Training new hires at work. C) Family stuff (Bdays and helping some family navigate a marriage-planning and such)
I just feel like more plates are getting added to my already long list of tasks of plates to finish. I'm left so tired at the end of every day that it's so hard to do anything other than rest and sleep to do it all again the next day.
I want Homestead: A New Breed to have the time and care it needs to be great and all that, but it's been so hard to have time left in the day to really sit down and be creative. I'm just so tired.
Chapter 5 is finished, but I don't have time this week to do final checks and uploading right now. A)tax week. B) Training new hires at work. C) Family stuff (Bdays and helping some family navigate a marriage-planning and such)
I just feel like more plates are getting added to my already long list of tasks of plates to finish. I'm left so tired at the end of every day that it's so hard to do anything other than rest and sleep to do it all again the next day.
I want Homestead: A New Breed to have the time and care it needs to be great and all that, but it's been so hard to have time left in the day to really sit down and be creative. I'm just so tired.
Chapter 4 slight delay
General | Posted 8 months agoSorry, no new chapter today. Just been busy all day there hasn't been time to get the chapter uploaded. Don't worry though! It'll be out first thing in the morning (Mountain Daylight Time).
Intramorph is coming back!
General | Posted 8 months agoWoo!
FINALLY getting to return to Intramorph and tell Ryker's story. Been tinkering around with this rebooted version of the story for a while since it became clear that the original draft was not going to a place I wanted to write anymore, but after some tinkering and reworking, I'm ready to start sharing what's been going on with this world! I'll save more of the details for something I'll be posting during the weekend, so stay tuned.
But the key thing is that there's more story to tell! The first two chapters will be going up this Monday with the plan to upload a new chapter every following Monday until the story is finished (hopefully *knocks on wood*). I've prepped a handful of chapters ahead of time, so hopefully it'll be enough of a runway to keep going without having to stop. Really trying to lean in on consistency this year and it's about time to start showing it!
FINALLY getting to return to Intramorph and tell Ryker's story. Been tinkering around with this rebooted version of the story for a while since it became clear that the original draft was not going to a place I wanted to write anymore, but after some tinkering and reworking, I'm ready to start sharing what's been going on with this world! I'll save more of the details for something I'll be posting during the weekend, so stay tuned.
But the key thing is that there's more story to tell! The first two chapters will be going up this Monday with the plan to upload a new chapter every following Monday until the story is finished (hopefully *knocks on wood*). I've prepped a handful of chapters ahead of time, so hopefully it'll be enough of a runway to keep going without having to stop. Really trying to lean in on consistency this year and it's about time to start showing it!
It's March! What am I up to now?
General | Posted 9 months agoFirst and foremost:
I finished my VN for the Love+Attraction Game Jam! It's called My Eternal Flame, a short kinda melancholic piece about a ram who came out to his best friend/roommate, and things did not turn out well. It's pretty short to, just over 6000 words give or take.
Honestly, I'm just really proud of myself for managing to start and finish a project within a month, which of course was the whole point of the game jam, but I'm really proud of myself for getting it done! It feels good. In fact, it makes me want to make another at some point in the future. I have a couple ideas bouncing around in my head, but those will have to stew on the backburner for a bit. There's other stuff to work on!
So what else am I working on?
Well, the rebooted version of Intramorph and its world is going strong. I've got a few chapters drafted so far. I want to finish the first act before releasing any of it. Still a few more chapters to write before that's ready, so I'm working on editing the chapters I have finished right now as I get back into the swing of writing in that world again. I didn't end up getting ANY work done during February. Making a VN takes a lot of time to make from start to finish. Totally worth it though. It was a great exercise.
I'm feeling good about this. My big goal as far as writing this year is to properly finish Ryker's Intramorph story.
Really riding high on the completion of My Eternal Flame and using that to propel me forward with the Intramorph story. With work being particularly crazy this last month and showing no signs of changing, working on these furry projects is starting to feel like the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Anyway, I hope y'all have been doing alright so far. We're not even a quarter of the way through the year and things have felt a bit...distopian here in the states. Sometimes, I just have to stop and breathe for a minute before I can continue with my day.
Just take things one day at a time. Eventually, things will get better.
Stay safe out there y'all. We'll survive.
Despite the chaos and darkness, my flame will continue to burn.
I finished my VN for the Love+Attraction Game Jam! It's called My Eternal Flame, a short kinda melancholic piece about a ram who came out to his best friend/roommate, and things did not turn out well. It's pretty short to, just over 6000 words give or take.
Honestly, I'm just really proud of myself for managing to start and finish a project within a month, which of course was the whole point of the game jam, but I'm really proud of myself for getting it done! It feels good. In fact, it makes me want to make another at some point in the future. I have a couple ideas bouncing around in my head, but those will have to stew on the backburner for a bit. There's other stuff to work on!
So what else am I working on?
Well, the rebooted version of Intramorph and its world is going strong. I've got a few chapters drafted so far. I want to finish the first act before releasing any of it. Still a few more chapters to write before that's ready, so I'm working on editing the chapters I have finished right now as I get back into the swing of writing in that world again. I didn't end up getting ANY work done during February. Making a VN takes a lot of time to make from start to finish. Totally worth it though. It was a great exercise.
I'm feeling good about this. My big goal as far as writing this year is to properly finish Ryker's Intramorph story.
Really riding high on the completion of My Eternal Flame and using that to propel me forward with the Intramorph story. With work being particularly crazy this last month and showing no signs of changing, working on these furry projects is starting to feel like the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Anyway, I hope y'all have been doing alright so far. We're not even a quarter of the way through the year and things have felt a bit...distopian here in the states. Sometimes, I just have to stop and breathe for a minute before I can continue with my day.
Just take things one day at a time. Eventually, things will get better.
Stay safe out there y'all. We'll survive.
Despite the chaos and darkness, my flame will continue to burn.
Furry Visual Novel Game Jam Progress Report
General | Posted 9 months agoPhew, just under a week left of this game jam and we're still mostly on track with the plan!
This weekend is focused on finishing the first round of coding for implementing the script and having a technically complete and playable build. It'd be silent, but it would at least have all the visuals in place.
If anyone knows a good sound effects library to sort through and use, I'm all ears!
I'm learning a lot and feeling kinda inspired to do another VN type thing at some point in the future! TBH, formatting the script file doesn't feel that far off from formatting text files for some of these FA submissions.
Anyway, time to sleep.
This weekend is focused on finishing the first round of coding for implementing the script and having a technically complete and playable build. It'd be silent, but it would at least have all the visuals in place.
If anyone knows a good sound effects library to sort through and use, I'm all ears!
I'm learning a lot and feeling kinda inspired to do another VN type thing at some point in the future! TBH, formatting the script file doesn't feel that far off from formatting text files for some of these FA submissions.
Anyway, time to sleep.
Furry Visual Novel? EDIT
General | Posted 10 months agoWhelp, it's decided. I'm going to make a visual novel.
If any of y'all have read my 2025 resolutions journal, then you may remember that I had expressed interest in participating in a furry visual novel game jam. I spent some time to think about it as well as do some work to see if it's even feasible to accomplish, and I came to the decision that I can do this.
Since it's just going to be me putting this together, It's going to take a lot of work to do everything that goes into making a visual novel, so my plan is to keep the story short and the scope small. The fewer locations and ideas, the easier it'll be to make/compile the assets I need to actually make the dang thing.
How am I going to make it?
With Ren'Py and a whole lot of YouTube tutorials. That and calling upon the little coding experience I already have as a baseline of understanding how to make this game.
Am I going to regret this decision?
Probably. I've never done this before, so there's bound to be obstacles. BUT! I'm determined to make something and this seems like as good a time as any to try my hand at writing a visual novel.
Side note: I have something else cooking up that might also be ready to release next month. Been working real hard on getting as much progress on that project done during this month when there's fewer deadlines and time commitments.
I'm really trying to commit to my plans and resolutions this year. If nothing else, I want to feel like I at least FINISHED a project.
Anyway, that's it for now.
Until next time,
See ya!
P.S. Here's the link to the game jam.
