After Animalia; or where do we go from here?

Prologue: Glimpses of light through the mud and dirt; or why should we do things?

What does furry mean? A standard question one may ask when they are confronted by the term for the first time without much or any context. And depending who they ask, the answer varies, but the consensus is simple:

Furry is a subculture which concerns itself with the depiction of anthropomorphic animals be they in visual, literary, musical or theatrical form. Simple. Concise.  

The next usual question one may ask is:

“Is X a furry?”

And by X we mean any or all characters in any media which are animals with human characteristics. Sometimes the answer is “Yes” and sometimes the answer is “No”, again depending on who they ask.

The word most associated with furry is “anthropomorphic”, i.e. human form.

A typical furry character posses a human form mixed in with a specific animal and usually the intelligence of a human equivalent to that age.

But historically the word “anthropomorphic” has been used to ascribe any sort of human characteristic to inhuman objects.

Would a cat able to quote German poems be furry?

Would a human acting like a dog be furry?

Would a parrot imitating human speech be furry?

Depending who you ask, the answer varies

“So furry is subjective?”

An adequate follow-up question. The definition of furry is an elephant test: “I know it when I see it.”

The furry culture is a culture with a lot of common ground on first glance, but when you dig deeper ideas start to shatter.

In this work I would like to find, if possible, an adequate definition for what furry is, what it can be used for and what it can aspire to be in the realms of art and philosophy. Why would I want to do this? For two reasons mostly:

1.       I believe that the potential of what can be done in this community has barely been scratched

2.       An essential part of the furry community, with which no one person will disagree, is having fun; and asking big questions has been a favorite pastime to humanity

I do not promise an answer, but I do promise to try and piece together  some form of a coherent statement from the vast and kaleidoscopic puzzle that is this community.

Part One: The forest of innocence and wisdom; or where does the beginning lie exactly?

Before we truly talk about furry, let’s venture to its prehistory.

Throughout the existence of mankind, animals have always had a place in religion.

Totemic, animal spirits and gods with animal characteristics are standards of many myths and legends in all the corners of the world, all of which serve some divine purpose in shaping the world and fate of humans, with the animal aspect adding a certain layer of symbolism.

With time, it can be observed that more and more cultures have discarded their animal gods and have started to worship beings with a more human form.

Here we see more of an emphasis on animals in folklore rather than religion, the symbolism of an animal changing from an aspect of the creation and world building myth to that of an ordinary human.

No longer is the wolf the end of all things and the devourer of the planet, but rather gluttony or stupidity personified.

The owl ceases to be the all knowing and becomes the wise guide.

Eagles do not rule the sky, but sore in it with courage and passion.

Fairy tales and folk stories around campfires depicting animals as heroes and villains without much nuance have been used to teach simple lessons about humility, sharp wit and following rules.

And these stories have been passed down from generation to generation being retold and remolded to fit the zeitgeist, immortalizing these symbols in our heads as the go-to archetypes whenever a conundrum appears in our everyday lives.

As children, we enjoyed these stories. As adults, we retell them.

And with the advent of technology, newer stories with the critters from so long ago arise, changing the scenario, lesson and maybe adding or stripping key characteristics in these archetypes. Either way they exist and will continue to exist as long as humanity needs stories, bringing both wisdom and excitement with them.

But as times goes on, the character of the animal changes as needed by society and the individual. A new animal appears in the collective conscious, molding its archetype for more defined character traits. It is no longer a personification through an animal. It is the character, whose form happens to be that of an animal. From here on out, we see the first ur-furry. The animal before it became a furry.

The funny animals. Animals with much more defined human characteristics. They wear clothes. They walk on two legs. They eat on the table. They fall in love.  

Humanity viewed through a distorted lens.

Characters who slowly become symbols in themselves to much more grander concepts than that an individual may possess.

They are not the human aspect of comedy. They are comedy. And they can be considered the start of what’s to come.

Part Two: Ceiling-gazing; or why do we give dreams form?

The animal in myths is the inception.

The animal in fairy tales is the toddler years.

The animal in cartoons is the childhood.

