this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
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Can someone ELI5 me the whole furry thing? Is this a community, is this a sexual thing? Is it an American thing?
Am not a furry, and would also love an explanation. I mean, I ain't knocking whatever it is that gets someone through this world. It can be a very hard, very cruel place, and it dressing up as a electric blue armadillo makes someone happy, and allows them to find people they vibe with, I'm super happy for them. But dagnabbit, I'd really love to understand it. Haha
Also, I know 2 Australian furries and 1 swiss furry, so I'm guessing not an American thing.
I approve of an electric blue armadillo fursona. Would probably look pretty cool actually
That was my thought process. "what's the coolest animal/color combo?" Obviously electric blue armadillo. It's like a little knight in armor, but electric blue, and looks deceptively cuddly
Believe it or not this is exactly how most furries make their fursona
Also, I've just realized, armadillos aren't furry. Can a non furry animal be someone's fursona? (That's the term, right?) Or is there another term? A... Skinny? Shelly?
Yeah, definitely. Furry encompasses basically anything that's a non-human anthropomorphic creature. I've seen fursonas based on birds, sharks, dolphins, turtles, rhinos, dinos, frogs, hippos, orcas, dragons, reptiles, plant creatures... hell, there are alien species like sergals and avalis, anthro/machine hybrids like protogens, and even entirely robotic characters.
It's just called furry because furred species are the most common, and the original community that splintered off from sci-fi conventions in the 70s and 80s and grew through fanzines pre-Internet largely used furred species for their characters. ("Fun" fact, the early community had a lot of skunk characters, which is why one of the first derogatory terms for furries was "skunkfucker.")
That's interesting! That's for the info!
Well, shit, am I having a literal "this better not awaken anything in me" moment? Lol
Honestly, don't stress yourself out over it, and keep an open mind. It might not be your cup of tea, and that's perfectly fine--there undoubtedly is a large sexual aspect to furry, and lots of folks (especially folks who are cisgender, heterosexual, have a less relaxed view about sexuality, etc.--not to say that you can't be a straight male furry, but there are a LOT of gay/bi furries) may find it to be a dealbreaker. Ultimately, furry has its roots in the nerd and geek communities, back when being nerdy or geeky was something to be bullied over, and it still shows it today.
Furry is a community that has a disproportionate number of LGBT+ folks, neurodivergent folks (especially people on the ADHD/autism spectrum), and other marginalized groups. Among many things, this means it revels in being proudly and unabashedly weird, both as a celebration of itself and as a defense mechanism against becoming overwhelmed by the kinds of business interests that would love nothing more than to push out all the sexuality and weirdness to provide a safe space for advertisers to shovel their slop down our throats.
If that sounds like something you'd enjoy being a part of, then I'd suggest checking out some places like the furry_irl subreddit, looking up streamers under the furry tag on Twitch (Skaifox, WhiskeyDing0, etc.), maybe make an account on FurAffinity, and look up furmeets or conventions in your area you can attend. You might not like it, or you might find yourself joining the best community I've ever been part of.
I was more joking than anything. I'm probably not going to get deep into it, if for no other reason that I am deeply uncomfortable with being... Like... Visible, or seen, or existing when people know I'm existing, and I don't want to have to explain a large purchase for an Armadillo head to my mom. Lol
But also, I am very much so not straight, and only nominally cisgendered most of the time. Lol. And my shrink thinks I'm probably somewhere on the spectrum, so there's that, too. Lol. I'm not opposed to kink or sexual aspects of a group. I've been known to be a bit freaky when I manage to crawl out of my Hermitage for the day. Lol. But conventions and groups and, like, people just aren't my thing most of the time, y'know?
I mean, you don't have to go full-blown fursuit and conventions if you don't want to. Most furries never actually bother with fursuiting--speaking from personal experience, it's hot as shit (especially outdoors or in summer), you can barely see or hear anything, and if you wear glasses they're prone to getting knocked off your nose or fogging up so badly that you can't see anything. Many fursonas exist exclusively in artwork or stories--either commissioned or self-drawn--and even that's optional.
You don't even have to actively participate in the community if you don't want to. Many furries are passive members who just follow artists, lurk in streams or group chats, occasionally leave a comment on a submission, and generally exist in furry spaces. Literally the only requirement to be a furry is to say you're a furry!
There are explanations now btw
Thank you!
💜 np