ISSUE 263
Hi everyone! Good day, and thank you for joining us for this latest edition of Furry Weekly, your weekly magazine for anything and everything about the furry fandom! Welcome to issue 263!
We’re starting off with announcements as usual, which are of course the same as every week, although, pay attention to our break announcement for info about our break next week! Otherwise, you can skip the next section if you just want to see the content for this issue.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BREAK WEEK
This issue is live as of April 29, 2023, and it marks our fifth installment since our last break. If you don’t know, Furry Weekly takes a one-week break after every five issues, so that’s what we’ll be doing for next week!
We won’t post an issue for the week of April 30 to May 6.
But don’t worry, we’ll be back with an issue on the week of May 7!
And, don’t forget, we’re always on the lookout for your content, so keep submitting even during the break! If you want to know more about submitting your content to Furry Weekly, check out this Twitter thread or this Instagram post!
RECRUITING
As usual, we want to start by reminding you about some positions we have open. We need help to keep making this project the best it can be, so take a look at the positions below and see if anything catches your eye:
- Furry of the Week Host
- Radical Raffles Host
- Available Artists Host
- DIY Project of the Week Host
- Front End Website Developer
If you’d like to help out or if you want more info, please contact Yeshua, or Carkas. If you want a description of the roles above, visit this document! If you have any suggestions for other roles or things we could bring into Furry Weekly, please reach out as well. We’d love to hear your ideas! We still need lots of help in general, so please do consider joining us or sharing with other friends in the fandom if you can! We’d really appreciate it!
DISCORD SERVER
We want to tell you about a Discord server we recently became active in. It's called The Furry Social! The Furry Social is a new upcoming Discord where artists, commissioners and furries of all kinds can hang out and express themselves! Discover new content and share your own!
This is not an official Furry Weekly server, but we do work with folks there! So if you're looking for a furry Discord server to interact in, whether you're looking to just hang out, show off your creations, or browse and find new people to follow, check out The Furry Social!
There are also a couple of Furry Weekly channels where we can chat about the magazine, and you could even submit some of your content there! Nevertheless, be sure to join the server if it interests you! You can join it by clicking the link below! Just make sure you have Discord open!
The Furry Social Discord
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That’s all we have for announcements, so let’s jump into today’s issue! As always, let us know on our social media what you liked the most or if you’d like to see something or someone in a future issue. We’re @FurryWeekly on both Twitter and Instagram!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
[❌] Furry of the Week
[✔] Animal of the Week
[❌] Art Corner
[✔] Writing Showcase
[✔] Art 101
[❌] Species Spotlight
[✔] Writing 101
[✔] Fursuit Fanatics
[✔] Photography 101
[❌] Fursuit Designing Tips
[✔] Radical Raffles
[✔] Available Artists
[✔] Character Interview
[✔] Convention Calendar
[❌] Furry Quote
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ANIMAL OF THE WEEK
Hello everyone! It’s Zed Shirogane and it’s another animal of the week segment!
Animal of the Week is a segment where we highlight an animal that is really cool, cute, creepy, or just plain fascinating. There will be a coloring page illustration for you all to print out and color in at home, as well as an adoptable character inspired by the animal of that week. The best part is all proceeds made by said adopt will be donated to conservation charities!
Whenever possible we do symbolically adopt the animal, but only some animals have the privilege to have that as an option unfortunately; thus we collect extra funds to donate to many different species conservation charities or send funds to scientists so that they can research underappreciated animal species, so we can in turn learn more about the world around us. Join us on this fun adventure!
It’s April, and the animal group for this month is the Nudibranchs!
Nudibranchs are a group of soft-bodied marine snails that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known. Nudibranchs are often casually called sea slugs, as they are a family of sea slugs within the phylum Mollusca, but many sea slugs belong to several taxonomic groups that are not closely related to nudibranchs.
Nudibranchs occur in seas worldwide, ranging from the Arctic, through temperate and tropical regions, to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are almost entirely restricted to salt water, although a few species are known to inhabit lower salinities in brackish water. Nudibranchs live at virtually all depths, from the intertidal zone to depths well over 2,300 ft. Nudibranchs are benthic animals, found crawling over the substrate at the bottom of reefs and seas. They are unique looking animals with bizarre natural histories.
This Week’s Species: Leaf Sheep Nudibranch (Costasiella kuroshimae)
Characteristics
The leaf sheep nudibranch have two dark eyes and two rhinophores that emerge from the tops of their heads that look not unlike sheep's ears or insect antennae, hence the common name "leaf sheep." The rhinophores have fine hairs that sense chemicals in the water, enabling Costasiella kuroshimae and other sea slugs to find food sources.
Fun Facts
Algal chloroplasts provide protection for leaf sheep, giving it a green color for camouflage and chemical defenses to deter predators.
Habitat
The leaf sheep was first discovered in 1993 in the Japanese island of Kuroshima, but it's also widely distributed across Asia, with sightings in Singapore, Thailand and the Coral Triangle, an area regarded as the world's epicenter of marine biodiversity encompassing the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. They live in tropical climates, mostly in shallow waters.
Diet
Leaf sheep live on Avrainvillea, a fuzzy, felty type of algae growing in areas with soft substrates, such as silt or fine sand. Costasiella kuroshimae are capable of a chemical process called kleptoplasty, in which they retain the chloroplasts from the algae they feed on. Absorbing the chloroplasts from algae then enables them to indirectly perform photosynthesis.
Life Cycle
Leaf sheep nudibranchs are hermaphrodites (having both male and female reproductive organs) and must mate with another individual to produce an egg mass. The eggs hatch into shelled larvae that spend a week or two in the plankton. Then, they discard their shells and begin their life as a small slug.
Conservation
Leaf sheep are not in critical danger, but they still face threats to survival, including habitat loss. Practices such as illegal fishing and destructive fishing (using dynamite or cyanide, for instance) destroy marine habitats and kill the animals living in them. While these practices have been outlawed in the Philippines, illegal fishing and destructive fishing still persist in the country.
Climate change, too, is impacting the sea slug's habitat. More intense storms and typhoons, the Philippines gets an average of 20 each year, brought about by a warming world that could damage marine areas, with strong waves and currents creating whirlwinds of sand that could dislocate leaf sheep and uproot the algae they live in. Warmer and more acidic oceans could also alter the animal's behavior, as demonstrated in a study on its cousin, the sea hare, which had less foraging success and made poorer decisions when exposed to simulated ocean acidification and warming.
