#who need anthropomorphism anyway

[somerandomdudelmao]

I forgot to put this in an ask- oops

I thought that your little creature would look really cool as a dragon, so I decided to draw it!

SRYJCRIKVDYJGDSIKJ??

[confetti-critter]

Me buying the village doctor starter set: omggg so cute, now my calico critters can get hurt and sick ❤❤❤❤

[todayisafridaynight]

there's normal thought exercise questions to be had about fave charas like 'what would your fave do in X situation' or 'does your fave like Y why or why not' but the most important question to me i could ever answer about my faves is 'do they like shadow the hedgehog and is it purely ironic or do they have all 326 route titles memorized'

[the-breloominati]

I can draw literally whatever I put my mind to actually

putting it under the cut cause lee’s getting the Onceler Treatment here (shipping). two of them,,

[kedreeva]

For the past 2 days I have been back and forth with a person that runs a rooster sanctuary, after they posted an infographic about how hatcheries deal with male chicks that was WILDLY inaccurate and incendiary and CLEARLY made by an ARA group. I've had to explain that when you see "asphyxiation" as a euthanization method, it means "they used CO2" not throwing LIVE chicks into dumpsters out back by the thousands to suffocate to death (which is what ARAs love to say every US farm is doing), and that when you see language like "their brothers" this is VERY SPECIFIC propaganda from ARA groups attempting to anthropomorphize animals in your mind. It's 100% meant to invoke the idea of the human bonds often formed between siblings, the familial bonds chickens do not have any concept of.

The conversation ended shortly after I said more than 1 in a million males is needed for breeding purposes (another claim made), and I'm like 99% sure they aren't pulled from the sale stock anyway, they're selected at the breeding facility, and they responded with that actually only one male is needed for every million hens because, and I quote: "The eggs and sperm are collected in a common trough that feeds into a bucket. Water is added to the eggs and sperm to induce fertilization. The excess sperm, ovarian fluid, and blood are rinsed away. The fertilized eggs are gently poured into an incubator tray."

and I had to inform them that they were copy pasting from a first search result on google, and that it was from a SALMON FISHERY.

Anyway. ARAs continue to be fear-mongering fools who will say anything with little to no research if it means they can get a knee-jerk reaction from someone that doesn't know better.

[dedalvs]

Hey! I'm David Peterson, and a few years ago, I wrote a book called Create Your Own Secret Language. It's a book that introduces middle grade readers to codes, ciphers, and elementary language creation. The age range is like 10-14, but skews a little bit older, as the work gets pretty complicated pretty quick. I think 12-13 is the best age range.

Anyway, I decided to look at the Amazon page for it a bit ago, and it's rated fairly well (4.5 at the moment), but there are some 1 star reviews, and I'm always curious about those. Usually they're way off, or thought the book was going to be something different (e.g. "This book doesn't teach you a thing about computer coding!"), but every so often there's some truth in there. (Oh, one not 1 star but lower rated review said they gave it to their 2nd grader, but they found it too complicated. I appreciate a review like that, because I am not at all surprised—I think it is too complicated for a 2nd grader—and I think a review like that is much more effective than a simple 10+ age range on the book.) The first 1 star rating I came to, though, was this:

Now calling a completely mild description of a teenage girl who has a crush on another girl controversial is something I take exception to, but I don't want to pile on this person. Instead I wanted to share how this section came to be in the book.

The book is essentially divided into four parts. The first three parts deal with different ciphers or codes that become more complicated, while the last part describes elementary language creation. The first three sections are each built around a message that the reader can decode, but with language creation, the possibilities are too numerous and too complicated, so there isn't an example to decode, or anything. It would've been too difficult.

For what the messages to decode are about, though, I could do, potentially, anything, so at first I thought to tie them into a world of anthropomorphic animals (an ongoing series of battles between cats and mice), with messages that are being intercepted and decoded. My editor rejected that. Then I redid it so that each section had an individual story that had to do with some famous work of literature. My editor rejected that as well. He explained that it needed to be something that was relevant to kids of the target age range. I was kind of at a loss, for a bit, but then I thought of a story of kids sending secret messages about their uncle who eats too many onions. I shared that, my editor loved it, and I was like, all right. I can do this.

The tough part for me in coming up with mini-stories to plan these coded messages around was coming up with a reason for them to be secret. That's the whole point of a code/cipher: A message you want to be sure no one else but the intended recipient can read in case the message is intercepted. With the first one, two kids are poking gentle fun at a family member, so they want to be sure no one else can read what they're writing. For the last one, a boy is confessing to a diary, because he feels bad that he allowed his cat to escape, but no one knows he did it (he does find the cat again). For the other, I was trying to think of plausible message-sending scenarios for a preteen/teen, and I thought of how we used to write notes in, honestly, 4th and 5th grade, but I aged it up a bit, and decided to have a story about a girl writing a note to her friend because she has a crush on another girl, and wants her friend's opinion/help.

Here's where the point of sharing this comes in. As I had originally written it, the girl's note to her friend was not just telling her friend about her crush, it was also a coming out note, and she was concerned what her parents would react poorly.

Anyway, I sent that off with the rest of my draft, and I got a bunch of comments back on the whole draft (as expected), but my editor also commented on that story, in particular. Specifically, he noted that not every LGBTQ+ story has to be a coming out story, the part about potential friction between her and her parents because of it was a little heavy for the book, and, in general, not every coming out story has to be traumatic.

That was all he said, but I immediately recognized the, in hindsight, obvious truth of all three points, and I was completely embarrassed. I changed it immediately, so that the story beats are that it's a crush, she's not sure if it'll be reciprocated, and she's also very busy with school and band and feels like this will be adding even more busy-ness to her daily life as a student/teen. Then I apologized for making such a blunder. My editor was very good about it—after all, that's what drafts and editors are for—and that was a relief, but I'm still embarrassed that I didn't think of it first.

