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Testing the waters: my brother's (and aunt's) reaction
So I am visiting family that lives 40 miles (~65 km) outside of Pittsburgh this weekend. As a few of you may know, Anthrocon was this weekend at the convention center downtown sorry to bring it up. I never planned on attending since I only very recently decided to get involved with the furry community and didn't feel ready. So I hatched a plan: get as close to the convention as possible while acting completely oblivious to it.
On Saturday, I rounded up a few family members and took them down to the Strip District (right near the con). After we spent time there, I suggested a route home that went right outside the con center. They agreed! yes! my plan is working! We passed our first 'suiter. here we go. My brother was the first to chime in by saying "What is that?" and "What are you, a fox, or..?" (We were driving by with the windows up, so the fox didn't hear him). Then we saw a few more 'suiters, and my aunt said "Why are these people wearing masks and stuff? It looks like the Purge." XD I played dumb the entire time, acting like I didn't know anything about. That was all we saw that day, but I wasn't satisfied. I wanted moar!
I decided to take my brother back into Pittsburgh to do some sightseeing this morning (Sunday). After we walked around downtown some, we headed towards the con center. Round two, herewego. We turned the corner, and suddenly walked into the thick of it all, fursuiters were walking, it was bustling, the furry car show was letting out, it was like a dream. I loved it and found it very hard to keep my composure, but I again acted completely oblivious. My brother just stood still and said "What the hell is going on?" "Is this comic-con?" lol noob The rest of his commentary was somewhere along the line of "This is weird/creepy," and "Why does everyone have tails?" and "I don't understand this," and "OMG, that fox is adorable!" Okay, maybe that's what I was thinking. One thing he didn't mention was the typical "dogf*cker" or yiff argument, which made me happy that he wasn't tainted. So his reaction wasn't very positive, but he wasn't completely repulsed by it all.
This was a good experiment to gauge how my brother would react if I told him about my interest in the furry community. I might just keep it under wraps for a little longer.
Thanks everybody for not acting too wild. Your suits were awesome. I can't wait to join y'all soon!
TL;DR: In Pittsburgh while AC is happening. Bring my family outside the con to see their reaction while I acted oblivious. Reactions weren't positive, but not totally negative. Now I really want to attend.
submitted by adamc4[link] [10 comments]
I have no clue
The Furries Have Landed — And Pittsburgh Is Giving Them A Bear Hug
Here is an article about Anthrocon on the NPR website:
http://www.npr.org/2015/07/12/422311437/the-furries-have-landed-and-pittsburgh-is-giving-them-a-bear-hug
It was a warm, humid day in downtown Pittsburgh — and it was even hotter for the more than 1,400 people who were wearing animal costumes. Adults and kids trekked the city's streets wearing ears and tails, paws and full-body animal suits, much like the ones you'd see at Disneyland.
Long the butt of jokes, the worldwide population of anthropomorphic animal enthusiasts known as "furries" continues to grow. And every summer, they gather in Pittsburgh for the world's largest furry convention, dubbed Anthrocon.
Before this weekend, Anthrocon's annual "Fursuit" parade was always held indoors, open only to convention attendees. This year, though, they took it outdoors and into the public. Fans of all ages showed up.
"I love it more than anything in the freakin' world!" exults 10-year-old Mia. "There are unicorns and I'm about to be all, 'Oh, my God!' "
But what exactly is a furry?
"A furry is either a cartoon animal or a fan of cartoon animals," says Samuel Conway, Anthrocon's chairman. "We use the terms interchangeably."
OK. But is being a furry a hobby? A lifestyle?
"We create our own fandom," says Conway. "Every person here is an individual dreamer, has made their own world."
Take Vitai, a white tiger from Jacksonville, Fla. Underneath the elaborate tiger suit is David Kanaszka. He's a regular at this conference and participates in online forums. He is a furry, he says, in part because of the open-minded and accepting nature of the community.
"You can be yourself," he says. "You don't have to worry about what they're going to think of you because you're dressed up like a giant animal."
Furry conventions are held in the U.S. and around the world. Anthrocon started in Albany, N.Y., in 1997 and has been held in Pittsburgh every year since 2006. It is scheduled to continue there through at least 2021. Attendees come from more than 34 countries.
