So, you'd like to know about me and the Furry Fandom eh?
Well, first a bit of background...
I got into furry at about 1995-1996 through the newsgroups. The furry fandom is
a group of people more or less loosely interested in animal like characters
with human characteristics (anthropomorphic is the industry term). I say
loosely because you can ask 100 furry fans what furry means to them and you
will get 100 different answers. There are many good FAQs on the subject, I
suggest you start looking at these links:
Uncle Kage'sfurry definition
Peter Cat's Furry
Intro Page
The Lynx and Jordan Greywolf Furry FAQ
Now, as for myself, you're probably wondering what furry is to me. The
answer is rather detailed but here goes:
I draw a tiny bit, write a bit more, but mainly my connection is with nature
and cheetahs. I believe strongly that humans and animals are closely
interconnected and that harm to our environment and our fellow creatures must
inevitably cause harm to ourselves, though this harm may not be readily
apparent.
I feel that I, as a human most closely Emempathize with and understand cheetah
the animal. This is a very similar to the native American philosophy of totem
animals as a guides and mentors. I don't believe in a cheetah spirit, but I do
feel that in using cheetah behavior and their ecology as a guide to how I live
my life I'll be a better balanced person. This is partially admiration of the
qualities I see in the cheetah.
What do I see in cheetahs you may ask? Cheetahs to me have the following
qualities, slow to anger, slow to act until sure and then putting everything
into that action, quiet - their actions speaking for them. Cheetahs rarely if
ever fight amongst themselves and aren't even built for fighting. They are
however like any animal are ferocious when protecting their young, but always
preferring to avoid conflict. Cheetahs do not eat carrion, and will not even
kill prey unless they chase it down. All of these things are impressive to me
and worthy of emulation.
Now, furries as a culture, we are a bit different than the other various
subcultures just as they are different from each other; examples include
sci-fi fans, LARPers (live action role play), wargamers, ravers, SCAdians,
trekkies (oops, I mean trekkERS), goths and many many others. The furry fandom
as a whole tends to be pretty diverse, allot of that is because we have very few
things in common with each other save a enjoyment of anthropomorphic arts.
My main attraction to furries (a term furry fans coined for themselves) is that
they tend to be on the whole rather accepting and pretty friendly. Also, quite
often furries will help each other out at the drop of a hat, even when they are
relative strangers. This is a very endearing trait to me as I would like to
see a lot more of that all over.
This all being said, there are plenty of nuts in the tree, we have our share
of strange and in some cases seriously disturbed people. I've run into maybe
3 furry fans in my life that I considered dangerous. By and large the really
odd ones are harmless eccentrics. Given what I know about the hard-core sci-fi
fans and anime buffs out there though, its about par for the course. Just goes
to show that we're all human. *grin*
That is what furry means to me.
Back! Back! Back I say!