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Author: Dear Papabear! Although I feel somewhat awkward penning this little letter, I’ve got to the point where I really think I could benefit from an outside perspective. First off, allow me to give you a bit of personal background which I feel may be important. I’m currently 21 years old, just about to graduate […]

Game #1 is in it's final stages, probably about another week left give or take. It's time that I open up a new game for everyone! Players who've been squashed in Game 1 can start anew here.

http://triton.ironhelmet.com/game/5931112102625280

Game is exactly the same as Game 1 except for 2 tweeks. The Fog of War will stay on, even once the game starts. Explore carefully! And I set everyone to start with 2 Science instead of 1. Slightly faster research, for less radical advantage for early tech.

Oh yeah, password is the same as before; furry

PS. Once Game 1 ends, I'll open Game 3. I want a vote from all interested parties. Do you want Game 3 to be Larger with More Players? or Faster with twice as frequent Cash income?

submitted by HappyWulf
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submitted by Dandalily
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submitted by CanineAmerican
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Dear Papabear!

Although I feel somewhat awkward penning this little letter, I've got to the point where I really think I could benefit from an outside perspective. First off, allow me to give you a bit of personal background which I feel may be important. I'm currently 21 years old, just about to graduate university with a Japanese major, and looking for a job. Fairly standard stuff.

My problem, in a nutshell, lies in irrational emotional responses to certain rather specific triggers. This problem has been with me since at least the start of secondary school, although probably longer, before I learned to recognize it for what it is. The triggers I mentioned pretty much all seem to be connected to interpersonal relationships, how I relate to other people, and how I compare myself to them.

More specifically, the most serious issue seems to be placing myself on a sort of “intellectual ladder,” if you will. I harbor a chronic feeling that I am somehow of little value, or beneath others, so to speak. In other words, I feel that I lack special talents, skills, and intelligence. Moreover, I often get a creeping suspicion that other people view me the same way, even if it is completely irrational.

Now the trouble is, my relationships with other people often get off to a completely innocent and good start. However, eventually I start getting ideas that the other person actually sees very little in me, just barely tolerates me, or looks down on me. Of course, I don't think about this stuff constantly, but I still get the nagging feeling that I'm just not good enough, and I get hypersensitive to it. Now eventually the other person, completely accidentally and unintentionally, says something that somehow, even if it is completely illogical, seems to verify this belief, and that makes me explode at them, and get into pointless, hour-long arguments where I will twist well nigh every word being said like a demonic lawyer, to turn whatever the other person had to say into grave insults to my intellect, or unjust assertions of his/her superiority. The real nasty part here is that these feelings of inadequacy are most often triggered by the person in question trying to teach me something new, or tell me something I don't know; i.e., trying to help me, or give me something that they think will be of value and use to me. In other words, I end up attacking and hurting the ones closest to me, the ones who love me the most, and the ones I love and/or value the most in turn.

Even though I'm fully aware of this horrible deficiency on my part, that awareness doesn't seem to help much when it comes to quelling it; it's almost like an evil reflex, much like when the doctor hits your knee with that certain hammer; I know I shouldn't say and do these things, I know I will feel horribly guilty just a couple of minutes after saying them, there is some terrible, self-destructive part in me that would rather destroy a relationship than have its imaginary fears proven true.

I'm fairly new to the furry community; even though I've known much about it for quite a few years, I've only joined the community proper about a year ago. However, this one year has been a wonderful experience in many ways; I've found a community with like-minded people, where I really feel I belong, and I've learned a lot about myself; in fact, I'd say any improvements on my psychological problems I've achieved are thanks to my experience with the furry community, and certain philosophies that resonated with me within it. Only two years ago I couldn't have even admitted I had a problem at all; I wouldn't have accepted something in myself needs improvement. Ever since discovering my, shall we say, animal side, I've acquired a bit of a different perspective within myself, which made me more self-aware and therefore better equipped to deal with my problems. However, it still hasn't made them go away, and even though I feel I am improving, although slowly and with gritted teeth (I couldn't agree more that your worst enemy and greatest opponent can be yourself, or certain parts of yourself, at the least), these problems still show up quite often, and I still risk losing people I've come to feel close to, and I don't want that. Doubly so since more than like-minded individuals, I have found love in the furry community; I have been with my mate for almost half a year now, and I love her dearly. She means the world to me, but even so, I fear these problems could come between us. I want and try my best to change, both for her sake and mine, but it is doubtless the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Do you believe there is any useful insight you could give me on this matter?