But, of course, this is not my lived experience, not being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. This is the very reason why you have sensitivity readers—to provide a vantage point you're blind to. In this case, I was very fortunate to have an editor who was thinking ahead, and I'm very grateful that he was there to catch it. That editor, by the way, is Justin Krasner.

One reason I wanted to share this, though, is that while it always is a bit of a difficult thing to speak up, because there might be a negative reaction, sometimes there is no pushback at all. Indeed, sometimes the one being called out is grateful, because we all have blindspots due to our own lived experiences. You can't live every life. For that reason, your own experience will end up being valuable to someone at some point in time for no other reason than that you lived it and they didn't. And, by the by, this is also true for the present, because the lives we've lived cause us to see what's going on right before our eyes in different lights.

Anyway, this is a story that wouldn't have come out otherwise, so I wanted to be sure to let everyone know that Justin Krasner ensured that my book was a better book. An editor's job is often silent and thankless, so on Thanksgiving, I wanted to say thank you, Justin. <3

[bubblergoespop]

My Top Aaron Quotes

men who are just constantly tired of everything>>>>>

“Well buckle up, wiz kid.”

“So yeah, I am gonna miss you. I’m really gonna miss you.”

“Sue me. Except don’t. My brain is already fried from the financials, I don’t need to throw legalese on top of that.”

“Fuck it. There’s nothing in here I can’t replace. I want you."

“Oliver”

“I didn’t say I wanted to spend the day with you, I asked if you wanted to spend the day with me. I asked first.”

"Ell"

“Hey, stop it. Because you know how much I like you running your fingers through my hair. Makes my brain go all fuzzy.”

“I appreciate it. And you.”

“Oh, it’s not playing dirty. It’s just me making you feel good.”

“I didn’t realise I was apparently dating an anthropomorphic backpack.”

“H-hey—stop it. You—no, your kisses are just… it tickled. Shut up. So what if my sides are ticklish, it’s not like that’s weird, you shit.”

“Oh, and now you can’t even find the strength to lift your head out of my lap, hmm? You poor thing. Who knew that being lazy could be so exhausting?”

“I love you very much. Now get off me.”

“You talked a big talk back then. But it turns out you’re just a cuddle-hungry softy after all, huh? Yes you are. At least when you’re still sleepy, anyway.”

“I also know you’re probably the kind to fly off half-cocked and make me chase you down with the SPF 50 like a madman. If for no other reason than to infuriate me.”

“Come here. Come closer. Because I said so.”

“I love you. And I love rain. And I love being with the person I love while it rains. Isn’t that a fun little combo?”

“You are very cute looking up at me like that.”

“Or is the thought of a few more minutes in my arms that much of an imposition? Asshole. Mmm. I love you too.”

“I can’t even try to say a nice thing without you having to get some snark into it, can I? No, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You brat. I love you just as you are.”

“You make me better. And that’s no small order when you’re talking about me, given the high level I already started at.”

“A man’s gotta eat. And you’ve always been my favorite thing on the menu.”

“Oh yes, you’re so put upon. Your evil boyfriend only makes you a whole breakfast spread, he won’t then also let you sleep in even later than you already have.”

“Eli”

“Yes, in a shocking twist, I do find your absence unpleasant. Perish the thought, right?”

“Time spent with the people I care about is important to me. It doesn’t have to be time doing anything special, it doesn’t have to be conversations about our future or some greater purpose or any of that shit, I just want to be with the person that I’m with.”

“Sure, there are plenty of ways to sleep on a couch just fine. It’s your hybrid approach that lands somewhere between gymnast and pretzel that tends to get you in trouble.”

“You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

“If it feels like it's coming on again, come tell us, okay?”

“I only met them a handful of times. They're sweet. They laugh a lot. They spent most of the time giving Elliott shit, it was funny. Not in like a mean way, like the way you do when you love somebody that much. They were a good balance for one another.”

“God I sound old. And I feel old. And I’m not, but it feels like it. A grumpy old man. Might as well start yelling at kids to not play so loud in the neighborhood, really complete the image.”

“Stop calling me an old man, only I’m allowed to call me old. Don’t be mean. I’m in a vulnerable state. I need baseless praise.”

“Yes. Holding you feels very productive.”

“Yeah. Let me just rub it on that pretty face for a little bit…”

“ It’d be fine. Almost as fine as you. I’m tired, I’m allowed to be stupid.”

“El, I have never hated you. You’re my little brother, I love you.”

“No the windows are mirrored glass. You should know that, you worked here.”

“Whose is it? Louder”

“Thank you baby. Yeah, thank you for trusting me like you do. […] All I wanna do is prove myself worthy of that trust.”

[l3irdl3rain]

A few months ago my cat Lyla passed away from bladder cancer and it really hit me hard. I've since gotten better and even adopted two kittens recently, but I still think about Lyla. There's a part of me that's almost jealous? Because Lyla was maybe 15 or possibly younger, and I hear so many stories of cats reaching 17 or even into their 20's and still having decent quality of life. It doesn't feel fair that Lyla had to go when she did. I know that it's only my grief making me feel that way and that 15 is a venerable age for a cat--and you can't measure the quality of a life in years anyway--but it still sucks. Have you ever had to deal with unexpected emotions when it comes to grieving any of your animals?

I handle pet grief very well but it still sucks. And Duncan was by the far the worst pet grief I have ever dealt with. Because of the fact that he needed SO much from me that I became extra attached, but there was also a certain feeling of how unfair it was. He was only a year and a half when he passed. And the same goes for John, who was just a young guy as well.

