FA+
Shop
My Older Sister Learning More About Jaru And Furry At TFF
8 years ago
General
I let my sisters know of Jaru's existence in the summer of 2016. My younger sister was all about Jaru from the start, and even had me bring him out with me a few months later to share him with my brother-in-law, nephew, and niece. My older sister on the other hand had no reaction whatsoever. Nothing positive, nothing negative, no follow-up questions. Until a few months ago that is. (Previous journal about letting my sisters know of Jaru's existence: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7667863/ )
I was sharing about all the crazy non-stop travel I had been doing starting with FWA back in April. After sharing about an even mix of furry and non-furry travel, she said, "That reminds me. There is some sort of furry gathering here in Dallas you should check out." I told her that would be Texas Furry Fiesta. She seemed surprised I knew of it, and told me I definitely had to come down for it. When I told her I knew several of the organizers she said that I definitely had to attend and could stay at her place before and after. I jumped on the opportunity to introduce her to furry while it was still new to her and she seemed to have a positive outlook about it.
Since I knew the past and current chairs of TFF as well as other staff, I reached out to them to see if they'd like to have D Magazine do an article on TFF since my older sister is the Executive Editor. They looked into D Magazine, then said they'd love to provide press passes for them to come and check things out. I then broached the idea with my older sister, and she was all for it. The following weeks I shared bits of different aspects of the fandom with her: the wealth of creativity, how supportive the fandom is, how many with social anxieties feel more at ease, minors who figure everyone made their own suit and fearlessly start work on their own after watching YouTube totorials and do amazing work, parents who see their children blossom and learn through the fandom, bringing smiles to people as we go out and about in public, fursuit dance competitions, story telling, creating a fursonna that expresses something personal about yourself vs following someone else's creation, conventions feeling like family reunions for many, how much conventions do to support local animal related charities,....
I visited my sister for a few days before and after TFF. I was amazed at how much she had shared about Jaru with people in all circles in her life, much more than I have :P I spent the full day before TFF at the D Magazine offices and everyone there knew she was going to be covering TFF and that I was a fursuiter. Many had questions they wanted to ask me, all positive. I went out with tennis friends of hers right after TFF, and they asked me what I enjoyed about "the conference." I didn't know how to answer at first, until they mentioned Jaru, then I knew there were no secrets about it being a furry event. The following night we went over to the house of some friends of my sister, and she asked me to bring Jaru along so they could see him as well.
On my final day in Dallas, my sister asked if I would be OK with her using Jaru's name in her article and mentioning that Jaru was her brother. I said that would be fine. Minutes after she dropped me off at the airport she texted me the link to the D Magazine article. I was surprised to find out that she had done it from her point of view of finding out about this fun, goofy aspect of her brother
If you enjoy the article, please let D Magazine know you appreciated it by liking their Tweet for it at:
https://twitter.com/DMagazine/statu.....11811204640769
I was sharing about all the crazy non-stop travel I had been doing starting with FWA back in April. After sharing about an even mix of furry and non-furry travel, she said, "That reminds me. There is some sort of furry gathering here in Dallas you should check out." I told her that would be Texas Furry Fiesta. She seemed surprised I knew of it, and told me I definitely had to come down for it. When I told her I knew several of the organizers she said that I definitely had to attend and could stay at her place before and after. I jumped on the opportunity to introduce her to furry while it was still new to her and she seemed to have a positive outlook about it.
Since I knew the past and current chairs of TFF as well as other staff, I reached out to them to see if they'd like to have D Magazine do an article on TFF since my older sister is the Executive Editor. They looked into D Magazine, then said they'd love to provide press passes for them to come and check things out. I then broached the idea with my older sister, and she was all for it. The following weeks I shared bits of different aspects of the fandom with her: the wealth of creativity, how supportive the fandom is, how many with social anxieties feel more at ease, minors who figure everyone made their own suit and fearlessly start work on their own after watching YouTube totorials and do amazing work, parents who see their children blossom and learn through the fandom, bringing smiles to people as we go out and about in public, fursuit dance competitions, story telling, creating a fursonna that expresses something personal about yourself vs following someone else's creation, conventions feeling like family reunions for many, how much conventions do to support local animal related charities,....
I visited my sister for a few days before and after TFF. I was amazed at how much she had shared about Jaru with people in all circles in her life, much more than I have :P I spent the full day before TFF at the D Magazine offices and everyone there knew she was going to be covering TFF and that I was a fursuiter. Many had questions they wanted to ask me, all positive. I went out with tennis friends of hers right after TFF, and they asked me what I enjoyed about "the conference." I didn't know how to answer at first, until they mentioned Jaru, then I knew there were no secrets about it being a furry event. The following night we went over to the house of some friends of my sister, and she asked me to bring Jaru along so they could see him as well.
On my final day in Dallas, my sister asked if I would be OK with her using Jaru's name in her article and mentioning that Jaru was her brother. I said that would be fine. Minutes after she dropped me off at the airport she texted me the link to the D Magazine article. I was surprised to find out that she had done it from her point of view of finding out about this fun, goofy aspect of her brother
If you enjoy the article, please let D Magazine know you appreciated it by liking their Tweet for it at:
https://twitter.com/DMagazine/statu.....11811204640769
Haha. Silly Dingo. That's what you get for actually talking.
It's awesome that your family is so understanding, and your sister did a fantastic job with the article. Using a personal point of view was beautifully captured that sense that furries are real people with a passion for the fandom, and not just a bunch of weirdos dressing up as animals.
This passion was also captured by the way she presented the con highlights, showing that there is as much seriousness behind the fandom, as there is fun.
It is always refreshing to see how someone reacts to their first real exposure to the furry fandom.
Thanks for sharing this.