Here's an interesting little diversion and a little insight into my occasionally seen character Valerie and her name-to-be-finalized "associate", Clarke, who's effectively responsible for her existence. Kinda hastily done, but it was a nice diversion after a long, long day.


The Goo Character Meme

Meme made by  RedNoodle.Inc and  Verinn

Do you have a default form? Or do you take many forms? Any favorites?

Valerie: I can take whatever form I please. When being…myself…I am a Jaguar.

Clarke: Valerie defaults to a form eerily similar to my late girlfriend, Valerie, a female Jaguar, and has taken her name as her own as well. Mid-twenties in appearance, give or take, tall with a dancers build. I have long since stopped trying to dissuade her from using that form and name, as it made her upset, which is even more unnerving then her imitation of the deceased.

Is that form/are those forms solid, a little bit melty or completely liquid?

Valerie: I do not understand what you are asking.

Clarke: Valerie’s form is “solid”, insomuch as it is coherent and unified. Her form can behave in a fluid like matter, but remains a unified mass at all times.

Can you harden your goo to make weapons, armor or tools? Or at least make yourself more solid?

Valerie: I have not considered such, though I have yet to need such. The idea seems strange.

Clarke: Please don’t give her ideas. From what I’ve observed, she has a remarkable control of her own viscosity and density, given that when trying to fully imitate a flesh and blood being, she can simultaneous imitate part from bone to blood.

What are you made of? How would you describe your “goo?”

Valerie: I am me, and I am what I am. What do you mean “what am I made of”?

Clarke: I’m…still trying to figure that out myself. She’s not of this world, I can tell you that for certain. If you’d take a theory, I believe she’s…well…some kind of “base matter”, a substance from which almost anything can derive, but has no true set properties itself. A “primordial clay”, I suppose you could say, strange as that may sound.

How were you made? Do you even know? In a lab? Magic? Another gooey character? Etc.

Valerie: *silence*

Clarke: That’s a long and…well…not a story I’d like to get into details on. Let’s just say, long story short. I tried using my knowledge of what some refer to as the “occult” for a…personal matter, was fortunate to survive, and Valerie was the end result.

Sure a bullet might pass through you, but what would electricity do? Can you be frozen? Burned? Cemented? Dissolved with acid? Can someone simply drink you? Etc.

Valerie: None of those things has occurred to me. And…drink?

Clarke: I can’t say with certainty, as I haven’t dared do such experimentation on her, but I doubt she is conductive (otherwise she’d conduct her own I’m sure to make a better disguise for herself). “Freezing” may be possible, but I believe she could adapt herself around it. Burning seems unlikely, as she seems as flammable as she is conductive. While she can be encased in cement, it wouldn’t mix with her unless she wanted it to. Dissolved I also doubt, though I can’t say how certain chemicals might react to her composition, if at all. Drinking is out of the question unless she’s making the effort to get into you that way of her own. By default, her mass is too, well, thick, as it were. Also, for the record, a bullet is more likely to bounce off her than pass through. She has a very high “surface tension”, you could say.

Can you feel pain?

Valerie: No.

Clarke: I believe that “no” is a technicality. While she possesses a tactile sense, there’s a lot she doesn’t “feel”, in many regards. Simply put, while she could feel something I’m sure I would register as pain, she simply has no concept of pain, at least on a personal level. She well knows what pain is though, in terms of others experiencing it, but it’s an abstract thing for her. Think of explaining sight to a blind man, and you get explaining the concept of pain to Valerie.

Do you need to breathe? Sleep? Eat? Do you get tired? Sick? Etc.

Valerie: No, though I do imitate such things.

Clarke: Well, she does “eat”, in a manner. She feeds on emotional energy. I’m not entirely sure if she “needs” it or not. She’s been rather dodgy on my inquiries about it. Not angry, but regularly deflecting the inquiry. It’s just a hunch, but her apparent near complete lack of true emotion I think leads to her feeling more “alive” when she siphons emotional energy from others.

Can you morph into another person? Mimic an object perfectly? Or does everything still kind of have your colors and look like you?

Valerie: I can appear however I desire.

Clarke: On an ocular level, she can perfectly imitate anything as far as I’ve noted. She can even imitate most of the tactile sense, though only the physical portions. She can somewhat imitate things like body heat, though not too well, possesses no natural odor of her own, and is…ahem…tasteless. Objects she can mimic form, but not function, unless there’s only simple machine functionality. It’s actually easier to mimic objects for her due to the heat and odor difficulties, though most are fooled by her disguises because you have to know where and how to look to realize she’s not actually flesh and blood.

Can you assimilate others? Consume them?

Valerie: Yes and yes. Temporarily.

Clarke: I know she can do the former. The later, though she says yes, I believe is terminology confusion. There seems to be little distinction between assimilate/absorb/consume with her. Near as I can tell, she has never permanently assimilate someone. From what I can gather, I don’t believe she can. Like her emotion siphoning though, she has not been willing to elaborate on why. As lacking in natural emotion as she appears to be (not to be confused with “emotionless”, as that’s more associated with one who has emotions and ignores them), it seems she has personal matters she wishes to keep private.

Can you regenerate? Do you need to consume matter to replace it or can you even get more goo if it’s lost?

