Interesting

Fave this journal. :o Huzzah for truth!

0o;; almost sounds like a presidential speech 0o;

no no.. GunMouth is too intelligent for that.. and writes his own work.

*ba-dump-CHING*

XD

Very good points. I don't have any talent when it comes to this fandom, so I know I wont get any cash or popularity, which is why I'm job hunting at the moment. (Not doing so good, but I wont stop trying. I NEED A PAYCHECK!) But even with that, I probably wont leave the fandom. There may be time where I'd need a BREAK from it, but I'll never leave.....weather the fandom likes it or not......MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

DAMN STRAIGHT!

I agree. Some people in many different fandoms, furs included, take them far too seriously. For me, furrydom is just a casual hobby that I enjoy, something to help me relax, meet interesting people, see their talents, and just have fun in general. But defining your lifestyle based on association with being furry? It's a bit too much. :/

A good example of what I mean is the people who actually live as members of the Klingon race from Star Trek.

I'm leaving the Gunmouth fandom. That bastard gave me a cold at FA:U.

A-fucking-men, man. Goddamn. Someone needed to say it.

thanks for the link to that journal i was really worth reading

Damn Matt, your just full of wisdom, you need to open your mouth and let the words come out more often

not sarcastic, btw, for reals.

I rather doubt anyone is going to bother reading all of that. I doubt anger-induced rants help anyone feel welcome.

But that wasn't an anger-induced rant... :(

So what does a comment made on something you obviously didn't read make people feel? :}

Awww! Face!

When you are rite, you are rite. Nice one.

Right, even?

Nop :3

Wrong? D:

Rite :D

Augh! My head!

E hee, kewt

So 'success' means being poor, sick and sad 'round these parts?

I think I'll stick to being a failture, thank you.

*Shrugs* Some people make sacrifices to do what they love.

Definately words that need to be said, and good/interesting reasoning behind it as well. :) Heck, I still get frustrated with music on occasion, yet I refuse to give it up... I'm not doing it for the money (although I will admit, it wouldn't hurt to make it to HUGE events out in europe as so many north american djs dream of (especially in the rave scene, focus seems to be on events like the sensations and love parade)), but instead for the enjoyment, and if I make some of the goals I have, all the better. If I only make it to the dance floor and not behind the tables at those clubs, oh well, I still made it there ^_^

So many seem to say there isn't a point if you can't make money - I like your opinion, which appears to match mine - if you can't have fun on the journey, it's simply artificial (Besides, isn't that why we have jobs that we have to pay the bills, and then hobbies to actually make those struggles worth it?)

In my opinion, a lot of things can be simplified down to two things: What do you WANT to do, and what do you HAVE to do?

Doing what you WANT to do will give you sanity points. Keeps you happy.

Doing what you NEED to do will give you life points. Keeps you alive.

If you're lucky, what you WANT to do WILL make you money. But sometimes that is not enough, and you have to do what you NEED to do, and put the stuff you WANT to do off till later.

Mmmm, probably why I work for a dead end job as a delivery driver, eh? ^_^ Oh well, the brown uniform isn't -that- bad ~_^

I definately have to agree with you there, and even though some might call it oversimplification it's a pretty good and solid point, and so much easier to explain that way as well... (Hey white, use punctuation ~_^)

Odds are, what I want to do will never net me the money to pay all my bills, but if it means the ability to at least subsidize the cost of said hobby, I'd be happy enough, especially if somehow I were to ever get a residency (I suppose I should let the shoulder heal first >.>). Either way though, it's a guaranteed fact Beatport and HTFR will get a good chunk of cash from me though (as well as the local dj/music gear stores around town)

But yeah, what you said definately had to be said. :)

What keeps me coming back to this fandom? Oh yeah. The crushing loneliness.

Matt keeps me coming back :D

Stay away from my man, you hussy!

Never thought I'd see you post on a journal like this. This is fascinating. *nods nods*

Nice journal here.

I will say too... generally those that post they're leaving aren't and will be back. I've found more often its those that just fade away to never post again, leaving behind just old journal posts and artwork are usually the ones that have truely left. Kinda sad when it happens. But yeah~ sometimes the whole I'm leaving thing seems like an attention grab. Maybe hoping people will beg for them to stay. And really, theres always going to be someone who will miss your presence. I feel like every arter should hear that and know their dissapearance hasn't gone unoticed. Everyone has their biggest fan that will miss them.

What's funny is that some people who HAVE attention don't see it. Then they perform these attention-grabbing stunts, and end up losing a lot of respect in doing so, because they label themselves as attention whores.

Good of you to come up and lay this out. It really sheds some light on a few things actually...

I think there's one thing that you're missing. It's not just boredom, money, and depression that might make people decide to leave the fandom, but one other reason that they might. They may just grow out of it, not be interested in the art or the people that they're finding, not get a boner when they see a cheetah fur going down on a husky fur, and just decide that art isn't the hobby they'd like to pursue, but hang gliding instead.

