Terran Franklin

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Into even the best of lives a little rain must fall. This weekend, rain came in the form of my scanner getting on the fritz. It was old anyway, a used HP Scanner that I initially got because the previous one couldn’t connect to Windows 7. Along the way, I had enough of Vista and turned my eMachine into a Ubuntu box. (Underneath every crappy Windows computer is a lean and mean Linux box just waiting for you to erase that hard drive. I suggest that you find more about Linux as a good alternative OS.) And with Ubuntu, I found out that the old scanner worked well.

Even so, now that scanner is showing some dark and white lines, and despite breaking down the scanner, so I can wipe both sides of the flatbed part clean, there is still always so many specks on the scanned image. It eventually came to my realization that the poor old scanner should go.

Fortunately for me, I’m almost at my next payday. I can easily get a decent replacement. I’m shooting for an HP All in One device that can scan, print, or even fax on the occasions that I need it. I can easily connect it to a virgin Kubuntu installation (Kubuntu is a version of Ubuntu linux with a different interface than the main streamed version I mentioned above. And it is said to be very good with printers and graphics) so I can use it not only for the all-in-one, but also to use with Gimp, an open source version of Photoshop which I use for my graphics.

This will come later this coming week. But I also have a new toy I can use today.

As with most writers, grammar is a constant griping point for me. There are some parts of grammar that I cannot get a grip around for the life of me. Verb Tenses are a particular Achilles Heel. And since I might not always have a proofreader within IM reach all the time, I have a need for a Grammar Checker. Fortunately, both WordPerfect and Microsoft Word have grammar checkers programmed in, but everyone who uses them can tell you that they can only go so far. I’ve always been looking for better grammar checkers.

I found one in the form of White Smoke. It’s a program especially made for grammar and style correction, and because of this can find errors that are missed by the coded in checkers in word processors. It even catches tenses.

The main problem getting it is of course, the price. Even the reduced price of $89.95 could be prohibitive to some people. Fortunately, I found out that they also have a subscription service that you can use to try the program out. That’s what I’m using now, using its Creative Writing version. I’ll let you know more about the program as I progress with it. I hope that, by the next tax return, it’ll be worth buying the lifetime license.  (You can get the subscription offer by signing up for their newsletter on the White Smoke site.)

Things have been good so far. I’ve been working with White Smoke for a day now—this blog post is the first actual passage I put out with White Smoke, and BAM 02 will be the first book where White Smoke gets used on as well. It found errors the word processors didn’t catch, and its own editing window makes correcting the errors a breeze once you get the hang of it. I’m really happy with this product so far, and I’ll keep you informed on whatever or not I’ll promote it.

As I commented elsewhere, the word ‘Racist’ is being overused, and it’s becoming little more than just a slur that’s tosses around with all the other epithets that you’ll won’t see me use here.  You will see me use ‘Jackass’ a lot, though:

And even though we might be on differnet sides on topics like, say, Health Care, and the use of Czars (whom I don’t talk much about because their powers are limited when it comes to getting laws passed, and let’s face it, I don’t usually talk about things every other conservative blogger talks about.  I talk about Furries.  Does Shawn Hannity talk about furries?  No, he does not.  Because he can talk about the Czars til he’s blue in the face.  I’ll shut up now.) , we pretty much agree with what we’re actually pissing and moaning over, and contrary to what Jimmy “Waste of Skin” Carter says, it’s not about race:

“There’s been a long-standing debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition, or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes…It’s an argument that’s gone on for the history of this republic, and that is, What’s the right role of government? How do we balance freedom with our need to look out for one another? … This is not a new argument, and it always evokes passions.”

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/18/obama-race-overriding-issue/

Now we’re talking about one of the fundamental facets behind Blood and Metal; what kind of a role government should have.  Barack once commented that the Constitution didn’t account for economic and social justice, one of his pet topics.  I might agree with him on that, but I’ll add an important caveat:  That’s not the Constitution’s job.

