~TalanStrider

I ditched Twitter and switched a long time ago and made journals about it already, but for anyone who didn't have a Bluesky or may not have cared back when I posted those, I figured I should toss it here again since there's been a lot of people finally making the switch recently.

https://bsky.app/profile/talanstrider.bsky.social

Easy as that! But it's not all either! If you prefer Mastodon, find me here: https://meow.social/@TalanStrider
And if you want to see WIP's as well as anything I make like a day or more before it goes anywhere else, follow my Telegram channel: t.me/Talan_3D

Uh, want to start opening commissions soonish too, but there's a big animation I want to finish first, maybe

Hey! Some of you may have noticed, but I already largely stopped using Twitter; the environment just hasn't been something I really vibe with lately.

This has become very relevant again considering the site has been blocked by Brazil and other countries may follow, seeing as Elon is egotistical, vengeful, stubborn, and unreasonable enough to non-comply with pretty much any government request.

So here's a reminder of those twitter alternatives you can find me at instead!

************************************************
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/talanstrider.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://meow.social/@TalanStrider

And the place I post all my animations and renders first, as well as updates and wips, follow my Telegram channel https://t.me/Talan_3D
************************************************

I've been thinking about starting a Discord server for my 3D stuff, but I sorta feel like I haven't made enough things/don't make things fast enough to warrant it, but feel free to let me know what you think about that. I don't want to have like, a mostly-dead place that I just post to occasionally.

Let's start with the twitter alternatives! Here's where I'll post art that I get, renders and animations that I make. I'll also use them for some random teases or hornyposting, and some of my thoughts here and there.

I'll be using Mastodon and Bluesky both pretty frequently!
Masto: https://meow.social/@TalanStrider
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/talanstrider.bsky.social

I also have a Cohost, but as of now, it's not seeing too much use. That may change if everyone ends up going there though.
https://cohost.org/TalanStrider

---

I know there's been a lot of talk about Itaku. I've made one! Will start filling it out sometime. Here it is in the meantime:
https://itaku.ee/profile/talanstrider

---

And most importantly, my Telegram channel! It's the first place I'll post any 3D stuff I make, animations or renders (At least a day or so in advance). It's also where I'll post WIP's. You can save gifs and share them on Telegram, and that's a great place to find the Telegram-sharable versions of stuff I make, so you can tease your friends with them :3
https://t.me/Talan_3D

---

Lastly, a question: Is there interest in a Discord server? I know lots of creators have one, I just don't know if there would be enough activity considering I don't make things at a very quick rate. There are a bunch of other reservations I have, but I do want to gauge interest.

---

Recap!

https://meow.social/@TalanStrider
https://bsky.app/profile/talanstrider.bsky.social
https://itaku.ee/profile/talanstrider
https://t.me/Talan_3D

https://t.me/+gRJAuHyZKaZjYTU5

I've made a place where people can follow my 3D in more up-to-date ways. Apparently I can make polls too, so I might let people vote on stuff that I'm having a hard time deciding about myself

Why is the milestone 1144 and not 1000? It's because 1144 is a special number to me; it signifies the amount of followers I had when I first saw it was higher than 1000.

Yeah I don't look at my own FA page very often, further evidenced by the fact that I still have a chunk of unposted art (and a short animation https://twitter.com/TalanStrider/st.....722069/video/1 ). Mostly use this site to see what people I follow have posted, and potentially keep track of artists to commission

I've been working on non-furry projects lately, but the mood to animate has been coming back so. The one I have in progress is primarily growth and hyper-focused, gonna try for some fun fluid sims for cum, and of course there'll be some paw stuff snuck in because it's me we're talking about here xD

Hmm, I guess what other things do you want to see animated more often? That there aren't much of yet? I got a bunch of kinks so it's worth a check

Every now and again I get an idea for a render in my head and the inspiration to make it happen in blender, though a lot of those ideas require one or more characters in addition to Talan. So I need some models of characters I can use! I've made a cheat sheet reference thing where, next to each model, I'm going to mark what kinds of scenarios/kinks you're open to that character being in, as well as whether I should explicitly ask you if you're up for something before any render. NOTE: This is not about commissions or using your characters in commissions, I'll end up doing something completely separately for that if I do end up doing anything with commissions.

