#this is more of an art project than it is a fursuit lmao

[orbdog]

more progress on my girl!! REALLY glad i went with fabric for the horns instead of paper mache. finally found a use for that shitty gray fabric too hee hoo

[sybaritick]

my Friendship Advice for both online and in-person interactions, which I'm sure you've heard from many people before, is to just go ahead and talk to people like you're friends. Talk to them about a recent project of theirs. Ask how long they've been making fursuits. Tell them what you like about their writing style.

You can ask if they want to do an art collab or if they want to join your game of commander since you need a 4th person or if they want to get lunch when you happen to be visiting their city! Whatever you want!

but I think the oft-forgotten core of this is that you don't need to be smooth or socially adept to be forward! You can just do your best. Practice will only help. And the worst they can do is not answer or say they're not interested.

This applies romantically as well and the silly example that I like to give is that before I got together with my first girlfriend in college I literally asked her "Are you gay?" (I hadn't transitioned yet at the time so we were both women). Obviously I would not describe this as the best pickup line but it was certainly better than nothing because it eventually worked (lmao)!

I have even introduced a bunch of my friends to new friends this way. Introducing people is a lost art. If you know A and B have a ton of interests in common but don't know each other, why not plop the three of you in a group chat and start discussing that shared [favorite book/Arduino project/mushroom foraging/etc]? It's fun and you're helping people find others like them!

You might worry that you'll embarrass yourself or look silly. And I think it's inevitable you occasionally will! I definitely have! I am pretty noticeably weird/neurodivergent, even more so in person than online. But I think the joy of meeting new and interesting people is more than worth the occasional embarrassment.

tl;dr: if you are socially weird sometimes like I am, remember that you don't have to be good at social interaction to do more of it-- just be bold and take a crack at it. it's worth it!