P.P.S. Been a little weird figuring out how to structure the writing, but I'm feeling good so far! About 2/3 of the way through drafting the script. Still right on track for my 3-4k word target. Also, been documenting my progress in a devlog. I'll probably maybe post that to scraps when I'm done.
If any of y'all have read my 2025 resolutions journal, then you may remember that I had expressed interest in participating in a furry visual novel game jam. I spent some time to think about it as well as do some work to see if it's even feasible to accomplish, and I came to the decision that I can do this.
Since it's just going to be me putting this together, It's going to take a lot of work to do everything that goes into making a visual novel, so my plan is to keep the story short and the scope small. The fewer locations and ideas, the easier it'll be to make/compile the assets I need to actually make the dang thing.
How am I going to make it?
With Ren'Py and a whole lot of YouTube tutorials. That and calling upon the little coding experience I already have as a baseline of understanding how to make this game.
Am I going to regret this decision?
Probably. I've never done this before, so there's bound to be obstacles. BUT! I'm determined to make something and this seems like as good a time as any to try my hand at writing a visual novel.
Side note: I have something else cooking up that might also be ready to release next month. Been working real hard on getting as much progress on that project done during this month when there's fewer deadlines and time commitments.
I'm really trying to commit to my plans and resolutions this year. If nothing else, I want to feel like I at least FINISHED a project.
Anyway, that's it for now.
Until next time,
See ya!
P.S. Here's the link to the game jam.
P.P.S. Been a little weird figuring out how to structure the writing, but I'm feeling good so far! About 2/3 of the way through drafting the script. Still right on track for my 3-4k word target. Also, been documenting my progress in a devlog. I'll probably maybe post that to scraps when I'm done.
4 Years...
General | Posted 10 months agoToday marks four years since I made this account and started interacting in the furry community. I kinda wanna take a minute to ponder on that.
I started this account shortly after entering into a personal low point in my life. I had recently dropped out of college. I was living with family still, and I didn't have a job. Not even a plan for my future.
That last semester in the Fall of 2020 was when I had first started doodling Ryker. I had never really thought too deeply about a fursona until that final semester and that was probably due to the art classes I decided to take in that semester. I learned a lot about traditional art. Still not very good at it, but that's beside the point. It got me thinking creatively in a way that I hadn't let myself do for pretty much my whole college career.
When I got to January 2021, I was not in a good mental state and, with a lot of new free time, needed something to put energy into.
And that's when the initial, super rough draft of Intramorph and Ryker's story came to be. It was very much a product of coping and looking for a more optimistic future for an idealized version of myself.
As I write this, I find it funny how I've come back to that story and have been working on a complete overhaul and rewrite of that story. It feels like I'm looking back at my past self and getting to commentate on where I was with the experience I've gained since then.
Mentally, I'm in a much better spot than I was. I've been working at my current job for almost three years now (despite my recent frustrations). I even moved out from family in the past year! Still can't afford to live anywhere completely on my own (hooray for high costs of living and low paying jobs, amiright?). To be honest, I'm still not any further along in the future planning part of the whole thing.
I really don't know how I'm supposed to know what I want out of a career. The entire thing has always been a mystery to me.
Aaaaanyway, what was I talking about? Oh, right. I was talking about the Intramorph reboot thing.
I'm still calling it the reboot thing, in part because I still don't have a title put together for it. There's a working title that not sold on and a few sparks of ideas for a new title, but I think I need to get further into the new draft to land on a good, fitting title for the revamped story. I'm really trying to make this some of my best work and writing. I'm about 9000 words into the current draft. My goal is to finish the first act or so of the story and have it edited before starting to release chapters. That way I can hopefully have a regular upload schedule for a while and still have time to continue writing and working on the rest of the story.
I think that's all I have to say on this little anniversary of mine. I hope y'all are staying safe this January.
I started this account shortly after entering into a personal low point in my life. I had recently dropped out of college. I was living with family still, and I didn't have a job. Not even a plan for my future.
That last semester in the Fall of 2020 was when I had first started doodling Ryker. I had never really thought too deeply about a fursona until that final semester and that was probably due to the art classes I decided to take in that semester. I learned a lot about traditional art. Still not very good at it, but that's beside the point. It got me thinking creatively in a way that I hadn't let myself do for pretty much my whole college career.
When I got to January 2021, I was not in a good mental state and, with a lot of new free time, needed something to put energy into.
And that's when the initial, super rough draft of Intramorph and Ryker's story came to be. It was very much a product of coping and looking for a more optimistic future for an idealized version of myself.
As I write this, I find it funny how I've come back to that story and have been working on a complete overhaul and rewrite of that story. It feels like I'm looking back at my past self and getting to commentate on where I was with the experience I've gained since then.
Mentally, I'm in a much better spot than I was. I've been working at my current job for almost three years now (despite my recent frustrations). I even moved out from family in the past year! Still can't afford to live anywhere completely on my own (hooray for high costs of living and low paying jobs, amiright?). To be honest, I'm still not any further along in the future planning part of the whole thing.
I really don't know how I'm supposed to know what I want out of a career. The entire thing has always been a mystery to me.
Aaaaanyway, what was I talking about? Oh, right. I was talking about the Intramorph reboot thing.
I'm still calling it the reboot thing, in part because I still don't have a title put together for it. There's a working title that not sold on and a few sparks of ideas for a new title, but I think I need to get further into the new draft to land on a good, fitting title for the revamped story. I'm really trying to make this some of my best work and writing. I'm about 9000 words into the current draft. My goal is to finish the first act or so of the story and have it edited before starting to release chapters. That way I can hopefully have a regular upload schedule for a while and still have time to continue writing and working on the rest of the story.
I think that's all I have to say on this little anniversary of mine. I hope y'all are staying safe this January.
2025 Plans and Resolutions
General | Posted 11 months agoNew Year: Time to Update the Yearly Plan
This year, I want to put out more writing and stuff in general. 2023 was a year focused on rethinking and editing my written work and 2024 was sparse at best regarding output.
In 2025, I'm trying to spend time during the winter months to work on and get ahead on some of the writing projects I want to do this year. The leading task on that docket is the rebooted Intramorph story. Since last September, I've been thinking and planning out what the rebooted story would be like, outlining the story, writing world lore, stuff like that. At this point, enough of the preplanning is put together to begin the draft. I'm planning to get through the first several chapters before releasing any of it, in hopes of having something come out with a level of consistency and regularity.
In February, I caught wind of a visual novel game jam that has me curious. I'm still debating about whether or not I want to give that a go, but I'm leaning toward yes. Find a way to experiment and learn how writing a visual novel script differs from the more book-like structure I've been doing.
I still want to keep doing little one-off narrative recipes throughout the year, I really enjoy writing them! So far, there's only one recipe that I have planned to make a narrative recipe with, but as I continue to cook, I'm sure there'll be other recipes that spark the inspiration for a narrative recipe!
Scales & Scars is once again on the back burner until further notice. Just kinda hit a wall with that story and haven't had the motivation to figure it out.
For this year's Halloween project, I'm trying to plan it out in a way that can lean into the furry side of things better than previous Halloween projects. It's still early in the planning phase as far as story, so there's still some time to figure it out.
As far as resolutions...
A) Obviously, to write more stuff.
B) To draw more and maybe figure out how to draw digitally. (Any suggestions for an Android user as far as apps?)
C) Commission cool art, wallet permitting. (There's a couple things I have in mind.)
D) Go to Denfur again and spend more than 1 day there.
And that's it as far as my current 2025 plans/resolutions. Here's hoping I can stick to at least most of it!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Year-In Review
General | Posted 11 months agoHoo boy. 2024 certainly has been...interesting. Definitely no shortage of stuff going on this year that's for sure.
First things first, I hope everyone is having a merry holiday season despite the stressors that go with them. It's been an eventful past couple of months.
Let's review all the things that happened this year and reflect, yeah?
First up, the Draconis story: Scales & Scars:
I had wanted to finish writing this story during this year and that absolutely did NOT happen. I only managed to finish two new chapters and partially draft a third.
