Housepets!

MilesKingford wrote:Wow, that fursuit is really nicely made. I have seen loads of different fursuits (I think they even have some kind of directory of profiles in the WikiFur website), I have seen only a few good fursuits but yours is truly exceptional. And really cute. Its also nice to see someone do something constructive with theirs.
So, what does your wife and kids think about the fursuit? (If that is not a rude question)

Thank you for the compliments, and nice to meet you Miles! ...and it's not a rude question at all. In fact, I've answered it on Deviantart so it's not a big secret. First of all, my kids think it's awesome, and their friends that know about it think it's pretty neat. My 11 year old wants me to come with him to the middle school talent show as his dog. My 14 year-old daughter especially likes Tycho: She keeps sneaking into the cabinet and trying on the gloves & feet. (I might have to make another set). My 16 year old son thinks it's sort of weird, but then again, he's also a MLP Brony, so he's like, "if I can do MLP, I guess you can fursuit". Everyone in my work place thinks it's unusual but fantastic, and the costume's debut was actually here at work.

My wife, on the other hand, has flat-out stated that she wants no part in it. There's long-standing issues that transcend simply the costume, and I don't need to go into them, other than to say that the only activities she approves seem to be activities that SHE likes to do together as a family of five. My interests that fall outside of her range of interests need not apply. [about another five hundred words of this paragraph have been removed, despite the temptation to really go into it!]

I am hoping that as the year progresses she'll want to share in the fun and happiness that the kids and I are experiencing as we attend the various fundraisers and art festivals here in central Michigan.

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:Is it Ironic that this one doesn't identify as a furry?

You dont imagine HOW MUCH it is. "to the 'are you a furry thread' and beyond!"
----------------------
Is great to have you here, Welcome!
And your suit looks Super Awesome, and no again, Its not Creppy at all.

Well, hello and welcome to the forums and all.

That is an incredible suit; can't say I've seen better. Congrats on putting in the design, etc. work on the front end (two years?!) to do it right.

Not to intrude, but if I could ask you a few questions:
-- What made you want to do this in the first place, if you don't mind my asking? Was it a just-for-the-halibut (har har) thing? Again, from what you said, this was a rather time- and effort-intensive project.
-- And what's the comfort level wearing the suit? Inconvenient, uncomfortable, or just downright painful?

tychoaussie wrote:firearm shootin'

Fursuits: Best. Concealment clothing. Ever.

It would be un expected.

GunRacer wrote:Well, hello and welcome to the forums and all.

That is an incredible suit; can't say I've seen better. Congrats on putting in the design, etc. work on the front end (two years?!) to do it right.

Not to intrude, but if I could ask you a few questions:
-- What made you want to do this in the first place, if you don't mind my asking? Was it a just-for-the-halibut (har har) thing? Again, from what you said, this was a rather time- and effort-intensive project.

Hmm... people are going to probably point and say "ah-HA! You ARE a furry!" but,

I saw an RSS news feed in November of 2009 on fursuiting and was captivated by it, it just looked like a super-fun way to interact with the public that got attention and made for lots of smiles. Then I read everything I could about furry fandom, because I had *never heard* of anything like it, except I'd probably been practicing some of the aspects of furry since I was fourteen years old. I love the anthropomorphic art, and always have since seeing, oh, I dont know, Probably when my family saw Disney's Robin Hood at the theatre. My other favorite childhood movies were "The incredible Mr. Limpett", "Bedknobs & Broomsticks", "The Shaggy D.A.", most every 70's sci-fi movie ever made, especially one called "Silent RUnning". There was the T.V> series called "Man from Atlantis", and of course "The Bionic Man". All of them were my favorite "must watch" shows. In retrospect, I now realize they all have some sort of anthropomorphic element, if not outright Transformation sequence. In 1984 while in college I was drawing my own anthro character named "wolvy", an otter-like character. "Wolverine / Wolvy" was my computer screen name on the various local computers & BBSes in central Michigan from 1979-on, and my on-screen persona was anthro. Nobody that I knew did anything like it, it was fun, and there was never anything strange or odd about it. Over the years I've written five or six half-stories including one novel that's 1/4 finished at about 50,000 words.

