furry /ˈfəːri/ noun (INFORMAL) noun: furry; plural noun: furries 1. an enthusiast for animal characters with human characteristics, in particular a person who dresses up in costume as such a character or uses one as an avatar online. "a growing community of furries" -- I'm saying this as someone leaving the furry fandom. I'm saying this as a mostly unbiased person. The time when I start writing this is 2.45 am. -- my experience w/ the fandom Let's start of with how I got into the furry fandom in the first place. It was somewhere in mid 2019- early 2020 when I got my first dog: a Shetland Sheepdog mix breed dog named Loki. I absolutely adore Loki, and I didn't have a phone at that time, so I turned to other ways of capturing his looks- drawing. I watched tons of channels like Sashley, Typh and Riko Sakari so I could study their characters and teach myself to draw. If you were thinking: Why couldn't I just have drawn Loki as a human? I wouldn't have had to join such a "notorious" fandom then. There was a problem with that. I couldn't draw decent looking humans. I had been practicing that since a year or two prior. Now that I had learnt to draw furries (albeit in my own weird style), I thought myself a member of the furry community. For a period of time I had fantasised about getting/making a fursuit. That never happened. But I loved the community. It was a place where I had the opportunity to discover people who had the same interests as me, and most importantly: a safe place where I was able to discover my (lgbtq+) identity safely without judgement. I'm not saying that there weren't any furries who were bad. But the number of furries who are generally nice and friendly greatly outweighs those who did bad and sometimes inappropriate acts, and those who support neo-n4zism. However, this year, my interest declined steadily over the course of time. A reason for my gradual disinterest was because I had joined the countryhumans fandom in Nov/Dec 2020. It interested me much more. Another reason was due to school. I spent more time studying up this year, which meant I had less time for drawing. So around the end of this year I decided that I had lost pretty much most of my interest in the said fandom and wanted out. I edited OC lore, renamed a few with odd names to acceptable human ones, taught myself as best as I could to draw hair, head shapes, humanoid hands and feet. I wanted to leave completely. But then I realised the immense amount of hate directed at the furry community from random strangers on the internet to people in my artist friend group. Even at those who only drew furries and did not identify as a furry, and those who drew nekos (they aren't even furries). As much as I wanted to ignore it since it was no longer relevant to me, I hated the idea of standing by the side and watching it go down. -- adressing furry hate Hate is not okay when directed to people that aren't harming anyone. It's okay to dislike the furries who support bad causes like f4cism and neo-n4zism and do inappropriate as well as harmful acts; but it's never alright to hate on those who are just in the fandom to draw and meet people with similar interests. I've been that strange kid who's been bullied in school for simply being different in certain ways. I've been called things for simply being Asian and Chinese. I've been told things like "you're going to hell" and "there's something wrong with you" for being lgbtq+. Receiving hate is never something fun nor pleasant. Things like "you should d1e" may be just words to you, but it can potentially end someone's life or make them consider it. I've been put through a rough patch for things people have said to me for being who I am and loving who I love. Seriously, it hurts. And it takes a long time to recover from. Think about what you're going to say before you actually say it. Only say what you mean. Every careful thought spared could be a life saved. Furries, under the mask and suits, behind the screens and the personalities, are humans too, just like you and me. They have feelings which are very much valid. I ask that you think to respect them. I see people here saying things like "furries aren't welcome here", saying they're "anti furry", "furries are mentally insane"... It isn't funny, nor is it cool. The prejudice is terrible. It's not fair in the least bit. You wouldn't like it very much if I were to harass and make fun of you just because you were different from most of us, would you? And may I remind you that the Scratch guidelines state that everyone here should be treated with respect and that the site should be kept friendly? All this hate- for a group of people in the furry fandom. If you don't like furries, ignore them. You don't have to make their life a living hell because drawing anthropomorphic animal characters or wearing a fursuit makes them happy. It's that simple.
If you're still thinking: "Well, I really think they should d1e and it's my opinion, not yours" I politely ask that you leave my account and do not interact at all with me. I'm sorry but it is just repulsive that you don't value human life. If you say something purposefully hurtful to the furry fandom and decide to write hate comments on this project, it will be reported and deleted. I suggest you think carefully. A good project adressing this matter (furry hate): https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/429172073 -- If you can, please do donate to Ukraine. While many of us are living safely and comfortably in our own homes, far away from the raging war, many children and their families are caught in the crossfire, fearing for their lives. To put this into perspective, here are some of the things that have happened since Putin started the invasion of Ukraine: -Switzerland has broken it's neutrality in the first time in about 500 hundred years, imposing sanctions on Russia -Germany has pledged 100 billion Euros on military spending, dramatically beefing up its military strength -Ukraine has banned men aged 18-60 from leaving the country -Ukraine has offered arms to anyone willing to fight -Some Nordic countries have expressed their interest in joining NATO Therefore, yes, the situation is dire. Many other countries are feeling threatened by Putin's bold move on a sovreign state, effectively breaking international peace laws. Though we cannot travel to the frontlines to take up arms, there are ways we can still help; by donating, you help to fund the effort to evacuate and protect the Ukrainian citizens. Countless lives could be saved. Here are some charities and Non-Govermental Organisations (NGOs) that can help the Ukranian citizens and military: -Come Back Alive (https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/) -Ukrainian Red Cross (https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/ua/donate/~my-donation?_cv=1) -World Central Kitchen (https://donate.wck.org/give/236738/#!/donation/checkout) -Voices of Children (https://voices.org.ua/en/donat/) -USA for UNHCR (https://give.unrefugees.org/220224ukr_emer_d_4983/) -Save The Children (https://support.savethechildren.org/site/Donation2?df_id=5746&mfc_pref=T&5746.donation=form1) -National Bank of Ukraine (https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsionalniy-bank-vidkriv-spetsrahunok-dlya-zboru-koshtiv-na-potrebi-armiyi) -Donbas SOS (https://fundraising-hotline.tilda.ws/dsos) In addition, I will be opening commisions in support of Ukraine, with 100% of the money going straight to the charites. Payment will be made in the form of donations to any charity of your choice; do DM me either on Insta or on Disc if you're interested. To reiterate my point- your donations could save lives that are being lost needlessly in the bloodshed. Every dollar counts. However, if you are financially unable to donate, that's alright. Simply staying informed and not sharing any information about the movement of the Ukrainian army is also helpful. Thank you for reading. Слава Україні. #StandWithUkraine #HandsOffUkraine #нетвойне
