URL: http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/lifestyle.txt Last-Modified: May 8, 2001 ALT.LIFESTYLE.FURRY - Frequently Asked Questions 0) What is alt.lifestyle.furry? Part 1: General furry lifestyle questions 1.1) What is a furry? 1.2) What is a lifestyle? - for the purposes of this group. 1.3) Ok, but what is a _furry_ lifestyle? 1.4) Why do we lead furry lifestyles? 1.5) Where and how can I meet other people who live this lifestyle? Part 2: Furry lifestyle lingo explained 2.1) What is a personal furry? 2.2) What is a were / theriomorph? 2.3) What is a totem animal? 2.4) What is a fursuit? 2.5) What is a plushie? What is a plushophile? 2.6) What is toonophilia? 2.7) What is zoophilia? 2.8) What is a macrophile / macro furry? 2.9) What is 'CF' and 'furry cons'? 2.10) What is The Furvey? 2.11) Neologisms and acronyms Part 3: appropriate and innapropriate topics 3.1) What topics are appropriate in here? 3.2) What topics are not appropriate? 1) Personal attacks 2) Furry fandom 3) Crossposting to AFF 4) Sexual graphicness 3.3) Can I post stories here? 3.4) What about religion? Part 4: What's so different about ALF? Part 5: Who wrote this FAQ? 0) What is alt.lifestyle.furry? alt.lifestyle.furry (or ALF) is a newsgroup for and about people who relate strongly to animals and/or furries (see definition below) in a way that impacts their personalities and/or way of life. It was created by some readers of another newsgroup, alt.fan.furry, who came to realise that they had much more in common with each other than with most other 'furry fans' who consider furriness to be "only" a hobby or a literary/artistic genre. The creators of ALF felt a separate newsgroup was needed for discussing these topics because, although the subject matter is similar, the perspective from which they are discussed on ALF seems to be fundamentally different, and because many of the topics discussed on ALF would likely be inappropriate for a newsgroup with an all-ages readership, such as a.f.f. Part 1: General Furry Lifestyle questions 1.1) What is a furry? Furry is a word which has probably been asked to do a little too much work. It has numerous meanings, and it's not particularly easy to find two people who agree on the precise definition for any of them. The original two definitions we supplied in the first version of the FAQ are: 1. an anthropomorphic animal character. i.e. an animal with human characteristics. 2. a human who relates strongly, in whatever way, to the idea of the characters outlined in the previous definition. This may involve anything from a person who simply enjoys viewing furry fanzines or films, to someone who actually desires to be a 'real' furry, or believe that they are literally a non-human trapped within a human form. But not all ALF regulars are interested in anthropomorphics. Some are largely unaware of the 'furry fandom,' or are simply uninterested in it for a variety of reasons. Most of us who created ALF were 'fans' of one kind or another, and this coloured our view- point perhaps more than we realised. So, after much discussion, we'd like to add a third definition, one that tries to include everyone who has made ALF a home. 3. a person with an important emotional/spiritual connection with an animal or animals, real, fictional or symbolic. We would recommend reading the FAQ for alt.fan.furry, which provides much more thorough descriptions of and information about furries in general. This can be found, along with a great deal of other furry-relayed stuff, at PeterCat's page at http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/ 1.2) What is a lifestyle? - for the purposes of this group. Lifestyle is a bad word these days, but we use it because there really isn't any other word that describes what we mean simply and clearly. Your lifestyle includes everything you _choose_ to do in your life. It's the behaviors that you use to define your life, the way you choose to conduct yourself in your personal life. Every choice from living arrangements to clothing choices to tastes in food to sexual preferences. 1.3) Ok, but what is a _furry_ lifestyle? We can't tell you :) Actually one of the reasons that ALF was newgrouped is because many of the topics which fall within our charter were ruled 'not part of the fandom' by some readers of alt.fan.furry. There is a certain logic to this claim, but we don't intend to have a similar conflict on this newsgroup. It's part of the philosophy of ALF that a person's 'furry lifestyle' is whatever the person concerned asserts that it is. In more general terms however, a furry lifestyle is a lifestyle which is informed or influenced markedly by the furriness of the person who leads it. As one furry puts it: "It's whatever you feel like doing that expresses how you feel. You can purr when happy, you can stalk when angry, you can go into heat at the drop of a bunny. When you consciously choose to act a certain way because of a furry or a furry idea, it's a part of your furry lifestyle." Some of the more common activities concepts or beliefs which 'lifestyle' furries sometimes refer to on ALF include totem animals and spirit guides, theriomorphosis, plushophilia, fursuiting, personal furrys, and zoophilia. This is a woefully incomplete list, of course. Don't worry, we'll get around to explaining the terminology later. 