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I can't easily wear contacts due to allergies. Does anyone have experiences or insights on fursuit heads with either internal or external glasses? I know they could fog up, but that would be preferable to not being able to see at all!

submitted by Jaycatt
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submitted by ApocalisseLupo
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Anyone got a furry bumper sticker or somethin' like that? I'm thinkin' about getting my new car a sticker that says something about bein' a furry or something. Maybe even be cool if it said what species my 'sona is...(Mouse pride!) or something. Anyone got one or know where I might buy up a nice sticker?

submitted by the_one_silverwind
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Here is an article by Maggie McGlinchy, in the Onward State (the student-run blog of Pennsylvania State University).

http://onwardstate.com/2014/03/31/meet-the-penn-state-furries/

It looks at Penn State Furries club, with comments by members Cory Grube and Corey Friedenberger.


When I made the descent into Irving’s basement, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It was to be my first meeting with the Penn State Furries, the Happy Valley sector of the fan culture for people who like to, in its simplest form, dress up and pretend to be animals. My own naivety led me to expect someone like Todd Cleary from Wedding Crashers, or perhaps a unicorn-clad soul hunched up in the corner.

Instead, I found Cory Grube and Corey Friedenberger, two sociable and amicable members of the Penn State Furries club who are trying to bring the group back to its former glory.

Grube is a junior chemical-engineering major here at Penn State, and Friedenberger is a recent graduate and long time PSU Furries member. As someone who already had predispositions about the Furry community, the Cor(e)ys were quick to explain that the Furries are not a culty pack of weirdos.

“It’s always the bad egg that goes to the media and gives us a bad name,” said Friedenberger. “Most of us are just a bunch of people with the same anthropomorphic interest trying to have a good time.”

The Penn State Furries colonized in 2007 during Friedenberger’s freshman year, although the group’s membership eventually dwindled and became inactive with time. After hearing so many stories about the group’s former glory days, Grube decided he wanted to bring the club back to life.

“I was really disappointed at how stagnant the group became,” said Grube. ”I just wanted to grow my friend-base, while growing the friend-bases of others at the same time. More friends all around makes the world a better place, you know? Also, I really wanted to see it reach a place similar to where it was when Corey was a student. Whether that’s possible or not, I have no idea, but we’re going to try.”

The Penn State Furries group is independent from Penn State to allow non-students to participate. While still based around Penn State, anyone from State College is welcome to join, per the Facebook group description:

“For all those tail-waggers out there who bleed blue and white! This group is for current and incoming Penn State students, alumni, faculty/staff, and State College locals who are part of the anthropomorphic furry community in one form or another.”

The casual, open-armed attitude also translates into a strong bond among the Furries in its group. Take, for instance, its membership flier: “YOU ARE NOT ALONE! THERE ARE TONS OF FURS IN THE AREA LOOKING FOR FRIENDS LIKE YOU!”

(membership flier)

Grube said the group has no plan to affiliate with the university any time soon, because he wants to maintain its loose schedule and officer-less structure.

“Having officers or leadership positions makes it too bureaucratic, at least for my tastes,” Grube said. “For the purpose of getting to know people, I don’t want to be the leader or president or whatever, I just want to be a friend.”

Additionally, even among the Furries community, the interests are so diverse it would be nearly impossible to hold an actual meeting.

“We could offer things at meetings like an open space for furry art critique, panels for teaching a skill like sewing, useful for things like fursuit making, or what have you,” Grube said. “The group is so spread out in terms of interests, so for any particular topic, we might only have 10 or 20 percent of the group that would be interested. It wouldn’t be a very effective means for getting to know each other, which is the core purpose of the group.”

Friedenberger considered affiliating with Penn State when he first started the group, but chose not to for the same reason. Despite the economic benefits that come with being an official club, it would be too formal for this liking.

“There’s no real subtext or motive to the group,” said Friedenberger. “It means different things to different people. For some people it’s spiritual, some people are really into anthropomorphic art, some people really feel they are an animal trapped in a human body, and others are just people who like to party.”

The highlight in the life of any “Fur” is attending the various Furries conferences. In January, a solid contingent from the PSU Furries attended Setsucon at the Penn Stater hotel, which is focused on anime.

“Small cons usually exude a cozy, friendly feeling,” said Grube. “Lucky for us, we have a small convention right at the Penn Stater, Setsucon. It’s not a furry convention in reality, but an anime convention. Regardless, it still draws in a lot of local furry artists, enthusiasts, and fursuiters. There are two reasons for this: Many furs have another common interest, anime. A secondary reason is that furries like conventions in general, as long as they get to hang out with friends and have a good time.”