To combat the growing threats to its marine environments, the Philippines has designated certain habitats as marine protected areas (MPAs). Maricaban Island in Batangas, for instance, was declared an MPA in 2019, limiting fishing activity and involving the community in monitoring reef health and keeping the shoreline trash-free.
Here are some links to articles about the leaf sheep nudibranch:
Adopt
All funds from this adopt will go to animal conservation. The goal for this month is to save up to donate to Reef Check California as a way to keep our reefs that sustain our nudibranchs healthy, which requires a total of $100. This adopt will be one of 5 total created to achieve this goal and hopefully more, extra funds are pooled together to be donated to conservation research programs. It will be available for $30 at Shirogane Studios.
Coloring Page
Enjoy this coloring page made by yours truly, for you! Feel free to print it out at home to color in, or if you enjoy the design feel free to purchase it on a multitude of products.
Animal Ambassadors
-Orion the Badger
Thank you to our Animal Ambassadors: our AOTW supporters, who have helped make the world a little bit better for animals. If you wish to join us, or maybe just really like these character designs so you want to get access to some exclusive adopts, you can find our patreon for this passion project HERE.
References
Most of my information was derived from Wikipedia and supplemented from other websites such as iNaturalist and BBC.
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WRITING SHOWCASE
Hello, everybody! My name is Dozu, and I have for you today a riveting story for you to immerse yourself in!
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Whispering Aspen
By VioletJinx
Summary: Suneye, AspenClan’s medicine cat, suddenly dies from an unknown sickness that has been affecting the Clan. Juniperpaw, his apprentice, is left to mourn and assume his new responsibilities on his own. His sister Moosepaw is worried sick about him. Meanwhile, apprentice Applepaw visits her secret sister in her Two Leg nest at dawn to catch up.
Highlights: This story is very well constructed, the plot flows easily and the cat's points of view change seamlessly. Barely any spelling mistakes if at all, really good job!
For improvement: There is one major point for improvement and that is formatting. This story is a bunch of “blocks of text” thrown together which can cause the reader to tire easily of the otherwise impeccable story. An easy fix would be to format it properly with separated paragraphs and maybe using dividers for each POV change like we do in the magazine for topic changes.
Question time! Answer in a post and tag @FurryWeekly and @DoggyDozu if it’s on Twitter!
If you could transform into an animal, what would you be?
What do you think the sickness that killed Suneye was?
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That will be all for today folks. I hope you have enjoyed my pick!
Let’s give our authors a round of applause for their hard work! Remember to include the tags #FurryWeekly and #WritingShowcase in your posts if you want us to see your own writing on any platform! See you all next time, and now I'll sashay away.
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ART 101
Hello everyone, Fika Monster here! Last time we went over the art fundamentals. This week, I will be explaining how you can learn and practise the FORM principle to your art.
As a reminder: “Form means the shapes and volumes of things. At a basic level, all characters, objects or environments can be broken down into SHAPES. Even incredibly complicated things like humans can be broken down into geometric shapes.”
By using these breakdowns, we can make complex objects far easier to understand and digest. But first, Let us go over the shapes we can use:
Cubes: These are basic boxes. They can have the same dimensions on all sides, or be more like rectangles. You can either use these in the construction directly, building form, or you can place objects like spheres in them. By drawing a line either from one corner to another in the cube, or from the middle of the different sides, you can get a better understanding of the perspective and form of the object.
Spheres: These are three dimensional circles, or balls. They are often used in art to represent smaller and more mobile details, like a rotating ankle in a human. They are often the connective shape.
Cylinder: A mixture of a sphere and a cube, these are used for many many things. Legs and arms can be represented with cylinders.
Cones: You can use them to represent ears, noses, and often the end tail of things.
OBJECTS
If you think about it, this mushroom is really just a cylinder with a half sphere added on top!
Now look at this car:
It is much more complicated than a mushroom, but at its core, it’s a rectangle with a lower cube on the front and some spheres as the wheel.
ANIMALS
Animals come in all sorts of sizes and are very complicated to learn, so applying shapes here is very helpful. The way you distribute the shapes greatly changes the feel of the animal.
Finally we have humans, who come in all shapes and sizes. But generally, we can break us down to a large rectangular box for the torso, with a series of cylinders for the arms and legs. And finally, a box for the head.
We could go on and on, but I hope you all see how everything can be broken down into shapes.
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The homework for this week is…
Pick three different everyday objects or animals you like, and break it down into the shapes in the same way I did here.
Submit your homework to fikamonster.creative@gmail.com or put it on social media with the tags #furryweekly and #art101. I might showcase your work here and give feedback! As long as your work is SFW, of course.
This week's quote is…
–William Shakespeare
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WRITING 101
Back in Tad’s basement apartment, the hawk is seated in front of a sturdy wooden entertainment center. An old and boxy television sits on top, coils hissing and screen awash with inky blackness. The words “NO SIGNAL,” written in neon green, tell Tad what he already knows. He hasn’t turned on his PlayStation yet because he’s been too busy trying to get the audio receiver set up. A mess of wires trail from the rear of the receiver, and he currently hunches over the big and heavy box, trying to make sense of his own cable management.
The Camera cautiously rounds the corner to peek out of the bedroom, having just finished recharging its battery, and gives a tentative chirrup. Tad looks up.
“Hey. I know what it looks like—it’s not open. I’m just trying to get this thing set up. I’ve never worked with so many speaker wires before....”
The Camera approaches. Though the wires put it off slightly, it can stand to at least watch the hawk fiddle with the cables. Tad spends several minutes removing then reconnecting the speaker wires, loosening and tightening the spindly copper exposed at the end of the plastic sheathings.
“I hate that this is the only way to connect surround sound…” grumbles Tad. “I’m better with regular audio and video jacks.”
He sighs and leans back. Holding such an awkward position certainly doesn’t seem comfortable.
“Before I lose my mind… did you want to hear about this week’s writing topic?”
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Hello friends, and welcome to Furry Weekly’s Writing 101! I’m Bryce Griffin, here to get all you writers out there the inside scoop on literature tips and tricks. Let’s get started!
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Tropes in film and literature crop up time and time again because they are popular ways to depict characters, situations, or ideals. They may be beneficial or detrimental tropes, but they nevertheless allow us to pin creative expressions to concrete definitions. Today, we’re examining an unstated rule often seen in tabletop roleplaying games where fantastically awesome (and often humorous) events take place that don’t quite align with the reality’s laws, mostly because of exceptionally good or bad dice rolls. Still, these occurrences are allowed to happen because their coolness and contribution to the plot outweigh the questions those odd occurrences raise.
