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My Older Sister Learning More About Jaru And Furry At TFF
General | Posted 8 years agoI 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
Finally Letting Family Know I Am A Furry
General | Posted 9 years agoNearly a full year after letting non-furry friends know I am a furry I finally let my two sisters know of Jaru's existence (I know it is a shock, but Jaru isn't my real name and non-furry friends and family do not know me by that name .) Furry is just one of many circles in my life, and I try to keep them all healthy. I did keep furry fairly segregated, but as I've been involved in more aspects of the fandom and been bumped up to Chief of Staff for AnthrOhio I felt I should start letting friends and family know a bit about my furry side.
To read what happened last year when I let my non-furry friends meet Jaru for the first time:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6832851/
On Thursday, June 9, 2016 I went down to Lexington, Kentucky to visit some friends and help prepare for the KY Furs picnic that was going to be on Saturday. Friday, June 10th happened to be the 9th anniversary of my Mom's death. The same virus that has set up shop in the lining of my brain and has caused repeated rounds of brain damage over the years attacked my Mom's internal organs. At the time I had already moved out on my own and was living in an apartment in Columbus while my parents still lived in the house I grew up in, in Perrysburg, a suburb of Toledo. She was life-flighted from Toledo to Columbus for higher level trauma care. My Dad drove down and we were able to see and visit with her at the Ohio State University Medical Center for a bit before they took her to surgery.
Initially the hope was that once they removed her gall bladder she would recover from there. Once they got her sedated and opened her up for surgery they realized the infection was much worse than they expected, and all her organs were failing. They sewed her up and returned her to the ICU, keeping her sedated. My younger sister, Amy, arrived from Denver, Colorado, and my older sister, Kathy, from Dallas, Texas that afternoon, but after six days of operations, treatment, observation Mom passed away with all of us present but having been kept sedated the entire time and unable to be responsive to us while we had visited with her for hours each day.
When I got a call from Amy on the 9th anniversary of Mom's death she was really broken up. Normally on the anniversary she is a bit somber and reflective, but this year the date really hit her unexpectedly hard, and she was crying on the phone. We talked a while, then she asked if I was doing anything special that weekend. I told her that I was actually already down in Lexington visiting friends and preparing for a big group picnic on Saturday, not mentioning anything about furry. I told her I had brought down a bunch of lawn games for the picnic, but was not sure how much they'd be played since it was supposed to get above 95 degrees on Saturday with perfectly clear skies.
Jaru: "I really don't know how people are going to handle the heat, especially those in full fur...." <ah, what they heck, about time I let her know> "those in full fursuit."
Amy: "Those in what? I didn't catch what you said."
Jaru: "In fursuit."
Amy: <laughs a bit> "What do you mean, Fursuit? What is a fursuit?"
Jaru: <explains what a fursuit is, referencing mascots and cosplay a bit>
Amy: "That's really cool!" <silence for a bit, then laughter>
Jaru: "What's so funny?"
Amy: <intermixed with some giggling> "I got a picture in my mind of you in one of those suits, and I can't get it out of my head!"
Jaru: "Erm, well, actually,...."
Amy: "No! Really? *giggles* No, no, nooooo! No! I don't believe it! No..... *giggles*"
Jaru: "Yup, I'll be one of the people in fursuit tomorrow at the picnic!"
Amy: "Really?!?! What do you guys do? Do you rent them or borrow them?"
Jaru: "People usually have their own or borrow one from a friend. I borrowed one for two years before getting my own."
Amy: "You have your own?!?!" *fair bit of laughter as I wait for her to be able to talk again*
...
...
Amy: "I have an all new respect for you!!!"
