It's 3am and I just got done making a new jackalope tail. The only major piece left to do is my right foot paw, then it's just a little glue here and a few details there and he'll be all set! I hope the fursuit parade is later in the day on Saturday... I wasn't able to take Friday off so part of Saturday is going to be spent traveling. Do fursuit parades typically start early or are they a late afternoon/evening sort of thing? This is my first furry con so I have no idea what to expect. All I know is that I'm putting forth a whole heck of a lot of time into redoing little Arttimo, and I definitely want to show off all my work in the parade!

Convention veterans, what should I expect from my first furry convention? Bestow upon me the fish from your vast pools of knowledge! (Preferably on rice with a little soy sauce.)

I went two years ago in my original jackalope suit (not certain how I didn't actually die doing that with the way he's made), and I'd like to go again but I'm not sure if my usual suspects (my non-furries who think furries are super awesome) are able to go. Is anyone else going? Right now my goal for finishing remaking my jackalope is Furlandia, but I can make pants in a week, no problem. Productivity!

GOT THE TIME OFF WORK
MY FIRST FURRY CON EVER

OH HELIX I AM EXCITE

Just before the four-minute mark, you can see a few seconds of my Banjo and Kazooie fursuit at Emerald City Comic Con! The videographer said "do something Banjo-like," and the shot he got was right on! I've never been in a cosplay video before, to my knowledge. It's a really well-made video, too!

Watch it here:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_weBJifKsSc

Suiting at Sakuracon for the last day... Banjo-Kazooie or Arttimo the jackalope for Easter relevancy? I can't deciiiiiide!

I ended up with a a surprise badge and can actually attend Emerald City Comic Con this weekend! I'll be in my Banjo-Kazooie Saturday morning and all of Sunday. How many of you might I run into?

Do you still draw them? Write about them? Suit them? How old are they? How have they changed over time? Did they begin life as another character entirely? How did they come to be?

Mine is Praedius, the grumpy fellow I most recently completed in fursuit form.
Praedius isn't my oldest character, but he's been around a long time and is still my most active. Those who are older than him are older by only a few months, and started life the same way he did: on neopets. The year was 2003 and neopets was in its prime... I was 17. Praedius hasn't changed his appearance since then. At all. I think he rolled his sleeves up a bit maybe. But his trademark red shirt, baggy black pants, bone necklace, and red-tipped hair (complete with green hair tie!) have remained the same for almost twelve years. His very first drawing is this one, linked directly to his winning entry in the neopets "beauty contest." I later redid this drawing in 2011. My most recent drawing of Praedius is right here on furaffinity!

He may not have changed much on the outside (aside from being drawn better over the years), but inside, I think Praedius has grown a lot. I was an antisocial, angsty, borderline goth teenager. So. A typical teenager. Praedius was all that, but was able to show it on the outside. While I remained meek and cooperative and always did what I was told, Praedius was able to tell people off and be a general asshole. I was too much of a "good kid," so Praedius was my outlet for things I couldn't do in real life. For some reason, people liked him anyway.

Over the years, he has become less angry and hateful. He puts on an air of being irritable... but I think a lot of it is him trying to keep up the image he used to have. He doesn't really feel it anymore, but he doesn't want people to know. I think he's afraid of abandoning who he used to be... because people liked him a lot back then. He's afraid of losing that. I think deep down, he's really quite lonely.

I brought Praedius to life as a fursuit because I feel like he was created as an extension of myself back in 2003. We've grown up together and have matured together. While that's more or less what a fursona is... I don't feel like I am Praedius. Praedius isn't my fursona. My fursona is a tragically underdeveloped jackalope that I'm slowly working on. Praedius is his own fursona. He's a piece of me, but separate. And he'll always be with me, even after his original form on neopets is long gone.

So tell me! Who is your oldest character?

I managed to get the day off work next Saturday, yay! Got a few alterations to make on Praedius (sock paws! because bowling in boots is a no-no), and I'll be happy to debut him at WFS19!

Who else is bowling? :D

I've been watching the Seattle Furlife group on Meetup lately hoping for an informal fursuit outing, but it seems that for the foreseeable future, it's all event-based like laser tag, conventions, or bowling (man though I sure would be at that bowling meet today if it wasn't in PORTLAND). I'm not familiar enough with the group to feel invited to house parties really, either.
I just finished my neopet fursuit and want to wear him somewhere though!

