Digging up Positivity - Furry charity and good news - April 2020

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Video from Thabo Meerkat, transcribed

Hey there, and welcome to the April 2020 edition of Digging Up Positivity from a rapidly changing world. But even in these weird times, there are still a lot of positive things to be found!

Status of the Hospital Video

Last month we had a call to action for the Sophia Childrens’ hospital. And the response was overwhelming! All over the world fursuiters created awesome video entries, I am already showing some here, and more are coming in! But this is not all, next month you’ll get an update about a special surprise fotofur and friends are preparing for them.

Eurofurance raises money for Charity

The current global situation with so many events forced to reschedule does not stop us from raising money for charities or helping each other! Eurofurence started a donation drive for the Cango Wildlive Ranch in South Africa. They are hit hard, since tourism is a big part of their income, but that all but dried up practically overnight. At the time of the recording of this video they raised $8,502 dollar. But the donations are still coming in. The total amount raised is to be doubled! (reference?)

Panda Privacy

But some animals made the best of the sudden lack of prying eyes. In Hong Kong, in the ocean park zoo, Ying Ying and Le le finally had some peace and quiet. Away from prying eyes they decided to finally go for it: After 10 years of unsuccessful attempts they finally mated. It is still unsure if a baby is on the way, but the couple is closely monitored. Most likely late June we’ll know for sure!

Games done at a brisk pace

Team FastestFurs will be holding their first charity speedrun marathon in just a few months, and they are looking for runners and volunteers. I have linked their discord server in the description below. This is an initiative by Twitch Streamer Blaze, professional pizza powered speedrunner and fursuit extraordinaire as you can see in the video playing next to me. Ringfit in fursuit is no small feat! You keep on shining you crazy woof!

Not done contributing yet, says war vet

All around the world, various people and companies are doing their part to help each other. One of them stood out! A 99 year old war vet from the UK decided he wanted to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service for his 100th birthday by walking rounds in his garden. Originally he wanted to raise 1000 UK pounds, about 1257 dollar, but he ended up smashing that goal, shattering even. A the time of making this video, his goal was surpassed by 5567% — Well over 27 million. Yes, that is right: MILLION, pounds. This truly is one for the history books!

Hopping during Isolation

With Easter, you think bunnies. And people like Ali Spagnola decided to surprise essential workers dressed up as the Isolation Easter Bunny. Their responses were absolutely priceless. A nice example on how one person can spread joy and positivity, affecting many in these harsh times!

Let's be isolated together

Our community is getting creative with finding ways of coming together: From small meetings of people just joining a discord server to draw together and chat like they would during an art jam at a convention, or playing games together. But some took it a bit further. Various virtual furry conventions are being held, or are about to be organised:

Corvid-19 - With Corvid-19, a group of organizers and artists are brought together to look into possibilities of a virtual convention. Many great names such as Alector Fencer, Ash Coyote, Boozy Badger, Kenket, Majira Strawberry, Renegade Roo and more are partaking in exploring the possibilities.

Virtual Furry Con - From May 1st to the 3rd there will be a virtual convention in Belgium, as far as that matters in our virtual world. VFC, short for Virtual Furry Con will have several online events on their Discord Server, such as Jackbox games, Art-Streams, but also streams of movies, and fursuitmakers and Music Broadcasts and various DJ’s. A great example of a virtual panel you see right here with Cooking with Fumps! Do you want to join or volunteer? I’ve included more information in the description.

Events crossing into Animal Crossing

One of the games that could not have been released at a better date is Animal Crossing. And I must admit, I am hooked on it too. But besides just being a fun game, it also came to serve a more social purpose. People visiting each other their island and leaving lovely art on their messageboards was one thing. But at one point people started to organise online conference calls and some students had their graduation ceremony on an Animal Crossing island.

Of course, creativity did not stop there. Animal Crossing inspired many, from artwork to awesome music remixes like the one Garrett Williamson made for the Dodo Airline Jingle.

