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submitted by strictlycomeprancing
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submitted by Nerrnerr
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Guest Post by Tenza. Tenza is a fox, but he’s the truest epitome of bricolage.

On March 8, 2013, a certain tweet resulted in something much different than the normal circle-jerking, chicanery, or otherwise aloof things furries usually do. Yes, it was an awful joke about women. Furthermore, the poor handling of the situation by the tweet’s author gave many of us the impression there wasn’t really contrition there, rather it had to come about from arm-twisting. Many of us dug in and were serious for once. Even though I’m referring to one particular incident, I decided to turn inward and think about this in a wider furry context. That’s when it hit me: can we really have nice things after all?

The common moniker about “furries ruining everything” has only as much truth as you’re willing to give it. Let’s look at this another way: if the fandom has been effectively slandered by those outside it (e.g. the mass media), then why would so many in the fandom be willing to empower such patently false attitudes? The very fact that so many of us are compelled to “come out” as furries attests to the fact that there’s this notion that the fandom is tainted in some way — granted that may be phenomenologically dependent on one’s experiences in the fandom.

However this notion of a tainted fandom is what underpins “furries ruin everything”. Many of us (I’ve said it in the past, admittedly) have probably uttered this phrase seriously or sarcastically, but have we really critically examined it? It’s only a matter of time before the next mass-media interview or documentary about furries is broadcast and when it does take place, there’s going to be much commentary about it. Why? Because when the lens is turned upon us, many are compelled to defend the furry fandom — by extension, it’s also self-defense given its the venue by which we express ourselves. So then if the furry fandom is then very much a ruined thing, then why are so many of us ready to pick up the banner when it’s besmirched?

One thing that’s unique about the furry fandom is that it’s an amalgam of both creative products and personality facets. We don’t need to be top-down and fully reliant on canon like other fandoms. We are a burgeoning resource of both original and fan-created work. What attests to the vitality of the furry fandom is that there’s a market for these works. Many would even argue that furry isn’t a fandom with respect to other bodies of organized fan practice. There’s also a sizable lifestyle element to the furry fandom as well. It’s what compels us to annually visit conventions for camaraderie, to organize gatherings in smaller locales and in more extreme cases, this “second home” is why some furries are even alive. For some of us, it’s clear if our involvement is predicated on production or socialization. It then makes for a defined division of participation. For others, it becomes a bit more complicated with overlapping elements of each dimension.

I’m not trying to revive old and morally pretentious arguments here, but I really think the furry fandom absolutely lacks a compass. When compared to other fandoms, the composite members of the furry fandom don’t know what they want as goals for the furry community. When you have a community that has no compass, it then has no sense of direction. What happens (and is still on-going) is an ever-growing a litany of conflicts and incidents that take place in order to determine what exactly the direction is. For example, some of us that have been in the furry fandom for a considerable amount of time have seen the transitions between various galleries and the transition from furry-created websites to social media. Another reason that I feel the furry fandom doesn’t have much of a compass is that it doesn’t know where its been. For many participants, significant furry milestones or forerunners are not well-known. Most understand recent events, but for example, how many of you know about Albedo Anthropomorphics or Mark Merlino?

One pervasive trait of the furry fandom seems to be that there’s always an air of contention that can be found. In other words, when something particularly salient hits the fandom we all seem to react to it. I have jokingly tweeted that the furry fandom is like World War I in that when something major happens, you get to see where all the alliances show up and who defends whom — turns out I was very much right in the case of March 8. In the domain of the furry fandom, there are seldom clear-cut cases of both championed and reviled people. Often, there’s a metaphorical hung jury when it comes to disputes. There’s an unwillingness to put aside personal sympathies or the gains of popularity for transparency. The result is usually no sort of middle ground in between. I find it troubling that many people feel the “all or nothing” proposition is an acceptable one. This transpires time and again when there are disputes about who did or didn’t deliver/was genuine about commissioned work, who decided entertain the mass-media’s latest interview, or any furry that transgressed in some way but can rely on their influence to keep them beyond rebuke. In other words, by relying on our sympathies and our alliances too much, we cannot then effectively police ourselves.

Addressing social issues, severe violations of conduct, bad consumer practices and even aesthetic principles should not be seen as faux pas in the furry fandom. It needs to be encouraged so that we can suss out a trajectory for its products and its participants. Some furries are so worried about creating a fuss that they’ll do anything to avoid any sort of discomfit at all. Why? Well, to rock the boat is often met with derision because it takes the focus off of the escapist aspects of the fandom. That is, if the furry fandom is an escape from the mundane activities and stresses of the real world, why do anything to upset that? Even when something did in fact need to be said, there is a fear by many that they’ll be branded as hostile or combative. With that said, I’m not supporting spiteful contention for its own sake, but rather we need to present points between ourselves for a greater good and commensurately chastise those that negatively impact the furry fandom outright.