So, leaving the fandom in that aspect just makes sense. I mean, the average age of furries is what, 24? Getting older than that you're getting settled into a job, climbing the ladder, thinking about getting a house in a couple years, thinking about getting married (possibly to someone who doesn't like/understand the fandom you're in), and, for men at least, your sexual peak and the days of fapping five times a day are, hopefully, starting to come to a close. (Ironically, guys reach their sexual peak at 18, and girls reach it at 35).

I totally agree that it sucks whenever a great artist decides to up and separate themselves from the fandom.. I can only hope that when they do, they at least keep drawing, even if what they draw has nothing to do with the fandom that they left. It's just a loss of talent to stop something you've spent years trying to hone.

Oh, well yeah, when I said boredom, I was sorta lumping in \"general loss of interest\" in there as well.

But yeah, everything changes with age. Sometimes what once WAS cool is now cool no more, and all the fans of that fade with it.

Ah, yeah, then that works fine.

And sometimes... well, just the appearance, the face, or the workings of the fandom change as well. I once frequented a chat site for years, only for the people to slowly change. Some left, many new ones came in, different types of drama came and went, and slowly I've just.. lost interest in it. In that instance, it's not so much leaving the fandom as 'leaving it behind', and you can't blame anybody for that, not that I'm saying that you were of course :3

Good discussion, good journal ^^

Hey hey! >.> Who let you on the soap box? Back to prons! Back to prons! *whipcrack*

:D No really, this is a pretty good journal. Sometimes I think someone "farewell" messages should be more honest. "I'm embarrassed and am now hiding my interests". Most of the time, that seems to be what it is.

Yes sir!

*Flees away from the podium, dragging and clattering his chains behind him. Then climbs back into his cage of filth and despair, weeping softly to himself as he sketches*

Ahh.. Reminds of me a Korean animation studio.

Ooh, big bad man! HE beat us!

We are SRAVES...

lol XD

The thing with furries is they wanna get to that "In" crowd of artists/writers/etc. in the fandom NOW. They dont have that patience of what pretty much 90+% of the fandom's artists had. That means YEARS and YEARS of practice. And especially at a time now where I think the fandom is at its highests. The current popular artists have given much inspiration for the newer furries that they want to become that status as well, but they forget that theyre gonna have to take a bit of time to reach to somewhat that level. Some can get lucky and be an excellent artist off the bat, but honestly not everyone can.

And there are some furries that when they start drawing and dont get feedback or some attention, they just baww and quit. You guys gotta have a lot of self-esteem if you wanna do some stuff like this 8)

I remember when I first started going to fur cons, back in 1999. It was MFM, and I managed to get one of my drawings on the BACK of the CON T-SHIRT! But I had NO IDEA that fur cons didn't have an artist alley back then, and thus, I had no table in the dealer room. Had to get on a waiting list.

I finally got a table Saturday afternoon with MAX BLACKRABBIT. We didn't say ONE FUCKING WORD to each other the entire con. Hell, I didn't even know who Zig Zag was until AFTER the con. Nowadays Max and I are buds, and we offer sacrifices to the BUTT gods with our art.

Anyway, yeah... I was nobody back then... and almost TEN years later, people are just now starting to notice I even exist. But you know what? I wasn't in it for the popularity. I was in it for the joy of drawing. It just so happened to be that I picked up cash and friends along the way, which anyone can do.

The sad thing is that a lotta people are in it JUST for the popularity. They don't DO anything with the popularity that they manage to eke out, either. They just revel in it. I never understood it. I've sat and watched countless artists become 'popular' and once they did, they just treated everyone else, people they were once like, like total shit. People who used to ask for critique suddenly start acting like anyone who dares say anything negative about their art is a blind talentless hack who should fuck off *COUGH COUGH COUGH CRYSTAL-FOR-EVER COUGH COUGH BLUHUHH BLUGH!!*, people who used to reply at least to a handful of comments turned into holier-than-thou pseudo-gods of the fandom, not even bothering to even READ half their comments, if any at all, unless they see someone even more famous on their list of comments received, and then they're ALL over them. Again, crystal-for-ever reference but I've seen this happen with many other people too...

I dunno. I can't decide whether I like the furfandom, or whether I feel all dirty inside for sticking with it. :<

This is true. Some people use others like steps on a ladder, using each one to climb to the top, and ignoring the ones that helped them get there.

But you gotta be careful, because there are other people out there who are bad ladder steps!!! There are SOME people who do a certain thing, then somehow expect gobs of gratitude for it, when all they really should get is a "thanks."

I've seen it happen too often. One fan will help an artist out once, or a couple times, then expect to be A.) AWESOME FRIENDS or B.) CREDITED for ALL THEIR HELP.

Also, in this fandom, there are those that simply are ignored because they are either creepy or annoying... A girl may block a guy because he keeps slobbering all over her for her art, or maybe he keeps bugging her for a commission.

But I assume you are talking mainly about people who used to talk to you, but don't anymore, because they found a cooler crowd to hang with.

Those people suuuuuck baaaaaalls, but that's how simple a lot of people are. Welcome to the social infrastructure of life~

Also, please do not badmouth anybody on my journal. You can note it to me, but I'd rathe rnot my journal be used for badmouthing others by name (you can hint, but don't name anyone).