With those two especially I had to stop and remind myself that they had no idea they were dying young. I think a certain level of anthropomorphism when it comes to our pets is unavoidable. I even think that a lot of times it’s harmless. But it’s also not realistic. All our pets know is that they were happy and they were loved. There’s no regret for what they did or didn’t do like there is for humans at the end.

[whifferdills]

Apologies, you're right, I'd misremembered what was specifically stupid about it - it's about a disgruntled employee framing the AI. The bosses and computer systems are both good, but employees should not be trusted. my bad!

Just sort of wrote someone an essay in the tiktok comments about kerblam! But I've always been and always will be tired of how the message of that episode has been so badly twisted

The episode does have flaws but it is not "pro-capitalism", if it was it would be fucking unhinged because they make a point of highlighting all the ways the workers are being mistreated early in the episode. The quote that everyone keeps taking out of context is very clearly about computer systems, which is quite obvious if you've watched the episode recently bc they repeatedly refer to the computer that controls the robots as "the system"

This is all to say, if you're gonna criticise the episode, at least do it right, instead of just repeating stuff you saw someone else say in a comment section

[fuzzyfoe]

One aspect about Littlest Pet Shop that really captivated me as a child when I was a budding furry is the fact that all of the pets were anthropomorphic to the extent that there were no humans and it was just the pets themselves that were running this society for pets, yet at the same time the pets would still just act like pets. It was implied that there were pets who would do things like manufacture food bowls or squeaky toys or scratching posts that would then be sold to other pets, and then those pets would just eat out of their bowl or play with their toys like the kitty or puppy that they were. And this isn't considered weird or anything, despite the fact that they are capable of higher thought all of them take the time to simply just be a kitty or puppy and this is completely normal for them.

This wasn't just about the way we would play with the toys by the way, LPS had schoolastic books and DS games that would show that this is exactly how the LPS world worked. This was canon. There's this series of DS games where the pets all live in their own little town inhabited by only pets and they all own their own houses, yet those houses contain things and furniture that only pet owners would need, and those things are just for the pets to use themselves just like how they use the regular furniture as well. There was a short time where LPS ran an MMO in partnership with EA that was called LPSO, in which there were numerous NPCs who were all cats and dogs and rabbits in the same style that the players were, who all ran their own shops where you could buy things like dog biscuits or feathers on a string which you would need to use to fill up the hunger and happiness meter of the pet you were playing as.

Typically whenever I see the topic of LPS brought up in furry circles, it's in regards to the 2012 cartoon that had Blythe in it where it was this Doctor Dolittle situation where the pets were just treated as only animals and Blythe was the only one who could talk to them, which is a little strange to me considering that what LPS used to be before they added Blythe to it aligns so much more with what furries are all about. Sure the show gave us actual characters that were consistent that we would actually see more than once which is something that earlier LPS media didn't really do, and this let people actually become attached to characters like Zoe and Pepper and Sunil and it's fine if you like that era of LPS because of those characters. And the fact that this show was airing on the same channel that MLP:FiM was as well as during the time when MLP:FiM was at its peak probably has a lot to do with it as well. But I feel like it threw away a big chunk of what made LPS more "furry" and I feel like the discussions we could be having about 2000's-era LPS in regards to it being furry media is really being slept on.

Anyway I really like the idea of being an animal but in like an LPS kind of way. I get to still enjoy all of the good things that come with being sapient while also having the option to simply just be kitty whenever I want. I like having the ability to create things and to learn anything about the world, but sometimes I just wanna be kitty.

[mollymagician]

Matthew didn’t go immediately.

When Death visited the Dreaming that day, it was just he and Lucienne she was there to see. A quick visit, she said. Informal. Just the three of them in a quiet corner of the library. Because, she said… if anyone deserved to know, it was them.

She smiled that smile of hers, and he swore something that had been broken in his little bird-sized heart started to knit back together.

He would have been gone in an instant, out the window in a flash and demands on his…er…afterlife?… be damned. But Death crooked a finger at him, and leaned down, conspiratorial, to whisper, “Matthew, give them time, okay? It won’t be easy, at first. He’s going to need it.” A quick hand stroking his back feathers, like an apology.

He coughed and studied the wood grain of the desk . “Uh…yeah. I mean…right. Of course. You…you got it, uh, Ma’am.”

But she was already gone.

So, he gave them time.

A month passed, in the Waking, by his reckoning.

How much time was time, Matthew wondered.

What did ‘time’ mean to someone who was a few billion years old? Was a month enough time for the anthropomorphic personification of everybody’s brain-stuff to become Some Guy? How did that even work, anyway? Did he need to, like, solidify? Like a pudding? Probably not the instant stuff. But what the hell did he know about pudding, he’d only ever eaten it out of a little plastic cup.

While he pondered the pudding-to-Endless equivalency method of time measurement, another month passed.

Then one evening, as he perched on one of the palace spires and watched the sun sinking down towards the rippling mirage that concealed the horizon, his patience snapped completely, without warning, and he found himself winging his way into the Waking before his own common sense could sweet talk him out of it.

He landed on the narrow sill outside of a very familiar window. Mellow lamplight spilled through the glass. He could see inside, across the comfortable living room with it’s well-worn couch and cluttered dining table, to the two figures standing together in the small kitchen.

Holy fucking shit, Matthew thought.

He lunged foreword to tap out that familiar little rhythm on the glass— shave and a haircut— and Hob was hustling over to open it in an instant, grinning like a searchlight. Then he was skidding to a stop in the middle of the kitchen counter and before him was

Before him stood

If possible, he seemed even thinner than before— whatever had happened over the past two months had happened to him hard. But he was also…softer. Was that a thing that could be? Standing in the kitchen in a faded blue (blue. blue?) tshirt and threadbare gray sweatpants and smiling. SMILING. He was Some Guy and he was looking at Matthew and smiling.

