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submitted by scheinwilt
[link] [3 comments]

submitted by CriWulf
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submitted by painlessmango
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Hello fellow furs. I'm a relatively new furry from Wellington NZ. Although I'm newish I've loved anthro animals forever. My boyfriend doesn't know about me yet and I'm wondering about the best way to tell him.

So...how did you all tell your families and significant others?

submitted by H0peyoulikeit
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submitted by electricfoxx
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We’ll finish up our werewolf triple-play with this one. Later this month Alterna Comics will release Empire of the Wolf issues #1 through #4 as a singe graphic novel in trade paperback. From Previews: “During the Roman conquest of Britain, a werewolf’s bite re-ignites the legendary feud between Romulus and Remus, pitting two centurions against each other in an epic war of werewolves that will decide the fate of Roman Empire itself. Empire of the Wolf is the saga that reveals the myth behind the history of ancient Rome. ” It’s written by Michael Kogge and illustrated by Dan Parsons.

image c. 2014 Alterna Comics

I'm on the search for a fur maker who can make super cute deer ears and tail in time for Halloween. If some lovely fuzzbutt out there knows someone it would be much appreciated! <3

submitted by LBuddha
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submitted by satiredun
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So I'm a bit nervous that i may do something and be "That Guy". Please anyone can you give me some tips advice or words of wisdom? Thanks in advance.

submitted by Dravosa
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submitted by ButtCrisp
[link] [8 comments]

Hi, new to the fandom here and i'm just starting to reach out locally to try to make some furry friends. I'm really not trying to sound mean here I swear, but is it really as hard as I think it is to find find furs that don't have crippling social anxiety, extreme awkwardness, to full blown aspie-ness at times? I am NOT perfect socially myself, and can be kinda shy in the presence of large groups, but at the same time I can engage in small talk, can socialize pretty easily, and I have a good-sized group of non-furry friends. It just seems that based off of chats I have had with other furs online, these are hard attributes to come by in the fandom. This kinda worries me because I do want to be friends with furries, but I don't connect with extremely awkward or geeky people very well at all.

I guess I would describe myself as a typical college kid. I spend much of my time drinking, socializing, jamming with my bandmates, and going out with friends. I don't play video games or watch anime either, and I like hiking/the outdoors a lot. I'm also pretty mellow/chill (until I get intoxicated, that is) and not at all "bubbly" and "quirky" like I remember furries from high school being. I just don't fit the stereotypical furry niche, but I'm a total furfag at heart. Once again, I want to that say i'm NOT trying to be a dick. I respect all of you for who you, are and i'm sure you are all decent human beings no matter how you behave. I just want to get to know other furries that I could genuinely enjoy being around and establish friendships with. I'm likely going to start attending conventions once I get my fursuit, but I don't want to go alone or be stuck with people i'm not comfortable around. If I ever go to Anthrocon, I would much rather get trashed and crazy with people who know how to have a good time, rather than holed up in a hotel room snuggling and playing video games.

So yeah. Do I have an inaccurate interpretation of the fandom? Are there "average joes" who are well-adjusted but also furries like myself? Should I just forget the whole thing? Any advice would be great!

submitted by GodIRegretEverything
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submitted by bootiehole
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submitted by TheVloginator
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submitted by CharlotteHoran
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submitted by Misappropriated
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submitted by J0nathanj0
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submitted by mirrorspock
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submitted by Sat-AM
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submitted by HarmonyHeartstrings
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On a recent work trip to London, I had the privilege of attending a LondonFurs meet, which I have to say was spectacular. There’s not really an analog around where I am, though I imagine the meet known only to me as “Chicken” in California might come close. It was big – hovering around 50 or so people – and there were a good percentage of the attendees in suit, which was new to me. In Northern Colorado, we don’t have too much in the way of furmeets, and what we do are quiet, intimate affairs with maybe 15 attendees, tops. Suiting happens, but is uncommon, and tends to represent only a small portion of the furries in attendance.

Another interesting thing was the barrier-to-entry in that the meet took place at a city bar, and thus attracted an older crowd, at least of drinking age (though note JM’s recent comment that this includes furries 18 years old and older, rather than 21 as it would be in the United States).

As I sipped mediocre cocktails (seriously, how hard is it to make a Pimm’s?!) and aggressively pink wines, I noticed a common trend among the furries – notably among the fursuiters: playfulness. Childish, simple playfulness. This, I think, is something of a universal within our fandom: the tendency toward play.

Play, commonly seen as an activity that takes place between children, or between children and a facilitating adult such as a parent, is an important part of development, particularly in the development of a child’s psychology. Play itself serves many purposes during a child’s intellectual development and helps to provide a strong basis for the growth of the individual. Outdoor play, for instance, helps to strengthen a child’s connection to and understanding of the environment around them. Meanwhile, social play can help solidify language within the growing child and lay the foundation for learning as the individual progresses through school (thus why play is seen as an integral part of early education).

Play also helps to solidify social interaction between individuals. Pretend play and other types of social play are formative in the ways in which children interact with each other into adulthood. Additionally, there is a strong emotional component to play. Childhood psychologists and therapists have often used play as a way of interacting with children on an emotional level. In short, play helps to shape the whole of the child’s personality.

The play that I witnessed at that LondonFurs meet, the one that struck me with the idea for this article, was simple. Three furries – two in suit, one out of suit – had arrayed themselves in an equilateral triangle and were rolling a swirly-green beach ball back and forth. Occasionally, the ball would escape the trio, and, with much visible consternation, one of the fursuiters would go scrambling after it and gleefully bring it back to the small circle. Onlookers watched and laughed, some took pictures, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

This type of scene seemed to me to be particularly furry. That is to say, it was notable in how common it was. It’s not uncommon to see furries engaging in playful activities, especially in suit – it was one of the first things I did when I got mine. It’s a common sight, seeing furries and fursuiters playing around at conventions, almost to the point where it seems out of place seeing a fursuiter not hamming it up and simply striding purposefully toward some goal.

On the surface, this raises quite a few questions. What exactly is the reason for this focus on play within furry. Is it a type of infantilization? That is, are we intentionally acting more childlike in order to feel more childlike ourselves? Or perhaps it’s a type of reclaimed innocence. We act like children in order to relive more childlike (and thus perceived as more fun) portions of our lives. Or perhaps it’s simply a means of letting down one’s “front-stage persona” in the Erving Goffman sense: we’re showing who we truly are – playful individuals – without the professional and interpersonal masks that we otherwise keep firmly in place.

With that last bit in mind, it’s worth noting that, in adults, play plays a slightly different role than in children. It’s associated most often with a strength of character found primarily in humor, teamwork, and creativity. There are various aspects of playfulness that all adults exhibit throughout their lives, and for various reasons, as mentioned. Playfulness is a healthy thing for adults to experience, as well as children, and there are aspects of it that fit in all of our day-to-day lives. [ref]

I think this is all quite important to furry, and not just due to the prevalence. I think that playfulness and childishness inform furry on a more fundamental level than we honestly give them credit for. I know the common refrain that furry is about hearkening back to our Saturday-morning-cartoon childhoods, that fursuiting is something we do for the enjoyment of children, and I believe that truly is the case for some, but I think that frames the whole situation in a much less personal, much more selfless way. At heart, I think the truth is that a good many of us truly are playful. Our childishness isn’t something that’s immature, as this playfulness even shows up in our more adult creations, but it’s something that shows our strength of character. After all, not only are we able to maintain a mask with which we interact with the public and professional world, but we are also able to let that down and interact with each other through true, honest play.