Just kind of hit a wall with that story. I know most of what I want this story to be, but I just kind of fell off during the drafting phase of Chapter 12. I wanna finish it, but for now its just going to sit until I can find the drive to continue writing it...
Random Short Stories.
Wrote a few of these throughout the year, and I have really enjoyed writing them. There was another that I had wanted to finish and post for Halloween, but...I kinda forgot about it. I finished a draft and subsequently immediately forgot to go back to it and edit it to a point where I could post it. I'll remember... eventually. For right now though, I have been a bit sidetracked on stuff.
Anima:
EricMalves finished writing their second book and sequel to Anima; The Bird House It's a great book about slow burn transformation. I highly recommend reading it. If you like physical media, you can also pick up a physical copy of it alongside the sequel Anima: The Broken Wing. I actually wrote a bit of fanfiction for one of the characters in the second book, taking place during the final few chapters but from Liz's perspective. I'm still proud of that piece. EricMalves has done such a great job at making a world that really gets the mind going about the kinds of stories you can tell in it.
Alongside that, I also got to help with the editing of the second book before it got its own physical release. That was really fun!
Cookbook:
Got to do some good work on the recipes for the cookbook. Even released a couple of recipes this year along the way! I'm still really excited with this project, though progress is always slow, since recipe testing and refining just takes a WHILE. On the bright side, there's just a couple more recipes to finish before one of the chapters has all of its recipes written!
Part of the slow writing this year has come from updating my recipe formatting for the raw recipes, since most of them were just scribbled on paper as I made the recipes and later transcribed into my computer. I'm just a bit analog I suppose.
IRL:
Food service job has been really stressful this year. Got busy during mother's day weekend and kinda hasn't exactly stopped. Spent a bunch of the summer training new hires as some of our long-time coworkers finally moved on, including our assistant kitchen manager. So we had a bit of a management shake up which was immediately followed by new ownership since the old owners wanted to move on from the business. It's been bumpy to say the least. Been feeling really burnt out over the whole thing to be honest.
Aside from work being all over the place I moved. Had the bright and well-though out idea to do the move during the 4th of July weekend. Definitely not exhausting at all. *eye twitches*
Sure it was stressful, but the move has been a good thing for me overall.
And then a month and a half later, I went to my first convention, and not just my first convention, my first furry convention! I already wrote a whole journal about that experience if you want the details about my feelings on that experience, just read that journal. But the TL;DR is that I had a great time and 100% planning to go again.
Denfur was such a fun experience. Really inspiring and energizing.
Art:
The experience at Denfur alongside getting to be part of a gift art raffle by
GabZero spurred me to look more into commissioning artists, budget allowing.
It was so surreal to see a drawing of Ryker of myself for the first time. Sure I had drawn my original profile picture, but my own skills are pretty limited and seeing what Ryker can look like by the hand of someone who knows a lot more about drawing than me was inspiring in its own right.
Which in turn led me to final commission a proper ref sheet for Ryker and update the written part from years ago. Ended up getting the art commissioned from bleydhdu.bsky.social. It turned out so good! Really wanna get another commission from him sometime soon. I have an idea for something I've been cooking up in the background, but I'll get to that a little bit later.
That's not the last thing I commissioned. I also got a commission from
Phoenix-Werewolf. I'll try to post it soon. Just need to remember to do it.
Stuff in the Works:
Like I said above, I'm always working on the cookbook, finishing it bit-by-bit. I'm also working on next year's Halloween Photography Story and Costume. The costume is planned and partially assembled. Gonna do some modifications to the pieces because I have ideas. It'll be fun!
Still working on random short stories here and there. Some unfinished, some nearly finished, some planned, and so on.
All the new art of Ryker is not all for the character/lore. Been working on rebooting the Intramorph world and progress for that is ongoing. Hopefully, I'll have something to show of it during next year, but who knows? *knocks on wood*
Anyway, I think that's all I wanted to talk about. Again, I hope y'all are having a happy holiday season. With how dark the world seems to have gotten the past couple of months, we could all use a little light and happiness.
Merry Christms Eve y'all.
Ryker
First things first, I hope everyone is having a merry holiday season despite the stressors that go with them. It's been an eventful past couple of months.
Let's review all the things that happened this year and reflect, yeah?
First up, the Draconis story: Scales & Scars:
I had wanted to finish writing this story during this year and that absolutely did NOT happen. I only managed to finish two new chapters and partially draft a third.
Just kind of hit a wall with that story. I know most of what I want this story to be, but I just kind of fell off during the drafting phase of Chapter 12. I wanna finish it, but for now its just going to sit until I can find the drive to continue writing it...
Random Short Stories.
Wrote a few of these throughout the year, and I have really enjoyed writing them. There was another that I had wanted to finish and post for Halloween, but...I kinda forgot about it. I finished a draft and subsequently immediately forgot to go back to it and edit it to a point where I could post it. I'll remember... eventually. For right now though, I have been a bit sidetracked on stuff.
Anima:
EricMalves finished writing their second book and sequel to Anima; The Bird House It's a great book about slow burn transformation. I highly recommend reading it. If you like physical media, you can also pick up a physical copy of it alongside the sequel Anima: The Broken Wing. I actually wrote a bit of fanfiction for one of the characters in the second book, taking place during the final few chapters but from Liz's perspective. I'm still proud of that piece. EricMalves has done such a great job at making a world that really gets the mind going about the kinds of stories you can tell in it. Alongside that, I also got to help with the editing of the second book before it got its own physical release. That was really fun!
Cookbook:
Got to do some good work on the recipes for the cookbook. Even released a couple of recipes this year along the way! I'm still really excited with this project, though progress is always slow, since recipe testing and refining just takes a WHILE. On the bright side, there's just a couple more recipes to finish before one of the chapters has all of its recipes written!
Part of the slow writing this year has come from updating my recipe formatting for the raw recipes, since most of them were just scribbled on paper as I made the recipes and later transcribed into my computer. I'm just a bit analog I suppose.
IRL:
Food service job has been really stressful this year. Got busy during mother's day weekend and kinda hasn't exactly stopped. Spent a bunch of the summer training new hires as some of our long-time coworkers finally moved on, including our assistant kitchen manager. So we had a bit of a management shake up which was immediately followed by new ownership since the old owners wanted to move on from the business. It's been bumpy to say the least. Been feeling really burnt out over the whole thing to be honest.
Aside from work being all over the place I moved. Had the bright and well-though out idea to do the move during the 4th of July weekend. Definitely not exhausting at all. *eye twitches*
Sure it was stressful, but the move has been a good thing for me overall.
And then a month and a half later, I went to my first convention, and not just my first convention, my first furry convention! I already wrote a whole journal about that experience if you want the details about my feelings on that experience, just read that journal. But the TL;DR is that I had a great time and 100% planning to go again.
Denfur was such a fun experience. Really inspiring and energizing.
Art:
The experience at Denfur alongside getting to be part of a gift art raffle by
GabZero spurred me to look more into commissioning artists, budget allowing. It was so surreal to see a drawing of Ryker of myself for the first time. Sure I had drawn my original profile picture, but my own skills are pretty limited and seeing what Ryker can look like by the hand of someone who knows a lot more about drawing than me was inspiring in its own right.
Which in turn led me to final commission a proper ref sheet for Ryker and update the written part from years ago. Ended up getting the art commissioned from bleydhdu.bsky.social. It turned out so good! Really wanna get another commission from him sometime soon. I have an idea for something I've been cooking up in the background, but I'll get to that a little bit later.
That's not the last thing I commissioned. I also got a commission from
Phoenix-Werewolf. I'll try to post it soon. Just need to remember to do it. Stuff in the Works:
Like I said above, I'm always working on the cookbook, finishing it bit-by-bit. I'm also working on next year's Halloween Photography Story and Costume. The costume is planned and partially assembled. Gonna do some modifications to the pieces because I have ideas. It'll be fun!
Still working on random short stories here and there. Some unfinished, some nearly finished, some planned, and so on.
