744 replies to this topic

[BanditRaptor]

Risky, on 23 June 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

We have a bad reputation with a lot of people. I mean, look what just happened in New Jersey, bet that gives us a great name.

But hey, gotta deal with it.

Wait what? What happened in New Jersey?

[Arthinas]

Risky, on 23 June 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

We have a bad reputation with a lot of people. I mean, look what just happened in New Jersey, bet that gives us a great name.

But hey, gotta deal with it.

That wasn't aimed at furries, that was aimed at Calbeck.

And what DID happen in New Jersey?

[Risky]

BeakieHelmet, on 23 June 2012 - 07:53 PM, said:

Wait what? What happened in New Jersey?

Two fursuiters having public sex. However, it seems these charges may be trumped up trash, as the people claiming they have pictures o the event happening refuse to release the pictures, which would be wonderful: As if they were, the fursuiters could be identified and punished accordingly.

The event has caused a whole bunch of issues.

http://www.furaffini...ournal/3577649/ - Journal of one of the events leaders. Contains info on it.

Arthinas, on 23 June 2012 - 07:55 PM, said:

That wasn't aimed at furries, that was aimed at Calbeck.

And what DID happen in New Jersey?

Ah okay, my bad.



Basically what happened.

Edited by Risky, 23 June 2012 - 08:04 PM.

[Aresye]

I won't lie, the only time I've stumbled onto a furry website (Didn't realize it at first, and quickly found out), there were 2 furries talking about how furries were genetically superior, and that humans should be exterminated.

Now, I don't hate furries. I may find it a strange culture, but it really isn't anything out of the ordinary. After all, I look at wolves as a power animal, which I understand some would even consider to be a furry trait, but that's pretty much it. Not a fan of the art, cosplay, or anything else for that matter.

I really have to ask though. How did the PR of your fandom get to be so bad?

[BanditRaptor]

Risky, on 23 June 2012 - 07:56 PM, said:

Two fursuiters having public sex. However, it seems these charges may be trumped up trash, as the people claiming they have pictures o the event happening refuse to release the pictures, which would be wonderful: As if they were, the fursuiters could be identified and punished accordingly.

The event has caused a whole bunch of issues.

http://www.furaffini...ournal/3577649/ - Journal of one of the events leaders. Contains info on it.



Ah okay, my bad.



Basically what happened.

Huh.

Well if they actually did that they should be prosecuted, if they didn't they shouldn't, but yeah, innocent until proven guilty and all.

While I do think doing that sort of thing in public is inviting criticism accusing them of breaking the law is certainly a bit much.

Aresye, on 23 June 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

I won't lie, the only time I've stumbled onto a furry website (Didn't realize it at first, and quickly found out), there were 2 furries talking about how furries were genetically superior, and that humans should be exterminated.

Now, I don't hate furries. I may find it a strange culture, but it really isn't anything out of the ordinary. After all, I look at wolves as a power animal, which I understand some would even consider to be a furry trait, but that's pretty much it. Not a fan of the art, cosplay, or anything else for that matter.

I really have to ask though. How did the PR of your fandom get to be so bad?

Hoo boy. Well, it's a long story. At least, this is how it went down how I remember it. Maybe someone else has a more accurate take on this, or maybe one more coherent, but this is hopefully the gist of it.

The basic version is when people first started to band together on the internet about liking anthropomorphic characters there was a general sentiment that this was kind of a weird thing to like, especially since the characters aren't human. Nowadays I think it's easy to justify it by saying so long as they're sapient/sentient/of human intelligence there shouldn't be a problem, but these were the days when this stuff was really rare, people just didn't know how... popular I guess the idea would get. Anyways, this gave an early rise to hugbox communities where people accepted everyone no matter what they did, because they were all freaks for liking such things right? Well, that was the sentiment I saw at least back in the day. Things were bad, and there were pockets of especially awful stuff out there, but as a whole it wasn't too bad just yet.

A couple of things happened in succession though that really sent the fandom into a dark age. First, multiple rather scathing parodies cropped up around the same time as some really, awful fetish-based stuff, from stuff like The Terrifying Look at the Furries to Incontinent Student Bodies, the latter of which pretty much became the face of the fandom for most people for years to come once Something Awful got a hold of it. People started trolling all furries on a wide scale, and given the nature of most furries back then (thinking they're freaks but indulging in both pornographic furry material while at the same time being socially immature and insecure) this resulted in a lot of people making really vocal cries of protest and despair over being made fun of on the internet, giving furries another stereotypical trait of being incredibly thin-skinned.

This repeated for years. Furries were easy targets for trolling and gave reactions that were really... Well, I'm not sure how I can continue to say this in a PC manner but really, when it gets down to brass tacks they were crybabies and gave into the bullying like children.

