Furry Conventions Update!

Finnigan Here:

Where in the world have I been? Around, doing furry things, going to conventions, planning a costume I'm gonna put to use this summer, and working, so I can go to more conventions, of course.





Well. My first convention I ever went to was a success and a blast. It sparked a love for the fandom that I didn't think I had. It was exciting and awesome and I didn't really want to go home! I just wanted to dance in suit.
Here's the fursuit parade for Furnal Equinox 2011


Here I am after the dancing at like 2 AM, I took off a lot of clothes and you can see my skin, but I didn't really care for dancing cause it's dark and it was hothothot in there.


And then I went to Furry Connection North, in Novi, MI. It wasn't too impressive, to be honest, needed a bit of work on the panels and stuff, but the dances were great and my friends were awesome! Here's a clip of Saturday's Dance. I'm in there somewhere.





I also have tons and tons of pictures, but I'll save them for another post.
Sadly, I am not going to Anthrocon, it's far far too expensive for me to do that. It's an idea for next year, but there's plenty of small cons I think I'd rather go to. The next Convention I will be attending will be Condition: Red in London, Ontario July 22ndish. :D

Have a good one, guys!

Finnigan and Tundru's Adventure

Finnigan and Tundru went out and adventured in Amherstburg, Ontario in the Navy Park for their first public fursuiting experience.

Song is Pee Green Bote by Fishing

Finnigan suitmaker: http://fun-fur-all.com/
* Correction: it's StormFire Studios that made Tundru's suit.http://www.stormfirestudios.ca/

Dancing on Youtube!

Finnigan Here:

Today; I'm going to show you something we all like to watch;
Furries Dancing in fursuits.

Now, I couldn't tell you why I'm so attracted to watching them dance in their suits on youtube at cons. I love watching these videos and stuff, even before I really got into the fandom.
Now I have my own suit; and now I can start making these corny youtube videos of my fursona and make her dance.

FinniFurry is now on youtube!

This is my First recorded attempt at playing Dance Central for the xBox 360 Kinect. Let me tell you; Kinect HATES fursuit masks. If I wear my paws and my tail, it's fine, but the moment I throw on my mask, it can't see a human face so it doesn't like it. It thinks it's a hand with the infrared sensor.

I also bumped into trouble with the Windows Movie Maker. Ugh, I hate that program. I wish I could get a freeware video editing program that isn't so confusing. I was pampered with iMovie back in highschool when we had to make movies. The beat is off and some of the dance moves don't quite go with the song, but I don't care, I love dancing in suit.  It was made for fun and for practice.

Don't think I will ever be as good as the most awesome UK fursuiter named Kiyo. Who's now got a new dancing buddy named Zak. :)

I love watching his videos; check 'em out!

I'm sure other suiters love to dance in suit. There are some fallbacks though. You can't do it for very long because yous tart to get really hot and sweaty, which eventually ruins your suit after longterm use and mistreatment. I don't mind it, my arms overheat in the sweater but that's it so far. I suppose I'll find out what happens when I go to the Convention Furnal Equinox and dance for hours.

There will definitely be videos of that!

Anyways; I hope you enjoyed this post!

-Finni

How Your Fursona Relates to Your Personality...

Finnigan Posting;

Today, I'm polling the furry masses. I'm asking this question:
How does Your Fursona Species Reflect Your Personality?
It's the basic fundamental building block to becoming a "furry" and finding yourself as a person. Usually when a person picks a fursona, they choose animals that best reflect themselves or what they would like to be as a person.
(Ps; this is a super long blog post)



Here's my answer:
My fursona directly relates to who I am. Her actions are the actions I would make on my own. I'm a very proud and loyal person, while still maintaining self-preservation. I'm Finnigan, the arctic wolf.
Most of us all know wolf characteristic traits. They're commonly depicted as family/pack based animals, keen hunters, adaptable, persistent, a love for the night, and a love for fun. They're strong, graceful animals that can live in the harshest conditions. These canines are easily admired, but also quickly feared because their intelligence surpasses what we think they have. Wolves are also very shy creatures, contradicting the stereotype that these animals attack humans.

Finnigan and her IRL cousin,
Sylver, the fox.