He was exactly the same. He was entirely different.

“Holy fucking shit,” Matthew said.

Dream leaned his forearms against the counter, bringing himself down to ravens-eye level and said, “Hello Matthew.”

Very eloquently, Matthew said, “Dude.” Then, the floodgates opened and he couldn’t seem to stop. “DUDE. Fuck…it’s…you! It’s you! Look at that! Holy shit! I can’t even…I mean why am I surprised I died and woke up a fucking bird but I mean…look at you!! FUCK!!” He flapped his wings emphatically and stomped, as best he could with his spindly legs. “Goddammit! These…fucking…ARRGH. No thumbs! An’ no arms! I just wanna…HOB. My dude. Would you help me out here????”

Hob, who had been standing by with the expression of someone who had sprained an internal organ with the effort not to laugh, drew a shaky breath and a hand across his mouth and stepped foreword.

“Okay, I think I see. I get you.” He stepped up to Dream, laid broad palms on his narrow shoulders, and said with great formality, “Dream…from Matthew.”

And tugged Dream forward into a crushing, bone-creaking hug, compressing the breath clean out of him.

Dream squeaked like a squeezed balloon and that…that, more than anything else, made it real.

“Yeah,” Matthew said, “That’s the stuff.”

When Hob released him a solid minute later, Dream staggered a bit and caught himself on the counter, looking slightly stunned. But the smile was back, tugging up the corners of his mouth.

“I…I thank you, Matthew,” He said. “I missed you as well.”

Matthew looked down at his skinny little bird feet, listening to the sound of his claws clicking as he fidgeted. He felt…what was this? Shy. When the hell had shy ever happened to him? Never, that’s when. Fuck that. Matthew cleared his throat and looked up at the pair standing there beaming at him under the gold kitchen lights. “So, uh. What’cha up to? Got any big plans for…uh…for your afterlife tonight?”

“Ah. Hob is teaching me how to.” Dream paused. “Not set the stove on fire. We are making—what is this?” He plucked a small box off the countertop and studied it. “Pudding. Apparently.”

The sound Matthew made would have been pppPPPpppffffftttttt if he’d had lips. Which he didn’t, so the noise that actually came out was more or less indescribable.

“It’s a step up from tinned soup,” Hob said. “Progress is being made.”

Dream slanted him a look and picked up the can of whip cream, fiddling with the nozzle. “I did make perfectly adequate tinned soup. The second time. I believe I will be more than capable of—“ The rest of the sentence was obliterated by the sound of aerosolized dairy product spurting across his face.

Dream sighed.

Hob turned around to face the refrigerator, his shoulders shaking silently, organs once again in peril.

“…Oh man,” Matthew said. “This is gonna be great.”

[shadowwolfmemes]

Clearing up misconceptions about furries

You already read the title, so let's get right into it.

Just because a few "furries" are zoophiles doesn't mean we all are. That's like me saying all white people are racist because I met one white dickhead who gives black people a bad name. And as for the zoophiles, the rest of the furry community don't claim them. You can ask any furry with a normal mindset and they'll tell you the same thing as well as calling zoophiles inhumane creatures from hell.

2. If you're not comfortable with the sexual side of our community, there's this thing called scrolling past or simply arranging your FYP. I mean, come on, this is the internet for crying out loud. You're going to see things you don't like. I'm not comfortable with the NSFW side either, but to think everyone within the community is the same is just ridiculous. But if you want to call it cringy, then I'm not going to stop you because like I said, this is the internet. People are going to say dumb shit, anyways.

3. Just because someone is a furry doesn't mean they're automatically fatherless. I've seen a lot of people saying this type of shit to other people just for having a HARMLESS hobby. Are people seriously getting angry over an anthropomorphic fursuit? People who blurt out "fatherless" to furries who are just minding their own business need to grow a fucking pair. This is the INTERNET, people! Let others have their fun!

4. Hunting down furries doesn't make you a hero. I find this shit hilariously stupid because you know you can't kill people over the internet. Nah because how are you this threatened by a personified animal? That's something I don't get. What makes furries so dangerous to mankind that they need to be "eradicated?" Or is it because you can't handle seeing a two-legged animal with human-like characteristics? Call us weird if you want, but please don't threaten/harass us for something you don't agree with.

Thank you for your time if you read through all of this.

[snepfeathers]

a little wip! it's about time I introduced an oc here other than Aleyxi, so meet Callisto! (and Europa and Ganymede, by extension)

Callisto is what you get when you try to make a werewolf out of someone who is already decidedly canine and anthropomorphic - a wereberus! were-cerebus. Three times as much wolf in your wolf, right there.

...Maybe a bit more than three times as much on occasion. Three heads does mean three times the appetite, after all. Gotta store extra energy for your next transformation, y'know! Go ahead and eat up, you ever know just how much you'll need.

I'm still working out her actual markings/palette, but this gets the main idea across. Europa is the extra head looking at the pie, and Ganymede is the head with both ears folded. Callisto's overall design is going to draw on Jupiter's moons, they're so pretty... and she's good at living up to her namesake.

If anyone's noticed the name pattern and is wondering where Io is, I'll throw some stuff under the cut for you.

I'm still trying to decide exactly how I want to include Io. Io stands out from the other Galilean moons anyway, it's super volcanically active instead of being icy like Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. It's a monster world.

My current thought is either bellymaw or tailmaw - either way, they wouldn't make appearances all too often. Probably only during transformations when there's an absurd amount of magic around, like lunar eclipses or close to special days like Halloween.

