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What The Crap Is Even Furry Addendum
11 years ago
AKA What We Talk About When We Talk About Furry
Prev - http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5640372/
Something else I feel that I need to mention in order to contextualize my journal better is that, I did not intend for the list to contain every exhaustive permutation of subcategories for anything I mentioned. Point 4 by itself contains all sorts of variations on anatomy etc--the thing is, with each definition, what it means is that when someone says "furry" they don't MEAN to drill down to an exact picture in their head (This is not the Furry Code after all).
But, nonetheless they usually mean something when they use the word, especially when they use it to exclude other things. Let me give a few examples. (These are all paraphrases of things I've read on the internet at one point or another)
"I'm not a furry, I only draw anthro art."
"LOL that's not furry, it has scales :P"
"Ugh, CAT Bowser? Now the furries will want him" (To which the response was, "Uh, furries are already hot for Bowser")
"Does an anthro fighter jet count as furry?" (Yes, but narrowly/broadly depending on if it fell to definition 4a (treat as superficially an animal) or to definition 8)
"I don't understand why centaurs don't count as furry." (Nostalgia Critic said this in one of his commentaries--technically it falls under broad definition 7, but furry is more well-understood by definition 4 . . . so this confusion doesn't help matters at all)
"Why do you furries have to ruin everything!? He's NOT a furry because he's an action character, he's not sexualized at all, and YOU have to go and add sex to it" (Speaking of main character from Dust. JUST the character being categorized as furry, no porn of him was in context.)
"Drawing dirty pictures of Simba (or Rainbow Dash) can't count as furry because they don't have a weird human body"
And likewise there are some definitions which are more example than anything--like how there are plenty of artists in the fandom who like doing human-faced furries that we don't want to exclude but at the same time aren't exactly what we're talking about when we refer to the broad definition, especially since it confuses outsiders "Well, if that IS furry then why don't you do more of that?" etc.
Sometimes these definitions do have opposites, such as "furry OR feral", but problematically while this works as a differentiation for definition 4, it is simultaneously folded into definition 5
Which is why that ambiguity is usually stepped around MORE--"anthro"/"bipedal" or "feral"/"quad". Also note that these differentiating words are only categorized as such in relation to definition 4--if you use them on their own, "anthro" is a shortening of anthropomorphic and can technically go all the way to definition 8, while the others are common words in their own right.
Feel free to comment with other ways you've heard "furry" being used.
Prev - http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5640372/
Something else I feel that I need to mention in order to contextualize my journal better is that, I did not intend for the list to contain every exhaustive permutation of subcategories for anything I mentioned. Point 4 by itself contains all sorts of variations on anatomy etc--the thing is, with each definition, what it means is that when someone says "furry" they don't MEAN to drill down to an exact picture in their head (This is not the Furry Code after all).
But, nonetheless they usually mean something when they use the word, especially when they use it to exclude other things. Let me give a few examples. (These are all paraphrases of things I've read on the internet at one point or another)
"I'm not a furry, I only draw anthro art."
"LOL that's not furry, it has scales :P"
"Ugh, CAT Bowser? Now the furries will want him" (To which the response was, "Uh, furries are already hot for Bowser")
"Does an anthro fighter jet count as furry?" (Yes, but narrowly/broadly depending on if it fell to definition 4a (treat as superficially an animal) or to definition 8)
"I don't understand why centaurs don't count as furry." (Nostalgia Critic said this in one of his commentaries--technically it falls under broad definition 7, but furry is more well-understood by definition 4 . . . so this confusion doesn't help matters at all)
"Why do you furries have to ruin everything!? He's NOT a furry because he's an action character, he's not sexualized at all, and YOU have to go and add sex to it" (Speaking of main character from Dust. JUST the character being categorized as furry, no porn of him was in context.)
"Drawing dirty pictures of Simba (or Rainbow Dash) can't count as furry because they don't have a weird human body"
And likewise there are some definitions which are more example than anything--like how there are plenty of artists in the fandom who like doing human-faced furries that we don't want to exclude but at the same time aren't exactly what we're talking about when we refer to the broad definition, especially since it confuses outsiders "Well, if that IS furry then why don't you do more of that?" etc.
Sometimes these definitions do have opposites, such as "furry OR feral", but problematically while this works as a differentiation for definition 4, it is simultaneously folded into definition 5
Which is why that ambiguity is usually stepped around MORE--"anthro"/"bipedal" or "feral"/"quad". Also note that these differentiating words are only categorized as such in relation to definition 4--if you use them on their own, "anthro" is a shortening of anthropomorphic and can technically go all the way to definition 8, while the others are common words in their own right.
Feel free to comment with other ways you've heard "furry" being used.
Just love what you love about the fandom, and don't let the things about it that confuse you get you down too much. In the end it's supposed to be about having fun. Do what you find fun don't do what you don't, respect others as well as yourself, and remember to let love rule.
I don't know if I would call anthropomorhic planes and vehicles to be 'furry', but that's the reason why I stick to generally broad categories. I certainly wouldn't shun people who were only into anthro vehicles!
Although, funnily, enough, I tend to break the fandom in the US down culturally into the older Western 'Furry' and the younger Eastern 'Anthro', although those are my terms for the two of 'em.
