What kind of a furry are you?

[Shnell]

Apologies if this has been discussed already, I just feel like starting up a discussion, haha..

So, everyone has their different views on why they're a furry. Some say they're an animal spirit trapped in a human body, others say they have a spiritual connection with animals or a particular animal, others are just along for a ride... where do you fit in in this vast array of reasons to be a furry? :U

Being a furry isn't really anything spiritual at all for me. Ever since I was like, 9, I've always made up cat characters. I started to expand my horizons once discovering the internet, but I always enjoyed drawing animals and having my own animal characters. Then I discovered the furry fandom, and I thought it was totally cool that there were so many people who shared the same passion for art as me, and really, that's just about it. I love the community (well, majority of it), and I can't wait to go to cons in the future. I've met some of my closest friends from this fandom. But really, furry is a hobby for me and I guess you could say I'm just along for the ride. A lot of my friends are the same way, and then there's some who feel they have a spiritual connection. But yargh, that's just where I fit in the furryness lol! What about you guys?

[RappyRaptor]

the kind that likes to have fun.

[Shnell]

LOL. Yeah. It really isn't much to be taken serious... you have to have fuuunn!!

ALSO WULA IS BOSSY.

[Chyron Blackwolf]

I'm just a guy who enoys furry shtuffs like Anthro art, RP's and whatever - Nope, nothing sinister about me at all! :3
{Hides Viral samples in pockets}

Really though, I don't define myself as such a great deal - it's too hard to pinpoint just what makes me Furry.
At the end of the day, I just am, and that's all that really matters to my crazed little mind! 

[slickdelray]

Me, I have always loved anthro animals. I dig the art. As well, I have always imagined myself (and have wanted to be) an anthro skunk. Being a fur finally lets me display that part of me openly. However, it is just a pastime for me. I have met lots of great people (as well as reconnected with some old friends), and plan to meet a lot more. It's all fun! I have many other interests as well.

[Pixel]

Closet fur. =p

[Ruhki]

It's a hobby for me, an interest. The art is awesome and so are the people (or so it seems ). Like most everybody has already said it's about having fun and, for me, being creative. It allows me to get out of my skin for a while express part of myself that I never usually do. All in all I guess you'd call me a closet fur though. Man is it a small closet >.>....

[bloodredruby]

I'm just someone who has always wanted to be someone/something else. When I was a kid, I pretended that I was a cat, and when I was in school, acting filled the bit.

I'm not one of those "ZOMG I AM LIKE SO TOTALLY AN ANIMAL IN HUMAN SKINZ!!?!?!" but I do feel that there is some small connection there.

[blue-vulpine]

I think I may put too much into the furry "fandom". For example: I cringe whenever I say fandom, because to me it feels more appropriate to say culture. But thats just my opinion, because I feel it is both.

That being said, I was introduced to it at a very awkward time in my life, and by taking part in it, or becoming a part of it, I learned many good things. I like to say that being furry has helped teach me to be a better human being, which is pretty ironic. ^^;

I don't think of it as something I do, but rather something that is a part of me and my life. Its how I live my life. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be parting with it anytime soon XD

It opened up a whole new world to me. I learned to draw because of it, I started writing because of it. Its just cool because it gave me an interest to do things I never would have done.

I'm not a therian, or think I have ties to animals and their spirits, though I feel appreciation and respect towards wildlife and the world around them.

The artwork you see is cool, the literature and imaginations of many involved in the culture is simply amazing, and some of the greatest people I've ever met are furs.

For me, being furry means to be yourself, and to be true to it. Because when we change into our fursuits, or switch to our fursona, all we really have is who we are on the inside...

I'd have to say that is my favorite aspect to the furry culture... :3

Neat topic Shnell!

-TJ

[Wolfgang]

I am the spiritual fur, who found this place, while searching for myself and stayed because I felt accepted here.

[Drewdle]

I tend to see furry as more a part of me, and a way of life, than something I turn into when I want to have fun. I feel a very strong connection to nature, and tend to feel strongly about showing it my respect. Nature is all around us, and it's complexity and simultaneous simplicity, it's duality encompassing both beauty and frightful power is something that I feel speaks to me more than any faith or any thought process could ever hope to.

I don't consider myself a therian; there is no trapped or latent spirit that belongs to my chosen identity inside of me, I merely identity with the characteristics of wolves; their behaviours and their lifestyle. I realize that the community has it's share of wolves, to be certain, but this wasn't a decision I came to by simply saying "hey, wolves are cool". It took a long time to come to the realization; for the longest time I thought I was a cat of some kind. That there are so many more out there cannot be helped.

