Hello lovely people. I hope you are all keeping well!

I'm just trying to spread the word to help people find a brand new vore / micro / macro artist on the block. Links below if you'd like to check out their work (they've got a ton of YCHs going for really decent prices, so worth checking out :) )

https://www.furaffinity.net/user/nushto/ ((Dedicated Vore account))

https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/kuzmamedvedev/ ((Their general account. Lovely work here and some extra YCHs))

This is just a little muse that I found myself having and I thought I'd write it down. I'm curious if anyone else feels similar.

Youtube - Cult of Personality

So from around 2021 to now, my health has been up and down and my income has jumped around with that too. It was around that time I decided "I want to start making my own stuff." , be that 3D art or 2D. I've dabbled quite a bit on the 2D front, making a few adoptables and editing bases, ect, but I've let my perfectionism / ADHD-esk fear of not being 'amazing' stop me from trying to be 'good enough to be finished' which goes against everything I've ever counselled others to do, struggling with their own creative-blocks (mindfulness therapy can be very good at figuring yourself out when you stop long enough to think about it).

That said, my art motivation has and always was "I want to make characters that I want to play as." (primarily over on F-list where I'm best known... probably both for being a loud mouth and a 'moderately' decent writer/role-player :P) It was never really to get likes, clicks or approval. I suppose I find a lot of that to be quite a superficial measuring stick if you don't rely on it for your income.

I once made a Sapphire exclusive Twitter account and role-played as her on there for about a week or two? Maybe three?. I know she's popular where she prowls, so I thought it would be a good laugh... (Oh foolish, sweet summer child that I was...)

I got one absolute idiot of a creeper in my DMs (you know who you are. I'm over it, but dude, wtf? Does that line usually work for you?) and that put me off the whole endeavour. I wasn't making any cash out of it, so I wasn't going to put up with the usual tosh that sex workers have to put up with on the regular (people messaging them typing with one hand and wanking with the other).

That experience essentially drilled into me that I don't get any gratification or satisfaction out of entertaining a loud silent majority. I'd much rather cater to a vocal small minority that actively give me feedback to work-off and generally make me feel good about the content I create and I'm very much like that in most areas of my life.

Now that backstory added, I find people, especially within my corner of the kinky web, mostly being micro/vore themes, who seem to invest insane amounts of money into a singular character, often a pred and they'll sink cash into commissions, which often converts into a large and consistent thrist audience (an audience with a laser focus on the pornography you're contributing to the community).

But within those cases above, I've noticed two distinctive types of 'Super Pred Art Commissioner' - Those who are chasing numbers/ clout and those who genuinely just love their character utterly and completely and they get off on the porn they purchase themselves. In an ideal world, I'd like to do more of the latter and I've set it as a goal to try to make some porn of my own cast, because there's so much stuff I'd love to see as visual art, so this one I get and it makes complete sense to me.

But it's that other group I find interesting and they're the topic of this particular brain fart. The people who consistently push artwork of one predator like a brand for the benefit of others, when they themselves might secretly have far, far subbier inclinations or just pine for the attention of others. Usually figureheads in our community (most of which have been lovely, with a small handful of those I've met seeming to be total arseholes).

Algorithmically speaking, that's 100% how you build a social media profile with numbers. You only need to look to the most notable characters in the fandom to spot this. Consistency is key for building numbers and cultivating a community of 'fans' (key word). The same psychology works for the most popular sex workers too.

I suppose the point I'm drumming to, if you do find yourself spending a fortune on artwork when your genuine love and passion isn't in it, I'd want to ask you whose attention are you trying to acquire?
And on top of that, ultimately, is it worth the cost to grab it? Is that going to make you happy when you finally do manage to get noticed by your idols?

I suspect there's probably a deeper reason for those who 'chase that dragon' (sometimes literally in the fandom) and attachment-style psychology might have something to do with it too.

