General Furry Fandom Thread

[JonoD]

Not sure what I can say without pretty much word-for-wording everything Gabz has said. In a very similar way to Gabz, I don't partake in pretty much 90% of what people in the community do (fursuiting, meetups, cons, art or whatever), but I do love a lot of the art, and would at least be open to try some of the aforementioned stuff... Maybe minus drawing simply because I can't draw for crap. 

 

I'm pretty sure a lot of my favourite game protagonists kind of fall into the furry or at the very least Anthro genre, so at the most would be Sonic, then Ratchet and Clank and certainly Sly Cooper.

 

As far as when the appreciation started... It must have been a long time ago. I think the initial seeds were sown watching stuff like Disney films of the time, but one series I'd always loved growing up was the World of Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter that was being done in the early 90s. Was wonderfully animated stuff.

 

[The Kid]

That second art piece is just dorbs, Kid. Reminds me of Mary Blaire. <3

 

Anyhoo, just came back from the SCAD furmeet (we meet every Thursday at 5, so if, like, anyone else on this forum is ever in the metro Atlanta area and a furry, come join the gang) and I'm wiped. I partialed for the entire time, so around for six hours, and as usual the security and staff got a laugh out of it. They even know my outfit at this point so I don't have to flash ID anymore. Aside from us shooting the shit, watching awful videos, and interacting with me, I did some gift art of a wild dog for an elementary school friend, mainly with copics and Prismacolors that she was happy to let me borrow. A shame I forgot to get a decent picture of it before heading out. It was pretty good. <<;;

https://twitter.com/RobotToast<---- Dis guy I believe? They have so few watchers it's a crime, and because of  it are still open for commissions that are so cheap that it is also a crime.

[Kiah]

On 3/12/2015 at 4:06 PM, Lemanic Defence League said:

Well, we can't have a thread about furries without mentioning this little jewel, can't we?

*offensive and inappropriate video snipped*

Actually, we can have a thread about furries without the mentioning of this "little jewel" and we will have a thread without it. 

When a member creates a topic and sets rules in the OP, all those wishing to participate should abide by those rules. No excuses. Otherwise one shouldn't participate as that is frustrating to those that wish to have a constructive and clean conversation as well as this being inconsiderate and disrespectful towards the topic creator. Not to mention this video is inappropriate and offensive which is certainly against this SSMB rule:

Quote

No adult material.

That said, I've taken the liberty to remove the video myself since you ignored Lhancat's kind request to have it removed as that video has absolutely no place in this thread. When posting in a topic be sure to adhere to all the rules set by the OP and most importantly, be sure to follow all the rules we have established here at the SSMB.

[Delta Starfire]

Basically, what Gabz said. I vacillate between calling myself a furry and not, because, while I love cartoon anaimals and most of the art I do (including my comic) involves cartoon animals, I have no interest in attending furry conventions, I don't really participate on furry forums (I post occasionally on UKFur), and I haven't been to any fur meets. That being said, I have considered going to the monthly Edinburgh fur meets, but I haven't managed to yet. But that's more about expanding my social circle than it is about furries. I find common interests are a good way to make new friends, which is why I started going to Edinburgh humanist and skeptic events back in 2012.

 

Anyway, if anyone wants to see my furry art, they can find it on my deviantART page, specifically here and here. Be forewarned, while none of my art is graphic, there are a couple of risqué pics on there that I'd call NSFW. Every page of my comic so far is also on dA (because my website is down at the moment). It's basically a Sonic fan comic that forgot where it came from and became its own thing for many years and I'm now trying to reign in again -- or at least, to bring back some of what it was at the beginning. Some of the original, sprite version is also on dA. Be warned, I started it when I was 16 back in 2002. Don't expect Shakespeare. 

 

Finally, for the last two years, this has been my fursona:

 

 

I had a different one before I came out as trans. You can probably figure out who that is. 

[Red]

So I got something special today. Not my fursuit unfortunately but something different! One of the things I like doing is expanded my characters by buying other characters that people don't have anymore. People make up some seriously awesome designs! I mainly stick to cats myself, but this one stood out to me. It was just so appealing!

