#bf4f

[byfurries4furries]

The Smoke Room (Horror Western Visual Novel)

So I talked about Arches and Echo, so I might as well talk about their prequel, the Smoke Room. Unlike the other games in the Echo series, aside from the side games, the Smoke Room is primarily made by writers who aren't Howly, who wrote most of Echo and all of Arches and Adastra. In this case, the main writer is GeorgeSquares. Howly did write the prologue and Redd, who's one of the main writers for another VN called Glory Hounds, wrote part of one of the routes, which was eventually partially rewritten by George anyways. There's also more artists working on it than there was for Echo.

In the Smoke Room, you play as Samuel Ayers, a gay prostitute in 1915 in Echo in furry Utah and/or Arizona. Sam falls in love with one of his clients, Jack. Together, the two hatch a scheme to use some hidden away gold in the mines in order to leave Echo and start a new life somewhere else. Jack is, however, tricking Sam and tries to kill Sam in the secluded part of the mine where he pretended there was gold. Sam miraculously survives the murder attempt and ends up killing Jack in self defense. Unfortunately, he's a gay prostitute in 1915, so he knows better than to try and report what Jack did to him and especially the killing. However, several weeks later, somebody drags Jack's body into town and the mine workers riot over the news. When the riot happens, Sam is stuck in the brothel with three potential clients and another on the way, one of which is a miner who saw him the day of Jack's killing and another of whom is the sheriff of the town.

The four clients are:

William Adler: The coyote sheriff who plays by his own rules, specifically the rules that allow him to plow Sam's ass

Nikolai Krol: The badger miner who's a big softie and great cuddler. However, he saw Sam the day of the murder

Clifford Tibbits: The chipper and naïve stoat who's on an anthropology trip to study the nearby furry Navajo

Murdoch Byrnes: The witty fox who happens to be the town's only photographer

The Smoke Room excels in a lot of respects. Its protagonist is very interesting, the branching narrative is very divergent, it's surprisingly historically accurate, and the supporting cast is very filled out. Let's go over each of those. Unlike many VN protagonists, there's practically no attempt to make Sam even resemble a player-insert. He's a prostitute who's simultaneously ashamed of his job and proud of how good he is at it. Even when he's off the clock, he's a very service-minded person with those he cares about and although he's pretty lost and out of his element with most other work, he's very confident and sure of himself when he's providing sexual services. But this also applies to his ability to be a good romantic partner as well. He also knows how to be patient and caring even when he's allowed to take the lead as he's very respectful of other's boundaries when it comes to sex. Unlike most dating sim protagonists, it takes no suspension of disbelief to see why he'd be able to romance so many characters. He's genuinely a great romantic prospect for any of his clients and if he were an option as a love interest himself, he'd probably be quite popular.

The branching narrative is another positive. Every route is extremely different with very few overlapping events. This makes sense as unlike with Echo, the main characters aren't a real friend group yet. Nik sometimes plays poker with Will, Murdoch sometimes does crime scene photography for Will, and Cliff doesn't know anyone at the beginning of the game. The only reason they came together at all is they happened to be trying to book Sam around the same time. Now, depending on the route, they can become closer. Will's route especially works for this, because it's the only route where Sam isn't trying to avoid Will, who's basically the connecting thread for everyone else. However, each route goes in its own direction and has basically its own side cast. Nik's side cast involves his fellow mining union members and his bosses/supervisors as they clash over labor disputes while Nik tries to help find enough gold to get Sam out of Echo. Cliff's side cast involves the expedition crew he acquired and furry Navajo members he meets along the way in his journey to investigate the troubling conditions of the nearby reservation. Murdoch's family as well as his childhood friend make up his side cast along with a star student at the school Murdoch's sisters work at who blackmails Sam into helping her solve the mystery of her classmate's disappearance. And Will's route follows him investigating the mysterious death of Huxley, an abusive drunk with a wife who might have killed him, but the details just don't seem to line up, and that's on top of Will's ex-wife and son moving to Echo without warning. So you can be sure that you won't see any route repeating itself too often.

