MY FURRY-TALE LOVE STORY ALE TORY
HOLLY AND HER FIANCÉ CHRIS FOUND EACH OTHER THROUGH A VERY UNUSUAL HOBBY!
Holly Watson excitedly wriggles into her enormous black-and-white furry costume. Adjusting her bushy tail, she waits for her fiancé, Chris, to pass her the huge yellow head. Then, with a deep breath, she pulls it down over her own.
In an instant she’s transformed – no longer Holly, a 28-year-old nurse from Brisbane, Qld, but Katsu, a half-cat, half-cockatiel creation ready to cause mischief and fun.
But Holly isn’t an entertainer or even heading to a fancy dress party. She’s a ‘Furry’ – the name given to the ever-growing community who have bonded over their love of animals with human characteristics.
Many, like Holly, create their own ‘fursona’, bringing to life an elaborate furry costume and socialising with like-minded people.
“I found out about furries 10 years ago,” Holly tells New Idea exclusively. “I saw some drawings of the characters online and loved the style.”
It connected Holly to an online community and
led her to her first furries’ meet-up in Sydney.
“It was a barbecue at Centennial Park,” Holly remembers. “There were about 70 people and around 20 of them were wearing these huge fursuits. I had no idea they even existed, so I was a bit shocked!”
Too shy to speak to any of the people wearing the suits, Holly got all the info from her friends at the meet-up.
“At that stage there were only a handful of local makers of the suits,” Holly says.
“You could get lots of different types – realistic or toony [cartoony]; plantigrade, which is more like a bodysuit with no padding; or digitigrade, where the legs are padded, making it look like the wearer has animal legs.”
Having always been interested in drama, Holly felt naturally drawn to these characters – but it took another two years before she bought her own suit.
“I bought a pink and purple rabbit costume for $800,” Holly tells New Idea. “I called her ‘Nightshade’, and the first time I wore her was to Supanova [comic con and gaming expo] in Sydney with all my school friends. I was the only one in a fursuit and they were all quite taken aback!”
But for Holly it was incredible.
“I felt so free,” she says. “Nobody sees you, just the costume. You can be your real self and behave totally differently to usual with no judgement.”
In 2018 Holly bought her $1200 Katsu suit, her main outfit for the annual Furry Down Under convention, which takes place on the Gold Coast.
It was here she met her future husband, Chris Sheekey, two years ago.
“I was running a panel about first aid in a fursuit,” Holly says. “Things like how to avoid heat exhaustion and common fursuit-wearing injuries. Chris was head of first aid and he came to help.”
Their friendship, and then relationship, developed over their shared love of furries, even though Chris isn’t a suit-wearer.
“He’s not interested in that,” Holly says. “He helps me with my suit though, and comes out with me when I’m in it.”
A common misconception about the fandom is that kink is a major part – but Holly says nothing is further from the truth.
“I know furry families where all the kids dress up and so many more children and teenagers are getting involved,” she says.
“As with any fandom, there are always a few people who take it to that extreme, but it is not the reason the majority get involved. It’s frustrating that it’s a stereotype we constantly have to address and that those few people give furries a bad name.”
For Holly, the community, which has swelled into the thousands over recent years, has always been about friendship and acceptance. She even credits it for saving her life, providing her with support when she’s felt lost and alone.
“A mix of people are furries but there is a noticeable type, and they’re the people who feel different or left out of society in some way,” she says. “We’re very accepting. If you’re a decent person we’re happy to take you!”
Now that she’s engaged, Holly has been dealing with the question about whether she’ll be having a furry wedding.
“I draw the line there,” the bride-to-be laughs. “There will be a nod to furries at the wedding, but Chris will not be marrying Katsu!”