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Today's question is from /u/purplegill10

Why does your sona need a hug?

submitted by HonorInDefeat
[link] [248 comments]

Hello everyone!

So I am currently working on a game where you can unlock character skins with coins and I thought it would be fun to have a furry character that is based on my fursona. At first glance, a fun idea but after more thought went into the idea I kinda got scared to do it.

Let's not hide the fact that furries can easily get hate, for some reason, and having an element in a game that is hated is not a good thing. But still I want to put it in just for the heck of it. But at the same time I also have to look at it on a different perspective, if just this, in extreme cases, will make the game get bad reviews, which I don't want. It is also just a skin. You simply don't need to unlock it if you want.

So since I can't make up my mind I've come here to ask for advice. Should I keep it or should I scrap it?

And if you for some reason want more info about the game, here are some keywords. Windows 10, Keyboard + Mouse, Gamepad and Touch supported, endless "jetpacker".

EDIT: I might be making a way too big of a deal of this but I am very insecure (if that now is the correct word) when it comes to this... I'm scared of most things basically...

submitted by Hertzole
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submitted by Grammatick
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…we furries use them all the time.

We note when something is NSFW. We tag art describing potentially offensive content, so people can opt to ignore it. We write about rape and murder and we make sure our readers are forewarned. Here at [a][s], we mention controversial topics in the opening sentences, giving readers the choice before they click through to the entire article.

A trigger warning on a recent article here at [adjective][species]. By mentioning the potentially harmful content, the reader can decide whether to read on.Sometimes, furry edges into expression of extreme ideas and concepts. And on the whole we do a really good, uncomplicated, uncontroversial job of balancing the desire to freely express ourselves—however bizarrely—without unduly freaking out furs who would prefer not to deal with that right now, thanks very much.

Recently here on [a][s] we published an article by Angriff that worried itself with the potential for trigger warnings and safe spaces to unreasonably impinge on furry freedom of expression. It’s a contrarian point of view compared with most of [a][s]‘s readers and writers, and it generated a lot of discussion – most of it in the right spirit.

Angriff cites a small handful of examples where (non furry) progressive social justice politics have (in his opinion) gone a bit overboard. He feels, like me, that the furry world currently has a good balance, but he worries that we may head in the wrong direction by becoming overly sensitive towards vulnerable people.

He illustrates his point with a hypothetical, where a fursuiter’s accoutrements might be banned from a convention for being potentially triggering. He recognizes that there is a contest of two legitimate preferences: that of the fursuiter to display, say, realistic toy guns; and that of a convention to ban said guns for being potentially traumatic.

Angriff is tilting at windmills. He is comparing the current furry world with a hypothetical one. He doesn’t have an enemy, so he’s imagined a situation where one might appear.

I’m being a bit glib. I don’t mean to impugn the validity of Angriff’s opinion. I am, after all, the editor who worked with him to arrange and polish the article for publication here at [a][s]. Obviously I think it’s an argument worth making, even as I write here that it’s flawed, slight, and perhaps unnecessarily provocative.

Angriff’s argument is, at heart, a conservative one. He sees the way furry balances the competing preferences for maximum freedom and minimum harm and worries about how this may change in the future. He sees change—the progressive alternative—as being potentially negative, and he would like to resist that.

Angriff’s conservative argument—things are good the way they are right now—is the default position for anyone who feels comfortable with their place in the world. (Another formulation is “everything was good back when I was 18 years old”.) It’s an argument that resists change, and it’s no coincidence that the people who make conservative arguments are overwhelmingly those who have the easiest ride in society: they are—roughly—older, white, straight, cis, men.

History shows that progressive arguments tend to be insurgent. They come from a disaffected minority, motivated by inequality or by envy, attacking the values of the majority. Progressive movements tend to be young, and made up—at least initially—of the minority group being repressed. In the last hundred years or so, that would include the suffragettes, civil rights movements, gay rights, and our current crop of progressive activists. Warriors for social justice, all.

People agitating for better trigger warnings and public safe spaces are motivated by the wish to protect the vulnerable. They feel that, right now, vulnerable people are being unfairly exposed to traumatic content, and so they wish for things to change to redress this problem.

The progressive argument is a compelling one, if only because it doesn’t rely on the premise that things happen to be good exactly the way they are. From the conservative perspective, progressive change has gone just far enough, and to go further may tilt the balance to unfairly privilege a vocal minority. But, like a stopped clock telling the right time, that seems vanishingly unlikely. The conservative argument is one based on fear (of change)—things might get worse—, the progressive based on hope: things might get better.

Angriff is right when he says that things are good at the moment. I agree that furry is doing a pretty terrific job of balancing our competing preferences of maximum freedom and minimum harm. But I disagree that we can’t do more to protect the vulnerable. It’s a worthy, progressive, goal to change our world to make it a fairer one, even if we risk overbalancing and tipping the scales the other way.

Change is something to be embraced. We can make our world a better, fairer, more inclusive place.

Which begs the question: why publish Angriff’s piece in the first place?

The first answer is that, in my opinion, it met [adjective][species] editorial standards for style and content. I found Angriff’s first draft to be interesting, and we worked together until it reached a standard where I was happy for it to be published.

