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submitted by CeresSergal
[link] [10 comments]

I've heard of a couple of friends who don't have partners in the fandom, and I was wondering how many of you would prefer your partner be involved? Is it really a huge deal, or would it just be the icing on the cake? I've never had a partner, and I'm still young, but I personally feel like I would like my SO to be in the fandom as well, probably because its a huge part of my job. What do you feel?

submitted by KaynoDragon
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Kudos if you get the reference. I would be a cylinder- I'm not straight, I'm well-rounded, and kids swing me around in mock lightsaber wars.
Furs! What would you be?

submitted by ananagramofintrigue
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer. The Stray Lamb, by Thorne Smith. NYC, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, November 1929, hardcover $2.00 (vi + 303 pages). Yarst! I referred in a recent comment here (June 15) to “Thorne Smith-ian comedy magical mayhem”, and I was asked, “Who’s Thorne Smith?” (“You don’t know how old […]

submitted by Fireflufferz
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submitted by Foxes-in-space
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One of my favorite things about the furry fandom, is the imagination of its people and the characters they create to represent themselves online, in art, or in suit and so forth. All that variety means just about any detail you can imagine can or will be used in someone's character from both a visual and narrative (backstory,etc) aspect. Naturally there are details about characters that you will eventually come to love to see, and in some cases come to dislike so much it instantly spoils a character in your eyes. I'm here to ask you /r/furry just what it is that you love and hate to see character wise. Do to wiggly meaty bits that may be part of some people's opinions, I'm marking this post NSFW.

For the sake of avoiding drama and general good tact, do NOT use other people's specific characters. This is about traits, not individual characters.

Due to the potentially controversial nature of this topic (arsehurt is always inevitable) I've posted this with a throw away account. Make of that what you will.

For me, what instantly makes me like someone's character.

Visually there's a few things that will pretty much please me right away, but the number one is serpentine tails. Not just like, long tails, but LONG tails. The sort you can coils a friend up in from head to toe and squeeze and hug on them with. Or keep them from running off. :v The closest second for visual stuff is simply being plantigrade. I don't particularly dislike digigrade, but plantigrade just seems to satisfy the "this looks believable" quality in my mind much better.

What do I like narrative wise? First I like characters who have a fairly "mundane" job or hobby that they go into great detail about and the passion of the person who owns that character shines through, like the character who has alot of automotive detail in their backstory, or blacksmithing, or painting, or playing an instrument. It's fairly mundane, but when it's presented as a core part of the character and how much it means to the player shows through, I like seeing that. Anybody can say their character is an interstellar bounty hunter and make it presentable fiction, but it's something special when the details of how that bounty hunter say plays guitar or drums, or violin in their free time and it's presented with the kind of passion that moves past straight faced fiction that I like.

The second big narrative thing is that I love cohesive world building. Most people simply put their character into our current world, or one from popular fiction, and I've nothing against that, hell I myself have three versions of my own character spread across White Wolf's settings, Star Trek, and Star Wars. But what I love seeing is people who build their own fictional universe from the ground up and define its rules, its peoples, its history and so forth. This is something that I hardly ever see simply because it's such a laborious task, but when it's done I adore it, even if it's only so-so in presentation.

And now for the dislikes, and the potential drama. Keep the fire extinguisher handy folks!

Visually, let's see. First and foremost, the number one thing that will instantly ruin any appeal a character could have had to me is tattoos on fur, particularly detailed ones. I've actually tried getting over this one, but I can't, it just violates my ability to suspend disbelief too much. Hair moves, constantly, it's shed it grows, it's impossible to draw details things on, so seeing a "tattooed" fur instantly makes me perceive them and just having human skin with a fur pattern and whatever their tattoo is on it. Dyed simple designs or warpaint or so forth that's fairly simple I can believe and accept, but intricate tattoos, no.

Second big visual thing is a two for one, rainbows and tramp stamp butt patterns. Seriously, rainbow hair or fur. Rainbow tails, rainbow eyes. Just please, stop it, seriously, it NEVER looks good(Jewelry doesn't bother me, my own character had rainbow earnings for a while till I grew out of the look). And that paw bring, heart, or ? (mars symbol single or double) on your asscheek, under your tail or above your crotch just instantly irritates me. Same thing when there's an arrow pointing toward a character's ass or boy/girl bits.