While incidents such as that tweet and its reception are often viewed as an unwanted stress, if you do not want this fandom to collapse under its own surfeit or hesitation then more instances of this will need to happen. It seems strange that furries want to uphold simultaneously notions that this fandom is deprived and depraved yet at the same time incredibly diverse and incredibly creative. In short, what is it do you really want? Instead of accepting a falsely construed fate of “furries ruin everything”, have some nerve to address things, clean house and flourish. Otherwise, you are all complicit in the process of living in a shadowed fandom and maintaining the status quo you frequently complain about.

I was thinking today as I put on my robe how awesome it would be to have a robe that matches my fursona (shadow wolf). Does anyone know of a place to find such a product? A quick Google search didn't show much.

submitted by b1gl0s3r
[link] [7 comments]

Do you remember cliques? They were those exclusivist social groups everyone talked about in high school, but they extend beyond those walls and show up in many places. Perhaps you are even in one without realizing it. That is not always bad, though; it is normal for people to find like-minded others. Listen and give your thoughts below.

 

Metadata and Credits

WagzTail Podcast 2.0 Episode 60
Runtime: 30m
Cast: Levi, Wolfin, Faolan, Crimson
Editor: Levi
Format: 96kbps ABR mono MP3
Copyright: © 2013 WagzTail.com. Some Rights Reserved. This podcast is released by WagzTail.com as CC BY-ND 3.0. If distributed with a facility that has an existing agreement in place with a Professional Rights Organisation (PRO), file a cue sheet for 30:00 to Fabien Renoult (BMI) 1.67%, Josquin des Pres (BMI) 1.67%, WagzTail.com 96.67%. Rights have been acquired to all content for national and international broadcast and web release with no royalties due. Podcast image belongs to Karunakar Rayker, used with permission.

Episode 60 – Cliques - Do you remember cliques? They were those exclusivist social groups everyone talked about in high school, but they extend beyond those walls and show up in many places. Perhaps you are even in one without realizing it. That is not always bad,

submitted by ThePiachu
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So went to FWA?! IF not, why not?!?!?  Anywayts, want to see some FWA dance comps and more finally  on the YouTube, oh yeh and it’s not that Justin.tv where you can’t see it?!(sorry for the crude out dated background on YT, they are fixing it now) .

HERE NOW: https://www.youtube.com/user/furryweekend?feature=watch

submitted by WhiteRLion
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submitted by w1ldm4n
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Well Hey Mr. Papa Bear.

Sorry I've never done this before, haha! well!

Hm so I was with this guy; let’s name him Sam. I was with him for almost a year! and so I .. fell for another guy. Just because we shared so many interests and, well, connected so well. I decided to give him a try and, well, I’m now tangled in two relationships. I don’t know what to do. I love Sam, but I can’t leave him for the other guy, and, well, the other guy ... I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t know why I did this. 

-Confused Soda (age 18)

* * *

Hi, Confused Soda,

Cute name ;-)  Seems to me you fell for the other guy because, as you said, you “connected so well.” You say you love “Sam,” yet at the beginning of your letter you refer to him in the past tense (I was with this guy), which is rather interesting. And why would you give this other guy “a try” if you were happy with Sam?

You may not be willing to admit it to yourself, but it’s pretty clear to this bear you are not entirely happy with Sam, no matter what you might say. That is why you took up a relationship with the other guy.

Look, Soda, you’re only 18 years old and shouldn’t pressure yourself to commit to anyone if you don’t wish to. This is an age where you are still figuring out what you want in a mate and what you believe love to be, not to mention still figuring out who you are. Unless there is something you’re not telling me about Sam, the statement that you “can’t leave him for the other guy” is really not set in stone. Of course you can leave Sam if you don’t really love him. If you meant to say “I won’t leave him for the other guy” that is a different scenario altogether.

We all live within the walls we build ourselves. Some people build walls of stone with no exits—prisons. Other people build walls filled with windows and doors that they can walk out of at any time. 

Which type of walls have you built, Soda?