"Also, in this fandom, there are those that simply are ignored because they are either creepy or annoying... A girl may block a guy because he keeps slobbering all over her for her art, or maybe he keeps bugging her for a commission."

Heh heh hehhhhh. Being a dude and not a chick, I can't say I've ever had that happen on a PERSONAL level. And strangely, I've never really had anyone, online at least, move up the social ladder and leave me behind. But, I observe both of these things happen so often than it's kinda like "wow, that's some A-grade bullshit right there." It actually happens all the time to my friends, and honestly when I see someone turn around and dump on their former friends for "more popular ones," I don't care if it's in person [aka IRL] or online, I still have this strange knack for losing every iota of respect I may've had for them, yanno?

Truth zombie hulk speaks the truth for the masses that could not grasp it for themselves

D:

lol the only reason I would ever really leave this fandom is if I found one that I feel I fit in like a billion times more of.

And I actually did find that, although I wouldn't call it a "fandom" so much as a "community," and that'd be the hacking community. So I haven't really put much serious thought into "quitting" the fandom, so much as disconnecting myself from it and moreso dedicating myself to the other group of nerdy misfits. :T

The answer is WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK.......... WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK work WORK WORK WORK!!

Yes, please do that, I'm getting anxious!

I wish I could fav journals.

tl;dr.

Nah, I kid. This was actually good to read, I needed some, hm, inspiration, I guess. Motivation.

And that's why I wrote it. :)

I find it almost too lucky to have watched you. You really are a breath of fresh air in a smoggy city.

Then WHY do people keep on telling me to wear DEODORANT??

Cause its THE MAN dude. THE MAN ALWAYS KEEPS YOU DOWN!

*wears tinfoil helmet*

Damn straight! >.<

Seriously though, Very well said, man.

Ah yes, wise wise words. I do art because it's FUN, I enjoy it, I love being able to do something that makes happy and a bonus to make others happy. I am here to eagerly crawl my way up to 'l33t art skillz' though alot of blood,sweat and tears will be the expensive of that. That is just fine, I'd rather grow into myself and improve overtime then get insta-fame or recognition, it makes the exposure all the sweeter if you've earned it. But that's just it, fame is just the icing on the cake for all that hard work. It's the gratitude you receive from EARNING it.

Sure it's hard- and may take awhile, but it makes pathway fun-- your always learning, failing for awhile only means you are learning. I've come along way just in one year but I know there is awhile to go. It's exciting for me.
I am glad another artist posted a journal like this, maybe helps those who are still up and coming or not quite reached a milestone in their art.

I considered leaving the fandom before, but i can't deny that i like the arts, and stories, and .... quite a number of other stuffs... so it'd be hard to claim i am not a furry. :p

So w/e. I never did leave the fandom thingie.

You sure put a lot of thought into that rant though.

Well, I could tell my variation of some positive approval that someone (or plural) had already said...
But since I see no point on stating an adaptation that, in a nutshell, simply implies "I'm with you" I'll stick with the nice and direct:

"Nuff said." ^_^

I wish the internet hated us less

¿¿¿Que???


What does that have to do with this? o.o;;

Well it's easy for most people to shrug off all the 'yiff in hell' crap but when you know that a bunch of people (namely 4chan and /b/) despise you it gets hard on some people

Thing is though, there are always going to be people who make fun of one another to make each other feel better.

And here's the magical part... most of those chan boards and whatnot... if you DON'T go to them the hatred MAGICALLY disappears!!

Seriously, you can't let losers on the net get you down. The only ones you should fear are the ones that can come over to your house and do you harm. Chances are, nobody on the net will have the will or funds to do that, and you'd have to be stupid enough to let them know where you live as well.

It is fun to mess with them, though. I posted 30 pages of gay furry porn on /b/ and it ended up being on the front page for 4+ hours and didn't get 404'd. There was surprisingly little negative response

/b/ actually like their furry porn. There's plenty of it on fridays. It's just cool to bash furries if you're a channer. You can still enjoy the art so long as you hate on it afterwards.

damn I haven't been to /b/ in ages.

the internet will stop hating us when they become more open about sex

which is such a fucking hilarious catch 22 'cause, y'know, porn



(it also doesn't help that so many furries are vocal as all hell and LOVE to trump the victim card whenever someone looks at them strangely, which is the source of the majority of the hate)

*Shrugs* I don't really get why anyone really sees being into anthros as a fandom... just seemed like a fetish that everyone's into to me.

Even though it is heavily inundated with sexual influences, not everything in the furry fandom is about sex, and therefore having an interest in furry art is not a fetish.

Hm... that's true, kinda forgot about that(even though that's not my only reason for being in this >.>; ). I suppose it's because I moreso associate fandoms with a specific TV show or something of the like.

Regardless, I don't get why people make such a big deal over it *Shrug* People are too serious about this kind of crap.

Why do gamers make such a big deal about their games? It's because they love playing games.

It's only natural for people to make a big deal about things they love.

If nobody is serious about it, then it never progresses and it never gains any respect.

