Journals30
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Costuming
2 min read
I have taken up werewolf costuming over the past year and a half. I'm trying to be more vigilant in getting documentation of the creative process as I begin work on my third piece. The first, Snowblast, is all white, and he was designed as a proof-of-concept, to see if I could do it and to develop skills. I figured white was good for hiding mistakes along the way. He came out far better than hoped, right up until towards the end. His back looks a bit wonky, and he's got a perpetual teeth-baring snarl--though the latter isn't necessarily a problem, depending on the occasion. But, I learned that cheap thread from China breaks easily and makes for frequent need for repairs. I also learned how hot lycra and fur in two layers can be. My second outfit, code named "New Black Wolf," fixes all of these problems and has significant improvements in mobility, visibility, and visual detail. My only gripe is that the jaw doesn't articulate the way I want it.
I had several fixes in mind to Snowblast, mainly to the back. But, as I thought about the design fixes, I thought about redoing the ankles, portions of the head, and... soon I found myself instead starting a new project, tentatively titled "Snowblast 2.0." Today I hit a pretty big snag. The fur I wanted to use wasn't available, either at Joann's or Hancock. They have white fur, but it's either very short and sheep-y or thin and attached to a stiff and lifeless fabric underneath. I could use the later to make the back modifications I originally had in mind, but using it on a new build for a whole body wouldn't work. So, Snowblast 2.0 will likely revert to fixes to the original costume.
But, I've already started work on something. I've got jaws on wire frames. Now I'm faced with the daunting decision of going forward with color. Wolf colors are dramatic and vivid. Going all black and all white helped me skip that part. There were several good lupine color furs in each shop, but making the colors blend believably will be tricky. Now comes to choosing between tan and grey, or figuring how to mix the two.
I had several fixes in mind to Snowblast, mainly to the back. But, as I thought about the design fixes, I thought about redoing the ankles, portions of the head, and... soon I found myself instead starting a new project, tentatively titled "Snowblast 2.0." Today I hit a pretty big snag. The fur I wanted to use wasn't available, either at Joann's or Hancock. They have white fur, but it's either very short and sheep-y or thin and attached to a stiff and lifeless fabric underneath. I could use the later to make the back modifications I originally had in mind, but using it on a new build for a whole body wouldn't work. So, Snowblast 2.0 will likely revert to fixes to the original costume.
But, I've already started work on something. I've got jaws on wire frames. Now I'm faced with the daunting decision of going forward with color. Wolf colors are dramatic and vivid. Going all black and all white helped me skip that part. There were several good lupine color furs in each shop, but making the colors blend believably will be tricky. Now comes to choosing between tan and grey, or figuring how to mix the two.
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Browncoats, meet fur coats!
1 min read
Keep Freeborn free--from studio control and interference!
signon.org/sign/keep-freeborn-…
This is a petition to Anthony and associates to keep the faith, and to keep doing what you're doing.
He's been making noises on Facebook about the money not coming in quickly enough, and mulling going back to the studios--the same studios, mind you, who wanted to make all the werewolves evil, and throw in some lesbian sex for no particular reason. With the studios and seven years begging and negotiating, we got squat. Without them, in eight months we've got what looks to be a first rate cast, a bountiful supply of new demo and test images, gorgeous calendar photo-manipulations, and most importantly, almost twenty minutes of actual prequel film, with more on the way very soon.
Going to the studios would perhaps even more significantly undermine great ideas like the MDK, which is friendly to both artists' profitability and to the Internet age of interactivity, and could possibly become the model for motion picture distribution for the rest of the century. This by now is about more than Freeborn!
signon.org/sign/keep-freeborn-…
This is a petition to Anthony and associates to keep the faith, and to keep doing what you're doing.
He's been making noises on Facebook about the money not coming in quickly enough, and mulling going back to the studios--the same studios, mind you, who wanted to make all the werewolves evil, and throw in some lesbian sex for no particular reason. With the studios and seven years begging and negotiating, we got squat. Without them, in eight months we've got what looks to be a first rate cast, a bountiful supply of new demo and test images, gorgeous calendar photo-manipulations, and most importantly, almost twenty minutes of actual prequel film, with more on the way very soon.
Going to the studios would perhaps even more significantly undermine great ideas like the MDK, which is friendly to both artists' profitability and to the Internet age of interactivity, and could possibly become the model for motion picture distribution for the rest of the century. This by now is about more than Freeborn!