Sincerely, a troubled hyena

* * *

Dear Hyena,

What you’re experiencing is quite common for people suffering from low self-esteem. What you are doing is repressing your feelings of hurt and anger because you feel your opinions don’t matter and that you are not a worthwhile person. You can repress these feelings over time, but eventually they have to come out, and they come out when something triggers your repressed anger. In your case, that occurs when you feel someone is trying to correct you or teach you something. Even though you are aware they are trying to help you, you are so hypersensitized to criticism that all the bottled-up anger comes exploding out of you in one ugly outburst. Unfortunately for the person near you, they get the full-force of that explosion.

There are two strategies you need to take to fix this problem: 1) build your self-esteem, and 2) learn how to control your outbursts.

Let’s work on #2 first because building self-esteem takes a lot of time and you probably want to work on controlling your outbursts ASAP. Here are some strategies to work on:

1. When you feel yourself getting angry, before you start yelling, excuse yourself and go into another room or outdoors. Take a few deep breaths and try to calm yourself. After a few minutes, you should be calm enough to return, knowing you have just avoided hurting someone unnecessarily.
2. Instead of bottling up your feelings, when someone says something that triggers your bad mood, tell them how you are feeling right then and there. Such as, “I know you didn’t mean anything by what you just said, but it really makes me feel bad about myself when you act like I don’t know anything about this subject.” Or some similar comment that is appropriate to the situation.
3. Don’t overburden yourself with more obligations than you can handle. If you overwhelm yourself, you will become more stressed which will make it more likely you will get angry. Learn how to say “No” when someone asks you to do something you just don’t have time or energy to do.

As for improving self-esteem, that’s something you’ll need to work on over time. There is really not enough room in this column to guide you in this. Depending on your budget and how you feel about such things, you could try hiring a counselor or, to begin, you might try doing some reading, such as Melanie Fennell’s Overcoming Low Self-Esteem. You can also try joining a support group. There are several listed in the MeetUp site at http://self-esteem.meetup.com/ and you can do some searching on the Internet for a group nearest to you.

Many people, including yours truly, suffer from depression and low self-esteem, and it’s not something you get over in a day; it is a lifetime struggle that you improve on slowly.

Good luck! Bear Hugs!

Papabear

submitted by AshtonDaShibe
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I hate labels, but sometimes I feel like they're necessary. I've been in denial that I might, maybe, be a "furry" for years. See, I have a fursuit fetish and I'd just like to get the opinions of self-identified furries as to whether or not that makes me a furry or not.

I'm not generally a fan of anthro art, furry culture, or other general furry-ness (though I am fascinated by it and have an appreciation of it) but I definitely like the idea of sex involving fursuits.

In your opinion, does this make me "furry?"

submitted by totally_not_a_furry
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Hey, I am looking for other Louisiana Furs who live near the area of Bossier City and Benton, I only know three others here and they live a good distance away.

submitted by Der_Untoten
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Looking for some good fursuits.

submitted by OXCIDLE
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submitted by gr4_wolf
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I've been a furry for only a few months now but I want to be more active in the furry community. What's a way I can talk to other furries? I am only 15 and a male fox. So yeah. Thanks.

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This week we talk about the writing process, and how each of us work through bringing stories to the page!

So put down the pen for a moment and listen to how the Fangs and Fonts crew sort out their ideas!

Fangs and Fonts

Click below to Listen http://www.fangsandfonts.com/FnF/Episodes/FnF_-_Episode10_-_Writing_How_Do.mp3

Download here | Open Player in New Window

FnF Ep 10 – Writing, how do? - This week we talk about the writing process, and how each of us work through bringing stories to the page! So put down the pen for a moment and listen to how the Fangs and Fonts crew sort out their ideas!

