What would You change in the Furry "Community"?

[Lemanic]

How about living with the fact that we're in the Post-Ironic Complex right now. The fact that our little inside jokes and rituals have turned into full-scale hazing rituals that mentally scars people nowadays. Especially acephobic ones like the "yiff desensitization" one. And maybe we need to put our well-earned money on SFW material by obligation to diversify this fandom.

And how about increasing the quality of yiff while were at it. May be not putting our money on cheap rape fantasies. Maybe we should put our money on depicting healthy relationships where the sex is consensual. Just an idea here.

And how about streamlining the fandom for further accessibility. Since we're partaking in an art movement, maybe we need some mainstream sensibilities to be further accepted as the hi-art movement it is. Maybe market fursuit-builders as designers and make-up artists to popstars who need some fursuits for their performances. We deserve it.

 

[Orgunis]

The inclusion of more blacklist functionalities

The idea is good but people might not use it on purpose

More anatomically correct penises and vaginas. Is that just me? xD

I'm pretty sure there's more people out there who wants that xD

 

[Shmallow]

What would i change?

if i had a single wish, it'd be that people would quit trying to change the fandom or fantasize about their own tailor-made group. The fandom isn't YOURS; it's everybody's. So long as nobody's getting hurt, let people do what they want to do! There are TONS of things i don't like within the fandom but i'd never want to take those aspects away from those that DO like them. if i don't want to see certain images, i block their tags. if i don't care for certain fiction, i simply avoid reading it. if a certain site doesn't allow me to pick and choose what i see, then i leave.

it really is that simple.

I think you're taking this question way too seriously. What I meant was "What are your pet peeves", things that bug you, etc. We won't literally run a furry revolution and change the fandom, it's just an honest question about what people dislike the most in the fandom. Some of my examples were "kink-shaming" and the subject of "coming out as a furry".

I'm not trying to take away fursuits just because I find them creepy - No! That wasn't even in my post! I mean other more entrenched problems in the community, that you or others might think is making the community less friendly, (aka, kink-shaming, name calling, gender-politics and overall just angry people). But thanks for the response, anyway.

 

[Shmallow]

Honestly, I would come up with clear, distinguishable names/terms for various subgroups and target audiences within the fandom. If there's something that hurts it more than anything else, it's lack of direction - we have casual hobbyists alongside lifestylers and fursuiters, those who are here for the aesthetic mixed with those who are here for fluffy boobs, etc. That's why we have stupid questions like "How do I become a furry", situations where you're too afraid to talk about your fandom in public (since you're most likely be associated with "those plushie-wearing sex-indulging weirdos"), and stupid holywars about "what is "furry" and what is not", not to mention lots of people who are clearly into anthro art but avoid the fandom like a plague. Speaking shortly, it would be cool to have sub-fandoms or "genres" - anime fans have a well-developed terminology mostly supported by content creators themselves (shoujo, shonen, seinen, etc), and even brony community has something like that (mainly with accepting "cloppers" as separate audience), and in my opinion, that's something that could make things easier for the fandom in many ways.

And on something more general, it would be nice to see more influence from artists and other content creators and less influence from lifestylers and fursuiters. Despite being in the vast minority, it's the latter ones who get all the attention of mainstream media, to the point of, again, turning into some kind of "plushie-wearing weirdo club" in public eyes. Furry musicians/artists/game developers/[insert content here] need more exposure, since they are usually the ones who make most of the stuff within it, good or bad.

I completely agree with you! The fandom is divided into many 'factions' that believe in their own 'ideals'. The only thing that is clumping us together is the vague definition of "Furry", which is very hard to pinpoint. Maybe even impossible. I'd like more tolerance in the community for various forms of art, but at the same time, I'd love to get rid of all of the dumb MS Paint stuff from the front page. I don't want to sound mean, but the front page should show us the "cream of the crop", beautiful colours, realistic or not, and great creations. Instead, I saw a very poorly drawn picture of a wolf cutting his own throat .-.

On the topic of influence, I really dislike fursuiters. They're great people with a great hobby, but boy do they make our fandom look so much dumber... The media has totally destroyed our reputation because of people 'IRL Yiffing' and it's annoying. There are so many talented people in this community, shame it's seen as "massively perverted". God knows Falvie and Hax make amazing non-pervy art, but nobody cares. DRAGON DILDOS AM I RIGHT?

