But I don't think the complainers are arguing about that, either. (Also, I disagree with the statement "adults shouldn't be mingling with minors", but that's a pretty strong statement, so I don't think we're gonna change each other's minds there, so now I kind of am avoiding it, but it just feels too cynical.)
On one hand, I'll sorta-semi accept the primary audience of furry conventions is "adults", but I'll still argue we're too old. Like, 18-25 seems the right age; after that, you're kinda starting to Disco Dan a bit. Which is definitely, I'm out, but also, I believe, you're out. If you're old enough to still be bitching about Crush!Yiff!Destroy!, you're too old for the really good room parties at ... wherever. And, once again, this is just straight up gatekeeping; you're the one kicking people out. Oh, you have your reasons, people always do, but the fact still remains that you are the one telling people they don't belong here.
Okay, I did just say "you're out", so I am doing it to, but in my defence I also did exclude myself, and to be fair, this is just what I said in my original really long post; there's a bit of a stigma about "growing out" of the fandom. I mean, honestly, have you considered that you can just leave? If you're not having fun anymore, why put yourself through it? Like, if all you really want is some porn and fucking alcohol, like, you don't need furry conventions for that. You barely need furry sites; fuck, one of my little furry vices is porn games (btw, the end of Flash has been devastating ... but that's really off topic, sorry), and, honestly, at this point, if I want straight or female-focused stuff, I get better furry stuff from nominally non-furry publishers. Do I sit around and complain about the gays? No, they fought hard to get to be this gay, good for them, I'll go where I need to go to get what I want. If it's actual furries, great; if not, also great! Who cares?
I understand you probably have a network of friends which will be hard to untangle, and for all I know you're also an artist or are somehow also financially entangled, so it really isn't that easy, but if some aspect of furry today isn't doing it for you, maybe it's time to try something else? Yeah, you apparently liked the sleezy smut and booze atmosphere; I didn't. You apparently don't like the clean and family-friendly look; I kinda do (the porn games notwithstanding). And you don't get to pull the "well, I was here first" bit, because, well, you weren't. I mean, it's not just zoomers; even the guys who want to "keep furry weird" *rolls eyes* don't even all agree what the fuck "weird" even means.
I say you "apparently" liked/disliked things because you never actually professed a preference, just kind of pointed out that's the way it was like that's self-evident proof that that's the way it should be, but, no, it isn't. I mean, I didn't say where I saw 2; that was Oklacon. You know, the convention that got shut down because of the drunken public sex? If you want to party, okay, but also realize, even without minors, there are going to be consequences. At the very least, don't hold your booze-y con at a venue that explicitly bans alcohol; I guarantee you non-furries lost their jobs over Oklacon.
I'm kind of trying to "both sides" this thing (despite the fact you're not supposed to do that), but I really think that, yes, you're kind of in the wrong here. If you don't want to hang out with kids, don't; but why you gotta not let them have their own things? If you're going to gatekeep someone, gatekeep yourself.
But I don't think the complainers are arguing about that, either. (Also, I disagree with the statement "adults shouldn't be mingling with minors", but that's a pretty strong statement, so I don't think we're gonna change each other's minds there, so now I kind of am avoiding it, but it just feels too cynical.)
On one hand, I'll sorta-semi accept the primary audience of furry conventions is "adults", but I'll still argue we're too old. Like, 18-25 seems the right age; after that, you're kinda starting to Disco Dan a bit. Which is definitely, I'm out, but also, I believe, you're out. If you're old enough to still be bitching about Crush!Yiff!Destroy!, you're too old for the really good room parties at ... wherever. And, once again, this is just straight up gatekeeping; you're the one kicking people out. Oh, you have your reasons, people always do, but the fact still remains that you are the one telling people they don't belong here.
Okay, I did just say "you're out", so I am doing it to, but in my defence I also did exclude myself, and to be fair, this is just what I said in my original really long post; there's a bit of a stigma about "growing out" of the fandom. I mean, honestly, have you considered that you can just leave? If you're not having fun anymore, why put yourself through it? Like, if all you really want is some porn and fucking alcohol, like, you don't need furry conventions for that. You barely need furry sites; fuck, one of my little furry vices is porn games (btw, the end of Flash has been devastating ... but that's really off topic, sorry), and, honestly, at this point, if I want straight or female-focused stuff, I get better furry stuff from nominally non-furry publishers. Do I sit around and complain about the gays? No, they fought hard to get to be this gay, good for them, I'll go where I need to go to get what I want. If it's actual furries, great; if not, also great! Who cares?
I understand you probably have a network of friends which will be hard to untangle, and for all I know you're also an artist or are somehow also financially entangled, so it really isn't that easy, but if some aspect of furry today isn't doing it for you, maybe it's time to try something else? Yeah, you apparently liked the sleezy smut and booze atmosphere; I didn't. You apparently don't like the clean and family-friendly look; I kinda do (the porn games notwithstanding). And you don't get to pull the "well, I was here first" bit, because, well, you weren't. I mean, it's not just zoomers; even the guys who want to "keep furry weird" *rolls eyes* don't even all agree what the fuck "weird" even means.
I say you "apparently" liked/disliked things because you never actually professed a preference, just kind of pointed out that's the way it was like that's self-evident proof that that's the way it should be, but, no, it isn't. I mean, I didn't say where I saw 2; that was Oklacon. You know, the convention that got shut down because of the drunken public sex? If you want to party, okay, but also realize, even without minors, there are going to be consequences. At the very least, don't hold your booze-y con at a venue that explicitly bans alcohol; I guarantee you non-furries lost their jobs over Oklacon.
I'm kind of trying to "both sides" this thing (despite the fact you're not supposed to do that), but I really think that, yes, you're kind of in the wrong here. If you don't want to hang out with kids, don't; but why you gotta not let them have their own things? If you're going to gatekeep someone, gatekeep yourself.