I'm more of a writer than an artist, so I want to post my work on here :)

submitted by kat1222
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Fall FurBQ 2013 (Episode: 63)
Bandit and Growly discuss nacho cheese, Culpeo gives us insight on her erotic dreams, and Jaggy becomes a lettuce chewer. THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING!!! FACEBOOK:... From: TheRaccoonsDen Views: 559 36 ratings Time: 04:48 More in Entertainment

An illustrated version of a children’s classic, dedicated to makers and artisans everywhere.

Steam in the Willows

“The past was like a bad dream; the future was all happy holiday as I moved Southwards week by week…lingering as long as I dared, but always heeding the call!” – Kenneth Grahame, Wind in the Willows

Wind in the Willows, like “Robin Hood,” may be one of those stories that everyone knows, but very few people have read. Sufficed to say that it’s much adapted to film and stage, and might be one of the best-loved anthropomorphic titles around.

How to capture it?  WITW is a tale of a mole leaving his burrow and moving into the world, a pastoral journey down the river, rescuing a friend from the madness of fads and crazed consumerism, a fight for house and home, and redemption. It’s sepia-toned with friendship, a gentle reflection of an England, verdant and peaceful (even pagan) fading into memory, behind the wall of the Industrial Revolution. Written in 1908, just a few years before World War I wiped out literary innocence for the next 60 or 70 years, it might have been the last time an author could capture that peaceful, fading vision.

In so many ways, it’s a perfect fit for the modern Steampunk movement, with its loving look into the past, playful individuality, and da-nyet retrotechnophilia. Though it took Krista Brennan, illustrator for The Steampunk Bible, to make the connection (and launch the kickstarter). Steam in the Willows is a low-key sort of Steampunk. The original text of WITW is unchanged–as far as I know, the weasels don’t storm Toad Hall in lightning-throwing zeppelins. Half-blind mole has an elaborate pair of goggles, and there’s a bit of brass on Ratty’s fishing rod, but by and large, he’s still a rat, he’s still a mole. Mole and Badger do dress up a bit. So do the weasels.

Overall the project, the illustrations, and the Kickstarter page are more about the Maker mindset than the Steampunk aesthetic–artisanship, crafting, and skill over mass-produced, wasteful throw-away toys. In Brennan’s world, Mole and Badger in particular capture that Maker mindset–maybe a bit solitary, but they make their own tools and homes. Toad, on the other hand, spends his inheritance on fads and flings. In Brennan’s words,

My illustrations are a love-letter to all of these folk, an homage to the artisans, makers and Steampunks, everyone who crafts or bakes, brews or builds, who pulls apart and reimagines, chooses hand-crafted over mass-produced, who wants long-lasting and beautiful artifacts that can be handed down over generations.

Brennan’s Kickstarter page is a lot of fun. The videos are quirky and retro, modeled after the 1930s newsreel style of journalism, and her awards are more along the lines of “I’ll write a poem about you!” than “and you get 10 copies plus a plush!” The color edition of the book is (perhaps unfortunately) pricey, but it is a limited-edition run. Also, bow-ties. Because it wouldn’t be Steampunk without at least ONE charmingly retro and non-functional accessory.

Note: Images used above are included to promote the work of crowdfunding artists, and are owned by the original creator.

Title says it all

Here is a link to the stream

Edit: I am bad at SAI, so this is practice :D

Another Edit: I have turned links off in the chat for safety reasons, If you have a link to a ref sheet or music or something post it here!

EDIT AGAIN: BACK, stream is live again

submitted by VideoHusky
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Hey all! I figure some of you might have gotten in on the next-gen console awesomeness (I feel obliged to say I'm a PC gamer as well), does anyone have a PSN ID they'd care to share? :3

(I only has Battlefield 4 and Killzone: SF)

EDIT: My PSN is DjentlemanFurry Created an new post about ID's; and completely forgot to add mine :P EDIT 2: Punctuation

submitted by Thecoltonfactor
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