Furry Awakenings

by Patch O'Furr

Where do furries come from? Here’s how ones who answered were zapped. Below: A picture is worth 1000 words. Classics & nostalgia (blame the 80’s!) Born This Way. Self Discovery and forbidden curiosity. A community or even family, and a fascinating hobby. – Patch

A picture is worth 1000 words

Classics & nostalgia

@Pixiemuledonkey

i blame the 80s. i got a box of old comics from a cousin and one of them was called Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, all furry superheroes.

Born This Way

@bluesleddog:

I watched Disney’s Robin Hood A TON as a kid, so much so that my mom helped me write and illustrate a little homemade book about my first day of kindergarten where all the characters were animals.

@Raishi_fox

I got an incredibly early start; I was two years old when my mother brought home the soundtrack to Cats. I grew up absolutely obsessed with it; my brother and I could practically perform the entire musical for most of our childhoods…

@PBnJeanie

Was 13 when people always told I acted like a bear. I started to represent myself as one for years. Until someone told me “Wait are you a furry ?” One internet search later, I realized there was already a ton of furry related books and show that I loved. So I kinda just gave in.

@CassidyTheCivet

I think I made animals an aesthetic of mine in middle school, cosplaying as Geoffrey St. John from the Sonic comics, and I was bullied for being a furry before I really knew what furries were. And I decided on a whim to look up BC Furries and there happened to be forums :v

Self Discovery

@Evan_sou1

When I was 13 I was watching terrible slideshow videos of couples late at night because teenager. Then one came up with gay furry couples and within 10 seconds I discovered interesting things about myself.

@Fauxglove

Back when the Internet was still new to me, I ran an Ask Jeeves (Yes, that was a thing) search for StarFox. I found Yerf. It was both my gay and furry awakening all at once.

@Huxleyfur

I was trawling around the internet in 2000 and stumbled across an odd website called Furry Pleasures. Seeing a blurry jpg of two wolves kissing in the banner, it was like a switch got flipped.

Anon:

I dont think it’s the same “awakening” others have. Though at the same time I hope it goes on to help someone.

I was abused. When you live in a very religious family, sometimes they mean well but you become subject to abuses to try and force you to become what you are not. I went to a “pray the gay away” camp and had to endure many sufferings. I wasn’t allowed to be myself. I wasn’t allowed to be a lesbian. I wasn’t allowed to like certain types of toys as a child. I wasn’t allowed many things, including my own freedom. When I was 18 I moved away from my family. I was living in a town all alone, and didn’t have any friends close by. My girlfriend at the time knew I loved gargoyles and anime. I had been fascinated by Bronx the most and had really started to get into animal based characters and art. She mentioned that near me in my new town there was a meet up for people that liked these kind of things, she called them furries. I went to my first meet and not only found animal based awesome, but the freedom to be myself in all respects. That’s when I knew I was a furry.

@EzraRobles

I found the fandom while stuck in a mental hospital back in high school (2006) and after a few years of soul searching found my fursona in 2012. It’s quite a bizarre adventure, but it’s changed me as a human being a considerable amount.

Forbidden curiosity

@KiranLightPaw:

Was 1994. I saw The Lion King and knew teenage boys weren’t supposed to obsess about Disney lions. So after exhausting everything on AOL, I landed in Usenet, .lion-king. That lead to .furry and FurryMUCK and awesomeness.

@Moryethehusky

I accidentally found Lucario Yiff when I was 13, and was “traumatized”. I then remembered it 5 years later, tried to do some “research” and I’ve been a furry since. Started writing shortly after that.

THOSE eyes

@MadokaMeowgica:

For me it was going online at 16 and seeing a picture of star wolf smiling with CFM eyes at a cafe. I don’t remember who did it, I just remember it was on deviant art lmao. I kept going back to look at it and thinking “he’s cute but I don’t think he’d actually wanna date me”

FURRIES HAVE COOTIES! 

@RejaxWolf

Someone in high school I knew started complaining about furries and told me to look it up when I asked. His big mistake!

@FelixSilverFoxy:

I actually heard a friend of mine talking about how much he hated “fucking furfags” back in 2012 and I decided to look them up and form my own opinion about them rather than take his word for it. I liked what i saw and I signed up on FurNation just a few days later!

@HRHSherlock:

2004, freshman in college. My artist friend was talking shit about how much she hates furries. I was like “what’s a furry” and she was like “it’s gross people who like to pretend they’re animals” and I was like “OWO WHAT’S THIS” and immediately went to my dorm room and found YERF

@arctickishi

i used to be that kid on ifunny who would go on furry profiles and say shit like “kys drink bleach!!1!!” but i realized i enjoyed the art deep down then march 2016 my close friend who’s a furry showed me her art & brought me into it lmao

A community or even a family

@Tbestig

I read a shit ton of furry webcomics and ended up making friends with a lot of furries on kik. I still claimed I wasn’t a furry. They rightly found that hilarious. Finally I accepted that I “probably” was one and they immediately helped me come up with a fursona 😛

@BluYote

Played Okami, loved the art style, went on DeviantArt to find fanart to use as a desktop wallpaper, discovered sparkledogs XD. Later found out my good friend was a furry and hid it from me. I insisted to go to a con w/him. Thus I am now anthro but still a little sparkly.

A fascinating hobby

@MrCheeseGaming

I blame video games. I was a fan of Pokémon so I started reading Pokémon webcomics. I discovered Kemonomimi art from Touhou so I tried searching for Kemonomimi webcomics. Search results showed really good furry art that gave me a newfound appreciation for the community.

@WhatTheFolflion

These are some of the video games I played growing up that made me what I am, yes. A furry. 

One of the first game I ever played was Pokemon Blue. I’ve always had a fascination with pokemon ever since, but Blue, Phew. On my very first playthrough, I had an entire female team. Female Charizard, Totodile, Drowzee, Venusaur, and Ratata. Now, I’m not saying the influence of my team in this game got me addicted to anthropomorphic animals, no. That comes later.

The next game that pulled me a little further was Hey You, Pikachu on the N64. Being able to talk to my favorite pokemon was the best thing to ever exist in my childhood.

Next up, Star Fox Adventures and Assault, Gamecube. Wow. Anthro Fox, Wolf, Hawk (I believe, Falco Lombardi), and Hare. Being able to play as an Anthro animal kicking a** in a virtual galaxy was another thing that brought me one step closer. Next on my list is Digimon Rumble Arena 2. That game is the first game where I encountered Renamon. Another star in the Fandom’s roster.

My next games bring up the handheld generation. First up: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon for the DS. Being able to play as a pokemon and help other pokemon? Sign me up! Dream world, helping Pokemon out of tough situations!

Next up, Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia. Most of the Pokemon games are having to capture the creatures and fight them against others, but in Pokemon Ranger, you do capture pokemon, but you and the pokemon work together to help people in trouble, much like Mystery Dungeon. Most of the Pokemon series brought me up, and helped me find my place with a lot of fandoms. Anime, Pokemon, Video games, and yes, Furries.

Next up, Dust: An Elysian Tail. I first found this gem on the Xbox 360 Marketplace back in 2013. It’s a side scrolling platformer with Anthropomorphic creatures. That game really brought my feelings for the fandom and it’s associated creatures way up the scale. Ever since that game, I’ve been a furry.

I have been playing games with Anthropomorphic animals since, and it continues to strike my heart as why I joined: the love of Anthro creatures.

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