Furry stories

[Faradin]

Pr0n are teh suck, as well as general views. :3

[TakeWalker]

While porn and fetish/niche stories are really popular amongst writings, it's not fair to single them out, since porn/fetish/niche drawings are very popular amongst the visual arts here. :P

[WolfoxOkamichan]

That is true. XD

[Muddobbers]

(I apologize for resurrecting an old thread)

I want to just throw in my part. I'm a story writer with all lizards as the characters. Sure, they all take place in modern surroundings, but I do that on purpose. More people can relate to a story and not have to worry about the setting if it takes place in surroundings that they know and don't have to worry about. My recent stories occur in a large town with a usual park, apartment complex, and a local mansion. These are fairly common and allow the reader, in my mind, to fully envelope themselves into the story of the characters rather than constantly consider their environment.

Imagine if I wrote that all the characters lived in an active volcano with blackened glass the only thing separating them from the constant eruption of lava. Throughout the entire story, you just know that eventually some of it will explode upward and take out a good chunk of the civilization, so the reader just assumes that for the entirety of the story. If it never happens, then, well, the reader may feel let down.

It's all personal preference, as stated earlier. My preferences deal with lizard stories and such. My only concern is people don't tend to comment on stories even if they've liked them or not. That leaves the author going, "Hm, well, nobody appeared to have liked the story." Drawings, however, tend to get a few good comments every now and then.

Of course, this is just my view.

[Ruiner]

Your view is bunk.






Its good to build a new world though, it shows that you aren't a lazy sod who'll just throw your characters into a story and say "Have at, ye scurvy dogs!"

Plus, with a new world, you don't need to abide by rules. Whatever you want to do can happen, because you can tweak the world to allow it to happen.

[Muddobbers]

I could easily say your view is bunk, as well.

Sure, some people would like a whole imaginative world out there for characters to live in, while some people like ordinary settings with imaginative characters. Some even go so much to want plain characters in plain surroundings doing plain things. That may not be used often, but it does happen, even in bestseller novels.

If you have furry characters in a plain world, that would fall under imaginative characters? Surely they're not human.. I don't write humans into my stories, as the world isn't a human world. It is, technically, a new world. Certainly you don't see five or six foot tall anthropomorphic lizards that speak English walking around in real life.

[Wolf-Bone]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for two pages without someone mentioning Robin Hood. There was really no logical reason for the characters to be anthros. The movie could've been exactly the same but with humans and it would either be just as good or just as bad depending on what your criteria for a good animated movie is. But personally, I couldn't imagine it any other way, and neither can a lot of furries.

[TakeWalker]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for two pages without someone mentioning Robin Hood. There was really no logical reason for the characters to be anthros. The movie could've been exactly the same but with humans and it would either be just as good or just as bad depending on what your criteria for a good animated movie is. But personally, I couldn't imagine it any other way, and neither can a lot of furries.

I could chalk that one up to funny animals for the sake of kid-pandering. It was Disney, after all. :P I consider that a valid reason for using anthros instead of humans.

[Wolf-Bone]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for two pages without someone mentioning Robin Hood. There was really no logical reason for the characters to be anthros. The movie could've been exactly the same but with humans and it would either be just as good or just as bad depending on what your criteria for a good animated movie is. But personally, I couldn't imagine it any other way, and neither can a lot of furries.

I could chalk that one up to funny animals for the sake of kid-pandering. It was Disney, after all. :P I consider that a valid reason for using anthros instead of humans.

Then why didn't they do all their movies like that

[Evangeline]

Your view is bunk.






Its good to build a new world though, it shows that you aren't a lazy sod who'll just throw your characters into a story and say "Have at, ye scurvy dogs!"

Plus, with a new world, you don't need to abide by rules. Whatever you want to do can happen, because you can tweak the world to allow it to happen.

I'm going to call bunk on your view as well, because you can't really create anything new, as anything you do create will have some relation to what we have currently in our society, technology, etc.

Meaning at some point you would have to make a reference, saying this vehicle is similar to this one on Earth.

Visual media is such that, you can create something that could not possibly exist within the plane of reality, and people will automatically understand what it is, or what it's purpose is.

