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IT'S HAPPENING! At the time of writing we're only 37 subscribers away from 20k, and we're probably going to hit it some time tomorrow morning.

For this awesome occasion, we're having a party! The theme of this party (And of the art thread) will be Fancy Dress! Does your fursona have an awesome costume? Cosplay? Their own fursuit? Show us!

Also, I'd love to see some collaborative pictures from people partying together. Let's see what you can come up with!

On a more serious note: Just a reminder that the art thread is meant to prompt new drawings and not pictures you have saved from a long time ago. As usual, if you have any suggestions, PM me here or tweet me at @CeresSergal!

Week 9

P.S: There may be some more cool events later in the week, keep an eye out ;)

submitted by CeresSergal
[link] [37 comments]

I am trying to start drawing, but it is really hard to find the motivation to do what I need to do to get started; not to say that I don't enjoy art. When I am actually drawing I enjoy it quite a lot. I just need help to find motivation. I'm sure someone here will have something helpful to say, as you are want to do.

submitted by Sadiebubs
[link] [15 comments]

We at [adjective][species] have a wealth of furry data at our fingertips. Our primary source of information is the Furry Survey, an annual survey that has been running more or less continuously since 2008. The 2015 Furry Survey is currently open at www.furrypoll.com.

Makyo and I both run occasional [adjective][species] panels at conventions, which usually start with a broad demographic overview of furry. (From there we dive into certain topics in depth.) Here on the site we tend to mostly talk about specific topics, but it’s the general demographic data that often generates the most interest at the panels.

With that in mind, I thought I’d present some broad demographic data. I’ve adapted this from my Confuzzled 2015 panel. What follows is a snapshot of furry.

First: a note on the data. The Furry Survey is voluntary, which means that our dataset is self-selecting. It’s not possible to perform a census of the whole of furry, so we only know about furries who fill in the survey.

We can make some general comments about the quality of our data:

• Our dataset is large enough to provide consistency year in, year out. We don’t see big changes in furry demographics over time. Importantly this has been the case regardless of how the Furry Survey has been publicized and shared: from LiveJournal back in the day, through to Twitter, Reddit, and advertising on furry websites.
• Our data matches closely with the data collected online by the scientists at the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), with the exception that they are unable to collect data from minors (under 18).

It’s probably reasonable to guess that we collect data from ‘more engaged’ furries. Furries who are only peripherally involved with the community are probably less likely to fill in the survey. The same probably goes for older furries, because the responsibilities of age—work, family, whatnot—will naturally dilute the influence of furry for a lot of people.

Age

Furries have an average age of 23, with a peak at about 19, and a long tail of older furries.

Age distribution of furries.

The average age increased by only about a year between 2009 and 2013. This suggests that furry is growing, with new young furs joining the community and offsetting the natural ageing of the group. It also suggests that furries drop out as they get older, or at least become less likely to fill in the survey.

We can be confident that furry is growing by looking at the change in attendance at furry conventions.

Data from Wikifur

This growth rate isn’t large enough in itself to account for the consistency in furry’s age demographics over time. Therefore we think that older furries do tend to drop out of the community at a certain rate, which we can estimate: the half-life of a furry is something like 10 years.

Gender

Furry consistently shows an approximate 80/20 male/female split (read more here). This holds true whether you ask about sex or gender:

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by sex

 

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by gender

It’s well known that men and women often experience the same thing in different ways, and this is true within furry. For example, women are significantly less engaged with furry compared with men, and are also much more likely to be artists:

Proportion of furries who are artists, by gender

We also know that female furries are less likely to attend conventions, even considering that women may be a majority in the Dealer’s Den. This varies from con to con, and Anthrocon appears to be an exception, with a disproportionately high number female attendees (23%) in 2015.

Species

We have a terrific species visualization here on [a][s]. You can explore species popularity by sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

Click for interactive species data visualization

Sexual Deviance

Collectively, furries are evenly spread across the Kinsey spectrum, from heterosexuality to homosexuality.