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Responding to Goldenwolf's werewolf meme
8 min read
Started by Goldenwolf, here's my contribution.
Werewolf Meme
...Its a meme about your own version of werewolves. Because they're mythological, and can pretty much be any version of a human turning into a wolf.
Original cause of "werewolfism":
An alien intelligence that refers to itself as "Four One" created numerous mythical creatures, including werewolves, while attempting to understand something it knew it lost during its own evolution many millennia ago. The lycanthrope "virus" is not technically a virus, as it is a too complex structure that hybridizes earth-based and Four One cellular make-up.
How can one become a werewolf?:
The bite of an infected individual, or any other contact with body fluid--the same ways that one can get hepatitis or HIV. Maternal-fetal transmission is 100%; children of lycanthropic mothers are born with it.
Lifespan:
Somewhat extended, with an approximate doubling from human life expectancy because of enhanced regenerative capabilities, assuming one is infected at birth. (Lycanthropy does not substantially reverse aging that occured prior to infection.)
Mortality:
Werewolves are unusually resilient to injury and disease but not immortal. A lycanthrope can regenerate a lost finger or ear but not an arm, leg, or eye. Silver carries no special significance against lycanthropic physiology.
Intellegence/self control:
After factoring out human psychological factors such as dissociation phenomena or post-traumatic stress, werewolves do not biologically experience overt personality changes with shifting, though the change in senses, ability to speak or hold objects, and physical appearance changes both how one relates to the world and how other beings relate to one's self. Werewolves retain the same personality and experience in all forms. Upon an initial affliction with lycanthropy, werewolves frequently experience personality shifts as the brain is rewired and remodeled for shifting and sensory changes. Usually these changes are fairly subtle, making one more feral, more right-brained, less prone to thinking in language, and more succeptable towards experiencing odd phenomena such as synesthesia and paranormal phenomena such as ESP or seeing ghosts. Werewolves tend to be more intelligent than humans in general, but this tendancy is in part demographics of people acquiring lycanthropy and in part the forced awareness and upheaval of contextual assumptions about life that lycanthropy will inflict upon one's life.
Height:
Mass is conserved, but werewolves in mid-shifted "hybrid" or "Gestalt" form are taller due to digitigrade stance and appear heavier due to fur. Wolf form is unusually large for a wolf due to retained human mass.
Fur colors (wolf colors or human hair colors?):
Fur colors tend to agree with the human form, but will also hint at the heritage of the infecting virus--someone bitten by a black-furred werewolf will usually have dark fur, for example.
Main killing weapon....teeth or claws?:
The gut instinct will be to use teeth, as wolves do. But, as werewolves are highly intelligent, they can use whatever means they wish. Werewolves are no more violent than humans in general, but when they are, they can be far scarier than the horror movies made about them.
Preferred food:
Werewolves are omnivorous. With considerable effort, a werewolf could theoretically live off a vegitarian diet, but it would not be easy. Werewolves do not generally eat humans; the occasional psychopath who tries finds human meat to taste like rancid pork seasoned with garbage. Werewolves tend to hate overly processed foods and find a noticeable difference between organically grown and grass-fed meat versus industrialized meat from animals raised on slop, preservatives, and antibiotics. Some prefer meat raw or under-cooked, while others prefer food the way they did before becoming lycanthropic.
Run on all fours or two?
Both; a werewolf with more than a few months of experience with lycanthropy can assume a human form, a wolf form, or a smooth continuum of transitional forms in between. A seasoned shapeshifter can even sometimes learn tricks, such as shifting eyes or growing a tail in human form.
Body type (bulky, hunched, lithe, more wolflike, etc... feel free to link!) :
A lot healthier than mainstream human--the lycanthrope virus tends to run a high metabolism, keeping one either lean or muscular, depending on one's human genetic predisposition.
Lifestyle - More time as wolf or human?
Most werewolves spend more time in human form; the majority prior to 2040 or 2050 are born genetic-standard human, acquiring lycanthropy later. In the 2020s, with public knowledge of werewolves and other once-paranormal phenomena, lycanthropes develop their own subculture movements. Werewolves who do not shift on their own feel compelled to do so after several weeks to a month in human form. Werewolves who stay in wolf or hybrid form for more than a month at a time, in the absence of human company, start to become increasingly feral. After about three to five years, one risks permanently losing one's human sense of identity.
