Stealing this from  oci

Using Zephyr since he's a humanoid character, whereas Zedrin is too feral for this meme to apply

Character: Zephyr

The Mary Sue/Gary Stu meme~!

[ ] They are possessed by an angel
[ ] They are possessed by a demon
[ ] They are a werewolf/vampire/faerie
[ ] They are physically strong.
[ ] They have a rare hair/fur color
[ ] Their eyes are an unusual color
[ ] This happens to be red
[ ] Their eyes change color
[ ] They have wings
[ ] They can grow extra body parts/shapeshift
[ ] They are immortal
[ ] (if a female) they have large boobs
[ ] (if a male) they are very muscular
[ ] They are very attractive to the opposite gender.
[x] They are telekinetic/pyrokinetic/etc (electrokinetic. It more allows him to channel electricity)
[ ] They have sixth sense/can mind-read/etc [fuzzy, non specific]
[ ] They have an object of some sort that gives them powers
[x] They have a special ability/power, but they don't know about it yet
[ ] They were bestowed/cursed with these powers
[ ] They are a healer
[ ] They are from a very rich/royal family
[ ] They don't know that they are from a very rich/royal background
[x] They have lost one/both of their parents
[ ] They ran away from home
[ ] Their parents are cruel, uncaring, abusive etc.
[ ] They witnessed one/both of their parent's death
[ ] They are part angel/demon/faerie/some other mythical creature
[x] They never knew their parents
[x] They were abused/spoiled as a child (brought up in slavery)
[ ] They have lots of friends/no friends
[ ] They are emo/cutesy
[ ] They look much younger/older than they really are.
[ ] They are currently in a relationship
[ ] They have lots of morals and state them a fair bit for example: 'I would rather be with my friends than with my boyfriend/girlfriend' 'Nothing matters more to me than my friends/family' 'I wouldn't hesitate to die in place of a friend' etc. It's fine if your OC has these beliefs/values, but if they constantly say them out loud/preach them to others, then we have a problem.
[ ] They have a mental disorder
[ ] They have an emotional disorder
[ ] They struggle to stay sane
[ ] They are a psycho
[ ] They have multiple personalities
[x] They are very intelligent
[ ] They have hallucinations
[ ] They can summon spirits/demons/angels etc.
[ ] They have an unusual/unrealistic pet
[ ] They have a guardian spirit
[ ] They have a 'special type' of soul (what?)
[ ] Their soul is not the same as them
[ ] They can talk to spirits/ghosts
[ ] Some part of their body glows
[ ] They have a rare/unusual name
[ ] They were born on an important date, such as New Year's Eve, Midsummers Night, The Winter Solstice etc.
[x] They have a twin/sibling that they were separated from at birth/a young age
[x] They are connected with a certain element
[ ] They are connected with a certain animal
[ ] They always dress like a certain 'label'
[ ] They look quite a bit like a character from a popular anime/manga (fuck me if I ever embody an anime)
[x] They are a race/species that is discriminated against/misunderstood
[ ] They have a certain power that is misunderstood/feared
[ ] They live/lived on the streets at some point in their lives
[ ] They are hiding from someone/something
[ ] They have a rare blood type
[ ] They cry blood
[ ] Certain noises/smells/situations/etc make their powers activate/give them a nervous breakdown
[ ] They are from a different country to where they live
[ ] They are very mysterious/dark
[ ] They are very lively/happy
[ ] Their mood changes a lot/very quickly
[ ] They are very patient
[ ] They are from a long line of --
[ ] They have a piece of jewelry/clothing that they always wear
[x] They have amnesia
[ ] They have some sort of permanent medical condition
[ ] The have a curse upon them
[ ] They are involved in some sort of prophecy
[ ] They are 'the chosen one'
[ ] They have insomnia

Overall points: 10

Take points off your OCs overall score if they fit any of the following statements:

[ ] They smoke
[ ] They are an alcoholic
[ ] They are overweight
[ ] They are addicted to drugs
[x] They have a short temper
[ ] They enjoy bullying others
[ ] They do not care much about others
[ ] They are emotionless

Final score: 9


< 5 Anti-Sue/Stu
Your character may be a bit on the boring side. Of course, this does depend, but generally if they are scoring that low, it wouldn't hurt to 'spice them up' a bit.


6-15 Balanced Character ((9))
If your OC scored around here, then they are probably quite a well-balanced and interesting character. Those scoring in the higher end of this category may be a bit too much though.