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by sexual orientation – closer to red is more homosexual, blue heterosexual

It’s a remarkably even distribution. As you can see, furry is significantly more heterosexual than homosexual, a fact sometimes obscured by our 80/20 male/female split.

Furry Survey data shows that new furries are much more likely to be heterosexual, with an obvious trend towards homosexuality over time.

Years in the fandom vs. sexual orientation

Furries tend to re-evaluate their sexual preference in the first five years or so of joining the community. Read more about this phenomenon here.

Unusual sexual interests appear to be common in furry. The most striking of these is zoophilia—about one in six furries self-identify as a zoophile—but other sexual interests are also unusually visible.

It’s hard to say whether we are, collectively, engaging in a lot unusual sexual behaviour, or if we’re simply more open about it. I talked about this at my Confuzzled panel and got the same, excellent question from several people – how can we say if data on furry sexuality is unusual if we don’t have this data for the general population? (Alternate phrasing: how prevalent is zoophilia in the Women’s Institute?)

It’s well known that people will to deny sexual deviance when asked – consider that UK government statistical analysis estimates the proportion of homosexuals to be 6%, whereas just 1.5% identified as such on the latest UK census. Tolerance and openness about sex is one of the hallmarks of furry. It doesn’t mean that we are unusually sexually driven.

For example: sex appears to be more important to furry than it actually is. We ask furries about how important sex is to them personally (blue line), and how important sex is to others in the fandom (green line). As you can see, the collective furry guess is way out – sex isn’t as important to (other) furries as it seems.

(Note on the scary red line: this is the furry guess of the importance of sex as perceived by the public. It’s not what the public really thinks.)

Religion

Furries are largely areligious. Most of us are atheist or agnostic, and many more identify with something non-mainstream such as Pagan or as some bespoke “other”.

Furry by religion

About a quarter of furries identify as Christian, the most popular religion by far. For comparison, 71% of Americans, 67% of Canadians, and 60% of Brits identify as Christian.

We asked for more detail when furs responded “other”. Something broadly atheistic was the most common response by far. If you’re interested, you can explore the data (it’s kinda fun) here.

Psychological Wellbeing

The IARP have looked at furries and psychological wellbeing in some detail. This work includes a specific study that was performed at Anthrocon in 2013.

The key conclusion, which is supported by years of research and confirmed by the Anthrocon study is simple enough: “[furry] is not associated with any significant decrements in well-being (psychological, physical, or relationship), self-esteem, or sense of identity.”

(I thought it would be better to quote from the scientists, rather than drawing on Furry Survey data. Their conclusion is a rare one in the world of sociology and psychology, simple and pithy.)

The Furry Survey was founded by Klisoura, also one of the founders of [adjective][species]. The intent of [a][s] was, in part, to host the Furry Survey and be a home for presentation and analysis of the results.

A few things have changed around here since 2011 but that primary goal remains as strong as ever. We still host the Furry Survey, and we regularly publish analysis of data from there and elsewhere. We’re getting better too: the Furry Survey was revamped for 2015, and a peek at early results confirms that we will have a lot of interesting information on furry and furries in the future.

Those of you who attended my panel at Confuzzled will recall that I presented some preliminary results from the 2015 survey. As I said then, we will look at that data in detail here on [adjective][species], but only once the survey is closed at the end of this year. In the meantime, anyone who has yet to complete the Furry Survey can do so at www.furrypoll.com.

You can explore all the results from the Furry Survey, from 2009 to 2012, with our alpha Furry Survey Explorer. Be aware it may take a few minutes to load due to the wealth of data.

We at [adjective][species] have a wealth of furry data at our fingertips. Our primary source of information is the Furry Survey, an annual survey that has been running more or less continuously since 2008. The 2015 Furry Survey is currently open at www.furrypoll.com.

Makyo and I both run occasional [adjective][species] panels at conventions, which usually start with a broad demographic overview of furry. (From there we dive into certain topics in depth.) Here on the site we tend to mostly talk about specific topics, but it’s the general demographic data that often generates the most interest at the panels.

