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So we came across an add for a new plushie toy line called Feisty Pets from WMC Toys. Here’s what they say on their web site: “Feisty Pets go from cute to feisty with just a squeeze to the back of the head. Choose from 4 animals: bear, dog, cat, and monkey – and more animals are currently in production. Which one do you like most?” Actually, it’s more like they go from cute to nightmare fuel! Seriously, check out this introduction video on YouTube. But beware!

image c. 2016 WMC Toys

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Our friends over at IDW put it best: “In 2015, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed began (without warning!) producing ALL-NEW Bloom County strips—for the first time in more than 25 years! Breathed released the new Bloom County strips exclusively through his Facebook page, to the cheers of devoted and delighted fans everywhere. These brand new strips have NEVER before been available in print—until now! All the wit, charm, and biting satire that are trademarks of Bloom County and Berkeley Breathed are clearly on display and evident in this handsome new volume. Featuring all your favorite characters: Opus, Milo, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, and many more. Bloom County has come home… and it’s about time!” Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope is available in trade paperback, and it’s on the shelves now.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

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Hello again,

Sorry, I seem to be a boomerang, always coming back to ask questions. I'll try to keep this short. Hope you are doing well. So I work at a Vet Clinic and they work me to near absolute exhausted, I make the least about of money and they promised a raised but they never came through. I'm a really hard worker, coming on days off, never had a vacation. Do all the holidays. I know that they don't appreciate me as an employee and don't care what happens to me. I was in the hospital and the ER doctor got into a fight with them because they demanded I come in, but I had a head injury and couldn't. I'm extremely disappointed and sad about this, I always hoped to work in a place that cared about its people. Do I just accept that, this is a myth, really no company cares about its employees? That no matter where I go it will always be the same? I don't know if I should quit, won't it all be the same? I'm not even super sure what to expect from employers.
 
Galileo (age 27)
 
* * *
 
Hi, Galileo,
 
As with people in general, everyone is different. There are good employers, and there are bad ones. Doesn’t sound like you have a good one, but that doesn’t mean they are all bad. If I were in your situation, I would not be happy with an employer who gets mad that I didn’t go in to work when I’m in the ER with a head injury. That’s ludicrous.
 
My recommendation is this: do NOT quit your job … yet. Instead, start putting out feelers for a better job elsewhere. Scope out businesses you think might be good for you and see if you can talk to some of their employees. If you wish to remain in the veterinary clinic field, you can do a little research online, such as at http://www.usa-veterinarians.com/reviews. Customer reviews are a good indication of whether or not a business is good. In my experience, businesses that are good to their customers also tend to be good to their employees. For example, if an employee is cheerful and helpful to a customer, this is probably because they are happy at their job, which means they are likely happy with their bosses, too.
 
While you are doing this, be the best employee you can be at your current job. You do not want to burn your bridges—meaning if your current place of employment is dissatisfied with you, word can get around, even if they don’t write you a recommendation.
 
Be patient. Work deliberately and methodically as you do your research. Do not jump at the first opportunity, but check it out thoroughly. If you find someplace that looks like a needed improvement for you, give your two weeks’ notice and make plans for the move!
 
Good Luck!
Papabear​

Things get decidedly more anthropomorphic in issue #18 of Scooby Doo Team Up from DC Comics: “Can it be? The entire universe threatened by the spectral spirit of Canis Major, the dog star? To get to the bottom of the space-spanning mystery, canine crimebuster Scooby will have to team up with some of DC’s greatest dog heroes, including old friends Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound, plus G’Nort, Wonder Dog, and the Space Canine Patrol Agency!” Woof. Have a look at it on-line over at Read Comics.

image c. 2016 DC Comics

WHY DON’T FURRIES RECOGNIZE GOOD JOURNALISM?

 

This topic has come up before: “Bay Area Furs find out why there should be a Furry award for Best Journalism” (see some good articles within) – and – “VICE looks back on the Midwest Furfest attack, earning kudos for thoughtful journalism.”

The simplistic answer is – back around 2001, this little fan group was mistreated by Vanity Fair, MTV and CSI.  Forevermore, “The Media” was a thing to hate.

