*c0de approaches parents after getting caught with his collar* "I don't fully understand your reasoning for me not being allowed to wear my collar. I know that you said that it was like AJ and his nails, but how does this apply to the collar? I mean that it's not gothic, or for bondage or dominance reasons. Can I be allowed to share my side for why I even got the collar in the first place?"
*Parents say yes*
"The reason that I got this collar is because I am a furry. Now furry has many definitions, but to me and a whole lot of other people it means something like this: It is a group of people that share common interests. My collar represents to me multiple things at the same time: First, it identifies me as a furry to others. Second, it is a source for inspiration for my drawings, all of which are furry. Third, it allows me to use it as a necklace. It's a very good conversation starter. Now it's not just animals like fluffy, it's more of a half way thing between animals and humans. They walk on 2 legs, talk like a human, with the exception of a few vocabulary words that arn't part of a normal language, think like a human, usually all that is different is head shape, body proportions, and fur. Most furries are very technically inclined, so I can talk to some and not have to do it 'Barney-Style'. A very large portion is also composed of artists, who of which get paid a lot of money to do a commission. Commissions can be music, drawings, sketches, movies, or even physical things such as fursuits, ear hats, and/or tails. A fursuit is a lot like a mascot suit, except the fursuit can cost an upwards of a few hundred dollars, is completely unique, and based soly on the person's character for him or her to wear at large gatherings of furries called cons, exactly the same as anime, star trek, starwars, computers, and all of those. Cons are great opportunities to meet new friends. Furry friendships are usually made a lot faster and stronger than most, because most of the social barriers are broken down. There are no races as most furs adopt very unique characters to use as their avatars, dragon, gryphon, wolf, cat, dog they're all accepted because it's a combination of the imaginations from thousands of people instead of just one. So for me, my avatar is an arctic fox. An avatar is basically what you choose to represent yourself. Friends are usually more relaxed, especially if they met them physically, either before or after they were known as a furry to you. I have a pretty large network of furries, some of which I actually know. For example, Alex is a furry, I didn't find that out until about a month into our friendship. You can change what you want to use as your avatar as much as you want, it just gets irritating to people who actually get your attention by calling you your picked species. Sometimes if you're in close proximity of a furry, you can get this urge to pay enough attention to them until you find out that they are.I find it lucky if you meet a furry in person with no knowledge of that person beforehand, as the acquaintance ship usually builds a lot faster. For example, That guy that I met a church when they did that wii thing, he's a cat furry, and we're pretty good acquaintances, even though we only knew each other for like only 45 minutes. Furries are great for making friends. This is why I want to wear my collar, because it's a lot easier to wear a collar than to openly state that I am a furry to people who either don't know what a furry is, or just plane don't like furries. Yes being a furry comes with the risk of not being liked by some people, but that is part of everything. So can I know weather or not I'm allowed to wear my collar, please?"