I think I'm really leaning more towards tailmaw at this point. It would even play into some of the myths that describe Cerberus as having snake heads instead of just dog heads, hah. Still just brainstorming it at this point, though. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

[i-have-41-protons]

My very own super self-indulgent AU! ✨ It’s called… Drumroll…

✨GRAVITY FURS✨

Where everyone is an anthropomorphic furry :3

Explanation for the au below the cut!

Basically everything is the same, except everybody — even Bill! — is a furry. Obviously I had to make Bill a cat — they act in all the very same ways: demanding attention, leaving for unknown reasons, scratching at lab doors, and overall being just petty little gremlins. He is incredibly floofy, and has retractable claws (which I am aware is not at all original, but I love that headcanon and it goes SO well in here). “Fiddlesticks” and “Stanfur” is a joke btw, they actually have their original names.

So, everyone is a furry little animal, living exactly the same in their own little furry universe, right? WRONG.

Our, canon Bill Cipher dies, and invokes the Axolotl… but instead of going to Theraprism, he gets another chance at life. Such is the Frilly deity — forgiving, with many, many chances to spare for every being. So, Bill Cipher is sent back to Earth, in a different form, at a different time… but it is not the right Earth. Not the Earth he’s used to, anyways — but rather, the fluffy universe. The Furry Falls, if you will.

The “different form” being exceptionally un-triangular, which he is obviously enraged by. What’s more, is that his new flesh-sack is also… fluffy. With whiskers, and cute little ears (which he does NOT consider cute in any way), and paw beans… WHAT THE FUCK AM I, screams Bill as he wakes up.

An even worse shock is the creature that finds him (alone, naked, in the woods — yk, the classics). It is strangely resembling of both a human and a dog, and most of all, of Sixer. But this can’t really be Sixer, can it? Nope, it can!!! Surprise, surprise, Billy. You now have to deal with all THAT! >:D

Furry!Bill is sent into Canon!Bill’s place. Either the Axolotl didn’t care, or they thought he also needed a change of scenery — I don’t know, and neither do the Bills. But the fact remains, that now, in place of the recently defeated dream demon, there is the very same dream demon… but now, corporeal, fluffy, incredibly confused, and horrified at everybody being so fleshy… and way cuter than the original Bill. Of course, shenanigans ensue — Mabel might even like his new appearance, when she gets back to Gravity Falls.

As Bill searches for answers and SOME sort of understanding of what happened, he reaches out to anyone he can get to (that being anyone who stayed in Gravity Falls — so, not Stan or Ford or Dipper or Mabel, but, I suppose, Soos and Melody and Wendy and all the other members of the zodiac). I think, he will do quite well with Soos and Melody! Anyways, I haven’t thought into it that far, just yet.

In the Furry Falls, however, Ford and Bill search for answers together. It is your classical “return to Gravity Falls in a human form” type of story, except no it’s not, because it’s happening in the 80s and Ford now has to explain Bill to Fiddleford — somehow. Billfiddlesford ensues……….

Anyways that’s about it for now! That’s my AU, and it’s gonna be tagged #gravityfursAU :3

[cartoon-buffoon]

Sonic X Shadow generations came out and cool but just as I expected I am beyond disappointed with the inclusion of metal overlord because it feels like fan service that somehow manages to slap the fans of metal sonic in the face at same fucking time. Now my main gripe with the fight in general is it's inclusion because ultimately—NO MATTER WHAT SHADOW IS NOT GETTING NOWHERE NEAR TO BEAT METAL, THE RED AND BLACK AND BOZO WOULD GET KILLED THE SECOND HE TRIED TO 1V1 M-OVERLORD!

This is gonna turn into a VERY LONG ramble of why I love metal more than anything however if you wish to indulge the words of a lunatic who loves a fictional metal anthropomorphic hedgehog then bear with me because this makes me IRRATIONALLY MAD! I have no reason to be this worked up yet I still am, shut up I'm allowed to be stupidly passionate about this. Also I would like to note the criticism that I have is gonna be located at the VERY END OF THIS (gonna reiterate) VERY LONG RANT and the criticism I have is gonna disappoint but I don't care and ultimately you should take my words with an ounce of salt because I'm a stupid cartoon yelling on a soap box here and if this nonsensical blame my ADHD.

Anyways disclaimer done: my main gripe with the fight as stated is it's inclusion because of the premise of what Metal Overlord is. Metal Overlord is the final form of Neo Metal Sonic which is Metal Sonic that was upgraded to the point he gained a voice and intelligence enough to know he did not need Eggman. With an understanding of his new powers and the ultimate goal of killing sonic to be the one true sonic (his metal empire plan was 100% second place to killing sonic lmao) he threw his own creator in a closet, locked him in there, and then proceeded to lead the sonic heroes on wild goose chases just to collect their bio data to perfect himself which—his perfection is the Metal Overlord form. That's at least what Metal Overlord is in a really quick summary that can be taken with only a quick look at what it is but the reason for metal doing all this ultimately stems from character development that kind of just happens off screen? Like I know there's Archie and the OVA which is forever gonna be the best sonic movie in terms of both plot and animation because holy fuck it is peak (go watch the Sonic OVA it's free on YT and it will help you understand why metal is such a great character) but ultimately his appearance in the comic and the OVA in general is non-canon to the mainline games and exists as side media. Metal's first appearance and really main appearance outside of heroes is Sonic CD which he acts as Sonic's first proper fake, look alike rival who stems to destroy him and help Eggman.