 

[Shmallow]

You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

I also weren't talking about pedophilia. I was talking about being responsible adults and teach children properly about sex, sexuality and to teach them not to be trusting of strangers. But pedophilia is on the same agenda.

Parents are to be responsible and to teach their children properly. You also didn't answer my question.

Why are you pushing this subject? I discuss these things with other people on other forums, not here. Thus why I said "I'd rather stick to art", because the question was about the 'Furry community' and not 'real life ramifications of bad parenting and illegal activities". I don't even remember what your initial question was. If I find it, I'll respond to it.

 

[Shmallow]

I'd wish for people to treat it like any other fandom - like Star Wars, for example. No more "coming out as a furry" and treating it as your only identity.

Mom, ... I ... I like Star Wars... ... I draw Jedi warriors for fun... do you still love me???

 

[Shmallow]

How about living with the fact that we're in the Post-Ironic Complex right now. The fact that our little inside jokes and rituals have turned into full-scale hazing rituals that mentally scars people nowadays. Especially acephobic ones like the "yiff desensitization" one. And maybe we need to put our well-earned money on SFW material by obligation to diversify this fandom.

And how about increasing the quality of yiff while were at it. May be not putting our money on cheap rape fantasies. Maybe we should put our money on depicting healthy relationships where the sex is consensual. Just an idea here.

And how about streamlining the fandom for further accessibility. Since we're partaking in an art movement, maybe we need some mainstream sensibilities to be further accepted as the hi-art movement it is. Maybe market fursuit-builders as designers and make-up artists to popstars who need some fursuits for their performances. We deserve it.

Hey, I understand your complaint. A few days ago I found an artist on Patreon who earns about 500$ per month on... very bad yiff drawings (I'm no critic, but it's pretty obvious).
The artists I love the most are the ones who are excellent at their work:
SFW: Falvie and Hax
NSFW: Adam Wan, Redrusker (comics and art), Zonkpunch (extremely well done animations) and Zeiro (he's on the bottom of the list lately).

When it comes to supporting non-explicit artists, I'm personally more invested in NSFW art - but that's just me and my brain. I know that the top furry artists are actual great porno-makers, but that's just the free market doing it's thing. "Sex Sells". Maybe we should just stop putting porn on the FRONT PAGE OF FA, seeing as how that's how most people will remember furries for all of their lives...

And streamlining would be great. I have no idea how to do it, but I encourage people's cartoon drawings of Tom and Jerry and Sonic (as long as they're good). Hopefully people will understand that anthropomorphology and the furry fandom are more than just "dogs havin' sex lol". I'm no expert.

Quick Edit: Implementing more anthro art in media and art exhibits would greatly bump the streamlining and give us some good PR, I suppose!

 

[Shmallow]

Some people find the furry fandom as a lifestyle. Or at least that's I've heard. Maybe that's why there's the whole "coming out as a furry" thing.

Hence why it's a bit too fanatic. How can "furry" be a lifestyle? It's going way too deep into "otherkin" theories and all sorts of ideas that harm our community. So I'd rather people just understood that "otherkin" and "obsessed furries" are far from the majority, but an extreme minority.

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

You might want to delete that one too.

Lol. Happy New Year Mr Fox!

 

[PlusThirtyOne]

I think you're taking this question way too seriously. What I meant was "What are your pet peeves", things that bug you, etc. We won't literally run a furry revolution and change the fandom, it's just an honest question about what people dislike the most in the fandom. Some of my examples were "kink-shaming" and the subject of "coming out as a furry".

I'm not trying to take away fursuits just because I find them creepy - No! That wasn't even in my post! I mean other more entrenched problems in the community, that you or others might think is making the community less friendly, (aka, kink-shaming, name calling, gender-politics and overall just angry people). But thanks for the response, anyway.

Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes. "Coming out" threads are suuuuuuuch a tiresome occurrence! Good example.
-But, yes, i see (and saw) your point. My gripe wasn't with you or your thread, but with the fandom on the whole, just as everyone else. i wasn't taking the thread too seriously. it's just that MY common complaint was all too fresh, being the very topic of this thread. The irony of my complaints were not lost on me; complaining about complaining. No matter how much it irks me, there's nothing i can do to change peoples' minds, especially changing minds about changing minds. it's a paradox. i don't fear or expect changes in the fandom. it is what it is and i understand that. LOL Apologies of my post got a bit too complain-y.

