I post a lot more doodles and WIPs to Bsky than I do here because FA is a pain in the ass to upload things to. If you want to see more of that stuff, follow me there!

https://bsky.app/profile/deaathtraap.bsky.social

Hello everyone!

I've been reading a lot lately. I haven't read books in years but I found myself getting back into it a few months ago. I would like to share some of the books I've been reading and discuss stuff with people!

(I will be avoiding spoilers here, focusing on the premise and vibes more than anything.)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I read Ender's Game a long time ago, and rereading it recently was the catalyst to my renewed enjoyment of books. It's about a uniquely intelligent young boy named Ender who is recruited into the space army in preparation of a second alien invasion. The book is actually more about the mind games and social conflicts Ender is put through during his years-long training and it's more philosophy than sci-fi, though it has plenty of action and intrigue.

I was impressed by how well it holds up today and it reminded me of how vividly books can paint a picture in your mind. The definition of a page-turner. If you're interested in sci-fi and are looking for a book to start with, Ender's Game is probably the most accessible.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation is the book that inspired the movie of the same name, as well as the video game Control. It follows a team of unnamed women who journey into Area X, a bizarre, distorted place where nature itself has been twisted in incomprehensible and hostile ways. They are the twelfth expedition. None have ever returned.

Annihilation is told from the perspective of the biologist, who is quickly shown to be an unreliable narrator, often totally absorbed in her inner world and objective to a fault in her observations. This is probably one of the best-written books I've ever read, and my heart was genuinely pounding at multiple moments throughout. It's drowning in themes and parallels you could write an essay on. If you like psychological mind-bending insanity, I would highly recommend it.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

This is a collection of sci-fi short stories, one of which being the inspiration for the movie Arrival. Chiang clearly has an interest in exploring the impossible and pushing the borders of reality - common themes in almost every one of his stories - yet I'm deeply impressed by his apparent breadth of knowledge. He writes about mathematics, neurology, linguistics, and physics almost equally as convincingly. If you'd like a demo of sorts, you can find his short story Understand online.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

This thing is more like a real-life cryptid than it is a book. It gives off a cursed aura. It makes every creepypasta, SCP, and Backrooms-adjacent work look like a cartoon Halloween special.

A man named Will Navidson and his family move into a new house, only to discover that it is bigger on the inside. This book is unhinged. This book uses a multitude of unorthodox writing styles and bizarre typesetting to fully immerse you in the story. You will find yourself identifying with the narrator Johnny as you become lost within its pages, obsessed with finding connections and meaning within the meaningless.¹ Just as the characters creep through the halls, you will

tip

toe

through

the

pages,

careful

not

to

get

lost.

Conclusion

So that's what I've been reading! I would love to hear your thoughts. Have you read these books, or do you want to? Have any recommendations? What are you reading right now? Drop a comment below. -3-

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¹This is a weird thing to say. The book clearly has meaning. That meaning is ________.^2
2Deaathtraap left this blank. -Ed.

Why the hell not, let's do it again!

Ask me stuff. Art questions or advice, details about my OCs, opinions, whatever.

As per usual, I will try my best to answer as many as I can, but I can't promise I'll answer everything. Ask away.

Hello all. I am bored! Ask me any questions you may have.

I cannot promise I will answer every question, but I will try my best. Have at it. XP

So a few months ago I bought an iPad Air with the Apple Pencil 2 and Procreate, and I'm gonna give my thoughts on the setup.

Up until now I've used a Wacom Cintiq 13HD drawing tablet and Photoshop on a desktop Windows PC. This has basically been my setup even since before I joined FA under Deaathtraap 4-5 years ago, and I'm quite accustomed to it. Despite this, it was not without its flaws.

The main issues with my PC setup were:
- The obvious lack of portability. Besides being plugged into a big PC, the tablet has an octopus of cables sticking out of it that make it basically impossible to take anywhere, plus it needs to be powered so laptops are a no-go.
- Form factor/ergonomics. I basically had to rearrange my whole desk to draw, and the limited tilt range of the tablet meant I was more often than not hunched over as I worked. Plus I use more Photoshop keyboard shortcuts than I can map onto the tablet's side buttons, meaning I had to somehow use my keyboard AND tablet at the same time. This was pretty damn bad for my posture and I'd regularly experience pretty bad shoulder and back pain after a while.

