While the news was shared over the Faunids Discord, I want to take the time to keep the whole community informed about new changes in leadership for Faunids. As was shared by Deertush, 

“Dear Faunids, there's some big changes coming! 

I have run this species and server for 8 years. There have been so many ups and downs. But we're still here. However, I now think that my goals have been fulfilled and everything has grown beyond me. After a very long deliberation, I have decided to step down from being the owner of Faunids and Faunids staff. This decision has been a very long time coming and does not come easily. MUTT will be taking the torch from me and has already showcased a great ability in handling events and user engagement. 

In regards to my faunids content, I will still occasionally make adoptables for the species. But this does mean that I am no longer able to make official customs for users- since I won't be an official artist anymore. I can still do ageups but fees may still incur just like with any other non-official artist.

I will remain in the server for the time being. But please refer to MUTT and the staff team for Faunid related questions. This species' direction may change a bit from how I initially saw it and intended it- and that's okay. I don't want to give wrong answers or stop your blossoming creativity. 

Thank you for nearly a decade of fun and love.”

Deertush

I (Hi, I'm Jack!) want to formally announce myself as the new owner and administrator of Faunids to our community. I have been a member of Faunids since the olden days of forum posting, and have been a co-administrator under Deer’s leadership on Discord for the eight years that followed. You might recognize me already, as before this change I was our Community Manager!

Under that title, I have written the Community Announcements, handled Prompt Submissions for events, uploaded archive content, ran user base polls, organized and took notes for staff meetings, finalized Community Newsletters, answered questions from users about events, guided FTOs through their first experiences with Faunids, helped manage the archive for Faunids.com since initial development, crafted lore pages (like the Cervidic Runes!), and mediated conflicts/rulebreaks. I have made adopts for Springtide and, last year, led several Guest Artists through creating theirs. I’ve made art assets for both Atalav and Faunids. I designed all the adopts for the Winter Advent mini-event, with support from GoryTeeth for the auction adopt that came with it. I have taken Age-Up commissions and Self-Aged more of my own Fauns. I’ve designed custom concepts for users and, more recently, created Bug Semi-MYOs alongside our other artists, and led the Nostalgia Gacha batch. 

As our Community Manager, I had the privilege to communicate so closely with the heart and soul of our species: the community. Our artists and moderators are part of that broader community and are equally invested in the home we've made here. I believe that by tapping into the strengths of many, Faunids can continue to be the incredible source of artistic growth and passion that Deer created through his own determination to share that passion with all of us. Leading up to this announcement, Deer shared with me all of the assets and lore he’s organized throughout this project. My goal in leading Faunids is to stay true to this vision of a lore-rich world, and find every way to honor the foundation Deer has built. I am so honored to be in the position to walk into this role with the faith Deer has expressed in me. He’s been a mentor and inspiration to me for many years, and I appreciate him for everything he taught me. Thank you, Deer, and thank you to our community for giving me kind words, grace, and patience as I step into this position.

For a little about me that’s not as directly related to Faunids, I am in my fifth year post-graduate as a school social worker. In my daily life, I work with middle- and high-school teens as their advocate. I help run our GSA, Punk Club, and lead my students in mural projects to bring their artistic mark to the walls of our schools. I have two cats (Playboy and Graham), and two dogs (Piper and Junebug), alongside my husband (who you may know as one of our moderators, kojoty). I am an avid reader and writer who loves to explore life through fiction, and this passion is something I want to continue with Faunids! 

Jack  

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Faunids Staff have put together a starter handbook for users and staff to reference regarding species rules, Discord conduct, and staff responsibilities. The Discord server will be updated to reflect these updates over the next few days, but all of it is available to read now. 

This handbook includes the most up-to-date information on Species and Discord rules.

View the handbook [HERE]

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Oblivions has been added as a moderator!
monsternobility has been added as a moderator!
pebb has been added as an Official Artist-in-training! 

TheElementalist, who has been a moderator on the Discord, has had her role updated on-site.
Freya, who has also been a moderator on the Discord, has had her role updated as well. 

See our full list of staff and their responsibilities [HERE]. 

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This month featured an incredible show of artistic capabilities through the Nostalgia Gacha batch! Below are all of the incredible designs that were created. Thank you to our guest artists, Hyenadayy, hearteater, L0sw, NeptuneNebula, and Sh3Draws for helping make this batch truly special! 

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We want to appreciate all the hard work that goes into turning designs into full-fledged characters. So, as part of the Newsletter, we choose a community member with a well-loved Faunid to tell us a bit more about them! This month, with so many new users participating alongside longtime members, we thought it would be fun to share the spotlight.

The first faunid, owned by cyanidemoon, is Antheia!
 

• What three words best describe your Faunid's personality?

Calm, joyous, and welcoming.

• What does your Faunid do in their spare time? What hobbies do they have?

Antheia enjoys making dyes in her spare time to use in troupe costumes. She sews and designs parts of the costumes. When she has nothing left to do for the performers, she enjoys gardening in her free time at her parents' home. Their tavern has quite a large and productive vegetable garden started each year by Antheia before she leaves.

• Where was your Faunid born, and where do they live now? What was their upbringing like?