With that in mind, I thought I’d present some broad demographic data. I’ve adapted this from my Confuzzled 2015 panel. What follows is a snapshot of furry.

First: a note on the data. The Furry Survey is voluntary, which means that our dataset is self-selecting. It’s not possible to perform a census of the whole of furry, so we only know about furries who fill in the survey.

We can make some general comments about the quality of our data:

• Our dataset is large enough to provide consistency year in, year out. We don’t see big changes in furry demographics over time. Importantly this has been the case regardless of how the Furry Survey has been publicized and shared: from LiveJournal back in the day, through to Twitter, Reddit, and advertising on furry websites.
• Our data matches closely with the data collected online by the scientists at the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), with the exception that they are unable to collect data from minors (under 18).

It’s probably reasonable to guess that we collect data from ‘more engaged’ furries. Furries who are only peripherally involved with the community are probably less likely to fill in the survey. The same probably goes for older furries, because the responsibilities of age—work, family, whatnot—will naturally dilute the influence of furry for a lot of people.

Age

Furries have an average age of 23, with a peak at about 19, and a long tail of older furries.

Age distribution of furries.

The average age increased by only about a year between 2009 and 2013. This suggests that furry is growing, with new young furs joining the community and offsetting the natural ageing of the group. It also suggests that furries drop out as they get older, or at least become less likely to fill in the survey.

We can be confident that furry is growing by looking at the change in attendance at furry conventions.

Data from Wikifur

This growth rate isn’t large enough in itself to account for the consistency in furry’s age demographics over time. Therefore we think that older furries do tend to drop out of the community at a certain rate, which we can estimate: the half-life of a furry is something like 10 years.

Gender

Furry consistently shows an approximate 80/20 male/female split (read more here). This holds true whether you ask about sex or gender:

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by sex

 

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by gender

It’s well known that men and women often experience the same thing in different ways, and this is true within furry. For example, women are significantly less engaged with furry compared with men, and are also much more likely to be artists:

Proportion of furries who are artists, by gender

We also know that female furries are less likely to attend conventions, even considering that women may be a majority in the Dealer’s Den. This varies from con to con, and Anthrocon appears to be an exception, with a disproportionately high number female attendees (23%) in 2015.

Species

We have a terrific species visualization here on [a][s]. You can explore species popularity by sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

Click for interactive species data visualization

Sexual Deviance

Collectively, furries are evenly spread across the Kinsey spectrum, from heterosexuality to homosexuality.

Furries, 2009 to 2013 by sexual orientation – closer to red is more homosexual, blue heterosexual

It’s a remarkably even distribution. As you can see, furry is significantly more heterosexual than homosexual, a fact sometimes obscured by our 80/20 male/female split.

Furry Survey data shows that new furries are much more likely to be heterosexual, with an obvious trend towards homosexuality over time.

Years in the fandom vs. sexual orientation

Furries tend to re-evaluate their sexual preference in the first five years or so of joining the community. Read more about this phenomenon here.

Unusual sexual interests appear to be common in furry. The most striking of these is zoophilia—about one in six furries self-identify as a zoophile—but other sexual interests are also unusually visible.

It’s hard to say whether we are, collectively, engaging in a lot unusual sexual behaviour, or if we’re simply more open about it. I talked about this at my Confuzzled panel and got the same, excellent question from several people – how can we say if data on furry sexuality is unusual if we don’t have this data for the general population? (Alternate phrasing: how prevalent is zoophilia in the Women’s Institute?)

It’s well known that people will to deny sexual deviance when asked – consider that UK government statistical analysis estimates the proportion of homosexuals to be 6%, whereas just 1.5% identified as such on the latest UK census. Tolerance and openness about sex is one of the hallmarks of furry. It doesn’t mean that we are unusually sexually driven.

For example: sex appears to be more important to furry than it actually is. We ask furries about how important sex is to them personally (blue line), and how important sex is to others in the fandom (green line). As you can see, the collective furry guess is way out – sex isn’t as important to (other) furries as it seems.

