Watching the ebb and flow of acceptance of Furries, cosplay, and delayed maturation has been pretty interesting. since I’ve been locked into the internet for the better part of 20 years I’ve been standing next to the fire while people I know with real people jobs still aren’t really aware of where various social movements come from. They were sideswiped by things when they found themselves locked inside for Covid, meanwhile I had already been through the crucible of mental illness the sequestered must all pass through. As far as Furries go we’re back onto a trend of hating furries being acceptable again. People under 20 have an intense human need to hate a group of others, but humans have generally evolved past seeing sexual orientation or race as acceptable metrics. Not all obviously, but especially among the young there is a need for a different hate vector and furries slot easily into it because you are very unlikely too meet an obvious furry in real life. The ones you do meet, who make a point of bringing it up, are likely to be so extremely annoying that they don’t feel bad hating them. They will feel, in an experience, worthy of scorn, as often is the case with humans who fill in lack of actual personality with their hobby.
Cosplayers have basically achieved acceptance by way of profiting from sexualization. Human base level horniness kicked the door open that the regular nerdy cosplayers had been slowly filing through for the better part of 3 decades. While they may still get the side eye from some people basically most are willing to leave them to do what they like and get that bag by any means they deem acceptable. There’s a lot of overlap with lack of maturation and “childish” hobbies being acceptable to maintain throughout your life. Most people are fine with people identifying themselves as a gamer. I think that all boils down to people accepting that as long as you aren’t hurting anyone how you spend your time on your walk to the grave is your own fucking business. Before games people used to act the same way about reading. When the brainstem fucknet comes along I’m sure it will go through the same thing for a while until people accept that if you want to spend all your time on the brainstem fucknet it really doesn’t matter, we will all return to the soil in time.
One of my cousins once asked me why I collected toys and my answer was basically “I just think they’re neat”. That simultaneously does and does not perfectly encapsulate why I like collecting. Meaning that it answers everything without actually answering. I countered by saying that I could spend all my money getting drunk or high, but at least with toys I have something other than piss at the end of the transaction. It has also likely extended my life by decades I would not have otherwise had. There was a time when gaming would have earned me a similar question, but most people, even the most many outdoorsman these days, has a look in at Call Of Duty, Madden, or what have you. The wide range of games available has made it more acceptable than collecting even though it has existed a much shorter time. I’m glad, if nothing else, that it’s one less thing I have to explain on the rare occasion I am in the company of other humans.
To answer the toy collecting question more completely takes a little more effort. Let’s take Transformers as one example. First of all I very much like the lore. All of the various iterations of the story are interesting. Not equally, but interesting none the less. I don’t like them all equally. In fact, I outright hate some of them, but at the same time I’m not hateful of the fact that they exist as they have all managed to add to the enduring tapestry of the franchise. Secondly I like inspecting the sculpting and engineering of the toys themselves. Some are beautiful in their simplicity while others are wonders of ingenuity. Imagination, creativity, and intelligence on display in the palm of my hand. The wonder of the human experience encapsulated in a representative item. All the things I collect are like that to one degree or another. It goes beyond just the toys themselves though.
I love inspecting the packaging art and thinking about the person who poured some amount of their life into representing something. Behind every piece of art, at least before the dawn of AI, was the story of a person making a living in the world with the skill of their hands. Humans tell each other the story of what it is to be alive every day across time and space. What a beautiful thing that is to be part of, on this tiny planet, in the arm of a galactic spiral, at the edge of the known universe. Maybe someday, if we tell enough stories, we will learn how to live in peace with one another and find out why we are here at all. Although I don’t always appreciate being dropped into this mess I do appreciate having the chance to play my part in working towards whatever goal we were set here for. Even if life wasn’t rolled out with a goal I’m glad I had time to have my hour to strut and fret upon the stage. You who have read this tale, told by an idiot, are part of it all too. We have walked a ways together, and may walk further still. If nothing else remember to enjoy your hour upon the stage as best you can.

I hope to see you again on Monday. Keep to cover, avoid danger, return to me.

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