Who Saw CSI Last Thursday?

Ok, totally OT, but...

Who here saw CSI last Thursday, with the beastiality and the fur pile and everything? Just out of curiosity.

Do you have a kittah that goes rarr?

I don't wanna watch THAT stuff. It's too much like RL.

Being in the UK, I'm a series behind you, Dar... so I didn't see that one.

The last one I saw (last week) was the one where the lab exploded. Kinda reminded me of a chemistry lesson calamity way way back when I was at school. Only two kids had *serious* burns

I did Dar (taped for later viewing). I love that series, but this one was a tad bizarre?

Okay, I never watch that show but I watched that episode just because it was so, well, nerdy!

It creeped me out, in part I suspect because it was really well done. Healthy sexual outlet or just beyond sad? Raised some pretty serious questions!

Bhodi-whodi wasn't fuzzy, was she?

I didn't watch it, but, the Tivo has taped all the CSI's and Law and Orders that are on, so, I will search and find it. That's pretty much all that I watch...the only other things it tapes are the things it thinks I might enjoy. Oddly enough, when I watch one of the things it picked, I usually love it!

Now that is really scary! My favorite programs are the same as James'?

I watched that particular CSI episode, and I know a something about the fandom in question. My puppetry hobby brought me to the attention of the furry groups last year. Since then, I've found that "furries" tend to have a three-part creative output: First and foremost is art, fantastic quantities of the stuff at all levels of skill, from crap to OMFG That's Good!

Then there is costuming, which is closely related to dressing up like a Stormtrooper or anime's cosplay. If you've been to an sci-fi or anime con, you know what I'm talking about. (I haven't myself, but I've seen pictures.) The only way to make costumes for anthropomorphic characters is to go whole body, since they are so different from a typical human. At the largest furry convention, which had an attendance of almost 2000 people this year, there were only a little over 100 fursuit costumers. There aren't more of them due to cost and comfort issues. They are fricken HOT! (A good con staff will provide a room full of fans and free Gatorade with long straws.)

Then there is puppetry, the third form of fantastical animal creativity. Smaller and cheaper than a costume, and they talk more. There are fewer of these as performers, but they often draw large audiences since they can be more interactive than ether of the other two outlets.

Now a furry con is a lot like a sci-fi con, or an anime con, or heck, even a Barbie collectors con. For a portion of the attendees, it's the only time they leave their house. If some poor sap has made one thing the center of his or her life (like, say... Trek?) then, poor-social skills aside, they are sure to show up at a related convention. They stand out even there.

Also, most people have fetishes. They come in all ranges and styles. You know about a lot of them, and if you watch documentaries like HBO's "Reel Sex" then you know about a LOT of them. Some will be to your liking, others won't. I personally think the whole toe-sucking thing is gross! But that's a personal dislike, not a moral judgment... Two things most people confuse. But some people, again, can make one such fetish the center of their lives (like goth?), and will go to any related convention. Like a shoe convention to the aforementioned toe-licker. You just KNOW there's Klingon sex going on up in some hotel room at a Trek convention... Pain sticks and all. (That green chick gets all the guys.) Anime and furry cans get their share. (Not so sure about those model railroaders, though...)

So just about any convention will have it's share of social misfits and fetishiers (did I just coin a word?) which, while making up a small portion of the attendees, will stick out like a sore thumb... Especially where the two are combined. Bring in the media and in who's face do you think the reporter will first stick that microphone? They'll interview the oddest, weirdest, most obvious person they can find for their minute-and-a-half spot on the 6 o'clock news. And if they don't actually say what's going on later in their hotel room, it's on their mind, no doubt, and some innuendoes are going to slip out.

Now make a TV show episode about one of these conventions, in which case you can throw any shred of credibility that the news organizations try to uphold out the window. More mainstream than the local news, more people see it. They either take it at face value or assume it has no basis in reality (then eventually see some mention of it for real and also take it at face value). In such ways are false preconceptions made.