These three sentences can apply to both the development of artistic depictions of the animal and that of the individual infatuated by the animal form.

So what comes next?

 Adolescence.

The current state of furry.

And the age most people get into furry.

The age of sexualization.

A lone teenager, sitting in his room, burning with the urges any teenager has faced. Seeking relief of the flesh, choosing something they are familiar with. Why not an animal with a human form?

There is something perverse and yet comforting. So why not?

Sex and sexualization is, after all, part of the human experience, so it is often depicted in works of art.

Furry, I would say, is the most expansive sphere in regards to its mediums which depicts sexual acts without being specifically sexualized as a whole.

Some argue that the point of furry is sex and the fetishization of the animal form. Others argue differently.

In either case, all parties can confirm that sex does play an important part in furry. Is it because of the age one enters it and it leaves an imprint? Or is it because sex is standardized and a teenager finds it fairly easily?

There really is no right answer here.

But it does offer an exceptional amount of wish fulfillment – imaginary, yet attractive, partners, offering something out of the ordinary, without having to deal with the meddling aspects courtship.

Truly sex makes the world turn.

But with time, we slowly change our course, not only seeking to fulfill our primal urges but to expand our horizons one way or another.

The years pass and we slowly enter adulthood and with it the animal should gain new qualities to represent this time in our life.

Part three: Stunted development; or why should we grow up?

The young adult is now faced with many questions regarding their place in the world and the place of the world in the universe. The human has grown. The animal hasn’t.

The animal stays in its previous form – that of the sexual object and wish fulfillment. It will not change. It refuses to change.

Two options remain:

1.       The adult forsakes the furry

2.       The adult stays with the furry and maybe tries to make slight changes

Furry is an ill-defined art form, an umbrella term for vague concepts with the theme of sex being an ever present constant. Why is that?

Supposedly a psychological argument could be made most likely. Something along the lines of most people get into furry in their teenage years and most of them were most likely outcast in one way or another; offered a certain safe space on anonymous sites, their fantasies are not shunned but rather encouraged, indulging their sexual desires as much as they can; there is no need to change, if everything seems fine – there is acceptance by the peers online; what more should there be?

So? What’s the problem? There is nothing wrong with sex?

No, there isn’t. But there can be more.

Furry is art in its core. Low art perhaps, but never the less, it is art. And art can grow. And should grow.

Sex is just one aspect of the human condition, which can be represented by the animal and I truly believe that furry should take the next step and aspire to be more than the fetishization of the animal.

Sex can always be aspect, but the artistic expression does not need to revolve around sex. Sex can just be another aspect to help cement a grander idea.

The animal can look up to the sky and ask: What should I be next?

Part four: Erotic nihilism; or how to confuse cynicism with abyss-gazing?

A certain trend can be found in any contemporary work, striving to be serious and I believe that a point should be made before going any further.

Dark and brooding is an easy go to when claiming that you’ve made a serious piece of art. But rarely are those pieces truly worth the while when it comes to artistic merit.

The animal kills. The animal is killed. The animal rapes. The animal is raped. The animal suffers.

More so than not, the worlds depicted in pieces like these have nothing to them besides misery, shock and a fetishistic fascination with the grotesque. No actual point to make. No actual contrast to the darkness. A cynical and almost childish belief in a land where only evil rules, without offering any meaningful questions or answers regarding evil.

Evil is the quintessential element. It is inescapable. There are shades of evil for sure, but they offer nothing in the grander scheme of things.

I am not advocating for purely hopeful and optimistic works, but I am advocating for works of substance with a bit more to them than a bloody power trip and radical sexual depravity.

Part five: Postfurry; or how is aesthetica guised as technica?

Furry is hard to define.

Postfurry is harder.

A splinter of the indefinable concept which in itself is indefinable.

But as with furry, postfurry has some loose rules such as using a postmodernist toolkit as well as using aspects and themes found in science fiction. Sounds fancy when it put in those words.

One might think that this is the point of this essay, the point of me rambling for almost 1800 words.