Valerie: *Silence*

Clarke: “Loosing” a portion of herself I think is the closest thing to pain she can experience. I have seen it once, in an accident in her early periods of her being with me, and I do not wish to see it again. She was able to re-assimilate the amputated portion, though it seemed very uncomfortable for her. Otherwise, her natural mass seems to be a never changing constant. Still…I’ve noticed that her weight never seems to fluctuate, even after assimilating someone. I’m not entirely certain where exactly that mass goes, and her only answer is that they have become one with her, which doesn’t explain much.

If someone touched you, are you slippery, sticky or somewhere in the middle?

Valerie: None, they would feel my fur.

Clarke: In her preferred form, you really can’t tell that it isn’t real fur covering her, as it feels like the real deal. In her…natural state, I guess you could call it, I suppose it’s more close to slippery. Though I haven’t been able to scientifically test it at all, it’s smooth to the point I believe it’s a frictionless surface.

If you oozed around a corner, are you thick and slow flowing, thin and fast flowing or somewhere in between?

Valerie: Why would I “ooze” around a corner? I would simply walk.

Clarke: While she has a point, I have seen her “ooze”, as you put it. Her viscosity is very dynamic from what I’ve noticed. Thick or thin though, she tends to “flow” rather quickly.

If someone picked you up are you heavy, light or something like water?

Valerie: I am…of appropriate weight for my build.

Clarke: Can’t remember how much she weighs, but yeah, if you picked her up she’d feel about right for what you’d imagine someone of her height and build to weigh, if you’re half decent at such estimations.

Are you hot, warm or cold to the touch?

Valerie: I am moderately warm.

Clarke: As part of her attempts at disguise, yes. I believe she’s worked out a way to hold onto heat to keep her form at a desired temperature, but naturally she tends to be “room temperature” to the touch. Also within her too. I believe her form tends towards whatever the ambient temperature is. Which is strange, really, as I know her form does not generate heat and I don’t believe it absorbs it either like something black would implicitly do, given that black means no light…or minimal light I should say, is being reflected, meaning it’s being absorbed, and the absorption of that energy normally results in heat.

What do you consume to live/grow? Do you even have to?

Valerie: *Silence*

Clarke: Like I mentioned earlier, I am unsure whether her emotion siphoning is necessary or not. I know she desires the acquisition of it, though out of need or a different desire I have not yet been able to discern, though my gut tells me it’s the latter.

What is your preferred way of movement? Walking? Oozing? Jumping? Etc.

Valerie: Walking.

Clarke: Yeah, not much to add here. Preferring a bipedal form, she walks like most people do.

Can you make make tentacles? Extra limbs? Etc.

Valerie: I suppose I can.

Clarke: Can’t say I’ve seen her do it, though it seems within her capabilities. I’ve seen her take forms with more than four limbs, but rarely have I seen her take a form of something that doesn’t actually exist. She has a predisposition I’d say towards imitation of the natural, and seems to dislike varying from it.

How much concentration do you need to morph into complex shapes and do crazy things? Is even your default form difficult to maintain? Or can you for example melt and have 20 different tentacles doing 21 different things?

Valerie: I do not know of your example, but altering my form is of no matter.

Clarke: From what I’ve observed, her ability to alter her form seems effortless, like it’s a matter of “I think, therefore I am”, as it were. She tends to keep things simple though, so I’m not sure what level of complexity her mind can handle, especially since it’s certainly not an organic brain keeping her going by any means. It seems to take no conscientious effort on her part to maintain the little extra nuances that her form doesn’t cover on its own, like body heat and odor, though I have noticed that on occasion she has forgotten to incorporate those elements in to her disguise, though it’s rare, so her mind’s not infallible. I honestly have no idea what gives her life and sentience, and to be frank, I’m not sure she does either.

So I've tried two CYOAs that died (as in I abandoned as I felt I was failing at them), and now again have the itch to try it again. But before I go down that road again, I was wondering if any of you might have some advice you'd like to share? Have you done what yourself and learned lessons both positive and negative? Have you read a lot and noticed common themes?

I'll be honest and say that some of the few CYOAs I've read are the old Goosebumps "Choose your own scare" or however it was phrased line of books. The only common thread I can say I noticed there was that the stories tended to be contained in a definable area (like a museum after hours or night time at a fairground) and tended to have a singular objective with a single positive ending, but the reader had to make the choices getting there (like where to go and what actions were taken once there). I know my last two attempts failed because after the first 2 or 3 choices, I fell into trying to get along a certain story path, and it became clear to readers where the story was going, which effectively killed the choice element of a CYOA.

So, yeah, anyone care to share any tips with me on how to manage a CYOA and keep the choices meaningful without the whole thing become a convoluted mess?

Creative Constipation

Where you have all sorts of ideas, everything seems great, but when you try to get them out, they're stuck. You put all sorts of effort into getting it out, exhausting yourself often with little success, and when you finally manage to force it out, you can't help but look at it and think it looks like shit, so you flush it and start over again.

Okay, so, building off of the previous journal, I've decided that I want to try giving the Quest Text Adventure Game Engine a go and work on a vore inclined text adventure game of my own, after having played through two such already. The reasons are twofold. First, there's the saying "If you want something done right, do it yourself", and second, it'll get me some practical experience in designing a game. Now, a vore game is not something I am going to show off to a potential employer, mind you, but if I can work my way through the first time with a personal project, the second time around with some experience under my belt is what I can show off.