1.4) Why do we live furry lifestyles? The best way to understand 'why' is to hear from some of the people involved. "I live a furry lifestyle because it is enjoyable and helps me understand myself. People (esp. me) spend most of their time inside their own mind where your physical form is not important...so why should I be limited to a human form? "...perhaps as an expression of this I do a lot of 'furry' type things like collecting plushies and writing furry stores." - David Formosa "I guess I am compelled by what I perceive furry to be. I see love, acceptance and sensuality among furrys that I don't often see among humans. Furrys often seem to be more sensitive to the needs of others and they are generally better at caring for this earth we live on." - Galen Foxwolfie "We live furry lifestyles...because we feel that we have, or are becoming more like these furry beings, or that the furry beings are guiding our lives." - Kliah Foxwings "Why? Because there's some connection in your mind between you and some animal, real or imaginary, sentient or not, and it's important to you to externalise this in some way." - Ron Orr "For me, it makes me feel a little closer to creatures that I know I could never associate with otherwise." - Steekman "For many people, it gives them an outlet for emotions that would otherwise be repressed. The world in which humans live today is very different and much more complicated than the one in which we evolved, and in many ways we are out of our element. A furry lifestyle can be a way to remain connected with one's most inner self, the emotional embodiment of one's genetic heritage." - Brad Austin "Some choose the Lifestyle of a Furry for largely the same reasons that anyone else chooses to embrace a lifestyle that reflect what they believe and why. The best and most valid answers to this question spring from individuals, rather than groups at large, because Beings Furry are, above all else, individuals." - Roci "It beats NOT living one. For most of us, the society we live in can't or won't understand, yet, so there's an obvious risk in being actively furry. But, you are what you is. To hide the furry aspect of our lives would mean being part of the big lie, being what we are not. This is a critical time of the world trying to achieve a global, multi-cultural, multi-lifestyle view. We'd be sabotaging that by disavowing the furry way of life." - Electric Keet "For me purrsonally, being furry allows me to explore a side of me that would otherwise be hidden away, the sensual and animalistic side that society at large says should be suppressed. I see too much hate and injustice in the world, and it's wonderful to be part of something that is (IMNSHO) tolerant and accepting of differences within the group. Diversity is not a weakness that should be eliminated. It's a great strength. And I see tolerance more among furrys in this newsgroup than I do among the general public, where people are afraid to be 'different' because they fear they will be chastised." - WebKitty "It is basing our lifestyle about a spiritual and artistic tradition that stretches back to the dawn of humanity." - David Formosa 1.5) Where and how can I meet other people who lead this lifestyle? The ideal venue is a furry convention (see 2.9). The entire breadth of furrydom is represented at such events, and you're likely to run across _someone_ you can relate to! In the meantime, right here is a good place to start... Part 2: Furry lifestyle lingo explained This is where we try to demystify some of those esoteric sounding terms and phrases. This isn't meant to be a complete furry glossary, but hopefully you'll come away from this section not quite so thoroughly bamboozled. 2.1) What is a 'personal furry' It's times like this you curse the multiple meanings of the word furry, because in essence a personal furry is a furry's image of themselves as a furry. If you prefur, a personal furry is an anthropomorphic animal persona which a human furry assumes. "For example, my personal furry is a 6ft tall digigrade red fox-morph. Your personal furry (or furry persona, or furry alter ego) is basically the kind of animal you would like to be, in whatever form (normal animal, animaltaur, anthropomorphic animal etc) you like." - Locandez For some this furry alter-ego is expressed in role-playing, either on MUCKs, IRC, or in general communication. When someone lapses into third person in email, and sends you something like this: you are being treated to a display of affection by a personal furry. Lucky you. Of course the idea of a furry persona can go a lot deeper than just role-playing. Whereas some furries enjoy slipping 'into character' so to speak, many others consider their personal furries to be permanent attributes; their 'true selves', unhindered by the human physical form they must wear in mundane life. This of course opens doors into spiritual realms involving topics like the transmigration of souls. Subjects like this involve many questions and no unequivocal answers. Exploring such topics is one of the reasons for the existence of this newsgroup. On a more prosaic level furry alter-egos and role-playing can be a way of developing and strengthening positive qualities and character traits - traits which seem somehow more synonymous with an animal identity than a human one. Perhaps ultimately it is a roundabout way of re-intergrating the human soul; of getting back in touch with our own true status as human animals. 