Think of government like a car, with all the differing parts, each with their own individual role that, when combined, results in an operational vehicle.  The Constitution is the engine of the government, the way powers are created and distributed.  It can not do social topics, because it’s not designed to be.  That role belongs to another part, say, a certain act, or a department, that’s working alongside the normally operating government wither in co-operation, or even independent of the government, such as a charity.

I believe that there is a point in the power scale of governments that is at its peak capacity for it to run properly.  Not enough power, and you have impotence (Re:  Articles of Confederation).  Too much power, and you have incompetence, sluggish bureaucracy, and at some extremes, people like Chavez.  (And don’t think for a moment that there isn’t anyone in Congress today who would pull off something like what Chavez did.  Nanci Pilosi is a prime example.)  Finding that balance can be extremely tricky and–surprise!–it isn’t standard for every country.  (There’s a good chance that China’s optimal power level needs be higher up than America’s.  That’s something I can accept as long as they don’t drive a tank up my ass.)  And starting in Book 2 of BAM, which I’m starting to type the first draft, that’s something Eric will address as well.  He’s not going to go change the system to his liking right off the get go, even if Sarah does want to use some part of America’s system.  He’ll allow the people to haggle it out themselves, and you can bet things will get as spirited in Vintanos as it gets in Washington.

Just don’t expect people in Maatla to pull out the race card, though.  They might settle things in the Octagon, but they won’t get as ugly as thinking in only species vs species.  The divisions are different there.

Part of me is grateful that I was a country mile clear of this shitstorm.  Last week on Tyra Banks, there was an episode on sex practices, and among the various couples interviewed, there was . . . DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUUMMMMM . . . a Furry.

NOTE:  Video might not be safe for work.  Play it at your own risk.

As you may have guessed, that created a lot of flak on the tubes.  Some of whom might be strange to some who don’t know Furry Fandom.  Although since Blood and Metal takes place in a furry world, it would impact me and my work in some degree or another.  Hence I write about it here, as I did earlier with that lovely pic of Sally Acorn.

For those who don’t know Furry Fandom, there’s a Wikipedia article for it.  I suggest you use that rather than other sources.  Trust me on this.  Your virgin eyes will thank me.

I come from the line of “Furry Fandom doesn’t necessarily mean yiffing in costume, and it’s not a requirement.”  What Chewfox here shows is a stereotype that many people from distinct groups have to deal with, much like with racial, ethnic, and lifestyle areas.  And I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Here’s a DeviantART journal entry who got me aware of what went down in that show:  (Oh, side note.  I go into MST3K mode in the quote.  Hope the Deviant doesn’t mind)

Honestly, I think Tyra Banks is to blame mostly for the horrible antagonizing. Of course if she says something her crowd is going to follow her lead.

{which makes the audience more of an airhead than Tyra?  I kid, Tyra.}

What is a furry? Hmm… lets repeat what ChewFox had said in quote. "Furries are people who have an inner animal that they like to celebrate. We celebrate it through drawing ourselves and wearing costumes and other such things."

{Like yiffing in a fursuit, which was what the show degraded into.}

In my opinion that’s pretty damn close to what I think a Furry is, right?

Tyra goes on to ask if it’s like costumes at the amusement park, and if they get turned on by going to Disneyland and seeing Mickey and thinking erotic thoughts.  {Calm down, Tyra.  There’s plenty of Princes for you.}  Honestly… when you say it like that… anyone’s going to laugh and those not in the fandom will obviously think less of you. Even I laughed…  {Yeah, the thought of Tyra snorting Pixie Dust…}

…so what people seem to think that they did an absolutely horrible job at representing the furry fandom by appearing on a talk show; a very popular talk show, and talk about having sex in a suit is what Furries do.

{It’s a sex show, and there’s a Furry there.  Even a model can make the connection}

Idiots! Fucking idiots. Did you not hear her say numerous times that they celebrate and dance in fursuits? Did you choose to ignore the point she was driving that Furries were more than just sex? She said that ‘they’, as in the two on the talk show, have sex with the suits on. She never said that ALL Furries have sex with animal suits on.