All the new art of Ryker is not all for the character/lore. Been working on rebooting the Intramorph world and progress for that is ongoing. Hopefully, I'll have something to show of it during next year, but who knows? *knocks on wood*
Anyway, I think that's all I wanted to talk about. Again, I hope y'all are having a happy holiday season. With how dark the world seems to have gotten the past couple of months, we could all use a little light and happiness.
Merry Christms Eve y'all.
Ryker
Marching Ever Forward
General | Posted a year agoI feel like none of the stuff I'm working on ever makes it here.
Every new creative idea draws me in a different direction. While some are getting done, a lot of them don't really fit the core furry content on here. I love photography, and fursuit photography sounds like a really cool avenue to explore. However, that difficulty remains steadfast due to the lack of local furry friends.
The cookbook's progress continues on its slow, clockwork-like pace. On the bright side, one of the four major chapters worth of recipes is nearly done! On the downside, my oven broke down and I can't bake anything!
I've been spending a lot of time working on the planning and overall brainstorming behind the Intramorph reboot piece. I've been caught on a snag regarding the villain logic for a while now. It needs to make sense and still be directly relatable to the main point of the story I want to tell. But there are other ideas for what Intramorph could be as an antagonistic force that I'm stuck pondering if any of them can fit together or if I have to shelve some of them for a different story in the future.
Since posting a couple of my Halloween costume stories, I've also been thinking about how I can rework one of them into a more furry-centric idea. We'll see how that pans out.
Watched Wicked the other night. Wow. Incredible. My theatre kid heart was screeching the entire time. I'm by no means a theatre nerd like so many people. Where I live does NOT have a particularly strong theatre scene, so experiencing new stage plays and musicals live is more of a rarity for me. I'd love to see more though...
I feel like there's been a lot of great movies and shows coming out this year. To name a few of the ones that hooked me this year: Inside Out 2, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (actually did a Beetlejuice costume for my fun Halloween costume this year), Agatha All Along, Arcane Season 2, and Wicked were probably the standouts for me this year.
Videogames on the other hand haven't really captured me, emotionally this year. Though, to be honest, I doubt any game will get the same reaction out of me as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 did. The ending of one of those chapters legit had me ugly crying for at least 30 minutes before I could continue playing the game.
At this point, I'm rambling about random stuff, so I guess it'd probably be best to stop before I ramble into complete boredom.
Regardless, I hope y'all are doing alright. It's certainly been a long month.
Every new creative idea draws me in a different direction. While some are getting done, a lot of them don't really fit the core furry content on here. I love photography, and fursuit photography sounds like a really cool avenue to explore. However, that difficulty remains steadfast due to the lack of local furry friends.
The cookbook's progress continues on its slow, clockwork-like pace. On the bright side, one of the four major chapters worth of recipes is nearly done! On the downside, my oven broke down and I can't bake anything!
I've been spending a lot of time working on the planning and overall brainstorming behind the Intramorph reboot piece. I've been caught on a snag regarding the villain logic for a while now. It needs to make sense and still be directly relatable to the main point of the story I want to tell. But there are other ideas for what Intramorph could be as an antagonistic force that I'm stuck pondering if any of them can fit together or if I have to shelve some of them for a different story in the future.
Since posting a couple of my Halloween costume stories, I've also been thinking about how I can rework one of them into a more furry-centric idea. We'll see how that pans out.
Watched Wicked the other night. Wow. Incredible. My theatre kid heart was screeching the entire time. I'm by no means a theatre nerd like so many people. Where I live does NOT have a particularly strong theatre scene, so experiencing new stage plays and musicals live is more of a rarity for me. I'd love to see more though...
I feel like there's been a lot of great movies and shows coming out this year. To name a few of the ones that hooked me this year: Inside Out 2, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (actually did a Beetlejuice costume for my fun Halloween costume this year), Agatha All Along, Arcane Season 2, and Wicked were probably the standouts for me this year.
Videogames on the other hand haven't really captured me, emotionally this year. Though, to be honest, I doubt any game will get the same reaction out of me as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 did. The ending of one of those chapters legit had me ugly crying for at least 30 minutes before I could continue playing the game.
At this point, I'm rambling about random stuff, so I guess it'd probably be best to stop before I ramble into complete boredom.
Regardless, I hope y'all are doing alright. It's certainly been a long month.
Strength in Community
General | Posted a year agoSince I saw the results this morning, I knew I needed to say something. To let my voice be heard and to process everything that's happening.
Presidential elections are stressful and messy. And that's putting it lightly. As a nation, we are so polarized. To that extent, I feel like social media has exacerbated and accelerated that polarization. Algorithms are designed to feed us more of the same content we already consume. We find ourselves in echo chambers to hear the same messages over and over again. Sometimes it makes it hard to stomach the opposing side.
But what does that mean in the context of the results in this election? I believe that this comes in two parts, the first being that it's nearly impossible to change someone's mind on a point they believe strongly in. Some people simply won't budge. The second is to recognize our own blindspots in understanding an opposing perspective or argument.
While I voted for and hoped for Kamala's victory in the election, I also find myself unsurprised at the outcome we got. I think I understand why I feel this way.
Something I noticed pretty quickly when it came to differences between X and Bluesky was that people were encouraging others to block/ignore/not engage with hateful people on Bluesky, where X typically resulted in Quote-reposting and commentating directly on a hateful person. It feeds back into the algorithms of social media. The more people and users engage with a topic, the more popular it becomes (I use popular in the sense that a lot of people are discussing it rather than lots of people liking something).
The more people engage with a topic or person, either by agreeing with the message or pointing out faults/fatal flaws in that topic or person, the more power it gains. The bigger of a spotlight it gets and the cycle continues to perpetuate itself. Meanwhile, turning off the spotlight or shifting it to something or someone else weakens it. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
The same idea applies to the election. By default the two major parties of this nation put a rather large spotlight on their candidates, causing people to engage with and feed those spotlights further. While there are other parties, none of them have been able to produce a bright enough spotlight to grab people's attention away from the main two.
Throughout the campaign candidates seek to keep engagement up by going to rallies, giving speeches, debating their opponents, etc. From my perspective, it seems that campaigning is pretty similar to the idea of marketing.
Which takes us back to the algorithms of social media and the news coverage of traditional media. Clickbait, targeted/leading titles, scandalous/dramatic stories are all methods to get more engagement and thus grow the spotlight.
I don't know about you all, but whenever I do watch the local news stations, most if not all of the news stories tend toward dramatic and/or negative stories over feel good and positive stories? This is largely because drama sells. People have historically been more likely to engage with that content over the good. And that's kind of sad to me.
So we once again return our attention to the election and this year's campaigning. I can't say that I've seen as much news about Kamala during the campaign as Trump and that's because Trump has continued to remain in the news constantly and in VERY public ways.
The judicial trials he found himself in, put a spotlight on him. The two separate attempts on his life put a spotlight on him. His outbursts at rallies put a spotlight on him.
People kept on talking about him over and over again.
This is why I wasn't exactly surprised at the results we've seen. I'm disheartened by the results. I'm disheartened that when Trump was exposed and convicted in court, people not only continued to support him, but doubled down.
I've spent so much of today trying to sort through this feeling and understand why I wasn't surprised.
But getting to this point leaves me with another question.
What do we do now?
We find strength in our community, both in the furry fandom, but also in our local/state communities. Having community with others means we have the power to support each other, to lean on each other when times are hard, and to enact change on a smaller scale.
When the federal government threatens to take away people's rights, it then falls to the states we live in to decide whether or not someone's rights are worth protecting. In that, is a silver lining to take hope in.
Our local communities/states have the power to become a line of defense for people, to protect us, our friends, our families, our neighbors, and even strangers on the streets. Our voices are louder when there are fewer voices in the crowd. That voice gets amplified when more people speak as one, together.
In the face of an uncertain and terrifying future, it'll be easier to face with friends and allies by our sides.
Aside from engaging in local politics there are other ways to "vote" in the American society. Voting with the dollar (or what few we can spare) is likely the next best way to help others and strengthen our communities. We can choose to boycott companies that fund/lobby policies that threaten the people. We can choose to donate money to charities that actively work to care for and support people in need.