The historical accuracy is the last point I want to go over, because it does go to a lot of lengths most westerns won't even mention. For example, as was actually the case in the Wild West, brothels are not considered dirty or debased. In fact, the brothel Sam works at, the Saguaro Hip, doubles as a saloon and it's considered an upstanding place for upper middle class families to socialize. Also homosexuality is not THAT frowned upon. It was sorta treated the way marijuana was and still is in some areas. It's illegal for sure and being too brazen about it can get you arrested or beat up depending on the company, but keeping it private would more or less be doable under certain circumstances and letting it slip occasionally isn't the end of the world. Also, it wasn't uncommon for working class guys to be brazen and open about it when not around decent folk, especially in the West. A lot of care was taken to try to accurately depict queerness before WWII.

A positive I want to mention compared to other Echoverse games is that there's no solid expectations of paranormal stuff. The hysteria in Echo is not common knowledge in this era. Murdoch is the only one in the main cast who's lived there long enough to at least know for certain that there's a uniquely high amount of paranormal stuff going on, but even if he does know about the hysteria, it's clear that it's not common knowledge to residents or outsiders, unlike in Echo where there's at least one well known case of it or in Arches where the town is actually famous across the country for at least two cases of it, one of which happened less than a decade ago. And because the routes diverge so much and there's no clear timeline, there's no frame of reference for when it might be coming. The only clear indication is in Nik's route, but you would only know of that if you played the prologue of Echo AND connected the clues set up by the inaccurate summary of the events of the Smoke Room within the prologue of Echo. Otherwise, all bets are off and there's no telling when it will happen, which is further helped by the fact that unlike Echo, the Smoke Room doesn't keep explicit track of days and isn't afraid to do timeskips that throw off the chronology of events.

Although the Smoke Room is not really that close to complete (it's suspected with pretty good evidence that it's barely halfway done), I do highly recommend it. It is however the first VN I've recommended that really isn't close to a satisfying pausing point for any of the routes. If you have a high tolerance for incomplete visual novels, I'd say it's definitely worth the cost, even though it's free. If not, just check out other games in this series like Echo and Arches. Until next time, keep on yiffing.

Links

itch.io

[full-movie-2023]

One Piece Live Action

https://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/5b7bc633-0fef-4a55-a478-fd9e00bc7c8dhttps://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/4ad49a3f-b296-491a-86da-540ff4284c59https://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/8631bfa8-4123-46ca-a8a2-fbe9142cf628https://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/9f472e2d-d305-4951-b034-a506aac3d15chttps://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/8631bfa8-4123-46ca-a8a2-fbe9142cf628https://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/fbbfb566-0347-449c-8620-22ffdb684e3chttps://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/e0011353-96e4-4b3f-a815-fe0139dfb0e9https://www.impactkenya.org/group/website-group/discussion/b8270ce9-daf2-47fc-bf4f-e428953c789ahttps://api.wandb.ai/links/https-starmoviez-us/swzrjivmhttps://wandb.ai/https-starmoviez-ushttps://wandb.ai/dapariansujakattea

[bella-tw-yahoopartner]

容易浮粉？粉底可直接上？關於底妝的這6件事，盈喬老師和少女人妻Alice Ko來幫你解答！

TEXT／Bella.tw儂儂 PHOTO／網路

底妝天天都在化，網上好評底妝品也用了，但想要的美肌效果就是達不到，問題到底出在哪？妝前乳一定得用？底妝步驟有哪些？到底，完美底妝有沒有SOP可參考?!!!!!