 

 

A Tiger/Shark hybrid! At the moment he is nameless. If all goes well he'll be a fursuit for 2016!

 

What are everyone else's thoughts about adoptables/design auctions? Got any yourself?

[Autosaver]

i secretly love furry bara

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

i secretly love furry bara

>"secretly"

[sonicgirl313]

Eh I'm still not sure whether to call myself a furry or not. I use to call myself one with no hesistation until a friend of mine recommended I joined FurAffinity. After seeing the art spawning from that site it kind of pushed me away and I stoppped visiting the site all together, so I just don't know. I like drawing Anthro art such as Sly Cooper, Sonic, and etc but I not sure whether to call myself a furry.

[Adamis]

I'm not involved in the fandom, I don't wear any fursuit or anything, but I don't mind furries in general. I just don't like the "ew" side of the thing or the generic-ness of some designs (like "furries living in a town where every of them has a perfect, muscular body and everyone want to have sex with everyone"). I don't mind drawing anthro characters, as I grew up with that kind of characters (Disney/Don Bluth movies, comics, videogames...) so I don't know if I should call myself a furry...

 

I've been to an anime con last week-end and among lots of cosplays, there were people wearing fursuits and they were funny and very kind.

 

[Killtank]

I often feel very reluctant to label myself a furry, but it would be severely disingenuous for me to claim otherwise. I have, not one but, two fursonas. Who could I possibly fool at this point. I'm only deluding myself by saying I that particular label doesn't fit me at all. I guess my resistance to the label likely has more to do with my distaste for elements of the fandom that kind bother me on a visceral level. But there are vastly more people who don't affirm any sleazy stereotypes associated with the overall community. So it would neither be fair nor accurate for me to internalize those very same negative opinions regarding furries in general. I have met enough good people who identify under that label to disprove those many lurid misconceptions.

[LATER BUDDY]

My name is Wolfy and I like dog things.

 

While I wouldn't really consider myself a "furry" anymore today, I definitely had a lengthy period of time where I would consider myself one. Dates back to prooolly '08ish, but (lamely) started with The Lion King. Don't remember the specifics but I watched the movie again one blue moon and instantly got obsessed. At that time I used to work like clockwork from one obsession to the next (usually stapled by whatever avatar/sig combo I had on SSMB haha), and Lion King was the next. Mostly just stuck to repeating the soundtrack a lot and playing the Genesis game, but I consider that my start anyway.

 

One thing led to another and I wound up watching Balto and got craaaazy obsessed though. Looking up productions and facts, buying the expensive soundtrack, joining a reaaally crappy forum (yes there's balto specific forums), drooled on ebay for potential merch, and so forth. Eventually I jumped to All Dogs Go to Heaven, Oliver and Company, Bolt just released that November, and kept hopping from dog movie to dog movie lmao. 

 

It's kinda hazy from there but I definitely got more into the furry scene while looking for art of said movies, and from there just kinda honed in more on doing wolf-related everythings. Started loving werewolves, some of my good high school buddies were into metal and lamely found werewolf related songs on the mythology, discovered Lapfox Trax that had furry personas representing his styles, looked up a lot of games that had wolf/fox stuffs, and it's just kinda ridiculous.

 

I still love wolves and foxes and dogs and whatnot since I think they're visually pleasing. Always been a fan of sharp and angular characters, and with their pointed ears and long snouts and claws, it's hard not to love. Backed with sooo much media and lore and mythologies and what have you, it's hard not to gravitate toward them if you're a fan in almost any instance.

 

So here's me now I guess. I still love the things and love a lot of furry canid related whatnots, but I just don't feel the same spark and excitement as I used to for them I guess, so I don't really consider myself a furry anymore. It's honestly the same boat as that Sonic guy where I still love the blue dude but I wouldn't put myself in the category, regardless if I still lurk on a forum of him a decade later haha.

 

I will end with that furries for the most part are some of the raddest, most interesting, and wisest type of people I've met before.