For my self, I will state that a furry character is an anthropomorphic animal, and furries, or furry fans, are people who are fans of, and have created a fandom around, anthropomorphic animals. From that statement, you can argue that the Bronies, My Little Pony fans, are also furries as the MLP characters are anthropomorphic animals, in that they have been given very human traits and characteristics. But that is not to say all furries are bronies, just that all bronies could be considered furries. A subset group if you like. Avian's are characters that are bird or very bird like in nature that have been anthro'ed. Scalies in the same respects but with reptilian and reptilian like species. Dragons often times fall into this category, as do dinosaur characters that have been anthro'ed. As we expand further, we see that there a multitude of animal like creatures that have been given more that the anthro treatment, such as demonic visuals, cybernetics, and even full on new characters that would fall into the furry fandom department, such as Sergals. It is still an animal with human characteristics added. Often we can find usage of mythological creatures that seem to easily fit the generally agreed idea of furry, such as the Egyptian gods and Greek mythic beast. In all cultures, there is ancient stories of anthropomorphic animals. Be they gods, demons, creations of the gods, excreta. The point is, that in the base form, the furry fandom is a fandom of anthropomorphic animals. From there we just let our imagination expand the idea and create more details.
cmon people, rocket science is for rockets. stop overcomplicating things.
Just rambling. I'm a bit new to your journals, I think I watched you only recently, so I apologize in case I'm bringing up something you've already covered.
"Why do you furries have to ruin everything!? He's NOT a furry because he's an action character, he's not sexualized at all, and YOU have to go and add sex to it" set my teeth RIGHT on edge! Good job! :D
It's irritating in general when know-nothings try to act like know-somethings, and when outsiders to a group shamelessly pontificate about that group based on their own limited experience and knowledge.
From there, it's particularly annoying when non-furries frame or define furry *strictly* or *solely* in terms of sex, and even worse when they arrogantly and casually dismiss any elements of furry that don't fall under that umbrella.
"That isn't furry because it's not kinky and bizarre" is both inaccurate and insulting on at least a couple of levels.
ANYWAY, I tend to see any form of art where animals think, act, and/or speak like humans as technically falling under the general umbrella of "furry."
From there, I'd say there's art that could be thought as explicitly, deliberately, or consciously furry--because it's made for and/or by self-identified furries---and art which is, I guess you could say, more incidentally furry, because it wasn't made for furries as an audience, or wasn't made with furry culture in mind.
though it is complex and it takes LOTS of concentration to understand, the bottle part--
but it's freakin' worth it X3 and good reading
a high challenge. :)
"I'll know it when i see it."
For one, there's very little question as to what would fall under a Trekkie's penumbra--you have the canon work, and you have semi-canon work, and you have fanon, and while there's a complex relationship between those three things they're not simultaneously muddled with "Trekkie"--canon is required, semi-canon is optional but useful for flexing your geek muscles, fanon is SO optional as to not usually enter the conversation. In each case the hierarchy is there to tie Star Trek fans back to the central point of their fandom, which is the canon of Star Trek.
There is KIND of a hierarchy in place for furry--the "house style"--but there's no canon for it, so there is no TECHNICAL reason that "house style" should be at the top of the hierarchy, even though we tend to treat it like it's the central foundation. I think it's odd then that, while furry is technically a sci-fi/fantasy fandom, its vague categorizations make it behave more like music fandoms.
http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=furry art
This causes a lot of confusion, and I've met furries and furry artists which consider that set of styles a canon, even though it's not a clearly cut or mandated one. After all if you look at the 100 most watched artists on FA ( http://www.popufur.com/ ) the vast majority of them has adopted variations of that set of styles, and Wolfy-Nail's style is indeed an almost perfect average/prototype of those styles.
I also agree with much of your views in this discussion.
Or something like that, I'm getting old and I can't remember all the old Newsgroup FAQs on Furry and the PC I saved then on has long since died. That was the best answer furs could come up with then. Still true now.
I think if an agreement could ever be reached on who is a furry it will just be a snapshot in time and could be very different in a year or twos time.
Am I a furry. I honestly don't know but Furry is a wonderful, crazy, sometimes a bit scary place to be and I can't imagine ever leaving it :D
I'm rambling not used to sharing my thoughts. Hope this made a little sense :)
I hope this wasn't commented on someone's submission. There is a thumbnail preview and a content filter on here, so why would you click on something you wouldn't like?
People can draw whatever they want! They shouldn't expect to receive grief after drawing 2-3 hours of their time on a subject that they like. Don't like something? Close the damn window.
For myself, early on it was #3, and again, as I got hip it became moreso #4
To be honest, I rarely use the word furry in reference to character, unless its in reference to a con, I prefer to use the term anthro.
You may not want to hear this, but to me, the term "furry" is incredibly convoluted to those outside, and even INSIDE the fandom =___=.
But for the sake of those heavily involved in the fandom, or in any type of group, I suppose its good to have lists like this.
HERE! "WHAT THE CRAP IS EVEN FURRY?" The pocket-sized travel companion!
If I were to put on my psychologist hat, I'd start with the place where we feel ourselves divergent from "mainstream" ideas of beauty--because there is clearly an aesthetic motivation, much like how TV feels the need to hire hot actors and actresses even if they don't expect you to necessarily want to lust over them. (Maybe subtly)
If I recall his history correctly, he was a normal Earth raccoon that was anthro-isized by aliens. So he should qualify as a "furry character", except he's from space (sorta) and aliens don't count? Or do they if it was only alien tech. that made them anthro?