toddlergirl talked me into starting to write more and I'm apprehensive that nopony will want to read about the daft things that occupy my thoughts, but I will try and practice and we'll see how it all goes. :3

Proposed topic: How bats get into furry fandom?

Well, I've only ever been involved in the fandom digitally. I've never attended a con or worn a suit, cons always happen too far away from my small town and I'm too poor to go gallivanting around to attend anything.

So I've always been a fan of illustration. In the late nineties after coming online, I noticed that a lot of artwork online (and yes, a lot of naughty artwork xD) was anthropomorphic in nature and that this was called "furry", and there was a community around that. I normally rather liked the artwork because I do enjoy things that are fundamentally cartoony and cute and approachable, rather than jaded or vile or everyday life.

In '97 I found a chat system called "FurryMuck" and wanted to log in, but they were very srsbzns about names. You couldn't just have any name at all (I went by "Heckler, kook of Ellington" at the time) you had to pick something that would be realistic or not distract from everyone else's RP atmosphere. So I somehow came up with "Happ", and when asked on species and such I chose for him to be a slightly cartoony fox.

I didn't do a lot with that account, but fast forward to 2004 and I'm signing up for the online environment Secondlife. (I'd read about it in a Wired article and it looked interesting..) They too want some kind of a regular-sounding name, and worst yet you have to make up a first name and then select a surname from a dropdown! Well, I figured this would be a fine time to revive the name "Happ" from Furrymuck, and settled (with probable subconscious intent, aside form the fact that every other surname looked rediculous!) on "Happ MacDonald". :3

So Happ in this environment started out looking a bit like a latino migrant worker, because I had a little bit too much fun with the avatar settings. ;3 But in SL it was too hard to navigate and communicate at the same time (switching back and forth between walking, moving camera and texting) and things loaded too slowly, too buggy. Very promising but frustrating in a practical sense.

I peeked back in every year or so, and by 2008 armed with a brand new lappy with good 3D I was able to actually begin having fun there. Among the people I met in SL and chatted with, I found that a majority of the human avatars were snarky and jaded and intolerant, while the furries I met in Luskwood were warm and kind and welcoming. So I purchased a furry avatar among those available that I felt suited me, and never bothered to look back. :3

So how did you lot all get into the fandom? Any fun stories? Also, what sort of things sound interesting to hear about from a bat in future journals, eh? ;3