I'm very tired, but I've also been on a follow-blitz all night, so I want to try to say *something* before calling it a night, so: Hi?

For those who don't know me (or don't remember me), I've been around a *long* time, and created/posted a LOT of stuff over the decades, but a lot of other people have since used the "softpaw" name in their own character names and projects, so if you want to know who *I* am and what *my* projects are/were, start from my actual website: https://www.meadow.pet/ "Lupinia Studios" has been pretty consistent branding for me since the mid-2000s, across a lot of changes to my characters and presentation ^.^

With that out of the way, hi everyone <3 I've been extremely withdrawn for a very long time, and I'm currently working on gathering my words/thoughts on what happened, as well as trying to reconnect. Both of those will take a lot longer than one post, especially an FA journal, but the short version is that I was already burning myself out a bit in the mid-2010s, then a triple-whammy of simultaneous life-altering catastrophes in late 2016 kinda broke me (lost my dream car, my job, and a lot of my mobility, all in the same month), starting a downward spiral with a few more catastrophes (years of unemployment, homelessness, and getting trapped in an abusive living situation) that didn't even start turning around until 2020. It's currently 2025, and I'm only just now starting to really make progress trying to rebuild, but I have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. But I'm working on it; I've had a steady job for years now, and as of this writing, I recently moved back to the DC area, where I can *exist* in relative safety (for the moment, anyway; the dumpster-fire of the current regime in the US is trying very hard to create new obstacles to replace the ones I've been working to resolve, but I've lost too damn much and worked too damn hard to get it back to LET them, and I will stubbornly continue to try to be my adorable ponygirl self again out of pure spite if I have to >.>).

I don't know what the future holds for me, but in losing almost everything, I got a stark perspective on a lot of things. And I'm still struggling with the fact that an entire decade slipped by so fast. The sheer scale of people I once knew and who are no longer with us, in particular, has been *staggering* - I've crossed paths with SO MANY PEOPLE in this fandom over the years, and while I've always been *awful* at expressing it or staying in touch with anyone, I always *remember* people. I've been to dozens and dozens of cons and meets, worked for/with/at most of them at some point, moderated more community spaces than I can even keep track of, and spent my entire adult life creating things for the internet and doing outreach and education, yet I can *still* recognize and recall every random encounter (given enough of a breadcrumb trail; I have a photographic memory for fellow furries but all the photos are jumbled into one giant pile). But I never really did the work to maintain friendships properly, and even when I did, I was never great at it. I want to try to do better.

So, yeah, I'm still alive, and honestly a little surprised by that, but I couldn't have survived without every single one of you. This chaotic, messy web of relationships we call the furry fandom is what got me through the worst years of my life, and while I'm not quite sure what being "back" looks like yet, I guess you can say I'm back. Thank you all for just being here, and I hope we can all continue to create beauty and joy together <3

In case you didn't get the memo, I was a staff photographer at Fur The 'More, and I had an absolute blast doing it! It's the first time I've ever had a positive experience staffing a con, and I look forward to future years

In the process of doing my job, I got exactly 2600 raw shots, more than double what I usually get at a con. Thankfully, I had an assistant for this con, who did a big chunk of my post-processing for me, so I'm able to get these out in a timely manner for a change! It's unusual for me to have photos ready to post within the same month I took them :-P

If you're interested in seeing my shots, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/lupini.....7642468930003/ . I'll be adding new photos daily for awhile, so keep an eye on it!

If you know that I took your photo, and can't find it, message me and let me know (with a description of what you or your fursuit look like); the shots may not have made the cut to get uploaded, but if they're not severely flawed, I'll send them to you privately. If I took your photo but didn't ID you, and you'd like to be identified, let me know and I'll add you to the description (and I'll see if I have other shots of you that didn't get posted, if you like).

Thanks to everyone who made this an awesome con! And a special thanks to Protocollie and Razer, who did some truly spectacular lighting work, making my work much more fun and interesting

I generally don't get this type of attention, but the leading ageplay/AB/DL podcast is doing an entire episode interviewing me! I'm so honored that they asked me, and super-excited to do it! So, if you're a babyfur, littlefur, or other sort of ageplayer, or you just want to hear me babble for awhile for some reason, check it out! The live recording is Tuesday, January 14th, at 8:45pm Eastern. Details are here: http://www.biglittlepodcast.com/listen-live/

A link to the recorded episode, when it's posted, will be added to this journal entry.

