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Furry fever: Boston furry convention sheds light on far-out fandom
Here is an article in the US Metro:
http://www.metro.us/boston/news/local/2014/08/03/furry-fever-boston-furry-convention-sheds-light-fandom/
It covers the weekend's Maltese Fur-Con event in Boston, Massachusetts.
Nearly 200 fiction fans met up at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport over the weekend for the first local furry convention, shining a light on a mysterious and often misunderstood subculture.
So-called “furries” are interested in fictional anthropomorphic characters, and in some cases even dress as and take on the persona of the “animal-like” creatures.
“Thirty years ago when Star Trek came out, a lot of people who followed the show were ostracized for it. Now that community is really embraced by everyone. I think our community has taken the place of Trekkies in that respect,” said Fur-Con Organizer Rourke Danyals, 31, of Haverhill, who has been embracing his furry side for 18 years.
The subculture, which is said to have sprouted at a science fiction convention in 1980, has gained notoriety for its connection to sexual fetishism that involves role playing with the suits.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a part of it,” he said. “But you’ll find there are sexual aspects to communities all over the world. It’s not the defining aspect, but it is an element of the furry community … It’s a lot broader of a community than people realize.”
In fact, only about 10 percent of furries actually wear the hand-crafted suits, which can run upwards of $5,000.
Danyals, like many in his community, only dons a suit a few times per year.
Typically furries socialize online at websites like Furaffinity.net, and will sometimes attend group “meet-ups” with fellow fur-fans.
But this weekend’s convention, officially named “The Maltese Fur-Con,” let furries do more than just mingle. Attendees were offered seminars on how to properly care for their fur suits – it involves Febreze – as well as games, dancing, fur pride parades, vendors, and more.
New York City resident Rebeccah Ortiz, 23, has been rocking her yellow fox suit – named “Elbi” – for about a year.
“Usually I get a very positive reaction. I make people smile, and they say, ‘Oh what a pretty costume!’ They want to take pictures and get hugs. It’s really fun,” said Ortiz.
Convention goer Jason Miclette, 27, of Connecticut said that although his alter ego “Zenfuhre” brings him joy, his favorite aspect of the fandom is its fundraisers.
“Absolutely the amount of charity work we do draws me to this community,” said Miclette, who hopes to host his own Fur-Con in the future. “I get to dress up and make a fool of myself and make other people laugh, so that’s the happy factor for me. But the other heart-warming factor is raising money as a group. The one we’re doing [at Maltese Fur-Con] is for [service animals].”
Considering the convention’s inaugural success, the Hub might see an even larger gathering next year.
“There are a few regular furry meet-ups in the Boston-area throughout the year, but I’d love to make this convention an annual event,” said Danyals.
Review: ‘The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy’, by Stan Sakai
What's your favorite furry novel?
Not books that just contain anthropomorphic characters (don't say redwall), but books written for/by the fandom (ie waterways)
submitted by DoorbellDhole[link] [9 comments]
Big blue inflatable dragons for sale :)
Hi guys! I'm buying some inflatable dragons of our own design and the orders are open until the end of this month. I'm not getting any profit on this order but the more orders we get, the cheaper the unit price will be. Basically it's a tall anthro dragon without wings.
You can see the web page or the FA page for more information.
</spam>
Cheers, Lisko
submitted by liskoturri[link] [2 comments]
Just Give Him Your Socks And Everything’s Fine
Ndbag is a boogeyman, but not the scary people-eating kind. No, he’d much rather eat one of your dirty socks — usually the left one. Ndbag the Boogeyman lives in the closet clothes hamper of a little girl named Mylene. He’s made friends with her favorite plushie: A panda named Pandaman. They get along so well that Ndbag created his very own panda costume which he calls Pandabag. The little blue boogeyman is also “frenemies” with ZK, a fluffy dryer goblin who much prefers clean socks and munching on lint. Are you getting all of this? It all comes from the mind of Austrian artist E.F. Gludovacz, and you can find out more in the first Ndbag the Boogeyman book as well as the regularly-updated web comic… all at the official web site.
image c. 2014 by E.F. Gludovacz
A completely biased review of ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy’
I need to Change Myself and become a better Person!
I made a promise to myself, after college that I would change and become a better person and achieve things that I wanted to improve myself. Many months later, I did not keep my promises to myself instead I just fail and give up for progress was not happening. I just felt miserable and weak, but I try to stay positive. One day, I saw the Canadian TV documentary Fanboy Confessional: Furry Edition. I was aware of the term Furries(I thought it mainly focused on bad anthropomorphic human characteristics drawing, I was totally wrong about everything), but I did not know that there was fandom of this existed, so my curious mind wanted to find out more about this fandom and this is what happened next. I heard good things about the Furry fandom that it is very accepting and welcoming to new people to the Furry Fandom. I was fascinated and interested that I wanted to look into it in person, so I actually went to a furry nightclub, but I did not try to interact with anyone for I made a plan that I should have not followed it for it got me nowhere and I also joined a furry form, but I abandon it. The reason I did those things is because I was feeling very conflicted about joining this fascinating fandom. I want to change that I going to do that and things are starting to get better and I am planning on going back to that furry nightclub, because I want to change myself and become a better person.