 

[Shmallow]

Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes. "Coming out" threads are suuuuuuuch a tiresome occurrence! Good example.
-But, yes, i see (and saw) your point. My gripe wasn't with you or your thread, but with the fandom on the whole, just as everyone else. i wasn't taking the thread too seriously. it's just that MY common complaint was all too fresh, being the very topic of this thread. The irony of my complaints were not lost on me; complaining about complaining. No matter how much it irks me, there's nothing i can do to change peoples' minds, especially changing minds about changing minds. it's a paradox. i don't fear or expect changes in the fandom. it is what it is and i understand that. LOL Apologies of my post got a bit too complain-y.

As long as we respect each other and value good art, as opposed to shitty MS Paint art with boobs, I'll be happy. Hey, if MS Painters want to post their art somewhere, there should be a group dedicated to it, or AT THE VERY LEAST, not on the front page on FA.

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

I know why it is called "coming out" as a furry. Because for some of these poor kids and young adults, the reaction of their families and friends is the same as when people come out as homosexual. And unfortunately a lot of those reactions are freakin terrible. I still don't get how people can love their God more than their own kids.

 

[Shmallow]

I know why it is called "coming out" as a furry. Because for some of these poor kids and young adults, the reaction of their families and friends is the same as when people come out as homosexual. And unfortunately a lot of those reactions are freakin terrible. I still don't get how people can love their God more than their own kids.

When I was 16, I came out as bisexual to my mom -- it was a childish and unnecessary idea. But "furry" isn't the same thing. Young adults and kids are always quick to jumping onto conclusions and trying to "change the world". Things would be better if they just piped down and bought themselves a dragon dildo. Nobody NEEDS to know about your fandom/hobby

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

When I was 16, I came out as bisexual to my mom -- it was a childish and unnecessary idea. But "furry" isn't the same thing. Young adults and kids are always quick to jumping onto conclusions and trying to "change the world". Things would be better if they just piped down and bought themselves a dragon dildo. Nobody NEEDS to know about your fandom/hobby

I was 21 when I "came out" as bi. But my point is the reactions can be the same. And it is also about identity. The whole "i have a secret and must keep it secret or else" thing wears on the human mind. Not being able to share or express ones self out of fear of retribution is torture for some, not to all. Everyone is different. And it should be that way. But we shouldn't judge those who do want to shout out at the top of their lungs "I AM A FURRY!!".

 

[PlusThirtyOne]

I know why it is called "coming out" as a furry. Because for some of these poor kids and young adults, the reaction of their families and friends is the same as when people come out as homosexual

Agreed. But being a furry is NOT an orientation.
Being homosexual and wanting to share your partner with the family is ONE thing but your interests and hobbies (sexual in nature or not) is your own damn business. There's NO NEED to share it, especially if you feel your family might disapprove. Why challenge it? Nobody NEEDS to know your fantasies! Homosexuality isn't even sexual at its core; it's romantic attraction. Mom and dad don't need to know you fantasize being spanked by inflated body building fox girls. But if you want to share your real life boyfriend with the family, it's something mom and dad need to know and accept beforehand. Certain hobbies and interests are not without their stigmas and hardships. it's inconvenient, yes, but THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW if you prefer Star TREK over Star WARS, especially if your parents answered Jedi as their religion on the census. Deal with it! LOL :V

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

Agreed. But being a furry is NOT an orientation.
Being homosexual and wanting to share your partner with the family is ONE thing but your interests and hobbies (sexual in nature or not) is your own damn business. There's NO NEED to share it, especially if you feel your family might disapprove. Why challenge it? Nobody NEEDS to know your fantasies! Homosexuality isn't even sexual at its core; it's romantic attraction. Mom and dad don't need to know you fantasize being spanked by inflated body building fox girls. But if you want to share your real life boyfriend with the family, it's something mom and dad need to know and accept beforehand. Certain hobbies and interests are not without their stigmas and hardships. it's inconvenient, yes, but THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW if you prefer Star TREK over Star WARS, especially if your parents answered Jedi as their religion on the census. Deal with it! LOL :V

I am not saying it is a sexual orientation. But it IS an orientation. And my point is that if that is what someone feels like they should do, we shouldn't give em a hard time about it. And a word of encouragement or advice never hurts.(well....most times)

