I am/not a furry

I am not a furry.

It is sad that I have to defend myself against this most egregious of insults.  I consider it an insult because I don’t think I am a furry.  you could call me fat, or a flaming duck on a monkey and I would take it as an insult.  And… I hate labels.

Let me open with a couple definitions:

Furry: Fairly enough, this can be open to interpretation. But I’m pretty sure its safe to say that someone who admires the furry fandom and or calls themselves a furry, is a furry. If someone has never heard of the fandom but if they -had- and it appeals to them/fits them, they are a furry.  If someone knows they are not a furry and doesn’t like the fandom… chances are, they are not a furry.

Anthropomorphic: This is the act of giving human characteristics to inanimate or non-human animals.

Now, here is a list of all the things that people point out when they insist on calling me a furry followed by my rebuttals:

“You’re a furry! You wear a collar with a big bell!”

I wear the collar for BDSM and the big bell is a bit of an inside joke. Its so you can hear me coming. I am not a furry.

“You’re a furry! You live with them!”

Moving in with a buncha furries was somewhat out of my hands. I had an idea of what I was getting into when I moved in here. But there wasn’t any other choice. It was either that or sleep on my mother’s couch that reeked of cat pee. I wasn’t expecting to be harassed by all this. If I had known some hippies that could take me in, I would be with the hippies. I am not a furry.

“You’re a furry! Your avatar on SecondLife is a furry!”

I have various human avatars, various ANTHROPOMORPHIC (not FURRY) avatars, yes, but I also have a toaster avatar as well as a flying book, a non-anthro rat, non-anthro moth… and who knows what else that is non-anthro. I haven’t been on for ages so I don’t recall. I am not a furry.

“You’re a furry! All your friends are furries!”

Just because I -know- a lot of people here who are furries, doesn’t mean they’re all my friends or that I am a furry. Furthermore, most of the people I know here are furries because I don’t get out much. See “You live with them!”. When I was living in Grants Pass, everyone I knew were mostly professional business people. That didn’t make me very professional. I could dress up and try to act the part but people still thought me odd and 15 at most. I am not a furry.

“You’re a furry! You write furry stories!”

Again, get your definitions right. I do not write about people who like the fandom or have a special affinity for a certain animal or dress in animal costumes or draw anthros, etc. I have no control over the characters that come to me. I should also note that many characters happen to be human. I am not a furry.

“You’re a furry! You have a furry name!”

Ok… that wasn’t the exact wording I heard but close enough. Just because I have a name that isn’t any relation to my real name doesn’t mean I’m a furry. This name was made up -before- I knew there was a furry fandom and by then I certainly wasn’t into the fandom, even though I didn’t know about it. I am not a furry.

“You’ve made/you’re making a tail! You’re a furry!”

I made a purple leopard print tail once. Big deal. Now, many years later, I’m making a “Faux-real” tail. Big deal. I’m desperate for work and money. I’m a craftsperson/artist. This is inspiring me to hopefully be able to make some money. I have no interest whatsoever in fursuiting. I will never go that far because I really really really don’t like fursuits. Just the accessories are kinda neat. I am not a furry.

“You like cuddling! You’re a furry!”

I like cuddling sometimes with some people. I’m trying really really hard not to be a cranky, introverted hermit. I’m working really hard on anxiety issues. Most of the time I’m going out of my comfort zone by cuddling. And of course I like head and other scratches. It feels fucking fantastic. Anybody who doesn’t agree has never tried it. I am not a furry.

“You’re on FA! You’re a furry!”

I have friends here with accounts. I like to support my friends in their art. That’s… about it. I am not a furry.

“You went to a furry con! You’re a furry!”

I wanted to get out of the house. I didn’t want to baby sit any animals. I knew from experience of the last time I was alone for a few days that I was miserable. It was great getting out of the house and so worth it in that regard. I am not a furry.

I will admit to drawing some anthros in the past before I gave up trying (my skills plateaued and I really don’t desire to draw anthros). Also to note, I don’t like most movies and TV shows and books that furries like. But other than that, I don’t recall off hand any other things people pull out of their asses to help their lame ass cause.

In closing on this section, I think its pretty safe to say this: I am not a furry. I don’t like the fandom. I happen to have some friends that I love very much that are furries, but I don’t hold that against them. So I think you all should give me a bit of slack.