Some of us would someday like to be able to draw our style of art without being slammed for it. However this is not going to happen until people outside the fandom start realising that the non-sexual side of anthropomorphism is quite cool.

And they aren't going to realise this if the fandom iteself prefers to focus on the fetishistic aspects.

See what I'm getting at? The furry fandom just keeps itself going in a time warp.

Pfft, then they need to grow some balls and get over it. If you really like being a furry that much, stop being such a pussy over it, but don't start throwing pride parades ~_~ When people act as if something's bizarre, it's treated that way, and that's what's happening with furries.

And besides, the whole... fetish thing... it happens in everything, anime being a great example.

Yeah, but unlike furry, anime is actually respected.

Pfft, where've you been? I see it made fun of on a regular basis on ED xD As far as I'm concerned, anime is waaay worse than furry crap.

No it's not. Anime actually has an industry. It's also popular the world over. You can strike a conversation with a normal person by bringing it up as a topic and be fairly well recieved. It's the dominant art style in animated media. You can'd say any of that about furry.

Feh, regardless, overall, my point is to just grow some balls about it. If you're afraid to talk about anthros to some of your friends or to anyone in general(within reason, obviously). Whenever I used to draw in school, I had plenty of people asking about 'em and they never seemed weirded out. Even if they were, so what? Who cares?

Selfish attitude. If nobody devotes to anything then nothing will ever evolve. This "who cares" attitude is one of the things I don't like about the fandom.

Apathy can only be so cool up to a point where it's detrimental.

Another example would be somebody who is into pet shows. Say you had this beautiful cat that had an amazing coat and unusual markings, and it was the most gorgeous and well-behaved animal you'd ever groomed, yet it was ineligable to compete in cat shows because it wasn't a pure-bred or it was an unrecognised breed. That would be very dissappointing.

While you're at it, you should probably go and tell any athlete who's sport was ommitted from the Olympic games to 'grow some balls'.

Erm, wow, completely missing what I'm saying. I'm saying, along the lines of, if someone says your pure-bred cat is the ugliest thing ever, who cares? It's your damn cat, they can just go eat some ass.

Let me make this as simple as possible: If someone has a problem with something you like, you grow some balls and just deal with it. Keep liking what you like, don't let someone else's opinions kill something you love.

You're missing my point here as well. That cat CAN'T compete in the cat show because the judges are NOT willing to recognise it's breed. Even though it clearly deserves to be a competitior.

Burying your head in the sand is all well and good until you get to a point where the problems are keeping you or your object of interest from proceeding or evolving.

...wait, what? Who's keeping furries from doing anything? I haven't seen any cases of that sort of thing, at least not on professional level, and typically when it comes to more personal stuff, people tend to be able to realize that art is art regardless of if it's got anthros in it or not. All it boils down to is people online being stupid about anthro crap, and the really stupid furries getting hacked and harassed.

If you somehow manage to find a western animation or game development studio that won't immediately turn you down for having anthropomorphic characters in your portfolio, then you still have to get around the fact that a majority of consumers will take one look at the product and dismiss it as furry.

There is a very good dounjinshi game known as 'Monster' coming out sometime soon. Despite having solid and competitive level gameplay, many people have admitted to being turned off by the kemono character design, even though they liked the game itself.

The internet is pretty big, and much of the furry fandom's infamy is spread via the internet. Especially since it's 'cool' to bash on furries. Pretty much everyone who uses the internet on a regular basis knows what a furry is or has heard of them. 99.9% of the time, they've heard and believe negative things, since the most likely places they'd hear about the fandom would be from popular social sites such as 4chan.

What I'm getting at is that the reputation that furries have is just flat-out bad both on the internet and off it. This isn't helped by the fact that there aren't many furries who make a concious effort to avoid the sexual side of the fandom and prove it's more socially acceptable points to outsiders, and that's understandable since the greater majority of the furry fandom is fetish-oriented.

It's almost as bad as the 2D fighting game fandom when it comes to making an effort to change its ways. ALMOST as bad.

Dude. We're talking on a journal entry from a guy who DID get hired even though he had anthro crap out in public!

Ratchet and Clank stars with an anthropomorphic character, but that series has done very, VERY well. And so what? You don't honestly expect everyone to enjoy playing as an anthro, do you? I, personally, prefer playing as an anthro in games, with other people I'm certain it's the opposite. It's not that they're being treated as freakish, it's just because it's not in their interests. It might seem childish to them, considering it's in kemono-style; if it was, say, in the style of Bloody Roar, then I could sympathyze further since people tend to prefer aggressive, more realistic-styled fighting, but regardless, my point doesn't change on bit.

There's a sexual side of every single fandom out there, typically they're just not usually grouped together like our's. We're still small, this is the only real site for us out here, being associated with the two is just a consequence of that.

You're really just seeming like you're struggling to yell fursecution about crap, when the situation really isn't that bad, you're just trying to find ways to pull a similar move to how stereotypical black people try to find everything against them as having racist reasons.

Well you are right about certain games such as Ratchet and Clank, but in general most people would consider a game with anthro characters to be either childish or "ohgod, furries."

