We Asked. They Answered.
It started with Skittles turning the camera lens on me. A feat which, by the way, is somewhere between shocking and earth-shattering. I tend to turn all ninja-kicky-chick when someone tries to touch my camera. Unless they purr at me. Apparently purring catches me off guard and forces me to just stand there smiling like an idiot while a bright blue and green cat snaps a photo of my chin.
Anyway, that one chance encounter led to a realization: furries are friendly. Very friendly. Armed with that knowledge, my furry hunting accomplices and I started to instigate a conversation or two. Mostly it was @kdudders who asked the questions, but we got answers. Lots of answers. In no particular order, here are some things we learned during the greatest Friday Night ever.
(Note: Responses are paraphrased and reflect what the people we asked told us. That doesn't mean every furry on planet Earth agrees with all of it.)
What is Anthrocon?
Anthrocon is an annual convention for people who are interested in giving human characteristics to animals. For example, animators, video game creators, artists, comic book writers, fiction authors, illustrators, puppeteers, and special effects folks all stand to have an interest in learning how to create animal characters with human traits that are more convincing. Some examples of anthropomorphized animals: Scooby Doo, Boots, Sonic the Hedgehog, pretty much every animal to ever appear in a Disney movie, and, if you've imagined your dog talking to you, your dog.
What kinds of things happen at Anthrocon?
There's partying, fursuiting, and a whole lot of learning. Some of the sessions that were held this year including topics like: Developing a Character and Performing, Beginner Puppetry, Color and Light, Fursuit Care, and tons more. Here's the full program guide.
How many people go to Anthrocon?
There were 4238 people at this year's Anthrocon. A little over 700 furries walked in the big parade on Saturday, meaning there were a heck of a lot of people in town for the convention that don't do the fursuit thing.
Why do some people only do tails and/or ears, instead of full fursuits?
We asked this question a few times, and repeatedly heard that it's one of two things: 1) Personal preference or 2) A money thing. It turns out that fursuits are crazy expensive, so some people may go for a tail only when they can't quite swing the full fursuit cost.
How much does a fursuit cost?
Fursuits are usually custom made and start around $500 or so. After looking at a heck of a lot of them, I can tell you there HAS to be a wide range of prices on them. Some were clearly made better than others, with details like stripes and spots making me realize that I would rather swim in a pool filled with centipedes than try to sew one of them.
Sometimes the spots/stripes were airbrushed on, but mostly they were hand-sewn seams. Look at Skittles up there and imagine seaming together every place where the fur changes color. Forget swimming with the centipedes, I'd rather EAT THEM than do all that meticulously detailed sewing.
Is it rude to call a "fursuit" a "costume?"
No, but it's a fursuit.
Isn't it hot in there?
Some fursuits are more comfortable than others, and some are better made for withstanding warm weather.
What about all of the rumors associating fursuits with sexual behavior?
Furverts exist, but they are a very small portion of all furries, just like perverts are a very small portion of all humans.
Do furries talk?
Some of them do. It depends on what sort of persona has been assigned to the "character."
(Check out the blue bottle the furry on the left is holding. It was beer and somehow he was drinking the beer through the fursuit. MAGIC! And, apparently, not only do some furries talk, but some of them know how to get their drink on.)
Why Pittsburgh?
I'll let the Anthrocon site answer that one.
And this concludes this year's lesson on all things Anthrocon. My full flickr set is over here.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Reader Comments (27)
Well that answered my question from your last post. And then some! Thank you! :) I guess they are a little less scary now. ;)
I am pretty sure I could make you a fur suit if you would like one. Next year I want to know how they see thru them.
I have to say I got a little well of pride reading their reasons for choosing Pittsburgh. even if it started with just a space issue...
Thanks for asking the questions. It does help to know they aren't all furverts. I thought they were all like that episode of Entourage!
Ok, It's wrong how much I love this post! Seriously. These things are visually fascinating. and furvert might be my new favorite term.
