Fur-Piled

[LanceDurand]

So I just read the final page they are ever drawing of my favourite webcomic. Fur-Piled, a slice-of-life gay furry comic that had a huge impact on my life. It is one of the three comics that helped me accept and embrace who I am sexually. The comic, and the others, also inspired my own writing as well.

But it is official, the comic has ended.

And so I am crying for the loss of, in my mind, a masterpiece. The comic was incredibly special to me, and it saddens me deeply that I'll no longer be able to follow the story and the lives of the characters within that beautiful world.

But I suppose the tears are more bittersweet. The story will always be alive inside me and I will always hold it dear in my heart. I would not be the person I am, my true self, without the aid of that comic. Without it, I doubt I would have accepted who I am, never would have become a furry, and I would never have found my boyfriend who I love more than words can possibly describe.

I want to thank Leo Magna and Lion Dog Works for running this comic for the 5 years that they did, even though I only found it a year ago. I also want to recommend this comic to anyone (gay, straight, bi or otherwise) who loves a good furry story. This comic helped change my life, and I would love for it to help others.

Goodbye Fur-Piled! Though you will always be a part of my life

http://www.liondogworks.com/fur-piled.html

[Puma_Concolour]

*hugs his fave skunk* i know how much this comic meant to you. but now it gives you the opportunity to find a new one. c'mon lance, get back in the saddle, lets see a smile.

[Wotan]

There will always be new comics coming out that you can eventually connect with.

  I remember how 3/4 of the entire fandom was weeping when Associated Student Bodies ended (though I never much cared for the comic, myself).

  Then a couple of years later, it was Closet Coon (which I thought was a far better storyline).

  Since then, the furry comic genre has only been getting bigger and bigger.  You'll find something else.

[Cobalt Wolf]

there are so many comic's to choose from you'll find one you like just as much if not more soon.

[SilverZen]

When I introduced a friend of mine to the Fandom, I showed her Jay Naylor's Better Days comic. She loved it, and loved the character of Fisk, I think it was one of the things that helped draw her into being comfortable as a Furry. ( http://www.jaynaylor.com/betterdays/ )

It's a shame when a great web comic ends, but sometimes it's for the better. All great things should come to an end, lest they be left unended and in perpetual "hiatus". Looks like I'm gonna be reading a new web comic too. 

[KapitanVonWolf]

It's ok lance, at least you'll get to keep the Memories. And like everyone says, there are a lot of comics out there, I know I have about 20 in my Bookmarks, so when ever you want to read another just shout and I'll send a few.

Also, Betterdays is a Wonderfull Comic! I enjoyed it thoroughly. You might like it to Lance.

[SilverZen]

Okay, so I've read all of Fur-Piled now. Yeah, that was an interestingly sweet ending. I guess it was a good place to stop before becoming too much of a stretch.

[Seamus]

This was the first furry comic i ever read, i fell in love with it.  Before this comic i never questioned my sexuality, it was one of the things that made me really question myself.  I love when writing and other things can make you do that, being 15 when i read it i was very impressionable so it made a bit of an impact on me, since then i've learned not to take such things so close to the heart, but to look at them with a skeptics eye.  It was still very well written in the early days and had a great start; I stopped reading when things started to get a little "out there" and he started going off on these side stories.

[Nameless Red Wolf]

That was a fantastic comic. I really cared for the characters and what they went through. It did have some spelling mistakes, which isn't a big deal.

There are other comics out there, and I'm sure, if you search, you'll find one you really like.

[Kriati]

I really like the art style, a lot better than other comics out there

[Wotan]

I really like the art style, a lot better than other comics out there

...I think what you really mean is that you think it's better than the other comics out there that you've seen so far.

  Quite Frankly, you don't know if it's 'better' than other comics out there until you've seen enough of the others to form a reasonable and fair opinion. 

[Kriati]

That was so obviously implied that your message is just pointless fuel for a forum flame war. By "out there" I mean of course the over saturated internet comic market, not the actual comic books that artist spend years of their life working on to produce a piece of professional looking art.

And for the record, the majority of furry comics out there have shitty artwork, I am sorry but its true and frankly im sick and tired of the fandom just blindly defending every single member who puts something out. There needs to be standards, when I go on FA and search for something I would probably say 90% of the results are absolute garbage artwork, I don't blame the person for trying or contributing and I am not judging them personally but I won't sit back and say its good when its obviously lacking quality. Lack of standards is what makes furries so susceptible to trolling and ridicule in the first place.