I can only hope that what I've said makes sense. Despite the results of the election, we, as the people, still have the power to make a change in this nation. We have to hold onto hope and resist despair. For if we give into despair, then hope for a brighter future is truly lost.
P.S. I have absolutely no idea how this journal will be received or if anyone will even read it, but I knew that I had to say SOMETHING. I couldn't just sit by and watch everything unfold around me without speaking my mind.
Please. Stay safe. Stay warm. And Sleep well.
Presidential elections are stressful and messy. And that's putting it lightly. As a nation, we are so polarized. To that extent, I feel like social media has exacerbated and accelerated that polarization. Algorithms are designed to feed us more of the same content we already consume. We find ourselves in echo chambers to hear the same messages over and over again. Sometimes it makes it hard to stomach the opposing side.
But what does that mean in the context of the results in this election? I believe that this comes in two parts, the first being that it's nearly impossible to change someone's mind on a point they believe strongly in. Some people simply won't budge. The second is to recognize our own blindspots in understanding an opposing perspective or argument.
While I voted for and hoped for Kamala's victory in the election, I also find myself unsurprised at the outcome we got. I think I understand why I feel this way.
Something I noticed pretty quickly when it came to differences between X and Bluesky was that people were encouraging others to block/ignore/not engage with hateful people on Bluesky, where X typically resulted in Quote-reposting and commentating directly on a hateful person. It feeds back into the algorithms of social media. The more people and users engage with a topic, the more popular it becomes (I use popular in the sense that a lot of people are discussing it rather than lots of people liking something).
The more people engage with a topic or person, either by agreeing with the message or pointing out faults/fatal flaws in that topic or person, the more power it gains. The bigger of a spotlight it gets and the cycle continues to perpetuate itself. Meanwhile, turning off the spotlight or shifting it to something or someone else weakens it. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
The same idea applies to the election. By default the two major parties of this nation put a rather large spotlight on their candidates, causing people to engage with and feed those spotlights further. While there are other parties, none of them have been able to produce a bright enough spotlight to grab people's attention away from the main two.
Throughout the campaign candidates seek to keep engagement up by going to rallies, giving speeches, debating their opponents, etc. From my perspective, it seems that campaigning is pretty similar to the idea of marketing.
Which takes us back to the algorithms of social media and the news coverage of traditional media. Clickbait, targeted/leading titles, scandalous/dramatic stories are all methods to get more engagement and thus grow the spotlight.
I don't know about you all, but whenever I do watch the local news stations, most if not all of the news stories tend toward dramatic and/or negative stories over feel good and positive stories? This is largely because drama sells. People have historically been more likely to engage with that content over the good. And that's kind of sad to me.
So we once again return our attention to the election and this year's campaigning. I can't say that I've seen as much news about Kamala during the campaign as Trump and that's because Trump has continued to remain in the news constantly and in VERY public ways.
The judicial trials he found himself in, put a spotlight on him. The two separate attempts on his life put a spotlight on him. His outbursts at rallies put a spotlight on him.
People kept on talking about him over and over again.
This is why I wasn't exactly surprised at the results we've seen. I'm disheartened by the results. I'm disheartened that when Trump was exposed and convicted in court, people not only continued to support him, but doubled down.
I've spent so much of today trying to sort through this feeling and understand why I wasn't surprised.
But getting to this point leaves me with another question.
What do we do now?
We find strength in our community, both in the furry fandom, but also in our local/state communities. Having community with others means we have the power to support each other, to lean on each other when times are hard, and to enact change on a smaller scale.
When the federal government threatens to take away people's rights, it then falls to the states we live in to decide whether or not someone's rights are worth protecting. In that, is a silver lining to take hope in.
Our local communities/states have the power to become a line of defense for people, to protect us, our friends, our families, our neighbors, and even strangers on the streets. Our voices are louder when there are fewer voices in the crowd. That voice gets amplified when more people speak as one, together.
In the face of an uncertain and terrifying future, it'll be easier to face with friends and allies by our sides.
Aside from engaging in local politics there are other ways to "vote" in the American society. Voting with the dollar (or what few we can spare) is likely the next best way to help others and strengthen our communities. We can choose to boycott companies that fund/lobby policies that threaten the people. We can choose to donate money to charities that actively work to care for and support people in need.
I can only hope that what I've said makes sense. Despite the results of the election, we, as the people, still have the power to make a change in this nation. We have to hold onto hope and resist despair. For if we give into despair, then hope for a brighter future is truly lost.
P.S. I have absolutely no idea how this journal will be received or if anyone will even read it, but I knew that I had to say SOMETHING. I couldn't just sit by and watch everything unfold around me without speaking my mind.
Please. Stay safe. Stay warm. And Sleep well.
Amidst The Chaos, We Carry On
General | Posted a year agoElection season is always stressful. This year is particularly terrifying because the stakes of the results are the highest they've ever been. This very much is the most important election of a lifetime. Is it the most important election ever? I don't know. I'm not enough of a history buff to say that with any certainty, but I do know that this election with the policies at stake and the people running in it are making this election crucial for the future of the United States. If you're able to vote in the US, make sure you do so. Every vote truly matters. There's much more than just the federal election on our ballots. Local policies are just as important. States have the power to make their own change.
With electoral stressors out of the way, what about here? What am I still working on?
Well, as always, I'm slow at creating more written stuff because I'm a slow writer who keeps bouncing between a bunch of different stuff all at once like a madman.
But, like, what specifically?
Well the Narrative Cookbook continues to make slow and steady progress. It's still nowhere near completion, since I'm still writing recipes and such, but progress marches ever forward. I've been trying to figure out more of the visual style I want to aim for and I have a few ideas. As far as the writing style, I still intend to aim for the same kind of narrative storytelling style that I've used for some of my submissions.
Draconis has been on pause for awhile now, in part because I got kind of burnt out during the summer and haven't been able to get back into writing in that world yet. Chapter 12 is still only half drafted and I wish I had a better drive to continue this story right now, but I'm still struggling to find the passion to write in that world.
In part, because I've felt a very strong drive to reboot the Intramorph world and retell Ryker's (the character's) story. It got spurred on when I got the gift art of Ryker back in September. Which in turn encouraged me to finally commission a proper ref sheet. It turned out so good by the way! It makes me excited to explore his story again. Right now, I'm still planning and starting to outline this new version of the story. While the overall plot will still be very similar to what came before, the cast is getting completely overhauled and reworked to be more manageable and quite frankly relevant to the story.
I've learned a lot about storytelling since starting the original version of Ryker's story and I want to make this version of Ryker's story one of the best things I've ever written. Don't expect it anytime soon. It's still pretty early in the process right now, but what I've got outlined so far has me feeling really good about the direction of this story.
Next year's Halloween Photography project is already in the early planning stage. I already have some of the costume pieces assembled and the early ideas for a character to go with it. I want to revisit the steampunk werewolf idea, as I've mentioned in a previous journal. Like the Ryker Intramorph reboot, the plan to revisit the steampunk werewolf setting is also driven by the want to write something better and to showcase the progress I've made in my photography skills since making the original 4 going on 5 years ago now.
The 1950s scientist project from this year may not necessarily be my best work, but the photography side of it made me feel the most like my photography was actually art and not just sort of art. It felt good to be able to tell myself that my photography finally felt like art to me. It may not always be great, but it's finally turned a corner in my mind. Some of the photos from that project can be found in the gallery right now alongside the written narrative that goes with them.
On the topic of Halloween, the Spells, Curses, and Potions short story is fully drafted. It needs a bit of work and refinement before it's ready, so here's hoping I can set the time aside to finish it. I want to revisit the setting in this story for next year since I have other little stories planned, but there are just other projects that need priority over this right now. So once the super late Halloween bit is out, it'll be right back to the big projects again. I wanted it to be a short and easy project to just do super quick and be done with it. So much for quick.
Anyway, I think that's about everything I wanted to say.
Oh! Wait!
