The rare shiny vangard! Where did I put my master ball...

What is a 'master ball'?

And Vanguard aren't really...shiny... more like a matte sheen

It was a poorly placed Pokemon joke. XD

You durned kids and yer durned puckymans, get off mah durned lawn!

I like this scene...i want to hear the story behind it.

It's from (well WILL be from) the third book in The Cold Wind series. First two are uploaded in my gallery, but if you're interested in reading them beware they're not really furry, and they are both proper novel length.

Just because it's not furry does not mean that i'm not going to read.

Well please feel free in that case. The first in the 'series' is 'The Cold Wind', second is 'TCW: Taniwha'. I use the term 'series' loosely as each story is quite stand-alone and features different characters in a slightly different time-frame. But it's all in the same universe setting, and events from one story to the next are linked.

pretty muck like the redwall series.

Redwall series? Who is the author of that?

Brian Jacques., look him up!

Roger that, always on the lookout for good reading material. Thank you.

Vanguard: "Say, why did you left your pants back to that desolated city if you hated being nude around me?"

Ives: "Well, I thought of it and in the end, this is more comfrotable to be. Besides, the wind breezes nicely trought my groin."

Vanguard: ".........rrriiiiiiight....."


Sorry. Whenever a nice scene comes up, I already think of a dialouge for it.

HaHA! Yes! That young man could have totally been me back when having long hair was the cool thing to do. But I haven't sported wavy lock in years... And alas, that young man in the picture is not me. Speaking of which, I do not know his name yet. I do wonder if our dear Lincard will share with us the names of these fellows. (I know the name of the black Vanguard though...heeeheeeheee)

Heeeeee... I have no objection to you making comments or dialogue that the characters might be saying. Makes for interesting reading and occasionally a good laugh
Loincloths: next best thing to completely nekkid! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'm sure I could be a more amazing man if I tried... But I like how things are right now.

I am sooooo delightfully excited that you like the piece so much! It makes me smile to know that I have helped you out in getting your vision across. I hope it helps you feel inspired to keep on writing. I feel very accomplished and content. Working with you is a pleasure! Like I've said before, I am one lucky man....

It does inspire me, and that's the great thing that you have done for me. It was a scene that came into my head out of the blue when I thought about the two main protagonists - but it's not a scene that's written down anywhere...yet

Anyway, Black-Dune-Runner you know already (a name that I've borrowed from another, unrelated story I wrote but one I like). And the young man is Luke Melbourne, although he will end up with a 'Vanguard name' in the book - but I'll keep that under wraps for the moment

Anyway, just know that I so very much appreciate your magic fingers and your agile, creative brain, Mr. Ives... Much, much for this - thank you.

Interesting that both lack the clothes that typical beings of their races wear. Are the primitive or just outcasts? Are they escaping capture or heading towards home? These things and more, coming up at 5!

All good questions and there are all good answers - some of yet haven't actually been written yet The new book is still a long way off (perhaps as much as a year?) while I finish off Harbinger with my friend. But it is started at least. This one will be more story and have less outright porn than the previous ones. Although it will have some

A little love making is never a bad thing. If it works for Hollywood, it can work for interstellar faring lizards with 4 arms.

I think that what sexual scenes there will be will (of the ones that are described in any detail) be more of the love-making type than outright porn. Desperately trying to mature as an 'adult fiction' writer and move away from the sheer jack-off material for its own sake.

I really appreciate the votes of confidence though - thank you

Not a problem, sir :) We all need our primal releases, but being artistic and delicate in our storytelling is key.

Damn, you've got a lovely way with words. You need to write MOAR!

What are these words you speak of?

I dunno, just these things that keep on falling out of your cake-hole

(well, off the end of your fingers in this instance I guess)

I'm not much of a story teller, but you, sir, clearly are! i just read a lower comment of yours about the bodily functions of the Vanguard. :P

Oh you...

If you take writing seriously then you plan out a lot of details ahead of time. Much of the technology I use is based on existing scientific theory (vastly extrapolated of course) even if I do 'dumb it down' to avoid unnecessary, boring detail for the readers. Also with alien physiology - there are reasons for everything, even if they are never spelled out in the story itself. Just having thought them out means the I can write about the characters as fully as possible, subtle little details about how they move, act, what they do etc. Very, very few people would be interested in how the Vanguard go to the toilet for example, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about how it would actually function

Damn, that makes me sound like a bit of a weirdo, doesn't it?

The weird ones are more interesting. I guess i am one of the few. If a new race was found, I'd want to know absolutely everything about them. Everything. :D
I have done some writing, but I prefer the visual arts, personally, as far as what I create, though i demand a well done story as far as what I read. It's in the small legal print the world recieved when i was born. Paragraph 15, clause B.

Heh... so many people think they can draw like a pro. Or photograph like a master. Or write The Next Big Hit. But so few do it well because they rush things. They get an idea and they blast ahead without planning - that was me when I put my very first story (the first interation of TCW) online on Nifty.org a few years back as a bit of a joke (and a jack-off story). Figured I might get one or two weirdos writing to me about how 'hawt' they found it or something ridiculous. But bugger me, I ended up getting a fair amount of people who actually liked it for the storyline and characters more than the smut. This kinda forced me to re-evaluate things and pushed me into writing the second half of it. Still more feedback encouraged Taniwha out of the woodwork.

