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Last week I wrote an article titled Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert? It was written partly in response to a new definition of introvert that has cropped up in the last five years or so, where introverts are loosely defined as people who ‘gain energy’ when alone and ‘expend energy’ when around other people.

It’s a compelling way of looking at things, and it’s helped people shift books with titles like Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. The author of that book (Susan Cain) gave a TED talk exploring the idea, and it’s been loosely adapted into webcomics and other sharable media. It has been a successful meme.

People find it easy to identify as an “introvert” using this new definition. My article was about how such self-diagnosis can be harmful, but I don’t want to repeat myself here. I think that labels are important, but that some labels are damaging. (Previously, I tackled another potentially harmful label, which is also subject to rampant self-diagnosis within the furry community, in an articled titled No, You Don’t Have Asperger’s.)

In my enthusiasm to talk about labels and self-identity, I failed to define what “introvert” actually means. This article remedies that oversight, and talks about how introversion ties into the furry condition. And, yes, there is a simple one-question quiz at the end which will help you understand where you sit on the introvert-extrovert spectrum.

In general, introversion is a tendency to be internally focussed, as opposed to externally focussed. So if you are lost, consulting a map would be an introverted act, whereas asking for directions would be an extroverted act. People who are introverted can be shy (and extroverted people can be outgoing) but this is not always the case.

Modern psychology uses a personality model that originated with our good friend Karl Jung. Personalities are measured using a model called the Big Five, which considers there to be five key, measurable personality traits, one of which is Extraversion*. People fall somewhere on a spectrum, with “very introverted” and “very extroverted” at the extremes.

* Blame America Dept.: In American English (which is the basis of Big Five jargon), “extrovert” and its derivatives are spelt** with an “a”, as in “extravert”. I accept that there are spelling differences in American English (and that American English is often more logical) but why oh why change “extrovert” but not “introvert”? It makes no sense.

** Note to Americans: this is what the rest of the English-speaking universe uses instead of your provincial neologism “spelled”.

Anyway. Deep breath.

Researchers prefer the Big Five because the measured personality traits (of a single person) don’t change much with mood, time of day, or any other factor. People change in personality up to about age 30, and are pretty much fixed beyond that point. (Clinical research on personality is underway with furries as well: the International Anthropomorphic Research Project uses the Big Five.)

The Big Five has replaced Myers-Briggs as the personality model du jour, but the difference is only really important if you’re a researcher. Most people are more familiar with Myers-Briggs (that’s the one that tells you you’re INTP, or whatever), and there are a lot of simple, free, multiple-choice Myers-Briggs quizzes hosted around the internet (like here). These quizzes are reasonably useful: no substitute for an assessment by a professional, but better than, say, a quiz on OkCupid titled Which Power Ranger Are You?

None of these personality models make any reference to gaining/expending energy in social/non-social situations. The idea that an introvert, say, expends energy in social situations and then must ‘recharge’ has nothing to do with personality, as least from a scientific point of view.

We humans are social beings. Yet socializing, or even being around people, can be stressful. Non-verbal communication is a huge part of the social experience, and we rely on body language and other subtle social cues, which require mental processing and accordingly a lot of conscious and unconscious effort. It can be exhausting, and it’s worse if we’re somewhere unfamiliar, or if we’re feeling anxious. So meeting new people in a foreign place can be tiring, while watching TV at home with a close family member is usually easy.

It’s worth adding that all humans have a need to socialize, to some extent. The amount of social contact required for mental health varies from person to person. Happily, we live in a world where social contact is easy enough to find (online, for example), so it’s rarely a problem, at least among the computer literate.

The idea that we expend energy in social situations isn’t clinically meaningful, but it is useful as a tool to help us think about ourselves. There is a lot of value in thinking about ourselves and our own behaviour; this is one of the ways we grow and improve. I think that the “energy model” of socializing helps us understand our unconscious motivations (although I think that “introvert” as a label can be harmful).

We consider ourselves to be furries, which means that (for most of us) we perceive ourselves as animal-people. We create versions of ourselves from scratch, each of us with at least one (virtual) physical body and (virtual) personality. And research from the IARP (link) suggests that our furry selves are significantly different—indeed, happier and more mature—than our non-furry selves. I think that furry can be seen as an exploration of who we really are. I think that we are, collectively, doing ourselves a lot of personal and mental good.