I almost forgot something. I'm on other platforms now. I finally made a telegram account! I also dusted off the abandoned Discord account I have. Still don't totally know how to use that one since I literally never used it, but it's there now! In other news, I'm also much more active on Bluesky as rykerunified.bsky.social. Trying to finally unify the distant parts of myself into one cohesive version.
Okay, NOW I think that's everything I wanted to say.
Stay safe out there.
Ryker
With electoral stressors out of the way, what about here? What am I still working on?
Well, as always, I'm slow at creating more written stuff because I'm a slow writer who keeps bouncing between a bunch of different stuff all at once like a madman.
But, like, what specifically?
Well the Narrative Cookbook continues to make slow and steady progress. It's still nowhere near completion, since I'm still writing recipes and such, but progress marches ever forward. I've been trying to figure out more of the visual style I want to aim for and I have a few ideas. As far as the writing style, I still intend to aim for the same kind of narrative storytelling style that I've used for some of my submissions.
Draconis has been on pause for awhile now, in part because I got kind of burnt out during the summer and haven't been able to get back into writing in that world yet. Chapter 12 is still only half drafted and I wish I had a better drive to continue this story right now, but I'm still struggling to find the passion to write in that world.
In part, because I've felt a very strong drive to reboot the Intramorph world and retell Ryker's (the character's) story. It got spurred on when I got the gift art of Ryker back in September. Which in turn encouraged me to finally commission a proper ref sheet. It turned out so good by the way! It makes me excited to explore his story again. Right now, I'm still planning and starting to outline this new version of the story. While the overall plot will still be very similar to what came before, the cast is getting completely overhauled and reworked to be more manageable and quite frankly relevant to the story.
I've learned a lot about storytelling since starting the original version of Ryker's story and I want to make this version of Ryker's story one of the best things I've ever written. Don't expect it anytime soon. It's still pretty early in the process right now, but what I've got outlined so far has me feeling really good about the direction of this story.
Next year's Halloween Photography project is already in the early planning stage. I already have some of the costume pieces assembled and the early ideas for a character to go with it. I want to revisit the steampunk werewolf idea, as I've mentioned in a previous journal. Like the Ryker Intramorph reboot, the plan to revisit the steampunk werewolf setting is also driven by the want to write something better and to showcase the progress I've made in my photography skills since making the original 4 going on 5 years ago now.
The 1950s scientist project from this year may not necessarily be my best work, but the photography side of it made me feel the most like my photography was actually art and not just sort of art. It felt good to be able to tell myself that my photography finally felt like art to me. It may not always be great, but it's finally turned a corner in my mind. Some of the photos from that project can be found in the gallery right now alongside the written narrative that goes with them.
On the topic of Halloween, the Spells, Curses, and Potions short story is fully drafted. It needs a bit of work and refinement before it's ready, so here's hoping I can set the time aside to finish it. I want to revisit the setting in this story for next year since I have other little stories planned, but there are just other projects that need priority over this right now. So once the super late Halloween bit is out, it'll be right back to the big projects again. I wanted it to be a short and easy project to just do super quick and be done with it. So much for quick.
Anyway, I think that's about everything I wanted to say.
Oh! Wait!
I almost forgot something. I'm on other platforms now. I finally made a telegram account! I also dusted off the abandoned Discord account I have. Still don't totally know how to use that one since I literally never used it, but it's there now! In other news, I'm also much more active on Bluesky as rykerunified.bsky.social. Trying to finally unify the distant parts of myself into one cohesive version.
Okay, NOW I think that's everything I wanted to say.
Stay safe out there.
Ryker
Halloween Is Nearly Upon Us!
General | Posted a year agoWe're so close to Halloween and I'm so excited! Some of the last photos for the photo series turned out so good! (Maybe one of my favorite photos from all of the photo series I've done so far.) That project is still on track to get brought over here for Halloween. Still need to figure out the thumbnail situation for that upload because I really want to incorporate more than one of the photos into this upload. A collage would probably be the best way to do that. In the meantime, I've uploaded a few of the photos from the photo series to my Bluesky account! (@rykerunified.bsky.social)
Really happy with how some of the photos came together for this year's project!
I already have a few ideas for how next year's costume and story are gonna come together. Already gonna revisit the steampunk setting from the werewolf alchemist story. I already have a few pieces of the costume already assembled. Steampunk blacksmith seems like a fun idea. Like a rebellion against the werewolves, I think.
The Spells, Curses, Potions story is still not done. I made a bit more progress, but this past weekend made it hard to have energy to work on it, since it was homecoming weekend for the local university and it was BUSY. (As expected but still.) I like the ideas going on in it, needs a bit of cleanup to get it where I want it, but the initial draft is almost done.
The Ryker 2.0 Ref Sheet situation is still progressing. Gonna do some reformatting to the style to make it a bit more versatile.
Anyway, I think that's about it for now. Stay safe and have a happy Halloween!
Really happy with how some of the photos came together for this year's project!
I already have a few ideas for how next year's costume and story are gonna come together. Already gonna revisit the steampunk setting from the werewolf alchemist story. I already have a few pieces of the costume already assembled. Steampunk blacksmith seems like a fun idea. Like a rebellion against the werewolves, I think.
The Spells, Curses, Potions story is still not done. I made a bit more progress, but this past weekend made it hard to have energy to work on it, since it was homecoming weekend for the local university and it was BUSY. (As expected but still.) I like the ideas going on in it, needs a bit of cleanup to get it where I want it, but the initial draft is almost done.
The Ryker 2.0 Ref Sheet situation is still progressing. Gonna do some reformatting to the style to make it a bit more versatile.
Anyway, I think that's about it for now. Stay safe and have a happy Halloween!
Halloween is Near! Also some updates.
General | Posted a year agoHALLOWEEN!
My favorite holiday! Gotta keep dressing up and having fun! At the beginning of the month, I posted a story that compiled all of the segments from a Halloween Photo series I did back in 2021.
I just wrapped production on this year's Halloween Photo Series and will be posting that on Halloween day.
Also, production on the Spells, Curses, Potions short story. It's planned and partially drafted. Hoping to get that done this week. *Knocks on wood*.
UPDATE TYPE THINGS
As Twitter continues to burn, I've decided to abandon ship and switch to Bluesky: rykerunified.bsky.social . (I'm actually pretty active over there.) Alongside this, I'll be deactivating and subsequently deleting my Twitter account. Haven't decided exactly on when that'll happen, since DMs exist and are useful.
Also, working on updating some things for a 2.0 Ryker ref sheet! Really excited for when that comes together! Once that is done, I'll be continuing my overhaul of the Intramorph world which also includes other characters getting resigned/reworked. Hoping to get ref sheets of them put together at some point.
My favorite holiday! Gotta keep dressing up and having fun! At the beginning of the month, I posted a story that compiled all of the segments from a Halloween Photo series I did back in 2021.
I just wrapped production on this year's Halloween Photo Series and will be posting that on Halloween day.
Also, production on the Spells, Curses, Potions short story. It's planned and partially drafted. Hoping to get that done this week. *Knocks on wood*.
UPDATE TYPE THINGS
As Twitter continues to burn, I've decided to abandon ship and switch to Bluesky: rykerunified.bsky.social . (I'm actually pretty active over there.) Alongside this, I'll be deactivating and subsequently deleting my Twitter account. Haven't decided exactly on when that'll happen, since DMs exist and are useful.
Also, working on updating some things for a 2.0 Ryker ref sheet! Really excited for when that comes together! Once that is done, I'll be continuing my overhaul of the Intramorph world which also includes other characters getting resigned/reworked. Hoping to get ref sheets of them put together at some point.
Other Thoughts and Musings as of late
General | Posted a year agoSometimes, I feel like I overuse the journals, but I like the bloginess of it too much to not treat it like a pseudo blog. It's far easier than making a document to format and put in scraps that's for sure.
Anyway, I wanna start by rambling about Splatoon for a little bit. This past weekend was the Grand Festival event, marking the final new splatfest for the game until Splatoon 4 eventually comes out. Holy wow was that a big event. There was a whole new hub to visit with music being played and performed on three stages throughout the whole event. It was like a virtual concert in some of the coolest ways.