Good things take time.

I'd still love to read some of what you've written in the past, but for all that if you know your strengths lie in visual art, then by all means push yourself in that direction. I'm still in awe of your eye for patterns in many things.

:) Thanks. I do have an unfinished story I wrote in 4th grade based on a cartoon. It's 80 pages or so. Thinking about it makes me horribly embarrassed. :P I am glad your first experience with online critiques was positive. So often people post "I like it" or nothing at all but never say why. A good critique can mean the world to an artist.

Thank you! Yes!! While "I liked it" is good to know, you get a lot more benefit out of constructive criticism. You should never be embarassed about stuff you did when young and inexperienced. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. I get the impression your life is a little busy at the moment, given the lack of new material being posted up by yourself?

It is. Though my moving is now done with, I don't have much time on the weekends to work on stuff. I'm trying, though! Things are in motion, though.

Well with you gearing up for the ride stuff, I'm not surprised my friend. Real life should always take precedence.

I shouldn't complain. A friend is moving, buying a house, getting married and taking her exams to get her architecture license this year. I should keep my mouth shut :)

Well, there's a lot to be said about being prepared, even if you are busy. Some people also have an innate ability to thrive under stressful situations. They're usually annoying people that make me want to slap them, but that's neither here nor there...

haha. I need my down time or I start looking at reality as my own personal fps.

Very cool looking scene there, Ives did an awesome job on this. Now I really can't wait until the 3rd cold wind story is finished. Love the look of Black-Dune-Runner btw.

I wouldn't normally go the whole teaser route but I had this image stuck in my head and when Ives said he was taking commissions again I thought it would be an ideal opportunity. Unfortunately the shrinking down process lost a lot of the finer details. BDR looks MIGHTY fine up close

And thank you, Karerease - good to know there will be an eager audience at the other end of the writing process.

Human: So explain to me how we wound up in the middle of the dessert, where are my clothes are at, where are your cloths at, why I'm wearing a loin cloth, where my car at, and WHY the hell is my ass sore?
BDR: Hrrrr....best party ever little one, best party ever.
Heh, sorry couldn't resist.

Yea, BDR does look like mighty fine, even with the size reduction of the pict, though something I was noticing, compared to his human companion, he looks a bit smaller then the other Vanguard might be.

Oh yea, you definitely have an eager reader waiting for the 3rd release. The first story is still my favorite, and to date Two Talon is still one of my favorite characters. After reading the stories and talking back and forth with you, it gave me inspiration to start back on my own writings again.

hehehehe....Best party ever...one you cannot remember the next day Luke: "Dude, where's my car?"

BDR is fairly young in that pic, as is Luke - humans mature at a faster rate than Vanguard do which describes the size similarity. So you really liked Two-Talon? He's a complicated, tortured character and one fairly close to my heart. One I kinda bonded with as a writer, even if he was a bit of a touchy-feely hippy type.

Oh and hey, I'm honored that you've found our discourse inspirational. If there is anything I can ever do to assist you with your writings please don't hesitate to ask.

Awesome on the resized version, BDR is indeed a sexy beast.

Yea, I really did like Two-Talon, I find that the more complex and tortured characters, as you put it, are a lot more fun and interesting to read about, and in some cases easer to relate to. Hunts-In-Grass and Attacks-First were both a very close second.

Thanks, just talking back and forth by email, PM, or even the comments really has kind of kicked in the creative flow, the writing so far has been kind of slow going, I guess once I get back into the familiar feel of it again, it'll start to get faster. The editing you did on the 2 stories that I sent to you several months ago, be that one of them was only a few pages long and very incomplete really helped out as far as showing what kind of errors I was making and how much I was repeating on words. But if I have any questions I definitely shoot you an email or PM you with them.

In many respects I probably had too much going on with too many characters in Taniwha for people to really get into the little sub-stories going on with some of them. The only Vanguard character who stood out in that one for better or worse was Blue-Scale the retarded space-lizard. Never mind, I'm glad you liked Two-Talon, he's probably my favourite as well of all my Vanguard boys also

As for your writing, well you know where to find me You'll find the more writing you do, the more you'll get used to it and eventually there will be times where you'll settle into a grove and it will just flow... You can always tell when you're reading something when the writer was in their groove or not. Anyway, keep at it - everyone has a special story inside them somewhere.

I get so thirsty when I'm looking at the image. And that black Vanguard looks quite exotic. Like finding a rare gem in an old barn.
He isn't shy, going all commando there. :p

Thirsty? It's quite evocative of hot and dry, Mr. Ives did a great job of that aspect of it. Black-Dune-Runner is quite exotic given his colouration. And that's an important part of the storyline, so wont say any more to spoil anything. As for the going commando - when in an unaroused state, Vanguard genitalia is internal.

Ha...I didn't know that about Vanguard genitalia... I was thinking to myself "Since I don't know what it looks like...how can I get away with out drawing it?" And there you have, a conveniently placed muscley delicious thigh!

