Pictured: Probably someone you know. (Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images)

The number of furries is growing. Exact numbers are hard to quantify; going purely by numbers of convention attendees, they’re expanding steadily each year, with almost 9,000 furries showing up to to Midwest Furfest in 2017 and over 7,500 to Anthrocon. (Those are the two biggest.) The subculture, long the subject of easy jokes and longform thinkpieces, has become increasingly accepted. Spend much time on the internet at all and you’ll run across furry forums and memes without even trying. They do not appear to be furry bots, suggesting that it is an extremely online subculture with very real-world interests.




All of which is to say that, at some point, a loved one is probably going to tell you that they are a furry, and you should think now about how you will react to this news. Will you be shocked? Will you be welcoming? Will you reveal that you, too, are a furry? Will you respond like @itskonomichi’s sister did?


Look, at its core, this is a heartwarming video. Someone is revealing a portion of who they are to their sister. That she did not expect this when there is also a poster for something called Ninja Sex Party on the wall does not matter. She got some new information and responded to it with great surprise, but everyone here appears to still be on good terms.

Then Furry Twitter got involved.


Her “shocked” face instantly became a memetic shorthand for normie interactions with furry culture.


After @itskonomichi shouted out the artist who did the drawing the sister was freaking out about, that artist got back in touch, asking what the sister’s favorite animals are. The result was this:


Now an unwitting internet icon for furries everywhere, the family at least appears to be enjoying it, apparently while waiting for church to start.


Does Midwest Furfest do discounts for family attendees?

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