A therapist will often use a simple personality test as a tool. This might be a Myers-Briggs test, or a question like “if you were an animal, what animal would you be?” The therapist’s intent is to get the client thinking about themselves: a follow-up question might be “what is it that attracts you to wolves?”*

* Furry joke answer: “foxes, duh”.

In a therapeutic environment, there isn’t any real value in personality profiling. The therapist doesn’t care that you’re ENTJ, or that you feel you would be a macro silver wolf centaur with thunderbolts in your fur and teardrops that taste like Irn-Bru. It’s just a conversation starter. Yet it’s a very useful tool in the therapist’s kit: therapy is a lot more than “just conversation”.

Furry gives us a framework to continually converse with ourselves. We can challenge ourselves with new ideas, we can road-test behaviour, we can think and rethink who (or what) we really are. Furry can be a kind of self-administered therapy. We can think about it ourselves (if we are feeling introverted) or we can chat with others (if we are feeling extroverted). We’re a group of very lucky animal-people.

***

Are You an Introvert? A One-Question Quiz

Question 1

Think back to a time where you emotionally reacted to a negative event. This may have been a break-up, or the death of someone close to you, or a sudden health scare. Pretend you are watching a video of yourself during this difficult time.

Watch the video and observe how you cope. Do you spend time on your own, trying to manage your thoughts? Or do you look for support from other people, in person or online?

Undoubtedly you did both. Both are always required, for all people.

If you (mostly) unplugged your internet and refused to answer your phone, you are more introverted. If you (mostly) sought help from others, you are more extroverted.

Welcome to Season 5 Episode 4 - B. In this episode we're reading your feedback on the Fringe furs discussiuon Season 5, Ep4 – Feedback - Welcome to Season 5 Episode 4 - B. In this episode we're reading your feedback on the Fringe furs discussiuon

I'm looking for someone to talk to. Just to explore my feelings about this. I don't know anyone else who is a furry.

submitted by super_weasel_
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No, we haven't disappeared! We've been here all along, just under your footpaw! Can't blame a panda or a cheetah for trying life as ultra-mini-micros for a while now, can you? Well, the good news is, now we're back to where the audio recording equipment can pick up the sounds of our voices, and we're joined by Freder this week to talk about the new macro/micro-themed magazine Loom that he's put together, as well as have a discussion about macro and micro ergonomics. And don't worry, Size Matters will always be with you... in your heart. Because we've shrunk down, invaded your blood stream, and are taking a tour! Episode 8 (2013-09-30)

hello,

I am still new to all of this, but got curious recently and not yet sure, but would like to figure out what my fursona is. Can anyone help?

submitted by yotalover
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I'm looking to buy a partial suit of a bear (surprise :P) I was hoping the good Furs of reddit could recommend a fursuit builder that is reputable, affordable, and Canadian (so I don't have to deal with customs). I would also like a builder that doesn't only do "toony" style suits.

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Okay everyone! It's time for HardCore MineCraft again! This Tuesday afternoon I'm going to be setting up a party to go in and try to survive. I'll be playing for as long as I'm still alive, or until i'm the only one left alive in our group. We'll be meeting up on Skype at around 4pm West Coast time, and starting the expedition at around 5.

If you are interested, reply to me here, leave a message, leave your Skype contact info...

Finally, get more details about the server it'self here: http://hcsmp.com/

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Trailers have begun to show up in the theaters for The Nut Job, a new animated GCI feature coming out this January. It’s based on a 2005 original animated short by director Peter Lepeniotis (Disney’s Dinosaur, Fantasia 2000) called Surly Squirrel (which you can still view on YouTube). The Nut Job tells the story of Surly (now here voiced by Will Arnett) and how he gathers together a rag-tag band of rodents with the intent of knocking over a local nut store. Needless to say, things become much more complicated — as you can see in the trailer. Interestingly, this project has been brought about almost entirely by independent studios and smaller companies. The film was produced by Toonbox Entertainment,  Red Rover International,  and Gulfstream Pictures, and is being distributed by Open Road Films.

image c. 2013 Toonbox Entertainment

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This has been a topic of curiosity running though my mind recently. I honestly have no clue if there's any sort of correlation or not. Personally, I'm not, though I've been considering it lately for ethical reasons.

