Rune is headed to Indy Fur Con! (+updates)
It has been quite awhile hasn’t it?
It’s crazy to think that this blog used to be my life and my passion and then it all fell silent for so long. I planned so many times to write something out, explain my massive hiatus and go over why this blog started to collect dust and my presence disappeared but, every time I thought about sitting down and typing it all out, it just felt…wrong. Even now, I know that whatever words I put down will not be as well thought-out as I would like. But regardless, I think an update blog is more than necessary to go over why I disappeared as well as some current events.
- My Hiatus:
I suppose the biggest thing there is to cover is why I disappeared in the first place. I guess the main reason, put simply is: Life happens. Between 2019 & 2020 I went through a lot of hard times. The pandemic was rough on many people and unfortunately, I was one of the people who suffered from it. I was sick for almost 4-months after getting covid and my life just kept spiraling. In February of 2020 I lost my Step-Dad (and Father figure), in August, I lost my sister-in-law/ best friend. Then in early September, my (now ex) wife asked for a divorce. This meant I had very little time to pack up my life and move from Texas back to my home state of Indiana where I now reside.
These last two years really have just been about getting my life back together. I got a solid job in 2021 that was making more than just $8.25 an hour and by September of 2021 I had my own place. Since then I have had a few ups and downs. Finances are still tight and like most of the middleclass in America, I am living paycheck-to-paycheck. I slipped away from the Furry Fandom because at the time that I felt that I was losing everything, the fandom just seemed like this extra well of toxicity and drama that I felt like I just could not handle. Every other week someone was being cancelled or called out…and I just got so exhausted seeing other people post about their misery. I just had to turn away for awhile and focus on me and focus on my mental health. It did not help that since I was no longer in Texas, I felt really disconnected from several of my closest friends within the fandom (a few who were at least within driving distance). My creativity just seemed to run dry and so, I focused on fandoms and hobbies that were not as mentally taxing on me and mostly just got back into blogging about video-games and really focusing on my YouTube channel focusing on gameplay.
I think I just reached a point where the things that used to inspire me in the fandom just seemed like a chore. Not only was I no longer suiting or making character videos, I wasn’t even drawing or following Furry news. So, it only made sense that this blog started to gather cobwebs since I really felt as if I just needed a break from it all. At least for a little while.
- Retiring Rune?
Another reason I stepped away from the fandom was the fact that my suit: Rune, had started to fall apart. Now, do you need a fursuit in order to be a Furry? Of course not! But, I will admit that one thing that got me so involved in the fandom in the first place (rather than just being a wallflower and observer) was getting to engage with each others as an entertainer in a fursuit and just talking about fursuiting in general. My experiences and stories about conventions and outings really helped me connect with others (since I struggle socially), and, doing things like making YouTube videos in suit and attending conventions really kept fuel on my fire to keep making Furry content in some way, shape, and form.
But, when Rune started to fall apart…my inspiration and drive started to fall apart with him. I have stated many times before that I commissioned Rune from an amateur maker. This is not a bad thing as it was better for my budget and it helped someone gain valuable experience (not to mention, I really love how Rune turned out)! But, I have also said that through doing this, I did find out the hard way that Rune’s fur was not really good for suit making, and that there were some serious flaws in the design which made it so that this suit head really was not built to last. My buddy Flamesvoices had to give Rune some major “surgery” to fix a vast majority of the larger issues but even then, it was not a cure all. Rune is now 6-years-old and he has been falling apart for the last 2 years. He has bald spots and places where the glue is breaking. He has holes behind his ears, among other issues. There were talks of refurbishing the suit which would prolong its life, but truthfully, it’s just an old suit and the better option would be to just get a new one…but financially, that is just not possible. So, the more that Rune became run down, and the more it became clear that another Rune just wasn’t in any near future…again, my fire and drive to be in the community, be active and participating…it just started to dwindle and die. I will use Rune as a suit for as long as I can, but his retirement is imminent and I feel like I would be lucky to even get another year out of him at the most.