Where as to do that within a story, you have to reference something from reality, for it's purpose, size, shape, etc. You have to remember that everything we write, will be somewhat influenced by the world around us, from just reality in general, or T.V./Movies.

[TakeWalker]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for two pages without someone mentioning Robin Hood. There was really no logical reason for the characters to be anthros. The movie could've been exactly the same but with humans and it would either be just as good or just as bad depending on what your criteria for a good animated movie is. But personally, I couldn't imagine it any other way, and neither can a lot of furries.

I could chalk that one up to funny animals for the sake of kid-pandering. It was Disney, after all. :P I consider that a valid reason for using anthros instead of humans.

Then why didn't they do all their movies like that

Are we talking about all their movies, or just Robin Hood? ;P I don't have a good answer for that question. I'm fairly certain that, even in the movies with human characters, the "cute" sidekicks were often, though not always, animals. I definitely haven't seen all of Disney's movies, nor can I really remember those I have seen at the moment.

All of Mr. Walker's opinions are based solely upon his opinion and do not reflect the opinions of any organization, website, group, race, sports team, business executive, third-world country, former U.S. president, sexual orientation, or post office. That will be seven-forty-nine, please pull through to the next window.

[furryskibum]

I do read human stories, but I find furries to be far more interesting, especially in the talented words of the right author. :3

[Wakboth]

My own stories tend to be of the "people in animal skins" variety, with a world that is a furry (and often somewhat fantastic) version of our own, real world.

There are several reasons for this, but one of the most important is the familiarity of the real world; when the reader learns the evil she-wolf scientist is a Nazi and a member of the SS, I don't need to explain who the Nazis are, what they look and act like, and why they're unambiguous bad guys. Instead, I can focus fully on her nefarious scheme and what the good guys are going to do about it (and her).

This is not to say I don't care for stories where the emphasis is on the animal part of the anthropomorphic characters, quite the opposite; Dotter here on FA has some very fine stories of the sort, for example.

[OnyxVulpine]

For some reason when I think of furries they are in a place like Elder Scrolls with swords and all that good stuff...

[Summercat]

Why do I write stories with furrys?

Well, in the ones where it's Earth - because Furrys appeal to me as a writer. It pleases me, personally, to write a story that involves furries.

Now, I can also go a bit beyond that and use furries to make a social comment - particularly about racism. Once Rowrbrazzle 94 comes out I'll post my submission to it, but in that world furries were created as toys, but it got out that they were sentient.

Human reaction breaks down into Apologist (~70%), Speciesist (~20%) and It-is-not-importantist (~10%). I, um, show the latter groups in the best light

Then there's my scifi story settings, in which the aliens tend to be furries. Such as the scifi series that keeps involving my Yiyatu Cluster (One of these days I'll post the Wolcoon/Rahyipahn description), where alien species tend to look like members of other planet's biosphere. Yay for Progenitors!

In the latter, it's an excuse and a lazy trick to creating alien species. At least I'm doing better than Star Trek, where they all looked human @.@

[Roose Hurro]

I'm going to call bunk on your view as well, because you can't really create anything new, as anything you do create will have some relation to what we have currently in our society, technology, etc.

Meaning at some point you would have to make a reference, saying this vehicle is similar to this one on Earth.

Visual media is such that, you can create something that could not possibly exist within the plane of reality, and people will automatically understand what it is, or what it's purpose is.

Where as to do that within a story, you have to reference something from reality, for it's purpose, size, shape, etc. You have to remember that everything we write, will be somewhat influenced by the world around us, from just reality in general, or T.V./Movies.

Well, since several people are throwing bunk around, I'll put in my two dollars worth, and call bunk on this.**First off, you can indeed invent something new, otherwise, humanity would still be running around naked and banging stones together for fun.**For the last two days, I've been reading a book that details how fictional films on spaceflight... one film in particular... stimulated our actual and eventual push to the moon, courtesy of NASA and the Saturn V.**Herman Oberth actually served as a technical advisor on the first film to take a flight to the moons seriously, directed by Fritz Lang.**I believe the title of that film translated as "Woman In The Moon", or something similar.**And Werner Von Braun was a protege of Herman Oberth... connect the dots.