I've never seen a game do something like this before and it was incredible to get to experience that first hand with a game I really enjoy playing. Admittedly, I prefer the single player campaigns of the franchise over the multiplayer matches. In a way a couple of those campaigns remind me of the Portal series in the best ways.
Splatoon as a franchise is also just really fascinating to study and learn about its world and history. It's rich and deep in ways that other Nintendo franchises don't dare try. I.E. having an interesting plot and lore to begin with. I won't get too deep into all that. That's what youtube icebergs and video essays are for.
But, I wanna circle back to the music event side of that final splatfest. One of the things that Splatoon is known for is the music. Basically all of the music that plays in the game, exists in the world and is written by in-universe artists. Gotta say that a few of them are utterly incredible tracks/songs that I would highly recommend you give a listen sometimes. No Quarters is a personal favorite of mine.
That kind of attention to detail and worldbuiling is fascinating and inspiring. It makes Splatoon's world feel real and alive. The franchise built a culture for itself and this splatfest felt like the culmination of the culture it built, both within the world and beyond it.
Musings on the cookbook:
Yeah, yeah, slow but steady progress. Y'all will still see the occasional recipe here and there as I do tests to figure out some of the formatting I want to accomplish with this project. The next one will almost certainly be a .docx only type of deal. There's some things I want to try.
Musings on Intramorph:
Ryker's story with Intramorph is at an end for now. My plans are to reboot that world with a better planned story. Well, a planned story period. Part of the reason why I've decided to go ahead with rebooting his world is simply because that world and the story in it wasn't getting to a place I wanted to keep writing. It was slow in the wrong places and in need of a full rework.
Part of what spurred me on to commit to this decision was the gift art by GabZero. It got me thinking about Ryker and his world again, as well as revisiting his written reference sheet.
I have some thoughts on how I would tackle his world differently, and I'm pretty excited about some of the ideas I have cooking up, but, for now, I'm gonna let it stew in the back of my mind a bit longer before sitting down to draft a new outline to get his story across in a much more concise manner.
Still thinking about Denfur:
It's like a worm in my brain. Thoughts of that day still linger in my mind. Obviously, gonna try to go again next year, with more of a plan, now that I have a frame of reference to pull from and a clearer picture of how to budget for something like this.
A. The cost to drive down and pay for parking is not really saving me any money compared to just getting a room at the hotel/nearby. $54 bucks to park for the day + 1/4 of my tank on a round trip is yikes.
B. Budget more money to buy more things. More money to get more shinies for my jean jacket/ maybe add to my jacket collection. I like jackets. Probably too much. I might have too many jackets. Also there are other cool things to find other than pins, but pins were kinda the most affordable thing that caught my eye other than stickers that I don't have stuff to stick them to.
C. Make more of an attempt to make friends/go to panels. Even just during one day, I felt exhausted after 8 hours of wandering...and shopping. It probably didn't help that I straight up forgot to eat while I was there. Oops. I had granola bars in my bag and still didn't even THINK about them.
Anyway, I wanna start by rambling about Splatoon for a little bit. This past weekend was the Grand Festival event, marking the final new splatfest for the game until Splatoon 4 eventually comes out. Holy wow was that a big event. There was a whole new hub to visit with music being played and performed on three stages throughout the whole event. It was like a virtual concert in some of the coolest ways.
I've never seen a game do something like this before and it was incredible to get to experience that first hand with a game I really enjoy playing. Admittedly, I prefer the single player campaigns of the franchise over the multiplayer matches. In a way a couple of those campaigns remind me of the Portal series in the best ways.
Splatoon as a franchise is also just really fascinating to study and learn about its world and history. It's rich and deep in ways that other Nintendo franchises don't dare try. I.E. having an interesting plot and lore to begin with. I won't get too deep into all that. That's what youtube icebergs and video essays are for.
But, I wanna circle back to the music event side of that final splatfest. One of the things that Splatoon is known for is the music. Basically all of the music that plays in the game, exists in the world and is written by in-universe artists. Gotta say that a few of them are utterly incredible tracks/songs that I would highly recommend you give a listen sometimes. No Quarters is a personal favorite of mine.
That kind of attention to detail and worldbuiling is fascinating and inspiring. It makes Splatoon's world feel real and alive. The franchise built a culture for itself and this splatfest felt like the culmination of the culture it built, both within the world and beyond it.
Musings on the cookbook:
Yeah, yeah, slow but steady progress. Y'all will still see the occasional recipe here and there as I do tests to figure out some of the formatting I want to accomplish with this project. The next one will almost certainly be a .docx only type of deal. There's some things I want to try.
Musings on Intramorph:
Ryker's story with Intramorph is at an end for now. My plans are to reboot that world with a better planned story. Well, a planned story period. Part of the reason why I've decided to go ahead with rebooting his world is simply because that world and the story in it wasn't getting to a place I wanted to keep writing. It was slow in the wrong places and in need of a full rework.
Part of what spurred me on to commit to this decision was the gift art by
GabZero. It got me thinking about Ryker and his world again, as well as revisiting his written reference sheet. I have some thoughts on how I would tackle his world differently, and I'm pretty excited about some of the ideas I have cooking up, but, for now, I'm gonna let it stew in the back of my mind a bit longer before sitting down to draft a new outline to get his story across in a much more concise manner.
Still thinking about Denfur:
It's like a worm in my brain. Thoughts of that day still linger in my mind. Obviously, gonna try to go again next year, with more of a plan, now that I have a frame of reference to pull from and a clearer picture of how to budget for something like this.
A. The cost to drive down and pay for parking is not really saving me any money compared to just getting a room at the hotel/nearby. $54 bucks to park for the day + 1/4 of my tank on a round trip is yikes.
B. Budget more money to buy more things. More money to get more shinies for my jean jacket/ maybe add to my jacket collection. I like jackets. Probably too much. I might have too many jackets. Also there are other cool things to find other than pins, but pins were kinda the most affordable thing that caught my eye other than stickers that I don't have stuff to stick them to.
C. Make more of an attempt to make friends/go to panels. Even just during one day, I felt exhausted after 8 hours of wandering...and shopping. It probably didn't help that I straight up forgot to eat while I was there. Oops. I had granola bars in my bag and still didn't even THINK about them.
Halloween Costume Project
General | Posted a year agoIn my life beyond the furry fandom, I try to put together something of a Halloween Photo Series, a project that combines a few of my passions into something new.
Though, honestly, been starting to feel a little burnt out on the idea of them. It's hard to try and get photos of yourself with a camera that can't show you where you are in frame. It is NOT a fancy camera like the ones with the fold out screens to show you your frame. Though, in hindsight, I could probably hook it up to my laptop and probably be able to see it fine, but then the issue is being able to make sure I'm in focus properly when I'm not close enough to mess with the focus ring. At least when I'm getting photos alone.
But I'm getting off topic.
I've decided to upload one of the old photos from my first set alongside the complete story that I wrote alongside it. It'll go live on the first of October (it is spooky season after all). If the reception is good, I might consider uploading the other stories, but those are considerably less furry-centric. I'll probably share some of what I've got cooking up for this year's photo series; though, I still have to actually finish it. That piece will go up at the end of October.
There was another writing project that I wanted to do and write in time for spooky season, but I just haven't had the time to write it all out. Maybe for next year...
Regardless, I have plenty of other projects to worry about and also get done later than I'd hope.
In other news, I have a fun Beetlejuice costume put together for Halloween this year! I think it turned out really nice! I even found a deck of cards based off of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased to put in the blazer pocket! Probably not gonna post about that till Halloween or the days after, so I can get some photos in costume.
I already have plans for next year's costumes. Yes. Plural.
Next year, I'm gonna revisit the steampunk werewolf world and costume, refreshing it for a new character and a new story that's starting to take shape. I'm also currently planning out a human-ish cosplay of glamrock freddy from FNAF 'cause I think he looks cool. The struggle with that one has been trying to figure out if I should lean into the dapper side of the character or the more punk side of the character. Both have merits and whatever the final costume ends up being will still have elements of both, but the issue has been deciding on which one to give primary focus.