I don't really do the "meme" thing, since a lot of it's not relevant to me, but it's helpful info to put out there

Who I am: My name is Natasha, and I'm a 27-year-old TG girl

Arrival, Departure, and Hotel: I'm arriving in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, staying the night with Foxcub, then arriving at the con Thursday early afternoon. I have a room in the Westin with Foxcub, Diezel, and Rustyc. We're leaving Monday, not sure what time I'll head back to DC.

Car Show: My Audi TT and I will be taking part in the car show on Saturday morning, I hope to see you all there! It'll be a ton of fun, and very fitting with the theme :-D

Activities: I don't fursuit, or dance, and I'm not an artist, but there are a lot of cool-looking panels this year, especially the Writing track, so I'll be doing that stuff. Also, photography at the con is a big thing for me; I usually do artistic candid shots, but this year, I'd be interested to try some private photoshoots, especially if you're a suiter or have a cool car.

Social: I tend to be a bit shy about meeting new people, but I generally just need someone to break the ice, so don't hesitate to say hi! I love hugs, I'm very touchy-feely. I love dining socially at a con; I don't really drink, though, so offering to buy or give me alcohol is kinda futile, as much as I appreciate the gesture.

Contact: Best way to reach me at the con is via Twitter (@lupinia), phone calls, or email, in that order. Twitter, especially, is one of the most reliable ways to reach me. I probably won't look at FA (or many other websites) until the con is over. If you need a response faster than 10-15 minutes, call me, don't text me, text messages to my phone are prone to go undelivered for hours at a time on random occasions, and it seems to happen the most when I'm travelling.

I have a room in the Westin with two bed spots to fill for Anthrocon! Babyfur-friendly preferred, TG-friendly is a must. Checking in Thursday, checking out Monday. Total per-person cost is $180 (divided by four).

If you're interested, let me know ASAP! Thanks!

It's been an exciting winter, with my new job, new home, and basically a whole new life! I'll be able to attend more stuff this year, instead of just Anthrocon, so I figured I'd list them all here. Also, I don't have roommates lined up for any of these, as of this writing, so if you want to share a room, contact me privately and maybe we can work something out.

Definite
(Pony) Cloudsdale Congress - March 9-10 - Alexandria, VA - Might commute to this one, it's practically in my backyard.
(Furry) Fur the 'More - April 5-7 - Baltimore, MD - CONFIRMED PANELIST!
(Other) Camp Crucible - May 25-June 2
(Furry) Anthrocon - July-4-7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Panels Submitted, probably not approved at this point.
(Pony) Bronycon - August 2-4 - Baltimore, MD - CONFIRMED PANELIST!

Maybe
(Furry) Rainfurrest - September 26-29 - Seattle, WA - I'd REALLY love to go to this one, but I'm not sure the time off will work out. It's at the top of my Maybe priority list, though!
(Furry) WPAFW - October 11-13 - Pittsburgh, PA

A little something for all the babyfurs/cubs/littles out there, or anyone who likes pampering themselves

If you want an easy way to feel little every day, it's as easy as using different towels! When towel-shopping, they have "bath towels", which are the same size as everywhere, including hotels. For tiny people, these are just large enough to wrap in. For average or larger people, these aren't very big. However, there are also "bath sheets", which are much larger, comparable to a large beach towel. They're pricier, but the larger size is much closer to how a towel felt when you were a cub the first time around. For tiny people, you can practically get lost in one of these, and for everyone else, even plus-size folks, they're big enough to snuggle in and get completely wrapped-up. It's so nice!

I recommend going a step further and getting the high-end fluffy towels from places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They're pricy, mine was like $50, but SO worth it! Nothing beats wrapping up in a giant, plush, fluffy towel that feels as big as a regular towel did when you were five. Every shower makes me smile now! And, really, it's something you'll use literally every day (unless you're gross and don't bathe regularly), so why not pamper yourself with something that'll feel good all the time? Even diapers aren't an everyday thing for most of us, but bathing usually is!

Hello everyone! It took me awhile to get through them all, and it's been a busy couple of weeks (two cons within two weeks of each other, and a third a week from now), but I finally reviewed all of my Anthrocon photos and uploaded my favorites. Most of what I took at Anthrocon were candid shots, pretty much anyone who was doing something more interesting than standing or walking was a potential target, but I got a few of the parade and fursuit games too.

