BC Furries

I think those kind of hybrids work better in the fandom cause its still sticking to a more defined character. EG: Canine-canine or feline-feline (or at least species at least more closely related) so logically more people are like "oh yeah totally!"

Personally the ones that bug the ever loving crap outta me are the mammal-reptile mixes or anything that's about the same spread from opposite ends of the spectrum. Things raptor-sharks or dragon-wolves. For things like fox-wolf hybrids, people put a little thought into it, trying to find some balance of characteristics, fur patterns, ear shapes, muzzle size and body structure. But when it comes to the extreme mixes all I keep seeing for things like dragon-wolves are people who wanna be 100% fuzzy yet some how be part dragon, So usually they just make a wolf with dragon wings and horns, maybe a longer tail if they are feeling really risque. Seems very half-hearted and uncommitted cause they want to be something different, but they don't wanna lose the "cute n' fluffy" status card.

But that's just me, I like dragons being dragon-ish, canines being canine-ish and sea mammals being sea mammal-ish. Hybrids and mixes that fall withing the same general type just work better logically and make for more visually appealing results in the end.

I dunno. Some hybrids are definitely all right with me (and it's definitely "canon", as it were, with things like domestic dogs and cats), but I feel like quite a few of them suffer from "unique snowflake syndrome". They used to be interesting and unique, but more and more my reaction is becoming "yeah, it's been done".

That and there are lots of species out there that rarely get any love, so it's pretty easy to be something unique without hybridizing. And so often it's the same common species being hybridized time and time again.

: Karo  August 21, 2013, 02:19:02 -06:00

So If you know me you know I Myself am a Mix Breed, but if always wanted to know what others think about the whole Species thing.

So do you like Mix Breeds? (Shep-skies, Duskies, Folves, Ligers, Ect.)
Or are you more of the Pure Breed kind? ( Shepherds, Huskies, Foxes, Lions, Tigers)

And why might that be?
...

it isn't the mix of breed that is important, it is the way they come together.  the most important part is the end personality of that mix.  IRL i have seen mutts that are very friendly and some that are vicious and same for pure breeds.  it all boils down to personality.  if you have a good personality, things should be good.

For fandom characters, i really could care less about their species/mix. Its the person behind the character that matters to me, not the species. Sure, some are like "oooo thats cool!" and sometimes its like "i dont know what to think about this," but there's no specific 'kind' that make me say either or. I am a huge fantasy person and regardless of a lot of people disliking "exotic" hybrids, i think when a person can make something new or add features to something old to make it look neat and stir my imagination, then cool beans. Even so, i still greatly enjoy "canon"/real species both pure and mixed. Sure there are some designs i don't care for but that is mostly due to different preferences in aesthetics, nothing to do with the species.

Haha, I thought this thread was going to be about dog breeds at first!

Fandom-wise, I'm one of those peeps who prefers single-species characters. Why? I'm a biologist by training, and an amateur fan of genetics. This means that I loooove real-life hybrids, because they are so intriguing to me! However, I just can't get behind the idea of furry fandom style hybrids.

In my way of thinking, there are so many species on this planet that there's bound to be at least one that fits your persona. Why have a fox-wolf hybrid character when it could be a coyote, or a jackal? The coyote fills pretty much the exact role that a fox/wolf hybrid would in nature, yet there is much less love for coyotes in this fandom! There would be so much more diversity in fursonas if people looked a bit further than the standard wolves, foxes, dragons, and big cats. (Says the wolf-person. Go figure.)

Of course, I'm not going to bash anyone who has a hybrid fursona, especially if it's a longstanding character of theirs. After all, none of this is 100% serious, since we ARE talking about humanoid animals that stand on two legs and talk!

I gotta agree with some of the posts here talking about the people behind the characters, I completley forgot that entire side of the topic in my post this morning. Thinking more into that snowflake syndrome mentioned earlier made me think back on many of my experiences with people in this fandom over the years. I got some great friends who you go up to and ask what they are and they go "fox" and that's it, no grand character ref sheet or back story about how they are an alien from another world who came here on a quest for chocolate and good porn. But they are some of the most social and interesting people I know in the fandom. On the other hand I have met people with extreme hybrids or even multiple characters where its like "im a fox-dragon-wolf with glowing bits!" and almost without fail when ever you try and talk to them its like 6 in 10 chance they are either come off as rather... average mundane? Or they are some form of manic depressive who thinks the world is there to stab them in the back all day ever day, it gives the impression that the character is a huge compensation to try and look like the most interesting individual ever, but the personality doesn't quite fit the visage.

