We Are So Back

Hehe, I’m alive!

I write to you in a state of poor health. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s just a cold but one that’s dragged on for over three weeks. Unfair.

So much happened since November 2025 that I’ll detail over the course of a few newsletters. I’m no novelist, and I’m not trying to be one (yet), and besides I’d like the first post back to be bite sized and easy to chew. We’ll get into the meaty stuff later.

Okay, beginning at the beginning: It’s December 2025 and Kale and I are set on returning to America in a big way. The move from California to New Zealand is finally happening. After a year of prep and planning and visa paper work we land in SF and take a much needed trip to Carmel before packing my belongings, family time and holiday celebrations. This is important. We haven’t had a vacation in years. Two days is all we give ourselves. It will keep our sanity through the rest of the trip.

Two days of blissful touristing and beachside walks later, we make the long three hour drive inland and begin the arduous task of sorting through my life and it’s belongings. We start off strong. We guestimate finishing within the first week of our two week stay. We have no idea how wrong we are.

[PIPE FALLING SOUND] We get sick.

In next month’s newsletter I detail our horrendous respiratory illness, so buckle up for a fuck as Christmas time.

It’s been a while since my last update and I’ve had many plates spinning all at once between then and now, so I’ll cover some of the latest, greatest, or most interesting things happening:

For those of you who read my previous newsletters, you may have noticed a few changes. If you pay close attention, the web address is now cafechico instead of my fullass name. I’ve done this because of the YouTube thing I’m working on. Don’t worry, it’s still the same guy behind the screen writing into the void but now with a green rabbit shaped coat of paint. Moving forward, I’ll be using Geiger Rabbit as my pseudonym.

My cool and sexy and amazing lover is getting top surgery! This is epic! Kale’s been saving for years to cover the costs, but over the last 5 years the costs have surged beyond what either of us expected. So we’re taking ko-fi donations and commissions to help bridge the gap. Buy a commission here from Kale, or donate to ko-fi here!

Kale is the love of my life and the hardest worker I know. And a fucking incredible artist that will draw your oc doing it nasty style (if you’re into that!). Consider following their work on bluesky and bsky(NSFW) and VGEN. Shop from them here. Any little bit helps!

With the Illness and all that came after it (stay tuned, there’s so much) it’s been slow going achieving the same level of output I had last year. Recovery has been hard fought, and here’s what I’ve been able to accomplish so far. (There’s some I can’t show you yet, but with time and permission I’ll share those projects in the nearish future.)

Sit tight my lovely commissioners, I’m still at it creating for you!

You can commission me on my vgen! Newsletter subscribers get a discount on all my commissions as well! Code at the end of the newsletter for my cuties <3

It isn’t lost on me that one of my last posts featured Artfight, and here we are again, a full calendar year later. It’s Artfight’s 10 year anniversary and to celebrate there are three teams instead of the usual two. For the un-initiated, Artfight is a yearly art gifting event where teams ‘attack’ each other through drawing each other’s original characters. There is a point system, but forr me the points don’t matter, it’s more about the act itself. I’m aiming for my usual nine victims, and I’ll share the outcome in the next installment.

I’m team Tragedy, because all my bleebos are miserable buffoons.

You can find more of my attacks on Artfight!

I have a surprising amount of new products (and how I ended up with so many will be subject for another day) that will be shared as a series of separated installments.

These look STUNNING in real life and are fueling my library book addiction.

I ordered these little dudes in March, only for our entire box of merch to arrive the day AFTER Armageddon Expo had ended. Story for another day, but don’t these just look great!

I’ll leave you with a little preview of what’s to come:

In more recent news, I turned 34!

Category is: Pepperoni Pizza.

I’m ever seeking the high found only when driving up to Little Caesars and getting a hot-n-ready pizza at eight in the evening. We held a pepperoni pizza contest to definitively crown the king of best pepperoni in Auckland. Our contenders:

Costco reigned supreme, not only for taste but for price too! $18 NZD is a crazy deal when the other pizza the same size cost me $65!!! Trust me when I say finding a good pep is a challenge, and the Costco is so far away and we don’t have a car anymore!

Oh yeah, we got a car at some point and now we don’t have it. Don’t worry about it man.

Celebrating another trip round the sun with cherished friends is a blessing I don’t take for granted, and each time I’m overwhelmed knowing that I have people in my life who care for each other. Thank you friends, it was delicious birthday, here’s to many more.

SURPRISE! Kale and I are sick of lacking cool, walkable, crafty art events in our area and finally got our shit together enough to announce This or That Market happening at the Mt. Albert War Memorial. Kale is solely responsible for this coming together as quickly as it has since they’re spearheading organizing everything. I’m just the guy sending emails.

Applications are currently open! If you have some cool, handcrafted wears and art to share with the world we’re looking for you! Apply here, these close on July 31st.

This will be our FIRST EVER event and our first time hosting anything like this, so Aucklanders come out on January 1st 2027.

More Newsletters for you to enjoy~