Unfortunately, I couldn't identify all of the people in my shots, so if you recognize a fursuiter who isn't mentioned in the description or tagged on Flickr, let me know and I'll add them. Additionally, if you're a fursuiter who's a bit lacking in photos, contact me privately; I took upwards of 1500 photos at AC this year, but only the truly outstanding ones were uploaded. I have a ton of others that didn't make the cut, for whatever reason, so if you need some shots of your suit, I may have some, and I'll happily send you anything I have.

My Anthrocon gallery on my website, Lupinia Studios
My Anthrocon gallery on Flickr

I'll be uploading a few to FA and DA eventually, but not many, and I have other stuff to work on between now and then.

===============

On a related note, if you're an MLP fan, and planning to attend Trotcon, I'll be running a panel on convention photography, my first-ever panel! Overall, I'll be covering tips and techniques for how to get expressive, memorable con photos, and how not to get hundreds of the exact same shots everyone else is getting. And Trotcon itself looks like it'll be a pretty great convention, so if you're interested in attending a pony con, I highly recommend it

http://www.trotcon.com/

Kinda late notice, but I'll be at Bronycon this weekend! If you'll be there, I'll be wearing a badge for my pony character Allirea (http://www.softpaw.eu/furry/ref-allirea.htm).

Also, make sure you go to the Twitter Ponies panel! It's where my pony character first came into existance, and it ought to be a really neat presentation

Lastly, I have some Anthrocon photos to post, some of which are already on my website and on Flickr, but I simply haven't had time to process all of them. I took a LOT of shots, and quite a few have some potential, so have patience.

I wrote this using general terminology, but it strongly applies to furry conventions as well as My Little Pony conventions, and pretty much anything with cosplayers/costumers. Original version posted here: http://www.softpaw.eu/photo/con-photography.htm

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At geeky/nerdy conventions of all types and genres, two things will always be true:

1. The number of photos taken at the con will exceed the number of attendees at the con by an order of magnitude.
2. The number of photos taken that are worth looking at, to anyone other than the people/cosplayers in them, will be in the double-digits, on average.

Yes, as sad as it is, it seems like the vast majority of convention photos are terrible, and unfortunately, the terrible ones are what get posted to any public image galleries on the con's website, if they're the sort that anyone can submit images to. Now, I'm no expert photographer, but I've captured some pretty good images at conventions, and learned a lot about how to do it right, so I wanted to share at least some of that with the world. Please note that while I own and shoot with a digital SLR, most of these are things that apply to photos taken with any camera, including cellphones.

1. Use good photography techniques. I'm not sure why, but I've seen truly talented photographers who, in the excitement of the con, throw everything they know out the window and turn into a Facebook shooter. Don't do that. Take your time, pay attention to your composition, and focus on quality over quantity.

2. Quality over quantity. Simply put, unless you're the con's official staff photographer, don't try to photograph the entire con, or every cosplayer you see. Unless you dedicate your entire con experience to it, it doesn't work, and even then, you have to be fantastic at rapid composition. Focus only on shots that are interesting to you, and everything you take will instantly be better simply because you weren't rushing. Hundreds of mediocre or bad shots will blend in with the tens of thousands of other mediocre, bad shots, but a dozen or two truly good shots will stand out beautifully, even in a flooded public gallery.

3. Cookie-cutter poses make cookie-cutter photos. This is as much a tip for the cosplayers as for photographers, but when cosplayers stop for photos, pay attention to their poses. If they just stand there in one of the same poses that every other cosplayer uses, they're not worth photographing, because there's little to no way to make a photo of them interesting. Focus on the cosplayers who really get into their character, like this guy. The resulting shots will be much more interesting, even if you're a complete beginner taking cellphone photos.

4. Sort your shots, young padawan. Raise your hand if you've seen 3-4 of the exact same shot, or very similar ones, posted in a row in a con's public gallery by the same photographer. Raise your hand if you've seen blurry, out of focus, or otherwise poor-quality shots posted to a con's public gallery. Good, every single person reading this has their hand raised - now don't be one of those people. This seems like it should be common sense, but if you're posting your photos online, regardless of where you're uploading, only upload the good ones. Sites other than Facebook make it really difficult to batch-upload an entire directory anyway, so go through them first, omit the bad ones, and use one shot per subject/pose. It greatly reduces the volume of photos of the event that interested viewers have to wade through, and decreases the likelihood that viewers will just skip over yours. Because unless someone is obsessively searching for a specific person/cosplayer, no sane person will flip through hundreds of shots of the same event by the same person unless they're AMAZING photos.

