I'm still not sure where this whole sub-culture thing is headed, but I do know that it changes and grows exponentially with each passing year. In this realm, my name is Kwaz (or Kawazu) the Drumming Raccoon. I've been in and out of the fandom since I was 11, and I'm 26 now. I've been to something close to like 16 furry conventions since 2005, from FWA to FC as well as many in between, and I have seen many profound things and made many new friends who have changed my life in different ways. I remember once upon a time, this "furry" thing was a tiny nerdy fringe society that existed mostly on the internet and was centered around art and roleplaying, but the times have changed so, so much right before my very eyes...
The oldschool furries now find themselves joined by ravers, hippies, rocket scientists (I kid you not), business executives, street kids, lawyers, skaters, punks, soldiers, metalheads, stoners, straight-edgers, rappers, performers and crowds from Burning Man and various music festivals all around the country. I once stumbled into another random furry at Bonnaroo 2010 in the middle of 80,000 freaking people camped out in a giant field, and we wound up spending the rest of the weekend having the time of our lives together. Earlier that same year, I headlined Rocket City Fur Meet as a one-man-band musical performing act and made fans out of a small roaming group of candy kids who ran across my show while exploring their first fur con ever. The furry population is exploding, I have watched it keep exploding every year for 15 years, and there's nothing any of us can do to stop it from exploding more. For better or worse, this sub-culture has drawn us all together from all walks of life for many different reasons, and we're just going to have to learn to deal with it now.
To be frank, I haven't always left behind the best reputation, but I'm not the worst of the furries by far. I was pretty much drunk from the time I was 16 up until some weeks ago, when I met my new boyfriend at FC 2014 and everything finally changed for the best. However, since I've recovered from detoxing and gotten back on the right track in life, I've found that I still have a lot of love in this strange furry realm of ours, and thankfully still seem to have quiet a few furry friends who enjoy my company and my music as well.
If any of you are wondering why I'm just now emerging from years of hibernation to ramble about this mess, it's because my life has finally calmed down long enough for me to tell a piece of my story that no one else can tell. I've seen many different sides to the furry equation, I don't know what any of it means or if it even matters, but I would feel ashamed if I kept my experiences to myself instead of sharing them.
With that being said, I leave you all with this:
I was there when Tumbles the Stair Dragon took his flight,[Removed]. Things have only been getting stranger since then.
Topic: After watching the furry world evolve for 15 years... (Read 713 times)