I never expected this topic to be made. Also, it was made at a rather inconvenient time for me, and I’ll have to keep my first reply short.
Our stories aren’t that different @Virgil - I too came to learn about the fandom during covid times. And like @anon9416460 I prefer hugbox. ANd much like @RoseTea it was the discovery of hugbox, especially of @Carpdime 's Avocado that made me want to stay further, and learn more about fluffies.
So I dug in. And then, I discovered some interesting things. Some people said that fluffies were made “to troll bronies” but as I dug up the origins of fluffies, I came to realize that the origin of fluffies was directly tied to the early start in the MLP:FiM fandom, of which I was and still am a part of. I actually have spoken to Mixxermike and Art-anon at least once, and I knew that Skoon was one of the artists on FiMchan. I know Kloudmutt, who had some of his art on flufyfbooru.
As to what keeps me in fluffies, its something that I’ve talked about regularly with different people, whether its Carp, @father_dan_the_man , or recently with @PeppermintParchment . As of now, I still want to write and finish my Sam Adams Guide and Avocado. The former because I do think the efforts of hugboxers and neutralboxers who put in a lot of content and effort into fluffies matters. The latter because, well, I like the guy. I could go on about Avocado, but that’s a different story.
But then the question would be - what makes fluffies so interesting to you? And that’s where I would differ from the abusers, and even the sadboxers. Also, and even though I have a hugbox-ish stance, I do believe in the need to go beyond just it.
To me, fluffy ponies work as a form of speculative fiction. Back on fluffybooru, Ferroter once compared the fluffy ponies to the balde runner universe and the thing is, blade runner was not just science fiction, but also speculative fiction. I think thats an angle that should be explored or worked with more when it comes to fluffies. Sure, there has to be some limitations (if fluffies were too all-powerful it would lose the point) but I think there is grounds for exploring interesting ideas, especially with welfare and the rights (or lack thereof) of hypothetical sentient beings. Having spoke to whelk before, I’ve enjoyed both the domestic fluffy living a comfortable existence, loyal to its master, and the feral fluffy, living free in the wild and away from human bondage.
I think that more can be done to look into what makes our fandom unique from our MLP origins, and what we can bring to others. Its a reason why I’ve written stories like Wan Pway and the Fluffspeak nation series, and also why I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my recent Russia story. I think fluffies can offer a lot more to others, provided we can look past the abuse and suffering.
