I has a question, redux!

[summer_jackel]

Oh, alright.

This version is screened. But use the other version unless you really want to use this one. ;)

Ask me a question. Any question. And I have to answer honestly.

EDIT: questions and comments will not stay screened unless you ask me to screen them or I decide to keep the answer private.

Comments

[ben-mouse.livejournal.com]

Do you consider yourself a "Furry?" If so, why, and if not, why not?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I've got no problem considering myself a furry. I draw anthropomorphic artwork, I go to furry cons, I have lots of furry friends and I've been part of the community since I was a teenager.

[a-rowan-dryad.livejournal.com]

What is it about being a furry that you like so much?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

That's a good question! And you know, It isn't a simple one to answer.

I'll start with the serious stuff...The intersection between human, animal, myth, psychology and spirituality is one of the things that interests me the most in my life path. I have a lot moving there and always have. When I was a very young child, the distinction between animal and human was very blurry. I was never comfortable with people, never wanted to draw them or play with human-aspect dolls or toys, didn't like people. So there's something interesting there that I was born with, and it's gotten more complex but that's pretty much still the truth of me. Furry makes me more comfortable in my human skin. But that isn't actually the place most of my art comes out of.

For as long as I've been drawing, which is since I was able to hold a pencil, I've loved anthropomorphic characters and incorporated them into art. It's fun. It's silly. My characters are great vehicles for playing with thoughts, whether they are serious or very fluffy ones. When I discovered furry as a teenager via a 'zine called YARF!, I was immediately, 'yes! there are other people out there doing this too! This is what I've been looking for!'

Furry and my involvement in it is often very silly and superficial and just for fun. but there is an undercurrent of things that are very serious for me in it too; the uniquely sex-positive and open-minded culture (something I need in order to thrive) and the ability to work with symbols connecting our heads and hearts to the other life forms we share the planet with. Furry allows us to develop a symbolic vocabulary with which we can dialog with others and ourselves about ideas and emotions that are difficult to articulate. A lot of it is about that for me.

?

[knnyx.livejournal.com]

what question would you tell me to ask you if i asked what question to ask?

Re: ?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I would have you ask of me whatever you thought would be most useful and feel the best for you to know. Or just something you just thought might be fun to know, either way. ;)

[archteryx.livejournal.com]

How does Summer Jackel the character react to cuddles from friends? Likes them, hates them, or is indifferent toward them?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

:) Jackel (in either her morphic or feral incarnations) can be quite affectionate and enjoys all sorts of cuddly encounters with friends. I have no problem, for instance, with other artists drawing her with their characters.

[the-twf.livejournal.com]

Rats or Bats or Bats on Rats or Rats on Bats?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Why choose only one?

[the-twf.livejournal.com]

*thinks about it*
Bat on a Rat on a Rat on a Bat?

Heh, personal preference question silly.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

hmmmm. I could go both ways on this one, but I think bat on a rat.