Content Warning: Feral Porn, Anal, Oral, Ass-to-Mouth, Discussion of Paraphilia, Mentions of Rape
Horsin' Around is Carrot's (a long time "feral" furry artist) first steps into the world of game development. The game is brief, and contains looping, sketched animations and text box to click through. The intent is pure wank, with no options, story, or finish of any sort. This doesn't hinder it, however, as it serves as a perfect piece to get one's self used to programming, and a fun little animation for everyone else.
The game is straightforward: a "feral" rabbit has anal and oral sex with a horse. "Feral" standing in quotations because the rabbit is anthropomorphized (capable of speech and clear human expression). The horse then, arguably, is the actual animal in this situation (though it is still fictional), as it does not show any sort of intelligence or humanization.
As there is little to nothing to discuss about the game itself (it runs fine and serves its purpose), the focus of this particular article shifts to the content itself: "bestiality."
By definition, something that is anthropomorphized cannot be bestiality. Bestiality is defined as a sexual act with a non-sapient, real life creature. Having sex with a living, breathing horse would be bestiality. Sexually abusing your dog would be an act of bestiality. Shane Dawson's cat-fucking story, if it were true, would be an act of bestiality.
The next question for those new to the furry world might be: Then, is this content zoophilia? No, as zoophilia also relies on attraction (not action) to real-life animals. Zoophilia is a paraphilia, which is an atypical sexual attraction or desire. Other paraphilias include chronophilia (the most recognizable of which being pedophilia), asphyxiophilia, coprophilia, and voyeurism.
Paraphilia is denoted by “recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors generally involving i) non-human objects, ii) the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner, or iii) children or other non-consenting persons that occur over a period of at least 6 months” as per the DSM-V. Diagnostic criteria requires that the person “feel[s] personal distress about their interest, not merely distress resulting from society’s disapproval” or “have a sexual desire or behavior that involves another person‘s psychological distress, injury, or death, or a desire for sexual behaviors involving unwilling persons or persons unable to give legal consent.” You can find a paper further discussing diagnostic criteria here.
Content can most certainly be made to cater to a specific -philia, as many have claimed a paw print tattoo, particularly on the hip, is a silent signaling of one's actions (a claim made in a callout post about fursuit maker Don't Hug Cacti, and one without any sources). Shadbase, a somehow still-popular artist who was known for drawing explicit art of internet personality Keemstar's daughter (defined under US law as CSAM, as it was based off of a real life child), was one of the most well-known "caterers" to this specific demographic (he catered to several similarly-deplorable groups, including the alt-right, Nazis, racists, and fascists).
More often, a zoophile (be they pro or anti-contact) may denote themselves with the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, "ζ." This symbol is most commonly found on Twitter, as there is a surprisingly large group of paraphiles calling the website home. The most recent high-profile "outing" of a practicing zoophile (animal rapist), as of writing this article, is Hypnotist Sappho, who posted this video discussing her attraction, while disturbingly comparing zoophilia to the struggles leading up to the Stonewall Uprising.
It should go without saying, then, if you have no desire to fuck your pet or a wild animal, you are not a zoophile. You are, hopefully, also not comparing paraphilia to Stonewall.
Carrot's work (nor any similar content), while considered "feral" by the furry community, meets neither the definition of bestiality or zoophilia. It is an artistic depiction, not a real-life sexual act. Similarly, it does not indicate one way or another the presence of such paraphilia (as, being fictional, it makes no claims about the artist's personal attractions). Accusations of "feral" art denoting, promoting, or "glorifying" bestiality are thus inflammatory at best, and potentially defamatory at worst.
Then begs the question: "What is "feral" art, if not the above?" "Feral" has a rather fluid definition among the furry community, and there little widely agreed upon by all. Some consider Pokémon to be feral, while others do not see the colorful monsters comparable to drawings of cats and dogs. Others believe "ferals" are non-sapient animals of any kind. Others still define "feral" art as "creature(s) on all fours, or otherwise "feral" in body shape," adding dragons, gryphons, and similar (usually-sapient) mythical beasts into the definition. The lack of a solid definition has split the community for many, many years.
Carrot's work, as far as any information available, is not meant to be compared to those above. This discussion simply used their work as an example, as they are one of the most well-known feral artists on FurAffinity at the time of writing.
Carrot is also co-creating another game with a user known as Vixel, titled simply The Forest of Love. The Forest of Love is an pixelated RPG-style game in which you meet and build a relationship with various other feral animals. If you'd like to play Act I, you can do so on Itch.io below!
CREDITS
Game and characters all belong to CarrotCritters and their related team.
DSM-V (p.566, [6]) and (p.566, [7])
Neither Keemstar, Shadbase, nor Hypnotist Sappho are linked in the above article. If you are truly curious about any of them, slot their usernames into YouTube (and take the content you're fed with a brick of salt). Sappho's video is linked for reference only.
If you feel you are suffering from a paraphilia, or feel you might offend, here are some resources for you. You can get through this. You aren't destined to offend.
If some of the content within has made you feel as disgusted as it has made me feel, here is a list of LGBTQIA+ charities you can donate to to help support queer folk. Please be sure to research each charity yourself to be certain the money is going where you want it to.
Comments