Hello out there! Hello Furaffinity and the fandom in general!

This is just going to be my feelings and thoughts on stuff that have piqued my interest in the fandom or maybe something else. I don't quite know where this is going, so bear with me.

I like speaking to the void, whether or not I'm looking to get attention is for you to decide. And I'm not sure if I'll respond back to anything, if I do, it will not be immediate, so be patient. I really don't expect anyone to see this (hence the "void") and I'm busy most of the time and in all honesty, this isn't on the top of my priority list.

Anyways, enough stalling.

I haven't really been a vocal part of an online community, not since my teenage years back in the 90"s. It wasn't the furry fandom, but a chatroom website. It provided lots of different rooms about different topics and thus the Role-Playing rooms was where you found me. I got there only through a suggestion, I think, my memory of getting there is pretty fuzzy. I didn't know about furries and the whole fandom at that time or even a couple years into RPing. The chatroom was able to use images, so people had their photoshopped images of actors, anime, fantasy art and furry art. To me, it was just art.

I remember being called a furry in one of those chatrooms. I said that I wasn't and that I was a scaly. Most of my characters/sonas at the time were non-anthro dragons with no fur, so logically, I was not a furry. But, what the hell is a furry? It was at this moment, I had learned that it was more than just art. It wasn't a special moment, I just learned what furries were and even if I didn't think I was a part of this group, the art was pretty cool and has always been the best part, in my opinion.

You artists are great. I admire artists, simply because y'all can do stuff I can't, not that it stopped me from trying. I am not an artist , but I drew my dragons a lot back then. Nothing dynamic, just head busts as I am at a loss on how to draw any sort of body. I was happy with what I could do and respected those who can do a lot more than me. Not that I'm avoiding it, but yeah, I was into the nsfw art too.

So, I was a furry, but didn't consider myself one. Enjoyed many aspects about the whole fandom and there wasn't much of a community compared to the last few years. And maybe around the late 90's and early 2000's, I did consider myself a furry. This was mostly due to the aforementioned chatroom website basically dying and shutting down. So, a few of us grouped up and moved elsewhere. Whether if it was to another chatroom owned by someone we all knew or trying to do it through php forums, which were all the rage at that time. In the end, we were all growing up, IRL stuff just won over and RPing was not at the forefront of our minds. I lost interest as it wasn't part of my everyday routine. Also, MMO's. I got into EverQuest for awhile, until my computer couldn't handle it, so I went to regular gaming stuff for awhile there. During the End of RPing Days there, I held on to my stories and expanded my universe. I wrote, made notes, drew maps and tried to put as much as I could on paper before I lost it all in my head. It was something I had always done and probably why I know now, in retrospect, I was always going to become a furry.

Anthropomorphic dragons was my first idea that I had, or the first universe I created in my head. This was just before going into those chatrooms. I was already playing with the idea of these anthro-dragons. I don't know why I started that way (gonna guess it was because of some art I saw, but I really don't remember), but it changed because of the chatroom, considering I never specified when I started, people just though they were interacting with a regular looking dragon. Not that I regret that decision, but that's just what happened. And how everything happened, these characters and -sonas I have are just too personal, they're near and dear to my heart and I really wouldn't be who I am without them. It feels weird saying that and I don't think many people would understand that sort of perspective, except the furry community. From what I've seen, everyone's fursona is special to them, an extension of who they are and what they're about. Back in those days, I really had a difficult time with my social skills, because I had none. Well, most of my social skills were directed online, in the chatrooms, on AIM or ICQ or whatever was popular back then. It was fun! And, these days, that's exactly what's happening in the fandom. Although, in a much larger scale comparatively. I've been watching, not just the fandom here, but this whole internet thing as a whole.

The fandom is great. Yeah, there's plenty of negative stuff and the media seems to be easing up a bit... maybe. Although, I know not everything is hunky-dory inside the fandom. The main reason I really have stayed away, especially in the recent years, is just the drama. I'm done with drama. Been done with it for quite awhile. And I'm just talking about regular drama from anywhere, so don't think furry drama is the only thing here. I can't really stand it and I do try to stay away from any sort of drama or anything that would lead to drama. Although, that's not always entirely possible and I understand that. And yeah, I know that I can't or won't ever escape from all drama, I just like to think that I can try to do so. Haha.

Anyways, I think that's enough of my rambling about myself. Any questions or anything you want to say, go ahead and comment. All in all, this fandom is pretty awesome. And while I'll just be lurking in the shadows, maybe I can peek out every once in awhile and say hi! No promises though. I really hope everyone can continue making the fandom great for everyone and the future generations to come!

~Mithswaw