...so imagine my surprise when I ran across this furry stuff and a lot of it encompassed some of my own interests. However mainstream Furry seems to have moved away from the basics of anthro art, transformation themes, family-friendly disney type art, and into some themes / ideas/ lifestyles that just don't deserve the focus & attention that they get. So, until there's some sort of organized, 'family friendly' furry, I am not comfortable with participating with the whole scene. I *am* intrigued by a couple of fursuiting groups on the east coast and also the west coast that are working on creating what they call "freelance mascotting", in which they organize and offer charities in their area a chance to bring them in. This is the kind of stuff I'm interested in - using the costumes to interact with the general public, and add a bit of fun and sense of the whimsical to an organized event.

Furry / anthro interests have never been a priority for me, they are just ....there. Amongst everything else. I've got a lot of other interests & priorities, like my church, children, wife, career, etcetera. Yet, seeing this thing called "fursuiting" made me really, really want to give it a try, seeing as it fit nicely into a niche of who I am that I hadn't explored in a long, long time.

GunRacer wrote: -- And what's the comfort level wearing the suit? Inconvenient, uncomfortable, or just downright painful?

Fits like a snowmobile suit & zips up the front. The feet are based on wrestling shoes and are very light and comfortable with excellent traction and leaping ability. The paws are modified "Ironclad" work gloves and you can pull on barbed wire without hurting them. The head is lightweight, and is based on a baseball cap. It's not as comfortable as it could be, but it's got an integrated fan in the muzzle and the vision is pretty good. THe jaw syncs with my own quite convincingly and when I talk, people who haven't seen the costume before all go "wow, you really look like you are talking!" I can smile rather large by moving my jaw backwards, and I can frown by tilting my head forward. The "follow me eyes" are a great illusion. The main body is Hot, as you can imagine, with three-inch pile fur. A good breeze and a fifty degree day are about as close to heaven as you can get! I wear Underarmour heat guard shirt & pants underneath to help dissipate heat and trap sweat. I drink lots of water and bring a 2L camelback full of the stuff.

Here's another view showing the 'frown':

tychoaussie wrote:firearm shootin'

heh. Yeah! I reload my own .30-06 and .40 S&W but haven't practiced in a while.

GunRacer wrote:Fursuits: Best. Concealment clothing. Ever.

...have to sew a zipper in there somewhere & then there's the peripheral vision aspects... Tough to aim past your nose & down the gunsights, probably!

Thanks for the answers! It's nice to get information from someone who has firsthand experience. And it's also nice to hear where you're coming from with all this.

tychoaussie wrote:...so imagine my surprise when I ran across this furry stuff and a lot of it encompassed some of my own interests. However mainstream Furry seems to have moved away from the basics of anthro art, transformation themes, family-friendly disney type art, and into some themes / ideas/ lifestyles that just don't deserve the focus & attention that they get. So, until there's some sort of organized, 'family friendly' furry, I am not comfortable with participating with the whole scene...

Furry / anthro interests have never been a priority for me, they are just ....there. Amongst everything else. I've got a lot of other interests & priorities, like my church, children, wife, career, etcetera. Yet, seeing this thing called "fursuiting" made me really, really want to give it a try, seeing as it fit nicely into a niche of who I am that I hadn't explored in a long, long time.

Apart from the fursuiting thing at the end, it seems you've just summed up the views of a whole lot of people sort of "hovering" on the edge of the fandom... at the very least, you seem to have expressed my outlook better than I ever have.

Also, it's neat to hear that this is a (somewhat, anyways) family thing for you. Too bad about wifey-- but happiness and fun are contagious, so hopefully she comes around.

tychoaussie wrote:...have to sew a zipper in there somewhere & then there's the peripheral vision aspects... Tough to aim past your nose & down the gunsights, probably!