(Note on the scary red line: this is the furry guess of the importance of sex as perceived by the public. It’s not what the public really thinks.)

Religion

Furries are largely areligious. Most of us are atheist or agnostic, and many more identify with something non-mainstream such as Pagan or as some bespoke “other”.

Furry by religion

About a quarter of furries identify as Christian, the most popular religion by far. For comparison, 71% of Americans, 67% of Canadians, and 60% of Brits identify as Christian.

We asked for more detail when furs responded “other”. Something broadly atheistic was the most common response by far. If you’re interested, you can explore the data (it’s kinda fun) here.

Psychological Wellbeing

The IARP have looked at furries and psychological wellbeing in some detail. This work includes a specific study that was performed at Anthrocon in 2013.

The key conclusion, which is supported by years of research and confirmed by the Anthrocon study is simple enough: “[furry] is not associated with any significant decrements in well-being (psychological, physical, or relationship), self-esteem, or sense of identity.”

(I thought it would be better to quote from the scientists, rather than drawing on Furry Survey data. Their conclusion is a rare one in the world of sociology and psychology, simple and pithy.)

The Furry Survey was founded by Klisoura, also one of the founders of [adjective][species]. The intent of [a][s] was, in part, to host the Furry Survey and be a home for presentation and analysis of the results.

A few things have changed around here since 2011 but that primary goal remains as strong as ever. We still host the Furry Survey, and we regularly publish analysis of data from there and elsewhere. We’re getting better too: the Furry Survey was revamped for 2015, and a peek at early results confirms that we will have a lot of interesting information on furry and furries in the future.

Those of you who attended my panel at Confuzzled will recall that I presented some preliminary results from the 2015 survey. As I said then, we will look at that data in detail here on [adjective][species], but only once the survey is closed at the end of this year. In the meantime, anyone who has yet to complete the Furry Survey can do so at www.furrypoll.com.

You can explore all the results from the Furry Survey, from 2009 to 2012, with our alpha Furry Survey Explorer. Be aware it may take a few minutes to load due to the wealth of data.

submitted by FeatherfacedOwl
[link] [17 comments]

submitted by Grammatick
[link] [7 comments]

submitted by dreamingwanderer
[link] [7 comments]

submitted by PrellFeris
[link] [8 comments]

Here's an article on the website of the Houston Press, an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas:

http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/6-modern-subcultures-that-might-shock-the-mainstream-7695992

It lists "6 Modern Subcultures That Might Shock The Mainstream". Specifically:
6: Juggalos
5: Real Vampires
4: Otherkin
3: Fan Fic Communities
2: Furries
1: Bronies


Our world is an interesting place, and for many people there is a drive to form social groups outside of the mainstream. Over the last several decades, many subcultures have formed which initially weren't very noticeable to the average person, but, in an era where the Internet provides a way for people to communicate in ways never before possible, many of those subcultures have grown and become huge. Here are a few of the more notable examples.

6. Juggalos

Juggalos get a lot of exposure these days, and have roots going back to at least the early '90s. They are the extreme fans of the Insane Clown Posse, a hip hop group from Detroit which got its start in 1989. The music of I.C.P. has never been about subtlety, and the group consists of two guys wearing clown makeup who pen songs about drugs, murder, and...magnets, among other subjects. As the years went on, some of their fans began to wear clown makeup too, and eventually created a huge subculture of Juggalos. Many of these clown-faced fans make a lifestyle from their affiliation with their Juggalo family, with its biggest celebration being the yearly "Gathering of the Juggalos," an enormous celebratory, and infamously lawless music festival that I.C.P puts on in Ohio. The (very NSFW) infomercials advertising this event give outsiders a view into Juggalo life, and are well worth a look. The FBI currently considers Juggalos to be an outlaw gang, which doesn't seem particularly fair since it's rare to hear of any significant violence or criminal activity attributed to them. Yes, drug use is celebrated, but the FBI doesn't consider other groups of music fans, such as Deadheads, to be criminal gangs. Juggalos often look scary in their makeup, but they seem mostly harmless. As mentioned, the following video is not safe for work or sensitive viewers.