If you’re familiar with Dungeons and Dragons or any similar tabletop system, then you have probably heard of the Rule of Cool. A character performs something so outlandish, even in a magic-infused world where extraordinary occurrences aren’t unheard of, that even the audience questions how this outlandish event happened. But the result is so awesome and significant to the group of heroes’ progress that it all carries through anyway. This is the Rule of Cool in its prime.
Here’s an example: the protagonist’s ally is on the other side of a chasm, cornered by a menacing pair of massive trolls. Rather than carefully think of a plan to safely cross the chasm, the hero rushes in headfirst, throwing down a makeshift ice spell to create a slide right towards one of the troll’s noggins. Is there any way that this rash decision would work under normal circumstances? Slim chance. Should it happen because it will lead to a badass fight and rescue? Absolutely. Hence, the Rule of Cool prevails, even if it leads to the audience later asking, “How did that even happen?”
Keep in mind that the Rule of Cool doesn’t always win. The author has every right to bend luck in the hero’s favor. But if they do it too often, they run the risk of dampening these cool moments’ impacts. When everything is cool, then eventually nothing will feel cool. If your protagonist is always a badass, then it doesn’t leave enough room for them to show truly human moments like trips and stumbles. Refrain from the Rule of Cool to make the hero’s failures hit hard, and use the Rule where it counts to make those well-earned victories even sweeter and more memorable.
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Want us to take a look at your work? Got a general question for Writing 101? Just shoot me a message on Discord! I’ll be happy to answer any writing questions you may have, or even critique your work.
Thanks for joining me in Furry Weekly’s Writing 101. I hope you enjoy the rest of the magazine!
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“Not bad, right? I like when those ideas pop into my head. They’re fun to discuss.”
Tad glances back at the cables. He gives one of the wire nuts a final turn, firmly securing the wire to the terminal post.
“Okay. If this doesn’t work, I’m giving up for the night.”
He slides the receiver back onto its shelf in the entertainment center and turns it on. A pop from the receiver precedes a low electronic buzz.
“Sounds like the speakers are on.... That’s a good sign.”
Tad holds his breath, then turns on the PlayStation.
Immediately, the screen flashes white. The speakers—all five of them—quickly drum up a thunderous and harmonic concert, aided by the subwoofer’s subtle rumblings. An iconic orange diamond with white gradients spring to life on the screen, and the words “SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT” are the icing on the cake for Tad’s nostalgia overload.
The hawk didn’t cheer at his victory or pump his fists in excitement. He simply relaxed, slumping onto the floor until he laid flat with a smirk on his beak.
“Ahhh.... That sounds nice....”
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FURSUIT FANATICS
Hihi, everyone, and welcome to another exciting look at one of the many interesting and curious furs that populate our fandom. My name is tahlmorra and I’ll be your guide this week. I’m glad to see you’ve taken the time to stop by and meet this week’s guest with us. Now, seeing that you’re here it’s probably not too terribly unreasonable to assume that the phrase “Gott’a catch ‘em all...!” is familiar to you. Well, here at Furry Weekly we run a pretty tight schedule, so we’d hardly have time to catch all of them, but nothing’s stopping us from catching the occasional one (or two...!) Pokémon. That said, it’s my true pleasure to introduce this week’s guest and our first poke-catch, Ruben the Lucario...!
Ruben (or Talcott to his friends) is a Lucario Pokémon who goes by he/him and hails from the central Connecticut region. He’s a typical Lucario in appearance; predominantly blue with a yellow torso, black paws and a black waist band and mask. Additionally, he sports silver spikes on the back of each hand with a third in the center of his chest. Ruben is not a first suit character, there having been an otter partial before him, but he is the v1.0 of this character’s fullsuit. He was made by Gold Ribbon Studio, aka “Bex,” who Ruben describes as a lot of fun. The suit doesn’t have anything in particular different in construction from most digitigrade suits, but he has added a fan inside the head to allow him to fursuit longer before the heat becomes too much. Ruben also has a large, glowing bone that he wields like a sword.
At present, the only future plans on the horizon for Ruben are to make short comedy sketches. Ultimately, he hopes to update a Cinderace fursuit that he made himself. Ruben was finished during the first year of the pandemic and the Cinderace was begun mainly because there were no major conventions to attend. In that process, he says he made some beginner’s mistakes but feels confident he can do better, having had the experience. He started making content for the internet, getting into regular usage of TikTok and Instagram and eventually plans to use both suits to make duo comedy sketches. Pairing the two is something he found he really enjoyed, even though he drew some mean hate comments for the Cinderace suit. “... It was a bit of a shame, haters'll hate.. always best to ignore and move on...sort of the furry thing to do..heh...”
Turning to opportunities for fursuiting and public-suiting, Ruben said that he really loves mountain locations. Areas that have scenic views where people are just as impressed by the background as with the fursuit. He specifically mentioned having fun photoshoots and making videos by the White Mountain Hwy in New Hampshire for just that reason.
As for in-suit activities, he said, “I just generally like being a goof for people at cons and getting some genuine smiles from folks. I guess if I wanna be more specific I love doing the furry duckpin parties we do in Connecticut. It's like bowling but the balls are smaller, and more fursuit friendly too.” He credits his fursuiting experiences with making it easier to get in touch with the “sweeter, more childish side” of himself.
Next, we turned to why Reuben became a furry to begin with. He says he likes creativity and also found that animals helped him to express himself, giving him a safe and healthy creative outlet. Ruben was created because Lucario was one of his favorite Pokémon and he liked the species, thinking they’d make a “good canvas to create an empathetic character with.” By lore, the species can sense the emotions of others around them, and he took that as ‘a Lucario would be first to know’ if you’re sad. He says Ruben was meant to be something like a good friend who’d “be around to give me hugs and comfort on a sad day.” That was the kind of positive energy that he said he wanted from him. “The world needs joy, so that's kind’a why I wrote up the character; very good attitude..need more of that around.” Asked when he first entered the fandom, Ruben’s initial reply was “... holy crap! It’s been 11 years. Wow.” Continuing, he went on to say that he’s been furry and part of the fandom through the better part of high school and all the way through college; “... even now it helps me through work stress.”