2.2) What is a Were / Theriomorph? Since the beginnings of human society there have been people who have claimed the ability to 'shift' into the form of another animal, either physically or mentally. The word 'theriomorph,' meaning 'having an animal shape,' has been coined to describe these people. A similar word, 'therianthropy' denotes the ability to change between human and animal forms. The best-known examples of this in European legendry are werewolves (from Germanic roots meaning 'man-wolf.') Though not strictly correct, the term 'were' has been used (werewolf, werecat, werebear) interchangably with 'theriomorph.' There are many people today who believe they posess this ability. Most only claim to be able to 'shift' mentally, into the mindset of some animal they feel some kind of spiritual tie to; some have also claimed to be able to shift physically, although there has never been any definite proof of this. If you're interested in the subject, you might wish to look in on the newsgroup alt.horror.werewolves (a large and comprehensive FAQ is posted there periodically), or check out The WEREweb http://www.swampfox.demon.co.uk/utlah/ 2.3) What is a Totem Animal? Totemism is a belief system which is traditionally associated with pre-literate societies. Its forms are so varied across the globe that it probably resists a neat or single explanation. Probably the most salient feature however is that of a tribal group associating itself with a particular species of animal, to which clan or tribe members are related by mythical ancestry. In some societies totem animals are associated with ritual, but in North American native culture this is less the case. Some Australian aboriginal societies believe in a one-on-one relationship between a human and his or her personal totem animal. This relationship sometimes involves a transference of magical powers to the human. It is this sort of individual totemism which is popular amongst furries. The entire subject of totemism is highly personal and individual, and it is probably best not to offer any definitive account of it. Let's just say that plenty of furries either have, or are in search of their totem animal, for spiritual guidance, or just to help cement their furry identity. 2.4) What is a fursuit? 'Fursuit' is another name for an animal costume, generally referring to one intended to be as realistic as the maker can achieve, although 'mascot'-style costumes are often included, and some furries have/wear/make both. Some furries like a more 'toonish' type of fursuit. Not a mascot, but something that is as close to some of their favourite toon fantasies as possible. It's rather like trying for realism where the desired goal is an already anthropomorphic character. By putting on a fursuit, you _become_ a furry, as close as you'll get without surgery, anyhow. But BE WARNED; not everyone in an animal costume is a furry! Many furries feel that donning a fursuit helps them move closer to their 'true' furry form, and it's not at all unusual for furries to spend a lot of time in their suits, including sleeping in them. It has been reported by some furries that making love in a fursuit can be... very furry indeed! For information on a mailing list for those interested in fur-suit construction, see: ftp://fursuit.fuzzy.com/fursuit 2.5) What is a plushie? What is a plushophile? Plushies are stuffed animals. The teddy bear is the original plushie, but nowadays there is a plethora of plushie species available. A plushie of a favourite or totem animal species can help a furry feel closer to that species in everyday 'mundane' life. Other furries may just collect plushies because, let's face it, plushies are cute. More than a few furries have a love of plushies which goes a lot deeper than this, however. A plushophile is a person whose love of plush often extends into sexual, romantic or spiritual realms. For more information on plushies and the furries who share their lives with them, see Capt. Packrat's Plush Central http://www.personal.isat.com/captpackrat/plush/ Webkitty's Plush Page http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mivillan/plushies.html 2.6) What is Toonophilia? I'll bet you've guessed already :) Toonophilia is a love of cartoon characters. Of course for our purpose we would limit the discussion to furry toonophilia. 