{And even a model can understand the difference.  Kinda makes me worried about the normal internet user, no?}

Have a look at the prompt when they first start to talk about a Furries. I’m sure that Chew and Tom didn’t write that prompt.  {Oh, I think the font used was the clue.  Who’s handwriting looks like that?}

So, in my opinion it is Tyra that is at blame for poking fun at their pastimes by making, I will admit, witty commentary. If she had said nothing and let them explain I’m sure other people wouldn’t think so badly.

{That’s right folks, we are trained professionals, please do not try this at home.}

Now on to the fact that they were on a talk show that at the time was sectioned on sex. Yes, it was very bad timing, they shouldn’t have gone on on that segment, perhaps a different one.

And that’s what I had in mind myself.  I got onto the Tyra Show’s community and posted this little missive, making a distinction that was probably already made without my knowledge and added the desire to help out if they wanted to make such a episode where furries are better explained:

It’s come to my attention that in a recent episode of this show, a couple who had an interest in ‘Furries’ was involved. As you may have experienced here and elsewhere, there’s been quite an uproar from some groups, and misconceptions of what that term means.

My name’s David Foxfire, and I’ve been writing stories with some degree or another into this particular fan group, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to discuss with you about this group, and what it does imply, what it does not, and some of the great misconceptions involved. Heck, I’ll even go on Tyra’s show and explain matters in person.

For starters, Furries does not just include what that couple was doing. The group has a multitude of factions that run a wide spectrum which involve art, costuming, role playing, community, and many other areas that may or may not involve sex. It’s a very wide tent. You could have a liking for classic cartoons such as Mickey Mouse of Bugs Bunny, and still watch DVDs of their modern equivalent, go to amusement parks and hang around with the costumed characters, play Role Playing games where you RP as a werewolf, or even–what I am doing–write stories that involve anthropomorphic animal characters (You can find out about it at http://bloodandmetal.foxfirestudios.net ) and be a part of this ‘Furry’ group and not even consider themselves as someone with an animal inside, have sex in a fursuit, or even worse.

And that’s the biggest misconception I’d want to dispel. The couple on Tyra’s show may be one of the more visual and ‘well known’ representations of Furry Fandom–not to mention other TV shows that addresses the topic, such as one infamous CSI Las Vegas episode–it is not indicative of every person who is in this group. It’s similar to other racial, ethnic, and lifestyle stereotypes that many people have to deal with regularly.

It is my hope that I–and many others in a similar mindset–can help anyone in this group or otherwise come to a better understanding of what being a furry–or at least a furry fan–is and hopefully move over what is really just another bothersome stereotype that gives people everywhere more problems than they should.

At this time there wasn’t much else going on; this is a thread in progress.  But I’ll keep everyone posted as they come on.

(Why do I see myself being assisted by fursuiting costumers—or Kigurumi players–whenever I get on Television. <shrugs>  Oh well.)

Another week, another reason why I like Barack Obama in spite of politics.

So now you try to pull a race card
And it backfires in your face hard
’cause you know we don’t play that black and white shit
Plus this stylist that you fucked
When you was ecstasied up
Was just a man who’s dressed up as a white bitch

Enimem, Bully

Over the weekend, I heard the Pressie borrow a card from my deck. Those who still watch MTV although they no longer play music videos would have seen the outburst Kanye West made in the channel’s own awards show, as he took the mike away from Taylor Swift, one of the many awards winners, and claimed that he thought that Beyonce had a better video.

When the president heard about this, he called Kanye a “Jackass” right on camera. I’m sure that plenty of people will agree with him. Myself included. Heck, many African American artists in the past would have done the ‘Asshole’ chant along with Barack from beyond the grave.

Compare this to congress, who collectively dressed down Republican Rep. Joe Wilson for heckling the President during his joint house speech on health care. Nevermind that he has already apologized for this Turretian tick. Some members of congress, predictably Democrat of course, claim that the man was fundamentally racist for doing so, and feared that people would be marching around in white robes and hoods if they didn’t waste valuable congressional time, energy, and paperwork wagging their fingers at the man.