Too funny, yes I gathered that is exactly why you drew him in that pose! The males have a bulging, um, 'pouch' I guess is probably the closest thing to describe it. Not a sheath like you'd find on a horse or dog, it's slightly more flush to the body than that but still a fairly prominent bulge. I guess it would have the appearance similar to that of a well-proportioned human wearing speedos. When erect the penis pokes upward through the slit at the top of the pouch and remains close to the body. Semi-cloacal except that they have a separate rectal opening situated just beneath the pouch at the base of the tail. Females have a flat genital opening that lies flush unlike the males. The genitals are only used for rutting/copulation, Vanguard do not pass liquid wastes, their food processing organs completely scavenge the water and they only excrete solid waste.
There you go, more than you EVER possibly wanted to know about the physiology of demonic looking space lizards

Heh, you should see the sketch I did of my Shekki guys and gals. Once I can get it uploaded that is. I may just break a few brains. Or, since this is FA, a few zippers....>_>

Also: Yayness for news of the new Vanguard story!

I look forward to seeing it once uploaded. Sounds like you're quite proud of it?

Well, yeah, I guess. More that you're talking about the weirdnesses of your creations genetalia, so it reminded me of my own. But yes. Shekki junk is awesome. We're talking Chakat level stuff here. :D

Not so much weirdness, just more like a terrestrial reptile, but with its own, subtle differences. I have no idea who or what Chakat is, so will just wait for the upload

Oooooh, might just try that when I get home from work tonight. The resizing removed a lot of the Vanguard's definition as well as some of the lad's as well. Thank you very much for the suggestion, Mr. Fluffycroc

Yeeeeeeeeehaw, scroll baby scroll!

Now you can see BDR's face properly. Much obliged, sir!

this is really cool! the shadows and feeling of this pic are amazing!

For such a simple pic, it does have a lot of feeling in it - and that's what I was going for, just needed the right artist to bring it to life.

I  ives
Thank you for the lovely comment

I can't wait for the third one!
...alright I can, but I'm eagerly awaiting it! ^ ^ ~♥

Aww, thanks, RSLaehnart - you are lovely I've just got to get the current project out of the way (Harbinger) before I start some serious work on this third one. It is going to take a while because I'll be writing and completing it before posting it up however. So it will probably be about a year before you'll see it, unfortunately

...Harbinger? I'll have to see about that one. ^ ^

As for the approximation of a year, well, I believe I can wait that long for something that has (so far) proven to be an amazing piece of literature ~♥

The fastest way to a man's heart is by saying such wonderful things about his labour of lustlove...

Harbinger is a story I've co-written with a fellow author friend of mine. It's not furry, but is a supernatural fantasy featuring a gay main character. Getting close to being completed. I've got several sections of it up in my gallery if you're interested.
Anyway, thanks again for saying such wonderful things - you certainly know how to make someone happy

You're very welcome. ^ ^
I couldn't very well sit back and enjoy something so well written without saying something, it would be like I was cheating.

The Vanguard race as a whole is very well thought out and thoroughly described and explained while still leaving some questions to be asked. (An example would be how they went straight from primitive to energy weapons)
Another point I would like to single out is the Observers from Taniwha. Another well thought out race that adds more than a dash of mystery to life in your stories. With the slow reveal of who and what they are you sealed the deal IMO.

There are some other questions that I have, but I should just PM you with those. XD

Well just know that I appreciate the comments, as well as constructive criticisms - questions are good because if there is one person asking about something, then the chances are there are probably others as well. And it means that something I've written hasn't been done as well as it could have if it spawning such questions. So all good, my friend. And feel free to fire off questions or comments where-ever you like. You don't have to send notes if you prefer not to. I enjoy conversations, so am happy to respond in the comments section or where-ever.

Okay - your question about Vanguard weapon technology. The idea behind it is being an aggressive race of evolved predators, finding new and more powerful/efficient ways of killing is very much a driving force behind their whole culture. With humans, technology tends to advance fairly quick during times of conflict when massive amounts of resources can be thrown at problems. Unlike humans, the Vanguard (as a whole) have no qualms about their more...bloodthirsty urges driving them as a species. I extrapolated some trends I've observed in human technological advancement and figured that while Vanguard would have played around with chemical/conventional warfare, they would have moved very quickly onto more powerful weapons. So for all intents and purposes, they leap-frogged past conventional weaponry once they had sufficient industrialisation behind them to drive development.

If your entire culture and way of thinking is geared around trying to find better and more powerful forms of killing each other or your enemies, then you'll obviously devote tremendous resources behind that. Humans might be hampered by various distractions, ethics, etc - but imagine the pace of development if a lot of these restraints were removed.

All that aside, I've always likened the Vanguard as a race to the Roman Empire - it got too big, too quickly and rotted from the inside outward. And that's exactly the same thing that I've depicted happening to the Vanguard. There are enlightened individuals, but you learn best when the lessons are painful.
Anyway, I ramble, sorry about the TL;DR

The comment block makes me think of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If6UaPtG9vI

Heh, that is quite good - very "Groundhog Day"