I salute @Dread_Pirate as a true Canadian! 
And I’m in agreement. Online life is rough stuff in general but I really dig that we’re our own community of weirdos and we look after our own.
Well said, my friend. Well said.
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Knock yourself out! I mean, we’re not looking for the next metal epic, we’re just having fun, right?
Nuts to sound. Just knock some stuff around and have fun! And what’s more fun than…
EVIL METAL FACE
Fluffy Sodomy
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I mean, that’s what a community in general is all about, right?
We collect together, create stories, share our art and talents, we lift each other up, we are one as a collective and that’s how it all should be 
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Well… Let’s do this xD
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Absolutely!
We have our own headspaces and ideas. We’re weird and wonderful for it. It drives us to draw or write or play. We have our talents and the itch and urge to share them. In talking to others who experience and feel the same, we’ve got our community.
In that vein, I would like to particularly call out and love the first timers, should they be lurking and see this. Terrified and awkward and unsure. Don’t be shy, join the dance. We’re all friends, here.
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Strife of this nature is unavoidable in any community, people don’t like change which means people also don’t like to try new things. Sure enough some creators seem different from others, but it’s hard to judge quality on an objective basis since it’s such a subjective thing. Do you judge art by the skill it took to create it, or by the thing that it depicts?
I’m trying to strive for a healthy middle ground, I’ve been talking to “both sides” behind the scenes to get some opinions on how to handle issues, and so far at least to me the site is headed in a good direction. There’s been a slowdown in usage but that much is expected with the recent migration and outage, and hopefully in a couple months we’ll be back to normal.
This is an awkward system, but actually what you have to do is head to Groups first, join the groups you like, and then you may pick a flair of your choosing. I went ahead and added you to Neutralbox.
I wholeheartedly agree, we barely get to see people make comics anymore. Most drawings seem one offs, OCs or just pictures of a single scene. Those are nice, like you said, but they don’t leave an impression. Meanwhile there’s older comics that are so remarkable, that months later I still find myself thinking about them.
I think what’s necessary is for people to take some time and flesh those OCs out into a short comic instead of simply posting them here. An OC isn’t something special unless it’s known for something. Many here of us know names of fluffies by heart, like Ash or Crimson, simply because they have been part of long-running stories that have established themselves. People can appreciate the design of your fluffies, but I think any creator will find more enjoyment out of creating characters that are recognized for their personality.
I’m actually a big defender of fluffy subspecies, but I agree there needs to be a more regulated system for them. I’d like to introduce a separate category on the site where people can post concepts and have others vote on them, the most popular of which may then be “canon” and featured in official contests for instance. Fluffies are cool and there are many stories to be told with them, but that doesn’t mean we can’t branch into new avenues and spark creativity in a different way, so long as we do it regulated and not chaotic as it is right now.
Personally, I actually agree with A-S and have to disagree with you caneighdian, I do think that fluffies should be the focus of a fluffy story. Some creators have the tendency to write stories that are regular stories, but with fluffies. While that can be compelling, I just believe it misses the point of the community, but I’d never go so far as to say that it’s shouldn’t be allowed, after all that’s simply my subjective opinion on the matter.
What’s important is finding the threshold of “how much fluffy does a story need to be fluffy-centered”. I think if you have a story of co-workers talking in a fluffy mill, even if it’s very conversation-heavy, will always feel like it’s a fluffy story because of the consistent reminder of where it’s taking place, for instance. There are lot of parts to it, too much to get in to here.
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I appreciate the weigh-in. Honestly, though, it also concerns me. If fluffies need to be the main focus of stories and that is the adminship weigh-in, well… be straight with me. Am I good enough for that opinion? If my works don’t fit that ruleset, I’ll fuck off. No hard feelings, mind you.
I will say this, though. Fluffies are bullshit. They’re nonsense. They’re a prop that we use to tell ourselves stories. Because that’s all they really are. Fluffies are a fiction that, at the end of the day, help us all cope in some way, shape, or form. They became something we could write stories about, draw pictures of, hate, dismember, or what have you. We all know it.
I don’t mean to be antagonistic but you just opened yourself up to the question:
What IS the point of the community?
I don’t mean to give you a hard time but with that sort of commentary, I’m sort of feeling like I’ve been wasting my writing time. I’ve been working on a story with a long-term arc that IS a regular story but with fluffies…
Fuck this. I don’t need to explain shit. It is late for me. I’m tired.
What I want to know, at the end of all this nonsense.
Who among you is going to be the fluffy police?
I joined this community because of the base fluffy idea. I really love the people here, their creativity, and the good times. Now, I’m getting the vibe that if shit ain’t fluffy enough… fuck off.
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I remember when Virgil was setting up this site and I said we should learn from the mistakes of the booru and give structure to what a fluffy is that we should move away from boxes and towards a litterateur style classification and I was told to fuck off muh head cannon is all we need muh boxes don’t lead to division. As one would expect lessons unlearned leads to old consequences the feast and famine of content as old posters push out the new and new posters push out the old , the fluffy cycle goes on old fights are fought anew whit no resolution
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What is fluffy enough is always going to be up to debate. We can’t objectively measure it.
Ryou’s prime example was a story that wasn’t fluffy centered but being in a fluffy mill being fine. It’s a good example of a story that isn’t about fluffies that is still a fluffy story. It’s told from the perspective of people whose lives are directly influenced by fluffies on a daily basis.
The point isn’t that fluffies have to be directly under the limelight in a story. But this is Fluffy-Community. They should be important in some way to the story, even if it’s just the lasting effect they leave on the protagonist. I’m sure your work is fine.