 

[Shmallow]

Agreed. But being a furry is NOT an orientation.
Being homosexual and wanting to share your partner with the family is ONE thing but your interests and hobbies (sexual in nature or not) is your own damn business. There's NO NEED to share it, especially if you feel your family might disapprove. Why challenge it? Nobody NEEDS to know your fantasies! Homosexuality isn't even sexual at its core; it's romantic attraction. Mom and dad don't need to know you fantasize being spanked by inflated body building fox girls. But if you want to share your boyfriend with the family, it's something mom and dad need to know and accept beforehand. Certain hobbies and interests are not without their stigmas and hardships. it's inconvenient, yes, but THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW if you prefer Star TREK over Star WARS, especially if your parents answered Jedi as their religion on the census. Nobody cares! Deal with it! LOL :V

I'll quickly throw in an interesting example that's a bit less common:
I'm very dependent on mother, as I'm physically incapable of doing MANY things. However, a part of me REALLY wants to explore the sexual side of art, hence why I'm currently working on some delicious smut. But, given my dependency on my mother, I need to tell her about what I'm doing, and this might be rough. Do you have any ideas?

 

[Shmallow]

I am not saying it is a sexual orientation. But it IS an orientation. And my point is that if that is what someone feels like they should do, we shouldn't give em a hard time about it. And a word of encouragement or advice never hurts.(well....most times)

It's not an orientation. That's like saying "Anime" is an orientation. It's a mix of interests and hobby, and sometimes sexual in nature, but not always. It is not an orientation, sexual or otherwise.

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

Agreed. But being a furry is NOT an orientation.
Being homosexual and wanting to share your partner with the family is ONE thing but your interests and hobbies (sexual in nature or not) is your own damn business. There's NO NEED to share it, especially if you feel your family might disapprove. Why challenge it? Nobody NEEDS to know your fantasies! Homosexuality isn't even sexual at its core; it's romantic attraction. Mom and dad don't need to know you fantasize being spanked by inflated body building fox girls. But if you want to share your real life boyfriend with the family, it's something mom and dad need to know and accept beforehand. Certain hobbies and interests are not without their stigmas and hardships. it's inconvenient, yes, but THE WORLD DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW if you prefer Star TREK over Star WARS, especially if your parents answered Jedi as their religion on the census. Deal with it! LOL :V

I love the Star Wars take.

 

[nerdbat]

I completely agree with you! The fandom is divided into many 'factions' that believe in their own 'ideals'. The only thing that is clumping us together is the vague definition of "Furry", which is very hard to pinpoint. Maybe even impossible. I'd like more tolerance in the community for various forms of art, but at the same time, I'd love to get rid of all of the dumb MS Paint stuff from the front page. I don't want to sound mean, but the front page should show us the "cream of the crop", beautiful colours, realistic or not, and great creations. Instead, I saw a very poorly drawn picture of a wolf cutting his own throat .

To be honest, I have to disagree with the whole "rid of all the dumb stuff" thing. Not because I particularly like crappy art, but because, well, it was done before on other sites, and it didn't turn out too good. For a light example, you can look at /r/furry subreddit with trending artwork being displayed at frontpage. Yes, all the drawings are technically well-made, but they're all generic as hell, and half of them usually looks like it was made by same artist or something (despite different names being mentioned). They're getting picked by votes, and you see, popular opinion is not always the right one. And for a particularly nasty example, there's a Russian artwork community called FurNation (not that closed-down FurNation, another one, yeah). There's a differentiation between three ranks - "amateur", "regular" and "master". A good thing on paper, but every "rank" has increasingly more privileges than previous one, and it all results in pro-active bullying of "amateurs" and commission monopoly on "masters" side, which is why there are little to no new members. And "masters" aren't even that good - yeah, they're technically proficient, but not nearly as imaginative and ambitious as majority of "regulars". So yeah, this thing is bullshit.

