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On Furries
12 years ago
Dr. Samuel Conway (better known as Uncle Kage) is fond of saying that Furries are dreamers. I must respectfully dissent. Humanity are dreamers; it is in our nature as a species. Furries go beyond dreaming. We as a fandom represent that precious sliver of humanity that is not content to passively observe their dreams in sleeping or wandering minds. We are willing to take our dreams by the horns (or tail, or wings) and drag them into the light. If any of you doubt this, I beg of you, go to a large convention and watch the fursuit parade. You will see craftsmanship the likes of which can stun you, blending feats of fashion and engineering that regularly take my breath away. You will see performances powerful enough to bridge the realms of fantasy and reality. Personalities strong enough to turn a few yards of fur and a few grams of plastic into a cat in the eyes of even the most curmudgeonly person. A well made fursuit, constructed with love and care, is a dream wrought into reality.
So what is a furry, if not a dreamer?
A furry is cheer. The ability to bring a smile to a person’s face is by no means unique to our fandom, but no fandom wields it quite so well as the furries. From the jaw dropping acrobatics of Sardyuon to the wiseass snark of 2; from Kage’s story hour to the jams of Matt Ebel. Artists too many and talented to even begin naming. Writers, poets, actors… but the cheer of our fandom is deeper than our performances. The raccoon who invites you to join his board game at Anthrocon. The fox who offers you a beer at FAU. The cat who spends thirty minutes of his day going mental for a laser pointer simply to make you smile. Almost without exception, the nature of a furry is to spread happiness.
A furry is generosity. The story of Fernando’s café in Pittsburgh is oft told, and it can be easily looked up. More important, I think, are the implications of Fernando’s. Any fandom can point to dollar counts in their charity drive and be proud. Charity fundraising is inextricably bound to convention culture at this point. But at the end of the day, there are no charities that exist to help a business failing due to a bad economy. For better or for worse, the American mentality is that bankruptcy is unfortunate but not critical. At the time, 2 the ranting gryphon had a quip - “you don’t get between a furry and his noms”. He wins for delivery, but I think the truth is that you don’t get between furries and a decent person in need of help - especially if the furries are able to give it.
A furry is warm. Many would have chosen the word ‘accepting’ or ‘tolerant’ here. I choose to eschew them simply because the furry fandom has garnered a somewhat unfair reputation for being overaccepting. What a furry does possess is the ability to see the good in a person first. As with everything above, this isn’t universal, but for the most part furry has managed to keep up a bastion against the pervasive cynicism in our society. It’s that bastion which makes a furcon, in my opinion, the easiest place in the world to walk into a group of strangers and out of a group of friends.
I am left with only one conclusion. Humanity are the dreamers.
Furries are the dream.
So what is a furry, if not a dreamer?
A furry is cheer. The ability to bring a smile to a person’s face is by no means unique to our fandom, but no fandom wields it quite so well as the furries. From the jaw dropping acrobatics of Sardyuon to the wiseass snark of 2; from Kage’s story hour to the jams of Matt Ebel. Artists too many and talented to even begin naming. Writers, poets, actors… but the cheer of our fandom is deeper than our performances. The raccoon who invites you to join his board game at Anthrocon. The fox who offers you a beer at FAU. The cat who spends thirty minutes of his day going mental for a laser pointer simply to make you smile. Almost without exception, the nature of a furry is to spread happiness.
A furry is generosity. The story of Fernando’s café in Pittsburgh is oft told, and it can be easily looked up. More important, I think, are the implications of Fernando’s. Any fandom can point to dollar counts in their charity drive and be proud. Charity fundraising is inextricably bound to convention culture at this point. But at the end of the day, there are no charities that exist to help a business failing due to a bad economy. For better or for worse, the American mentality is that bankruptcy is unfortunate but not critical. At the time, 2 the ranting gryphon had a quip - “you don’t get between a furry and his noms”. He wins for delivery, but I think the truth is that you don’t get between furries and a decent person in need of help - especially if the furries are able to give it.
A furry is warm. Many would have chosen the word ‘accepting’ or ‘tolerant’ here. I choose to eschew them simply because the furry fandom has garnered a somewhat unfair reputation for being overaccepting. What a furry does possess is the ability to see the good in a person first. As with everything above, this isn’t universal, but for the most part furry has managed to keep up a bastion against the pervasive cynicism in our society. It’s that bastion which makes a furcon, in my opinion, the easiest place in the world to walk into a group of strangers and out of a group of friends.
I am left with only one conclusion. Humanity are the dreamers.
Furries are the dream.
I agree about the cynicism part. As with an old saying, "Birds of a feather, flock together."
Very well put, and this blurb will get the attention it deserves soon.
>A well made fursuit, constructed with love and care, is a dream wrought into reality.
Can confirm. The four days of AC, I AM my character and it's a whole different world.