But how one fits their species or finds their way to feeling they fit well with the notion of a particular species is an entire novel sized sub-topic. But it is an interesting one cause I like reading topics like these the whole "what make a furry tick" subject.

@Drake Wingfire: I've met a lot of crazy mix hybrids and only a handful i've found seem uninteresting or mundane as people. We've had a completely different experience on that one it seems. XD Least you give people a chance though. I've met some people who outright refuse to talk to people who are of "mythical/unrealistic" breeds or hybrids because they are too unrealistic? (And a talking cat/dog/whatever is realistic? XD )

: Temrin  August 21, 2013, 09:33:15 -06:00
@Drake Wingfire: I've met a lot of crazy mix hybrids and only a handful i've found seem uninteresting or mundane as people. We've had a completely different experience on that one it seems. XD Least you give people a chance though. I've met some people who outright refuse to talk to people who are of "mythical/unrealistic" breeds or hybrids because they are too unrealistic? (And a talking cat/dog/whatever is realistic? XD )

Oh I am no stranger to the species cold shoulder being who I am. It doesn't seem at all as bad now as it was when I first got into the fandom thankfully, but there were a few points back then I had the very rare fur actually tell me that I should change being a dragon for something more cute and fuzzy because people would like me more. I was use to being like the only non-fuzzy type on the entire island for quite a few years (at least when it came to active and social furs in this area).

But I think by some measure I am a little guilty of the same thing at times because when I find other dragons around the fandom I go "its a brutha!" because I just don't see many of my species around these parts. Makes me feel like less of a token in these parts. XD

All in all though I think the particular species-snob mentality is on a fair decline in the fandom, that or we are just crucifying all the early teens who try and pull that logic back outta the trash heap before they can try and spread it, so we never get to see it flourish. XD

Aha i would say something of the later. XD
Some people, young and old are just silly species-ist bums. XD

I've got to agree with Drake and Silvermink on this one, Karo, and also give a shout-out to the quintessential non-canine-canine,  non-feline-feline hybrids: gryphons are awesome! Yes, we have a tendency, as a fandom, towards the special-snowflake thing more and more lately, but that much being said, I feel like a "fox-dragon-wolf with glowing bits" is every bit as believable as, say, a walking, talking, anthropomorphic lemur. :p

It only kills me when someone has like 10 different animals in their 'hybrid' species. I think it gets to a point where you just can't win because:
- You get visually confusing (and generally awful) designs trying to shove some part of every animal into it.
OR,
- Half of the 10 (or whatever) animals allegedly in the hybrid aren't even represented in the design so it's like, what's the point of even mentioning those animals as part of the hybrid.

I think if you're getting to that point just say your character is a shapeshifter or something.

Haha, well a shape shifter would make it easier on the logic. In my mind I look at those hybrids from a very very loose logical stand point like.

husky-wolf "okay, totally happens, wolf gets it on with a husky"
Then throwing any psuedo-sciencey notion out the window.
A Tiger-Persian cat "okay, kitty to kitty, still makes sense species relation wise, but the visuals...oh lawds"

But then there is that point where you get the extremes of the  avain/feline/canaine/reptile/seamamal where it starts off with Dolphin-Cats, Fox-Raptors or the more common Dragon-Wolf and I think "even casting aside the thought (how did those two creatures even fuck to produce this?!)" the species mixes just don't work visually like weremagnus pointed out. From my experience when people mix something exotic with something more common, the end design usually ends up with the more exotic part being downplayed a ton anyways. Dragon-Wolves look like wolves with horns and wings, Fox-Raptors look like foxes with sharper teeth, longer tails and longer claws, and Something like a Dolphin-Cat would be a cat of sorts with webbed paws and a fuzzy dorsal fin as well as a fin on his tail.

I just get a more "stable" feel off someone if they are just one particular species, or something even like a (withholding the mashup names) lion-tiger, fox-wolf, husky-wolf, dolphin-orca. Because in the end a character is only as good as the person behind it and a solid character shows they are not concerned with trying to be "the in thing", they have found something they feel fits them and that's who they want to be.

The furry fandom is about fantasy talking, usually anthro animal characters.
But yeah, just as I don't appreciate when people criticise how others dress or talk or act based on their personal preferences, I really don't get the whole "that's wrong" "that's right" talk about fursonas. In my opinion, to each their own.
Not to say having an opinion is wrong either, but I think it's a bit too far-reaching to jump to conclusions about a person's character based on their fursona.

