Relocated across the street to dog show. Really.

Okay, while I can't condone a chlorine gas attack on anyone, let alone oddball furries, that they were sent across the street to a convention center having a dog show is kind of funny.

I don't understand the whole furry thing, to be quite honest. It is so far out of my thought processes that I'm not shocked or disapproving so much as just perplexed and amused. And a convention? Hold on, that's gotta be something worth checking out.

I can envision a dance where the booze flows freely and under a disco ball a fat middle aged guy in a raccoon suit gyrates wildly to Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

That would be just awesome to see while one orders another double vodka.

Oh, I had no fricking clue what a "Furry Convention" was until I read the article.

It would've been more amusing if Gillette had been having its convention across the street and they all had to shave.



The Jedi Master

It's not my thing, but it's just another version of Sy Fi or comic book conventions, people dressing up in character and mingling. I have friends who are really on about Doctor Who right now, they dress up as perfect representations of the character's costumes, and they go to these things with as much zeal a fan could have. What they give away and what they might not realize is that all of us believe they go and shag while in costume during the events, probably act out scenes and whatnot and you know...do it. That's what their friends think of them but don't say to their face. So, the only thing I imagine is that given the full costumes, is that Furry sex is more hard. And hopefully not too weird like humping legs as a form of foreplay. Ewww.

First remember finding out what the Furry thing was from CSI

CSI, Season 4, Episode 5 "Fur and Loathing"

Next week's Bronie Convention is across from the rodeo show. What's a Bronie, you ask? Males that dress up like the cartoon character My Little Pony.


.....and the answer is NO. I happen to frequent a gaming forum where there are a few, so that's how I know.

There was a woman about 20 years ago in Sacramento IIRC who dressed up as a Star Trek bridge captain virtually 24/7, insisted on being addressed by her rank. She made the news because she once appeared in court that way and got into some trouble with the judge. That is a clear example of social phobia and social awkwardness taken to the extreme. I'm pretty tolerant of whatever it is people are on about as harmless fun, but in her case I would suggest psychological counseling. I mean, that's not an alter ego, that seemed to be her primary ego. She probably didn't see it that way, though.

There are rodeo shows in Massachussetts??

Brony convnetion dance party somewhere in Canada.

I think they're bizarre as all hell, but a chlorine gas attack? Are people really just that insane when some people act weird in a group? (rhetorical, I know psychotic groups like 4chan and anonymous exist )

Um.....yeah.

Oh man that video is painful to watch...

We did COWBOY UP in 2004, but that's not the rodeo you mean. There actually is an annual Shriner's Auditorium Rodeo about 15 miles from me. Never been to it, but even Massachusetts has it's share of rodeo.

There are rednecks in every state.

Can't get a good gas mask seal with all that facial hair, but hey at least they can have tattoos on their arms.

WoW! That is scary crazy. I get it wanting to be with the guys sometimes, but really...Have any of these boys ever talked to a female? Personally, as soon as I walk away from work, I'm ready to be around a female.

I actually know several frat boys with sorority girlfriends who are hardcore bronies. I'm still scratching my head on it though too.

Also, not all bronies go in for the cosplay aspect- most are just rabid fans of all things "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."

Hey, I knew a Brony once. He was my friends roomates and I met a couple of his Brony friends too. I don't think they dress up like the My Little Ponies though, they're just really into them. Perhaps they do at conventions, but I don't think dressing up is the main thing like it is with Furries. I wonder about that one a lot.

I think I can understand the Furries, though. I don't really know if this is the case in general, I've only briefly discussed it with a few I met in passing at school, but I suspect that the appeal of being a Furry is in being able to escape from themselves and become a character whose appearance and personality are entirely up to them and wholly within their control. Not my thing, but I definitely can see how that would be liberating for someone with identity-centered anxiety. I don't believe it's a kink. They say, though it certainly involves sexuality, that's just tangential like any rave/party involves sexuality.


TLDR - The Furries I met were nice people. They weren't sexual deviants by any but the most ultra conservative standards. Pretty much they just had an unusual hobby, and it makes me sad that ignorance can breed hate strong enough to attempt, even incompetently, mass murder.

I doubt it's a kink in and of itself save for a few. But I wouldn't doubt that it's convenient for them to slip that in there now and then. They're already in the costumes, and as you say, it's definitely a form of coping mechanism, it's hiding- I have to imagine there is an underlying identity issue that probably will get combined with any amorous feelings with like people.

People have always been socially awkward, but it's going to into a weird direction of voyeurism and exhibition and that kind of thing. Virtually everyone I knew who went into a band was the same way, no matter how much they tried to portray themselves as cool rockstars, most of them were socially awkward and it was a way to get friends and admirers that they felt they would otherwise never get.