#furry species stereotypes

[rocaillefox]

can people please stop turning furry worlds into fantastical racism/making up furry stereotypes. i do not want to read 'all cats are troublemakers. all bears are police. all rabbits are caregivers.' like, peoples features and bodies do not signify anything about personality, morality, political stance, etc. and the bioessentialism inherent to that concept absolutely reeks. this is not a politically neutral thing jsjfbvj

[ponett]

Do you have any advice for people making OCs/sonas? Yours are really well rounded and unique and I'd greatly appreciate the insight of someone who got a passion project off the ground!

So this is a very broad topic, and it varies a lot based on your own creative goals, what kind of characters you're creating, and where you want to use them. Creating an OC to be used in furry pinups is a little different than creating one for a dramatic story. But I'll try to give some general advice on how I do things for the types of characters and stories I tend to work with

Heads up: this will be kinda long lol

The germ of an idea

For me, I'll generally be inspired to create a character starting with a small number of core traits. These could be anything. A color scheme, a body type, a job, a hobby, a personality archetype, an outfit, a visual motif, a functional role in a story I'm working on, a noteworthy facial feature, a weapon, a relationship of some sort to an existing character, a single scene or joke I want to use them for. For furries and fantasy characters, species is usually one of the first things I'll have an idea for, which tends to get the ball rolling fairly easily since we have all sorts of cultural associations with different animals and fantasy creatures.

Any standout character trait like this that you find compelling can serve as that initial spark. The inspiration can come from anywhere, but it's often just a matter of knowing yourself and your own tastes. What do you like? What are the people in your life like? What really speaks to you in a character? What's an existing fictional character that you'd like to rewrite and take in a different direction? What's an aspect of yourself that you would like to see represented more often in fiction? It doesn't have to be something super deep or fleshed out right from the start, though. You can start with something as simple as "I want a black cat character" or "I want a character who dresses like an arcade carpet" or "I want a character who looks scary but is actually nice." Whatever it is, it's something that differentiates the new character from the ones I already have, because otherwise I'd just be using them.

Contrast

From there, you can start brainstorming other traits that might go with those core traits. Some of those may be traits that naturally complement each other. Continuing with the black cat example, maybe you wanna play into the common cultural perception of black cats and say that this character brings bad luck, or is associated with witchcraft. However, I often like to give characters contrasting or even seemingly contradictory traits, which can help elevate a character beyond a stock archetype. Real people tend to be a walking ball of contradictions, after all.

I've talked a lot about how I did this with the main cast of SLARPG. Melody is a fox, traditionally a crafty and untrustworthy predator, but she's extremely introverted and gentle. Allison is a bunny, but instead of being a meek and cuddly little prey animal she's an outgoing fighter who loves a challenge, and she has a muscular build. I think this kind of thing gives characters some fun flavor, and can be really effective for both comedy and drama. For an example from something I didn't write, take Senshi from Dungeon Meshi. He's a dwarf, and he embodies certain stereotypical aspects of dwarves - he's a short, buff man with a big bushy beard, he lives underground, he's stubborn and doesn't like elven magic - but he also goes against some of them. Instead of being an expert on mining and blacksmithing, Senshi is a culinary expert who has a deep appreciation for the natural ecosystem of the dungeon. He's a weirdo among dwarves for not caring about the wellbeing of his axe and for using his super awesome shield primarily as a giant wok. And that's what makes Senshi fun and interesting.

So going back to our example, instead of going with the stereotype, we could make a black cat character who has comically good luck, or who's superstitious and afraid of witchcraft, or who's an extremely rational person who always believes in science over superstition. Or maybe you roll with the bad luck angle, but instead make the black cat be the victim of their own bad luck in some interesting way. Maybe this black cat has terrible luck with love and can't hold down a relationship. Maybe this black cat is an aspiring speedrunner who consistently gets the absolute worst RNG possible in every video game due to their own bad luck. Maybe this black cat has accrued a horrendous gambling debt after a long losing streak and has loan sharks coming after them.

These are all just hypothetical examples, of course. I don't exclusively make characters with ironic contradictions like this. The idea is just to build on those core traits you started with in interesting ways, and that's one of my favorite ways to do so. But honestly, a lot of the time execution is more important than the sheer originality of an idea, and sometimes really putting your all into playing a trope you love straight is the right move.

Specificity

Regardless of what direction I take a character in past that initial seed of an idea, the key ingredient tends to be specificity. To give them specific details beyond the most stock possible version of that core idea you started with.