Sadly, postfurry differs from furry only in its aesthetics, using the techniques it has acquired to only change the setting of the animal and not its purpose.

Although postfurry prides itself in its alternative concepts, it’s no more sublime than anything put out by the standard furry community. Nothing more than a new paintjob.

So why did I name this piece with allusions to this branch of furry. Simple. It has the right idea, but the wrong execution.

Using ideas and tropes beyond those found in pulp art is one of the things I strive to convince anyone to do who might be reading this.

As a whole there isn’t much to be said about postfurry.

But some irony should be noted here.

It uses tropes found in science fiction. And like the first ever science fiction stories, they offer little change to what has been pre-established. Cowboys in space. Animals in latex.

Keeping that in mind another reference to sci-fi can be made. As with the golden age of science fiction, maybe the golden age of furry is just around the corner.

Part six: Philosophizing; or what is there to art?

The animal is unbound. Chainless it roams to new fields, seeking out its new task.

“What do I need to be?”

It saw the peeks of Helicon and began climbing.

Furry is art. If I’ve managed to hammer in something, I’m pretty sure that is it.

Art is the expression of oneself - thoughts, ideas, emotions and so on.

What can we do with that?

At this point, anything really. But the goal, as I’ve stated before, is to aim high. And as is natural for high art, we should aim to more clearly express the human condition through the animal. What would be the point in doing something if there was never any improvement?

Escapism is an essential human need, yes. But the truest form of art has a certain spice to its escapism.

Diversification of themes and messages, struggling with big concepts and asking unanswerable questions are just some of the things that an artist should strive to do as they create.

The animal itself is escapism, but don’t let its essence be its entire being.

Part seven: Chronodaimon; or how to spend a night with the muses?

The animal gazes from atop of the mountain, seeing all that the world has to offer. The sights, smells and sounds of an ever-turning planet fill its skull, intoxicating it completely. A magnificent metamorphosis occurs and there stands the artist, ready to capture it all.

All we think, all we see, all we say, all we do.

What can furry be after it sheds its skin once more?

A reflection of the times.

A peek within the soul.

A speculation of the future.

All that and much more, as any other work of art can.

But if that’s true, than what need is there for the animal?

The animal is an aesthetic for sure, but the aesthetic can always be incorporated into the work as something more. It only needs a reason to be. A return to the folk tales as symbolic characters is the easiest tool that can be used.

But besides the visual representation, the animal adds a certain lair of detachment. It is not human, not truly, allowing the artist to do more with it, which might otherwise seem un-human. It does not think purely like a human. It does not act purely like a human. It does not feel purely like a human. A crooked mirror is still a mirror and once the novelty has gone, it still reflects.

Part eight: Beastly apocrypha; or what to do next?

And so the animal rose up and on its back rode the artist.

What is there to do? Create, explore, observe, analyze. The postfurry, the next step of the animal, should be the thinking-man’s furry, not ruled by base instincts, but by complex emotions and intricate thoughts.

As the dawn shines upon us for a new day, so should our goals be renewed.  In the age of trash art, where one thing is so easily discarded for another, hold tight to what you love and raise it above the rest. Strive for greatness as it is your duty, or perish beneath the sands, forgotten.

It’s only a matter of time before the animal takes its new form.  The clock ticks.

Epilogue: Liquid dreams and solid miracles; or why even bother?

Why bother indeed?

If one is happy and content, why even try to make any changes?

Truthfully? I’ve never met an artist who was happy or content.

I am fully aware that this is not an extensive essay, only touching slightly upon some topics.

I am also fully aware that some of the things I’ve mentioned have already been done. But those are really just individual situations and not actual shifts in the entire subculture.

I am aware that it does not possess a fully coherent structure or statement.

This essay was not a call to arms.

This essay was not a full dissection of furry.

This essay was not a manifesto.

You may not agree with what I’ve said, how I’ve said it or why I’ve said it. But I hope you found this essay at least slightly interesting, whether or not you agree with any statements I’ve made.

But regardless of anything, I’m sure that you can agree, that at the very least, this essay is postfurry in nature.

This is After Animalia.