That said, the CSI show was inaccurate in many ways... The costumes are called "fursuits" not "plushies". ("Plushies" are stuffed animals.) If you think a head-to-toe fur coat might be hot in Las Vegas, which is surrounded by Nevadian desert, you'll be right, but to add a latex lining?!?!? That's a deathwish! [EDIT: Hmmm... One more "cause of death"? ] Other errors are more nitpicky, subtle, or on a level not suited for discussion on a PG forum.


In short, if you saw it and went "EWWWW"... Try not to draw big conclusions and judge others based on a TV drama... That's just silly.


[Does that qualify as a "rant"? I know it qualifies as "long.".. ]

I'm a furry myself so I have an inside view.


Very few furries are into bestiality, and those that are don't do it anyway, because they care too much about thier animal partners.


Most furries consider thier furry side to be a spiritual one, a connection with an animal or an animal spirit, or something even stranger.

A friend of mine believes he's the genetic reincarnation of the prince of a world in another dimension that was inhabited by furries, for example.


We're an eccentric group but we're very nice people. We just have a special connection to animals, and some fun hobbies.


The majority of furries are gay men, but that tends to be just because they're more open with thier inner feelings.


As to the content of the party on that show, well a lot of furries I know had this to say... "I'm going to the wrong room parties!"


It's mostly about celebration of animals and anthropomorphic animal characters, and our emotional and spiritual connections to them.



Oh and if you're curious, a Fursuit costs around $1000-$2000. A friend of mine makes them professionally.

http://www.fursuit.org/

http://www.snapetiger.com/suit/

Tiger & Relee:

Great viewpoints and comments on the show. I agree with both of your posts.

I did watch this episode - and I do believe there are certain people like that out there (though probably not as drastic), but they just form a tiny minority that have been amplified and Hollywoodified (as per normal for most things on television or in a movie) to create interesting material for the uneducated viewer.

In any aspect, some good movies sometimes come out of amplification and Hollywoodization of one thing or another - though I'm not saying it's right in this case...

My interepretation of all this is that furries tend to feel more comfertable socializing as animals than they do as humans. This is almost the same thing as MMORPGs, in my opinion. Hell, you can be perfectly satisfied with who you are in real life, maybe ya just want to shake up your weekends a bit.

Relee: just so long as you don't actively do Beastiality stuff, that's very cool, and very interesting indeed. If you did do Beastiality, that would be scary. Something about humping an animal suit scares me.

Heh well technically I'm a virgin.

Beastiality is only when you're having sex with real animals. Fursuit sex isn't beastiality, but it's kind of neat.

Kind of hard though!


A lot of plushophiles have sex with thier plushies, too. Though also a lot of them just treat them like friends.

I think it's less that furries prefer to socialize as animals, and more that they are part of a select group with it's own lingo and history... Just like so many other groups. Drawing the line between Us and Them.

The animal connection is very strong with some people -- Spiritually, temperamentally, or behaviorally. For others, it's just something that's tacked on.

The costuming... Well, it's not all that unlike making avatars here that have nothing whatsoever to do with your true appearance. And they can be just as much fun to create, if you have the skill or perseverance.

As far as all the sex stuff, most of it is anecdotal and hearsay. It's humorous to talk about what goes on in private hotel rooms at cons, and if you hear about something outrageous you'll share the story... But, while there is no smoke without a fire, there's surprisingly little of it going on for all the talk. I knew some popular individuals who decided to go room-party-hopping to see what they could see. They were highly disappointed with what they found.

As for what goes on away from the con party atmosphere... There's not that much difference between dressing up like Tarzan & Jane, a playboy bunny, a big green fox, or Bill Gates. Play acting can be fun. Go make an avatar.

["Bill Gates"??? Ewwwwww...]

That's what I ment. It scares me.

Well I don't engage in bestality, unless you count stroking a cat.

Furs who like animals that way are called Zoophiles, but that really just means animal lover. Some people call themsevels Zoophiles when really they just like to stroke thier horse's mane and stuff. So watch out.