i don't think anyone more cynical that Chuck Palahnluk is alive at the moment, any more cynical and you've probably committed suicide due to hating the world so much. Having recently been going through his back log of recent and not so recent novels [Diary, Snuff, Haunted] I find myself hit with something akin to disgust. The odd feeling is that the disgust is not at what something else is, but at what I am, we are, humanity as a whole. The overwhelming weight of trust inherent in his writing, the facts that are undeniable, whether it is a random antecedent about Marlyn Monroe or the sheer sickening description of to what lengths a human being will go in order to get something they want, in order to get the life they want. The emotions of his characters are easy to feel but hard to wash off, lick a sticky, slimy coating of blood that is starting to die and decay and just as stomach churning. While the characters excite disgust and revulsion, I keep picking up the next novel because no matter how fitly my mind becomes with the deranged thoughts, feelings and uncensored writings, both by editors and the shutter of moral right and wrong, I still enjoy the vividity and fluidity of his writing, the pure artistry. Just as one can enjoy the artistry of a weapon, a killing tool; or the beauty of a battle scene painted by hand on canvas, every detail painstakingly recreated; we can enjoy the thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions of someone we would consider sick or deranged, but that we could become if we were put in their situations.

This is a very general title I'll admit and it isn't a narrow statement, it also shows why gays suck, why anime fanatics suck ect. ect.

The problem is simple, there are what would be called primary character focuses, things that you invest a great deal of your life into being/doing. Some good examples of these would be: Career Choice[MD, FBI, Police, Engineer, construction worker, military], Major activity [Hiking, Camping, Offroading, Sports, Gearhead, military reserve] and an other category for things that fall into neither or both such as major affilications[political ties]. Then there are secondary character focuses, these are things that do not define a person as a person but rather have some marginal bearing on what that person does. Examples would be: Hobbies [ Computer Gaming, Anime, Furries, live action RP, tabletop games], disadvantages [physical or mental disability, genetic defect, amputation ect.] and of course an other category [sexual preference/orientation/fetishes ect].

The inherent problem of furry creepness both to outsiders and to those within the fandom is the same problem with people that have an unatural air to their sexuality, or involvement in what would be considered a subculture[Hardcore trekkies, LARP fanatics, "Gay Pride" aficionado]. What should be a secondary character trait, is taken and used as a primary character trait.

The lack of 3 dimensionality inherent in these secondary character focus leads to an undeformed or mis formed projected personality when an individual interacts with other individuals, in other words someone who tries to place a hobby [Lets say Anime] as a primary character focus becomes outwardly incomplete as far as a third party observer is concerned, they may try to emulate the looks, personality and even language of the characters of whatever show they are obsessed with, conversely they may show a complete lack of interest in anything not associated with what their chosen primary character focus is, making them appear to be shallow, single minded or closed minded. In some cases it can make the person appear unmotivated if the focus is on something that is not traditionally seen as a tangible or "Good" goal. In some cases this is an incorrect perception, such as the anime fan becoming a good animator, but in many cases this is an accurate perception, such as an anime fan wasting great time and effort to try and understand the language of the anime without having any bearing on a real world goal aside from simple understanding of a fictitious universe.

The problem can be simply amended if the person's focus is to change. For example if an anime fan decides to change their primary focus from the shows to a career in animation, their primary focus is no longer on something that would be considered a secondary focus, allowing them to properly develop their persona.

The moral of the story is, if the first word that pops into your head when you think of descriptors for yourself is either your fursona species or something having to do with furryness, anime, Star Trek or another "subculture," you need to find a new focus for your life. If you find something like "athlete" "writer" "Intellectual" "Gearhead" or something about a career or long term life goal, you're on the right track, and if "Fat" "ugly" and "stupid" are at the top of the list, you need to see a good head shrinker.

For those who were going to flame me for the title, flame away, I don't read my messages most of the time.