Jaru: <stunned by this response and laughs that this is her response to this crazy revelation about her normally very conservative, traditional, not into fantasy, doesn't like to stand out, nearly 42 year old brother>
From there she asked about my fursuit, so I described Jaru to her, and mentioned his floppy ears. I gave comparisons to anime/sci-fi/treckie, etc, and uniqueness of furry usually being about your own unique character vs being true to someone else's creation, etc. She asked the name of my character, and I let her know it was "Jaru". She asked how I came up with that name, and I let her know I had found it on a map of Australian aboriginal tribes since Jaru is an Australian dingo. I also told her I liked how I could howl it out, and of course had to demonstrate:
JARUUUUUUUuuuuuuuu
That brought on another round of laughter She said she'd love to see him sometime, so I sent her a range of pictures after the picnic. I tried to call my older sister Kathy to fill her in as well, but couldn't get ahold of her and didn't want to just leave a voice mail message about Jaru, but decided to include her on the e-mail. The e-mail was simply titled "Pictures of Jaru", with a message saying "Amy got to hear a bit about Jaru, so I thought I'd share some pictures
and leave Kathy wondering what this is all about " I included seven picture of Jaru: in suit with the rest of the AnthrOhio 2016 staff at closing ceremonies, Jaru "at work" with walkie-talkie in hand during the convention, at a picnic playing croquet in full suit, by a grill with a fake dismembered foot in his mouth, on the sidewalk in downtown Columbus during a Gallery Hop, etc.
Amy's response to the e-mail: "You have no idea how much I love this! My head is exploding!"
Kathy's response to the e-mail: "So confused...."
I got to talk to Kathy on the phone shortly after that, but she did not react much at all about finding out that those were all pictures of me and that I owned the suit, and the conversation moved on to other topics.
I've been having about weekly calls with my younger sister to plan my trip to drive out to Denver to go camping with her and her family and bring out some family items. After an hour of covering that stuff she said she'd love to see Jaru's ears flop sometime. I was surprised she remembered me mentioning that, so I sent her pics where Jaru's ears were up and a clip of a YouTube video GoldenWolf had taken of Jaru flopping his ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCVGgn1Yqc&t=4m12s
This past week after chatting once again for an hour about the plans for my trip she said it would be great if I could bring Jaru with me sometime. She said my 4.5yr old nephew would love to get dressed up with me He's got a range of costumes he enjoys, but sadly has outgrown the one-piece snowsuit he had that was basically an infant fursuit, something like this:
http://d2ydh70d4b5xgv.cloudfront.ne.....b862a70f42.jpg
Amy said the only issue would be that my nephew would probably call Jaru "Chase" since he's a big fan of Paw Patrol They also have two beagles, it would be interesting to see how they react to Jaru, and I'm sure my 2.5yr old niece would find the whole situation to be quite silly I have a feeling my brother-in-law would be a bit perplexed by it all but go along with the fun
Sadly I have FAR too much to cram into my car as it is for this trip, but will have to see if I can introduce them to Jaru in person some day
To read what happened last year when I let my non-furry friends meet Jaru for the first time:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6832851/
On Thursday, June 9, 2016 I went down to Lexington, Kentucky to visit some friends and help prepare for the KY Furs picnic that was going to be on Saturday. Friday, June 10th happened to be the 9th anniversary of my Mom's death. The same virus that has set up shop in the lining of my brain and has caused repeated rounds of brain damage over the years attacked my Mom's internal organs. At the time I had already moved out on my own and was living in an apartment in Columbus while my parents still lived in the house I grew up in, in Perrysburg, a suburb of Toledo. She was life-flighted from Toledo to Columbus for higher level trauma care. My Dad drove down and we were able to see and visit with her at the Ohio State University Medical Center for a bit before they took her to surgery.
Initially the hope was that once they removed her gall bladder she would recover from there. Once they got her sedated and opened her up for surgery they realized the infection was much worse than they expected, and all her organs were failing. They sewed her up and returned her to the ICU, keeping her sedated. My younger sister, Amy, arrived from Denver, Colorado, and my older sister, Kathy, from Dallas, Texas that afternoon, but after six days of operations, treatment, observation Mom passed away with all of us present but having been kept sedated the entire time and unable to be responsive to us while we had visited with her for hours each day.
When I got a call from Amy on the 9th anniversary of Mom's death she was really broken up. Normally on the anniversary she is a bit somber and reflective, but this year the date really hit her unexpectedly hard, and she was crying on the phone. We talked a while, then she asked if I was doing anything special that weekend. I told her that I was actually already down in Lexington visiting friends and preparing for a big group picnic on Saturday, not mentioning anything about furry. I told her I had brought down a bunch of lawn games for the picnic, but was not sure how much they'd be played since it was supposed to get above 95 degrees on Saturday with perfectly clear skies.
