Taking"being a furry" too serious

[Fossa]

Huh, I took up the whole furry thing as an antidote to being too serious, and to uncover a more playful, whimsical side of myself...so it does baffle me to see how some furs get so upset about what the fandom 'is', how it's being ruined, and all that. I explore the parts I enjoy, and have continued to find new things I like, and it's been very liberating, as corny/lofty as that may sound. But as my personality has at times been a midpoint between Franz Kafka and Donald Duck, being a furry has been an excellent counterbalance, and I suppose I take its lightness seriously, to that extent.

[Vallium]

9 hours ago, Caledonian said:

I am currently wearing a doctor who themed sweater, a bowler hat, and goggles.

Does that answer your question?

This doesnt make me important, it does make me reCOGnisable

Oh COG no!

[LadyRadarEars]

12 hours ago, PurpleTail said:

Once you become infected with furryism, there's no coming back

*pounces* wanna yiff?

Someone please just shoot me, before I go running around the streets naked and barking at people

Fun fact, those are symptoms of clinical lycanthropy/kitsune possession in ye olden times, so as long as you don't do any dark rituals you shouldn't have anything to fear :3c

[Shex]

Oh. Yes. 

I had a guy who told me how "being a furry" meant getting rid of all non-furry friends because they can never understand you. And only furries can be true friends. And the furry fandom should be the center of your life. All other friends and family are just fake, and that he realized that and abandoned everyone but his fur friends and was just so much happier... Yeah... no. 

It's fine to be all-furry around other furries, but I value my real life as well

 

[Jerry]

My participation in the furry fandom is simply the proof that my "12 year-old cartoon junkie" side will never go away.

MOAR EYE CANDY!

[Caledonian]

On 7-11-2016 at 4:00 AM, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Oh COG no!

Gear cog! The steampuns!

[Saxon]

On 22/10/2016 at 9:27 PM, DrDingo said:

There's a semantic problem with the naming of the furry fandom.

You see, when confused young teenagers are encouraged to keep saying "I'm a furry", it cements an idea in their head that it's a heavy, meaningful part of their identity

Fewer people would have that dumb sense of self-importance if people just said "I like anthropomorphism"

...eh, really?

You get people who are way too obsessed with animé or their favourite musical band. They don't identify as animé characters or celebrity musicians. (Or maybe they do? D: )
Moreover I think the notion of furries kind of identifying as furries is more or less true, because most of you have fursonas (fursonae?).

I am exempt of course, because I don't have a fursona. ;3

[Tsuujou]

On 12/2/2016 at 11:39 AM, Saxon said:

...eh, really?

You get people who are way too obsessed with animé or their favourite musical band. They don't identify as animé characters or celebrity musicians.

Funny you say this, but I recall a psychological condition kind of close to that where people will think they're married to their favorite celebrity and other crazy stalker shit like that. And hooooo boy. You have not seen the cringier side of anime fandoms. Good lord. Ever met a Hetalia fangirl?

h e l l

[Saxon]

1 minute ago, Tsuujou said:

Funny you say this, but I recall a psychological condition kind of close to that where people will think they're married to their favorite celebrity and other crazy stalker shit like that. And hooooo boy. You have not seen the cringier side of anime fandoms. Good lord. Ever met a Hetalia fangirl?

h e l l

No? Should I even ask?

[Tsuujou]

Just now, Saxon said:

No? Should I even ask?

I don't know how prevalent it is online, but I've met them in person. 

And not. At. Cons....

(Hetalia itself isn't really anything like...disgusting. Just a bad basic tier anime with a kind of clever idea executed horrendously).

[U-235]

So being new to the Fandom I'm not really all that qualified to speak on the subject but I can say a few things. Part of the reason I had a difficult time coming into or getting more involved in the Fandom was because of this very issue. I just thought all peoe who identified as furries or who were involved in the Fandom were that way. That could have more to do with the way I was raised and may not be a fair estimate of the population as a whole, but it was something that played a role for me. As for the whole coming out thing, maybe I can explain it like this.

