Too "Eccentric" for 'Casual' fans? ...a problem?

Vilkacis · Post by **Vilkacis** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:52 am

-- Vilkacis

Teh_DarkJokerWolf · Post by **Teh_DarkJokerWolf** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 8:37 am

Lyco · Post by **Lyco** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:47 pm

Wow... if we seem even the slightest bit scary to casual werewolf fans, I wonder how we look to people who don't have any particular fascination with werewolves at all. o_0

Anyway

IMO, I don’t think the kind of fan you are changes anything about your opinion or views of what would make a good movie. I mean, I’m a therian, and I’m just as liable to enjoy killing machine werewolves just as much as misunderstood werewolves. I’m just more partial to the latter right now because I haven’t seen a movie successfully pull it off yet.

So what if you’re a furry? So what if you’re a therian? If such a notable population of the werewolf loving community is comprised of these sorts of people, then I think it’s up to the non-furry/therian fans to be accepting of that, and the furry/therian fans to understand that sometimes we came across as weird and confusing. One side doesn’t need to bow down to the majority of the other, they just need to understand that as different as we may seem, we all have one major thing in common. Don’t we all share a common love affair with the werewolf?

Scott Gardener · Post by **Scott Gardener** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:36 pm

Well, mainstream culture is used to dealing with obsessive fans, ranging from sports fans to Trekkies, they're used to people with varying degress of passion for various phenomena.

But, werewolves as a choice of obsession is a bit intimidating. Most people are used to thinking of them as vicious monsters. That many of us agree that they can be, too, doesn't halp matters.

Add in sensationalism, and even our softer, cute side, the furries, get associated with bizarre sexual fetishes and other weird fringe things.

But, I can tell you from experience, "normal" people are the ones of which you should be afraid!

Silverclaw · Post by **Silverclaw** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:25 pm

I wonder if a lot of people will take notice of this place after Freeborn comes out. We'd be ripped apart by Leno and Letterman most likely lol. At the least, websites like Portal of Evil would have a ball makin fun of The Pack.
Maybe we will even get some positive feedback from the norms. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:57 am

Renorei wrote:
However, I think that my ideas of what a werewolf should be like physically are fairly close to those of the average werewolf fan. The idea that werewolves should conform to the laws of conservation of mass is one that I NEVER heard anywhere, until I came here, and am still completely opposed to. I think werewolves should gain mass, and a lot of it. I can't be certain, but I think the average werewolf fan probably agrees with me.

Im with you on that one.

dnl · Post by **dnl** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 1:55 pm

let just hope that the movie looks really good or the site may ending up being the last of it's kind... But I have faith in Browning. (wow it's been a while since my last post)

Jamie · Post by **Jamie** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:53 pm

I've noticed a lot of attitudes in a lot of people on this forum that are untypical of furries. So, if we are loaded to the top with furries, at least they aren't of the usual stereotype. I think that casual browsers might not even notice them. They might see a few weird topic titles and just think a few weirdos had managed to be polite enough to not get banned. They'd have to read for a bit before they'd really notice typical furry topics scattered all over, and even then, they wouldn't be overwhelmed by such topics.

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:32 pm

Jamie wrote:I've noticed a lot of attitudes in a lot of people on this forum that are untypical of furries.

Excuse me, but just what attitude is a "typical" furry supposed to have?

23Jarden · Post by **23Jarden** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:19 pm

hmm... Is anyone here really normal? Or should I say average?

Jamie · Post by **Jamie** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:44 pm

Set wrote:
Jamie wrote:I've noticed a lot of attitudes in a lot of people on this forum that are untypical of furries.
Excuse me, but just what attitude is a "typical" furry supposed to have?

If this were a typical furry chat board, it would be dominated by other sorts of topics (see The Furtopia Forum as an example).

An example of a typical furry attitude (not one shared by EVERY furry, of course) would be favoring the rainbows-and-bunnies variety of werewolf far more than most people here do. A lot of us like scary werewolves, even though we lean more towards the nice end of the spectrum than most fiction authors and scriptwriters from the last 50 years. Another example of a typical furry attitude would be to be more interested in werecats and werefoxes than werewolves (the top two animals of interest in the furry community are felines and foxes). Once again, there is much variety among furries.

The reason I brought up typical (or stereotypical) furry attitudes is because I think this board would have to visibly and obviously display typical furry attitudes in order to scare away new casual visitors.

Set · Post by **Set** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:09 pm

Jamie wrote:An example of a typical furry attitude (not one shared by EVERY furry, of course) would be favoring the rainbows-and-bunnies variety of werewolf far more than most people here do.