Jaru: "I really don't know how people are going to handle the heat, especially those in full fur...." <ah, what they heck, about time I let her know> "those in full fursuit."
Amy: "Those in what? I didn't catch what you said."
Jaru: "In fursuit."
Amy: <laughs a bit> "What do you mean, Fursuit? What is a fursuit?"
Jaru: <explains what a fursuit is, referencing mascots and cosplay a bit>
Amy: "That's really cool!" <silence for a bit, then laughter>
Jaru: "What's so funny?"
Amy: <intermixed with some giggling> "I got a picture in my mind of you in one of those suits, and I can't get it out of my head!"
Jaru: "Erm, well, actually,...."
Amy: "No! Really? *giggles* No, no, nooooo! No! I don't believe it! No..... *giggles*"
Jaru: "Yup, I'll be one of the people in fursuit tomorrow at the picnic!"
Amy: "Really?!?! What do you guys do? Do you rent them or borrow them?"
Jaru: "People usually have their own or borrow one from a friend. I borrowed one for two years before getting my own."
Amy: "You have your own?!?!" *fair bit of laughter as I wait for her to be able to talk again*
...
...
Amy: "I have an all new respect for you!!!"
Jaru: <stunned by this response and laughs that this is her response to this crazy revelation about her normally very conservative, traditional, not into fantasy, doesn't like to stand out, nearly 42 year old brother>
From there she asked about my fursuit, so I described Jaru to her, and mentioned his floppy ears. I gave comparisons to anime/sci-fi/treckie, etc, and uniqueness of furry usually being about your own unique character vs being true to someone else's creation, etc. She asked the name of my character, and I let her know it was "Jaru". She asked how I came up with that name, and I let her know I had found it on a map of Australian aboriginal tribes since Jaru is an Australian dingo. I also told her I liked how I could howl it out, and of course had to demonstrate:
JARUUUUUUUuuuuuuuu
That brought on another round of laughter She said she'd love to see him sometime, so I sent her a range of pictures after the picnic. I tried to call my older sister Kathy to fill her in as well, but couldn't get ahold of her and didn't want to just leave a voice mail message about Jaru, but decided to include her on the e-mail. The e-mail was simply titled "Pictures of Jaru", with a message saying "Amy got to hear a bit about Jaru, so I thought I'd share some pictures
and leave Kathy wondering what this is all about " I included seven picture of Jaru: in suit with the rest of the AnthrOhio 2016 staff at closing ceremonies, Jaru "at work" with walkie-talkie in hand during the convention, at a picnic playing croquet in full suit, by a grill with a fake dismembered foot in his mouth, on the sidewalk in downtown Columbus during a Gallery Hop, etc.
Amy's response to the e-mail: "You have no idea how much I love this! My head is exploding!"
Kathy's response to the e-mail: "So confused...."
I got to talk to Kathy on the phone shortly after that, but she did not react much at all about finding out that those were all pictures of me and that I owned the suit, and the conversation moved on to other topics.