Now, I've got two concepts going that have each hit snags for their own reasons (both stemming from that being a pred in a text game has some design issues I hadn't anticipated when vore is made a central focus). I would like to see about getting some thoughts on them to perhaps work through them, or even offer some thoughts of your own if you are inclined. Bear in mind, the game is purely text based, and is an adventure game, not RPG (there is a difference). So here are the concepts I had brewing:


Concept 1: You play a female dragon anthro, taking drastic means to keep her kind from going extinct. A curse was placed on dragonkind that keeps them from breeding naturally, so dragons have worked up a magical workaround until the curse can be broken: Unbirth transformation. Using a magical scrying device, you discover people who possess worthy souls, and then must isolate them so that you can discretely do your deed.

-Pros: As adventure games tend to be puzzle oriented, this setup has clear puzzle elements of getting alone with target, of which I've fiddled with a couple different scenarios.
-Cons: Nebulous end goal; you're obviously not repopulating the entire species yourself, and there's not really a story time crunch, so there's little sense of urgency or motivation beyond "that's what the game wants me to do" which I feel is not strong enough. This game is supposed to be more than "vore for the sake of vore".


Concept 2: You play a black Kitsune, who's birth marks them as demon hunters. Having passed your training, you are assigned to protect a region, which involves "dealing" with demon possessed anthros by devouring them and sealing the demon's spirit within you. Black Kitsune are able to channel demonic energy, and the influx is what leads to their acquisition of tails. You seek to prove yourself an elite guardian by achieving nine-tailed status.

-Pros: Strong motivator; clear end goal of becoming a nine-tailed Kitsune. Also, easy to justify gender shifting with Kitsune Shapeshifting abilities, allowing for most vore types at any time.
-Cons: Hazy puzzle/challenge setup. If the goal is to devour 8 demons of increasing strength, what are the obstacles/puzzles you need to overcome to do so? Combat is not a natural fit in most text games (doable, but would prefer to avoid), so it is unlikely that the vore in and of itself can be the challenge, as a text games makes it easier for that to be the end result.


So, can I get any thoughts on which concept you'd prefer to play out, and how I might work past the cons?

Okay, I have an itch that needs scratching that I can't quite seem to satisfy. Let me make this simple: I like RPGs. I like vore. I have a desire to play a vore themed RPG. One where you are not the prey trying to avoid getting eaten, and not one that's a glorified porno. I've found one or two here on FA, but either I've played them to their entirety already and they're no longer supported officially by the creator, or they're WIPs where the next update is an unknown length of time away. While graphics would be nice, a well thought out text game would be great too,

I know it's a long shot, but it's a no shot if I stay silent, so anyone out there know of any I might take a look at?

P.S. Yes Kee, I am very much aware of Miiar, and no, this is in no way bashing it or you. This is me wanting more of a quick fix for an itch. There is a big difference in RP gaming with friends where the RP matters and wanting a solo vore video game experience.

So, today, I went to leave for work and the tires started spinning in the snow. Ran to the shed, grabbed a shovel, and cleared what I could. Got in my car, tires spun until I was at a 45 degree angle to the road. Got out, opened the rear door to get the shovel out again where I'd thrown it in rather than jog it back to the shed, set it down, and to vent my growing frustration, used both hands to slam the door shut-

aaaaaaaand managed to get the middle finger of my left hand in the door frame before it closed. I just stood there processing the pain for a good 3-5 seconds before I opened the door, removed my glove which was still in the door, and took it off to inspect the damage. Under my nail already looked black and it was bleeding a bit, but I didn't want to use a personal day and get written up for it at work, so I threw that glove into the car and started shoveling again once I cleaned my finger off a touch in the snow.

So, yeah, day didn't get off to a good start, my finger is still somewhere between sore and painful, and I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to sleep without waking myself from the pain of applying pressure to it, which is quite painful, and what to do about the fluctuating blood flow that seems to be minuscule when the bandage is off but saturates a bandage over the course of a few hours. Yeah, self injury incurred by rash stupidity brought on by wrath is not fun. Not fun at all.

P.S. It took me forever just to bloody type this as I write with a hybrid regular type and chicken peck fixing typos as I go.

A little quiz that  Dusk stumbled on that I thought I'd take a crack at. Take it with a grain of salt, as I am, since quizzes like these can get skewed as it is rare that a person is truly 100% honest with themselves. As honest as they try to be, personal bias and opinions can run deep and unseen to the self.

FIRE:

[X] You have a short temper.

[ ] You often act on your emotions without thinking first.

[X] You are very competitive.

[ ] You like to play with fire.

[X] You are not a strong swimmer or you can't swim at all.

[X] You prefer warm weather over cold weather.

[ ] You often lose control over yourself

[ ] You can be quite reckless.

[X] You sometimes hurt people without realizing it.

[ ] People have often called you insane.

Total: 5


WATER:

[X] You have a calm, laid-back personality.

[X] You like to go to the beach.

[ ] You rarely get angry.

[ ] When you do get angry, you know how to control it.

[X] You think before you act.

[ ] You are good at breaking up fights.

[ ] You are a great swimmer.

[X] You like the rain.

[ ] You can stay calm in stressful situations.

[ ] You are very generous.

Total: 4


ICE:

[X] You don't express yourself very well

[ ] You like winter better than summer

[ ] You don't need/wear heavy coats during the winter

[X] You tend to be sarcastic sometimes

[X] You're sometimes a loner

[X] You tend to keep to yourself

[X] It's hard for people to get close

[X] When someone does get though, you tend to stick with them no matter what

[X] You enjoy reading and other "one" person activities

[ ] You can be 'cold' when someone's upset

Total: 7


EARTH:

[ ] You are physically strong.

