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The furry community is expanding worldwide. Here on [adjective][species], Zik has been chronicling all things international with his comprehensive survey of conventions outside of North America – Furry Cons of the World – and his insight into the growing Japanese community – Foreign Furry Fandoms: Japan. Both articles are required reading for anyone wanting evidence of furry’s global growth. I understand that there is more to come from Zik, who is rapidly becoming the go-to chronicler of internationalism in our community.

One of the frontiers of the furry community is South-East Asia, with the local furry group – AnthroAsia – loosely incorporating Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The group maintains an internet presence at www.anthroasia.com, which includes a fairly quiet forum with just over 400 registered members. The forums are quiet because most of the local furry chatter happens on Facebook, however the AA forums are heavily lurked and are therefore a great place for new furries to introduce themselves.

I recently visited Malaysia and wondered whether a local furry or two might be available to catch up during my stay. I’d met a few of the AA crew before, all Singaporeans, and guessed that they might know someone. I made the laziest possible attempt to make contact: a single tweet.

What happened next was predictable and simple and magical: a Singaporean furry saw my tweet and left a one-line public ‘shout’ at AnthroAsia.com; a Malaysian furry saw the note and got in contact. Shortly afterwards, I found myself with a furry in a mamak – a 24-hour open-air food market – at 2am on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. My host, Hiro Husky, had decided that a night-time meal would be perfect given my jetlag.

The food and environment were new to me, and I’d never met Hiro before, but the fellowship and friendly connection was as comfortable and familiar as my favourite stuffed zebra. Amongst furries, there is an implied trust and closeness. It’s never more evident than when you experience it with a stranger in an unfamiliar place.

Long-distance travel is central to the furry experience. For many furries, a trip to their first big convention is a pilgrimage of sorts: an important step in community engagement as they explore a large gathering for the first time. For those lucky enough to have experienced it, it’s great standing at a check-in queue and scanning the crowd for discreet collars, or bags big enough to carry a fursuit, or people wearing slightly tragic wolf-howling-at-the-moon t-shirts.

Outside of trips to conventions, furries fly around the world for more modest events: meeting an online romantic partner for the first time, visiting old friends, or meeting new furries in a new location as a tourist.

Long-distance travel is especially important to us because so much of the furry experience takes place on the internet, which means we’re less restricted by distance’s tyranny. With friends around the world, we’re more likely to get passports and catch planes or trains than our non-furry peers.

When you first meet a new furry in real life, there is an implicit level of trust. I think this is because of our common reliance on the community, a community that reinforces of our internal self-image, a club where the only requirement for membership is to decide you’re a member. We’re trusting because of our fellowship within the community: everyone wants to make a good impression.

The implied promise of trust and mutual respect means that furries are often willing to offer a visitor a place to sleep, perhaps a couch or a spare bed. Over the years I have offered a roof to dozens of furries, and have accepted as many offers when I have been travelling. I like to call this the Furry Accommodation Network.

To offer accommodation is a selfless act, but one that’s paid back by the generosity of the community at large. Far more than an ad hoc couch-surfing network, staying with furries offers immediate company, probable friendship and – sometimes – the genesis of a relationship.

It’s not all roses of course. I have had some bad experiences, both when travelling and when hosting, however these have all aged into amusing anecdotes. The friendships I have formed or reinforced through such arrangements remain strong and continue to grow today.

I stayed in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur but the advantages of the Furry Accommodation Network were all there, thanks to Hiro’s selflessness and generosity. I experienced a side of KL I could never have found as a mere tourist and I got to know a remarkable furry in Hiro.

Our conversation at the mamak started with furry and quickly spread to mutual passions: food, sex, and politics. Over flatbreads and dal soup, Hiro asked me about my relationship and the freedoms I enjoy as part of a gay couple in London. I responded that it’s pretty good, and improving – that gay marriage isn’t legal but it’s on the way; that my partner and I can act as openly as a straight couple in much of the city; that I am openly gay amongst my friends and colleagues, and that anyone with a problem would be considered a bigot.

