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Author: Harvi We’re rebooting the podcast! Now you can take part in the Hop Inn from the beginning! When we catch up to the current episode we’ll update our iTunes Feed to point over here instead of the old, soon to be gone, site. We’ll be adding more information and links as this site progresses [...] [Series Reboot]Live From the Hop Inn Episode 213

Just an idea! So many of us go to Otakon, in Baltimore, MD for the anime, etc, but hide our fuzzier sides. We could be standing right next to each other and not know it. Anyone up to creating a hang out/meet up area at the Con or close by?

submitted by PlausibleTranslation
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So I bring you your first NewYorker rant and cool looking logo thingy I put up top.  So this post is about furries attitudes.  There are many secluded furries in the fandom. There is even more who will not just interact with others in public situations, but will bring up what we like to call, “Drama”.  Let’s take the post I just saw for Example of an artist well know for his animations. Someone actually went out of their way to contact him and ask for free art, then when he refused the person went off because they didn’t get their way. I mean COME ON how much of a mind frame can you have in a situation like that? Does everything come free in this world? Last I checked I work hard to get good stuff.

When we think of issues we think of our own way not the best way? Let’s take another example when someone does not bring up great conversation pieces, but still in their mind think they are having a GREAT conversation. At the end of everything they think they are your best friend. When in reality the conversation was, “How are you doing?” to which you reply ,”Fine and You?” and they say, “Great” . This is not a conversation if you can not pick up a topic and generally get the other person going on it, yet I see SOOO many furries do it online mostly.Of course this in no normal social experts eyes is an instant friendship conversation piece.

We speak of ages 20 and up that pull these kind of things, which really goes to show MANY furries just can not handle intense situations or calm conversations. Like I said from the start and I am very willing to bet my doggy bowl, almost all the issues that seem, “WOW” are from those who live very secluded lives . Being online around others and chatting on microphone helps, but when the monitor turns off where does that leave the person?

 

So I stumbled on some furporn(?) a few years back and it was... appealing but, I was having some other issues with sexuality at the time and just kind of disregarded it. I wanted to avoid drowning myself with things that I don't need to be worrying about. Well I have given it more time and feel more comfortable to the point where I want to know more. I browsed this subreddit a bit and I want to make a fursona and be a bit more involved. Is there a subreddit for gay furries or is it all one big family? Feel free to PM me for anything, I would like to make some friends or learn what I can. Thanks reddit!

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I really want to commission an artist but the character i want is only in my head and not on paper. I'm not going to make an artist who doesn't specialize in creating characters draw what i want just from my imagination. So the question is if you can't draw (I am about as good at art as Rosie O'Donnell is at not eating) what do you do/Are there artists who specialize in this sort of thing?

submitted by RepTarHunter
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Hello Papa Bear.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma, It's rather complicated so I'll just start at the beginning...

I always felt a little different from others, just felt like I had some slight trait that made me different from those around me, be it friends or family. Growing up with this constant feeling, I learned to adapt and after several more years, to actually favor the difference. I liked that I was different, all the 'Be Yourself' and 'You're perfect' encouragements I'd been getting so far had actually worked. I acknowledged that I was different and I also liked it. To that point, though, I hadn't realized what made me feel different. That changed over a year ago.

It was a typical weekday. I was on YouTube/Facebook. Messaging friends and looking for the new song that I'd get hooked on for a few days then discard it and look for another. My favorite genre of music this month was techno. So I was searching the vast expanse of YouTube for the electronic beats and bass that I was craving. Noticing a video that had a picture of what seemed to be a green wolf-like creature, I was curious right off the bat and the video looked pretty good too. Clicking on it and waiting a few seconds, I get a better look at the emerald wolf. It was indeed a wolf, who appeared to be a DJ in a nightclub filled with other strange human-animal mixes. The music that came with the interesting picture was great too so I was hooked on this song for at least a week. 

