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IndyFurCon attracts Furries from far and wide this weekend
c/o GreenReaper on Flayrah, here is an article from The Indianapolis Star. It concerns this weekend's IndyFurCon.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120810/THINGSTODO/208100341/IndyFurCon-attracts-Furries-from-far-wide-weekend
When Erin LaMar met her husband, she was surrounded by animals.
People dressed like animals, anyway.
LaMar, 31, met her husband, Mike, at the inaugural IndyFurCon, Indiana's first convention of the furry fans, which celebrates a genre of entertainment featuring anthropomorphic animal characters with human characteristics.
Fans enjoy its animal-centric literature, art, film and other media. Some of them also dress up as animal characters, with costumes ranging from a simple ears-and-tail ensemble to full-body suits.
LaMar, the convention's secretary, doesn't dress in costume but made friends in the fandom after an ex-boyfriend introduced her to a group of local furries.
She was working on staff at the first convention when she met her husband-to-be. He isn't a furry either, but came with a friend to check out the event.
Although LaMar isn't a furry, she has found friends in the local furry community and at the convention itself.
"I've always kind of joked that it's like going to Disney World, but everyone gets to be the characters," she said. "I'm more there for the socialization part of it -- being able to meet new people."
Indianapolis has had a community of furries known as the Whoozfurs since around 1998, said Scott Stauffer, 29, president of Whoozfur Inc., a nonprofit organization created to manage IndyFurCon. The Whoozfur community, like most of furry fandom, is primarily online, but members also have monthly meet-ups such as cook-outs and bowling nights.
A common stereotype is that furries wear their animal costumes during sexual encounters. While a minority of furries do enjoy such interactions, many simply admire artwork featuring anthropomorphized animals or wearing costumes socially.
The majority of Whoozfurs fall into the latter category, Stauffer said, although they welcome people of all interests and preferences.
A few years ago, a group of Whoozfurs toyed with the idea of starting a convention over a pizza outing. They held the first edition of IndyFurCon in 2010, and this weekend's event will be the third annual installment.
"It's basically just like a small version of Gen Con but instead of Star Trek and Star Wars it's cartoon animals and mascots," Stauffer said.
Gen Con Indy is an Indianapolis-based gaming convention that will start Aug. 16.
IndyFurCon opens Friday at noon and runs through Sunday. It includes panels and other events, including the improv show "Whose Lion Is It Anyway?," a charity auction, and Iron Artist, a competition modeled after "Iron Chef," in which artists have one hour to create a piece incorporating a mystery item.
The staff considers eventgoers' suggestions for future conventions each year, LaMar said. People have asked for more games and entertainers, and this year the convention will offer more of those options.
The biggest draw is the Snerf War, a massive Nerf-gun battle, she said. The staff often extends the time limit each year so people can keep playing.
Attendees hail from the convention's home state and from countries like Australia and Japan, Stauffer said. The first year, 350 people came, followed by a slight increse to 376 the following year. The staff expects a crowd of about 450 this weekend.
"The furry community is very online, and they don't always get to see everybody that they know," he said. "It's a place and time for everybody to get together in one location."
Paul Crozier, a 35-year-old pharmacist, lives in Canada but has staffed IndyFurCon every year. He is director of guest relations this year.
Crozier met Stauffer and other Whoozfurs at another convention and became fast friends.
About a year after getting involved in the furry fandom, he decided to get a costume. At most furry conventions, between 20 and 25 percent of attendees have full suits, he said.
Some just aren't interested in dressing up, while others balk at the price. Partial costumes, like the one Crozier wears, can cost around $1,000, while full suits can rack up bills as high as $5,000, he said.
Crozier, a Star Trek fan, dons a Star Trek uniform along with his custom-made panda hands, feet, head and tail when he dresses as his character, Pandez Panda.
"I guess when I was in school, some people wanted to be the football player or the cheerleader. I wanted to be the mascot," he said. "I wanted to be the one psyching up the crowd."
Stauffer also has a costumed persona, or fursona. His is a tiger named Tora NightProwler.
The suits, while fun to wear, have a downside: they are furry sweatboxes.
At the convention, people can visit the Headless Lounge, where they can take off their animal heads, sit in front of a fan and gulp down water.
"Wearing a fur suit, you can burn off five pounds just by walking up a hallway," Crozier said.
Whether attendees like to dress like tigers or are just coming to see the art, IndyFurCon is open to everyone.
From people intensely involved in the fandom to those who are merely intrigued by it and want to learn more, all are welcome, LaMar said.
For many people, IndyFurCon is their first furry convention.
"We're kind of the place where people get their feet wet," she said. "We are there if you want to come and out and have a good time. If you want to see what it's about. We're not hiding."
Awesome sergal icon my mate got done.
Ohhhh Indy!
Also, this weekend (starting now) is IndyFurCon or IFC, which takes place in no-less Indianapolis, Indiana . The fun-filled weekend will put furries in the Sheraton where they will enjoy drinking, yiffing and other things that happen at cons. I hope everyone has a blast and takes lots of pics so I can see! Also for any Ham-radio (not a radio with Ham, the other kind) operators or those other machines that do radio stuff here is what IFC says: For simplex radio communcations @indyfurcon use frequency 145.480 mhz and For any @furryhams, our local repeater is 146.700.
