I was bored, here's a meme.

[obliviousally_lj]

GENERAL
*Are you a furry?
I guess? In the sense that I draw animal people and participate in the fandom.

*If you have a Spouse/SO - Is he/she a furry too?
About as furry as I am. We sit back and heckle the fandom pretty hardcore. It's awesome. We got into the fandom together at the same time, so we've developed about the same mentality about it as time has gone on.

*How long have you been in the community?
Over 10 years now. Since 1997.

*How did you find furry?
Via the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book. I stumbled across rat.org (which then became the SCFA and, as everyone knows it now, Yerf). I went to a lot of Sonic-themed RP chatrooms and met a lot of cool artist folk, too (like Bara-chan and Sebrina).

*What's your reason for furry (what interested you to get into the community)?
I got into it because of the art. It's also what inspiried me to learn to draw (yes, everyone has drawn growing up, but only a few of us hang onto it) and shit. I started out by tracing and eyeballing pictures I really liked, then I managed to teach myself how to piece things together. I'm pretty much entirely self-taught when it comes to illustration.

*What's Furry to you?
Furry is claiming you're furry. I really don't feel that JUST drawing animal people automatically gives you the label of 'FURRY'. I feel you probably have to take some part in the fandom or at least say 'HEY I'M A FURRY'. I mean, Walt Disney wasn't a fucking furry. The dude who draws Blacksad isn't a furry. So on and so forth.

*If someone found out you're a furry and asked you about it how would you respond?
"Big deal?". I mean, it's not some OMG HUEG part of my life. I do draw a shitload of furry stuff and I have furry-related things like art and buttons and stickers from other artists. but it's not because they're OMG FURRAY it's because I like the art my friends draw and I like buying from cool artist people.

*What are your favorite aspects of our community?
I do like how creative many people in the fandom art. There are a lot of really fuckin' cool people to be found, but you have to sort of search through the sludge to find them.

*Do you use any furry terms? (i.e. yiff, paws, murr?)
In jest and for great lulz. Because, honestly, the terms are stupid. Just as stupid as, say, prefixing 'fur' onto words. 'Furiend', 'Fursecution', 'Furst', etc., etc.

*What do you wish furry was NOT associated with?
It's not that I hate the whole sexualization aspect, it's that I hate that people take it TOO far and are TOO open about it. Keep your fetishes to yourself.

*How strongly do you feel about someone bashing the community as a whole?
I do it myself. So what does that say?

*How strongly do you feel about anyone bashing you yourself for your interest based on the media's aspect of what furry is?
It doesn't affect me. I'll probably agree, but I'll also add that not everyone in the fandom is like that. But I like a little debate and confrontation, so...

*We all know furries have alot of sexual aspects in this fandom, What's your opinion on it?
KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. I dont' want to hear about how you like sloppy seconds, dressing up like a baby, being shat on, being pissed on, sniffing farts, being eaten, ectera. And furries will tell you these things OUT OF NOWHERE. Just because you're another furry they feel you absolutely need to know what they're into in the bedroom.

PERSONAL
*What is/are your fursona(s)?
I've used a fox to represent myself pretty much since the beginning. It's pretty much just me...as a fox. I've recently been using a Virginia Opossum, as well. Because I'm pretty 'possumy.

*Do you have any fetishes that pertain to the fandom?
Not that don't exist on their own. Furry doesn't have any furry-specific fetishes. Even a fetish for mascot costumes existed before the fandom. And fetished for animated cartoon characters existed before the fandom, as well, I'm sure.

*If you could magically morph into your fursona would you?
Maybe if it was reversible. Having a tail and fur would probably be the most annoying thing in the world. Bathing would be a pain and getting dry would take forever. If you self-groomed, you'd get hairballs. You tail would probably get stuck in all sorts of things because you're not used to it being there and having to get it out of the way. See, furfags don't think about these things. It's just all YIFF YIFF MURR MURR.

*Do you believe you have a spirit animal?
Nope. And neither do most furries who claim to, in my opinion. Also, why the hell is it that all the spirit animals are generally wolves and cats? There are other animals in the world, people.

*What other fanbases/groups are you a part of?
Comics (Marvel, DC, whatever I can get my hands on), Iron Man (mostly movieverse). I'm not hugely involved in a lot of fandoms on account of DRAHMA, but I like to watch from afar.

*Anthro/Feral, Therian or Kemonomimi (Not a furry, just a human with animal ears and a tail)?
What does Therian have to do with this question? I'm not sure I understand.

*Are you a fursuiter? If yes, how many do you own? If No, do you ever plan on being a suiter?
I help make fursuits and I've worn one before. I like them, but I'm really kind of lkhdsglh about being stuck in a hot costume for an extended period of time. But I think ears/tails are cute in the appropriate situations (conventions). Halfsuits I much prefer. But I'm not 'a fursuiter', I guess.

*How many of your friends are furry?
A good portion, actually. Or, they're fringe furry. Most are aware of the fandom and get a good laugh when I inform them of the latest drama, but we all have interests that are higher up on our lists of things to talk about.

*How many pets do you own, if any?
Um, a lot right now. But I have ratties, ferrets, a bunny, a cat and a KEEPIE right now. The cat is getting rehomed before next school semester and many of the ratties (two of the nudes given to us as boys turned out to be girls and they ended up pregnant, so we're rehoming most of the females and all of the baby boys). There's also a wild rat that's been deemed Chuck Norris who's taken residence in my house who I haven't been able to catch yet. On the upside, it's just one wild rat and he generally keeps to himself.