And now for the narrative ones, these are fairly simple. I don't like character clones. If someone is furry Sephiroth #6972? "but I never fought Cloud and went on to take over the world instead" I will instantly write that character off. The second big thing, and this is something I've noticed is very common with teenage furs is the ones that go full on 2edgy4U with "my mother was and angel and my father was a demon and I killed my first god when I was five, now my power is so great I can barely control it sometimes but I'm so random I don't know things might just happen" type of characters. Or the the "I look 16 but I'm really 5000 years old and ancient demon/god/angel/spirit/tree stump" stuff. It's hackneyed, it impresses no one. Stop it please.

And, well there it all is! So, now, I ask you. What do you love and hate to see in in your fellow fur's characters.

edit: Some odd formatting going on here, not sure why some parts are bolded.

submitted by SolThrow
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submitted by Verok_the_Dragon
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submitted by Foxes281
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submitted by dreamingwanderer
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submitted by Stupid_Pink_Dog
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submitted by furrythrowawayaccoun
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submitted by thecowardlyfox
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And another article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, this time about Pittsburgh's local furry community:
http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2015/07/08/Furries-nest-in-Pittsburgh-year-round/stories/201507060132

In the article, the interviewer speaks with furries Paige Ward ("Sage Firefox"), Carl K. ("R.C. Fox"), Khalil Brown, and Courtney Wagner.


One Friday a month, Pittsburgh’s Furries flock to Fernando’s Cafe on Liberty Avenue. This meetup is their second most popular, next to bowling.

Last Friday, about 20 locals were eating and talking when someone put “Le Freak” by Chic on the stereo. A few jumped up — some in fur suits, some not — and joined in a disco line.

Pittsburgh’s annual Anthrocon, which begins Thursday, draws all the attention as costumed enthusiasts suddenly appear in Downtown. But really, the Furries have never left. Active and visible year-round, the city’s Furry community provides not only an anchor for the convention but also a welcoming social environment for like-minded people — with or without fur suits.

“We’ve jokingly referred to Pittsburgh as ‘Furry Mecca,’ ” said Paige Ward, 29, of Allentown.

Ms. Ward, who works as a document custodian at BNY Mellon, wore a pair of red ears to Fernando’s. As she ate a slice of pizza, her red panda helmet looked out from the table. “Sage Firefox,” Ms. Ward’s chosen fursona (a fictional animal alter-ego), is a reflection of her personality, she said.

“For me, being a Furry is acknowledging and embracing the animal side of me,” Ms. Ward said. “I have that connection on a spiritual level with the animal I chose to represent myself.”

That connection varies from Furry to Furry.

“I’m totally human from top to bottom,” Ms. Ward said. “Within our local fandom, I know of at least three ‘therians’ — a wolf, a fox and a phylocene — and for them, their spirit is that animal, and their body does not match what their spirit says they are.”

Ms. Ward, who helps organize the local group, didn’t identify as a Furry until 2008, after she graduated from Marietta College in Ohio. Like many local Furries, she found her way into fandom through its anthropomorphic artwork.

“It’s kind of an all-or-nothing thing,” she said. “You start going, they drag you to the convention, and that’s it, you’re done.”

Around Pennsylvania, Furries congregate on one online forum, www.pa-furry.org, and a handful of Facebook and Twitter groups. Anywhere between a dozen and a hundred Furries, friends and family show up to the local events, which become more frequent in the summer.

Pittsburgh’s Furries gather outdoors in Schenley Plaza and Alameda Park (in costume), take trips to Kennywood (no costumes), and even go ice-skating (just ears and tails). Last month, around 50 marched in the Pittsburgh Pride parade, and a group participated in Midland’s July 4th parade. The scene has never been so big.

“It was more underground in the ’90s and ’00s,” said Carl K., 31, who asked that his last name not be used. “Anthrocon was our saving grace.”