Come on, people. He said “You Lie.”

Not “Pool’s Closed.”

There’s many other groups here that claim that the Race Card is being misused to browbeat people and keep groups separated and resentful of each other. Not to mention one sided: That bus beatdown in Belleville not too long ago where a half dozen black kids put one white nerd in traction would have been a Hate Crime when it wasn’t on school grounds. Instead, they go into “Blame the geek” mode and remind him that it would be ‘wrong’ to return to class armed.  Then have a group fap to the Youtube video.  School faculty likes to do that.  There’s a reason some of them smell of oil and sweat and has a look that is fill of desire to rape cuties.

Me, I’m just reminded about a modification I made to a well-known Internet Law I made last year. Godwin’s Law dictates that, as a certain discussion progresses along time, regardless of what that discussion is about, that someone will call someone else a Nazi. I had to modify it with a different accusation: As any certain discussion progresses along time, regardless of what that discussion is about, someone will play the race card. Either way, the triggered effect is the same, all discussion stops, and the person making the accusation loses all debate.

99.995% of all people with liberal affiliations have lost all rights to have a debate long before we realized that Bush was more than just a brand of beer.  (Misspelled though it is, I know.)

It could be why they just moved to cramming bills they don’t care about reading down our throats.

Just sounds like a load of butthurt to me.

I had to post my 9-11 thoughts today, because Thursday I had to get an appointment scheduled for a little economic assistance, and I had to jump through one too many hoops in order to get it. Oi! I needed a day off.

Not too many people remember what they were doing that fateful morning of September 11, 2001. I remember sleeping in, like I usually do if I’m not needed anywhere in the morning, and listening to the radio I keep on throughout the night, which helps me sleep if it’s on one of the softer stations, when I heard this:

“This just in: A United Airlines jet crashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center.”

My first thought was something one would think after too much Jackass: “God, what would give someone the idea that parking a perfectly good plane halfway up a skyscraper would be a good idea?”

About a minute later, my second thought as my brain mulled over what I’ve just heard:

The second tower.

Meaning: There was a first such incident. No doubt not too long ago. Like less than twenty minutes.

Let’s just say I didn’t need any caffeine that morning.

By the time the two twin towers fell into dust, and a third plane dug its way through three rings of the Pentagon, a fourth plane was driven into the dirt. My mind was driven by a sick combination of emotions:

Shock over what has happened.

Rage over the senseless killing of innocent people.

Hostility over the billions of people who cheered—who fucking cheered—over the whole deal.

Helplessness over the thought that this is the public school system all over again, on a national scale, where people can commit murder on Americans with impunity, and woe be on America if they as much as raise an arm in defense.

And the desire to take the first person who either approved of what happened, blamed the innocent, or—God help me—even acts like a Muslim with a boner, and play Dexter Morgan with him or her. This, on top of turning Afganistan into an ocean, Bagdad into a salt lake, and if I were pissed off enough, Mecca into an irradiated slag that glows the color of Jeff Gordon’s tires.

Before you blame me for that last one, you need to know me a little bit more. I am the forerunner of all those School Shooters you heard about. I was the quintessential geek that nobody liked. Even the faculty. When I called my first book, Lost Boy Found, part autobiographical, I wasn’t kidding. Especially the parts of Adam’s past (pre-Neverland) which I revealed. Whenever I hear of Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and most recently Seung-Hui Cho, it scares me half to death. If something like that happened in the school I’m in, chances are, it would have been me doing it. There’s a dark being inside me that could make a tape like Cho made and send it off to NBC on the way to making the news, and in September of 2001, there wouldn’t take me much to get me to start making that tape. (Yes, Ward Churchill, I’m looking right at you. Injun Slurs are too good for your ass.)

Up until recently, that was pretty much what I thought about 9-11: Thousands died, Billions cheered, and half of congress wanted to string Bush up on a tree over it. And God help any soldiers going off to war because of the attacks; you can measure the thanks they’d be getting by the buckets of spittle.