"They've embraced us, and we've embraced them right back," says Tom Loftus, with Visit Pittsburgh, the city's convention and visitors' bureau. He says the furries have had a positive impact on the city.
"From an economic standpoint this year alone, it's going to be $5.7 million in direct spending," he says.
And Anthrocon donates every year to a local animal-related charity or organization.
Still, the furries do have to battle some big misconceptions. The biggest one is that it's a sexual fetish.
"I could probably go on all day. 'I heard the furries this, I heard the furries that!' The only real statement is, 'I heard that furries are some of the most creative people on the face of the planet,' " says Conway.
But, he concedes, there is one drawback.
"Do they shed all over the hotel rooms? Yes. I'm sorry, they do."
That's not stopping Pittsburghers from talking to furries, petting them, hugging them and taking selfies with them.
But Conway cautions:
"Please don't pull the tail. It's very, very rude."
RACKED: The Fursuit of Happiness: High Fashion in Furry Fandom
http://www.racked.com/2015/7/9/8913071/inside-fursuits-anthropomorphic-cosplay-costumes
Its a very nice article.
-Dia
Need a reference sheet? I might be able to help out!
I've recently discovered the RadPanda's ultimate reference sheet, a very useful tool for giving some of my characters a more definitive look. It's totally free, very customizable and well sorted.
I understand, however, that it has it's limitations especially for people not exactly well versed in the mechanics of Photoshop. Therefore, I would like to take a few requests for using this template to help someone else give their characters a look! I've already made two sheets for some of my own characters, (99% of the line art is credit to the original artists, but I have modified them considerably).
If you have a written description for your character, (or even some visual references would be nice), please leave them in a comment and i'll see what I can whip up. Be as descriptive as you wish, but remember that there are limits to what I can do as a very inexperienced artist. Templates exist for most common species!
Tl;dr if you want a reference sheet but aren't good with Photoshop, leave a character description and i'll try my best to finnagle one up for you using a template.
PS:I really hope this doesn't violate any ToS...
Edit:RIP my free time and your expectations. I cannot promise i'll get to everyone or a date to expect stuff, so I do hope for your understanding and cooperation. I am but a lowly deer and using a pen with hooves is hard.
submitted by Shepettan_Pride[link] [56 comments]
A short message from a first-time Anthrocon attendee.
I'm a native Pittsburgh (Area) resident. I've been building costumes for an amusement park here since 2008, but have never attended Anthrocon until this weekend. It is usually the July Fourth weekend, and I'm always away, so this was a great opportunity to attend.
Thank you, everyone, for showing me such a fun time! I wore my Cheshire Cat costume from the park, and had a lot of positive comments. I learned a bunch of design elements that will help me make my costume better, and got information from vendors to source some awesome building materials. The Fursuit Parade was something magical!
Thank you, furries, for showing me how much fun you "Weirdoes" can be! Hopefully I will be able to attend Anthrocon '16, for more than the one day I had this year.
P.S. A special thanks to everyone who drew on my van, the Art Astro! You guys are awesome!
EDIT- Strange, I've never had a problem with my images not being available. I fixed it. Sorry, I don't hate ya!
submitted by Phantom_Scarecrow[link] [6 comments]
How I felt this morning after drawing til 4am :3
Are Furries Really So Bad?
Why, hello, furry friend.
Furries have spent a lot time being the butt of jokes, considered by even 4chan as perverts and serious weirdos, a seedy underbelly of the internet. But does the most maligned group online deserve such a terrible reputation? After spending three days among furries at a convention this weekend, I can confirm they are indeed huge weirdos, but they also have an endearing wholesome earnestness. And more importantly they are really, really fun.
Anthrocon is the largest furry convention in the world, held in Pittsburgh since 2005. Approximately 5,000 people attended with 1,000 of those in full fursuits. The distinction between those in fursuits and those without isn’t an accurate meter for level of dedication. The suits start around $2,000, so many who would like to wear a suit simply can’t afford it, especially younger furries in high school or college. A group of recent college grads I spoke with all wished they had suits but it wasn’t in their budgets. Meanwhile, the convention admission is a reasonable $60 for 4 days.