快來聽聽眾多潮模熱推的彩妝神手－王盈喬老師和各種妝容都能變換自如、完美駕馭的美妝部落客－少女人妻的粉紅玩具(Alice Ko)，這兩位彩妝達人來解答關於底妝的這6件事。

  乳液和妝前乳選一個擦就好？

王盈喬： 當然不行！乳液是保養品，妝前乳是化妝品類，是不一樣的東西。妝前的肌膚基礎保養一定要先做好，才能畫出漂亮的妝。

少女人妻Alice： 基本上，乳液和妝前乳是兩種不同的東西，但還看個人膚質狀況來調整，比如因��我自己是偏油、容易出油的肌膚，所以我��盡量讓妝前步驟簡單一點，若使用的妝前乳保濕力夠，我就不會再多加乳液。

  上粉底前一定要先上妝前乳或隔離霜？

王盈喬： 我非常不建議直接上粉底。如果有先使用妝前乳、飾底乳，就能先把膚質和膚色提升變好，之後的粉底用量就可以大幅減少，也能減少出油、脫妝和暗沉的機會。

少女人妻Alice： 基本上是要的，除了讓皮膚更好適應粉底，也能延長粉底的妝感時間。如果肌膚狀態比較不好、需要潤色時，我會混用潤色妝前乳，需要曬太陽時，會換用防曬效果好的隔離霜。

  遮瑕應該在哪個步驟做？要注意什麼？

王盈喬： 通常遮瑕膏質地比粉底厚重，所以先上粉底基礎修飾過，還修飾不了的局部再用遮瑕，就能避免整體妝感變厚重。另外，有遮瑕的部分要加上蜜粉，尤其是痘痘的遮瑕，才能讓遮瑕膏牢牢貼在肌膚上。

少女人妻Alice： 取決搭配的底妝類型，如果是搭配粉底液就粉底後上，但如果是氣墊粉餅，我就會先遮瑕再拍氣墊，這樣比較不會破壞氣墊粉餅呈現的光澤感和妝感。

  平常妝前到上底妝的順序是？

王盈喬： 做完保養後，一定會先上妝前乳，做好保濕打底和提亮肌膚，再用飾底乳調整膚色，如果膚況還不錯的人，甚至粉底液可不上全臉局部使用就好，比較明顯的瑕疵再加遮瑕膏和蜜粉。

少女人妻Alice： 洗臉，化妝水，視當天肌膚狀況決定上不上精華、乳液或直接上妝前霜，再看外出的場合決定用飾底乳或隔離霜，接著上粉底，遮瑕，最後上蜜粉。

  容易浮粉，可能是什麼問題?要怎麼改善?

王盈喬： 從皮膚自身狀況開始改善！如果很容易浮粉，代表你的皮膚可能很缺水，這個一定要回到基本的保養，從源頭做好保養改善肌底，才是根本。

少女人妻Alice： 這個原因滿多的，可能是臉太乾，也可能是使用太多打底讓皮膚吃不進去。最簡單的方式是先保養好自己的皮膚肌底，多喝水和吃得健康，做好夜晚保，再來可多嘗試不同的底妝來對應你的生活環境。

  想打造薄透自然的完美底妝，關鍵是？

王盈喬： 整個底妝使用的產品不只一個，你可以分配好使用的比例，底妝前先用合適的妝前乳和飾底乳修飾肌膚，提升整體膚況，還需要修飾的局部再上粉底或遮瑕，讓粉底的比例降到最低，能提升持妝效果，還能保留肌膚真實質感。

少女人妻Alice： 除了底妝用量和遮蓋瑕疵的方式，使用的妝前跟粉底是否合搭也很重要，需要多嘗試找出適合自己的底妝組合。另外，還是要依每天的肌膚狀態，調整妝前保養和使用的底妝品，其實沒有一定的公式。

【本文由Bella.tw儂儂提供，未經授權，請勿轉載！】

  延伸閱讀 本人狀態明明OK，但上鏡就是腫一圈？學女星們這樣消水腫，怎麼拍怎麼美！ 蔡依林御用彩妝師教你底妝這樣畫！簡淑玲：「用它取代氣墊粉撲，妝容更透更亮！」

[twstylemel-yahoopartner-blog]

Ｍelody瘋時尚：跟著張婷媗這樣動 小蠻腰跟著來

 Melody今天邀請了運動美魔女張婷媗 一起來跟大家分享要怎麼樣透過飲食運動和保養， 讓自己從裡到外都可以看起來像少女一樣？

[byfurries4furries]

