[Sarai and Samiel]

I'm afraid that wasn't especially funny. I expect better comedy out of you, Chuckle. Wonder Wario.... well, I have no idea what to expect out of you in terms of comedy, but I think you could stand at least a little work, given that joke.

That out of the way...

I'm in a bit of an interesting situation regarding this sort of a thing. I've had a rather large amount of contact with furries, particularly due various places I tend to hang about on the internet. It is with that experience in mind that I say to you this: Furries are no more deluded or wonderful than 'not-furries'.

What do I mean by this? Well, there are a number of different kinds of furries.

1. "I'm really not human." These are people who, for whatever reason, are certain beyond all doubt that the only human part of them is their body. They are dead sure that their spirit and personality are those of one or another animal. These people come in two major varieties- which I consider the 'good' variety, and the 'bad' variety.

The 'good' variety are usually heavy subscriptionists to Native American spiritual beliefs or something similar. They are focused not so much on the animal itself as the things that the animal spiritually represents. These people are usually correct, in that they have tendencies and natures aligned with the spiritual concepts they have attached themselves to: they are also frequently, if not friendly, at the very least accepting of other people and thus, other peoples' assertions that these furries are not, in fact, furries, and are acting rather silly.

The 'bad' variety have chosen an animal that has a stereotype (playful, friendly cat; timid, reclusive rabbit; sage, advisive elephant; mischevious, genial raccoon; the list goes on...) and declared themselves to be that animal. This is patently false, because as anyone who (for example) owns a cat can tell you, cats are sometimes friendly and playful, but they are equally often capricious, reclusive, uppity, and given their behavior patterns, more than a little autistic- and more than a few are prone to spurts of violence. None of these qualities are represented by 'bad' variety feline furries, but don't tell them that- they'll be all over you trying to convince you that all cats are like them. Often, I consider this a case of self-misidentification- you can really really like one or another kind of animal without being it, and nobody ever said furries neccessarily had to believe that they were a particular kind of nonhuman animal.

2. "I just like the idea." These furries seem to compose the bulk of the group, and their furriness-related hobbies span the entire range. While the most fervent fursuiters are the group 1 furries, there are plenty of group 2 furries that fursuit. There are equally many who simply draw, or who represent themselves via characters who are anthropomorphized animals or humans with animal characteristics (physically).

When it comes to dealing with the outside world, these furries are even more accepting than group 1 'good' furries of other peoples' opinions of the state of 'furryness', and rarely get incensed when people show disdain or discomfort with the concept because, well, it's just something they personally happen to like. Where they like their 'furryness' is also varied- while group 1 furries embed it into every aspect of their lifestyle, group 2 furries mix and match as they feel like, because they don't see the 'furryness' as something mandatory to themselves or as all-important.

3. "OMG FURRY PR0N" These are probably the most common group of furries, and with good reason. You see, this group sees the 'furryness' as an erotic thing, much like some people do excessively muscular or excessively flabby members of their preferred partner sex. This part of the group suffers a lot of drift- as with many kinks, people will tire of them, and people will discover them, on a pretty constant basis. Some people even rotate in and out of circulation on this part of the subculture on a regular, almost time-able basis.

These people are often just as vehement as the group 1 bad furries about defending their interest, because it's *their* interest, and who the feth are you to be judging them anyway- you're a homosexual/bisexual/necrophiliac/corpophiliac/musculophiliac/hypertrophiliac/etcetera anyways. This is kind of sad, because it both reinforces unacceptance of these people, and gives an overall dim view of the subculture as a whole.

IN ANY CASE.

One thing ChuckleHuck missed is the immense impact Japanese culture- or rather, I should say the existence of Japanese Shinto- has had on the furry community. While American comics and European comics have frequently had anthropomorphic animalia in them, and there is a considerable deal of animal-anthropomorphism in native American and native African cultures, Japanese/Shinto (I'm honestly not sure which part certain things originate in) culture has a number of kami who are basically blends of human and animal- not the least famous of which is the nekomata (a two-tailed and usually drunk lusty catgirl), and which influenced the appearance of animal-people in anime and manga (popular culture helps create a subculture? No, really?), spurring all sorts of things- though catgirls have been by far the majority. This is most emphatically demonstrated by the number of 'anthro' or anthropomorphic-animal focused furries- they by far outweigh the 'normal'-animal focused ones, and the vast majority of Disney films have involved animals that were much more anatomically nonhuman. Further, the 'anthropomorphic' animals featured in such cartoons as Mickey Mouse, or the Looney Tunes are generally caricaturized, and most furries specifically do *not* find caricaturized anthropomorphic animals to their liking.

Personally, I think that last distinction is being a little bit picky- but only a little. Then again, I tend to be a picky person.

In the end, unless you're dealing with a group 1 furry, it's simply easier to accept that this is someone who likes that and then move on, simply not bothering to interact with them on whatever they 'feel furry' about if it really does bother you. In dealing with a group 1 furry, it tends to permeate their life, by their choice, and becomes something much more akin to personality aspects like being an incorrigible prankster or commenting on how 'hot' someone walking by is on a very regular basis- if you can't cope with it, you really can't be in regular contact with the person.

Where do I stand in all this? Well, if you've watched me in the Battlefield, or in anywhere else I've shown up for roleplaying games, writing, or other creative pursuits, you've likely noticed that the vast majority of my characters are not human- but they're not patterned after one or another animal.

I certainly don't consider myself 'furry', because I'm not a part of that culture. But I've found that because I tend to represent myself with nonhuman characters (who look nonhuman), a number of nonfurries consider me furry. At the same time, because only two of my characters are specifically related to one animal or another (Duska and Zail) and I still have human characters (one of whom is one of my most major representatives- Selene), most furries consider me nonfurry. So what am I?

Well, hell, I thought I was a person. Now isn't this a little deep for this part of the forums? Ah, well, I felt it warranted saying.