Understanding Fursuit "Lingo"...

I've only suited at a con once before but i know miming taking off your head means your looking for the headless lounge, and i kick up my leg to show i need some help going to the bathroom when the time comes. placing your paws over your face and muzzle means you are acting shy or do not want your picture being taken. holding your paw over your eyes means your looking for someone or something.

thats all i can remember at the moment, but it's also a good idea to have someone 'handling' you to make sure you don't walk into anything and to talk to when you need something you can't mime if you don't talk often.

-Rawr

Kaze Lionpawz made some decent points.

Personally, I've never partaken in a mascot activity myself, at least until my fur-suit is worked on and finished. Instead, I've did plenty of research on this subject. I'll be delighted on donating some information.

Obviously enough, anyone owning a fur-suit should automatically know a little common-sense about typical body language, which applies to those of you who prefer acting over actual speak. Keep in mind that some gestures are more evident than others when you're out with the crowd, so don't expect every single individual to interpret what you're trying to say. There's a multitude of different gestures you can display, most can be done with your arms and hands, but using your entire body helps greatly. Additionally, having somebody as your trainer / guide / master / or however you wish to pronounce that role; such a supervisor should be someone that you have close relations with, maybe your significant other, a short/long-term friend, or even the Con-Staff would be more than delighted to assist you, if any are within that given room.

Here are ten simple gestures:

• "I want a hug...!" = Extend out both arms, palms open.
• "I want my picture taken!" = Using both hands, make a square with both thumbs and index fingers.
• "No photographs, please...!" = Hide your face, using one or both hands.
• "Where's the bathroom...?" = Cross your legs and hands, or... suspend a leg for a brief moment.
• "I'm looking for somebody/something!" = Imitate a salute, twisting torso left-to-right.
• "Yes...!" = Easy enough, just briefly nod your head.
• "No...!" = If you can't shake your head, seek a physician A.S.A.P.
• "I'm hungry...!" = Rub your stomach with a hand.
• "I'm hot...! = Fan at your head with a hand
• "Come over here, please...!" = Point at a specific person, then curl an index finger several times.

It's really not that difficult to adjust to body language. In fact, many furs has told me how fun it can be. As I said before, there's many more different styles of gestures, so try to experiment a little to get a feel for each one.

That's about all I can think about, at the moment.

Hope that helps, Rukario...!

~Zander Stealthpaw

I'm no expert in hand signals, but perhaps these would make for a good starting point.

(More hand signals)

it seems to me that furs who tend to talk with thier paws seem to have less trouble miming. like me i talk with paw movments and i hav little trouble expressing myself silently.
also as an american i'd like to say, the british as well as the english are awsome.

-Rawr

I still wonder why Fursuiters don't talk. Many Anthro animals talk. If I ever get a fursuit I want to be a talking animal. Thats the world I wish I could live in, where all the animals talk.

Now pantamiming is fine for most suits however, voice is a huge part of my personal personality so leaving it out, really kinda kills myself

soo yeah i make a point in being really loud in suit, well as loud as i am in person. though my suit is open muzzle so not even the slightest muffle here!

luckly it fits well with my jumping around and such, the suit actualy makes that part stand out, speaking is just as fun as pantiming i think as well!

so yeah, both sides!