I have really got to get over there!! I want to go to the Anthro con some time and meet all of you!

There are a lot of people there to meet. It's especially cool to see artists / writers you've been following for... a decade... in person. For me, though, the fursuiters almost turned me away if I had not had some friends online that were also fursuiters. In the end, I'm very glad I ended up going, and plan on being there again next year.

Whoa, that is..................kind of creepy to me. A bit like walking into my sisters closet full of stuffed animals looking at me. Hmmmmm, now I'd almost just want to go to a con just to see something crazy like that. Mass overload of fuzziness in a small area. And there seems to be a anonimous bicycle in the far left background in the air?? Crazy!

At the end of the convention, there is an event called something like the Fursuiter Parade. All the people that brought fursuits that week put on their suit and participate in the parade around the building and through the convention center, with the final stop being a photo oppportunity to take a picture of all the fursuiters. Definitely something to witness. Point is, this is the most fursuiters you'll see at once at the convention. There's also a masquerade where some fursuiters put on performances in the auditorium, but most of the rest of the time they are more sporadic to be seen.

Interesting story about this picture. When the fursuiters were coming into the auditorium, I made the mistake of sitting in the front rows. This was a mistake because I realized that all of a sudden, all of these cameras were pointing in my general direction. I have a little bit of a camera phobia, and I nearly freaked out as I tried to calmly but quickly get out of the way. I think I took this picture right before I ducked down and hid behind a chair. lol.

Oh yes, and the character you see holding up that unicycle did actually ride around on it WHILE he was in his fursuit. Now that's impressive. lol

Yay, I see mee! *points to the Tri-color collie in the front!*

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_{Insanity is contagious...}

I remember seeing you! And from looking at your gallery, it looks like I've seen your work before. Very cool!

Ye never know. Always was interested in the stuff myself, despite having a severe phobia of anyone wearing a fursuit. [another self-made paradox-a furry actually afraid of fursuiters...I must be a weirdo]. I might appear at Anthrocon in the next few years, so don't all of ye scare me senseless! Very interesting, though. Must be somewhat fun, as well.....ooh fascination/fear canceling each other out.

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I am the lord of Lonan Shedow, their one and only heir. I will be here when the sands of time stop.
I just wish that pesky mortal would stop poking me with a stick!

When you grow up as a kid reliant on people's facial expressions, eyes, and body language to read them and you take most of that away and hide it behind exaggerated movements and a mask, it can be a very scary thing. When you are an adult, it can still be rather awkward and uncomfortable because you don't know how to react around them.

When I came to my first convention, I came for the artwork and to meet other artists. I had no idea I was about to face one of my major fears one on one. How awkward it was when I ran into my first friend I knew wearing a fursuit, but he talked to me so it wasn't so bad. I've always had a lot of respect for the guts it must take to put one on, so I kept an open mind over the past four years of going to these conventions (great times) and slowly started meeting these "fursuiters".

What really helped me getting over my fear was seeing how it all worked, plus the fact that these suits are not your normal suits (very creative and sometimes very expensive, up to $2400!). I started helping some of my friends "suit up" and then would escort them around the convention (a great way to start for someone like you or me that is afraid of suiting). I started to realize that these were just my friends acting out parts and wearing their props. Knowing who they were made interacting with them more fun, and soon I found myself interacting with others the same way. Eventually they even had me try a suit on, and then I realized how silly my fear had been all these years because not only was it not that big of a deal, it was actually a lot of fun.

So don't so much think of it as being a paradox of a fur being afraid of fursuiters. There's a lot of different types of people that fall into the furry fandom, and the diverse nature of it is one of the aspects that make it so interesting and fun. But I will say this: there's no better feeling than letting your fascination overcome your fear. Come to a convention sometime, and be sure to look up the Beagle (me) !

Okay! Thanks for the advice. And see ye at a Con one day, okay?

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I am the lord of Lonan Shedow, their one and only heir. I will be here when the sands of time stop.
I just wish that pesky mortal would stop poking me with a stick!