When Carl — “R.C. Fox” in costume — found the fandom, it was 1997, and online forums were all they had. The very first Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend, now held annually in September or October, didn’t appear until four years later, in 2001. Now he wears his suit to Station Square, where he works as a network engineer. He’s even suited up for a Penguins game.

There’s no one way to participate, however. Of the crowd at Fernando’s, only three had full fur suits, which aren’t cheap. Carl bought his custom-made one last year for $2,500. The rest wore some combination of ears, tails, convention T-shirts, or maybe just a badge with their fursona on it.

Neither Morningside resident Khalil Brown, 21, or Highland Park resident Courtney Wagner, 22, have fur suits, but both said they found the community welcoming. Ms. Wagner said she’s been a Furry her whole life, but only realized it when she became a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

“When I found out about the fandom, it was like, yes, this is what I am.”

Dated July 8, here is an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the upcoming Anthrocon convention:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/07/08/Pittsburgh-ready-for-Furries-to-flock/stories/201507080026


Restaurants will be selling food out of dog bowls and drinks with 36-inch straws (long enough to fit under a fur suit).

With Anthrocon opening Thursday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown businesses are preparing for the nearly 6,000 Furries expected to hit town through Sunday.

Baris Budak, owner of Pizza Parma and Fernando’s Cafe, stocks up on dog bowls and straws, hires as many temps as he can afford and orders ingredients by the truckload for the Furries’ favorite lasagna wrap.

“We start shopping two weeks before,” Mr. Budak said, “Even big companies like Coke will make an exception and do an extra delivery at night.”

Fernando’s Cafe has a special place in the hearts of Furries. Its original owner. Fernando DeCarvalho, became famous in the Anthro community after he was hit in the head with a brick while defending a Furry. Now a missionary in South America, Mr. DeCervalho left the cafe to Mr. Budak, who continues to welcome them each year and renames the cafe Furryland when the convention is in town.

Mr. Budak is not the only one to benefit from Anthrocon. Since the convention moved to Pittsburgh in 2006, it has brought in $39.6 million, according to Visit Pittsburgh. It’s expected to generate $5.7 million this year, $200,000 more than last year.

Hotels also prepare for the Furry invasion. “We expect that they travel with a lot of luggage, so we have extra carts to help them on the day of arrival,” said Tim Zugger, general manager at the Downtown DoubleTree, one of eight hotels hosting Anthrocon attendees.

Only about 20 percent of attendees don the full fur suit; many choose to wear ears, a tail or just a button with a picture of their anthropomorphic alter ego, said Anthrocon board member Karl Jorgensen of Leesburg, Va.. “For the most part it’s people who develop their own characters, and each character is unique to that person,” he explained. Characters can range from wolves to dragons to bears, and, for those who don’t want to wear a fur suit, there are artists at the convention who will draw their character for pins or for posting online.

In addition to Artists Alley and the Dealers Room, where Furry memorabilia can be purchased, the convention has events ranging from the Fur Suit Olympics to a comedy show called “Whose Lion Is It Anyway?” There are also workshops where Furries can hone their acting, drawing and writing skills.

A fur suit can cost thousands of dollars, especially if it’s customized with robotic parts like wiggling ears or blinking eyes. But it gets hot in Pittsburgh in July.

“It can be exhausting and stressful to be walking around in that costume for all that time,” Mr. Jorgensen said, “They need lots of water, so we provide a headless zone for them to cool down, relax, take their heads off, take a break and rest.”

When Anthrocon’s animals aren’t roaming Downtown streets, they might be found at one of several charity events. The board chooses a different local animal-related charity each year and collects donations through raffles, auctions and poker tournaments. Last year, Anthrocon donated more than $32,000 to The National Aviary, and this year, the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society will be the beneficiary.

Mr. Budak plans to set up a cooling station with fans and barrels of bottled water for his Furry customers. He also has themed shirts, hats and dog bowls to sell during the convention, and donates $1 from every item sold to Mr. DeCarvalho’s missionary work in South America. This year’s memorabilia features a graphic of the Earth with a tail and says: “Save the Earth. It’s the only planet with chocolate, pizza and furries.”

submitted by yamicat
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submitted by jfmherokiller
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