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Fursuit Eye Help!!~

Furry Reddit - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 14:57

so i am making toony fursuit eyes but i dont know what im looking for~!

this video says use plastic template but im not quite sure exactly what that is...

Halp~

submitted by HarmonyHeartstrings
[link] [6 comments]
Categories: News

Review: ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – Adventures in the Crystal Empire’ DVD (with bonus Season 1 DVD review)

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 14:38
Author: crossaffliction “I can see every part, nothing hides in the heart to hurt me.” – Shirley Bassey, “Diamonds Are Forever” I think I need to be clear if I am going to continue reviewing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; I do not watch this show for the plot. I don’t mean I don’t [...]
Categories: News

How To Be a Babyfur

[adjective][species] - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 13:00

So, you’re a babyfur.

I know, I know: you’re not one of those babyfurs.

You probably like wearing diapers. You probably find that you can unwind and relax when you’re doing childish things. You have probably found that, as time has gone on, you’ve started incorporating “adult baby” elements into parts of your life—clothing, accoutrements, roleplay—to add to your enjoyment of diapers.

Or maybe you just find the art cute, and the characters easily relatable. Or maybe it’s more of a sex thing. Or maybe you like to watch cartoons and talk in baby talk. Or maybe, just maybe, you have a professional ‘adult’ who looks after you in a nursery once in a while.

In any event, you’re probably aware of how other furries react when they hear about babyfurs. They find babyfurs distasteful. And so you probably have a babyfur-only identity that is separate from your ‘normal’ furry identity. Or maybe you just keep it to yourself.

As a babyfur, you probably feel like you can’t be open and honest with your local furry group. I think there are more people in your situation than you realize.

I think that there are a lot of babyfurs in the furry community. I don’t know exactly how many, because no large survey has ever asked. But I think it’s a lot, perhaps comparable in size to the other large minorities we have within furry: the genderqueer, the zoophiles, and the women.

We here at [adjective][species] would like to hear from the babyfurs. We’ve created a short survey—which is anonymous and confidential—and we’d like you to respond. But more on that in a moment.

I have only anecdotal evidence that suggests, to me, that there are a lot of babyfurs out there:

  • Babyfur events, usually room parties, occur at every convention. Some of these are G-rated exercises in icecream and Power Rangers; some are explicitly sexual; many are a bit of both. These events occur despite being organized via word-of-mouth, and occur despite the perception that they are taboo within the wider furry community.
  • Real-world AB/DL (Adult Baby / Diaper Lover) events, which occur in some cities, are often full of furries.
  • Furries who are open about being a babyfur and are also socially presentable often find themselves approached—in private—by friends. These equally presentable friends are either curious about what baby-furriness entails, or they are already clandestine babyfurs.

I know that all this is true because I have spoken to lots of babyfurs.

I think that babyfurs are suffering from something that plagues many marginalized groups: that the most visible members are not the best ambassadors.

By way of explanation, consider the following thought experiment. For each of the minority groups I’m about to list, imagine a stereotypical member: (1) gay, (2) feminist, (3) Fox News viewer. (I have tried to select three categories with little overlap.)

Chances are that you thought of a pretty normal person for those groups of which you’re a member, and that you thought of a grotesque caricature for those groups you tend to avoid. This is a normal response for a couple of reasons:

  • Humans are naturally distrustful of the unknown. This instinct is the root cause of racism and homophobia, and it takes a bit of mental effort to overcome.
  • If you’re not a member of the minority in question, and nor is anyone in your social circles, you’re more likely to have been exposed to the extreme elements of the group; the bad ambassadors. So, outrageous pride costumes inform perspectives on gay people, feminists are seen as angry and intolerant, and Fox News viewers are mindless gun-toting yahoos.

This totally instinctual human reaction can be seen in attitudes towards gay marriage in the United States. If you don’t know someone gay, you are much less likely to support gay marriage.

From Slate (link): “Research shows that knowing a gay person makes you 65 percent more likely to support same-sex marriage, and having a conversation with that gay person about marriage raises the figure to 80 percent.”

(I should note that this pattern is certainly not restricted to the US, just that it’s a been political football, and the Americans love collecting polling data.)

There’s some science that suggests that babyfurs, like gay people (and like zoophiles), are more likely to generate a negative reaction. It’s a linguistic problem: the sexual practises of each of these groups is suggested in the group’s name.

A study published in 2011 sums up the issue in its title: Disgusting Smells Cause Decreased Liking of Gay Men (full text, pdf). In brief, the study showed that people felt less warmly towards gay men when they were in a smelly environment. The effect wasn’t see towards other minority groups. Essentially, the smell of poo makes gay men seem kinda gross, because they engage in anal sex.