[ ] You have a close connection with nature.

[X] You don't mind getting dirty.

[X] You form strong opinions on issues that concern you.

[ ] You could easily survive in the wild

[X] You care about the environment.

[ ] You can easily focus on your work without getting distracted.

[ ] You rarely get depressed.

[ ] You aren't afraid of anything.

[X] You prefer to have a strict set of rules.

Total: 4


NATURE:

[X] You love animals and nature

[X] You love being outdoors

[ ] You're somewhat gullible

[X] You're shy around new people

[ ] You're very understanding/a good listener

[ ] You forgive easily

[ ] You're not a good fighter

[ ] You don't like eating meat

[X] You protect what you hold most dear

[ ] You love drinking water

Total: 4


WIND:

[X] You have a free spirit.

[ ] You hate rules.

[ ] You prefer to be out in the open rather than in small, enclosed spaces.

[X] You hate to be restrained.

[X] You are independent.

[X] You are quite intelligent.

[ ] You tend to be impatient.

[ ] You are easily distracted.

[ ] You can sometimes be hyperactive and/or annoying.

[X] You wish you could fly.

Total: 5


DARKNESS:

[X] You spend most of your time alone.

[ ] You prefer nighttime over daytime.

[X] You like creepy things.

[ ] You like to play tricks on people.

[X] Black is your favorite color.

[ ] You prefer the villains over the heroes.

[X] You don't talk much.

[X] You are an atheist.

[X] You don't mind watching scary movies.

[ ] You love to break the rules.

Total: 6


LIGHT:

[X] You are very polite.

[X] You are spiritual.

[ ] When someone is in trouble, you never hesitate to help them.

[ ] You believe everything you see or hear.

[ ] You are afraid of the dark.

[ ] You hate violence.

[ ] You hope for world peace.

[ ] Everyone loves to be around you.

[ ] You always follow the rules.

[ ] You laugh/smile a lot.

Total: 2


LIGHTNING:

[X] You tend to blow up when you're mad

[ ] You like things to be unpredictable

[ ] You like to live dangerously

[X] You love having competitions, contests etc.

[X] You love coming up with impossible scenarios

[ ] You like being the center of attention

[X] You love thunder storms

[ ] You tend to only want a tight knit group

[X] You don't trust others easily

[X] You don't forgive easily

Total: 6


WIND 5

ICE 7

WATER 4

LIGHTNING 6

NATURE 4

LIGHT 2

FIRE 5

EARTH 4

DARKNESS 6


So that means predominately Ice, followed by Darkness and Lighting, rounding with Fire and Wind. Hmm...seems close enough to what I thought going in, though I hadn't considered lighting much.

Here there be dragons...

Are you interested in an RPG featuring anthros that doesn't center around being animalistic or indulging in kinks? Have you been looking for a science fiction setting that isn't star wars or star trek or so "out there" that you hardly understand half the stuff the book is talking about? Do you have a preference for playing something other than the seemingly ubiquitous D20 system? Interested in a more narrative based that actually mechanically supports approaching the same problem, or even using the same skills, in differing ways and interpretations?

Then I highly recommend you take a look at a new system released not long ago called HC SVNT DRACONES, often referred to as HSD. Here's how it's creator explains the theme of what the system is all about:


"The Theme

A quick page-through of this book will give you a general idea of what you’re in for in a HSD game, but only a general one: space fantasy, animal-like characters, an apparent lack of humans and the presence of a few creepy looking monsters, all pretty cut and dry. But if this setting were only about being a fox person in a space suit, this book would be dramatically shorter. There’s much more in here than just that, and it’s in those nuances that even people who aren’t fans of the visual motif can find fascinating possibilities.

THIS IS A GAME ABOUT HUMANITY.

I know, it’s a curious thing to see in a book with a bunch of animal people wandering around and no apparent humans to speak of, but at its core, humanity is what HSD is really about. As you go through the lore for this environment, you’ll learn about the last days of humanity and the things that led them to it, and how the Vector race (one of whom you will play as!) came to be. HSD presents a unique situation in cultural evolution: a reset switch. It proposes that at a point in history 700 years before the current day in the narrative, human-kind effectively stopped and “started over”. Through war and strife their bodies were destroyed, changed, and born as something new on another world. Their old planet was leveled, as was the vast majority of its cultural history and heritage, and all the previous biases associated with slavery, racism, classicism, sexism, and so many others that all grew out of thousands of years of human cultural growth and change were effectively wiped out as the old race died and the new race took its place. Are such biases gone forever? Of course not. But the history, the social momentum, the inexorable force of thousands of years of slighting each other, that was all halted in a brief, fiery moment.

When humanity died and the race called Vector was born fresh and clean on Mars, they were presented with the greatest gift and most terrifying punishment any sentient species could receive: a completely blank slate.

Vectors are, at their core, more human than animal. In their original design they were crafted from blank human fetuses and given animal traits and appearances, not the other way around. They possess no history before their creation, no exploration before their society, no natural evolution outside of a test tube, and every member of their gene pool is separated by no more than 50 years. They have always known the entirety of each other, they have all grown together from the first day, and they have all heard the story of what befell the race that created them. For 700 years, this new life form has had to learn to live with each other without the lessons and atrocities of humanity to point back to, for better or worse. They are human inside, but they lack human form, human context, human history and human tradition. All they have left is the husk that is Earth hanging overhead and the single, clear message:

“These people did it this way, and it destroyed them.”