'A love of cartoon characters' can mean a tendency to become deeply emotionally involved with a toon, or it can mean a sexual attraction, or both. One of the most celebrated toonophiles is the famed underground artist Robert Crumb, who stunned 'mundane' audiences by admitting to having been sexually attracted to Bugs Bunny - though some might say that the most famous toonophile of all was 'Uncle Walt'. Perhaps the most well-rounded definition of a furry toonophile is a person who regards furry toons with the same range of emotions he or she would bestow on a human. We'd love to have a dollar for every furry who's had a serious crush on Mrs Brisby or Justin from 'The Secret of NIMH'. The alt.tv.tinytoon.fandom FAQ can be found at http://www.zeta.org.au/~dformosa/fandom.html 2.7) What is zoophilia? Within furrydom zoophilia simply means a love of animals, and a zoophile is someone who loves animals. It's probably best to apply the same principle we used for toonophiles: a zoophile feels for non-humans in the same way that humans generally feel for each other. Zoophilia can mean sexual attraction, but one shouldn't assume that is the case if someone tells you 'I'm a zoo'. Many furries are zoos in the non-sexual sense of the word. Some furries are also sexual zoophiles. We understand that it is asking quite a lot of some people to cope with the idea that furry zoos are welcome on alt.lifestyle.furry, but when we formed this newsgroup we decided that it was up to each individual to decide what is and isn't part of their furry lifestyle. We know that lots of zoos are also furry, and we know that there is nowhere else in furrydom that they can even mention both words in the same sentence without being abused. It's the same problem that plush furries have had; the same problem Christian furries have had. In this place you can be a Christian zoo plushophile furry all at once without apologising. If the 'Z' word is a bit threatening to you, be assured the same restrictions on explicit sexual content apply to zoo posts as to every other post on ALF. Meantime, get to know some of our furry zoo posters; this is their newsgroup, too. 2.8) What is a Macrophile / Macro Furry? A Macro Furry is simply a giant furry (meaning a 50' fox, not a 50' person who uses this newsgroup. To the best of our knowledge the latter does not exist.) A Macrophile is someone who enjoys fantasising about relationships with Macro Furries. Furry Macrophilia is basically the furry equivalent of the Giantess phenomenon in the 'mundane' realm, except that Macro Furries tend not to be so exclusively female, nor so exclusively sexual. Macro Furry artwork encompasses everything from harmless, funny, G-rated work, to scenes of mass carnage and overt sexuality. At the mass-destruction end of the spectrum, the archetypal Macro Furry is probably Godzilla. A good site for macrophilia info is 'The Macrocosm' http://www.ptialaska.net/~dino/macro.html 2.9) What are 'furry cons'? Numerous furry conventions are now held annually, most of them in the United States. They are events where those interested in furrys gather to discuss, learn, and have fun, and meet other like-minded people. Perhaps the most popular amongst readers of this newsgroup is Anthrocon, held over the Fourth of July long weekend, presently near Philadelphia (homepage: http://anthrocon.org/ ). Others in the USA include: Midwest FurFest (http://www.furfest.org/) Mephit Furmeet (http://www.mephitfurmeet.org/) Confurence (http://www.confurence.net/) and, in Europe: Eurofurence (http://www.eurofurence.org/) There is also sometimes a furry 'presence' at non-furry cons such as science fiction conferences, even in places as far-flung as New Zealand. Keeping an eye on alt.lifestyle.furry, and alt.fan.furry (and possibly posting a query) may help you find one near(ish) to you. 2.10) What is the Furvey? The 'Furvey' is a furry lifestyle themed questionaire/survey, touching upon subjects like animal spirituality, furry sexuality, living a furry lifestyle etc. Its main use on alt.lifestyle.furry is as a self contained delurking form - you fill in a blank copy and post it to the group, thus introducing yourself to the online furry lifestyle community. It is certainly _not_ compulsory to delurk using a Furvey (i.e. don't feel that you can't parcipitate in ALF discussions until you complete one), but most furs end up doing one anyway ;) There are no set rules for completing a Furvey; simply write as much or as little as you want, and feel free to omit any questions which you do not want to answer. The only thing which you should remember is that you are _not_ permitted to post anything flamey or judgemental to ALF, whether replying to a Furvey or not. If you are disgusted by a particular question then simply ignore it and move on to the next one, rather than offending anyone with a casual "that's gross" answer. When posting your Furvey to the group (either as an original article or a follow-up to the automatic posting), it is usually a good idea to mention your name in the subject header, e.g. "JacKat's Furvey", rather than something vague like "Delurk". This will make your Furvey stand out from the crowd :) The Furvey is automatically posted to alt.lifestyle.furry on the 1st and 15th of every month, or you can fetch it from this URL: www.argonet.co.uk/users/lyndale/lotcaf/furvey.htm 2.11) Neologisms and Acronyms The Internet is crawling with jargon which can be pretty formidable to a newbie (if you don't know what a newbie is, you're probably a newbie.) To make things worse Furrydom has a whole set of its own acronyms and neologisms (new words.) Here are some of the more common ones, plus a few more general purpose acronyms which crop up in furry-talk a fair bit. Let's start with the ever-popular 'Yiff'! Ask ten furries what 'yiff' means and you'll get fifteen answers. One well-travelled explanation is that it's the sound Siberian foxes make when mating, which has led to its becoming an all-inclusive sexual term. _Very_ context-sensetive. There are a lot of neologisms in furrydom that are used as interjections. Ferrets 'meep,' canids 'errf' and 'yip' and 'yarf,' felids 'murr' and 'mrrr,' These words usually appear in email and in conversations online. An additional note that seems apropos: "Depending on the context, Meep can mean the same thing as 'yiff', but is often used by people for other reasons. I still like "Mustelid Expression of Erotic Pleasure" myself!" You see? there's an explanation for everything. MUCK, MUD, MOO etc. are all alternate acronyms for online multi-player games played using computers. There are quite a large number of them, and the variety among them is staggering. In the furry community, these games have become large virtual social gatherings, and there are many that are slanted towards their preferences. Their popularity stems from ones ability to look and act _exactly_ the way one wishes while playing. For more information see Rhal's Furry MU*s Page: http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/muck/ IRC means Internet Relay Chat. IRC is run on several different networks, which are divided into a variety of different 'channels'. These channels are usually devoted to a specific topic, and yes there are furry IRC's. In IRC you communicate in real time with whoever else is on the same channel, so IRC channels are virtual meeting places where conversation revolves around a specific topic or theme. You need special software to use IRC, for instance mIRC. This software can be downloaded from the web. RL means real life; VR means 'virtual reality' but usually refers to what goes on over the Internet. 'Spooge' is an abstract noun meaning furry erotica, or a verb or concrete noun associated with what tends to happen to male furries who view said erotica. There should probably be a term for the female equivalent, but no-one seems to have coined it yet. Part3: Appropriate and inappropriate topics 3.1) What topics are appropriate in here? Any time you wish to discuss a part of your furriness, or wish to talk about how furriness effects you in RL, or how something would affect _anyone's_ furriness in RL, it's on-topic. As long as you can relate it to a personal sense of furriness about yourself or someone else, it's on-topic. This can include, but isn't limited to; furry philosophy (Squirrels believe chaos and random movement make your soul enriched!) furry actions (Why, yes, I do spin around three times in bed before I sleep, why?) furry desires (Wow, what a cutie! If only she had a tail...) or furry habits (Did you ever notice how that guy wiggles his nose a lot?) 3.2) What topics are not appropriate? This group is about people and how their lives are affected by furries and furriness, which leaves a lot of topics open for discussion. There are, however, a few things that are _not_ acceptable on a.l.f. 1) Personal attacks: Posts which show intolerance of other users of this newsgroup are very much frowned upon. There are a great number of ways to be furry and we all have to get along. You should act in a tolerant manner as it encourages others to be tolerant to you. If you start advocating that what one person says is more right than another, it's not acceptable. No one has the right to judge whether or not how someone lives their life is better or worse than another; that is simply a matter of personal taste. You may disagree with how someone lives, but you cannot say that what they do is right or wrong for anyone but yourself. Even then, statements such as "I find that completely disgusting!" are not acceptable. We don't expect everyone to find everyone else's lifestyle agreeable, but if, for instance, you happen to be appalled by something that Blackwolf the necromancer does with his Gummi Bears we'd prefer you kept a lid on it :) 2) Furry Fandom: Articles about comics/drawings/furry paraphernalia and things are discouraged, because alt.fan.furry exists specifically for the discussion of these topics. We do not want to enforce a strict off-topic rule about fandom-related subjects, but it's important that we keep a distinction between ALF and alt.fan.furry, and this is the place we have to draw the line. There is an easy way to tell whether your post is on-topic for ALF. If the post is purely about artwork, comics, tv shows - in other words the _ products_ of furry fandom, then it is off-topic, and we ask that you post it instead to alt.fan.furry. If however the post is mainly about _you,_ or other furries - if, in other words, mentioning the artwork or whatever is a means of opening up and saying something about your feelings, thoughts or experiences as a furry, then it's acceptable. It comes back to our old definition; that ALF is about people, not things. 