Fritzy525
Member
Wow. So, this is officially my first post on this website. Honestly, I'm not sure what will happen by me writing this, but you know what? There's only one real way to find out. Anyway, this post might be a bit all over the place, but basically, I've been feeling the need to express myself.
Anyway, I've decided to try and tell my story involving the furry fandom, how it impacted me, how I became part of it, how I feel about it, etc. This is probably going to be a post where I try my best to tell the story, and anyone interested can reply with their experience being in the Furry Fandom, if you'd like. So, if you don't like reading long stories of someone's life experiences, feel free to skip over this post or something. Otherwise, here goes:
I guess I should start from the (somewhat) very beginning. I first started to feel a connection with anthropomorphic animals when I was about 9 or so. I didn't exactly exhibit furry tendencies immediately since I was born, unlike most Furries. I guess that makes me feel like an outcast even inside a whole society of outcasts. I still do, in fact. But I'll probably get to that later. So anyway, I'm guessing a big reason as to why I never started to have those tendencies because of my family. Both my mother and father are ex-military (at the time, they were fully military towards the start of my childhood). And typically, I think I was just really impressionable, since the stuff I started to like was stuff that my parents liked, so it was probably just forced onto me. I mean, I was a little kid. I doubt anyone really starts to know who they are until they get older. Ironically, some of the stuff I enjoy nowadays has something to do with stuff I was into when I was younger.
By the time I was older and starting to figure stuff out, I came across the game "Five Nights at Freddy's" (which, now that I think about it, not only sparked my love for anthropomorphism, but also my love for the horror genre). It wasn't the game itself that introduced me to anthropomorphism (obviously), it was when my naive 10-year-self went on YouTube and found FNaF animations and stuff. The ones where Freddy and the gang had actual fur and talked and acted like humans. The ones that look more like Furry animations, except the characters are from FNaF, but styled as if they were straight from a Furry comic. There was actually a specific series on YouTube that I watched the most, but unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it. And even if I did know the name, I'm betting it's long gone or something. So, yeah. That's when my anthropomorphic affinity really started. From that point on, stuff like that was always like a small hobby/pastime for me. But, for some reason, it never occurred to me to start drawing characters like that super often (I wasn't that good at drawing anyway, and I'm still not TO THIS DAY fyi).
Jumping ahead to 7th grade (And might I add, WHAT A TIME to find out that you're actually a Furry because middle school sucks, too). That's when I learned about Furries officially. It started when I was sitting with my friends at lunch. We were having a conversation involving animals, or something. I mentioned my love for animals and that's when my friend Londyn (who actually was a Furry, too, as I later found out about her) playfully teased me, suggesting I was a Furry. I honestly had no idea what that was at the time. To be honest, I didn't care about finding out, too. That is, until I was on YouTube, watching random memes and stuff. And this is where it starts to get weird, because SOMEHOW, I ended up watching a video with people wearing fursuits. And that's when I really started to become intrigued. So, what do you do when you have a question? You Google it, right? I did. I ended up reading NUMEROUS articles involving Furries, explaining what they are. And weirdly enough, I was STILL super intrigued. Then after several hours of reading articles about Furries, I was starting to get the picture. So I went to school the next day, but for some reason, I COULD NOT STOP thinking about the fandom. Then when I went home, I ended up coming across another news article. This one was somewhat different... And eventually I remember reading something from that article that I can still remember pretty well. It went something like, "Do you enjoy watching cartoons involving anthropomorphic animals? Well, you might be a Furry. Do you enjoy art and animation involving this kind of toony animation style? You could be a Furry. Have you ever felt a connection with animals, whether anthropomorphic or not? You may very well be a Furry. Sometimes, people enjoy these types of things, and don't even realize it."
And that's when it happened. Something I like to call "The Click".
Because in that very moment it finally clicked in my head: "Holy crap. I'm literally a Furry".
After I had that epiphany, the next few years were... Well, I don't even know how to describe them honestly. I also discovered my sexuality (which is a story for another time) and started to try and find my place in the fandom, which brings me to my main point about being a Furry. Because lately? I've been feeling so unsure and sad these things. I have all these questions, too. Will I ever go to a Furry Convention? How do I identify myself in the fandom? Above all, where do I belong? What's my place? If I left the fandom, would anyone even care?
Anyway... That's it, pretty much. My whole experience with the Furry Fandom in a nutshell. Anyway, I know all of that was probably a lot to process, because it sure is for me, and I wrote this post. Also, I would like to congratulate you if you just read that whole thing at once. I feel like that takes dedication. Anyway, let me know if you want to hear more stories from me, or if you want to share your experience with the fandom. I would also appreciate it if you guys would let me know what you think about my story, too. I know, it might not be the most exciting one ever so let me know if you have a better story.