But it’s not so simple. In a chicken-or-egg way, “The Media” deserves some credit for creating furries. (It’s a FANdom!)  That usually means fiction media, but there’s much more than that. There’s the “science” part of science fiction; transhumanism, animals and nature, and anything about growing a self-defined subculture. There’s info coming from the Anthropomorphic Research Project.  A top selling nonfiction book (from Thurston Howl publishers) is the fandom-essay collection Furries Among Us.

Nonfiction is a big deal in fandom for anthropomorphic animals.

As the group grows and gains attention, members could use their own internal media to report stories that outsiders might not understand.  And outsiders are getting way better, too.  Bad-old Vanity Fair stigma is going out with a big rise in good-new Zootopia kind of attention.

In the history of furry fandom, almost all official recognition for its favorite media has gone to fiction. Look at The Coyotl Awards of the Furry Writers’ Guild; and the Ursa Major Awards are dominated by fiction, with no official category for nonfiction (just “Best Other Literary Work.”)

Until now. Fred Patten tells more:

Dear Patch;

The Ursa Major Awards, which have had eleven categories since 2011, have added a twelfth category; by popular demand and after consideration by the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association’s administrators.  The new category is Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction.

This is split off from the Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work category.  Up to now, non-fiction works such as art books of anthropomorphic motion pictures and social studies of furry fan culture have been in competition with fiction collections and anthologies, graphic albums, and other works of anthropomorphic literature that did not fit into the Novel and Short Fiction categories.

Beginning immediately, and with the 2016 awards to be voted upon during 2017, the category of Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction will be included on the Anthropomorphic Recommended Reading List and on the UMA final ballot.

Dogpatch Press is a furry news source, so I’m telling you about it… Obviously, the winning by Thurston Howl’s Furries Among Us in the 2015 Best Other Literary Work category has a lot to do with this.  This year’s The Art of Zootopia, The Art of Finding Dory, The Art of Kung Fu Panda 3 and other coffee-table art books of anthropomorphic movies will go into this category as well.

Best wishes;
Fred

I think this is long overdue. If “The Media” has been an enemy (or a frenemy) in the past, this is a good way to develop understanding and reward them for doing well.  And (with no selfishness) I love how this could encourage more writing from newsfurs, a small-but-enthusiastic corner of the fandom itself.

Skylanders Academy is a new CGI animated series set to premier this month on Netflix. According to the Skylanders Wiki (yes there is one), the series is being produced by Activision Blizzard Studios under the guidance of Eric Rogers (writer on Futurama). Spyro the dragon, Eruptor, and Stealth Elf study to use their diverse powers to protect their world from the evil forces of Kaos and the Doom Raiders. Look for it October 28th, and check out the trailer on YouTube.

image c. 2016 Activision Blizzard

Hello Everyone!

On this week's show we open with a discussion of an article Debra Soh wrote on common misconceptions people make about polyamorous relationships. We use science to debunk mistakes: it's almost as if one of the hosts is a scientist! 

Our main topic is on Boundaries versus Rules (featuring Ultimatums). We go into the differences between these ideas, why they are not interchangeable, and why you might need to change how you think about your relationship terms. 

We close out the show with a Patreon shoutout to Snares (seriously go and give money to this comic), a reminder to see our episode of Culturally F'd!, and a question on changing the expectations of a poly relationship when locations and living circumstances change. 

For more information, including a list of topics, see our Show Notes for this episode.

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 040 Boundaries vs Rules - Is Polyamory a magnet for STIs? Should you give ultimatums in a relationship? How do you handle a discussion of shifting expectations with your partner? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer. This goes out a little late (sorry). You might also be interested in others announced here at Adjective Species. 

Goal Publications is announcing its first original short story anthology.

Title: The Symbol of a Nation. Theme: national animals. Deadline: December 1st, 2016.

Wanted: original short stories (no reprints) of 2,000 to 15,000 words, featuring furries that are the national animals of countries, such as Afghanistan’s snow leopard, Algeria’s fennec, Australia’s red kangaroo, Bangladesh’s tiger, Canada’s beaver, Denmark’s swan, Eritrea’s camel, France’s rooster (fighting cock), Germany’s black eagle, Honduras’ white-tailed deer, Italy’s wolf, the U.S.’s bald eagle … There are over 200 countries and most of them have a national animal.

For this anthology, we are extending the theme to the official animals of provinces and states. There are several animals such as the koala (Queensland) and platypus (New South Wales) of Australia, or the giant squirrel (Maharashtra) and red panda (Sikkim) of India, or the coyote (South Dakota) and raccoon (Tennessee) of North America that are not national animals, but are the official animals of provinces or states.

