I haven't faded into obsolescence just yet! despite my recent inactivity, I'm leaving today for Further Confusion! :) Is anyone else going?

http://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE

Catchy as hell!

I must announce that my first furry convention was a major success. I had a hell of a good time. The con was very poorly organized, but I and everyone I talked to had a wonderful time.

I wasn't sure what to expect beyond people selling their art, but there was so much going on. What I appreciated the most about the con, I think, was the art panels. I am not an art student, and I haven't taken an art class in years, so they were pretty thrilling to me. Especially because they were taught by such talented people. I went to some excellent, excellent panels taught by  vrass,  kamui, and  city, in addition to a live-animal event where they brought out some exotic creatures, which I sketched pretty madly. On top of that, of course, I got to meet some amazing artists I've been following for quite some time, and bought some great art pieces as well. The entire con was an art overload, and I was just basking in it. Even being able to display my own art by wearing my badges was a thrill to me. I simply don't get enough art in my daily life, and this was a wonderful break from that.

I didn't go to any of the dances, but I heard they were great, and I'll try to hit some of them up next year, because I am definitely going next year.

Well, I'm leaving today for Further Confusion, so no updates for a little while. Never been to a furry convention before, I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm going to be going a little nuts without my tablet, but we'll see how I do with a pen and sketch pad. See you on the other side!

Ask Forrest Flash.

Go!

Anybody want one? I love how the limited pixels means I have to really get creative in order to produce what I want.

Avatars I've made:
Slender Man
Scarecrow
Doughnut Guy

I reserved a room for Further Confusion. It will be my very first Furry convention, I'm actually pretty damn excited. :D

I'm becoming good and active on my alternate account,  mishatherat, so if you want to take a looksee, go on ahead. :)

I'm not as involved in artwork anymore, mostly because I'm involved in other things, namely my local BDSM community. If you guys are interested in kinks/fetishes/BDSM/etc*, you may want to check out the podcast I'm involved with: Dungeon Place. Alternatively, you could subscribe on iTunes as well. I'm really rather proud to be a part of it, it would be awesome if you checked it out. :)

I did this meme more than two years ago ( http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/276570/ ) and I was looking at it again to see how much my tastes have changed over that period of time.. turns out it's quite a bit. :)

