So...that didn't go as planned.

Howdy patrons. It's been three months, so I owe y'all a check-in.

January was quite busy with Super MagFest. It was a fantastic show, but very demanding. I came home with my first ever bout of covid. That made meeting deadlines and other obligations a bit challenging. Minda the BumbleKat also needed to go in for a risky and expensive operation. She came through well, although the full scope of her condition wasn't clear.

Covid ate up a the start of February. As it passed I went for a walk to get my strength back, promptly hit a patch of ice and bounced my head off the frozen sidewalk. Nothing broken, thankfully, but a concussion is a concussion. You know how you treat that? Stay off screens and not think too hard. Y'know what my job entails? That's right! (It's a little funny, I have to admit)

March had been mostly meeting work and life demands in bits and pieces, which slowed down (or outright impeded) the healing process. Then Midna's condition returned with rapidity; too swiftly to address.

I've had to say goodbye to many pets. In the past I either wasn't present for their last hours or I was present for the euthanasia. The latter is horrible, but there is a degree of control and time to reach a degree of acceptance. Not this time. What began as concern at two in the morning ended with her dying in the carrier next to me as I raced to the vet. The euthanasia was a formality at that point - a kindness to make her last minutes less dreadful. I was not okay. If I'm being honest, I'm still not. This is going to haunt me.

But the world keeps turning. Larger concerns at home and abroad loom. Deadlines must be met, bills paid, and obligations fulfilled while I continue to heal on multiple fronts.

There will be updates here eventually - ones that aren't touching base or trauma-dumping, even! There's some short stories based in a central narrative I've been kicking around for a bit, and I dearly want more Drogune to be out there.

But not right this second. As Bilbo put it, I feel like too little butter spread across too much bread. I need to loaf a bit so I'm not toast.

...you thought you'd get through all this without a bad joke? You fools!

Thank you all for your continued support and patience.
Be good to yourselves.
Be good to each other.
I'll have something "soon."