5. Real Vampires

Real Vampires are people who believe they must feed on the blood or psychic energy of other humans in order to preserve their mental, emotional, or physical well being. They're another group that's gotten a lot of exposure in the media recently, and their numbers have been steadily growing over the last three decades or so. Like many younger subcultures, these real life vampires network with each other online, using social networking sites and specialty forums to exchange ideas and socialize. They also host and attend vampire-centric events and meet in private to perform vampiric acts out of the public eye. Vampires have a very developed social order and usually follow a strict moral code that holds safety and consent as paramount concerns. The following video contains material that might offend sensitive viewers.

4. Otherkin

Otherkin are a subculture of people that developed almost entirely online, and is made up of folks who identify as either partially or entirely non-human. They explain the mechanisms behind this state of being in a variety of metaphysical ways, and Otherkin are relatively "rules free" in nature. Some claim to be Fairies or Elves, dragons, cartoon characters, or other mythical creatures, and may claim to possess abilities or vulnerabilities attributed to their mythological kindred.

As difficult as it may be for outsiders to understand or accept, many Otherkin take their beliefs quite seriously, and some develop elaborate spiritual belief systems around their identities. Although Otherkin are generally less socially structured, they have certain similarities to Real Vampires, and the subcultures sometimes interact with one another. Since their beliefs are very unconventional, Otherkin are often harassed online by people who think they are delusional. I'm not sure it's advisable to screw with a person who is part dragon, and maybe it's best to just live and let live anyway.

3. Fan Fic Communities

Fan fiction has been around in one form or another for decades, but has become enormous with the widespread adoption of online communities. Fan fiction at its most basic is a kind of tribute. It's when people who are fans of a particular TV show, movie, or group of characters decide to write their own stories, using their favorite characters or the fictional worlds they exist in. It's a creative hobby for many people, and there are probably thousands of individuals who take part in it. Where a hobby becomes a subculture is when it grows in scale and dedication. There are people who group closely together and form tight bonds through their mutual obsession with fan fiction.

Some fan fiction communities also have a sizable number of contributors who focus on interpersonal and romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters from the fandom so they enjoy. In fact, "50 Shades of Grey" had its origins as a series of terrible, sexually explicit fan fiction stories using characters from Twilight. Let that sink in for a moment. Despite that "live and let live" thing I mentioned earlier, if a person enjoys writing sexually explicit fan fic using underage characters, please knock it off. The Internet is already gross and scary enough.

2. Furries

The Furry Fandom is another subculture that goes back decades, with it being recognized in science fiction and fantasy circles by the early '80s. However, many people will trace its origins further back to anthropomorphic depictions of animals in cartoons decades earlier. Furries are individuals who are interested in fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics.

One thing is for sure - the Furry subculture is huge now, helped along by the Internet by the early '90s and having only gained steam since then. Individual Furries are attracted to the subculture for many different reasons, and their interests are varied. Some Furries are interested only in enjoying media using characters who fit the Furry profile and others like to build elaborate costumes to wear and socialize in with other Furries. A sizable segment of the Furry Fandom subculture also promote a sexual element to their activities, but while that sexual content is often criticized, it's not representative of every Furry. A few people in the subculture also cross over into Otherkin territory, believing that their anthropomorphic alter ego better reflects their true nature than the physical human body they inhabit.

1. Bronies

I remember the first time I heard about Bronies - male fans of "My Little Pony" who tend to range in age from teens to middle aged men. My first impression was "Thank you Internet, for unleashing another horrifying sexual fetish upon our world." Then I met a couple of Bronies in their 20s, and while they were a little odd, neither seemed like really creepy people. A couple of documentaries later, and I've come to understand the Brony subculture a little better. It seems to attract men who like the central theme of friendship and loyalty that the cartoon show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" spreads. Bronies seem to mostly interact online, but also attend local social gatherings and meet ups, and travel great distances to go to large conventions celebrating the show. Rather than being a creepy group of sexual predators or perverts, Bronies seem to be a community of teens and men who rally around positive messages from My Little Pony. Like most of the groups on this list, they may appear weird or even frightening to outsiders, but are just forming communities around shared interests that are outside of what many people would consider the mainstream.