Metal naturally loses the race he challenged Sonic too and from there he moves onto his second appearance which is in Knuckles Chaotix where—I don't even know if that game is canon because it is a spinoff that DOES connect to CD because Metal Sonic's appearance as the villain of the game is if I remember correctly supposed to be after his loss in CD but it's never referenced or talked about like, ever? Anyways—Metal Sonic does appear in that game and he fights Knuckles and the Chaotix (and Mighty + 2 robots who presumably just die as their never referenced again) yet he still once again loses even after obtaining a pretty cool powerful form called Metal Sonic KAI. From there the events of Mania happen which we don't really know where it does because Mania IS CANON but on the classic timeline with superstars it's kind of messy, but it definitely does come sometime after Knuckles Chaotix because in Sonic mania metal gets his giga form which is directly based on his KAI form from Chaotix although his giga form is a sort of perfected version it using the Phantom Ruby. In any case his appearance in mania isn't as important as the series of short animated episodes called the "Sonic Mania Adventures" that were made because metal is in them and it gives us a clear idea of Metal's hatred for losing.

In the shorts Metal plays as a helper to Eggman as per usual with his main goal being to help the doctor track down the chaos emeralds, very standard setup. Once Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray arrive to get the two emeralds back from Metal and to stop Eggman from getting them all this turns out to be just one big trap and we see Metal use the power of the chaos emeralds to go "super" (not proper super like Mecha MK. 2 does but he does get a yellow aura) and single handily hold off Sonic, Tails, Ray, AND MIGHTY WHO IS STUPIDLY STRONG! Like Mighty iirc is stronger than Knuckles but he is more of a pacifist who prefers not to actually get into fights but is still more than capable of crazy feats of strength. The only reason why Metal loses is his systems were hacked by Tails who freezes him, knocks the emeralds outta him, and then once Metal tries to recover by harassing the master emerald power he gets suprise attacked by Knuckles stopping him before he could do that. From there we get a very sweet animation where we see Metal at first abandoned by Eggman although through Amy's help he reunites with his creator who manages to accept him back—however a small detail many misinterpret/don't catch is the start of Metal's tragedy and what I believe is the turning point for him.

In the 6th and final Sonic Mania Adventures short which takes place after the first 5 installments Eggman throws a temper tantrum after his defeat that takes place in the aforementioned previous 5 episodes. In this temper tantrum Eggman kicks Metal once out of frustration because he is an egotist and can't accept defeat thus naturally blaming the ineptitude of the things HE creates. Now after the first kick Eggman doubles down and kicks Metal more forceful the second time around, however I believe this kick wasn't out of anger and moreso as motivation and a way to say "get up! We have to go rebuild and come up with a new plan"

Now this doesn't work and Metal goes back to lying face down in the dirt, and I see a few people misinterpret this entire thing as Eggman getting mad at Metal and leaving him behind which is—in my firm belief—NOT the case! As evidence by Eggman's next expression once Metal goes limp he seems thoroughly surprised and only then does he get angered and storm off, almost wishing that Metal DID get up but he has no time for the angst of a creation who's not even old enough to be considered a teenager.

Now there is of course the argument to be made Metal was too damaged to get up and walk and Eggman didn't wish to bother with his creation which ya know, does effectively mean he abandoned him. However considering he does repeatedly move his head and DOES move his joints/body like when Amy saves him where he's on his hands and knees before getting knocked back down it does seem like Metal isn't damaged beyond the point of moving but it's moreso he doesn't care (that first kick probably did become engraved into Metal's memory and was probably a key factor into Eggman getting thrown into a closet in heroes though lmao). In any case it seems both by Eggman's reaction and the display of Metal moving that Metal simply lost all hope and fell into a sort of robotic depression. Only once did Amy physically drag him to Eggman's base did Metal finally go back to his creator, although once again if the context clues point to metal once again be PERFECTLY CAPABLE of movement then metal could at ANY POINT WALKED/FLEW BACK, but he didn't. He didn't go back because that defeat right there was what broke the camel's back, after the repeated loss after loss did metal finally be able to take no more and accepted his defeat. Cold, alone, and partially broken he remained there with nothing to do other than look through his memories because nothing points to Metal going into a sleep mode so we're sort of led to believe metal was turned on for that ENTIRE duration of time when he was in the dirt. And what does Metal's memories consist of? Oh that's right it's practically only filled with the repeated times he lost by the hands of someone who he deems inferior to the point he believes himself to be the superior version. I feel like this is the moment where the true bitterness brew, his choice of words as Metal Overlord demonstrates just how much Metal despises Sonic.:"Long time no see, Sonic, my loathsome copy!" Is a line that I always felt like so much power because Metal doesn't hate sonic, he LOATHES him. What was simple hatred grew into something so much more because reminder Metal's entire purpose is to beat Sonic and kill him yet never being able to do that ultimately lead to something more than just him merely serving his purpose, no, Metal's feelings towards Sonic turned personal.

Also really quick Metal does appear in sonic adventure which is after the classic era. He is playable in the DX version but he has no proper story and is merely a fun reward you get for getting all the medals, but his main appearance even in the OG version is in this vat in the egg carrier. It's possible Metal is still turned on during this considering his eyelights ARE on meaning he still could be thinking but there's no evidence to support he's awake or in stasis and because this model is ripped directly from SA2 battle which ya know, has him turned on. Still something neat to note but probably not important.