[Insert Short Musical Interlude]

Which leads us to an amazing idea for a crossover with Doom:Eternal. This lovely video by the Chalkeaters shows what would look like. I think Nook will think twice before firing Isabelle.

There are also a lot of creative tags going around like #SixFanArt where people take 6 panels and draw fanart. I have seen a lot of awesome art this way, and it is fun to go along. I asked people who I should draw fanart of, and this is the result. For many these little pointers are perfect to pick up that brush, pen, or pencil and start to get creative!

A Fair music video

The GameGrumps have released an amazing animated video clip ‘Scarborough Fair’ on their channel. The stunning animation truly compliments the music by Dan Avidain and the Super Guitar Brothers. I am doing my otterly best not to spoil it. Go see it for yourself, I’ve linked it in the description and in the top corner!

Animaniacs will be right back

One of my favorite animation series from my youth, Animaniacs is getting a reboot! But in this world of reboots, that is not always a reason to be happy. But at soon as I heard they are getting many of the old band back together, I could not help but squeal in delight! Nearly 30 years after its premiere on Fox Kids, Hulu has ordered 2 seasons, a sure sign of them believing in this project. They are aiming for a streaming release this fall.

Pinky Fennec Interview

A fandom, and its many events is made possible by countless of volunteers. During my time at various conventions, I’ve had the pleasure of working together with Pinky Fennec. Her boundless energy and organisation skills were a great addition to the team at Eurofurence. Now tirelessly working for Nordic Fuzzcon’s charity. She was going to be a part of last weeks’ featurette, but due to time constrains, she could not make it. But I am happy to include her this month.

How did you find the fandom?

I was furry before I knew what a furry was, role playing an animal online. When I found the furry fandom— when I asking someone online why they had the screen name they had and it had the word fox in it, and he said "I'm a fox". And I thought, clearly your not, but I'm intrigued, tell me more. And so he did, he told me about the furry fandom, and I was just in love.

I had never heard of anything like it. And for a week, I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep, I just kept reading about furries and it was basically like falling in love. But not with one person, but a whole community. And, I guess I never really fell out of love, so I've just stayed ever since, and I'm absolutely loving the whole fandom. I think it's such a great place.

What do you love about the fandom?

There are many things I love about the furry fandom. The fun we have, the friends, the social gatherings and coming together. Though, that's true of many other social groups you'll find in society as well. What truly makes us special, is actually, how tolerant and open we are. We are at the forefront of society when it comes to being inclusive. We are the trendsetters of being accepting, and the rest of society are slowly following suit. But we set the pace.

Another thing I like about the furry fandom, is how creative we are. If I were to put it in business terms, I would say we are one of the most innovative communities in the world. The stuff that we do everyday are the things that CEOs of big international corporations pay lots of money to make happen in special seminars.

But we just are, we are creative. We make ideas happen, we put them into action. We have more startups, we have more community support, then any other group in society. That's truly magical.

What is the top item on your Bucket-List?

I don't know if I top item on my bucket list. But I've been lucky enough to work for many furry conventions and make friends around the world. And I would love to travel and see all my happy fluffy friends.

I've been quite busy working these furry conventions, so if I had more time I would definitely do that.

What would you recommend to women who are new in the fandom

To all the women who are new to the fandom, I would suggest to go out and have fun and find out who you want to be in relation to the fandom.

Say "no" clearly to things that you do not want to be part or do not want to do. But also to say "yes" to the things that you do want to be a part of, and you do want to do. And most of, just have fun, it's a wonderful place.

And remember to be there for each other. We have to support each other. We have to show some sisterhood. Because sometimes that's needed to.

Until Next Time

This month was a wee bit different. Then again, different times, and we are all making history at this moment! I have seen so many of you helping each other in these trying times. You all will be remembered, from the smallest acts of kindness to much bigger gestures.

Which brings me to these special people, supporters of this channel: Ishnula, Els Deckers, Taross, Tsiica, Kitako, Falconeo, Hanzana, Cosmik with a K, and Score Chaser. We will return on May 20th. And until then: Stay awesome, and all the hugs!