5. Know the low-light limits of your gear. Most of the blurry, out-of-focus shots come from cameras that don't handle low light very well, trying to take photos in low light. This is especially a problem for cosplayers, because the ones worth photographing (see above) tend to be very animated, moving around quite a lot. The fix for this is to shoot a faster shutter speed; my advice beyond that varies based on what you're shooting with.
- Film: Get fast film, and if you can, fast glass as well. I know grain is a problem, but faster film will be worth it, and nowadays, grain can be fixed digitally if you're posting things online. Also, if you're shooting film at a convention, you officially rock, and you're probably a way better photographer than me who doesn't need to read this.
- SLR (digital or film): Convention photography is almost entirely indoors, so don't use an outdoor lens. Zooms are nice, but prime lenses are your friend for a con. I recommend 50mm, with a 100mm or longer on standby for panels/stage events, but above all else, get a fast 50mm. It's a good idea to have one in general, but it'll be your best friend at a convention. It doesn't even have to be a top-of-the-line one, any fast 50mm will be better than a narrower-aperture zoom lens, especially if it's a kit lens. You probably won't want to shoot wide open, to make focusing easier, but f2-f2.8 is a good aperture if you're not used to shooting with a narrow depth of field.
- Compact/Cellphone/Point-and-Shoot: If you have a compact camera or cellphone, the best thing I can tell you is to avoid low-light conditions. This limits where you can shoot a bit (convention center atrium or outside, instead of hotel hallways, for example), but the resulting photos will be much nicer to look at. Keep your camera set on Action mode, if you don't want to mess with exposure settings. And if you're using a lightweight camera (especially a cellphone), find something to brace it against for your shot. I don't recommend using a wall, but signs and furniture work for this, or ask to lean your camera on a friend's shoulder. Seriously, you'd be amazed how much motion blur comes from simply holding the camera, especially on a cellphone, where image stabilization is typically useless or nonexistant.

6. Built-in flash adds light, at the expense of character. Regardless of the camera you have, whether it's a high-end digital SLR or an off-brand cellphone, one thing is always true: The built-in flash makes photos look awful. Many will turn it on when lighting gets low, or let the camera auto-fire it, but this typically results in awful-looking lighting. Unless you know how to properly adjust flash compensation, and use the direct-facing flash very sparingly, (I wouldn't go above a flash compensation value of -1, if that), just keep the flash off and use the available lighting. Or, if your camera has a hotshoe, use bounce-flash to illuminate the immediate area.
- SLR Note: External flashes for SLR cameras tend to be very powerful, and can reach a long way, but don't expect to get great shots out of this. Direct-flashing someone on a stage with a high-powered flash is no different than direct-flashing them with a point-and-shoot from a few feet away.

Hopefully, this list will help you create some photos that, instead of just showing what the convention looked like, show what it felt like to be there. Which is, after all, the entire point of photography.

To put it simply, I've been going to Anthrocon every single year since 2004, and I always make my travel arrangements pretty far in advance. Except this year. Things have been so turbulent that I just couldn't commit to con arrangements prior to now. I had a few "maybe" options, but I couldn't give a firm commitment to any of them, and all of them have given the space to someone else.

So, in order to be able to go to Anthrocon this year, I need a place to stay. Preferably with someone I already know, but failing that, I'll stay with anyone who's TG or trans-friendly. Unfortunately, I have a somewhat limited walking endurance (I can walk long distances, I just can't do it multiple days in a row), so I have to stay at the Westin or the Courtyard (unless it's a hotel with free parking or in-and-out privileges so I can drive to the convention center). Beyond that, I'm pretty easy to stay with, and I don't fursuit, so I don't have a massive amount of stuff to bring.

If anyone has a spot for me, I greatly appreciate it, because I'd really like to go to the con if I can. Thanks.