Forms (human, wolf, beast/anthro, etc):
All of the above; a werewolf with more than a few months of experience with lycanthropy can assume a human form, a wolf form, or a smooth continuum of transitional forms in between. A seasoned shapeshifter can even sometimes learn tricks, such as shifting eyes or growing a tail in human form.
Shifting Cause (moon, free will, ritual, etc.):
Werewolves shift form willingly. With the exception of an occasional neurosis, werewolves are not forced to shift on full moons. Werewolves do experience involuntary shifts during the initial infection process and on occasion during periods of significant stress.
Shifting Process (is it painful? fast? Can they do it on the run?):
The initial first shift about 10-14 days after infection is notoriously painful, often being compared to being awake during surgery. Subsequent shifts are noticably less painful, and the process is painless after about a month--unless one has actively resisted shifting and lycanthropy, in which the adjustment period will take longer. A seasoned shape-shifter can shift forms in about 15 seconds. The first shift starts slowly over several hours, with the most painful part lasting 10-15 minutes, but seeming a lot longer. Persons born with lycanthropy never experience a painful first shift, but instead are born shifters, always able to shift fluently.
Abilities retained in human form:
Though somewhat muted, hearing and smell remain improved compared to human baseline. Werewolves tend to be strong, athletic, and healthy for human. Aside from the sensory changes, the one blatently superhuman feature of werewolves is endurance; werewolves seem immune to getting tired, being able to run at full speed or perform strenuous athletics for hours nonstop.
Physical traits retained in human form:
The "eyebrows that meet" legend has some truth to it--werewolves tend to regrow convergent eyebrows quickly. Werewolves can grow and retract hair or fur, an adaptation evidently developed to prevent excessive mass loss among frequent shifters. But, the subtle forming of portions of eyebrows is a hard skill, and most werewolves just frequently re-shave the bridge of the nose. Fur on palms does not generally happen in purely human form, though it can in a near-human shift. Odd finger length discrepancies can happen with fast and incomplete shifts. A rudamentary tail stub more often can occur. A lot of retained traits are internal; a CT scan of the brain will show a substantial difference between standard human olfactory bulbs and those of lycanthropes.
Any mortal enemies (ex. vampires?) :
Like so many other animals, humans are the main threat. Prior to 2013, werewolves live in secrecy among humans. Afterwards, they reveal themselves and expand their numbers profoundly. The resulting social upheaval has ramifications throughout the 21st century. Just as tension between lycanthropes and more conservative human factions seem to settle by the 2060s, Four One's occupation of Earth for several months in 2065 occurs, followed by a rebuilding period that puts the leaders of the lycanthropic community among the forefront of one of the political factions at odds with an overly oppressive world unification regime. Scott Gardener, one of the first werewolves to appear in public, will say in an interview around 2020 that "the only reason I feel safe among humans is that, with effort, I can still look like you."
Loners, or pack-animals?
A good mix of both; some werewolves are introverts, but like both wolves and humans, most werewolves prefer the company of others of the same kind.
Werewolf Meme
...Its a meme about your own version of werewolves. Because they're mythological, and can pretty much be any version of a human turning into a wolf.
Original cause of "werewolfism":
An alien intelligence that refers to itself as "Four One" created numerous mythical creatures, including werewolves, while attempting to understand something it knew it lost during its own evolution many millennia ago. The lycanthrope "virus" is not technically a virus, as it is a too complex structure that hybridizes earth-based and Four One cellular make-up.
How can one become a werewolf?:
The bite of an infected individual, or any other contact with body fluid--the same ways that one can get hepatitis or HIV. Maternal-fetal transmission is 100%; children of lycanthropic mothers are born with it.
Lifespan:
Somewhat extended, with an approximate doubling from human life expectancy because of enhanced regenerative capabilities, assuming one is infected at birth. (Lycanthropy does not substantially reverse aging that occured prior to infection.)
Mortality:
Werewolves are unusually resilient to injury and disease but not immortal. A lycanthrope can regenerate a lost finger or ear but not an arm, leg, or eye. Silver carries no special significance against lycanthropic physiology.