I've been having about weekly calls with my younger sister to plan my trip to drive out to Denver to go camping with her and her family and bring out some family items. After an hour of covering that stuff she said she'd love to see Jaru's ears flop sometime. I was surprised she remembered me mentioning that, so I sent her pics where Jaru's ears were up and a clip of a YouTube video GoldenWolf had taken of Jaru flopping his ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCVGgn1Yqc&t=4m12s
This past week after chatting once again for an hour about the plans for my trip she said it would be great if I could bring Jaru with me sometime. She said my 4.5yr old nephew would love to get dressed up with me He's got a range of costumes he enjoys, but sadly has outgrown the one-piece snowsuit he had that was basically an infant fursuit, something like this:
http://d2ydh70d4b5xgv.cloudfront.ne.....b862a70f42.jpg
Amy said the only issue would be that my nephew would probably call Jaru "Chase" since he's a big fan of Paw Patrol They also have two beagles, it would be interesting to see how they react to Jaru, and I'm sure my 2.5yr old niece would find the whole situation to be quite silly I have a feeling my brother-in-law would be a bit perplexed by it all but go along with the fun
Sadly I have FAR too much to cram into my car as it is for this trip, but will have to see if I can introduce them to Jaru in person some day
Finally Letting Non-Furry Friends Know I Am A Furry
General | Posted 10 years agoWARNING: This journal entry is extremely long, but heck, it is 10+ years in the making and the day had a lot of fun little quirks to it that I wanted to record while I remembered it all. That said, here is my tale (tail?) of how I let my close group of friends know I was a fursuiter:
After going to conventions for 10+ years I am finally opening up a bit and letting non-furry friends know I am a furry. I have attended every Morphicon since 2005 (only missed their first one in 2004 since I didn't know if it at that point), been to Furlaxation, Fur Reality, Fur Squared, suited at Ohayocon and a number of Columbus Gallery Hops, house parties, been on staff for Morphicon for a few years, etc., but never let any of my "normal" friends have any clue I was into anything furry. As I got more involved it was becoming a bit tougher, and I really did want to let them know about the fun aspects of suiting, conventions, and some of the good friends I've made through furry connections.
Normally I am a very conservative, traditional sort of guy who does not like to stand out, was never big on fantasy, haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was in 5th grade, etc, so I knew it would twist their brains to find out that I was into furry and had a fursuit of my own. It has been a few years since I have wanted to open up to them about it, but just never found the right way or time, although I did come close a few times.
In early May my friend
Iiiix had me "out" myself as a fursuiter to some of his family through Skype. I had met them before and knew they were a fun group and into dressing up and fantasy, so I wasn't too apprehensive about it. It was a lot of fun to see and hear their reactions It also made me more desirous to be able to open up to my friends about it too.
Saturday, June 6, 2015 I finally took the plunge. Two of my friends were working at Pathfinder RPG room at the Origins Game Fair (they are husband and wife, and she was working as Dungeon Master for three scenarios a day) Wednesday-Sunday at the Columbus Convention Center, right across the street from the North Market, where a bunch of furries (good mix of suiters and non-suiters) meet for the Gallery Hop along the Short North each month. As luck would have it, the Saturday of Origins happened to be a Gallery Hop Saturday
I had been spending each day with my friends at Origins. Any time they notices someone in costume they'd give compliments, and they thought it was great when one of the other dungeon masters made an entrance in a foam suit of armor. Saturday morning I took advantage of the opportunity to paint an RPG miniature for free, then took it up to the Pathfinder room to show my friends and leave it with their stuff to dry. I then managed to sneak away in the late afternoon to change into Jaru. I put my Origins badge that had my legal name on it between two of my Jaru badges, then wandered around Origins a bit, and wandered through the room where the Pathfinder games were being run. My one friend got a kick out of Jaru and called me over to get a better look, then said he was sure he know who I was. I nodded that he knew me, but he was convinced I was one of the people who had played Pathfinder before. I shook my head no. It was driving him nuts wanting to know who it was, so I showed him my Origins badge and he sat stunned for a bit with a huge grin on his face. He had to get back to his game so I left him alone, and my other friend was busy running a scenario so I didn't want to interfere and left as she tossed an imaginary ball for me to chase.
Prior to changing into Jaru a third friend who is very big into photography had been wandering the public areas of the convention center, and he also shows up to the Gallery Hop each month to take photos (for some reason I never crossed paths with him at the hops, though this year he did unwittingly stop me on a stairwell at Ohayocon to take a couple of shots of me in Jaru, but he was on the other side of the railing and by the time I came around he was gone, and I never did find him again.) I joined him for a bit at Origins, then said I was going to go into the con areas to play some games, but was going to meet some friends from out of town in front of the North Market a bit after 5:30pm and he was welcome to swing by and meet them.