It's rare to find anthro games that take themselves seriously like Inherit the Earth and Monster. I don't count Bloody Roar since it's still focussed on humans (who transform a la werewolves)

And as for FA being the only site we have, everyone forgets about Yiffstar and F.A.P. But what all these sites have in common is that they still cater more for the adult side of the fandom rather than the general.

I mean, even take one look at FA's usual slew of banners. They're either badly drawn or blatantly suggestive. Occasionally you'll get an amazing one like the one that Blotch did for the fall banner (I think it was Blotch) or Bo-Gilliam's new year banner for 2007. But generally they sum up FA rather well: a porn site in disguise.

While I might be rather attracted to it myself, the high focus on sexuality in the fandom does get irritating sometimes.

And you can say whatever you want, I've witnessed firsthant how bad the fandom's image STILL is.

And even putting the image aside completely (moving on) even if we ignore the fact that furries are generally hated by everyone, the mentality that a lot of people in this fandom exhibit is just embarrassing. That's a personal pet peeve of mine that probably makes up for a good deal of my bias.

Anyway, I'm not interested in continuing this conversation anymore. You have good points, but I'm still convinced that there is major improvements that could be made within the furry community.

Eh, I agree with you, we're both right in our own ways, and I do believe that there are alot of ways that things need to change. Anywho, it's been interesting, see you <:3

Ignore the fighting-game specific part of that post, misread something, though it still applies.

And ED makes fun of everything. You can't use ED as an example since the whole point of ED is to bash things.

I totally agree with this journal. Hell I wish there was a function to fave journals!

Dont FAV this journal he ripped me off!!!

what if your not a artist?

If you're not an artist or writer, and you think the furry fandom will make you successful... then I would like to know HOW you figure that.

If you are not an artist, and you are leaving the fandom, I suppose the same terms apply. The fandom is just an interest. Either it makes you happy and/or interests you, or it does not. If you LIKE it, but wanna leave it... then that would seem kinda odd.

If your a smart upbeat person who can give a good conversation then your worth 3 artists....

nope, I is screw :P

Amen brother.

I gotta say, I'm glad I got talked into hitting up MFF a few years ago. It was a really fun time. Making a few bucks let me buy up art supplies and toys I normally couldn't afford. A few good investments, and I'm not starving like I was before.

It's fantastic to have something you love provide a paycheck. Even if it didn't though, I've had loads of fun and made some most excellent friends. That's more than enough for me.

I wonder how many people this is pissing off...

Anyway Its spoken truth and I like it.. so bully for you buns.

word

Didn't already write something like this? XD

In all seriousness, I agree. One can't simply give up what they like doing just because you can't get popular or money (or get laid even, as I've met some "furries" who "left the fandom" because they hadn't gotten laid in the few months they were in it.)

Some people have valid reasons for leaving, but the majority of them are just completely ridiculous.

He totally ripped me off.... No credit or nothing....

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Especially when about a couple years ago, seemed like furs were leaving the fandom left and right like it was the cool thing to do

I really do love you, Matt.

You're weird as fuck (and that's saying something, coming from me) at cons with your 1000 and 1 rubber masks, then boom, like a twisted Silent Bob, you spring forth with this truly inspirational food for thought.


I will be honest. There's been times when I've asked myself "why am I here" as well. MANY a time. IF I left, my reason wouldn't be because I need more attention or fame, because I don't care about either of those, and it isn't because I don't make enough money (lord knows I'm used to never breaking even at cons), and my reason wouldn't be to get away from any person or people, my reason would only be because I often find myself drawing too many things I normally wouldn't draw (nothing EXTREME, mind you) and I've simply been too much of a softie to say no. On a personal level, I've been trying to get back to drawing what got me the fanbase I have in the first place (fem dinos, tits and ass, you know. Fun stuff I'd draw on my own accord) instead of the countless commissions I've been fighting to keep myself motivated to do. Over the years, from 2004 to now, the things I've been drawing have been increasingly difficult to bring myself to enjoy while drawing them. But hey, that's commissions. Sometimes, I feel like they'll never end... and those are the times when I feel like I have to get away.

But reading things like this make me want to stick around a LITTLE while longer.

Cheers and kudos, man.

they are actually QUITTING something they LOVE, and it's replaced by emptiness. I have seen AWESOME artists THROW AWAY their talent to live the plastic lives they live today, not even using art as a HOBBY. It is sad... THEY are sad... but they ACCEPT it, and take up space at their boring jobs until they die.

End they end with flat lives, forgetting what they could do with they love to do. It´s sad indeed. I hope that everyone could see that if they are good in something (even if it´s just slighty) and they love it, they will be really happy if take it as a way to live.

Of course, when you not enjoy that anymore is a different matter :/ anyone could have their own reasons to that.

It seems like you've had some time to catch up on life and things. I've got a new address, so it'd be really nice to hear back from you about my commish before I have to give up completely.

"NO MATTER WHAT YOU FUCKING DO, YOU ARE IN SOME SORT OF FANDOM. IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE, YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT AND IN DENIAL!"

100% Brillance.

yeah and 99% rip off...

Oh yeah.. I've said it any number of times.. hell, dozens of other have said it.. but it bares continual repeating.. as many still don't get it.

