it's annoying enough that i'm writing this at all, but the revelation seems to have a lot of weight to it for me and i haven't met my self embrassment quota for this month yet so here we go

for a long time i've denied the label of furry and have shirked association with the community, and that was probably due to several factors. furries are, according to many mainstream sources, obnoxious sex freaks who rape animals and groom children via their mascot costumes and silly animal art. despite having been fasinated with the community since i was about 10, i felt i should never align myself with it because, well, who would WANT to if THAT was all true? my friends mocked furries. anyone who asked me if i was a furry was trying to insult me. and, at the end of the day, a lot of the hatred leveled at furries came from sources of homophobia and ableism, two things i struggle to no longer internalize to this day

but i like animals! i like talking animal stories! i like making believe i'm not human! and i like so, so many of the people i've met who share the same interests. of course the freaks and assholes are here - not a single community lacks extremists - but so many furries i've met have supported, cared about, and even loved me. i've come to realize that by resisting what the community had to offer me, i was denying myself all i've ever wanted: a buncha weirdass gay artist bitches who love the same old disney toons and animal trivia that i do

so fuck it. i'm a furry now. i've fit the definition for most of my life, and nobody is surprised by this label adoption but me lmao. talk to me about your fursonas. link me to fun furry youtubers or social networks. be surprised when i tell you i don't work in IT. just know this: i understand that in the past i've been unfair to this community and some people in it, and for that i am genuinely sorry. i drank the koolaid, i accepted the idea that furries are uniquely fucked up or whatever, and i regret it because i have come to find it is untrue. i still have criticisms of the community, sure, but that comes down to shit that like actually matters, not "oh ew ppl have cringey ocs and weirder sexual interests then me!!!!"

thats it lmao okay any of you who'd placed bets can collect now

[ACTUAL MEANINGFUL UPDATE: i've been slowly refunding outstandingly overdo commissions and, to show my love for the community that accepted me before i did, will be offering some simple, very cheap ones soon. no queue, just a wait list. hard deadline of 7 days for each order. and i might even okay some more suggestive (though not outright pornographic) material too. its been a hard few years for me and this new year was no exception, but let's all idk be happy little furfags together or some shit lmao. cheers <3]