Feed aggregator
Member Spotlight: T. S. McNally
1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?
By the time this is released, the most recent published work will be “Vermin’s Vice”, a short story in the anthology Inhuman Acts: A Collection of Furry Noir, released at Rainfurrest this year.
I’ve always felt that noir is supposed to show the shadows of life to the reader, and I’ve also felt that a lot of times those that put up a show of prosperity tend to use those material things to either hide or distract themselves from the fact that we are, at heart, animals.
So my wish was to show that the seedy elements of society, while seedy, are probably just more honest than those we consider more wholesome, who tend to see external expressions of base desires as undesirable. But in the end, those desires are still there, waiting to be unlocked.
Also having a hand in part of the main anthology’s final name was pretty cool. It was a challenge to think of a word that would project something furry, while sounding more grim and not so fluffy. I only got half of the final answer as my suggestion for the title was “Inhuman Avenue” based on other noir titles with street names. I do like the current title better, both the word inhuman and acts hold double meanings. Basically it could be read as “Furry (inhuman) Stories (acts)”, but it has that dark edge to it.
2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?
Oddly I’ve done both from time to time. However, the thing that seems to be consistent with me is that I know how I am going to start a story, and the ending I want to see happen. Usually those details are outlined. It is the in-between parts that are more fluid.
I may outline scene orders, but not too much more than that.
3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?
The genre I seem to write the most is Action/Adventure type. I’ve been bleeding into narrative based social commentary here and there. Usually the later ends up better when an event triggers the need for it.
For instance, Travis McCuddy’s suicide inspired, I feel, one of my better of these types: “Passing with Failure”. In it a computer reinterprets the Turing Test in a most disturbing way based on how the life story surrounding Mr. Turing himself. As a warning though, it’s not a furry piece.
It is tough to write good social commentary pieces without being too preachy, and when it happens it can be quite stirring. So I consider doing them when I feel like particularly challenging myself.
4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?
I don’t quite identify with any in particular. Usually most characters I create are exaggerations of particular characteristics that I am capable of. All in all though, I tend to be a bit boring, as watching a man type on a screen doesn’t make for entertaining narrative in its own right.
Unless you have a psycho fan holding you captive and pressuring you to via Misery of course.
5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?
Stories happen all around, and I feel it’s important not to try and get too caught up with trying to emulate specific items. However, we were all young once and for some odd reason I was a Sonic fan. I liked the Saturday AM arc in particular and I created fan fiction based on it, so I think the late Ben Hurst could be seen as a major influence.
Exaggerated and colorful character development I always feels are great ways to hold stories together, and that is something those old Sonic cartoons did very well (barring the throw away half-episodes). It also holds true to many furry fiction, and the creatures we use help solidify this. It is also why I am stronger at character development than at setting development.
6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?
In a recent podcast of Fangs and Fonts I noted that I haven’t been a reader of books as much as I should be. I read articles, blogs, and such, but fictional novels have been few and far between. I also have a tendency of to not gush too much over things and works an always looking with a bit of a critical eye toward them. I find that’s what makes me more creator than consumer.
I do have one thing going for me, and that’s retention. I can remember details about things long after they have passed.
That being said the last story I loved that I read was Fredrick Douglas’s autobiography An American Slave as Written by Himself. My favorite thing about this story was how you could see he had to hold back a raging peeve he had that occurred throughout his life when the institutions of Christianity were used to preach the justification of slavery. The bittered passion Douglas felt over this, you could feel rising up, but him having to hold it back to keep himself distracting from the narrative. You come to find the reason he felt so strongly over that is, as a man of God himself, it tore him up to see the very beauty of his religion being used as a tool to cage black people.
At the end he added an epilogue where he finally lets all that emotion go.
I feel those furs within the minority who identify as Christian (or gays who do so as well) will find echoes of themselves in there. It’s amazing that as much as things seem to change, how constant certain things really are. And thus, the story, while over 100 years old, is still very relevant to this day.
7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?
If I really have not much else to do, I will read some news articles here and there. I don’t game as much as I used to, I seem to find that my job keeps my mind stimulated and engaged to the point where I don’t feel I need to escape to feel influential or important as I one did. I’m in a rare position of feeling empowered and essential in my workplace, and ironically I’m applying many lessons I learned in my virtual tenures of leadership to my real world ones.
Other than that I’m also working on non-fiction items. There are the Flayrah articles, but that’s technically technical writing. However I also want to share some of the lessons and problems I’ve solved in my spare times that I feel will help individuals and society as a whole. I plan on calling it “The World in Rooview”. The pilot will be about sometime in the future, or it could be one of those projects I start and never fulfill.