I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of all the striped apex predators of this sub, we'd like to see a tiger flair implemented.

The cat flair just don't cut it.

submitted by Marathon_Hawk
[link] [82 comments]

Just a quick question I was womdering if you other furs could weigh in on. Im getting a commission done and I was wondering if its customary to tip at all when you get the final product?

If so, how much? The artist has had to change a couple things for me if that factors in at all.

Thanks!

submitted by kz89
[link] [11 comments]

Hey there!

I recently discovered I was a furry. I was always interested in anthro animals, but always denied that I was a furry.

The first person I told was my best friend, and she told me to take it slow, maybe don't go in public in my fur for about a month. She thought it was dangerous since I'm only 11. I took her advice, but I needed more information.

I looked all over the internet searching, "How young is too young to be a furry?" But that, unfortunately, did not give me anything. I was actually very excited when I saw that a 10 yr. old was also a furry! So, I need help coming out to my family. 

First, my mother. She's a very optimistic, open-minded person. I'm just afraid she'll think I'm into the... more 'adult' side to furries.

Second, my father. He's a more conservative person. He usually has trouble trying to understand what I'm into, and thinks that I don't like him sometimes.

Lastly, my brothers. I have 2 brothers. We'll call one Bob. He's about 14 and HATES furries (and I'm not exaggerating). He often makes fun of them and always asks me if I'm a furry. My other brother (we'll call him Jack), often makes fun of things I'm into, such as anime or Japanese culture. But honestly, if he finds out, I don't think he could care less.

Thank you for the advice~! I really need it and hopefully will soon become another member in the fandom!

~Olive the Cheshire Cat (age 11)

* * *

Hi, Olive!

Welcome to the fandom :-) You don’t need to pay membership fees; you don’t need an ID card; you just gotta like furry! So, welcome!

Papabear is seeing your dilemma more and more. The problem is that many young people under the age of 18 are learning about furries, finding it awesome, and yet there is the “adult” aspect of it. I’ll give you a brief history of why this is (more details will be in my forthcoming book).

Anthropomorphism goes back to ancient times, so it is nothing new. There are many human/animal figures in mythology and literature. Much more recently, in the early 20th century, these characters, who populated things such as comic books and early movie cartoons, were called “funny animals.” Characters like Mighty Mouse and Krazy Kat (more recently, in films like Shawn the Sheep carry on this tradition) are clearly animals but they have human characteristics such as high intelligence. These comics and cartoons were intended for children. Later, in the 1940s, we got such characters as Bugs Bunny from Warner Bros. studios who were much more human-like, and even though the cartoons were for kids, they contained a lot of adult humor, too. Anyway, back in the 1980s (jumping ahead) some cartoonists decided that they wanted even more adult-themed animal characters. They characters became anthros—much more like people, walking erect etc.—and they put them in much more adult situations that contained a lot of violence and sex. “Omaha the Cat Dancer” is one of the more important of these comic book series, and you would also see adult stories in the Albedo and other series (Albedo had mature stories but generally didn’t have sexual situations). 

Anyway, I won’t give you a longer story, but the furry fandom really evolved out of this tradition of anthro characters for the 18+ crowd. Things like furry conventions are, really, more adult oriented (though not sexually so, for the most part), though they do allow minors to attend with guardian supervision.

All that said, I need to point out that the fandom continues to evolve, and one of those steps in evolution should be to do a better job welcoming young ‘uns such as yourself into a world where they can have fun and feel safe. There are many things you can do and enjoy about being a furry that have nothing to do with the more adult aspects of it.

What you need to do with your parents is point this out to them. Many parents, once their kids say they are furry, go on the Internet and, sadly, it’s too easy to find furporn and they immediately conclude that the fandom is for sex perverts (sigh). One of the sections of my book will be devoted to how to have fun in the fandom that is G-rated.