3) Cross-posts to AFF: Please don't cross-post articles between alt.lifestyle.furry and alt.fan.furry. Even if you feel your posting is on-topic for both groups, cross-posted articles typically result in cross-posted threads to which many people post replies without realizing their posts are going to both groups, and will likely post to ALF without paying attention to ALF's posting guidelines. This has caused problems for the readers of both groups in the past. If you want to post the same article to ALF and AFF, it is possible to do so in a way that avoids this problem. Simply post two copies of the article, with each copy going to only one of the two groups. This is called multi-posting the article rather than cross-posting it. 4) Sexual Graphicness: First off, let us say that any part of your sexual lifestyle that you can relate to your furriness _is on topic._ What _aren't_ on topic, are extremely graphic and descriptive articles on how exactly you do such-and-such with so-and-so. This means that while it's fine for you to discuss homosexuality or BDSM or whatever _as it relates to your furriness,_ it is considered poor taste to give extremely pointed renditions of said actions in this newsgroup. Why? Because although this is an adult newsgroup, and sex is on-topic, it's not a sex-group. alt.sex.furry, and several Fur* hierarchy newsgroups exist for this purpose (though remember that the definition of furry for these groups will not include many of the topics we allow here.) 3.3) Can I post stories here? Yes, you can post stories here. You've already seen that we're reluctant to go around proclaiming what is and isn't furry, so we'll trust your common-sense. No graphic sex please. 3.4) What about religion? For many furries, furry spirituality and religion are insperable topics. Elsewhere on Usenet organised religion has been a regular target for flames. In RL furry pagans and followers of less 'mainstream' religions have often been shown an equivalent lack of tolerance. As spirituality and personal religious beliefs have proven to be a popular topic on ALF, we would like to assure everyone that it is ok to mention your religious beliefs here, whatever they might be, if you believe they are important to your personal sense of furriness. You may not try to convert anyone, or to say that another person's beliefs are wrong for anyone but yourself. The pay-off is that you have a right to expect the same respect from them. It is a delicate area, and we must all by aware of that, but it is a chance to learn more about each other, and about other ways of being fury. Part 4: What's so different about ALF? The opening question of this FAQ gives three definitions of the word furry. The first one: 1. an anthropomorphic animal character. i.e. an animal with human characteristics is the focus of the other furry newsgroups, such as alt.fan.furry. ALF's focus though is the second and third definitions. 2. a human who relates strongly, in whatever way, to the idea of the characters outlined in the previous definition.... 3. a person with an important emotional/spiritual connection with an animal or animals, real, fictional or symbolic. Effectively ALF is about the people who post to ALF. The other thing which makes ALF different is that the idea of tolerance is enshrined in our charter, in the whole notion of this newsgroup. In many ways ALF is a radical experiment. Some furries said it couldn't work, or wasn't needed, but we think a furry forum where _everyone's_ way of being furry is acceptable is very much needed. At the time of writing, six months since ALF was newgrouped, it's obvious the newsgroup is fulfilling a real need. Newcomers to ALF have posted comments like these: "Being here, sharing what is at the core of my self (being furry, etc.) seems as rare a pleasure as a drop of water in the desert. " "I thank all of you who have an open mind" "I am really getting addicted to this place. I just want to say thanks , for the kindness, and for the this sense of calm." "Thank you neighbors. To have a *group* of people openly embrace us is something many of us have dreamed of but never expected to see. This truly, is a gift without price. -- notice of posting problems (headers, etc.) should be sent there. The Furry IntroPage! http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/intro.html Just The FAQs: http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/faqs.html This FAQ: http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/lifestyle.txt