If you'd like to purchase prints of my photos, and support my photography hobby in the process, all photos on my website now have the option to purchase prints/merchandise through Digibug. The button is at the bottom (still working on getting it higher up the page), and it'll give you a lot of flexibility for sizing, finish, and a handful of different types of merchandise in addition to just prints.

Please note that I typically don't put full-resolution photos on my site, so if you'd like a print bigger than what you can get from the site, contact me and I'll gladly get you what you're looking for.

Thanks! And, enjoy!

Click here to shop for prints

This is re-posted from my LJ (http://natashasoftpaw.livejournal.com/315982.html) and Dreamwidth (http://softpaw.dreamwidth.org/75532.html).

For several years now, I've talked about how badly I want to get out of this middle-of-nowhere town, but I've never taken a whole lot of pro-active action toward that goal. I've constantly been waiting for some golden opportunity, and/or a perfect financial situation, but after so many years of depressed stagnation, I've finally assembled the motivation to make my own opportunity. But I can't do it alone. I'm not asking for money, I have plenty of that, but if you live in the DC metro area (northern Virginia, DC, or Maryland), I need your help.

My big plan since about October has been to save up enough of a nest egg to survive without income for a couple months, to allow me to job-search without a temp job getting in the way, and without being tethered to where I currently live. In order to make this work, however, I need a place to stay in the area while I job search, and if I get a job, while I hunt for my own apartment. Unfortunately, while I have plenty of talent in my field, I'm a bit lacking in experience to back it up, so job-hunting probably won't be as simple as sending out a round of resumes and scooping up interviews. Since my nest egg will last a few months at best, rather than a year or more, I really don't want to sign a lease, because I want to be able to fall back on my current living situation if I have to, without increasing my debts.

When I Need This
Since I'll be picking up my Rover from the mechanic next week, and I'm currently training a replacement for my paper route, I'm looking to get out of here and start job searching within the next 2-3 weeks.

What I Need
I'm pretty much just looking for glorified crash space. I'm not bringing much stuff, preferably not more than I can carry in one trip of my truck. But, I do need a little bit more than just a place to sleep, so here's a quick list:

-A place to sleep, whether it's a couch, or a floor spot for my twin-size air mattress.
-A place to hang up work/interview clothes; not necessarily a closet, a hook on a wall would do the trick. I don't have much.
-Access to a kitchen, to store and prep my food and drinks. I won't leech off your food, that'd be terribly rude, but my budget won't allow me to eat out constantly. My culinary skills are very limited, so I won't be whipping up anything super-fancy.
-A wired ethernet connection for my VOIP phone line, since it's my primary phone line for conducting business, and my cellphone plan doesn't have a ton of minutes. Plus, my cellphone's ringer is incapable of waking me up.
-A place to park my truck. It's a compact SUV, so it doesn't need special parking or anything, but I know some urban apartments have somewhat restrictive parking policies, so it's worth mentioning.

That covers the crucial necessities, but there's one other thing. While I can theoretically work from my laptop, it's much easier to work from my desktop PC, so if at all possible, I'd prefer to have a spot to set it up. I have a compact, portable desk to use with it, about 4' x 2.5', or it can go on a table or something, it's a small case.

As far as a time prediction, I'm looking at a maximum of two to three months. Financially, I could last longer than that, but that's the most I'm willing to go before I have to give up and try to find more temp work back in mom's town. It could be less, but it definitely won't be longer; that's why I want to do things this way in the first place, so I don't end up in a situation where I'm leeching off friends or unable to support myself. That sort of situation is unacceptable to me.

It's also worth mentioning that I won't be sitting around playing video games all day while pretending to find work, in typical furry roommate horror-story fashion. I'm serious about this, and I'll have plenty to do. In addition to some projects that will help my portfolio, and the typical job stuff (writing letters, finding jobs, adjusting resumes), I plan/hope to maintain a contractor relationship with a couple companies I already do some work for here in Harrisonburg, so I'll have a bit of telecommuting to do. Plus, I don't even really play games that much.

What I Can Offer
For starters, I'm a pretty low-impact roommate. I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, and while I tend to stay up late, I can be very quiet at night. I won't hog your internet connection with downloads. I'm not the most organized person, but I absolutely can't stand actual messes/grime (leftover food, scattered trash, piles of laundry, etc), so while I'm a little prone to clutter, I wouldn't call myself messy. And, I won't be camping out in your house 24/7; between other friends in the area, job-hunting, and my innate desire to spend as little time indoors as possible, I'll have other places to spend my time.