Remember the Flowers (Sci-Fi Visual Novel)

So most visual novels I've talked about on this blog have been from Echo Project, a development studio that is famous in the furry visual novel scene for making some of the most acclaimed VNs in the furry fandom and for actually completing some of them. Remember the Flowers isn't made by them though. Its creator, primary writer, and artist are all Jericho. The only connection it has to Echo Project is that its music is done by Anthemics, who's a regular OST composer for Echo Project games like Arches, Khemia, Interea, and a few tracks on the Smoke Room. Because of that, the soundtrack to this VN is really stellar, as most of Anthemics' work is.

Now I will warn you that it is really hard to not spoil this game as the story contains two really major twists that precede some of the best parts of the entire game. I will try though. With that out of the way, the game starts with the protagonist having a nightmare before waking up in the middle of class. He's a college student who's sort of coasting by on his journey to become a doctor. After correcting his teacher on his lesson after he was caught napping in class, he soon gets dismissed and makes some plans for a date with his boyfriend before taking a nap in his dorm room. When he wakes up, he's in the middle of a dark alley with long white hair, a bloody headwound, medical scrubs, and the inability to remember basic details about himself. Fortunately, he's found by Cooper, whose job it is to find humans like the protagonist and take them to a safe haven called Resoom where he can get help once he's safe. It's only now that you find out this world the protagonist is waking up in is a futuristic scifi dystopian world, unlike the more or less regular modern setting the story started in, but with some characters who are anthropomorphic characters, because furry.

Now before I threaten to spoil the game, let's go over some positives. The biggest one I have is the serialization. One problem a lot of unfinished visual novels have is that they have a hard time finding a place to pause the story before the next update. Arches does this pretty well while 9:22 does this really poorly. Remember the Flowers, thankfully, not only has chapters that begin and end in pretty good places but it also has groups of chapters called "Arcs". Each Arc could be a visual novel in its own right and it makes RtF feel like a compilation of a VN series rather than one long VN. This is especially good because the creator is not working on this game as their main job, so they can't afford to do frequent releases. However, the structure makes it so you can just read to the end of the last completed arc and be satisfied with waiting until the next arc is completed. Each arc is bookended by a major twist or a major character revelation that sets the new status quo of the next arc. The first arc is definitely the weakest one, as the only major character besides the protagonist is Cooper and it provides a lot more mysteries than answers. However, the second one is my favorite, but the third and so far last completed one is really a great contender if not for the fact there's not a lot to do except hang out, but the character exploration is really fantastically done.

Now for other positives, the protagonist, Cyrus, is probably the most well-written human protagonist in a furry VN. Human protagonists have a very terrible reputation in furry VNs for being extremely bland player-insert characters whose self-identity is so non-existent that you usually get to pick their names. It's such a negative stereotype in fact that Furry VN databases usually include "Human Protagonist" as a tag to filter out. Even Adastra falls into this trap to an extent. But Cyrus is not a bland character. For a few things, he's asexual and has a pre-established boyfriend, childhood friends, and his own career path and interests. Although he still has about as much personality as Marco in Adastra at the beginning of the game, as the plot progresses and he finds out more about himself and the world around him, he slowly has more and more personality and development to his character and the fact he sorta fills the role of a player-insert early on makes the dramatic beats hit that much harder, because then the progression to what he's like later on makes so much more sense, because you can't help but imagine that if you were in his place, you would probably end up the exact same way. This is exemplified in the text. In the first arc, he's just wide-eyed and curious. In the second, he's maintaining a much more critical outlook, trying to assess everyone he meets and every piece of information he gets carefully. In the third, he's robotic and describes everything very matter-of-factly. He feels like he's talking in the third-person for how bluntly he describes everything. But he does start to get back in touch with his humanity as the arc goes on. However, in the fourth arc, while he's almost back to his old self, there's a distinct lack of self-regard or care for his own well-being. And each step from the beginning of the game to the last update feels natural.