This caused the mentality of a lot of furry fans to get even worse. People that were already mentally or socially unstable just broke entirely, but given the hugboxing, accepting community remained as such people just fed this sort of behavior and let it continue. If you told anyone to man up, even nicely, you were a troll and not to be trusted. Like I said, a dark time.

Certain People who weren't mentally broken or just adults about the whole thing started hanging out on places like 4chan and something awful after a while, or just laid low a bit on other communities in general. Some might say there were good furry communities before FurAffinity, but honestly, I don't believe them, because FA is the first site I've seen where a lot of people, or really, a lot of artists seem to act at least somewhat rationally. Still, the old stigmas remain and the people who are more vocal about being a furry are usually the sort that reinforce old stereotypes and make sure they remain in place, rather than just being more chill and appreciating anthropomorphic characters in peace, because you can like anthro characters without making it your whole life, especially when something it's even a genre! It's just a style of characterization.

To this day the fandom as a whole is a very accepting and unquestioning one, which as I said, only feeds immature and irrational behavior among certain people, but it's also slowly matured over time... and as much as I can't say the fandom as a whole is good, even today, I can say that just in my opinion, it's now a healthier fandom and community as a whole than DeviantArt, Sonic, and a number of others. Oh, and the rise of anonymous furry boards has also helped, as thanks to anonymity certain people can't ostracize others for being "terrible trolls" for speaking their minds and people's thoughts and ideas can move much more freely than before.

And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I think the widespread bullying and trolling that occurred in the early 2000's helped the fandom as a whole in the long run, as I think it really whipped some people into shape, though it did drive others further down, as that bullying and trolling? A lot of it was based on some pretty valid points, all said and done.

[BanditRaptor]

I know I must sound like a broken record at this point, but I really wish I could drill this into everyone who calls themselves a furry, a brony, or anything else like this:

Liking something that other people don't like is not an excuse to act like a child about it. There is absolutely nothing stopping you from liking something and still acting like a reasonable person. If someone insults you over something you like, they're probably not worth talking to, and you can defend anything you like with a simple "I don't know why I like it, I just do." if you're put on the spot about it, or if you just can't identify why you like something.

If someone goes further, if someone says you like furries or ponies because you're into animals, the wrong way, and you know you don't like animals that way, then that's all there is to it. Someone saying otherwise doesn't make it true, especially when it's your opinion. Just have a bit of confidence in yourself, you know what you like.

[Risky]

BeakieHelmet, on 23 June 2012 - 09:34 PM, said:

If someone goes further, if someone says you like furries or ponies because you're into animals, the wrong way, and you know you don't like animals that way, then that's all there is to it. Someone saying otherwise doesn't make it true, especially when it's your opinion. Just have a bit of confidence in yourself, you know what you like.

When they say things like that, I just tell them I do and I like the way it feels in a very calm manner. They usually stop responding or talking.

More of a reverse troll.

Edited by Risky, 23 June 2012 - 09:41 PM.

[Vandal]

Risky, on 23 June 2012 - 09:40 PM, said:

When they say things like that, I just tell them I do and I like the way it feels in a very calm manner. They usually stop responding or talking.

More of a reverse troll.

Ah yes, the ol' 'make rational people think you are an abominable and deplorable human being'.

Haha, never fails.

Edited by Vandal, 23 June 2012 - 09:45 PM.

[thearticulategrunt]

Actually, I have a copy somewhere in all my books, they made a "furry" battletech book over a decade ago. And while personally i am not much of a furry fan (aside from the occasional hot girl in a revealing suit, a hot girl is a hot girl) I will happy take pay and fight with anyone who will fight at my side to slay some bronies.

[BanditRaptor]

Risky, on 23 June 2012 - 09:40 PM, said:

When they say things like that, I just tell them I do and I like the way it feels in a very calm manner. They usually stop responding or talking.

More of a reverse troll.

That sort of thing isn't really something to joke about, and while this creeps whoever it is out, and while you might not care what they think of you... word gets around. If you freely admit to that, and they can save a log of it, you can get in serious trouble, on top of it being a deplorable act to begin with that you, again, should not be joking about.

EDIT: The proper word for "That" is censored apparently...

Edited by BeakieHelmet, 23 June 2012 - 09:53 PM.

[Risky]

BeakieHelmet, on 23 June 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

That sort of thing isn't really something to joke about, and while this creeps whoever it is out, and while you might not care what they think of you... word gets around. If you freely admit to that, and they can save a log of it, you can get in serious trouble, on top of it being a deplorable act to begin with that you, again, should not be joking about.

EDIT: The proper word for "That" is censored apparently...

Implying that I would type something like that into the internet. I only say it over voice chat in games when someone starts trolling.

However, I do agree with you.