This is something I internalized from Tim Schafer, via a blog post in the behind-the-scenes backer material for Broken Age. Sadly I'm not sure if that stuff is still available, but I did save this particular post about creating characters since it really helped me, so I'll directly quote a chunk of that post here:

No two characters would approach a problem or react to events in the same way. At least, not if you’ve designed the characters well. If you’ve left them too vague or superficial, if they are merely functional elements in your story instead of individuals, then they might react in the same way. And that’s a problem. So to avoid that, I’m going to talk about one the most important parts of character development: specificity. Making sure your character is a specific individual, not a stereotype. A unique character, different from anyone else in the world. It doesn’t mean that they have to have wacky gimmicks, eyepatches and crazy accents. It just means they have to be specific. For example, let's create a new character. Let's say your story has a scene where your main character gets in trouble in school. So you’re probably going to need a school teacher. Imagine a school teacher for a bit. Do you see her in a little red schoolhouse? Maybe a bun in her hair? An apple on her desk? Thick black glasses? Let’s put a ruler in her hand for good measure. Done! We have our teacher character. She’s ready to be in the scene where our hero goes to school and the teacher sends her to the principal’s office for passing notes. Right? I mean, this character doesn’t have too many lines, so why develop her character any more? The problem is that this teacher is a very shallow stereotype of a teacher. She has no specific attributes that make her memorable. She’s the teacher you would get in a set of free clip art. She might not have many lines, but if all your supporting characters are this way, your story will be more bland than it should be. Even if this teacher is only onscreen for a minute, she should be unique and different from any other teacher in the world. Luckily, it's not actually that hard to make her so. You just have to ask some very basic, specific questions.

Tim goes on to explain how simple exercises like filling out character sheets with basic questions about your character (there are a million of these online) can help push a character beyond a stock archetype, even if it's a minor supporting character. Questions about where they're from, their likes and dislikes, their beliefs, their goals in life, that sort of thing. For minor characters especially, a lot of these details may never actually come up in a story, but just asking even a few of these questions and giving them specific answers helps you see them less like an archetype and more like a real person in your head. Maybe you never bring up your character's backstory or their favorite sport or what kind of music they listen to, but just having a specific answer for questions like that might help color the way you depict that character in subtle ways. It makes it feel like they aren't defined by just that one core trait you started with, and helps make the characters and world feel more alive, like there's stuff going on with them beyond the bounds of the story or the drawing.

It's a careful balancing act, though. It's easy for a character to feel like they're a collection of too many unrelated gimmicks and quirks. Again, like Tim said, these specifics don't have to make for the craziest, most original character ever, there just has to be something there.

Let's go back to SLARPG as an example, where I combined broad character archetypes I liked with more specific personal elements that I felt like I wasn't seeing enough in the fiction I liked. Melody is riffing on the common idea of the reserved healer character in the RPG or MMO party and the shy girl archetype, but she's the main hero instead of a supporting player in another person's story, and she's also a fat bisexual trans woman who draws a lot of little details from my own life. Her interests, her relationships, her opinions on things, her personal hangups and dreams, these all set Melody apart from other fantasy healer characters and define her as Melody Amaranth. Specificity!

But it doesn't always have to be super deep, especially if you just want some characters to draw for fun and aren't planning on writing a story with them. Take my fursona. I've always loved dogs, so I made my fursona a dog. I chose a Samoyed in particular because I think Samoyeds are the cutest, and I hadn't seen hardly any anthro Samoyed OCs at the time. I leaned into the breed's signature fluffiness to help my fursona stand out from other canine OCs. She has simple identifying traits like being fat like me, wearing glasses like mine, and having a hairstyle kinda like mine (when I tied my hair up in a bun, at least). And there you go. Fursona achieved. She's not a wildly high concept character, but she doesn't need to be

Anyway I realize that this is mostly about the writing aspect, so here's a few quick bullet points about designing a character's appearance:

Face and body type variety are good, but personally I would say lack of body type variety is worse than same face syndrome

Knowing some stuff about shape language is good, but you don't have to be completely beholden to the "circles are friendly, squares are sturdy, triangles are scary" shit. I'm generally more interested in using repeated shaping in different parts of a character's design as sort of a shape motif. Melody's body, hair, and tail are all made of round, swooping shapes, for example. (This is more applicable if you're designing cartoonier characters as opposed to realistic humans, obviously.)

Knowing some basics of color theory is also good. I like using complementary and contiguous color schemes on characters and generally try not to use too many distinct colors on one design. Black and white and grey and various browns are good as neutral colors to balance out the colors of the rainbow, and gold can be a nice accent color

A small handful of identifying accessories can be fun, but don't rely on those to make a design stand out. Ideally your character should still be identifiable even when not wearing their default outfit, or even in silhouette

Aaaaaand I'm gonna call it a wrap there! This is a huge topic, so hopefully this helps with at least some of the basics! At the end of the day, though, don't beat yourself up if you can't sit down and force yourself to come up with the most crazy awesome OC ever. Just have fun and be yourself!

[foone]

Speaking of the zeldas: of the Zelda game, I'm a bit unsure of the cat(as in girl)suit power up.

Because on the one hand:

Nintendo? You put an equipment item in your First Zelda-Lead Adventure that puts her into a catgirl costume?

It just feels a bit like... Nintendo, have you at least heard of gender stereotypes in storytelling?

Because I'm not saying you're wrong, necessarily! Maybe it's an innocuous choice amongst many other costumes, or there's some cultural differences, or whatever. It just seems to be the kind of thing that you'd at least consider, before you put this in your game.

Especially because this is your First Zelda Adventure #feminism.

But on the other hand, see:

The game's art style is so cartoony that it comes across as more "adorable!" than "sexy!", I think*.

But it's Really Adorable. Cute as hell, it looks almost like claymation**, I love it.

On another finger of that second hand:

I demand equality. Hashtag Put Link In The Cat Suit Too 2024.