[T-Min]

I often feel very reluctant to label myself a furry, but it would be severely disingenuous for me to claim otherwise. I have, not one but, two fursonas. Who could I possibly fool at this point. I'm only deluding myself by saying I that particular label doesn't fit me at all.

Haha, honestly, it's not like it has to be a big deal. It's not something you have to be by default for liking silly cartoon animals. You really consider yourself one or you don't, regardless of what you like - there's no hard and fast "rules."  It's funny, I had a weird mentality like that when I first started out myself, but it actually made me more curious about the whole thing, reluctant as I was to identify with it, and I still sorta rode the fence on that point pretty much until quite recently. 15/16-year-old T-Min would probably want to strangle me right now 8D

 

(yes there's balto specific forums)

Doesn't surprise me, actually. Those movies have a pretty dedicated fanbase, especially among the fandom itself. I will say that seeing Balto II when I was 8 probably contributed to my appreciation of animal characters. 'Course, that movie's pretty butt, but in a fun way. Actually, it's funny, I pretty much saw you as the resident furry dude of SSMB for a long time, at least until ponies happened. d:

 

Oh, and also, since Wolfy didn't say it, I will: Solatorobo is a fantastic game and everyone who has even bothered to post in this thread should totally play it because it is good.

[Nepenthe]

I can understand why someone wouldn't want to fall under the label, because the fandom itself is incredibly hedonistic to the point of near anarchy. The lackadaisical approach to unity, niceness, and partying is great because it naturally caters to a fun and self-expressive environment, but at the same time it allows shelter for some pretty shitty people much more easily than other fandoms, and subsequently it shames discussion about these issues and call-outs as "drama." Don't talk about the vileness of some people; ignore them and drink this beer. I wrestle with that a lot, if not wish I had the clout to better take to task the scum that exists out there under the Furry label, but it is what it is at this point, and you either have the desire to contend with that your own way, either by doing social media work or setting a good example, or you don't and you can just avoid the crap altogether.

[Lady Soniko]

I honestly feel like being classed as a Furry to other people is like admitting to something like liking gross stuff like bestiality and strange animal related fetishes. Despite most people in this fandom actually being a form of furry since they're investing time into following a series about talking animals across varying media. When you admit to being a furry you often worry about the gross accusations and stereotyping you'll be subjected to by other people, and even then we all have different areas we fit into, where as I'll never be caught dead in a fursuit, I do dive into the artistic side of things.   

[Nepenthe]

Granted, I think the label's reputation has changed a lot for the better. With cosplay, convention, and nerd culture becoming so mainstream, Furry is far less divorced as a fetish subculture and is probably looked onto more now as a weird hobby on par with anime cosplay. It also helps that the age, gender, racial, and occupational demographics are so ridiculously widespread and have blown up tremendously since the 90s where it practically was an underground subculture dominated mainly by sexual minorities (who in turn are being more and more accepted with LGBT rights being a political hot topic lately). Couple that with social media, and you have more people understanding what Furry is as a hobby, more older people and parents being accepting of it as a hobby, and subsequently the secret underground party that it was in the 80s and 90s is over (and I hear a lot of greymuzzles tend to be pissed about that). It won't ever become mainstream like, say, video gaming, but right now is the absolute best time to be into it. I almost envy Furry teenagers now. xP

[Blue Blood]

I honestly feel like being classed as a Furry to other people is like admitting to something like liking gross stuff like bestiality and strange animal related fetishes. Despite most people in this fandom actually being a form of furry since they're investing time into following a series about talking animals across varying media. When you admit to being a furry you often worry about the gross accusations and stereotyping you'll be subjected to by other people, and even then we all have different areas we fit into, where as I'll never be caught dead in a fursuit, I do dive into the artistic side of things.