As the study author commented in Scientific American (link):

“I think what’s happening is that the social category of “gay men” (and to a lesser extent, gay women) is one that is defined by the sexual act… I tell my class to imagine if the first thing they learned about a person is that he or she frequently masturbated to pregnant women. The sexual disgust response would likely eclipse every other aspect of the person, such as their also being a fireman, a pharmacist, or Irish.”

 

The problem is similar for babyfurs: those people who don’t know any babyfurs aren’t easily able to create a mental image that goes much beyond the diaper, and the (imagined) smelly contents thereof. And so babyfurs tend to keep quiet about it, because they know to expect an initially negative reaction.

The urban myths that circulate about babyfurs always focus on disgusting behaviour. The stories are inevitably exaggerations, speculations, or outright false. Furry is not awash with people soiling themselves in public or leaving dirty diapers in convention hallways. There is a large minority of babyfurs (perhaps including you, dear reader), and they are being respectful of those around them, and keeping quiet.

This is the point in the article where I say that I am not a babyfur. It shouldn’t matter whether I am or not, but I know from experience that it does. My first article about zoophilia for [a][s] (I’ve written three) was criticized for being self-serving, that I was just trying to justify my own proclivities. I’m concerned that this article will lead people to draw a similar conclusion. There is nothing wrong with being a babyfur, and it’s a bit sad that I feel the need to distance myself personally, but unfortunately I think it’s the best (or least-worst) course of action.

Which brings me to my slightly hypocritical advice: I think you should tell furries that you are a babyfur. There are a few reasons:

  • For your non-babyfur friends, you’ll be a good example. You will be disproving the kneejerk babyfur stereotype simply by being yourself.
  • For your closeted babyfur friends—and you almost definitely have some—you’ll be a rolemodel.
  • For yourself, because you’ll be able to be open and honest with your friends. And that’s good for the soul.

I met a furry named Karis a few years ago, at a convention. He’s charismatic, well-liked, and a generally great guy. He’s one of those furries who seems to be forever surrounded by friends. And he’s a completely open babyfur.

His baby-furriness was gossiped about when he wasn’t present. People were surprised that he could possibly be a babyfur.

Karis was comfortable and happy to answer any questions. He directed people to his website, Karis’ Playground (http://www.karisplayground.com/), which features webcomics like World of Wetcraft. He changed the mind of a few people simply by being open, and I’m guessing that there were some closeted babyfurs present. I’m guessing that they felt a surge of joy at seeing Karis being treated respectfully.

And so I recommend that babyfurs be open, or at least relatively open, because I think that there are lots of you out there. You’ll have plenty of support.

I also hope that this article helps, because it’s never easy to hide a part of your personality. It’s mentally stressful, and it’s easy to start seeing yourself in the grotesque artchetype: it’s easy to be self-hating. It’s never healthy to deny a safe sexual urge: it can lead to stretches of self-hatred and denial, interspersed with bouts of sexual mania. (I’ve written about this before.) Far better, if you can, to accept yourself, respect yourself, and love yourself.

Starting next year, the Furrypoll will have a question asking “Are you a babyfur?”. In the meantime, we have a Babyfur minipoll, which is anonymous and will not be shared beyond  me, an (anonymous) babyfur helper, and Makyo. The responses will be used in future [a][s] articles. Please participate, and help us get an idea of what the babyfur community looks like. Alternatively you can email me directly at jm@furrynet.com, or just leave a comment below.

Please also share this article within babyfur circles. I’d like to hear from as many people as possible. It’s about time that babyfurs were recognized by the furry mainstream.

The [adjective][species] Babyfur minipoll

Furries at San Francisco Pride 2013

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 11:39
Author: Patch Packrat A historic U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage created intense emotions and record crowds at San Francisco’s 2013 Pride celebration. I was informally told the parade drew 1.5 million. Imagine pushing through them in the hot sun with inch thick fur on! Video by Mallius For dozens of local furs, the [...]
Categories: News

Furmeet Host Wonders If Home Theft Is Reason to Cancel Parties

Ask Papabear - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 10:38
Dear Papabear,

I could use some advice and I'd like your opinion. I wish to remain anonymous in name for this, so I hope that is okay. I live in a large city and for many years have hosted furmeets for the local furries in the area. My mate and I host several each year and we REALLY enjoy the meets that we have hosted. These meets have been fairly open-invitation-style meets, allowing folks to come whom we have never met before. And we host the majority of these meets in our own home.