Also, some of the "biologically impossible" mixes are, on a few rare occasions, made to make a species choice more visually appealing (such as bat-fox or...well I can't think of any others :p)

I'm inclined to agree with Kai wolf and Drake, I find I like the pure species and
more believable hybrids than exotic hybrids. That's not to say there aren't some neat looking hybrids, though in that case
why not choose a species closer in the realm that you're trying to make the hybrid fit in? unless of course it's purely aesthetics.

I find I like the way a lot of the pure species look already, no spicing needed. Hybrids kept in the family (felidae, canidae, reptilia, ect) End up looking better in my opinion and warrant some pretty cool traits, fur markings, mixed in. Then again, I've seen some pretty cool exotic mixes as well, Take for example the native stories involving the 'underwater panther' which produces a pretty cool looking exotic mix.

(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121215223950/warriorsofmyth/images/6/63/Underwater_Panther_(Mishepishu).jpg)

Now that I think about it more than anything It's not so much the mixes themselves I care about but ridiculous 'special snowflake' syndrome with glowing bits, neon colours and the like. I find it's not my cup of tea but if you can rock it, good on ya.

Considering so few furs are proper representations of what a humanoid would look like had they evolved from something other than primates, (Like this guy http://testdesertmsw.blogspot.ca/2009_09_01_archive.html (http://testdesertmsw.blogspot.ca/2009_09_01_archive.html) ) I say it's open season on cross breeding.
When I first got into the fandom 18 years ago, it seemed like if you weren't a dragon, you were probably a pure-bred of some sort. It's been a very natural progression how, as time's gone on, more and more crossbreeds have shown up.

As dragons go, they're particularly open to interpretation. Dragons are a broad enough category that they can start with the characteristics of anything you can imagine. Whether it be fox-like, reptilian, whale-like, etc.
On top of that, from the fantasy worlds I've been immersed in all my life, I've always considered it canon that dragons can breed with just about anything they please and produce offspring.

The majority of my furry socializing being on MUCKs, the biggest difficulty I have with some of the more exotic creatures, (and I'm as guilty of this with my gargoyle form as anyone,) is fully imagining what they look like by their written descriptions alone. Even if the writer is very skilled, it can be difficult to picture what is being described without some visual reference, especially if it's a long, complex description that I don't have time to really mull over if I want to get any socializing done.  I find that to be a bit of a turn off at times,  but it's not really that big of an issue.

Other than that, go nuts. Pure-bred is no better than cross-bred or vice versa. The furry fandom is about being who/what you want to be. Anyone who deems one type as 'more furry' than another doesn't belong.
You're always entitled to your preferences, but you'd be wrong to ostracize someone for the form they've chosen to represent themselves in a fantasy setting. There's too much of that over the forms we don't get to choose for ourselves in our real lives.
I'd go as far as to include humans. So long as the player is interested in the furry fandom, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed in just because they're more comfortable with a human form.

This is the side I dislike about my species, at least kinda the furry take on it because the idea of a dragon becomes rather hollow in some parts of the fandom. People try and make them everything. (stretching the species to far and spreading it too thin) They become  very prone to becoming the "token" part of another species IE: slap horns on any other species and now say you are half dragon...  Caninine-Canine hybrids and other similar species ones don't suffer this cause they are not usually playing two sides of a coin, you don't hear that "hehe my husky side is showing today!" like you would hear of like dragon-whatever hybrids who seem to use it as this "I am cute and fluffy now, but I am part dragon so I am evil and raawwrrr if you make me mad" -.=.- *head desks* lol may as well be a Hulk-Fox hybrid "I may be naughty and cute now.. but you don't wanna make me angry or fox smash!!!" lol

So I guess what I am getting at is extreme mixes often show more like two fursonas rather than one hybrid of the two cause there is often this mentality and personality duality of being cute one minute and then some "grrr rawrrr, beast" stereotype the next. Not really a dragon hybrid more as someone who just like to vaguely play a dragon character now and then but is primary something else but they didn't like the idea of two chars. At least with how I tend to see it acted out.

Never really encountered that before. But I was practically raised by the Dragon community, so furs were more token. The dragons were the norm and all very diverse .

The Draconic community does have there variants, but given the more personal significance of their identity (usually with more wanting to keep it purely dragon) there were not too many extremes, dragon-dragon hybrids for sure but that still equals another dragon. It seems we had the same start, I was a dragon years before I bridged the gap over to the furry community. But despite my recent critiques and complaints, I do love it here. ^.=.^

I do agree and admit as far as we dragons go, there is a LOT of leeway in regards to shape, size, color, features, its hard to ever find two who are alike.. actually.. I did find my clone once on FA. Lol

Me: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/drakewingfire/ (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/drakewingfire/)
Guy similar to me: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/drakiah/ (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/drakiah/)