After listening to that song 10-20 times, I started to wonder where these pictures were from. Was it a cartoon? That was the only place I've seen these animal-hybrids before. Scrolling through the comments, It doesn't take long before I notice a word that I had yet to read.

The word was 'Furry' and it was used in a rather proud manner. My curiosity piqued, I open up a new tab and Google this newly added word. 

I don't want to go horribly clichéd but I can truly say that what I found, changed me. I don't know what direction it changed me, but it definitely changed me. I soon came to learn that 'Furry' was a term for someone who was interested in the Anthropomorphic personification of animals. That was a pretty incomprehensible sentence that I read at the time, given my low intelligence [Papabear note: Nick does not seem to be low on intelligence to me] and I simply ignored it. I merely focused on the pride of being a 'Furry'.

And boy was I prideful. Not on the outside, no, no, no. But on the inside, I was smiling. I had finally found something that I could tag this feeling of difference to. The years of not knowing had finally came to an end and I was happier then ever.

But happiness doesn't last very long. I don't know what compelled me to Google a certain few words but those words led my interest from an innocent, childlike admiration to a dark cloud on what I call my life.

I'll be blunt and simply say that I stumbled into the dark and erotic side of Furry. I'll spare you the details, I'm sure you can deduce what a teenager would do when no one is home and has access to large quantities of porn. Ahem.

I simply justified my actions as normal. Everyone experiments, right? This was just normal teenager experimentation. I knew that my method of experimentation was a little odd but that was fine. Another teen was attracted to plump rears and large breasts, I was attracted to Fur and Tails.

About a week after that, I once again was compelled to search the annals of the Internet for Furry-related material. Although his time, my search would reveal a much more negative opinion. After reading all the horribly rude critiques of Furry, I was a little ashamed, my previously stone-solid pride in before a Furry reduced to a crumbling tower of self-doubt. I went through my days wondering if I was a pedophile or some sick freak. 

I got better though, and days looked up. I stumbled upon a neat little site called SoFurry and I entertained the idea of being a writer for several days, before opening Microsoft and writing the first chapter of Furry literature I had ever written. Now bear in mind that I wasn't very talented at the time, I still have doubt in my ability as of now, so It was very cluttered and full of run-ons and other grammar crimes. But it made me happy, I had once again taken something full of negativity and turned it into something full of joy and happiness.

And once again, I had it taken away from me. Seems to be a recurring cycle in my life. The problem I'm about to stumble on is currently the problem I'm dealing with. After writing several much more refined chapters and exchanging friendly emails with the other writers of SF, I started to wonder, was I supposed to be human? I knew that deep down, I had a large wanting to be a Hybrid. I also knew that biologically, I was stuck.

And that feeling of getting nowhere just made me feel worse. I started to think that my entire human life was punishment by some deity for my "Sins", that I was originally going to be born covered with fur but for some reason, I was born smooth, solely to punish me for previous offenses. And that feeling dragged me down even lower. I would get up every morning and do what I usually did. But I'd do it with a momentum that came from me thinking that If I worked hard enough, prayed enough, helped enough people, that maybe I would get my wish came true? And after trying so hard to please everyone around me, I would go to bed, exhausted both emotionally and physically. I would then say the simple prayer I say every night, but I would add a tiny request on the end, and I would then drift off into sleep.

I came close to making myself stay up, as I dreaded going to sleep, as sleep gave me hope that I could become something that I wasn't and that hope, as false and small as it was, would still burn deep inside me. It'd only make the sting of getting up the next morning and feeling my soft, smooth skin even more painful.

After going through that brutal cycle for weeks, I decided that I was going to stop all of it. I went cold turkey on anything Anthropomorphic. I deleted every single word I had ever typed about Furs who would find love, about how cruel the world could be, every single world. Did I feel better? I like to say that I did, though I really feel that I didn't. 

I went with that for a couple weeks until I broke and sank back into the warm, carnal, furred environment of Furry. I once again purged everything, only to break once again and that would lead to me writing this letter.