Ruben says being in a fursuit doesn’t have a whole lot of impact upon his overall self-image, saying he knows that it’s just a character, albeit a very confidence boosting one. He finds it considerably easier to be “bubbly” in nature and get into the “I’m cute” mindset while he’s full-suiting. He recounts a time at a con when he was hanging around with a Lycanroc and finding it fun to just be walking about the con and casually listening to music together: “it felt really immersive being in characters and just doing stuff I’d normally be doing anyway.”
When it comes to conventions, Ruben says he’s been to too many to easily count however, he does attend the bowling (duckpin) meets regularly and primarily sticks to east coast, U.S. cons. That said, he has attended MidwestFurFest and Confuzzled in the U.K. Local anime cons are also a favorite because he finds Pokémon to be right at home there.
Ruben says his favorite things to do are cute fursuit poses for people and seeing their excitement at meeting a Lucario in person. He positively dislikes dealing with people’s questions about the character as related to NSFW activities. “ I sorta see him as more childlike in terms of personality so that stuff always felt kind’a weird.” He also said he hates the aforementioned mean-spirited comments directed at his Cinderace saying he’d be willing to bet that the people leaving that type of comment have “never picked up a sewing needle in their life.”
With regards to any important goals he may have, Ruben says that finishing his Cinderace v2.0 is high on the list as well as is working on expanding his online following, telling me that he hopes to be a positive influence in the fandom for people to look up to.
If you think you might be interested in seeing what Ruben is doing, or maybe decide that you’d like to follow him, you can find him on the following social platforms:
-Ruben_Lucario on TikTok
-@ruben_auradog on Instagram
-@OtterTal on Twitter
I hope you’ve had fun and enjoyed meeting our guest just as much as I have. We may not have caught them all, but we did come by way of two very special ones this week. Remember, if you think you’d like to be featured in Fursuit Fanatics, or know someone who should, get ahold of us by posting your photos and videos with the tags #FurryWeekly and #FursuitFanatics on most major social platforms.
Don’t forget to stop by next week when we take a journey back in time to the late Cretaceous Period! Grab your safari gear and come along!
Thanks once again for sharing your time with us, I’m tahlmorra, your host for today wishing you all a happy week ahead. Everyone, be sure to stay safe, stay well and stay furry...!
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PHOTOGRAPHY 101
Hello, friends and photografurs! Welcome to this week's Photography 101! I'm your host, Jaden (Discord @ Jaden711#0663). With so many features in cameras nowadays, it can be difficult to figure out where to begin if you're buying your first camera. That's why today, we’ll be going over a quick guide of the most important things to look for when buying your first DSLR.
Budget
Setting a budget for your camera is the first thing you should do when buying a camera. For an entry-level camera, the average price can be expected to be around 200-600 dollars, whereas professional cameras can cost upwards of over 2000 dollars. I wouldn't recommend buying a camera that expensive as your first, but if you have the funds to do so, by all means, go for it! Just know that it's not necessary. I've been using the same entry-level camera for years with no issues!
Sensor
Sensors will have the largest effect on your image quality. Despite common belief, megapixels more largely affect the dimensions of your photo, so spending extra money on a higher megapixel isn't really necessary. Sensors, however, do control your image quality. The higher the sensor, the better your image quality will be. The two most common types of sensor sizes you'll encounter in DSLRs are APS-C and Full Frame. Full frame will yield better image quality but will be a lot more expensive compared to APS-C. If you can comfortably afford a full-frame sensor, then you should spring for it. However, a lot of professional photographers, including myself, use cameras with APS-C sensors and still end up taking gorgeous photos with a clean photo quality.
Autofocus
Autofocus is super important when you're shooting moving objects. That's why autofocus points will be an important thing to consider when buying your first camera. DSLRs can only use autofocus in certain predetermined areas, so having more of those areas means more accurate and reliable autofocus! This will be represented by the abbreviation AF followed by a number. The higher this number means more autofocus points. So, AF 11 would be better and more desirable than AF 8.
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Design is something a lot of people overlook when buying a camera, but the truth is sometimes a camera's shape is just too uncomfortable to hold or doesn't feel secure enough. This is why, if possible, it's better to buy your camera in person so you can get a feel for it and ensure it feels comfortable and secure in your hands. Things like size are also important to consider. If you plan on traveling to conventions or other places, a smaller camera may be more convenient for you, whereas if you don't plan on traveling that often, the size of the camera won't be too important.
While other things like shutter speeds and ISO exist, all these numbers are pretty standard in beginner cameras and don't really need to be considered until you get to more advanced cameras and niche situations. So just stick to the things mentioned in this list, and you'll be all set for your photography journey!
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That concludes this week's segment! If you have any questions or would like constructive criticism on your photos, don't be afraid to shoot me (Discord @ Jaden711#0663) a message!
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RADICAL RAFFLES
Hello, everyone! My name’s Danielle, and I’m here to bring you the most interesting raffles. Let’s take a look at them.
First, we have an art raffle by Aniki!
How to Enter:
-Follow and retweet. New followers are welcome!
-Comment with a reference of your character.
Prize:
-Shaded icon
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on May 7th. There’s still time left to enter!
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Next up, we have an art raffle by Blu!
How to Enter:
-Follow, like, and retweet.
-Comment which prize option you would like.
Prize:
-Reference sheet or semi-mystery custom
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on May 18th. There’s still lots of time left to enter!
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Up next, we have an art raffle by user fieaux!
How to Enter:
-Follow and retweet.
-Optional: Comment a safe for work (SFW) reference.
Prize:
-Full body
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on May 1st. There’s little time left to enter!
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Celebrate with a 2.5k followers raffle by Sabrina!
How to Enter:
-Follow and retweet. New followers are welcome!
-Reply with a SFW photo or description of your original character (OC).
Prize:
-1st place: Full body sketch
-2nd and 3rd place: Gremlino
-For every 150 retweets, another winner will be added!
-If the 3k milestone is reached, the winners will be doubled!
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on May 5th. There’s still time left to enter!
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Rest easy and get comfortable with a fursona pillow raffle by Flint the Serval!
How to Enter:
-Follow Flint and Silver Serval Studios (Flint’s art/fursuit making account).
-Retweet and reply with a SFW reference or image of the character you would get as a pillow.
-Optional: Tell Flint something unique about your fursona or character.
Prize:
-Fursona pillow (free shipping in the; United States only)
Deadline:
-This raffle will end when Flint reaches 1.2k followers on their account and 500 followers on their art/fursuit making account. Alternatively, the raffle will end on May 20th if those goals are not reached before then.