Now onto the iPad setup. In case it wasn't obvious by my use of past-tense in describing the PC setup, I have basically completely transitioned into drawing on my iPad. It wasn't a conscious decision, I just literally have not drawn on my Wacom tablet once since I bought the iPad. Mainly I attribute this to how easy it is to use compared to my PC setup: I can get a random idea, and the iPad is right there, ready to use, pen charged, and Procreate open in seconds. I can draw sitting down, laying in bed, anywhere. I quite like it in this sense, because it has the simplicity of when I used to draw traditionally, as compared to the televised sport that is me dragging my tablet across my desk and waiting a whole minute for Photoshop to wake up, sometimes with a special guest appearance from Windows update as it either restarted my PC mid-drawing or broke my Wacom drivers.

Next, the actual drawing experience: it is taking some getting used to, to put it lightly. I feel that I'm improving, but in case it wasn't apparent from the fact that I've mainly posted sketches for the past few months, I am definitely not 100% back to where I felt I was on PC. The iPad Air has a slick glass screen and the pencil's tip is an equally slick silicone, leading to a very slippery-feeling drawing experience. My Wacom tablet has a matte finish, making it feel much closer to paper than the iPad does. This is by far the most cumbersome part of the experience in my opinion, and it is very difficult to get used to. I've even considered buying special tips or matte screen protectors to compensate for the feeling, but I'm trying to stick with it and hope that it clicks. I don't post everything I draw, but I feel I've improved a good deal since first starting.

Finally, Procreate. Procreate is an excellent drawing application with many well thought out features, and it surprises me with how advanced it can be in some areas. The brush settings are superior to Photoshop's for most uses, with every setting PS has and more. The editing and transform tools are also pretty intuitive and powerful, and I appreciate that unlike other mobile drawing apps, it doesn't hold back with giving you all the capability you expect from an artistic suite. However, as someone with a graphic design background and who uses nearly every Photoshop feature in my finished art, I find it lacking a few features I'm used to using. Among these are masks and clipping masks for groups, as well as some sort of non-destructive editing abilities like feathering and effects (glow, drop shadow, etc). Some of these I can admit are a crutch, but others I feel are essential. I think it'll be a while before I can really get my rendering game back up to where I started, but I'll keep trying.

So yeah, that's my review/feelings on this. Overall I'd say I do prefer the iPad to my PC, and I've actually found that I doodle more and use my PC less entirely now since I bought it. I would love to hear other artists' thoughts about drawing on an iPad or what setup you use.

Thanks for reading!

Yada yada FA is burning you know the drill by now. Moving along...

Alright boys and girls, everybody is jumping ship or eyeing other sites to jump to in a pinch, and I'm no exception. I've been looking over sites myself and BOY THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. I'm going over a few here.

A lot of people are going for InkBunny but honestly that site is full of pedophiles and I'm really uncomfortable there even with a heavy blacklist. I can't turn a corner without finding some new horrible shit I wouldn't even see on FA's front page.

So what's left? That's what I'm trying to find out.

Cohost is a up-and-coming Tumblr-like site that seems promising. I've got an account there now by the same username. Unfortunately it's got a pretty low file size limit, and Tumblr format isn't the best for a gallery. It's also pretty light on social media features.

Weasyl is decent but it's very dead and hasn't had moderator activity in two years, which is concerning. UPDATE: someone emailed staff and they are apparently still active.

Twitter. What can I say about birdsite that hasn't been said? I hate it and it's awful for art. I do not plan on ever joining it.

DeviantArt. No. :)

FurryNetwork, SoFurry, etc. There are so many more furry sites, unfortunately with very little traffic and with their own shitty issues. I won't write them off but I don't have high hopes for them.

So where does that leave us? For the time being I don't plan to jump ship. If they start coming for me in the wake of these changes, that might change. If nothing else I'm on Discord (please for the love of god do not randomly try and friend me on there), so chances are if I go elsewhere, you'll find out through somebody one way or another.

If anybody has other sites to suggest, go ahead.

FA staff, if you're listening, which you clearly are not, I am stating publicly that I am against your arbitrary and fucking idiotic "guidelines" on what characters personally give you an icky feeling because -- *checks notes* -- their torsos are too small.

