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submitted by ZincAwesome
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Maybe I'm just dumb, but how do you opt out now? Or is FA no longer using it? I don't see an option for it.

submitted by Damuel
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submitted by Saamstraat
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Doug Fontaine is a writer, ployglot, and generally talkative otter. This is his second article for [adjective][species]. Read more at his SoFurry account.

If you’re looking for some furry smut story, then you’re definitely barking up the wrong tree here. But don’t be a scaredy-cat; muster up your courage and be as brave as a lion. Reading something informative can be as stimulating as a story with furs breeding like rabbits. Whether you’re as sly as a fox or as strong as an ox, you might have noticed a prevailing presence of animal related idioms in the English language. Okay, no more monkey business; let’s explore animals in our cultures throughout history.

Disregarding my previously ill-managed animal puns, we have already been exposed to stories with big bad wolves, cunning foxes, and a little mole who knew it was none of his business (a German children’s story about a mole who wanted to find out who pooped on his head… [Ref 1]) at an early age. These anecdotes were used to teach us about moral conduct, the consequences of our actions, and not to build houses out of straws or sticks. Mainly deriving from well-known German folklore and authors such as the Grimm brothers, many fables incorporate animals as symbolic representations of different concepts.

The wolf more commonly sighted during 17th and 18th century Europe is portrayed as evil, dangerous, and even gluttonous, as this “beast” posed a real threat to small villages and its agricultural farming based lifestyles. Between the years of 1764 and 1767, “La bête du Gévaudan” (The Beast of Gévaudan) [Ref 2] plagued the central French province. Not only had this wolf-like creature killed numerous precious cattle and other domesticated animals, but its most distinct ‘achievement’ at that time was the frequently reported human casualties.

In contrast, sheep and lambs are viewed as pure and innocent. They are thus connected to ideas of childhood, they are nurtured and raised by farmers like children. The Wolf and the Sheep, Three Little Pigs, and The Wolf and the Seven Goats all imply the hazards of interacting with strangers – “stranger danger”. Using this as a point of reference, we can zoomorphize our children as farm animals, frolicking around carefree and unaware of the danger that lurks behind every corner.

However, Animal Farm by George Orwell suggests that both adults and children alike are animals characterised by our respective social classes, where horses and donkeys symbolise the middle-working class whereas pigs represent different Russian communist politicians during and after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Civil servants like police officers are portrayed as dogs, loyal and true to their master – the law.

Of course, the main goal of this socio-political satire was to criticise Joseph Stalin (in a very ingenious way). Orwell certainly did not purposefully publish Animal Farm to support and encourage anthropomorphic literature.

The personification of animals has more complexity than merely bestowing upon them human characteristics such as speech, clothes, complex ideas and emotions, and silly hats. T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats depicts the group of domesticated felines with their own ‘non-human’ features. In the very first poem “The Naming of Cats”, the American-born poet specifically underlines that “no human research can discover” [Ref 3] the intricacy of a kitten’s name. This theme of cats having their own feline social and cultural structure opens up to new window through which we can view animals and anthropomorphism.

Needless to say, we are extremely fascinated of our own conventions and behaviour, to the point where we project human idiosyncrasies onto our furry critters. We have created entirely foreign yet understandably similar mannerisms for felines (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats – T.S. Eliot or Felidae – Akif Pirincçi) and canines. Plague Dogs by Richard Adams paints the story of two feral canine protagonists. By introducing their own lingo, expressions, and turns of phrase difficult for us humans to understand, Richard Adams presents a separate canine language/culture independent from ours.

From ancient Greek fables to 20th century ground-breaking literature, there is no doubt that relating our own problems, concepts, and interactions with those of animals have played a key role in sculpting cultures around the world.

One of the most famous civilisations which feature anthropomorphised creatures is Ancient Egypt. A flourishing culture, around 3000 years BC, has repeatedly shown humanoid Gods with animal heads in their mythology. Naturally the wolf, a predominantly Nordic canine, was replaced with the jackal (different species, same symbolic connotation). Sekhem Em Pet [Ref 4] (commonly known as Anubis), God of the Dead is shown on many sculptures and drawings as having the head of such an African canine. Cats weren’t necessarily deities but worshippers in ancient Egyptian times were nonetheless plentiful. They were used as pest control, killing mice and other vermin that would potentially harm crops and spread diseases. These domesticated felines were regarded as a good omen as many mummified cats were later found in tombs, suggesting that they played a large role in the afterlife of many ancient Egyptians. Whether animals helped us during our daily lives or guided us through the afterlife, we are accustomed to relating them to our culture and existence.