Abasiophilia (Casts, Braces, Wheelchairs) - Meh.
Age Play?- Yes, limited types.
Adult Baby/AB Parent? - No. But I'm not as squicked out by it as I used to be.
Algolagnia (Pleasure derived from physical pain)?- Very yes.
Amputee Fetishism (Amputation/Deformity)? I must say I'm intrigued by the idea of removing someone else's prosthetic limb..
Anal Sex? - Still hurts too much for me.
Andromimetophilia (Androgeny)? - hottttt
Arse (Ass Play, Worship)? - Meh.
Asphyxiaphilia (Breath Play, Choking)? - yes PLZ
Balloons? - No... and I'm still confused as to how they are erotic.
Bestiality/Zoophilia? - Sometimes in my fantasies, but it's heavily anthropomorphised.
Beating (Flogs, Whips, Canes, etc.)? - Yes, especially floggers.
Biastophilia (Committing Rape/Sexual Assault)? - Rape play is hott. Again, both roles. :D
Biting/Teeth? - SO hott
Blood (Drawing Blood, Cutting, etc.)? - I find blood pretty erotic nowadays.
Body Hair? - I LOVE hairy men :3
Body Modification (Tattoos, Branding, Piercings, Scarification, etc.)? All of the above <3 They are hott to look at on other people especially.
Bondage (Blind folds, Gags, Restraints)? I love being restrained <3
Breast/Nipple Torture, Clamps, etc.? - Breast torture is tolerable, still can't handle nipple clamps.
Candle Wax? - As very mild and sensual kind of play, I enjoy it.
Chains? - Yes.
Chastity Devices? - No thx
Chinese Balls/Ben Wa Balls/Anal Beads? - Not anal, but vaginal feels soooo good
Cling Film/Plastic Wrap? - I enjoy mummification, but not when combined with pain.
Cock and Ball Torture, Clamps, etc.? - Still something I'm nervous about engaging in, but it's starting to grow on me (hurrrr)
Collar and Lead/Leash? - Yes PLZ
Confinement/Caging? - Oh hell yes.
Coprophilia (Shit Play/Scat)? - No.
Costumes (Period, Fetish, etc.)? - Of all sorts.
Cross Dressing? - I love to crossdress.
Cupping (Suction of the Skin)? - I tried this once, with fire cupping. It was kind of epic :D
Dacryphilia (Arousal from Tears)? - No experience with it.. maybe... UPDATE: It's very emotionally arousing for me to make others cry (with their consent, of course). I've done this three times now, and loved it each time.
Defilement (Seeing a partner dirty or wet)? - Wet yes. If it's water.
Denim? - like.. jeans? No?
Depilation/Shaving? - Meh.
Diapers/Diaper Lover? - No.
Dildos (Hand-held, Strap-ons)? - Yes. Mostly like to be on top for this play.
Discipline? - Yes.
Doctor/Nurse Fetish? - Yes plz. My partner is a nurse IRL.. so he has lots of equipment with which to play doctor. :)
Domination? - Yes!
Ears? - Yes. Excellent place for pleasure and pain. :)
Electrotorture (EMS TENS units)? - Violet wands are awesome. Tens units and Magnetos and such.. on a case-by-case basis.
Emetophilia (Vomit, Regurgitation)? - No.
Erotic Photography? - Yes plz!
Exhibitionism/Sex In Public? - I am a voyeur, so I like to watch others engage in exhibitionism :D
Feathers? - A little too mild for my taste.
Pyrophilia (Fire Play)? - Mmmmmm.
Fisting? - Yes. Still haven't been able to achieve this for myself yet, but yes.
Food Play? - Yes. Especially fun when combined with human furniture.
Fuck Machines/Robots? - that sounds hottt
Furry/Fur Fetishism? - Heh. That's an obvious one.
Gangbangs? - Mostly in fantasy.. but I often fantasize about doing it with some men I know. I might, someday.
Genital Worship? - You know, I'm not actually into genitalia that much..
Guns (Gun Play, Worship)? - ...maybe.
Hair Pulling? - YES. PULL MY HAIR <3
Handcuffs/Shackles? - :D
Harnesses? - Rope, leather, chain, yes plz?
High Heels/Stilettos? - Something I like to look at others wearing.
Humiliation? - I could definitely top for this. Not sure about bottoming.
Infantilism (Pacifiers/Bottles, etc.)? - No.
Kidnapping Play? - :)
Klismaphilia (Douching/Enema)? - not really..
Knives (Razors, Swords, other blades)? - Yes.
Lace/Lingerie? - Sure?
Latex? - Something I like to look at others wearing :D
Leather? - Mmmmm.
Making Home "Movies"? - Not something I've tried! Hm.
Masks (Erotic/Gas Masks, etc.)? - LOVE Gas Masks.
Masochism? - Very yes.
Massage? - Who doesn't love massage ^_^
Master/Slave? - Yes, but not full-time.
Masturbation (Mutual or Forced)? - Oooh yes
Medical Scenes/Equipment? - Yes. :)
Menstruation (Sex During, Eating, etc.)? - Only in specific situations.
Murder Fetishism? - Um.. kind of.. >_>
Military Fetish/Uniforms? - Yes. Another one I've gone 180 on.
Milk Fetishism/Lactation? - Well, now that I have a pregnant friend, I'm not sure.
Necrophilia (Death, Corpses)? - No.
Nipples? - Yes! :)
Oral Fixations? - Not really.
Oral Sex? - Giving, not receiving.
Pain (Giving/Receiving)? - Oh hell yes all over top and bottom yes.
Piercings? - Yes :)
Pinching? - Yes :) Pinch harrrrd.
Play Piercing/Needle Play? - Not a huge thing for me, but I enjoy it.
Plushophilia (Stuffed animals, Plushies)? - I don't think so.
Podophilia (Foot Fetish)? - No, but I like boots. Mmmm boooots.
Power Exchange? - In all its facets and intricacies yes.
Pregnancy Fetishism? - ..Sort of.
Punishment? - Kind of, but this relates to humiliation play for me.
The Rack/Medieval Devices? - Something I'd like to try.
Raptophilia (Sexual arousal from being raped)? - Again, rape play is hott. One of my universal turn-ons.
Religious (Nunplay, Priestplay)? - Pretty fun roleplay :D
Retifism (Shoes or Boots)? - Boooooots
Rimming? - Not tried it!
Role Playing? - Yes.
Rubber? - Meh.
Sadism? - Yes :D Both roles.
Scent? - I often like how my lovers smell.
Sensory Deprivation? - Oh very much so, being blindfolded especially heightens any experience for me.
Smoking Fetishism? - Cigar play oh very yes.
Spanking/Paddling? - My ass is too sensitive to take much of this, but I've gotten heavily bruised from it before.
Statuephilia (Mannequins, Dolls, etc.)? - Kind of.
Stockings/Fishnets/Pantyhose? - I have a weakness for thigh-high stockings.
Talking Dirty/Verbal Humiliation/Abuse? - I enjoy being called a slut. :D
Tickling? - :) Yes.
Tongue Fetish? - Tongues can do amazing things.
Toys (Buttplugs, Vibrators, etc.)? - I LOVE vibrators.
Transvestism? - Yes.
Urolagnia (Water Sports/Urine)? - No.
Violence/Physical Injury? - Have a huge violence fetish. This is a major one for me.
Voyeurism? - Yes. Listening to or watching other people have sex turns me on, particularly if they don't know I'm doing it (I avoid the non-consensual kind of voyeurism for the most part, though)
Wrestling/Fighting? - YES :D
Zombies/Gore? - I like the zombie-victim kind of roleplay that goes along with this. :)

