I'm sure it could be done, but we might want to get a mod's opinion first.
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FurryGAF |OT| They should have sent a veterinarian
- Thread starter Chuck
- Start date
I'm sure it could be done, but we might want to get a mod's opinion first.
Snowybreak
Member
Yeah definitely.
I feel like this fandom is mainstream enough to where people more or less know what it is and what goes on. Sure the specifics are kind of muddled and it's all too easy to get accusations of being a hardcore fetishist otherkin but I think the level of tolerance and understanding is adequately on par with just about any other fandom. Especially these days when anime avatars are substantially more suspect. I'm sure there are ways to make an outreach thread entertaining though. Could be interesting to see how it turns out.
Snowybreak
Member
I think making the weird specifics clearer might be fun, and even though the fandom is mainstream, there is still a lot most people don't know about.
I mean, the purpose of an outreach thread is to produce positive PR. Generally, furries have substantially negative PR. If we start here, maybe we can make it less weird for other people.
Plus the reactions to furry stuff from non-furries will forever be entertaining.
Wulfric
Member
I'll throw my hat in the ring for a general fur thread. Although that other thread started off as a trainwreck, it ended on a good note as people figured out what the furry community is actually about as opposed just to seeing the cringe stereotypes from 4chan.
I've also noticed that this thread tends to turn into a place to post suggestive art from tumblr more often than not. I'm not saying we shouldn't post that (since I post a lot of it myself), but it's not a good look if ordinary folks check out the thread to see a dozen people sharing pics of super buff Pokemon and Zelda animals.
Maybe we can start a book/story of the month thing?
I've also noticed that this thread tends to turn into a place to post suggestive art from tumblr more often than not. I'm not saying we shouldn't post that (since I post a lot of it myself), but it's not a good look if ordinary folks check out the thread to see a dozen people sharing pics of super buff Pokemon and Zelda animals.
Maybe we can start a book/story of the month thing?
Snowybreak
Member
There is a lot of good anthro literature out there. Hell, there are tons of good writers on FA and Weasyl alone.
As well, yes, staying away from suggestive art in a more public thread would be good. As fantastic as some of it can be, most people can't handle it.
Alright. And yeah, I agree. I think some positive stuff will come out of doing this.
Wulfric
Member
That's great, perhaps we can tie it in with an upcoming convention? The Magic the Gathering thread moves from community to regular OT whenever a new expansion comes out. While I don't think we should do exactly that, a new thread geared towards non furries should hopefully generate good discussion. I learned a lot about fursuits in OT, which is a topic that usually doesn't come up in this particular thread.
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
Con's might be a good idea. Just general Furdom might get an expected mixed reaction in general though. But you can't expect everyone to be open or excited.
Another option might be to touch on different furry RPG's there are floating around. I haven't had any experience with Ironclaw personally, but I have been running off and on games of Hc Svnt Dracones, which is a Post-Humanism furry game that is a ton of fun. And they've recently been doing a thing where they've been working on models for the game as well.
Just a thought.
Another option might be to touch on different furry RPG's there are floating around. I haven't had any experience with Ironclaw personally, but I have been running off and on games of Hc Svnt Dracones, which is a Post-Humanism furry game that is a ton of fun. And they've recently been doing a thing where they've been working on models for the game as well.
Just a thought.
Wulfric
Member
Armello would be a neat game to showcase as well. I know Aviary Attorney got some attention on gaming side.
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
The two I mentioned were tabletop RPG's.
But for the gaming side, "Stories : The Path of Destinies" is a freaking excellent game that needs to be mentioned all over the place. Such an excellent game.
This is an interesting idea. I don't want to make the thread too much like Furry OT where people might use it to potentially chat around and coordinate meeting up and things, but telling people that a few of us might be at an upcoming convention, or using a convention to post informative things like when and where it's taking place, news segments, and the like might enhance the thread plenty. I'll try to add that in!
Wulfric
Member
Ah, my bad, I thought those were PC games. I'm make sure to check that one out, it seems fun. The isometric look is interesting, I don't see why they couldn't do do an overhead/behind the player camera instead.
Wow, has it been that long? I remember seeing that game years ago, I thought it would be out by now!
