Darin’s Crossworlds Blog

Furries 

The term conjures revulsion, anger and, fear. It’s a tricky issue online where even the most innocent opinions can turn into World War 5. In fact I’ve found that one of the few things more frightening than the worst furry fans are some of the anti furry individuals.

Whether I like it or not Crossworlds is considered by many to be a furry comic. I also used to be a furry artist. Many would say that I still am. So it’s important to me to address the issue.

What’s wrong with Furries?

Honestly, nothing, however the same can not be claimed for many of the fans. Now it’s here that I must state that the vast majority of people who like furries are of course sane, clean and pleasant human beings. But, WOW, the ones who aren’t… they make up for the rest and then some!!

Most people like furries in one form or another. Bugs Bunny is a beloved character from our child hoods, and many of us grew up with either a dog or a cat. The problem that most people have with furries however stems from the Erotic aspect that many people give to them. Sonic the Hedge Hog or Tiny Toons porn is… Lets be honest it’s weird! Maybe not wrong, but defiantly weird.

I’ve been to Anime, comic, Sci Fi and Furry cons, so I’m able to compare the different types of fandom, and one of the obvious discrepancies between them is the erotic aspect. In a Sci Fi or Comic con there is a lot of cheese cake art, sculpture, and costumes, but the out and out erotica/porn level is quite low. To assign an arbitrary number say 5% is devoted to such things.

At an Anime con the erotic level goes up quite a bit. Japan is… Well let’s not get into that. However the true Erotica/porn level is still only about 20%

At the three Furry cons I’ve been to it was around 80%

Erotica makes many people uneasy. Even more so when it’s not your standard run of the mill smut. Toss in anatomically correct cartoon animals, anatomically correct plush animals and people in fur suits making out…Well it’s enough to freak out anyone.

For some reason unlike Trekies, Comic Geeks, or even Otaku, Furry fandom has become a fetish. Yes, most Furry fans actually have no interest in shagging a real life furry, but there are a LOT who do. All too many Furry fans flaunt their non standard sexuality. They take pride in it and consequently they cause problems for those of us who don’t.

It’s even worse since furries have a LOT of crossover with children. Every kid likes Micky Mouse! Sadly so do many furry fetishists. The same problems crept up early with erotic anime and other cartoons. Too many kids were exposed to cartoons that they had no business seeing. However the Anime community quickly realized the problems they could get into and have policed themselves pretty well. The Furry community appears to be much slower in doing the same. Anything erotic that involves children, even if they are firmly on the sidelines has some major public opinion problems. Mix in the people who actively like “Cubbies” and parental alarms start going off.

So, what’s wrong with the Furry community? I would say it’s the over all attitude of letting people do whatever the hell they please. Like it or not, people who find cartoon animals sexy are viewed by others as weirdos. Ignoring public opinion does not help. Early on the furry community was “Hijacked” by the fetish. And it’s this view that most of the public now sees. There is nothing wrong with having an oddball fetish that hurts no one, but keeping it under wraps is often a good idea. The bondage community tries not to shove their fantasies in the faces of others. The furry community needs a major face lift, and it is getting one, though it is going to take some time to erase much of the damage that has already been done.

A lot of people have been panicking lately due to the Orphan Works bill. A lot of Blogsters have been over hyping this as the beginning of the end times. But honestly its not a big deal, infact its nothing at all.  

This isn’t the first time this has been tried and it’s been shot down every time it has. Not just by the little man but by the big honking corporations that people think are behind this. Copyrights are HUGE business, and the threat to a big company of losing any of their copyrights gives them far more cold sweats than any internet artist. So don’t worry, we’ve got the big guns on our side!

Second the Orphan Works bill has already been in existence and on the books since the 1960s. No crap! The Artist R. Crumb once drew and image of a guy with big feet walking along with the caption “Keep on Truckin” A small company took the image with out his permission and started making buttons and tee shirts with the image on them. Mr. Crumb new about this but did nothing, until her found out that they had made a few million dollars off his image.

He did a reasonable thing and sued them. However the judge told him that it was too late. Since he didn’t defend his copyright at any time in the past on that image the company who stole it had a reasonable expectation of ownership. R. Crumb had Orphaned his image and someone adopted it. If he had bothered to send them even one cease and desist order he would have had a case. A copyright that you do not defend is no longer yours.

The Orphan works bill just wants to make cases like this a little more cut and dried, something that you don’t necessarily need a judge to decide on. However as it’s worded now it’s not a good idea. But that’s why it will once again get shot down. You name a corporation and they stand to lose millions if this goes through, and they are NOT going to let that happen.

So in this one case Trust in big business. They’re in this fight with us.

Well I’ll be moving in the near future down to North Carolina. This is going to screw with the comic sadly. It already is. To move I have to sell the house, to sell the house I have to clean it. And I am a heck of a pack rat! So cleaning is taking a lot of time. I’m going through old art old models and old toys and tossing/selling a whole lot of stuff.

I’m going to be keeping up the dual updates a week as best I can, but its going to be tricky until the house is up to snuff. they Drawing will be Ok for a while until the actual move. Then, well Thom and I are trying to get a guest artist ready for you guys.