I was gonna make this a comment on  muzz's most recent journal, but I figured it probably wouldn't look the best to be super-personal on someone else's account.
This was really touching to read. I'll be honest: though I've been "stalking" the fandom since I was about 13, I've only been really involved since--what, April, I think? I've always been nervous about the whole thing--I've heard my fair share of all the crap that goes on on this website sometimes. But the number of amazing people I've met--even that I've just watched--has astounded me. I've never met a community of people that have been so close or personal without even really meeting face-to-face, and it's really inspiring to know that someone like me has the chance to really connect with someone who's been around, who has some ridiculous amount of artistic skill and popularity, whoever that may end up being. I guess accounts like this go to show that the best at anything was a beginner once.
Furries have gotten me through a lot, even having only really participated in the community for a few months, even without me realizing that they had. I just left the state to head off to college, and, conjunctively, lost pretty much all of my friends to other universities. A few weeks ago, I hadn't really counted the furries I knew exclusively through Tumblr as "friends," and yet they're the ones that I'm still talking to, they're the people who're really experiencing this "brave new world" with me. Hell, even the characters I've made have, at times, served as a "coping mechanism" for me.
In that time that I spent "stalking" the fandom, a lot changed about me. I had to cope with the aftermath of losing a parent; I questioned my sexuality in a conservative-leaning state; I left (as of now) the swim team that had made up my entire social life for the better part of twelve years; I watched my household war against itself until my brother was in therapy. And I haven't gotten any help back from Tumblr or FA, but that's because I've been quiet about it all. Rather, the furry community has been a rock, of sorts. It's the one consistent factor, the one place I can go where I know what I'll find. And that's been helpful to me in a way I don't think I've even realized until now.
It hasn't all been easy. A lot of the people I've met are plagued with anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide. It's scary. And I've had a good scare or two, paired with furious midnight typing sessions. (Call me old-fashioned, but I've been praying for a good number of people.) But I sometimes wonder what would happen if I hadn't been there. I don't purport to have saved anyone's life, to have walked anyone off the edge of the bridge, but I'd like to think that I've helped a couple folks get through a rough night or two. It's still been terrifying, but given the chance, I wouldn't have missed any of it.
It's kind of funny to think about, really. There's one, maybe two, people that I know in real life who are even aware that I'm a furry, and none that have known how long it's been. Yet, this community is just as big a part of me as any other aspect of my life; bigger than most, even. And although I've only truly met a handful of people, those people are some of the most wonderful I've ever known--talented, enthusiastic, supportive. Seeing where other people like  muzz started out and where they are now...I'm very excited for the future.