There's no assumption in saying "furries are cool", much in the same way one can say "anime is cool" and "robots are cool". It is a statement of opinion, not fact.
If you don't find it cool, just say you're not into it, but don't try to gatekeep someone's enjoyment of something by somehow refuting their opinion that something they enjoy "is cool".
Because it is not just a fetish. We claim it's about a ton of different things because it is about a ton of different things to so many different people.
Some people identify as their fursonas and are comfortable in that skin; some people think they're reincarnations of certain animals; some people like to write stories about furry characters; some people think furries are cool; some people have a favourite anthro character from games or TV shows; some people sexualize them; some people are in it for the community interactions and safe spaces; some people are in it for the lucrative furry art commissions.
None of those are mutually exclusive. One can find Veezara from Skyrim cool and hot. One can do art and enjoy the communal support without having a fetish for it. Being a fetish is just one part of furry culture.
To reduce an entire community to "it's just a fetish" is such a gross generalization. It's like saying "anime fans are perverts" just because a non-insignificant amount of anime feature sexualized depictions of girls.
Look, I understand if your immediate reaction to "furries" is "it's just a fetish"; there is a lot of furry porn out there! However, there's a problem with that view: you're so focused on the "furries just have a fetish" part that you're ignoring the mountains of regular human porn floating all around you.
My guy, you've literally just described the human race. "Not all of [insert community here] is benevolent" rings true everywhere, not just furries.
If they're doing it out of ignorance, I'd tell them what's wrong with X and let them decide for themselves.
If they're doing it out of necessity, I'd help them look for viable alternatives, and leave them alone if there are none.
If they're doing it out of support for X after I specifically told them why X is bad, then yeah I'd judge for a bit, then leave them alone.
i'm not gonna question your choice of cuisine, but a french omelette is like one of the easiest and fastest french dishes to make! personally, i'd wish for croissants.
Döner. I got addicted to one store's döner while I was in Berlin and I've been craving it ever since, and I've been unable to find an equivalent here.
honestly, french omelette's pretty easy to make; i would pick a different style of egg that's more difficult and/or time-consuming, like tamagoyaki or omurice-style omelette.
Gender incongruence may be in the same book now, but being in the book does not necessarily mean it is a disorder (e.g. paraphilia). In fact, in DSM-5, gender incongruence (they call it gender dysphoria) was actually renamed from "gender identity disorder" to avoid the word "disorder".
DSM-5 defines a paraphilic disorder as "a paraphilia that brings distress, or when satisfied, brings harm to self or others" (paraphrased). I think pedophilia fits that description, because "if satisfied", that's what we'd consider "bringing harm to others". Perhaps the ICD has a different definition?
I mean, I didn't set the standards or write the books. All of these things have way too much complexity to properly categorize in the ever-shifting standards of society in different geographic and cultural regions, so of course different countries and different experts would treat these things differently. That also means what counts as a "mental disorder" can vary wildly from region to region. I daresay this is a universe where you and I are both right on the matter!
I'm not sure about the criterion differences between the ICD and DSM-5, and I for sure do not know enough to be an authority on the matter.
To be fair, paraphilias were listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as disorders before that definition was moved in DSM-5 to paraphilic disorder to be distinct from paraphilia (no longer de facto a disorder).
Anyway, pedophilia is a paraphilic disorder, which makes it a paraphilia and a mental disorder!
I did list a whole bunch of things that aren't balls but hey, I don't mind if boba's not everyone's cup of tea, because that means more for me!
There's so many different types of boba "balls", and even the "same" ones have different textures and flavours depending on the boba shop you buy from!
Many boba shops (at least the ones here in HK) also offer an incredible selection of different things you can have in your drink in place of just tapioca pearls, stuff like grass jelly, aloe vera, agar jelly, basil seeds, red beans, pudding, and the list goes on.
I'm sure you'll be able to find something from boba shops that tickles your fancy, even if it's just fruit tea with coconut jelly chunks.
Same terrible art style? If you are referring to actual stylings of how furry artists put lines and colours on canvas, then what you've done is seen a similar art style from two artists and then assumed the same for the rest.
If you're talking about actual character proportions, oh boy! First of all, Sonic does not even come close to being a majority inspiration for furries; a way closer guess would be the Argonians and Khajiiti from Skyrim. Secondly, the whole point of furries is their fascination with this world of anthropomorphic animals; "anthropomorphic" means "human-like", so of course the majority of furry characters would be animal races with human-like body proportions.
EDIT: bro's really included a Google image search of "furry pfp" to try to prove his point without realizing that drawn profile pictures naturally have certain exaggerated features and clearly-defined lines to appear well when shrunk down to the size profile pictures are normally displayed. Easy counterpoint: now do a Google image search of "furry art".