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FAU recap and "Am I really part of this community?"
6 years ago
This weekend, I decided to take a day off work and day trip to Herndon for FA United.
The con was awesome, well run and it was a blast!
I did have some issues, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the con itself or any of it's attendees. Saturday just left me with a lot of questions. Originally, my wife was going to join me and help with pictures and stuff. That fell through and I ended up going alone and outside of a few other Triangle Furs, I was in a hotel full of complete strangers. Things didn't improve when my old phone flaked out on me and I couldn't use it for pics. While interactions I had while fursuiting were good, I found myself having a really hard time socializing. Even in character, I felt like a complete stranger in an environment I'm usually most comfortable in. I have to say, I was unprepared for it. To be surrounded by so many people I shared a passion with and to simultaneously feel so alone.
Since I didn't know anyone, I was counting on events to maybe make a few new friends. The board game tourney was fun, but it was a bit fast paced and didn't leave much room for small talk and while I like what Otter Fox Games did with the "carnival" style fursuit games, it was chaos to me. Fursuit games, to me, had always been a great photo op since it was a group event. And since I didn't have a photographer, I gave up on pictures and just enjoyed the event. But again, I didn't get much of a chance to socialize.
The high point of the day, for me was seeing John Robey. Suburban Jungle was one of the 1st furry web comics I ever followed and was a big entry point into the fandom for me. It was also one of the things that inspired me to try my hand at becoming a cartoonists. At one point later in the SJ run, I even submitted a guest comic and it was used in the strip.
...but in the end, this day really left me to wonder if I am really a part of this community. I went to a few major cons and was involved in groups 10 years ago (never mind that I also ran a webcomic). Most of those people are no longer around. I genuinely feel like I'm starting over and with most of the fandom being so young, what place do I really have in it? Even at local meets, I'm usually just hanging out with the few other grey muzzles and fursuiting. I'm not depressed or disappointed, just really trying to find my place...if there is one.
The con was awesome, well run and it was a blast!
I did have some issues, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the con itself or any of it's attendees. Saturday just left me with a lot of questions. Originally, my wife was going to join me and help with pictures and stuff. That fell through and I ended up going alone and outside of a few other Triangle Furs, I was in a hotel full of complete strangers. Things didn't improve when my old phone flaked out on me and I couldn't use it for pics. While interactions I had while fursuiting were good, I found myself having a really hard time socializing. Even in character, I felt like a complete stranger in an environment I'm usually most comfortable in. I have to say, I was unprepared for it. To be surrounded by so many people I shared a passion with and to simultaneously feel so alone.
Since I didn't know anyone, I was counting on events to maybe make a few new friends. The board game tourney was fun, but it was a bit fast paced and didn't leave much room for small talk and while I like what Otter Fox Games did with the "carnival" style fursuit games, it was chaos to me. Fursuit games, to me, had always been a great photo op since it was a group event. And since I didn't have a photographer, I gave up on pictures and just enjoyed the event. But again, I didn't get much of a chance to socialize.
The high point of the day, for me was seeing John Robey. Suburban Jungle was one of the 1st furry web comics I ever followed and was a big entry point into the fandom for me. It was also one of the things that inspired me to try my hand at becoming a cartoonists. At one point later in the SJ run, I even submitted a guest comic and it was used in the strip.
...but in the end, this day really left me to wonder if I am really a part of this community. I went to a few major cons and was involved in groups 10 years ago (never mind that I also ran a webcomic). Most of those people are no longer around. I genuinely feel like I'm starting over and with most of the fandom being so young, what place do I really have in it? Even at local meets, I'm usually just hanging out with the few other grey muzzles and fursuiting. I'm not depressed or disappointed, just really trying to find my place...if there is one.
