Taking a step back: 2 years later

Published: 2024-01-01

It's that time of the year where we take a look back at the article we wrote 2 years ago. This year, we are not going to compare with what we said in last year's article, but rather what we said in the original article.

Before we dive further, I must tell that I have nothing against furries. They all do an amazing work, and I like their work nevertheless.

Reading back

Before we dive further, I must tell that I have nothing against furries. They all do an amazing work, and I like their work nevertheless.

This still holds true, and it's rather the opposite. This year, we have grown closer to the furry fandom again (which makes sense after all, furries and bronies have some sort of overlap).

When I initially joined, back in February 2021, I thought not-safe-for-work content was uncommon; but I may have been wrong about that. Browsing r/furry (and — in general — other furry-related places) led me to quite a lot of NSFW stuff, more than expected, or almost-NSFW content (an amount of content I didn't find in other communities).

We would say (at least now) that it is just a matter of where you are looking for content. Websites like Furbooru, with precise tagging and filtering features, didn't exist back then (or at least we didn't know about them), so it was nearly impossible to precisely see content you want to watch. Additionally, we worked a lot of some filtering AI models in the past year (that will hopefully make it to the public next year) that make seeing stuff you like easier.

Another thing to note is that, there is no more NSFW content than in, say, the brony fandom. It is simply that the definition of "NSFW" in the furry fandom is different. While, for bronies, it is "anything that exceeds the show's rating", it is a bit more lax for furries (which, don't get us wrong, is totally fine); which is something that takes some getting used to, especially for newcommers trying to find good artwork.

Aside from that, the general "everyone is gay" vibe has been annoying me. It was fun at first but it ended up being really annoying, maybe to the point of being toxic.

It is still the same thing, that heavily depends on the places you interact with. And this "vibe" is, as far as I'm aware, not just inside of the furry fandom. And, we are lesbians anyway.

I also have personal reasons for leaving the fandom, mainly due to mental health during this year [2021].

Similarly to what we said last year, our mental health has also significantly improved this year, making life almost fun to live.

I will still continue communicating with people I consider friends, even if they are furries;

I may still continue listening to furry music, to a more limited extent

What we said last year still holds up: while these two have been reduced, they are still present and have not completely disappeared.

I will remove any mentions of furry content in my projects (Foxperson is exempt from this change);

With the end of Pawer Technologies and the growth of Equestria.dev, Foxperson has gone extinct and was never finished, although a fork for the Steam Deck is in the works right now.

With all that said, I just hope you are not disappointed by this change, and I hope I move forward to try out new things and be happier!

Last year, we said that there were a lot of changes in 2022. In 2023, not so many, but rather consolidating changes that happened in 2022 and leaning towards a more stable life and mental health.

Summary of the year

Compared to last year when we said we enjoy the 5th generation of My Little Pony as much as the 4th, this has changed. Now, we enjoy the 5th generation a lot more than the 4th, as it feels a lot more relatable, accurate and deep. However, we will still never forget how the 4th made us feel.

Next year is going to be a very important year for our personal life, and we hope that things we go as smoothly as possible. Going back to My Little Pony, we still plan to get a lot of merch as it gets available (we already got a lot in 2022).

We don't feel ashamed that we once were furries at one point, since that's just part of personal exploration, and it's fine that it didn't work out for us.

Thanks again for reading, and happy 2024!