After wandering through the Pathfinder room and other areas of Origins I made my way to the Vine Street garage to meet the rest of the group as they got suited up. When everyone was ready to head out I ended up being the first to round the corner to the North Market. I saw my friend sitting on the ledge and went over and sat beside him. He gave me an odd look then returned to looking at his phone. As the rest of the crew rounded the corner he asked if they were friends of mine. I responded "Uh-Huh!" in Jaru's voice, then said "And you know me too!" He looked startled and confused, then tried to stare into Jaru's eyes to see who was inside. He couldn't give a guess as to who it was inside. When I showed him my Origins badge he was completely stunned, shaking his head and saying "Nnnnooooo, it can't be!" I nodded and said "uh-huh!" Then he asked how long I had the suit. When I said "Two years!" he about fell off the ledge!
I thought he'd stick around for the group shots then go his own way, but he ended up hanging out with us for the entire walk up and back, acting as a handler at times and taking photos. He seemed to be a bit bewildered, but enjoyed it, and it was nice to have him see how non-furries reacted to us in a setting like that, interacting with people of all ages, people walking dogs, little kids, street performers, etc.
At the end of the walk my friend went back to the Hop to get more pictures of the rest of the activities while I returned to Origins, making another round through the Pathfinder room along the way. I also ended up wandering into a big room where nine simultaneous rounds of "Are You A Werewolf?" were being played. INSTANTLY everyone in the room raised a hand and pointed at me with the other, shouting "Werewolf!" and "Kill him!" I tried to explain that it was still daylight, and a werewolf would be in human form at that time of day, so obviously I was not a werewolf, but that did not seem to convince anyone. After a few photos it seemed to still be fairly chaotic so I figured it was best to leave before the moderators got too upset with me.
After wandering Origins some more and having some security guards take pictures of me with the giant blow up Mayfair sheep mascots I decided it was getting pretty late and time to head home. I swung by the Pathfinder room one more time to pick up my dry miniature. My friends were playing a scenario over in a corner of the room, so I walked over to them. My one friend tried to pretend like he still didn't know how I was, but that he enjoyed the suit and was still curious. His wife is a VERY serious player and would only give me a cursory glance now and then. I set my miniature between them on the table. She gave me a stern look and said "Where did you get that? That belongs to our friend!" I nodded. She said "That's not yours, that belongs to Jim!" I nodded again and pointed at myself. She was getting a bit aggravated and said "No, you better put that back where you found it!" Her husband couldn't hold back any more and started laughing. She asked him if he know who I was, and he said "It's Jim!" She looked at me, said "No!", looked at her husband, then back and me and repeated "No!", looked at the miniature and then back at me and again said "No!" I showed her my Origins badge and she said "It can't be!", then laughed and asked for a hug before returning to their game.
So far I have yet to get into any discussions of furry with them, but I do not foresee any issues
Photo from the Gallery Hop taken by my photographer friend who goes by his initials "klf" in photography groups:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16905120/
After going to conventions for 10+ years I am finally opening up a bit and letting non-furry friends know I am a furry. I have attended every Morphicon since 2005 (only missed their first one in 2004 since I didn't know if it at that point), been to Furlaxation, Fur Reality, Fur Squared, suited at Ohayocon and a number of Columbus Gallery Hops, house parties, been on staff for Morphicon for a few years, etc., but never let any of my "normal" friends have any clue I was into anything furry. As I got more involved it was becoming a bit tougher, and I really did want to let them know about the fun aspects of suiting, conventions, and some of the good friends I've made through furry connections.
Normally I am a very conservative, traditional sort of guy who does not like to stand out, was never big on fantasy, haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was in 5th grade, etc, so I knew it would twist their brains to find out that I was into furry and had a fursuit of my own. It has been a few years since I have wanted to open up to them about it, but just never found the right way or time, although I did come close a few times.