Both in Egyptian mythology and Native American tribal culture, birds and insects were more likely to have been given spiritual meaning than their Eurasian counterparts. Birds of prey, such as the falcon or the eagle, are regarded as divine messengers or even as divinities themselves. Bees or other pollinating insects foreshadow progress for example.

Native American totems include animals [Ref 5] which are not mentioned in other mythologies at all. Of course, contrasting biomes contain a variety of different species. The American otter for example represents joyfulness, playfulness, and helpfulness, whereas the brown bear is seen as a totem of introspection, dreams, and will-power. As the indigenous Americans possessed a rich nomadic culture, there was no need for farming animals (with the exception of horses). Thus the wolf adopted a more spiritual undertone than the ferocious gluttonous beast this canine is described in Europe. We can clearly see how one animal might be viewed differently depending on our lifestyle.

Up until now, we have spoken of figurative meanings and metaphors concerning animals. Their ominous presence in our literature, our mythology, and our cultures prevails throughout history. But we as humans have shared this world with thousands of different creatures, and have incorporated them into our daily existence to the extent that they are essential for our survival. Take care of the living beings (whether animal or human) around you, for you never know how much an impact they have in our lives.

***

References
1. Holzwarth, W. and Erlbruch, W. (2014). The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit. [online] Goodreads.
2. Unknownexplorers.com, (2014). Unknown Explorers – Beast of Gevaudan. [online]
3. Eliot, T.S. (1952). Complete poems and plays. 1st ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace, p.209 line 23
4. Marvunapp.com, (2012). Anubis (Egyptian god). [online]
5. Legendsofamerica.com, (2011). Native American Totems and Their Meanings. [online]

submitted by fxscreamer
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submitted by fuszybear
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So I added a friend on Facebook who's a furry. I'm rather new to the fandom, so I thought it'd be good to get a few tips from someone about it. Next thing I know, I have 20 friend requests from other random furs on Facebook. So my two main questions: Should I even accept these requests? And why are they sending requests?

Remember, this is my real-life facebook profile, not one for my fursona. Should this affect my decisions?

submitted by TinyPotatoAttack
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I like getting to know a lot of people, specifically here because I don't feel as weird talking about this stuff with people who have the same thing in common!

I got into from a late night's web search for, uhh, "stuff" and I stumbled upon a few furry sites. Of course I didn't actually get into the whole furry stuff until a few years ago, mostly because I had no one to talk to about it with, but I always love the idea and art!

Now, I wanna hear your stories of why or how you got into flufflebutting!

submitted by JmK_8079
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Dear Papa Bear,

This is Overworked and Stressed Out again, but now I have a different thing worrying me. 

Roughly four months ago, I wrote to you about a new full-time job I had acquired at a bank as a teller. At the time I wrote to you, I said that I was enjoying myself at my new job and that I felt I could do it.
Let’s just say it was a one month stand.

Recent weeks haven’t exactly been the best for me at that place. Largely because I feel that every time I walk in, I feel like something doesn’t feel right. Sure, my coworkers are nice, the hours are terrific, and even though the pay could still be better, there’s a little voice in my head telling me that I shouldn’t be here. And trust me it’s getting harder to ignore with each passing day. OK, I’ll be honest, I have a total lack of interest in my job (No pun intended with that remark).

I feel as though I made a horrible mistake in taking this job. Even though I’m great at greeting the customers and processing their transactions, during the downtime I just idle away online. I have absolutely no interest (Again no pun intended there) in expanding my skills in the financial world, I keep messing up my duties, and I just feel like I’m not going to last long at all in this field (One day, when I was still doing both jobs the situation at the bank got so bad I suffered an emotional meltdown). In fact, just the previous week I made a series of slip-ups and near slip-ups that I’m supposed to know by now. As you may or may not know, banking is one of the most highly regulated industries. Well, I wish I knew that going in, because I find it difficult to keep track of all the different regulations the industry has, and has led me to several slip-ups as I have previously mentioned. I’ve been written up for several (in my mind and humble opinion, minor) violations, and my confidence is taking a real beating.