Unfortunately, my nest-egg budget doesn't really allow much for rent. It's taken months to save up enough pennies to make this a reality, having to pay a full share of rent would drastically reduce the amount of time I can spend job-searching before I'd have to give up and return to mom's house with empty pockets. But, I will offer this: If I successfully find a job in the area, I will pay for the time I spent crashing with you.

In lieu of rent, I'll happily help you out in other areas; cleaning, running errands, pet care, etc. Just let me know what I can do for you.

That said, there is one living expense I'm planning on. For a number of reasons, I take very long showers, as much out of necessity as luxury. And, the aforementioned desktop PC draws more than a trivial amount of electricity. So, I will gladly pay a fair split of water and electrical bills for the time I spend living with you; whether I simply cover the above-average difference, or we do an even split of some sort, I'm sure we can work something out.

In the event of a financial emergency on my part (medical expense, major car problem, etc), I'll simply pick up and go back to Harrisonburg.

---

If you might be able to help me out, it would really mean a lot to me. This is a major step toward getting my life in order and getting my career back on track, and I'm more than ready for it. So, if you live within a reasonable commuting distance of DC, and have a little extra space for a puppy, please contact me so we can work out some details.

Thank you

After a rather unexpectedly positive response to my last journal, I'll start posting my best photos here. I won't put all of my work here, obviously, but the highlights will be showcased

I also wanted to provide a bit of information regarding my photography, since I don't post journals often, and this one will likely stick around awhile.

Other Places To Find My Photos
The primary location for my photography is my website, http://www.lupinia.eu/photo/. That's where everything gets uploaded, since I control it and host it.

After that, my Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lupiniastudios) gets most, but not all, of my uploads. I'm not a huge fan of the site, and its upload limits are a pain, so I'll be a little more picky about what goes there.

After that comes DeviantArt (http://lupiniastudios.deviantart.com/) and FA. I actually want to use DA more than I currently do, but there are a lot of things I dislike about it, and since it (like FA) doesn't have an upload API or a plugin for Lightroom, it's a pain to update.

Tools of the Trade
My current camera, acquired September 14, 2011, is a Canon 5D mk2. I've wanted one since it was first released, and while a good bit of time has passed since then, it's still one of the best in its field. As of this writing, I only have one lens (24-105mm f4 L IS), but I plan to acquire others in the next 6 months or so.

All photos taken prior to September 14, 2011, were taken with my Canon PowerShot S3 IS, a Christmas gift from my mom in 2006. It's no SLR, but it was pretty good for a point-and-shoot, and it helped me discover and refine my photography skills over the years.

Did you know I enjoy photography? If not, I enjoy photography! Quite a bit, actually, and while my current camera isn't the greatest, I've learned a lot in nearly five years of owning it. I'm hesitant to call myself "good" at it, but I seem to get a lot of positive feedback, so I guess I'm doing something right.

Unfortunately, I haven't done a very good job with sharing my work, which is something I'd like to change. Currently, my photos primarily go on my website (you can see my work at http://www.lupinia.eu/photo/ ), but I enjoy sharing with more interactive communities as well. I have a DeviantArt account and a Flickr account for my photos, but neither of them get much traffic. I'm curious about posting them on FA.

So, I ask you the following:
1. Do you look on photography on FA? Would you look at my photography?
2. If so, would you prefer my photos to go in this account (intermixed with my stories and commissioned artwork, in the hope that FA might someday implement rudimentary organization)? Or into a separate account, like "softpaw-photos"?
3. Do you look at photography on Deviant Art?

---

Thanks!

First off, who's going to the con? :-D

I don't really like making a meme out of this, because there's a lot of irrelevant parts of it, so here's what you need to know:

-I'm arriving Thursday afternoon, leaving Monday afternoon. I have a car, and I'm pretty familiar with the Pittsburgh area, so if anyone wants to do anything after the con, let me know!

-I'm staying in the Westin. I won't be staying in the Cub Hub, for a change, so please talk to Foxcub or Scritchwolf to find out the details of what's going on there. I'm rooming with Dusk Dargent, Symelion, and Crimson Fox.