Hiro counterpointed this with his experience in Malaysia. If he were to express physical affection towards his boyfriend then he could find himself arrested and tried under Sharia law. (Sharia law technically only applies to Muslims in Malaysia – Hiro is of Chinese background – but a homosexuality case could be considered to be a Sharia ‘issue’). Change in Malaysia is unlikely because there are laws in place that limit the ability for people to criticise the government, and the same party has been in power since Independence. Hiro is closeted amongst everyone outside of furry.

This is not to say that homosexuality doesn’t exist in Malaysia. Hiro and I were shopping in the geek heaven that is Plaza Low Yat, a seven-level shopping mall dedicated to all things IT. On two separate occasions, Hiro was given overt come-ons by guys as we walked past. Hiro is an attractive guy but he’s not effeminate or otherwise sending out gay vibes in any way that I noticed, so these couldn’t have been one-off incidents. I think that Hiro tries to maintain an asexual mask when out in public, and he was apparently oblivious in both cases. Suffice to say that a gay person, if they were so inclined, would still be able to meet people in KL.

When we were chatting, I talked about how fortunate I feel to be a part of the furry community. We both share the common experience of being blown away by the mere existence of furries. Furry has also helped our personal growth – Hiro and I are both included amongst those who re-evaluated their sexual preference after joining the community. On reflection, Hiro is probably more fortunate than me to have found furry: furry is the only environment where he can be an honest version of himself.

This is mostly a product of the illiberal Malaysian culture, which is comparable to most of the countries in the region. Things are better in Singapore – Hiro visits regularly – but it’s still much less permissive than countries like the UK.

For the AnthroAsia furries, participation in the furry group is very valuable. This is especially true for those furries with an unusual sexual orientation, gender identity or self-image. The AA group has grown quickly since its formal inception, and seems very likely to continue its growth as it is discovered by more young furries who might be lacking a rewarding social experience in mainstream circles.

My experience of getting to know Hiro and comparing our respective furry experiences reinforced what I think is great about our community. The Furry Accommodation Network – with its implied trust and mutual respect – is a microcosm of the happiness and self-realization that furry can bring.

Later this year, Hiro is travelling to Eurofurence with a few fellow AnthroAsia furries. It’ll be the first time he’s travelled outside of Malaysia or Singapore. He’s nervous about being around a large group, unsure of social norms in Germany, and concerned about language barriers. And he’s excited to experience his first pilgrimage to a large convention.

The feeling of excitement is mutual.

He’ll have a great time.

Hello Papa Bear,

A few years ago, I was very much a part of the local community. I made a great many friends and really enjoyed myself. 

A crappy drama situation happened involving a popular artist fur in the local community and I was dragged into the middle of it. I stopped talking to any other furs and decided I had had enough of the entire fandom. I deleted all of my own artwork and journals off of every major furry site and stopped talking to anyone.

The artist fur continued to spread rumors about me in the local community even though I hadn't talked to anyone in 6 months. She would call me at home to try and get me to talk to her and I stopped picking up the phone. It got to the point I was receiving death threats over text messages from furries whom I had never met!

Two or three years have passed since all of that went down and I've been sort of missing the fandom a bit. I've lurked the local community and noticed that the artist fur has been banned from the local forums. I'm still terrified that I'm going to be prosecuted and ran off. 

My anxiety is so strong about it that I still have occasional nightmares about getting death threats and things like that. Do you think it's safe for me to come out of hiding and try to make friends again?

Thank you,
Jackal

* * *

Dear Jackal,

Papabear is sorry you had a bad experience. Sounds like you were really being harassed. Papabear wrote a column a while back about a similar situation http://www.askpapabear.com/1/post/2012/05/bad-furs-flaming.html that you might want to look at, as it talks about your rights and how to protect yourself against people who you feel are threatening you. Keep it in mind if it happens again.

In the meantime, according to you, the air has cleared some and the offending furry has been banned and disappeared. People these days seem to have short attention spans and may have completely forgotten about you and what happened a couple years ago. Some may not have, though, and might still blame you or hold a grudge about whatever happened. I have no way of telling.

Even so, it is not right that you should have to hide from the furry world forever for something that was apparently not your fault at all. How about this for an idea? Adopt a new fursona. Many furries do this for a variety of reasons, and you can to.