However, recently there have been incidents. Things that have begun to sour the joy we have gotten from these events. Most of these problems are minor and petty and really just annoyances. But at our last meet... One of our guests stole something from us.

That in and of itself isn't the problem. The problem is ... now we are not sure if we should ever have a furmeet in our home again.

As I said, we LOVE the meets and really enjoyed them. The thought of stopping them sickens us. And we KNOW the actions of this one individual were just that, one person. And obviously we know who this person is and they will not be welcomed back, but it raises the specter of future violations.

Some have advised us to continue the meets but make them invitation only, and then only people we can trust. But the downside to that is all the new furs we could be meeting who would not be allowed to attend.

Some have suggested stopping meets completely, and again this is distasteful to us since we enjoy them so much.

And others have suggested not having them in our home anymore. Have them in public venues only. Which, while a safer idea for our home and security, can mean much more management on our part to find, prepare, and keep clean and safe the venue we choose.

I've been mulling this over for some time and really don't know what to do. If this was simply the one theft it might be easier, but as I said, there were other incidents which have begun to sour the meets for us. This is more like the iron girder that broke the camel's back. 

And while lots of people have been kind enough to offer advice, they have all been, by and larger, from this area. I'd like to have the opinion of someone who is not from our meets or area. And I have noted that you are very thoughtful about your answers, so I would really appreciate your opinion.

Thank you 

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Anonymous,

You and your mate are a very generous and kind furs to open up your home as you have been. Most people I have met in my travels are kind and respectful, but, as you have seen, it only takes one or two bad beans in the pot to give you a bellyache.

Papabear has never hosted a meet in his bear den, but I have, of course, held parties. When I do, my guests stay in the living room, kitchen, or back yard, and they are, naturally, allowed to use the guest bathroom. Valuable items my mate and I own are kept in the bedroom and offices, and really valuable items are kept in a lockbox or safe. This is not because I don’t trust my friends—and, indeed, if they want to give themselves a tour of the house, they may do so—but it makes me think that one solution, if I were to have random people in my home, would be to install interior door locks on my bedrooms and office. You can get them for about $10 or $20 each at any hardware store. Then, before your party, put anything of value inside the rooms with locks on the doors. If you have more than one bathroom, designate one of them as a guest bath, and keep the other one locked as well. The locked bathroom is for you to place things like prescription medications (I’ve heard awful stories that some foolish people actually like to play a game in which they ingest pills the prescription for which they don’t even know!)

So, this way, you can keep all your guests in the living room, or family room, and the kitchen where even the boldest of thieves would be unlikely to take something, and, if they did, it wouldn’t be of much value anyway. That would be my first recommendation. Try this first and see how it goes.

If you are still having problems, my second recommendation would be to have parties by invitation only. This doesn’t mean that you won’t meet anyone new. You can tell people you invite that they may invite a guest or two, someone who has not been there before, and hopefully you would trust them not to invite an unpleasant person. To help you with this, you might try organizing a MeetUp group (http://usa.meetup.com/) if you haven’t already done so. This is a great way to send people invites, find out who is coming to the party, and share information.

I’m not sure what your furmeets are like, but if they are unstructured parties where people come to your home, eat, drink, and chat, you might also try something more structured, like a card or video game tournament. Have everyone who is coming participate in the activity, and this will create a more organized activity in which people are easier to track and keep an eye on.

I agree with you that organizing a meet outside the home, such as a picnic or bowling outing, can be a lot of work. It’s also a lot chummier if you can have a party in the home and just let your furry thang hang out (*ahem* so to speak). See what you think of my above suggestions, and let me know how it goes.

The fandom needs more furries like you! People who are willing to organize safe and fun functions. I hope that you won’t have to cancel your parties because of one or two derps.

Bear hugs,

Papabear

* * *
Papabear,

My thanks.  I forgot to mention that we often allow guests to stay the night, especially if they are from very far away.  We use a 3 hour rule.  You drive 3 hours, you get to stay the night. Unless it's the one party we do where alcohol is served and then everyone who drinks stays the night, unless they have a clear designated driver.  Your advice is about what we have thought of.  And much appreciated.  We have considered the locks situation, strictly limiting the overnighters, and a sort of loose invitation plan.  I really appreciate your opinions and advice because they help us see the problem clearer.  

I think we will still do some thinking on this, but a combination of a few of these options may make our home more secure, and still allow us to have these meets.  Also, you have given us some new ideas with the meetup site to help us organize better, and you've given us some food for thought on a very real problem we never thought of.  The prescription issue.  That never even occurred to us, and thankfully has not been one of the problems we faced.  But it will certainly be one will address before the next meet now that we are aware.  