On a second additional finger of that second hand:

Actually Nintendo you know what? Fuck you. I am a Reverse Engineer and Game Hacker when not a somewhat stoned letsplay watcher, I'll do it my self. You build this game on the same engine as Zelda: Links Awakening (2019)? I'll extract the models out of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and inject them back into Zelda: Links Awakening (2019)!

Bam. Link in the catsuit! The world is better place.

On another finger of that first hand, that is, the post has gone non-linear oh god:

Does it make it worst that it's explicitly a costume? As in, this is clothes that Zelda is magically quick-changing into. Zelda, the Hylian woman, has changed out of her Ninja Cloak into "Sexy Catgirl Costume Like What You Buy From Halloween Store".

She's not, for example, just turning into a different species. Which is something that's been one of the primary gimmicks of least... Two? Three? previous Legend of Zelda games!

Although reconsidering in light of footnote one, it's it's possible that they DID just mean it to be sexy, but most other people might have Opinions about the relative sexinesses of "woman in catgirl suit" versus "catgirl, as in member of species: catgirl"***. So I am maybe off base?

* I am admittedly possibly a very Spiders Georg in the area of "sexual attraction".

** someone please do this in some future game: take the style of this Zelda subseries and make it like, 25% more claymationyier. That wouldn't be to hard to do with some minor graphical design differences and shaders, and it would make these admittedly already pretty adorable games even more adorable!

*** This is presumably a continuum with "no costume but acting like a cat" further back on the "woman in catgirl suit" point, and it then continuing on past "species catgirl" to "catgirl (furry)" and "cat girl (cartoonish bipedal cat)" to "quite realistic to nature cat (who is incidentally a girl)". I mean hypothetically you could find a point that could be MORE CATS THAN ACTUAL CATS THEMSELVES ARE... But I'm not getting laid**** enough to engage in that kind of advanced recreational furryism.

**** holy typoing fuck I meant PAID! I'm not getting PAID ENOUGH! I'm dying.

[ravings-of-a-mad-scientist]

Scientist Stereotypes (For Biologists)

Marine Biologist: Would surely wither and perish without the sustenance provided by constant blåhaj ownership.

Microbiologist: has only ever touched grass once, by accident (they were collecting microbe samples)

Paleontologist: Someone gave this 8 year old a PhD and also made them into an adult with anxiety! Who would do such a thing???

Geneticist: Still uses Windows Vista, best case scenario.

Immunologist: Lost all their money to their crippling addiction of commissioning furry art. Currently on a new age spirit journey scraping together their tattered remains of a soul (unrelated)

Physician: Guides others to a treasure they cannot possess; any semblance of physical or mental health

Entomologist: has that 'tism where they're easily distracted by bugs like a dog by squirrels

Field Biologist: Went on sabbatical to the Amazon and contracted 59 novel parasites, they all died of fear, immediately took a vacation to Antarctica and single handedly invented a species of penguin. Documented that the Glob Sloth literally doesn’t do anything interesting ever by watching one for 9 years straight while surviving off only dust particles and undergrad tears. Then held a wake for bestboy Blue Eyes White Toad after he was tragically killed off during the mating season arc of the soap opera they imagine all the wild animals are in.

[pawtasticpuppers]

TIPS TO MAKE A FURSONA: PT. 1

Hello! Im Cereal (Or Vinny!!) ive been in the furry community for almost 5 years now and draw for a living, and today im teaching you:

How to make your fursona!

When you first join the furry fandom, while its optional, you may want to make a fursona to represent your anthro self! But if you dont know what it is, I have a definition! A fursona (a combination of "furry" and "persona") is essentially an anthropomorphized animal character that represents a person in the furry community. Someone's fursona usually reflects some aspects of the person's own personality, hobbies, and interests. It can be anything from a simple drawing to a detailed 3D model, cosplay, or even a full-body costume (fursuit). People use their fursonas to express themselves and interact with each other in the furry community.. Some of the most common fursonas in the furry fandom include foxes, wolves, cats, and dogs. Some less common but still popular fursonas are bears, raccoons, rabbits, and bats. There are also many mythical or fictional animals that furries may choose as their fursona, such as dragons, and unicorns (popularized by MLP) Some furries may even create hybrid fursonas, like tiger-dragon or wolf-cat. The most "basic" (no shame in this!) is the Wolf. Its generally seen as the default! Some uncommon fursonas in the furry fandom include:

Elephants

Sloths

Giraffes

Zebras

Deer

Owls

Penguins

Hedgehogs (Excluding Sonic!!!)

Turtles

Fish

Bats

Rhinos

Otters

Seals

Walruses

Anteaters

Scorpions

Snakes

Worms (yes, really, and they are beautiful.)