In early May my friend
Iiiix had me "out" myself as a fursuiter to some of his family through Skype. I had met them before and knew they were a fun group and into dressing up and fantasy, so I wasn't too apprehensive about it. It was a lot of fun to see and hear their reactions It also made me more desirous to be able to open up to my friends about it too.Saturday, June 6, 2015 I finally took the plunge. Two of my friends were working at Pathfinder RPG room at the Origins Game Fair (they are husband and wife, and she was working as Dungeon Master for three scenarios a day) Wednesday-Sunday at the Columbus Convention Center, right across the street from the North Market, where a bunch of furries (good mix of suiters and non-suiters) meet for the Gallery Hop along the Short North each month. As luck would have it, the Saturday of Origins happened to be a Gallery Hop Saturday
I had been spending each day with my friends at Origins. Any time they notices someone in costume they'd give compliments, and they thought it was great when one of the other dungeon masters made an entrance in a foam suit of armor. Saturday morning I took advantage of the opportunity to paint an RPG miniature for free, then took it up to the Pathfinder room to show my friends and leave it with their stuff to dry. I then managed to sneak away in the late afternoon to change into Jaru. I put my Origins badge that had my legal name on it between two of my Jaru badges, then wandered around Origins a bit, and wandered through the room where the Pathfinder games were being run. My one friend got a kick out of Jaru and called me over to get a better look, then said he was sure he know who I was. I nodded that he knew me, but he was convinced I was one of the people who had played Pathfinder before. I shook my head no. It was driving him nuts wanting to know who it was, so I showed him my Origins badge and he sat stunned for a bit with a huge grin on his face. He had to get back to his game so I left him alone, and my other friend was busy running a scenario so I didn't want to interfere and left as she tossed an imaginary ball for me to chase.
Prior to changing into Jaru a third friend who is very big into photography had been wandering the public areas of the convention center, and he also shows up to the Gallery Hop each month to take photos (for some reason I never crossed paths with him at the hops, though this year he did unwittingly stop me on a stairwell at Ohayocon to take a couple of shots of me in Jaru, but he was on the other side of the railing and by the time I came around he was gone, and I never did find him again.) I joined him for a bit at Origins, then said I was going to go into the con areas to play some games, but was going to meet some friends from out of town in front of the North Market a bit after 5:30pm and he was welcome to swing by and meet them.
After wandering through the Pathfinder room and other areas of Origins I made my way to the Vine Street garage to meet the rest of the group as they got suited up. When everyone was ready to head out I ended up being the first to round the corner to the North Market. I saw my friend sitting on the ledge and went over and sat beside him. He gave me an odd look then returned to looking at his phone. As the rest of the crew rounded the corner he asked if they were friends of mine. I responded "Uh-Huh!" in Jaru's voice, then said "And you know me too!" He looked startled and confused, then tried to stare into Jaru's eyes to see who was inside. He couldn't give a guess as to who it was inside. When I showed him my Origins badge he was completely stunned, shaking his head and saying "Nnnnooooo, it can't be!" I nodded and said "uh-huh!" Then he asked how long I had the suit. When I said "Two years!" he about fell off the ledge!
I thought he'd stick around for the group shots then go his own way, but he ended up hanging out with us for the entire walk up and back, acting as a handler at times and taking photos. He seemed to be a bit bewildered, but enjoyed it, and it was nice to have him see how non-furries reacted to us in a setting like that, interacting with people of all ages, people walking dogs, little kids, street performers, etc.
At the end of the walk my friend went back to the Hop to get more pictures of the rest of the activities while I returned to Origins, making another round through the Pathfinder room along the way. I also ended up wandering into a big room where nine simultaneous rounds of "Are You A Werewolf?" were being played. INSTANTLY everyone in the room raised a hand and pointed at me with the other, shouting "Werewolf!" and "Kill him!" I tried to explain that it was still daylight, and a werewolf would be in human form at that time of day, so obviously I was not a werewolf, but that did not seem to convince anyone. After a few photos it seemed to still be fairly chaotic so I figured it was best to leave before the moderators got too upset with me.
After wandering Origins some more and having some security guards take pictures of me with the giant blow up Mayfair sheep mascots I decided it was getting pretty late and time to head home. I swung by the Pathfinder room one more time to pick up my dry miniature. My friends were playing a scenario over in a corner of the room, so I walked over to them. My one friend tried to pretend like he still didn't know how I was, but that he enjoyed the suit and was still curious. His wife is a VERY serious player and would only give me a cursory glance now and then. I set my miniature between them on the table. She gave me a stern look and said "Where did you get that? That belongs to our friend!" I nodded. She said "That's not yours, that belongs to Jim!" I nodded again and pointed at myself. She was getting a bit aggravated and said "No, you better put that back where you found it!" Her husband couldn't hold back any more and started laughing. She asked him if he know who I was, and he said "It's Jim!" She looked at me, said "No!", looked at her husband, then back and me and repeated "No!", looked at the miniature and then back at me and again said "No!" I showed her my Origins badge and she said "It can't be!", then laughed and asked for a hug before returning to their game.