16-25 Borderline Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu
We have a problem. You need to tone your character down. They are most likely a bit annoying to others, too.

26 < Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu

--

Hm. Kinda interesting. Kinda felt like it was meant for anime though...

 Nimzach was the first to nab a 1000 pageview screencap, so I'll get to work on his piece soon.

In the meantime I still have commission slots open. I'll do 3 over the weekend, message me if you're interested. Prices and info are here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2078843/

Commissions:
1. open
2. open
3. open
Kiriban:  Nimzach

8 more pageviews til 1000.

Who will win the kiriban? Will it be you?

(It means free artwork! :O)

Well, with my paypal up and running, commissions are finally open. I'll post a pricing sheet sometime this week. In the meantime, here's this:

Lineart: $3 (I can do with pen, pen tool, freehand digital, or simple pencil, your choice.)
Traditional/mixed media art:
Sketchwork (grayscale, shaded with pencil): $4
Inked (grayscale, shaded with pens): $7
Colored ink (shaded with pen, colored in photoshop): $10

Digital:
Flats: $8
Cell-shaded or overlay-shaded (basic shading, I've sped-paint in this style): $12
Gradient map shading (this is my preferred method): $15
Gradient map + lighting (same as above but with highlights, backlighting, lens-flare, etc., subtle details): $18
Reference sheets (front and back image, cell-shaded, with a color scheme): $20

Other things:
I pen most my work so that's free for any colored drawing. If you want me to use the pen tool instead, just add $1.
Backgrounds and settings: add $2. Fractal or gradient backgrounds I'll do for free
With ref sheets, I do 2 images of your character, either a front and back or two forms if they're present. (ie if you have a feral and a bipedal form.) If you want a textual biography or description, I can add it in for you for free, or even think up something for you (I'm a fairly skilled writer, take my word for it).
Additional characters: For just lineart add $1. For traditional, add $2. For digital, add $3. All per additional character.
Porn: I don't draw porn. But I will draw nudity, female only (sorry, I do not want to draw a penis). Depending on the maturity, it'll be between adding $0-$2. (Most of the time I won't charge, especially if it's tasteful. But if it's fully exposed nudity, or a mature theme such as a fetish or 'soft porn', add $1 and $2 respectively.)
If you want me to draw something fetish related, chances are that you'll be denied but ask me anyway, it depends on what it is. I will not draw male nudity. (More accurately I won't draw penises. Boobs and butts are okay.)
For any commission, I don't NEED a ref sheet but it's helpful. If you don't have one or even another piece of art, I can go off of description.
For now, if you want something like a chibi or anything unlisted, I can do it but message me and we can work out pricing.

When I receive a commission, I won't be able to start working on it til the weekend, usually, due to school and my job allows me to work on art. So, the average completion time will be between 4 days to a week.

All payments must be through paypal.

So yeah. If you have questions, want to argue pricing, anything, message me.

Well, I think that covers everything. Repostin' to DA.

What're your top 3 favorite fursona species, or what do you find the most interesting?

Personally I'm a fan of raccoons, wolves, and tigers. Which is odd cause I haven't drawn any of those species recently. (And I excluded kaohnin cause that would be too arrogant/obvious :s)

This weekend I'm going to get my paypal up and running, so I'll be able to start taking commissions. I'll need to figure out a pricing scheme and how many I can do a week.

In the meantime, I've got 3-4 pieces of art planned for this week.

Oh, and boobs.

I need a new game to play .-.

yay for spammy journals

I've come to a conclusion. A simple association of words that so accurately defines the furry fandom in all its glory and infamy.

It is not a way of life, not a lifestyle. It's not a religion or cult.

It's a fetish. A fixation. Even so simple as just an interest

From World English Dictionary: fetish
3. any object, activity, etc, to which one is excessively or irrationally devoted

Fetishes are often associated with sexual attraction. I'm not excluding that idea in the definition, but all 'furry' is is an interest with anthropomorphism, be it for intrigue or sexual deviancy.

It's nothing more than an interest. Expression of that interest varies between individuals, but we should not make it out to be something so much more than, lest some among us try to raise themselves to a protected status (which is the equivalent of an punching bag on the internet). It shouldn't hold a massive hand over relationships, and doesn't free you from discrimination.