There are dozens of larger Furry conventions across the country, including Anthrocon, held annually in Pittsburgh, and FurFest. Furries sometimes spend thousands of dollars on costumes for these conventions, often going by their names and personas from Fur Affinity, the largest online Furry community in the world.

The once annual convention in Detroit, Furry Connection North, became so popular that they had to shut it down after six years. This video helps illustrate the scene:

(video)

The Cor(e)ys told me that cons often start small at various cities, only to become insanely popular. The parties get bigger and more wild, and eventually the convention moves another hotel, as was the case with Furry Convention North. I was told more than a few times that Furries really know how to party and that’s what the community is for a lot of people: a group of people looking to have fun. Just, y’know, in costume.

Here is a video from a dance competition, which is often a highlight of the conventions. The furry in gray is a former Penn Stater.

(video)

Here are some photos of PSU Furries from this year’s Setsucon:

(photos)

What’s important to note about this group is that because their interest is so…unique, so is their friendship.

The Furry community is very accepting of people’s identities, especially in the LGBTA community. Discussions can range from weird stuff the Furs read on the Internet to casual conversations about sexuality — they come up all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a con, a party, or even just at a coffee shop. Grube told this story from his last Anthrocon as an example of the virtue of the community:

“I feel like furs are more open-minded and chill about everything, in general. We were in our hotel, and it was probably 3 or 4 p.m. In fur-con time, that means it’s time to drink. So we’re going about that, when someone knocks at the door. We open the door, and some guy none of us know basically walks in while saying hi. He’s pretty smashed already, and offers us some beer. We proceed to have a conversation about lots of random stuff for probably 30 minutes before he left. None of us really knew what happened, but we were like ‘Eh he was pretty cool, I don’t mind.’ That’s the kind of chill attitude that lots of furs tend to possess.”

More than anything, though, Grube wants the Furries to be more than a label, more than an embarrassing sound byte or joke. At the end of the day, it allows a group of people to take their virtual interests and create friendships IRL. And really, that’s what the PSU Furries are all about.

Dear Papa Bear, 

I have to say that finding your advice column may prove to be a great boon for me.

My current problem is actually several problems compounding into one. I’ll begin with my accident in November; it left me with some nerve damage in my left shoulder and hand as well as a spinal injury. Jumping ahead a couple months, on the night of January 5th, I woke up to find my mother dead on the kitchen floor. Since then it’s just been me left to deal with all of the fallout: I made the arrangements for the wake and funeral without any help from my aunt (her sister). My aunt spent my mother’s wake complaining about me inheriting everything to anyone who would listen.

After the funeral my aunt got into my mother’s safe deposit box and pulled everything from it including a copy of her trust. My mother had named my aunt as her successor trustee and set up the trust in such a way so that it could care for me and the house. Now my aunt has been extremely reluctant to work with me and has since hired an attorney for the trust however this attorney is looking out for his and her pocketbooks rather than the trust and my wellbeing. They call me uncooperative when in reality it’s my aunt who is unwilling to cooperate. She says that I’m constantly partying and should instead be looking for work however the extent of me partying comes down to one birthday party thrown for myself and attending Fur Squared. As far as job hunting is concerned there is not much that I’m allowed to do with my current injuries and my doctor has even chewed me out for doing basic house chores (ie: garbage, vacuuming, etc.).

Following a call in which the attorney that my aunt had hired decided to yell at and insult me, a few days ago I received a letter from him which was further insulting and unprofessional. Although in that letter he stated that both he and my aunt are getting paid for their services from the trust, this is important because in the trust it very specifically states that an individual trustee cannot take payment for their services. Furthermore in this line of issues the aforementioned attorney has claimed that bills including but not limited to the utilities for the house, food, and insurance are “estate debts” and as such are my sole responsibility and that the trust would not pay for them. However, he also claimed that the mortgage payment and property taxes are issues of the trust and will be paid from it, yet this month my aunt failed to make the mortgage payment.

Meanwhile, I’ve got two overdrawn checking accounts and no more food in my attempt to keep my house afloat. I don’t have a support network to lean on aside from people whom offer to “talk if I need to” which is nice but not what I need. I realize that I have forgotten to give my age, I’m 22 years old as of last month and despite my usual ability to be the adult of most situations I find that I am far from equipped to deal with even a quarter of what is now on my plate. Neither my father nor any other relatives are willing to help me in any way and I’m drowning in a sea of confusion, grief and unknowing. I honestly don’t know what to do and don’t know if I can continue to go through this alone but one thing I know for sure is that if this continues the way that it has been I will be homeless before the year is over.

I apologize for the massive block of text but I’m not of the mind to attempt to better separate things at the moment. I humbly ask for any advice you can pass on to me in the hopes that it can help.