HSD is not about ‘getting in touch with your animal side’, as so many anthropomorphic systems encourage. You’re welcome to, if that’s the way you’d like to play it, but the setting is intended to allow you to get in touch with your human side instead. Not the culture you were raised in, or the history you’ve experienced. Not whether you’re black, white, red, yellow or polychromatic. Not your geographical history or the wars your species has been in. Your humanity. Just that. Devoid of the centuries of cultural momentum that currently governs our thinking and thrust into a brand new world with its own unique challenges.

How do we define ourselves when we lose everything we were, and become only what we are?”


For more information, you can check the official website (though it's still admittedly a work in progress) here: http://hsdroleplayinggame.com/

There's also a lot of information on its Kickstarter page, even though the funding is over: https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....es/description

And, after all that, if you find yourself intrigued, you can download it free at DriveThruRPG here: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/produ.....-Svnt-Dracones

It's a "pay what you want" setup for the core rules from the success of the kickstarter, though if you like it, I would highly encourage to donate via the tumblr page here: http://hcsvntdracones-game.tumblr.com/ to help this franchise, which I think has a lot of potential, grow and expand.

First off, no, this has nothing to do with vore, or at least not my definition of it. Second, I would really, really appreciate and and all feedback on this matter. You see, I've been developing a new character for a while who has evolved numerous times with a few constants. Those of you may remember Karina, from a now non-canon piece I submitted into my scraps. She began as a vorish character that later dropped the vore element when it began to take away from her appeal, in my eyes. However, with what had been developed up to that point, removing that cog kinda made the other parts not quite fit together too well, like most machines do if you remove a component.

So, here's where the title comes in. Karina is something of a fantasy adventurer, and her escapades include hunting down bandits, brigands, and outlaws. Oftentimes, she kills these people for their transgressions, as law is kind of loose with not a lot of shades of grey out on the frontier, much like how the Wild West is fictionally portrayed I suppose. However, a key component of her personality I'm looking to keep is her adamant belief in not letting things go to waste if it can be helped. Killing someone leaves a dead body. Natural predators may claim it, or scavengers, but it could also just rot and decompose, and Karina feels that a body can be put to much better use (and she doesn't burn or bury because she never had the value of "respect for the dead" instilled in her). When I brought this up with a friend of mine, he offered the simplest and most straightforward solution that fit; as a carnivore, she eats the body, or at least what she can, and saves the rest to be eaten later, sold as meat product, or converted into alchemical reagent.

Now, I'm looking to build her as something of a moral grey area character, where there are things she does and beliefs she holds that are perhaps morally and ethically questionable, but you can still get behind her. Cannibalism, at the time it was suggested, I had thought was too far. But now I'm not so sure. In an anthro society, where you have defined carnivores and herbivore, how much of a stigma might cannibalism actually hold? Would you, as the reader or viewer, view an anthro character who consumes another anthro in a non-vorish manner be crossing lines as someone you couldn't call a "good" person? When the character is as much animal as person, is cannibalism even still a thing, or is it that once you have sentient mind eating was was once a living sentient being, it's cannibalism regardless of species? Is a character who partakes in what may well be seen as cannibalism too dark for people to empathize with, or does it depend on the circumstances?

Again, I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions on this subject, as it could go a long way in defining who this character becomes.

It's an interesting question really, as the few times I've seen this subject come up in either image comments or journals, it seems there's never quite the same interpretation twice. Everyone, it seems, appears to have a different definition for the term. I'm actually no longer sure how precisely to define it myself. For quite some time, my personal definition of "Furry" was someone with an appreciation and strong liking towards mediums of art that feature anthropomorphic character (though even "anthropomorphic" is argued here in its use, but that's another subject matter entirely). Over time though, I have begun to wonder if that definition may in fact be a touch too broad, that having a strong personal fondness for "animal people" is not the same as being a "furry".

As it's recently come to mind for me, I am curious as to how some of you in the fandom, be it embedded or on the fringes, classify the term "Furry". What does it mean to you? Do you consider yourself one? Why or why not?

For this journal, I respectfully ask that you please refrain from commenting on others about their opinions. I am not here to start a debate or a firestorm, and while most or perhaps even all of your are capable of polite and mature discussion, I would like to just keep out any drama that may arise. Share your thoughts, ponder on the thoughts of others, and leave it at that. After all, for the sake of sharing here, there is no right or wrong; it is all a matter of personal opinion that I'm asking for.

How do I get an art submission to display properly? As far as I can tell, the properties of the submission meet all the requisites for upload, but I get "Image not Found", and using "Change Submission File" doesn't seem to correct the issue. How do I fix it?

EDIT: Is everyone else seeing it fine? I don't know how else to explain people favoriting it if the only thing working is the thumbnail.

EDIT 2: Well, apparently all I had to do was wait a couple minutes before hitting F5, instead of doing so immediately. Nevermind then.

Host: We surveyed 100 people, top five answers on the board. Name a television show that describes your workplace.

Contestant: Just Shoot Me.

Okay, so I have a few characters, some of whom have references, some of who, just have images based on written description. However, I have a few characters I've been developing that I'd like to have portrayals made, but have something of a snag. While I've become familiar with with their personalities and context, their appearances remain a touch vague.