I will also say that the vast majority of internet comics have amateur artwork as well, for some it works because the point of the comic is the humor not necessarily the artwork, or the bad artwork is an intentional style that the artist is going for, but really, is it so wrong to recognize and praise quality when you see it. If you can find me a comic with better artwork than furpilled please let me know but as it stands it is one of the best ones I have seen because someone actually put effort and time into it instead of just drawing up a bunch of stick figures or completely ripping off another artists style (probably the most common and irritating fault in a lot of furry artwork).

And I swear to god if I see another sonic the hedgehog style furry comic or piece of art I will punch someone in the face.

Thats all, this isn't an argument, just my opinion on the fandom's vast, over saturated art gallery.

[Wotan]

That was so obviously implied that your message is just pointless fuel for a forum flame war.

To quote Shakespeare: Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

By "out there" I mean of course the over saturated internet comic market, not the actual comic books that artist spend years of their life working on to produce a piece of professional looking art.

And for the record, the majority of furry comics out there have shitty artwork...

 Gee, maybe the 'obvious' implication you believed you were making wasn't quite so obvious after all.  Hence, my point from the previous post stands. Do you know how many furry comics are out there? Do you have any idea whether or not you have indeed seen the 'majority' of them?  Yeah, didn't think so.

I am sorry but its true...

...so you say.

 

and frankly im sick and tired of the fandom just blindly defending every single member who puts something out.

You know what they say about opinions...  Just like the opinion I had about ASB back when it was the most popular thing going in the fandom. I thought the writing on ASB was one-dimensional and laughable, but whenever I expressed that opinion, as well as my further opinion that it was little more than the furry equivalent of a bad seventies porno, where college girls always answer the door naked, and can never pay the pizza delivery guy, I was told that I was incapable of seeing how 'profound' and 'groundbreaking' the series was.  Uhm, yeah.

There needs to be standards,

Whose standards? Your standards? You know, you already have the means to enforce those. Everyone does! It's called 'voting with your wallet'.

when I go on FA and search for something I would probably say 90% of the results are absolute garbage artwork, I don't blame the person for trying or contributing and I am not judging them personally

o/~ Isn't it ironic... Don't you think? o/~

 

but I won't sit back and say its good when its obviously lacking quality. Lack of standards is what makes furries so susceptible to trolling and ridicule in the first place.

No, what makes furries so susceptible to trolling and ridicule is the way they act and conduct themselves, and how so many of them take themselves and their opinions so bloody seriously.  Bad art (and bad writing) isn't a uniquely 'furry' phenomenon.  What *IS* uniquely furry, however, is that the fandom enables and panders to behaviour patterns that would make even the most hard-core emo kids and Twi-Tards blush.

[Kriati]

I'm not going to sit here and have a flame war with you because you obviously have a tendency to miss the point of my messages and seem to want to go out of your way to start an argument with me. I am not criticizing anyone on this site or furries in general but the fact is that I am not the only furry who thinks this way, and really my opinions aren't anything new, I became a furry because I enjoy the artwork and I want to improve my own artwork and incorporate a furry theme into it, I know I suck but atleast I am trying to better myself and I am willing to accept criticism and its very difficult in a fandom where 99% of what you find in the galleries is diaper porn or furries with giant over-sized cocks. Its not a opinion that the art galleries are over saturated with completely low grade pornographic trash because any simple search on FA, DA or really any furry website that isn't specifically clean art only will yield those results (yes even with adult artwork turned off). When i say standards, I mean don't have 1000 pictures of cubs being raped posted all of the art gallery.

Again, I am not insulting anyone in particular or anyone on this site, if you want to draw hardcore porn then thats fine I honestly don't care but I just wish there was a place I could go where it wasn't ALL I SAW

And I know this is probably going to just start this whole thing up again but seriously, to respond to your arguments in a numbered list,

1. Copy + Pasting your point again makes it stand how? You need reasons why

2. How bout some facts or points to show how its not true rather than just a 3 word response

3. What does that have to do with anything?

4. Again, standards meaning don't have splooge covering half the gallery, and again these aren't my standards because I am not the only person to believe in this.