This is true... guess you'd have to use a laser sight. But on the plus side, you wouldn't be quite as limited to smaller pistols-- in fact, something like the tricked-out Draco linked below ought to do nicely.

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/ak-47-talk ... draco.html

Stay frosty.
GunRacer

tychoaussie wrote:Thank you for the compliments, and nice to meet you Miles! ...and it's not a rude question at all. In fact, I've answered it on Deviantart so it's not a big secret. First of all, my kids think it's awesome, and their friends that know about it think it's pretty neat. My 11 year old wants me to come with him to the middle school talent show as his dog. My 14 year-old daughter especially likes Tycho: She keeps sneaking into the cabinet and trying on the gloves & feet. (I might have to make another set). My 16 year old son thinks it's sort of weird, but then again, he's also a MLP Brony, so he's like, "if I can do MLP, I guess you can fursuit". Everyone in my work place thinks it's unusual but fantastic, and the costume's debut was actually here at work.

My wife, on the other hand, has flat-out stated that she wants no part in it. There's long-standing issues that transcend simply the costume, and I don't need to go into them, other than to say that the only activities she approves seem to be activities that SHE likes to do together as a family of five. My interests that fall outside of her range of interests need not apply. [about another five hundred words of this paragraph have been removed, despite the temptation to really go into it!]

I am hoping that as the year progresses she'll want to share in the fun and happiness that the kids and I are experiencing as we attend the various fundraisers and art festivals here in central Michigan.

Nice to meet you too, Tycho. Glad to hear that you have had so much support from friends and family, except for your wife. I can't imagine how that must feel. But I am sure she will come round to the idea eventually, whether it takes weeks, months or years; she will come round eventually, especially when she sees how much fun you can have with it and that you're actually doing something worthwhile with it.

tychoaussie wrote:...so imagine my surprise when I ran across this furry stuff and a lot of it encompassed some of my own interests. However mainstream Furry seems to have moved away from the basics of anthro art, transformation themes, family-friendly disney type art, and into some themes / ideas/ lifestyles that just don't deserve the focus & attention that they get. So, until there's some sort of organized, 'family friendly' furry, I am not comfortable with participating with the whole scene...

I feel the same way, the problem with organising the fandom is that no one is interested. The furry fandom could become incredibly popular (and therefore raise fortunes for charity) but no furry is willing to become part of an organised, structured, and monitored group. And if the fandom can not become organised then the fandom would never attract the people we need to bulster our numbers and attempt to make something out of it. Its both sad and frustrating, and there is little that can be done.

I've never heard of furries/fursuits being used as a fundraising tool.
Gotta admit it's a pretty neat idea.

I saw the pictures you posted on dA sometime before I stumbled across this thread, Tycho. XD
I am glad you were able to keep it, and it is very lovely.
Oh, by the way; is Beastcub easy to commission? I saw her site a year ago and fell head over heels in love with her work.
I had heard some nasty rumors though that she was not the best person to buy from. Of course, I do not follow rumors; but I still want to know what she is like before I commission her. I care more about the quality of the maker's personality than I do the quality of their fursuits. (I am not saying I would just go and buy a messy fursuit just because the maker is nice. )

Also. As for me, I'm currently paying off a unicorn partial. I have dubbed her Temptress.

Just a little update.

I did my first real-deal mascotting event last week for the township. I was invited by the director of the parks & recreation services to participate and it went great, except for one glitch, which was the heat. With a heat index of about 91 degrees, I lasted less than hours before having to quit from exhaustion. Of course, I was jumping, squatting, moving, & dancing the whole time outside on asphalt in full-sun with high humidity. I started out weighing 174 and the next morning I was still only 171 lbs and feeling hungover. I *did* drink water, about 3 litres worth, including a whole camelback. It still wasn't enough.