What I'm interested in looking for is an artist or artists willing to work on something more akin to concept art than a traditional specified commission. The artist would be going off of general looks, like basic body shape, gender, and species, and filling out the details based on things like personality, occupation, setting generalizations, and what kinds of things I'd like the look to evoke in the viewer. There would be no "wrong" image, with the artist being given complete artistic freedom so long as the end product at least appears to fall within the concept guidelines. It is their imagining of what the character would look like from what is given. While details may vary depending on artist relationship, I am perfectly willing to make such concept sketches/lineart one shot deals with no requests for changes from me, leaving it at "Here are the facets of the character, draw what you think such a character would look like". If an artist is willing to do personal back and forths to hammer out a finalized work instead of stopping at the concept, that'd be cool, but not necessary, especially since that kind of time and iterations can add up.

The basic level of finish quality I'd be looking for for these is something like this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13681575/ , pretty much either linework or cleaned up sketch that can convey all the pertinent details barring color. Something that an artist can feel less stress over and hopefully be able to render out fairly quickly, as the idea is just to get a finished look, something that visually identifies the character. If you know someone, or are interested ypurself, you can drop a line here or note me

Okay, so, after something of an extended hiatus of me largely just being in a blah mood, I'm making an attempt o once again be more active here, in the hopes that including more, and varied, social interaction (not knocking you nega) will do me some good.

And with that, a thought came to mind that I'm kinda curious to here your take on, if you're inclined to share. If you were to possess a superhero level power, but otherwise live a mundane life (as in not become a superhero/supervillain or working for a secret organization). What would it be and why?

Myself, self duplication. That way, I can stay at home typing, designing, playing games, and working multiple jobs, all at the same time, and experience everything upon rejoining. If you can't have more time in a day, the next thing is more of yourself.

Okay, so it seems that, for whatever reason, doing a short story of the theme and to be posted on Halloween (or at least close to it) seems to be working for me, as I've pulled it off two years in a row now. I plan to make it three for three, if for no other reason than to have one more benchmark of work progress I can try and derive work inspiration from. However, for the previous two pieces for Halloween, they've shared a similar Halloween sub-theme, and a part of me wants to avoid going three for three on that count.

So, while it's early and I only got a general idea bouncing around in my head, I thought, "what the heck?" and decided to open up for suggestions. What sort of "Halloween themed" piece would you be interested in seeing me ply my trade at? Do note, this is not really a requests journal, so I would recommend against suggesting your own characters. If there is something about them you feel really hits a good Halloween vibe (like they could be the centerpiece of a horror movie or something), I may be open. Also, suggesting my own characters (little as some of you may know them, admittedly) for scenarios is open. Try to avoid being too specific, I'm just looking for seeds here. If you can't say it in a single sentence, the "theme" is likely too involved.

EDIT: Heh, seems my memory's foggy. There were actually 3 Halloween pieces, but the second was two years after the first it looks like, with the first not sharing the same theme as the following two.

For those who are unfamiliar, the "Halloween" works are:

The Wolf Who Cried Werewolf
A Ghost's Sorrow
Wounds

Okay, so, got a wild idea that I thought I'd share. Sometimes, when I let my mind wander, it has a tendency to draw correlations between two seemingly unconnected things in a way that makes a sort of sense that I would never have come to if my mind weren't wandering aimlessly. And, as some of you may or may not have already guessed, it connected the card came Munchkin to the furry fandom. The thought being that the type of comedy Munchkin goes for could actually be quite adaptable for poking fun at the drama and shenanigans in the furry community, the stuff we'd rather not have but acknowledge is there and wouldn't mind poking fun at. Wouldn't even be all that hard to then make expansions for it correlating to the different interests/fetishes people in the fandom are into.

Not sure how much I really want to pursue this, but it certainly seemed like a fun idea that'd be worth some chuckles played among friends. Cards like "White Knighter", "Flame War", "Butthurt Troll", "I'm Leaving the Fandom!", "Copy/Paste Original", with races being the most common furry species and "loot" largely being overused Mary Sue power creep stuff. Not sure how I'd manage classes offhand.

Does such an idea amuse anyone else, or is it just me?

So, recently, a good friend of mine,  negativetheory has hit a pretty hefty bump in the road of life. Pretty much, life took a rather sudden shift in direction, but rather than espouse it here second hand, he explains it quite well (and quite maturely to boot, for the most part), in his journal here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5832421/ .

The short of the long of it is that he is now on his own (+ roommate friend) with no job and is looking to go to commission work presumably full time to make ends meets until he can get his situation comfortably stabilized. He does excellent line work that looks finished quality on its own, and his coloring is also of quality, with affordable prices. He is very much a fan of NSFW material, though it's not as though he draws such exclusively; he draws for character, even when said character is a "well endowed" CV predator and the like.

So if you have a little spare time, head over to his page and check out his gallery, the journal above for prices and examples of commission level work, and see if it's up your alley. He's a good artist and a good friend of mine, who happens to be something of a professional perfectionist, so you will get quality and he is easy to talk to.

I hold them, and I can never seem to let go of them. Intellectually, I know that grudges are good for pretty much nothing and try to follow the words of Rafiki, "It doesn't matter, it's in the past!". Emotionally, however, I just can't seem to do it. The grudge lingers there, stews, and festers, quickly and lastingly coloring my interactions with people in detrimental ways. I see this, I recognize this, but I just can't seem to figure out what to do about it. It's gotten to the point where I feel that I tend to think the worst of people first and have to remind myself that such is a terrible way to look at life. Sure, I'll never be an optimist, but I shouldn't be looking at the world through the lens of "It's crap until it proves itself otherwise to me". I used to be able to write such things off and move on, but I just can't seem to do that anymore. I recently had a stark reminder of this and to be frankly honest it kinda scares me. I feel like I'm becoming the crotchety old man who can't stand anyone, and I don't want to be that person, even if in reality that's more paranoia than truth.