The first and only time I've heard "furry" being used to describe people who are merely fans of a media involving talking cartoon animals and the like is in this topic, and that's because I don't associate with furry culture or communities. And I can only guess that that definition is so broad to try and encompass as many people as possible to shed the unwanted negative stigma. To me, a furry has always been someone who enjoys anthro characters enough to either adopt a fursona, produce/enjoy art and such while engaging in the furry community, role play in some form (cosplay, online etc) and/or get into the sexual side of it. Basically, either you call yourself a furry or you're not one. Merely being a fan of series or two involving anthro characters as a prerequisite doesn't really cut it. Does that make all Spongebob fans furry to some degree?

[Mauro Fonseca]

Pretty much what Blue Blood says here- I've nothing against furries, but bull shit I'm a furry for liking Sonic. Even aside the disingenuousness of trying to claim anything funny animal as "this is now furry and was intended as furry and is always furry", a person can enjoy the artistic product of a subculture without being part of it.

[Sami]

"Nazifurs?"

"Fursecution?"

What the hell?

[Gabz Girl]

I've heard of babyfurs which IMO are creepy and not my cuppa tea, but Nazifur? Does..that even exist? XD

[Delta Starfire]

I've heard of babyfurs which IMO are creepy and not my cuppa tea, but Nazifur? Does..that even exist? XD

 

Judging by art I've seen on deviantART, yes. Yes, it does. I also recall 2, the Ranting Gryphon talking about it on an old episode of 2 Sense, which is a furry themed podcast I used to listen to when I was at uni. 

[Stacy]

I've heard of babyfurs which IMO are creepy and not my cuppa tea....

 

Why are they creepy? Average People find furries creepy enough so I find that someone such as yourself who partially identifies with the culture its a bit odd to have disdain for a sub group already within a culture that is not accepted and misunderstood by mainstream society.

 

Sorry Gabz if this is a bit harsh but it bothers me I think if you at least partially identify with the culture you should approach it with a open mind especially a culture such as this. I am the same as you I like the artwork and animation, I wouldn't call myself a Furry yet because I think you at least need a Fursona which I would love to have not I can't draw.

 

But I try to approach it with a bit more of a open mind seeing as it is a unique culture.   

[Mauro Fonseca]

I know that for many the fursecution is a real and serious thing and all, actively mocked and attacked for being furries, and all, but sorry

 

it's just one of the most hilarious words in the history of the internet

 

it just reminds me of that time moot made a furry board on 4chan as a trap to ban anyone who posted there

 

KNOCK KNOCK

 

WEEKLY FURRY INSPECTION, CITIZEN, WE ARE HERE TO TAKE YOUR BABYFURS

 

my dingo baby! STOP FURSECUTING US

[Stacy]

I know that for many the fursecution is a real and serious thing and all, actively mocked and attacked for being furries, and all, but sorry

 

it's just one of the most hilarious words in the history of the internet

 

it just reminds me of that time moot made a furry board on 4chan as a trap to ban anyone who posted there

 

KNOCK KNOCK

 

WEEKLY FURRY INSPECTION, CITIZEN, WE ARE HERE TO TAKE YOUR BABYFURS

 

my dingo baby! STOP FURSECUTING US

 

Chan 4 mocks everything so I am not offended. Its an anonymous board where anybody can say pretty much anything so chances are somebody is something unsavoury to someone, well it used to be like that at least. Anyway I never take that board or any board like that seriously unless of course someone is breaking the law. Best to avoid it if you don't like what goes on there.

[Tani Coyote]

As far as I know the Nazifurs usually aren't Nazis (indeed, many will put a big red disclaimer on their page), but simply like the outfits. It may seem odd, but given that Nazism is a forbidden fruit and people often like that which is such, it's not too surprising.

With regards to "fursecution," it may not be as visible as other forms of discrimination, but that's because it's fairly well hidden compared to even say, homosexuality. It only really is visible at the meetups and cons..

And go figure, that's where some dickwad decided to drop a chlorine bomb.

That goes beyond trolling. That's attempted mass murder.

[Mauro Fonseca]

I figure one can show appreciation for the bombin' nazi uniforms by Hugo Boss without necessarily associating as a nazi-something, but I'm outside this entire circle anyway so what do I know.

 

Fursecution still sounds just silly as a word, even if RL cases of people hating on furries do exist.