"I'm.. I'm not a fan.. now shut up.. I'm watching my team, the steelers!"

You know, it doesn't help when theres a lot of this:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/441142/ (cross post to Bo-Gilliam's journal) Being insulted hurts, especially when you're insulted 1. by people who have no idea who you are or why you do what you do or 2. when its something you truly enjoy. Some people can handle it, some can't, thats just how it is.

Personally, I love furries, and furry art, and I've adorned my truck with a nice big sticker of a paw and big bright letters 'FURRY'. Why? Because this is who I am :)
Now, it's also ironic how shallow this fandom is as well if you really think about it and I think this is a pretty important point. Everyone 'knows' artists like Zaush or the Blotch team, loves their art, pays thousands of dollars at cons for it... would probably give anything to sleep with one of em... but the MOMENT, the moment they draw something that might be a little weird or out of the norm, where'd all those crazed fans go? They turned into "OmG! U Drewd a cub! THis IS t3h making me emotionally stress'd U r horrible person, ewwwww" Wtf. Sure, I'm not a proponent of cub art, or a myriad of other sub-fandoms, but I recognize talent, and see someone experimenting, or expressing themselves and you just gotta appreciate that.

I think that the furs who stay are troopers and totally rock. ;) And besides, for all of you who don't give a damn about the artist, the porn lives on on fchan or that e place...

So I agree with what you said totally, but I think its important to note that some people get butt-hurt or take the internet too seriously, and when there is seemingly nobody left to support them, well, I can see an exodus from the fandom for that person.

No offense to Bo-Gilliam, but dude, he posted something that was openly furry and sex-themed to a public board. EVERY picture that you upload to Tegaki gets posted on the recent uploads page for ALL to see.

Imagine a guy, wearing a pink tutu, walks into a bar, and yells, "Who wants to DANCE with me??" That would probably even get a bunch of laughs from a gay bar. If you go public with something, you're going to get a PUBLIC RESPONSE, even if it's good or bad. You stick something in someone's face, they might have a bad reaction to it, and sadly, I guess they're kinda allowed to do so.

Same thing goes with cub porn. If you draw something extreme, and present it publicly, expect an extreme public response. A lot of people think cub porn is disgusting, and therefore they will react like they've been disgusted. Hell, I draw vore, and many people think I'm disgusting for doing it, which is one reason why I made a separate account for it. SOME people might decide to badmouth me for it anonymously on certain web forums *cough*, but hell... if that's the way they react, I can't always help it.

I do agree that oppression is tough, but thankfully, there are many safehaven sites for furry art, fetish or otherwise. Sometimes branching out can be hard.

Every action gets a reaction. If people stop supporting someone for some reason, it may be because that person did something wrong. And if they decide to leave instead of fixing what they did wrong, then maybe their making yet another wrong choice.

You're absolutely right. *nod*

I just want to add here that my biggest peeve in this fandom is the people who aren't concious of how they display their own work.

You can't just draw the sluttiest (albeit non-sexual) blatantly furry artwork ever and then post it on a place like DA and still expect to be respected by people outside of the fandom.

I'm probably going to be flamed big time for this, but I honestly don't like the shameless attitude that so many furs tend to have.

It's like drawing gay porn on a huge canvass in a Catholic church where everyone can see it. Not only is it disrespectful, it's also detrimental to the image of others associated with your 'interest'.

I do respect Bo-Gilliam for never having posted a really "adult" picture, but a LOT of his artworks are still quite homoerotic in nature. I don't understand how many furry artists just can't SEE when their work is too suggestive or themed to weird out non-furry viewers.

And then you have the ones who are all like "Lol I don't care what anyone says, I'm proud 2 b furry! Look at me make a huge spectacle of myself, flaunting it shamelessly when I don't even realise that what I'm doing actually makes the rest of us look bad."

bah, I should probably shut up now. Whenever I vent on this topic, it never ends well.

Very insightful.

*crowd roaring noises*

Dude, you just ruined so many Emo Kids' days :P

true very true!

Well said. I totally agree with you.

About time I see some good sense from the community, let along a rant! Yes, I can specially say about those artists who think the community that revolves around THEM, not vice versa.

The type of aforementioned people mentioned by you really annoy me...tossing everything out because they found a better crowd (and losers on top of that!)

*Siiiiiiigh*
One of these days I gotta' go to one of these 'Cons. I've always wanted to meet Max, and yourself.
But anyway, I think we've all seen our share or artists choose the life of mediocrity. Does anyone remember this insanely talented Japanese photo-manipulator that went by the name of 'SilverFish'? I've never seen anything like it before, and never again.

Wait... those were PHOTO MANIPS???

MY DREAMS ARE SHATTERED!!!

If they threaten to disappear, but then they don't, then they were just fishing for some sympathy. I ignore them after that.

Do what you want, 'cause a pirateFurry is free
You are a pirateFurry!
Yar Har Fiddledeedee
Being a pirateFurry is alright with me
Do what you want, 'cause a pirateFurry is free
You are a pirateFurry!


