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Ach, dorkery.

  • Jan. 21st, 2005 at 11:50 AM
oatmeal!
spottylogic
I like the concept of "furries" a lot, and I don't mind being a geek. But I'm finding the young, weird furries quite taxing. They keep wearing leashes--not shiny leather, but nylon things from the pet stores. And there's a strong insistence on tails. I'm sort of okay with that, but I don't at all like the combination of tail, stupid collar, and various gothy accessories, particularly--here's the important part--worn by someone who can't pull it off. It just sets the wrong tone. It changes things from "Here's a bunch of geeks of dubious morality and sexual orientation" to "Here's a bunch of IN YOUR FACE!!! geeks of dubious morality and sexual orientation, and maybe they look for friday night dates at PetCo."

So I'm thinking that maybe we need a new word for sane furries. How about "Professional Urban Furries"? or "Puffies" for short.

It's awkward. I don't want people not to express their inner labrador, but "taste" and "decorum" are important words in a public setting.

Comments

( 42 comments — Leave a comment )
spotweld
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:10 am (UTC)
SCi-fi has been dealing with this problem from some time now. Do a google search on the term "first fandom".
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spotweld
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:13 am (UTC)
Or better yet look at here. Anything look familar?
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(no subject) - baktre - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:51 am (UTC) - Expand
spottedhyena
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:11 am (UTC)
I have to admit, I've never understood the collar thing. The collar on the dog serves the same purposes as the iron collars they once put on slaves: to identify the status of the wearer, to identify the owner, and to facilitate control of the wearer.

I find it hard to believe that a dog endowed with human level intellect and the ability to speak would willingly choose to wear one.
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:14 am (UTC)
It's getting the idea of furries confused with D&S play, AFAIK. Maybe people with strong "dogness" are drawn toward dominant/submissive behavior, it wouldn't be entirely surprising. From what I've heard, a lot of "domestic" phenotypes get like that.
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(no subject) - spottedhyena - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:29 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:46 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - baktre - Jan. 21st, 2005 11:01 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 03:22 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - demoncougar - Jan. 21st, 2005 11:06 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 11:20 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - demoncougar - Jan. 21st, 2005 12:41 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 12:55 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - demoncougar - Jan. 21st, 2005 01:01 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - sdocat - Jan. 23rd, 2005 07:17 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottedhyena - Jan. 21st, 2005 12:06 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - poppinjaye - Jan. 21st, 2005 12:58 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spotweld - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:14 am (UTC) - Expand
jenna_thorn
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:12 am (UTC)
heh
There's a reason I keep at arm's length from big chunks of the local pagan community.

I hear you.
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aliastaken
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:13 am (UTC)
Furries?
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:17 am (UTC)
Ach--that question :) Very loosely, people who are fans of anthropomorphic artwork (such as Disney's "Robin Hood"--humanoid fox people, or Bugs Bunny). There's layers of stuff on top of it (including animal totems/spirituality, a complicated fandom society, costuming, a certain sexual element that is variously derided as a Bad Thing or percieved as perhaps the Main Thing). T'is a wee bit complicated, so best summed up by "geeks with fuzzy animal fixations."
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(no subject) - artfulreggie - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:23 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spotweld - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:23 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - baktre - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:48 am (UTC) - Expand
strigine
Jan. 21st, 2005 10:49 am (UTC)
I am (delightfully) reminded of the "executive transvestite"/"weirdo transvestite" bit from Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill". XD
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 11:04 am (UTC)
Well, there *is* a difference. I have 10 different hyena-related items in my cubical. None of them is my tail. Whereas there's one furry I've had my psychological space violated by who's unemployable because he won't take his off. I do love that routine, though :)
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(Deleted comment)
Re: Ha Ha! - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 01:40 pm (UTC) - Expand
(Deleted comment)
Re: Ha Ha! - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 01:56 pm (UTC) - Expand
(Deleted comment)
spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 11:04 am (UTC)
Erh...I'm not interested that much in establishing relative sanity outside the fandom. I'd just like it if the locals weren't so darned fired up about Being Different for the Sake of Difference. I'd be TOTALLY OKAY with being at the spearhead of an "executive furry" trend, but I fear the general "don't let them put me in a 'cube!" philosophy is too strong for that one to really catch on with the sheep-morphs.
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jim_hague
Jan. 21st, 2005 01:05 pm (UTC)
Look on the bright side, J - your fandom got a major boost from Rush Limbaugh when he mocked and derided it earlier today re: the con out in California. Google it, baby.

As for the collars...eh. My blind, unreasoning hatred of having fandom jammed down my throat extends to those, which is why I avoid Chipotle on certain nights. 'Course, before the inevitable screams and cries out outrage come, I point out that:

1)The popular public perception of furries is dominated by furverts and guys like Doug Winger and TCatt.

2)I like Spotty just fine. I even grabbed his ass once. Was that the beginning of the end, I wonder...?

