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Still Being Online
2 years ago
General
Ever realize you've been saying "what a week, huh" every three days for the better part of a year? Yeah, me too.
Overall, things for me, personally, are pretty good. I made some important life changes a few months ago, both for the sake of my health and my living situation. All have had a noticeably positive impact, which is inspiring me to make more. Aura and I celebrated our eighth anniversary in March and I love him more every day. And I have some upcoming trips to Connecticon and a brief weekend out in Nevada that are going to be a much-needed break from it all.
What's "it all?" I'm glad you asked!
A few months ago I confessed I wanted to attempt to use Twitter less, in response to the site making massive steps in the wrong direction. That plan met with mixed success, because as it turns out, it's hard to stop utilizing a site that I've become so reliant on. (Mastodon has been a pleasantly contained alternative, and while I have reservations with it, it's a good enough life raft: https://fursuits.online/@MainMandarin)
The interesting side effect this shift in enthusiasm has had, however, is even though I'm still posting regularly, I have given significantly less of a damn about the quality of what actually gets published. Twitter was the main outlet for my comedy, and garnering a following there while honing my approach to humor was win-win. Now, with people scattering to the wind and residency on the site uncertain, that appeal is crumpled into a ball and tossed out the window. So I'm not constantly crafting jokes in the back of my mind like a social set list, and instead blurting out whatever flashes into it.
What's that mean, in brief? I have been talking a lot more about the characters I want to smooch.
That might not sound like much. But it's a LOT for me.
I'm asexual. That, I'm confident in. The human body or things closely approximating it? Nah, no thanks. The vast majority of NSFW material does nothing for me, and I tend to browse with filters on because I don't care to see it. I'm a toon to my core. But I've been trying to explore the limited assortment of topics that do pique my interest, and having any element of that be public-facing is still so foreign. I'm trying to allow myself to be weirder, if only in moderation. Some friends have experienced this in real time during an RP, and I can only thank them for bearing with me. I'm primarily a goofy cartoon character, in all things, and I can assure you I've got zero plans to change that being the energy I bring first & foremost. But if you catch me talking about some risque topics, or spot some art of my characters out there with themes that seem outside my depth, bear with me- I'm learning!
And in the spirit of learning: the whole tumult and dissipation of community has made me think a lot more about this community and my place in it overall. I turned 30 a few months ago, and that means I've been a furry for nearly half my life. (Duino is getting close enough to being able to apply for a learner's permit, which is horrifying. Imagine him behind the wheel? Terror.)
It's no secret the fandom has ballooned in popularity in recent years, and a lot of the social spaces I've witness are full of teenagers or people in their early 20's. Which. in and of itself, is awesome! I'm glad we've built a place where younger people can express themselves. The resulting arguments on the "right" way to be a furry are less so, but that's going to come along with any community that gets sufficiently diverse. (If I can insert one lukewarm take on a topic I see discussed daily, it's that I think poodling/exposing skin while suiting looks lame and, to me, defeats the purpose, but I have absolutely no ability to enforce that standard on others. If you have a safety concern or otherwise find enjoyment in a way I do not, do what feels right. I have no desire to argue this point beyond that, thanks.) My thoughts have been on what I can do for this community, especially because my main outlet (Twitter jokes) is falling by the wayside.
And ultimately... I'm not sure yet. I've done a lot of self-experimentation and discovery over the past year, and I still very clearly have more to do. The answer I keep landing on is that I need to remember how it is to love creating for myself first, and then sharing that with others. I've got a couple ideas- tabletop RPG modules, stand-up comedy routines, fursuit skits... And most of all, writing.
PlotsburgPress has gathered more dust than I'd like, and I'm trying to come up with ways I can make the process less stale for myself. I don't want stuff that'll "do numbers." I think that's behind me. I just want a few people who will love it as much as I do. I want to enjoy the Making, not solely the Posting.
The most common question thrown around furry spaces lately seems to be "so where are you moving to?" And my dude? I don't know. For the time being, I'm just going to be Around.
My Telegram and Discord are both duinoduck, should you ever need to find me. But I can only reiterate, as a man much better at the internet than me once said: "Coward. I will never log off."
Overall, things for me, personally, are pretty good. I made some important life changes a few months ago, both for the sake of my health and my living situation. All have had a noticeably positive impact, which is inspiring me to make more. Aura and I celebrated our eighth anniversary in March and I love him more every day. And I have some upcoming trips to Connecticon and a brief weekend out in Nevada that are going to be a much-needed break from it all.
What's "it all?" I'm glad you asked!