UK fuzzbutts?
British/Canadian wuff here...I'll be backpacking in the UK soon, looks like October. I'm curious if any of the /r/furry members reside across the pond? If so, where, and would anyone be willing to get to communicating and hanging out if/when I'm in your area? Just think it'd be cool to meet some international furs :3
submitted by WinterCame87[link] [4 comments]
Finally finished my new ref, meet my new form, Jack, who is a rabbit, but not a jackrabbit :p
Fur-tastic fun for all
An article in the NewsMail, a daily newspaper serving Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia:
http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2012/08/09/fur-tastic-fun-for-all/
The article previews the first meeting of the Bundaberg furry community, to occur at the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens on Sunday.
WHAT do you get if you put a giant fox, dingo, husky, lion and rat in the same place?
The first meeting of the Bundaberg furry community.
Confused? Well taking a walk through the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens on Sunday may or may not clear things up, but either way it will be an interesting sight.
Hayden Grant (aka Bingo Fox) and Maui Warrigal will dress up in their animal fur suits this weekend with up to 10 other animal characters for an afternoon of fur suiting.
"I first heard about it 2-3 years ago," Mr Grant said.
"I found out there was a conference being held in Brisbane and went along.
"From there I was hooked; I came up with my animal persona and about six month later my Bingo Fox costume was ready."
Mr Grant said the freedom of taking on an animal persona, a fursona, was what attracted him to anthropomorphic animals with human characteristics.
"Think of talking cartoon animals, sports team mascots and you have an idea of what it's all about," he said.
"Your animal character can have a completely different personality.
"It's just a lot of fun to dress up and run around."
And the trend is also big business, especially in America.
"Conferences and meeting in America attract thousands of furries," he said.
"Costumes can cost anywhere from $500 to $5000."
Brisbane's annual furry event, RivFur, attracts up to 150 furries, while on the Gold Coast an annual event sees more than 300 come together.
And while the BundyFur group has only been in existence for about two weeks, it has already gained interest from numerous furries.
"Furries will be travelling from Brisbane and Gladstone for this event," Mr Grant said.
"It all started after Maui and I decided that we wanted to go suiting again before summer.
"Now we currently have 15 registered people that will be attending, not including their friends and family."
Bundaberg's first FurMeet will take place on Sunday at the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens from 10am-3pm.
I'm Taking Commissions!
House Pets: New Contributer
A Different Kind of Monster Battle
If you haven’t seen it so far, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters is the latest “re-imagining” of a classic product line to premier on The Hub network — in this case back in June. Kaijudo is a new version of the Duel Masters series by Wizards of the Coast (which, like The Hub, is a division of Hasbro Toys). This time around, the creators of this new show (specifically Andrew Robinson and Henry Gilroy from The Hub) wanted to have a different take on the “young kids and their fighting pet monsters” genre. The creatures of Kaijudo come to Earth from another dimension, and they can’t just be called up or sent back by the flip of a card. What’s more, our hero — a young boy named Ray, voiced by Scott Wolf) — has a special power of empathy with the monsters, and so he is very connected when they are hurt or made to suffer. According to the creators, they wanted a show where the heroes, the villains, and even the companion monsters show much more personality than shows like these have seen in the past. Have they succeeded? Find out for yourself. New episodes of Kaijudo currently air on The Hub on Saturdays at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific. Check out the official Kaijudo web page from The Hub as well.
image c. 2012 by The Hub
Western furries or Eastern furries? What's your favorite style?
A question that makes you think. Do you prefer western art of furries? Or Eastern/kemono art? I've noticed that there's some clear distinctions between them.
I prefer the kemono style over western by a bit. They look cuter. But When I draw. I try to make combination of both, but so far it's learning to the eastern style.
submitted by VentKazemaru[link] [13 comments]
FC-94 Jungle Wrestling
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/onqY9.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](http://amadeusphoenix.com/images/metaart.jpg){kind=link}
Animal Crossing: Jump Out Detailed
The folks over at Nintendo Everything have been deciphering the new details released for Animal Crossing: Jump Out, which was previously tentatively called Animal Crossing 3DS. Famitsu ran a story in this month's issue about the game which talked about the new shops and schedules for said shops in the game.
Here are the specifics from Nintendo Everything:
- Now play as the mayor- Roofs, doors, posts, fences appear to be customizable
- New furniture… including mermaid items
- New thrift shop from Lisa the alpaca
- Shoe store has been added
- As was previously confirmed, there is now a shopping mall
- This lies beyond the train tracks
Able Sisters (open 10:00 – 21:00)
- Familiar clothes shop
Museum (open 24 hours)
- Similar to previous entries
- Increase in the types of fish and fossils
- Exhibition Room included
- Museum Shop included
Gardening store (open 9:00 to 20:00)
- Seems to be run by a sloth
- First time a gardening store is in Animal Crossing
- Purchase flower seeds and tree seedlings
Raccoon housing (open 10:00 to 20:00)
- Tom Nook seems to be managing this aspect
- Take an early tent and gradually customize it into a large house
- Handle parts which decide the appearance of the house
Miscellaneous goods store (open 8:00 – 20:00)