These rules are draconian and ill-informed and will severely damage what little trust your user base still has in this platform. Labeling just about every artist on this platform a pedophile because they drew cute characters is so incredibly stupid I can't even formulate an argument against it. There's nothing to debate here, you're a bunch of fools if you go through with this.

I used to hold you in higher regard than DeviantArt but at least they don't ban characters for being short. I never thought I could find something positive to say about goddamned DeviantArt but you made me do it.

This is my declaration of backlash. You are receiving backlash.

I will toast your foot in a Foreman grill if you don't fix this. 🦶🔥

I'm going to list off the accounts I have around the net so you know who's the real me. 🌐

---

🦊 FurAffinity
This account right here. This is pretty much the only place I actually post my art to. If you see it on another site not listed here, I'm not the one who uploaded it.

🟦 Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/deaathtraap.bsky.social
I visit Bsky pretty regularly and sometimes post little doodles and stuff since it's more convenient than FA.

🐛 Cohost
I have/had a Cohost page, but I'm pretty sure they're shutting down now.

🚽 DeviantArt
I hate DeviantArt. I have an account there purely to watch, favorite, and leave comments. I will never post another image to that hellhole as long as I live, so if you see my art there, it has been stolen. Big shock, art thieves on DeviantArt.

🐾 e621
Some of my art is there, but most wasn't uploaded by me. I don't mind it being there. I do have an account there for editing and tagging purposes.

🎮 Itch.io https://deaathtraap.itch.io/
I post my games there.

---

These are the only sites I have any kind of presence on as far as I remember. Any other sites you see the name "Deaathtraap" on are not me. I don't have a Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, etc. I DO NOT TAKE COMMISSIONS. If someone claiming to be me is asking for money, that is not me. Don't be stupid.

That's about it. Bye. 🤖

Twice in the past month or so I've discovered new artists who I like. I look over a few pics, decide to fave one, only to be notified that I cannot fave pics from someone who blocked me, nor can I watch them.

I'm obviously confused because I've never met this person, didn't even know they existed until now, and have no idea what I could have done to offend them. I look through their profile to see if they have a friend who might not like me: again, no hints. Quickly look over the faves and gallery: again, no hints. Sometimes they're even good friends with people who I'm on good terms with. Most the time we even do much of the same kind of art, so it isn't like they're trying to filter out my content (which to my knowledge, FA doesn't even do).

It's honestly more upsetting than anything. I try my hardest to not be rude or anything in comments, pretty much only post my own art here and occasional journals to give information (and random thoughts). I feel like if anything I probably give off a very neutral impression from FA alone. I won't lie and say I have no enemies, but I see no connection to those few people.

IDK man. I know I can't please everyone, nor do I try to. I know not everyone is going to like me, and I stopped trying to make everyone like me a long time ago. But it still kinda stings when for no apparent reason, people randomly decide they want nothing to do with me without me having even spoken to them or anybody they know.

I don't really know why I'm posting this. Just upsets and annoys me and I genuinely don't know why it's happening.

I'm honestly really fed up with the monetization scheme on this site. You guys just straight up don't fix anything for a decade, then take away our basic features to resell them to us. Thumbnails have been broken for around 4-6 YEARS, but you think it's somehow cool to just take away HD images and resell them? Bullshit.

I'm honestly shocked banners are free. I thought for sure you'd paywall those, or is that next on the chopping block?

Fix your fucking site, then you can talk about all this subscription BS and selling features. This site still runs like it's 2005. You offer nothing and ask for more.

Upload a pic you worked on for hours, thumbnail breaks.

Try and upload a new thumbnail.

Won't change.

Look it up.

Has been broken for 4+ years.

Good shit FA.

TehLurkingPotato drew my gal Tory~

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49581471/

This isn't for art. It's also not a request thing, or suggestions either really.

I'm just bored and want to hear all your horny tickle ideas. Go nuts, just don't spam.

I've probably asked this before.

Sometime, I'd like to make an animation, game, etc that would greatly benefit from voice acting, namely acting with a decent impression of a character, and willing and able to do some good laughing. :P

Unfortunately the info on this subject is almost impossible to find. Most voice acting I've heard has been from the creator of the animation themselves, or hacked together from voice clips.