So... any Seattle-area furs interested in an informal, public fursuit gathering? Pike Place, Seattle Center or something of the like? Some touristy area where we wouldn't be terribly out of place, but where we can interact with the general populace? Those are always the outings I like best. Far as I know, it's been a while since the last one.

I don't know what goes into organizing things. I'm not a leader. But if a handful of folks are up for it, it can't be hard to say "put your paws on and meet here at this time!" It would have to be a Sunday or a Monday... I work the rest of the week.

Who would be up for it?

Still playing neopets. Still entering the beauty contest.
THIS IS HOW I ADULT YES?

So I entered the cosplay contest put on by Sakuracon at Dragonfest today. I entered as Banjo, in nearly 90-degree weather, stood around for a good long while in line with little direction, and then this suit that took a few hundred dollars and several months to build was judged on my maybe ten-second walk-on. No real judging, no talking about or inspecting of the costumes beforehand, no verification that anyone's costumes were self-made rather than commissioned or off the rack.

They gave second place to a toddler dressed as Elsa from Frozen... probably because AWW small children in costumes! ADORABLE IMIRITE?
I felt kind of cheated.

I wonder if their at-con contest is run in the same manner. I won't bother next year if it is. That's not a costume contest.

Looking forward to bowling tomorrow with all you fuzzybutts! I'm bringing Banjo instead of Arttimo this time around. Arttimo was my first suit and the vision and ventilation are both lacking. It will be nice to see while I'm bowling for once.

Who else is going?

2013 had somewhat of a creative drought for me. I drew four pictures I felt were worthy for deviantART, two of which were Zelda fanart, one a drawing for a friend, and the fourth a neopet. I made my first fursuit, worked on a second, and started a third. Two still remain unfinished. Also, I haven't logged in here since last summer.

On the other hand, it's been a fantastic year for gaming.

So... I'm following the Pokemon comics "It's a Hard Life" and "Mokepon," and together they've given me the courage to start a Nuzlocke challenge. If you don't know what a Nuzlocke is, the basic rules are that you catch the first Pokemon in each new area you come to and nothing else, and that if a Pokemon faints, it's dead and can't be used anymore (official rules say they must be released, but I'm keeping them in their own box so I can look back at the end). I'm also following the "must nickname all caught Pokemon" rule, because it creates a stronger bond with each new member of the team. There are other rules, some optional, but those are the most important.

Mine will take place within Soul Silver, which is my favorite Pokemon game. I've started with Cairo the Totodile. I'm eight hours and three badges in, having just flicked Whitney's Miltank aside at the Goldenrod Gym using Omar the Graveler. Lots of grinding has so far kept me from losing anybody. I'm keeping a written record of who I catch where, who I fight with details of the important battles, and important plot points as I go along. When I'm done, I'm going to tie it into a story of my own and maybe start on my own Nuzlocke comic, with my own jackalope fursona as the trainer (are there any furry Pokemon comics out there?).

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it...

Fursuit of Tardar Sauce (grumpy cat of internet fame). This is so happening right now. Pics forthcoming.

The fursuit in my avatar was my first attempt, was made in less than three weeks with a full-time job, and was absolutely a blast to make. I've been told he's not half bad, either! :3 I'm hoping to get some better pictures of him soon... I'm also combing the Sakura con forums for any that might surface from last weekend. Can't very well just look in a mirror to see how I look from all angles... fursuits kinda don't work that way, ha.

Anyway... seeing him chilling here in my apartment, looking exactly as I imagined he would when I started, makes me wish for an actual workspace so I can make more... but really, I don't have the proper space to make a real hobby out of fursuiting (aside from wearing 'em, because I'm going to wear the FRAK out of mine fr srs! yay!).

Then I got to wondering about art spaces and maker spaces and what that could mean for a possible future in fursuiting... one of my coworkers really would like to have a mouse fursuit, so I offered to help her make one if we could find a good place to work and she was willing to do all the buying of the materials (that stuff don't come cheap man!).

Is this something that exists? A place where fursuiters can go to make fursuits?
If not, this should be a thing. A bunch of local furs meeting up every week or a couple times a week for a few hours and just making fursuits together in a group. Learning, sharing tips, having fun and creating together.

Together... because I'm too broke to create on my own, haha!