Feed aggregator
TigerTails Radio Season 7 Episode 05
TigerTails Radio Season 7 Episode 05
Felis returns this week, reuniting the Season 7 cast once more. In this week's episode the cast make a couple of passing mentions about events that have happened during the week, and Xavier takes a few moments on his soap box to complain about games being blamed for all the world's ills. Featuring TK, Xavier, and Felis. Backing music by Sanxion7. From: TigerTails Radio Views: 0
2
ratings
Time:
02:27:10
More in
People & Blogs Season 7 Episode 05 Podcast Uploaded!
Felis returns this week, reuniting the Season 7 cast once more. In this week's episode the cast make a couple of passing mentions about events that have happened during the week, and Xavier takes a few moments on his soap box to complain about games being blamed for all the world's ills. Featuring TK, Xavier, and Felis. Backing music by Sanxion7.
For Done and Dusted:
Xavier reviews Halo 4.
TK talks about Sonic the Hedgehog (The old MegaDrive game).
Felis covers Starship Troopers Invasion.
Television Talk:
Scooby Do0: Mystery Inc.
Merlin
Question of the Week:
If one of the TTR hosts could become Prime Minister, who would you vote for and what policy would they promote?
Download the Podcast - Download the TubeCast
Just a Donkey
This February, Papercutz (home to the Geronimo Stilton series) presents a brand new full color graphic novel by multiple award-winning author Emmanuel Guibert and renowned illustrator Marc Boutavant — Ariol, Volume 1: Just a Donkey Like You and Me. “Ariol is your everyday tween donkey with blue glasses. He lives in the suburbs with his mom and dad. His best friend is a pig. He’s in love with a beautiful cow in his class. His teacher is a dog. His gym teacher is a huge rooster. In short, Ariol is just like you and me.” Pre-order this new softcover book at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
image c. 2012 Papercutz
Looking For Artist
Hello! This is my first post on reddit so I thought I'd share it with you. Well, its more of a request really. As the title says, I'm looking for an artist to draw an Anthro fox. I'm hoping it to be a male fox with light orange fur with red hair and white ear tips and grayish-blue tail tip. Please have him CLOTHED. Thank you very much if you accept my request.
submitted by Cameron_The_Fox[link] [1 comment]
Season 7 Episode 05 is Live!
Coming at you live from the realms of the TigerTails Entertainment Studio C building, tonight's show features all the things you've come to love from TigerTails Radio - namely Xavier and Felis on camera (if you're watching the YouTube stream). Head on over to the Listen page to get the links for all your favourite media players, or hit the bottom of the Listen page for the link to our YouTube channel to watch the madness happen live!
No, You Don’t Have Asperger’s
There are a lot of furries who have Asperger’s disorder, or at least a lot who think they have Asperger’s disorder. As of May 2013, none of them will have it: it’s being deleted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s in DSM-IV; it will not be in DSM-5. (Roman numerals are out too, apparently.)
Along with three other conditions—autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and ‘pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified’—Asperger’s is being lumped into Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. ASD reflects our understanding of autism as a universal aspect of personality rather than a specific condition. People with Asperger’s will be recategorized as having mild ASD, or as having no disorder at all.
This is very good news for people with Asperger’s, especially those with mild symptoms. (Anyone self-diagnosed with Asperger’s is highly unlikely to have ASD, for reasons I’ll explain later in this article.)
Autistic people fail to read social cues, and this leads to communication issues and inappropriate behaviour. In general, someone is classified as having ASD (as per DSM-5) if this condition is bad enough to be disabling.
Everyone, to some extent, has symptoms of autism: it’s a natural outcome of how the brain works. Our species has evolved to have certain mental traits that support our social nature: we excel at facial recognition (to the extent that we might see faces in a grilled cheese sandwich, or in sand dunes on Mars); we are more empathetic towards fellow humans than towards other animals; we unconsciously negotiate sexual interest. Autistic people have poor social skills because these parts of brains are innately limited—a genetic throwback to a pre-evolved brain.
