Why do people become furries?

Ahh but Astromechs are better again

It's a great conversation starter for me, and warns people, I'm simply not normal
I find being a droid gender neautral, people don't chase you for sex and other people don't think you are chasing them for it either.

Furries are great, I have a furry AV I use very occasionally, it just brings mor magic to SL, like if people can wear alien AV's or anything else, stops the place looking like RL.

The best answers are always the easiest!

Mari

I play a human avatar the whole rest of the day. I'm bored with it.

Nobody seems to question "why fly" in SL? We can't do that in real life - WHY would we WANT to fly? How about... because it's fun? I could turn the question on it's head: WHY play a human in SL? You spend your whole real life as one! Why not try something a little more.. different? imaginative? creative?

I'd say people play as furs because its fun. Because it shows creativity/imagination. Because it allows them to express themselves in a way which is not possible in real life: because SL is NOT real life and is therefore not bound by the same rules as reality. Therefore, why not take advantage of that to try being something else, something more fun and interesting? That's why I play as a furry in SL anyway

As for the subject of sex in SL, that's another topic... I am not at ALL interested in sex in SL. Some people are. Whether they play as human or furry avs, this is however an element in the game, and "to each his/her own" I say. It's upto them. But I think it would be unrealistic to expect there to be less or more interest in sex within SL than there is amongst non-furs. There's going to be an interest in sex amongst a certain portion of the game players in SL, regardless what their chosen av is.

(And why is it that when the subject of furries comes up sex always seems to brought up? I find it a little offensive. The same doesn't happen in reverse: "Oh you're a human av? You must be some weird sex sicko then."

Fact is, furries chars are just expressing themselves; their choice of av is a personal and creative one. It has nothing to do with sex; that's a completely separate thing which some avs, both humans and furs, engage in within SL. I wish people wouldn't needlessly connect the words "furries" and "sex", it creates an unfair stereotype which just makes life more difficult for us "harmless" furries.

(quoted from an above quote) Originally Posted by AckAck Ackland
[...] Adding voice is the least of our worries.


So, instead of adding voice... he wants to silence people?

--
Humans are mammals. Mammals are animals.
There's no accounting for taste.

And I've no taste for accounting.

I'm a dragon most of the time in SL. Sometimes I might be a different species or mechanoid but I boxed up and buried my human avatars long ago. When I joined SL I knew nothing about the furry world and made myself an avatar that looked approximately like my RL self. I spent a few weeks exploring around and bought myself a Dalek avatar as I've always been a fan of Dr Who. In between exploring around the grid I'd hang out at the DAMB welcome area with it's collection of ken'n'barbie avatars feeling like a bit of an odd sock. Socialising and 'breaking the ice' have never been my strong cards in life. The occasional fox would wander through and most people would ignore it and I thought nothing more of it.

One day I saw an exotic colourful avatar (which I later learned was a blue skunk with all sorts of cyborg attachments). After a bit inquiring someone mentioned Luskwood to me so I went over there to check it out for myself. Once I got used to their different appearance I found the people there to be friendlier and more welcoming than the welcome area. I particularly remember the day I wandered in feeling very low after a bad experience to find everyone sitting around listening to old 'Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy' broadcasts... it was like coming home.

Prior to joining SL I'd had an interest in reptilians, draconics and avians (as part of a SciFi story that is an ever-ongoing process) and got myself a dragon avatar at Luskwood. Since then I've never looked back. The few times I attempted to 'revert' to a human form didn't last long. I simply didn't recognise the stranger on the screen any longer.

Am I a furry, scaley, whatever? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not really into the more 'exotic' aspects of the furry scene and I don't RP much but I'm more comfortable with my dragon avatar then I'd ever be as a human in SL.

Yes I dont think Furries are involved in sex any more than anyone else.

Im not ashamed to say it;

Ive had SL sex with furries - I dont think theres anything wrong with it. It was decidely more "mainstream" than some of the BDSM SL sex ive had.

Sides I always imagined the fur is pretty cuddly. =)

I have a furry avatar and a human avatar, but I'm on SL as my furry avatar probably 99% of the time for a couple of reasons.

1) I was part of the furry fandom before I came to SL so I was naturally drawn to the furry areas and avatars.

2) My human avatar doesn't look real enough to be a true representation of me. I've got a nice skin for it that even has the same beard/five o'clock shadow that I have, but it's still seems fake.

Walking around as a blue skunk I dispense with trying to appear as I do outwardly in real life and I think it lets my personality show through more than trying to be a cartoon human version of my real life self.

A lot of SL is about fantasy. C'mon, how many men and women have proportions like Ken and Barbie in the real world? Yet many human avatars seem to have ideal bodies. I'd say a lot of human avatars are just as much fantasy as the furry ones on SL.

*Grins* You better believe it. And being wrapped up in a long fluffy skunk tail is like having a warm soft fuzzy blanket around you that can stroke you at the same time.

I know the field is already crowded, Desmond but I think you should seriously considering running for the US presidency. You'd have at least one of my votes.

Could someone explain to me what "yiffing" means?

I am wondering why Ackack started this, but its an interesting mostly happy thread.

I found that I enjoyed looking at furry avs. They are part of the magic of SL. I got a furry alt with the intention of hanging out with furries and checking out the scene. I got the cutest lioness and I love looking at her. I hung out at luskwood, but did not enjoy the social thing. I found them to be a pretty quiet bunch and I prefer more lively and intellectual chat. Ok, maybe furries prefer to be less verbal? Animals don't talk. Thats cool. I have a mild erotic pull for the yiff, but have not explored it.

