A presentation of the History of the Furry Fandom exhibit.
The late Lima Bean connected Sotalo with Changa Husky, who connected him with Sylys Sable, leading to their friendship and the creation of the History of the Furry Fandom exhibit.
The History of The Furry Fandom
SilvaBlu pictured with many documents presented in the History of the Furry Fandom display. More items have been added to the display since this photo.
The History of the Furry Fandom exhibit presentation has been lauded for its accurate retelling of both anime and Furry Fandom history, helping people understand the origins of the modern Furry Fandom, the challenges facing early Furries during the 1970s-1980s, and parallel challanges today. Pieced together from hundreds of hours of conversations and clarification from Mark "Sylys Sable" Merlino, cofounder of the Cartoon Fantasy Organization and codirector of the very first Furry convention, Confurence 0.
Originally, the exhibit space was not going to be included, as the museum's primary focus was contemporary Furry art. But Sylys insisted on the representation of old art. Once he showed the Cofurence archive, it only made sense to cover not just Fandom art, but the history as captured through those documents.
Some of the documents include:
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A letter from Wendell Washer to Mark "Sylys Sable" Merlino dating to 1975, expressing a desire for more adult artwork, less censorship, an affinity for anthropomorphic characters, and the desire for a Fandom
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Scans and various pages of Vootie issue 9, 1978
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A sci-fi convention flyer for Los Con 1980, the sci-fi convention where Sylys and Rod first met
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The cover of the CF-O 5-year directory and programming showing Japanese anime was mostly watched in its original language without subtitles or dubs, 1982
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The first Furry room party poster, circa 1985
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The first Fursona by Ken Sample
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The first Fursuit (Jerry Collin's character Hilda the Bambiod, suit by Robert Hill), 1988
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A troll poster opposing Furries prior to the internet, 1989 (claims poster mimicked others in 1988 found in hallways at Bay Con)
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The Confurence 0 conbook, the very first Furry convention featuring cover art by Steve Martin and an explanation of who Furries are by Sylys Sable, 1988-1989
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Confurence Discussion Groups, a list of all organized discussions had at the very first Furry convention, 1989
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Confurence 10 sabotage attempt, 2001
The exhibit's design solved many problems at once. Documents are presented in true-to-life scale and emulate paper details, and in VR can be grabbed and freely moved around. Documents could be channel-packed and the true-to-life size saved physical space and memory in the museum, while presenting a large amount of historical content. While a document projector with zoom functionality over a large screen with special shaders would restore some of the lost detail from the JPG scans. The detail is so refined the original halftone patterns can be recovered from scans of Vootie. Changa Husky verified this detail was accurate looking back at the original documents under a magnifying glass. Sylys Sable claimed the presentation of the documents in the Virtual Furry Museum was really clever. All of this lead to Sylys saying the two best places to learn the history of the Furry Fandom are Ash Coyote's documentary and this museum.
Sylys frequented the display himself, presenting and presiding over history tours to crowds of dozens at a time. This display helped rectify some mistellings of early Fandom history by crowds that skewed more homophobic, and presents even more detailed and nuanced information than what could be captured on film. After his passing, the history lives on in the museum, including some of his own words about who Furries are, and its history.
The Confurence 0 Discussion Groups flyer includes every discussion organized at the very first Furry convention. Many art and creative subjects are discussed: coloring, inking, costuming, and full-body make up. Species category meetups are also featured: Canids (dogs), Felids (cats), Mustelids (marsupials), Ungulates, and a mixed Reptilian/Avian meetup. Some of the more interesting discussion topics include Furries and Gender and Genetics. This discussion groups flyer became the basis of many subsequent Furry convention meetups, groups, and panels for years, with some subjects having real lasting power in the Fandom today.
MyroP and Nestorboy, who together developed the Udon code for making the projector optimized and synced live with all players.
Demonstration of the sharpen shader on the front cover of Rowrbrazzle, showing halftone patterns very clearly at the highest zoom level.
The History of 90s Mascot Platformers
Always a crowd-pleaser, the History of 90s Mascot Platformers exhibit and presentation tells the history of games in an easy-to-digest way, explaining the market trends and conditions that lead to their favorite games, bringing together fans both young and old, Furry and not Furry.
The presentation includes stories about the rise of platformers and growing distaste for Atari's games, the missteps that lead to the U.S. Video Game Market Crash of 1983, the changes Nintendo made to their console to become a monopoly in America, the sales tactics used to sell the NES to wary consumers, some of the issues third party publishers had with Nintendo, how Sega recaptured the market from Nintendo, the explosion of mascot platformers as a result, and the oversaturation of this market leading to a change from Conker's Quest/Twelve Tales to Conker's Bad Fur Day, and how mascot platformers are treated today.