...

The reason I brought up typical (or stereotypical) furry attitudes is because I think this board would have to visibly and obviously display typical furry attitudes in order to scare away new casual visitors.

So you're saying a group of people who seem relatively nice that chat about cute animals is scary? I must be quite a nightmare then.

23Jarden wrote:hmm... Is anyone here really normal?

No.

white · Post by **white** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:14 pm

Normal is what most people want to be; interestingly enough, it's almost certainly not the average, however you calculate it. Another way to look at it is that a normal person is someone who wants to be the "normal" described above. Neither necessarily excludes users of this forum specifically, although I admit that being found on here would significantly lower the probablility of any given person's being normal.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:11 am

When I used the word "SCARY", I meant it in a semi-sarcastic sense.

Some people just don't want to talk with people that are, or they suspect are furries, because of the exagerated things they have heard about them, or because they may have wandered into a "Sunshine and Rainbows" Snuggly, (or on the other side of the spectrum "Yiffy"), conversation before, and had no desire attempting to have a coherant or relevant conversation with such people again.

Also...the idea that many of us wish we really Could become Werewolves is more than a little disturbing to some people.

Honestly...as Cool as that could be, (depending on what kind of werewolf you are talking about), that IS a little creepy. ...wishing to be something that most people consider a "Monster" and all...

Set · Post by **Set** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:20 pm

Vuldari wrote:Honestly...as Cool as that could be, (depending on what kind of werewolf you are talking about), that IS a little creepy. ...wishing to be something that most people consider a "Monsster" and all...

monster, n.
Latin monstrum, that which is shown forth or revealed

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:50 pm

Vilkacis · Post by **Vilkacis** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:13 pm

Vuldari wrote:
Set wrote:
Vuldari wrote:Honestly...as Cool as that could be, (depending on what kind of werewolf you are talking about), that IS a little creepy. ...wishing to be something that most people consider a "Monster" and all...
monster, n.
Latin monstrum, that which is shown forth or revealed
Where did you get that definition from?

My guess would be...

The book, Monsters, by John Michael Greer.

So the question is, where did he get it?

Google tells me that there are actually two latin words it might come from:

'Monstrum' and 'Monstrare.'

The first means 'divine portent' (from 'monere,' to warn). You can even see that one in the dictionary.com quote Vuldari posted (at the bottom).

The second means 'to show' (i.e. demonstrate).

Both are related to 'men-' ('to think') and 'per-' ('to prove').

In any case, I'm pretty sure Set was trying to make a point, not misinterpret anyone.

-- Vilkacis

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:07 pm

Vilkacis wrote:In any case, I'm pretty sure Set was trying to make a point, not misinterpret anyone.

-- Vilkacis

What point?...

...the point that the word "Monster" (or rather the latin word "Monstrum") has a little known OTHER meaning that is NOT what I was saying, or related the the context of the comment at all?

...that point?...

MY point was that, regardless of whether most things considered to be "Monsters" (by the 'legendary Creepy, Scary thing' definition) deserve to be seen as such, or whether or not outsiders would continue to consider Werewolves to be "Monsters" if they took the time to look at the 'Potential' that lies within a creature that can be both Man and Wolf as we have...

...that a great many people (who have no idea that one potetial source of the word "Monster" could be a word that means "to reveal") believe that Werewolves are Awful, Scary things, and would be considerably creeped out to know that some of us Willingly Wish to be one.

That was my point. What was yours again?

...I mean...that's a facinating bit of trivia and all...it really is (I love trivia and pondering the origins of common words and phrases) ...but I don't see how it is relevant to the point I was trying to make.

Set · Post by **Set** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:52 pm

Vilkacis wrote:
Vuldari wrote:
Set wrote:monster, n.
Latin monstrum, that which is shown forth or revealed
Where did you get that definition from?
My guess would be...

The book, Monsters, by John Michael Greer.

Yes. I know nothing about Latin, however, so if it's wrong you can't blame me for that.

Vuldari wrote:
Vilkacis wrote:In any case, I'm pretty sure Set was trying to make a point, not misinterpret anyone.

-- Vilkacis
What point?...

(snip)

That was my point. What was yours again?

Yet another who thinks my statement was about them...are you that vain? My post wasn't meant to be a response to you - it was aimed towards those who would view us as weird for wanting to be a "monster".