>>; Sorry, I had to... :D But I totally understand what you mean! YAY for agreement!!!

rofl XD

This is why I stick to my day-job and draw as a hobby and a means of relaxation.

The pageviews, the faves... they're just icing on the cake because the /production of the art itself/ is what gives me the satisfaction, not the notariety.

Sure it's nice knowing that there are a few others out there interested in my work, as is the intention of publicly posting in the first place. But I see it more as an opportunity to gain critique and the opinions of professionals, rather than popularity. Some of my most prized comments were gleaned from career artists who actually /bothered/ to show me a few tips and techniques, and that has made all the difference for me artistically.

I wish more people would see this site as a place to better themselves artistically rather than a place to run up numbers.

The statement itself is rather annoying. It's like they make it sound like they devoted their life to the Furry Fandom as a way to exist when it's nothing more than something to do for fun.

To you Sir Gun.... Indeed.

Good points all around, including the sadness of seeing someone tossing aside what they had enjoyed to live miserable lives to serve what others felt that they ought to be doing rather than a particular fandom/pursuit.

I've seen some state they were 'leaving' because their new SO didn't like or hated the fandom and so all the friends and joys that they had were discarded for that one controlling and intolerant person who I'm sure didn't give up anything for the other person and had things going only one way. I can't imagine how they'd have a really happy life with someone like that or living where they have nothing that wasn't approved by someone else.

I had an ex(net)girlfriend that would leave the fandom regularly and would be back within a month. One time, it was quite insane, because someone had set up a petition to get her back on...she was loaded with drama. Glad after that mind-fuck she gave I went cold turkey.

I love the community, love the conventions that I've been. I definitely agree with the journal and it was pretty sweet to meet you at FAU.

It's honestly, at this point, something I can't quit. It's been seven years, and become such an every-day-normal-thing to me that I would actually have to put forth effort to AVOID it if I quit.

You can't quit something that's become a part of you.

I don't suppose there's much a non-artist or non-writer can expect to take from the fandom other than what they can offer to artists or writers. As well as just the myriad of wonderful art to see and wonderful people to meet. They can't make money from the fandom but they certainly can find joy in it.

I really can't imagine why someone would be in it for the popularity though. I would like to think that's something we can all say we've grown out of. I can't deny that I like being well-known in the few communities I peruse, but that's never been why I do it.

I don't really know what point I was trying to make, but you speak truth.

You have a very good point. Strait to the main point!
I do bealive its what YOU do that makes you who you are and hard work always pays off.

What about freeloaders like me?

I love this \"if you are not a writer\" stuff. Trust me, being a writer is close to being just a normal fan. We writers do not get much appreciation at all unless we are whoring ourselves out to particular people and doing stories JUST for them. (and in the meantime if they think you are actually good they will be too shy to ask for something when you blatantly say \"Hey, free story for anyone who has the balls to tell me what they want.\" lol)

As for the furry fandom, I am a furry and that is not going to change. So there would never be a reason for me to leave the fandom. If people give me shit I will light it and fling it right back at them. I can tear people apart intellectually and emotionally with ease. If they want to come to my house and confront me, so be it, I would love to kill someone who dared to threaten me in person. I am not an emotionally weak person and my fear of people evaporated the very first week of working retail. I learned fast that most people are helpless losers who can hardly function in day to day life and do not stand a chance of acting or thinking on their own. Now I just laugh at any threats or strong language they dare to send my way.

I will say that I do almost quit writing from time to time though. Well I would not leave the fandom over it (because as you mention I have a strong interest in the fandom so leaving it would be inane) I sometimes lose my muse altogether or my writing starts to feel like work which turns me off to it fast. I almost gave up writing for good in college after having to write so many essays that it left a bad taste in my mouth. I graduated with high honors thanks to those essays but they took the joy out of writing. Thankfully, I did not take that path of just taking up space in life as the others you mentioned and managed to rekindle my flame. I have seen some of those artists and writers as well and they are depressing. They are hardly alive anymore...It is like their soul finally gave way under the grinding of Corporate America and was ground into a fine paste leaving them nothing but a worthless shell. That is one of those sights that feels like a shotgun blast to the soul when I see it.

YOU ARE A JOURNAL RIPPER OFFER!!!!

I shall now be pissed at you for 25 min dont talk to me until my pissed off state is over!!

It is rather interesting how so many things intertwine within each other and how one can consider almost everything in life in practically a fandom. On an honest opinion, i find that being on this fandom does help because there are many of those who can help one make feel better about themselves and their talents and could help them pursue a goal in life that is associated within art ^ ^. That is how I feel about the fandom overall

WOW nice journal!

... Interesting point of view. But true no?

No one ever said it was easy.

Just do what I started to do every year. Take a break.

Back in August of 2005, all of the pics I did that month just left me with a sour stomach. The coloring was good but I was NOT happy with how the characters looked. So... for September I said I'm not going to draw a thing until October. Well I made it through the first 3 and a half weeks before the itch to draw hit me. I resisted until October. So for 5 weeks, nothing but working and playing video games.