Most of my art spending in the past that didn't fall into the aforementioned character buying, was often supporting struggling friends struggling to manage their finances / income (word of advice. Don't do this. If I could undo ever mixing friendship with business transactions, I 100% would). Admittedly, during the times when I've been a high earner (Gods I miss those paychecks) everything above barely matters. Spend your extra income on whatever brings you joy, so long as it is indeed, bringing you the joy you seek and you don't find yourself stuck with the horrible experiences of dealing with artists with awful communication skills + months of ghosting (you artists who avoid this. You are amazing. Genuinely the best).

TL/DR - I strongly believe that the furry fandom is not a place where money can buy you lasting happiness.

Quite a lot of us are very shallow in our interests here when we're being honest with ourselves. Though, if you can get past our mutual thirsts, kinks and cravings, there are some rich friendships you can make beneath that initial layer. Where and when possible, try to focus on the furs who always take the time to check in on you or stick with you or your community, even when you go through low points. They tend to be the ones you'll find a far better return of investment on, especially when it comes to spending money on art or buying games to play with one another.

What I do strongly believe brings you happiness within the fandom, is simply being a source of community, providing engagement for people to participate in or genuinely loving the work you put into your characters and your worlds so others can join them. There's going to be some crossover there within this and the above, but just make sure you don't get yourself lost spending a small fortune chasing popufurity (I pray I never have to write that word again).

This brainfart of a post was inspired by spotting a fellow writer I'm loosely familiar with who has spent a fortune on their predatory character and written hundreds of pages of vore content in a single document, only for said (very well put together stories/story) to barely get any clicks / views, which is a shame, as they've clearly worked bloody hard on it.

Where as by comparison and it still blows my mind to date, that my story here which features a ragtag band of furs, remains my most popular upload of mine.

I have absolutely no idea why. I'm pretty sure I wrote it whilst intoxicated and in like, an hour? If you are a fan of that particular story, please tell me why lol. I am genuinely, utterly perplexed, but supremely curious what makes it so clickable for people.

Tangent aside, make sure whatever money you're spending on stuff is going to genuinely bring you joy and be mindful of when you're buying art and why you're doing it.

Hi all,

Been a while since I've dropped by and the reason for that is that the last 10 months I've had something a little concerning in the health department but I didn't really know what until recently. For at least 10 months, I had a chronic sinus issue. Went to the doctor multiple times and was told the same thing "It'll pass, take these antibiotics and use these sprays."

It was only by chance that one very clever doctor spotted that I had something strange at the front of my skull and it turned out I had a lump behind my eye that felt like a golf ball putting pressure in my head where I really didn't want or need it. A lump that I can report was successfully removed on Wednesday and I'm feeling so, so much better for it. It was a dangerous operation and I could have lost an eye or worse, but I was really lucky throughout it and so far, that's kept going (they're going to let me know what it was soon).

Basically I feel really lucky to be able to write this and I'm kinda renewed with some energy to really push for some creative stuff in the coming days.

In the meanwhile however, I am quite sparse when it comes to funds so if you spot any adopts that I post up and you can afford to bid or AB them, I'd very much appreciate it :)

I'm also going to be offering to colour in any old sketches or linearts that you have that you'd like to see flat colours added to. If that's something you're interested in, hit up my notes.

But yeah! I'm happy to be well enough to write this and looking forward to coming up with some fun stuff in the future and introduce you to some new and old faces with new stories to tell :)

I'm tempted to write a story, but I'm curious which characters you'd like me to feature and which kinks you'd like to see featured.

Curious to hear all thoughts below.

Likewise, just happy to hear from followers all the same. How you been :)?

Just putting down some thoughts whilst I clean-up a little around here.

I'm loosely planning on moving to a brand new account in the future, though I don't know when that'll happen and I likely won't announce it (we'll see). You'll no doubt see the characters I still enjoy in that new space if I move to it and I have no intention from leaving the likes of F-list if you know me from there (although admittedly, I am just as rare on there as I am here these days).