The second answer is that I wanted it published because I disagree with Angriff. I like hearing the points of view of people I disagree with, because that is how I learn new things. I usually—not always—have a good handle on the reasons for my own point of view. I learn more by paying attention to contrarians.

I have a rule of thumb when I’m expressing an opinion, or listening to someone else expressing an opinion: if you can’t describe the other side’s point of view—using words they would agree with—then you don’t understand the topic at hand.

(In that spirit, Angriff has read an early draft of this piece, and he is comfortable with my characterization of his argument. He has also agreed to refrain from commenting.)

Articles like Angriff’s are valuable because they add to the diversity of voices here on [a][s]. That breadth of perspective is what drives conversation, and ultimately understanding between divergent groups. Furry is a broad church and the [adjective][species] tagline—the furry world from the inside out—implicitly includes that full range of voices.

That said, there are things that we could have done better, not least presenting Angriff’s contrarian argument in a more positive way. But we will keep seeking and publishing informed and intelligent writing here on [a][s], and accept that sometimes mistakes will happen. We have a lot to talk about.

I am very new to furry fandom's community (like half a month new, looking around for 3), and for some reason I've been nervous as heck. I was wondering if it's normal to feel so out of place when first coming out, or if it's just me. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

submitted by Kleto-
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submitted by kentkentkent
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submitted by xandertheblue
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submitted by TuxedoDemon
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So as a fuzzbutt that has a year until he is thrust into the world to go to college, I wanna ask, what are conventions like? I wanna go to one so badly but I can't until I'm out of the house. What're the people like? What should I bring? Is there anything I need to know or any suggestions on things to do? I wanna go to one so badly I would love to have some pointers on convention attendance and all that. Sorry if this isn't the right place for this ^w;;

submitted by Billy6549
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Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Guest posts welcome. Tips: patch.ofurr@gmail.com.  Friend of the community lost in mass shooting in San Bernardino CA. (Tip: Bosn Otter.) The tragedy on December 2 is described as terrorism-related, and left 14 dead and 21 injured. Bosn said Dan Kaufman was “a friend to the furry community… a friend […]

submitted by cuddlypants
[link] [7 comments]

Just wondering, and searching the internet is not much help.

So, i will be 18 in october of 2017, but i will not have graduated highschool. Several friends and i wanted to go together and get a hotel room, but my parents still don't want me to go without them until i have graduated highschool -_-

If i go with them, i would be unable to go with all those said friends, and we would only got for Saturday instead of the whole convention.

So, are your parents able to keep you from going once you are 18?

submitted by TwistTheCat
[link] [7 comments]

December’s Book of the Month, Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, is by member Lawrence M. Schoen. From the publisher’s website:

The Sixth Sense meets Planet of the Apes in a moving science fiction novel set so far in the future, humanity is gone and forgotten in Lawrence M. Schoen’s Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard

An historian who speaks with the dead is ensnared by the past. A child who feels no pain and who should not exist sees the future. Between them are truths that will shake worlds.

In a distant future, no remnants of human beings remain, but their successors thrive throughout the galaxy. These are the offspring of humanity’s genius-animals uplifted into walking, talking, sentient beings. The Fant are one such species: anthropomorphic elephants ostracized by other races, and long ago exiled to the rainy ghetto world of Barsk. There, they develop medicines upon which all species now depend. The most coveted of these drugs is koph, which allows a small number of users to interact with the recently deceased and learn their secrets.

To break the Fant’s control of koph, an offworld shadow group attempts to force the Fant to surrender their knowledge. Jorl, a Fant Speaker with the dead, is compelled to question his deceased best friend, who years ago mysteriously committed suicide. In so doing, Jorl unearths a secret the powers that be would prefer to keep buried forever. Meanwhile, his dead friend’s son, a physically challenged young Fant named Pizlo, is driven by disturbing visions to take his first unsteady steps toward an uncertain future.

Available for pre-order from Amazon and other retailers, to be published December 29.

 

submitted by NoahGoldFox
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submitted by 123mine123
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submitted by slyweazal
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More back in the “where have we been?” realm is the Wereworld series of books written by Curtis Jobling — who happens to be the creator of the world famous Bob the Builder and (for Nickelodeon) Curious Cow. But he’s always harbored a soft (dark?) spot for classic horror, and now the Wereworld series is his first set of novels… still for young readers but decidedly for older kids! “Imagine a world ruled by Werelords–men and women who can shift at will into bears, lions, and serpents. When Drew suddenly discovers he’s not only a werewolf but the long-lost heir to the murdered Wolf King’s throne, he must use his wits and newfound powers to survive in a land suddenly full of enemies. Drew’s the only one who can unite the kingdom in a massive uprising against its tyrant ruler, Leopold the Lion. But the king is hot on Drew’s tail and won’t rest until he’s got the rebel wolf’s head.” And that’s just the first book, Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf from 2012. The series is up to book six now, and more are coming.  You can find the books in paperback over at Amazon, or check out the Wereworld web site for lots of background and extra goodies — or baddies.

image c. 2015 Puffin Books

submitted by Alpine_Hell
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submitted by Mythiiical
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