Enter Glenn Beck. On April 2nd, he put out his “We Surround Them” show on Fox News and reminded everyone of something else that happened after that terrible day. Something which, I have to admit, I’ve completely forgotten over the crap, something he recounted in his recent book, Common Sense:

September 11, 2001, changed us as a country. Do you remember the lines filled with Americans who wanted to donate blood–even though none was needed? Do you remember the following Sunday’s football games were postponed, that the late-night comedians deferred their jokes, and that even trial lawyers respected a self-imposed moratorium on terrorist-related lawsuits?

After 9/11 we began to remember our heritage and the power of sacrifice. We returned to our churches, synagogues, and mosques. We reconnected with our neighbors, our friends, our families. Four months after those attacks, 61 percent of us believed our country had changed for the better.

Glenn saw a world that was coming together in these dark times, in a way that nobody could seem imaginable. People were coming together in their communities, reaching out to anything beyond their little four walls. Celebrity and Consumerism was being discarded for thoughts on more meaningful and personal things, like faith and family. Police, Firefighters, and even the Military were regarded as the heroes they’re supposed to be and probably were never thought of as such since the 1960s. America was getting closer to the ideals of what the country should be, and dare I say that for a moment, it was closer to those ideas than even when the founding documents were created.

It was all but forgotten before some former alcoholic pasty faced washed up Radio DJ riddled with ADD and can cry like Tammy Fae Baker reminded us, was it?

That’s why I am so drawn to the 9-12 movement and consider myself as a 9-12er. It isn’t because I don’t agree with the current president, in fact I’d support him when he does right and he does. It isn’t because of the Tea Partiers although it’s a great place to pick up chicks, or so I heard. It’s because of the realization of the ideals that made America, well, America, and how everyone’s a part of the country. This includes ne’er do well web cartoonists who are more well-known on sites like the Encyclopedia Dramatica than on their own web pages. (And who doesn’t go on the web camera and jerk off; I have to put up that qualifier.) For the first time in a long time, I found myself connecting positively toward another person, especially when I talked about a project I’ve been working on earlier this year, where I take America’s founding documents to another planet and have the country start over from scratch there.

That’s where the current version of [the new] Blood and Metal came from. Not only do I put the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill or Rights in there, but Eric also has a set of beliefs and ideals that are quintessentially American, and they mirror—and in some places complement—the beliefs Glenn shared with us in the “9-12 Project.”

It is my hope that, by the time I get a couple books through (I’m still working on the finishing touches of Book 1; I hope to get it done by the holidays, God willing) that the city-state of Vintnaos would become a mirror to what America should be, compared to what America is when you look around. (And see images that make “Two Girls One Cup” look like high-class performance art, trolling and ridicule passing as actual news, and old people getting run over by cars and be completely forgotten by the public until an cop car just happened to be rolling on by stops and scrape off the carcass to throw in the trash). And maybe it could encourage you to strive for the same in your little corner of the world.

It’s certainly better than making a videotape where I mumble over how much my life sucked before I go on a killing spree, wouldn’t you think?  Writing fiction is slightly more legal to do.

This is why I didn’t worry about what the president would have said to American students.  There was a multitude of voices that claimed that he was going to go off on some indoctrination scheme.  I just poo-pooed the whole thing.  I know by now that he’s actually trying to do good, even though some of his policies are misguidedly left-leaning.  I assumed that Barack would just say an encouraging message to the students, to get them to stay in school and succeed in life.

And the president proved me right again:

Obama Speech To School Children: Be Like Founders of Google, Twitter and Facebook

Obama Tells Kids to Stay In School

The actual text of the speech, from the White House web site.

God, folks, stop being all parinoid.  Barack Obama might be a socialist, but he’s hardly the megalomaniac that some of you claim he is.  It’s almost as bad as what the left said about Bush.  Take your chill pills everyone.