Drop the name Jackal (or whatever name you were using at the time), create an entirely new fursona, begin anew. Introduce yourself as a new furry, open a new account on FurAffinity or whatever other art sites you were on—remembering to post only new artwork—and start making new friends. If you stumble upon acquaintances you knew before, introduce yourself anew to them, if you feel okay with that, only revealing your real identity if you get a solid sense they are not going to start the old drama again.

There is far, far too much drama in the fandom in this bear’s opinion. Furry life should be a joyful, fun, playful experience. You should not be terrified of it.  If you do get death threats, do what I suggest in the article I cited: keep a record of what happens, reporting the threats to Web administrators or even law enforcement, if it gets that extreme.

Good luck! Hugs!

Papabear

submitted by TugtheSomething
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Author: Fred Bunnymund is back, in this second trailer for DreamWorks’ CGI Rise of the Guardians. Also Jack Frost, who was conspicuously missing from the first trailer. Bunnymund is still the only one who makes this an anthro movie, but, oh, does he look good! Due in theaters on November 21st. [Thanks again, Cartoon Brew.] [...]

Shut Up Cartoons is a YouTube channel of original animated series put together by the Smosh Channel, which claims to be the third largest Channel on YouTube.  In amongst titles like Oishi High School Battle and Zombies vs. Ninja are a couple of shows that furry fans might want to take notice of. Krogzilla is one of the newest. “Born as an unknown mutation of aquatic lizard, Krogzilla was a 200-foot tall fire-breathing sea monster that terrorized coastal cities all over the world, until a team of scientists defeated him by shrinking. Now reduced to only six feet in height, Krogzilla has to figure out how to become a functioning member of society. First thing Krog needs to do is find a job”. The series updates every Thursday, and you can find it on YouTube here. While you’re there you might also want to check out the preview trailer for Weasel Town, which premiers next week.

image c. 2012 Smosh Channel

Are you going? Are you suiting?

submitted by jessikaye
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http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8157256/ if you're interested!

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Author: Mister Twister Enough to include them in anime OH SO VERY OFTEN, and make a considerable number of movies starring them. This one is an interesting example [site fails sporadically; alternate trailers] – directed by the same person responsible for Night on the Galactic Railroad (IMDB) and based, again, on a work by Kenji [...]

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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 305

Interested in going out of this world like a true furry character? Well then head to the “end of the world” party in Rochester, NY for 12.21.2012 doomsday events. Seems like a BLAST … lol yeh … CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT.

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Hello /r/furry! My friend talks about furries a lot, and I really don't mind furries, and I do like the art (very cool) but I don't fully understand what furries are. I'm sorry, this probably sounds stupid to you guys, but I just want to know. And what's the relationship with bronies? Don't take this post the wrong way, thank you.

submitted by picklepal2
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I kinda want a wristband that says "FURRY" Although there's no guarantee that I'll want/wear it, I want to know if any exist. Or any furry wristbands in general. Anyone know of any?

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Dear Papabear,

As I'm sure you're well aware, the furry fandom in general is pretty fond of being touchy-feely. Hugging, cuddling, snuggling, licking, nosing, etc etc. I fully identify as a furry and enjoy the fandom plenty, but the whole touching thing has always been uncomfortable for me. I consider physical contact to be an expression of intimacy and trust, and I frankly don't like or trust most people enough to allow even the casual touch-of-the-shoulder-between-friends, let alone what the furry fandom collectively does daily. This goes for both in-person (especially in-person) and online interactions. I'm not even very comfortable with shaking another person's hand, just to illustrate.

Now, I'm well aware that I need to communicate this with the other people and furries I talk to, both online and off, and believe me, I'm not shy about speaking up. Groups tend to pick up on it pretty quickly and leave me alone as far as touching goes. That's not really the problem. With furries especially, people tend to take my aversion personal, as if, say, I don't like them or don't want to associate with them. It tends to cast me as an angry jerk. I don't mean to be off-putting, but it's hard to communicate that I still want to talk and share humor after point-blank refusing a friendly hug (for instance). It doesn't seem to matter how I show or tell my aversion: I've tried calmly explaining how uncomfortable it makes me feel, I've tried simply ignoring the issue (this one really only applies to online interactions), and I've tried being up-front about the whole thing before anything happens. How can I avoid offending people that are just trying to be friendly and still avoid touching? I love the fandom, but I feel a little out of place amidst the touchy-feely furries.

