Context: This is a science-fantasy world with intelligent animals. I like to call it "communist non-anthro Zootopia." Their governments are mostly divided by taxon, so you have the Feline Government, Rodent Government, Vulpine Government, Avian Government, etc. Even though specific taxa control different territories, like Feline Territory, Rodent Territory, etc, all taxa that have signed the peace treaty between predator and prey (an ideology called Unitism) can freely live in each other's territories, where they're still represented by their taxonomic government.

*Catnip is a really common recreational drug among Felines, and it is legal and regulated. A bottle of catnip oil (the most common form of the drug) would have a label like this:

WARNING: PRODUCT CONTAINS NEPETALACTONE (Catnip). HIGH CONCENTRATION: 60% nepetalactone by mass, sourced from cultivated herbs. Causes dissociation, euphoria, transient cognitive impairment in Felines. Do not use if underage, pregnant, nursing kittens, or with other psychoactive substances. It is illegal for Felines to operate hovercraft or other heavy machinery within three hours of consuming any catnip product. Consult a physician immediately if psychoactive effects last longer than one hour after discontinuation of usage, or if other side effects are experienced such as nausea and vomiting, convulsions, seizure, psychosis, or loss of consciousness. Regulated and licensed by the Feline Ministry of Health. Product license number: 100827615. For more information, visit health.feline.gov/catnip

If you go to the link listed on the label, you'll get the following article:

Everything you need to know about Catnip, Silvervine, and Nepetalactone

Nepetalactone, the active chemical in the herbs Catnip and Silvervine, is the most common psychoactive drug among Felines, with a history that predates our evolution of sapience and long before recorded Feline history. The scent of Nepetalactone causes pleasurable dissociative effects in all Feline species, and is routinely used recreationally.

In colloquial language, the term "catnip" is broadly used to refer to any Nepetalactone product, including silvervine and synthetic Nepetalactone, but this article will refer to these substances separately.

Where does Nepetalactone come from?

There are three major sources of Nepetalactone: Wild herbs, cultivated herbs, and synthetic, all of which are regulated by the Feline Ministry of Health.

The pastime of sniffing out wild catnip and silvervine growing in the forest is theorized to be as old as the Feline taxon itself, and continues to this day. Occasionally, a cat who finds and rolls around in a wild catnip or silvervine patch will get seeds stuck to their pelt, and plays a role in propagating the species when the seeds fall off far away from the plant as the cat travels. Wild herbs are the mildest source of Nepetalactone, producing only a short high of moderate intensity. However, they are also the safest source, with the lowest risk of side effects, long term health complications, or overdose. Wild Nepetalactone herbs can be found throughout Feline Territory and the rest of the the world. In Feline Territory specifically, the propagation of catnip and silvervine was done mostly inadvertently by Felines consuming them recreationally, and genetic lineage analysis of these herbs have been used to track the migration of Feline populations and crosscheck our earliest written history.

As technology advanced, Felines began to cultivate catnip and silvervine, intentionally planting them where they live and selectively breeding them for Nepetalactone production and psychoactive effects. The boundary between wild and cultivated herbs are not well defined, as gene transfer regularly occurs between them, but in general, cultivated herbs produce a much higher concentration of Nepetalactone, as well as other chemicals that enhance or modify the psychoactive feeling they give. Catnip and silvervine seeds of many different lineages are sold commercially, each with slightly different psychoactive effects, and cultivation efforts range from a few plants in a garden or as potted plants in a den, to large scale vertical farms that grow herbs for industrial Nepetalactone oil production.

In the last decade, after the Feline Revolution and subsequent legalization of Nepetalactone, direct synthesis of the chemical from basic elements have been rising in popularity. As is the development of synthetic Neperalactoids, which are modifications to the natural chemical structure to produce artificial psychoactive compounds not found in nature. These sources of Nepetalactone and its artificial analogues have the highest risk compared to herbal sources (though the overall risk is still fairly low). They are typically the most concentrated products on the market, with many being nearly pure Nepetalactone, and not diluted by any of the side products typically found in herbal oils that can serve to balance or moderate the psychoactive effects. Additionally, artificial Nepetalactoids can interact with the body in unexpected ways and may cause serious health effects, especially if used long term. Or they might not have very significant health effects at all. These newly developed chemicals, by definition, have limited or nonexistant animal testing data, so a cat that consumes these products is implicitly participating in their long term health and safety testing. This is a risk that an adult cat has the right to choose to take, but the risks of damage to one's health must be carefully considered and kept in mind.