So I know what actually coming out is. I'm gay and I had to come out about that. It was a part of my identity of who I am as a person. It's not all of me, but it has a fairly significant impact on my life and where I end up. As for this, I wouldn't call it coming out in the same sense, but there is a process about bringing it up. It's a hobby and not a part of me, but in the general public eye, it's still a taboo. So being anxious and nervous about telling others and then developing some kind of strategy to telling others isn't coming out per say. It's just because it's viewed as a taboo and I want my friends to understand it's my identity, but it is a creative outlet and hobby I enjoy for the creativity and comradery amongst other things.

On that note I found this site that looked fairly intestine and that I enjoyed. It seemed to be based on actual publications and research funded by grants. It gave what I at least thought was a fair definition of the term furry. Granted it is a .com and not .net or .edu site, but the publications seemed legit and had a few universities backing them. My only criticism was they played the fursuit thing a bit heavily (not in discussion but in the pictures on the site) Overall it seemed to be a fairly stated and good resource. So give it a read if you get a chance.

http://furscience.com/whats-a-furry/

[Snagged]

2 hours ago, U-235 said:

So being new to the Fandom I'm not really all that qualified to speak on the subject but I can say a few things. Part of the reason I had a difficult time coming into or getting more involved in the Fandom was because of this very issue. I just thought all people who identified as furries or who were involved in the Fandom were that way. That could have more to do with the way I was raised and may not be a fair estimate of the population as a whole, but it was something that played a role for me. As for the whole coming out thing, maybe I can explain it like this.

Being a furry is not necessarily a lifestyle, much like how liking anime may not be, and oftentime isn't, a lifestyle. There are those do take following a fandom as part of their lifestyle and such individuals are often the most prominent and distinguishable ones out of the crowd, giving the stereotype that all other members of the fandom are like that. A furry lifestyler can give impression to others that we are hardcore furries, wearing fursuit where ever possible, doing all the murring sounds, yiffing and being socially awkward in general and all that stuff that reflects a negative image from us. It's unfortunate you too was the victim of this stereotype, which I only found out after I started hanging around furry forums. I am glad you have seen that we are actually very different. Not only from stereotypes but from each others. We have our interests, own looks, own opinions and personalities, which creates a diverse (albeit in case of Phoenix, a small) community, which is the thing I love about Phoenix: We are just ordinary people who in some degree have a liking of anthro characters, which is enough to unite us, yet we are still so delightfully different to make the atmosphere diverse

2 hours ago, U-235 said:

So I know what actually coming out is. I'm gay and I had to come out about that. It was a part of my identity of who I am as a person. It's not all of me, but it has a fairly significant impact on my life and where I end up. As for this, I wouldn't call it coming out in the same sense, but there is a process about bringing it up. It's a hobby and not a part of me, but in the general public eye, it's still a taboo. So being anxious and nervous about telling others and then developing some kind of strategy to telling others isn't coming out per say. It's just because it's viewed as a taboo and I want my friends to understand it's my identity, but it is a creative outlet and hobby I enjoy for the creativity and comradery amongst other things.

This is a good stance to have about the matter of "coming out". WAY too many people make too big of a fuss about it, making it seem like it's something major and not just a little hobby or merely a liking/interest of fuzzy/scalie characters. My tip: Just do what you want and if people ask about furry stuff, casually explain them. You don't need to hide your actions.

If your friends are truly friends and acceptive/tolerant, they will understand if you don't make a big deal out of it and advertise yourself as a newfound furry with bright flashing billboard signs

2 hours ago, U-235 said:

On that note I found this site that looked fairly intestine and that I enjoyed.

Do you mean interesting?

Either way, I'm glad you like it down here

Like I said earlier, the charm of this site for me is that it's not all about furry stuff. We are just ordinary people, talking about ordinary things and we all voice our own opinions and thoughts that I like to read. Most of you are quite likeable and have some good wits when it comes to things like forum games (I love that place!)

Other lovely and tight knit communities are great too but out here in Phoenixed, I feel more secure about showing off my furry side and proudly wearing my own OC avatars

2 hours ago, U-235 said:

It gave what I at least thought was a fair definition of the term furry. Granted it is a .com and not .net or .edu site, but the publications seemed legit and had a few universities backing them. My only criticism was they played the fursuit thing a bit heavily (not in discussion but in the pictures on the site) Overall it seemed to be a fairly stated and good resource. So give it a read if you get a chance.