Now, that's not all. I said before that I consider physical contact to be an expression of intimacy and trust. I am fully open with people I get involved in relationships with. I actually think that it's a sweet expression to place that sort of trust in another person to show my changed feelings for that person, and I'd like to think that those I've been involved with have seen it like that. Problems arise with exes. The breakup I'm thinking about happened a little over a year ago. It hurt deeply and was a sad occasion, but we agreed to stay friends and continue speaking. Convenient, since we shared the same interests and tended to hang around the same places anyway. As we were in a relationship (fairly long-term as well), I obviously had long-since extended the trust of physical contact and physical intimacy, but after we broke up, I felt that that trust needed to be taken back. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that I felt betrayed. As such, I no longer felt comfortable being touched by them, even casually, as furries are wont to do.

As I had previously allowed and even wanted it before, I think they have a hard time understanding that I am back to being uncomfortable with it now, especially since, well, furries. I know I've tried communicating this several times, but it still persists, and I don't want to object any stronger for fear of completely alienating them. I don't want to encourage getting back together (as, as you'll remember, touching is an expression of intimacy) but I don't want to lose them as friends either. Due to the standoffish nature that people assume I have, I don't make many friends. I'd like to keep the ones I have. How can I really get it through to them that touching is now a no-no, as it once was before, without unduly hurting their feelings?

Neurotically yours,
Grey

* * *

Dear Grey,

Everyone has there own sense of personal space, and, yes, yours is not the usual for the usually touchy-feely furry community. This is not a bad thing; it’s just that you are not so free and easy with your affections because, for you, hugging someone or being close in a physical sense (or even being huggy online in an IM) means something more to you. You are the type of person who only gives his physical affections to someone who means a lot to you. Papabear can understand this.

In one way, this is actually a good thing for you because it leaves you less vulnerable to the kind of emotional manipulations and shallow “friendships” that can and have run rampant in the furry community. It also buffers you from the drama queens that are out there.

On the other hand, as you noted, people can easily misinterpret this as meaning you are an unfriendly person, which is not the case.

There are all kinds of physical ways to express friendship and love, and there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to do so, whether in public or private. Papabear is an affectionate bear, and I love hugs, but there are some behaviors I have seen in public that even I find appalling. For example, this dance move from Brazil is just too out there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oQ83rJ_RhE. I mean, seriously??

But I do think you have gone a bit too far the other way. Papabear is big on communication, and in the human world verbal language is only one part of that communication; body language is enormously important, as well.

You mention you don’t even like to shake paws. If you are in business at all, that in itself could have a negative impact on a career.  A friendly pawshake and a smile can go a long way without being too intimate. (If you were involved in a business deal and refused to shake hands with someone, people would quickly think you are not dealing sincerely with them). Papabear suggests you try working on your pawshake and smile and that can really ease your images as a cold fish. Once you get that down, you might even practice what I call the “hetero hug,” which is a brisk, not-too-close-and-not-too-long hug with a vigorous pat on the back (one or two pats at most) to convey congeniality and camaraderie without appearing too feminine or vulnerable, as butch, hetero men often seem so afraid to do (I’m a little tongue-in-cheek here, furs, so please, no letter campaigns from the hetero community, thanks).

A little easier to deal with is chatting online. You can certainly be a friendly person online without typing things like *hugs* and *kisses* and such. Nothing wrong with a friendly :-) after all, is there? Surely that won’t break your fingers.

Finally, and most importantly, being a friend and finding friends anywhere, whether in the furry fandom or outside it, has more to do with actions than social interactions. What I mean is, be a friend by helping others, being there when they need you, offering companionship and support in a very real way. Papabear has a sense that that is the kind of person you are with your tight circle of friends, which is cool.

If you remain a furry of good character, never stabbing people in the back or being a false friend, eventually word will get out that you are a person of substance, which is worth a million shallow hugs in this bear’s book.

Hope that helps,

Papabear