And again, there's a difference in styles and preferences. Frankly, I'm not a fan of both Falvie and Hax - they can draw very well, that's for sure, but IMO they really lack in designing interesting characters or pushing any boundaries. Their artwork is pretty and professional, but for the most part, repetitive and limited to me - but hey, everybody has their own tastes. The thing is, how would you rate an artist like, for example, Shenanimation? He's not a professional by any means, he's not good at complex coloring, his knowledge of anatomy is not fantastic, but he's so damn great at creating interesting, humorous scenarios and memorable, charismatic, not-seen-before characters that he earned a huge fanbase because of constantly thinking outside the box. Would you objectively put him below Falvie or Hax because he's "not as professional"? That's what can pretty much happen fandom-wise if you start categorizing artwork on "good" and "bad" - there's the point where the line is blurred, and by making such restrictions we'll only come up with putting one way of drawing things above the other, which is wrong on many levels.

 

[Okami_No_Heishi]

It's not an orientation. That's like saying "Anime" is an orientation. It's a mix of interests and hobby, and sometimes sexual in nature, but not always. It is not an orientation, sexual or otherwise.

Is not an orientation what one identifies as? People identify as Furries. As Ottakus. Weeboos. Pirates. Bronies. Walking Dead. Mario and Luigi! And on and on.

 

[Shmallow]

And again, there's a difference in styles and preferences. Frankly, I'm not a fan of both Falvie and Hax - they can draw very well, that's for sure, but IMO they really lack in designing interesting characters or pushing any boundaries. Their artwork is pretty and professional, but for the most part, repetitive and limited to me - but hey, everybody has their own tastes. The thing is, how would you rate an artist like, for example, Shenanimation? He's not a professional by any means, he's not good at complex coloring, his knowledge of anatomy is not fantastic, but he's so damn great at creating interesting, humorous scenarios and memorable, charismatic, not-seen-before characters that he earned a huge fanbase because of constantly thinking outside the box. Would you objectively put him below Falvie or Hax because he's "not as professional"? That's what can pretty much happen fandom-wise if you start categorizing artwork on "good" and "bad" - there's the point where the line is blurred, and by making such restrictions we'll only come up with putting one way of drawing things above the other, which is wrong on many levels.

Ah, indeed, a tough problem. In a sense, I believe that no art should be stigmatized or filtered out, but it's not easy to plow through feces in order to find a good amateur image. Steam is currently having issues with shitty games, where the shop is being utterly drowned in dumb projects made by teens and trolls for an easy buck. There HAS to be some sort of filter, at least for the main pages. Maybe we'll never find a consensus, thus why it'll never happen, but I'm not opposed to the idea of cleaning out what's clearly a low effort piece.

Shenanimation is creative. It's not about the style itself, but the slick linework, an interesting design and, perhaps, even humorous content! I've seen loads of small comic flicks that were VERY simplistic, yet meaningful and insightful to some degree. Sometimes just plain funny! So yeah. Incredibly tough question. We might just let it slide for the time being xD

 

[Shmallow]

Is not an orientation what one identifies as? People identify as Furries. As Ottakus. Weeboos. Pirates. Bronies. Walking Dead. Mario and Luigi! And on and on.

Orientation implies a sort of "lifestyle", and, honestly, furries don't have a "lifestyle" aside from the crazy ones. We don't dedicate our entire existence to being furries, unlike homosexuality or, I dunno, Christianity where one is governed by a set of rules, and his lifestyle is deeply fused with this 'idea' or 'hobby'. (not implying that homosexuality is a choice, merely that it's part of our almost day-to-day life)

Weeaboos might like anime and collect a bunch of plushies, but usually it's not a "lifestyle" or an "orientation". Just a more precise interest in pseudo-japanese culture and artstyles.

 

[Deleted member 82554]

Well, The Free Dictionary states orientation as "a direction followed in the course of a trend, movement, or development", "a tendency of thought; a general inclination: a Marxist orientation", "a sexual orientation", or "an adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas".

So, yeah, the furry fandom is a kind of orientation in a sense, just as much as it is a hobby...

 

[Shmallow]

Well, The Free Dictionary states orientation as "a direction followed in the course of a trend, movement, or development", "a tendency of thought; a general inclination: a Marxist orientation," "a sexual orientation", or "an adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas".

So, yeah, the furry fandom is a kind of orientation in a sense...

Yeah~ Kind of~ But calling it that makes it sound way too serious. Marxism is a movement, Anthropomorphology is barely one. If one day furries begin an artistic revolution, much like Fauvism or Cubism, then I'll be very much inclined to call it an "orientation" or "movement". Right now, it's just a fandom secluded from the rest of the internet and media.