I don't seem to have the time or energy for full-fledged con reports any more; I used to write them up as they happened, but that was in the days when cons had long stretches of nothing happening between panels and trips 'round the dealer room. These days, of course, I live in the dealer room, and spend most of the night doing my homework (i.e., sketchbooks and badges I've taken on during the course of the day).
The big highlight of MFF 2004 is that it's probably the first furry con I've been to where I didn't find myself inexplicably alone and feeling ditched at some point. MFF in particular has a bad history of that, and I was very happy that this one broke the tradition. Maybe it was related to the Bambino's curse ... or maybe I've just become better at making friends.
Day-Specific Highlights, on the other hand, include...
I have something of an organic writing process. For long-term plots in particular I tend to establish things early on that I only half-understand myself, but that I know are important. An example that got mentioned in a Websnark review, for instance, was Tiffany's throwaway comment wondering if Dover would be able to say "I do" in English, becoming the major focus of that storyline. It's not accurate to say that was entirely unplanned on my part, but at the same time, I didn't have the details of "I do -- CLICK" worked out when I wrote Tiffany's joke back in 2002.
J.K. Rowling may plot seven books ahead, but I haven't got that kind of methodical mind. 0.o
Anyway, today I had a sudden, major revelation about Athena T. Lion. When I created her, I knew that she had stuff going on, but I hadn't quite worked out what it was. I did know that she was going to be very important to the Leona/contract storyline, and I knew why she was important to Leona -- but I couldn't figure out why Leona was important to her. She hinted at it, when she told Leona that she needed somebody to help her out once, but that nobody did. That's all well and good, after all, but why Leona specifically? The cliché of "she reminds me of myself when I was young" is a good starting point, but by itself is not enough. Athena is kind in her way, but she's not a saint who just throws largesse onto every young lioness she comes across. She wants something from Leona.