A few months ago I confessed I wanted to attempt to use Twitter less, in response to the site making massive steps in the wrong direction. That plan met with mixed success, because as it turns out, it's hard to stop utilizing a site that I've become so reliant on. (Mastodon has been a pleasantly contained alternative, and while I have reservations with it, it's a good enough life raft: https://fursuits.online/@MainMandarin)
The interesting side effect this shift in enthusiasm has had, however, is even though I'm still posting regularly, I have given significantly less of a damn about the quality of what actually gets published. Twitter was the main outlet for my comedy, and garnering a following there while honing my approach to humor was win-win. Now, with people scattering to the wind and residency on the site uncertain, that appeal is crumpled into a ball and tossed out the window. So I'm not constantly crafting jokes in the back of my mind like a social set list, and instead blurting out whatever flashes into it.
What's that mean, in brief? I have been talking a lot more about the characters I want to smooch.
That might not sound like much. But it's a LOT for me.
I'm asexual. That, I'm confident in. The human body or things closely approximating it? Nah, no thanks. The vast majority of NSFW material does nothing for me, and I tend to browse with filters on because I don't care to see it. I'm a toon to my core. But I've been trying to explore the limited assortment of topics that do pique my interest, and having any element of that be public-facing is still so foreign. I'm trying to allow myself to be weirder, if only in moderation. Some friends have experienced this in real time during an RP, and I can only thank them for bearing with me. I'm primarily a goofy cartoon character, in all things, and I can assure you I've got zero plans to change that being the energy I bring first & foremost. But if you catch me talking about some risque topics, or spot some art of my characters out there with themes that seem outside my depth, bear with me- I'm learning!
And in the spirit of learning: the whole tumult and dissipation of community has made me think a lot more about this community and my place in it overall. I turned 30 a few months ago, and that means I've been a furry for nearly half my life. (Duino is getting close enough to being able to apply for a learner's permit, which is horrifying. Imagine him behind the wheel? Terror.)
It's no secret the fandom has ballooned in popularity in recent years, and a lot of the social spaces I've witness are full of teenagers or people in their early 20's. Which. in and of itself, is awesome! I'm glad we've built a place where younger people can express themselves. The resulting arguments on the "right" way to be a furry are less so, but that's going to come along with any community that gets sufficiently diverse. (If I can insert one lukewarm take on a topic I see discussed daily, it's that I think poodling/exposing skin while suiting looks lame and, to me, defeats the purpose, but I have absolutely no ability to enforce that standard on others. If you have a safety concern or otherwise find enjoyment in a way I do not, do what feels right. I have no desire to argue this point beyond that, thanks.) My thoughts have been on what I can do for this community, especially because my main outlet (Twitter jokes) is falling by the wayside.
And ultimately... I'm not sure yet. I've done a lot of self-experimentation and discovery over the past year, and I still very clearly have more to do. The answer I keep landing on is that I need to remember how it is to love creating for myself first, and then sharing that with others. I've got a couple ideas- tabletop RPG modules, stand-up comedy routines, fursuit skits... And most of all, writing.
PlotsburgPress has gathered more dust than I'd like, and I'm trying to come up with ways I can make the process less stale for myself. I don't want stuff that'll "do numbers." I think that's behind me. I just want a few people who will love it as much as I do. I want to enjoy the Making, not solely the Posting. The most common question thrown around furry spaces lately seems to be "so where are you moving to?" And my dude? I don't know. For the time being, I'm just going to be Around.
My Telegram and Discord are both duinoduck, should you ever need to find me. But I can only reiterate, as a man much better at the internet than me once said: "Coward. I will never log off."
1. Congratulations on 8 years with Aura!
2. I’m proud of how far you’ve come and I’m so happy you’re still learning about yourself.
3. Your assessment of poodling is exactly how I feel about it.
4. I look forward to keeping in touch with you, in one site or another. We toons gotta stick together. ❤️
Glad you are enjoying learning more about what ya love, I’ve had moments like that before too
(Still keeping an eye out for Plotsburg comms one of these days 👊💥)
(And you can also just ask me directly if you’d like something, I actually think working with characters other than my own would bust me out of a rut)
I know I don;t have any right to give my two cents about anything, but I do wish you the best in whatever decisions you make!
I'd definitely be intrigued to hear about a TTRPG module from you, I just love hearing about them in general really.
Also interested curious about the TTRPG modules as well. Sounds cool :)
im glad to see youre doing well ! i still remember meeting you in the early era of the furry teens forum when duino was just a little goofy guy. it's so cool to see what hes ended up becoming after years of development :]
We have come a long, LONG way since then. Staggering how long it's been since we were teens, now... but I hope you've been well too, and I'm glad to still have you around!