What is a furry?
The term ‘furry’ refers to a subculture or community of people who are interested in anthropomorphic animals. This can manifest itself in many ways. Some furries create art, write stories or songs, design costumes and go to conventions. Others participate in roleplaying, or other forms of online interaction.
If it sounds like there is no definitive answer to the question ‘what is a furry?’, then you’re right! The community is extremely diverse, so different furries will have different experiences and interests within it.
Where do I start?
The best place to start is just by looking around and exploring what the community has to offer!
The internet has made the furry community more accessible than ever before. One of the easiest ways to get involved is by joining a forum – try FurAffinity Forums or Dogpatch Press for starters. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our list of resources here.
Welcome to the wonderful world of furries! We’re glad you’re here. Whether you are a Furry, or just interested in what the fandom is all about, this blog will be helpful and insightful for you.
A Furry is a fan of anthropomorphism, or animals with human characteristics. This can range from anything like animal cartoons (like Zootopia) to someone dressing up in a furry costume and going by their own animal name. Furries can also enjoy role playing as an animal character of their choosing, and some even create their own original characters (or OCs).
There is no wrong way to be a Furry, so don’t worry if it seems confusing at first! You might not even be a Furry at all – but maybe you’re an Otherkin, Therian or Kin. We’ll go over these terms in more detail later in this blog. Just know that there are no rules when it comes to being a Furry and we accept everyone for who they are!
So you’ve decided to become a furry! You’ve learned all about furries, what they do and how they live. Now it’s time to choose your species and appearance so you can step out into the world as a member of the furry community.
There are two main parts to your fursona. The first is the species, and the second is your appearance. Species can be almost anything, from domestic cats to dragons and beyond. What kind of species you choose is up to you. It’s important that whatever species you choose is something you want to be for a long time, because once you’ve started going by a certain name and appearance it will be very difficult for other people in the community to change what they call you or how they imagine you look.
Appearance is just as important as species in defining your fursona. There are many different things to consider when designing your fursona’s appearance. The first thing most people think about is coloration, but there are many more things that make up a character’s design than simply their colors, and these should also play a big part in creating your fursona’s appearance.
The first thing to consider other than coloration is clothing and accessories. Clothing and accessories are an important part of
The most important thing about being a Furry is having an animal character, or Fursona! Your Fursona is your “Furry Persona” or the animal you choose to represent yourself as. This can be any animal in the world, real or not! Dragons, Ligers, even Pidgins, anything goes!
Your Fursona should be an animal that you feel is representative of you. For example, if you’re a shy person, maybe a turtle is a good fit! If you’re a fast runner and smart thinker, maybe try something like a rabbit. If you’re really active on social media and love to talk to new people all the time? A bird would be perfect!
Now that we have our Fursona picked out, what do we do with it? Well, you can use your Fursona for anything from a simple online avatar to skits and stories. You can also make art of your character and have other people draw them for you. Some people even take it as far as wearing costumes at conventions! Or if that’s not your speed, just having the character for yourself is enough too.
Before we really get into the complexities of the furry community, let&
Fursuiting and furry conventions are the main ways for people to express themselves in the furry community. Fursuiters put on their costumes and act as their fursonas, an alter ego that many furries have. Many furries are also artists and they use their talents to create art of their fursonas. In addition, people can also have non-animal related fursonas such as anthros, a species that is half human and half animal (A couple examples would be Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir).
Furry conventions are places where people come together to express themselves through art and costume. People can buy art, wear fursuits, interact with other people, play games, and even do panels about whatever topic they choose. A good example of this is Anthrocon which is the largest furry convention hosting over 6000 people in 2017. It is located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania every year around July 1st-4th.