I'm more fascinated than ever now! I'm also very happy to know it's only a small percentage that engages in "furversion" - makes them all less creepy somehow. Thanks for putting yourself out there to ask the questions! :)
This has been a FASCINATING look into the world of furries. I'd heard about them, but didn't really realize quite how many people get into that sort of thing. I have to say that furverts is my new favorite word. Not sure how I'm going to work it into conversation -- may take a while.
I know what Alexis is going to be for Halloween this year.
@Karen--Ha! Not a chance. She's scared to death of fursuits. I had to take her Care Bear costume from when she was 2 out of her playroom because it kept freaking her out.
I love that the city offered to host the Furies. Let's hoping they never leave.
I still think it's a little creepy, but less so now. Thank you for posting not-scary pictures. AndI have to be honest, at some point in my day the word fervert will cross my mind and I'll randomly start laughing hysterically...again.
1) Ew, ew, ew, ew! Stop with the wildly vivid analogies already! I would rather SEW THEM than...that. <shudder>
2) Was Question 8 a plant so you could use the most awesome new word "furvert"?
3) Finally, what up with all the goggles? Do you know? I'm wildly curious.
A seriously weird hobby. But to each his own.
Oh and I love furvert. Kind of like we bloggers put -osphere on the end of anything or Blog- as a prefix.
Thanks for the props, pictures, and links. I'm one of the organizers of Anthrocon, and was pointed to this post.
For the curious, I have never fursuited, despite being in furry for over 10 years. Though I have been known to wear a tail from time to time. :-)
A very wonderful read and a great post, i love the picture of Skittles taking a photo of you, I can't wait to read more from you xD
Very nice post! :)
To me furries are fascinating as well- that's why I go to those conventions. Though by now, like many others, I go there to meet friends from all over the globe. I can go visit the US, France or Russia and I have friends living there thanks to that community.
Art is a very 'big' thing too, a lot of the events at cons are centered around art, and many artists go there simply to make money. When I first went to a similar convention I went to meet fellow cartoon artists and meet some people I knew from the internet... the costumes were interesting but 'not my thing', and I hardly knew anyone. Now, two years later, I make costumes myself, and traveled to the US twice to meet countless friends. I have to say it's rather addicting!
(still just so you know, wearing costumes, fursuits or whatever you like to call them, is VERY uncomfortable imho, but it's so much fun that it makes up for it. You see through the pupils, by the way, though in some cases you see through the tear ducts on more realistic costumes, or through the mouth)
Very nice pictures.
I could be in one of these pictures, maybe.
i wanted to go down and hang out to meet some of the furries. curiosity and all that. especially since i knew they loved pittsburgh. thanks for doing the legwork for me!
the first year when their convention was in town i ran into a large tail wearing group over at buca in station square. nice, super friendly folks. not enough to get me suited up, not enough to get me paying to attend a convention, but really good ambassadors of their "thing" and made me glad i took a moment to engage them in conversation.
people watching makes me happy (only way i can get through a pirates game these days). the furries add to the people watching fun!
@hello haha narf--Seriously, the best people watching on planet Earth is around a group of furries. It's not so much the furries as it is how different people react to them. SO MUCH AWESOME.
Just wanted to say thank you for posting this. Us furries get a lot of misguided hate online, thanks to a lot of misconceptions, or just people who need someone to feet superior too I suppose, but lately it seems there's more and more love coming from the people that have actually met us, especially in Pittsburgh. It's really heartwarming seeing that we can make others happy being there, on top of all the fun we have ourselves.
Andrea, most of us are hoping we never leave, either. I've never been a city person, never thought I'd find one I liked, but I've fallen absolutely in love with Pittsburgh. I'm hoping to be able to live there before too long instead of just visiting a few days a year.
Just to add one bit of clarification, though, as far as why a lot of us don't have fursuits, though I suppose it's sort of covered under "personal preference," While it often looks that way, the furry fandom isn't just about fursuiting.. It's a very visible facet of the fandom, certainly, and one that a lot of us love, even if we don't participate, but it's only one small part. Many furs are there just to meet other furries, play games, view and buy art, see some of the performances, and so many other things. It's just that people going to buy art and play video games don't really stand out quite so much as a talking 6 foot tall blue wolf in the middle of the city, so people tend to think they're the entirety of the fandom.
