Hi, my name is Bill, and I’m a recovering normie.
January 18, 2019 8:38 PM   Subscribe

In which the Boozy Barrister / Boozy Badger (previously) and his online presence lured a hooman into attending a furry convention, and he delivers his subsequent report: How I Realized that Furries are Better than Me (…and just how low of a bar that was)
First I met Boozy Barrister himself, a gruff yet kind soul who looked ready to introduce himself to a judge with “your Hon-ah I am just a simple country lawyer.” He in person was exactly the man you might expect to meet from being a long-time follower of his: jovial, expressive, and possessed with a certain hard to define characteristic that I can only describe as “drunk uncle.”

Then, I met the badger, and he’s a different story. While possessing the same body, as soon as a young fan approached him, Boozy’s presence shifted as if stuck by lighting. Whereas before he was a Hulk of justice, regaling me with stories in hilarious fashion about ridiculous clients, judges, and situations that he found himself dealing with (while abiding by the ethical rules, of course); now he was the calm, thoughtful, Bruce Banner who had been adopted as Godfather of the fandom. I saw this shift occur enough times to give me whiplash, but rather than being an act that was being put on for the benefit of rubes, I realized that something else was happening. Boozy was becoming the badger, able to put all of the aches and pains that make up life as a lawyer aside to simply enjoy existence with another pers-, er, animal.
posted by hippybear (7 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
“In reality though, I know that I’m not nearly good enough of a person to be promoted to animal.”

*helpless snickering*

If being “a good person” were a requirement of being a furry, I am not sure this fandom would have anywhere near the basic numbers required to exist as a subculture.
posted by egypturnash at 10:46 PM on January 18, 2019 [4 favorites]


Hey, if those experiencing it for the first time feel it's a place full of really good people (which it overwhelmingly is, I'm sure even you will admit), then having them talk about how experiencing it affected them in a positive way can not possibly be a bad thing for the fandom at large.
posted by hippybear at 10:50 PM on January 18, 2019 [13 favorites]


Probably the best expression of furry fandom that I came across while at the convention was that fursonas (the in-fandom identity of Furries) are the expression of the “best self” of the person who adopts them, certainly that was my experience. The Furries that I met and talked with at the convention all were being their best, true selves, all while made up with ears, tails, and other related accoutrements.
This is really important, and I wish that there were more opportunities in day-to-day life for people to be their Best Selves.

Previously [on MetaFilter]
posted by heatherlogan at 6:11 AM on January 19, 2019 [9 favorites]


If your best self is a worm would fuzzy caterpillar be a valid furry option?
posted by sammyo at 9:10 AM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


That whole thing about Boozy Barrister Badger was surprising and sweet.

I'm glad the furries this guy met were nice.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:23 PM on January 19, 2019 [1 favorite]


We saw a couple of furries at the San Jose Woman's March today, who wandered over from FurCon. They were young, enthusiastic, and due to the hot weather, only wearing their masks. It was good to see them there- they're good people.
posted by happyroach at 10:39 PM on January 19, 2019


Sidenote: I tried to think of a cute pet name for Boozy’s followers, but realized I couldn’t do better than “alcoholics”

Boozehounds, obviously. That literally took me five seconds! This author's pet name game is seriously lacking.
posted by skoosh at 6:38 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


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