Long story short, I have changed quite a bit over the last couple of years. It wasn't so much a slippery slope of descent into sexual depravity as it was a coming to terms with the fetishes I already had (and letting those I already acknowledged develop even more). And who knows what the future holds.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/22946328/detail.html

They even have penises! This is awesome.

No animal has ever been so cute while being so horny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UasrlIQf6BM

It's been a while since I updated about my life at the zoo so I thought I'd drop in with a couple of stories about the goings-on here! Most notable are the activities of certain animal couples around the zoo.

The new fossa couple were put together for the distinct purpose of breeding them. Unfortunately their breeding season doesn't start until September or October, and so far, they are not getting along. The male fossa (name of Dorian) doesn't seem to mind the female (Inara) so much, but she hates him. Whenever he gets near her, she makes a loud screeching noise and chases him all around the entire enclosure. Sometimes he doesn't even have to provoke her.. he'll just be lying there peacefully on a log, and she'll come up from behind and jump on him. His poor long tail has gotten more than one minor injury this way. The keepers are fairly sure that this behavior will change once breeding season hits, and if it does, it will be nothing short of resembling a bad chick flick: guy and girl hate each other, guy and girl are forced to spend time together, until finally they end up fucking each other! I really hope it turns out this way. I'm rooting for Dorian to get some tail (no pun intended) soon, anyway, since by the end of this summer, by god he deserves it!

Across the zoo, in the kangaroo exhibit, live two huge Aldabra tortoises (and I do mean huge - the male is 450 lbs). The fun thing about tortoises (which some of you may know) is that they mate quite frequently! I love it when this happens, since it illicits such amusing reactions from the guests, not to mention the interesting explanations they give their children. These beautiful tortoises mate about once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Usually when they're not mating, they're going about their own business, eating grass and chillin with the kangaroos. But yesterday, these tortoises weren't mating.. but they were snuggling (as much as tortoises can snuggle). When I first saw them in the morning, they were facing each other, as close to each other as possible, and one's head was on top of the other's. They were close like that most of the day! I've never seen tortoises so affectionate before, and I wish I'd taken pictures, but alas I will just have to keep the image of romantic tortoises in my heart.