Are you both a furry and a vegetarian/vegan? Does one have anything to do with the other for you? Or are you not vegetarian or vegan? And does your furry life have anything to do with that?

Honestly curious.

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This guy is my most recent sketch (a request from another site). Fire away!

qualitynot 100%guaranteedc:

edit: okay I've done more than three, and am willing to do a few more :P

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A few for the kids cubs–a week in the children’s department

Another slow week in fox-based crowdfunding, only one solidly furry project! I’ll cover Peter Is The Wolf next week. This week, briefly touching on a few visually interesting kid’s projects. Something for dragon lovers, rabbit fans, and bear buffs (the buff bear project wasn’t kid-friendly.) Remember, they have to have a childhood first if the fandom is going to ruin it later.

And then a bunch of other stuff.

Rabbit Ninja

Children’s book. There’s a type of story in kid lit, a “grass is always greener” narrative, a literary style which hit its peak in Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. The theme: Life is suffering, but someone else’s life, obviously wouldn’t be. Now in Alexander… the protagonist is pretty sure that life would be SO much better if he lived in Australia. But we cynics all know that there are problems in Australia. Drop bears, for instance.
But the main character of Jared Taylor Williams’ Rabbit Ninja is pretty sure that life would be a whole lot more awesome if he was a ninja instead of a third-grader. I don’t know how Williams is going to write himself out of that corner, because ninjas pretty much define awesome.

The author/artist has a background pretty firmly grounded in animal nonfiction, with artist credits in a double handful of books, most often about the inner lives of housepets. Rabbit Ninja seems to be his first solo project, but the art style is a confident watercolor, which balances the action of the ninjaverse with the warm, somewhat sock-scented world of a third grade boy. Take a look!

Billy Brown’s Audio Adventures

Radio Dramas. Oh, for the simple life of a Saturday Morning cartoon character, like old-school My Little Pony or Disney’s Wuzzles (anybody else remember “wuzzles?”) when the biggest crisis one faced on any given day was breaking a plate or not knowing whether you were, or weren’t, invited to Daisy’s picnic. Life is clearly more complex for Billy Brown, who has to dig frogs out of rain gutters, rescue flood victims, and take over the local mail route. (Personally, my mail service would be MUCH improved by having a bear take over.) This Kickstarter is for a new set of Billy Brown adventures, a string of 30-45 minute audio dramas played out by professional Broadway actors, lightly educational, silly without being condescending, with a strong focus on problem-solving, imagination, and above all, bears.

Hearing a bear speaking in “Froggish” is going to be the highlight of my week, I can tell already.

According to one reviewer, children’s audio dramas are a “thing” in Germany, where they’re called Hoerspiele (“hear plays”)–not just an actor reading a book, but fully produced audio plays with music, sound effects and a cast. I *do* remember that sort of story from my childhood, but it never really caught on. Apparently, kickstarter Jens Hewerer brought that tradition back from Germany to share with us benighted Statesians.

The Dragon and the Princess

Children’s book. It’s hard to say much about this, the world is not rich with hot tips about The Dragon and the Princess. I do know that TDATP‘s unreasonably-named original poster (and possibly supervillian), Logan Otto Uber, has been involved in webcomics and one swinging alphabet book, both with a cartoony and very “guy” art feel. On the one hand, he’s a kickstarter veteran with two successful projects under his belt. On the other hand, what’s he doing fronting this graceful book about sweet, delicate dragons and a perky princess? Clearly, he woke up on the pink side of the bed one morning.

Artist Mina Sanwald is clearly up to the princess challenge. She probably owns a set of color-coded hennin. And when I made the pink joke, I had no idea how pink Sanwald’s website would turn out to be. Her DeviantArt account is considerably less pink, which is a good thing, I’ve had enough fuschia for one day.