Some stereotypes about certain fursona species include: Wolves: Alpha males, tough and strong. Foxes: Sly, cunning, and quick-witted. Cats: Independent, aloof, and often aloof. Bears: Big, burly, and often cuddly. Rabbits: Soft, sweet, and cuddly. Dragons: Majestic, powerful, and sometimes aloof. Tigers: Strong, fierce, and independent. Owls: Wise, mysterious, and nocturnal. Pandas: Laid-back, cute, and clumsy. But!! Foxes have a very odd stereotype The "femboy fox" stereotype likely arose from a combination of factors. Historically, foxes in folklore and mythology have often been depicted as cunning, deceptive, and even trickster-like figures. This has often led some people to stereotype foxes as being sneaky, sly, and somewhat devious. Additionally, foxes are generally considered cute animals, which may have contributed to the idea of some foxes being portrayed as more feminine or "cute" in artwork and other media. Ultimately, the femboy fox stereotype is likely just a byproduct of these various factors and how foxes are commonly portrayed in popular culture.

Is it bad to fall into these stereotypes? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Everyone is unique and can make whatever they want!! Now that we have gotten past species and what a fursona is, now how to make one!

Creating a fursona is an exciting and creative endeavor that allows individuals to express their identity through an anthropomorphic animal character. To begin, start by contemplating what characteristics resonate with you personally. Consider traits such as personality, interests, and even your values. For instance, if you’re adventurous and energetic, you might choose a fox or a wolf, both of which are often associated with such qualities. Alternatively, if you identify with gentleness and nurturing tendencies, a deer or a rabbit could encapsulate those traits effectively. Using the aesthetics, traits and looks can help on the design aspects of your fursona. Think about the species you want to represent, the colors of their fur, and any additional markings or patterns that could convey your personality better. Many fursonas also include unique features, like bright-colored accents or accessories that reflect hobbies or interests—such as headphones for a music lover or goggles for an aspiring pilot. Drawing inspiration from various sources, including real animals, mythology, and even pop culture, can help you visualize and refine your fursona’s look!!!

Once you have a basic idea of your fursona's personality and design, it's time to give them a name. This name can be a reflection of their traits, an amalgamation of words you love, or even a play on words. The right name can further embody the essence of your character and make them feel more real to you. Finally, consider how you want to portray your fursona in different contexts, such as social media, art, or even attending conventions. Engaging with the furry community can also provide support and inspiration, as sharing your fursona with others often leads to meaningful connections and friendships among fellow enthusiasts. Creating a fursona is a journey of self-discovery and imagination, allowing you to explore facets of yourself in a fun and artistic way.

Here are some names! John William James Robert Michael David Richard Thomas Charles Joseph Mark Paul Peter Daniel Andrew Matthew Chris Christopher Sarah Elizabeth Mary Jennifer Emily Jessica Anna Amanda Hannah Ashley Leah Rachel Sophia Samantha Madison Olivia Emma Grace

[sir-fluffbutts]

Do you feel upset when someone takes inspiration (no copy, just inspired) by your adoptables and character design to create theirs?

its.....complicated

-------

generaly i don't mind. artists inspire artists, thats whats been done EONS ago

however, it'll really depend on how "inspired" you were

-------

i do want to say firsthand that if a character is

• very simple (single color furrys)

• have a very "standard" color palette (black and white zebra, blonde golden retriever, brown cow ect)

• stereotypical of its species (germen sheperd police officier, illegal ring fighter pitbulls, showoff peacock ect)

• inspired off a same theme

the designs can overlap unintentionaly, which i fully understand and will overlook most of the time

for example, axolotls are (mainly) pink, and i can't hunt down everyone who owns a pink axolotl oc

BUT, theres absolutly some people who "get heavily inspired" which do get me like 🤨

for example, heres a oc that got a redesign "inspired" by chiffon

its "inspired" characters like these that gets under my skin

and heres a suggestion based on ther OG design (far left) that i drew for them so they can come up with a more original design that keeps the same vibe

theres MULTIPLE instences where somebody "get inspo" from my ocs/designs and its literaly the same character, so i don't openly say "im fine with inspo" anymore

--------------

so tldr:

- it depends, ask me if you arn't sure

[hiiragi7]

Saw your post on "casual intersexism", and while they're all good points, I did have questions about one- the "casual use of the word hermaphrodite". I know that calling a human person that is both wrong and rude, but is it a word that should be avoided entirely, including in scientific/nonhuman context? IE, talking about hermaphroditic snails, made up alien species, etc. This is a genuine question, because I know any word can be used offensively in the right context... but is this one of those, or one that just shouldnt be used..?

It's... complicated. Everyone in the intersex community has a different opinion on this.

My thoughts are that if a species is actually hermaphroditic and that is the most accurate terminology, then in a strictly biological context it may be fine and I do not consider that to be "casual use" as it is used in a scientific context. However, there are also more specific biological words that may be both more accurate and more specific to what is being talked about, so be sure you're saying what you think you are saying and using the proper terminology if it's actually a conversation about biology. Too many people I see will claim they are using the word hermaphrodite to talk about biological features and then just use it completely wrong anyway. Due to this, in my opinion, the use of the word in this context should probably just mainly be left to biologists or people who are otherwise very educated in this area...

Also, if we are talking biology, hermaphrodite is not a "more scientific term" for intersex, they are not interchangeable and in a biological sense they are completely different concepts altogether, so please keep this in mind too. Way too often I will see the furry community or fanfiction writers who do not know this and will just throw around the word hermaphrodite as if it is just a biological term to describe sex similar to how female or male is used when it is not.

