I went combing through a bunch of old GIFs so the entire front end of this update is gonna be nothing but the best of the 'snowy wolf' search. You're welcome.

UPDATE #5 - 2-17-25

Hello, friends.

First, a quick announcement: EPENDA AND I ARE OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS, and have also opened up a SPONSORSHIP PAGE where you can donate directly to our various projects and WIPs!

Now: on to the post.

Good lord a lot has changed since I first started writing this update.

I swear I've written and rewritten this at least three times since December, and here I am rewriting it again.

Originally, I started out writing about how there's not that many niche spaces left in the modern internet, how this site was looking to address that, etc etc. But the past few weeks have been instructive with regards to the benefits of taking baby steps, so I'll spare you guys the lofty pitch and try to go over the basics of what we're looking to do here currently.

First and foremost, the goal of the site is to create a gallery space for queer werewolf creators to post and store their work, more or less as they see fit (see below, re: theme). Profile pages will be laid out similar to how they are on other gallery sites, and in theory have some level of customization, but we're unclear on what all 'customization' entails atm.

Something that will definitely be different from other gallery sites is that we'll have a much heavier emphasis on writing and how writing is presented. We don't want it to be secondary to artwork, as it is on dA, FA, et al.

Additionally, site admin will be maintaining a low level of editorial oversight. Staying in step with our developer Angela Quinton's original anthology series (from which the spirit and name of this site are derived), creators will be asked to upload primarily werewolf/general werecreature works to the site, and leave their other work - fanart, furry art, etc - to offsites.

There's no immediate plans for invitations or an application process to get in just yet. Not the least because it's putting the cart waaaay before the horse. For the moment, we're just trying to get this thing built. But it's something we're definitely thinking about, 'cause eventually it's gonna matter.

re: getting the thing built

This is part of the reason this update took so long to write.

One thing I hadn't really considered is that comments - an ubiquitous part of most if not all modern gallery sites - would be a difficult feature to implement. Once it was explained to me just how complicated it could get, it was clear I had to rethink my concept of how the site itself might look once all the kinks had been hammered out.

After chatting with other artists and getting a sense of how they felt about the topic, I decided that launching without any comments at all would leave a bad taste in peoples' mouths. But since I can't pay for the labor involved/the site coder doesn't have the time or energy to do it within a timeframe that's feasible, we're opting to go with some workarounds.

The first is Discus, which has its own risks, not the least of which being potential abuse. It's something we're willing to try, though, just to see how it goes. The second is launching a forum.

The more I've thought about it, the more I prefer the idea of a forum, rather than the usual nested comments. In part because it preserves the 'zine feel, and in part because it keeps trolling and slapfights off the main site, which in my opinion is ideal. Creators can still get feedback on their work, it's just a little more remote, and gives agitated commenters a few more beats to think before they fire off something aggro and make the page more about the comments section than it is about the piece itself.

We'll still be rolling out with Discus to start with, but that's the overall vision for how the community aspect will look in the future. MIND YOU, this is assuming that we can find moderators that we both like and can trust to do right by our audience, which is its own big ask, so this is one of those 'a ways in the future' plans that we're still kicking around.

Another long-term goal for the site is fundraising.

We're experimenting with that already with our sponsor-a-project page, and plan to experiment more in the coming months. Artists affiliated with the site will have their commission status and personal fundraisers advertised in our regular updates, etc.

We also want to aim for the site being self-sufficient, which is something that's taking a bit more planning. It's also where the idea of a paywall comes in.

We're not entirely sure just yet what 'paywall' is going to look like. If there's going to be tiers, a PWIW model, a set price, etc etc etc. As is tradition, adult work will be largely paywalled, but artists who want to help the site out and possibly get a little pocket change in exchange can license their work to us as site exclusives.

I'll go more into artist contributions further into this post, but suffice it to say, the function of the paywall is to finance the site itself. Part of that is future-proofing it as much as possible, in a digital landscape that is unlikely to change for the better anytime soon, especially where it comes to queer media. And ESPECIALLY where it comes to outright porn.