My advice to you is to gather together information and websites that are G-rated and then explain to your parents that this is what you enjoy, that it is a hobby (I often compare it to being a Trekkie or Lord of the Rings fan), and that it is just for fun. An excellent site to show them is www.Furry4Life.org, which is pretty clean (unlike FurAffinity). Another really cool site is http://furry.today/ which regularly posts furry-related videos (clean stuff). As you explore the furry world, keep your activities transparent: that is, never hide stuff from your parents; the more they trust you that you are being honest with them and not secretive, the better it will be for you.

As for your brothers, who cares? Siblings are almost always nasty to each other at that age. It’s called “sibling rivalry,” and brothers and sisters will often pick on each other in a primitive effort to become Mom and Dad’s “favorite.” I wouldn’t waste time trying to educate them about furries because, frankly, anything you are interested in—furry or not—is potential ammunition for them to mock you. That’s what siblings do (not always, but very often).

The important thing to remember is that you are at a time in your life when you are discovering yourself. And it is more important for you to be yourself than to be a fake person who is just trying to please others, whether that is your brothers, your parents, or your friends at school.

What your furry experience will be is entirely up to you. I wish you a joyous and happy time in our community.

Bear Hugs,

Papabear

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Guest posts welcome. Tips: patch.ofurr@gmail.com.  “Anthrocon Convention steps out in full fursuits.” The New Pittsburgh Courier revisits the con with a few nice photos. Furry creative expression gets praise from an environmental, travel and style writer. Why Do We Like To Dress Up Like Animals? This introduces furries with much more insight […]

submitted by neonthewolf
[link] [42 comments]

submitted by immrpixel
[link] [11 comments]

submitted by Verok_the_Dragon
[link] [8 comments]

submitted by averylittleshark
[link] [9 comments]

I'm sick and tired of how America tries to force the idea that you're only attractive/sexy/pretty if you're super skinny or some bullshit. Fuck that, you're beautiful no matter what. No matter how you look, remember that there is someone out there who is attracted to you. Tired of bigger women living life convinced that they're ugly because they were raised with the idea. And since when the fuck are guys considered "not real men" if they are attracted to bbw/fat women??? Bullshit. Everyone here is beautiful no matter what and you all deserve to find love.

submitted by Akpil
[link] [45 comments]

I seriously doubt that I could do the entire experience justice with just words but I will try my best.

About me - I'm a 27 year old long time Lion King fan that just came back from his first furry convention - Eurofurence 21. If you want to know more just ask in the comments!

Some background - I have just finished my B.Sc and knew that I deserve a small vacation. It drives me crazy but I cannot for the life of me point out how I extremely suddenly got the idea of going to a convention. There is literally a point of time about 4 months ago that before it I didn't think much about the fandom (Though I was always a fan of anthropomorphic animals) and definitely didn't think about conventions. After this strange point of time I knew that I must go. I quickly found out that I can make it to eurofurence so I got a plane ticket and tried to book a room at the Estrel. It was obviously full by now so a quick trip to the eurofurence forum revealed that other furries are booking at the nearby hostel. I contacted them on skype and the adventure was set in motion.

In the meantime I became much more active in the fandom - Made a fursona, attempted to draw him (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16370705/), made an FA account, people were nice (A highly recurring theme in this fandom) and made some free art of him. I also made contact with other local furs.

The trip date was rapidly approaching and I started having some minor doubts after viewing the schedule. Nothing major such as cancelling the whole thing but thoughts as "Will I actually have enough to do there?" and "I won't know anyone except the 3 I'm hanging out with at the Hostel". I made a list of some places to go to just in case...