Related to that, I do not believe it is appropriate to call OCs or characters hermaphrodites. These are characters/species created from the mind of a human being and therefore are subject to human biases and stereotypes, and I have never in my life seen "hermaphrodite OCs" done respectfully, if they even can be. This may be related to how the character's entire biology is based off of a fetishized slur, but in my experience they are always stereotypes and always fetishizing. These characters are also anthropomorphic in a way in which calling them hermaphrodites is... extremely uncomfortable and absolutely fuels intersexism.

I am strongly of the opinion that anyone who is so drawn to the label of hermaphrodite as to use it in this way has some shit to unpack, because it is admittedly fucking weird to use a slur to define your character's biology or species.

This is just my thoughts as a singular intersex person, also. Again, this topic is one that nobody in the intersex community fully agrees on and you'll find a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions and it is worth listening to what they have to say. Don't just listen to me alone, I'm just a random asshole on the internet, find what other intersex people have to say too. We aren't a monolith and all that.

[gragam]

im not a furry but an ally can you tell me all the fursona stereotypes

i dunno... a lot of it is just broad categories of animal traits that people can slot into like fluffy vs sleek skinny vs fat cute vs cool masculine vs feminine (rolls eyes) but theres some more species-specific things that people relate to for various reasons. hyenas eat carrion so theyre popular with messy people who call themselves stinky. opossums hiss and play dead so theyre popular with anxious argumentative people. wolves are like the default cool animal so theyre good for simple vain people. foxes are flirty and mischievous because of robin hood and zootopia and kitsune. skunks like sucking farts i guess

[irkendogma]

What do you think an Irken would look like in real life if you saw one undisguised? I always took them as insectoids but I think Jhonen intended them to just be stereotypical Little Green Men with atypically bug-like antennae (and fussing over the attach point they'd have to a soft, fleshy body is one of the reasons I don't like that direction for them). An exoskeleton is also ruled out by Zim's many unpleasant skin reactions, unfortunately, but I still think they should have them. It's also fairly strange for me to picture them outside of Jhonen's distinct art styles, but they're definitely supposed to be roughly human shaped, and it's just that everything he draws for the series is incredibly angular and almost polygonal looking. We of course know what humans look like IRL, so it's not too jarring to try imagining a "real" Dib or anything (though his hair would certainly be interesting to approach from that angle), but since Irkens are native to that art style, it always takes a bit of focus.

i get what you mean with the insectoid thing - i do like taking an insectoid slant for irkens, but by and large i generally think of them as their own thing separate from human or earth categorizations of organisms? to be completely upfront with it, i hate tailed irkens and have a dislike for interpretations that lean more on the "recognizable vertebrate" side of things, whether that be furry or scalie, but i can recognize that's my own personal thing and people are free to interpret as they like

for me, personally, i really like going into the implications of irkens as a hyperindustrialized species that can only live ten minutes without a cybernetic central nervous system and according to word of god lacks reproductive organs, relying entirely on factory-scale levels of cloning to grow its population, separated almost wholly from their natural origins - while i acknowledge that their faces could be a number of shapes when "destylized", since as you said every species jhonen draws looks fairly angular, i like playing into the "polygonal heads" angle within the context of irkens looking artificial and doll-like, uncanny valley and near inorganic-seeming: hairless, unblemished skin too smooth from their pak healing shut any imperfections long before it could scar, a weird pallor to them that comes from not having needed natural sunlight in hundreds of generations

kind of a commentary on the unnatural fusion of irken societal function with their physical form, with the polygonal heads and faces in particular i think of them as blank of the small complexities and deviations in form that would be present in a human face, you can't quite see what the whole of that shape is until you see them in motion because it's like a living early playstation model - undifferentiated and interchangeable factory products rather than individuals whose history and personality could be indicated solely through minute changes to their face

[msweebyness]

DuPont School for Monstrous Youths- Words (and Gestures) to Avoid

There are certain terms that certain species of monster take offense to, and ones that are sensitive and for particular use. I’ll also include some actions that are offensive. Here’s a list that should be helpful! @artzychic27 @imsparky2002

Voodoo dolls generally don’t respond well to being called ‘toys’ or ‘stuffies’. It makes them feel like they’re being treated as less than people.

“Boo!” is a polite greeting only when exchanged between all the different species of ghosts. Coming from other monsters, it’s…cringe.

Flower meanings take a great deal of importance to plant monsters, and certain ones should only be used as a nickname in certain circumstances. For example, ‘daisy’ is a term usually reserved for parent to child, and calling someone ‘my rose’ , the flower of love, should only be used by romantic partners.

It’s also disrespectful to call them ‘weeds’, not because it’s belittling, but because it’s dismissive of weeds, which are plants too.

Any name that implicates a zombie is dumb or slow-witted should be avoided. That’s a derogatory and untrue stereotype.

Yeti is the proper name for the species, ‘Abominable’ is a very hurtful term. The same goes for ‘Bigfoot’ with Sasquatches, it’s a nasty nickname humans gave them.

Werewolves may act like big dogs but that doesn’t make it okay to call them ‘mutt’, ‘mongrel’, ‘fleabag’, etc.

Never. Ever. EVER. Refer to any werebeast as a ‘furry’ if you value your life.

Insectoid and arachnid monsters take great issue with being called ‘pests’.