I say because I do want to see a future where 'furry' doesn't bring up hatred among other communities. With the fandom becoming more widespread and diverse, this is slowly becoming more of a reality, but in order to promote tolerance, we must not provoke intolerance. Acknowledging 'furry' as nothing more than a fetish or an interest is a way to humble the fandom's inflated ego which frequently gets it into trouble.

We are all human despite what personas we carry online.

I feel so accomplished. \o/ I feel as if I finally have a fully developed method for my art now, giving it its own style.

Sketch and pen the drawing on paper first, scan it in and fix it up some, set it to multiply, apply grayscale shading underneath, add a gradient map to give it the base color, then copy-paste the initial gray shading with an alpha map for secondary colors, adding a clipped gradient map for each one, then finally add the detail colors, copy paste the gray-shading again over everything, set to multiply, adjust levels so it's lighter, blur it, add in some final overlay layer details, apply image to a blank layer, blur it, lower opacity and erase portions to add a bloom effect, with more blurring in further perspectives and less in closer ones, draw up the background, and profit.

Yeah, no one probably cares. \o/ But I'm happy.

Why do I keep seeing 'gay furry art' ads? :[ What's with the sudden influx?

I'm nearing my 5000 pageview kiriban on DA, and I'm going to hit the 1000 pageview here before long as well...

So, if you screencap the 1000th pageview (or 1001th, and so on, if no one submits a screen), free full color commission to you!

Derp.

Not a journal entry, just an overview of the species, something long overdue.

Update 1/7/11: Free lineart for makin' a Kaohnin!
Female: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5034013
Male: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5054938

Physical Description: Kaohnin stand between 5'8" and 7', with a frame much like a werewolf's, save more slender. They are bipedal, very agile creatures, capable of shifting between a two-legged and four-legged stance with ease. Their legs are digigrade, and when sprinting on all fours they can reach an incredible speed of 40 miles per hour, though won't usually do so due to their living environments. Typically they live in forested or mountainous environments, capable of climbing with the mobility of a monkey, yet with the grace and balance of if not beyond a cat. Despite this, they're mostly related to the canine order. Their muzzles and jaws are very wolf-like, and their ears are fox-like, but much larger. Typically they have large claws, and their canines are extra large compared to their other teeth. (They're larger than fangs, yet the upper canines are still referred to as such. The bottom ones are referred to as tusks.) Their tails are tapered, long, and powerful, capable of supporting their entire body weight with ease, and they have a set of otherwise useless winglets on their back. Muscles are present to move these "mini-wings," yet they serve no purpose (they're a possible mutation from one of their ancient ancestors, when they were a more feral-minded species). Their fur can be a variety of different colors and patterns, from striped, splotched, spotted, solid, contrasting, anything, and is very thick, and exceptionally fluffy around the pelvis and chest, hiding elements of reproductive interest.

Males typically are the larger of the species, and aside from the masculine build, also have larger tusks and tufts on their tails. Females, on the other hand, have larger fangs and very small tusks, lack the tuft on their tail, but also have the ability to retract their claws-- this ability may pertain again to ancestry, where only the males would fight, forage, and hunt, and would always have been using their claws, while the females were responsible for bearing offspring, requiring a more careful, tender touch, yet with sentience such abilities have become obsolete. Some males still do have retractable claws, but in most cases, they only partially retract. Additionally, females have six nipples, like a canine, (again, ancestry) yet the latter 4 breasts are undeveloped and are not noticeable, save for cases where some females are stimulated through sex or excessive offspring.

Hermaphrodites sometimes may occur in the species, and may have elements from both genders, and, though they are a rarity, are not regarded as foreign.

One feature that may be present on either gender is spikes on the elbows, hocks of their legs, or in a set of up to 6 on their back, starting at their neck to just below their winglets. These may vary in count or might not be present at all.

Social Behavior: Kaohnin are smart. They can speak both English and their native tongue, communicate with other species, pick up social norms, etc. However, they remain strongly instinct-driven, which is why they have not formed a society or integrated with another civilization, as doing so has adverse affects on their instincts and coordination. Due to their furry bodies they've found no point in clothes, yet nothing can be said about that opinion on an individual basis: some kaohnin have moved into cities, towns, and societies for whatever reasons they had. Most choose to remain under a feral, wild lifestyle.

Though the species enjoys sex, like a human, furry, or even some breeds of monkeys, they're very loyal and protective, even jealous in some cases, once they choose a mate. Additionally, most kaohnin are heterosexual. The only factor on their attraction is instinct: hence, there's no hostility to homosexuality/bisexuality, but it's addressed as an outlier in regards to upbringing, psychology, instinct, or hormones. Homosexuality is uncommon but still present. For these two reasons polyamorous relationships are extremely rare.