That being said, I want you to know that there is something else that I am interested in, a field that I should’ve spent more time in that I’m now realizing might be my one true calling – Voice Acting. I actually took a voice over class a few years ago (in Spring 2011), and I liked it. While I was a little slow in getting started, I enjoyed the challenge of putting my demo out there and I actually have had some success in that field even going so far as to do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6AK0Go5MFc

Pretty neat huh? Well, I was so focused on trying to get steady work that I had let this dream of mine get sidetracked, and now I’m looking at restarting it again. A few weeks ago I have started taking a weekly course on voice acting skills and techniques to nail auditions. I’m doing this for three reasons: 1) to refresh my voice acting skills, 2) to gain some contacts in the business (this course is taught by four separate people), and 3) because it’s something I enjoy. When I did my first voice acting job, I didn’t care as to what time it was or how many takes I had to do. 

All I knew was it was something I really enjoyed doing. Whereas with my job at the bank, I’m constantly worried over getting something wrong, over having nothing to do (this is particularly true in the middle of the week) and whether I’ll be getting the axe. On top of all that, just today my supervisor kept pointing out mistakes I’ve been making over the course of the month (most of which were generally minor), something that already gives me anxiety overload, and I’ve already gotten written up over mishandling check cashing procedures. To be honest, I feel that this business is WAY too anal retentive. 
On the other hand, my instructors at my voice acting class are more than willing to constructively critique me without tearing me down, and just the other day one even said I showed great potential in the sense that I initially come across as shy, but when I start reading my script, I really get into it and all my shyness melts away. Plus, I’m much more interested in this field than with banking. My only problem is I don’t know exactly where to start looking for voice over work.

So yeah, that is my current dilemma with my employment situation. Oh, and I haven’t told my family yet about my recent work struggles, and I don’t know if I want to (or even if I can) tell them that my new job just isn’t working. I mean, they’re so proud of me for finally getting full time work that I don’t want to upset them, but I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I’ve already suffered no less than three emotional meltdowns (breaking down sobbing) in the last two weeks (My recent one was today when I broke down in front of my head teller during our monthly one-on-one review, however she told me that maybe banking just isn’t my niche and seemed genuinely supportive when I told her of my dream career). I just feel like I really screwed up my working life here.

One last confession, Perhaps it was the first thing to come along, but I took this job not only for the money, but because it was full-time. Guess I should choose my next job a little more carefully, huh? I’m just so worried I’ll get fired soon and then who knows what’ll happen.

SMALL UPDATE: I wrote out this letter over the course of several days, but this evening I looked at some articles about new jobs not working out and I realized something…why am I fretting over a job I hate? I know, sounds crazy, but I figured it something to mention.

Sincerely,
Overworked and Stressed out and lost and confused and (amazingly) calm and hopeful

Anonymous

P.S. Contrary to your advice in your last letter, I’m still hanging on to my old grocery store job for the moment. I’m just too scared to quit that one with the issues I’m having at my new job.
P.S.S. Maybe quitting my teller job is the right thing to do. God forbid what would happen if I was faced with a robbery.
P.S.S.S. Get well soon Papa Bear!

* * *

Dear Anonymous,

I recall your last letter, but for the life of me can’t seem to locate it on my website, hmmm. Anyway, at the time you had just gotten the bank job and were stressed from working that job and the grocery store job, so I advised you to quit the grocery store so that you wouldn’t get exhausted and possibly compromise your health. You are still working that job. Is it at all possible that you are having trouble concentrating on the finer points of banking because you are tired? Just a thought, but if you DID quit the grocery store and got more rest, perhaps you’d be able to think more clearly and not make so many mistakes at the bank. I know that when THIS bear gets tired, it is very difficult for him to think clearly; he also gets grumpy and sometimes overly emotional. Check out this link from WebMD http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss about all the bad stuff that happens to our bodies when we don’t get enough sleep. It includes symptoms you are experiencing right now, from forgetfulness to depression.

If you are not getting 8-9 hours of restful sleep a night, this could be your problem.

So, that is one possibility. The other could be just what you said: that you just aren’t a banker at heart and don’t like the job, period. Voice acting is your dream. That’s swell. Everyone should have a dream, but you must realize that being a voice actor is not easier than being a movie or stage actor. It is very competitive and only the very best survive in the field. It’s not enough to have talent, either. You must have a lot of drive, ambition, and business sense. Here is a good article on the challenges of voice acting from someone in the field: http://iwanttobeavoiceactor.com/get-ready/.