Now, as to your second point thingy... I could say this alien lives in a treenest ten tails high, seventy tails long, and fourty tails wide.**Does this simple example trigger any kind of image in your mind?... even though you don't know exactly what a treenest is, or what length a tail measures?**If I described an alien furry with a tail twice his/her bodylength, would that give you a sense of scale, even though you have no idea how tall this creature is?**If I further detail that this treenest is woven from grass and treebark fibers, with carved wooden totems stained with leaf juice, hanging over the entryway, would that help?**Or better yet, can I describe a starship as a huge, grayblack seed with fifteen retractable spines... without actually calling it a spaceship... and still paint an understandable picture, by building detail on detail, and describing its descent into the core of a sun?

You see, by using a few simple, English words... familiar words, like tree and leaf and so on... without familiar references... do I not still paint an image?**If I take the word "city" and the word "home", and put them together into a single word, "CityHome", do I not imply something without a basis in our reality?**But... still, something understandable?**Something without reference to anything familiar?

I could go on, but I think this is enough to make my point....


--------------------------------------------------------------------

[themocaw]

Let's clarify something: the OP is not talking about stories where furries are recognized as such, that is about being furry or some other reason. They're talking more about stories like the aforementioned Robin Hood where everyone is a furry and no reason is given for that fact, it just is. It's the difference between M'riss on Star Trek the Animated Series and Sabrina Online, basically: in one case an effort is made to explain why there is a sexy catgirl walking around. In the other, well, it just is.

The simple reason is titillation: this is the furry fandom, and people find anthropomorphic animals interesting, sexually or platonically. But the more artistic reason is that it serves as a kind of shorthand: I could tell you that Robin Hood is sly and cunning and mischievous, that Little John is big and strong and easy going, and that Prince John is a weakling who somehow aspired to power, and I could do that in a lot of different manners. One way is to take the Aesop's fable approach and use characteristics that animals have in human minds. Hence, I write a story and I say, "Jack is a wolf," and people know, "ahhh, I can expect such and such characteristics from Jack because of his wolfishness." Shorthand.

[Evangeline]

I'm going to call bunk on your view as well, because you can't really create anything new, as anything you do create will have some relation to what we have currently in our society, technology, etc.

Meaning at some point you would have to make a reference, saying this vehicle is similar to this one on Earth.

Visual media is such that, you can create something that could not possibly exist within the plane of reality, and people will automatically understand what it is, or what it's purpose is.

Where as to do that within a story, you have to reference something from reality, for it's purpose, size, shape, etc. You have to remember that everything we write, will be somewhat influenced by the world around us, from just reality in general, or T.V./Movies.

Well, since several people are throwing bunk around, I'll put in my two dollars worth, and call bunk on this. First off, you can indeed invent something new, otherwise, humanity would still be running around naked and banging stones together for fun. For the last two days, I've been reading a book that details how fictional films on spaceflight... one film in particular... stimulated our actual and eventual push to the moon, courtesy of NASA and the Saturn V. Herman Oberth actually served as a technical advisor on the first film to take a flight to the moons seriously, directed by Fritz Lang. I believe the title of that film translated as "Woman In The Moon", or something similar. And Werner Von Braun was a protege of Herman Oberth... connect the dots.

Now, as to your second point thingy... I could say this alien lives in a treenest ten tails high, seventy tails long, and fourty tails wide. Does this simple example trigger any kind of image in your mind?... even though you don't know exactly what a treenest is, or what length a tail measures? If I described an alien furry with a tail twice his/her bodylength, would that give you a sense of scale, even though you have no idea how tall this creature is? If I further detail that this treenest is woven from grass and treebark fibers, with carved wooden totems stained with leaf juice, hanging over the entryway, would that help? Or better yet, can I describe a starship as a huge, grayblack seed with fifteen retractable spines... without actually calling it a spaceship... and still paint an understandable picture, by building detail on detail, and describing its descent into the core of a sun?