I should probably stop now. I've been working on this for almost 3 hours.
Yours truly,
Fritz Fox
Anyway, I've decided to try and tell my story involving the furry fandom, how it impacted me, how I became part of it, how I feel about it, etc. This is probably going to be a post where I try my best to tell the story, and anyone interested can reply with their experience being in the Furry Fandom, if you'd like. So, if you don't like reading long stories of someone's life experiences, feel free to skip over this post or something. Otherwise, here goes:
I guess I should start from the (somewhat) very beginning. I first started to feel a connection with anthropomorphic animals when I was about 9 or so. I didn't exactly exhibit furry tendencies immediately since I was born, unlike most Furries. I guess that makes me feel like an outcast even inside a whole society of outcasts. I still do, in fact. But I'll probably get to that later. So anyway, I'm guessing a big reason as to why I never started to have those tendencies because of my family. Both my mother and father are ex-military (at the time, they were fully military towards the start of my childhood). And typically, I think I was just really impressionable, since the stuff I started to like was stuff that my parents liked, so it was probably just forced onto me. I mean, I was a little kid. I doubt anyone really starts to know who they are until they get older. Ironically, some of the stuff I enjoy nowadays has something to do with stuff I was into when I was younger.
By the time I was older and starting to figure stuff out, I came across the game "Five Nights at Freddy's" (which, now that I think about it, not only sparked my love for anthropomorphism, but also my love for the horror genre). It wasn't the game itself that introduced me to anthropomorphism (obviously), it was when my naive 10-year-self went on YouTube and found FNaF animations and stuff. The ones where Freddy and the gang had actual fur and talked and acted like humans. The ones that look more like Furry animations, except the characters are from FNaF, but styled as if they were straight from a Furry comic. There was actually a specific series on YouTube that I watched the most, but unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it. And even if I did know the name, I'm betting it's long gone or something. So, yeah. That's when my anthropomorphic affinity really started. From that point on, stuff like that was always like a small hobby/pastime for me. But, for some reason, it never occurred to me to start drawing characters like that super often (I wasn't that good at drawing anyway, and I'm still not TO THIS DAY fyi).
Jumping ahead to 7th grade (And might I add, WHAT A TIME to find out that you're actually a Furry because middle school sucks, too). That's when I learned about Furries officially. It started when I was sitting with my friends at lunch. We were having a conversation involving animals, or something. I mentioned my love for animals and that's when my friend Londyn (who actually was a Furry, too, as I later found out about her) playfully teased me, suggesting I was a Furry. I honestly had no idea what that was at the time. To be honest, I didn't care about finding out, too. That is, until I was on YouTube, watching random memes and stuff. And this is where it starts to get weird, because SOMEHOW, I ended up watching a video with people wearing fursuits. And that's when I really started to become intrigued. So, what do you do when you have a question? You Google it, right? I did. I ended up reading NUMEROUS articles involving Furries, explaining what they are. And weirdly enough, I was STILL super intrigued. Then after several hours of reading articles about Furries, I was starting to get the picture. So I went to school the next day, but for some reason, I COULD NOT STOP thinking about the fandom. Then when I went home, I ended up coming across another news article. This one was somewhat different... And eventually I remember reading something from that article that I can still remember pretty well. It went something like, "Do you enjoy watching cartoons involving anthropomorphic animals? Well, you might be a Furry. Do you enjoy art and animation involving this kind of toony animation style? You could be a Furry. Have you ever felt a connection with animals, whether anthropomorphic or not? You may very well be a Furry. Sometimes, people enjoy these types of things, and don't even realize it."
And that's when it happened. Something I like to call "The Click".
Because in that very moment it finally clicked in my head: "Holy crap. I'm literally a Furry".
After I had that epiphany, the next few years were... Well, I don't even know how to describe them honestly. I also discovered my sexuality (which is a story for another time) and started to try and find my place in the fandom, which brings me to my main point about being a Furry. Because lately? I've been feeling so unsure and sad these things. I have all these questions, too. Will I ever go to a Furry Convention? How do I identify myself in the fandom? Above all, where do I belong? What's my place? If I left the fandom, would anyone even care?
Anyway... That's it, pretty much. My whole experience with the Furry Fandom in a nutshell. Anyway, I know all of that was probably a lot to process, because it sure is for me, and I wrote this post. Also, I would like to congratulate you if you just read that whole thing at once. I feel like that takes dedication. Anyway, let me know if you want to hear more stories from me, or if you want to share your experience with the fandom. I would also appreciate it if you guys would let me know what you think about my story, too. I know, it might not be the most exciting one ever so let me know if you have a better story.
I should probably stop now. I've been working on this for almost 3 hours.
Yours truly,
Fritz Fox