Babble, babble, get to the point. Dragons! TDATP is a charmer, a one-to-ten, ten-to-one story about a happy dragon family, which begins “One dragon egg, about to hatch…(spoiler, there’s 10 of something.) The dragon illustrations are absolutely charming, with graceful curving bodies and winning expressions, and the princess–well, we don’t get a look at her, but she looks dangerously sassy. And my thumbnails don’t do them justice. Even if you don’t have a kid, if you’re a dragon or a dragon lover, this project might be a great Christmas present for someone who does have a hatchling.

Note: Images used above are included to promote the work of crowdfunding artists, and are owned by the original creator.

New Projects

The Dragon and the Princess (Children’s Products. Ends: 10/26/2013)
A children’s book combining basic numeric literacy with elegant and graceful line-art dragons (More on The Brothers Uber‘s website)

Billy Brown’s Audio Adventures (Children’s Products. Ends: 10/27/2013)
Children’s audio dramas featuring an amiable and pretty darn cute anthro bear (Seriously, the bear is pretty cute. )

Peter Is the Wolf: Living in the Doghouse (Comics/Graphic Novels. Ends: 11/24/2013)
Web-to-Print of the Peter Is the Wolf webcomic series, manga-style, sometimes NSFW, cute and sexy werewolves.

Long-Term Parking (Film/Animation/Theater. Ends: 10/20/2013)
A bounty hunter who dies and gets mixed up with a dog on his way to heaven. Heavenly comedy ensues. (Read the opening vignet, it’s cute! )

Vicious Plush (Toys. Ends: 11/4/2013)
Angry plush monkeys, serrated stuffed kitties, and a blood-stained teddy bear. Good night, sleep tight!

Unwritten: Echoes of Twilight (Video Games. Ends: 10/28/2013)
Single-player, open world fantasy RPG with some nicely-done werewolves and bear-folk. (Now, I’m not sure the video gaming world is ready for werewolves AND bear-folk in the same game…)

Wolf: A Book, a Dream, a Legacy! (…Meh. Ends: 11/1/2013)
*Sigh* The author overshares a story that LOTS of us dorks can relate to, but passion is not a business plan is not a product… But hey, werewolf novel.

 

Art

Savage Divination: A Bestial Tarot (Ends: 10/13/2013)
Ambitious full tarot deck loaded with animal imagery by Leptailurus

Audio

Sonic and Halo Orchestral Medley (Ends: 10/6/2013)
A modest campaign for orchestral production of a Sonic: The Hedgehog “best of” medley and Halo. Most of goal covers the cost of hiring an orchestra for $2500/hour…
More of Mr Trent’s arrangements on YouTube

Wingboner’s Debut Album (Ends: 10/28/2013)
Crowdfunding for professional studio release of MLP metal band Wingboner’s debut album

Come Find Me: The Journey to Abbey Road (Ends: 11/7/2013)
Foxamoore‘s new album, now well past its goal to record at the Beatle’s “Abbey Road” studio!
Additional stretch goals to get art by Alectorfencer, professional production, more studio time, and a full orchestra!

Children’s Products

Rabbit Ninja (Ends: 10/19/2013)
A children’s book about great things: rabbits and ninjas. Oh, and life as a 3rd grader.

Jack and the Cornstalk (Ends: 10/26/2013)
Children’s book with Claymation-esque chickens spoofing “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
Why is Yoda in the publicity shots? Mysterious he is.

The Anteater That Didn’t (Ends: 11/3/2013)
In the spirit of “The Little Prince” and “The Giving Tree,” a delicately French story of anteaters and tea.

Clothing/Costumes

Hats and Hoodies by Mermade (Ends: 10/16/2013)
Hats, hoodies, and accessories by Mermade. Check out Her gallery on FA for custom and recent work!

Comics/Graphic Novels

The Complete Adventures of Carl Vol 1 (Ends: 10/5/2013)
The comic misadventures of Carl the Rabbit, brightly colored, heavily referential, and now, in one place.

Last Resort: Bound Edition and Reprint (Ends: 10/6/2013)
Volume 2 of the reality show travails of the world’s fluffiest vampire.
From an anthro-loaded webcomic, worth a tour on its own. Click around, the art style varies a lot.