I have about fifty photographs, and I've got a bit of video. My daughter was my photographer and my handler, and my 16 year old son was my inexperienced videographer. Both learned a lot from the event and the three of us went home excited. It was truly a festival and the band was terrific. We had about two thousand people in attendance to mix with.

The parents were astonished, and the children were delighted. Sometimes the kids wouldn't even ask, they would just come bounding in, bury their face in the costume and give it a big hug. The teenagers were rowdy & tons of fun to fool around with. We joked, danced, posed, and took pictures. I even learned some of the dance and tried to be part of the secret flash mob, though by the time the dance took place, I had been sweating for over 90 minutes, and 4 1/2 minutes of high-energy dancing pretty much did me in. You can see it in the following sets of videos.

Anyway, it was an awesome first experience, and the local cable TV station got a lot of footage (so they tell me), and I have an appointment to come into their studio for some sort of interview, because they want to edit it into a feature for their channel. From what I hear, it will be a first installment on local community volunteers who serve their community in unique ways.

I've got photographs on deviantart at the following link: Tycho Aussie on Deviant Art (100% family friendly)

I also have some video on a Youtube channel now: Tycho Aussie on Youtube

will you be doing the interview in or out of costume?

Cool!
Seems like you really had a great time

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:will you be doing the interview in or out of costume?

I had the same question..

Sounds like fun

Have you ever tought of Freelance Fursuit Charity Fund Raising for less fortunates?
I would donate all I got in my wallet, if you do.
*check my wallet, ca$5*

I made myself a rat costume for my end of year production out of a tarp my grandfather gave me and some fur material. I then sewed a mask together using coconut fibre baskets. I'm not sure if that's the same as being a "Furry" but i definitely want to perform on the streets in the outfit.

What i can tell my fellow actor is that its a hell of a hot inside my costume. So take plenty of spare clothes when you go out in one

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:will you be doing the interview in or out of costume?

Both. They want to tell the story of the person, and of the character. Thursday I interview as myself in the office, then on Friday evening we'll be at the outdoor concert by the lake in costume.

The interview went pretty good, I think; and the first edit is actually on Youtube! I'm petty happy with how Lauren edited the piece, which should air some time next week.

Just thought I'd share with you in case you are still interested: It shows the community service aspect of fursuiting / freelance mascotting.

http://youtu.be/Cj5EzCWlp4g

nice and glad you are doing it when you get the opportunity.

I'd probably let you try mine on someday if I get one!

I would like to get one, plan to eventually, though I would rather make my own for the experience if I wanted to make more later on

Latest activity from this past week:

That's so cute! It looks like you had a lot of fun!

Fursuits are really cool. I went to a convention one time to see a big fox walk out of Subway with Cloud and another complaining that the cash machine wasn't accepting his card.

I'd never wear one as I don't cope well with heat in normal summer clothing, I'm quite short, they don't sell normal human cosplay in my size and it looks so expensive But they're lovely.

zeldakeeper wrote:Fursuits are really cool. I went to a convention one time to see a big fox walk out of Subway with Cloud and another complaining that the cash machine wasn't accepting his card.

I'd never wear one as I don't cope well with heat in normal summer clothing, I'm quite short, they don't sell normal human cosplay in my size and it looks so expensive But they're lovely.

full moral support, cool!

Heh! Yeah, I've been trying hard to find time to take Tycho out and been out five times so far this year. A week from tomorrow I may get to take Tycho out again, this time to play chess at the senior center with my son and our "adopted" grandma, who has been asking many times to have Tycho come over, since seeing the photographs. So I think we'll take the afternoon off indulge her and the senior center with a bit of Tycho fun

Heat is a big deal, to be sure. I've been out in 94 degrees and that was tough & took a lot out of me. Now I have a cooling vest and that helps immensely and I feel a lot better. I also need to buy several more ice packs that I can swap out every 1/2 hour from inside the head in order to keep the top cool. My average time in costume comes in right about two hours. Small venues will be over in about one hour. Larger venues, I have to force myself to take a break because there are always new people bounding over to see Tycho Aussie.

in the mean time, I am waiting to see how the new story arc develops here on Housepets.

