New Fan Wants to Immerse Herself in Furry Goodness

Dear Papabear,

First of all, I'd just like to say that this whole thing you're doing here is fantastic. You've helped tons of people both in and out of the furry community. So, kudos to you.

Second of all, I am really confused. Ever since I first went on the internet at 7 years old, I have been interested in the furry community. I'd never really considered myself one...until now. Like, I was looking at these cool fursuits on Tumblr, and it just kind of hit me: "Oh, sh*t, I'm a furry." And, to be quite honest, I am totally okay with this, and I'm not going to lie to myself about it. In fact, I'm choosing to embrace it! So, that's where my question comes in: how do I immerse myself fully in the furry community? 

I would appreciate it a lot if you could include some websites for me to check out in your answer!

Thank you so much!

Furry Noob (Oregon, age 13)

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Hi, Furiend,

Welcome to the furry fandom :-3 First off, if “Furry Noob” is really your furry name, get another. “Noob” will only apply for a short time, after all, and soon you won’t be one.

Immersing oneself in the fandom is easy because furries are now omnipresent in the virtual and real worlds. There are furcons in 32 of the 50 states, as well as in England, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. Whew!

You say you’re in Oregon, so Furlandia (traditional con) and Campfire Tails (as the name implies, a furry camping event) are nearest to you. If you live near or in Portland, there is the Rose City Fur meetup group, too, you can join. Attending furcons and meets is a great way to get involved—even better, volunteer to help them!

As for general furry stuff. My gosh, where do I begin? Well, you can start by taking a look at Wikifur (online furry encyclopedia modeled after Wikipedia) and the news site Flayrah. Both are run by the talented GreenReaper (all hail). I would also recommend checking out FurryToday, which posts all kinds of furry-related videos, and Fursday, a web portal with all kinds of interesting furry-related stuff.

I could go on and on, really, but that’s enough to start. Oh, and I am writing a book about the fandom, but that won’t be ready for nearly a year, so you’ll have to wait on that one.

Other than that, go on social media sites such as Furry4Life and various Facebook pages and just start making friends and chatting. The best way to learn about the fandom is to make lots of friends. I’ve been involved for some time now, and I’m still learning!

Hope this helps! Stay Furry!

Hugs,

Papabear