Mechanism of Action

Nepetalactone targets a Feline's pheromone receptors, organs typically used for scent communication between animals. The vast majority of animals produce pheromones, which are a combination of volatile organic chemicals unique to the individual animal. In terrestrial ecosystems, these chemicals evaporate from the animal's body and are left behind when the animal makes contact with a surface, and are used to identify the animal. Pheramones give important information about who is nearby and who has been here in the past. Nepetalactone binds much more strongly to these pheromone receptors than natural pheromones, temporarily disabling regulatory mechanisms and feedback loops, which causes a massive overproduction of neurotransmitters that overstimulate the brain, which causes the characteristic "high" that it is known for. These effects last for as long as the Nepetalactone exposure persists, though the pheromone receptors will eventually run out of precursor chemicals for synthesizing neurotransmitters, at which point the psychoactive effects will subside while the receptors recover.

Even after discontinuing exposure to Nepetalactone, the psychoactive effects may last for up to an hour, as it takes some time for the existing Nepetalactone molecules to unbind from the receptors, and for the brain to clear the flood of neurotransmitters.

History of Nepetalactone legality in Feline Territory

For the vast majority of Feline history, Nepetalactone was completely unregulated by the law. It was an important cultural element, used during social gatherings, cultural ceremonies, and even some religious rituals.

It was only during the age of the Feline Empire that Nepetalactone was outlawed. During this time, cultivation, distribution, and use of the substance in any form, even naturally growing plants in the wild, was criminalized with mandatory prison time. Even so, Nepetalactone use continued to be very common in Feline Territory. This was also the time when the empire enforced hunting and predation as a way of life despite the vast majority of Felines having become heavily anti-predation, and all plant based alternative foods were banned. As such, Nepetalactone was frequently sold by the same underground networks that sold plant based foods, leading to Nepetalactone becoming one of the symbols of the Feline Revolution and the Unitist (anti-predation) movement in Feline Territory.

After the Feline Revolution, Nepetalactone was legalized by the newly formed Feline Democratic Republic, and has been regulated by the Feline Ministry of Health as a Class 1 (the lowest risk category) recreational drug ever since. Currently, the only legislation restricting Nepetalactone is a prohibition on sale of the substance to kittens, and a prohibition on operating heavy machinery or performing any safety critical task while under the influence of the substance.

There is no recorded evidence that other taxonomic territories and taxonomic governments have ever prohibited Nepetalactone, as it only causes psychoactive effects in Felines. Nepetalactone is regularly produced and sold in other territories, and we work closely with other Unitist ministries of health to ensure the safety of these products.

Can Nepetalactone cause loss of instinct control?

There is a myth that Nepetalactone can cause Felines to "revert" to our natural instincts and pose a danger to nearby small animals. This is not true, or at least, extremely unlikely to the point where we have never encountered a confirmed case of this occurring. Numerous studies have been done on the Feline brain under the influence of Nepetalactone, including live brain scans of Felines while using the substance, and there has never been evidence that the cat's mind if at any risk of losing its conscious faculties.

Any Feline who has used Nepetalactone can also subjectively attest to this: While it can reduce your reaction time or make you forgetful, you are still in full control of your faculties. Additionally, Nepetalactone makes Felines less likely to want to engage in physical exertion, as while it is a stimulant at the neuron level, it overloads the brain and makes it less able to respond to external stimulus. A Feline under the influence of Nepetalactone is much more likely to idly stare at a mouse than try to chase them.

Finally, many Felines live in Rodent and Avian Territories, and Nepetalactone is sold there, regulated by their ministries of health. We consult with their ministries regularly and freely share medical data, and there has never been a concern raised about Felines under the influence of Nepetalactone being a hazard.

Nepetalactone-induced psychosis

At extremely high doses, particularly when consuming synthetic Nepetalactone, hallucinations of various forms may manifest, ranging from a blooming haze at the edges of one's vision, to flashes of colour or bright dots racing across one's field of view, to lifelike visual and auditory artifacts that are difficult to distinguish from reality. This is called Nepetalactone-induced psychosis, or NIP.

