Artwork by  Betsy

Livestream commission. In order to understand this image, let me tell you a story:

"Once upon a time, there was a forest filled with many animals. What makes these animals special is that they can talk and think like humans. One day, a squirrel came upon an idea: if they can think like humans, why not live like humans?

So he got all of the animals together and convinced them they should be more like human. They started wearing clothes, walking on two legs, all that jazz. As time passed, their bodies changed to support this new lifestyle.

As time went on, the started stated to lose their special traits. Birds no longer fly, fangs go away, etc. It got to the point where they were basically humans in animal suits.

When the squirrel suggest that the animals should getting rid of their fur, tails, and muzzles, become full humans and leave the forest, they realized that this had gone too far. In anger, they toke off their clothes and changed back to their original forms to go back to their four footed lives. The squirrel felt ashamed.

However, a young chipmunk, who looked up to the squirrel but also thought he went too far, came to his defense and suggested this: becoming more human wasn't the problem (opposable thumbs do have their advantages) but rather that they were losing the things that made them different from humans. The squirrel apologizes for his errors and thanks the chipmunk for his speech.

In the end, the squirrel and chipmunk looked over the forest as they saw the animals living an anthropomorphic lifestyle, combing and balancing the best of animal and human characteristics."

The wolf shows the three main forms the animals take in the story:
1. Natural. Normal animal with the ability to express human emotions.
2. Human in Animal Suit. Human size and proportions. The only things that make them animals are their heads, tails, and the color of their skin/fur/scales/feathers.
3. Balanced. Best of human and animal characteristics. Normal animal size or slightly bigger/smaller. More animal proportions (ex. mustelids have long torsos). Wear varying levels of clothing. Can do things human can't do (ex. fly) and have things humans don't have (ex. claws).

This story, which is still a work in progress, basically shows my views on anthropomorphic animals. If an anthro can't do at least one thing that his or her animal counterpart can do, he or she might as well be a human. After all, is it not true that one of the reasons we are fascinated with other animals is that they can do things that humans can't?