Planetfurry BBS

[KieferSkunk]

This topic is mainly for people who are curious about what furry fandom is about. This includes people from the WESH board - they are welcome here so long as things stay civil. I'd like this to be a place where you can ask me (and other furs) questions about furrydom, our involvement in the fandom, etc.

I'd encourage you to read a thread in the Everyday Blither-Blather forum first, since it went from a general warning to a fairly in-depth discussion about this topic. You can find that thread here.

Feel free to ask SERIOUS questions. I'll do my best to answer them. I also invite anyone else here on the board to answer questions as well - I'm certainly not the only one with an opinion.

[sweetkarl]

one question that comes to mind is about furry artwork. I see a lot of 'sexy' female characters with come hither looks and big breasts. So I assume that furries who have drawings like this fantasize about relationships of some sort with these 'sexy' characters. To an outside observer this seems sad and characteristic of someone who lacks the ability to relate to actual people. How off-base am I?
Honestly not meant to be rude.

[Cateagle]

[sweetkarl]

thanks. so, is it correct to assume that, generally, someone who enjoys this type of art fantasizes about the characters within?

[Tygon]

[sweetkarl]

[KieferSkunk]

Some of us do fantasize about those characters, and some just appreciate the art. Also, different people have different tastes - not everyone finds the big-boobs sexy artwork to be attractive. Different artists have different styles and appeal to different crowds, same as in any other organized group of people.

Also, just because we may fantasize about those characters doesn't mean we necessarily have any deficiencies in our real lives or our abilities.

As for the difference between human photos and furry drawings: I'm reading a book right now called "Understanding Comics", which goes into some depth about the psychology behind abstract drawings. The author talks about how we interpret a photo differently from a photo-realistic drawing, to an adventure-comic drawing, to a simplified comic drawing, to simple geometric shapes. He pointed out that the less realistic the drawing gets, the more we tend to project OURSELVES into the drawing - the more we identify with the character because we fill in the details we don't see.

I think this is part of why furry drawings are more attractive to many of us than photos are. Aside from us already being interested in furry characters, we also tend to project ourselves (usually self-consciously) into the drawings, filling in details that we don't necessarily see. That means that each one of us can interpret the drawing differently, and we may be attracted to the character within the drawing for different reasons.

In short, a furry drawing has the potential to be far more interesting than a photo.

[sweetkarl]

interesting points, all. thanks for the insight.

[Shirh Khan]

Well, I can't speak for everyfur, but one of the reasons I enjoy furry art is for the sheer variety of what can be seen. For every nuance and variation found in non-furry humanoid art, there are seemingly two orders of magnitude more variations to be found in the furry humanoid art world. I can freely admit to finding some furry art and cartoon characters pleasing to the eye. Call me kinky, call me weird- but then, everyone is unique that way; what strikes one person as strange may strike another as wonderous.

At one point in time, way back before I went to college, I *used* to be able to draw, a little bit, but since then my abilities in that area have atrophied to the point of being less than vestigal. *grin* So in a way, I live vicariously through the art I see, as well; I see the characters of my writing in my head, and because I no longer have the talent to create art, I search for the best approximations of my visions in the art of others, and is yet another reason I enjoy furry art.

To piggyback on my last paragraph, I also look on with envy to some of the creators of furry art; I wish I had half the artistic talent that I've seen at times- there are folks who can pick up a pencil, and a marker, and in minutes create what, if I had the talent, might have taken me hours, or even days, to come up with. And so, I enjoy it because if I can't draw it, I can at least appreciate the talent and effort of the person who did.

As far as fantasizing goes- well, I'm sure that the majority of us who call ourselves furry fantasize, but I'm also sure that the majority of us who *do* fantasize about things furry usually keep it to the less purient levels- i.e., we mainly wish to interact with the furry world, not to have an endless orgy in it.

Well, I do have my moments when the thoughts--

Anyway...
As a writer, I fantasize about the characters I've helped to bring to life in my stories, not as someone imaging all the sex they're having, or have had, or are going to have, but much as real people, with real personalities. As a writer, I think it is of greater importance to 'fantasize' about the furry world, as you're trying to manage not only a character, but usually the world they live in. In a sense, you shift from being a "parent" of a furry character, to the "God" of the furry world your character is a part of. In that case, you have to decide what they think, feel, say, understand, conceptualize, what information enters their senses, what causes them to act and react as they do, and what happens around them because of all that. It's almost like living in another world, and for me at least, I have to fantasize, to keep everything straight, and to tell the story right.

I don't think that most furries have any problems identifying with the real world, or with real people. I think that most of us who identify as furries, do so because it is a realm of 'uber' fantasy, something so outside the norm of what is "normal" fantasy, and it is a great escape from the pressures and problems of the real world, even if only for a short time. What's not attractive about a world in which you are the critter you admire most in nature, where many of the problems that you encounter on a day-to-day basis don't exist? I can't say that imaging such things would make a person especially weird, or especially prone to being unable to identify with people in the real world; in fact, I'd say that it gives one a proper perspective in which to be able to deal with people in the real world. Being able to escape the problems of the real world occasionally helps keep one from going insane, I believe.




-Shirh Khan

[Onic]

This thread has been dormant for quite a long time but I discovered and read it, and have only one thing to say.

"Wow."

My adventure into the furry world began not long ago. I've been through stages of looking for art, then comics, then furryfiction where I found a passion for writing I'm trying to develop.
In all of my searches for just what furry fandom is, I've never read anything as profound as this thread. Thanks for putting it so simply, the impact was not lost on me.

[Rabbit]

For what it's worth, I put my thoughts on this subject into a column for 'Anthro" a few months ago at http://anthrozine.com/clmn/clm.geusz.0b.html

In short, I suspect we're furry because of early childhood influences.

[KieferSkunk]