Autism is not an on/off condition, like having a broken leg. Some people have brains that are strongly socially-wired, perhaps actors or salesmen, others are less socially-wired and tend to be more logically minded, perhaps programmers or engineers. But everyone feels socially awkward, or out of place, or humiliated, from time to time.
Compared to society at large, furries are collectively further along the autistic spectrum. Symptoms of this might include our flair for technical work, such as IT and the sciences, and perhaps in our enjoyment of fursuits, which create a ‘deindividualized’ social environment.
I see two causes that place furries further along the autistic spectrum:
- Our demographics: we are young and overwhelmingly male. Put simply, men typically take longer than women to socially mature.
- People with autistic traits might be attracted to furry:
Anyone who struggles to read social cues will feel disconnected from society, especially if they are going through puberty. People who are non-heteronormative or genderqueer—and this somewhere around 70% of furries (ref, ref)—are more likely to feel alienated.
For young people who feel disconnected, it may be easier to identify with an anthropomorphic animal (as seen on TV or other media) than with other human beings. Growing up, furries may internalize this identification to the point that they start to see themselves as more like the animal-person and less human. This will be important to sexual development and may become a touchstone through puberty: the animal-person becomes an alter-ego that can safely experiment with new personality traits through introspection and roleplay—for example, alternative sexual or gender identities.
(I’ve explored the value of furry roleplay as an avenue to maturation previously, Growing Up.)
It’s plausible that a sense of alienation when growing up is a strong contributor to our identity as furries. It helps that the concept of furry identity is open to interpretation, which means that we are free to explore personally useful aspects while discarding others. It also helps that the furry community is social and welcoming, filled with people with a similar internal world. Serendipitously, for many people, the social nature of the furry community provides a solution to the alienation that drew them to furry in the first place.
If the furry identity stems from this feeling of alienation, this offers an explanation for our unusual demographics:
- Furry is largely male: men, on average, are less socially developed when they reach puberty.
- Furry is geeky: geeks, largely people with sharp logical minds, are often slower to develop socially.
- Furry is largely non-heterosexual: if you are sexually queer (or genderqueer), your social development can be more difficult.
In these three examples, furries may come to identify as an animal person as a way of unconsciously abnegating personal responsibility for social failure. It also explains why some furries might self-diagnose a social disorder: Asperger’s.
It’s common for people with Asperger’s disorder to characterize themselves as feeling like a non-human, like an alien tourist in a strange society. It’s easy to see why a young furry, who feels disconnected from the world and identifies as an animal-person, would find this compelling. Asperger’s disorder is also fairly high-profile because it’s relatable—mild autism is comparable to the less permanent condition of being a teenager—and also because of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a novel with an apparently autistic narrator. The narrator, Christopher, is an easy character for any young adult to relate to in the Holden Caulfield sense: he’s an outsider, confounded by his constant failure to act according to society’s fluid and unsaid rules. It’s an engaging read (although it flags badly in the second half as Haddon gamely tries to narrate action through Christopher’s limited perception of the world).
Anyone identifying with Christopher from The Curious Incident is almost definitely not autistic. To identify is to demonstrate empathy, the very trait that Christopher—and anyone with Asperger’s/ASD—lacks. The same logic can be applied more broadly: if you think you have autism, you almost certainly don’t.
Autistic people are often unable to see themselves as part of society. Ironically, anyone who thinks that they don’t fit in is demonstrating that they fit in well enough to be aware of society’s norms. A feeling of alienation doesn’t imply alienation. It’s usually the opposite: a feeling of alienation implies that you are maturing and learning to assimilate.
This is the difference between being autistic and being a teenager: autistic people do not mature to the point that they can fully function within society. It’s also worth considering that maturation continues until we are about 30 years old, and that the skills that help us feel part of society—empathetic skills—are the slowest to develop (ref).
So self-diagnosis of autistic disorders is usually wrong. It’s also potentially damaging.
Labels are important things. If you believe you have Asperger’s disorder, this means that you believe you will always struggle in many social situations. You believe that you cannot mature and improve beyond a certain point, because you believe you are innately limited. If you are younger than 30 (or so), this means that you are undermining your own ability to mature and develop these skills. In sociological and psychological circles this is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy, defined as ‘a false definition of a situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come true’ (ref).