Anyways with all that being said the mania adventure shorts is something we got in this modern era to provide some lore on Metal Sonic and just some neat filler stuff that adds world building. Back then there was no little extra bit of talk or content regarding the canon game material with Metal as a character but stuff is still implied with all the dialogue written in Sonic Heroes where we see Metal in his ULTIMATE FORM. With his new Neo form Metal gains the power to copy the biological data of whatever life form he can thoroughly assess and he uses this power to scan everyone's data as well as the biological data of the primordial god of chaos which is in the form of Froggy who holds Chaos' tail and Chocolate which is a chao which are kin/apart of Chaos or at least the master emerald. Once with all the data in tow he transforms into Metal Overlord which is not only the pinnacle of Eggman's hubris but also a manmade god capable of adapting to whatever is thrown at it and becoming stronger. It's a learning machine that simply gets smarter and stronger the more you throw at it until it gets the power to best you with it now able to copy what you threw at it. It is such a threat that once Eggman sees this he truly realizes that he was Icarus who flew too close to the sun and is paying for it in the form of his creation which power far outclasses that of the chaos emeralds. As said by doctor Eggman himself who is known to be a man full of ego and pride he still understands how truly fucked they all are upon seeing Neo Metal transform with him saying "it's useless! Metal Sonic has combined your data with the power of chaos and super strong! We can't defeat it!" Even when he groans about the singular possible chance of being able to fight Metal with all the 7 chaos emeralds upon seeing them he doubles down on Metal Overlord's power by saying "even with the emerald's power our chances for victory are slim! It would take a miracle!"

Eggman himself makes the clear statement of even with the power of all 7 emeralds and the capability of 3 users of the power of super the odds are SLIM and dawg says it would take a god damn MIRACLE if they wanna win. Not to mention he says this with the most genuine fear ever because as I remarked before, my man is regretting the time he kicked metal and probably real quick turned from a man of science to one of religion and started praying to Gaia that he doesn't go to the Sonic universe's version of hell. Bottom line is Metal Sonic is ridiculously powerful and team Rose, team Chaotix, and team Dark which includes Shadow—AND FINALLY GETTING BACK TO WHAT THIS RANT STARTED OFF AS— can't do anything but hold him off while Sonic, Tails and Knuckles charge up. With all 3 teams attacking Metal Overlord doesn't really falter as all they're doing is catching him mid-transformation and simply fighting to buy time because as Metal states himself "You all are useless now that I copied your data!" And even Shadow understands this because after holding him off with Team Dark Shadow says "Sonic! We're counting on you!" Because he too registers that if Sonic, Tails, and Knux don't pull it off they are all totally fucked. Oh this is also not mentioning that after the 3 teams held him off Team Sonic could only hurt Metal in his overlord with team blast which was 3 people hyped up on chaos juice jumping him all at once! I don't need to go on with just how powerful overlord is as a transformation yet this is all a prerequisite to understand SHADOW IS NOT FUCKING TOUCHING METAL OVERLORD NO MATTER THE UNIVERSE OR WHAT NEW POWERS HE GETS!

Metal ultimately is better than Sonic but somehow can never come out on top. Despite being faster he still somehow loses races to his "loathsome copy". Metal is a cold calculating robot who can analyze whatever is being thrown at him and adapt even if not in his Neo form we see in the mania shorts without the chaos emeralds supping him up he goes for the master emerald trying to improvise and fight on the fly. Unlike Sonic who bleeds and will eventually fall to time and age Metal won't, metal will stay constant in his prime only ever getting stronger with each encounter and fight he's in with Sonic but in the end he will still lose. With his jet propulsion system and overdrive attack Metal is easily capable of out speeding Sonic, beating him at what he does best and being faster than the fastest thing alive, but his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. While it's true Metal is faster than the fastest thing alive ultimately that's what makes him inferior, his lack of life and a soul with the capability of only doing what he has ever known. Even when betraying his creator and getting free will he doesn't for a second stop his goal of being the one and only Sonic, in the process LITERALLY turning himself into a monster (which he acknowledges) but that doesn't stop him from trying and leads to his defeat.

AND THEN WE GOT SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS WHERE THIS RED SON OF A BITCH COMES OUTTA NOWHERE AND BEATS HIM IN A 1 v 1!

get the fuck out with this SHADOW FAVORITISM BULLSHIT SEGA! Do not fucking tarnish Metal's character by giving Shadow the ability to suddenly face him! Like I'm gonna go as far to say FUCKING BASE METAL outclasses Shadow because Metal is still capable of evenly matching what Sonic can output to the end, he's Sonic's lesser by a tiny margin and the idea that Shadow—WHO IS NOT STRONGER THAN SONIC MIND YOU—can magically fight the form that can be implied is stronger than fucking chaos is laughable and bullshit. So much bullshit in fact that I could create a healthy and thriving fucking garden in my front yard which is more dead and lacking of nutrients than the Sahara fucking desert's land! That's how much bullshit there is! Oh but of course the people who love riding that hedgehog's hog will go and say "um shadow also has a soul so wouldn't he be able to beat metal?" And my response is: IT WASN'T JUST SONIC'S SOUL THAT WON HIM THE METAL OVERLORD FIGHT! Sonic would of died there if not for Knuckles and Tails who are A KEY PART OF SONIC'S CHARACTER! The use of only using team blast to fight Metal is more than simply a game mechanic to prolong the Metal Overlord fight, it's also a key display of who Sonic is as a character and his development. Sonic had grown from a lone wolf character who was as free as the wind to now a complete extrovert who cherishes his friends and allies with his life, it's his friends who truly make him who he is because it's the power of friendship, their words, and the knowledge that their all counting on him that helps him press on, and having two of his closest friends fighting right by his side is just the push he needs to give it his all. That sounds cheesy as fuck but Sonic has always been a cheesy franchise and character, what's a chili dog without some cheese on top huh!?

Now with all of THAT being I'm sure a few people will ask "okay smartass would you prefer metal overlord to be totally forgotten and not included at all?" And to that I say: kinda yeah. But if you're looking for genuine criticism of mine then I do have one: remove Metal Overlord's wings and make him the imperfect overlord as seen here↓

... That's it. That's truly it, my one complaint and my correction.