Now I did make it clear that the first arc has some problems. It's unfortunately very slow and not a lot happens. Most of it is used for some broader establishing information, but the actual plot is boringly simple. Cyrus goes home with Cooper and spends a day or two at his house, he then goes with Cooper to get some supplies, and they hop on a train to the pickup spot. Until the arc-ending twist, that's most of what happens. And because Cooper and Cyrus are the only major characters of that arc, there's not a lot of dynamic to play off of and because Cooper is very secretive, there's also not a lot of information to find out. In the second arc, you get introduced to 4 major characters, 3 of which have their own dynamics with each other who are also a lot less stingy with information and a lot more open about their backgrounds and who they are. And any information they do withold, they make sure to explain why they are witholding it and that in itself can give you something to mull over, or it can inform their characters, such as Axel who withholds the absolute minimum information he's been commanded to, Ring who is very stingy with what he reveals and rarely reveals basic information except on accident, and Rose who barely conceals any information if she can manage to remember it. Also, they do reveal most of what they are witholding anyways by the end of the arc. So by contrast, the 2nd and 3rd arcs are very entertaining and well-paced even if it does get a little slice-of-life-ish by the third arc. I wouldn't recommend skipping the first arc though. It still has its moments and there's a lot of important information in it you can't miss.

I'd say Remember the Flowers is definitely a great visual novel even in its unfinished state, especially since it's more like a game series anyways. I highly recommend it and I would do that even for first time players. If you want your first furry visual novel to not feel like a dating sim, then RtF is a really good choice. I would recommend it over Adastra only to people who really don't need visual novels to be completed to like them. With that said, until next time, keep on yiffing

Links

itch.io

[efe-es1405-yahoopartner-blog]

James Costos: "España se vende sola en Hollywood"

Madrid, 4 abr (EFE).- El flamante embajador honorario del cine español en el mundo, el diplomático estadounidense James Costos, asegura en una entrevista con Efe que su tarea en Hollywood como mediador de la industria audiovisual española va a ser muy fácil, porque "España se vende sola". Costos (Massachusetts, 1963) recibe hoy el primer título de "embajador honorario" que concede la Spain Film Commission (SFC) en agradecimiento a sus esfuerzos por internacionalizar el cine español y favorecer que grandes rodajes, como la quinta entrega de "Game of Thrones" o filmes como "The Bourne Identity" o "Exodus", tuvieran lugar en España. "Es un gran honor recibir este reconocimiento y una gran oportunidad, pero en realidad -señala Costos- solo es la continuidad de la tarea que empecé siendo embajador en España". El reconocimiento, dice, servirá para fortalecer los contactos con la industria americana; ahora que vive en Los Ángeles no le costará transmitirles "las grandes oportunidades que ofrece España como lugar de rodaje". "Aunque no veo que sea una tarea muy difícil, porque cada vez que hablo con alguien de Hollwywood y les planteo esa posibilidad todo el mundo se muestra encantado y dispuesto a venir: valoran la diversidad de climas y de paisajes que ofrece España, España se vende sola", aseguró el diplomático. El que fuera embajador de EE.UU en España durante el mandato de Barak Obama se encuentra hoy en Sevilla (sur) acompañando al expresidente estadounidense, quien participa en la Cumbre Internacional de Turismo (WTTC), mientras él visita localizaciones de rodajes históricos, como "Lawrence of rabia" o "Star Wars", y charla con productores y operadores importantes del audiovisual español. "Una vez que se tienta a los empresarios americanos, lo primero que les resulta interesante es la gran calidad del talento de la industria española y lo segundo, los beneficiosos incentivos fiscales que se pueden conseguir; eso son atractivos reales para que los estudios americanos quieran venir a España", detalla Costos. Costos, que también fue vicepresidente de HBO, reflexionó sobre el impacto en las televisiones convencionales de la oferta online: "Creo que realmente aportan cosas nuevas al mercado, pero estoy convencido de que los canales convencionales seguirán siendo competitivos, subirá la calidad y al final el consumidor tendrá una paleta de ofertas y de contenidos mucho más amplia", opina. Con enormes dosis de humildad e ironía a partes iguales, Costos dice que él hizo "poquísimo" para facilitar que 'Game of Thrones' rodara su quinta temporada en España; fue "Carlos (Rosado) y su gente, con la gran calidad de la oferta que presentó la Spain Film Commission quienes lograron que HBO quisiera rodar en España". Y añade: "De mi boca no saldrá ningún secreto del final de la serie -apunta entre risas-. Solo puedo decir que les recomiendo que la vean". Por Alicia G.Arribas. El diplomático estadounidense James Costos, tras recibir hoy el primer título de "embajador honorario" que concede la Spain Film Commission (SFC). EFE La secretaria de Estado de Turismo del Gobierno español, Isabel Oliver, el diplomático y exembajador de EEUU en España durante el mandato de Barak Obama, James Costos (c), y el alcalde de Sevilla, tras recibir el primer título de "embajador honorario" que concede la Spain Film Commission (SFC). EFE El diplomático y exembajador de EEUU en España durante el mandato de Barak Obama, James Costos (d), recibe de manos del presidente de la SFC, Carlos Rosado, el primer título de "embajador honorario" que concede este la Spain Film Commission (SFC). EFE

