It came in a dream with the intense flash of sudden inspiration. Wolves.
Junior Jarrett Workman has been fascinated with wolves since he began writing about them at the age of 11. By the age of 12 he had progressed to live action role-playing online. There he met Dallis Sears who “pointed [him] to a few sites.”
From that point on Workman became enthralled by writing his book, “Thowan.” The basic plotline involves the adventures of a spiritual wolf that has the ability to turn into a human.
This concept got Workman thinking about taking his role-playing to a whole new level.
“Recently I’ve had a few friends suggesting I make my own suit,” Workman said.
By “suit” he means that he will literally create a “furry” costume that mimics a wolf. The “furry” subculture is a new trend defined by dressing up as real or imagined animals and wearing life-like suit replicas of the animals.
Although Workman hasn’t officially started making the costume, he already has a blue and white synthetic wolf tail that he frequently wears around school.
While he is comfortable with his new look, one has to wonder how the parents of a “furry” handle the situation.
“My mom has been very supportive,” Workman said. His mother has even offered to help him with fabric recommendations and the tremendous sewing job.
While the suit may look like an animal, the real beast is creating the outfit.
The head requires extensive plastic framing before adding foam to give it a consistent shape. Then, the jaw has to be added. However, this can entail some mechanical work because Workman is hoping to create a moving jaw.
For some, this job is more work than it’s worth, but Workman is excited to “finally do something more artsy with it.”
This freedom of expression also manifests itself every time Workman wears his tail, or plans to wear his suit.
But Workman isn’t concerned about the people who may feel the need to make snide comments over his hobby.
“It doesn’t worry me,” Workman said. “If something happens, I’ll just get out of the way.”
Aside from the skeptics, Workman is confident that “a lot of people are very open to it.”