I have weird tastes in animation and movies, at least to the 9-12 crowd.  You all know I’m looking out for shows that would show what Disney would look like if it was made like Adult Swim. We’re talking the kind of show people would watch when they’ve outgrown Power Rangers and Jetix. I’ve found one in, of all places, China. If you liked Kung Fu Panda and knows the Chinese Language, then you’ll love this series called "Hong Mao and Lan Tu," or translated "Red Cat and Blue Rabbit," from Hunan Greatdreams [link] . An animation company that can give Disney a run for its money [link] .  Say all you’d like about that country’s government and export goods that just gather dust at dollar stores’ as long as China supplies me with tasty dishes and fireworks and puts out a translated version of this series, I won’t bitch to them one iota!

May I introduce you to Hong Mao, or as I prefer to call him Red Cat.  (Please ignore the tag of Homer in some of these pics:)

(In all honestly, folks, what would me and Blood and Metal’s intended audience would think if we heard of the name ‘Homer?’  Hmmmmm. Lo Mein.)

A friend of mine, Ivan Mayne, got me interested in a Chinese animated series titled ‘Red Cat and Blue Rabbit’s Seven Knights" (虹猫蓝兔七侠传) by Hunan GreatDreams.  Not only was I fascinated by the quality of the work, but the style appealed me greatly.  I wanted to make a cartoon that can be described as "Disney Magic, Fox Attitude," and this series hits the mark exactly.  Think of a classic Saturday Morning Cartoon or something from Disney, Warner Brothers, or Hanna-Barberra, and crank the settings up to Adult Swim levels.  But you don’t have to believe what I said; check out the series for yourself.

1. Series One:  http://www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_197709.html
2. Series Two:  http://v.ku6.com/special/index_2509290.html
3. And the reason I’m posting this, The Brand New Series Three:  http://www.tudou.com/playlist/playindex.do?lid=6703042&iid=34070300&cid=9

Yes folks, those are cute anthro cartoon characters doing wuxia.  Yes folks, that’s blood.  And yes folks, that Pig is a real @$$#*£&.  The Happy Tree Friends can’t hold a candle to this series.

One of my better online friends and fellow BAM contributor, Ivan Mayne from Singapore, said this about the series: 

"The neatest thing is that the cutesy style underlies the fact that it’s more violent than similar Western cartoons might be…characters die FOR REAL, the heroes can resort to some quite violent means to achieve their ends, and the villains aren’t exaggeratedly silly as to be non-threatening upon close examination, they are quite dangerous. The Chinese child is exposed to quite a bit of harsh realities compared to the American child when one looks at it this way."

You know what I love about this series so much?

Character.

It’s got a level of character I have not seen in most American cartoons of late. There’s gorgeous fight setpieces, lovely background art, some pretty good music, but the characters, oh man, the characters are where it stands out.

Honor. Courage. Heroism. Kindness. Sacrifice. This series has it all. The main characters are complex, understandable, with clear motivations and quirks and eccentricities. They’re team players, friends, and look out for each other to the end. They grow, change, develop, and really shine as they surmount the obstacles that are thrown their way. They have formidable martial arts abilities, but they’re approachable, down to earth in a manner that I rarely see in superheroes these days. They don’t indulge in hip-cool patter like the Ninja Turtles or the Loonatics [“CAN’T UNSEEEE!” –David]. When there’s humor in the series, it’s a result of character interaction, rarely as forced or contrived as it is in American cartoons.

So the story strains credibility at times, but hey this is a cartoon after all.

And as far as that’s concerned, it is one that grows on you and stays with you,and offers you more than a few laughs and a good time, and truly brings it across without any heavy-handedness, that character counts. That’s more than can be said for most American cartoons these days.

In other words, when you see the series, you’ll think of two things, in order. One: "Holy Fucking Shit! Kids in China watch THIS after school?! " And then Two: "Holy Fucking Shit!  David Foxfire would have a field day with this. He’s probably loving this series five ways from Sunday."