Intellegence/self control:
After factoring out human psychological factors such as dissociation phenomena or post-traumatic stress, werewolves do not biologically experience overt personality changes with shifting, though the change in senses, ability to speak or hold objects, and physical appearance changes both how one relates to the world and how other beings relate to one's self. Werewolves retain the same personality and experience in all forms. Upon an initial affliction with lycanthropy, werewolves frequently experience personality shifts as the brain is rewired and remodeled for shifting and sensory changes. Usually these changes are fairly subtle, making one more feral, more right-brained, less prone to thinking in language, and more succeptable towards experiencing odd phenomena such as synesthesia and paranormal phenomena such as ESP or seeing ghosts. Werewolves tend to be more intelligent than humans in general, but this tendancy is in part demographics of people acquiring lycanthropy and in part the forced awareness and upheaval of contextual assumptions about life that lycanthropy will inflict upon one's life.
Height:
Mass is conserved, but werewolves in mid-shifted "hybrid" or "Gestalt" form are taller due to digitigrade stance and appear heavier due to fur. Wolf form is unusually large for a wolf due to retained human mass.
Fur colors (wolf colors or human hair colors?):
Fur colors tend to agree with the human form, but will also hint at the heritage of the infecting virus--someone bitten by a black-furred werewolf will usually have dark fur, for example.
Main killing weapon....teeth or claws?:
The gut instinct will be to use teeth, as wolves do. But, as werewolves are highly intelligent, they can use whatever means they wish. Werewolves are no more violent than humans in general, but when they are, they can be far scarier than the horror movies made about them.
Preferred food:
Werewolves are omnivorous. With considerable effort, a werewolf could theoretically live off a vegitarian diet, but it would not be easy. Werewolves do not generally eat humans; the occasional psychopath who tries finds human meat to taste like rancid pork seasoned with garbage. Werewolves tend to hate overly processed foods and find a noticeable difference between organically grown and grass-fed meat versus industrialized meat from animals raised on slop, preservatives, and antibiotics. Some prefer meat raw or under-cooked, while others prefer food the way they did before becoming lycanthropic.
Run on all fours or two?
Both; a werewolf with more than a few months of experience with lycanthropy can assume a human form, a wolf form, or a smooth continuum of transitional forms in between. A seasoned shapeshifter can even sometimes learn tricks, such as shifting eyes or growing a tail in human form.
Body type (bulky, hunched, lithe, more wolflike, etc... feel free to link!) :
A lot healthier than mainstream human--the lycanthrope virus tends to run a high metabolism, keeping one either lean or muscular, depending on one's human genetic predisposition.
Lifestyle - More time as wolf or human?
Most werewolves spend more time in human form; the majority prior to 2040 or 2050 are born genetic-standard human, acquiring lycanthropy later. In the 2020s, with public knowledge of werewolves and other once-paranormal phenomena, lycanthropes develop their own subculture movements. Werewolves who do not shift on their own feel compelled to do so after several weeks to a month in human form. Werewolves who stay in wolf or hybrid form for more than a month at a time, in the absence of human company, start to become increasingly feral. After about three to five years, one risks permanently losing one's human sense of identity.
Forms (human, wolf, beast/anthro, etc):
All of the above; a werewolf with more than a few months of experience with lycanthropy can assume a human form, a wolf form, or a smooth continuum of transitional forms in between. A seasoned shapeshifter can even sometimes learn tricks, such as shifting eyes or growing a tail in human form.
Shifting Cause (moon, free will, ritual, etc.):
Werewolves shift form willingly. With the exception of an occasional neurosis, werewolves are not forced to shift on full moons. Werewolves do experience involuntary shifts during the initial infection process and on occasion during periods of significant stress.
Shifting Process (is it painful? fast? Can they do it on the run?):
The initial first shift about 10-14 days after infection is notoriously painful, often being compared to being awake during surgery. Subsequent shifts are noticably less painful, and the process is painless after about a month--unless one has actively resisted shifting and lycanthropy, in which the adjustment period will take longer. A seasoned shape-shifter can shift forms in about 15 seconds. The first shift starts slowly over several hours, with the most painful part lasting 10-15 minutes, but seeming a lot longer. Persons born with lycanthropy never experience a painful first shift, but instead are born shifters, always able to shift fluently.
Abilities retained in human form:
Though somewhat muted, hearing and smell remain improved compared to human baseline. Werewolves tend to be strong, athletic, and healthy for human. Aside from the sensory changes, the one blatently superhuman feature of werewolves is endurance; werewolves seem immune to getting tired, being able to run at full speed or perform strenuous athletics for hours nonstop.