If you have a model that's Blender-compatible or have made one and want to toss yours at me (Preferably if I already know you in some capacity), send me a note or message if there's somewhere else you already usually talk to me, and I'll ask about scenarios/kinks you're okay with. Or if you know of some good free ones that are just out and about that I can use, let me know! Also this is not a guarantee that everyone will be used in a render or animation.
I don't know what is or isn't Blender-compatible so I might need help with certain imports, or maybe not; no idea xD

And yes, this does mean that the edits I wanted to do with my model are basically done now, so expect stuff. I also have a bunch of un-uploaded things I've commissioned that I'm sure I'll get around to posting

Heya

Basically ever since I started college, which happened before I even joined the fandom (I was still lurking and viewing art and all), I've been through various levels of stress, starting out pretty badly, then getting better as I made some life changes during college and getting pretty good when I graduated. Then it got pretty bad again as it took way too long to find a job that I could actually start a career with relating to my major, and then I pushed away some people while I was apartment hunting, moving to a new state, going through all the paperwork and getting settled at my new job, and that was a result of both stress and not having any free hour to sit down and really chat with people. So I apologize to anyone who I've lost track of or brushed off over really the whole year.

That being said, I am all settled in now, I'm working my new job on a potential career path, and I'm pretty content overall. There are still a few things regarding adulting like worrying about insurance and healthcare and such that stress me out, but they're pretty minor in the long run, things I'll get used to. I'm busier than I've been for the rest of the year and it'll stay that way, but it'll be more consistent, and I'll probably be in a better mood for the most part. I don't dislike being asked "How have you been?" or "What have you been up to" anymore, and that's a surprisingly good litmus test.

I've got some art/renders that I haven't gotten around to posting yet so I'll toss those up and space them out a bit. New job also means more money so expect to see more to come, too. I'm starting some good habits of keeping everything clean and organized, I'm doing more working out and my workplace really encourages it. I've gotten a drive for some personal hobbies, and while writing is unfortunately not on that list at the moment (could change though!), working with my 3D model is one of those, so I might try to update the look, update the rig, do some animations; depends on what my focus ends up being.

Thanks everyone, for getting me into the fandom, getting me acquainted, sticking with me, and for reading this post as well. Everyone have a great night!

I LOVE sharks. Especially the lithe, slim, and sleek ones. Skinny shark girls are aaaaaaaaaaa

Talan is like 1/3rd shark

<3 That is all.

Apologies if I've been somewhat inactive on FA and Twitter, and somewhat unresponsive on Telegram and Discord. This semester has been crazy; lots of stuff that needs getting done. Honestly it's been nice to step away from the stress that the fandom can bring too, especially with some folks just automatically being cold or ignoring you if they don't like your species, your character's gender, or don't think your character is hot, have no interest in you if you don't want to RP, or just won't talk to anyone who doesn't compliment and worship them preceding every chat. Of course we all have preferences and nobody can fault each other for that, but completely ignoring someone for those reasons feels like they're forgetting that we're all people in the long run. Taking that step back lets me be more productive as well, when it comes to school work. I have a couple pieces of art that I still need to post, and I do plan on writing more, it's just a lot more important to me to work on real life stuff and look at some job offers for when I graduate. Thanks for all the recent watches and faves, and this semester will be over and done with in a few weeks, and then we'll see what happens!

I recently went through and updated my story submissions, standardizing the formats and such. This includes changing the filetype of every story to a .txt which allows FA to show the whole story on the webpage. Hopefully this helps people read them who don't want to/can't download the file itself.

The descriptions of all of my stories have been updated to show word counts and include that lewd/artistic meter I started on my latest story. These are both tools that will come in handy the most when I end up opening commissions. I couldn't really think of how I wanted to word how the scale works, but I don't mean to say that my more artistic stories wouldn't be lewd, just that they focus on prose and technique over the kind of writing that gives more direct arousal.

