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Puppies and patronage models with Rick Griffin’s “Housepets”…

Patreon

So…this is about Rick Griffin’s “Housepets” and his new crowdfunding campaign. But, really, it isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Griffin’s three-per-week comic. What’s not to love? If you like your cats and dogs cute and cuddly, your wolves just this side of beefcake, a little bit of magic, a little bit of drama, a little bit of angst, just a dash of interspecies relationship weirdness…it’s a fun world. There’s even a little bit of challenge to the reader–what does it mean to be a pet in a world where animals can answer the phone and hold down a job? What does it mean to be a human in that world?

I’ve consistently enjoyed Housepets for a few years now, it’s usually funny, occasionally sweet. And there’s even cheap D&D and LARP jokes. If I was going to criticize it, there’s a bit of a shortage of strong female characters, but that seems to be changing as the series matures.

Anyway, I’m really not talking about Housepets, though I’m happy to gush about my favorite webcomic. No, I’m really talking about Griffin’s new campaign on Patreon; ever since my friends at The Furry Agenda mentioned it to me, I’ve been itching for a chance to claw that box open. So, Mr. Griffin, I’m really just using you shamelessly. Thank you.

Kickstarter is about the product launch, above all else. It builds up expectations, assumes a deadline, demands a release date. Indiegogo can be used for annual fundraisers, and Offbeatr can be used for ongoing digital sales, but their culture is pretty firmly in the world of due-dates and delivery timetables.

Artists don’t tend to work like that–and by artists I also mean musicians, writers, journalists, cartoonists, bloggers (go team), youtubers…all us content providers.  Patreon is crowdfunding for the long haul, stream-based micropayments for  the Internet’s workhorses.

How does it work? In Griffin’s case, he commits to providing entertainment in the form of a month of webcomic silliness. In return, a patron might promise to give him $3 for that month. If both promises are kept, Griffin goes home with a fat $3, and can buy himself a candy bar. Of course it doesn’t stop there, and Mr. Griffin is now going to make a tidy $500+ per strip–it’s not a living wage, yet, but it does pay for the electricity. And Griffin gets an audience for some of his non-”Housepet” projects.

Other furry creators have asked for pledges on a per painting (podcast, webcomic…) basis, weekly basis, per album or portfolio…there’s some variety.

And what else does the patron get? I mean, the stuff’s going to be posted anyway, right? Artists gotta art, and all. Patrons might get access to a monthly webchat, a draw from a goody grab-bag, a print of the month, special callouts, walk-on roles…you name it. The usual array for a crowdfunded “gimmie,” but again, with an eye toward long-term, sustaining, relationship-building.

I spent a few hours dipping into the furry side of Patreon, there’s a few of us there…mostly bronies, with a heavy helping of MLP:FIM commentary video streams (don’t laugh, please don’t laugh, some of them are bringing in nearly $450 an episode!) But as an intrinsically creative community, I expect to see a slow trickle of Patreon patronage as we trip forward.

A few gems from Patreon:

Reviewing is Magic: One of several MLP analysis streams on youtube, but one of the better ones! Witty commentary, fair-to-middling animation, and a charming British accent puts this one ahead of the herd.

Kenno Arkkan’s My Life With Fel: A colorful webcomic with a vast range of visual styles, from realism to abstraction, with touches of Chris Goodwin (particularly in Kenno’s variety). Hard to describe, but worth a tour.

The Unicorn Hunt: A chatty pair goes on tongue-in-cheek unicorn hunts through their local neighborhood, dipping into DIY crafts and baking. Youtube stream and art/crafts tumblr.

 

Kwik: FA artist Kwik’s artist patronage page, offering insider art opportunities and smut perusal opportunities (“smutportunties” from now on).

Note: Images used above are included to promote the work of crowdfunding artists, and are owned by the original creator.

submitted by Foxru
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Author: JoJoJoshua Gaming Furever has released their “Alpha Game Awards” for 2013. Winners include top hits from all platforms, and a special category chosen specifically for furry-focused titles. Voted on by the content contributing staff at GF, the awards reflect a years’ worth of fantastic games. 2013 has been an exciting year, not just because […]

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i am a dj and i am quite a huge amateur at it and wondering how did you guys get your start as a dj and what would you suggest that i do so i can get reconized?

EDIT: well my karma's gone oh well at least I met some other dj's

submitted by SuperiorSnayke
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So begins my story about my first relationship and how it affects me still.

