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What does fursuiting mean to you?
16 years ago
General
My whole take on fursuiting has changed in my furry adventure which has been less than a year so far. Way back in the dark ages of the 90s when I discovered fursuiters, I, like the ill informed general public, saw them as strange individuals. It wasn't until a few years ago that I took a second look at fursuiting and discovered the creative carefree fun aspect of it and the awesome people that make the characters come alive. For a few years I sat there reading blogs and watching videos. Fursuiters were becoming celebrities to me. It never crossed my mind that I could be a fursuiter too just because something like that would have been way out of the norm for me. Then one day I just didn't care anymore and just did it. I got me a fursuit and rocked Anthrocon 2009. After that I was hooked.
Now, since I kind of hit the ground running into this fandom I really I had no idea what I was going to do. Right off the bat I didn't really have any strong connection to any fursona or anything like that. I was just some guy that had been watching for years and decided to say hi to some furries. I sketched up a yellow cat and stole the name from my car and ta da I had a fursona. Then Anthrocon was around the corner and I was dead set on being a fursuiter no matter what. Yet again I had no connection to any type of animal. All I wanted to do was wear a fursuit at Anthrocon. In a matter or an hour JD, JimmyWolf and I sketched up plans for my fursuit in a Chipotle. Ta da fursuit!
At the time I did not know what it would be like to be a fursuiter. My objective was just to have fun and be able to say to other suiters I had seen on the internet. The first time wearing a fursuit was fun but then there was this whole other feeling of being something else which was amazing. Its hard to describe but its not like your just putting some kind of Halloween costume on. Its kind of like that movie Becoming John Malkovich. Your something totally different.
I was overwhelmed with that feeling until midway of Anthrocon when I discovered something new. Fellow furs were laughing their asses off at my fursuit performance. Then this whole entertainer side of me kicked in. I was not focusing on just becoming something else, I had established a character. I then started focusing on portraying my "shedz" character. I got a real kick out of it. I actually had people crying from laughing.
Then the video analysis kicked in. At this point I was watching the video that my friends and I took while at Anthrocon. Only then did I start feeling a connection with a character and acknowledging that its actually me. Then posting my own you tube videos up there with other fursuiting videos that I watched a few years before I realized I had become a fursuiter. I was now one of them. Views and comments on my shedz character started to come in saying how they loved him. That was a great feeling.
I don't wear Shedz as much as I used to but hes never going away. He will always be the crazy nut job. I do feel a very strong connection to my Rock-it character though. He just feels more me I guess. I didn't think I would actually get really attached to any of my characters but there is something about my Rock-it suit when I look at it, I see some of the real me in there. Rock-it is probably the closest furry representation of my actual self which is amazing since I bought the suit already made and I had no input of the design. Its kinda scary cause a few friends think of Rock-it's face instead of my actual face when they hear Coopertom. Ha ha.
I find myself saying this a lot but I never imagined myself being a fursuiter. Its just one of those things that just clicked one day. I tend not over complicate, and over analyze things but why do I do it and why do I love it? Now I know deep down somewhere there has to be some kind of text book answer or theory. I don't care about that stuff. Quite frankly I doubt anything in this fandom could have a pin point answer just because it could be anything to anyone.
What does fursuiting mean to you?
Now, since I kind of hit the ground running into this fandom I really I had no idea what I was going to do. Right off the bat I didn't really have any strong connection to any fursona or anything like that. I was just some guy that had been watching for years and decided to say hi to some furries. I sketched up a yellow cat and stole the name from my car and ta da I had a fursona. Then Anthrocon was around the corner and I was dead set on being a fursuiter no matter what. Yet again I had no connection to any type of animal. All I wanted to do was wear a fursuit at Anthrocon. In a matter or an hour JD, JimmyWolf and I sketched up plans for my fursuit in a Chipotle. Ta da fursuit!
At the time I did not know what it would be like to be a fursuiter. My objective was just to have fun and be able to say to other suiters I had seen on the internet. The first time wearing a fursuit was fun but then there was this whole other feeling of being something else which was amazing. Its hard to describe but its not like your just putting some kind of Halloween costume on. Its kind of like that movie Becoming John Malkovich. Your something totally different.