We just got back this afternoon from the senior center with an other epic win!

The folks there had a blast, almost everyone wanted to talk, joke, take pictures and pose.
My son helped me do a song and dance routine (that is now on Youtube); and though it was a bit crudely executed, with some more practice, I think it'll be a winner.
Here's a frame grab from the video; the rest of the photos are either on deviantart or on the video via you tube The song lasted about three minutes! It's pretty fun being a walking, talking character that could *almost* have stepped out of Rick's comic.

--Tycho


http://tychoaussie.deviantart.com/art/S ... -321371536

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f28coFmd ... e=youtu.be

Would it be ok with you if we show the Senior center Hee Haw song clip on "The Pawpet Show"?

GarrisonSkunk wrote:Would it be ok with you if we show the Senior center Hee Haw song clip on "The Pawpet Show"?

You produce the Pawpet show?

Well okay- The clip doesn't have very good audio, and we completely blow the jokes in the third stanza; The video is jerky and definitely low-res for Youtube... .How about I send you a .AVI, which would at least offer a marginal improvement in quality. You can show that one on the condition that if we re-record, you play the updated (and hopefully improved) version in some future episode. I've been asked to consider performing that song with the local barbershop group. Their proper backing vocals would be kinda nice, rather than just my "bum bum ba bumm!"

-drb

send me your email and I'll send you an ftp that you can use for downloading the AVI

Tycho, thank you for posting and sharing and really good to see you here. Not only is it nice to see someone else on here who's a little older, but VERY refreshing to see someone who speaks well and clearly about their interest in anthropomorphics.

I think your experiences and affinities can definitely be classified as 'furry', but I can totally understand the desire to distance yourself from that label. I'd like to say that the fandom wasn't nearly as 'interesting' as it now is, but my wife reminds me that even in the mid-late 90's it had some curious aspects one would not want associated with ones self. Still, I'd love to see a day when society thought of you when they heard the word 'furry' - your average nifty person who happens to think animal people are a neat idea.

Also, very awesome your community and family are involved. Sometimes it's difficult to judge just how folks are going to react, but to have the spheres (or insanity) to go out there and try it is... well, I applaud you, sir. I hope things with the wife ease and resolve, but understand that even when your sig-o ISN'T dressing as an Australian shepherd and dancing around in public, life in general can be one tough cookie to nom. Sometimes the simple act of being there for her, and showing that you're still the same person, can settle what rift lies between you.

Anyways, for what it's worth, you shifted my stance from "No, and I don't care to." to "No, and I could be convinced to." :) Thanks again and I look forward to your future adventures!

I have a fursuit as well,a partial. Will take pics when i'm awake,feel kinda tired today.

Fursuits really don't bother me because i'm more amazed at what people can do with them. And that fursuit i'm seeing here is awesome. I just hate the negativity that the suits get on the internet in this day and age, yet people go to a sports game and love them.

Foxyfluff wrote:I have a fursuit as well,a partial. Will take pics when i'm awake,feel kinda tired today.

Yay! I'm excited.

Sleet wrote:

Foxyfluff wrote:I have a fursuit as well,a partial. Will take pics when i'm awake,feel kinda tired today.

Yay! I'm excited.

TY. Of course i found this site by searching fursuits one day.

How did that work, anyway? What part of the site did it take you to?

Sleet wrote:How did that work, anyway? What part of the site did it take you to?

To this thread. Of course i feel fursuiting to be just another hobby and such.

I don't own one and I don't really want one, but I did try to design one for Bolly

Haven't seen him around in forever!

Am I the only one who considers the red flourishes in the background next to the disembodied body parts a bad design decision? *giggles*