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{{comic
 
{{comic
 
| number    = 471
 
| number    = 471
−
| date      = September 3, 2008
+
| date      = September 03, 2008
 
| title    = Aversion Fads
 
| title    = Aversion Fads
 
| image    = aversion_fads.png
 
| image    = aversion_fads.png
−
| titletext = Hey, are you friends with any hamsters? This kite needs a passenger.
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| imagesize = 587px
 +
| titletext = Hey, are you friends with any hamsters.  This kite needs a passenger.
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
 +
To start, furries are, in essence, fans of cartoon animals (or any animal in fiction, really). (Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse are examples of the more popular cartoon animals.) Furries can be further subdivided into two categories: the furry fans that simply like cartoon animals contrast the furry lifestylers who take their fanhood a step further, the lifestylers dressing up with animal-themes accessories (or even full fursuits, that is, animal costumes), using a "furry vocabulary" (To give an example, "murr" is used to express a big liking of something.), go to furry conventions, and so on. Of course, there are a significant amount of furries who take their interest too far, not only partaking in perverted fantasies with cartoon characters, being very open about their more "intimate" interests, and even engaging in such acts with other people in real life, sometimes even in their fursuits (which may be specifically designed for such "adult" uses). There are furries that take this a step further, partaking in fetishes that can include hyper, unbirth, vore, and so on. This had caused other people to view furries in general with disgust.
  
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A "{{w|Furry fandom|furry}}" is a person interested in {{w|anthropomorphic}} animal characters – fictional animal characters that, for example, walk and talk like humans. A common stereotype is that furries role-play their "fursona" ("furry" persona) by dressing up in animal costumes, as demonstrated by the furry in this comic. There are [https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Furry_stereotype numerous other stereotypes] as well, often of a {{w|Sexual fetishism|sexual nature}}, so furries are frequently the target of criticism on the Internet.
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Here, we see two such people, grossed out that there is a furry (noted by the man's fox ears and tail) near them. A woman then calls for the furry to help him set up her kite. The way this turns out, she also thinks that furries are gross, but she is also irritated by the fact that a lot of people in 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. (Myself, I had seem a few art galleries that display art of pregnant human women, plus there is a non-furry site that has a community all about men gaining weight and those who like to see others gain weight. Both pregnancy and weight gain are actually rather common in the furry world.) This hypocrisy bothers the woman, so she takes whatever opportunity she has to defend furries, who are, after all, people of the Internet.
  
−
In this comic, [[Cueball]] and his Cueball-like friend encounter a furry, and react negatively according to the stereotype. In response, [[Megan]] kindly invites the furry to help with her kite. Megan explains that, while she too thinks furries are strange, she opposes the hypocritical treatment they disproportionately receive from others who are likely just as strange, and therefore defends furries, given the opportunity.
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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. Turns out that the lion got caught in a rope trap, so the mouse nibbled on the rope, freeing, thus repaying, the lion. In light of this, the furry is saying that, since the woman stood up for the furry in the face of opposition, the furry will repay her kindness, possibly by defending her own choices. The fact that furries are generally not deemed helpful or significant seems to emphasize the point.
  
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The furry appreciates Megan's support, comparing it to {{w|Aesop}}'s fable of {{w|The Lion and the Mouse}}, in which a lion spares a mouse from being eaten; the lion later becomes caught in a trap, so the mouse repays the earlier favor by chewing through the cords of the trap to free the lion. This simile is meant as a genuine expression of gratitude and indebtedness from the furry, but the joke is that Megan rebukes this specific comparison, as she assumes the furry will be sexually aroused by the animal {{w|Bondage (BDSM)|bondage}} in the story.
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...then the woman asks the furry to avoid using an animal-based analogy which can possibly arouse him.
  
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In the title text, Megan asks if the furry has any hamster friends as potential passengers for her kite. She likely means a {{w|Hamster|literal hamster}} – a rodent that would be small enough to fly on a kite. (This may be a reference to comic [[20: Ferret]], which also involves a small, flying mammal.) However, this being a furry, she could also mean a human with a hamster "fursona," although this would be too heavy to fly on a typical kite.{{Citation needed}}
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The title text has the woman realize that her kite needs a passenger, so she ask the furry, a fan of animals, if he has any pet hamsters that she can put on the kite, the hamster being the passenger she needs.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
−
:[Two Cueball-like guys stand together as a young guy dressed up with small ears and a tail approaches.]
+
::[Two guys stand together as a young guy dressed up with small ears and a tail approaches.]
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:Cueball: Oh God, a furry. Don't let it touch you.
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::First Man: OH GOD, A FURRY. DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU.
 +
::[The Furry hears someone call out to him]
 +
::Unknown: HEY, KID.
 +
::[A young woman is seen preparing a kite to be flown.]
 +
::Woman: FORGET THOSE ASSHOLES.  COME HELP ME.
 +
::[The Furry begins to help the woman set up the kite.]
 +
::Furry: THANKS, SO YOU'RE COOL WITH FURRIES?
 +
::Woman: WELL, I THINK YOUR FETISH IS AS 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, the two continue.]
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::Furry: WELL, THANKS.  I OWE YOU ONE.
 +
::Woman: NO BIG DEAL.
 +
::Furry: NO, THIS IS LIKE THE LION AND THE MOUSE.
 +
::Woman: ...LISTEN, CAN WE PICK A COMPARISON LESS LIKELY TO TURN YOU ON?
 +
::Furry: SORRY.
  
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:[The furry hears someone call out to him.]
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{{comic discussion}}  
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:Off-screen: Hey, kid.
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<!-- Include any categories below this line-->
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[[:Category:Comics]] [[:Category:Furries]]
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:[Megan is seen preparing a kite to be flown.]
 
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:Megan: Forget those assholes. Come help me.
 
−
 
 
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:[The furry begins to help Megan set up the kite.]
 
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:Furry: Thanks. So you're cool with furries?
 
−
 
 
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:[The two are now standing far apart, the furry with the kite and the line going over to Megan.]
 
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: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.
 
−
 
 
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:[The kite is now successfully up in the air, and Megan pulls the line with both hands moving backwards.]
 
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:Furry: Well, thanks. I owe you one.
 
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:Megan: It's no big deal.
 
−
 
 
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:[Megan stops some distance from the furry holding the line with one hand. The furry lifts one hand up apologizing.]
 
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:Furry: No, this is like the lion and the mouse.
 
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:Megan: ...Listen, can we pick a comparison less likely to turn you on?
 
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:Furry: Sorry.
 
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{{comic discussion}}
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
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[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 
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[[Category:Furries]]
 
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[[Category:Comics with color]]
 

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