Introduction
Hello everyone,
My name is Amy. I've just discovered Anthrocon.
Thanks in part to of all things, an episode of CSI that aired six to eight months ago.
I am totally blind and the only way I am able to see things is through touch.
In other words I have no choice but to touch and feel the things that exist in my environment. I don't know how those of you attending Anthrocon would approach such circumstances because everyone deals differently with such a situation. Some people don't like being touched, or like people touching their costume, others don't mind and I suppose some could go either way. I on the other hand have no choice, I have to touch the things and people around me. Not only to know where they are, but what and who they are, and what the person and or thing looks like.
How many of you out there would be comfortable with someone in my situation "seeing" your costumes and/or creatures?
Amy
Well, Amy, I cannot say that I remember seeing any blind people attending Anthrocon. (And believe me, I know how awkward that sounds!)
If you use a service animal (AKA seeing-eye dog), s/he will be welcome. Anthrocon is in complete accordance with ADA regulations; the only other 'real' animals that are permitted are those from the Charity organization.
If you use a cane, most of us understand getting our legs tapped and will be completely understanding. Those who don't understand will be informed.
Will you be allowed to touch the fursuits? That will depend on the fursuiter but I believe that, in general, the answer will be yes. Many of the suiters visit children's wards in hospitals to raise kid's spirits. If they see you with your cane or dog and you ask if you can touch their suit, I believe that many, if not most, will permit it. The key word here is to ask. Suiters often get hit with unexpected hugs and tackles from those who can see. A polite request from someone who cannot see to touch their suit? I cannot believe that you'll get too many 'no' answers. Just remember: be careful where you touch! (That's intended to be read with an 'evil grin'. The gender of the suit does not necessarily match that of the person inside it.)
Most of the art is two dimensional and will not be accessible to you for that reason. What three-dimensional art there is may be fragile. PeterCat (the Art Show Director) will have to make this kind of call.
In short, to a great extent people at Anthrocon will be understanding and many will do what they can to make Anthrocon as enjoyable as possible for you. You may still get persons who refuse to allow you to touch for various reasons. As you undoubtedly know, people react differently around persons who are disabled in any way. Somehow, I think Uncle Kage (the Director) would not only permit you to 'read his face', he might make a public showing of it... just because.
I would not put poor Amy through such a horrific experience.
As for reading fursuits by touch, as long as you ask first and you don't have jelly on your fingers, the great majority will have no problem at all.
Be aware, though, that Anthrocon can at times be very crowded. I would recommend that you bring a friend along if possible to walk with you. Regardless, we hope that you have an outstanding time at Anthrocon!
I definitely agree with Uncle Kage here. I will be fursuiting at the con most of the time and would have no problem with touching but it is always good to ask beforehand. This will give the fursuiter some warning as to your intent and also some suiters may not like to be touched. You may also want to be more specific as to the way you want to touch as some fursuiters may not be used to a person looking at their fursuit by hand. And as Uncle Kage had said make sure you keep your hands clean.
One other tip I would offer is be very careful touching especially around the head. There can be some more delicate parts on the head especially around the eye region and you will want to use a lighter touch so you don't accidentally do damage.
Hello everyone,
Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the convention that's going on here in Michigan in a few weeks, because I have something else going on dealing with the Coast Guard that very same weekend.
Nicona, to answer your question I use a white cane.
I am glad to know though that Anthrocon is up with the ADA standards.
Doesanyone know if there would be people at the convention to assist me in getting from point a to point b if someone is unable to make the trip with me?
Hi guys,
Sorry Nicona, the person who asked about if I use a cane or not was Desdierdre.
(I know I spelled her name wrong. Sorry about that.)
Well I am from Pittsburgh so if i am anywhere around I would be more then happy to help you get from point a to b outside the of the convention, lets say to eat or something of the sort. As far as in the convention itself I am afraid i would be less helpful because this year will be my first. The only thing is i am not sure the time frame that i will be at anthrocon or downtown seeing as i will be taking a bus i might not be there all the times that you would need me to help you. Also I feel i should point out that i am in fact a teenager, I am not sure if that would have any meaning to you, but i feel its only right for you to know.
Hello all,
I might have found someone that might be able to come with me in June. I'm not sure yet, but I sent her the link last night and she said that she would look in to it. She might also have to take a day off of work so she might have to put in for the time.
She'll let me know when the time gets closer.
Amy
No worries; 4 syllables and an apostrophe is too much for most people to spit out in one go; consequently, it often gets shortened to a simple dest or dester.
I've never heard of the con providing service helpers before. Like our esteemed chairman, however, i expect that the average fur, when asked nicely, is happy to help a fellow congoer. We're a pretty trusting and friendly lot.
I don't know if we could provide anyone, but there is bound to be someone nearby who would be willing to help out. Furries are notoriously helpful people, sometimes to a fault.
I've just re-read through the posts again, and regarding me "seeing" everyone in costume, my touch would most likely be gentle. I'm not the type of person that deals with rough-housing all that well.