But: this is limited to the officially adopted animals (including birds) of national or sub-national entities only. No sports team mascots, corporate mascots like the NBC peacock, political party mascots, or breakfast cereal mascots. No fictional official animals or countries like Transylvania and vampire bats. However, some countries have both a national animal and a national bird, such as Chile – its animal is the huemal, an Andean deer, and its bird is the Andean condor. We will accept stories featuring either or both.

Romania’s official Lynx.

Please make sure that they are official. There are many animals that are often associated with countries, such as the eagle & snake on the Mexican flag, or Mexico’s Chihuahua, but they are not official animals. (Mexico’s official animal is the xoloitzcuintli. Don’t know what that is? Look it up.)

If you would like to submit a story, write to the managing editor (Fred Patten) first to find out if that animal or country is already claimed. If you would like to use an animal or country but don’t know what to pair it with, ask the editor or look it up. Stories sent to the editor without checking first may be wasted effort.

The rules are more complex than for most furry anthologies. (1) There must be a connection between the animal and the country. If you feature a tapir, the national animal of Belize, make sure that there is something about Belize in the story. (2) No funny animal stories where the characters could just as easily be humans. Make your characters feel like uplifted or evolved animals. Most animals with fur don’t sweat. (3) Try to match the animals to their environments. If they have thick fur, don’t have them wearing thick clothing in humid tropical lands. (Or justify the discrepancy.)

Stories may be humorous or serious. There may be humans in the story as secondary characters, but the main character(s) should be furry.

On sale at Fur the More 2017, in Baltimore on April 28-30, as a trade paperback. Payment: 1¢ per word upon publication, plus a contributor’s copy of the book. Contributors may buy additional copies at a 30% discount.

Goal Publications is looking for First Rights on stories, as well as exclusive sales rights to digital and print versions of accepted stories for six months following publication.

 

If you have any questions, please write to fredpatten@earthlink.net.

Tonight the crew is all back together and they discuss the weeks news. Get ready for clowns! Episode -22 - Clownshark

Down one bull the cast brings you their weekly news! Episode -23 - The shark ate the bull

More new stuff from Dark Horse Press: “Dark Horse Comics announces Tree Mail, a forthcoming all-ages graphic novel from the New York Times best-selling The Stuff of Legend creators Mike Raicht and Brian Smith. Rudy—a determined, optimistic frog—hopes to overcome the odds and land his dream job delivering mail to the other animals on Popomoko Island!” This full-color trade paperback hits the shelves in early November. Dark Horse also has an interview with the creators on their main web site.

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Press

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Hello, Papabear.

I'm not writing to you about me today, but rather my boyfriend. He's not a furry, but I figured that you might still be able to help us. So here's the swing of things: He's not happy with anything about his body, period. He said he feels unnatural. I think he's got body dysmorphia, because he's talked about hurting himself and other things like that. I'm just really concerned about him, and I don't know how to help. I've told him that he should talk to someone, but he lives in the southern area of the States (Louisiana), and doesn't feel that the response would be very good. Since you've been giving advice to lots of different people, I figured that you could give me some advice. Sorry in advance for any trouble.

Wreath (age 14)

* * *

Hi, Wreath,

First, never apologize for "the trouble." That is what I am here for.  Do you have a photo of him? What is his family life like? How is he doing in school? Is he sociable or does he keep to himself? 

I will need much more information about your boyfriend. The following is from the Mayo Clinic website. Please look through it and get back to me on your thoughts...

Shame and embarrassment about your appearance may keep you from seeking treatment for body dysmorphic disorder. But if you have any signs or symptoms, see your health care provider or a mental health professional.

Body dysmorphic disorder usually doesn't get better on its own, and if untreated, it may get worse over time, leading to severe depression, anxiety and extensive medical bills, and may lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior.
CausesIt's not known specifically what causes body dysmorphic disorder. Like many other mental illnesses, body dysmorphic disorder may result from a combination of causes, such as:

• Brain differences. Abnormalities in brain structure or neurochemistry may play a role in causing body dysmorphic disorder.
• Genes. Some studies show that body dysmorphic disorder is more common in people whose blood relatives also have this condition or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Environment. Your environment, life experiences and culture may contribute to body dysmorphic disorder, especially if they involve negative social evaluations about your body or self-image, or even childhood neglect or abuse.