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we could objectively measure what a fluffy is but we don’t ,so now we are here what makes a fluffy whatever i say makes a fluffy what what makes a fluffy story whatever i say makes a fluffy story, until a mod gets a bug up there butt and something has gone to far of those invisible boundaries
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Thanks for being a voice of reason, Karn.
I don’t really care about what is and isn’t considered fluffy. I’d rather leave that argument alone.
I may have missed that example or the point of the lesson. Poor PR, perhaps, or misunderstanding on my part. I am an idiot. I just want to write.
I take your point. That is the point I’ve been writing under, always. Sometimes, though, in these sorts of threads, it feels like there’s some kind of seething, writhing undercurrent that it isn’t good enough. I’m not sure if that’s personal paranoia or the fault of booru oldfags projecting.
It freaks me the hell out sometimes.
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I understand that feeling.
There was a long time where I worried that my content was awful.
The only thing you can do is ignore the Imposter Syndrome and keep making stories or art as best you can.
If everyone stopped after their first story or piece of art, no one would ever progress.
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Oh I like this! Fluffy subspecies have potential, and I try to be nice about it, but the biggest problem I’ve seen is when newcomers decide to design new subspecies and they just… look like regular animals. Which has happened 3 times just in recent memory. I’m sorry but this is a talking cat, if anyone draws this subspecies getting stomped on it isn’t fluffy abuse so much as real-life animal abuse. The thought of such a subspecies getting popular is concerning because then we’re suddenly looking like an animal abuse site, and then newcomers could get fooled by that and start posting real actual animal abuse.
So anyway it’s weird to have those subspecies in the main “fluffy art” category. One idea is to put new subspecies in “non-fluffy”, but having a “subspecies contest” category is much better. Heck, I could put my own old subspecies concepts in there and see if they’re worth anything.
When it comes to OCs, it’s always a delicate balancing act. Mary Sues and hyper-capable fluffies are kind of iffy to me but the bigger problem is when people make an OC, tossing up a drawing or reference sheet and then never using that OC again. If it’s for a bigger project like a game or video so it won’t be done for a long time then okay, but that doesn’t tend to be the case. At least give us a comic or story so we can get the full OC experience instead of just the cliff notes!
… But to be honest, I always worry a bit about my own fluffs falling too deep into the OC hole and being disliked, and that people are too polite to say it. I mean they’re born organically from my content, stories and concepts that need main characters who I get attached to, but people hate OC fluffs so much I don’t know if that matters. Is Wawa too edgy and detached from how fluffies act? Is Snowcone too strong for a fluffy? Sweet Tooth is highly weirdbox so is that a bad thing? Etc etc. (Dr. Crazystein seems well-liked enough that I’m not worried about him at least.)
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One huge difference is that your characters developed over time.
People enjoy watching the ups and downs of a character instead of being told about them with a bullet-point list.
One feels organic and earned, the other does not.
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It’s a Union one so that day off is guaranteed. That and I have more job security and I have Thanksgiving and Christmas off paid.
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Highlight what you want to quote, the quote button will appear over the highlighted section.
click on it.
And there you go.
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I’m glad Karn weighed in to dissuade you, but my comment was in no means meant to represent an official statement. Don’t consider what my beliefs are to be “official” either, at the end of the day I pretty much run all ideas and discourse through the team of moderators that we have and will never ever push my own agenda or drown out others.
That being said, yes, of course you’re good enough. Frankly, everyone is good enough, it just depends how much time and effort people put into their creations. Not everything is going to appeal to everyone, even if hypothetically speaking 90% of the site didn’t like your content, you should still post it for the 10% that do. That’s my point really, I don’t want to police content, doing so would jeopardize a lot of goodwill and alienate many people. I don’t want anyone to have to think “Should I post my story here? What if it’s not good enough?”. Do it, always do it. Be willing to listen to what people say, even if your story ends up not being good and people trash it, listen to the criticism and learn from it. Never fuck off, always strive to improve and turn your haters into fans.
Ironically enough, in my first stories I’ve ever posted, it was actually @A-S that left some criticism that really affected me, they were pretty blunt with their words and called something out and I felt attacked by it, but then I took the time to think on it and realize that they didn’t say that to trash my story, they said it because they were invested. As such, always take to heart what people are saying, and tackle the issue by the roots rather than try and run from it.
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I think fluffies generally come in peaks and troughs of works and ideas. Personally,I AM working on a big comic,but I know I have a tendency to abandon comics (I was bad about it on the Booru) halfway through. So I want to finish my comic and then post it a page a day. I don’t want people to get invested in it and then me just stop the story.
I also think fluffy subspecies are fine,as long as they make sense. I can’t draw a t-rex and give it fur and a mane and call it a fluffy and it be anything but a furry T-Rex. It needs a new canon or a story propping it up,in my opinion. I can see where many fluffy subspecies come from,since fluffies are genetically modified and can,in theory,be modified further.
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This might not be the place for this thought, but here goes. (Consider this a thought experiment first and a logistical question second, if you would – that is to say, bear with me here.)
I am imagining having a flag for this problem. “Not fluffy enough” or similar. If a post gets flagged with it by enough users, it gets… put up for review? Maybe a vote, perhaps after some consideration by mods? Trying to think of how to provide some anonymity, some balance, but also some filtering. Maybe a “Hall of Rejects” tag or group so people can see examples of what the community considers unacceptable. Thoughts?
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