Furries have problems

This topic is something that I have deinitely talked about before previously in some threads on Bluesky, but I would like to go over it again in a place where I have more room to talk easily. Threads on Bluesky are nice and all, but they are way too segmented to make for a pleasent reading experience.

Furries have a couple of issues. I know this of course seeing as I am one, and have been since I was 16. In some ways this post will be written somewhat like an essay, but it's simply for formatting reasons. If I had to pick out the two biggest issues that we as furries have, it would be the often lack of clear boundaries and the disproportionate amount of safe versus explicit content.

Problem 1: Lack of clear boundaries

Keep in mind that this section will contain anecdotal stuff, so take it with a teensy grain of salt.

I have heard numerous stories in the past of furries just messaging other furries innapropriately right off the bat. I have never had it happen to me personally (thankfully), but there have been many times where I have heard of it happening. This is honestly a showcase of a larger issue within the fandom, which is that often times boundaries aren't clearly defined.

What really brought this to my attention was a video by Moro on Youtube. In fact, I recommend you go and watch this video. Furries in general have a huge issue of letting the explicit slowly creep into the safe spaces, the suggestive pervading everything. While the existence of NSFW furry content is not an issue, as the fandom largely being about self expression naturally brings smut along with it, the issue with furry is that it is everywhere. This is why when I was a minor, I did not spend much time in specifically furry spaces.

In general, there are so few places online that are specifically accomidating to those seeking a safe experience, especially in the furry sphere. There aren't any art websites that are SFW only, it's either mixed or only NSFW. Platforms like Bluesky and Twitter are great spaces for artists and community, but I was always stuck to my "Following" page to prevent myself from getting potentially flashbanged by NSFW (among other reasons). We simply just do not clearly cordon off spaces nearly enough, and we don't make room for the teenagers to feel at home online.

Problem 2: The content amount imbalence

Something you'll notice when getting into furry in general is that there is a lot of smut. A lot of written smut, suggestive music, NSFW games, and of course NSFW artwork. There is so much of this kind of stuff in fact that it's often really hard--if not impossible--to find things that aren't specifically for adults. Again, the existence of NSFW furry stuff is not a problem itself. It's just there seems to be way too much of it compared to SFW stuff.

A whole lot of this probably comes from the fact that to a certain degree, the furry fandom as we know it today was born out of adult content. A lot of people love to deny this fact, but the history honestly says otherwise. For as long as it has existed, furry has been very adult in nature. My point in bringing that up though is that it doesn't have to stay that way. I think we have been unknowingly continuing on in that fashion, but it doesn't have to be like that forever. I'm not saying everything should be appropriate for children or teens, but I think more of it should be.

Ending thoughts

This is largely an opinion piece, though some of the things pointed out here are just fact. A lot of these points though are the reason I do what I do. Many of you are probably aware at this point, especially if you've been friends with me long enough, that I really enjoy writing. I most certainly don't target my stories at children, as they sometimes have quite intense subject matter, but I'm simply writing the sort of thing that I want to read personally. What that means is writing for teenagers, seeing as I was one only a month or two ago. I'm going to keep doing that.

In general, I'm going to keep pushing the bar of what furry can be. I want to make games that are very furry without being adult. I have an idea for a hoverboard racing game that takes place in a frutiger aero future where you play as furries, or an FPS roguelike where you play as a protogen. I want to make furry things without them being furry things, y'know? At the end of the day, I wanna make things for the demographic that everyone seems to be glossing over. I wanna make things for the 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to enjoy, stuff that is furry without being so adult.

I hope I've suitably gotten my point across, so I'll just leave off here. Kinda wish I could add a comment section to these lol