I was overwhelmed with that feeling until midway of Anthrocon when I discovered something new. Fellow furs were laughing their asses off at my fursuit performance. Then this whole entertainer side of me kicked in. I was not focusing on just becoming something else, I had established a character. I then started focusing on portraying my "shedz" character. I got a real kick out of it. I actually had people crying from laughing.
Then the video analysis kicked in. At this point I was watching the video that my friends and I took while at Anthrocon. Only then did I start feeling a connection with a character and acknowledging that its actually me. Then posting my own you tube videos up there with other fursuiting videos that I watched a few years before I realized I had become a fursuiter. I was now one of them. Views and comments on my shedz character started to come in saying how they loved him. That was a great feeling.
I don't wear Shedz as much as I used to but hes never going away. He will always be the crazy nut job. I do feel a very strong connection to my Rock-it character though. He just feels more me I guess. I didn't think I would actually get really attached to any of my characters but there is something about my Rock-it suit when I look at it, I see some of the real me in there. Rock-it is probably the closest furry representation of my actual self which is amazing since I bought the suit already made and I had no input of the design. Its kinda scary cause a few friends think of Rock-it's face instead of my actual face when they hear Coopertom. Ha ha.
I find myself saying this a lot but I never imagined myself being a fursuiter. Its just one of those things that just clicked one day. I tend not over complicate, and over analyze things but why do I do it and why do I love it? Now I know deep down somewhere there has to be some kind of text book answer or theory. I don't care about that stuff. Quite frankly I doubt anything in this fandom could have a pin point answer just because it could be anything to anyone.
What does fursuiting mean to you?
Dun dun duuun!
Naa, just kidding!
What does fursuiting mean to me? Well…I have never been to a convention, nor have I ever suited. But the idea of doing it is fun though. I’m open to the idea of doing it, it does sound like fun. But, I don’t wanna get to hot in the things. That’s probably the only thing that I’d have against them really.
Fursuiting is also a chance for me to escape the problems and issues in life. I'm not my hy00man self when I wear a fursuit, I'm my characters... who don't carry the same problems that I usually have in the real world. I'll go out and do some crazy, off the wall stuff while in suit... stuff that I would have never imagine in doing before I got into all of this.
Fursuiting is my anti-drug and my escape from the real world. I can't imagine how I would be today if I didn't have this!
This is coming completely from someone who's never suited before.. but it seems like it's got two sides, kind of like you said. The 'becoming your character' part, and the 'entertainer' part. I've gone to 2 furry conventions before, and I've never really said hi to anyone or made many friends, I would just sit in the game room and walk around aimlessly, but I have a feeling that once I step into a fursuit I'll be wanting to say hi to anyone and everyone. There was a suiter on the FC news report this year that said it really well when asked why we do it:
"Because it's fun. You'd be amazed how much boundaries between people disappear when you're wearing one of these things. I bet you would let me give you a hug right now." Reporter: "I would, here, give me a hug." Fursuiter: "You see?"
It just seems like it would be a blast, especially if I was able to nail my suit down to exactly what I wanted. It seems so weird to be this interested in something so crazy, but it really gave me a boost of confidence when I saw so many other people did it.
But anyway that's my 2 cents.
I have not been fursuiting yet, but i am right smack in the middle of making a suit as we speak...so i will let you know in a couple months ;D
I go through a little ritual every time I suit up. Just help my brain transform myself into Kitt3ns.
Seriously tho, as stated above fursuiting means that shyness goes right out the window. I think maybe its an eye contact thing (or lack thereof). Its awesome walkin around in suit. I can't say I've really developed a character for my suit, but I'm definitely fond of him. Just putting the finishing touches on my ref sheet for my actual fursona (my current suit is mass-produced) so I suspect I'll be a whole bunch more attached to that suit.
I've been to 3 cons since I joined the fandom in april '09. The only one I suited at was FurFright and I was even in the fursuit parade. OMG was that a crazy experience. =3
So yea fursuiting = awesome fun.
