Dear fediverse: someone being a “furry” does not warrant a report. If you don’t like furries, there is a handy option to block or mute people.
Thank you for your attention.
@jerry
This reminds me of my main interaction with furries. Long, possibly boring tale ahead.
I was involved in helping with a Wizard of Oz fan convention in Portland, OR, one year. The chair was an older woman - a close friend - who reached out to local fandom for help with the practicalities. This Oz group had been using the same location in CA for years, and running a con at a new place was a challenge. 1/?
@jerry
So the con chair reached out to local fandom, and the only people to respond in a timely manner were a group of furries. She had no idea what furries were, and didn't care. They assisted her with the hotel, loaned the Oz group equipment for programming, and generally were awesome support.
When I heard who was helping us, I told the chair what furries were. So she was disappointed when the first day of the con arrived and her new friends showed up in regular clothing - no fursuits. 2/?
@jerry
When she asked why, they explained that they didn't want to freak out the Wizard of Oz fans - a mostly older demographic. But she pointed out that the Oz books are full of talking animals, magic, and gender switching. The furries... well, they weren't convinced, but one of them came the next day in a fursuit.
The Oz fans were thrilled. They took photos, they discussed the practicalities of fursuits, they had discussions with the furries about stereotypes... 3/?
@jerry
In short, the furries and the Oz fans became instant friends.
I was incredibly impressed by the furries. They didn't just show up, the showed up professionally, with sensitivity to the people they were helping, and they volunteered time and effort to make the convention a success.
My opinion of furries, which had been neutral uncertainty, swung right over into positive and has stayed there since.
4/5
@jerry
So reading that someone reported someone else for being a furry makes my head hurt.
Despite that, thank you for bringing back some lovely memories with your mention of furries.
5/5
@realtegan @jerry Love this story.
Steel City Comic-con hosted William Shatner last year, so no surprise that folks were out in their Star Trek garb. But it's Pittsburgh, so folks were also out in their fursuits.
A group of the two fandoms got together for a photo op in front of the photo-op wall with the Trekkies pulling out their tricorders and getting scans on the furries. Funniest damn thing I saw all day. Wish I'd had the courage to ask if they minded if I snapped a photo too; it was great.