I would love to think of myself as a loyal, loving person. Family means everything to me, no matter what. Nothing was better than running as a "pack" of young children with my cousins growing up. I did have the "pack", and the dynamics that came with it, that most people wished for. Some of my best memories were from romping around with my best friends and family through the bush. Living in the country in Canada we get that option of having a whole forest/bush to ourselves, and we took full advantage of it.
Although I am proud, loud and sometimes annoying with my "ALL CAPS" talk on MSN and online. I am a very shy person if I am in a very small group, with a lot of people I don't know. I often hide behind my mate if the option is there. If there is a need for me to step up to the plate and come out of my shell, I most certainly will. Let me note, me being shy, only lasts for 20 minutes or so. Tops. I guess I'm a leader by nature. I'm able to take the lead when need be. But I'm lazy as heck, so if somebody else that was responsible wanted to take the ropes, I would be more than willing to hand over the lead.
So, uhm... That's pretty much my personality and my fursona species in a nutshell. - Finnigan, 18, Canada

Now here's what some other furs have to say:

Tundru, Dire Wolf

I'd say my fursona's personality is similar to mine though there's a lot that's different. For example, Tundru is more self confidant then I am and more dominant. So there are parts of my fursona that reflect me (such as my kind, down to earth side) but at the same time there are parts that are very different. I'd say my fursona is a combination of me and the person I want to be. Though that's the appeal isn't it? Being someone you're not?

I chose a Dire Wolf because I wanted to feel more unique. In a fandom full of grey wolves and foxes I wanted to stand out. Very few people had used Dire Wolves so I jumped on it. 

- Tundru, 22, Canada

Gallifreyan, Wolf

My Fursona best represents me because I'm a naturally social person. But only social within the family and friend circle I have. It takes me a while to trust people but when I do they become a life long friend. I'm curious and inquistive and very possessive.

- Gallifreyan, 23, England

Kei, Japanese Bobtail

When I became part of the fandom, i decided that, to chose my fursona, I'd examine the different aspects of my life, including personality, habits, likes and dislikes, etc... I chose a to be a domestic cat. More specifically, a Japanese Bobtail. My reasoning is thus: I tend to share many personality aspects with a cat, such as laziness, love of food, love of sleep, cuddling, can work well with others, but mostly independent. I also love to lay in the sun a nap. :P I chose the specific breed because of my love for Japan, which is fairly obvious, and wanted something a little more unique than a typical cat. Not many furries with cat 'sonas have a bobbed tail (like Japanese bobtails and Manx's do). I also think they're adorable.
-Kei, 21, Canada.

This is just a tidbit of what I got for responses: Click Here for More Comments on this topic!
 If you're interested in sharing a story with us; This blog allows non-followers and non-Blogspot users to Comment. After moderation they will be posted (to avoid those pesky trolls) and you can share how your fursona matches your personality! :)

Fursuiting With A Beginner;

Well; I went on a furry road trip to Oshawa, Ontario. So many lols were had and great memories were made, but something was really special about this road trip!

I came home with...

THIS!

A fursuit partial! Made by Kitty!

Instead of shipping it, we went and picked it up.

I know I am supposed to wear something baggier but I didn't pack anything of that sort so these pictures will have to do until I get a proper outfit for her. Most of my clothes are super tight so I need to actually go out and buy some larger shirts.

You can't see the tail, but it's Massive! I could likely use it as a pillow if I really wanted. But it'd ruin the fur.

Riding in the car home with two other furries was amusing, we talked about various things in the fandom. The ride home involved me in suit some of the way home waving a cars passing by. It was especially amusing when we were stuck in traffic. I hope it made people's rides a little better while we were stopped or going like 30 clicks.

 My friend Tundru just got his suit made. It's beautiful! Just look at it!

Photograph taken by/ Suit made by Stormfire Studios

He just picked his up this weekend, after a crazy weekend of furry partying with the Toronto furs for some birthdays and just to party.

We're both new to fursuiting so we'll be learning as we go along. Probably suiting together in partials around the city of Windsor, Ont! If you see us! Give us a hug! We're super friendly!

Thanks for reading this, I really appreciate the time you're taking!