The deletion of Asperger’s from DSM-5 means that doctors can no longer diagnose autistic disorders without evidence of symptoms in early childhood (ref). It’s easy to misdiagnose autism in an older child who is slow to socially mature. Psychologists have been long aware of the danger of such labels: a false diagnosis of Asperger’s can harm someone who would otherwise mature a little later (possibly as a well-adjusted furry).
It’s not just Asperger’s. Among psychologists, there is growing awareness of the danger of labels. For example, a 1997 meta-study on child sex abuse concluded that many people have had positive sexual experiences when a child: consider the trope of the 14 year old boy who has sex with the babysitter. The study recommended that not all children be labelled (and treated) as victims of abuse, because doing so could retrospectively harm someone who would otherwise be fine. (The study, unfortunately, was ignored after it was formally condemned in the United “Think of the Children” States Congress, ref.)
Self-diagnosis of Asperger’s is common because it’s natural for a child, who is slow to develop socially, to define himself as different. All children feel that they are the centre of the universe. When an intelligent, analytical child looks around, it’s clear that the outside world doesn’t treat him as anything special. The inconsistency between his internal world and the external world creates conflict and a feeling of disconnection. This child may read about autism and falsely self-diagnose as having Asperger’s. He would be much better off if he self-diagnosed as a furry, a label that encourages personal growth, as opposed to the self-limiting label of Asperger’s.
How do you tell if you’re autistic? Here’s what the DSM-5 says:
People with ASD tend to have communication deficits, such as responding inappropriately in conversations, misreading nonverbal interactions, or having difficulty building friendships appropriate to their age. In addition, people with ASD may be overly dependent on routines, highly sensitive to changes in their environment, or intensely focused on inappropriate items.
It’s impossible to self-diagnose. If you lack communication skills, you also lack the ability to assess the quality of your communication skills. People with ASD tend to be anosognosic, in that they are unable to perceive their disability (ref).
Your parents, or older siblings, are better placed to judge. They saw you grow up and will have noticed any symptoms in early childhood, which always occur in autistic people (by definition, ref). Otherwise, ask a doctor: they will use a simple written or verbal test to judge whether you have ASD. Everyone has autistic tendencies: it’s a question of the level of impairment.
If you have self-diagnosed as having Asperger’s, or if you were diagnosed when young, it may be time to reconsider. You may wish to think of yourself as logical and analytical, positive identity traits that allow room for you to learn and grow. Your analytical nature will help you learn new skills including improved empathy, if you apply your mind and approach the problem logically. You might begin by broaching the topic with similarly-minded furries.
Never stop being true to yourself.
I've been a part of a Fraternity, Kappa Sigma, for 2.5yrs now and they recently found out I was into the Furry Fandom. I tried keeping it a huge secret from them because it's a subject that most people seem to look down on. When they found out I didn't try hiding it anymore and took my walk to the "executioner" and a long road of "weird", "gross", and/or "beastiality" comments. Here's what they said:
They asked why I enjoyed it, what sort of limits I put on how animal they can look before it's too much for me, what my favorite animal was, and other like questions. They teased me about it which took some getting used to, but they didn't tell anyone else. So why am I telling you this?
You should't be afraid to show off who you are completely to people you trust, love, and care about. It should be a "well obviously you should be proud of who you are", but I know there are some people who are like me and don't want to risk it (the hardest was telling my girlfriend about it). So keep doing your furry thing and don't be afraid to strut your stuff. Peace ya'll~
TL:DR: Fraternity found out I was into Furries, everything went better than expected.
submitted by BerCu[link] [21 comments]
Is there a comic or online comic...
.. With a story that circles around a person joining a furry fandom and learning every detail about it as he goes to every meet? So yeah a slice of life comic with comedic moments. Like a Genshiken version except furries instead of manga/anime.
submitted by bi-fur-ious[link] [9 comments]
Daily Show: December 17, 2012 - Craving Gingerbread? Christmas is coming soon and large amounts of the now traditional treat will be baked and served. Join us as we talk about our ginger-y experiences. - Hosts: Jwingy, Levi, Wolfin Picture By: daisy.r
Craving Gingerbread? Christmas is coming soon and large amounts of the now traditional treat will be baked and served. Join us as we talk about our ginger-y experiences.
