The cool thing about the furry fandom, at least from where I'm standing, is that it isn't even really a fandom, at least not in the traditional sense. Rather than fans bonding over a shared interest in some piece of media (though that can be part of it for some), furries are in effect fans of each other, bonding over a shared experience of naked and gratuitous self-expression. And by the very nature of what the fandom is, its members present themselves with faces and names entirely of their own choosing. In no other community like this is crafting your own identity such a fundamental part of the experience. When I think about all the furries I know, their fursonas, their chosen names and identities, crafted entirely from their own imagination, feel more to me like a true representation of who they are than any "real" face or legal name. Add to that how furry is such an unapologetically queer subculture and one of the few remaining queer spaces that hasn't been infiltrated by corporate interests and sanitized to all hell (though they do still try). I won't say it doesn't have problems and drama (every social space does), but ultimately this leaves furry as a community defined by radical queerness, immense creativity, and the encouragement of profound self-exploration.
as much as i enjoy fanfiction and fanart, to me there's something special about when i do things like head base commissions and get to carve a 3D rendition of someone's own character/fursona.
that's their own creation and i am helping to bring it to life in a different way-- maybe the first time it's been 3D, but even if not i'm letting them see it through another person's eyes! bringing it to another medium (weird foam carving!)
i've done about 60 head bases now (been at it for ~2 years) and it makes me so happy that i've gotten to do that sort of "collaboration" with so many people.
and when i get to be on the opposite end of it and commission people to make art of my characters, i get to experience my mouse guy or snake guy through their eyes. i appreciate so much getting to see them in a totally different art style or medium that i wouldn't be able to make myself, but i felt a connection to. it adds a little bit of that person's experiences to my character, the things that person wants to put into the world. ❤️