My struggles to figure out how to translate a glamrock robot into an actual outfit aside, I think it's gonna be the coolest costume I've ever put together!
Though, honestly, been starting to feel a little burnt out on the idea of them. It's hard to try and get photos of yourself with a camera that can't show you where you are in frame. It is NOT a fancy camera like the ones with the fold out screens to show you your frame. Though, in hindsight, I could probably hook it up to my laptop and probably be able to see it fine, but then the issue is being able to make sure I'm in focus properly when I'm not close enough to mess with the focus ring. At least when I'm getting photos alone.
But I'm getting off topic.
I've decided to upload one of the old photos from my first set alongside the complete story that I wrote alongside it. It'll go live on the first of October (it is spooky season after all). If the reception is good, I might consider uploading the other stories, but those are considerably less furry-centric. I'll probably share some of what I've got cooking up for this year's photo series; though, I still have to actually finish it. That piece will go up at the end of October.
There was another writing project that I wanted to do and write in time for spooky season, but I just haven't had the time to write it all out. Maybe for next year...
Regardless, I have plenty of other projects to worry about and also get done later than I'd hope.
In other news, I have a fun Beetlejuice costume put together for Halloween this year! I think it turned out really nice! I even found a deck of cards based off of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased to put in the blazer pocket! Probably not gonna post about that till Halloween or the days after, so I can get some photos in costume.
I already have plans for next year's costumes. Yes. Plural.
Next year, I'm gonna revisit the steampunk werewolf world and costume, refreshing it for a new character and a new story that's starting to take shape. I'm also currently planning out a human-ish cosplay of glamrock freddy from FNAF 'cause I think he looks cool. The struggle with that one has been trying to figure out if I should lean into the dapper side of the character or the more punk side of the character. Both have merits and whatever the final costume ends up being will still have elements of both, but the issue has been deciding on which one to give primary focus.
My struggles to figure out how to translate a glamrock robot into an actual outfit aside, I think it's gonna be the coolest costume I've ever put together!
Uploads have been super slow, my bad.
General | Posted a year agoLike I said in one of my last journals, life has been pretty busy this summer. There was a bit of turnover as some of my co-workers moved on to other (probably better paying) jobs. Which also meant training a lot of new hires. Some of them are pretty good, but others have been working so slowly that it feels like they're moving through molasses at times. They aren't but that's what it feels like during summer's "go!go!go!" pace.
Which means that it's been hard to still have energy left to sit down and write a bunch of stuff.
I've also been reading and giving notes on EricMalves work. Been trying to be thorough about it.
Also also, I've still been making progress on my cookbook! Well, the recipe testing part that is. The plans for the narrative have been laid for a couple years now. I just need to finish getting these recipes locked in! There's just 14 more recipes that I need to work out. All the others are either almost there or locked in. Plus some of the remaining recipes, I'm confident will only take like 3 iterations to get right. The most recent recipes I've been working on are the lemonade recipes. I just locked in the Raspberry Lemonade recipe with some progress on the regular lemonade and very little progress on the Strawberry Lemonade. I'm feeling good about this!
ALSO also, I'm still working on a photo series for this Halloween. It'll be my primary focus for September, just so that I can get it all done and ready to go before spooky month starts.
Which sadly means that Draconis chapter 12 is still on hold for the time being. There's just too many other projects that need my attention more right now. I swear I'll finish it at some point, but I just need to get this other stuff off my plate first.
Anyway, I think that's it for updates, so I'll be getting back to work. Have a great day y'all!
Which means that it's been hard to still have energy left to sit down and write a bunch of stuff.
I've also been reading and giving notes on
EricMalves work. Been trying to be thorough about it. Also also, I've still been making progress on my cookbook! Well, the recipe testing part that is. The plans for the narrative have been laid for a couple years now. I just need to finish getting these recipes locked in! There's just 14 more recipes that I need to work out. All the others are either almost there or locked in. Plus some of the remaining recipes, I'm confident will only take like 3 iterations to get right. The most recent recipes I've been working on are the lemonade recipes. I just locked in the Raspberry Lemonade recipe with some progress on the regular lemonade and very little progress on the Strawberry Lemonade. I'm feeling good about this!
ALSO also, I'm still working on a photo series for this Halloween. It'll be my primary focus for September, just so that I can get it all done and ready to go before spooky month starts.
Which sadly means that Draconis chapter 12 is still on hold for the time being. There's just too many other projects that need my attention more right now. I swear I'll finish it at some point, but I just need to get this other stuff off my plate first.
Anyway, I think that's it for updates, so I'll be getting back to work. Have a great day y'all!
Denfur was Fun
General | Posted a year agoHindsight, probably should have made a journal about the fact I was gonna go to Denfur. Oh well.
I bought the full weekend pass when it came out, but I could only afford to go for one day because I decided to drive down instead of spending the whole weekend in Denver. I'll have to remember to save up more next time, so I can actually afford to be down there for more than just one day.
But that one day was really fun! Even though I didn't talk to a whole lot of people, it was nice just knowing there were other furries kinda nearby.
Unlike most events, I didn't feel out of place. I didn't feel this visceral need to get out of there. It felt good!
I definitely want to go again next year!
I also bought a whole bunch of pins. Too many pins. I spent like 2/3 of my money on pins. I bought 6 pins. I'll probably post a photo of the pins I got from Denfur over in my scraps gallery sometime later.
I'd never seen so many fursuits in one place! The costumer in me started to feel a little envious and a little bit naked considering that I was just in regular street clothes.
...Maybe I'll look into a partial suit at some point? IDK Maybe I'd just start with gloves or paw-shoes or something. Fursuits are MEGA expensive! My poor wallet could never without saving up for it.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say about my time at Denfur. It was fun! But I'll have to save more money if I want to actually spend the whole weekend down there.
I bought the full weekend pass when it came out, but I could only afford to go for one day because I decided to drive down instead of spending the whole weekend in Denver. I'll have to remember to save up more next time, so I can actually afford to be down there for more than just one day.
But that one day was really fun! Even though I didn't talk to a whole lot of people, it was nice just knowing there were other furries kinda nearby.
Unlike most events, I didn't feel out of place. I didn't feel this visceral need to get out of there. It felt good!
I definitely want to go again next year!
I also bought a whole bunch of pins. Too many pins. I spent like 2/3 of my money on pins. I bought 6 pins. I'll probably post a photo of the pins I got from Denfur over in my scraps gallery sometime later.
I'd never seen so many fursuits in one place! The costumer in me started to feel a little envious and a little bit naked considering that I was just in regular street clothes.
...Maybe I'll look into a partial suit at some point? IDK Maybe I'd just start with gloves or paw-shoes or something. Fursuits are MEGA expensive! My poor wallet could never without saving up for it.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say about my time at Denfur. It was fun! But I'll have to save more money if I want to actually spend the whole weekend down there.
Life be crazy
General | Posted a year agoSorry that uploads are still just really slow right now. My life got pretty busy during Mother's day and it kinda hasn't slowed down much.
I also just moved, so I'm trying to settle in and get into the swing of things at the new place. I kinda just feel insane to be honest.
In the past 12 months I've moved twice and bought my first car. I've made quite a bit of progress on my cookbook.
Though almost none of that has been stuff that's ready to post over here...
Never fast enough ...
I also just moved, so I'm trying to settle in and get into the swing of things at the new place. I kinda just feel insane to be honest.
In the past 12 months I've moved twice and bought my first car. I've made quite a bit of progress on my cookbook.
Though almost none of that has been stuff that's ready to post over here...
Never fast enough ...
Mother's day narrative recipe
General | Posted a year agoWhelp, not gonna be able to get it up tonight. Had to work through the whole weekend and boy has it been busy! CSU's graduation weekend be like that though...
I've been so tired after work that I haven't been able to finish up the last of the narrative recipe. It's almost done and basically ready to go, just need to get some sleep first!
I've been so tired after work that I haven't been able to finish up the last of the narrative recipe. It's almost done and basically ready to go, just need to get some sleep first!
