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RJ on Furryness
15 years ago
General
There's no point in hating life...
Aaaaaah, the furry fandom. More precisely, FurAffinity. A refuge for the Furries among us from the general harshness of the internet and it's many trolls. I say Hurrah for this website and hurrah for it's users. You guys are amazing, especially all of you watchers and of course, my close friends on here.
But recently I have been questioning my own Furry identity. I'm not sure I like identifying as a furry, more of an Anthro artist. I don't believe I have the "Spirit of an Animal" living inside me, or particularly associate myself with my Character, RJ. He's literally just my avatar, and not a deep, inner view of myself.
I also don't find Yiff in the slightest bit arousing. No thanks, not for me.
I need to know what you guys think about this. But don't you worry pals, no matter what, I will still be online here, posting artwork and engaging in conversations and RPs. And what's wrong with a little pretending now and again, huh? :D
But recently I have been questioning my own Furry identity. I'm not sure I like identifying as a furry, more of an Anthro artist. I don't believe I have the "Spirit of an Animal" living inside me, or particularly associate myself with my Character, RJ. He's literally just my avatar, and not a deep, inner view of myself.
I also don't find Yiff in the slightest bit arousing. No thanks, not for me.
I need to know what you guys think about this. But don't you worry pals, no matter what, I will still be online here, posting artwork and engaging in conversations and RPs. And what's wrong with a little pretending now and again, huh? :D
[[[how long was I trpped in that life doctor]]]]
Most Furry Fans are people who simply like fiction/art centered around animal characters (ie Redwall, The Secret of NIMH, and Watership Down) or animal-like ("anthropomorphic", frequently and somewhat ironically abbreviated to just "anthro") characters (SWAT Kats, Disney's Robin Hood, Animalympics, Sonic The Hedgehog, Star Fox).
Most of the remaining Furry Fans are artists and writers whose works involve mostly animal and animal-like characters, and as such are just looking to get rich and/or famous, or simply like to draw. We really can't emphasize this enough. Even at a Furry convention, the vast majority of the fandom appears to be just the artists, writers, and their fans.
There are also plenty of furry/anthropomorphic artists who don't associate themselves with the rest of the fandom, but think Furries Are Easier To Draw (or at least make money off of). Deviant Art is full of these, for example, and a surprising number of which are female, to boot. That may explain why the majority of "visible" furries are male.
Fans of people shapeshifting into animals are pretty common.
Cosplayers, who just dress up for fun, are a bit rarer but you will see at least one at each convention. They're about as weird as anyone who dresses as their favorite character at a comic convention - but unlike people dressed as human characters, others are bound to get the wrong idea for reasons listed below.
Those who study animal symbolism and totemism, either seriously or as the latest New Agey fad.
Past this point is where things tend to start getting weird/into What Non-fans Think Furry Fandom Is:
People with an anthropomorphic animal fetish. It appears to be true that over 70% the fandom has this to some minor degree going off furry surveys, but the sheer amount of furry porn produced understandably gives this a larger sense of importance if not the point of the fandom. In the eyes of many Fan Haters, this isn't necessarily negative, and calling it a "lifestyle" or "spiritual connection" or whatever will not help you.
People with an anthropomorphic animal fetish, who still think Gadget from Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers is a major hottie. And the people who produce Fetish Fuel for people who still think Gadget is a major hottie.
People who insert furries into other fetishes, just to spice things up.
"Otherkin", a decidedly odd subculture made up of people who believe they may not be entirely human. That is to say, they're not just some kid browsing, say, TV Tropes, they're also, somewhere inside, a dolphin, or a dragon, a Na'vi or a bright-winged alicorn. Considered nutty even by other furries.
A subgroup, Therians, limit the possibilities to real animals (so no dragons or elves).
In the very very tiny minority are people who love stuffed animals, and erotic cosplayers. It pains us to have to emphasize the fact that this segment of the fandom is very, very small. Yet, thanks to CSI, ER, MTV, American Dad, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vanity Fair, Maxim and Something Awful, it has gotten by far the most attention of any of these groups. Apparently, even furries don't enjoy having sex in a heavy, sweaty, hard-to-clean suit that partially blocks their eyesight.
And amazingly, they all seem to coexist under this one umbrella term "the furry fandom" The diversity of this fnaodm is just amazing when you think how hard it is to get diversity on this scale applied to a whole country.
Probably to be a furry you just gotta identify by it. It's what you see it as. In my books you're a furry, and you always will be to me :3