h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Uh, I know it reads Spoonhenge you fool, I was saying I thought it was until I re-read it and realised it wasn't!

Now then, our talk moves onto fursuits and my ongoing fascination with it even though I keep thinking as an outsider upon the subject and thinking 'damn, that's so weird' or 'I'm scared' which I have though a few times. I've been doing tiny chunks of reasearch, most at fursuit.org and the sites it links to, might consider making a fursuit yknow but in any way, I'd really like to wear one!

Yah, Fursuiting is definatly moving into the "really weird" fraction of furrydom. You ever go to fancy dress parties and the like? Prehaps an oppertunity to wear one?

I'm too shy to wear a fursuit (Without a good excuse, like dancing with the lips) but I would search out some fursuit wearing peoples and talk to them, see what they do, etc, maybe see if you could borrow a fursuit and do whatever fursuiters *do*, then see if you like it enought to get involved.


Don't be afraid to get involved, If you really want to do something, then do it. Taking the plunge is the hardest thing to do in any endevour.

Why don't you go and find yourself a fursuit to wear? I mean, sure, you're too shy and not too comfortable with the whole 'furry' thing just yet I figure but that's down to shyness and being 'outed', so to speak. Fancy dress parties I don't get to goto but if I was going I'd definitely be going in a fursuit. I'd find myself a fursuit but I'm trying out where to go see? Ah, the furmeets, yeah, it's fairly hard trying to find any as many are distant from me so for now I'm limited to reading about it. Oh, the desire is there enough to justify myself getting sweaty and I hate being sweaty! I'm by no means afraid, I'd tell folks that I have this type of interest even, the only thing thats stopping me is that the ppl I know have razor-sharp wits and are fairly likely to give me a beating as I'm no hardarse.

It's harder to get involved in the whole furry scene in NZ because there are so few of us. We don't have furmeets because the're aren't enough people. I doubt fursuit wearers actually exsist in NZ at all because they only reprisent a little segment of furrydom anyway, and the NZ culture is not furry-friendly and generally the NZ furry scene goes on very quietly.

So you'll have to go and get involved so I can hear about it!

Just a wee question, to help my understanding of this situation here, who do you live with and what do you do (job/study, etc)

The major furry scene is in the US and theres few elsewhere, furmeets do exist but they are distant, like I said. Fursuiters prbably do exist in NZ, I wouldn't doubt it but saying all that, your knowledge of furry culture in NZ seems high. I'll be getting involved as soon as I find a furmeet somewhere, you'll get to know everything! What I do is in my fur code and where I live I've already said.

I'm sure most places are not fur-safe much like NZ. And saying that there's few furs about in Nz is a pretty weak excuse for your lack of involvment, there's few here also but I'm still doing what I can. You need to be a tad bit insane to be at my furred status besides.

There must be more furs in Britan than in NZ. You have a population of 50 million. We have the population of a large city.(4 million)

Besides I'm not interested in fursuiting anyway. I keep my fuuryness a secret so getting involved is hard, especially when you live at home and have so little privacy. Probably when I move out I'll do something. What is there to do apart from going to meets and bumming around online anyway?

Oh yeah? You've just brought new doubt to my feelings regarding your furriness as I was near certain that fursuiting interested you, obviously not so I'll be counted as wrong. However, the fact you think theres little else to do than meets and bumming about online probably indicates one thing, you need education! It does not begin and end with the involvment of others, it can start right there, with you alone! This kinda stuff is more reserved for Furriness 101, you need more info I think and cuz I've learned a lil bit more I can help out and offer a lecture.

If there's more furs in the UK, they must be in hiding or all in London.

Well, as far as I regard fursuiting is: I'd go to a gathering of furs in one, fancy dress parties, even to the pub with some furs in one, but not just dress up and stuff 'round.

I think in NZ most of us (furs) hang around Universities.

So if furryness can happen here with me alone, then what can I do, braniac?

OK I'm having serious doubts about all this now!

I had a breif squiz around the net and I'm finding heaps and heaps of anti-furry stuff, like, we're so weird, pervy, queer etc. People bl**dy hate us out there! I just like to have a laugh at cartoons, that's all! How have I got into this twisted mess?

(Pant Pant Pant)

OK, I'll calm ye down....
Yeah, I'm pretty freaked. I don't fit into this group, do I? I mean, all I do is laugh at cartoons and use a silly alter-ego. I don't take it seriously at all. Do I fit in? I'm scared of the controversy.

Woah, hold the phone there! Now, sure, there's anti-fur sites out there, I've seen them but there's anti-sites for everything so I don't really pay much attention to those sites. You however did and now it's thrown you into severe doubt over your fitting in and I'm feeling I'm somewhat to blame sadly. You do have an interest in furries, that's doubtless to say and you don't need to feel this way about fursuiting or whatever, you'll fit in as we furs are friendly folks and will accept anyone friendly to our ways. An alter-ego is OK and I don't think you should allow an anti-fur site tell you that it's freaky and everything, they don't reflect everyones opinion, hell, they don't even represent a majority. Most folk just plain don't care. I notice how you feel that due to your location they'll hate you on the basis of your personal life but I doubt that, folk don't differ that severely from place to place.

It does start with you there right, you're doing it right now!!! You, talking to me, looking for stuff, that shows you're doing something. It's all I can do and I doubt you can do much else either but it's only the start like I said, choose where you want to be. your doubt is unfounded, ignore all that the anti-fur sites say, they only serve to give disinformation and you shouldn't be listening. When I look in your direction I see a new furry looking for acceptance, not just some guy who laughs at cartoons and has a silly alter-ego. Damn, don't let those guys get to you, the controversy exists in your head and through your perceptions! You know the realities of furs, I don't feel they do so let them hate, you have someone who cares right here and knows the truth.

Though really, if you don't take it all that seriously then it's no big prob just some would question wheter or not you should be calling yourself a furry. I'd say decide whether or not you want to go further, think about it as it's not specifically life-changing but can do good things for it.

You're right. There *are* hate sites for everything imaginible.

Although I do wonder weather I can call myself a furry or not. Basicly, as I said, I'm a fan of anthromorphic artwork and stuff. I don't really take my creative side seriously at all though, so it's not as if I'm rejecting furryness, I just don't wanna get sucked into a fandom untill it runs my life like I'm a 30-something trekkie who knows klingon and builds his life around sci-fi. I'd rather create my furry side to suit my mundane side.

Yeah, the fanatic's hole, dangerous to be but within moderation it can be fine where both lives can co-exist but not consume your life, not that it can though as furdom is so open to interpretation. Your fur side is best to mould to your mundane's side so it can remain hidden to everyone cept you and other furs. I see through talking that a furcon may not be for you, it involving lots of fursuits but believe me, it's a lot more social a fandom though I'd never call it that than anything sci-fi related. Furrydom CANNOT take over your life unless you allow it, I feel like it might do but I feel in control as furdom is more an internal thing rather than being some Trekkie, I wouldn't compare.

Well that's good. I know I'm an anorak or geek of some sort, that's OK, but I don't want to become some creepy fanatic.

Creepy fanatics are only creppy to the outsiders.

I'm creepy to mundanes, but over-the-top furs are creepy to me.

It's weird, you don't notice the OTT furs after a while cuz gradually as you get to know types like them they don't seem so weird. Either that or you just ignore them long enough they don't matter.