-As of April 26th, Flint has 1,052 followers and 235 followers on the art/fursuit making account. There’s still lots of time left to enter!
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Celebrate with a 11k raffle by xBaby!
How to Enter:
-Retweet
-Optional: Follow xBaby (18+ only) and comment your favorite hobby.
Prize:
-Full body and icon
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on May 1st. There’s little time left to enter!
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Celebrate with a 14k sketch page raffle by Piper!
How to Enter:
-Follow and retweet.
-Reply with your reference.
Prize:
-Sketch page
Deadline:
-This raffle ends on June 9th. There’s lots of time left to enter!
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Those are all the raffles I have for you this week. There's always more out there, and we'll make sure to find them and bring them to you every week!
Make sure you use the tags #RadicalRaffles and #FurryWeekly so we can find your raffle more easily.
Thank you for taking a look at this week’s raffles. Stay tuned because more radical raffles are coming your way!
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AVAILABLE ARTISTS
Hello, everyone! My name’s Danielle, and I’m here to bring you the latest and greatest artists to commission.
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We start with Ilya Royz, a freelance artist who specializes in anthro art, illustrations, concept art, landscapes, character design, and 3D character modeling. Ilya’s art style is absolutely stunning to look at! There are detailed portrait, landscape, character concept, 3D character modeling, and icon commissions available to choose from. They are all worth checking out!
You can find Ilya’s prices and terms of service on their Carrd and links to their social media on their campsite. Feel free to message them if you have any questions or are interested in a commission.
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Next, we have Sash. Sash specializes in cute furry and human art. You can choose from pixel icons, teeny art, chibis, full bodies, experimental scene illustrations, and reference sheets as commission options. Backgrounds are also available and will vary in price depending on complexity.
You can find Sash’s prices, terms of service, and links to their social media on their Carrd. Feel free to message them if you’d like a commission or have any questions.
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Last but certainly not least, we have Middknyte, a furry artist who has a love for children’s shows like Dragon Tales. He specializes in fan art of various children's show characters as well as digital colored sketches and illustrations of cute animal and anthro characters. If you are a fan of children’s shows, then you’re going to enjoy Middknyte’s work! Fan art of children’s shows aren’t always something you come across everyday, so it is a treat to see them.
He offers icons/headshots, colored sketches, and simple reference sheets in a few different color style options at affordable prices. While most may see sketches as a sign of an incomplete drawing, Middknyte makes sketches shine through different guidelines and shapes that fill the space of each drawing in a way that pleases him.
You can find Middknyte’s prices on his Ko-fi and links to his other platforms on his Carrd. Feel free to order a commission on Ko-fi if you are interested or to message him if you have any questions.
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That is all for this edition of Available Artists!
We’re always on the lookout for amazing artists to put on the spotlight. Don’t forget to use the hashtags #AvailableArtists and #FurryWeekly so we can find you. Feel free to message me directly on any of my social media if you have any artists with open commissions you’d like us to feature.
Thank you for reading and checking out these amazing artists!
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CHARACTER INTERVIEW
How’s it going everyone? My name is Yeshua and I’m here to bring you a new edition of the Character Interview segment! I’m very excited to be able to share my conversation with today’s guest, so let’s not waste any time and just get into it.
YESHUA: Today I have the opportunity to chat with Boltie, who I'm sure many of you are familiar with! Thanks for taking the time to talk with me! To start, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do in the fandom?
BOLTIE: Hi there! My name is Ash but I go more commonly by Boltie. I’m a 27 year old, full time freelance artist who loves my pets and my plants. I have been drawing in the fandom since 2007, but only recently started doing furry fulltime in 2020. I sell plushies, beanies, pins, and other kinds of merch at conventions and on my webshop.
YESHUA: It's a pleasure having you on! Sounds like not only are you incredibly involved in the fandom, but you've been around for a while! Just from the little bit you've told me I already have lots of questions, so let's see how many we can get through. Let's start with what you're up to these days. You say you're a full time freelance artist and sell merch. First, tell me about your art. Looks like you specialize in digital art?
BOLTIE: Yes, that’s correct! I specialize in digital, started off using MS paint and ended up in Procreate present day! I went to college and got two degrees in graphic design and illustration. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember though, even furries before I knew the word for the fandom.
YESHUA: Sounds like you've got a ton of experience as an artist! What would you say you enjoy drawing the most? If anything?
BOLTIE: I think my favorite thing would have to be reference sheets or character pages. I got into the fandom from making and creating characters/stories and there's something very special about bringing to life a character on a reference sheet that has never had one before. I love fleshing out characters that way and it's extra special when it's some of the first art you help to make for someone's character.
YESHUA: That's very neat! Reference sheets are definitely very special since they pretty much define a character's design.
Let's talk about your artwork. You have an incredibly detailed semi-realistic style with some phenomenal color work as well as great execution of poses and facial expressions to really bring life and personality to characters. You also do very well in making sure characters look soft when it comes to fur and fluff! This is just what I immediately notice from your work, but I'm curious: what are you most proud about your style today?
BOLTIE: Thank you so much for saying that, oh my gosh. It took me years to get comfortable with my art and it really means a lot! I think I’m most proud of my color work. It took me years to understand color theory – arguably I’m still learning, haha – and experiment with tints and shades. Now I love it though and I’m all about the saturation! Using gradient maps, textures, layer effects, and tones in combination helps bring a whole image together and really makes the character feel alive and cohesive.
YESHUA: Of course, it's all true! And honestly, you definitely deserve to be proud of that! The color in your pieces definitely stands out, and it's especially impressive that you say you're still learning but you still do so well! I gotta say your color work definitely elevates your art aesthetically, makes it pleasing to the eye.
You mentioned you only started doing furry full time in 2020. It's been about three years since then, and I can tell you've already made it very far with your art! What inspired you to pursue this as full-time work?
BOLTIE: Oh yeah, I feel like I’m constantly still learning, but I love that about art! It never gets boring because there’s always some sort of problem to be worked out in every piece, almost like a puzzle, whether that’s color, composition, or form.
I actually had a fulltime job doing design work for food packaging and other companies! I worked at an advertising agency as a designer for about 3 years before COVID halted all projects for my team. I was laid off shortly after and during all of this time I had always drawn furry on the side so I decided to jump fully in with that since I’d grown up seeing people be able to live off furry successfully. I knew this was always what I wanted to do, I just never knew a name for it!