I think timing the thread at the start of a major convention or game release might work. It gives people something to talk about, and then the discussion can flow to general questions or whatever. Anthrocon usually gets a few good news segments and articles, and having a "non furry" source would add credibility to the post. NPR did a sweet write up a few years ago.
The next major convention is Furry Weekend Atlanta, which is at the tail end of March. You want me to hold off then? It would be cool as a way to potentially stir activity in the real world, to encourage people who don't even know about fur cons that much to seek one out, especially if other Gaffers other than me are going, but I'm also afraid of also losing the momentum and positive energy we had from the original Nazi thread.
Also, if anyone wants to check out what I have as far as an OT and suggest changes and things, you can download the text file here. View it in Google Docs (not the preview), and just make a new post or thread and hit the preview button to see it (Note that I just added the next convention banner subsection. It may or may not be necessary).
Wulfric
Member
I dunno, it's up to you really. If you post it now, the thread might die before the convention hits. If you post it two or three weeks before the convention, it gives us a chance to answer questions before the actual event hits.
The OT format looks good. I had no idea there was a convention 20 minutes from me! I will definitely be checking FurSquared out. You should keep that upcoming con section; I think it'll keep mods from hiring the lock button preemptively. As long as the thread is topical and doesn't diverge into general talk, I don't think there would be a problem keeping it open.
Hmm. In that case, I'll wait on the thread. So probably around mid-March.
And there's conventions and meets in basically every state at this point. xD I myself keep trying to get out to FangCon in Tennessee, since it kinda sucks waiting around for FWA every year.
And yes, I don't want the thread to end up locked. I think the fact that the Nazi one lasted as long as it did was because the mods at least found it somewhat valuable and positive, and if we can recapture that same energy and purpose, we might have a mainstay thread outside of community!
Bornstellar
Member
Is there such a thing as a "clean" furry community?
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
Eh, everyone has their delinquents.
Wulfric
Member
What do you mean? There's plenty of fully clothed fursonas out there, if that's what you're asking.
Bornstellar
Member
I suppose what I mean is that I think anthropomorphism is pretty cool, but I'd like to remain aloof from the less savory elements.
It's as easy to do that in the fandom as any other. Follow clean artists and suiters, use communities that have NSFW rules like GAF and meet-up sites, and use NSFW blockers on sites like FA that are looser about it. Your experience can be entirely self-cultivated.
Has anyone seen this article yet? It's a Vice piece on the fandom fighting fascism within its ranks:
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/even-furries-are-fighting-fascists
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/even-furries-are-fighting-fascists
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
There are a couple pictures of fursuitters whose attire includes Nazi arm bands, swastikas and all. It infuriates me to no end.
But I know that most of the community I engage with tends to be intelligent, warm, interesting and inclusive folks.
Wulfric
Member
Goodness gracious, this shit really has spread into every subculture hasn't it? I mean, it was already there before, but they've really been emboldened as of late. I don't want this thread to turn into regular OT, but banning them from public events seems to be the best case scenario. There's no arguing with someone who spends all day on 4chan and has a Nazi armband on their fursuit. Kids go to these cons too, you know? Let them organize their own hate events. It makes the entire community look bad in front of regular hotel guests.
YoodiHoshi
Member
Yes yes hello new GAF denizen here who is also a furry
Real grateful to finally be part of this site!
Real grateful to finally be part of this site!
ColtraineGF
Member
o/
Have a free emoji 🐾
Have a free emoji 🐾
There are honestly enough cons at this point that it is easy enough to just avoid certain cons. Like, I don't do AC or RMFC for this very reason. Enough people do this and con staff will have to take action.
YoodiHoshi
Member
Wulfric
Member
Huh, do those cons really just brush it off? That's lame. Guess I'll make plans for MFF instead. I hear MFF has been getting bigger anyhow.
Linked to naughty birdie pics on Twitter. >.<
Well I can assure you that Anthro New England will instantly ban anyone wearing nazi paraphernalia, on the spot. Come to Boston. We're not shit!
The staff are only human. RMFC's chair(?) I think made a blog post about how the furry raiders armband wasn't considered Nazi imagery because it had a paw, and the people seemed nice. Thee rest of the staff eventually banned the imagry after enough people threatened to boycott.