[Squeak]

bah this is silly furries have always had a bad rap because people always hate what they dont understand so why even try to change it, ether ya understand or ya dont.

also i dont care about what anyone thinks about cannon and all that. this will be one pilot who will be a giant rat running around in a light mech laughing his head off, why BECAUSE ITS A GAME cannon is great but players dont control cannon thats for the devs as a player we can play as what we want

peace out chill and have fun, and someone post some more hot cat girls in here that always gets a furry chat going in the right direction agian

P.S. im a self admitted pervert, that dounst mean all furries are. each and everyone is diffrent just like everyone else

[Vulpesveritas]

And I was hoping this thread wouldn't get out of hand.... oh well.




Alright, feel free to continue.... Preferably with no trolls this time.

On the thread topic, it comes down to people have different beliefs, and with the fandom being that, a fandom... it draws a large number of odd people in. I have friends whom some of their fetishes make me want to press

A few thousand times, but still, I put up with it as they are my friends.... and I live with the fact that they have strange things they like.
Really wish more of the world would tolerate the people who are different and we could invest more resources into feeing the hungry and bringing technology and education to poor, largely illiterate countries around the globe.
... We are all capable of that, right?...


But, then again, trolls will be trolls I suppose.
And sheep will be sheep.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 23 June 2012 - 10:45 PM.

[BanditRaptor]

Squeak, on 23 June 2012 - 10:23 PM, said:

bah this is silly furries have always had a bad rap because people always hate what they dont understand so why even try to change it, ether ya understand or ya dont.

also i dont care about what anyone thinks about cannon and all that. this will be one pilot who will be a giant rat running around in a light mech laughing his head off, why BECAUSE ITS A GAME cannon is great but players dont control cannon thats for the devs as a player we can play as what we want

peace out chill and have fun, and someone post some more hot cat girls in here that always gets a furry chat going in the right direction agian

P.S. im a self admitted pervert, that dounst mean all furries are. each and everyone is diffrent just like everyone else

It's "Canon." Not "Cannon."

The Clan Invasion is a Canon event.

The AC/20 is a Cannon.

[Kobura]

BeakieHelmet, on 23 June 2012 - 10:41 PM, said:

It's "Canon." Not "Cannon."

The Clan Invasion is a Canon event.

The AC/20 is a Cannon.

Only if it's not rifled!

[RoyalWave]

I'll leave it up to the admins to decide but I dont like to visit the mwo front page and see "popular topics" Furries. Even if it is in off topic, do not put a thread like this in "popular topics" on the front page.

Edited by Ghost, 25 June 2012 - 07:55 AM.

[Risky]

RoyalWave, on 23 June 2012 - 10:50 PM, said:

I'll leave it up to the admins to decide but I dont like to visit the mwo front page and see "popular topics" Furries. Even if it is in off topic, do not put a thread like this in "popular topics" on the front page.

You sling a claim that you can't back up like most of those arguments before you that go against this thread and/or the furry fandom itself.

Got fallacy?

[Aresye]

Vulpesveritas, on 23 June 2012 - 10:34 PM, said:

Really wish more of the world would tolerate the people who are different and we could invest more resources into feeing the hungry and bringing technology and education to poor, largely illiterate countries around the globe.

Ah...yes, but here's the issue with that:

Excusing the overly vocal haters who will despise anything that goes against their own beliefs, the vast majority of people are rather tolerant of different lifestyles, whether that's being gay, being a stay home dad, a working mom, etc.

In my experience (as a brony), I've found a lot of my coworkers and friends are pretty open to me liking the show, and even enjoy some of the parodies and fan content, while not being into the show themselves.

What most people aren't tolerant of, is hearing people publicly talk about their fetishes. If you have your own quirks (I know I do), interact with those who are into similar quirks, but in places not related to that, don't proudly exclaim what you're into if you wouldn't shout it out walking down a public street.

You'd be pretty pissed off if you were in a public restaurant, and a group of people were discussing some fetish they're all into that you find odd, and you'd be even more pissed off when you tell them, "Hey, can you not talk about that here," and they get in your face about how you should be more tolerant of what they're into.

It's not a perfect analogy, but I think it helps illustrate what I'm getting at.

It's like this topic. I personally find a lot of furry artists to be, well, damn good artists, so I can appreciate the art, and some of the things the fandom produces, but does that mean I want to stumble on things like this?

Quote

peace out chill and have fun, and someone post some more hot cat girls in here that always gets a furry chat going in the right direction agian

P.S. im a self admitted pervert, that dounst mean all furries are. each and everyone is diffrent just like everyone else

...not exactly.

[Vulpesveritas]

Back on topic and ending all this drag off topic stuff; the FWL should be mixed types of furs, though yeah house marik themselves should be eagles of some sort I think if everyone in the BT universe were furs.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 24 June 2012 - 12:23 AM.

[Watchit]

I claim bears for the FRR! Viking Bear men! Though, even in the regular FRR bears are considered valued citizens and comrades. Why there is even one successful bear leading my companies recon lance...

Also perhaps some snow leopards, and elk/deer, the FRR is quite diverse as well.