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Edit: Here's another photo dump of pictures:

And then Kei hopped in my suit. :D

Taking the plunge!

So Saturday was the advent of my loss of Furginity!

I have not experienced such a euphoric and bonded feeling between a group of people in my entire life. Despite not fur suiting people wore their tails around the City centre, being the bashful creature I am I was naturally wary of being ridiculed and stared at by people... and though they did stare nothing was really said by anyone. The day went brilliantly and I am proud to be associated with these people who are now akin to family in my mind.

To meet with a group of strangfurs (hurr) and be accepted by so many friendly people, some of who I had not spoken to even online... The experience was amazing.

I took my non-Furry fiancé with me, and I will be asking him to add something to my next blog post, we’ll see if he will. After the meet we talked about how it went. I explained to him that I felt completely safe and sure that this is who I am. And while he respects me, he was still a little embarrassed at the glances and stares we attracted from others. He stayed and supported me and my choice to be myself.

A breaking moment occurred however...
A minority group of five or six young 'men' started shouting at a member of our group (no names mentioned) as we walked, based upon his image (which I will add was fairly normal to the standards of others walking around). They got closer intending to intimidate him and noticed him and a number of the group wearing tails and immediately stepped up their abuse. I and my fiancé were walking behind them, at the lead of the slower members of the group watching what they were doing. Ignorance is meant to be the best policy for these sorts of thugs, right?
Well, their verbal abuse wasn't good enough for them and one of their numbers decided to get right behind and attempt to grab the tail of the guy in our group. Despite my fiancés reservations about our image in public he and I stepped our pace up and shouldered the goon out of the way and stayed on the heels of our friend to keep them at bay. It worked and they soon hung back from us, and eventually distanced themselves.

I cannot understand how a minority group can't grasp the hypocrisy of them ridiculing someone for the way they look and how they felt it appropriate to harass someone based on something so trivial.

This sort of thing was what I was concerned about, the stigma of being 'odd' in a culture that breeds intolerance towards anything out of the ordinary. Whether that be dressing differently, wearing make-up or wearing a tail/partial fur suit.

So, will I do it again?
Of course I will.
Out of all the people in that City centre on a Saturday only one immature group of people chose to single any of us out and firstly it was not based on wearing a tail.
The group of 10-15 people I was with were more than friendly enough to make that minor blip in the day smooth out. And even the one girl who was interested in us all that came up and spoke to us about what we were doing. These things make it worth being true to yourself and being proud about it.

I may be a while before I have as much courage and pride as the people I met on Saturday but I admire them so much for it. And yes I am proud to be a Furry.

**As dear Finnigan said in her last post none of us would advocate meeting a group of people you haven’t met before under the age of 18, if you feel better take someone with you and get emergency contact numbers,

How to Entertain Furries?

How does one entertain the furry masses in their humble abode, you might ask?
Easy. Candy and good conversation. Mix in some techno and you've got a smashing good night.

As Windsor furs, me and Kei often have get-togethers with about 8 others in the area. These nights start out at a cute little Cafe and then usually migrate over to my apartment after I've "approved" who's there. I am not really one to let strangers into my apartment. Something tells me that is a terrible idea. Likely rooting back to my childhood along the lines of  "Don't talk to strangers."

Some really happy WAG furs. :D
Look at those happy faces. :3
(I blurred out faces for privacy reasons.)

Now, we are all 8+ completely different people. Most of us are college students. We are all going into different aspects. Really, our first common ground is only furries and an appreciation for animals. Some of us are in our 20's and some of us are in our teens. Trying to tend and cater to a wide demographic of people is hard when you don't know who's got what in common or what people don't like.
Our conversations really range. They could be about furry con expiriences, past meets, our new fursuits, our art, our commissions. And then you throw in real life talks about videogames, dancing, animals, food, school, home life. It's really not much different than your own group of friends, except a lot more accepting and open with eachother. While we don't really delve into eachothers secrets, we all still trust and know one another after a bit. If we come across an awkward spot, it doesn't hurt to bring up an internet meme or a viral video. Everybody loves Caturday/Lolcats.

