471: Aversion Fads

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Aversion Fads

Title text: Hey, are you friends with any hamsters? This kite needs a passenger.

Explanation

Here, we see Cueball and his Cueball-like friend, who are grossed out that there is a furry (noted by the kid's fox ears and tail) near them. These people most likely have bought into the stereotype of furries, and as such, are showing their disgust towards what they perceive the fandom to be. Megan then calls for the furry to help her with her kite. The way this turns out, she also thinks that furries are “weird as hell”, but she is also irritated by the fact that a lot of people on the Internet are involved with a lot of weird things that may gross out or otherwise offend the general population, yet the Internet in general frequently mocks furries for engaging in essentially the same things. This hypocrisy bothers her, so she takes whatever opportunity she has to defend furries, who are, after all, people of the Internet.

Hearing this, the furry brings up the fable of the lion and the mouse (from Aesop). This fable talks about a lion who spares a mouse from being eaten, since the mouse's promise that he would repay the lion gave the lion a good laugh. In the story, the lion later gets caught in a trap and the mouse chews through the cords, freeing the lion. The furry now has a debt to repay Megan, but before we can get to that Megan curtails the simile. She assumes that the furry will perceive the story to be about animal bondage relationships, and be aroused by this.

In the title text, Megan realizes that her kite needs a passenger. So, she asks the furry if he has any hamster friends. This likely refers to real hamsters, which could be tied to the kite. However, this being a furry, it could also refer to people who have hamster “fursonas” — a “fursona” is the type of animal that a furry pretends to be. Such a person would still have the weight of a regular person and therefore unsuitable for flying on the kite after tied (given the kite's size as depicted and assumptions about usual kite materials). This may be a reference to 20: Ferret.

What is a furry?

A furry is a person interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. They are often accused of perverted sexual behavior, despite all evedence to the contrary. For more information, see Wikipedia

Transcript

[Two Cueball-like guys stand together as a young guy dressed up with small ears and a tail approaches.]

Cueball: Oh God, a furry. Don't let it touch you.

[The furry hears someone call out to him.]

Off-screen: Hey, kid.

[Megan is seen preparing a kite to be flown.]

Megan: Forget those assholes. Come help me.

[The furry begins to help Megan set up the kite.]

Furry: Thanks. So you're cool with furries?

[The two are now standing far appart the furry with the kite and the line going over to Megan.]

Megan: Well, I think your fetish is weird as hell. It just bothers me how you're this designated Internet punching bag among people who are otherwise down with weird fetishes. So I stick up for you when I can.

[The kite now successfully up in the air and Megan pulls the line with both hands moving backwards.]

Furry: Well, thanks. I owe you one.

Megan: It's no big deal.

[Megan stops some distance from the fury holding the line with one hhand. The fury lift one hand up apologising.]

Furry: No, this is like the lion and the mouse.

Megan: ...Listen, can we pick a comparison less likely to turn you on?

Furry: Sorry.

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Discussion

The inclusion of a Fox is notable, within the Furry community foxes are the most populous species [Citation: https://sites.google.com/site/anthropomorphicresearch/home ] and subjected to a degree of derision from other furs.

78.40.152.129 10:45, 12 January 2013 (UTC) Feefers (A Furry)

Your mention of fox-morphism reminds me of Lady into Fox, from the 1920s... Probably not relevent, but perhaps interesting as a pre-Internet example that is not itself an ancient fable, legend or allegory. (No Rule 34ing, though, that I recall). 178.107.249.215 22:22, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

At that novel a lady suddenly turns into a real fox, this is not true for this comic. It's just the Furry community.--Dgbrt (talk) 19:02, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone know if this is Randall's actual opinion of furries? I've wondered that ever since I first read this comic. Leafy Greens (talk) 15:37, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

It's possible that the "Hey, kid" line is a reference to the "Hey, kid, wanna yiff?" meme (possibly based on another, "hey kid, wanna see a dead body") which was made 4 months -1 day prior to this strip release, apparently for a furry pick-up line contest on FurAffinity [got this from knowyourmeme]. Also, the title " Aversion Fad" might be suggesting that the anti-Furry attitude/meme/whatever is just a fad or meme. 108.162.237.158 19:27, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

It should be noted that Randall has particularly picked up on the furry stereotype than what furries actually are. International Space Station (talk) 01:45, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

I've been wanting to fix this for over a year. This comic is written about furries, so I only think it's fair that the explain is written by someone who actually knows about the furry fandom--you know, an *actual* furry who, you know, isn't into the sexual stuff, i.e. me. International Space Station (talk) 02:02, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

Fair, but the explanation is now much too long. Added incomplete tag as such. I really appreciate you trying to bring this more in line with reality, but we're not here to discuss culture, we're here to explain xkcd. If you disagree, feel free to remove the tag. 199.27.128.91 04:22, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

I kept the explanation regarding furries, but moved it to a seperate section so it wouldn't interfere with the people who are here soley to look for an explanation of the actual comic. 108.162.215.154 23:07, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

The obvious use being, of course, so you don't have to remove the suit to use the restrooms. ...Sexual purposes aside, there probably really are people who buy/make them for that particular convenience instead. Nyperold (talk) 07:07, 3 July 2016 (UTC)

Our purpose here is to explain the comic, not to defend against slights to one community or another. If the reader wants to learn more about furries direct them to wikipedia or some other source. The paragraph was intrusive and needless, it added nothing to the comic. A short, emphasis on short, explanation of what a furry is may be appropriate, anything more than that is just a diatribe more suitable for the discussion page.--Lackadaisical (talk) 15:28, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

"your fetish"... *Sigh* - 162.158.214.58 08:56, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Girl look at that body. AndroidTheLucario (talk) 03:36, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

I will add a short explanation of furries, but I will be mindful of complaints that the old one was too long. I have tired to contact Randall about furries before, but no answer so far. Wikieditor431 (talk) 18:58, 21 January 2021 (UTC)Wikieditor431