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About me and scalies, reasoning
17 years ago
General
Well, what do I have to say...
First of, an apology...
I want to apologize to anyone who felt offended or annoyed by my moods in this situation, I didn't intend to bring you off your choice of changing a scalie character to a fur (even though, yes, there always is the “maybe they'll think about it” thing)
I AM aware that changing your character or Tf-ing a scalie to something else is your thing, this doesn't change that I feel upset about it but I think I'm slowly getting over it, at least it doesn't seem to “hurt” as much anymore (yea I gotta use that word, cant really describe it too much different)
And contrary to what all the drama llamas said this has nothing to do with “scalie superiority” or thinking less of any other species (in fact I often feel depressed because I often have the IMPRESION opposite is happening), this is simply about personal preferences just like anyone probably prefers the species he chose for his fursona and it's generally hypocritical to say “it's their opinion, you shouldn't say YOUR opinion about it”
I just have a strong feeling for scalies, don't ask me why as I can't explain it, just as anyone here probably can't 100% explain why he prefers X or Y over Z... all I can say is that I like their shapes, builds (like the smooth muzzles and strong tails) and, of course, the scales (this doesn't mean I don't like fuzzy dragons for example) but I know other people have other preferences and I shouldn't interfere with that
But anyway I actually don't want to dive too deep into that again, I actually wanted to explain a bit WHY I probably feel this way
I think one of the main reasons why I react so sensitive to this topic is probably this:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p.....esAreAbhorrent
A mindset that sadly still is VERY present in all media and also PARTLY in a way in furry fandom, while not as strong here it's still that reptilians/scalies are sometimes used as the cliché evil roles (often with old stereotypes) or, for example in an “your game ideas” thread there where a few “you fight the evil dragons” ideas
Generally video games don't seem to get away from this, after seeing a preview of “X Blades“ what do you guess are the main enemies?... Lizards, hordes of lizards you can kill without giving a second thought “as they are evil”
Apparently I'm not the only person with this opinion as this letter from 1999 shows:
http://www.yamara.com/yamara/rfw/rfw2/rfw2pg3.html
He does make a good point towards the end of his letter, this is even done in comics and shows aimed at kids who are supposed to learn something and often a moral is “don't judge others by their looks” or “don't assume someone is automatically evil” but then it's used again and again with lizard, reptiles and dragons as the bad guys... way to go, poison a whole new generation with this mentality... yes I am aware that lizard people and dragons don't exist, you drama flingers don't have to point that out, the point is an old cliché gets warmed up again and again, one that makes me feel sick as my personal favorites constantly get the bad end
Anyway I hope this makes me “view” on that at least a little more understandable, I don't want to add reasons "from the fandom itself" to why this topic can get to me as I don't want to offend anyone who might FEEL offended by it... I'll just say Scalie love to you all, to all scalies, non scalies, “changies”, those in between and “yet undecided, still searching, might be this, might be that but still not sure, i'll give some things a try”ies
I want to apologize to anyone who felt offended or annoyed by my moods in this situation, I didn't intend to bring you off your choice of changing a scalie character to a fur (even though, yes, there always is the “maybe they'll think about it” thing)
I AM aware that changing your character or Tf-ing a scalie to something else is your thing, this doesn't change that I feel upset about it but I think I'm slowly getting over it, at least it doesn't seem to “hurt” as much anymore (yea I gotta use that word, cant really describe it too much different)
And contrary to what all the drama llamas said this has nothing to do with “scalie superiority” or thinking less of any other species (in fact I often feel depressed because I often have the IMPRESION opposite is happening), this is simply about personal preferences just like anyone probably prefers the species he chose for his fursona and it's generally hypocritical to say “it's their opinion, you shouldn't say YOUR opinion about it”
I just have a strong feeling for scalies, don't ask me why as I can't explain it, just as anyone here probably can't 100% explain why he prefers X or Y over Z... all I can say is that I like their shapes, builds (like the smooth muzzles and strong tails) and, of course, the scales (this doesn't mean I don't like fuzzy dragons for example) but I know other people have other preferences and I shouldn't interfere with that
But anyway I actually don't want to dive too deep into that again, I actually wanted to explain a bit WHY I probably feel this way
I think one of the main reasons why I react so sensitive to this topic is probably this:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p.....esAreAbhorrent
A mindset that sadly still is VERY present in all media and also PARTLY in a way in furry fandom, while not as strong here it's still that reptilians/scalies are sometimes used as the cliché evil roles (often with old stereotypes) or, for example in an “your game ideas” thread there where a few “you fight the evil dragons” ideas
Generally video games don't seem to get away from this, after seeing a preview of “X Blades“ what do you guess are the main enemies?... Lizards, hordes of lizards you can kill without giving a second thought “as they are evil”
Apparently I'm not the only person with this opinion as this letter from 1999 shows:
http://www.yamara.com/yamara/rfw/rfw2/rfw2pg3.html
He does make a good point towards the end of his letter, this is even done in comics and shows aimed at kids who are supposed to learn something and often a moral is “don't judge others by their looks” or “don't assume someone is automatically evil” but then it's used again and again with lizard, reptiles and dragons as the bad guys... way to go, poison a whole new generation with this mentality... yes I am aware that lizard people and dragons don't exist, you drama flingers don't have to point that out, the point is an old cliché gets warmed up again and again, one that makes me feel sick as my personal favorites constantly get the bad end
Anyway I hope this makes me “view” on that at least a little more understandable, I don't want to add reasons "from the fandom itself" to why this topic can get to me as I don't want to offend anyone who might FEEL offended by it... I'll just say Scalie love to you all, to all scalies, non scalies, “changies”, those in between and “yet undecided, still searching, might be this, might be that but still not sure, i'll give some things a try”ies
I must admit I am not a big fan of the majority of your subject matter (takes it too far IMO ) but I still enjoy watching you just because you speak your mind, and do not run and hide when the shit hits the fan ^_^
Here is one to start with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus
I actualy got somthing like this recently, some fur I sorta know comes to me like "omg look at my awesoem comic of win and epic" (Win and Epic being 2 words I can't stand in the fandom) so anywho i look at this thing.... A story about furs being geneticly engineered to save man kind and fight evil "demons" (this is a comic BTW) but OH SHIT WAIT ya look at these demons "oh wow that looks like an average blue dragon.. just with glowing red eyes..." so I said "so yeah, you made dragons the evil demonic bad guys and YOUR species the savior of man kind ....." at that point I was already rolling my eyes, great a stereotype AND somone over glorifying their species but then he says "well they arnt real dragons, they have little to no intelligence and are just very VERY dumb"
WOW SWEET! that makes it SO MUCH BETTER! at that point I just had to close the fucking convo after a few words about that being so pathetic and offensive cause I wanted to slap this guys head into a cement structure pillar.
