Wow. Before reading this, I had only a vague notion of what a "furry" was. Furthermore, what I thought I knew about this subject came from very skewed accounts (such as that MTV special) which discussed it in the context of sexual fetishism. I'm glad that I read your essay; it certainly cleared a lot of things up for me, and it sets the record straight.

Hi

I read this before your email, so thankfully the email made more sense. I do agree that it is possible, and i think this conversation is better suited for email... But also I would like to say that many also pretend this, or associate being a fur with liking an animal. I see your sincerity in being a fur, your passion about being a rabbit, and i like that. But many just see it as a game, a pretty title to add to their list. "oh yeah, by the way, i am part fox! *wink, wink*" DO you see? How many actually understand what you are explaining? Really understand? I think I do, even if I can not sympathize. I won't pretend I am a fur to strike up a conversation, but I do respect what you are, and I shall remain open minded.

I don't believe I've missed this!

I like the three furry interpretations you give in the beginning, with Bugs my favourite too, second only to Sylvester. But I believe you knew that...

Hm... The transubstantiation theory, although I fully agree with it, might strike a few sensitive cords to hardcore Christians. I wonder if you've been flamed on that account.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, although I knew most of it already. But it's always nice to read from another point of view. A rabbit's POV, that is.

hmm...that was interesting.

i actually had never heard of furs at all, except that my sister's friend always drew pictures of people with dog noses and such, saying that she was drawing 'furries'.

she is wiccan.

i think if i were an animal i'd possibly be one of those green frogs with the orange spots...they're pretty sweet. or maybe a sea cucumber. yeah...

The one thing you failed to mention, which I will be covering in the essay you've inspired me to write (yay us! I wuvvles you now 3) is how each "type" of furriness has it's own "levels" as well. Even if you focus solely on the art aspect; If the characters are too believable, I will probably despise or fear the image. Point in case: yiff art (which I often enjoy) is NOT the EXACT SAME thing as real-life human pornography (which I despise)!

I'm rambling now, aren't I.

Point being, you's terrific!

And you have inspired me to write my own fur-related essay as well _

And now it's time for a shameless plug: .com GO LOOK! FURRINESS! *evil laughter, run away, doesn't look where she's going, hits a tree, falls down, meows, passes out* X_X

This is awsome. So now I know that I'm not insane and there are other people like me. I would be a feline fur. I've even developed the nick-name 'kitty' not capitalised LOL. Thank you for writing this. It's really helped.

~*kitty*~

I see what you mean by why you kept changing it back and forth as such. There were a few rough spots but none of them seemed bothersome enough to remember individually. Yes, I did read your bio, so I read this to find out exactly what you meant. Now I do. Interesting theories.

that was very informative. being as clueless as i am i had no idea what furs were only to discover i might be one. aand it all thanks to you for rr my story. i owe u big time.

This is possibly the most accurate account of being a furre that I've seen published online. You have my admiration on describing the emotional aspects... I, for one, have a fairly respectable job as a cashier at a grocery store and am also a High School student, so I appreciate the thought in your writing... The few of my peers that know I'm a furre ridicule me to some extent and remind me of MTV's special (a falsified and biased view of furre life)... Not all furres are yiff-driven, and I'm glad you covered that.

-Tiger

hm.. intersting...and surprisingly, i understand most, if not all of what ure saying in this. intreging. oh,and thanx for reviewing my story, if u liked that,then read fate sisters. it also takes place in wales, but i warn you, i dont know nay of the language and know very little of Wales. and, hoestly i would like to talk to some time. this article of yours itntrests me. and i will honestly admit. i am part wolf. _ dont ask. loong story. but please email me sometime. i would like to know more. oh ant btw. im from america, and unfortunatly an isolated part.

~tigera

Like you, I've probably been a fur all my life. I'd only learned of furrydom maybe a few years ago, and maybe only started to consider myself a fur a couple years ago. And as you mentioned, the internet has been very helpful in that regard; never met a fur in RL but hope to (might be going to Anthrocon 2003 and hopefully that'll be a good experience).

But unlike you, I don't know the extent to which I'm a fur, still trying to figure that part out :)

I'd actually known about many of the things you'd mentioned here, seems to touch base with a majority of what there is to know - at least as far as I know. I actually hadn't known how broad the fur definition went (such as spiritual fur, empathic furs, etc) or much about the internal politics - only had a vague idea of burned furs / frozen furs groups (you might also add the scalies split, how some reptilian anthros would rather be known as scalies rather than be under the furry 'umbrella').

But it's always nice to get info on what people think about furs. Most stuff on the internet is usually biased (both ways) or not personable enough.

Interesting and useful, good essay.

Hey interesting essay?after reading your essay (as you call it) I suppose I, too, would be considered a fur. I am definatly under the ?cat? category, probably feline would work best, since I love cats in every way shape and form. I also have found to have an affinity with dragons. I also like to read anthropomorphic stories like Redwall and also Watership Down, which is by far one of my favorite books. I respect any sort of work that deals with ?talking animals/mythical beasts? and I frequently write it. My story is called a Simple Twist Of fate and it deals with cat-like creatures called ?Felida? and dragons, if you get the time to check it out. If you do so I am grateful. However I am not prejudiced against plain and as you?d call it ?humun? works. I just believe that anthropomorphic stories are just as good?if not better?books. Some of my friends utterly detest anything that has to do w/ talking animals. I, however, tell them that anthro stories are just like regular books except an animal is in its place doing HUMAN actions. My friends, however, still do not realize that. That is why when I first entered I dedicated myself to writing anthropomorphic stories. I also made it my mission to try and find any anthropomorphic stories I could and review them, since they deserve as much. Sadly, I have found that there are not many out there and they are heavily prejudiced against, and (sadly) lacked the reviews they deserved because of their content.

Another reason I am reviewing is because you happened to review Lazey Winde?s story, and she really needed another person to review her great stories besides just me and I thank you for reviewing her story. So thank you.

Your essay was very good and I found no existing mistakes that I could find. Maybe you might try your hand/paw at writing fantasy works w/ talking rabbits. I think you?d be very good at it. And if you happen to do so just e-mail me (it?s in my bio) and I?ll R&R it.

Your probably tired of me by now so farewell (and perhaps as the Rabbits of Watership Down would say: ?May El-ahrairah(or Lord Frith) be with you.

-Belle the Shadow-cat

*grins* I love the fur network. I'm half-wolf, half-cat, you see. It causes a lot of problems sometimes, but there ya go. It's not something you choose, like you say. It chooses you.

_

PS: What's it like then - being a preybeast? I don't have any herbivore friends - only a wolf and a dragon, so I just wondered...

What an interesting subject! I furry-rolelay as well, but I never realized that such a deep connection existed. I can relate to this, in a way, but with the Faeries. Which I suppose is much more common because of the many human-like kinds. But enough rambling. This was fascinating.

I suppose that I am a fur, but I feel a connection with animalkind in general rather than one specific species. Animal rights have always motivated me to go and try to help animals worldwide. It's nice to know that others feel strongly about animals as well. I have known some very special rabbits in the past, and I know that they are indeed wonderful creatures. Thank you for your review! ;)