It's just...troubling that there's that stark difference between head and heart as it were. Why can't I just forgive and forget? Why can't I move on from something that no longer has any real relevance to the now? I don't know, and that's also part of what worries me. I look back on who I used to be, creatively and emotionally, and wonder what happened. I want to be that person again. I'm afraid of what it feels like I'm becoming. It's like...like I was mature for my age, and then never adjusted to adulthood.

Sigh, I feel like a broken down car on the side of the road of life. All it needs is doable repairs, but I don't know how to do it or who to call, and can't hitchhike. I feel stranded and lost, going on autopilot from day to day because I don't know what to do to go somewhere else. Life's passing me by and all it seems I can think to do is stare at it longingly.

Well, that became an emotional outpouring I wasn't expecting. So, reply or not, I'm not really looking for a response. Just a release I guess. I know I'm not the only one out there that feel like this, and there are so many others that have it much worse. but it still wears. I guess that's all for now. Hope you have a good day.

Yeah, so, not normally one for this kind of stuff, but what the heck? Maybe doing something different and out of character will jar me out of a bit of a rut. Stranger things have happened after all, so if you're interested, I'll see what I can do.

Comment with any emoticon below and I will:

1. Tell you what animal/creature you remind me of.
2. Tell you what color I think fits you.
3. Tell you how I feel about you.
4. Insult you.
5. Tell you my favorite OC of yours. (If you have one...)
6. Tell you what season you remind me of.
7. Tell you what food you smell like in my head.
8. Think of a random nickname for you.
9. Tell you what element you remind me of.
10. Order you to put this in your journal without using the words 'tag' or 'dare'.

Anyone who’s ever tried to taking writing even half seriously has likely heard the idiom “show, don’t tell”. I kind of get what that means, in that one doesn’t need to explicitly detail every single little thing that transpires in a story. In essence, I believe it means that it is just as important to tell your story in an implicit manner as it is to have explicit detail at times. The trick, however, is trying to work out where that line is.

So for your storytellers/writers out there, how do you interpret/work with the “show, don’t tell” idiom? How do you work out what needs to be detailed explicitly and what can be left implicit for the readers’ intelligence to interpret? I seem to want to keep going to the “show” extreme in that I find myself wanting to give all the information conceivably connected to the scene so that the reader sees things exactly as I envision in. A part of me knows that’s off, but it always feels like something is being left out if I try to be implicit, like I fear that they’ll interpret the story differently somehow or something. And that detailing just makes things harder, especially when I try to write for scenarios I’m not/can’t be personally familiar with (a particular problem that’s rearing its ugly head with a character I particularly want to explore). But when I try to write in an implicit manner, which is meant to give only enough to guide the reader into envisioning what happens on their own, it just comes off as lazy writing to me, like I’m saying “yeah, this isn’t important, let’s just skip ahead to what is”. It’s becoming infuriating because I keep stressing over things I know I shouldn’t be and the readers shouldn’t really need to know a character’s life story and the history of the world just to read a simple one-off scenario. Yet I’m constantly feeling like if I don’t explain such then people won’t understand what’s even going on and therefore won’t understand the story I’m trying to tell and therefore just can’t enjoy it.

I’m sorry this turned into something of a rant. To be honest, this journal is partially due to me trying to reignite the spark I used to have with writing, by looking into the craft itself. I feel I have the creativity, but the expression over the years I feel has been falling off, and I’m wanting to improve my craft so that I can once again enjoy writing instead of laboring at it. Yes, I know anything worth having (AKA skill) is worth working for, and I’m wanting to do that work on the craft so that I can have fun again.

I'm feeling like I'm getting desperate, that if I emotionally keep this up, I may reach a breaking point where I'm tempted to give up writing altogether, something I don't want to happen.

Come home from work, see's 6 new Watchers.

Wha...wha...what's going on? What am I doing right? Please tell me, I must know!

Perhaps someone can explain it to me, because I just don't get it. Why does it seem like so many DM/GMs think that throwing an encounter at a group of individuals will form them into a long lasting adventuring party? Seriously? What are the odds that, say, you have five "adventurers" traveling the road with a caravan, each going about their own business having never met each other before in their lives, a bandit ambush occurs, and that's enough to forge five disparate individuals into a long lasting adventuring company, whatever goals or destinations they had before that be damned? And then the GM fumbles about how to keep the campaign going after the fight when everyone's inclined to go their separate ways, since they've apparently been traveling solo up to that point and have to real impetus to become a group once the danger is past. And half the time is seems the GM gets passive aggressive towards the players, implying it's the players fault for not becoming a party and that he/she did everything they were supposed to in order to form the group.

Seriously, someone explain this to me, as I've been in groups where this approach has been used and it fails time and time again to the point that OOC the players have to go, "well, let's just be a party now, for the sake of the game", making the whole experience forced and unsatisfying, and often leading to inter-party conflicts by remaining in character as no character really has the trust and respect of any of the others as they don't really know each other.

Just throwing this out there, but if I were to open up for short story requests, would anybody be interested?

EDIT: To clarify, I'm just gauging interest at the moment. If it seems enough people are interested, I may open up for requests starting with the new year as a potential way to make good on a "2 short stories a month" resolution.