Most demons at the school don’t like being referred to as ‘hellspawn’, it’s a reminder of the life they managed to escape.

“Fishface” should generally be avoided with any monster species native to the water. Also, NEVER offer them seafood.

Derogatory names based on a vampire’s diet such as ‘leech’ or ‘bloodsucker’ are discouraged.

Shrek references of any sort should be avoided with ogres. It’s just old and annoying at this point.

Faeries are hot-blooded so it’s best to avoid calling them things like ‘pixie’ or especially ‘Tinker Bell’. (They don’t particularly have anything against her, it’s just really irritating to lump all fairies under one name.)

Never ask a gargoyle “How’s Quasimodo?”. That movie had inaccurate and stereotypical depictions of gargoyles.

Don’t ask an eastern dragon about wings and breathing fire. It’s culturally insensitive.

Requesting a phantom to sing an opera piece isn’t a funny joke, it’s rude and ignorant.

Stereotypical witch cackles are offensive to actual witches, who aren’t evil.

If you are not someone a werewolf or werecat knows and trusts, DON’T try to pet them!

It’s incredibly disrespectful to act as if you can’t see a ghost when they’re in the room with you.

It’s also unacceptable to imply that robots are heartless and have no emotions. They care like anyone else.

Minotaurs become very angry when you try to provoke them as a matador would, and they WILL charge at you.

Don’t stick your hand into a skeleton. Their bodies and personal space are as important as anyone else’s.

Don’t ask a centaur for a ride, wait until it’s offered.

Be VERY mindful when speaking to an extraterrestrial. You never know what might be offensive.

Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[mattartwell]

meet haven!!! she is an angora goat, who’s a polyamorous pansexual demigirl lol. they use she/they pronouns and love piercings. they listen to a fuck ton of 90s rock and drinks a lotttt of caffeine. she’s always wanted to sing but she doesn’t have much confidence in her songwriting skills and would prefer to be in a band rather than solo. she grew up on a farm :) because they’re poly i think i will absolutely be designing some cute partners for her so if u have any species ideas lmk!! i’m thinking some other stereotypical farm animals would be cool, maybe a cow or something :3 but also i can definitely see her with a cat gf… idk. we’ll see. thank u for reading. i love furries hehehehe

[balsa-margarita]

Why I'm disappointed in Starbound (and why I still like it, somehow)

So, Starbound. It's an indie game you may or may not know of, whether you've seen it in furry art or heard people call it "ripoff Terraria" or something, or perhaps even played it. What is it, though?

To put it simply, Starbound is a 2D procedurally generated space adventuring game, created by Chucklefish. (I got some images from their press kit to show you what I mean.)

As you can see, there is a lot going on here. First off, there are multiple sapient alien species other than humans in Starbound (it's most obvious with the Floran in the third image) and there's also a distinct storyline to follow. All of that means lore, and this is where the issues start. Immediately.

Starbound takes the idea of "culture as costume" as a model to work off of, rather than a criticism. Take the Hylotl, a race of fish-people. Everything about their culture is taken directly from Japanese culture in real life - they have anime, samurai, and Japanese-inspired architecture. None of this, though, is very deep or well-thought-out. It's just kind of... there, you know? And this is how it is with most of Starbound's alien races (Avians are ripoff Mesoamericans in a lot of ways, Novakid are stereotypical cowboy Western characters) with only a couple of exceptions. At times, this weird lack of thought can be downright insulting, such as with the Floran - who are carelessly modeled after stereotypes of the "cannibal tribe." There are also over a dozen races in the game, and you can only play as seven of them. The others' lore is even less thought out.

Now, you would think that the actual story would be better, right? Well... sort of. The overarching enemy is an entity called "The Ruin," which is a literal living eldritch planet monster (which you kill at the end of the game in a scene much more badass than anything else Chucklefish came up with) which is being aided by a xenophobic human cult that is trying to wipe out all of the other races in the universe. Pretty interesting, aside from the very generic name... but the generic name gives it away. Not only is the Ruin one side of a pure good/evil dichotomy - which, in my opinion, is a bit of a tired way of doing things - but the rest of the writing just feels lazy. Not enough actual eldritch horror in the story where the big bad is an eldritch horror, and not enough focus on the space xenophobes' xenophobia. When you play through it, it feels kind of cheap, and as someone who talks a lot about lore (and writes fanfiction) I have issues with that. But the problems don't stop there.

Guess why it feels cheap? Because it is.

Starbound is one of the worst optimized games I've ever played, up there with things like Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - possibly even worse - and is riddled with half-baked mechanics and terribly shoehorned game progression and design. (Multiplayer in particular is horrific - the game has no strict physics update at all, which basically means people playing the game at different FPS play it at different speeds. As you can imagine, this ends terribly for all involved.) All this is because Chucklefish used unpaid labor - often from teenagers trying to get into the game industry! So, of course, when these people inevitably left because they weren't paid, no one kept working on whatever they had been in charge of... it was a disaster. A total, unmitigated disaster. That's where Starbound stands today.

Unmodded Starbound, at least.