I'm waiting at the hostel lobby till my roommates arrive and incredibly fast we find things to talk about - The fandom, the convention, tabletop RPGs, video games... Everyone was hyped for the upcoming days. Tuesday arrived and we walked to the Convention center. Seeing the Eurofurence flags raised high and suiters already walking around made everyone feel good. Why exactly? You will have to come for yourself and figure it out, or maybe just keep reading. This day actually started a bit dull, we walked around admiring the atmosphere but didn't do a lot besides exchanging a few words with some people. Around lunch we got to know some more people and so started this ever growing circle of new friends and an ever growing skype group (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17451446/). This was when the convention started for me, not the opening ceremony the next day. This quickly became incredibly fun - splitting from the main group, meeting more cool people, fooling around with the suiters and then checking your phone only to be assaulted by a million messages from twitter, skype, telegram, whatsapp showing what the rest are up to and where they are.

"I'm having the time of my life and the con hasn't even started yet" I tell myself as I throw the "List of other things to do" to the nearest trashcan and replace it with the pocket con schedule. I wander into the Games Corner and find some people playing dominion. I ask to join but sadly it's the german version. No problem one of them says as he stops to translate everything and deals me a a starting deck. The opening ceremony is arriving with a typical (Or so I heard) delay. Well standing in queue is part of the EF experience I joke around as I take out a deck of cards and go show some magic to the fellow furs in the queue. From this point on my memories are a bit blurry, I run from panel to the main stage and back with part of the still growing group, high-fiving the other parts of it and complete strangers along the way. The 80's dance follows but I'm not that fond of the music so I don't stay for too long though just being there and absorbing the atmosphere is amazing.

Thursday arrives, the first official "Full" con day and probably the best one yet. I attend the "Your first convention" panel even though I saw one online before just to meet even more first timers. The Rhubarb & Cosmik show arrives and I wasn't sure what to expect as I didn't get a very strong impression during their comedy bit at the opening ceremony. These are the guests of honor, aren't they supposed to be one of the major highlights of the con that makes it special for that year? One song later and I stand corrected, the show was incredible and I can't wait for the upcoming concerts! We then enjoy Kage's story hour and head to the bar as I desperately try (And fail) to convince a fellow fox that this time I'm paying (Did I mention that furries are very nice?). We hang around till the fureoke ends much later than expected because everyone wanted to keep going.

I spend most of friday in the Dealer's den and art show. As a very new member of the fandom I was never exposed to much furry media so just browsing the den and art show showed me just how talented some of the people involved are. I buy some stuff for a friend that could not attend and sadly miss the furry hypnosis panel. I quickly find some of the gang and we had to the bandthro concert, giving all the coins in my pocket to a charity box tiger for the ?th time along the way. I am amazed as this somehow managed to top the show from yesterday. I get a little chat with Fox Amoore and we head to the fureoke.

I can't believe it but saturday arrives. We sit at the art & charity auction waiting for the staff to find Kage. The auction starts and quickly gets to one of it's highlights - a joke piece with 50% charity named "lol, tit-snail", everyone is happy that we got this thing to auction but Kage stops our fun as he refuses to call it by name - "You will have to bid at least 150 euros for me to say it" says the auctioneer as someone near the front happily shouts "One fifty" to the cheers of the crowd. The charity part of the auction arrives and people happily donate more. We then had to the charity concert which was again incredible like the rest with some hilarious songs poking fun at the fandom. After that we sadly get poor seats at the dance contest and can't view it well. The closing ceremony closes the circle with another typical delay and I suddenly realize how fast everything went by... We hold a tear as the skype talk with Rosi from Wildtierhilfe Fiel starts and emotions fly high. Cheetah closes the convention as we go dance the night away.....

It is Sunday and we head toward the Estrel for the last time this year to relax, talk about next year and how suddenly everyone wants a fursuit.

This concludes my adventure. I hope that I managed to at least give it some of the justice it deserves and I would like to personally thank to each and everyone that made this expirence as amazing as it was - My roommates, my new friends, the convention staff, the hotel staff, the attendees I didn't get to talk to and the rest of the community.

Thank you and see ya next year.

TL;DR: Ever pondered the idea of going to a convention? Just go. Don't think, don't ponder, just do it. I guarantee that you will have fun.

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