One such interesting story was Lagaf: Les Aventures de Moktar, a game by French studio Titus Interactive SA featuring the character Moktar, made by French comedian Vincent Lagaf for the music video La Zoubida. The game was changed internationally to feature the company's mascot Titus Fox for better recognition, and every country received its own box art design. There were also stereotypical presentations of the Middle East which trivialized the onset of the 1991 Gulf War.
Inspired by glass case shelves in retail stores, game boxes are modeled 1:1 with accurate true-to-life dimensions and can be grabbed off the shelf. Front and back covers are both legible and easy to read. A life-sized NES unit was also added to demonstrate how Nintendo of America's design request mimicked a VRC player to better present and market the console in a time Americans associated video games as an expensive fad without depth of content. Games respawn after 5 seconds when knocked off the shelves, preventing trolls from messing the display during presentations.
On tours, older Furries often present their disappointment with E.T, while younger furs remenisce over games like Ratchet and Clank. Jazz Jackrabbit's animator Dean Doodrill also created Dust: An Elysian Tail and was a Furry who made fanfiction in the Talespin universe. But outside of this confirmed case, these games were not developed by Furries, but driven for commercial profitability, marketing franchises to children for a guaranteed source of income, regardless of the studio's preferred projects.
The US/PAL Nintendo Entertainment System had a few major design changes from the Japanese Famicom: made significantly larger to support a front-loading cartridge, and allowing the controllers to be removed for a VHS-like appearance when placed next to a television. This helped the unit feel less like a toy and more like standardized home hardware.
SEE THIS EXHIBIT ONLY IN THE MUSEUM
The Subculture Exhibit
The Subculture Exhibit and presentation has garnered extraordinary praise from the Furry Fandom for being the best representation of Furry's various subcultures, with many people reported finally feeling "seen" and hating these communities much less. This type of art is heavily scrutinized by certain groups outside the Furry Fandom, and even those within who like to dismiss Furry's weirder subcultures.
Therianthropy is explained through Hearthfox's Tweets collecting the unusual feelings and traits of Therians, leading to a final comprehension of many Furries as not a human playing an animal character, or identifying as the animal character, but feeling internally as an animal in human skin. Many Therians in response to these tweets corroborated everything Hearthfox listed. On tours, guests are asked to share and corroborate their experiences with what's displayed, and many Therians also agree to feeling instinctual animal-like urges. Many of the sensory items depicted are representative of various Autistic and Neurodivergent traits, and Autism is highly representative among Therians, moreso than other Furry subcultures, per Furscience.
Many Furries also have ADHD, resulting in a lack of dopamine, requiring a constant supply of new dopamine to maintain stasis and avoid depression and suicidal ideation. The combination of social anxiety, ADHD, and life stressors results in many people desiring a change in headspace, to clear stresses, worries, and fears, even if temporarily. This feeling was expressed in non-Furs who joined tickle communities, Furries and Non-Furry Pup Play community members, and ABDL community members. All of these subcultures help Furries through the fantasy and interactions expressed in art, live roleplay, virtual, and physical expriences.
Sexual context is not always a requirement for Furs to enjoy these subcultures, remaining a highly divisive topic among certain communities, and people enjoy them for many reasons. Many lovers of Vore report a feeling of warmth and comfort, feeling images of softcore vore like a warm hug, while others may enjoy the same art pieces for the excitement and thrill of danger. Some in the ABDL community need to wear diapers medically due to incontinence, having been kicked out of every other community they were in due to their medical condition, and 80% of people with Autism face some form of bowel disorder. Babyfurs enjoy going back to a time in their childhood they felt love, care, and attention, which they lost growing up. Their spaces are safe and comforting, and some people enjoy the community purely for that reason. But to others, adult and sexual feelings do interset with these subcultures as a natural response.
These subcultures are not monoliths - even within these groups are subgroups that are even further misunderstood by their surrounding communities. For instance, some communities formed over art depicting child abuse are survivors themselves procesing their trauma together. One such YCH commission features a figure with no face, another figure being abused, and a third figure coming to their rescue, with tears in their eyes. Many in these communities recognize their developed afflictions and past trauma aren't good, but see the art as incredibly therapeutic in comprehending what happened and helps survivors share their stories. Survivors report belaying suicide due to their friends within this community, and through this community finds resources to better process their anguish. This small group may only represent 5-6% of the Furry ABDL community at large, but misconceptions labled over this group and entire communities tend to lead many people to unhelpful snap judgements which end up harming victims more than it does perpetrators of abuse.