So far I have yet to get into any discussions of furry with them, but I do not foresee any issues
Photo from the Gallery Hop taken by my photographer friend who goes by his initials "klf" in photography groups:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16905120/
New Ohio Furs Forum!
General | Posted 12 years agoJust a quick shout-out and thank you to 
epochwolf for setting up an Ohio Furs forum to help get us Ohio furs a bit more organized and make it easier for us to find out about events and gatherings in the state Hopefully others will start putting this new site to good use and help prevent me from missing out on attending more events and meeting new friends
http://ohfurs.com
epochwolf for setting up an Ohio Furs forum to help get us Ohio furs a bit more organized and make it easier for us to find out about events and gatherings in the state Hopefully others will start putting this new site to good use and help prevent me from missing out on attending more events and meeting new friends http://ohfurs.com
Ohayocon 2014
General | Posted 12 years ago Iiiix wanted to come up for Ohayocon 2014 this past weekend and do a bit of fursuiting there, but I had heard stories of sci-fi and anime cons not being overly welcoming of furries since they felt they were outside their target, and that several times there was outright hostility against furries. After asking around a bit, I got mixed reports about past experiences at Ohayocon, in particular with Ohayocon staff trying to dissuade furries from suiting up, being very strict about requiring suiters having a handler, etc.Sadly a couple of other people we were hoping to go with were not able to make it, but we went over Friday night to check in while still in street clothes and get the lay of the land before possibly going in partials on Saturday. We came across a few suiters, and they said that so far this year staff had not bothered them at all, and they were getting positive responses from the other con-goers.
Iiiix and I went over in partial Saturday morning (after getting some fresh donuts, as anyone who knows Iiiix would expect.) I'm glad that we had checked things out on Friday since the layout of the Columbus Convention Center is fairly complex and it is easy to get turned around with the limited vision and all the people moving around. Even though we did not have a handler we had no issues with any of the staff (and we even interacted with several of them, asking where certain rooms were located, having to show our wrist bands to enter panels, the gaming room, and the dealers den/artist alley. As long as you aren't creating issues for others then staff shouldn't have any issues with you.
We got nothing but positive responses, and PLENTY of people wanting to take pictures with us. At one point we found out that was partly due to one of the items in the Ohayocon 2014 Scavenger Hunt being to get a photo of yourself with a fursuiter :P Between being included as an item in the scavenger hunt and there being a "Furries 101" panel it seems that Ohayocon does not mind having furries around.
Along the way we crossed paths with different furs here and there, would hang out and goof around a while, but then go our own ways again. Late in the afternoon a furry in ears, tail, and his
anuv badge approached us, and we got to chatting about furries in the Columbus area, cons, etc and we ended up hanging out together for the rest of the con. Anuv was a natural handler and friendly guy to hang out with. I changed into fullsuit for the rest of the day, taking advantage of having Anuv acting as our handler and able to carry my water bottle filled with Gatorade since I no longer had a belt to hang it from, and it was nice to have another person to chat with as we waited in a couple of the long lines for events.I had a very nice time at Ohayocon, with plenty of hugs and snugs from furries and non-furries alike, including one of the anime artists in Artist Alley, and also had the interesting experience of someone asking me if his blind friend could feel my paws and head, and seeing her react giddily as she felt the fuzziness, blunt claws, muzzle, ears, etc. It is also interesting that for the most part furries are their own creations, their own character, while anime and sci-fi cos-players mostly try to emulate a specific pre-made character, so MANY times we were asked what anime our characters were from, and some seemed a bit confused when we said we were weren't from any show or comic, trying to press us to find out where our character was from and continuing to make their own guesses.
Having now been in Jaru at a couple of furry cons as well as non-furry specific events such as the Columbus Gallery Hop and Ohayocon I have greatly enjoyed both As always you just have to have a bit of a feel for the group you are around and act/interact accordingly.