Sadly, I do not think this is the most common or the first resource people will look up if they need to know what is a furry

They'll most likely find the stereotypes portrayed by the greater media

[U-235]

12 minutes ago, Snagged Cub said:

Sadly, I do not think this is the most common or the first resource people will look up if they need to know what is a furry

They'll most likely find the stereotypes portrayed by the greater media

Yeah, I kind of wish people would look to the research done on it and try to find the statistics on it, like listed at that site I linked. It'd save us a lot of headache.

[Saxon]

I struggle to believe most people think back to ancient television episdoes when they think of furries.

Almost every forum I go on has a few furries on it, so anybody who spends any time on the internet at all must more or less get an impression of what the furries are, since they produce *so much* content.
Even on non-furry forums, their art sections are saturated with furry content.

[Troj]

Is it fair to say that Hetalia fans are the Juggaloes of the anime fandom, in the sense that them being a fan of it is almost always a giant red flag?

On 12/13/2016 at 7:34 AM, U-235 said:

http://furscience.com/whats-a-furry/

Yep, that's my research group.

The old site is here:

https://sites.google.com/site/anthropomorphicresearch/

Oh, and regarding stereotypes of the fandom, my read is that the infamous CSI episode has indeed penetrated the collective consciousness. Even people who don't remember the content of the episode vaguely remember the subject matter, and I'd say that the CSI episode and the Vanity Fair article together did a lot to set the tone and establish the now-common tropes and stereotypes about the fandom.

 

[Wax]

Back in the mid-to-late 2000s in the good old DeviantArt and MySpace days there were certainly a lot of edgy teens who took being a furry far too seriously. But generally speaking, accounts of people taking being a furry too seriously are dying down now, either because less people are doing it or it's just not as funny anymore. It's still hilarious to me personally, tbh

[axelthefox]

On 12/19/2016 at 0:10 PM, Troj said:

Is it fair to say that Hetalia fans are the Juggaloes of the anime fandom, in the sense that them being a fan of it is almost always a giant red flag?

Yep, that's my research group.

The old site is here:

https://sites.google.com/site/anthropomorphicresearch/

Oh, and regarding stereotypes of the fandom, my read is that the infamous CSI episode has indeed penetrated the collective consciousness. Even people who don't remember the content of the episode vaguely remember the subject matter, and I'd say that the CSI episode and the Vanity Fair article together did a lot to set the tone and establish the now-common tropes and stereotypes about the fandom.

 

I think that episode of 1000 ways to die as well. I cringe whenever i see that episode,cause i know they completely made it all up.

[Saxon]

8 hours ago, axelthefox said:

I think that episode of 1000 ways to die as well. I cringe whenever i see that episode,cause i know they completely made it all up.

What exactly did they make up?

Like...I can almost be sure that whatever people make up about the furries at least one of us has probably done it, lol.

(we don't have this show in England, but I watched an episode about brain-eating parasites in snails a while ago on youtube, and I thought the show was a comedy anyway, rather than a documentary.)

[Troj]

As I recall, they made up a story about a guy wandering through the desert and stumbling upon a furry orgy. The guy decides to join in, and gets mauled to death by an actual bear.

In the desert.

Desert fursuit orgy.

(Also: bears in the desert.)

[Saxon]

21 hours ago, Troj said:

As I recall, they made up a story about a guy wandering through the desert and stumbling upon a furry orgy. The guy decides to join in, and gets mauled to death by an actual bear.

In the desert.

Desert fursuit orgy.

(Also: bears in the desert.)

Completely unrealistic; everybody knows the fursuit orgies happen in well air conditioned rooms.

[axelthefox]

One thing i wonder is if wearing furry shirts in public is over doing it and whether should be only worn to furmeets and such.

 

I have a couple furry shirts and was wondering about asking this question.

 

One furry shirt i have.

