Originally Posted by culapou

no, its ignorant to think "god" is the only god to create the universe, with all the other hundreds of religions why should ours be correct,

Originally Posted by Pirate

i worship canned meat

Originally Posted by metatheguy

History and inspiration

According to fandom historian Fred Patten, the concept of furry originated at a science fiction convention in 1980,[7] when a drawing of a character from Steve Gallacci’s Albedo Anthropomorphics initiated a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels, which in turn initiated a discussion group that met at science fiction and comics conventions. Patten defined Furry Fandom as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters."

The specific term "Furry Fandom" was being used in fanzines as early as 1983, and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s.[8] However, fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as Kimba, The White Lion released in 1965, Richard Adams' novel Watership Down, published in 1972 (and its 1978 film adaptation), as well as Disney's Robin Hood as oft-cited examples.[7] To distinguish these personae from seriously depicted animal characters, such as Lassie or Old Yeller, cartoon animals are referred to as funny animals,[9] a term that came into use in the 1910s.

During the 1980s, furry fans began to publish fanzines, developing a diverse social group that eventually began to schedule social gatherings. By 1987, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention.[10]

Throughout the next decade, the Internet became accessible to the general population and became the most popular means for furry fans to socialize. The newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as MUCKs also became popular places on the Internet for fans to meet and communicate. One of the oldest and largest MUCKs in existence is FurryMUCK.[11]

Art and literature
Sculpture by Wicked Sairah at Further Confusion
Sculpture by Wicked Sairah at Further Confusion

Furry fans participate in the arts as amateur and professional illustrators, comic strip authors, painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, and craftspeople. Furry fans are eager for more material than is available from mainstream publishers, and this demand is met by other fans, who range from amateur to professional. These artists, writers, and publishers[specify] produce a prolific amount of drawings, paintings, stories, comic books, fanzines, puppets, and small press books, as well as sculpture, textile art, fiction, music, and photography.

While most fan-created art is distributed through nonprofessional media, such as personal websites, some is published in anthologies, by Amateur Press Associations, or in APAzines.[12] A few works of furry art have been released in mainstream culture, and furry artwork has appeared on commercial apparel.[citation needed]

There are several webcomics featuring animal characters created by furry fans; as such, they may be referred to as "furry comics". One such comic, T.H.E. Fox, was first published on CompuServe in 1986, predating the World Wide Web by several years.[13]

Although mammals are most commonly depicted, anthropomorphized reptiles, birds or aquatic animals may also be known as furries (or "scalies",[14] "avians",[15] or "aquatics" respectively).
Some furry fans create and wear costumes, commonly known as fursuits, of their characters.
Some furry fans create and wear costumes, commonly known as fursuits, of their characters.

Websites devoted entirely to furry artwork exist,[16][17][18] while other sites contain furry artwork under the term "anthro".[19] Many artists maintain their own independent websites as well.

Crafts

Fans with craft skills create their own plush toys, sometimes referred to as plushies, and also build elaborate costumes called fursuits,[20] which are worn for fun or to participate in parades, convention masquerades, dances, or fund-raising charity events (as entertainers).[21] Many fursuits feature simple construction and resemble sports mascots, and others feature more sophisticated construction that includes moving jaw mechanisms, animatronic parts, prosthetic makeup, and other features. Fursuits can cost upwards of $1,000.[22] Some furry fans pursue puppetry, recording videos and performing live shows such as Rapid T. Rabbit and Friends and the Funday PawPet Show.