I went to Ahern a few times as the lioness and ran into some of the anti-furry responses. I find it puzzling. With my lack of enjoyment of the furry social scene and the anti-furry sentiments elsewhere, I thought, why bother and gave up the lioness alt.

Then I was interested in making skins but intimidated by how hard it is to make a human skin. I had the bright idea of making a skin to look like an animal as I thought it would be easier and chose the bush baby. (I have gotten over that fear and have made good progress on my first human skin). I had a blast making the bush baby skin and scripting the blinking eyes. I was so pleased how it came out, I just started wearing it cuz I like looking at it. I don't know if it would be considered a furry av as it is made from skin and is not prim heavy. The only prims are the eyes and the tail. And it seems that furries are mainly foxes and canines and felines. And they have a cartoonish look. I admire the art of cartooning, it is just not my aesthetic preference.

I think a had pretty much gotten through the wanting to look like a hot babe and having guys want to talk to me all the time. I am working towards making a rl living in sl. Sometimes I switch to human form in work situations for convenience or wanting to look professional (whatever that means in SL). At the beginning of bush babyhood, I found myself wanting to explain my appearance to people who knew me as the hot babe. I got over that. It is SL, after all. Now I am the bush baby for sightseeing and socializing. (Except when I am my male alt, but that is another story.) I went to a sim recommened to me for great architecture and was given a notecard stating that non-human avs were only welcome there during special events. It bummed me out. And I still don't get it. I went to a wonderful sculpture show of bug-eyed little green men. I noticed the resemblace to my bush baby eyes. A resident who happened to be visiting the show at the same time asked me if I was part of the exhibit. I was delighted and we had a charming little chat. We are all part of the exhibit, folks. This is a good thing.

Yiffing is a term for furries having sex. There is an interesting entry for yiff in the wikipedia, if you are interested in more detail.

Beautifully said, Sylvia

I'm wondering why this thread hasn't been locked yet...

Ok, I've read the OP's Past threads, and seen his Obvious Bias, HOWEVER,,
His Current posted questions and enquiries were politely, and reasonably worded, and Valid. EVEN IF the OP Himself doesn't get gain anything from the responses here (And i'm NOT ruling out that he May) Others who are Interested in, or curious about the Furry Lifestyle are going to Read this for Information and Back ground on something that Could be Easily Misunderstood by the Uninitiated.
This is Probably the BEST reason to NOT take part in this threads degeneration into a Trolling War.
Whatever your Feelings about the OP, and his Past Posts, Set your Rightious Indignation aside and do your best to answer his Present questions Fully, and accurately. If Not for him, then for yourselves And for the Other people who are going to use the resident Answers Forums for Just that,, Getting the answers to things that Interest them, Challenge them, or simply Puzzle them.

I've been there before with my Own Lifestyle.

Angel.

There was a "CSI" repeat on last week that dealt with Yiffing, and the unfortunate, but funny demise of a furry roleplayer.

Maybe because they can't bear to be part of Humanity anymore and aspire for something less dirty and corrupted?

No choice. A tiny but romantic nibble left me infected with the dreaded neko flu. The Second Life Moon is ALWAYS FULL! (it's a costume party, duh)

I wonder if there is any generalised reason why some folk take on furry persona.
Starting at the question do you portray yourself or something of your fantasy, then furries could simply be grouped into the latter along with more barbie/kenlike, taller, more suntanned, transgender. It's just another option.
When I started, I played a girl thinking much nicer to follow a girls wiggling rear than a guys. That was my preference and I don't criticise anyone elses preference. I assumed that playing furries were peoples attempt to avoid sexuality. Reading a couple of posts here I now think the opposite is true too
At the end of the day we do what the individual wants. Categorising might be ok for car parts to work out what boxes to put them in but we differ far too much for that same categorising to hold much value I think. That in itself is one of the reasons I'm in SL at all.

edit: Sorry Angel for sounding like what you were trying to avoid. I'm not criticising anyone. I've been away for too long and shall definitely backread this one!

I love the Usagi Yojimbo comics by Stan Sakai. They're all (with the exception of one single, evil, human Daimyo) anthropomorphic characters. Not *animals*. There are "animals" too, like the cute lizards. I liked Genosuke the rhino-ronin most as he was always being lazy or drinking

I have a tiny cat av somewhere. It's super cute, that's as much reason as anyone needs.

Burning newbie question: How do you put on a Tiny avatar? Do you just slide the avatar height down to near 0?

If I could get inworld right now, I'd give it try, but I'm at work. Sigh.

Well, I've backread and I'm impressed. I stand by my statement that trying to generalise is uesless.
Lots of different and good reasons for a furry persona. What an exciting place this is!

Gonna record the thread ID for this. Too many informative threads like this get lost in the archives.

Tinies have a customized shape and animation overrider that comes with them. It super-scrunches the avatar, and makes a Tiny possible. It also makes using any animations not explicitly designed for timies IMPOSSIBLE. A Tiny can't wear normal clothes, dance, sit on normal furniture, or do any standard avatar animations. But they sure are cute! There is specialized furniture and prim clothes just for tinies, to make up for the fact that they can't use stuff for bigger avatars.