[public-new-yahoopartner-blog]

Natasha St-Pier : Comment Philippe Manoeuvre vient d'achever sa carrière !

Dans les Grosses têtes de RTL, mardi 26 mars, Philippe Manoeuvre s'est acharné sur Natasha St-Pier au détour d'une anecdote remontant à une quinzaine d'années. L'ancien juré de la Nouvelle Star a été marqué par la prestation de la chanteuse lorsque celle-ci est montée sur scène lors du concert de Johnny au Parc des princes, en 2003. "J'ai rarement autant souffert que quand elle est venue faire un duo avec Johnny Hallyday au Parc des princes, a-t-il lâché. "J'ai jamais entendu un truc pareil !" Il poursuit en expliquant que, selon lui, le Taulier ainsi que les spectateurs étaient de son avis. "Johnny Hallyday se frottait la tête, les gens regardaient à côté et se disaient : 'Qui chante ça comme ça ? C'est pas vrai !'", a-t-il déclaré avant de conclure de manière terrible "C'est pas une chanteuse Natasha St-Pier, c'est une abomination !".

L'artiste québécoise appréciera...

D'ailleurs, à l'annonce du décès du rockeur, la jeune maman s'était confié...

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Comment Laura Smet vient de faire le bonheur des fans de Johnny !

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[aktionfsa-blog-blog]

Freie Fahrt für Abonnenten

ÖPNV ins Gedächtnis der Menschen zurückholen

📷Nach 2 Jahren Home Office und 15% Verlust bei den Abonnenten im öffentlichen Nahverkehr haben die Unternehmen nun eine kleine Dankeschön Aktion für die verbliebenen KundInnen gestartet. Noch bis zum 26.9. können Inhaber von regionalen Abo-Karten des ÖPNV diesen bundesweit nutzen.

Dazu muss man sich nur auf www.besserweiter.de registrieren. Dann kann man über den Radius des eigenen Abos hinaus - theoretisch von Nord nach Süd oder Ost nach West durch die Republik fahren. Welche Ausnahmen es für bestimmte Busse oder Bahnen gibt, steht auf der Webseite.

Diese Aktion ist ein Anfang aber sicher nicht die Endlösung. Das Wirrwar bei den Tarifen allein bei der Bahn ist bereits eine Katastrophe. Hinzu kommen weitere Privatbahnen und dann regieren die Länder - Besteller des Nahverkehrs - noch in diesen Dschungel hinein.

Benötigt wird ein einheitliches Ticketsystem und Abos, die diese Aktion zur Regel machen. Kein Unternehmen wird daran Schaden leiden, wenn jemand beim Besuch in einer anderen Stadt dort mal den Bus, die Tram oder die Bahn mitnutzen möchte.