On a lighter note, most Furries will find a piqued interest in at least one of these subcultures as they find the opportunities for escapism, joy, and community very therapeutic and comforting. Those who purge themselves of these communities tend to face growing desires to rejoin later, creating unhealthy rhythyms in the binge-purge cycle. Ultimately self-acceptance and communal tolerance benefits Furries the most, and the lack of self-acceptence or esteem mixed with intolerant communities and fear of reprecussions drive Furries to obfuscate, or remain "in the closet" about these topics. One thing's for certain - the artwork, roleplay, and these communities help people in ways the members themselves and science have not yet fully comprehended. But these expereinces and feelings are shared among so many within these subcultures and communities and play an integral role in how the Furry Fandom is saving people's lives.
Heathfox's Tweet depicts sensory and physical tics of Therians in a very clear and concise way. Modern research finds toe-walking in people with Autism to be a visual-vestibular problem, how the body regulates its own positioning. Other sensations and responses may have similar neurological explanations, but further research is warranted to fully understand the medical reasoning for Therians' experience.
A distinctive subculture within the Furry Fandom, Babyfurs enjoy the best parts of their childhood while replacing bad memories with better ones in accepting communities. Through this lens Babyfurs play out their childhood fantasies while receiving the love, care, and attention they didn't receive as children.
SEE THIS EXHIBIT ONLY IN THE MUSEUM
Mark "Sylys Sable" Merlino Memorial Room
Think of a time Sylys did something for you in your life.
Write 1-2 paragraphs about how he impacted you.
I will correct for spelling and grammar. Writing assistance is available if necessary.
This was the prompt given to dozens of people impacted by the late Mark "Sylys Sable" Merlino. Responsible for founding the first Anime fan club in America, organizing Furry Room parties before the word "Furry" even existed, and co-directing the first Furry convention for 11 years (Confurence), Sylys Sable became an icon after Ash Coyote's documentary "The Fandom" spread the word about the actual start of the Furry Fandom and our early history. But sadly, as history progressed, homophobic individuals despised Sylys' acceptance of traditionally hated people in their community, and since the man himself was bisexual, many were taken by surprise. According to him and Rod "Vinson Mink" O'Riley, when questioning whether it would be appropriate for people who are openly LGBTQ to enter the fandom and form communities, there was no one above them to defer to, so they accepted people. Both were shocked and gave a double-take to hear from Ash herself that they ended up making a safe space for the LGBTQ community. Furry has always been, and will forever be a place for everyone who loves Furry animals to enjoy and express themselves. And tolerance of others has always been at the root of this vibrant community. But while the things they did are celebrated in the History of the Furry Fandom exhibit, this room is dedicated to the man himself: who he is, how he became that way, what he promoted, and his impact on so many others.
Around the room the Infinity Scroll reveals stories from people Sylys touched in his life. Among them, a fellow Engineer he taught to always use their engineering responsibly to better the world, a young telecommunications operator whom he mentored, a Furry leader who started several Furry conventions from his guidance, someone who wanted to leave the Fandom but found love through him, and someone he never met, but nevertheless touched by the incredible Fandom he formed.
While images of this great place do exist online, particularly during a revelatory presentation called The Art of Light and Shading by Sotalo at Furality Umbra, this room is a sight to behold and can only be properly appreciated in VR. Everyone's first time seeing this room has become an extremely memorable and emotional experience. A desktop user who saw this room immediately shut down their computer and switched to VR so they can experience it for the almost first time. A streamer whose job was to travel all over VRChat looking for the most incredible places said this room was the most beautiful room they ever saw. Many people cried in this room, including Sylys' partner of 42 years, Rod "VinsonMink" O'Riley, who had to remove his headset. The Infinity Scroll, fillled with 28 stories about Sylys is from both historical and technological merit. The scroll is perfectly synced with all players in the room and moves at a constant speed. The room is also filled with over 7,000 pine martens each holding an orb to pay respects to the man who helped start it all.
When Sylys saw the memorial room's work-in-progress, it was his dying wish to see it. He passed one week later peacefully in his sleep. Before the room was completed. And before the Infinity Scroll existed. In the Virtual Furry Museum, you will be able to witness what he will not.
We ask for the utmost respect especially in this room. Feel free to be Furry, but harassment, hatred, and harm towards others will especially not be tolerated here. Throughout his entire life Sylys wanted nothing more than to bring people together, and for this Fandom to thrive. And that desire was expressed very clearly with me.