Art by   6my

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This was originally a much longer afterword, but I quickly realized that if I wanted there to be any hope of anyone bothering to read it, I’d need to be not nearly so verbose… >_>

The Only Constant started as a series of images I commissioned from Ficus in the Autumn of 2017 in order to address two things simultaneously: 1) To covertly and metaphorically express my own grief regarding my Dad’s passing in August of 2017; 2) To address my absolute fear of the “demon parasites” by exploring the emotional reaction of a person who’s loved-one had been newly transformed, and also how this sudden shift would affect the symbionts themselves.

It was a process that was meant to be done in a few months. And while most of the story was told in images in that time, I found that there were more questions raised; not only about the story, but questions about myself. And the story never would have ended with Succubat Vy if it weren’t for two things:

• During a stream while drawing a succubat transformation sequence, Ficus quite literally said: Realtalk, I need more male succubats. :V
• The queer furry community being so amazingly welcoming and endearing as to make me feel comfortable even pursuing such a thing that I had seen as rather sacred.


Vy had initially been conceived as a typically-and-toxically-masculine lewd/vent OC, intended to be portrayed in despicable behaviors that my original sona was far too soft and sad to engage-in. Curiously enough, Succubat Vy’s gender identity (and subsequently, the original Vy’s) would end-up being not-quite-so-male as initially intended, and simply more quite-themself.

Two years later, after backfilling more of the story with additional art and writing, and while struggling with my own personal issues, I’ve finally been able to complete the tale I wanted to tell. It’s rough, it’s messy, it’s not art—but at least it’s really fucking earnest.

As the process went on, I realized that while it was becoming more personally about me, it was also becoming more about the community of people I had come to know. I knew I could never represent any of them perfectly, or possibly even close, but I wanted to try. I wanted them to know I cared, that I knew that the allegory of being an outcast for simply being who you are was something I wanted to acknowledge that they have experienced. I wanted to reach-out and represent my friends in any way that I could.

I don’t know if I succeeded. For all I know, this may have been 24 months of self-indulgent, arrogant autofellating, but it’s not for lack of trying! It’s been a hell of a ride, and I’m glad to finally give this particular iteration of Vy the ending and closure I feel they deserve.

Acknowledgements

There have been far too many people involved to be able to thank them all, but here are a few that without whom, this silly endeavor would not have been possible.

The Vyfe — For putting up with all of my bullshit. (Love you, hun-pai.🖤)

Ficus — For creating the symbiont lore, illustrating my initial story scope, and just letting me play in that world a bit.

Balina — My wordplay-senpai, for asking what was going on in Vy’s mind during the birthday scene and essentially dooming me to spend two years trying to get it all out. 🖤

Electrum — For being my first “furry friend” and my favorite sharkgirl. Thanks for teaching me to *hug*.

CQ/6MY — For agreeing to play around with my stupid, stupid ideas and actually drawing them, helped me explore a lot of character development and story concepts before they were written.

Epiphany — For encouraging me and sharing this effort so much. Having the support of another writer meant so much.

Ace — My editor, who frequently encouraged me to continue. Repeatedly. Sometimes by threatening to take away my booze. (That’s my writing juice!)

David — My father, for whom DaVyd is named-after. Rest in peace.

Finally, a sincere “thank you” to everyone who expressed any interest in this tale. If it had only been for myself, I likely never would have completed it. 🖤🖤🖤