What is Postfurry?
That's a very good question! Ask N people who identify as postfurries, and you'll most likely get something like N2 answers, particularly if they're all in the room together to start discussing it. It can at least be said that the Postfurry community grew out of the larger Furry community, but that group itself defies any sort of generally-accepted concrete definitions. One of the most concise ways of summing up Furry is still a 25-minute video essay.
Postfurry grew out of furry by some combination of taking furry Very Seriously, and Not Seriously At All. Postfurry thought and activity often focuses on just how far one can take a furry identification. Is a vixen made out of lava-lamp still a furry? What does it mean to identify as a sentient black hole, or an otter-cetacean from a far-future ocean planet?
Further thoughts on the whole thing can be found in this Adjective Species article.
What Postfurry is not
Negative definitions are not good definitions, but sometimes they are necessary. This is meant to clear up a few misconceptions about Postfurry.
- Postfurry is not a rejection of furry. It's not a "we're cooler than the other furries" thing, or a "we're done with the whole furry idea" thing. In general, postfurries behave as furries do; roleplay, art, conventions, fursuiting, and all the rest.
- Postfurry is not a specific group of folks in the Seattle area. Many postfurries live there, thanks to an accident of circumstance; the community became particularly visible just when a lot of people in general (and furries in particular) were moving to that area. There are folks identifying as postfurry across multiple countries and continents.
- Postfurry is not a "shiny future" aesthetic. Many folks involved with postfurry have presentations that are synthetic, futuristic, latex, glowy, or any combination of those and other tropes, but there is also plenty of explorations of other aesthetics, like plushies, folkloric fantasy, and just regular ol' anthropomorphic animals.
- Postfurry is not too cool for you. There is no bar of weirdness or literariness or philosophicalness to meet to be 'accepted' by postfurry folks. We've all been stung by gatekeepers in the past, and we all are plagued by imposter syndrome, and we do our best to provide a welcoming place for everyone who's interested in what we're doing.
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