Thank you so much.

And our next meet was supposed to be in August, but until we resolve this to our satisfaction, we will continue to keep that event as cancelled.  Our next on after that will be in November.  If all goes well, I'll be happy to update you on how well things worked out.

Again, thank you for the advice.

* * *

Hi, again,

Okay, I didn't know about those other issues. My advice on those would be: 1) no alcohol, period. You do not need booze to have a good time. If people stop coming because they can't get drunk, then you're better off without them. 2) ONLY people you know well and trust can spend the night. I can't even imagine why you would allow a stranger to stay overnight in your home. If they are driving from far away, let them make other arrangements for an overnight stay. 

I'm glad I could help!

Take care. Stay furry!

Papabear


Snap E Tiger On The SpOt

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 10:10
INterview with fursuit creator and furry veteran Snap E Tiger
Categories: News

Any fur cons near Virginia?

Furry Reddit - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 09:38

Hi! I'm a furry living in Virginia but I do not know a single furry. This is complicated by the fact that I cannot drive yet and my mom does not trust the internet. So more importantly, are there any furry cons near Virginia?

submitted by spacecat220
[link] [1 comment]
Categories: News

‘Brain Divided’ animates conflict between id, superego

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 08:39
Author: Fred The Cartoon Brew website has announced the closing of its fourth annual Student Animation Festival. The Grand Prize winner is “Brain Divided”, a five-minute CGI film directed by Josiah Haworth, Joon Shik Song and Joon Soo Song at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Can animators anthropomorphize the brain [...]
Categories: News

Episode 2 (2013-07-22)

Size Matters - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 07:00
On the second episode of Size Matters, Kwandry and Kenson are joined by writer Sylvan Scott, as they discuss his twenty years of macro/micro fiction, as well as shrinking and growing in Saturday Morning Cartoons. Of course, we couldn't record a macro/micro podcast without tlking a little bit about our good friend Godzilla and Pacific Rim, now could we? Special thanks to Sofia.exe and Daniel Dennis for their help with this episode. Sylvan Scott's FA page Sylvan Scott's Smashwords page Lava Dome Five / Dinosorceror's FA page Tyrnn's FA page MKVero's FA page Music Credits: Intro / Outro Music - "Little Talks" by Of Monsters And Men 7:55 - "Bang" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs 18:54 - "Another Sunny Day" by Belle Sebastian 29:34 - "Marathon Runner" by Yellow Ostrich 42:22 - "Main Theme" from Star Trek: The Next Generation 1:08:28 - "Macro" by Dinosorceror 1:18:04 - "Stunt Expo 2004" by Alexandre Desplat, from the soundtrack to Fantastic Mr. Fox All music is owned and copyrighted by their creators/copyright holders Episode 2 (2013-07-22)
Categories: Podcasts

2013 Furry Basketball Association Finals begin

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 05:39
Author: tmattlatrans The 2013 FBA Finals will begin Sunday, July 21, with the Dakota Bikers (58-22) traveling to face the Tallahassee Typhoons (66-14) for the seven game series. The series will be featured on FBA Courtside: LIVE!, a podcast hosted by FBA play-by-play commentator T. Matt Latrans (Coyote) and a series of guest color commentators. [...]
Categories: News

/r/furry IFC rollcall!

Furry Reddit - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 03:56

Who am I going to see at IFC this year? c: I'll be the dumb collie dressed up like this thursday-monday!

submitted by Poloroid457
[link] [4 comments]
Categories: News

Upcoming furry comics for September 2013 (Previews and Marvel Previews)

Furry News Network - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 02:38
Author: crossaffliction Furry comics that made the top 100 best-seller’s list for May 2013 include: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22 at 78, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #7 at 68 and Regular Show #1 at 56. See also: June 2013, July 2013, August 2013 read more Find the full article here: flayrah – furry [...]
Categories: News

Am I a furry ?

Furry Reddit - Mon 22 Jul 2013 - 01:49

Well hello there ladies and mentlegen. I am writing here about if I am a furry or not. First of all...my opinion on furries is neutral. Secondly I like a little the furry drawing etc, doesn't look that bad. Well someone said that I am in a denial state but I am not sure. I tried to see if I am or not...by first making my fursona as you guys call it. But I have no idea to what animal I am related. And I am not sure if I want to be a furry or not, thanks to the XXX content, so that friend told me to talk here with you guys....I hope you can help me with zis thing.

submitted by KaidoIzumi
[link] [7 comments]
Categories: News