Okay, so my New Year's Resolution of writing on short story a month fell through a long time ago. Namely because, it seems, when given a blank canvas, deciding what to put on it seems to be incredibly difficult, even with an idea. And the fact that I feel horrendously "uninspired", which is a state of mind that's been tough to break for the past several months, though I've worked my way through some cracks to get some things done, as some of you may have noticed. Namely, I find my patience waning and want to get straight to writing a certain part, the kernel that inspired the story, which tends to make the whole thing kinda bland. After all, build up is what often makes a good story.

But, anyway, I've got two things I plan to use to push ahead. First, I think I've established Damian as my primary protagonist. I plan to develop him more through more stories, such as my recent work Wounds, to flesh out who he is and the life he now lives. I feel there's a lot I can explore with him, in many regards. This is both in serious and in less than serious tones, as I also intend to star him as my "hapless protagonist" as well, being the central figure for fetish based works of mine with his attitude of enjoying it on the inside but trying to deny it on the outside. Pretty much that luckless hero that always seems to find himself in situations no matter how much he tries to avoid them, like life's having a laugh at his expense and such.

Second, I think I've worked out an aide for my once a month story resolution (which I plan on renewing this coming year). A general prompt generator. Essentially, it goes of the principal of "Restrictions breed creativity", something I think is at the base of why I love working through making characters in a system based RPG. At the start of each month, I roll the dice, consult the sheet, and work on a story that fits within the parameters. That should keep me thinking on new lines, keep things fresh, and hopefully keep me productive. Here's the basic setup I've thrown together, though I'll like need to refine/add to it before calling it finished:


Character

Mammalian
Reptilian
Avian
Insectile
Inflatable (roll again for form)
Goo (Roll again for form)
Roll again twice


Involving

General
Vore
Inflation
Transformation
Roll again twice


Setting

Fantasy
Modern
Sci-fi


Tone

Light
Neutral
Dark



Each option under each header will have a number range so that I can roll a d20 for everything and consult the chart (I have not worked out the number ranges yet, since I feel that some elements perhaps should not have an even split of odds), rolling once for each category (unless I roll for "roll again twice"). Are there options under the categories you think may be missing? Are there categories you believe should be added? If so, what should be in them? I would love your thoughts on this to make it as useful as can be. But please, the generator is supposed to be a matter of general things, so avoid going too much into specifics with either categories or elements (do note that in the categories, "Setting" in this case is not necessarily synonymous with "Genre").

For instance, going through the list in my head real quick while at work yielded:
Inflatable (Dragon)
Vore
Modern
Dark

Working that together, I came up with a story involving an inflatable dragon that's possessed by an evil spirit, that after being inflated, devours someone if alone with them into an interior area built into its construction. It then shuts its mouth into an airtight seal, eventually suffocating the victim. After death, it releases the victim and awaits another lone target, however long that may take.

I think having the generator to come up with ideas independent of some of the ideas that have stewed (and perhaps begun to stagnate) in my mind for so long will help me be more productive, and give all of you more reason to be watching me, by actually seeing more of my own work for your reading enjoyment.

Something that troubles me nowadays is the apparent social stigma involved with negative opinions. It seems that, no matter how you say it or why, if what you say is negative in any fashion, expressing it is considered rude, obnoxious, insulting, whathaveyou, not matter what. I know there's the saying "If you don't have something nice to say about someone, don't say anything", but I think that can be taken out of context, as I believe the intent of that nugget of wisdom is to not be insulting or derogatory of people. Yeah, you may think someone is a dick, but telling everyone you know is rather rude (and yes, I will admit to being a mild hypocrite about this). However, more and more I see that if a person doesn't say something glowingly positive about something, they're considered rude for expressing their opinion. Heck, even expressing disagreement is often considered rude behavior it seems, which to me just sounds wrong. Agree with me or you're being rude and insulting? Really? Though granted, it's usually other people who call out on such, less so the person being disagreed with.

This behavior and seeming norm disturbs me a bit. It is possible to respectfully disagree, and I don't see any harm in someone expressing such, but such people are frequently shot down and called out, even when being polite. It just seems like, more and more, there's a trend of "say something positive or keep your mouth shut".

Criticism often draws a lot of fire too. Granted, there are a lot of people who don't know the difference between harsh criticism and constructive criticism. And then there are those who consider any form of criticism a personal attack. Look, nobody's perfect, and virtually nothing we do is ever "perfect". It is possible for people to respectfully articulate their thoughts of these perceived imperfections, and unless it was expressly stated that such was unwelcome, they should not be attacked for it.

And, of course, it is all right to disagree with someone's negative opinion, and that's also fine, so long as it's all respectful. Such things often devolve into mudslinging and flamewars because one or both sides slides down to immaturity, which accomplishes nothing, and means less. Sometimes, you just have to know when to let your opinion stand, and not try to change others. Acknowledged the opinion of others, be it positive or negative, take in and subjectively try to interpret their intent, and then proceed forward in a mature manner. Sometimes that's offering counterpoint, sometimes that's asking for clarification, sometimes it might be agreement, and sometimes you might just be better off personally acknowledging and leaving it be. Granted, even I'll admit that easier said than done, but it's by no means a Herculean feat.

So everyone, think carefully on your words, online and off, and know that everyone has their own opinions, and take the good with the bad. Learn the difference between respect and polite vs disrespect and rudeness, the difference between opinion and insult, and know that humans are very imperfect beings.