Feel free to share my stories around if you know anyone who enjoys reading fetishy stuff, just make sure you credit me as the author!

One more thing, I have an idea for a story that requires two others who I'd like to focus on more than non-Talan characters in any of my other stories, to the point where they'd be named and such. I'm wondering how I should go about deciding what those characters should be. I could make up a couple of characters myself, but I don't know how strong I'd be at creating characters other than Talan. I could ask some friends if they'd want to be in the story, but I don't want some friends to be left out if I were to just choose. I could raffle or auction the positions, but I think that might open it up too much to potential unsavory folk out there. Input on this would be appreciated!

And as always, I'm open to criticisms or positive feedback on my writing as well. If you faved a story, feel free to let me know what sorts of things you liked the most that you think I should keep doing in future writing. If you didn't, then I'd love to know if there was any particular reason that I may be able to shore up and improve on for the future.

I feel like I don't interact enough here on FA, so ask stuff you've always wanted to ask, or whatever you come up with, as a comment to this journal, I'll try to answer it. In-character and Out-of-character, though I'm leaning toward out-of-character responses. The questions can be out-of-character and about Talan as well.

"When is your next story?" isn't a valid question. You'll find out soon.

I don't know when I'll close this and stop taking questions. (Will start answering tomorrow)

I've seen like one good one

It's summer! I mentioned before that I switched my major, and while I didn't take the upper-level classes yet, there was a pretty clear improvement in my performance and how little I hated doing the work, so that's fantastic. Beyond that, it's now officially time to try out this new workflow thing with writing. Again, I don't want to promise anything, but I've started working on multiple stories at once, so hopefully that'll help. The problem was never lack of ideas or even ideas for specific scenes within a story, just the motivation to write for whatever reason. I'm hoping that this new kind of strategy will work out better; having more than one story to work on depending on what I'm feeling at the time.

I also want to thank everyone who commented on any of my stories or sent me messages about how they enjoy my writing. It's really helped as well, especially when it comes to getting through the barrier of: Do people notice the work I put into a story; the idea that I treat writing as its own craft rather than "I can't draw, but I passed English class, so I'm just going to storyboard a fetish and call myself a writer"? While that's certainly a more cynical outlook, it is a concern that I end up thinking of often when for every legitimate writer I meet who really puts in effort, there are five more who think that there's nothing that can differentiate good and unique writing from basic writing. It can get discouraging, but every month or so, someone reassures me that they appreciate and look forward to my stories, and I want to thank all of you again for it!

First of all, I want to wish you all a happy New Year!

Now for the update part. So it's been a good half-year since I've really done anything here. I've stayed in contact fairly well with some of you on Telegram, but for the rest of you: I'm alive and well, already feeling great about the new year, too! I've got a story on the way. I remember mentioning that I was going to try to go for different subject matters, but I'm just going to get back into it with a short, SFW one involving macro and paws. Certainly an exotic aquadragon's bread and butter right there. Depending on how often I'm out and about with friends or gaming with friends in the near future, I expect it done somewhere between the next few days and a week.

As for more life-y stuff for those who're interested, I've got a possible opportunity coming up soon that I can't talk much about. If it happens, you'll know. I've also decided to switch majors in college, starting this Spring semester. Even now, I can tell that it's a good decision because I haven't started it yet, and I already feel happier as a result. I've been getting back into playing my array of instruments. Overall, things are pretty good.

Alright, that's all I've got, go get drunk and stuff. My 21st birthday is in a little over a month and I live in the US, so I'll have to wait a bit :P

Now that I kinda almost have a little start of a consistent set of stories, I want to freehand a bit on a topic that's crossed my mind a few times when I started writing lewd things.

So, fundamentally and in my opinion, writing is "easier" than making artwork. This is likely a consequence of a bunch of things: Societal dependence on the written word and educational curriculum are probably two large factors. Since writing competency is more important in today's society, the average person will likely be able to write at a higher quality than they can draw. As such, what's basically storyboarding a fetish dump isn't really too difficult or rare. It's not difficult for a lurker, commissioner, or artist to toss up a story on their pages. Not everyone does this, it's not a bad thing, and I'm certainly not saying that all of these are of poor quality. The point I'm trying to get across is that I need to be able to bring something to the table, how my stories can stand out among other stories and even artwork.