I’m not posting that to discourage you, but, rather, just to make sure you’re grounded and realize the tough road ahead of you should you choose voice acting as a career. There are many opportunities in the field, from cartoons to commercials to video games to business videos and on and on. Many people DO make a career of it, so I’m not saying it isn’t possible.

If you wish to make this career change, go about it carefully and with great planning. I still say that, for the above reason, you should quit the grocery store job. You have a full-time job and income shouldn’t be the issue; you are just clinging to the store job out of fear. What you need is not fear, but more rest. It would also be helpful to combine more rest with regular exercise and a healthy diet, both of which will also help you rest. And make sure that when you go to bed you rest your head in a quiet, dark, comfortable place to assist with a more sound sleep.

After you quit the grocery store (pardons for assuming), go to your supervisor and tell her that you feel you were having trouble in the job because you were working that second job and not getting enough rest. Tell her (even if it’s not completely truthful), that you wish to do well on this job and would like her suggestions on how to improve and do better with the finer points of banking and government regulations.

While you are doing this, continue with your voice acting lessons and try to find work in voice acting without quitting your full-time job (full-time jobs are hard to come by and shouldn’t be lightly dismissed). Should the time come when you are making regular money at voice acting, then quit the regular job.

Another thing you can do is look for another full-time job in another field besides banking. But I advise you strongly not to quit your regular work before having a solid income source from an alternative job.

I hope you will listen to Papabear this time. I think a big part of your problem is that you didn’t listen to his advice in the previous letter. And don’t be afraid! Everything will be okay in the end, and, if it is not okay, then it is not the end. :-)

Hugs,

Papabear

submitted by raegiovanni
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submitted by javandrolf
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submitted by javandrolf
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submitted by javandrolf
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Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Tips are always welcome.  ____________________________ Fandom News _____________________________ FurAffinity sold to 3D social network IMVU.   You heard, right?  FurAffinity is the shaky but most active anchor for furry socializing and art.  Naughty stuff on it can’t go without mention.  That makes it a haven for freedoms that make the community what it is, […]

submitted by Snowodin
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I was hoping I could find some furriends (Im not apologizing for that pun) who would be willing to skype and play games with me. my skype is xbilly6549 and my steam right now is {furry} billchow so come hit me up if you want. I await your reply with bated breath.

submitted by Billy6549
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submitted by IronFox1288
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So recently I've become keenly interested in puppy play and was wondering if there were any fellow pups and / or handlers around here that wanted to chat. The pup play and furry communities overlap in quite a few places, so I thought it couldn't bother to ask here! Feel free to either PM me or Skype me at rumtum_hyena.

Wags

submitted by pretzelbagel
[link] [29 comments]

Author: GreenReaper 3D chat service IMVU has bought furry art community Fur Affinity for an undisclosed sum. According to the announcement, “FA will continue to operate independently”, and former owner Dragoneer says he remains “in charge of the site, direction and improvements”. IMVU, which bills itself as “the world’s largest 3D Chat and Dress-Up community”, … … Continue reading →

On Tropes and Training Wheels

by Kandrel

 

As happens fairly regularly on Twitter (and other social media outlets) I was asked for an opinion. I’m not sure why people are interested in my rambling, but whatever. I like talking, and apparently there are people who like listening. Who am I to complain? In this particular instance, I was asked to provide a list of ‘tropes’ I was aware of in furry literature. ‘Sure!’ I thought. ‘No trouble! Let’s see there’s… Well, and there’s… Um…’The perceptive reader might notice that of course I didn’t have trouble thinking of tropes. No, that was easy. The tough part was thinking of tropes that I haven’t used—or that I even continue to use on a regular basis. Obviously, I couldn’t give them as examples, because then some troll would post examples of me using them and call me a hypocrite. Talk about embarrassing! But I was asked for my opinion, so my opinion I would—by damn—give! So there must be tropes that I don’t use, but that are pretty prominent in furry fiction. It might be a shorter list, but I could definitely provide that.But thinking on it, even those ones that I didn’t use, I could recognize them out of my favorite works as well. The only reason I hadn’t used them is that the opportunity hadn’t arisen yet. It would. If I continued to tell stories (and I can’t see any particular reason why I would stop) I would eventually use them. So what, exactly, are we mocking here?

