With the snows of winter finally lessening, and the pandemic also finally dropping down to "tolerable" levels, there were plenty of new things going on that this spring was already going to be labeled the "Spring of New Beginnings".
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With the 2020 Olympics being delayed until 2021, everyone was planning to have Olympic Athletes compared to Animalian "casual" Athletes, since 2021 was also going to have the Biannual International Animalia Convention in 2021. Because of that, there were many Animalians who were signing up for the events. While some events were colony specific, like beach volleyball at Mieni Atoll, it didn't matter too much since those events would be considered separate from the Olympic Games.
One event that was becoming quite popular was the "marathon flight" events, since there were some flying Animalians who were considering taking part in the "Around The World in 80 Days" that Animalia was planning, though it was still on the drawing board for the time being, especially the route.
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Another new thing that was going on was something that was taking place at Heiya Island. Heiya Island actually had a surprising holiday tradition for February called Setsubun. While it wasn't something really celebrated in China, the Korean Peninsula, or other locations in Asia in general, everyone from "residents" to "visitors" enjoyed it. What was considered the "best part" was everyone throwing roasted soybeans at a few "visitors" who had gotten a little too "grabby", "touchy-feely", etc., than the girls who now lived there liked. Such a thing was considered "oddly satisfying", especially for those who watched it.
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Another thing that was going on was a minor spike in male RHS, or "Frat Boy Syndrome" as it was unofficially known on the website. It had gotten that moniker since Lars and his friends had belonged to the same fraternity while they were in college, and also because Lars was acting a bit more like a frat boy after his conversion. Four out of Lars' five friends had already arrived and had placed their orders for their conversions, while the fifth one was still 'en route' and had his Horse conversion 'on hold'.
The first to arrive was Mark, who had ordered a jaguar conversion. He was easy to identify from the other, uplifted Jaguar Animalians because he not only had rosette-decorated hair, he was growing it out so he could braid it with synthetic amber beads. After his conversion, Milla V. was made aware of him, and while he did 'stoke her fire", in a way, he still had a long way to go before anything was made official, even if his new, frat boy, charms somewhat helped with his 'animal magnetism'.
The second, Kenneth, had chosen a wolf for his conversion. After his conversion, he was immediately developing a bit of a reputation among the female wolves of the APD as a bit of a "playboy", since his "Frat Boy Syndrome" was causing him to swing between several girls, which had the potential for comedy, if nothing else. He was also developing an early reputation at Claw Coliseum as a cunning fighter, giving him the stage name "Kenneth the Hunter".
The third, Richard, had chosen a grizzly bear for his conversion since he had gained quite a bit more than the "Freshman 15" during his college years (some on the website had joked it had been the 'grad student's fifty', which was generating a lot of mixed reactions on the website) and was having trouble getting the weight off. As a benefit of the Animalia Virus, almost all of the fat he had was burned off to fuel his muscles, so while he wasn't any taller than the other grizzly bear Animalians, he was quite a bit larger in terms of musculature.
The final one, Greg, had chosen a tiger as his conversion. Among his fellow "frat boys", he was a bit more of a nerd and had an overall higher IQ score, so everyone was a bit confused on how he had gotten into the same fraternity as his friends. While everyone who saw him him as the kind of guy who would be "pawning term papers" for other students, he said that while he did do other people's homework in the fraternity, he didn't charge them for it. His conversion and "Frat Boy Syndrome" led his new tiger form to be labeled as "having brains to back up the brawn".
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Another unusual thing was that there were some unusual appearances at the newly reopened Meat Market. While some of them were to be expected, like Hunni Bunni, there were a few unusual ones like Gloria von Guten. Why she decided to do some dancing at the Meat Market, not even she could explain why, though it was generally accepted as a phase that Animalians go through at least once in their lives.