- Collabs & Reviews:
Before my hiatus I had a major backlog of Projects. I had a bunch of Fursuit Friday interviews for my Furry Spotlight (most of which got lost after my ex broke my laptop), I had promised to do book reviews and series reviews of Furry materials. Even after I moved back to Indiana, I reached out to the people that had asked for my reviews in order to possibly get back into reviewing their series but, every time I tried, something would come up. Now, I’m not the type to make up excuses. Family deaths, personal illness, and the lack of time aside…it really just came down to an unwillingness to put in the effort to do those things. Depressed, exhausted, and utterly unmotivated, all those projects I had lined up just went into the closet to be left and forgotten. Will I ever get back to any of them? Well, I suppose there is always that chance but, I wouldn’t be placing any bets on that. Even writing this blog feels more like a chore…but a mandatory one. I’m just still not at the place I feel I need to be mentally in order to resume this blog and keep up with it like I used to.
- Indy Fur Con & New Suit!
Ready for some good news? I know that I am!
So, sad and depressing stuff aside, I actually managed to save up the money and the vacation time to go to my State’s local convention: Indy Fur Con! Not only that but, my Sister (who is not a Furry) decided that she wanted to go with me! It should be an exciting experience and will be interesting to see how the Indiana con differs from the ones that I attended in Texas. Already I can tell that it’s going to be a much smaller convention. I am guessing it will be more like ACFI in its first year, but, some of the events look promising.
I did notice a lack of fursuit parade and, rather than just having a regular dance competition, we have the floor wars instead. So, that will be cool to see. I think the challenge will be more in finding things that my Sister might find interesting since she has never been to a convention before and isn’t really involved in the fandom. My goal is to maybe get her to suit around for a little bit which brings me to the next point: I am getting my new suit!!
I say that she is new but really, Cheshire has been in the works for several years. After I got a base from CCS Mascots (after donating money for materials to help them experiment with new foam bases), I gave that base to Flamesvoices and gave her the money for materials so that they could make Cheshire (a character they originally designed). Cheshire was a bit of a struggle and went through several changes in her design due to issues with her horns and then her teeth, etc. I was given a tail by CCS Mascots for the character. The Cheshire partial was supposed to come with sleeves, hand paws, feet, tail, and the head. But, with life issues and the fact that I moved away, I believe I am only receiving the head and hand paws and will be using the tail made for me by CCS Mascots despite the furs being different colors. I am excited for this suit and have been waiting what seems like forever to give this character a whirl so, the fact that she will debut at this new convention is really exciting!
- Future Goals:
As far as my future goals go…who can say?
Would I like to get more involved in the fandom again? That answer changes daily. It really depends on what I happen to see on my Twitter feed. Being involved in the Furry fandom was fun but, there were some day where it literally felt like a second job. As someone that isn’t super social to begin with, the amount of effort it took for me to stay involved and nurture the friendships I had was…huge. And, I honestly don’t know if I would have the time for it. I barely have the time for the friends that I have right now.
But, it would be nice to start posting in this blog more and, if I can get the files from my old laptop, I might even be willing to post all those old Furry Spotlight blogs I had sitting around and waiting to be posted.
I do plan on sharing my thoughts on the convention though and comparing it to my previous experiences. I would really like to get my Sister involved as well and either make a YouTube video out of it or just d an interview with her to see what her overall thoughts were on the convention since she is seeing it from a different perspective than I am.
But I won’t make a ton of promises here. I won’t tell you anything that I don’t think that I can somehow back up…you know? I prefer to keep things simple, blunt, and honest.
Anyways, that’s all I have for this blog. In the end, all I want to say is: Never be scared of stepping away from things in order to make yourself better. Just because I stopped posting in Furry groups and walked away from things like telegram and Furry Amino does not make me any less of a Furry. Just because I stopped making YouTube videos and stopped covering Furry news does not mean I ever stopped being part of the fandom…I just became an observer rather than an active participant because that was better for my overall mental health. Be kind to yourself and never apologize for doing the things that are right for you!
Thank you all for the many years of support you have given me, and as always, I will see all you fuzzbutts in the next article!!!
Rune's Furry Blog 