I thought about it for a while, wondering specifically what stories can bring to the table that art has trouble with. Painting pictures with words is well and good; also a good goal to have, but scenes can also be drawn out with art. While minor details left to the imagination are good, artwork also takes much less effort to consume. The most obvious answer is how stories allow for a timeline with more continuity than a comic, which is also nice.

Perhaps it's just me, but I've found that even PoV shots don't really express feeling very well when it comes to art. The only sense you're really exploring is sight. Even looking at a picture of a shockwave doesn't convey sound. Musk lines don't tingle your nose (especially green ones. I can't do garbagey stenches that result from uncleanliness; sexual musk all the way!). You don't feel the weight of a paw on your chest. Even animations have a hard time conveying the last two examples. There's also something to be said about feelings that aren't quite dependent on senses, like the expression of power; while it's very well expressed through art or comics, I think it may be even better suited to stories, if done well. In general, I think stories can do the best job in bringing the senses to life.

So that's the goal I have in mind, with every story I write. I want you and anyone who reads my writing to be able to live the moment, whether you're in Talan's perspective, or that of his prey (or whatever characters I end up writing about). I want you to feel the big aquatic tongue slide against and stick to your body. I want you to know what it's like to be in his stomach. To feel his paws bearing their weight down upon you. Or on the other side, you should feel what it's like to have a boat slide down his throat, or how a city feels beneath his vast paws. I want my stories to be more than just a bunch of fetishes thrown at a page. That's what I think I can bring to the table through my writing, and that's what my goal is.

By all means, send me some feedback about it! Let me know if you do or don't feel like you're experiencing the stories, rather than simply reading them. I want to improve as much as I can! Everything I've mentioned is also of my own opinion, so feel free to disagree.


Currently on my mind:
+ I'm happy with the pacing improvements from my first story to my second. I think I was able to capture feelings and create scenes with more movement.
- I don't think I blend the stories well enough yet, and I want to work on that. Right now, it feels a bit more like each page focuses on a single topic/kink, which isn't inherently bad, but just kinda feels less immersive when you take a step back. I don't know if this is even something that detracts from the stories, but I want to try fixing it to see how it goes. The difficulties will be in preventing scenes from turning into a cacophony of clutter, and preventing the stories from getting either too short or too repetitive.
- Speed. Oh god, I averaged like, 100 words a day and that's a horrible rate. I do still need to focus on college, but even when I did sit down to write, it just took far too long. I have some more strategies to try out to find one that suits me and works for me. This already improved towards the end of this latest story, but is still not where I'd like to be.

Well, it's been... a lot longer than I'd have liked since I've actually had any activity here, but I have been working on a story ever since I finished the last one. If I'm honest, there's no real life crisis or insane college business that's been slowing me down from writing this. My process is simply unrefined and full of inexperience; In fact, I haven't done any creative writing since my freshman year in high school 6 years ago (there's another conversation to be had about expression and art/culture in curriculum, but let's not get into that right now). The closest thing I've done is roleplay every now and again with some generic character before I really came out of lurk mode. As such, I rewrite my sentences a lot, I go through frequent bouts of writer's block, or sometimes I even just get distracted by some other random thing. Nevertheless, don't worry, this story is far along in its progression... You know what? It'll definitely be finished by the end of March. Giving myself a deadline will probably help. So, a new story before March ends. I want to have a few discussions with you all after it's released since I think this story is better paced than my first, and so you guys have some measure of my writing consistency and the consistency of my style.
By the way, thanks a ton for all of the favorites, watches, and especially feedback I've already gotten. There are two things on my page, and I would not have expected such a warm reception despite the lack of content. Stay amazing, everyone, and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Now that I've got something on the board, I want to open up the floor and see what themes you guys are interested to see me write. These aren't necessarily requests, rather just trying to get a gauge on what people want to see. The only stuff I know I won't do that I can think of at the moment are scat and cub. maybe some other stuff, too, but mention it anyway and we'll see.