So beginning about this time last year, I had been on a smaller, lesser known forum called 'FurryTeens', or FT for short. Seeing as I was 16, this was a very friendly community for us younger furs. Within that forum, I made an abundance of friends, one in particular I will call 'Stephen', for security's sake. Now there was something about Stephen, that made him stand out from the rest of the friends I had made. A certain, grace about him, if you will. A caring aura and loving atmosphere surrounded his person. Now, at the time, I was straight. I'm not even going to say "I /thought/ I was straight, because I'm dead certain I was straight. I had absolutely no interest in guys... until I met Stephen. Again, he was quite different from the rest, in quite a spectacular way. And from the day I met him, I fell head over heels in love with him. Now fast forward, it was Valentine's day of 2013. I had a letter prepared and everything, telling him how I felt, and how much I loved him. That day I found out that he was in love with another guy on the forum; I was shattered. Now it may sound silly to those of you who have never experienced love through a computer screen, it's... it's odd. One would think that you could not have the same love and emotions as you would with someone in real life, but I assure you the feelings are real. So bear with me if you will, and fast forward yet another few months. The guy Stephen was dating had lied about some things, Stephen was pissed and broke up with him. Now being close friends with him, I consoled him that night, and eventually, I built up my courage. I let loose all my feelings, the love and the heartbreak, the same level of emotion as the last verses in Billy Joel's 'Piano Man'. And he wanted to wait just a little while to recuperate, but as you can guess, we were together at last. Now parents were an issue. Not only did I live in a small house which made it impossible to call, but I just naturally had a very good, open and honest relationship with my mother. (Parents are divorced.) So when I finally told her, it was on the drive back from the airport, after visiting my dad. So when I told her, not only did I come out, I admitted I was in love with someone who lived states away, and we were together via the internet. So, she flipped out. Not about me being gay, but she was so mad that I was talking to people online and thought our love couldn't be real. In her defense, she works with sexually abused kids, and cyber predators are a very real threat for us teenagers. So she took all my electronics away, I called my dad and he immediately took my side. 2 weeks later, my mum finally let me have the stuff back, on the condition that we video called so that she could see that he was real. After that we were fine. For then. Fast forward again 4 months or so, and the turbulence started. We, had a different view on sex, it seemed. I was a little (much, I find later) conservative with sex. He would almost brag to me about how all his friends said he was good at sexual RP's, which freaked me out considering these friends with benefits were still his best friends, actually completely infamous for being the sluts of the forum. A few of them are known for sending nude pics and stuff, which like, freaks me out considering we are ONLY LIKE 15-17 and I know by both sending and receiving the pictures underage you can be tagged a sex offender for the rest of your life. Blah blah blah. The main thing that made me angry as hell, was the one guy who addmitted his love to half of the forum, admitted his love to my boyfriend... and they remained best friends. Needless to say, I was paranoid. Anyway, we met for the first time IRL, it was amazing and we had a great time. I had never been so in love before, probably because I had never been in love before. Afterwords, we were planning the second trip, he was being very suggestive about having sex when I was up there, I was saying that I just wanted to take it as it comes, not plan anything. He sort of, broke down and though that meant I wasn't attracted to him in that way, which I was, very very much so. He started breaking down more often, about nothing. He would not let me console him or try to make him feel better, because 'He wasn't good enough for me' and 'I deserved someone better'. I would always tell him that I loved him more than life itself, and he was that love of my life. And eventually, he broke up with me and went into a very, very dark place. And so we reach now. More than 6 months after he's broken up with me, and his name still kills me. I come to find out, him and the infamous guy from the forum who admitted his love to him while we were together, are dating. Not just that, but it's an open relationship. So here's this guy, who tried to take my boyfriend away from me while we were together, and now is dating him, another friend of mine, and has a 22 year old 'master'. Keep in mind, he's 15. So, the more and more I learn about Stephen, it's like he never showed me his true colors. His real self. And I'm regretting it every day, yet I still just, I don't know... I don't love him, I'm happily in love with another long-distance guy and we've been together for going on 5 months, but his name can still make me angry, depressed, sick, you name it... I'm just so lost.

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Author: crossaffliction Because superheroes and reboots go together like peanut butter and jelly, Marvel is featuring an All-New Marvel NOW! throughout the early half of 2014, in which many of the publisher’s superhero books are gaining new writers and artists, while others are beginning with new #1 issues — never mind that the All-Old Marvel […]

Author: rodney Lou Scheimer was co-founder and president of Filmation Animation. Before he passed away last year, he completed his autobiography with the help of comic book writer and historian Andy Mangels. Now it’s been released in trade paperback by TwoMorrows Publishing as Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation. Best known for Saturday morning staples […]

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So supposedly in the 60s or 70s a rumor was flying around that a UCONN professor had been able to successfully create a Wolf Beagle hybrid. I doubt it had any truth, but still hilarious to spread that they escaped into the woods surrounding the campus, braying at the night sky looking for any lone freshmen walking out near Horsebarn Hill at night.

Any one have any idea what this thing would look like though?

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Author: Fred Fred Patten will have a new anthology, Five Fortunes, on sale at Further Confusion 2014. The 415-page tome, published by FurPlanet, presents five brand-new novellas by fan-favorite Furry authors, four of them featuring their popular characters or settings: “Chosen People” by Phil Geusz, set in his Book of Lapism world. “Going Concerns” by Watts Martin, […]

It's an email cast! We had some leftovers from the last episode, and a WHOLE bunch from this one, so that's what we dedicate most of our time to (and most of the reason why we have another hour-plus half-episode). There's also some stuff about dragons that tore their own wings off and then cried about it (or something like that), Arby's vs. Wendy's (which is slightly more relevant than it sounds) and more! Come join us! Episode 15.5 (2014-01-13)

Author: Dear Papa Bear, I wanted to ask you about advice for talking and relating with other furries. You see, this year is my first time going to Anthrocon. The problem is that I’m going alone since none of my friends are furries and are not interested in going. I was hoping to try to […]

submitted by LadyJames
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