8. Advice for other writers?
If there is a universal trait about humanity it is this: We are a creature of narrative. All conflict can be drawn to simply a competing of narrative. We all want to write our own stories and have endings we want to see.
Conflict or “drama” is what arises when two endings cannot exist in the same narrative desires of two groups/individuals.
9. Where can readers find your work?
I have a Goodreads profile here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8578080.T_S_McNally
I have free stuff up on SoFurry here: https://www.sofurry.com/browse/user/stories?uid=164657
I would advise against buying my novel of Light right now. I plan on releasing a new version with “bug fixes” later in the year and will be doing a promotion at that time.
10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?
Above all else, our perseverance. We deal with a lot of garbage from others in this world. And when Nuka released his statistics on furries and their history with bullying, it shows we seem to have always had to in some shape or form. Many have taken this bitterness of others and allow it to fester within them, consuming them to the point where they themselves become bitter. Many have done so, and continue to do so. As we hear stories about needless violence, death threats from the shadows, we see the negative sides of anonymity. However, in opposition to that stands this fandom, ones who use anonymity not to spread fear, anger, or disgust. Instead we try to spread happiness, joy, and creativity. My hope, if anything, is that is a foundation that will not change.
Check out T. S. McNally’s member bio here!
Introduction
Hello everyone!
Apparently I am a furry. I accidentally clicked on this subreddit this week and found a community, so open and nice, that I found myself identifying with it. For years I've had posters of anthropomorphic cats above my bed and I actually created a fursona when I was a little child, I just didn't call it that.
My fursona is a dragon called - you guessed it - Quadriga. It is an earth and plant dragon. Quadriga is elegant and intelligent, but unfortunately also a bit socially awkward. She is green, with antlers with leafs on top and generally very female-looking. She doesn't wear clothing, except around her hips she wears a leather belt with four steel horse heads on it.
I like drawing but I'm not very good at it, so I may draw her in the future if I manage to draw something in satisfying quality. I also like anime and computer games and getting good grades on tests.
Soooo... I don't know exactly how this works, but I guess you ask me questions now, right?
Nice to meet you guys! :)
submitted by Quadriga-chan[link] [51 comments]
FARR 6
The Furry Art Request Roulette master post can be found here for hopefully all the information you need as well as links to past FARR posts.
I'm going to start digging though the old FARRs this weekend to see who didn't receive any of the requests that they should have. Keep an eye out for a post looking for artists to help catch up on unfulfilled art.
Art links Requester Artist Summary ... 4dolfin embarrassingshit 1 pencil bust ... aCowFromWisco Byn_C Sketch ... Alpine_Hell 123mine123 colored sketch. basic background. ... ArgentStonecutter TrueChaoSxTcS sketch - shaded headshot ... CanineAmericans Jakkor Simple sketch ... CanOfSodah rainbolt colored headshot, style depends on mood ... dutchcow Nsyse Full body, 1 character, color and shaded, no BG, I prefer streaming the process :) ... fanggari PrettyOkayMrFox cleaned sketch/lineart with some color/shading; abstract or no background ... Fantabulous_Fox Dillyday lineart/ minimal coloured basic background. ... feral_troll Fizzyfoxy colored sketch ... Geneio42 Volly96 I can do a fully shaded with some basic background ... IAMA-Sergal-AMA okonomi-yaki b/w sketch, no bg, 1 character ... IMA__TIGER__AMA monsieurmonstre sketches or lineless coloring // "abstract" or nonexistent backgrounds lol ... JasmineStarshine lenkagime Single character colored chibi. ... jfmherokiller kimmykun Sketch, colored if not complex. No BG ... KawaiiWaffles Marshykip Colored chibi with a simple bg, probs. ... kojolion awsmmushroom Fully rendered character on basic/abstract background. ... LeoThaTurtle scottieterrier lineart (probably traditional because my tablet is acting up ((sorry))) ... MrMadwolf92 stupid_pony Colored sketch, abstract background ... Mysfit_ Fruit_Tree Anthro bust sketch with colour, no bg. ... okonomi-yaki kitatwbobcat Coloured sketch with a background if I feel up to it. [Will be back home on the ~ 28th Sept] ... PrettyOkayMrFox Fearful_Leader Cross-stitch of your sona's head ... RavenDesk mckatze traditional sketch, one character ... raw0625 Marshykip Colored chibi with a simple bg, probs. ... Redemolf sourflesh colored bust or waist-up if time permits ... Ryuu_Girl squirrelflight01 Rough Sketch, No background ... Sam_The_Wolf Telepanda Sketch ... Sleekgiant 041744 Shaded body drawing, simple background ... Tachhe squirrelflight01 coloured with basic background ... Stariteone selk- Full body sketch ... squirrelflight01 ICanTasteTheSin Traditional media, full color, blank background ... TanukiFluff okonomi-yaki b/w sketch, no bg, 1 character only! ... Terwin94 okonomi-yaki b/w sketch, no bg, 1 character ... TheoDaRulah StyxtheRiverdog Traditional sketch/or colored picture. ... Volly96 Asurium Flat colour headshot, or more depending on time. ... YouOtterBeKiddingMe rabbitfields Whatever the client wants.NEXT ROULETTE WILL BE OCTOBER 9th. Sign up using the form(s) linked below.
