… From Within the Dragon’s Den …
I have always had a fear of the unknown, wondering what is around the next turn and at the same time ready for the challenge… but when this secret was spilled I was not prepared for what might occur. It was even more so true for those I cared for most…
I have always been adventurous, always wanting to see new things and learn about how they worked and where they came from, I am a constant learner. This gift has always proven to been a useful one, I can even remember my English 102 instructor Dr. Frank Davis telling me ‘you where truly a joy to have in class, your work ethic and thirst for knowledge surpasses that of any student I’ve seen in a while. You will be an asset to any class.
However, there is a point when the drive hits a brick wall.
Let’s rewind to late 2011…
I had already known about the furry fandom for a while and it was about October 2011 when I finally began to officially associate myself with it on a proclamation like front. I was beginning to try and search for others like myself and also to see more about what this community had to offer, but little did I know that I was in for a roller coaster of an experience that I still deal with today, a year and a month later.
It was about January of 2012 when I officially found a local community of enthusiasts (we use the term ‘furs’ to identify those in the fandom) and began going to local meet-ups. The first real meet that I went to truly introduced to me what this community was about, being there for others.
As time went on I got more comfortable, I began to increase my purchases of artwork and even began to search for a designer to build my first costume. A lot happened and I felt great….
…until the bottom fell out.
I had forgotten that I hadn’t told anyone else that I was a furry except for real close friends. My parents didn’t even know, and the ‘secrecy’ was getting me into hot water with them. Finally after a real bad flareup with my dad, I decided to tell them about it, and I was surprised at the result. My parents where totally cool with it.
Some in the fandom will say that ‘telling folks you’re a furry is not like coming out of the closet and saying your gay’. Not every person agrees with that statement, I’m one of them. After telling my parents I began to get a bit more open with me being a member of this community and my Facebook really began to show it.
To the right is a screenshot of the top of my Facebook page, and this has pretty much been what it has been for the last year. It was when I began to blend my ‘normal world’ and the ‘fandom world’ together, that I began to get some pretty bad push-back from some.
I began to get insults from former classmates, guys and girls that I’ve known for years began to treat me different, and some thought I had lost my mind. It was even true within this University, that a lot of my classmates had started treating me different, like I had an illness or something.
Luckily, time has passed and some of them have gotten over the initial shock, I was actually surprised to find a friend of mine in the Band was looking to join the fandom, and I gave him that initial push of momentum to get going.
…If I where to say that my life is the same now as before I started this trek, I’d be lying like a serpent…
(Apologize for my friend Kate [on the left] I wasn’t taking the picture)
From Within the Dragon's Den 