I am not the type of person who would do something like this because it is not what I usually do; I would mostly keep it to myself and never tell “anyone” for I would solve my problems on my own. Yet, I felt like I want to write this out because for some reason I can’t stop thinking about this fandom every day and the positive things of this fandom.
submitted by Emotional_King[link] [2 comments]
Furfunding Week in Review: 8-3-14
This week’s illustration is from the embarrassingly-named “Steamy Chums,” now on Kickstarter
Lots of conversations about Patreon this week–it’s kind of an artist’s dream, to be paid for the kind of work they want to do rather than the kind of work they feel they have to do. I’m not an artist, so if “feel” is inapproriate there, my apologies–but the world of commissions seems like a trap, and maybe Patreon-style funding–not tied to custom work, but to an artist’s commitment to her fans–is a way to escape that trap.
I’ll be writing a long rambling blog entry about Patreon soon, it’s fascinating. As someone who’s currently writing two blogs and always experimenting with a third, it’s certainly got its appeal.
A quick callout for a cute project with a dubious name, “Steamy Chums“–cute little designer toys, patterned after classic stuffed animals with a steampunk edge and a generous dollop of insanity. Onward, marching tiktok bear army!
Reviews this week or week-like cycle: Alectorfencer’s fantasy, “Myre”
New Projects
For a “complete” list of furry/fur-friendly crowdfunding projects, check out the Project Page and Patreon Page!
Audio/MusicVaati & Veselekov by Tanooki Suit (Ends: 8/31/2014)
I’m not sure how to go about classifying Tanooki Suit‘s music. Post-Hardcore electronic ambient screamrock?
Okay, the furry connection here’s just the band name, but they’re loud and fun. Enjoying the song Kaiju at the moment.
Punnies (Ends: 9/30/2014)
Intensely silly animal-pun illustrations by Lynn Hunter with a little poetry.
This is much better than it has any right to be!
Myre: The Beginning of A Journey (Ends: 9/17/2014)
Volume 1 of Alectorfencer‘s epic fantasy graphic novel series. Really one of those “see to believe things.”
Check my blog review for more….
Lizardbeth’s Patreon Campaign (Patreon ongoing funding)
Art and illustration from Lizardbeth, possibly with a reboot of the Broken Plot Device webcomic in the works!
Fabulous Foxy Furs (Ends: 8/27/2014)
A mom-and-pop couple making furry accessories with exotic faux furs from New York. More on Furaffinity.
Sonic the Comic Con (Ends: 8/16/2014)
British convention themed around Sonic: The Hedgehog: The Comic. Past goal!
…specific!
Operation Alley Cat (Ends: 8/22/2014)
A very Secret of Nimhy 30-minute featurette of an orphan mouse and a dark underworld.
Hmm. Some of that sample artwork probably shouldn’t have made the cut. Still, good luck. Very Don Bluth!
The Fandom Project 1: Furries (Ends: 9/12/2014)
Part one of a six-part documentary project on major fandoms
High goal and +Flexible Funding is not a good combination, I’d like to see this one come back with a stronger business plan.
The Pen (Ends: 9/14/2014)
Animation: The dirty, dirty lives of a trio of teacup yorkies, of all things…
Werewolf: Full Moon Expansion (Ends: 8/16/2014)
There are *so* many Werewolf projects on Kickstarter…but this one has pretty artwork, so that’s a thing.
I haven’t quite figured out what draws people toward making this game sooo much more complicated.
Rise of the Draconids minis (Ends: 9/6/2014)
Little anthro dragon warriors for your tiny dragon warrior gaming needs
Steamy Chums (Ends: 8/31/2014)
Handmade designer animal toys with a steampunk aesthetic. Lots of foxes!
Gryphon Knight (Ends: 8/31/2014)
A sidescrolling shoot-em-up with warriors on gryphons.
The Clans: Saga of the Twins (Ends: 9/1/2014)
Comedic RPG featuring kitsune, cat-girls, and a few other standards…
Adonia: Age of Elementalists ()
a Trainer/fighting game, but with engagingly anthro beasties.
Corgies are Assholes website (Ends: 8/22/2014)
This ain’t getting funded, but it’s funny. Corgies: overrated jerks, or total asses? You be the judge.
Videos by Ace of Hearts (Patreon ongoing funding)
Fun podcasts and fursuit vids by Ace of Hearts Fox
Power our Tiger Cams (Ends: 8/19/2014): “Help us track the animals” projects are really common, but this one’s unusually well-done. Yay tigers!
…Just for funThe Snow Dog (Ends: 8/9/2014): Children’s theater, a strange frozen story featuring a very intense-looking siberian husky!
Toteme (Ends: 8/31/2014): Quirky and elegant indie iphone/android game where YOU play a totem pole. Live the dream.
Raising the Profile of Video Game Music (Ends: 9/1/2014): An academic analysis of video game music.
Animal Fusion Café (Ends: 9/21/2014): It’s a petting zoo AND a coffee shop. I’m so there. Except it’s in Singapore. So slightly less so.
What’s Corbeau Backing This Week?Current crowdfunding dollars: an ongoing contribution to Lizbeth’s patreon, I’d love to see more of her fun webcomic. A few dollars toward “Widdershins,” a “comic featuring adventure, magic, time travel, and an excessive amount of baked goods.” And a few dollars toward Alectorfencer’s “Myre” as soon as I can convince Paypal I still exist, they don’t believe me anymore :(
My first Fursona - Aiko
I've been in the fandom for over five years and still never really decided on what my sona looked like. Recently I came up with a good idea, and Hot-Gothic's emergy sketch drive got me what I wanted. Very happy to finally have him drawn!
submitted by Crono30067[link] [2 comments]
Review: ‘The Northern Approach’, by Jim Galford
Awesome song with lots of fursuiters in video
Ill do a few character requests as sketches for practice on drawing with a tablet.
If you are interested, please leave a description of whatever character you would like to be rendered as a shitty sketch in a comment.
submitted by Epicshark[link] [26 comments]
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