 

http://www.redbubble.com/people/cybercat/works/8581573-zorra-the-white-werewolf?p=t-shirt&style=mens&body_color=black&print_location=front

[Gator]

i don't see why furry related shirts and the like should be any different from clothing items related to any other fandom or interest.  why would it be weird to wear a shirt with an anthropomorphic animal or a pawprint or some shit, but not one with a picture of your favorite tv show's logo/characters?  nobody saves their batman t-shirts for comic cons.  as long as you're not dressing inappropriately for wherever you're going, nobody is gonna notice or care unless maybe it's something they also enjoy.

[Vallium]

1 hour ago, axelthefox said:

One thing i wonder is if wearing furry shirts in public is over doing it and whether should be only worn to furmeets and such.

 

I have a couple furry shirts and was wondering about asking this question.

 

One furry shirt i have.

 

http://www.redbubble.com/people/cybercat/works/8581573-zorra-the-white-werewolf?p=t-shirt&style=mens&body_color=black&print_location=front

If it doesnt say anything like "oh yiff murr" or have an inflated furry on it youre good

[Troj]

I wear my fur con t-shirts and cute humorous animal or quasi-furry shirts on a regular basis.

Because it's potentially offensive and because the pun is more appealing to furries, I usually only wear my "Look at all the fox I give" t-shirt around other furries.

[Saxon]

7 hours ago, Troj said:

I wear my fur con t-shirts and cute humorous animal or quasi-furry shirts on a regular basis.

Because it's potentially offensive and because the pun is more appealing to furries, I usually only wear my "Look at all the fox I give" t-shirt around other furries.

I've seen normal people with 'oh for fox sake' coffee cups, pencil cases and t-shirts.

I might make the dangerous suggestion that grown adults who are offended by this twee joke deserve to be. ;3

[Troj]

2 hours ago, Saxon said:

I've seen normal people with 'oh for fox sake' coffee cups, pencil cases and t-shirts.

I might make the dangerous suggestion that grown adults who are offended by this twee joke deserve to be. ;3

Well, good! That's validating.

[Wax]

This one kid who went to my college wore a hoodie that said something along the lines of: 'Yes, I'm a furry! Got a problem?'

That's a little bit more obvious than "for fox sake!" but there you go.

[Yarra]

On 12/22/2016 at 8:48 PM, Gator said:

i don't see why furry related shirts and the like should be any different from clothing items related to any other fandom or interest.  why would it be weird to wear a shirt with an anthropomorphic animal or a pawprint or some shit, but not one with a picture of your favorite tv show's logo/characters?  nobody saves their batman t-shirts for comic cons.  as long as you're not dressing inappropriately for wherever you're going, nobody is gonna notice or care unless maybe it's something they also enjoy.

I have mumtilple furry shirts I've designed that I wear and get compliments on them by complete strangers.   

[Saxon]

7 hours ago, Yarra said:

I have mumtilple furry shirts I've designed that I wear and get compliments on them by complete strangers.   

Do you have any pics of them?

[Rabbit Head]

I'd totally wear a shirt with a furry character on it if I had one. Especially if it had a really colorful design on it. 

I remember I use to see remnants of the "furry pride" thing everywhere. Now I pretty much never see it and when I do it's extremely ironic. 

I gotta be honest, the furry scene and as a consequence the blow back against the furry scene is pretty much calming the fuck down if it hasn't calmed down already. I don't see anyone desperately trying to patch the reputation of the fandom anymore. More frequently I see "lol fuckin furries" from actual furries. 

 

[Socketosis]

10 minutes ago, Rabbit Head said:

I'd totally wear a shirt with a furry character on it if I had one. Especially if it had a really colorful design on it.

I'm totally going to shill Squeedge's shop then.

https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/squeedgemonster/

[Rabbit Head]

1 minute ago, Socketosis said:

I'm totally going to shill Squeedge's shop then.

https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/squeedgemonster/

https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/t-shirt/men/destroy/151698/

https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/t-shirt/men/dino-damage/47564/

https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/t-shirt/men/its-okay-to-be-rad/96698/

I'd get any of these out of the ones here. 

I've seen ones that are just as colorful but with more of a mammal focus that'd I'd also want as much if not more tho.

[Yarra]

On 2/10/2017 at 5:31 AM, Saxon said:

Do you have any pics of them?

Here's a couple.  One is yours truly.  

 

.