The birth rate in kaohnin families is about 2 offspring over a wide course of time, as opposed to a whole litter in a short time like most canines. The causes behind this change are unknown, and may be either a contributor or an effect of sentience.

Non-kaohnins are not typically regarded with hostility, but may be addressed suspiciously if they feel it necessary. They'll only attack someone if provoked, but a drawn weapon, aggressive stance, or destructive action is all that's necessary to set them off-- and male or female, you do not want to be the receiving end on a kaohnin's claws. Passerbys won't be attacked if they don't intrude, and can even befriend a kaohnin if they make their intentions clear.
____________________________________________________

And that's about it for now. Any questions, post em below, I'll answer them and maybe update this post.

I do care if you use the species to create a character: I would love it, actually. :D

Now, there's 2 points to this journal. The first one is just to describe my philosophy on game-design and items. The second is just to see if anyone wants to get some free art.

Save for the druid gear I hate the Tier 11 armor. And when that happens I draw concepts. I've started working on a drawing and came up with two concepts for death knight armor, realizing how much I love drawing armor.

I used to make armor, weapons, and avatars in Second Life, so I guess I still have that desire in me.

In my opinion, tier armor in a game, especially such as WoW, should be treated like a character. It needs to look unique to the class, related to the class even if inspired by another element, but at the same time you shouldn't look like everyone else within your class. Designers typically design two sets of armor for each class, lower and upper grade, and that's the only difference you find: and frequently, the only change between them is color, even very subtle color changes. That's wrong, and lazy, in my opinion. Additionally, all non-set and offset pieces only look like one specific related class, so you might find a death knight walking around with cool armor, but he has random bits of warrior gear on that looks completely out of place.

Aside from that, the armor they've been making doesn't look related to the class, and doesn't look "sexy" (in a non-perverse way). The armor is flat, unattractive.

So, my solutions to the problems are to include an entire armor set (including non-set and off-set parts) when conceptualizing, not basing all offset parts off of one armor class, and making sure the offset parts still look good on other related classes. Additionally, I feel different specializations should have slightly different armor (or different playstyles/roles, I should say: a protection warrior should have more plating and shoulders while a fury or arms warrior should have more spikes, while the armors still looks like they both grew from the same tree). At most I believe each class should have 2 variants, since most classes can occupy two roles or playstyles (some classes would be grouped together, but if stats are different, the armor ultimately can be too). Rogue, warlocks, mages, etc., damage only classes would only have one set, but paladins, druids, shamans, warriors, etc. would have slight variances that look more specific to their roles. (And things like resto and balance or resto and elemental would have the same armor styles).

Now, the point you're all interested in: I want to draw armor. I don't care if I never work for Blizzard, I find it fun as hell, and I want to draw a lot of it. If you play World of Warcraft and want your character(s) (yes, multiple is better) to 'model' a set for me, just post the race/class/spec/link to picture down below. I dunno how long I'll be doing this (possibly here and there over a long time) but I'll go back and reference my journals.

EDIT: just for the hell of it, if you have ideas for your character's weapon in the drawing, I'll include it (might be to my own style a bit, but go ahead and mention it)

EDIT2: as a note, I cannot stand blood elves. I'll draw them, but they'd be last on my priority list. .-.

So, I have multiple shading styles if you haven't seen already, and I'm curious as to what people think is better. I've kinda been able to divide it into a few 'categories'.

Just because something's more popular doesn't mean I'll abandon other styles. But I'm curious, what do you think typically looks best?

Lot of links to my stuff below...

Lineart:
outlines: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4696483/
tinted outline: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4885730/
no outlines: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4905138/ or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4745261/

Shading:
Smooth: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4936420/ or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4940945/
Smooth-Cellshade cross: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4582120/
Cellshading: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4710656/ or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4512251/
Traditional Ink: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4512417/ or http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4514322/

One thing I've noticed on this website is a few girls who join up (not a majority of them). Particularly they join, submit a porn drawing of their character, then introduce themselves on their profile with "cute" text and/or RL pictures (like a hyperactive teenager on facebook), announcing that they're a girl, often single. Immediately, as expected, several single males watch them, start commenting on how cute they are, etc., generic hitting on.