The core concepts of Starbound - bumming around on procedurally generated planets, questing, and being a space landlord, among other things - are still really cool. But it could have been so much cooler! Wasted potential in a way that no other game I've ever played is. This is where mods - and one mod in particular called Frackin' Universe - come in. Frackin' Universe does its very best to fill in the holes left in the basegame, and add new systems that rival some Minecraft tech mods in complexity. It can't fix everything, but it's the closest Starbound will ever get to being a really complete game. (Part of me really wishes I could take the IP from the idiots at Chucklefish and give it to the Frackin' Universe guys. They could make an excellent remake.)

That's it. That's the rant. I just... I really wish Starbound was a better game with development that hadn't been led by a moron who bailed from Re-Logic.

[pleasantspark]

Don't pay attention to the anon who talks about "erasing the code", I don't think people understand that when you talk about rewriting, you can change things from 0.

For example: Vivzie herself put Alastor as a human, American, cannibal, furry, creole, voodoo stuff, and with a red palette.

Alastor is an epithet of Zeus, or a daimon accompanying the Erinas, which translates as "avenging spirit". He IS the god of evil deeds: specifically, he is related to family bloodshed.

With this in mind, Alastor should be Greek and all his symbology should be Greek. And following the anon's logic, we should point out that Vivzie is erasing the "Greek code".

Now seriously, as someone who is not American, I must tell you that "codes" may have a "deep" meaning for you, but on the outside .... it is simply racism and stereotypes. Inspiration is not a "code", and if you are always looking for things for that "code" then half the racist is you (anon) since you must first base it on something superficial to be looking for it.

However, and back to the point, Pleas you are doing well. And you are absolutely right in saying that angels don't have that race thing:

1)The true form of angels is how they believe they should be the perfect form.

2)Not every species needs to have the human conflicts. There may be a closeness or there may not be at all.

3) It's your story. If the anon is offended, well, they can also do their own rewrite of how things should be.

And I think a final point would be that the joke of rewriting is just that, rewriting. It's not going to do like the original product and that's half the point.

In the Hispanic community of a youtuber there was a contest for a second season of High Guardian Spice (we didn't like it, but for the laughs the contest was made) where the rules were not to change neither the races, nor the Lgbt+ elements and so on. Even the author of HGS liked the tweets of the contest (unfortunately due to a situation it was deleted). Here if I believe you that the complaint is valid "to be deleting something" because it has very specific rules.

But what Pleas does, well, anon, that's already wanting to impose something because you think it is so, when the reality is different.

Anyway, as they say around here "Live and let live".

-Anon Duck

I mean I saw what these assholes said to @chaifootsteps and how they aren't black enough. I feel like saying you AREN'T black while pointing out how you ahould be is ridiculous. It's a form of racism in a way.

My Mom and I already get stares and being black is a given. I'm just confused. IT SHOULD also be known you shouldn't have to be a certain color to qualify as black. I wasn't sure if anon was racist or not. But it's further proof that Hazbin Hotel Fans really graspe at straws.

I had to nip that shit in the bud because there will be NO repeat of the Skinny Rose Quartz Incident. The fact that VivziePop Stans DON'T know the original usage of Angels really infuriates me.

Reminder Angels can come in any form. And the Biblically Accurate ones we see are "there true form."

[evliin-yap]

So, I just watched this video from BetaEtaDelota

And i made a comment i think is worth bringing to my yapping place, because well, its yapping

I am a fox furry, and i do fit superficially in the stereotype, I am a Nb trans girl, so a LOT of overlap with femboys happens and that shows up a little bit in my sona

The thing is, i personally like when the animal and its characteristics have personal meaning to the sona. I used to have a possum ferret hybris when i started as a furry, because i honestly wanted to distance myself from the "Weird furry mob" and sure it was kinda cool and it fitted me at the time but i changed a lot as a person and distanced myself from art and everything

When i came back with a better understanding of myself, i was by chance studying about kitsunes, real foxes, ther species, ancestrality and nowadays developments.

When i reflected on myself i saw it "Im just like a domesticated fox huh" then boom, it clicked, fox girl it is, im a chaotic creature that is going through hardship all the time but takes with natural fun, at same time in a world that i dont belong to, once a creature of mysteries and tales now a animal born in a place where i need to fight not for life but for attention and meaning

The eggs used to be out there, they used to be a thrill to get

Now they're on the fridge, i need a boring job to get them

To find confort, i can be cute, noisy and fun, but in the other side im hard to take care, demanding, probably smell weird and will throw all your cups on the ground the second you look away

I don't really know if i transmitted the idea, but it was fun giving that personal experience with the topic, i hope whoever is reading got something out of it 💕

[allamalad]

Silly furry apocalypse stuff!! New creature + established character duo, a dude and his alt reality furry self, they are bffs.

Basically the furry creatures are based off of furry species and common furry stereotypes cuz they're like merged with the horrors of humanity. then human creatures are based around human horrors like the main 7 deadly sins merged with feral animalistic intentions. So basically, THINGS MIXING WITH OTHER THINGS AND TURNING HORRIBLE!! Of course thats just one of the things that mix tho, cuz due to this universe collide event a lot of other things have mixed with eachother too, good and bad. and both human and furry survivors have to deal with it. However this creature right here, it's a perfect mixture of both furry and human, making it even more dangerous than normal.

