for: alt.fan.furry;alt.tv.animaniacs;alt.tv.tiny-toon.fandom;rec.arts.animation

Dilemma: Toon Furries
by Bryan Chaney

	My name is Wilford B. Wolf and I am a furry.
	Some of you maybe wonder what a furry is.  There is many definitions but
basically it is any non-human sentient being, specifically an animal taking on 
various ascpects of humans or humans taking on various aspects of animals.  
Of course there is another defintion.  A furry can also mean a person who is so 
fascinated by this concept that they either make a furry a kind of image or ideal 
or believe that at some level they are truely this creature they have created.  
This can be expressed in any number ways; art, literature, roleplay, etc.  It 
has been my observation that within furrydom (the body of furry fandom) there is 
two major subcatagories.  One is of the mythical creatures.  There are people out 
there who imagine their ideal animal to be one that in truth does not exist; 
i.e. pegasi, centaurs, dragons.  In fact, dragons are almost a subdivision unto 
themselves (Herpetaphiles will understand what I mean.)  There is a second major 
subdivision that is related, that of toons.  I happen to one of many people who imagine 
their furry to be a toon.  How did this happen?
	What I am talking about is not mere appreciation of toons and perhaps 
speculation of various elements of toon mechanics.  Both within the furry community 
and the obviously within animation fandom, this is quiet common.  In fact, there is 
a lot of crossover between furriness and animation.  But rather, otherwise normal 
human beings imagine that in fact deeply identify with either an established animated 
character or a character that they have either derived or created.  The process is 
much the same for the more common furries, yet there is on occasion a misunderstanding 
from both within and outside the furry community.  Some from within the community can't 
understand why we are toons.  But then again, I can't personally see why some people 
like foxes, for example, or even why some people have certain sexual preferences.  But 
I respect those people because that is who they are and just as my toon furriness is 
an expression of who I am, that is an expression of who they are.  Maybe the biggest 
flak is from outside the furry community, from people who cannot understand why we are 
the way we are.  Cartoons have largely gained the stigma of being a kids only 
entertainment.  When someone from the industry especially finds out that all sort of 
speculation that is specifically out of the purview of the show is occuring with their 
characters, which by the way is often of an explicate nature, there is a tendency to 
wonder about the sanity of the people.  Why would anyone find character X, a mere 
drawing of ink, sexually attractive, they wonder.  Yet, I know of many people for 
whom these feeling are very real, sometimes for the form, more often the personality 
shown with the form serving as a strengthener.
	When I talk about why some furries are toons, I can only talk for myself.  
I am sure that there is any number of reasons why a particular character or type of 
character captures one's fancy.  My first introduction of furrydom in any form was in 
the spring of '94, when while looking for a manga title, I stumbled over some copies of 
Genus.  It wasn't until almost a year later that I was in fact a furry and had been for 
almost 11 years.  I started to imagine myself first as a dragon, but for the last 5 
years I have a much stronger attraction to wolves.  At about the same time as I 
first stumbled over furrydom, I was starting to get heavily into Animaniacs.  Maybe 
it was a subconscience connection, but when I started to get into IRC, specifically 
the #animaniacs channel, I chose a minor one-off character, Wilford B. Wolf as my 
nick.  The reasons then and now remain the same.  That character among all in the 
show, which if you can't tell, I love dearly, is the closest match to my 
personallity.  The fact he is also a wolf is almost a odd coincidence of fate.  
There is times for the me that the form is very important when I play.  I can draw  
upon the toon elements when I feel like it: ability to create items out of thin 
air, indestructiblity, general goofiness; and then there is times I pull more from 
the wolf side.  In essence, I have taken the character and made it my own, I made it 
me.  And similar process I have observed in many other people who take this part of  
themselves very seriously.  Because, even though we imagine ourselves as toon and  
by definition are a little silly, we look upon our form as much seriousness as any  
other furry.
	Toon furries are very much in a dilemma.  On the one paw, they have found a  
creative expression for themselves.  On the other hand, there is a distain amongst 
some people because they are viewed with people without a real social life.  While  
that maybe true in some cases, it not the reason for the toon furriness in the 
first place.  We have merely found a way to express multiple fascinations at once.   
For truly, just as Sci-Fi and animation, the two "parents" of toon furriness, are 
often belittled but are still intresting creative expression, for toon furries it  
these two things along with humor that they wish to spread.  Take pity upon the  
poor toon.
	My name is Wilford B. Wolf and I am a toon.