I'm not going to sugar coat things: I'm lonely IRL. I feel isolated. I want a relationship with someone. At the same time, however, I can't understand stooping to such a level, where one becomes enamored with every girl online with the misconception that there's even a semi-plausible chance of ever meeting them and actually maintaining a relationship.

Why are furries so... desperate? Are we that socially awkward? Is it even at all right that any girl who says she's a furry should immediately be elevated to the status of a goddess? (Aren't there enough problems with ego in the fandom already?)

To give an example, without names... There was one profile I came across of a girl on this website. She announced she was single, had RL pictures of herself. She was cute. Her art was okay, but her first journal entry was basically a request for a boyfriend, where individuals actually applied in her journal. It was shallow enough to make me want to vomit, but from that, just the sheer number of guys who were desperately trying to get her attention was staggering. And to that effect, I ask: why? I know why the girl will do it: she loves the attention, the prospect of being adored by hundreds. But for her admirers? I'm assuming things just based off of archetypes I've come across, but whoever she picks will try to please her in a one-sided relationship, then will be tossed aside like a rag when she gets bored and repeats the process.

Maybe I'm just bitter from my past relationship, because that's what my ex-girlfriend was like to me, but I can't assume I was faced with a unique situation.

I'm straight. Yes, girls in the fandom is a positive aspect to me, but I still believe in equal treatment for both sexes. Something needs to be done about these, dare I say it, attention whores. (I'm sure much of this applies to males as well, yet I'm keeping this in hetero-context simply because of my own orientation.) The majority of furries need to wake up to how the world works.

At least the first semester. Of college. Had my finals... Free time is now time. :D

So, I hope I don't kick myself for doing this, but I'll offer free lineart or sketchwork requests to anyone who asks. No fetish stuff, and no nudity (well, soft-nude female is okay...) (If you're confused look in my gallery to see the most I'll draw.)

Also, Black Ops got a patch and it runs smooth as silk now \o/ So I'm happy. Spawns are a little better or worse depending on the map...

And I got Killing Floor, which is an epic game. (And wicked hard in closed halls.)

And... I got nothing else. :l

...

( . Y . )

8D

Edit: Also, when it comes to requests, I'm all for multiple-character drawings. It's good practice.

I'm going to draw a character in a compromised position, with bigger than normal boobs, and see how many favorites it gets.

o_o FOR SCIENCE!

No but srsly. With finals starting I have lots of time in study breaks where I can relax, and the best way I can relax I've found is through drawing. It entertains me when I'm bored or lonely.

So, more stuff coming next week. If anyone has any suggestions or requests of any of my characters I've presented thus far, or if someone wants to do a trade, feel free to speak up. :P

Also, as far as views go, FA is 50x more awesome than DA.

Just sayin'.

Am I the only one relieved that cub pr0nz is now banned? Seriously... it was wrong and disgusting.

So I've come to the conclusion I really need to stop drawing a lot of my female characters I currently have in their sexy poses and whatnot that they've been seen in. It's completely out of character. :s For instance, out of all the times I've drawn Aryas, only my most recent drawing (Abused) has been at all in her character.

So, things are gonna change. No more drawing them all sexified and whatnot. :s


...


This only means I need to think up some new characters that I can exploit without it being outside their element. Woot! \o/

I like it when boobs look like boobs. I don't like it when they don't for various reasons. It makes me sad.

Yeah. :l

I know I agreed to do a few requests, (what's more, just a few. Not many .-.) and I'm working on them. :s I just have run into some problems with my tablet, plus there's just been a few events popping up in college that have required my attention.

They'll be done eventually. .-. I've got most the lineart drawn up already, so I need to scan them in and color them.

I'm offering free requests on certain terms for anyone who's interested. As you might already know, I've created/am still developing a species known as the Kaohnin ( http://zombiezephyr.deviantart.com/.....hnin-180109375 for a mostly-fully description).

I wanna get them more publicity, so if you want a kaohnin character, or wanna see your own 'sona as one, just leave me a comment or send me a note with a description.

I'm gonna try to do them in color and probably have 2 on the way atm. Note i might not be able to do all that come my way, but I'm gonna try regardless.

Thanks for the watches and favorites. :3 I'd comment on everyone's pages but I'm still getting used to the UI/navigation on FA (plus there seems to be more messages each time I blink o-o)

So, thanks all. Sure makes me feel welcome. :3 (Hell, on dA, unless you're some massively popular artist your stuff seldom gets a comment or a view. :l)