Risk factorsCertain factors seem to increase the risk of developing or triggering body dysmorphic disorder, including:

• Having blood relatives with body dysmorphic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Negative life experiences, such as childhood teasing and trauma
• Certain personality traits, such as perfectionism
• Societal pressure or expectations of beauty
• Having another psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety or depression

ComplicationsComplications that may be caused by or associated with body dysmorphic disorder include, for example:

• Major depression or other mood disorders
• Suicidal thoughts or behavior
• Anxiety disorders
• Health problems from behaviors such as skin picking
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Eating disorders
• Substance abuse

Papabear

* * *

Thanks for the quick response. I'm sorry, but I don't have a picture of him. As for his family life, as far as I know it's fairly good, with both parents and a supportive family. From my understanding he's got great grades and is fairly pleased with his work. Lastly, when it comes to friends and being sociable, offline he's very timid and quiet, but online is very outgoing. And concerning the article you sent me, some of the symptoms and complications do match (he has anorexia and depression, as well as social anxiety disorder). He's also teased quite a bit by his cousins, although if it's about his appearance I don't know. Anything else you need to know about him, and I'll tell you. Thank you so much for everything you do.

Wreath

* * *

Hi, Wreath,

Okay, well, if he has anorexia that would explain his bad body image, of course! I would suggest visiting this site https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/find-help-support to find some assistance with eating disorders.

Hugs,
Papabear
​

Please help children of the tragedy in this post: Support the Yost family and In Loving Memory Of Billy Boucher.

News tip thanks to Spottacus.  Below is his post about an editorial cartoon in the OC Weekly about a triple homicide in Southern California.

Spottacus Cheetah: “Making fun of murdered family is so offensive.”

“…I imagine the family, somewhat devastated by the murder, seeing two people in costume speculating with happy smiles about what the killers were wearing. That just seems to belittle the tragedy.

In contrast, consider the post-massacre Hebdo cartoon, of a saddened Muhammed grieving over the deaths there.

(Paris, 2015: “4 Cartoonists Killed In Attack On Charlie Hebdo Newspaper“.)

Which made the powerful point that what was done was awful, and at the same time driving the in your face humor of Hebdo by depicting Muhammad again, in print. The entire reason for those Paris murders was exactly that depiction.

Here, in this cartoon, there is a sensationalism on the furry connection, to the point where the depicted characters as almost gleeful when discussing the murder. This makes it seem clueless and sadistic, rather than funny. Unlike Hebdo, the costumes serve no higher purpose to the message, and there’s not much of a moral there. And, unlike a Callahan cartoon, which pokes fun often at tragedy, there is a specific family involved.”

More furry comments at the OC Register:

Gerry Humphrey: “This is EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE! People are killed and OC Weekly is posting an “editorial cartoon” that is way over the line.”

Randolph D Garrett: “A fine example of why print journalism died. Offensive crap… This needs to be removed…”

Nathan Thomas Wolf: “Are you fucking kidding me? How offensive and inappropraite can you be?…  The furry fandom had nothing to do with it… you also are so disrespectful to the family that lost their lives… You are so unprofessional, disgusting, offensive and so wrong as well. Luke McGarry who just proved he is the biggest asshole better be fired to even begin to bring some dignity back to your horrible comapny. He’s to much of a savage to say anything yeah because he’s a peice of shit just like you guys are. If you people don’t get him fired and remove the post I will make it my life goal to see it happen!”

Patch O’Furr: “I dont think this is bad. Like a good cartoon should, this leaves a lot up for interpretation. Here’s mine.

The furries in the cartoon are in “disguises.” But they aren’t shown doing something bad. They’re just reading the news, and seeing something shocking just like everyone else. So this can be taken as a message about how everyone is sharing a sad experience in common, even if they have other differences.

The artist took care to show the accused not in disguise but in regular mug shots on the front page, answering the absurd thought (what if someone wore a disguise on top of a costume? But they were just people.) And I don’t think the readers are smiling and showing humor, as much as they are just dressed like they actually dress in suits that do. It says that life can be comic and tragic at the same time. Isn’t that the truth? I don’t think there’s anything offensive about that.”