I don't know if many people can relate to this, but I've sort of barely had time for the furry world recently. I've been working a pretty decent job that consumes most of my time and even when I do have free time, outside of the usual hello to a few close friends in the fandom, I don't really feel like I'm a part of it or that I'd honestly like to be a part of some of the more cliquey spaces out there.

Though even with that in mind, I do love being able to share little experiences with the people I do enjoy from the fandom. I still have the odd horny moment and go on a favourite spree or send an RP partner a thirst post (and I enjoy receiving these back from my regulars, so thank you to those who do lol). But outside of the odd kinky thought, most of the time when I think of a thirsty encounter, it's territory I've covered, been there, done that. If it doesn't involve someone I already know, I'm a little hesitant to bother engaging. Does anyone else relate to that after being here as long as some of us have?

I dunno. Just one of those thoughts. I've been talking about retiring Chip as a sona. I may well do this or at the very least, give him a major upgrade/rework in his art department. Once upon a time, I looked up to him (heights permitting) as someone I aspired to be more like, whereas these days, I generally feel like I prefer who I've become and I am working on finishing a new sona to reflect this at some point in the future. My partner likes the idea of having art with this character too, so you might see more of that.

But that's that side of things. Not really much more to say.

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"Where's your art gone?"

Just putting this here because I won't be replying to any comments about it elsewhere. I've moved a ton of artwork over to my scraps section. The TL/DR is that I just don't want to support the artist in question and haven't wanted to for quite a while, so it's just a bit of a clean-up. If you're a close friend, you know the deeper backstory there.

I did technically delete 1 submission that I didn't feel comfortable having on this page anymore, but as it had about 300 views, I doubt any of you will know which one it is (except you. You know who you are).

So even though I rarely actually visit it these days (38665 submissions and counting)... - I want my gallery here to support artists who have been really good, genuine, honest people and an absolute pleasure to interact with.

---

So that's it really. Hope you're all keeping cool. I am open to certain offers on any of my pre-existing characters some of you have been curious or keen on. Naturally, certain ones won't be for sale, but if you do have someone in mind you'd like to ask me about, feel free to poke me.

Kind regards,
Chip / Thorn

Hi gang,

I know not everyone reads these, but for the few that do and if we know one another, sorry I've been quiet or a bit distant in recent years. Like everyone else, I've been going through mental health stuff and my priorities haven't always been on checking up on other people.

That said, I just wanted it to be known that because of how frequently distracted I am (I'm currently pursuing a diagnosis for ADHD), I am more than happy to be poked by anyone looking to chat and catch up. Bonus points if you let me know precisely what you want to chat about or what's on your mind (most of you know me from fetishy spaces, so I do not mind a little bit of horny. I tend to let people know if I'm down to chat that way one way or another, generally pretty lightly :) )

But yeah! Basically, don't feel bad poking me multiple times if I haven't replied. Sometimes when I click off a tab, I'm gone. Like, absolutely lost to the wind lol so they're more often than not appreciated, than not and trust me, I'll tell you if I don't have time or don't want them. Promise :)

Anyways, hope to hear from some of you. Lemme know what games you've played recently or whatever else you've been up to 🐭

Hi peeps!

I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment and I'm looking to supplement that across the coming days with some art projects. I'll be uploading some adoptables over on my  Thornstroke profile, so if you're looking to grab some cool characters, I recommend you keep your eye on that, or follow my Twitter over on https://twitter.com/thornstroke for updates.

As for the topic above, I know that I've definitely had some pieces in my art folders just begging to be coloured in (especially those old Patreon sketches!) and if you're in the same boat as me, I'm offering to splash some colour on those bad boys for you, starting at $20 per piece for a basic job (single character, not overly detailed).

So if you do have anything around you want working on, feel free to poke me. I'll aim to get them finished within 24 hours too.

Just drop me a note along with the picture and I'll let you know if I can sort it out for you :)

Other than that, stay well and keep cool!