This is generally considered a negative side effect, and lifelike hallucinations are one of the symptoms of Nepetalactone overdose. However, some Felines, namely heavy Nepetalactone users, actively seek the psychedelic effects that Nepetalactone can cause, inducing what is often described as a lucid dream state, where one can mentally control the artifacts they see and hear. In most such cases, the Feline is in a state of partial sedation, and is generally not able to move or interact with the real world, though vital bodily functions like breathing and heartbeat are not affected. NIP typically resolves by itself once the pheromone receptors become saturated and stop responding to the Nepetalactone.

If NIP is encountered and is not desired, discontinuing exposure to Nepetalactone will quickly dissipate any visual and auditory artifacts. Physically moving oneself away from the source of Nepetalactone to a place with fresh air is recommended to help the effects subside more rapidly.

If you encounter a Feline under the influence of Nepetalactone and is non-responsive, remove the source of Nepetalactone and/or move them to fresh air. If they do not regain consciousness within a few minutes of the end of exposure, call emergency services.

Health and safety

The long term physical health effects of herbal Nepetalactone is generally low, even for heavy or frequent use. However, synthetic Nepetalactone, particularly Nepetalactoids not found in nature, have limited long term health data, and caution is strongly advised when using these products.

While Nepetalactone is generally considered low risk, the following conditions have been known to occur:

• Nepetalactone-induced psychosis: see the previous section.

• Scent blindness: Because Nepetalactone activates pheromone receptors much more strongly than natural pheromones, long term use can reduce the sensitivity of these receptors, making it difficult to detect pheromones and generally resulting in a reduced sense of smell.

• Nepetalactone withdrawal syndrome: If a Feline who chronically uses high doses of Nepetalactone suddenly discontinues usage, there can be mild withdrawal symptoms, such as depression, boredom, loss of interest in daily activities, and a strong urge to continue using Nepetalactone. These effects usually subside after a few days of abstaining from Nepetalactone.

However, by far the biggest health and safety risk associated with Nepetalactone is when Felines operate heavy machinery like hovercrafts, or engage in other safety critical tasks that require their full attention, while under its influence. Nepetalactone reduces reaction time and short term memory, and makes one more easily distracted. This can endanger or kill other animals as well as the user themselves, and is explicitly illegal. Always wait a minimum of three hours after using Nepetalactone before doing anything safety critical.

Should I use (or keep using) Nepetalactone?

A Feline's relationship with Nepetalactone is critical, and it is generally unhealthy to use it as a coping mechanism. If you find yourself using Nepetalactone habitually, try to discern why. Boredom is the most commonly stated reason for Nepetalactone use, but a more healthy way to deal with that is to find productive activities that are personally fulfulling to you, not try to eliminate the feeling of boredom with psychoactive substances. Additionally, it is not recommended to self-medicate with Nepetalactone to treat conditions like depression or anxiety. A doctor may prescribe Nepetalactone for some mental health conditions, but such substances can also make the condition worse, and the decision to use it to treat mental health issues must be in consultation with a professional for the best chance of success.

This is a complex issue and heavily depends on the individual. If you require advice on your relationship with Nepetalactone, or you need help breaking a Nepetalactone habit, the Feline Ministry of Health offers counselling and treatment as part of its universal healthcare plan.

Context: This is a science-fantasy world with intelligent non-anthro animals living in harmony. Think Zootopia but with regular animal shaped animals that are also quite a bit more technologically advanced. One of their main forms of transportation is the hovercraft; which is used both for local urban transportation, hopping from point to point within their lush forest cities; as well as long haul and intercity transport. These hovercrafts employ a high degree of automation, and air traffic control is generally done not with radio calls back and fourth between the pilot and controller like in our aviation network, but by having the hovercraft connect directly to a dispatch server to receive instructions, which are then displayed to the pilot. This makes the aviation network more efficient as a central air traffic control node can precisely coordinate hovercraft movements to make the most use out of the infrastructure. However, due to their reliance on the computerized system, a security vulnerability in said system would be disastrous.

The following is an article from the Feline Ministry of Security, detailing a recently patched 0-day vulnerability found in an air traffic control protocol used the Feline hovercraft network. Imagine a bunch of developers who are literal cats scrambling to fix this issue the instant it was discovered before someone hacks their hovercraft network and starts remotely taking control of their hovercrafts to crash into trees that have buildings in them, crash into flocks of birds, and other woodland creature acts of terrorism.

