Well this might be due for some explanation

A long while ago (two years?) I decided I needed to restructure the design I had for In the New Age, a setting I've had in mind since high school (over 10 years now) because the designs of the species were furry-neutral. That is, they tended to only vary by virtue of having different animal heads on fairly-uniformly human bodies. Being that this was a setting intended for novelization, I considered it might be too confusing (or a put-off) for a lot of people for these to basically just be totemic variations on humans (as the fandom is wont to do) when their animal nature tends to be clearly highlighted and emphasized.

So, I decided their designs needed to be more fablesque--that is, as close to the base animal as possible with allowances for bipedal locomotion.

Subsequently, this also meant that I lost interest in the design aspect of the characters.

This isn't to say that a more fablesque take on the setting would be unwanted--it's just not MY take on my own setting. My personal take has a very distinct human element to it, because that's what's always drawn me to the design aspect of anthropomorphics. If I were to hire another artist to take on the series I'd love to see their variation, whether it's more furry, fable, toony, realistic, or what have you. I still think a fablesque (and less superheroic physique) approach might be the most appropriate variation, but so long as I'm the only one creating this world, THIS is the one that I'm most comfortable with.

So.

One of the major problems with the fablesque approach is that I have a very specific way of arranging anatomy. If I can't tell where the knees are, I tend to redraw the legs until I know what I'm doing. I will fudge what I'm doing but not as a matter of course; there need to be room for positional variations when I design a character, and if I don't know where their knees are when I draw them in one pose, I can't draw them in another.

Compounding this problem was the fact that raccoons are plantigrade. This meant that, as opposed to a good many of the animals that other races are based on, I couldn't really get away with the squat-knee positioning that's common when translating digitigrade animals to anthro anatomy (see middle row). Which means that, if I were to place raccoons and foxes side-by-side, they'd have a HUGE and probably weird-looking anatomical difference between them--at least in my head. Which ended up meaning that I'd need to draw the raccoons MORE feral-looking, which actually ended up meaning that they looked the MOST different, especially side-by-side with other races like the horse/unicorns (see Diesel's Story unfinished comic) who COULD get away with more human anatomy by virtue of their size.

So for a long time I held onto that and figured it's what would have to be done, even if it meant I didn't like drawing my characters anymore.

So it ended up I didn't draw my characters anymore.

This wasn't going to do. It wasn't going to help me develop a world if I hate my own designs for it.

So, I had the idea of drawing the raccoons, once again, but this time with human proportions so they'd fit their plantigrade style--but this time instead of trying for some weird torso variation that just ended up looking odd, I shortened the limb proportions altogether.

The result is not unlike the designs I made for my ani-droid characters from ARGO. This might result in other variations though--the head size is smaller in the middle row; head/body ratio is usually an indicator of how "cute" (or young) something looks, which is why it varies so much in cartoons.

They're still kind of "weird", but it's my kind of weird, the one I can envision in my head and have the characters do all the things I want them to do. In any case, they probably won't be this naked all the time, but when you need anatomy practice, it's kinda necessary.

Characters:
Top Row: Deiko, Kiti, Riki
Middle Row: Ideka, Oda, Riki

Bottom picture depicts Riki and his hunters together.
I haven’t gotten around to drawing all the Hunters since I first developed them. They’re all members of his tribe and, in a way, his surrogate family.

Also, in this setting, mixed sleeping arrangements are very common. Roko (people; the fuzzy races in particular) have, for one, an uncanny generosity and respect for their social environment and so, especially for friends and family, don’t shy away from personal contact nor take undue advantage. For two, “mating bonds” are a kind of psychic link that prevent physical attraction to anyone who is already mated. (in this scene, only one is, and it should be obvious who).

Top bunk are Riki, leader and chief-in-name, and Aiko, the youngest, teasingly nicknamed Brushtail as he only had one ring on the tip of his tail.

Middle bunk, left to right, are Xiro (slightly autistic but very intelligent), Urai (Riki’s aunt and surrogate mother, whose pregnancies rarely seem to slow her down), and Deiko (Aiko’s sister, strongest of the group)

Bottom bunk is Lare, who is the oldest, a veteran warrior who was only spared from culling due to missing one leg below the knee.