Genauso wichtig ist aber die Aufforderung an die AutofahrerInnen - hier durch die Berliner Umweltsenatorin - ihre Kiste vielleicht mal nicht nur 23 Stunden am Tag irgendwo zu parken, sondern das Auto auch mal ein paar Tage stehen zu lassen, um dann irgendwann auch darauf zu verzichten. Für den Notfall steht das nächste Car Sharing Angebot an der nächsten Ecke.

Mehr dazu bei https://www.spiegel.de/auto/nahverkehr-freie-fahrt-in-ganz-deutschland-ab-montag-warum-geht-das-nicht-immer-a-64b84008-e79b-4ace-bf4f-bf5f024a9952 und https://www.besserweiter.de/abonnentinnen-koennen-bundesweit-und-ohne-weitere-kosten-den-oepnv-nutzen.html Link zu dieser Seite: https://www.aktion-freiheitstattangst.org/de/articles/7773-20210919-freie-fahrt-fuer-abonennten.htm

[byfurries4furries]

Where the Demon Lurks (Supernatural Action Visual Novel)

So I've talked a lot about visual novels. As you may be able to tell, there's been a recent trend of thematically and emotionally intense furry visual novels in unconventional genres like horror, sci-fi, and fantasy (Well I haven't talked about any fantasy ones yet, but they are out there). And this bucks against the previous trend of most furry visual novels being slice of life dating sims. That isn't to say they're automatically bad, but they're typically not that enticing beyond aesthetics. Where the Demon Lurks doesn't fit either trend.

This game is much more in line with shonen anime and light novels. It takes a lot from the Devil is a Part Timer and borrows plenty from Mob Psycho 100, Naruto, Blue Exorcist, Black Butler, Sailor Moon, and even more unusual influences like Saiki K. It's not really common for even non-furry visual novels to stylistically be like this (at least for the ones that become popular in the West or are made by Western writers).  It's very unique in that way.

But what is it about? Well you play as Kobu, the son of the last demon king who's inheriting his father's position after he died. Kobu, however, really hates this job. He at first tries to implement his own ideas, which constantly fail, because his assistant Vendrake flat out refuses to assist in implementing any of them because he is only really concerned with getting Kobu to basically do what his father did. Eventually, after years of this, he suspends Vendrake and contemplates quitting himself. Before he can make the decision though, Vendrake carries out a coup and drains Kobu of most of his magic, leaving him with only enough to open up one last portal to the mortal realm and put on his mortal disguise. There he builds a new life as a convenience store clerk along with his manager/new best friend, King. However, after a few years, Vendrake tracks him down and sends an assassin after him. In the scuffle though, King manages to get shot with the killing blow. Since harming mortals is EXTREMELY not allowed, the assassin is automatically returned to hell before he can finish off Kobu. King is fortunately still alive, but he's also transported to hell where the protocol is simply to immediately wipe his memory of hell and return him. Vendrake however exploits a loophole to hold him hostage so Kobu can come down to try to save him. He's going to need some help though. Fortunately, in the past few days, he's met some guys who might be able to figure out how to return him. There's Morris, the exorcist, Lucien, an angel sent by God to help Kobu take the throne back, and Toast, a very dumb ghost who somehow escaped hell.

Now there's a lot to love about this game. For one, it's pretty fun in the way a good shonen often can be and while it's not devoid of drama or emotion, it's certainly refreshing to see a furry VN that's funny and quirky more often than emotionally intense. There's also this amateurish charm to it. It's something I've always loved about Echo, but Where the Demon Lurks has a unique form of that charm. There's a sense that the developer, Bokedaidu, really loves what they're doing and are more concerned with making a fun story than making a very tightly written masterpiece. It's not trying to be the next Echo, Adastra, or Remember the Flowers. It's just trying to be entertaining. I can really admire that, especially as it fills a niche that most might not even notice was missing.