The Pittsburgh convention center has a main large hall for vendors of furry accessories and an “artists alley” where you can commission artists to create artworks of your furry character. In smaller rooms, there are panel discussions, meet-and-greets for groups by species, and board game rooms. There was also a talent show, dance competition, and performances by a furry acrobat from Japan. At night, a ballroom turned into a booze-free dance party.
Anthrocon vendors in the main convention hall.
People who didn’t have full costumes typically wore just a fuzzy tail or a pair of ears, and were mostly in their early 20s. Though I couldn’t see the faces of the people with full costumes, known as “fursuiters”, several furries told me they estimated that the fursuiters were about 80% male, and averaged around 21-24 years old.
I met several couples, gay and straight, who attended together. One couple, “Aphox,” a female fox, and “Balto Woof,” a male wolf, met at a previous convention while working at the sales booths in street clothes, and later started attending together in costume. “Balto Woof” works for a custom fursuit company, and had lent “Aphox” the fox costume she wore.
buzzfeed.com
Real life couple Aphox and Balto Woof.
Furry with a the tail and leather collar.
A furry named “Taiko” dressed as a german shepherd is a theatre major in college who focuses on lighting design. “I always hang around actors, but I wanted to do this because it helps me get over that stage fright stuff,” he explained. “They can’t see my face, so I feel more open.”
Taiko’s favorite part of the convention was getting such a positive reaction from Pittsburgh natives who are now familiar seeing the furries downtown each summer. Outside the hotel attached to the conference center, passing cars honked and families stopped on the sidewalk to take photos of the furries with their children.
During a panel talk about professional fursuiting (being a mascot or theme park actor), “Yippee Coyote” described his fursona: “It’s me, but more confident and outgoing. It’s me but better.” I can understand the appeal of wearing a costume for people who with social anxiety; it offers them a way of inventing a space where their comfortable acting out and showing a different side of themselves.
College student and german shepherd furry “Taiko” (in red bandana) and friends.
A cuddle puddle in the hotel lobby.
And yet the sexual deviancy hovered like a big furry elephant in the room. Though everyone I spoke to disavowed the sexual aspect, one only had to look at the artwork being produced in the artist alley to see that this it’s very real. Pornographic comic books and art prints were being sold next to scented candles and key chains. The event offers special badges for underage fans, with restrictions to entry to certain activities, like a room where people could play a card game similar to Magic the Gathering but with furry tentacle rape hentai cards.
I do believe them that the appeal is not all about the seedy underbelly of interspecies copulation. The event had a certain joyfulness and camaraderie that you don’t feel at similar “geeky” events like a comic convention or even a brony gathering. However, I’m still not convinced that it’s all as PG as some of the more upstanding members might have you believe. After all, it’s a culture that has invented the onomatopoeic term “yiff” just to describe their sexual encounters.
Artist Lapin Beau posing with the drawing I commissioned for $20 of myself as a “sexy raccoon”.
Furries taking a break from their very hot masks. Also, the guys were surprisingly hot. To keep their suits dry, they all wear Under Armor brand long johns to wick the sweat away.
Furry in training.
Fursuit parade.
CD of furry rap, with a track called “Get Your Yiff On”.
Furries posing with Pittsburgh locals outside a bar.
Furry couple heading to the elevator.
“American Idol” style judging panel for the dance competition. Some guy was dressed as Redfoo from LMFAO for some reason.
Furries posing.
Furry Burgh!
http://imageryphoto.net/2015/07/12/furry-burgh/
If you follow this blog you know that last December we returned back to Pittsburgh which we left in 1978 to find fame and fortune. Some things remain the same but Pittsburgh has changed a lot. Anthrocon (#anthrocon, #furries) is one thing that didn’t even exist when we left. It is a convention of people who like to dress in costume and fur suits of their favorite or original characters.
Anthrocon was founded in 1998 with about 500 people. The convention was in Philadelphia but moved to Pittsburgh in 2006 in search of a larger hotel and venue. The first convention in Pittsburgh attracted over 2400 people and has continued to grow each year and brings millions to the Pittsburgh ecocomny.
This year was the first year that the Fursuit Parade of over 1000 characters was in public and Pittsburghers came out in the thousands to show their support and cheer The Furries as they paraded around the convention center. I have just begun to look through all the images I took of these colorful characters but this should give you the general idea.
To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/CXaIzuy.png){kind=link}
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/65qyWHo.png){kind=link}