So I had a sit and a think. Had a hot chocolate. Listened to some music. I let myself cogitate. What exactly was it we were condemning here? Let me make it clear—this was a condemnation. People don’t collect tropes because they think they’re awesome. This isn’t a reader’s group talking about their favorite author’s techniques and tricks. When you hear the word ‘trope’, I’ll bet you that it’s meant derogatively.

Should it be? I mean, I know that I’ve called authors out on it while editing. Multiple times. Hell, I’ve had people rewrite entire sections of story to avoid tropes. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what a proper beta reader and editor would do, right? Right?

Well…

First, I want to have you think about the life-cycle of a storyteller. In the beginning, we’re all imitating the stories we like. Thinking about it now, this is where ‘tropes’ are most important—not because of what we should avoid, but because of what we should use. I mean it. An inexperienced storyteller can use the tropes to hone their art while making passable pieces of fiction. Think of them as training wheels. So here’s one I’m sure you’re all familiar with: “Story opens with furry looking at themselves in a mirror.” You’ll hear experienced authors moan about this. Ugh. Overused. Overplayed. Cheap excuse for an infodump-y description. Well, want to know why it’s a trope? It’s because it works. It’s hard to find a reason for the character to be giving a description of themselves, and even if it’s a trope, at least it’s giving those newbie storytellers a reason to actually do a description.

But just as we’re starting to get more comfortable with the process of writing, we age and we learn and we progress. During the next phase of a storyteller’s life, we’ll slowly recognize those training wheels for what they are. Over the next while, we start to remove them. We become aware of the tropes, and once aware, avoid them. We hunt for ways to fit things into our stories in new and novel ways. Using the example above, instead of a mirror, we look for ways to fit in small titbits of the description into the narrative so the person experiencing the story slowly gets a whole image of the character in their mind. This is more elegant. But remember that trope we’re now avoiding? It trained us. It had us writing descriptions even before we were ‘ready’ to. We’ve described a hundred characters. Sure, we had a bad excuse for doing it, but at least we can write a description. We know what’s important to describe, and we know how to do it with style. And now that we’re learning to do it in an elegant fashion, we’re well prepared. Would we be if it hadn’t been for the training wheels?

This is the phase of a storyteller’s life where you see the most complaints about the tropes. Authors like me who’ve recognized the training wheels for what they are look back at their own stories that used them and shudder. They read other people’s stories, and those tropes immediately pull them out of the story. They edit with a scalpel to excise those tropes from everything they see and read. It’s as if we’re over sensitized to them, because we see how we used to rely on them.

And we look down on the people who still use them, even though we shouldn’t. We’re the too-cool-for-school kids with their eighteen-speed bikes, looking back at the young kids with their training wheels. We’re pointing and laughing from our comfortable older age and greater experience. And the younger or more inexperienced storytellers feel ashamed, because every time they try to remove a trope, they end up falling. Their story gets away from them, or they never find a way to describe the main character, or they end up falling onto a different trope they didn’t even know was a trope until another one of us upperclassmen laugh and point again.

There is a last phase of this life cycle, though. At the end, those of us who’ve spent enough time picking on the little kids finally grow up enough to look back at those training wheels we used to use. We pick them up and roll them over in our hands. They weren’t really bad. They were perfectly functional, we just used them badly. We take a second look and realize there’s actually something beautiful and elegant about them, if we use them just right. We go back to those tropes, and we play with them. We use them to set expectations, then break them. We hide them in our work as jokes, waiting for someone to realize they were just “trope’d” and never knew it. We brazenly base our stories off a well-known trope, but write them in such a way that it feels novel and fresh.

The best part of this story is that it’s a circle. When I write a story that uses one of those tropes in an elegant fashion, new storytellers read my story. ‘Hey, that worked’ they tell themselves. ‘It’s an easy trick! I could do that!’ Then they’ll try to emulate it. They’ll see the training wheels I’ve artfully used, and bolt them inexpertly onto their own story. It’ll work—if only just. It’ll give them an excuse to keep writing. It’ll give them a safe opportunity to learn. It keeps them from falling down.

We know the training wheels are stupid-looking and juvenile. But we’re authors. We’re thinkers and storytellers. We’re the imagineers. Remember that with just the right amount of imagination, a bicycle with two extra wheels could just as easily be called a car.

 

This post first appeared on Kandrel’s blog. You can view the original post here.