Superluser is considering taking the plunge

[superluser]

(I'll probably use this thread once I start writing)

So I'm thinking of doing some writing in the DMFA universe.

This means that the characters have to be furry.  This isn't necessarily a problem.  When you write, you have to accept the idiom in which your story is set.  I am, however, having a bit of trouble with the main/eponymous character.  I'm still working out the character sketch, but the character is going to be an obstinate, curmudgeonly coot.

Trouble is, I can see two species that would fit this:

1.) Hedgehog
(pros)
- The spines on the head look like a crew cut
- Spiny Norman
- The hedgehog can never be buggered at all.
- not terribly cuddly

(cons)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (a fine character, but not a curmudgeon)
- not terribly cuddly

2.) Badger
(pros)
- there are a lot of badgers in furry fiction, and quite a few of them have a curmudgeonly streak
- looks cuddly

(cons)
- Badger badger badger badger
- looks cuddly

I'm sure that there are more pros and cons that I've thought up, but I'm dead tired.

Anybody got any advice about which way to go?

[Tapewolf]

So I'm thinking of doing some writing in the DMFA universe.

Let this be a lesson to all would-be students of DMFA... it is impossible to just keep absorbing data about Amber's universe indefinitely.  Once you reach saturation point it will all start to leak out again, usually in the form of fanfiction. 

Just saying.  Wish I could help advise you on the species, but it's something I have troubles with too

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Depending on how you play it, a curmudgeon may have the habit of not bathing, to fend off those would-be cuddly people...

That, of course, doesn't help you decide which one to play with, of course. :-)

[superluser]

Depending on how you play it, a curmudgeon may have the habit of not bathing, to fend off those would-be cuddly people...

Well, to be fair, most people didn't bathe regularly until (I think) the 19th century.

[Tapewolf]

Depending on how you play it, a curmudgeon may have the habit of not bathing, to fend off those would-be cuddly people...

Well, to be fair, most people didn't bathe regularly until (I think) the 19th century.

I don't know about hedgehogs but since canids don't really sweat, they probably wouldn't need to bathe as regularly as a human would, and even then it would mostly be to kill any parasites lurking in their fur.

[Tezkat]

If you'd like some other options, there are also plenty of other animals that can fit into the curmudgeonly stereotype: toads, goats, and so on.

Looking through your cons, I'd say you're not doing yourself any favours by focusing on racial specimens in other media. You should be able to establish in the very first paragraph of the story that your character is a unique person and not some supersonic hedgehog or shroom-addicted badger.  So long as he's interesting and believable, people will want to read your story. Species is far less important than a personality that leaps off the page at you. Just pick something you like and run with it!

[Gareeku]

I find it pretty stupid that you've put "is not cute/is cute" in both pros and cons. Honestly...who gives a damn? Until the write wants them to, the reader should not be focussing on how cute a character is.

[GabrielsThoughts]

When it is the written word, It doesn't matter what the character looks like, because the reader creates their own image of a character in their mind using the limmited information provided by the author.

[superluser]

If you'd like some other options, there are also plenty of other animals that can fit into the curmudgeonly stereotype: toads, goats, and so on.

Well, goats are more belligerent than curmudgeonly.  And the only toad that I know would be Mr. Toad (of Toad Hall), who isn't very curmudgeonly at all.

Looking through your cons, I'd say you're not doing yourself any favours by focusing on racial specimens in other media. You should be able to establish in the very first paragraph of the story that your character is a unique person and not some supersonic hedgehog or shroom-addicted badger.  So long as he's interesting and believable, people will want to read your story. Species is far less important than a personality that leaps off the page at you. Just pick something you like and run with it!

It's important for symbolism.  For example, in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce turns his peers and rivals into birds, and himself into Daedalus, who must soar past those birds.  The analogy would not have worked as well if he had chosen attributes of a housecat.

The hedgehog would play up the conservative, isolationist, George Liquor-esque elements of the character, but would also suggest some unwanted elements, like bigotry and militarism.  The badger, on the other hand, would emphasize the stubborn and intransigent elements of the character, at the cost of making the character seem less aloof.  The other benefit and hindrance is that badgers have been used as cantankerous characters in other media (e.g. Wind in the Willows) so often that the audience will fill in many of the blanks for the author.  This means less work for the author, but it also means that you're not establishing your character through your own work, and that many elements of the other characters will be incorporated into this one, even if those elements are inappropriate.

Like it or not, the audience will bring those attributes in with them.  And while I'm sure that no one will take my character for the Badger song or Sonic, I will likely have to deal with fans of those things.

I was a little sleep deprived when I wrote the initial post, so I wasn't writing terribly eloquently.

I find it pretty stupid that you've put "is not cute/is cute" in both pros and cons. Honestly...who gives a damn? Until the write wants them to, the reader should not be focussing on how cute a character is.

Well, rule #1 is know your audience.  I'll admit that I'm not following that rule very well.  I know very little about furry fandom.  I do, however, know that there are few reptiles or insects in furry fandom, due in large part to the fact that they're not cuddly.  I don't know if hedgehogs fall into this category as well.

The actual description, down to the species, is probably going to come up rarely, if ever.  But it is important to illuminating the characteristics of the character.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

reptiles are cuddly. Just ask Slavkei...

The only reason they don't show up much is people, as a whole, have very little imagination. You'll have to rectify that for yourself.