So it's been well over a year since I last wrote a journal entry, and a shitload has happened between last October and now, but I just wanted to share my experience with the furry fandom with everyone, and how much it's effected my life.

I first became aware of furries back in 2009 after watching a beastcub video on YouTube here, and I thought it was so cool that I'd convinced myself that I wanted one really badly, even saving up a little money and telling my parents all about it; they told me to wait, for obvious reasons, and I soon forgot about it. It wasn't until a few years later, 2012 I think, that I finally learned what a furry was, and then I gingerly entered the community with very innocent eyes of a curious 17 year old. I used to go by Snowpelt (I know, creative), and she was an albino river otter, but I liked to call her an Old World Otter, it made her sound more unique than she was to me.

I spent two years as Snowpelt, popping onto fur forums every now and again, never really connecting with this half-arsed sona I'd created for myself. Then in 2014 I got into a relationship with my now ex who was very anti-furry, and that really put me off because I had loved him at the time, so hearing his horrible opinion of furries made me not want to be one.

We broke up at the beginning of 2015 and I got into another relationship with this person that I'd been getting close to, and I hid the furry thing from them for a while until it came up in conversation one time, and we actually both admitted to having an interest, so we were able to encourage each other and I went back to Snowpelt and updated her, a lot. I changed her name to Huluvoo and gave her a new look, adding blue into the mix and giving her a pouch, turning her from a regular otter into an Otteroo - an otter-kangaroo hybrid.

Fast forward a few months and I was browsing on FurBuy one night when I came across an auction for a rather strange looking thing called a Dutch Angel Dragon, which I immediately googled and found the official website. I gave it a few reads over the next day or two, while showing my boyfriend this weird new thing that I'd become obsessed with, and he loved it as much as I did. So, after a brief discussion with my parents, they encouraged me to bid on Fester the Undead Dutch Angel Dragon, who had been made by CityMutt fursuits and put up for sale. I kept a close eye on it, thinking I'd won until someone else bid, and I realised I couldn't not have this strange looking thing, so I clicked autobuy and suddenly he was all mine.

I was able to pay Fester off in two transactions and he was delivered to my house near the end of October, just in time for a convention, Belfast Film & Comic Con, where Fester made his debut, and I wore him for about 14 hours all together over the two days, which I felt pretty impressed by for my first furry outing. I learned two things during that con; 1) water was vital, and 2) I needed to get a fan to keep myself cool. I got some really cool photos with some cosplayers, and people seemed to love him, which made me feel good and gave me a little confidence boost.

Since people seemed to like him, I made him an FA page, and then I was asked if I had things like Instagram and Twitter, and I had to say no, because I'd never thought of doing that. But before I knew it, Fester had a vine account, an IG, a Twitter, and even a tumblr blog, and I've met a lot of great people across all those sorts of media.

Fester has given me the opportunity to be more active in the community, and for the last year I've been the most active because of him. He's allowed me to branch out into the fandom and try new things, find some great artists, and make some good friends. It's been a long journey, but I wouldn't change it at all, and I'd do it all again.

Don't let other people get you down, do your best and the rest will follow.