CVE109-10028FL: DispatchToElsewhere, a memory corruption vulnerability in FDTMS resulting in remote code execution on Feline Ministry of Transportation hovercrafts

This article pertains to the public disclosure of a now patched security vulnerability in the aircraft-side implementation of Flight Dispatch and Traffic Management System (FDTMS) developed by the Feline Ministry of Transportation (FMT). This vulnerability affected all hovercrafts operated by the Feline Ministry of Transportation, and resulted in arbitrary code execution in the primary flight computers of FMT hovercrafts.

The Flight Dispatch and Traffic Management System is an air traffic control protocol that allows advanced coordination of hovercraft operations within Feline Territory. The codebase for the system is extensive, but for this article, we will only focus on the problem component: the buildDispatchTable function which is responsible for parsing a digital flight plan into a table of procedures that the onboard computer will follow during the flight.

When a flight plan is transmitted to the hovercraft, buildDispatchTable is invoked. As its name suggests, it parses the flight plan data to construct an Dispatch Table in the onboard computer's memory, which contains navigation information that is to be followed during the flight. A typical dispatch table is shown below for a flight between Moonpeak Airport (MPK) in Feline Territory to Central Valley Airport (CVY) in the Unified Territories. The fact that this fight crosses a territorial boundary is relevant to the vulnerability.

As shown in the table, when the hovercraft crosses an internal boundary within a given territory, a RegionChange entry is used. However, when the hovercraft crosses a territorial region, which also necessitates a region change, the standard prescribes that only the TerritoryChange entry is needed, and the region name included within it. However, it is also possible to omit the region name in the TerritoryChange entry, and separately issue a RegionChange.

The buildDispatchTable function did not take into account the possibility of a region change being separately supplied in the case of a territory change in the way it calculated the table size and therefore how much memory to allocate for the construction of the table. Therefore, a malicious dispatch message could be crafted to overflow the table and inject machine code into memory. An outside actor spoofing radio signals on government frequencies can send a malicious dispatch message to any hovercraft in range, and because the dispatch table is constructed before the cryptographic keys of the dispatch message is checked, remote code execution can be achieved by anyone, as the exploit is accessible before the authenticity of the message is verified. A pilot would only see a "Dispatch rejected due to key error" message, at which point the exploit has already gone through. Additionally, the onboard computer will simply discard the malicious dispatch table and reload the previous valid dispatch table upon failing to verify its authenticity, effectively deleting evidence of the exploit's entry point.

The implications of this vulnerability is severe, as an attacker can gain remote control of the hovercraft and its flight control systems, and can issue malicious commands with fatal results. Moreover, the possibility of a Feline hovercraft being used to commit acts of terrorism in another territory significantly raises the urgency of this issue.

Exploit proof of concept

The Feline Ministry of Security is not aware of any live attacks using this vulnerability. However, we have verified that the following proof of concept could result in remote code execution. By hiding the payload in a malformed ATC server URL, we were able to send machine code to all the Feline hovercrafts we tested, running WhiskerOS versions 1.0 to 3.3 (the latest version) and FDTMS Client 5.1 or lower.

Due to its need to directly interface with the hovercraft's engines and flight controls protected by WhiskerOS Secure Mode, FDTMS executes in a privileged context, meaning any code execution in the software is able to bypass Secure Mode sandboxing and take direct control of the hardware. There is no way to secure the flight control computer once it has received a malicious dispatch message outside of turning it off and back on, which obviously cannot be done in flight. If the malicious payload includes a way to persist on the local storage device, the flight computer would need to be removed from the aircraft and have the entire system wiped and reinstalled in order to restore secure operation.

Response

All hovercrafts operated by the Feline Ministry of Transportation was grounded until their flight computer software was updated to fix the vulnerability. Hovercrafts already in flight were ordered to land immediately on the nearest available pad. The vulnerability has now been patched for the entire FMT fleet.

Root Cause Analysis:

The following issues were identified as contributors to the existence of this vulnerability:

1. Attempting to parse received data before checking cryptographic keys. In the future, no operations on received data should be performed before its origin and integrity are verified.

2. Failing silently on a malformed dispatch message. If a hovercraft receives an invalid dispatch message, it should not automatically revert to the last valid state and report as ready for dispatch. Pilot and/or ATC intervention should be required to clear the error and the hovercraft should be inhibited from dispatch until such an action is taken. This would give aviation staff a chance to detect the attack before the hovercraft takes off.

