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TF art in the media vs the furry fandom: A short essay.
I buy a -lot - of TF art, and whenever I get it, it tends to fall into a weird "this is normal" kind of vibe. It seems to be a really common theme in most furry TF art. "Staring at your hands in shock" is the cliché pose.
(art by @JD_Puppy)
(art by @JD_Puppy)
Where as in mass media, a huge amount of mainstream TF art is pure body horror. Vampires, werewolves, TF is almost exclusively a terrible thing that is bad and something you need to avoid at all costs. The hero has to find the antidote before he turns into the evil monster.
Which is totally the opposite in mass media for kids. The hero has to transform into a cool dinosaur to take down the bad guy. Wilford wolf turns into a giant hunk under the light of the full moon to impress Minevera. Twilight Sparkle becomes an alicorn princess after all.
Not to mention like, the biggest offender of them all
I used to design haunted houses for a theme park. TF was one of the many tools someone could use for a good scare. A lot of mass horror isn& #39;t about changing into something else, it& #39;s about changing from what you are. Like this scene where a guy was mid TF in a haunted house
American Werewolf in London is told from the werewolf& #39;s perspective. You follow along with him as he hallucinates about what he& #39;s become. You& #39;re along for the ride, in the room with him. This could just as easily happened to you.
Which kind of makes sense when you think about it. The idea of losing what makes you "you" is a fear that& #39;s almost entirely universal. Even for a dark comedy like American Werewolf, the transformation scene is still one of the scariest scenes in cinema.
When you& #39;re a kid, your body goes through changes. You& #39;re getting bigger, taller, faster. And a lot of mass media reflects that. It& #39;s something that, while it can be scary, isn& #39;t something inherently bad. And can be a good source for some gags
But as you age, changes are less fun. You get slower, things break, every change is a new loss. It& #39;s something to fight. The monster is always there.
Furries are in a lot of ways, people that celebrate the media of our youth. Cartoons and the like. And I think a lot of TF art reflects that. We& #39;ve kept that kinda childlike relationship with it.
But another thing is the transitory nature of the fursona. It& #39;s something you made, so why not play around with its form? Sure, turn my & #39;sona into a roomba, let& #39;s see what that& #39;s like.
(art by @Orlando_Fox )
(art by @Orlando_Fox )