Some of the things we're looking to do: work with payment vendors that deal specifically with adult entertainment and gambling websites, so we can avoid having our funding pulled at random (as Paypal has been known to do sometimes). Find hosting services in countries that are as privacy- and LGBT-friendly as possible, for our and our users' protection. And, of course, we're going to want to find legal services, for a variety of reasons that have already been covered, not the least of which is simply 'existing as an 18+ site on the internet in the year 2025.'

Needless to say, we'll need all the small-dollar investors we can get, as time goes on. Just like we'll need volunteers donating time and energy into whatever it is that happens to need doing (which, as it turns out, will probably be a lot). But there's a lot of 'ifs' to get through before any of this is anything more than theoretical.

I'll be posting with donation links when those become available. For the moment, there's both my and Ependa's personal Ko-Fi pages that you're welcome to donate to, either just the once or monthly. Every little bit helps!

I think that's all I've got to say about that for the moment, though, so let's move on to--

NEW CONTRIBUTORS

We've got a small roster of creators already on board as contributors. You might have guessed one of them based on the above image, but here's a full list regardless!

We're hoping to add more as the year progresses.

So, what is a contributor?

The answer is 'that depends.' For now, contributors help out with the site where they're able, be that offering sketches for site graphics (see above) or just by offering moral support. Later on down the line, it'll mean something more substantial, but that's what it amounts to currently: odd job volunteers and people who have agreed to be a part of the site itself once it launches.

Once the site goes live, the agreement we've drafted up for this is simple: creators are invited to maintain a gallery space on the site, which can be as involved or uninvolved as they desire. Creators will then get the option to become part of the paywall, which for our purposes involves taking old werewolf work down off the web and posting it semi-exclusively to our site.

Old, for our purposes, means 'anything that's 2+ years old.' Which does mean licensed/paywall creators will be asked to retire work from the web and turn it over to our archives once it reaches that threshold.

NOTE: creators will be allowed to withhold some media from the paywalled archives for posting/advertising purposes, but that's something that will be negotiated on an individual basis. Creators will still retain print rights, and full ability to post those works on their own Patreons/etc. We just ask that those pieces stay off social media/non-paywalled sites.

It is effectively a licensing agreement, in which - eventually - the creator gets a percentage of what the site was able to earn above its operating costs. This percentage is to be split evenly with other contributors, including the site admin. That's why the buy-in is so steep: the people who are getting paid will all be getting paid more or less equally.

That's the idea at the moment, at least. And the idea is more or less to make this as passive a "gig" as possible: a means for creators to contribute to the health of the site and the community, and maybe make a little passive income along the way.

Like I said, though, if people just want a little fairweather werewolf-themed gallery they can keep on the side, that's ok too. A creator's level of involvement is entirely up to them.

You probably noticed I said 'creators' and not necessarily 'artists.' That's because we don't want to limit ourselves to just artists. We want to welcome especially writers, SFX artists, models/cosplayers, art/movie critics, musicians, game developers - especially ones adept at interactive fiction! - and just in general people whose work revolves around werewolves and other werecreatures.

This includes scholarly types as well! If you research werewolf folklore, we 1000% will be wanting your contributions!

In other words, just because we're referring to it as a 'gallery,' it doesn't mean we're only interested in visual art. Werewolves Versus always had a strong literary backbone to complement the art pieces - my own first entry in it was a written piece, in fact - and we're looking to not only preserve that, but expand on it.

In short, we hope to eventually be a hub for All Things Werewolf, and we're excited to keep working towards that goal. :)

What our contributors are up to currently:

Commission and sponsorship pages will be updated semi-regularly with new samples, WIPs, and other offerings.

Lastly, this site now has its own verified Bluesky Account! Go follow it for updates, and any missives that are site-related but don't warrant their own full update.

And speaking of updates, I think that about wraps up this one.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see what we're up to! And thank you as well to the folks who have already commissioned, sponsored or donated to us to help out! We're more than aware of how tough things are right now, so even choosing to spend your time with us does mean a lot.

Stay safe out there.