Then, in October of 2005, I started right up and you know what? I came back with a vengeance!!! The first pic I did... everything was as perfect as I could get it. The rest of the year was great and towards the end, I even started to paint my own backgrounds and have done so ever since.

2006. My best year ever. That little break in September of 2005 did wonders and kept going right through pretty much of 2007. Since 2005, I try to take September off. This year, I kind of will. I won't be drawing my usual pics that you all see. I'll be doing some requests.

To make a short story long... take a break. I wouldn't quit just yet. Hell, if I had the time, I'd be doing commissions. I'd rather do this than work in a warehouse.

This reminds me of me, sort of. I haven't drawn in months because I've been playing WoW and working.

Recently, I canceled my subscription so I can have art time.

On a related note, if I leave the FURRY fandom I'd likely go to another ART-RELATED fandom so I can at least make use of my talent. I can see someone leaving the furry fandom over popularity and humbling himself with artists that know what they're doing and teach them how to improve.

Making art for popularity and money in the furry community can probably lead the artist to realize that he/she doesn't really need popularity or money, but would be better off improving their work and taking it in a different direction instead of cartoon animal porn. I'm not saying that there isn't any skill in making cartoon animal porn, and I'll affirm that there is a market for it, but it's not unlike an artist to want to broaden his/her horizons.

PS: Getting popular in the furry community has very little to do with art and everything to do with how much cocksucking you can pull off how well you network with the community.

I won't say my art is that great, but it's better then a lot of users who get twice as many viewers and visitors then I do. And it's simply because I don't socialize abroad, but instead make friends on a smaller scale (and on a more personal level). I've realized that and have come to terms with it. I have no aspirations of becoming popular or rich with this community. I do what I do because it's fun.

PPS: [b]HONK HONK![/s]

fffffffff closed with strike >:/

if i ever did leave, i figure it would be because something that used to be fun for me is now incredibly stressful.

i enjoyed this entry, though. made me think.

I kinda what you've said there. I think my favorite part is:

not even using art as a HOBBY

If it's something one likes doing, they should keep doing it, even if it's just casually. *nods*

I agree so much it fucking hurts. Allow me to add one more thing.

Firstly, why even let the "internet" make you mad? Think about it. Anonymous people from god-knows-where spouting whatever at you, and, what? You're getting -mad- at it? It's the fucking internet. You might as well get mad at a series of tubes.

But seriously, I made a conscious decision not to let the internet make me mad, be it trolls or whatever. It's like getting mad at a video game. Sure, at times, it's frustrating, but would you ever say 'Fuck this, I'm never playing video games again!"? Probably not.

Secondly, and I think this is the most important: furry is NOT the thing that's holding you back from being the best you can be-- its YOU.

Ask yourself this. Are you REALLY blaming furry for your lack of success in life? For your laziness and sloth and fatness or whatever? Furry? FURRY? FUCKING FURRY? SERIOUSLY?

Even if you take furry seriously, even if you or a lifestyler or a theaten(sp) or whatever, you are solely responsible for your actions. If Bob from Accounting can work a 9 - 5 job and still make time to go yachting or stamp collecting or money laundering, I assure you, you too can participate in the fandom and, at the same time, WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK, as you put it. Sure, you may not be able to TS or RP everyday for 6 hours like you did in high school, but, you can still RP 2 hours on Saturdays and maybe 30 minutes every other night, and still make time for an 8 hour work day (and an hour workout every other day, too.) The fandom isn't going anywhere.

Rant has ended.

Dude... You are a god.. o.o

Nice combination of journals, I remember reading that other one a while ago. The question I have is, is it implied that one has to be more on the fringe of a fandom to be a professional? As opposed to being totally absorbed and in the middle of things, that is. In other words, can anyone be completely involved in furry but also be a successful artist, or is it a balance where one side has to be sacrificed in order to focus more on the other?

I really don't think there's a need to gauge anything here. You like something, or you don't :) A "professional" is nothing more than a person, like you or me, who has a steady job in his field, usually paid by a company to perform said job.

Everyone has interests. There's nothing that says you can't be a working man/woman and NOT be in a fandom.

You can be successful wherever you go, but you have to be smart, AND you have to be hard working.

*two thumbs up and a big smile*

i like the way you think. ;)

You forgot "I'm leaving the fandom because it didn't end up being what I thought it was originally, and after spending some time in it I am aware that most of the rumours that I dismissed earlier are true, and I am ashamed and don't want people associating me with this hellhole of a fandom any longer."

I'd have hopped on that particular wagon ages ago if I didn't enjoy this fandom as much as I do. But OH WELL. BETTER NOT TALK ABOUT ANY NEGATIVES or I'll just be accused of making drama.

Good journal though. Although I think that the primary reason artists leave the fandom is because they no longer wish to have anything to do with it.

Sadly, it isn't a fandom with mainstream appeal and most furries are quite content staying where they are and adopting the usual "I don't care what anyone thinks, I'll do what I want" attitude. So of course a furry artist shouldn't be expecting to be getting any jobs or money outside of their own commissions.

Although having said that, I'm pretty pleased to see games like MONSTER being released and well-recieved by people outside of the fandom. Even though Monster is a kemono game.