There comes a time when some one needs validation and acceptance in something they enjoy that no one else around them does. It's things like this the Internet seems built around... somebody has some weird fascination with ramming their head through drywall, so they inevitably start some kind of website dedicated to videos of people slamming themselves head first into the walls of their home. Now all the “drywall divers” (a name I just made up) have some kind of kinship through the Internet dedicated to their love of self-inflicted injury and personal humiliation.

Technically sites like “failblog” and “YouTube” already exist with that intention in mind, but now I'm getting off message.

All Internet subcultures have this phenomenon and furry is no different. I've lurked my share of forums dedicated to this specific subculture and have found that this need for acceptance comes up quite frequently. There was even a discussion in “Fchan” involving someones desire to write a book explaining the subculture and its idiosyncrasies.

The end conclusion was that this would not have been a good idea. Explaining why everyone is into anything can never be done, because humans by nature are free willed and will always have personal reasons for doing such things. Furry, being one of the more obscure subcultures of the Internet, doesn't have any set “rules” as to why anyone would be appealed to it outside of artistic expression. It would make far more sense for anyone enthused into such a project to write there own personal reasons as to why they are into the subculture.

I'm not sure if this book idea by the OP of the discussion in question ever realized their dream or not, but the point I'm trying to reach is that everyone has there own reason as to why they like “furry”. I would like to think that this is a question that everyone has been asked (or asked themselves) and it is one I would like to answer... for no better reason than I love writing up shit in this journal thing.

The first and most obvious reason I like furry is for the pornography. I have no shame in admitting that I am a deviant and that I love to childishly giggle at art depicting strange fetishes. I also love some of these fetishes myself, but without getting this journal entry too perverse I won't mention any. I'm not exactly sure if there is a content filter on this thing or not.

I actually like furry a little more than the similar Hentai, which I do enjoy but not as often as furry. This has more to do with variation that a preferred art style. Hentai, to me, is largely populated with female characters (presumably underage) from anime and manga I've never seen/read and don't care to watch/read, all similarly looking and posed in similar ways. This trend in Hentai is only occasionally broken by male characters I do know, but don't care to see in the nude, and some of the female characters drawn with cocks.

Furry is more varied with tons of different art styles/species depictions, with a larger array of poses and combinations, only occasionally broken by a few characters that are the fantasy persona of some real life person I've never met. Though these fantasy persona are the only reoccurring theme (outside of what few poses/positions actually work for good erotic art) that populate furry art, they are still varied by the number of different artists that draw them.

Despite what some /b/tard might think, furry is different from Hentai, and not just in the gay to straight ratio.

The other, less deviant reason is for artistic expression. This isn't about art specifically, but anything with a creative flare to it. Art, writing, music, sculptor, sewing... all of these things are fascinating when something “furry” is applied right. I do love furry art that isn't pornographic at all, which is a wonderful treat when I find it (and it's good). My favorite books involving “furry” are the Chronicles of Narnia everyone is familiar with... I also loved the Dragonbard series, although I am certain I am the only person in existence that has read that. I wonder sometimes if I read the said mentioned series at all, or if it wasn't just some elaborate hallucination I had.

The last reason that I am into furry is vaguely related to mysticism and other forms of spirituality. I feel the need to make some blatant statements now just to ease some potential confusion:

1) I do not believe that I was an animal in a past life. I may have been, but there wouldn't be much to remember or anything really that profound. Depending on which reincarnation tradition you follow, being reincarnated as an animal (a lesser being to humans) could be considered a punishment.

2) I do not believe I am really an animal... well humans are all animals by definition... but I don't believe I'm a real anthropomorphic or anything like that.

3) I do not belong to any sort of “church of furry”, assuming anything like that really exists. I wouldn't be surprised, as far as I know a “church of Star Trek” still exists so anything is possible.

I am a pagan, nothing at all special, I follow a more “Norse” tradition with a splash of “Greek” which in of itself is fairly common pagan stuff outside of Wiccan practices. I believe that humans do have the potential for “transformation” but I've never seen this applied literally. Yes, a personality change is possible (such as possession), outside of that people can behave less like “human” and more like certain animal species.

Mostly transformation occurs in dreams. While I am aware that some dreams are just dreams, I do believe that “otherworldly” travel is possible via dreams. I have seen many things and been many animals/objects, including some really bizarre things like a tank (the kind with a gun) and even “ghostly apparitions”. I've even been many places (weird places) and occasionally I will “astral project”.

The second mentioned thing about “humans acting like animals” is also something I do. It's not uncommon for some people to act (what myself and others have called) “feral”. A feral human acts just like that, they have some vague or obvious thing about them that relates to how animals act. I know this guy, that one time I offered him some chocolate, upon taking the said mentioned chocolate he actually started sniffing it, because the chocolate (being fruit-coated chocolate) was unfamiliar to him.

That's not a good example but the only one I can think of.

Most humans have something about their personality or silhouette that resembles animals as well. This has nothing to do with furry/paganism, but typical psychology. It's the same thing as referencing someones personality via the Zodiac or numerology, some ( not all) humans fall into a category that makes them easily identifiable by some archaic traditions.

I'm not talking about what kind of animal people identify with, that would be closer to a Familiar than an animal likeness. A Familiar is just an animal or animals that a person is not afraid of (usually a pet). If you asked any random person what animals they identify with, they would either tell you to go away or they would probably say one of the top five: Tiger; lion; wolf; snake; dragon.

Seriously, you can't have a dragon as a Familiar, they don't exist on the physical plain. That's like saying elves and gnomes can be Familiar.

Someone's animal likeness is derived from their personality. Using myself, I'm a ferret or a similar weasel type creature. I'm not a big guy and I have personality characteristics that place me somewhere between “cat” and “rat” so I shoot the difference... so to speak. I'd explain more, but it's hard considering I'm not an expert on this kind of thing.

Here's another example of what I'm talking about. I knew this guy who I had marked as a canine, specifically a hound. He was a pleasant, incredibly loyal friend once he got to know you. His only character flaws were is inability to “hold back” whenever he was physically challenged, along with occasional mood swings that he was quick to apologize for. Essentially he was loyal, but moody. I told him this made him a “hound” and he got all moody. He wanted to be something “cool” like one of the top five I listed.

My last good example was of a former co-worker who was so obviously a rooster that he might as well have worn a t-shirt stating this. Being very attractive (and straight) he even wore his hair in a “Sweptback spike” look which I swear didn't change my opinion of his likeness. What made him specifically this was his outright male tenancy to challenge everyone (male) during anything just to prove he was smarter/stronger/faster than whatever everyone else was talking/doing. His attitude towards the opposite sex was to drop whatever he was doing just to run over an introduce himself and brag a little bit. He might have well been flapping his elbows, “clucking” while doing a little “pimp strut” whenever he was at this “rooster-like” behavior.

There is an end point to this discussion I am having with myself and anyone that bothers to read to the end, is that everyone has something they like about furry, whether or not they are into the subculture. Seriously, it's like how some comedian (whos name I can't remember) once said: “everyone is gay, just depends on how much”.

Everyone likes furry, even if it's just the old “bugs bunny” cartoons.

Well... that and: “nobody gets to have a dragon as a Familiar."