It's frightening

[FursonMandela]

Hello everybody. I'm new here, and as I'm not quite sure as to how the board culture works here, I'll try to be as polite as possible when I talk about this. I apologize for how terrible my name is (first name is Nelson, decided to go with a pun, please don't dog me for it), and try to be as grammatically correct as possible (I'm sixteen, trying to improve the style of my writing; if my attempt at large words is off-putting, I will stop) but please bear with me. As odd as this must sound, I have never joined a forum like this before - I guess it was from fear that I would be demonized. I won't boar you with unneeded details, and will try to get straight to the point: my life has taken a terrible shift; my family has discovered that I am a furry. She saw some things I wrote in an AIM log, and was extremely shocked. I'm not trying to demonize it, but my mother certainly is. I am so frustrated right now with the way my parents are behaving about this, that I am ready to duck tape my room shut. Yesterday, I told her I wanted to grow my hare out, and she wanted to know if it was because of my "animal obsession"! It's unbearable! My muleing about hasn't helped, I suppose. I've shut down completely. I have needed to get this out of my system, tell others. Just not in this way. I wish my family could accept me; this is like a rabbit joint to my body; I am incomplete - I don't see anything wrong about it like my mother and father do. My brothers make fun of me. It is horribly awful, and nobody seems to see what is at steak here - this is part of who I am. My very essense.

A few weeks back, right after this came to light, I had to get my car toad; my dad picked me up and gave me a speech about how "experimenting" is wrong. I don't understand what he thinks of this situation. I don't even want to know. It feels like udder nonsense; like complete rubbish. I feel extremely sad, maybe because of the lack of acceptance. I don't know what to think anymore. It's as if my entire life has been seeled shut. What can I do? What can function as my family and I's "pigeon"? Where can we find common ground? Will it be this way forever? Sorry if I have been a little bit dark in my posting - I am just so very confused. Is there anybody who has shared a similar experience? Thank you for reading, at the very least.

[jwig]

Nelson, I too have been down that river before. It was only last year that my parents discovered that I too was a furry. They discovered pictures on my computer and the sketches to my Robin suit. At first they were confused and worried but eventually they came around and accepted me for who I am. It may be hard for you at first but in time your parents will come to accept it.

[Vamp]

Hey, Nelson, ya did the right thing posting here. We are all about acceptance here, man. If your parents are freakin' out about it, just sit them down one day and tell them, let them know it's not some obbsession. The Internet has given us a bad name because of the 'Y' word, but regardless ya need to teel 'em about it, that it is just a way of expressing yourself. Hang in there dude, It's always darkest just before dawn.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Things like that happened to me and i just thought "sack it, if they react like that, then that's their fault." Tell them that you're not gonna change and that they can accept it or not; their choice. being sixteen on its own is hard, and stuff like this happens. You just gotta realise that none of it matters. All that matters is that you do what you want to do, regardless of what people think or say. Also, telling your parents how they make you feel is a safe bet that something will change. No parent wants to hurt their child, though they might disregard it as being overdramatic.