-Unfortunately, I can be a little hard to get ahold of, but the best way is a phone call (not a text message, a phone call). Twitter and email come after that; text messages are way down the list, somewhere between smoke signals and a giant spotlight in the sky. If you don't already have my phone number, Twitter is probably the best way, I'm lupinia there. And if you don't use Twitter, I check my email just as frequently. I don't really carry a radio at cons anymore, since they kinda fell out of use among the group I normally used them with.

-I usually end up by myself while wandering the con, and because I'm perpetually too shy for my own good (really trying to work on it though!), I tend to latch onto whoever invites me to tag along. So invite me to tag along! I don't have many specific plans, but I definitely want to go to the MLP panel and 2's show on Friday, plus some assorted other things on Saturday and Sunday.

-I don't do any sort of drugs, and I don't come anywhere near tobacco smoke. I generally don't drink, either, but I occasionally make an exception to have a fruity drink at a con. I love parties, though, especially when themed to my various interests

-I'm not an artist. Duh. I'll be commissioning art, though, so any recommendations of artists to get stuff from would be welcome!

-I love hugs, scritches, and the like, just be gentle and don't be gross. And please don't mess up my hair! It tangles easily :-P

-I identify as a girl, but despite my best efforts, I don't quite look like one yet. If you're more comfortable referring to me as a boy, I understand, just don't expect me to be particularly thrilled or flattered by it.

-In 8 years of attending furry cons, no one's ever done any sort of romantic gesture or flirting, aside from people I was already dating, so if you'd like to be the first, I'm easily impressed

I haven't been to a con since, well, last AC, so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone! :-D

(Edited to correct the name of one of my roomies, and to add something.)

I must say, the response to my first story has been beyond overwhelming. To everyone who read it, whether you enjoyed it or not, thank you very much. It really means a lot to me that so many people even looked at my work, and the percentage who enjoyed it kinda blew my mind, especially the number of people who liked the story in spite of it containing material that would otherwise be a turn-off.

I wanted to share a bit of info on my plans for future stories (if you can call them plans), and I wanted to get some feedback. So, if you have any suggestions for my future work, constructive criticism of any kind, or anything you'd like to see me include, please comment, or send me a private message if you prefer. I welcome everything!

As for my future story plans, the current idea is to write a loosely-organized series of stories featuring Svetlana and Natasha as play partners/lovers. I'd like each story to be able to stand on its own, but also progress and develop the relationship between these two. When I created the character of Svetlana, I hadn't intended for her to be a girlfriend to Natasha, but I kinda like the idea the more I think about it (at least, until I find a special someone to shamelessly insert into art and stories :-P ). It's unlikely I'll write about anyone else, since my past attempts to write for other people's characters have rarely worked, but if you have suggestions, I'll certainly consider them.

There's also the question of content, and I'll say right now that not all of the stories I want to write are sexual. Obviously, porn gets more traffic, and I'm not opposed to writing it, but there has to be more. Unfortunately, it's unlikely I'll be able to write all the stories I want to write, in the order I want to write them. But, I'll see what I can do. At the moment, I have a partial draft of Natasha's back-story, and there are certain future stories that will appear to make no sense without that. I also have an idea for a pony play story, which should be a lot of fun, though probably not as overtly sexual as my last submission.

My big question, though, is what do y'all want to see? Granted, I'm not the greatest writer in the world and I can't just fire off an entire well-developed story based on any random subject, but I'm curious to see what y'all want. I welcome any suggestion, from vanilla to WTF, but when writing, I prefer things that I've personally experienced on some level. Failing that, I at least prefer for things to be realistically possible.

Thanks for reading! I hope y'all enjoy my next story; I'd give an approximate release date, but I suck at handling deadlines, so I guess everyone will just have to keep watching and be surprised

(Oh, and shameless plug: If you want to contribute to the "Natasha's furry stories are awesome" fund, I accept Paypal, PM me for details :-P )

A bit of a PSA: While I'm exceptionally grateful for all art I receive, gift art or commissions alike, please be aware that if you're drawing a badge for me, I pretty much don't wear laminated cut-out style badges. Part of the reason for this is because I've seen way too many of the hanging-holes torn out of them, but it's also because the cut-out protrusions (ears, tails, limbs, words, etc) are very easily damaged, and because I don't have a good way to wear the kind with round mount holes since I don't use lanyards at cons. Plus, they tend to be a bit bulky for my tastes.