Starving and worried

* * *

Dear Starving,

My condolensces for your loss, hon. At 22, you are of legal age, so you do not need someone else to administer the trust, but I guess that's what your mother did. I would very must like to have a look at the legal documents and see what they say exactly.

Because I can’t do that and because I am not an attorney, I would strongly recommend that you seek out legal counsel. Many lawyers will take a case for no advance payment (on contingency) if they feel they can win the case (and there's money in it for them). You definitely need a lawyer on your side. Your aunt is being a conniving so-and-so who is trying to wrest power and whatever money she can from you. Again, you are an adult and it is none of her business what you do with money that is legally yours, especially since she is not your legal guardian or spouse. (Is there some reason your mother made your aunt trustee and not you, the beneficiary?)

You need to get a copy of the will and the trust. (I hope you can get those). And find a local attorney. If you don’t know one, ask people you know whom they might recommend. If that doesn’t work, you can try a site like http://www.legalmatch.com/. Go to the Estate section and click on the for Contested Wills and Probate and answer the questions they have there. This will hopefully give you some leads you need.

My understanding of the law is that, generally speaking, if there is no will, the spouse of the deceased inherits the estate. You don’t mention your father or other siblings, so if you are the only living child, you would get the estate. If you were deceased, your aunt would probably be next in line, hmmmm. Anyway, it sounds like your mother did leave a will and left you with everything. Your aunt should have absolutely no legal standing in this issue—again, you are not a minor and she has no rights over you. All she has been asked to do is administer the trust.

Again, this is a legal matter and I’m no attorney. Get yourself some representation!

Good luck!

Papabear

My drinking buddy has hit the hay already and I'm just looking for some people to take to =.=.

submitted by SilverCinders
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submitted by yamicat
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I'd love to get a feel for the reddit furry demographic, I know the fandom is mostly populated by 18-30 year olds but I'd love to see how old you guys are.

It'd also be a bonus to see if there are any younger furries that can relate with me about not being able to go to cons :C

submitted by Invisible_Elvis
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Here is a new track from Boys Noize. The animation is rather awesome.

submitted by vicegrip_butthole
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submitted by Yiffing_Time
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I'm starting a new Skype chat, if you'd want to join. Add me, code.blue.tawes, on Skype and I'll add ya.

I'd like some input on this, as i've never started a skype group o3o

submitted by Tawes
[link] [10 comments]

I know I just made a long winded post about drama in my newly formed fur life, but, alas, I find the need again for help in a new problem in my oil-and-water drama-filled life.

I know the idea of "coming out" to you guys is ridiculous (I agree, this isn't a sexuality, for goodness sake). But, for me, it became an issue. I kept my furriness under a rug for a little, hiding it from my father. The rest of my family was cool with the whole furry thing, I didn't talk about it all that much about it. However, I knew that my dad wouldn't be happy, so I kept it hush-hush.

That was, until today.

It was bad, worse even, then I had imagined. At first, he was chill about it. All he said was "okay". Then, it slowly exploded. He started with "It's weird", but then our "fight" came. I'm using quotes because I never got a chance to really talk. He said that it was a way to alienate people from me, that it's simply a bad fringe activity, to the fact that he ran into two cons traveling around and that they're mean to outsiders. (We live next to Pittsburgh, so this isn't counting the probably numerous times he's bumped into AnthroCon). Then he went through numerous activities that are "better uses of my time" compared to furry. He told me to throw my collar away (I haven't, I simply can't) and be normal. His biggest argument is that my secret-keeping drove a wedge between him and his wife, because she knew something he didn't. The worst part for me is that the rest of my family who was okay with my furriness now hates them too.

So, I'm sure this has happened to some of you to some degree, where do I go from here? I can't argue, I've tried, it turns into once-siders where I can never talk. Do I drift back into the "closet" (Yeah, I know, ridiculous) and act like I hate them now? That'd be lying though, I hate lying.

Sorry for what may seem like spam. You guys are nicer than any other subreddit community I've known, and I have no idea where else to post this.

One thing is for sure though, I'm not giving up furry any time soon. This is the best thing that's happened to me in a while. Thanks for always being supportive.

UPDATE: For those who are interested, not EVERYONE turned against me as I thought. Thanks for the kind words. I hope to sort this out soon.

submitted by VinegarEel
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submitted by xEleanorxRigbyx
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submitted by 00vapour
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Is there a list/site of the up coming cons? I'm thinking I would like to go to one but have no idea where or when they are going on. Also, are they generally full on furry cons or more of a lets meet as a group at a comic/nerd/whatever con?

submitted by frampton1337
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submitted by seikoliz
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submitted by HarmonyHeartstrings
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submitted by andylaub
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submitted by VentKazemaru
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