However, a huge part being a fur is having fun and indulging that natural feeling, or if you'll pardon the cliche, that "animal instinct", and enjoying it. That can be a difficult thing to do when the mood strikes, because you could be standing around at work trying to sell computers when the urge to run outside and get a face full of wind and rain demands your attention.

I love calling myself a fur, and identifying with the community. It has been almost all good times, and I finally feel like I've started to sort out the mess that was my spiritual beliefs for the longest time. Not that I'm that spiritual, but everyone needs to nurture their soul, and for me, this is where it's at.

[Wyrd-Hotd]

I dont know what i am....  Im not spiritual in the "Fandom" or "Culture" i have felt for a long time... that i wish i could be something more, something more then just plain old homosapian... it may sound kinda silly or sad, but i just feel that there should be more.  I have always identified with Dragons... ha ha you should see my room XD i even have Dragons on my car, but thats my two cents ^.=.^

P.S. this is a  great place to be... its helped me though some hard times, and allowed me to meet some great people, i agree we should all be here to have fun.

[alleycat009]

I think I may put too much into the furry "fandom". For example: I cringe whenever I say fandom, because to me it feels more appropriate to say culture. But thats just my opinion, because I feel it is both.

I agree, for the most part, because from my side of the world, my neck of the woods, it started as a way for my imagination to wander through different sub-realities, as a way to not think about my own reality.  Long story short, I was too different for the kids in my hometown to be accepted into... anything, really.

I was always fascinated with cats, ever since one of my sisters brought a couple of them home for a few days.  They didn't jump, and knock me down, aggressively licking, resulting in my getting hurt like the household dog did.  They purred when you pet them, and they would rub against you friendly like.

I wasn't allowed to have a cat.  I was so mad... I began to obsess, and start reading up on them...  I couldn't have one, so at least I'll acquire the knowledge...

After a few years of this, and when I was actually starting to hit middle school, I actually started training my body to be more catlike.  I ate mostly meat, very little vegetables, I walked on my toes, I stayed in the dark, and I worked very hard on my nightvision, and hearing abilities.  I walked barefoot outside.  I also worked very hard on my balance... which turned out to be to my advantage, since all of the bullies, and there was a lot of them, would always try to trip me, or make me fall on my face.

I didn't know Furry existed until about the time I came back from the states and started living in New Westminster.  I was actually introduced to it through one of the subfandoms, but it took me a few years to actually poke my head into the fandom.

I still, to this day, feel as though I am very feline-like.  Maybe not a cat trapped in a man's body, but moreso a cat that was re-incarnated as a human, as a possibility.

And now that I have four cats in my house, my obsession seems to be 'cured'

[Scavello]

I would classify myself as a Human with cat like tendencies. Cats have it made, they sleep around the house all day and crap in a box and other people come and clean it up for them! That's the life!

But how I got in to it was through a friend (now ex girlfriend) who many of the Island furs on here know. While we were dating she started drawing some of her furry pics of me, which is where I got this avatar, and her friends kinda inaugurated me as an honorary furry. Eventually I looked at myself and my habits, and just kind of accepted it. I am lazy house cat and proud of it damnit! FELINE PRIDE!

Anyways, yea, that's my story in a nutshell.

[PaulShep]

I treat it as a hobby, because it's awesome that way. :3 I don't treat it as a lifestyle, because I don't have the mental thought qualified to be a therian, and I don't really want to be one. I'm human enough to realize my real identity, but my fursona is the furry/animalistic version of me, myself, and I.

So yeah, I think I'm a human being with a German Shepherd personality. :3

[Spike V.]

It's a hobby for me...I also like to party.

[Garbo]

As a wolf shaman I feel a very strong bond with all animals.  It is good to see that some people have a  deeper connection with their selves.

[Fuyuko]

For me, it's a bet of everything I guess. But it's more of an interest for me, I enjoy drawing antro art and I LOVE dressing up. Plus being a furry gives me a sense of belonging. I feel I can be who I truly am and be accepted for it.
But I've always felt that I was more connected with animals. I have looked into the spiritual side of being a furry and in the last little while I've found that I'm really connected to bears and feel that maybe I have a bear spirit in me or around me.

[alleycat009]

I enjoy drawing antro art and I LOVE dressing up.

Really??  Do you have anything posted online as far as art or pictures to show off for us? :3

[Fuyuko]

I have a few drawings on my DA account
http://noeru20.deviantart.com/
I admit I haven't been drawing in a while, but I'm hoping to back into it .
But I'm really hoping I can get enough money to make a fur suit or even a partial some day, so far it's just hats, tails and some cosplay .