Role playing

Furry fans create anthropomorphic animal characters, known as fursonas, in order to engage in role-playing sessions on the Internet; these characters may be used in MUDs, on Internet forums, or on electronic mailing lists. The longest-running online furry role-playing environment is FurryMUCK (although it was predated by the GE-run BBS called The Beastie Board in which conversation occasionally led to role-play).[citation needed] Another popular online furry social game is called Furcadia, created by Dragon's Eye Productions. There are also several furry-themed areas and communities in the virtual world Second Life.[23] An online gaming community called Skotos currently offers a furry roleplaying game called Iron Claw Online and Right Brain Games is currently making a furry massively multiplayer online role-playing game titled Antilia.[24] Iron Realms Entertainment is also currently developing an MMORPG, Earth Eternal, which will feature anthropomorphic animals as playable races.[25] This will not be the first, as other games such as EverQuest II and World of Warcraft have anthropomorphic animals as well.[26][27]

Conventions
Furry fans prepare for a race at Midwest FurFest 2006
Furry fans prepare for a race at Midwest FurFest 2006

Main article: Furry convention

Sufficient interest and membership has enabled the creation of many furry conventions in North America and Europe. The world's largest[28] furry convention is Anthrocon, held annually in Pittsburgh in July.[29] One convention, Further Confusion, held in San Jose each January, closely follows Anthrocon in scale and attendance. In 2006, 19 furry conventions took place around the world, and total attendance exceeded 9,905.[30] The first known furry convention, ConFurence,[7] is no longer held; Califur has replaced it, as both conventions were based in Southern California.

Such conventions feature auctions or fund-raising events, with the proceeds often donated to an animal-related charity. For example, Further Confusion has raised more than $62,000 (USD) for various charitable beneficiaries throughout its nine-year history,[31] and Anthrocon has donated more than $66,000 (USD) to animal-related charities since 1997.[32] In September 2004, Mephit Furmeet raised more than $15,000 for an organization known as Tiger Haven.[33]

Furry conventions also provide economic benefits to the communities in which they are held. Anthrocon contributes $2.5 million to the economy of Pittsburgh each year.[34]

Furry lifestylers

The phrases furry lifestyle and furry lifestyler first appeared in July 1996 on the newsgroup alt.fan.furry during an ongoing dispute within that online community. One group within furry fans believed that any peripheral interest not directly relating to furry art, literature and fantasy should not be directly associated with the fandom, while others believed that the definition of what constituted furry could only be decided by the individual. The dispute was resolved by the creation of the newsgroup alt.lifestyle.furry in August 1996, created to accommodate discussion beyond furry art and literature. Members of this newsgroup quickly adopted the term furry lifestylers, and still consider the fandom and the lifestyle to be separate social entities.[35]

Subcultures such as the were or therian and otherkin communities share similar beliefs with furry lifestylers, but wish to distance themselves from the term furry, as their beliefs are not necessarily connected to furry fandom. Furthermore, they perceive association with what they describe as a "cartoon fandom" as "trivializing" their beliefs.[36]

Sex and furry fandom

Differing approaches to sexuality have been a source of controversy and conflict in furry fandom. Examples of mainstream sexual aspects within furry fandom include erotic art, a style known as yiffy art (from the subculture term "yiff" referring to sexual activity or arousal), and furry-themed cybersex.[37][38] According to The Pitch, examples of present usage of the word yiff include "a yiffy fur", meaning a furry who is sexually aroused or active, "yiffy artwork", meaning sexually explicit furry artwork, and "to yiff", meaning to have sex.[39] Yiffy art often depicts humanoid animals in poses and outfits similar to those in standard erotic art.

The term yiff is most commonly used to indicate sexual activity or material.[40] This applies to sexual activity and interaction within the subculture whether online or offline; it is also applied to sexual arousal and to erotic material causing it.[41] A common explanation offered for the etymology of the term within the subculture is that it is an onomatopoeia for the sound foxes make when mating.[42] Efforts to identify the origin of the term suggest that it was a term in "Foxish" (a language invented circa 1990 by a FurryMUCK participant) that originally was meant as an expression of happiness but over time and through popular usage came to acquire the sexual connotation now commonly associated with the term.[43]

In cybersex, also known as "TinySex" and "TextSex", yiffing is the act in which one or more players engage in the interactive writing of erotica, describing their "tinybodies" or fursonas engaged in sexual activities.[44]

Originally Posted by parkermauney

hmmm, where can i find more on this religion.