Giraffes. Now, mind you, I didn't see this one firsthand, but I did hear about it through one of the giraffe keepers, which is a fairly reliable source. We have one giraffe male, and a few females. Their enclosure is divided so that not all the giraffes are available to each other all the time. So sometimes the male is separate from the females, even when they're in heat. Apparently, when this happens, the female giraffe in heat will try to resort to another female giraffe.. it will back up against her and try to provoke the female into mounting her.. and apparently sometimes it works! I can't imagine it turns out to be very satisfying for the rutting female, but my god I would love to see that.

As exciting romantically as this summer has been so far, I think last winter must have been the winter of love, because we have had so many baby animals born this summer, and there are still more to come! We had baby golden lion tamarins at the beginning of the summer, and I know that the siamese crocodiles are nesting. Our new baby snow leopard was just put on display. Both the elephant and the giraffe are due any day now, and there are a couple more baby animals on the way that haven't yet been publicly announced. So for those of you who happen to live around here, this season is a good time to visit! Animal sex is entertaining enough, but then it also produces baby animals, which should really be the end goal of every activity we pursue. :)

So I'll be gone for a few days, I'm going to the city for the weekend where I'm going to attend my first BDSM play party tomorrow night. I am pretty sure that this event will inspire at least a few interesting pieces of art, so you can look forward to that. Wish me luck! :)

We have a new temporary exhibit at the zoo where I work, with the theme of Madagascar! The poster child for this exhibit is the fossa, of whom I've previously spoken very affectionate words.

Part of my job in this exhibit is to just stand in front of the fossa enclosure and tell everyone about it, and answer their questions, since no one actually knows what the fuck a fossa is. Usually the male fossa is either striking a pose or curled up adorably. Today, however.. well, he was curled up adorably. But for some reason I cannot fathom, as he lay there all comfortable, his penis slowly started edging out of his underbelly, out of its sheath, and lay there fully erect in plain view of every single guest who even glanced his way. AUGH.

I mean, personally this isn't a problem for me. You spend time around animals, you see animal penises, that's just how it is. But when the guests were staring at it in wonder (it is a very bizarre-looking organ) and asking me what in the world that thing was, I just didn't know how to answer. And it was even more awkward when the poor mothers recognized it right away and dragged their gaggles of children away from the enclosure as fast as they could with a kind of panicked urgency that made me feel guilty despite myself.

After about 15 minutes or so of that hell, with guests streaming past the whole time, of course, the fossa finished his wet dream or whatever it was, causing me no small amount of relief. But hey, at least I've got this colorful memory. I'm sure I'll appreciate it in about a decade or so.

Where did this meme come from? I don't get it and I don't want to be missing out on something funny :(

So most of you don't know that I recently got a job at a zoo. And I'm not even shoveling animal poop or anything, I'm going to be part of the education team for the zoo, doing animal presentations and teaching the visitors about all the animals they see there. I just started training for it last Saturday, and I'm so excited! This job is a jumping off point for being a zookeeper or just getting some connections in the wildlife/zoo scene.

I know zoos can be a controversial topic, so I just wanted to put my beliefs here for the record. While it is true that zoos are caging animals, and the cover reason is that it is for the sake of public entertainment, I believe that is just one aspect of it, and there is far more to it than that.

Aside from the whole "these animals are better off in a zoo than they would be in the wild" argument (which is a debate with no end, I know), at least one positive consequence to having a zoo is that it gets children and people in general interested and excited about nature. It gets them thinking about conservation and hopefully contributing to the conservation of wildlife all over the world. When I was a kid, the Hogle Zoo had a big hand in my interest and curiosity toward animals, and now here I am working there! I want to do a lot of good here, if I can.