In fact I do.  So much that I’d love to see this series translated into English for the states.  Heck, I’ve even designed an ‘International’ Red Cat series for Hunan Greatdreams to consider:  http://sites.google.com/site/redcatinternational/Home .  The series has had an impact on BAM, and you’ll see a major player in the game inspired by Red Cat in book two.  (Heck, Ivan allowed me to port some of his characters into the story right form the start.  When Eric—Spoiler Alert—gets unceremoniously dumped into Maatla in a less than grand style, the first person he meets is a character from Ivan’s Enraptia Series http://foxfirestudios.net/ivanmayne.shtml )  Expect to see a lot more of international influence in what some would call an All-American book.

After all, I wanted to focus on world building as well as character development anyway.

Link:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/09/06/obama-green-jobs-adviser-van-jones-resigns-amid-controversy/

All I can say is “Thank Fsking God!”

I’m not one to say anything about anything or anybody that hasn’t already been said.  Also, that Cussing Warning I put up which I use in lieu of even worse language really comes into play.  More often than I want to admit.

Of my take on the former Green Jobs Czar I’ll only say this and let it pass:  I make it a habit of following the Rev. King’s guideline of judging people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  Unfortunately the change of criteria doesn’t always mean a change of results.  An asshole is an asshole no matter what culture they come from.

And Van Jones is an asshole of the highest order.

I shall hold the rest of my peace on this subject.

As some of you have noticed, BAM is set in a fantasy world where almost all of the denizens can be described as cartoon animals.  Some would even consider it a ‘furry’ world and say it in a disparaging tone.  Personally, I prefer the term ‘Anthro’ which is more open minded and closer to where I want to get at.

I’m not the only one who believes this, Chad the Cartoon Nut had a similar quarrel over at his Deviant Art page when he posted this piece to the right.  Note the quality of his work, may I add.

Well, he got into a lot of grief from a source he didn’t expect, which he describes in a recent journal post.  It also explains his position between anthropomorphic characters and quote-unquote furries:

I draw the line in this manner:  Anthropomorphic characters, or ‘anthros’ for short, are characters that are, as one commenter describes, “more human then animal…but have tails, ears and fur”  They stand erect on bipedal legs, converse more or less like a human being but with some traits of the animal that they depict, and—since it has been mentioned in some readers heads by now—don’t consider sex to be a requisite, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t.  You’ve probably found a lot of examples in your childhood:  Classic Cartoons from the Disney and Warner heydays, a good smattering of Don Bluth and Amblin series, plenty of good shows on Cartoon Network and whatever Toon Disney is called now, and by far the best example I can come up with as well as the base inspiration of even the original version of Blood and Metal, ABC’s Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday Morning cartoon series (SatAM to the shows beloved watchers.  In fact, the figure in the picture is Sally Acorn, the inspiration of Sarah Knothole.  Most SatAM viewers can see the show’s influence in other characters as well.  And no, just because she’s only wearing boots doesn’t make mean she’s nekkid.)

Besides, don’t furry girls put out like succubi, and where he’s going the girls will actually be girls.

Contrast this with Furry, who are, in general, more animalistic than human in both looks and temperament, and are more stereotypically to be more apt to be sexually active, or faux-active more often than not, a concept known as ‘yiffing’ which is where the term “YIFF IN HELL FURFAG” comes from, but for the majority of the characters, the females are played by guys, which unfortunately degrades the whole concept of anything even remotely related to furry, such as ‘anthro’ to little more than a perverted kink.  Examples of this could include Watership Down, every other web cartoon out there, and in an somewhat related form, my own Scarlet PI project, which will be put into this years NaNoWriMo event.

Fortunately for those who have an open mind, there are exceptions to this rule, there are always exceptions.  There are a lot of cosplayers such as Rabbit In the Moon, who dress up as furry and anime character more like a personalized amusement park character, just for the joy of getting people to smile.  Scarlet is more like that, by the way.  And most people who make furry or anthro art won’t consider themselves furry in any stretch, such as Chad and myself (I consider myself a furry-friendly cartoonist).  Just like being in a garage doesn’t make you a car or being in a church doesn’t make you a Christian, watching an anthro cartoon or doing art of it—or making a story set in an anthro world—does not necessarily make you a stereotypical furry.

More discussions and answered questions on this will come later as they arrive. :)