Dravsky was in a particularly good mood today. I couldn't tell exactly why that was, but his excitement was clear as day, and quite contagious! He said he had an idea for when I had time. I put it off for a while, I had overslept, and I was busy today. I figured it was just some fun way to pass the time. But eventually, I found the time, and asked him what he had in mind, so he asked me to follow him into his forest.

After a beautiful walk through his luscious forest in all of its springtime glory, Dravsky told me, "It's juuuust past… HERE!" And then he took off running! I was taken off guard, I didn't realize what was going on for a moment, but then in playful excitement, I took off after him through the foliage. And just a few moments later, I came upon this…

This wonderful, marvelous, beautiful, incredible, lovely, romantic scene.

A big banner reading 'Happy Hatchday', a gigantic cake, a pile of gifts, and Dravsky in the center, his stripes glowing as he used his magic to form a giant heart shape in the air with water from a gentle stream that cascaded into a small waterfall…

I was speechless for a good few moments, just standing there with my jaw dropped… I even felt a tear coming on, but before I let it escape, I charged forward and hugged my lover, both of us falling over in the process. I was still speechless for quite some time! I simply cuddled up next to Dravsky and we both watched the scene for a while. Dravsky even reformed the heart of water in the air. It was absolutely magnificent…

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THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO FREAKING MUCH   Dravsky YOU'RE WAY TOO FREAKING KIND
AND A MILLION THANKS TO   kori16 FOR DRAWING THIS FOR US
I don't think you guys understand. Kori is literally my favorite artist. She has been long before I even designed Craddock or joined the furry fandom.

But speaking of joining the furry fandom, that's exactly what this piece was made to commemorate! It's not my actual birthday today, but one year ago today, May 4th 2019, is the date that I firmly decided to join the furry fandom. And as such, Dravsky interpreted that as Craddock's hatchday.

And once again I had completely forgotten the day was coming up! So this was a huge surprise when Dravsky showed me this! I STILL cannot believe he did this for me. Kori wasn't even open for commissions!!! Which means she made an EXCEPTION for Dravsky and me and drew this freaking incredible piece for us in particular! I literally cannot put into words my gratitude for both Dravsky and Kori for giving me this piece. I love Kori's art so much, and I love Dravsky so much. This is just the best gift ever.

IMPORTANT:
Kori is NOT active on FurAffinity. She is only active on DeviantArt and Twitter, so if you want to see more of her stuff (which you SHOULD because god dang her stuff is literally incredible) please check her out in one of these places:
Kori's DeviantArt link
Kori's Twitter link
Like I cannot give her enough praise. And even despite all this… She even gave us ANOTHER free sketch on the side. She did the same thing when I commissioned her, and yet she did it AGAIN!!! You can see that sketch in my scraps HERE!

Anyways, with all that said, yes this does mark my 1 year anniversary as part of this fandom. I will make a journal reflecting on it properly, but what a freaking year this has been. Even with the latter end of it hindered by the pandemic, I still accomplished so freaking much in this year. I love this fandom so much, and I'm so glad that I've made friends such as Dravsky, and that I have a sizeable yet personable group of watchers that love to see the art I commission/write/receive. Ya'll are just objectively the best community tbh. I love you all, and thank you all so much!!!!