Hosts: Jwingy, Levi, Wolfin
Picture By: daisy.r
Furry Can't Decide What Career to Choose
Having started following the Eightfold Path, as you had suggested before, I found myself in a situation where my job at the time was going downhill. As things got worse I kept looking for a solution and found one in the knick of time.
My previous job had cut my hours to zero and my new job missed a week of pay on it, and as such I ran into financial troubles. Now leveling out I find myself seeking higher opportunities. The trick is trying to attain resources.
I have looked into college, but can never seem to find anyone willing to help me finish the application process, and something keeps me feeling like my place belongs in music and writing.
I want to follow my dreams, but they all point in 3 different direction. The Audio Arts, The Literary Arts, and the Robotic Arts.
If I follow the path of robotics and go to college, I risk having to leave my home and family for my career, but it assures my techno affinity is put to amazing use. I could invent an automail (see Full Metal Alchemist for more info on Automail), or even biomechanical muscle tissue to cure MS. But at what cost? I once wrote about a man who did such a thing and paid the ultimate price because his ideals were corrupted by the influence of money and power. If I become nothing more then a tool of war I will have created the very problem I have sworn to stop. And I could NEVER live with myself for it.
Taking the Path of Writing, there is a great deal of risk involved. If I never get published I missed out on going to school. Also if I became famous the pressure to write what sells may ultimately compromise my artistic standard and ultimately 'cost me my soul'. On the flip it would allow me to touch a great deal of people deeply with the wisdom I have accrued sing my plethora of traumatic experiences, and moments of loss and redemption. To teach others of the past is a great honor, which can be fulfilled in writing, and I have much to teach.
Alternatively, the life of a musician has always appealed to me. Letting sound convey emotion and feeling as well as belting my voice to appease many, has always given me joy. Easy enough to do since my fiancé writes music for an aspiring country music artist. Additionally, I would be free to do covers of old copyright-free music such as carols, patriotics, and more, but the risk of missing a shot to keep finances stable also presents its head as with the literary path. Not to mention the overhead cost of higher quality equipment would be a painful stigma to my progress.
Do I follow the safe path, and go to school, becoming a robotics technician and risk my soul to the greed and corruption of the commercial world? Do I take the path of teaching and wisdom, becoming a beacon of hope to those in need? Or do I share my soul through song and touch their hearts with the musing of my now fully recovered singing voice and soon to be repaired hands?
I am so conflicted with my choice papa bear. How am I to decide? This is such a massive decision. Do I know if the risk is right?
Taiku Altergrund
* * *
Hi, Taiku,
There are a number of assumptions in your letter that I believe, once clarified, will help you with your decision.
First of all, it seems like you don’t think a college education is needed to be a writer or musician, or that it should not be pursued. Do you think that the only one of the three paths that you mention that requires an education is robotics? Not so. Oh, sure, there are people who have music and writing careers without going to college, but getting an education is always a wise choice.
Let’s paint a couple scenarios here. Say you go to college and take writing and English literature courses (which is what I did) and you get a bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree. Then you go out into the world, writing and trying to publish. But, for one reason or another, you don’t get published or you don’t make enough money writing fiction or nonfiction. Well, in that case, you still have a college degree, or two, which is the first step toward getting a job. (Makes it MUCH easier than if you don’t have one). This is what happened to me. I got my B.A. in English (actually, I double majored in German) and started working on my fantasy novel. At that time, I worked in a factory for six months before getting a job at what was then a company called Gale Research. I worked there as an editor for ten years. Meanwhile, my novel was not getting published. I turned my English degree into a successful career in editing so that I could eat and have a place to live. Eventually, my book did get published (along with several nonfiction works), but I never made enough on my writing to make a living at it.