:D Everybody loves Lolcats

If you've got a videogame system with come controllers, have a mini tourney or something along those lines. Nothing beats playing MarioKart 64! We've pulled out my SNES and played some oldschool Mariokart and had a blast doing it. We've also played bop-it. (Yes. I am a fiend for oldschool games.)

The best things about our get-togethers is the food. We eat SO much together. It's like we really do turn into a pack of wolves (with a ferret and a cat) and want to devour everything in sight.  It's a good thing we don't have these too often, otherwise I'm sure we'd all gain a few pounds.

Usually we order pizza or something along those lines to feed the pack. This time around Kei got the idea to make Candy Sushi and it turned out fantastically. We also made another attempt at mug brownies. The first attempt ended up in flames. Not quite true flames but there was definitely combustion in my microwave.

I really hope this has encouraged you to go out with a group of your Fur friends. We're really just a normal group of kids. If you're local, and you're interested in coming out to hang out, you are more than welcome to!
Windsor Furs have their own Fur affinity page. We are always welcoming new people. :)

If you're not local, have you ever thought of gathering up a few furs and going out on the town? You're likely not the only one in the city. Doesn't hurt to search! Websites like Pounced.org and FurAffinity.net and Furry4life.com are all great resources at our fingertips! if you're near an area with a Con, go to the con and try to find local furs there!

I hope this article has helped you in planning your own event. Go out and have fun with your friends! You don't know what you're missing until you try!

_____________

For obvious safety reasons: I really don't advise anybody under that age of 18 to go out and just find people off of the internet, and never go out alone. Let other people know where you're going and when you'll be back. Have a public meeting place and always exercise proper caution when meeting new people.  And Remember: being safe and bringing a parent/friend/family member is much cooler than being kidnapped. ;)

New Fur on the Block

Ruuuurrrrrrr!

I'm a Furry and my fursona's name is Gallifreyan. You can call me Galli for short.

So McFinnigan poked me to get involved with this here blog. And being more prevalent on the 'Therian' side of Furry-ness I obliged. After all, as Kei said in their blog post, we're not all sexual deviants who run off yiffing in fursuits.

Ever since I was a small child I drew animals, I loved animals and when a new film came out about animals I wanted it! The desire to see them anthropomorphised was huge and compelling and still exists to this day. Werewolf films (not anything like Twilight, ew) came into play as an adult, as did books about the subject as well as a huge array of books with anthropomorphic characters in them.

Until five or six years ago I never knew or realized other people around the globe felt similarly. I felt that this was a quirk that I should be ashamed of, conceal or cover up.

I found Therianism first on my journey to self enlightenment; websites such as Werelist taught me that as well as the admiration of animals some people often feel a kindred spirit with a certain type. Others just felt animalistic in nature. Now in no way were these people saying, "Oh hey, I'm a bear! RAWR! I shit in the woods and eat raw meat!" Nor were they saying they had a physical attraction to animals. They were quite rightly grounded in the human-camp but expressed feelings or traits similar too animals, some believing in reincarnation, some believing that their 'soul' just got mixed up along the way.

In essence what I believe is that I my original soul is something I'm not. I am human and will be until I die, but some of the quirks I have...well, frankly aren't.

The last few weeks have really expanded my view of the Furry fandom. The normal, average people who are Furrys are people in normal jobs with families and children. They are people as average as any who enjoy taking on a different form from time to time. As Kei said and I quote, "They're basically the mascot for the artist, where the artist themselves is the mascot... ".
Thats an awesome saying and view to take on it and pretty straight forward in explaining to people who are curious and open minded about the fandom.

Saying this, I've been 'involved' for years and never knew it, I denied it for long because it seemed taboo and I was scared but the last two weeks has opened my eyes to the acceptance of it, even in my local area. I'm off to my first mini-meet tomorrow to get to know more of my fellow local Furrys, me and my tail will be there proudly.

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer them via scarletpaws@hotmail.co.uk (MSN or E-mail) and I'll update after the meet :3

Hey, I'm Keioko, call me Kei (pronounced KAY, like the letter).

I'm 22 years old, taken, and an avid motorhead.

I am Canadian. Eh.