And uncle Kage will defend anything 2 says at AC and make him headliner so...
No joke MFF could be the biggest con at this point next year. They even had to move into the convention center for some panels.
I,ve heard good things!
So far my mains are MFF and BLFC but looking to expand.
YoodiHoshi
Member
Good article here! (I hope I'm not repeating a post of it after someone maybe has once already)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitch...search-sharon-roberts-just-like-you-1.3885048
So, I thought this could be a good start for me to spread it around instead of Twitter
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitch...search-sharon-roberts-just-like-you-1.3885048
So, I thought this could be a good start for me to spread it around instead of Twitter
Wulfric
Member
Cute article.
I started writing furry stories in 8th grade, although I didn't know it at the time. When I discovered FA, it blew my mind. Like, it was amazing to know there were other people out there drawing animals and making werewolf suits. I'd say there's even more creativity in this fandom than in the anime community, since the characters are mostly all original.
It might be an overstatement to say it saved my life, but it certainly helped me accept my eccentricities a whole lot quicker.
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
I think that's a big part of the furry ideal as a whole. A lot of us got into when we were younger, and before we even realized it had a label. For me, it was during those awkward formative years where you never really quite know what the fuck you are to begin with, so creating something that you relate to and is a version of yourself that you have control over is a cathartic sort of thing. Naturally, it goes to evolve with you, but I find it also helps to give you a very different outlook on the going's on of other people, races, cultures, and yes, sexuality around the world.
Bornstellar
Member
I blame Redwall.
ChemicalCutthroat
Member
I also blame Redwall.
Finding that book in the school library in middle school was a damn godsend to me though.
Bornstellar
Member
Too bad the books became progressively more and more awful after a certain point.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
NEVER D:
Redwall must remain blameless for it is like half magic. Even as an adult I still enjoy getting lost in that world.
Even if the world never changes and the villains are all the same to a fault. Damn you Jacques, why you do this to me
Never actually read that book. For me, it was the Warriors series about the wild forest cats and Guardians of Gahool (the book, not the movie).
YoodiHoshi
Member
All sorts of anthro video game characters were what brought me to the fandom
Snowybreak
Member
I can't quite remember what brought me into the fandom. It might've been someone's literary works, I know it wasn't Redwall though.
Same! Well, my sister was more into Warriors, and she's even more obsessed with the Lion King (she gets really mad when I accuse her of being a furry, though, as she finds furries disgusting), but I read every single Ga'Hoole book and was really disappointed to see how the film turned out, seeing that they changed some characters' personalities completely.
There wasn't really any single thing that got me into the fandom, though. I just found it one day, I guess.
it was actually Sonic but I'm too ashamed to mention that at all
Snowybreak
Member
Sonic stuff freaks me out due to the proportions. And the porn always looks really... off. Like with normal Anthros you can say "yeah, they look pretty humanoid, normal proportions, I can get into this." But with Sonic characters it just looks... bizarre.
Oh, I was never into that. I was just into worldbuilding, and even then, everyone I worked with on that agreed that we just saw the characters we used as standard anthros in our heads. We weren't into the games, or the actual characters, or the cringy conventions. Completely self-isolated from the rest of the crazy fanbase. I think we all knew that we were using Sonic as a front to kind of deny the fact that we were furries to ourselves, further proven by the fact that every single one of us dropped it after a while and just started doing plain furry worldbuilding.
Snowybreak
Member
Ah yes the third stage of being a furry: denial.
1. Questioning
2. Intrigue
3. Denial
4. Questioning again
5. Acceptance
6. Fursuits
Edit: I don't mean denial of being into the porn! I mean denial of being a furry.
I reached 5 on that list a few years ago, but only felt confident enough to properly get involved in the fandom last year. I honestly don't think I'll get to 6, at least not while I'm still living at home, and I doubt I'd be able to hide a partial from my family for long either.
Snowybreak
Member
Suiting is too expensive for me. I think I should start writing though. I know I have a knack for it.
The price point is also a factor to what's stopping me from suiting as well. Maybe you should try writing out. It's very rewarding, but you need a lot of motivation, something I don't have a lot of, but I still try.