*Aside from furry what other interests do you have?
Comic books, horror movies, WoW, Iron Man, roleplaying, video games, CUTE THINGS. Shit, I could go on and on, but I like a lot of stuff.

*Are you confident enough in yourself to say that you're a fur, no matter what the media says?
I'm confident enough to admit that I'm part of the fandom.

MEETUPS
*Do you attend any cons? If no, would you attend any cons? If yes, which cons have you been to?
Mostly Anthrocon for the last three years now. I went to Further Confusion in 2006 and loved it. I also used to staff at a local anime con, Colossal Con, and I staff at a local comic book/pop culture convention called Screaming Tiki Con. I really do enjoy staffing for conventions (because I get in for free and cons can ALWAYS use the competent help!), but many aren't well put together or well run sometimes.

*Do you go to local meetups(bowling, public outings...etc)?
I don't and I was once told I wasn't part of the local group of furries because I'd enver gone to a meetup. I had a good laugh at that, as I hope you did as well. I just don't like most of the local furries for a variety of reasons. I'm sure there's some awesome folk mixed in, but the ones that I don't like keep me away because I don't want to be associated with them. And, hey, I probably have better things to do anyhow.

*Have you ever attended a furry party? If no, would you attend one?
What counts as a 'furry party'? A room party at a convention? A party at someone's house? Yes to the former, no to the latter. I mean, isn't that the same thing as a meet anyhow?

ONLINE
*Have you ever met up with a fur you talked to online?
Many of them, yes. I like meeting people face to face and I generally have no qualms with doing so.

*What furry websites do you attend?
FurAffinity, Furtopia (for great lulz), NEOFurs, dramachan (it counts because 90% of the stuff posted there is furry-related).

*What non furry websites do you frequent?
LiveJournal, Facebook, flickr, Blogger, Drawn, White Chapel, etc., etc., etc...

*Has the fandom done anything for you that you're thankful for? Has it taught you anything or brought you anything you treasure greatly?
Um...not really, I don't think? I mean, I've met a lot of great friends through the fandom, but who's to say I wouldn't have met them elsewhere? Overall, the fandom brings me great lulz, but nothing life-changing.

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

And neither do most furries who claim to, in my opinion. Also, why the hell is it that all the spirit animals are generally wolves and cats? There are other animals in the world, people.

I suggest the opposite, that they do have "spirit animals", but that they haven't done the necessary investigation or introspection to understand what these beings really are. All women want the grace of a cat while all men want the indolence, and Wolf is one of the primary teachers and initiators of totemists and spirit investigators and the like; so it makes sense that people start off believing it's just wolf and/or cat, and then because they're lazy they don't go any further than that.

Dragon, pangolin, mouse, rat, wolf, grey fox, spiders (primarily Black Widow), and a number of others participate in my sphere of influence. But then, that's just me recognizing what's already happening as one or another comes to the forefront while others fade into the background over time.

Anthro/Feral, Therian or Kemonomimi

I think the idea was to ask how fully transformed you would be if you were a furry; but you're right, this isn't a progression. I would have gone with "Fully animalistic/feral (1) vs Kemonomimi (5): How fully would you be transformed? (Half-and-half anthro would be 3)" And my own answer would be about a 2.

[obliviousally.livejournal.com]

No, they don't all have spirit animals. That's absurd. You'd have to subscribe to that sort of Native American or shamanic spirituality in order to claim a spirit animal, otherwise you're just faking it.

This isn't the sort of 'oh, I really like kitties so I'mma use a cat for my animal persona!' or even 'I'm loyal like a dog, so I'll use that for my animal fdlghfdl'. When I hear spirit animal, I assume that's something that someone believe they're attuned to on some sort of level us 'normal' people don't understand.

Also, that was a poorly worded question and the maker of this meme needs a kick in the ass for not knowing how to ask things properly.

[zeeth_kyrah]

I agree that there is a difference between animal persona and spirit animal -- one represents the person, while the other represents a form of teacher, spirit guide, or personal ideal to strive for. However, I don't agree that you have to subscribe to a defined spirituality or religion to have these things; the question is whether you acknowledge them, as opposed to claiming them. But yeah, lots of people are lazy and just cadge onto the idea as one more slap of butter on the chocolate buttercream frosted sugar cookie fudge brownie red velvet devil's food cake of their inner lives (feels so rich and has lots of tasty crap on it, but so horribly empty and bad nutrition, and you can't stomach it because all the flavor is lost in SUGARSUGARSUGAR), and then they don't go anywhere with it.

[hellebore.livejournal.com]

What about paw fetish?

[hellebore.livejournal.com]

"I don't and I was once told I wasn't part of the local group of furries because I'd enver gone to a meetup."

Also, this. Same here. Retarded.

[obliviousally.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the claim was by the same person...

[keeperofdreams.livejournal.com]

I think that's just a specialized version of a foot fetish, maybe?

[keeperofdreams.livejournal.com]

And that thing would be a foot. Unless you're a fish, but then you need not worry about those sorts of things.

[keeperofdreams.livejournal.com]

Those are just specialized fins, actually. Not quite legs and feet. Though still weird. X3

And EVERYTHING can be a fetish, I've found. Ugh. Makes me never wanna leave the house again but that's probably a fetish too!

[zeeth_kyrah]

There's a reason Rule 34 and 35 go together. There IS porn of it; and if you can't find any, someone will make some.

And oh god now I have an image of a house as woman, with the wide-open front door as...

[keeperofdreams.livejournal.com]

The image has already been done. A while back people anthro-ized buildings.