I've been a furry since I was a child. I didn't know it then, and I didn't really realize the love of animals and imitating them was "furry" behavior. A couple years ago I find out what it really was and also how taboo the entire subculture seemed, so I hid it. I was a closet furry for a couple years. I only really came out as a furry last year. With no shame and a perfect explaination and justification.

Disney may as well be furry animators. Practically every movie of theirs has some kind of talking and/or anthropomorphic animal character. So if you were a fan of Disney movies and oftentimes pretended to be an animal character from that universe, you were a furry, whether you liked it, realized it, or not.

While I do get the big deal about why the fandom is taboo, I don't understand how hard it is for people to believe someone when they say they're not in it for the eroticism. It's kind of like the difference between artists who draw tasteful, artistic nudity, and the artists who draw erotic pornography. While they're both drawing nudes, it's the content and intention of their creation/interest.

That being said,

I am the artistic nudity-artist. I draw because I love the beauty and diversity of the animal form, and like to push the limits of character design by means of colours, patterns, and type of coats (fur). I thoroughly enjoy tasteful art, and oftentimes some erotic art for the artistry and linework, not the content. And let's be honest with ourselves, you've looked at animated/cartoon erotic art and liked it.

Now that we're past the art portion of this, let's get to the BIG deal. Fursuits. It's the same concept as art. You can create them for sexual pleasure, or you can create them for the sheer joy of being creative and performing. It's not very different from sports-team mascots. They're basically the mascot for the artist, where the artist themselves is the mascot... I think that made sense.

I've always loved costume, whether it be animal-related or not. I loved to dress up as Lord of the Rings characters, or Harry Potter characters, or pirates, or video game characters. It's not a matter of what you dress up as, it's a matter of what you do while dressed up. You can start banging people dressed as a playboy bunny or cat and people will think it's cute or sexy. But if it's someone in a fursuit, its disgusting and gross.

I hate double standards. I most of all hate ignorance.

So this is a small peek into my opinions and values regarding the subject matter, and we'll delve deeper as more questions and issues pop up. So for now I'm done writing, done introducing myself and done pushing my ideals down your throat. Not really. :P

So if you've got any questions for me, let me know by commenting below.

Introductory Post

Every blog needs them; complete with promises to update often and about themselves.

I'm Finnigan but some folks call me Diffi.
I'm 18.
I'm a wolf at heart, and have always known this.
Although most furries are different, they've all still kept that want or wish to be an animal from their childhood.

If you're new to the fandom, I welcome you. You've probably been one for a long time and never realized it. Just because you don't have a tail or ears hiding in your closet doesn't mean you aren't one.
I thought that too.

I recently realized how the fandom has overrun my life.

We all played "animals" as kids. Don't deny it.
We all loved Lion King and Robin Hood.

I started poking my nose into Furcadia when I was eleven. Boy oh boy, I was in heaven! Animals that walked and talked!? Just like I always played as a kid! Awesome! And that was my addiction. For years.
Years and years there was nothing but School and Furcadia. When I didn't have internet, I found a way to talk to my friends.
Oddly enough Furcadia and Real Life Fandomers, don't really mix. I couldn't possibly tell you why. The furries I know RL will not get involved with Furcadia and the Furcadia people I know rarely ever want anything to do with Furries in their real life.
To each their own, I suppose.

Do I own a Fursuit?
I'm picking it up next week. It's made by Kitty. It's extremely afforadble. I only ordered a partial for my Finnigan suit, So there's the mask.

What am I gonna do in said fursuit?
Dance. Play. But mainly Dance. And hang about with friends. Run around town.
I hope to go more into the perfromance aspect of suiting.

Don't you know what some furries do in their suits?
I'm sorry, but that seems like a really dirty waste of $400+ to do the dirty in a suit. I mean, you get sweaty enough.

You gonna post pictures?
Yeah.

You gonna go to Furry Conventions?
Got my room booked for Furnal Equinox 2011. I waited till I moved out and got a suit, pretty much.
Also, I'm going to try to get co-authors for this blog. Guest speakers and the likes. Artists, fans, suitmakers, videos, ect, ect.
I totally intend on going to as many as my budget can handle.

I intend on getting some co-authors. Just to mix things up a bit.
Get some guest posts, statements, ect, ect.

Well That's my intro post.
Hope you enjoy!