How long this last month has been. It feels like just last week, I was working on an article the week before ETSU-Con. While that article didn’t make it out in time, I still want to write it. I want to talk about the furry community.
Even the best of us make assumptions about communities we don’t know much about, but the furry community has been under fire almost since the start of internet forums, if not longer. I met with two furries, their aliases’ or fursonas’ names Adondis and Florian, who were more than happy to talk about the fandom.
So, what exactly is a furry? There are many answers to this question, but the easiest answer is that a furry is someone who in one way or another enjoys dressing up in an animal-esque way or drawing themselves as humanoid animals. Of course that is a broad definition, and not everyone is going to fit that idea. That is something the community often experiences; someone pigeon-holing them into an identity, assuming things about them based on their interests.
Like any community, there are many different niche interests inside of the overall furry fandom. Being a furry is not inherently sexual (though many seem to think it is), and when sexuality is involved, the community places high emphasis on consent and respect.
Many furries put a lot of time, effort, and money into fursuits and drawing commissions. According to Adondis, there are three types of suit: Partial, Planti and Digiti (essentially being some, half and full suits). Suits range from $1,800 to $8,000, and that is only a base price without customization.
Adonis’ fursona comes from Pokémon called a Quilava, though that isn’t his most recent fursona, a Party Poodle named Russell. Pokémon is what got him into the community in 2016, and he’s been a part of it ever since. He said that the poodle is the best representation of himself, because they are happy and full of energy. They are also the second-smartest dog breed, which Adondis related to heavily.
Florian’s fursona is a domesticated rat. He chose a rat because they’re one of his favorite animals, and because, “they’re cool.” For him, it stands as a dual representation as his identity in the furry and punk communities. “Something about them [domesticated rats] is very cute,” he told me as he described his costume.
Adondis enjoys wearing his fursuit and has gotten a lot of positive responses, including when he wore it to summer camp. According to him, being a furry can be good for kids because, “it allows them room to be cringey.”
When Adonis joined the community, he was under a lot of scrutiny, because many thought that it was weird. His response to it is beautiful. “It is [weird], but something can be weird, and you can still enjoy it.”
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