Basically this thing is like a freaky zombie essentially, except its VERY good at finding and killing literally everything on sight. At least.. most of the time lol. Sometimes it is silly.

[mbat]

i dont know how to say it in a way that people wouldnt somehow still find an issue with but i think so much about how one of my main OCs currently is a goblin from world of warcraft, and i purposefully gave her features that people would say are offensive, and yeah they are in most contexts, but idk...

like, in the game theyre from, its definitely offensive. the entire goblin species in that game is, as far as ive seen, very one-note. they think only of money, and very much dont care about what it takes to get it, including carelessly killing other people (even other goblins) just for a quick buck. ive only ever seen one goblin who doesnt fit this description, and its no surprise to me that that goblin was only from a recent expansion. as a jewish person, and honestly as a person who thinks antisemitism fucking sucks in general, it doesnt feel great! i clearly like this game, but that doesnt erase the fact that a whole race in it is a walking antisemitic stereotype, and how it makes me cringe every. single. time.

and well, goblins are almost always like that. big nosed, money obsessed, conniving, and occasionally they even still love to eat children (coughs in the direction of the most recent season of doctor who). even the least bad depiction ive seen of goblins so far, being the ones from 'tell me why', theyre described as 'crafty' and are thieves, though theyre based on the main characters so its more of a playful thing, yet it still reminds me of certain things.

these traits are also often pointed out to be antisemitic even in non-goblin characters, which is of course fair, like the villagers and golems in minecraft. the villagers are big-nosed, and they used to be the only creatures with a concept of money, especially considering that money was the green gem in the game. not to mention, golems ARE LITERALLY JEWISH FOLKLORE! golems are from jewish myth! clay soldiers created to protect the jewish people from threat... its not hard to make the connection.

theres thing to say about the non-physical traits, but theyre not necessarily my point.

so... what is my point? and what about my OC? why did i give her these physical traits that i know are portrayed as bad and offensive, even though i know why theyre offensive? i couldve easily gone down the route of trying to give her traits that are as far from those as possible, or even have just not made a goblin OC at all.

well... reclamation. the thing is, these traits on their own, theyre not necessarily a bad thing. a hooked nose, green skin, other things that clearly make the character look less human, and therefore lean into the dehumanization of antisemitic depictions. these things together make a caricature, even though on their own theyre just traits.

i just hate that these things that i think are so fun to draw characters with are a bad thing in the right context, but most of all, i hate that a hooked nose is a bad thing in a lot of contexts. real people, especially jewish people, have hooked noses! or the bump seen higher up the nose bridge that adds to the shape thats often seen/depicted! i mean, i look at my own aunt or my grandparents and they have/had those noses.

it sucks that something thats a real, natural thing that my people have, has been taken and treated as an ugly, evil thing. i could get into the same thing many people have about how physical traits being treated as ugly and evil is already a horrible thing, but my point is specifically about this trait, and how it relates to jewish people and antisemitism.

why does this trait have to only be a bad thing? i mean, you dont exactly see it in the mainstream in any context that isnt a villain, i dont even know if i can think of any [animated/drawn] heroes who have big or hooked noses.

i have a few characters with this trait, but theyre either human-ish (an elf) or a bird-like creature, therefore the nose is meant to resemble a beak, or a furry that literally just has that nose because i wanted to give them that trait. then you have my goblin... a goblin based out of world of warcraft.

when i made her a few years ago, i did it out of spite. id already played the game a little bit on my main character (a draenei) and id seen how goblins acted and looked, and how they sounded (i mean, seriously, a new york accent??). and i was genuinely like. 'fuck you blizzard, im going to take your caricatures and make her a person, a fleshed out person whos more than the traits you gave them, and im going to love her for all of the things i give her, because likely no one else will.'

so i did. i gave her a history, i gave her a personality, a future, relationships, i made her a person. im also glad that when i made her, i made her do the starting zone made for beginners where you start on a shipwrecked beach, and they dont really treat you all that different based on race as far as i remember. i later went and made a new goblin to see what the goblin starting zone is like, and it pissed me off so bad... but thats its own conversation.

i made her a person so that the physical traits i gave her were simply traits that she had. i draw her happy and in love because shes a person to me. shes not money obsessed, shes not conniving. shes respected, she cares about people, she isnt sitting around rubbing her hands together plotting in secret.

i just dont want hooked noses to be a bad thing forever. i dont want every picture of a hooked nose to only make people think of the propaganda of the past drawn to disgust people and make people hate my people.

so yeah. i do draw her with a hooked nose, but i dont encourage anyone else to draw her. i dont even have her up on my artfight even though i have my other main world of warcraft character on there, and ive definitely drawn my girl enough that she could probably fill all 6 picture slots. i draw her for me, and i love her for me.

i draw her to take that power away from the hateful depictions. the punch in the gut when i see caricatures. its like when i say faggot and tranny to take away the power of queerphobes. i mean, i still remember the first time i was called a slur, called a tranny. the shock it sent through my body. its not that different from the pain i feel when i see nazi propaganda.

so i do it to take away that pain. to make it mine, and not theirs. thats why. people could see my character and criticize me for it, and thats fair, but i at least want people to know why i do it.