Love Please!
I don't know about y'all out there, but personally I'm not always the biggest fan of "love". Call me a hater if you want, I know. But love in the way that it exists in our society just doesn't call to me the same way that other things do. I hate romance movies, or books. Usually a romantic tie in a game is my least favorite part of it. I've never played a dating sim I've finished a single route on, save for Doki Doki Literature Club, although that's a little different. I'm just not really a "romantic".
That's not to say that I don't love the two amazing guys in my life. My human partner James, who's just incredible and super supportive, who gives me so much time towards zoo stuff when he himself isn't even animal attracted. He'll sit there listening to me rant about the latest drama all day, or read articles when I ask him to because we need another pair of eyes. I also have an incredible canine partner who's my whole world and who I would give anything for. Seeing him always brings a smile to my face, and I find it hard to picture a better day than just walking through a forest with him, enjoying the world and each other's company.
But, I'm also not the sappy type, who generally likes to do romantic dinners and snuggling and little this and that that you'll see in said romance novels. It's just not my "love language", as people say nowadays.
I think this is interesting in the context of the magazine, and in zoo representation in general. This is something I've been thinking about a lot, especially as Valentines ay comes and goes. Somehow I've ended up in a position where I happen to be one of the biggest mouthpieces for the zoosexual community as a whole, and that's a job that I take with a lot of respect. But also, it means that my experience can come to represent a lot of what the zoo community in total is saying. Especially when the magazine comes out twice a week and other projects like Zooier Than Thou come out once a month, as well as the fact that I'm still on social media .
And sometimes I think about the fact that I don't talk about "love" very much. I love facts, I love a good debate, I love philosophy, but much farther outside my typical lexicon. I find it easy to come up with a million ways to prove animals can consent, but I find it hard to come up with five ways to say how much I love my partner.
And instead of trying to find more ways to say that, I'm going to talk about community voices and why a wide perspective of people is really important!
Because there's nothing wrong with trying to tackle some of the common arguments against zoosexuality, and human-animal relationships. But also, I think that's not really a captivating point of view. Nobody looks at a big wall of text about animal behavior and rhetorical devices and thinks "wow this is very inspiring!" Or at least, not a ton of people. There's a time and a place for logic, but there's also a need for something more soulful.
It's funny, because I know for a fact just how much love there is out there in the community. I see it all the time in the conversations that I have with people, and the way that people describe their partners. I even see it in the arguments and the debates. But because I'm already so invested I'm far from the only zoo out there so hopelessly in love with a dog that I plan my life around how to make sure he's as happy as he can be.
I guess, what I'm trying to say here is that I wish I got to see more of that from people in the community. I wish there were more artists out there drawing happy zoo relationships. I wish there was more writing about people and animals living happy fulfilled lives together. I wish there was more than just Zipwok and Shiv out there making music about how cool it is just wasting the day away with your four legged lover. There's a ton of talent in the people that reside within the community, whether from super experienced artists, or from people who are interested in developing a new skill. And this is my official request. I'm down on my knees here pleading on this day after Valentines ay, create some dumb sappy lovey stuff. Stuff that people can see that just makes them happy.
Because even if I might hate romance in media, I know how powerful love is. I feel it every day. And I think when we share not just our ideas, but also our love, that's how people really start to listen to us. There's no point arguing about anything else if it isn't first clear that we really do love animals.
Happy Valentines ay, dear readers, give your loved ones an extra treat from us!
Article written by Tarro (February 2025)
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