I would say if you don't want something as intense as the new crop of dramatic furry visual novels, but still want a story with higher stakes than "will the cute boy I like accept my love confession at the local festival?", then Where the Demon Lurks is perfect for you. However, if you do just want a slice-of-life smutty school romance, but with characters you can be sure are unique and likable enough that they could carry a higher stakes story if given the chance, then the spinoff, Kibbleton University, might be better for you. I will warn you that neither is very close to completion. Each route has barely even started and updates are pretty rare. Still, if you want a furry VN that stands out, Where the Demon Lurks might be for you. Until next time, keep on yiffing.

Links

Itch.io (Where the Demon Lurks)

Itch.io (Kibbleton University)

[byfurries4furries]

Furry Music Omnibus 2

So another group of musical artists to recommend. Like last time, I'll post about three musical artists in the furry fandom with genre labels and links

Gabuislost (Indie Trap)

One of the new rising stars of the furry music scene, by which I mean his songs can get thousands of streams instead of hundreds. His music has this real chill vibe with great hooks and dope trap beats. If there's any furry music to get high to, it's his. If I had to pick a favorite song of his, it might be either "Give Love a Chance" or "Crush on You". But all of his stuff is great if you just want to chill. I would describe his music as indie and chill teetering on the edge of RnB and rap. Something like Travis Scott with more lofi production, more singing, and a lower body count.

Spotify

Bandcamp

Scratch21 (Pop Punk)

Probably the biggest band on this list and one who seems to be taking the throne Pepper Coyote once held before being canceled for a lot of awful shit (I know "No Cock Like Horse Cock" is extremely funny, but please pirate it instead of streaming it on Spotify). If you love Blink 182 but wish they were actually gay instead of joking about being gay, Scratch21 is perfect. They got the vibe of mall punk completely nailed down. They also have very cute and fun animations of a lot of their songs.

Spotify

Bandcamp

Dog Weekend (Indietronica)

So at the time I'm writing this, this guy only has one song out, "Rituals". Normally, I'd let artists build up more of a discography and usually people who have very few songs tend to be pretty mediocre as they go through growing pains. "Rituals" though is such a good song on its own that I think it deserves to be an exception. It's truly an anthem and really takes me back to when I was a teenager listening to indie rock with my brother. It's a high tier MGMT or Capitol Cities song in terms of quality and that's astonishing for any furry musician, but especially for a debut song. It's criminally underrated and a true gem of the furry music scene. I would certainly love this song to be a furry anthem moreso than "No Cock Like Horse Cock". If there's anyone you check out, please make it this man.

Spotify

Bandcamp

[arthra411]

End of Fall 2020 Portfolio

https://indd.adobe.com/view/3bea1963-906b-4d9c-bf4f-f28b52a5f760

  1. When I began this class, I definitely had no experience whatsoever to using Adobe and all of its different applications and it was fascinating to learn how to use tools that I’ve never encountered personally before and all of the technicalities to get them to work in a certain way. I definitely feel that the work I have done shows that I have progressed in my knowledge and ability to produce digital art projects in a brand new way that what I originally thought it was done.

2. I’m most satisfied with my Lion Animation (though I loved every project that was done throughout the semester) as that was the project that challenged me the most in terms of getting a taste of what my chosen career will be mostly based on. Learning to utilize several layers, tools, and gaining new knowledge of this category of digital art impacted me fundamentally and only deepened my respect for the hard work that goes into animation production.

3. This semester was truly hectic and difficult to deal with as I haven’t really done fully online classes before, and with the pandemic continuing on and struggling with work while trying to keep my family safe was truly anxiety inducing. And due to this I wish I would have had a stronger dedication to better immerse myself into delving deeper into my learning of Adobe and its applications to gain a better mastery over its tools, but it just wasn’t truly my first concern in this hectic lifestyle so I ended up losing motivation for some things and not taking my time to improve some projects before their deadline. But overall, I am very satisfied with everything that I have learned this semester and this becoming my beginning steps towards my career of choice.

[lubricuscon]

One More Day Until Lubricus Registration Opens!

Registration for Lubricus 2020 opens tomorrow! Be sure to snag your slashy spot via our Registration Page. Tickets go on sale at noon PST.

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