First: A project update.
I finished Astaria and debuted her at the Anthrocon 2015 Fursuit Parade. As expected, finishing all of the little details took longer than expected but I managed to avoid any sleepless nights leading up to AC for the first time!
Part of what took so long is that Astaria has 2 bodysuits: One using MM Rust Fox fur and the other using white and rust stretch velvet. I hope to have photos of both to post eventually.

- I ran out of time to complete the yarn tail so I made a really nice one using the MM Fox and Mendel's white fur I used for the furred version of her suit. I modified the previous tail armature I made to follow the curve of the new tail. It has a zipper on the underside to allow padding to be inserted and removed for travel and fitting through tail holes in clothing.

- Test fitting revealed it was impossible to put on the suit by myself and so I added a 7" hidden zipper along the side of the hand, starting from where the pinkie finger meets the hand past the wrist. This worked wonderfully and allowed me to keep my hands free until everything else was in place.

- I plan on remaking both Rhea and Astaria's suits in the near future using organic stretch velvet so I can have the material dyed to match the fur to avoid the need to paint it and ruin the silky texture. I'll also be upsizing the pattern because even 4-way stretch velvet does not stretch as much as the spandex I used for the pattern.

Second: I'll be closing down this FA account soon.
TL:DR version: My fursona is now astarianaira and I'll be migrating to her FA page soon.

This year's convention was a very good one for me, despite trying to pick up my badge at pre-reg and realizing I had never actually registered. The wait in the at-con reg line though gave me a chance to fill out this year's survey, which seemed particularly difficult for me to complete this year. This was because so many questions dealt with you fursona.

Jiro was a character I adopted as my fursona many years ago for 3 reasons:
- As a White Wolf character originally, we share a good number of personality traits.
- He was Rhea's mate so seemed the logical choice.
- I needed a character to use for my online presence.
And so I've been Jiro for a long time now, despite having not role-played as him in 15 years. While my experiences have changed me in that time, my idea of his personality has remained unchanged and so there was little in the way of a deep connection between Jiro and myself.

Later that evening I had a very in-depth conversation about fursonas which only further emphasized to me that Jiro was no longer a good fit for me. I fursuited as Astaria on Saturday for the parade and had a great time and that good feeling continued throughout the weekend, continuing to invade my thoughts. By the time I was ready to head home on Sunday, I knew that I'd always seen Jiro more as an online Avatar rather than a true fursona and, despite Astaria only being a part of my life for a few months, my vixen was already a part of my heart and mind.

So, I'll be migrating most of the information from this account to my new one over the next week. I'm sorry for any confusion this may cause with preexisting links and favorites. Thanks for checking out my work so far and please go say hi to a very special Vixen!  astarianaira