And I can guarantee to you, from first hand experience of what I've seen so far, that the people who work at the zoo, especially the zookeepers, and even the administration, really honestly care about animals, wildlife, and the environment. They really want to do their best to provide the best care for their animals, and they want people to be involved in conservation and wildlife preservation.

There are valid arguments to any side, of course, but I believe that the positive aspects of zoos far outweigh the negatives, and I am really excited to work there this summer.

I was looking on Youtube yesterday for references for drawing this character and I stumbled upon something that the furry community needs to know about pronto: a turtle's penis: [link] and [link]. Look at that thing! Holy crap. Not that I'm too much of a phallus connoisseur, but it's still very interesting, at the very least to the biologist in me.

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On a completely different topic! I'm doing icon commissions again! But don't run away! They are $1. Why? Because they are pixel art style and they are really easy.

Examples: [link] [link] [link]

If you want one, just note me with a description of what you want as your icon, and which FA color scheme you use (dark blue or light blue), and send $1 to me through Paypal to aethereal(at)gmail.com.

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And, as before, go join my roleplaying/art/writing group at  goodshipaether. We want you there! :)

For those of you who don't yet know, I've started a steampunk art/writing/roleplaying group on FurAffinity. You can find it here:  goodshipaether
If you're interested, please join! There are still several crew slots open. Especially if you're female! There seems to be a high ratio of testosterone on board the airship so far.. :)

I want to ask this without sounding overly bitter or narcissistic, so if it comes off that way, please know it was unintentional.

Anyway, I have offered commissions several times throughout my stay at FurAffinity, and have never been taken up on the offer - which is fine, I realize there are much better artists on FA that are much more worth people's money. However, I've also seen several comparable, or worse artists than me, who seem to always have several people on their commission slots at any given time. It seems to me that given the statistics of how many watchers I have, I should have at least one person wanting to commission me, but it hasn't happened yet.

I figure this is for one of a few reasons:
1) My art is actually a whole lot worse than I give myself credit for, and I need to vastly improve before I can expect anyone to pay any amount of money for my artwork.
2) Even if I do have a little bit of skill, I have no style, and the way I draw characters is too bland to be interesting to anyone.
3) I'm not drawing the appropriate subject matter to get noticed by potential commissioners - I would have to draw more character art, more porn, etc.

I'm thinking the answer is probably #2, perhaps combined with #3, and if that's the case I might take the effort to draw things that are more interesting to a general furry audience. If it's #1, you can tell me and I'll take it with as much grace as I can muster. If it's another reason I haven't thought of, please let me know that as well.

Thanks!

Perhaps in the world's destruction it would be possible at last to see how it was made. Oceans, mountains. The ponderous counterspectacle of things ceasing to be. The sweeping waste, hydroptic and coldly secular. The silence.

-Cormac McCarthy

[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?

Nope.

[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?

I'm willing to try most drugs unless it requires me to inject or snort it. So.. no.

[03] Abortion: for or against it?

For. Microscopic masses of cells do not have souls damn it. If there is activity in the fetus's nervous system, that's the point where I'd call abortion "murder," and I think that's about 23 weeks or so.

[04] Do you think the world would fail with a female president?

The world has a president?

[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?

If the American penal system is based on justice (and not rehabilitation), which I think it is, then I think it's a suitable action for that particular paradigm. If you want to "fix" criminals instead of punish them, you'd probably be better off living in another country. I'm fairly undecided when it comes to the moral implications.

[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?

Yes. Probably.

[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?

I'm not going to get married until I intend to start a family and have children (and that may never happen), so I better be for it.

[08] Do you believe in God?

Not as such.

[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?

Yes. The current civil unions they're able to get in America have about one thousand fewer benefits than actual marriage. And all arguments against same-sex marriage make as much sense as the arguments made against interracial marriage back in the day: meaning they're just as idiotic.

[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?

No goddammit it's not like we're the natives here.

[11] A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?

Fuck no. A lot of mothers in their twenties do a shitty job, I wouldn't trust a preteen.. If her mother wants to raise it instead, that might be okay.