Amen, bro!
Your "Post Con Depression" video really stuck with me, and it's taken me a few months to figure out why. I've decided it's your voice acting. I doubt that you sound exactly like that in real life, but you were able to amp it up just enough to sound both believable and outrageous. Many furry vids I'd seen up to that point were either miming or lip (?) syncing to prerecorded tracks; you were the first guy I noticed who made your own voice an integral part of the character. It's a great voice. You sound, delightfully, like you never shut up at all. When I got the idea to write a fursuiter character into my upcoming show, I linked my writing partner to your video and said "there! That's his basic essence!"
My biggest challenge with LaserWolf is to not simply take the easy way out and make him a Cooper Tom clone. Rudo's spot on about your "human acting like a wolf acting like a human" thing, and you're not even close to done mining that vein. I'll be watching to see where your explorations lead you.
Oh, and what does fursuiting mean to me? It means spending hundreds of dollars for a kickass costume that I have to loan to an actor! I'm the guy on the chocolate factory tour who has to pass up all the samples because he's on Atkins. This has gotta change at some point. Maybe Rhubarb will become a real bear?...
Cooper Tom is about six years older than me, is really into the ladies, has two of the most awesome cars on the planet, and has a day job with much more prestige than mine. I'm a gay barista who has to take the bus everywhere!
Oh, and I don't even get a headless lounge. I gotta pop the head off while everyone's lookin' right at me. So much for instilling my fans with a sense of mystery and intrigue.
Thanks a lot, pal...
I'm glad you like my voice. I go around saying I hate my voice but I actually like it. When I was a little kid I wanted to become a voice actor. Oh god, come to think of it I should dig up the old VHS tapes where I dubbed my voice on to Disney characters some 20 years ago. That would be good for a few laughs.
But yeah, I don't sound exactly like that in real life. Actually for some odd reason I use my regular voice on my fursuiter of the year video.
Its all fun and games. How can you be someone else without being you? Everyone's imagination has no limits. Personally, i love it. Its a way to express yourself without being frowned upon. I noticed that I am more open when in suit. Its all around good fun.
My character was easy to figure out. The name I chose to have it as is a long story. Just say I had my name way before my char.
Dude, your performance in fursuit at FurFright was awesome.
When I'm mascoting for the Roller Derby team, I have to maintain a certian level of kid friendly behavior naturally. Posing for pics and giving enough high paws to wear out my paws. Its all out of love. I can't imagine not being Oki, he was not my first fursona idea..belive it or not, it was a Rabbit named Sabrejack.
When I saw Oki as a head only online from ~Exdra*icon* I knew he had to be mine. (He was just up for grabs called the Coyote hybrid so I chose his name)
I also knew i wanted to document his evolution, and others seemed to like my videos too, that feeling is awesome. If I can bring a smile to someone by acting like a total idiot....so be it~Thank you Cooper, for being my friend and fellow suiter, I'm in the company of awesomness.
Fursuiting to me is to put on a suit and be who I want to be. Some people walk by and watch and they either smile or frown or react in different ways. I enjoy seeing this reaction, but the reaction is NOT because of the fursuit. Its because they realize that you are doing what you want to do.
You see, we live in a time and place where many things are censored for our protection. You hear many times its not right to do this thing,.. or to do that thing,.. and so forth, so we feel boxed in by society. Doing something this crazy sometimes is healthy for the mind and body.
Remember when you take that first step out in your fursuit theres that moment of hesitation and Bam! You're out in the open and you feel that freedom rush to your head. Thats the rush I feel when doing anything extreme, like skydiving, but less dangerous in some ways. And after that, you feel that you can do anything.
Thats what fursuiting means to me
http://www.montrealcampus.ca/images.....tion.30.11.pdf
I also see it as, who wouldn't want life to be more like a cartoon? Don't know what kind of performance I'd achieve, I'm usually quiet and self-conscious in real life, but putting on a suit, who knows what will happen.
I can easily see a fursuit in my not too distant future. Where to start though, not like a I have fursona either. I'll double check your posts to see if you answered this, but whom did you get Rock-It from?