Originally Posted by Samule

wiki. he left the edit buttons on. <.>

Originally Posted by metatheguy

History and inspiration

According to fandom historian Fred Patten, the concept of furry originated at a science fiction convention in 1980,[7] when a drawing of a character from Steve Gallacci’s Albedo Anthropomorphics initiated a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels, which in turn initiated a discussion group that met at science fiction and comics conventions. Patten defined Furry Fandom as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters."

The specific term "Furry Fandom" was being used in fanzines as early as 1983, and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s.[8] However, fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as Kimba, The White Lion released in 1965, Richard Adams' novel Watership Down, published in 1972 (and its 1978 film adaptation), as well as Disney's Robin Hood as oft-cited examples.[7] To distinguish these personae from seriously depicted animal characters, such as Lassie or Old Yeller, cartoon animals are referred to as funny animals,[9] a term that came into use in the 1910s.

During the 1980s, furry fans began to publish fanzines, developing a diverse social group that eventually began to schedule social gatherings. By 1987, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention.[10]

Throughout the next decade, the Internet became accessible to the general population and became the most popular means for furry fans to socialize. The newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as MUCKs also became popular places on the Internet for fans to meet and communicate. One of the oldest and largest MUCKs in existence is FurryMUCK.[11]

Art and literature
Sculpture by Wicked Sairah at Further Confusion
Sculpture by Wicked Sairah at Further Confusion

Furry fans participate in the arts as amateur and professional illustrators, comic strip authors, painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, and craftspeople. Furry fans are eager for more material than is available from mainstream publishers, and this demand is met by other fans, who range from amateur to professional. These artists, writers, and publishers[specify] produce a prolific amount of drawings, paintings, stories, comic books, fanzines, puppets, and small press books, as well as sculpture, textile art, fiction, music, and photography.

While most fan-created art is distributed through nonprofessional media, such as personal websites, some is published in anthologies, by Amateur Press Associations, or in APAzines.[12] A few works of furry art have been released in mainstream culture, and furry artwork has appeared on commercial apparel.[citation needed]

There are several webcomics featuring animal characters created by furry fans; as such, they may be referred to as "furry comics". One such comic, T.H.E. Fox, was first published on CompuServe in 1986, predating the World Wide Web by several years.[13]

Although mammals are most commonly depicted, anthropomorphized reptiles, birds or aquatic animals may also be known as furries (or "scalies",[14] "avians",[15] or "aquatics" respectively).
Some furry fans create and wear costumes, commonly known as fursuits, of their characters.
Some furry fans create and wear costumes, commonly known as fursuits, of their characters.

Websites devoted entirely to furry artwork exist,[16][17][18] while other sites contain furry artwork under the term "anthro".[19] Many artists maintain their own independent websites as well.

Crafts

Fans with craft skills create their own plush toys, sometimes referred to as plushies, and also build elaborate costumes called fursuits,[20] which are worn for fun or to participate in parades, convention masquerades, dances, or fund-raising charity events (as entertainers).[21] Many fursuits feature simple construction and resemble sports mascots, and others feature more sophisticated construction that includes moving jaw mechanisms, animatronic parts, prosthetic makeup, and other features. Fursuits can cost upwards of $1,000.[22] Some furry fans pursue puppetry, recording videos and performing live shows such as Rapid T. Rabbit and Friends and the Funday PawPet Show.