YESHUA: That's awesome to hear! It's always great finding a way to continue enjoying something you're passionate about, and with your attitude, I'm sure you'll continue improving even more!
Ah, you've definitely put your experience and education to good use even before doing full time furry work! Sorry to hear about getting laid off, but it looks like you've definitely embraced and settled into full time freelancing, which is great to hear if that's what you've always wanted to do! Keep it up, you're immensely talented.
One final question about your art before shifting topics. You mentioned you drew furries before you even knew what the word meant. Do you recall what exactly you liked to draw back then, and how it led you to the fandom?
BOLTIE: My initial start into the fandom was actually Warrior Cats, so I had a ton of characters that stemmed from that which slowly led me to finding furry!
YESHUA: Ah, Warrior Cats is definitely a series I hear got a lot of people into the fandom! You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but did you start with a Warrior Cats character? Or did you go straight for an anthro character?
BOLTIE: Oh I absolutely started with a Warrior Cats character! Her name was Cherrystar, haha.
YESHUA: I'm not too familiar with Warrior Cats myself but that definitely sounds like a Warrior Cats name!
Next, I'm interested in the merch you make. Tell me a little about that.
BOLTIE: I started making merch as something I would give out to friends as cons. It started with a keychain and then more people wanted it and I ended up ordering a whole batch and the rest snowballed from there. Honestly I’m really excited about merch, I’ve got tons of plans for new things this year.
YESHUA: That keychain and those beanies look great! Any sneak peeks you could give for what you've got coming up, or at least a clue? Or do you prefer keeping it under wraps for now?
BOLTIE: I’ve got a sneak peek! It’s not the best photo but!
My next venture is into plushes!
YESHUA: Ooooo it looks fantastic! You can never go wrong with plushes, and that one’s just adorable and looks very well crafted! And you’ve even got a tag with your logo? Heck, that’s just so cool! Thanks for sharing, this is definitely something to keep an eye out from you coming up!
Next up, you also mentioned you vend at conventions. Is that the main reason you go to cons or do you also have some time to get involved in some of the activities?
BOLTIE: Thank you so much, that's so sweet of you to say! And they are now. When I first started going to conventions it was purely for fun and seeing friends, but as I started going around the den and seeing all these talented peers... I had an itch to be in there amongst the dealers that I knew I had to scratch someday! Now it's the main reason I go to conventions these days! Although I'm taking a break for the rest of 2023 due to some life things, but I'm still going to be running my online shop and I'll have plenty more time to work on art. So much more than I had been this last year!
YESHUA: Honestly, that's pretty neat! I personally love hearing about folks achieving what they aim for, and hearing that you at one point saw the folks dealing at conventions, and thought to yourself that you wanted to be part of them, is pretty inspiring! I'm sorry to hear some things are leaving you to take a break, but it sounds like you'll still be able to do things you want to do!
Given your break from dealing, is there something in particular you want to focus on the most when it comes to your activities in the fandom?
BOLTIE: I'm doing a little bit of a pivot as of recently to do more of a focus on my online shop and Patreon -- but I'm hoping to start up a Twitch for some chill lofi art streams!
I really appreciate that though, I know I'll for sure be back at cons again in 2024!
YESHUA: I have a feeling those Twitch streams are probably gonna be a big hit! I know I'd watch! As for your online shop, I know you mentioned merch earlier on; is that merch what would go on your online shop? Or are merch and online shop items separate?
BOLTIE: Yep, that's right! The merch I sold at my table, including the upcoming plushies, are going to be sold on my online shop! It's up and running currently at boltie.shop.
YESHUA: Ah I see! Well, you already gave us a neat sneak peek so I suppose all we can say is stay tuned! Is there any project in particular you're especially excited for or satisfied with?
BOLTIE: Hmm, I don’t think I have anything new merch wise but I’m super satisfied with this one portrait I just finished! I’ve been trying out some new lighting techniques in my mini hiatus!
This portrait was a commission I took at my ANE table -- I've been practicing a more painterly style with my shading and stronger highlights and fading the parts of the body that are further from the POV!
Actually I take that back, I also just finished a charity event with some friends! It was for a pride run, here are some of the drawings I did on stream for them! In total over $1000 in one night! The event was put together by my amazing friend and streamer friend Puffin.
Here’s some of the drawings I did for the donors on stream this past Friday!
We're holding another one of these donation drawing streams in July for the @PapaBarksALS event! So if anyone is looking to support a good cause and get some art, we're taking donations the whole month and there are tons of amazing artists, prizes, raffles as incentives. I know for sure myself I'll be helping @aardpuff and @Justpeacheyy with more donation drawing streams then!
And by we, I mean @PapaBarksALS.
YESHUA: Over $1000? Holy heck, I gotta say, that's unreal in just one night. And your art is looking as polished as always!
And wow, the PapaBarksALS event no doubt sounds like a fantastic cause! There's still plenty of time from when this interview is going live, so if you're reading this and the event hasn't happened, definitely consider donating if you can! You might just get some art by Boltie or other talented artists!
Shifting gears, I'm very curious to ask you about how you feel about how far you've come in the fandom. You said you've been drawing in the fandom since 2007 and just in 2020 started doing full time work in it. You also said earlier that you wanted to join the dealers you'd see at conventions, and you've definitely succeeded in that! And you're even getting involved in some charitable work within the fandom, too! How does all of this make you feel, if you don't mind me asking? Just, being able to do so much!
BOLTIE: Oh man, that's a question I've always struggled to answer. It's been surreal working conventions and having young adults come up to me and tell me they've been following me since they were kids and it always gives me a little wince to remind myself I've been posting furry art for so long. But jokes aside, it's also a huge honor and privilege to be an artist that people look up to for years. I really just see myself as any other artist out there trying to make a living doing the things I love and doing what I can to help the people around me. This community has done so much for me growing up, using the art as an outlet for so many years, I can't imagine myself ever not drawing it and I'm so incredibly appreciative for the support.
YESHUA: It's simply wonderful to hear that you've been able to meaningfully contribute to the fandom while having the fandom respond in such a great way! But it makes sense! True, you're making a living out of what you love, but I think folks also appreciate that love you have for all this because it clearly shows you truly enjoy being part of the fandom!
Before we wrap up, was there anything at all about your art, your crafts, or even just your casual involvement in the fandom that you'd like to mention or talk about at all that perhaps I missed?