If you've got any questions, I'll be busy most of the day, but I should have time by this evening to answer (unless someone else answers before then).
submitted by Big_Red_Hothead[link] [38 comments]
Painting for the FIRST TIME! Come watch me stream! I'm really lonely :(
Hi guys. It's me. That guy who streams too much. I'm up super late again, all on my lonesome. :(
I'm painting my character for the first time, and using traditional style painting methods (no erasing. Almost no layers except one adjustment layer for testing the lighting cause im noob)
I'd love some people to chat with. It's what makes me motivated to draw/paint.
submitted by Essjay-C[link] [2 comments]
![Picture of my Sona [by PurpleDragonRei]](http://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/czVB795N_Yq3OLwdRfakBPUUyrXLp0-CCywnIE8mFwA.jpg "Picture of my Sona [by PurpleDragonRei]")
How do introductions work? (New Furry)
I'm new and just come to the realization that I'm a furry a few months ago. I'm a little trans male pup named Mack. I really like Pokemon and Animal Crossing. I'm not an artist, so don't expect me to really contribute artistically, however, I do really like discussions.
I drew up a little picture of myself, but I'm not sure if it's the finalized version or not. I mean, I think I'm pretty cute.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
submitted by CocoaBagelPuffs[link] [27 comments]
drawin some late night headshot requestosss
or whatever i feel like, tbh. throw refs here or whatever. id stream but i doubt yall want to see me making kissy faces at my bf LOL
so yea throw refs here, yo.
EDIT: im. goin 2 sleep now. ill do a few more when i wake up tho so ayyy.
submitted by marshykip[link] [26 comments]
Custom plush/stuffed animal?!
Long story short, months ago I asked for a stuffed animal (or plush, whatever you want to call it) of one of my characters. Basically my mom has barely done anything, she said she couldn't find anyone to do it (even though she only looked in our small hickville town so...) and so after my birthday we did buy fur and a crappy pattern that looks nothing like my character... but it has been like ten months and she hasn't worked on it at ALL. So I said why not just look for something online and she said she doesn't want to have to pay $300 for one... I don't actually know how much they can be so I have to ask.
I'm trying to find someone that can make a good quality custom plush of my character? Here's a picture of him: http://orig00.deviantart.net/6e86/f/2015/181/8/b/but_first_you_must_solve_this_algebra_equation__by_tj_otter-d8zewtl.png (He wouldn't have the skateboard and I don't care too much about the hat and scarf). All the sites I've seen so far are too "kiddy"-like, and the stuffed animals all just have crappy short material stuff. They don't really look that well made to me, or well, that appealing anyway. I kind of prefer some actual fur... (like fake fur, obviously!) and even if there is something like this and it's a couple hundred, maybe I'll try to compromise with her and say it's for Christmas and part of my birthday... in that case I might choose a different character, I'm not sure. But either way I'm wondering if anyone knows of someone who makes good quality, custom stuffed animals that don't look like something you'd find in the Walmart baby section.
I hope I don't sound too unreasonable... Also I don't even know if this is really the right place to ask but I don't really know where else to ask. If people can make great looking fursuits there should be something similar for plushes, right?
submitted by RedLeopardNyro[link] [2 comments]
''Comin' At'Cha'' by Vixcoon (DA). VERY Talented artist who commission this for me. Be sure to check out her work!
Rainfurrest 2015
Hey furs I am missing rainfurrest this year... I was planning on going but missing it due to being out of state. Please have fun and write me back on how it is, Also if anyone did read my story, I will finish it by the time I get home. (Oct.7th) Have fun and fur on!
submitted by Yukinoinu[link] [comment]
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/pmcHCwO.png){kind=link}