Same idea works with music. Do you know how many thousands of aspiring musicians, singers, and composers are out there? Most of them never make it big. They end up playing weddings and bar mitzvahs and getting crappy careers as insurance salesmen or waiters on the side. If you get a music degree, however, you could get a job as a teacher, a sound technician (works well with your interest in technology), a digital audio editor, an audio engineer, even a music therapist. There are many more options when you have a degree than when you don’t.
OK, so, say you don’t opt for either of these and instead go into robotics. Why do you believe there is such a high risk of your becoming a tool of the military or some corrupt business? That is not a matter of your profession, but, rather, of your own character. Do you feel you will easily be corrupted like that fellow your read about? Besides, why do you think you have to work for someone else at all? The world of robotic entrepreneurs is a growing and exciting field. There are many brilliant people in this country starting their own companies and making amazing contributions to the field. You could be one of them.
And even if you go into robotics, that doesn’t preclude the possibility of your continuing to write and perform music. Many great science fiction and other genre authors have degrees in engineering and other scientific fields (Isaac Asimov [Ph.D. in biochemistry], Arthur C. Clarke [degrees in math and physics], and L. Sprague de Camp [M.S. in engineering] spring to mind). Wouldn’t it be cool to work on advanced robotics and indulge your creative side by writing a science fiction story about robots or maybe writing a theme song to a sci-fi movie? Just a thought.
The lesson here is this: don’t limit yourself. You don’t have to walk just one path, you can walk all three, if you like. Look at me. I’m an editor, but I’m also a writer, an advice columnist, an amateur artist, and I’m thinking of possibly learning about solar power and selling solar energy systems to private homes. But, whatever you decide, you can never go wrong by furthering your education.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
Papabear
Episode 68 – Cookie Cutter
Why I Blog…by Sy
Looking for people who do ref sheets.
Hey all. I'm looking into having a Ref Sheet done for me, but don't want to pay crazy. The only person I recall off the top of my head is Darkgoose, and he charges $80 for a ref sheet, which is way out of my ballpark and comfort zone for a fairly simple piece of art. I'm hoping there are good people who do these for....lets cap at around $20? If you can link to their (or yours if your advertising yourself) examples, that'd be awesome, too. thanks.
EDIT: Thanks to those who replied. Might get in contact with somebody, or might hold a bit longer.
submitted by Arluza[link] [3 comments]
Episode 68 – Cookie Cutter - Sorry for the lateness of this episode’s publishing; the bunny is the one who usually edits / levelates / notes / publishes / etc. these things, and – as you’ll quickly discover – this marks one of the[...]
Sorry for the lateness of this episode’s publishing; the bunny is the one who usually edits / levelates / notes / publishes / etc. these things, and – as you’ll quickly discover – this marks one of the few episodes where he was not present! Before we get into our show this week, we’ve got Kyo starring as Lenzay Lerhern, Smokey’s discussion of a disrespectful co-worker who stays out way late for lunch, a double-shot of words of the week, World of Kyocraft, Halfwit’s sister teaching her how to enjoy something a little different for her culinary tastes, and lots more!
Once our e-mails get going, we’ve got an awful lot to talk about! There’s a lot of discussion on how to deal with getting a new job and what employers are looking for, one listener devours guinea pigs – no, we’re not kidding – and there’s word of losing extended family and grandparents, and a different kind of loss of a sister. Hard times, we know, but coping is what we try to help you do! There’s mention of the importance of proofreading, the way text can be hard to use to communicate properly, discussion of depression with the spouse…and brace yourselves, people. Throughout this entire episode, Kyo’s word function explodes all over the place!
Next week’s topic is all about paying back or paying forward. Are you trying to find some way to give back to your local furry community, or some of the local authorities, or just someone who’s done right by you? Have you successfully managed this, and if so, are you willing to share some ideas with our audience? Write in, we’d love to hear from you!
Music: I’m Beautiful from Bette Midler
Twitter: fuzzylogiccast
FA: fuzzylogicpodcast
E-mail: fuzzy.logic.podcast@gmail.com
iTunes: Fuzzy Logic Podcast
Download:
Episode 68 – Cookie Cutter
File modified December 16, 2012 – 79.4 MB – downloaded 342 times so far
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/CLiqO.gif){kind=link}