Things aren't always what they seem. In fact, they almost never are. So many people tend to forget that.

dnl · Post by **dnl** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:55 pm

First of all the most people really dont know that much about werewolves other than what charstian has sade.If you really want to know about werewolves you cant just go around looking for werewolves. the werewolf name is only used in Europe that why so many people think thats were thay came from.

I want some one to look this up "Anjing Ajak"

here a quistion some what realted to werewolves..what is the name of the wolf god worshiped by the ancient Egyptain world.Also there god of war.

A story from the native america Kawatilikalla if anyons intrested i'll post it later in myth section.

JoshuaMadoc · Post by **JoshuaMadoc** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:59 pm

um... "Anjing Ajak" could mean 2 things: "Inviting Dog" or just "Dog" and "Invite".

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:26 am

Set wrote: it was aimed towards those who would view us as weird for wanting to be a "monster".

Things aren't always what they seem. In fact, they almost never are. So many people tend to forget that.

You wanted to become a werewolf all this time?

Your right when you say thing arent always as they seem.

Set · Post by **Set** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:51 pm

dnl wrote:I want some one to look this up "Anjing Ajak"

Quit being lazy. Do it yourself.

dnl wrote:here a quistion some what realted to werewolves..what is the name of the wolf god worshiped by the ancient Egyptain world.Also there god of war.

The wolf god would be Wepwawet, though according to this he was a jackal. The god, or goddess I should say, of war was the lioness headed Sekhmet. Keep in mind however that there are many deities in the Egyptian pantheon, many of which have similar attributes.

Shadow Wulf wrote:
Set wrote: it was aimed towards those who would view us as weird for wanting to be a "monster".

Things aren't always what they seem. In fact, they almost never are. So many people tend to forget that.
You wanted to become a werewolf all this time? Your right when you say thing arent always as they seem.

I'd much rather be a werewolf than a human. If I had my choice of animals wolf wouldn't be on the top of my list by any means, but it wouldn't be at the bottom either.

Vuldari · Post by **Vuldari** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:08 pm

Set wrote:Yet another who thinks my statement was about them...are you that vain? My post wasn't meant to be a response to you - it was aimed towards those who would view us as weird for wanting to be a "monster".

Things aren't always what they seem. In fact, they almost never are. So many people tend to forget that.

First of all, you are leapfroging the point and purpose of this thread...

...skipping over the question, "do peoples early perceptions of us discourage them from giving our group and our ideas a fair chance?", and moving on to a side question of, "SHOULD they?".

Of course they shouldn't...that's a given.

The question I am trying to present to be considered is Whether or not this is happening (I assume that it is) ... is it a serious problem that is undermining our groups credability or not ... and if so, are there any reasonable actions we could or should take to counter this effect.

...but I don't feel that enough of you are taking this point seriously.

Silly pictures and linguistic ironies are fun and all, but they are really beside the point.

* Do we have an image problem?

* Do we care about how others see us?

* Is there anything we can do about it without sacrificing our ideals?

* Do we want to take the trouble to make our group more inviting to hesitant outsiders?

...at least Renorei, Vilkacis and Scott Gardener have prooven willing to take it into honest consideration...

Renorei · Post by **Renorei** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:42 pm

Vuldari wrote: * Do we have an image problem?

IMO, yes.

Vuldari wrote: * Do we care about how others see us?

This will depend on who you're talking to. Personally, I don't care how others see me for my sake. But, I do care how they see me for Freeborn's sake. If they see me (and other members of the forum) as a scary furry (yeah, I know furries aren't actually scary...but the average person is at least a little freaked out by the notion of furries, especially since their view of furries is based on what they see on CSI and MTV), but join the forum nonetheless and offer their comments and views without regard to ensuring they 'fit in', then I don't care. If that happens, I'm happy. But, if they see me as a scary furry and decide not to join the forum because they're afraid their views have no place here (when they most certainly do), that's when I'm concerned. I think that, if the views of the members of this forum don't accurately represent the views of the average werewolf fan, then I think that's a problem.

Vuldari wrote: * Is there anything we can do about it without sacrificing our ideals?

Nobody on the forum should feel compelled to change their ideals in order to fix this problem. Everyone is entitled to their views and the right to defend them fiercely. But, I do think that we might could attempt to get more of the 'average werewolf fan' type people to join. I think that this might correct the problem. I don't know how we would go about this, but it is one step we could take to make the majority views of this forum more closely reflect the majority views of werewolf fans.

Vuldari wrote: * Do we want to take the trouble to make our group more inviting to hesitant outsiders?

Uh...maybe. One problem (if we went with my above solution) would be figuring out where to look for people like that. Personally, I have no idea where to find them.