3. The dispatch message parser being more tolerant of malformed dispatch tables than necessary. If the standard prescribes that a region change and territory change should be a single entry, the parser should not accept separate entries.

4. Executing more code in a privileged context than necessary, bypassing WhiskerOS Secure Mode. Only the modules that require system/hardware access should be given such privileges, not the entire FDTMS software suite. For example, the dispatch message parser does not need to be privileged.

Are there people in your world that just don't get it, and keep spouting opinions that make no sense given the context of your world or would be disastrous if actually implemented? What are some of the most common bad takes in your world and what makes them so bad?

This is a short story I made inspired in a drawing I remade recently (which I'm publishing here soon or later) of my fursona and his boyfriend.

It is my first "boy love" story (and my second one published on social media), so if you want some cozy romance give it a shot!

I hope you enjoy this reading.

PS: this was written originally in Spanish, then translated to English, any translation suggestion is welcomed!

Most fursonas do wear clothes. But putting aside the aesthetics factor and focusing more on the practicality-- would a furry anthro in an anthro society wear clothes?

Focusing solely on mammalian anthros with fur. Well, they have fur, so temperature regulation and the elements aren't really reasons to wear clothes given that they have natural, furry clothes already. Wearing clothes on top of that might be too warm, especially in the summer.

The thing I'm wondering is, would anthros figure out to make clothings themselves? And if they do, how would they look? Having their body completely covered in fur might make shirts and pants irrelevant, which means they might never develop them in the first place. I suppose other articles of clothings like armbands, headbands, etc would still exist, and so would practical items like glasses or watches.

Of course, clothing serves more purpose than just covering bare skins. They serve aesthetic purposes and shows our identity. For example, police anthros might wear some sort of stuff to distinguish themselves. And much like humans, anthros would probably have a culture around clothing, but how their clothing would look and how much it'll cover is the question.

Would most anthros only wear head and armbands? Maybe just something to cover their bottoms and nothing else? Or would they wear clothes similar to us?

Furthermore, different animals have different fur with different thickness, length, shapes, forms, etc. These different furs require different clothing. Anthros with thicker fur may wear less clothing than ones with thinner fur. Even more, different anthros will have different body shape and size. Clothing for rabbit sonas may not fit bear sonas.

Anthros might have different size standards for different species to account their differences. Imagine how hard it'd be to manufacture all the different variations, though. Any clothes store would have to take into account multiple species and multiple sizes for that species.

Well, I think that's interesting to think about.

When it comes to anthropomorphic animals, designs tend to go in one of these directions:

• Embrace animal design and differences in anatomy
• Mostly human design with animal aesthetic

What I'm trying to envision is a world where furries evolved closer to the human design, but not completely.

What I would like to discuss is, how do you think bats would have developed, particularly their wings?

The "easiest" implementation is give them back wings. But that doesn't make sense evolutionarily. Bat wings are formed from their arms and "hands". Having an extra set of limbs emerge that replicates their "arm wings" they lost seems unlikely.

Ok, so how about leaving the wings on their arms? Sure. But now I want to toss another problem in this world. Hands gave us the ability to manipulate our environment and make tools. I feel that would have been a necessary step towards human-like intelligence.

Let's say their phalanges shrunk to be more finger like. This along with being human-sized should make their wings useless, right? Even if they kept long phalanges like they do now, would they still be able to have true flight?

If I assume the ability to fly is highly diminished, then the conclusion I'm making is that bats would prefer to maximize the ability to use their hands. In this world, bats would surgically remove the wing skin between their fingers to give them proper hands. Some may even remove all of it (and some fringe would keep it) allowing their arms to fit in standard clothing.

So, what do you think? Does this design make sense for this type of world? How would you design a bat?

Of course it'd be pretty horrific to see a stuffed deer head mounted on the wall -- amongst a group of anthro deer especially, but amongst ANY anthro character too, I'd imagine.

But of course it all depends. Whenever we consider such things in an anthro universe, it inevitably comes back to this question of which creatures are "people" and which ones are "actually" animals. Feral versus anthro, I suppose.

My favorite example of this is: consider how the wildebeest in The Lion King aren't people -- they are just a mindless herd of animals into which Mufasa falls and then he's stampeded to death.