You see, by using a few simple, English words... familiar words, like tree and leaf and so on... without familiar references... do I not still paint an image? If I take the word "city" and the word "home", and put them together into a single word, "CityHome", do I not imply something without a basis in our reality? But... still, something understandable? Something without reference to anything familiar?

I could go on, but I think this is enough to make my point....


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Never said you did have to use references, I was just making a statement on why some would do that in response to that writers are lazy when they do that.

Even using the language as you did, you may not be giving them all the hard facts, like what each tail measures, but giving them a reference to any real world item, can help to paint a better picture.

What it comes down to really is if the author is trying to paint people a picture, or letting them paint it themselves through their imaginations. Both work, nothing wrong with either of them, it just the matter of, how do you want your story to been read.

[TakeWalker]

I'm reviving this simply to point out my response to the entire thread: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/663905/

Hopefully that's the last of my forum-related self-aggrandizement. <.< Until we get a writers' section, anyway.

[Raicoon]

Maybe one person will care about this, aside from myself. I want to get it off my chest.

Furry stories: What's the point?

Maybe you want to write about characters you or your furry friends created. I guess that's okay.

I'm not looking down on stories that feature an Earth with both humans and furries, and even less so on fantasy or sci-fi settings with anthropomorphic races.

I'm talking about Earth-analogues where everyone is an anthro something or other, but everything else is the same. Why? Why is it important that these stories contain furries? Sure, maybe you like them, but you've got to think of reasons for writing real-world stories in a setting that isn't quite the real world. Have you created some new dynamic of racial tension across species lines? That's really the only reason I can think of to have a world populated by furries of every sort and nothing else.

I dunno. I've never written a "furry" story for precisely this reason. And sure, great writers on this site have created furry stories. But the characters and plots would have been just as memorable had said characters been human. The reasoning: that's what I want to know.

Why?

Because it is more interesting to many and the real world is actually quite boring...

[TakeWalker]

Because it is more interesting to many and the real world is actually quite boring...

There's an old adage in writing that goes, "Write what you know."

And you know, I'd been following that adage for quite some time recently, until I realized: what I know is damned boring. All my stories, were they not fantastic in nature, were primarily about writers and some things that I've been pondering for my future, like teaching. Damned boring, as I said.

Well, if your world is boring, there's only one thing to do: expand it. This can mean travel, yes, but that's not always necessary. Do research. Read about history and cultures. There is quite simply a ton of interesting stuff out there. If you think the world is boring, then you haven't experienced half of it.

[M. LeRenard]

Furry stories: What's the point?

You know, really, you could ask the same thing about furry art in general. I'm sure for some people it's just a matter of wanting to explore the mind of a 'furry' rather than the body, which is what you see in furry art. Or just because it's cool. I don't know. Why is there a furry fandom in the first place?

Because it is more interesting to many and the real world is actually quite boring...

Maybe you should start watching the news more often, then.

[ChibiJaime]

Hm. Is there an easy answer?

I agree with the poster above me here in asking, "Why is there a furry fandom in the first place?"

Why make a video game about a blue hedgehog that doesn't look like a hedgehog that can run at the speed of sound? Why make a movie about a talking, singing, tapdancing cat who wants to be in movies? Why write a book like, oh... Redwall?

It is an opportunity to explore a facet of reality we are not used to dealing with... and a means of escape from a world that is sometimes so difficult to bear. Why not faeries or elves or aliens? Because they've been done to death by popular media.

The furry/anthro fandom still isn't quite that big. We've still got a lot of room to develop our ideas and come up with new things. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing a post-apocalyptic completely anthro sci-fi/fantasy tabletop roleplay right now.

And... because we like it.

Geez-o-peetz, I should be in bed right now.

[Rhainor]

...writing a post-apocalyptic completely anthro sci-fi/fantasy tabletop roleplay...

Hmm...sounds kinda like a furry version of Shadowrun.

...which I could totally get into, BTW.

[Ruiner]

Why make a video game about a blue hedgehog that doesn't look like a hedgehog that can run at the speed of sound? Why make a movie about a talking, singing, tapdancing cat who wants to be in movies? Why write a book like, oh... Redwall?

Because we were drunk at the time, and it seemed like a good idea.