Shutaro

Shutaro Highwind (born August 17th, 1979) is a writer and fursuiter who was born in Vallejo, California. He was raised in Livermore, California and resided there until September of 2001, when he moved to attend the University of California, Davis. There he earned a B.S. in Computer Science (with a minor in English Literature). He currently resides in Folsom, California where he works as a Software Engineer and Consultant.

Shutaro's fandom name is derived from the names of two existing characters: "Shutaro" comes from the character of Shutaro Mendou from the manga Urusei Yatsura, and "Highwind" comes from the character of Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII

Shutaro's fursona is a Two-Tailed Silver Kitsune.

History
Shutaro first joined the furry fandom in late 1999/early 2000, not long after coming across across Cerine's Furry Inflation Page. This introduced him to the fandom, in general, and also led him towards FurryMUCK. Initially only interested in role playing various transformation and inflation related scenes (balloonies in particular, all of which would become a main theme of the majority of his writings from 2001-2002 ), his interest in the fandom has grown from a few particular fetishes to nearly all things furry. In 2002 he attended his first convention, Anthrocon, and has since since become con-goer, attending multiple conventions a year (primarily Further Confusion, RainFurrest, and Furry Fiesta).

Character
The character of Shutaro has evolved over the past decade, and as such tends to vary based on the medium in which he is depicted.

In Writing
In the series Shutaro's Latex Menagerie, Shutaro plays the role of the mischievous, and slightly sinister, trickster. He uses his powers (consisting primarily of his shape-changing abilities and a subtle form of hypnotism), as well as few of his own inventions inventions, to trick both willing and unwilling victims into doing, or being, things would not otherwise do, or be. He's flighty, unpredictable, promiscuous, has little (if any) self-control, and a maddening tendency to get distracted by seemingly simple things. He changes his mind frequently and has a maddening tendency to push things a just a little further than would be considered wise (the adage: "If some is good, more is better" definitely applies). He tends to get so caught up in his own pleasure to the point that he often looses sight of the feelings of those around him. Not intentionally, mind you, he just lacks a certain sense of empathy. This character was also carried over into his role play sessions, while he still frequented FurryMUCK (up to 2004), but has since been largely retired.

In Person
The "real life" version of Shutaro was made by WhiteyFawks of Arend Studios in the Fall of 2007. While this character carries over many of the characteristics noted above (such as being impatient, mischievous, unpredictable, and easily distracted), he is, in a sense, a more toned-down version of the character that appears in Shutaro's Latex Menagerie. The sinister edge is gone, and he is, in general, a more bouncy, lighthearted, and innocent character. He's much more interested in meeting new people and dancing the night away than he is in coming with elaborate tricks and schemes.

Other Writings
In addition to Shutaro's Latex Menagerie (a series which has yet to be completed), Shutaro is also working on another set of non-adult short stories, and possibly a novel, set in an as yet unnamed furry world of his own creation.