I don't really have a point here. I just wanted to share a thought that I had while writing my story, which is a setting where birds and fish are NOT anthro, and that's why it's "okay" for the seafood restaurant to have a giant swordfish mounted on the wall.

Felt this fit here since my settings are all quite furry

Skyshard has been my long term pet project since the start of early 2020. It's a universe to tell stories in, inspired by the media and stories I loved growing up. I'm proud to share it with folks here.

On my stories page in the link above, you can find my currently available lore docs and the short stories I've written to help expand the universe and flesh it out. Still working on my next work, just got a little hectic with my work schedule, but it's coming!!

When it comes to designing a fursona, most people focus on appearances, which makes sense. But, as with any character design, fursonas can have a surprisingly deep world behind them. Afterall, your fursona has to live in a world somewhere and their life would tell a story. But how was their story?

A story does not have to be written. A picture can tell a thousand words, after all. If you have made or commisioned multiple arts of your fursona, how did each of them relate? Were all the arts of your sona related to each other? Did they overall tell a continous story?

Your fursona may have a well-developed story overall, just a simple backstory, or not at all. That's fine, but even then, there are still a lot more things to consider with the world your fursona live in. The world your fursona live in should theoretically have a rule; some elements of worldbuilding.

And every fursona have a different world behind them: some people make every species in their sona's universe match the size of their wild counterpart, meaning that bear anthros are much larger there than rabbit anthros, while others make every species much more similar. So while a rabbit is smaller than a bear, the difference isn't as big (perhaps the size differences are closer to human vs another human, instead of irl bear vs rabbit). Another element is smell: some give their sona, especially dog fursonas, better sense of smell, while others never mention about this detail.

So what about your fursona? What other notable worldbuilding details did you put in your fursona's world?

For me at least, my raccoon fursona doesn't really have a rich backstory or a story in general. She is a transgender raccoon girl who is socially awkward, always curious but also anxious. She is mostly left alone by everyone around her as nobody understands her and she doesn't understand anyone.

Aside from that, she also lives in a wold where everyone is plantigrade. There are no digitigrade anthros even for digitigrade species like dogs, mainly out of preferences and a lack of drawing skill. Everyone also has similar sizes. While bears are bigger than rabbits, the differences aren't significant.

One interesting thing is that regular, feral animals are also present in my sona's universe. They are indistinguishable from real life animals and mostly coexist with anthros. Anthros and ferals are completely different species, even if they're based on the same species.

Overall, I think my worldbuilding looks generically similar to your average anthro universe worldbuilding. What do you think?

This is a follow-up of my previous post.

I've also had a few more question about tail furgonomics. Where would the tail go when sleeping or sitting?

I suppose chairs could be built with holes in them for tails to go through, but that would bring a problem especially for animals with larger and thicker tail. When sitting on a bus, for example, animals with larger tail might have their tail be in the way of someone behind them. Or if a chair were located close to a wall, there might not be enough space for larger tails to go through.

And when sleeping, would animals with thicker tail struggle to lay in their bed? Since their tail would get in their way, would they be forced to lay on their side? Would sleeping in a position where your tail is crushed under your body painful?

And what other problems would having a tail bring? It seemed like having a tail as an anthro animal could be a hassle.

But let's be honest, we view everything about anthro worldbuilding within the lens of a human, because obviously. But an actual anthro society would probably have figured out how to deal and manage with their tail problems the same way we did with our human problems. Their society might not even look like ours, so many problems they would've faced in our human society, whether caused by their tail or not, wouldn't apply. They would probably design their society around the fact that they have tails.

Though a bit of a struggle, we can find products for humans of all shapes and sizes. Shirts, pants, clothings are available of all sizes, even if some sizes are harder to find; left handed scissors exist; and more. So it would be possible for anthros to deal with the hassle of tails. But, it would still be a struggle, just like how much it is a struggle for us to buy shirts with unusual sizing.

But the last two paragraph might not always apply. I am interested in writing a story about a child who suddenly turned into an anthro while others still remain human, so they didn't have the luxury of anthro-animal-centric societies catering them. Since they were the only anthro, they would have trouble fitting in many ways due to their different, furry body. They had to figure out how to deal with their tail, fur, etc in a society not built for anthro.

With that I wondered, what other struggles would they have? What could potentially be a source of struggle or conflict for an anthro in a society of humans-- aside from discrimination, which would be the main focus of my story. And for more fun, what other adaptations or differences would a society of anthros have over human ones?