So that's my story. I'm writing to you to you out of hope that someone will read this and give me some advice. I think the sole act of writing this has made me feel better, I suppose I just needed to vent all these emotions and stress that I've built up.

So, can anyone help me? I'm hoping to whatever Deity is in the sky, be he/she/it benevolent or malevolent, that your still managing this site. I admit that I feel better but I still want the feeling of knowing that another being knows how I'm feeling.

I hope you respond back Bear. Thank you for your time.

Nick

* * *

Dear Nick,

An interesting journey you have described here into the world of Furry. Papabear bets it is reflective of what some other furries have experienced, including myself. Furries have asked me whether, if I had the chance, I would want to be an anthrobear, and the answer (despite a lecture Uncle Kage once gave about how inconvenient, practically speaking, and awful it would be to actually accomplish such a goal) is “in a heartbeat.” I believe the number of furries who feel this way are in the minority, but there are quite a few who do.

As I get older and more curmudgeonly, Papabear finds less and less to like about the human race (and Americans in particular—furries being an exception, of course). Recent events in my life have caused me to downright despise certain people. Other than being connected to furries like you through the Internet, I don’t much like the modern technological age, either. And, as you point out, humans just aren’t very attractive as a species. Let’s face it, we’re basically bald apes with pushed-in faces. Bleah. I imagine having a bucolic life as a bear in the woods, where I have simple needs of food and shelter in a pristine environment unspoiled by Man.

But that is not reality.

What you and I are both experiencing is the yearning that Germans call “Weltschmerz.” Not to be too droll about this, but there is an amusing clip from “The Big Bang Theory” about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCc9nyxqR44.

Unable to reconcile our dreams with reality, we can get depressed or suffer from an unfulfilled yearning made even worse by the knowledge our dreams will be forever out of reach, at least in this lifetime.

Our saving grace is imagination. Human beings have a vast capacity for imagination and creativity as evidenced by the one thing that Papabear feels truly separates us from other animal species: the arts—literature, painting, sculpture, theater, music ... all the way to fursuit crafting. These things provide us with a release for our inner desires and make the world a richer place for everyone when we share them. I would encourage you, Nick, to continue to pursue your writing and to create as vivid and fantastic a fictional furry world as you can.

The other thing that gives Papabear comfort concerning this is something that probably a lot of my readers would not necessarily agree with, but I’ll share it any way. I believe that the thing we call a “soul” is a piece of the larger Spirit that imbues all existence, and that we find ourselves encased in our present forms in order to experience, learn from, and grow our capacity to create new and unique things. Then, when we die, we maintain that capacity to create, which we may then express in the reality beyond this one. In other words, we are able to create our own individual heavens. We cannot do this, however, without having this time on Earth first, so do not rush into it, by any means. But, someday, Nick, I believe you and I may shrug off our mortal coils and become what we truly feel we are inside.

May that small thought comfort you,

Papabear

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I'm looking for some hand paws to go with a minimalist partial fursuit to wear to Matsuricon and Ohayocon. I'm working with a budget of ~$25, preferably less. Would this even be enough for a commission? If so, who should I go to?

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Author: Harvi We’re rebooting the podcast! Now you can take part in the Hop Inn from the beginning! When we catch up to the current episode we’ll update our iTunes Feed to point over here instead of the old, soon to be gone, site. We’ll be adding more information and links as this site progresses [...] [Series Reboot]Live From the Hop Inn Episode 214

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YAY!! It’s finally out the PawPet IV video from Confuzzled 2012. Bringing in the characters and amazing voices this little number has happened for the 4th installment. There is daring effects, drama and movie puns like you’ve never seen! You can catch the entire 100mins HERE from MikePaws, I mean what else do you got to do but paw off ? SO WATCH AND ENJOY!!! The video … not someone pawing off … until your done watching the video.

submitted by Demasu
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