So yeah, in summary: any info on where to find good tickle voice actors? I'm even willing to pay if it's needed, just need to know where to look. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone who watched me for getting me to this point! Honestly never saw myself having this many people interested in my work, but I'm grateful for it. :)

(To be clear this isn't directed towards like 90% of my watchers, just a few people who really don't seem to get they're being annoying. "You" simply refers to anybody who does these things. I'm sorry if this comes across as harsh or mean, I simply need to draw the line of behavior I think is unacceptable.)

I've probably made a journal like this before, but I feel the need to do it again because some obnoxious people genuinely make me hesitant to post anything here anymore. I'm tired of getting annoying comments just asking for things. I'm gonna lay out some ground rules.

I draw what I want to draw. I've tried drawing what others want, and it isn't fun. I create things I want to see, and if others like it, that's great! I love to hear that people enjoyed something I made, I love to get comments from others who like the things they see, that they've always wanted to see that particular character get tickled, etc.

What I do not love is getting thinly-veiled begging and requests for things that indulge your particular fetish or personal fantasies, especially when you have no reason to believe I'm into them.

This includes but is not limited to:
- Plain old demands or begging. Self explanatory.
- The comments where you give a generic compliment and then ask for something else, e.g. "Wow this is great! Have you considered drawing [completely different character in specific scenario]?" This is simply trying to soften the impact of a blatant request with flattery, and I can see right through it.
- The comments where you "suggest" I draw something else with focus on a particular spot or with a specific method, e.g. "Haha this is good please get his [spot] next though." I don't mind your affinity for particular tickle methods or spots, I really don't. But that doesn't mean it's okay to beg me for art of it.
- Commenting on my Ask My Characters Anything threads with your very particular idea rather than a question, e.g. "Tory, have you ever been put in stocks and tickled with pitchforks haha"
- Comments where you incessantly ask if I'm into your random fetishes that I've never displayed any interest in. Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, stop it.
- Basically if you're scrolling down to that comment box with the intent of trying to get something out of me, you should just close the tab and walk away.

Now to clarify, I'm not saying you aren't allowed to comment on your desires or anything like that. If you wanna say something like "Ooh, I wanna get his pits so bad!" I'm totally cool with that! The issue is when the goal of the comment is to get me to draw something for you. Simply ogling the lee and saying what you wanna do is fun, saying you want me to do it for you is not. Don't take this list and try to find some fancy way around it. If you are commenting to get something, don't.

Again, I apologize if this comes off as harsh to anybody. I love 90% of the comments I get and I appreciate that people love what I make. But quite frankly, every time I get a comment like this, it makes me want to post new art here less and less. I hope that this can at least make some of the annoying people think twice before they do it again.

PS. I will be deleting comments from now on that break these rules. Don't call my bluff.

Thanks for helping me reach 800! I'm glad people enjoy what I do, I hope I can make more in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnkMs18SlK8

Check it out!

Now you might be thinking, "Deaathtraap, WHAT characters? You don't have a single OC uploaded here." That is correct! I thought about waiting until I had art of all my OCs out, but I figured this would be a good way to get some motivation.

So what do you do then? Well basically, go in my gallery, pick a character I've drawn (maybe even ones I don't own like Sly or Ratchet), and ask them anything you want. I'll look through them and answer as many as I can!

This could be a terrible idea! Let's do it! :D

For his half: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42806335/

I absolutely adore this, I love seeing tickle overloads happen to my wolf~

I'll be posting my half sometime soon when it's finished!

Just gonna say that this doesn't apply to anybody but a few people. Most of you are great! This is just addressing a few annoying kinds of people in particular.

90% of my received comments in the past few months have been people asking me when I'm going to port my games (Infinite or Nick) to mobile, or any other such requests and questions. I'm going to just clear the air on this: the answer is never.

Making these games is hard enough. There's a ton of work that goes into making these operate at all. Making a game work on both PC and mobile is like triple the work. I understand that people want to play these things and might not have a PC to do so. I'm sorry that's the case, but I can't do anything about that. Please stop asking. It's annoying.

To the rest of you, thanks a ton for all the support and love you've dumped on my games. That Nick thing is still my most faved and viewed submission by a landslide, and that's incredibly gratifying to see. I hope I can make more of these in the future. Thanks again!

My friend UmbralRise is doing story commissions for only $40! He does tickling, bondage, and a whole lot more.

Check it out if you're in the market for adorable high-quality stories! X)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41894462/

I won a raffle done by FriskyLittleDevil!

Check out what he drew for me here!
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41595447/