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What does the fox say?
What does the fox say?
Don't you now what the fox say?
That's a weird meow.
That has to be an owl.
Are there someone that's going to get married here?
No, it's not a bachelor party, it has to be a theatre group.
What are you guys doing? Bachelor party?
I guess you're going to entertain kids? There's no kids here! Naaah
Watch the tail!
Who are you? Furries
That's what we call the fandom
It started with me making hats with ears on
And I kept on coming over these costumes that people wore and didn't understand it straight away.
And then I saw it more and more and suddenly one character appeared.
I fell for it and thought "I have to get a suit!"
Astrid Hansen (29) Furry since 2011
It's a character named Templa. A pink dog, or husky-fox
Why exactly that one? I wanted something that was pink
A furry is a person who is strongly inspired by comic-book-like animals.
In Norway there's between 100 and 200 furries
A few of them dress up in animal costumes
Templa started as very shy and feminine, now she's very young and still feminine, but more outgoing.
Finds stuff to do...
Running around, throw herself on the floor while being really cute...
...give people hugs
You become who you want to be. Without being judged, cause inside the suit there's nobody that sees you.
You get away with more. You dare to be normal, maybe, in a way.
Even if it doesn't look very normal.
I'm smiling more, even if you can't really see it.
It's because I'm doing something that I enjoy. It's fun to dress up. Most people think that.
Dressing up in your own character is also very fun.
Instead of dressing up in something that already exists that have been served on a platter.
You have to come up with something yourself.
Hey! Dax Cyro. Ordinary dog.
Small dog that's running around! Having fun!
Hi, hi!
We're a group of people who's interested in costumes, in comics, in music.
Our art is animal-based. It's comic book animals, mascots, and similar.
It's not dangerous!
Should we look at them? I don't want to!
Look! Is it a fox?
We get a lot of attention. People are glad to see us running around.
It's weird that they come here. Shouldn't they be in the woods? Yeaaaah
Bye!
Astrid tries to make a living by making costumes for other furries
...but it's also about something more
Now I'm working on one over here who's going to be a gray wolf, and here's one who's going to be a fox.
What kind of people are ordering this? It's furries.
Normal people
Many wants to have a suit. That's what means something for them
And then you grow on it, and furry fandom becomes more than just the suit.
I've had problems before that I haven't known what to talk about with other people because they have very different interests than me.
And now finally something fit me just perfect. We can talk about everything.
One common hobby does a lot.
I've become more social. It would have been horrible to sit by myself with few friends and not have anything to do.
Very quiet, always by myself, avoid talking with others, looking on the ground. Not existing, just being there.
I've gotten a spark for life again, you could say.
It has saved me socially.
I didn't have it good for some time, I think.
Today Astrid is going to her first bowling-meet for furries in Oslo.
In her suitcase she has two animal costumes that she has sewn herself.
Do I have to wait for them then?
I've been a furry since I was young, but I found the fandom in '94.
So, yeah, I've been furry for a while.
Steinar Eliassen (41) aka Panduck Norways first furry
This suit is a pand which is a mix of a mandarin duck and a red panda. It's just how I've felt since I was young.
Liked that kind of comics and movies about animals, and have always identified myself with different birds.
It's been spiritual through my whole life.
It's freeing, to put it on, and be a bit different.
Like how you feel you could have been.
Did you have fun today? Yeah, very
Something new for a change. Not sitting at home staring into the walls
I ended up going other places
You didn't play that much? No, but I got to try
I'll join next time
In summer more a than thousand furries meet in Germany. Astrid is also going..