I'm interested in writing anthro stories, however, one problem I often worry is how I can imply that my character is anthro.

I can state the species of the character I'm writing, but I'm afraid that the reader will think the character is an actual animal instead of an anthrophomorphic one.

If I mention that the character is a dog, for example, the reader may think that they're an actual dog instead of an anthro one. While I can explicitly mention that the character is an anthro, whether at the beginning of the story or inside it, that does feel a little clunky. Writing "as the anthro dog walked around" feels forced.

I guess I can use descriptions to imply the character walks upright or is anthrophomorphic in some way, but that might cause exposition dump, and if I spread the description over the course of the story, it may cause the reader to lose context for too long. After all, it'd be bad if the reader doesn't realize the character is anthro until halfway through the story.

So, how should I approach this?

I hope it's OK if I use this space for a little bit of self-promotion. I'm self-publishing my debut novel and I'm just about finished with the plot summary blurb for the back cover. Take a look!

If everything goes According To Plan then the book will be available (ebook and paperback) in December!

THE WOLFSKULL STANDARD

By the abyss! Swashbuckling adventure, slice-of-life drama and furry tails come together in Charlotte Koch’s debut novel.

Fenicia, the veteran golden retriever piratess, aims to become First Mate of the infamous band of buccaneers and their ship, Starry Vine. But when the unexpected loss of the Captain thrusts her into becoming Captain herself, she must quickly adjust to her new position while staving off the mutinous calls of Nimbus — a newcomer ram, and the former Captain’s own nephew.

Nimbus' promises of wealth and glory are hard to ignore: his knowledge of the outside world and his connections to the wealthiest businessbeasts of Port Sokuit could help Starry Vine in their time of greatest need. All Fenicia has to do is abdicate the helm…

Set in Azuaveria, an archipelago situated in the eye of a giant, endless hurricane, The Wolfskull Standard will take you on a voyage through uncharted territory in the realm of anthropomorphic fiction.

In a world full of anthrophomorphic animals, furries if you will, most species would have an additional appendages to humans: a tail. These tails can probably be used for ergonomics.

I was inspired to make this post when I remembered a picture of an otter with a tail bag- a bag attached to his tail- from reddit long ago.

I was thinking that many anthros would probably do the same thing or find other uses with their tail. Maybe they can use their tail to control stuff or operate vehicles, to show their emotions, or even as a third hand. But if their world was built around these uses for tails, how would they accomodate for different shapes of tails and species that lack one? Some tails are more flexible, others larger, others thin and small, and others are so small they barely exist (like the tail of a bear).

Their tails would also be used for aesthetic purposes. They would probably decorate them with items similar to how humans decorate their hair with hairpins and the like. Some may even wear covering for their tail. But with every species having different tail shapes, this would mean some tail garment may have to be tailored to specific species, especially tail covering.

So, would it cause jealousy when one species wanted to wear a tail covering that's only available to another species? Maybe Otis the Otter wanted to wear that beautiful tail covering, but it's only made for cats and his tail is too thick to fit. Also, some animals lack tail, so they won't be able to decorate their nonexistent tail at all. Some bears are probably jealous that their tail is too short to decorate with anything.

And finally, tail modification. Would some anthros snip their tail similar to how we do with cats? Would their people consider it body mutilation or just regular body modification like having a tattoo? Would it be treated as tradition, where in some cultures, some species (or even some gender of the species) have to cut their tail? How about tails that are too thick to snip without causing damage, like the tail of an otter?

There's a lot of possibilities on what having a tail can entail, so there is a lot of questions. Do you have anything more to add?

For your consideration, here's a novel I wrote a year ago. I'm almost done with the sequel. This book features a dragon TF and a few other TFs.

Dragons Deep delivers a chaotic ride filled with romance and transformation. In a reality-shattered urban fantasy world, the barista James has a personal secret as to why he is alone. He tries to maintain his sanity while navigating a world littered with pocket dimensions filled with satyrs, werewolves, fairies, and other magical beings. One day a powerful sorcerer/bartender gives James the love lock ring, a magical artifact to attract true love. Only three different suitors appear— a rich lion daddy, a sloppy bear, and a literal knight in shining armor. Who will get the reserved James to crack? Can he overcome his secret to find true love? And what does this all have to do with his lifelong obsession with dragons?