Role playing

Furry fans create anthropomorphic animal characters, known as fursonas, in order to engage in role-playing sessions on the Internet; these characters may be used in MUDs, on Internet forums, or on electronic mailing lists. The longest-running online furry role-playing environment is FurryMUCK (although it was predated by the GE-run BBS called The Beastie Board in which conversation occasionally led to role-play).[citation needed] Another popular online furry social game is called Furcadia, created by Dragon's Eye Productions. There are also several furry-themed areas and communities in the virtual world Second Life.[23] An online gaming community called Skotos currently offers a furry roleplaying game called Iron Claw Online and Right Brain Games is currently making a furry massively multiplayer online role-playing game titled Antilia.[24] Iron Realms Entertainment is also currently developing an MMORPG, Earth Eternal, which will feature anthropomorphic animals as playable races.[25] This will not be the first, as other games such as EverQuest II and World of Warcraft have anthropomorphic animals as well.[26][27]

Conventions
Furry fans prepare for a race at Midwest FurFest 2006
Furry fans prepare for a race at Midwest FurFest 2006

Main article: Furry convention

Sufficient interest and membership has enabled the creation of many furry conventions in North America and Europe. The world's largest[28] furry convention is Anthrocon, held annually in Pittsburgh in July.[29] One convention, Further Confusion, held in San Jose each January, closely follows Anthrocon in scale and attendance. In 2006, 19 furry conventions took place around the world, and total attendance exceeded 9,905.[30] The first known furry convention, ConFurence,[7] is no longer held; Califur has replaced it, as both conventions were based in Southern California.

Such conventions feature auctions or fund-raising events, with the proceeds often donated to an animal-related charity. For example, Further Confusion has raised more than $62,000 (USD) for various charitable beneficiaries throughout its nine-year history,[31] and Anthrocon has donated more than $66,000 (USD) to animal-related charities since 1997.[32] In September 2004, Mephit Furmeet raised more than $15,000 for an organization known as Tiger Haven.[33]

Furry conventions also provide economic benefits to the communities in which they are held. Anthrocon contributes $2.5 million to the economy of Pittsburgh each year.[34]

Furry lifestylers

The phrases furry lifestyle and furry lifestyler first appeared in July 1996 on the newsgroup alt.fan.furry during an ongoing dispute within that online community. One group within furry fans believed that any peripheral interest not directly relating to furry art, literature and fantasy should not be directly associated with the fandom, while others believed that the definition of what constituted furry could only be decided by the individual. The dispute was resolved by the creation of the newsgroup alt.lifestyle.furry in August 1996, created to accommodate discussion beyond furry art and literature. Members of this newsgroup quickly adopted the term furry lifestylers, and still consider the fandom and the lifestyle to be separate social entities.[35]

Subcultures such as the were or therian and otherkin communities share similar beliefs with furry lifestylers, but wish to distance themselves from the term furry, as their beliefs are not necessarily connected to furry fandom. Furthermore, they perceive association with what they describe as a "cartoon fandom" as "trivializing" their beliefs.[36]

Sex and furry fandom

Differing approaches to sexuality have been a source of controversy and conflict in furry fandom. Examples of mainstream sexual aspects within furry fandom include erotic art, a style known as yiffy art (from the subculture term "yiff" referring to sexual activity or arousal), and furry-themed cybersex.[37][38] According to The Pitch, examples of present usage of the word yiff include "a yiffy fur", meaning a furry who is sexually aroused or active, "yiffy artwork", meaning sexually explicit furry artwork, and "to yiff", meaning to have sex.[39] Yiffy art often depicts humanoid animals in poses and outfits similar to those in standard erotic art.

The term yiff is most commonly used to indicate sexual activity or material.[40] This applies to sexual activity and interaction within the subculture whether online or offline; it is also applied to sexual arousal and to erotic material causing it.[41] A common explanation offered for the etymology of the term within the subculture is that it is an onomatopoeia for the sound foxes make when mating.[42] Efforts to identify the origin of the term suggest that it was a term in "Foxish" (a language invented circa 1990 by a FurryMUCK participant) that originally was meant as an expression of happiness but over time and through popular usage came to acquire the sexual connotation now commonly associated with the term.[43]

In cybersex, also known as "TinySex" and "TextSex", yiffing is the act in which one or more players engage in the interactive writing of erotica, describing their "tinybodies" or fursonas engaged in sexual activities.[44]