I am Furry – or – Thoughts on how to be furry for a non-fur

At Rainfurrest ’09, a friend told furries that I didn’t even know, that I was trying to open up to and be social with, that I’m a furry. Like a closet furry or somesuch. This upset me because… hey, I’m not a furry. Labels shouldn’t be thrown around with so casually. I left and a short time later started getting a bit drunk (the only way I can be happy these days it seems, around groups of people). I texted said friend that fine, I give up, I’m a furry. If you can’t beat them, join them I guess.

He showed another friend (Tiggy) and someone else overheard and that someone else came to me

Well let’s see… I have no particular affinity for any type of animal. If I resigned myself to one thing, I’d hate it pretty quickly. This is why I have multiple avatars on Second Life. I have a hard time with labels and what I’m presenting of myself. I looooooooooove birds and rats, but I can’t stand the idea of having either as a “fursona”. A feline of some type or a bunny would settle better and probably last a few hours longer… but I could never settle there either. I’ve also considered dragon.s

So, with all the previous reasons why I’m not a furry mentioned, and I don’t even care to have a fursona, WHY THE FUCK AM I A FURRY?! How in the world can you call me a furry??

So yeah. I guess I’m a furry now, even though I’m not really. I walked around Rainfurrest feeling awkward and like a faker/poser. I kept hiding my badge because it had anthro stuff on it that just wasn’t -me-. If there’s anything in this world that’s annoying other than teasing your friends about being something their not, its PRETENDING to be something you’re not.

So now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I’ve admitted to being a furry… but I’m still not a furry. What the fuck?

Oh! And I haven’t “come out of the closet”. I wasn’t a furry to begin with, so there’s no closet involved. I’m open about the furry thing, I don’t hide it from anyone, so there is no closet.

the stupid! it burns!

OMFG.  Maybe not stupid, but ignorant.  And young.

So I was merrily poking around on dA when I saw the cover of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac in the recent postings on the front page. I was like… wtf? So I click and and yeah. Its defiantly the cover. So I go to the person’s gallery and find him/her uploaded the first page of the actual comic.

This is the description and reason for every page uploaded:

So I leave a comment on the first comic page (not the cover).  After all, maybe this person doesn’t know?:

So… you think you have the right to post somebody else’s art on the interwebz because you CAN? and because you spent MONEY? Giving credit does not make it legal.  It makes it slightly less evil of you, after all, you could have just not included any copy write whatsoever… and you may not like the laws but they still apply to you.

So this person eventually uploads the first 5 pages of the comic, as well as the cover.  >.>

S/he gets comments on a couple of them, but nothing to do with legalities.

So then I pick another page to comment on (like page 3 or something):

I’m -still- trying to help this person, even if they are feeling all entitled because s/he spent MONIESzomg!11.

I left another comment after the steak knife one but they went and hid the comments.  But I said:

“OR you could take down all the material you’re posting because its not supposed to be here. Problem solved.”

(I just now checked, looks like that page was taken down, I haven’t checked the rest though).

Oh, name blacked out to protect the ignorant.  They are very sensitive you know. (actually I only blacked it out because I don’t know the legalities on that…)

On a side note, this person’s profile and art was the most emo I’ve ever seen.  I’m kind of dense when it comes to spotting labels and such… but even -I- saw the flaming obviousness of emo! O.o

May is going to suck.

Feyfey is going away on her Thailand trip on the 7th.  We’re almost out of soap and shampoo and toilet paper.  The dishwasher detergent isn’t going to last very long either.  Considering Fey is usually the only one who buys such things in this house I’m pretty much screwed because I’m still broke.

I -do- have  $11 in my bank account but I need $10 of that in a couple months to renew funkycatstudio.com and I have no clue if I’ll be able to get $10 by then.  >.> I do have my bar of Nag Champa soap still as a fall back (the kind that gives me the B.O.) so I won’t necessarily have to buy more soap this month.  The shampoo… eh… I think I can afford a buck or two on some cheap shampoo.  The TP and dishwasher stuff is top priority.

If I can do that housecleaning gig for that lady Coug knows, then I can get some extra cash.  But communication there seems to be… well… not there.

So for this entire month I’ve gotta doggysit Fey’s dog.  Poor Bo is gonna think her momma just left her for good. 😦

By the time the end of the month rolls around for my birthday, I ought to be in lovely shape >.>

So… anyone visiting the House of Coug this month… you may want to bring your own TP!