3)I'd do the same to Trekkies, obnoxious LARPers and Ian. For those of you who don't know Ian...ask Spotty. Oh, the horror, the horror.

You may now return to your labors. Or, if interested, peruse the sharkpit that is RPG.Net's Tangency forum.
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 01:16 pm (UTC)
Woah. Limbaugh mocked *furries*? Why? WHY? What's the damn point? This is what happens when conservatives win, and get bored.

Every fandom is dominated by the gimps and dorks. Sad fact. Furries are just the lowest fandom on the geek totem pole. On the other hand, the geek totem pole that listed Vampire Larpers and Furries at the bottom of the ladder was probably created by bitter Trekkies who couldn't get laid--not so much an issue for those two fandoms, as long as you have no standards :) Or so MTV tells me...
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kt_kat
Jan. 21st, 2005 01:57 pm (UTC)
I also see tons and tons more "goth" furries all the time.(online especially)- the typical "fuckyouall" teens who think they NEED to define their "uniqueness" by tacky technicolor accessories and an overdone punky facade. Its pathetic, really. There's a difference between displaying your own personal style and blindly reaching out for attention with anything you can grasp, and these new furs can't seem to tell the difference. What amuses me is that these kids go around saying "I don't care what anyone thinks" but they're doing it to "stand out" and they get their little feelings hurt when people make fun of them on SomethingAwful or wherever else the bullies gather. If they really didn't care, they wouldn't go out of their way to look stupid.

I know I wear a collar from time to time, but its something I actually bought at a jewelry store, and its rather subtle, so I'd like to think. And I try to only wear it with the appropriate attire. At least I don't wear that fingerguard/claw thingy I got for my birthday. XD

Of course, extremes always define the stereotypes, sad to say. I think that's part of why Sdocat is loath to go out of his way to show up at Wing Night anymore. I know the new crops of furs really irk him.
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 02:10 pm (UTC)
Well, the old guard is still there, but these new kids are making me uncomfortable. Though the latest batch (the leashes I've been kvetching about ) were at least mid-20somethings, they really should have been old enough to know better. The kids, though, tend to just hang out together and clique, which is okay. Really, the kids *aren't* that bad. One or two of them can actually wear collars and look the part, and even Tobias is just kind of dorky and annoying--and he's mellowed a LOT, or maybe I'm just comparing to people who are much worse. Mostly the 17-20-year-olds huddle around the table and amuse each other.

There are some adults, though, that genuinely creep me out. Once in a great while I meet someone whose presence is enough to give me the screaming wiggins. (shudder) And those leash fools were off-putting. Tobias will grow out of it, Helio will probably grow out of it or be shot and skinned for his coat. People over 25 won't grow out of it. (twitch twitch)
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(no subject) - kt_kat - Jan. 21st, 2005 02:50 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 03:23 pm (UTC) - Expand
bravo
Jan. 21st, 2005 02:43 pm (UTC)
A while ago (the 17-18ish range) I bought a collar....

Blue nylon, as little metal as possible... It looked horrible on me. :\

Sorry, sexually frustrated pudgy geeks shouldn't wear collars...

Other than the shock value (which was very.... unwelcomed to my taste), the collars for pets just aren't made for human sizes. Something about it just doesn't look right. *shrug*

We can kinda blame anime like Wolf's Rain with the influx of collars, (well, at least I do) since the dork of the series wears one.

I think the only time I'll ever be wearing a collar again will be in fursuit, and even then it will be specially designed for the suit, not something bought at petco.

Hot Topic:"Goth-&-Go"::PetCo:"Furry-&-Go"?
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 03:26 pm (UTC)
*nod* I can appreciate the nice shiny black leather ones. Though a certain narrowness of waistline and low luminosity of birthday cake toppings help to make them work a little better.

So, what is the weird thing with specifically blue nylon? :)
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(no subject) - bravo - Jan. 21st, 2005 07:45 pm (UTC) - Expand
flippantmoniker
Jan. 21st, 2005 03:56 pm (UTC)
I think dork furs are perfect fodder for laughter and belittlement and feel no guilt of conscience for doing so. When I was growing up, if I dressed like a retard, all my peers called me dork and threw things at me. I would be the target of bullies and football players. Through this, I learned not to dress like a retard. I feel the simpering masses of high-school rejects should walk the same gauntlet, and perhaps they too will learn that being part of a special interest group does not relieve you of the need to practice decorum. A good ass kickin' builds character, and if these children are gonna hang out with the grown-ups then they need to learn some manners. period
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spottylogic
Jan. 21st, 2005 04:23 pm (UTC)
Most of them *did*, but then they got out of HS. Pity.
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(no subject) - bravo - Jan. 21st, 2005 07:58 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - spottylogic - Jan. 21st, 2005 10:43 pm (UTC) - Expand
( 42 comments — Leave a comment )