Papabear

submitted by Scrimno
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I just wanted to ask you all whats been up? And I also wanted to say that you guys/gals are just so nice and receptive here. I'm glad to be apart of this furry community. Along with that, tell me about yourselves. I'm interested to see what all of your fursonas are, how/why you chose them, and I've also been wondering about sexuality. But don't worry, I don't discriminate ;). I'll start by telling you about myself. I'm a 16 year old closet furry:P. I'm male. And I've always really loved dragons so I always picture myself as one. I haven't come up with a detailed fursona yet though. Oh and I'm straight but sometimes I find certain situations with males could possibly be hot. Also I sometimes find situations with herms can be arousing as well (if they look hot enough). So how about all of you? And I hope you all have a great day:D

EDIT: You guys are all so nice and I've really enjoyed reading about all of you. If anyone else would like to comment don't be shy:D

submitted by Tha_Dream
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Hello, folks. I'm just seeking any suggestions you may have for sprucing up the /r/FurryWallpapers subreddit. We have a new banner image as of today, and our emote selection has been extended slightly as well; however, there is always room for improvement, and I will greatly appreciate the feedback.

Drop on by for a few minutes if you have them to spare to let me know what you think.

submitted by JustAnotherGDB
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submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by RexxieCat
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Furry as a subculture may not be “mainstream”, but neither is it small. The fandom has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few decades with expanding easy access to the Internet, the proliferation of furmeets and conventions, and even just plain old word of mouth. Estimates put the current size of furry at somewhere between 20,000-50,000. This is, of course, a very rough guess based on responses to The Furry Survey and other polls out there, but even at this size, we’re talking about a good-sized town (Fort Collins, Colorado, where I live, has about 70,000 people living in it, and about 25,000-30,000 of them attend or are otherwise affiliated with Colorado State University, so maybe we can guess at the size of a popular American university), with one very important distinction. A city in America has a council and a mayor, and belongs to a congressional district and a county, which fit within a state, which fits within the country, which is part of several overlapping groups of nations, all of which are (currently) stuck on one world. It’s as if much of our culture here comprises a series of nested centralized forms of leadership and government. Even the university analogy works similarly.

Furry as a subculture, however, is almost completely decentralized. Many of us meet up and talk on the Internet, where we share our art and ideas, but many of us do not. Many of us meet up in person at furmeets, conventions, or even unrelated events such as parades, but again, many of us do not. The whole concept that “many of us do, but many of us don’t” is consistent across all of furry and can be applied to creating art, role-playing, fursuiting, or most any activity that takes place within the fandom. Given this decentralized and diverse fandom which nonetheless holds itself together, how does the concept of leadership fit in?

The word “leadership” has a formal ring to it, but can be used to describe any form of guided social interaction, however informal or unintentional. In fact, one of the primary ways in which leadership is shown within the fandom is that of small groups leading through their own interactions. This way of leading by example is often a good source for the spread of memes, ideas that pass from person to person. It’s almost a type of group-think at times, as after all, we’re already trained to think along similar lines, given that we’re all generally interested in this one larger trope of animal-people. There are those with the social currency or visibility that can wind up leading these trends within the fandom in their own way, however unintentionally. Trends such as the rise in popularity of streaming artwork or Your-Character-Here commissions, or trends in the music we listen to, or even the ways in which fursuiters act (there was, for quite a while, a swishy sort of “fursuit walk” that would cause the suit’s tail to wag which seems to have diminished in popularity over the last year or two).

Another similar form of leadership within our community is that of incidental leadership, and this is primarily shown through the intentional promuglation of ideas, which can take place through content production or actual leadership within events such as furmeets or cons. This can occasionally be bound up in the idea of popularity (a muddied word if ever there was one), but that certainly isn’t always the case. This is, I think most visible within the area of visual arts, where artists will influence styles that will persist and grow based on their popularity, such as the paintings of Blotch or the fur detail in Ruaidri’s art. However, this extends far beyond that, and fursuits are another place in which this is visible. A certain manufacturer’s fursuits may be readily picked out of a crowd, such as those made by One Fur All Studios, or certain expressions may become more and more popular, such as the “Pixar Look” or the sunken “3-D eyes” style. All of these things point to the subtle leadership that goes along with content creation, especially in a culture such as ours where it’s not only common but almost expected for such content to be published for the widest possible audience on sites such as Weasyl, SoFurry, and FurAffinity. Even [adjective][species] could be said to fall into this category, as it is our intent to publish our works in an easily accessible way for the widest audience, even though we have no intentional designs on leadership.