"did you really write an essay as to why you hate this boss fight only to give the smallest design correction and nitpi—" I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF THIS IS A NITPICK THIS MATTERS! Metal has always been my favorite character and it's made VERY CLEAR his perfected overlord form is one of the most terrifying and potentially powerful things in the verse and I'm not gonna have all the character and depth behind it GO TO HELL FOR THE SAKE OF FAN SERVICE! It's not fan service, it's a fucking fan DISSERVICE! It's such a little change and would of been SO FUCKING EASY, they could of made Metal simply levitate or some shit with several jet engines as to make it different and diverse from the original Metal Overlord fight. This would also make sense because shadow did NOT fight perfect Overlord and instead fought imperfect Overlord when he was still connected to the egg carrier and properly processing things and powering up. Like did they forget that or did they just truly not give a fuck and decide to disregard the deep complex story behind as to why Metal Sonic is a giant monster because the design change isn't too drastic but even the untrained eye can see THE ONE ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARE TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS!

Like I made this entire fucking thing for this simple complaint which one may call childish which granted is kind of fucking childish but I don't fucking care anymore because I will NOT STAND FOR METAL SLANDER NO LONGER! I've seen people suddenly thinking Metal Overlord is some bitch ass transformation that shadow can single handily take down which is NOT the case and the implication that he could is dumb! I don't give a fuck if it's the year of Shadow Metal is one of the longest standing villains right next to Eggman and he gets fucking cucked for this red streak, speeds by, weaker than Sonic fucker who ISN'T EVEN THE FUCKING ULTIMATE LIFEFORM BECAUSE MAY I REMIND YOU SHADOW HIMSELF SAID SONIC MAY BE THE TRUE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM WHICH WOULD OF BEEN THEMATICALLY FITTING AND WOULD TAKE AWAY NOTHING IF SHADOW LOST THAT TITLE!

"are you just bitching about Shadow now?"

yes the fuck I am because this pisses me off to no end. I've GENUINELY got a headache as I'm writing this because Metal Overlord's inclusion irritates me beyond belief. Whatever you get my point, ramble over and Toon out I'm fucking tired

[liongoatsnake]

It has come up as of late, yet again, regarding the use of the term phantom limbs while referring to the experiences some alterhumans have where they feel traits on their bodies that are not physically there.  

While I could go into the long, long history of the term being used in the alterhuman communities going back into the 1990s, as this debate’s key sticking point is in regard to phantom limb being a medical term specific to the experiences of amputees or instead a general term that can be used for non-amputees as well, I’m going to strictly be pulling from academic sources below.   

To put it succinctly, the use of the term phantom limbs for alterhuman experiences has been recognized by multiple researchers and in other academic settings over the years. Ergo, no it isn’t a term specific to amputees that doesn't apply to alterhuman experiences. - Academic references below cut-

Examples:

The research done by a multidisciplinary team of researchers focusing on the study of the furry fandom called the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, uses the term phantom limb while referring the experiences of therians and otherkin. In their book, FurScience! A Summary of Five Years of Research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, which is a summary of five years of continuous research into the furry fandom, a section simply named “Phantom Limb,” touches on the topic of phantom limbs among furries, therians, and otherkin. [1] They go into the presence of “phantom limbs” among furries, therians, and otherkin again in their piece “Furries, Therians, and Otherkin, Oh My! What Do All Those Words Mean, Anyway?” which was part of the book, Furries Among Us 2: More Essays on Furries by Furries. Further, in 2019, the team published an academic article which shared their results where they used the previously mentioned Rubber Hand Illusion experiment on furries and therians. Once again, when bringing up the existence of experiences among therians and otherkin, the researchers use the term “phantom limbs.” [2] 

Devin Proctor’s 2019 dissertation, On Being Non-Human: Otherkin Identification and Virtual Space includes, along with dozens of mentions of the term throughout the work, a section on Phantom Shifting and in which he uses the term “phantom limbs.” [3]

For yet another example, the article, “An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity in the Therian Community” also goes into quite some detail regarding the experience of “phantom limbs” among therians. [4]

A final example includes Nat Bricker’s 2016 thesis, Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model. [5]

…

This is NOT an exhaustive list in the slightest, but I think I’ve made my point clear enough (and I have other things I need to do today other than keep searching through my archive...).

TL;DR - Researchers who have studied therians and otherkin ALSO use the term phantom limbs to describe our experiences. This isn’t appropriation or otherwise misuse of medical terminology. This is using a word for what it means.   Citations:

[1] Plante, Courtney N., Stephen Reysen, Sharon E. Roberts, & Kathleen C. Gerbasi. FurScience! A Summary of Five Years of Research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. Waterloo, Ontario: FurScience, 2016. https://furscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/FurScience-Final-pdf-for-Website_2017_10_18.pdf, page 116.

[2] Kranjec, Alexander, Louis Lamanna, Erick Guzman, Courtney N. Plante, Stephen Reysen, Kathy Gerbasi, Sharon Roberts and Elizabeth Fein. “Illusory Body Perception and Experience in Furries.” CogSci (July 2019): Page 596-602.

[3] Proctor, Devin. On Being Non-Human: Otherkin Identification and Virtual Space. The George Washington University. May 2019. pages 172, 203-209, & 255.

[4] Grivell, Timothy, Helen Clegg & Elizabeth C. Roxburgh. “An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity in the Therian Community.” Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research. Volume 14, Number 2 (May 2014): pages 119-120, 124, 128-129.

[5] Bricker, Nat. Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model, Lake Forest College, April 2016, pages. 10, 14-15, 39-41, 60.