5. I don't claim to be a good artist, I practice and try and accept criticism when I can, which is more than I can say about a lot of furries who flip their shit at the slightest negative feedback towards their art.

6. Umm your agreeing with me...

[blue-vulpine]

Hey! Who likes puppies? I know I do! Just look at them! SOOO CUTE! OMFG, Seriously everyone, look at these damn puppies!

-Tj

[Disel]

they are so cute.  *scratch's puppies head*   

[Puma_Concolour]

ooohhhh puppies :3 too cute...

[KapitanVonWolf]

Puppies!!!

[Lady Serpent]

Thank you, TJ.


If Kriati's original opinion might have been unclear in Wotan's view, it should be cleared up at this point with Kriati's explanation and the two further posts.  I believe you've both made your stances clear.

Healthy debate is fine, but I know it can get carried too far if we start bringing disrespect into it.  Let's just be aware of each other's emotions and perceptions of what might be construed as a personal insult.  There's a fine line between an obvious insult, and what might be taken as offensive by someone.  We all have different levels of what we find offensive, and we need to respect that fact and not cross those lines on purpose, even if one person's idea of what might be offensive is different than another's.

Just keep it respectful. If we want to discuss furry art standards, we should be able to do so without making it a battle of opinions.

--------------------

I do believe the debate has sparked some interesting insight, though.

Personally, I find the same thing on sites like FurAffinity; there's a lot of porn, and a lot of badly drawn artwork, in my opinion.  Of course, people are always going to draw poorly when they start out, and I think there's a point where it's good that so many people are able to have a forum to express themselves artistically.  Art can be a very healthy outlet of expression.  However, I also know there are a lot of mediocre artists who have been drawing for a long time who believe their artwork to be beyond critique, and do get offended when you offer suggestions, or challenge their opinion that their art is quite amazing.

Of course, it comes down to respect, again.  Good, useful critique is not bashing, it's offering feedback on both the good and bad elements of their art.  Some people can't handle any negative feedback or constructive criticism, and that's where I find a lot of the problem is.  Challenge some people's artwork and they take it as a challenge of their own self-worth, so they defend it vehemently.  I call it (with some contempt) an artistic ego, and it's something I personally strive never to have.  We can ALWAYS do better.  I personally try to keep a very low view of my own abilities because yes, I can draw and paint OK, and I'm not self-hating to the point where I think everything I draw is terrible, but I know absolutely that I can, and should, strive to do better because surely there are always things that can be improved upon.  People unable to do this, and who think they're the next big thing, are very difficult to respect artistically because yea, they may be producing some neat art, but they're also at a stage where they're immune to suggestions for improvement (or even the idea that they should be improving) from other people.  If you take some amazing artists who seem like they're already on top of their game (like Balaa: http://balaa.deviantart.com/ ), or ones that are doing some great work like Choedan-Kal (http://choedan-kal.deviantart.com/), who maintain a beautiful perspective on their art and are always modest and don't let popularity get to their heads, they're that much more respectable for it.

However, there are others (and surely I won't name individual names) who have some neat art, but because they've built up an ego to match, it can be a lot harder to enjoy their work for what it is, and respect them for being an artist.  If you say 'Wow, that's really good!' and they say 'Yea, I know', or assume 'Of course it is', it's very difficult to continue to take them seriously.

Anyways, that's more of a side note, but your conversation brought up that opinion on artistic egos and some of the problem that arise when people believe themselves to be above critique.

Keep it respectful;
-Lady Serpent

[JazzyLament]

*blinks*

Whaaaaaat?
When did this happen...?

Huh. Well uh. Huh...
How about that then?

I think it was shown to me sometime ago and I was like "ehhh... this looks way too cheesy for my taste" but you know. Boredom happens and i ended up reading it all. That is, up until all that was already drawn. I liked the art style, I really did but, in my opinion that doesn't really factor into whether I read the entire webcomic through the end (I did follow Concession since #100 after all...). I think the neat thing about it was that there were a lot of story arcs, and you really got a satisfying conclusion out of all of them. It's simply a textbook case of very good storytelling, something a lot of webcomics don't really have. They were short and sweet and contributed to the bigger picture, and at the end of the day, that's what a good series of comics should do.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I'd actually be willing to pay the asking price to buy the book if one is released. And it should. It's one of the better written comics out there, containing substance and entertainment, but also the expression of a message. Like I said, it's simply an excellent example of superb storytelling.