the point is an old cliché gets warmed up again and again, one that makes me feel sick as my personal favorites constantly get the bad end"
And you do know REPTILES do exist and they get a real life treatment like this... check the link to "TV Tropes", scroll down and read the "real life" examples
My dad has rescued snakes on more than one occasion...sometimes while big burly men are shrieking that it needs to be killed.
It really comes down to the fact that reptiles tend to have underdeveloped social hierarchies when compared to mammals. Their average intelligence is also usually considerably lower. This doesn't contribute to a group of animals that can offer much in the way of companionship or service to humans. Of course there are exceptions and yes many will even recognize its owner but the connection always tends to remain limited.
The same reasoning has led to the fact that we prefer carnivores as pets, since herbivores tend to have less social intelligence. This is of course due to the way they live and problems they have to face in the wild.
Add to this the fact that as mammals we've been trying to escape being eaten by reptiles for millions of years and you wind up with obvious demonization.
Of course I personally think dragonesses are incredibly sexy :3
Actually not true. There have been several incidents where a pet dog has eaten its dead master. Here is just one example.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art.....ster-wife.html
The social thing, to through in my two cents with the massive pile of coins, reptiles are recognizable, being fairly common, which is good for the artists (or prop designer), but uncommon enough that they still seem alien to us (like snakes, completely alien from everything you see all day, and turtles have a completely unique respiration system) which makes them a good "outgroup." Though, I have as much proof to back me up as your local ghost hunter.
Though I'd be lying if I said I didn't want more scalies around myself.
It is odd though that throughout history, snakes have always been the bad guy... Even the Bible has an evil snake.
Spiders are awesome though, it's kool to let a tarantula crawl on you cause they're so fuzzy!
Over time, symbols get corrupted. Look at the Pentagram (now used for anything relating to Hell, the Devil, or Evil in general): It used to be on Christian knights' shields as a symbol of Christ. Talk about a 180.
I get very vocal and angry when people misuse science to say how religion is right. I get riled up when people use science to show how religion is completely stupid. Every one has a button, and they get pressed (especially on the internet).
If people are willing to change the mask they put on for the world/internet to see, then they are hiding behind their mask. IMO, the scallies (people) you like that change are just not ready to have that smooth, shiny mask. If they want to hide away (or "to be seen in the bigger crowd"), that's their choice. The ones that stay behind are the ones that matter. They're the ones with scales behind the masks.
A good example of this is the Spyro the Dragon series of games and while I will admit I have only played the first one the dragons there are portrayed as being good. The same is also true of the film Dragonheart where the dragons are shown as good beings. I tend to try to think of them when I get annoyed about the games/films that show dragons as either mindless beasts or evil beings.
But yeah I do know how you feel about that.
I'm not trying to say scalies are bad, just pointing out some reasons.
I may have droned of subject there, I'm a little fatigued typing this, so reading back is a chore. My point is just because there are these things going on, it's not like everyone is going to start hunting us down over a work of fiction. So there shouldn't be any worry here. It would still be nice to see some reptilians on the good side to entertain us, but we're really not the majority of TV watchers, so it's best just to accept it and move on in life... Or go off and try to make your own comic/TV series about heroic dragons and lizards and snakes and etc.
One thing that had been discovered, not sure if verified is that mammals have a marker in their genetic code that after a certain number of generations they would become unable to reproduce, not sure on the entire story, but eventually a species of mammal loses its ability to have babies. This is not found in any other creatures other then mammals. Though it has to be around 1000 generations, or something like that.
and its also pretty much a biological imperetive to be scared of reptiles because most of them are deadly poisonous
ive seen many examples of breaking the stereotype in the games i play.
D&D has both good and bad dragons, tho leader of the bad dragons tiamat is really starting to stretch when you can definitively call a "dragon." its all those tentacles.
warhammer fantasy has it fair share of evil dragons, but this isnt because theyre just reptiles. the dragons of warhammer are intelligent begins, and when one turns evil, its out of choice. there's plenty of good & neutral dragons too. the country of bretonnia, a typical knights in shining armour place, breaks the "knight kills dragon" thing by having a nest of five or so allied dragons living in one of thier castle. one of them even got knighted, which is cool.
Warhammer also has the lizardmen race. only these guys (and tomb kings) get to be called true neutral. sure, they do kill invaders to their lands, and are pretty ruthless and cold blooded, but this is because of their truely alien nature. theyve got their own secret plans to worry about, and as long as the fleshy races (as they call humans, elves, etc) stay away from their distinctly aztecy place, they wont bother them.
magic the gathering has a ton of both good n evil dragons/lizards/reptile guys, but i havent played for a while. theyre still there tho
i seem to have rambled on a bit >..>