BOLTIE: Hmm, I don't think I have anything to add, I really appreciate your time and patience with me! It means a lot that my passion shows through!
YESHUA: Of course! I do mean it! It's been an absolute pleasure getting to chat with you and learning more about what you do as well as what you have planned! I'm sure many will be happy to see that you've got a lot in store coming up!
Thank you so much for your time as well, it was truly an honor!
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That concludes today’s Character Interview! It was tons of fun getting to know Boltie more, and if anything that she does piqued your interest – definitely check out all she does as well as follow her on her socials by clicking this link right here!
If you have an idea for someone else in the fandom who you’d like for me to sit down and chat with for this segment, just lemmino on one of my socials!
As always, I’ll be back next time with another wonderful guest, so be sure to stick around! Until then, take care!
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CONVENTION CALENDAR
Welcome back to another edition of Convention Calendar! I’m Shetani, your friendly neighborhood segment host. If you, like me, are feeling the change in weather inspire you to get out there (in meatspace or cyberspace) and mingle with other furries, you’re in for a real treat! In this issue, we’ll be discussing a baker’s dozen of furry events during the entire month of May, happening online, around the world, and in your neck of the woods. Let’s get started!
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Wild Nights is a furry camping convention taking place Thursday April 27 - Tuesday May 2 - in Robbers Cave State Park near Wilburton, Oklahoma, USA. This long-running community staple held itsfirst event in 2009, if you can believe it! 2023’s con, themed Very Superstitious, promises to be a spooktacularly good time. Programming and events have historically included outdoor games such as swimming and basketball, a variety show, fursuit events, and artist sketchbook swaps. The Guests of Honor are musician Matthew Ebel and artist Zola. Take a peek at the “Who’s Coming” list on WN’s website to start networking with the other furries you’ll meet at the con! Lodging and meals are included in the registration cost.
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Come on by the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from Thursday May 11 - Sunday May 14 for Furry Weekend Atlanta! This year’s theme is The Lost City. Plenty of fun awaits FWA attendees, including a Dealer’s Den, Artist Alley, and Moonlight festival. There will also be board and video gaming as well as poker and blackjack, a fursuit dance competition, and more. In lieu of a fursuit parade, FWA will host a group photo and smaller breakout photo ops for special interest groups. If you ever wanted to photograph a bunch of African animals, or purple fursuiters, or all the fursuiters from one specific maker, now’s your chance! The Guest of Honor is Jacato, an illustrator known in the furry community for his colorful slice-of-life paintings. Additionally, FWA supports Animal Park at the Conservators Center as their charity for 2023.
Website | Twitter | Mastodon | Facebook
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Furry Down Under, also known as FurDU, will be held Friday May 12 - Sunday May 14. The con has a brand new venue this time around - the Crowne Plaza Hotel Surfers Paradise & Oaks Hotel on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. With a theme like Game On for 2023, there’s a lot of potential for folks to go all-out with their outfits, costumes, decorations, and events! Three days’ worth of excitement await attendees, such as multiple fursuit games, trivia, dance competitions, a talent show, and dances each night of the convention. On the schedule, you may notice panels hosted by Magicdawolfy and Adler the Eagle, the two Guests of Honor. Every year, FurDU raises donations for Fresh Start Rescue, an organization that assists with rescuing animals from shelters, fostering them, and giving them a new forever home. Pre-registration has closed for the season, but a limited number of day passes will be available on site. Bear in mind that you must be 18 years of age to attend FurDU.
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Facebook
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Hear ye, hear ye! Southern Paws returns to the Waipara Adventure Center in Waipara, Canterbury, New Zealand with the theme of Snouts and Sorcery! This year’s event is scheduled for Friday May 12 - Monday May 15. Southern Paws takes a summer camp and a furry convention and mashes them together for one unforgettable weekend. Expect outdoor hangouts, sports, and camping activities in addition to a dealer’s den, panels, fursuit events, and much more. At registration, you can book a specific bedroom to stay with friends, or let Southern Paws assign you a spot - a great way to meet new people and make furry friends at con! Bring a photo ID if you’re staying overnight.
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Facebook
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The 24th Mephit Mini Con takes place this year from Thursday May 18 - Sunday May 21 at the Jugendherberge Freusburg in Freusburg, Kirchen, Germany. Bring your kilts and bagpipes for the theme, Highland Games. Workshops, events, fursuit games, a dealer’s den, and an art show are on the docket for 2023. Meals are included with registration - you can’t beat that! Be sure to refer to MMC’s website and socials for more info.
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Furry Weekend Holland will be taking place Friday May 19 - Monday May 22 at the beautiful De Berckt Castle in Baarlo, the Netherlands. For over a decade, this convention has brought furries together for games, dances, markets, food, and fun. If you notice more cowboy hats, lassos, and spurred boots than usual, that’s because the theme for 2023 is Spirit of the West! FWH events have historically included photo ops, raves, an inflatables meetup, fursuit activities, and a dead dog party, so attendees can expect more of the same this time around.
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CozyCon is a fully online convention taking place Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, and is 100% free to attend! The theme once again is “Cozy Dreams (Lo-Fi Slumber Party),” so go ahead and wear your comfiest jammies as you experience all the conveniences of a virtual convention. For the 7th time running, CozyCon will feature online panels, meetups, workshops, games, DJs, and a talent show, not to mention an online dealer’s den packed with dozens of artists, creators, and vendors from furry and other fandom communities. The magic happens on the CozyCon Discord hub, with events and panels streaming on Twitch. For those who want to get fully interactive, CozyCon will offer a hangout space and art gallery in Minecraft, as well as virtual HQ and Dealer’s Den worlds in VRChat and ChilloutVR! You can’t get much closer to the real-life con experience.
Website | Twitter | Discord | Twitch | Telegram | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram
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The Oáza srdce hotel in Horní Bradlo, Czech Republic welcomes the furries back for the annual ZodiaCon, from Wednesday May 24 - Sunday May 28. An interesting fact about ZodiaCon is that they choose not only a unique theme, but a new mascot each year, based on a rotation of the twelve zodiac signs - hence the convention’s name. 2023’s mascot is an otter, representing Aquarius, and the theme is Pirates! Last year’s events included fursuit games, hangouts, and photoshoots by a picturesque lake; just imagine what ZodiaCon has planned for this year! Those looking to network with friends and make new pals at ZodiaCon will be happy to know there’s an attendee list on their website, complete with country of origin and even photos. Convention materials, panels, and important announcements will be available in Czech or Slovak as well as English. You must be 18 years old to attend ZodiaCon.