Antheia was born in Veritam, and was given the freedom to pursue her passions. She travels with her performers (dancers, acrobats, magicians) across Atalav, but they come home to Veritam to rest between journeys. Her parents worked one of the many taverns in town, and in order to edge out their competition, Antheia learned to dance early. A love of music and movement led to her dance style, which celebrates freedom and joy above all else! Her calm and gentle demeanor comes from the gentle and loving manner in which she was raised.

• If they were going to be reincarnated, what animal would they want to be? Would they be loved if they were a worm?

If she were reincarnated, Antheia would want to come back as a companion lapine so she could enjoy being pampered without feeling the need to be busy. Her parents and friends would still love her as a worm, and would find her the tastiest soil to live in and eat :)

The second Faunid, owned by Zorkia, is Prisma!

• What is your Faunid's life mantra?

Life Mantra: Paint life in color, the world is too good to be grey. She believes in bringing a rainbow to life and helping splash colors into others’ lives so they can have a spark of joy, even when things are dark.

• What does your Faunid do in their spare time? What hobbies do they have? 

She paints and draws! Her soul is that of an artist and she wants nothing more than to share the joy of it with everyone around her.

• Where was your Faunid born, and where do they live now? What was their upbringing like?

Prisma was born in Makino and learned how to make her very special pink dye for paint there. Now, while she has a home there, she can often be commissioned to travel for her work, desiring to share the colors she puts to canvas with the rest of the continent. Her upbringing was quiet, her father not in the picture and her mother a struggling artist herself. Her mother worked hard and gave up her own dreams of being an artist so that Prisma would have the best chance are achieving her own.

• What is your Faunid’s idea of a perfect day?

Prisma’s idea of a perfect day starts with a sweet, warm latte. It moves from there to her studio, where she gets lost in the world of her own making, existing in the prismatic world of her own mind. When she realizes the sun is setting, she then gets a good book and watches the sun set on the horizon, dreaming of how she can harness those colors and manifest them to canvas.

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Please wait for official announcements before sending commission requests to artists!

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• The FAQ page has been updated.
• The Fawning FAQ page has been updated.
• The Faunid Aging FAQ has been updated.

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• 2023-2025 Fawns have had their USD costs updated.
• 2022 Fawn USD costs are currently in progress.
• All Merfauns and Minodae subspecies and traits are now fully up-to-date.
• Necrologia’s age-ups and designs are in progress to be up-to-date on costs and subspecies/traits.
• Custom Faunid subspecies/traits are in progress to be fully updated. 
• Staff Responsibilities guide has been updated to reflect current staff and their roles.

Trait updates:

• Lower body fluff traits no longer stack onto Satyr Pants.
• Descriptions have been added for several traits

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With so many new tokens floating around, you should make sure you know how to transfer items between users and make trades!

To start, head over to your user profile and scroll down to your Inventory. 

Once you select an item, you will see this screen, where everything you need to complete the transfer is seen:

And that's it! 

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You may have noticed that most traits have images on the trait masterlist. These aren't just for show! Trait images are guidelines that show how small or short (green) and tall or long (blue) that trait can generally be. You can use this to help you with your age-ups and re-references.

This month’s trait is Satyr Pants!

Satyr pants are intended to resemble the hairy legs of the fictional goat people it is named after. Hips and thighs must be fluffy/furry but anything further down can be less obvious. It doesn’t mean it has to be, though! The heels and hoofs of your faunids can be just as furry as their thighs.

This does mean that any other furry lower body trait CANNOT stack onto Satyr Pants. 

Here are some faunids that showcase these traits to current guideline standards!

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July sure is hot! And it’s only getting hotter! We loved to see how everyone cooled off :D

Feel free to submit your entries into the art challenge galleries even if it’s past the month it was made for!

Last month's winners were:

• Symmetrical headshot from Deertush: Banriion
• Posture Change Token: Elk_Montauk
• Standard/mutation trait modifier Token: Sh3Draws
• $10 USD: CoypuCoyote
• Sketchy fullbody from MUTT: Cockroach

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You have two more weeks to submit entries to August’s art challenge:

“Showcase a Faunid learning something!”

Remember that in order to enter for this prompt, you must submit your entry into the art challenge gallery and submit a prompt.

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Due to the popularity of the summer camp event, a sitewide currency will be available to users. This currency is called Barters (or BARTs for short!). This currency can be achieved by commenting on newsletters and by winning art challenge raffles.

The Barter Shop is run by a face that might be familiar to you: Casanova, more widely known as “Casino”! Casino is the owner and operator of The Casino, a lush market hub in Veritam that invites craftsmen and traders from all walks of life to play games and trade. Casino manages a bustling, organized market where Faunids can offer their skilled hands or the creations they've made in exchange for other goods they may not be able to get in their day-to-day travels. Barters represent those trades that Faunids take part in to support one another. 

As of right now, users will be rewarded:

• 5 Barters for commenting on the Newsletter within the timeframe.
• 5 Barters guaranteed for participation in the monthly Art Challenge. 
• More Barters can be won by winning raffle tickets at the end of the Art Challenge.

Items and prizes may be added to the shop over time. They may or may not have limited stock. Prices may be adjusted depending on what we learn over time about how the shop is used. 

You can spend your Barters here: 

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What do you want to see more of in Faunids?

Post your answer in the comments to get currency! 

The currency reward window closes 7 days after the news is posted.