So, while it makes me squee with glee when someone draws for me, please be aware that if you send me a cut-out laminated badge that doesn't fit in a 3x4 holder, I'll probably never wear it, and it has nothing to do with the art. I have entire pages in my art binder of cut-out badges that I don't wear because I'm afraid of them being damaged and/or I can't wear them conveniently.

The one exception to this is if the laminate is extremely heavy-duty (like the kind used for corporate ID badges), AND it takes this style of clip. But even then, I still prefer the more traditional pouch-held 3x4" badges (I even have a ton of extra holders for them).

I hate saying this, because I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I simply don't wear cut-out badges, and while it's easy enough not to commission them when I buy badges (I don't think I've ever paid for one), I've received a bunch of them as gifts. I really want to wear some of them, too, but I can't stand lanyards because they get tangled up or squished under my purse strap at cons, and it's such a pain to deal with them. Plus, they're kinda ugly.

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1. I didn't draw any of this, unless otherwise specified (I think there's maybe one piece in the whole gallery that I drew). I'm a photographer, not an illustrator, and I have ample other venues to showcase my photography. My FA account exists to showcase art I've commissioned and received as gifts

2. Unauthorized use of any image of my characters, past or present, is prohibited. Unless you received explicit permission from the artist who drew it (in instances where the artist retained the reproduction rights to the piece), and/or from myself, you may not use any image of any character I've ever created in other projects or for display on other websites. This includes reposting on other art websites (like Fchan), graphic design projects, and slideshow videos.

I swore I'd never make another FA journal post, but I figured I'd use it to share a bit of information on SoFurry (formerly Yiffstar) from my perspective. For those who aren't familiar with me or my career, I'm a professional web developer, and some of my past projects have included sites like Sofurry; complex, custom sites with social components and large audiences. So, in light of all the "omg yiffstar sucks now!" posts I've seen today, I wanted to share a few things.

First off, I wholeheartedly agree that the site leaves much to be desired. I could list my specific gripes, but most of them are shared by others, and that's not the point of this post. Needless to say, you won't hear me defending the site's problems, except to say that had they delayed launch by about a month, most of the issues people are complaining about wouldn't have been issues.

However, what makes Sofurry different from most other furry website projects is the presence of organization, and a pretty decent system for soliciting and addressing user feedback. Those two things alone can't make a site better, but having seen the difference between organized development and "Hey, let's make a website today!" (*glares at FA*), I'm willing to give Sofurry the benefit of the doubt, and I recommend others do the same. Yeah, they launched prematurely, and yeah, there are a lot of glaring issues, but they've also built a brand-new platform, and those are never smooth or easy to set up. So, if you had a negative first impression of Sofurry (as I imagine most people did), come back to it in a month or three and check it out again, as I'll be doing. It could still be a broken heap in that time, but it could be properly set up and working smoothly by then, too.

Also, if you can explain your complaints about the site more specifically than "it sucks" or "the old site was better", I highly recommend getting on the issue tracker at http://www.yiffstar.com/mantis/ to submit a bug report or feature request. Posting about it on the forums or on Twitter is ok for conversation, but when the developers sit down to work on the site, their to-do list for the day/evening/weekend/whatever will come almost exclusively from the issue tracker. That's the whole point of having one, to coordinate the development efforts of the site and keep track of what needs to be done. And, anything not in the issue tracker isn't likely to get done in the next year, if ever.

So yeah, they screwed up, but the new site has potential, and there's a chance they can still salvage this. I'm not saying to stop complaining about it (err, well, I kinda am), I'm just recommending doing something about it and helping the site's developers fix it, since they're actually listening and trying.

Just thought I'd mention that this is not the first place I post new art I receive. It goes in the gallery on my website first, where it typically sits for a day or two before I actually add a title and description. Then I post it in my Live Journal. After that, I post it here. Just thought I'd let y'all know.

Also, in case it wasn't obvious, none of the art in my gallery was drawn by me. You'd think this would be a no-brainer, since every submission prominently features the artist's name in several places, as do the original postings on my website. But, I keep getting people asking if I take commissions. My web design services are for hire from time to time, but I don't draw, and my writing/photography hobbies are simply that, hobbies.

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Oh, and this journal entry doesn't mean I'm going to actually use my FA journal (forums have better posting interfaces). I just had a couple things that bore mentioning, and I figured this space would be a convenient place to put it.