Arrested Development

Furry Edition.

@GrowSomeLabia Had a fantastic question. Thank you for the inspiration, I love to think that we are on this journey together.

The short answer is, because we are. The longer answer is that some unique dynamics are at play that I don’t think exist in other fandoms.

The way groups develop can dictate their outcome. Demographics are sometimes destiny, but how a group establishes their core philosophy and values always is.

That can create a positive feedback loop and lead to positive results. The Founding Fathers created an environment that was dedicated toward mature and rational people governing themselves. They expected us to do the same by their example.

Even if the group falls morally short it can still function. That is if they have a productive and effective work ethic toward a shared goal that will unite and focus them.

If someone is in a band or on a film set, and is expected to perform and make money for the entire group, that will demand some focus. How many mainstream albums and films made are out there made by people completely high off their rocker?

Then there is a third state. People in a negative feedback loop with minimal goals other than just existing in a place can have no incentive to grow up. This is ultimately nihilistic. It is where some people in my fandom live.

After These Messages…We’ll Be Right Back.

Sometimes a piece of media will trigger a major bout of nostalgia. It can instantly bring someone back to a time when things were simpler.

Someone who was into westerns as a kid can begin to model the behaviours and mannerisms of a cowboy, If they are American they can gravitate toward buying a revolver, lever action rifle, or double barrel shotgun over modern types of firearms. They will probably listen to country music too.

Mystery novel fans can find themselves engrossed in true crime series and may collect the accoutrements of their favorite detective to return to that moment in their past.

Furries spend some of our time around the media we grew up with too.

Having a mature rated Furry cartoon is rather rare. Beastars is one of very few modern examples.

For the most part movies, TV shows, and video games with anthropomorphic animal people are marketed toward children. People who made these shows and games assumed they were being consumed mostly for kids. Due to that for the most part putting on Furry media can mean emotionally and mentally regressing back to childhoodFu.

A popular Twitch streamer who will go unnamed hosts a weekly Saturday morning cartoon stream. In those broadcasts his character is depicted wrapped in a blanket holding a bowl of cereal and sitting in front of an old CRT TV in a treehouse. The entire stream features him commenting on vintage cartoons like S.W.A.T Kats, Rupert the Bear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more. He routinely has around 200 viewers who are desperate to relive that.

Movies and video games are treated the same way. Does anyone remember Robin Hood and Nintendo’s Starfox?

This also counts for people whose media impression was earlier than those cartoons or later. This is inter-generational. It doesn’t matter if the furry grew up in the 60s or 00s, they will gravitate toward what they watched as a little boy or girl.

If not managed correctly it is a nostalgia trap. It can reinforce a need to revert to or never abandon a childlike state. This is far from universal but does happen.

As an aside, Phil Edwards just posted a video on the surprisingly robust economy of LEGO traders proving this is not just furries, though some furries are also LEGO collectors.

This does beg the question, is our modern society built on prolonged immaturity? That is the subject for a piece far in the future.

Fort Furry, No Normies Allowed.

The Furry Fandom is largely insular and regulates how the general public can interact with us. Whenever possible we will choose to interact with other furries. That can happen in many places.

This is far from uncommon. When looking for a roommate most Furries will start by advertising for one on a site like FurAffinity, X, or BlueSky trying to find a fellow fur. The objective is simple. It makes it way less awkward to share space with someone.

When this happens, people who have already withdrawn into the fandom lose another avenue of criticism and replace it with a network of sycophants. As long as the rent and utilities are paid it doesn’t matter. It becomes a Furry house, which then creates a social feedback loop.

I’m led to believe this is mostly a Furry phenomenon.

Childlessness

Children are crucial to ensuring cultural stability and longevity. Stable societies are built on the need to procreate and to rear children in an environment that passes down its cultural values.

In order to perform that task that requires parents that mature themselves. The task of childrearing has always demanded that. If a tribe doesn’t have offspring that can obey orders their kids can be a liability to the group at best.

This is where the fandom diverges from mainstream society.

It is very difficult to find any Furries with children of their own.The fandom can often be quite hostile to the idea of having kids at all.

Arguably the most important dynamic is that, as a mostly male fandom with a large percentage of gay and bisexual members. Furries for the most part have given up on or are uninterested in finding a mate of the opposite gender. They are resigned to the reality of living in a long term childless relationship.

Many straight furry couples also choose to go childfree. Some for personal reasons, others because they chose to marry later in life.

Without kids in the picture, there is less of an incentive to root oneself to any culture or society. Some of them just go to furcons and live in the moment. The present is all that matters.

Given that perception they abandon a normal life cycle and substitute an extended adolescence. The Furry Fandom has been compared to an adult high school. That isn’t far off from my own experience.

Those Furries who become parents can start to see some of the more extreme behaviours of their fellow Furries as a liability to their efforts to pass their own values down to their cubs (I had to throw that word in to amuse myself, sorry, not sorry). Many leave the fandom after and actively discourage them from active in the fandom after.

Conclusion

This is everything but these are the most important bullet points.

I will caution my readers to exercise the best discretion they have ever practiced in their lives. This is far from universal, but is a trajectory that individual furries can take. However, if they are immature I will assure you that at least one of these dynamics are at play.