Physical traits retained in human form:
The "eyebrows that meet" legend has some truth to it--werewolves tend to regrow convergent eyebrows quickly. Werewolves can grow and retract hair or fur, an adaptation evidently developed to prevent excessive mass loss among frequent shifters. But, the subtle forming of portions of eyebrows is a hard skill, and most werewolves just frequently re-shave the bridge of the nose. Fur on palms does not generally happen in purely human form, though it can in a near-human shift. Odd finger length discrepancies can happen with fast and incomplete shifts. A rudamentary tail stub more often can occur. A lot of retained traits are internal; a CT scan of the brain will show a substantial difference between standard human olfactory bulbs and those of lycanthropes.
Any mortal enemies (ex. vampires?) :
Like so many other animals, humans are the main threat. Prior to 2013, werewolves live in secrecy among humans. Afterwards, they reveal themselves and expand their numbers profoundly. The resulting social upheaval has ramifications throughout the 21st century. Just as tension between lycanthropes and more conservative human factions seem to settle by the 2060s, Four One's occupation of Earth for several months in 2065 occurs, followed by a rebuilding period that puts the leaders of the lycanthropic community among the forefront of one of the political factions at odds with an overly oppressive world unification regime. Scott Gardener, one of the first werewolves to appear in public, will say in an interview around 2020 that "the only reason I feel safe among humans is that, with effort, I can still look like you."
Loners, or pack-animals?
A good mix of both; some werewolves are introverts, but like both wolves and humans, most werewolves prefer the company of others of the same kind.
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At long last, I've stopped freeloading!
5 min read
I've been here for five years, hogging bandwidth, so I've at long last taken the plunge and become a paying subscriber.
That, and after more than a year and a half, I've finally updated my fraking journal. That last entry was getting pretty stale.
I've been fairly busy at last in terms of art. I've started a graphic art series, "Earth, Sea, and Sky," set 3.5 billion years after everything else I've ever imagined. Why there are things that look so similar to Earth life will take a bit of explaining. That comes up later.
Watching you:
Watching me:
Watching out:
That, and after more than a year and a half, I've finally updated my fraking journal. That last entry was getting pretty stale.
I've been fairly busy at last in terms of art. I've started a graphic art series, "Earth, Sea, and Sky," set 3.5 billion years after everything else I've ever imagined. Why there are things that look so similar to Earth life will take a bit of explaining. That comes up later.
Watching you:
Watching me:
Watching out:
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Avancna's meme- only one taker.
6 min read
Thanks to for being the one participant in my followup to 's gallery meme.
Behold, a sampling of the work of...
:thumb34118637:
:thumb59246363: :thumb58619338:
(edit: Ah, Crap! Only subscribers get to do thumbnails.)
"Lukos- Wolf of Light" shows Moon-Baby's talents for thinking abstractly while working with photos, with a piece that transcends the original idea of portraying a character and takes on a metaphysical quality. "Wolf Therian Desktop" shows off his ability to montage images cleanly and elegantly, avoiding the distracting and cluttered look that plagues wallpapers. "Not Afraid of You" is one of his many drawings done on note paper, showing expression and telling a story that draws interest and emotional involvement using the materials at hand and the time available in a pinch. And finally, his ID is shown, a grainy monochrome with red accents, his color theme of choice.
Time to get back to visualizing really big. I got sidetracked for a bit, but I'm back on course.
Watching you:
Watching me:
Watching out:
for being the one participant in my followup to 's gallery meme.Behold, a sampling of the work of
... :thumb34118637::thumb59246363: :thumb58619338:
(edit: Ah, Crap! Only subscribers get to do thumbnails.)
"Lukos- Wolf of Light" shows Moon-Baby's talents for thinking abstractly while working with photos, with a piece that transcends the original idea of portraying a character and takes on a metaphysical quality. "Wolf Therian Desktop" shows off his ability to montage images cleanly and elegantly, avoiding the distracting and cluttered look that plagues wallpapers. "Not Afraid of You" is one of his many drawings done on note paper, showing expression and telling a story that draws interest and emotional involvement using the materials at hand and the time available in a pinch. And finally, his ID is shown, a grainy monochrome with red accents, his color theme of choice.
Time to get back to visualizing really big. I got sidetracked for a bit, but I'm back on course.
Watching you:
Watching me:
Watching out:
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