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submitted by Chimp96
[link] [13 comments]

submitted by TinyPotatoAttack
[link] [46 comments]

The more I think about it, there's one thing I really love about the furry fandom, that I think a lot of other fandoms have lost sight of, to some extent.

And that is- the acceptance of originality, and original characters. You see, in mainstream sci-fi and fantasy fandom, conventions used to be dominated by original creations. (I'm talking about the 70's and 80's) We weren't as spoiled for choice in terms of visual media then- video games and home video either weren't a thing or were in their infancy. So people let their imaginations run wild, coming up with costumes that were either their original takes on literary characters, or completely original creations. Some of these had backstory, others not so much. But originality was celebrated.

Sadly mainstream geekery is losing that. I have been told that cosplaying an original character is a waste of time, that nobody will look at me or take my picture, because all they care about is THEIR specific video game or anime, and won't look at anything else. I've been told that original characters should be barred from costume contests, because they can't be judged for accuracy. So I guess the hours spent working on something, finishing seams most people won't look at, learning new skills to make something come alive, learning to modify sewing patterns or make new ones, none of that counts. Judges can't really evaluate that, instead all they can do is look at you, look at a screen capture of your character, and if you match, you win.

I understand that when telling your story on a con floor, you have to keep it short and concise. But apparently "nobody wants to hear that", even if they're the one who came up and asked "Who are you? Do I lose geek points for not recognizing you?"

And sadly, mainstream mindsets about body shaming have entered the fandom, with people bitching endlessly if somebody isn't the same body type or race as their character, saying that you pretty much have to look JUST LIKE them in order to cosplay, or the character is ruined.

But from what I'm seeing, the furry fandom seems to have so far avoided falling into that snake pit- despite more and more anthro characters showing up in movies, games, etc, I don't see original characters and concepts being pushed aside or marginalized in favor of recreation-based costuming or roleplay. Perhaps this love and acceptance of originality is something that the mainstream geek community needs to re-learn.

(About the costume contests- I can understand why really theme-specific events, such as Anime, Star Wars, or Steampunk cons would ask costume entries to stick to their theme, but a general sci-fi or geek con banning originals from competing would be completely ridiculous IMHO)

submitted by LittleManhattan
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I feel like if we just get a better banner it won't look so out of place. Maybe we can even get a tiger somewhere near the fox.

submitted by SaltyMeth
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submitted by HonestJohnFoulfellow
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Am I the only furry that is not into the sexual/adult/mature/explicit aspect of the fandom? Seriously, I'm fairly new to the fandom, but I haven't met another furry that wasn't.

submitted by alphawolfpup
[link] [61 comments]

submitted by TheReadingPainbow
[link] [7 comments]

Hi. I talked to you before. I just wanted to let you guess due to my own reasons to avoid being annoying. You probably already know who I am.

But I been thinking, it's about that relationship thing we talked about a long time ago. A long time ago, you claim that having a relationship with 'imaginary' beings was "unhealthy". Then you might of understood something and changed, but wasn't sure today when thinking back.

To be honest.. In a way, I have these “relationships” all the time and it's often based off theories that involves the “spiritual world,” “God,” “mind creates reality,” etc., etc. For example, sometimes I like to imagine a “fictional” personification creature with me whenever (spiritually?) I am laying down and sometimes not. In fact, I do this a lot >because it makes me feel better or happier.<

I do not let it control me that involves it being over my own important responsibilities though. I hope not. lol I just do this in my free time I think.

But the catch is that, I do believe it “could” be real and I do feel like a relationship anyway, but in a harmless way..

Yes, in a way, I "believe" I feel connected (which can be considered relationship). In fact, with my beliefs in fictional writing, images, games, whatever, me having some kind of “real” belief (connection) in faith like what I listed earlier is the only way for me to enjoy whatever is “fictional.”

Imagine this: If you imagine yourself at a beach and believe you are there temporarily, your brain will act exactly the same (No different) as if you were “really there” because the brain “can't tell” the difference.

I might have asked you a similar question before, but I think that was more of a different one, or just part of something (Was it something about a multiverse?).

Anyway, do you think the way I like believing is "crazy" or "unhealthy"?

Sorry for asking. But I feel very uncomfortable of when you said that having a “relationship” >it's self< was unhealthy just because it's “imaginary.”

I still sadly fear you will say it's bad since I remember you said something like "As long if you don't believe it's real" to someone once and that was AFTER I talked to you about one thing one time.

Remember, aren't there furries who has spiritual beliefs with fursonas?