The Swashbuckling Adventures of Captain Kitty (Ends: 10/19/2013)
Mostly anthro, mostly pirates, and mostly rhyming comic weirdness on the high seas
More on CaptainKittyWorld. Arrr!

Events

The Aviary: When Bird Became Woman (Ends: 10/5/2013)
a 12-gown haut couture collection of dresses inspired by birds, coming this October to San Diego.
The bluejay is pretty amazing.

F3 Con Remixed (Ends: 11/10/2013)
Fundraising for Missouri’s F3 furry con, with an 80s theme this year.

Film/Animation/Theater

Dogg Park: It’s a Ruff life (Ends: 10/9/2013)
A “scripted reality show” about talking dogs at the dog park.
This may be intentionally bad? If you like pain and humiliation, watch the video. Just watch the video anyway. The jokes just write themselves, and clearly did.

Bronies: The Movie (Ends: 10/10/2013)
A short comedy film (and possibly a webseries) about a young man “coming out” to his co-workers and girlfriend as a brony.
The video’s not bad, this may be funnier than it initially sounds!

Dawgtown (Ends: 10/20/2013)
Animated film, a pit bull’s journey in the underground dog fighting world
The stills and clips are pretty high quality, I’m reminded of “Felidae.” No way to get a DVD though (sad face).

Tabletop Games

Attack to the Pantry (Ends: 10/13/2013)
Old School Warner Bros cartoon style card game: Scoundrel animals raiding Grandma’s pantry for whatever they can carry away!
Page is mostly in, or originally in, Italian, but the sketchy concept art is fun and universal!

Pewter Ponies: Miniature Ponies for Tabletop Gaming (Ends: 10/17/2013)
On track to unlock at least 30 pony-style minatures for all your tabletop pony gaming needs!
Note: Tabletop pony miniatures is not “pony play.” Glad I corrected that.

Hockey Doggies (Ends: 10/17/2013)
A semi-educational board game putting huskies on the ice.
Sadly, from what our friends at the International Anthropomorphic Research Project tell us, anything at the intersection of “furries” and “sports” is doomed to failure…

Toys

March of the Art Dolls (Ends: 10/8/2013)
Ochoan‘s line of art dolls, a variety of expressive and wooly beasts

Dicke Katze and Friends Plush Cats (Ends: 10/9/2013)
Plush cats, very round and very startled.

Mini Plushie Ornaments (Ends: 10/18/2013)
Miniature plush versions of your variously anthro selves

Video Games

Imagination is the Only Escape (Ends: 10/17/2013)
A child creates an imaginary otherworld to escape the horrors of World War II, accompanied by a fox named Renard. An educational game for children.
Scary and beautiful Alice-in-Wonderlandy graphics and a dark story.

Web

PairofMares Productions (Ends: 10/13/2013)
Small fundraiser for materials for My Little Pony reviews podcast
This may be an “imagine the final product” project, since they’re hoping to get new artwork…still, it’s a cute little dream.

World of Pokemon (Ends: 10/28/2013)
Indiegogo relaunch of the rich and detailed “World of Pokemon” website project

Adult

Go Kemono (Ends: 10/19/2013)
Highly-produced real life fursuit/Kemono erotica in DVD and portfolio.
Apparently “straight” is an underrepresented kink : )

…Causes

The Hyena Sanctuary of North America (Ends: 10/10/2013): Help build a Texas home for the hyenas of the Berkeley hyena program!
The Last Pack (Ends: 10/15/2013): Awareness documentary about the 75 remaining “Lobo” Mexican wolves

…Coming Soon?

Feral (Coming October 1?): Graphic novel, or webcomic (unsure which) about an anthro underground fighting circuit. Strong, expressive artwork!
Terrene Odyssey (Not yet launched): The next evolution of the Terreria Tactics card game, coming soon to a Kickstarter near you!

…Just For Fun

God-Lights – Personal Interactive Lighting System (Ends: 10/16/2013): Hand-worn multicolored ravey blinky color-changing lights with customization apps. Let the oontz-oontz begin.
Game Cave V1: Fighting Junkies (Ends: 10/17/2013): Prints and comics blending classic video games and unique manga characters in a colorful and flashy parody pack.

submitted by Malificus
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