As for seeing the costumes, if there are things on the costume that shouldn't be touched I'll need to know, but other than that I suppose there wouldn't be much difference between seeing one of your creatures and how I see my cat.
I'm a very open-minded trusting person, sometimes too trusting I guess.
Hi Nicona,
Is most of the fur that is used in the construction of these suits real fur?
Amy
This question came up last year from PeTA, Amy. The answer is no. Fake fur is used in fursuits for a number of reasons: Real fur is expensive! Good fursuits can cost $1000 and up. Using real fur would change the price from high to ridiculous. Real fur is hot! (And not in the Paris Hilton sense!) Fursuiters have enough heat-related problems as it is; increasing them by wearing real fur would be insane. Real fur doesn't stand up very well in the long term. When you're paying that much, you'd like it to last for a long time.
I'm going to try and phrase this last part carefully. Amy, you've said that you are blind, but not whether you've been blind since birth. The final point here is color. While many fursuits keep the coloration of the animal they are based on, others use brilliant colors that would never appear on an animal in real life. If you're going to recolor the fur to something incredibly different from what it was originally, why pay the extra amount for real fur?
It boils down to this: on basically every point, real fur is just simply foolish to use in a fursuit.
The majority of fursuits out there are made with fake fur, mine included. Most of the furries I have met would not dream of using real fur in a fursuit. That is not to say that it doesn't happen though. I have seen two fursuits that actually used real fur and some bone for structure. They looked ok but I didn't really like them, kind of creepy. But like I said that is a very small minority, I would say that way less than a tenth of a percent of fursuits out there actually have real fur.
If we meet at AC I would have no problem with you "looking" at my suit. I am a big black wolf with white chest fur, white on my lower muzzle and cheeks and a white blaze on my forehead. When I am in suit I would say I am pushing at least 6 foot 10 inches tall from the tips of my ears to my feet.
Well done my friend. for as short a description as that was quite a lot came out of it.
Thank you.
Most of the time when someone describes something I have to tell them to do it as if they're on the phone with me.
It definitely looks like I'll be making a list of people to look up if I'm able to get to AC this June.
Amy
Most of the art is two dimensional and will not be accessible to you for that reason. What three-dimensional art there is may be fragile. PeterCat (the Art Show Director) will have to make this kind of call.
Hi all,
From the information that has been exchanged here these past three days I have a feeling that when con time comes if I'm able to make it I'm going to have a whole slough of people to get in touch with upon my arrival.I consider that a good thing because I won't be going in to this completely empty-handed, if that makes any sense.
Well me myself would let you "see" my partial suit XD I dont think they're anythong wrong with having someone touch a fursuit at all. They're fluffy for a reason y'know 8D
I can give you as much detail as possible lolz
Allie or Alliekat is a fox hyena hybrid. she's mostly fox in her anthro form but in her quad form she has the build of a hyena.
Her main fur color is orange, and she has an off white muzzle and stomach. her fingers and toes are black, and her tail is striped with three different shades of blue. she has sort brown hair with part of ithe bangs dyed blue, and her ears are tipped black with a white spot on them and blue tufts at the tips ^^
all in all, a pretty complicated character to describe.
she is also fun to be around, and she really likes to make people laugh. she can be shy sometimes though XD and she has an addiction to pepsi!
Hello AllieKat,
She may be complicated, but well done. For such a complicated creature that was a well given description.
Are you coming to FCN in a few weeks?
Amy
XD well thanks.
oh no I wish! I was going to go, but now we need the money to fix the car XP there was a storm and a tree fell over in our driveway.
Since you never asked about this, Amy, I figured you might need to know this.
All of us have our "fursonas", personal characters of animal type.
Relatively few of us have fursuits of our fursonas.
At AnthroCon, as many as 15 percent of the attendees will put on
a full fursuit or a partial fursuit, and that only some of the time.
The rest of us don't wear one at all.
The media always seems to say all of us wear them. The television show
you saw said that as well. It's one of the many things the media gets
wrong about us...except for some local news broadcasts in Pittsburgh.
Some of them have done a very good job covering the convention.
Please also note that 15 percent of 3000 people is still hundreds in
fursuits, but is a lot less than 3000 people in fursuits.
Oh yes XD the media is quite annoying. not everyone likes being all hot and sweaty all day, and not everyone can afford a suit eitherr!
My very uneducated guess is that they'd react much the same way ordinary people would, accepting some level of touch so long as they understand what that touch is about and as long as they don't think that the form of touch will damage the costume. Some folks are even more comfortable with touch while in fursuit, as it allows them to release their inner child. Do you use a white cane or trained seeing eye dog or somesuch? The sight of such a thing will probably go a long way towards telling them what they need to know.
The one thing it may pay to be aware of is that fursuiters often have only a very limited range of vision while in fursuit--basically, right in front of them--and they get startled if they can't see you coming. But many or most of them work with handlers who help them to be aware of what they cannot see.