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Furiend,

Yes, there are many furries with spiritual beliefs. I’m guessing you are “G” from this letter. And that you might also be referring to my conversation with a furry about his being enamored with Tech E. Coyote. I believe that such relationships can be problematic if they interfere with your life in this world, including work, school, and relationships with other people. On the other hand, a vivid imagination can, as you say, give us much happiness and can be harmless as long as we are in control (if—worse case scenario—our “imaginary” friend starts telling us to kill people, we’ve got a serious mental problem).

That said, your letter touches on two very complex issues about which one could write entire books. But I don’t have the energy to do that here, so I will just summarize them. The first one is the idea of a multiverse/parallel universes. Many physicists and other scientists believe that this is very true. In fact, there has been recent research showing that the current distribution of matter and energy in our universe could be best explained if we hypothesize the existence of other universes that are having a physical influence on this one. There is a theory of there being many bubble universes, too, all bumping against each other in a huge omniverse, and then the idea—spawned by quantum physics and string theory (M theory)—that because of things like the Uncertainty Principle an infinite number of possible realities exist simultaneously in the same space. Therefore, as I am typing this in my office, there is a Grubbs (Kevin) who is now a zookeeper at the Detroit Zoo, another one who realized his dream of becoming a sci-fi novelist, another one who is now destitute and living on the street, another one who is a millionaire, and—getting more radical—another one who looks like a lizard because the dinosaurs never went extinct, and another one who actually looks like a bear because an evolutionary path started in which bears became highly sentient. There are, literally, infinite possibilities.

Combine this idea, now, with the notion that not all of us are disconnected/unaware of these other universes, and that, in fact, through a more evolved spirit, we are able to get in touch with these other realities, one of which might contain the “imaginary” people you interact with.

Even more powerful than this idea, however, is the belief (which I hold dear to my heart) that we are all a part of God. Everything is God and that includes us. Therefore! Since God has the power of creation, so do we, although we can be more limited in that power because of the boundaries we ourselves put on our connection to God (boundaries that include believing that what we see is the only reality or that we need religious leaders to serve as intermediaries between our souls and God, which is bull pucky). 

From this, it may be concluded that there really is no difference between what is in the mind and what surrounds our “reality.” (sidenote: if you have never read it, I think you would enjoy The Neverending Story by Michael Ende; read the book before seeing the movie because they are different in some important ways).

Imagination Is Power.

It is imagination that gives us wonderful inventions and that changes the world, spiritually and politically. It is imagination that despots and religious tyrants fear most (hence, the restrictions imposed on the masses cloaked as religious “laws”) because imagination opens our eyes to the possibilities of the universe, and those possibilities usually have no need of the politically and financially powerful.

The imaginative power of the mind is essential to our psyche. A January 1, 2014, article in Scientific American noted: The recent discovery of a network in the brain dedicated to autobiographical mental imagery is helping researchers understand the multiple purposes that daydreaming serves in our lives. They have dubbed this web of neurons “the default network” because when we are not absorbed in more focused tasks, the network fires up. The default network appears to be essential to generating our sense of self, suggesting that daydreaming plays a crucial role in who we are and how we integrate the outside world into our inner lives. Cognitive psychologists are now also examining how brain disease may impair our ability to meander mentally and what the consequences are when we just spend too much time, well, out to lunch. I think you would find the full article fascinating: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-an-imaginary-world/.

As with any power, however, there are potential dangers. Just as Bastian in The Neverending Story found that great creative power can threaten our own goodness and ability to control our lives, this creative force within us must be dealt with cautiously and with a measure of wisdom to keep it from running away with our minds.

The above article also makes reference to a website I believe you will find very useful and inspiring: Wild Minds at http://wildminds.ning.com/. Isn’t the Internet wonderful? So many resources! And this one is just for you—all about people who daydream and imagine.

My furry friend, Papabear apologizes if my previous columns upset you. I didn’t mean to say that imagination was a bad thing; I merely was trying to urge caution because it can be a very risky thing if we do not understand it.

My recommendation to you is to do some reading on spirituality, shamanism, pantheism, physics (science and spirituality are connected), lucid dreaming, and the power of the mind. Absorb the experience and knowledge of others, learn from them, and then build on their discoveries to follow your own spiritual path.