[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?

No. 21-year-olds are irresponsible enough with alcohol already.

[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?

Yes! Why are we even there??

[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?

Assisted suicide should be legal. Though it should have a screening process to make sure that other people aren't overly harmed by your death (dependent family members and such). If I've got a terminal disease and am going to be rotting in a hospital bed for another year before I finally die in agony, I want to be able to end it.

[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?

No. Instilling fear of you into your children is not a good parenting technique.

[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?

Hell yeah. All I care about is money.

[17] Who do you think would make a better president? McCain or Obama?

At this point, I'm struggling to choose between the lesser of two evils. Still haven't made up my mind. Probably Obama, because I have an extreme aversion to people who are too fucking stupid to look up valid information about evolutionary theory.

[18] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?

Yeah, sort of. I would hope, though, that they think I'm a decent enough person to look past our differences so that we may still be friends. Also, keep in mind my opinions aren't set in stone, so if you have a valid argument against my beliefs, I'm always willing to consider an alternate viewpoint.

[19] The President has been kidnapped by NINJAS! Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President??

Haha! I was one of the ninjas who kidnapped him.

Gonna try this commissioning thing out again (didn't get any customers last time, but hey it's worth a shot) since Halloween is my favorite holiday!

For $10 (paid up-front, through PayPal - maripark(at)cc.usu.edu) I will provide a color illustration of a character of your choice, wearing a Halloween costume of your choice. I'll be taking these commissions until October 25th, and they'll be completed by Halloween day (Mountain Standard Time).

Hooray for Halloween! I've got to start working on my costume. Woo! *skitters away*

Because it practically did last all summer. T_T

Looking back on it, I did not get much accomplished while FA was down. I didn't even get much art done! I was pretty devoid of inspiration until very recently.

I did create a few characters (and a new world to go along with them, of course). I discovered Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 and developed a deep lust for Snake. I got a job working at my mom's deli, then lost it because she no longer needs me there. I took a film-making class! That was fun. I got a minor case of alcohol poisoning and had the worst night of my entire life (not exaggerating). I started watching House again and resumed my already-developed deep lust for Dr. House. My boyfriend went to Logan to stay with his best friend for a while. I ordered an epilator, but it doesn't work very well because I simply have too much hair. I guess this last month was a collection of failures and veging out.

Boy did I miss this place. I'm very glad it's back, and I can't wait to catch up on all the art that's come streaming in. :)

This morning, I was sick of my tablet pen double-clicking all the time*, so I was determined to make the pen nib longer. I cut part of it off and then glued that part to the end of another nib. I thought I was being genius. But ho! as soon as I put the nib in the pen, the glue broke, leaving half of the pen nib STUCK INSIDE. You cannot imagine my despair. I felt like the weight of every broken art tool was crushing down on my heart, suffocating me (and making me cranky holy crap).

There were only two choices: give up, or take the pen apart. I chose the latter. Let me tell you guys, this is a scary procedure. I felt like I was doing trauma heart surgery. there's a circuit board in there, and some weird loopy things, and wires, and teeny tiny springs, and they all came splattering out on the table. I was able to push out the stuck pen nib, and then got to work trying to put it back together. I tried putting all the springs back into the places I thought they went, but that was difficult, because my hands were shaking so much. In the end.. it still didn't work. I think some pieces must have fallen on the ground, because when I put the pen back together, the insides kept jiggling around. I messed with it for another 30 minutes without much progress.

So finally I took a rubber band, cut it up into fourths, and jimmy-rigged a spring out of it, snipping it occasionally to get the size right.

And presto! PERFECT TABLET PEN. I'm amazed at myself (actually I'm just amazed at my luck, because by all rights, my pen should be utterly destroyed with what I put it through). Anyway.. my tablet works! No more double-clicking, and the pressure (miraculously) seems to be functioning correctly.

I am so relieved. Holy crap.


*I can't afford to replace this pen. It costs $70 to get a new one for my type of tablet. zomg.