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Stupid Thoughts #001 | Furries
6 years ago
Where I'll be cataloguing my dumb random ramblings.
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I realized just a moment ago as I accidentally opened the front page -- and was assailed with fursuiters doing... questionable activities -- that despite the fact that I draw almost exclusively "furry" art and really like animal characters, I find a lot of furry things that people consider par for the course extremely cringy, if you'll pardon the term. One might look at me and think I am a furry who hates flurries or something.
Funnily enough, after being around here long enough and interacting with a lot of furries, it seems as though MOST of them actually dislike (or at the very least are discomforted by) these "Super Furries". The ones that people consider to be representative of the whole fandom. You know, the ones who coined the "bulge" memes and get into RP orgies in the comment sections of your art.
It seems most of us just act...normal. We're just here because we like these weird things. Most of us are anonymous and represent ourselves with furry characters not because we literally think we are these characters, but because it's fun to immerse yourself (and let's be honest, most of us wouldn't want our friends, family, or others to know about this).
So yeah. That's all. If I ever seem reluctant to identify as a furry, that's because I personally think it's silly to identify oneself by things one likes, or throw oneself fast into a group based only on a common taste when that group holds so many other opinions one does not themselves. I like anthro characters. They're cool and fun. It's not my identity, or even part of it.
Thanks for wasting braincells reading this. Bye.
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I realized just a moment ago as I accidentally opened the front page -- and was assailed with fursuiters doing... questionable activities -- that despite the fact that I draw almost exclusively "furry" art and really like animal characters, I find a lot of furry things that people consider par for the course extremely cringy, if you'll pardon the term. One might look at me and think I am a furry who hates flurries or something.
Funnily enough, after being around here long enough and interacting with a lot of furries, it seems as though MOST of them actually dislike (or at the very least are discomforted by) these "Super Furries". The ones that people consider to be representative of the whole fandom. You know, the ones who coined the "bulge" memes and get into RP orgies in the comment sections of your art.
It seems most of us just act...normal. We're just here because we like these weird things. Most of us are anonymous and represent ourselves with furry characters not because we literally think we are these characters, but because it's fun to immerse yourself (and let's be honest, most of us wouldn't want our friends, family, or others to know about this).
So yeah. That's all. If I ever seem reluctant to identify as a furry, that's because I personally think it's silly to identify oneself by things one likes, or throw oneself fast into a group based only on a common taste when that group holds so many other opinions one does not themselves. I like anthro characters. They're cool and fun. It's not my identity, or even part of it.
Thanks for wasting braincells reading this. Bye.
Personally, I actually learned to embrace the "cringy" side of the furry fandom simply because, in this day and age, anyone who still decides to embrace the "bulgy wolgy" memes and the "owo" stuff has a titanium spine. It's all half-ironic, anyways, but still.
Buuuuut if someone can't stand that, that's also valid - nobody should be required to commit to any specific part of a subculture just because they belong to it. That's why it's diverse in the first place!
Who *isn't* braver than a US marine?
Insightful thoughts and I'll wager it applies to a fair few people here
I'll admit, though. I used to be one of those "Super Furries", but I had to learn the hard way that maybe you should keep your hands to yourself when interacting with people you don't know very well. It should probably be considered common courtesy, really, but you know what they say about that.
Nowadays, you can imagine it makes me pretty leery when I see random people in the fandom coming up to me out of the blue saying they want to be my "friend". Nine times out of ten... well, you and I both know what they really want. It's nice to make the rare connection that sticks, sure, but it would be great if that happened much more often...
It's not limited to furries but I imagine it's particularly bad in this fandom, especially if you're a fursuiter and everyone thinks it's okay to just *touch* you without permission.
And then there are the people who feel entitled to unsolicited contact, which... I just don't understand where they are coming from at all. Especially when it involves something that I personally don't agree with. :s
Thankfully those people do seem to be in the minority. Stereotypes exist for a reason, but they usually exaggerate and distort the truth in the end.