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AnthrOhio is being held Friday May 26 - Sunday May 28 at the Crowne Plaza North in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The Guests of Honor are Velocity the Running Sloth, Yahve Anne, and Dappest. AnthrOhio promises events and decorations aligned with 2023’s chosen theme “To the Fur Flung Regions of Space,” so expect to see astronaut helmets and Starfleet uniforms along with ears and tails! At the charity table, you can meet representatives from Ohio Nature Education, a private non-profit volunteer organization which provides a home for animals that can no longer live in the wild. At press time, the schedule was still being finalized, but you can bet there’ll be board gaming, a dance competition, Dealer’s Den and Artist’s Alley, and tasty food trucks. Don’t forget your face mask and proof of COVID-19 vaccination, as both are required to attend AnthrOhio.
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Mastodon
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At the same time, Furlandia is happening just a few states away at the Sheraton Portland Airport in Portland, Oregon, USA. Furries from all around will gather between Friday May 26 - Sunday May 28 for yet another iteration of the annual convention. Furlandia is breaking the mold this year by theming their convention “Your Character Here,” and instead of selecting one or two specific individuals to highlight, every attendee is being celebrated as a Guest of Honor! Fursuit and non-suit dance competitions, a Dealer’s Den, and Artist Alley are planned. Keep an eye on Furlandia’s website for further details, including the schedule and charity of choice, as information is announced. Furlandia requires photo ID and proof of COVID-19 vaccination to register.
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Facebook | Instagram
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NomadiCon rounds out the USA furcons for this weekend. After some issues with their venue, this first year event is finally ready and raring to welcome attendees! The fun begins Friday May 26 - Sunday May 28 at the Millennium Maxwell Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Comedian Alkali Bismuth has the honor of being NomadiCon’s first special guest. The staff have been hard at work setting up panels, photoshoots, life drawing sessions, Floor Wars dance competition, a vendor hall, and nightly dances to make the inaugural event unforgettable. Check the Vendors page on their website to see if your favorite furry exhibitor will be there! NomadiCon requires that you be vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear a CDC-approved mask in con space.
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Mastodon | Facebook | Instagram
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ConFuzzled is back with its fourteenth iteration from Friday May 26 - Tuesday May 30. The Hilton Birmingham Metropole in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom plays host to the festivities once again. This year’s theme is “Brok in the Multiverse,” sending CFz’s badger mascot Brok and friends through a myriad of crazy crossover experiences with well-known pop culture franchises. The Guests of Honor are artist Fawnspots and musician Tonya Song. CFz promises a packed schedule of events, like fursuit activities, social gatherings, stage shows, and workshops. Don’t forget to stop by the Dealer’s Den as well as the pop-up shops and buy a trinket or two to take home with you. CFz is known for its photoshoot booth all decked out with props to match each year’s special theme, not to be passed up! CFz has already reached its attendance cap for 2023, which is a fantastic show of support for the convention; if you missed your chance to register, it’s never too early to start planning your trip for next year!
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Mastodon
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Last but certainly not least, we have Furizon, an Italian furry convention scheduled for Tuesday May 30 - Friday June 2. As was the case in 2022, the Park Hotel Sacro Cuore in Cavalese, Italy was chosen for the venue. This year’s theme is “Furizon Beyond,” evoking whimsical flights of fancy, steampunk, and space pirates. Hotel lodging and meals for all four days are included in the price of registration. The schedule will be posted on Furizon’s website as soon as it’s available, so you can start making note of all your favorite activities. If you have a fursuit, you can register online to take part in the fursuit games. Nearly 20 dealers will be peddling their wares at Furizon, with info listed on the con’s website should you wish to take an early peek. Attendees must be at least 18 years old.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
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Here’s your monthly calendar with all the events listed here for May! It was done by our cover artist Sunni, featuring our Human Resources Manager and second-in-command, Carkas, repping Confuzzled in the U.K.! Our President, Yeshua will be at Furry Weekend Atlanta, so don’t be afraid to say hello!
I’d like to spend a moment addressing common questions about what we cover in the Convention Calendar segment here at Furry Weekly!
Q: Why do you list conventions for the whole month instead of each week?
A: As you’ve just read, the majority of furry cons happen on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which, coincidentally, is when Furry Weekly releases new issues. If we waited to update Convention Calendar on a weekly basis, many of the cons would be partly finished or have already ended, which wouldn’t give our readers enough time to go to them!
Q: Why leave up the cons from earlier in the month if they’ve already happened?
A: Furry Weekly’s fantastic graphic artists make a calendar image for the entire month. Those event names would still be on the calendar, except without an explanation of what they are.
In addition, when people search online for furry conventions they can attend, Furry Weekly is frequently in the top results - particularly for cons that don’t get a lot of mainstream coverage, or whose sites are primarily in another language. Cons without a large online footprint can be greatly assisted by Furry Weekly gathering all the important details in one place.
Q: Where do you find the conventions you write about?
A: Mostly via word of mouth and a LOT of research! Many established furry cons are well-documented and happen at the same time each year. I also scour the Web to look for upcoming first year furry cons, furry cons outside of North America, and lesser known furry cons. These events often benefit the most from being featured in a publication like Furry Weekly.
Q: How do you pick which cons to feature?
A: Furry events come in all shapes and sizes, and being exclusionary is no fun. Basically, if the event bills itself as a convention and is geared towards the furry community, that’s exactly what we’re looking for! There must be at least one official public webpage with verifiable info where prospective attendees can find details such as dates, location, how to register, policies, and programming.
Q: I help run a furry convention that’s coming up, and we’d like to get the word out. Is that possible?
A: Absolutely! Just contact me before the month in which the con takes place, and I’ll make sure I have all the details I need to cover your convention!
Q: I’m not on staff, but I’m going to a furry con soon - will you write about it?
A: I try my absolute best to give our readers comprehensive con coverage, but I don’t know what I don’t know! Get in touch with me at least a month in advance so I can ascertain your con is on my list.
Got questions or suggestions for Convention Calendar? Feel free to drop me a line on Twitter and the Fediverse, or hit me up at any of the other platforms linked on my website. If there’s an upcoming event you want to ensure we cover here on Furry Weekly, don’t hesitate to let me know. Have fun and stay safe out there!
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