Blessed Be,

Papabear

submitted by BalticBird
[link] [4 comments]

submitted by CastowearyPleasant
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submitted by BalticBird
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I just wanna know how many different types of furrys there are like furrys and scalies but are the any more?

submitted by StarScale1928
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And why does the new one strive to make onlookers think we're all gay?

submitted by DrAwhole
[link] [64 comments]

I was reading through the comments on that thread and I was a little shocked and appalled by the response, wherein people went and said "yeah it's disgusting" more or less. This is massively ironic for the furry community, a community built on the appreciation of animal people, that non-furs would find incredibly "disgusting or weird." Animal pun inbound, but what gives you people the right to stand on your high horse and declare the "vanilla fur" stuff ok, but decry a subsection?

Are we all not victim to such stereotyping? Aren't all furs supposed to bestiality-loving, animal rapists? No? Then why are all baby furs diaper filling pedophiles? You can't just give yourself the benefit of the doubt and then not extend it to others because you're not a part of their group. That's called being an asshole, and that's not ok.

Edit: Source Thread

submitted by Darunian
[link] [72 comments]

It's just so awesome, y'know? Everyone is doing there own thing, helping each other etc. Just really feel like this subreddit is unique for its crowd since everyone seems to be different yet it's like we're all one big family.

submitted by Foxes281
[link] [26 comments]

I found this in the bargain bin.

What are you? Nocturnal, diurnal, your own timeurnal? Doesn't matter why you like your favorite time of day, but what is it and why?

I've always been fond of late afternoon to early evening. I'm a sucker for colors, and I feel like the late day draws out the colors of the world.

I wish I could say I'm a night person, especially since I used to be in college, but I'm lucky to stay awake past 11:30 now lol.

submitted by Sareii
[link] [20 comments]

So this is something im doing for course work, this is just a study of stuff so far so its not like super art or anything :L let me know what you guys think! :D

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15606762/

submitted by SparkyBluBlu
[link] [6 comments]

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer. Off the Beaten Path, by Rukis. Illustrated by the author. Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, July 2014, trade paperback $19.95 (385 pages). (publisher’s advisory): “This is a mature content book.  Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region.”  “When […]

A friend of mine brought me here a couple of weeks ago and I have been lurking for a while, and finally I decided that I will post. I know some of my friends know this account name and may eventually find it, but fuck it I don't care anymore.

I have known about furries for most of the time I have spent on the internet. While I never disliked furries I always thought of you guys as being a bit weird, but hey I am a complete geek so I am pretty weird too. Live and let live eh?

It wasn't until I became a brony back when that first started that things clicked for me (never was in a fandom before). All of the in jokes, the community, clearing up misconceptions. Unfortunately for me all of the irl furries knew were pretty crazy (not because they were a furry, or what they were into, they were just plain nuts). Which annoyed me a bit because just about every furry I met online was awesome and friendly. I was hoping to one day meet a real life furry that was like you guys to prove to myself that there were actual 'normal' furries, in the same sense that many of my friends are 'normal' furries.

One day over break I was driving home with my best friend. Let me tell you a bit about him, he is very sarcastic, to the point that it is sometimes hard to tell whether he means what he says. Also he used to rag on me lot for being a brony (in a joking way, since we have a similar sense of humor). He tells me in passing that he is a furry, and I almost slammed on the brakes. He was the last person I expected to be one, it just didn't fit in mental image of him, so I figured he was joking and said "Hah good joke, but you know I would never fall for that". He said he was serious and if the furry backgrounds on his devices didn't give it away. I told him that I believed his story that he just appreciated any good reddit art no matter what the subject, and that it never even crossed my mind (apparently every one of his friends needed convincing and didn't believe him either). This set my mind wandering.

It all started innocently enough over a game of Go. I was teaching him how to play, and I didn't really have to pay attention to the board. I discussed with him what his sona looked like, and at the same time I was thinking "If I was a furry what animal would I choose...". It didn't take me long to think of one I really liked and after figuring out his appearances I even started thinking of a backstory and setting (I am a sucker for creating new worlds in my head, especially science fiction settings). Later I learned that the animal I picked was a dime-a-dozen in the fandom, and that they had many strange stereotypes surrounding them. Unfortunately as I looked these up I learned that I fit the stereotypes like a glove. Well shit.

Anyways thanks for being open and tolerant (even more tolerant than bronies it seems), and putting up with my wandering mind. I never thought I would call myself a furry but here I am. An fox engineer that likes to disassemble things, and build circuits.

TL;DR: A gold hoarding princess kidnapping dragon turned me into a furry. And I can't think of any better insults to call him to get back at all the creative ones he thought up of over the years after I told him I was a brony.

submitted by Autunite
[link] [7 comments]