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On the debate between AD and DAD...
10 years ago
General
Here recently (as in this morning), there was a debate going on over what was considered a "Dutch Angel Dragon" and then the Angel Dragons which were now being called "Feather Dragons". Feather Dragons kinda irks me as a name and term because, since I have made Rune and even since coming back to the Furry Fandom in 2013 after a long absence (been a furry since 2008 mind you) the species I am representing with Rune has always been known as an Angel Dragon.
I guess that many Angel Dragons have been coming under fire for the use of lineart that is interchangeable between DAD and Ad species.
The DAD species says that the Angel Dragons have rounded muzzles and therefore would technically be considered a Dutch Angel Dragon, but that other characteristics on their design make them fit more of a Feathered Dragon species so they must conform to DAD rules or find a lineart and design more suited to Feather Dragons which means a pointed muzzle.
I think this is pretty ridiculous really. Why should it even matter? When I was making Rune, he was originally going to be a Dutch Angel Dragon...but, because of the guidelines (no run around the muzzle, more horse-like characteristics, no genitalia, cannot breed, etc) I decided for a regular AD instead. It's not really well outline on the website the difference between an Angel Dragon and a Dutch Angel Dragon. According to the website, when one refers to an Angel Dragon they are generally talking about a Dutch Angel Dragon which is just not true...
Also, a muzzle should not determine what makes a DAD or an Ad as there are dragons portrayed with rounded muzzles all the time, and not everyone likes to draw their dragons with scales. While in Feral form, it's easy to distinguish between a DAD and a regular AD (because one looks more like a horse and is generally much smaller than an actual Dragon), in chibi form...does it really matter? The chibi form used by the DAD community do not even look like horses...nothing about them does. That same lineart used by the Dragons does not even look so much like a dragon, but it's own thing altogether. The fact that people use this as a representation should not be a battle...and someone's design should not have to be changed just because they have a rounded muzzle or would fit more in one category when they are clearly classifying themselves as another.
That would be like someone coming up to me about my main sona and telling me to change my design because real wolves aren't blue and they don't have wings. They tell me to change this because I'm not following some new rule about the wolf species out there when clearly I am not just a wolf, but a Winged Wolf. My character is my own, and since I designed her, I should not have to change her to appeal to a certain group because their species looks similar and has specific rules. So, if someone clearly identifies as an Angel Dragon...they are not claiming to be a DAD and therefore are not under DAD rules and guidelines. Also, if they picked up a lineart that an artist has clearly marked for use of AD & DAD species, then they should not have to change the character because other than the few guidelines that the DAD have...both species are very similar and a lot alike.
I made Rune a regular AD because being such gave me more creative freedom, and luckily, I have not gotten flack for it...but here recently, a lot of the people I have seen in communities for Angel Dragons are coming under fire when it's really none of their business.
I can understand if a species is SUPER unique in that there is nothing else that looks like it and then someone goes and breaks the rules...
but, if you make a species loosely based off of another species, OR if you create a sub-species of something else...you don't get the final say in what someone does with a character in around that species you created because...it's loosely based on something else, it's not original in that you are the only one who ever had that idea, and I'm pretty sure that others made characters like that long before certain other characters even existed. I find it all very tiring and I'm not even in the tight-knit groups of AD and DAD communities...
Why must we fight? Someone has a character they love and whom they identify as...just leave them alone.
Unless under very particular instances, one should never have that right to lash out at another person and demand they change their character...