Personally...When I first started going to AC back in 2004, I was actually kinda creeped out by the suiters myself. Now, I'm hoping to have my own suit done in time for the con next year!
I'm so glad you had a positive experience "hunting furries"! We really do have a blast when we're in town -- we love Pittsburgh, and it's awesome to see that the city loves us back.
Thank you for actually getting the story straight, instead of rehashing the same negative stereotypes people like to throw around about us! :)
We love Pittsburgh, and don't plan to leave any time soon!
^^^ What they said.
But seriously, every year I've been since the move to Pittsburgh has been awesome. I love the DLCC, it's freaking huge and a good workout. I've been on the A/V staff for the past couple of years, so I do a bit of walking between the main ballroom and the event rooms, and walking around that place burns a hell of a lot of calories.
I'm so glad the city has embraced the convention and the fandom. Some of the restaurants and cafes go so far as to print custom shirts with the Anthrocon logo and some artwork on them, like Steel City and Fernando's (who change their name to "Furnando's" when we're in town). To mark the fifth anniversary of AC in Pittsburgh, we adopted the city colors of black and gold, and flew a flag over the DLCC the entire weekend. It was pure awesome.
Anybody who's even SLIGHTLY curious of what this convention is about should drop by next summer, in the last weekend of June. I forget what Sam said the theme was going to be, but it'll be awesome no matter what. You don't have to register to get into the general population areas; the hotel lobby, the DLCC common areas and "The Zoo" on the 3rd floor of the Westin are free-roam. You'll meet a lot of interesting characters just wandering the halls inside and outside, like Burghbaby and the guys from the radio station did. Sam (the chairman) or one of the directors or designated media chaperones are usually available for a few minutes to show people around and answer questions.
Thanks for the write-up and photos. Looking forward to next year.
The theme for the next Anthrocon is "The Anthropomorphic Institute of Magic". Think "Furry Potter".
I love that you posted this. I hear so much mockery of the Furries when they come to town, but I've always lumped it into cosplaying at comicons -- not my thing, but whatever tickles your fancy. Right on for people doing whatever makes them happy.
...and speaking as someone with a stage background: seriously, some of those suits are freakin' extraordinary!
Anthrocon chairman Samuel Conway (aka "Uncle Kage") mentioned at another convention few years ago that Pittsburgh was the only city that really wanted Anthrocon to move from Philadelphia back in 2006. The convention was having trouble finding a hotel large enough to host the con along with low room rates.
Kage was ready to present a full presentation of the fandom to the people in charge of the hotel or con center, when one of them brought out a big binder full of print-outs about the fandom taken from the internet. Someone here in your city had done their homework. And its been a hugely successful combination.
As a Cowboys fan since the 70's I've heard many nasty things about Pittsburgh over the decades... described as a ugly and dirty city with equally disgusting people. But when I arrived in 2008 for my first AC was very surprised how beautiful your city was, and how friendly and curious the locals were.
Strange as it might sound downtown Pittsburgh is kind of Exotic compared to the downtowns in Dallas, Houston, and Shreveport. Most of those downtowns are "business parks" with offices everywhere and few if any bars, clubs, restaurants, and stores. They all moved out decades ago. Pittsburgh is almost going into a time warp when all the stores was downtown, and that's cool. And its cool that the businesses have taken to the con.. its amusing to walk around and see the "Welcome Furries" signs. I've had a blast attending Anthrocon the past 3 years and I plan to return next year. Thanks for a great report.
As far as the 'why furry?' thing? Well, it's a combination of causes for me. In no particular order: A) watching too much Walt Disney as a kid (including and especially Robin Hood!) B) wanting to bring some of the animal's characteristics into me ( like Native Americans look to the Bear for strength, or Raven for wisdom) C) 'Cause it's just plain fun to have an 'alternate self'.
The fursuiters, especially, go for reason C, in my opinion. If it weren't for furries, they'd find some other outlet, I'm sure, as they're mostly born actors.