Finally, there are some instances where there are quite formally defined leadership roles, whether it be the committees running conventions, or site administrators and volunteers such as those that run FA or Wikifur. These are the instances in which the leadership aspect gets closest to actual governance, in that the board running a convention does so by having each member fill a specific role, heading their own team of volunteers, in order to accomplish a certain goal. The administration of a content-hosting website faces similar challenges, often solving them in similar ways: by delegating certain tasks to people in specific leadership roles in order to accomplish a goal, such as content moderation. These are pretty common and well established practices as well, with few systems working in different ways – Reddit is a good example of a content-hosting website that eschews leadership (for the most part) in favor of quality-voting; Discourse, a forum, works similarly, by letting users with more points do more in the way of moderation. However, these examples of con boards and site admins are very specific to their purpose and rarely escape beyond their bounds and into the wider world; though to be sure, some leaders within these roles also carry additional social status due to their roles within their domains (viz, Samuel Conway or Dragoneer).

Is this bad? Having a decentralized subculture with a fluid sense of leadership? I don’t think so. It’s certainly not just a furry thing, as there are countless examples (just as there are countless counter-examples) of groups of people such as ours being decentralized with a fluid leadership. However, I think that it is central to our identity as far as it can be, in such a decentralized group. How, then, does it benefit us? That is, how does this affect our forward motion with regards to change? That is a complicated sort of question to answer (given how many words it took to ask!), but I think one worth looking into. How is it that, given our lack of a sense of centralized leadership, or even a cohesive…well, anything, that we have perceptible shifts in artistic styles, convention habits, or even the shared interests or our new membership.

When it comes to art, we benefit from the lack of canon, the lack of a need to utilize any particular set of characters, clothing, style, or even content to any of our visual art. In a way, that seems to give us a little too much freedom, in that “overwhelming choice” sort of way. We’re nothing if not inventive, though, and I think that there has been a large increase in the amount of artists and the quality of the art produced over time despite the fact that we have no guiding canon to work within. Much the same goes for fursuits, and this is helped out even further by the fact that many of the techniques and standards are being created out of whole cloth by the makers within the fandom. Not just the makers, either, as fursuit performance has changed in its own right over time. Of course, writing benefits from this as well, given the additional challenge of creating well-written furry works that are truly pertinent and not just incidental – that is, not just a story where the characters happen to be furries; something which has been accomplished in increasingly wonderful variety over the years.

It’s not just content creating that has changed, though, but our styles of personal interaction, both online and off. The ideas of characters have shifted in prominence due to the shift in online interaction from that of the more purely art-based worlds of Yerf! and VCL, to the mix of art- and social-based worlds of FA, SoFurry, and Weasyl, to the mostly social networks of Twitter and the like. These are, of course, generalizations, and certainly applicable outside of furry as the Internet matures, but given how much of the fandom does take place online as well as how many of us fit into the “early adopters” category, it’s certainly affected us as well. The same could be said for offline interaction, as the common and socially acceptable behaviors at conventions (two things which don’t always overlap). What is generally recognized as a proper con-going attitude has changed with the increased prevalence of conventions around the world and on just about any given weekend.

There is a constant stream of new members to the subculture as more and more people find furry through the Internet, through friends, or just invent it independently on their own. For those who find it through others, however, they are influenced immediately by their first impression, gained from their acquaintance with someone experiencing the whole of furry at a certain point in time. As these new folks join the fandom, they also help steer it by adding weight to whatever drew them to the fandom in the first place, and I think that this accounts for some of the ways in which our culture grows. If you were to find the fandom through, say, an artist, and thought of furry primarily as a group of individuals who put prime importance on art, then that might be your defining furry aspect. This is how it was for myself, and it took me nearly ten years to really even understand the whole fursuiting thing and why it was even a big deal. This sort of bias helps to reinforce and further some of the aspects of our subculture. Sure, “new talent” is joining the fandom, but so to is someone interested in a certain aspect of it, adding their own weight and input to that area. We don’t move forward in the same direction all at once.

In reality, this is a large part of what furry is all about for a lot of its constituents: the fact that the fandom is decentralized allows one to make their own way, but we are not without social direction, given our guiding interest in anthropomorphics and animals. It runs counter to enough of what we face in day to day life that it’s refreshing in a way, for a good number of us, to be a part of something that doesn’t quite follow the same hierarchical strictures of so much of the rest of society. It’s a place where anyone can be in a leadership role without necessarily needing to be a leader. Talking with others, producing content, or even acting in a governing position of something such as a con or website are all things that we can do here that, in their own way, wind up giving back to our subculture and helping make it what it is.

submitted by kaguilar92
[link] [6 comments]

submitted by thegreenwolf
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submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by delura
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