Stifle

an outline for a paper-cut project I did for class (not uploading the paper-cut b/c it’s not nearly as good as this lmao). I actually sketched up a WIP of this about 2-ish years ago dragimal.deviantart.com/art/St… but never got around to finishing it– glad I was finally able to put the idea to use, if not the original sketch

at risk of sounding a little “preachy”, this piece had animal rights inspiration. it’s meant to work off of the idea that wolves (among other animals) are a “hallmark” species that we enjoy the look of. we love their “proud” stance and “loyal” demeanor, their gorgeous coats and expressive eyes. even the profile of their howling position is one that can strike an impressive chord in our hearts

yet, we only love them at our convenience. we want to see photos of wolves standing proudly with glossy coats, but these photos are oftentimes taken using trained wolves who have been groomed and primed more thoroughly than any wild wolf could be. we want to see wolves in the flesh, but if they are anywhere near our homes (which were, oftentimes, their homes) we shoot on sight. we want to hear their howls, but have no interest in hearing what they have to say

wolves aren’t fellow animals to us, they’re a social concept– a blank canvas we’ve impressed our own anthropomorphised ideas of “pride” and “loyalty” (among other more negative ideas such as “treachery” and “evil”) onto

this isn’t just a wolf-specific phenomenon, of course, but I feel like wolves are one of the more common targets of this unique balance of hate and awe (among nonhumans at least– there are sadly many popular racially-charged human examples of this exact sort of phenomenon..). animal symbolism can be fun in a fictional context, but it can be insulting– if not devastating– to the real-life animal counterparts if it’s not critically applied

also let that 2-yr-old link above be proof that I thought of this idea before the Ichi fanart I SWEAR