Spottacus told me that he had a good chat with the cartoonist. I’ll ask if he can share in comments. What’s your opinion about the cartoon?

Dark Horse Press have been on a universe-crossover kick lately. And frankly you have to notice one of their latest titles: Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes. One of those “so obvious, but so awesome” things… Here’s the idea: What if Cornelius and Zira, the chimpanzee scientists, had escaped via their time-slip… to the turn of the 20th Century? Where, it seems, they found an orphaned human baby and raised him to be their own. See where this is going? Here’s the official word from Dark Horse: “Raised as brothers but separated by slave traders, Tarzan and his ape brother Caesar reunite when the war between man and ape takes them from the jungles of Africa to the center of the earth.” This new comic miniseries is written by Tim Seeley and David Walker, with full-color art by Fernando Dagnino and Sandra Molina. IGN has a detailed review.

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Press

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This episode has Tugs and guest host Lyrick talking about their con roommate strategies, horror stories, and more. During the episode they talk about managing expectations with those you share a room with, handling tough topics, and more. Then they move to horror stories and funny moments because of interesting roommate decisions. We also announce the formal launch of our Patreon page! Don't forget, we have Space News and Get Psyched!



NOW LISTEN!

Show Notes

Special Thanks

Lyrick, our guest host!
Fido
Leo
Mfalme, for the ident.
Dronon
Amethyst
Commander Wolfe

Music

Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller– Cloud Fields (Radio Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Game Round 1: Mystery Skulls – Ghost. USA: Warner Bros Records, 2011. Used with permission.
Some music was provided by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. We used the following pieces: Phantom from Space, Leopard PRint Elevator, Secret of Tiki Island . Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Get Psyched Music: Fredrik Miller – Universe, USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Headnodic Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)

Patreon Love

The following people have decided this month's Fur What It's Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!

Premium Supporters

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Plus Tier Supporters

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Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again!
Next episode: We’re accepting stories for the Halloween episode! Send them before October 19! S6 Episode 5 – You Did What in the Parlor? - This episode has Tugs and guest host Lyrick talking about their con roommate strategies, horror stories, and more. During the episode they talk about managing expectations with those you share a room with, hand

Many people are to blame for ruining furry. This list isn’t comprehensive, and some of the jerks on it caused multiple problems at the same time.

1960’s – 1970’s:  Artists ruined furry.

Underground comic artists made a plan to stigmatize fans of funny-animal comics by putting adult stuff in ones like Robert Crumb’s Fritz The Cat and Reed Waller’s Omaha The Cat Dancer.  It worked well enough to keep fans from openly using the “furry” name until the 1980’s.

1985-1988: “Skunkfuckers” ruined furry.

It was just starting to be OK to be furry in public. Then some bad apples got us kicked out of respectable science fiction fandom.  Look at these 1980’s convention room party flyers from Lance Rund and Sy – this is the kind of thing that made furries get isolated apart from other fans, with our own private shame-cons.

1989-1992: Transexual freaks ruined furry.

After getting our own con (ConFurence 0 in 1989), outsiders who weren’t even real furries came in.  Here’s a pic of “Furry fandom founder” Fred Patten with one of the freaks, Robert Hill, AKA Hilda the Bambioid.  You can see Hilda proudly ruining our image in a weird, sexy alien-like costume. This was scandalous enough to make sure that Fred Patten would never be heard from again. It also ruined reliable gender roles in costuming for both men and women at the same time, and made it impossible to tell what kind of person is inside by looking at the outside.

Flayrah commenter: “…the first furry costume worn at a furry convention… Hilda the Bambioid as performed by Robert Hill at CF0 in 1989.“

“Fred becomes editor of Rowrbrazzle at the LASFS Clubhouse in January 1989.”

1993: Furries are finally acceptable!

Things got better.  We were decent enough to show on TV. This special has been cited as the best public representation ever made about furry. It has every furry in the world in the same place together.  You can tell things got worse, because when did that ever happen again?

Commenter Dwight Dutton: “I spotted myself in the background.  The way to put this in perspective is that this was the LAST “Pre-Internet” furry convention.  AOL opened the floodgates a few months after this event.“

1994-1995: The internet ruined furry.

Art and creative writing were overshadowed by the internet, which has neither.  Everything decayed into vapid sex chats and “cybering” on “MUDs” and “MUCKs”.  Degenerate cartoonists spread filth like Tiny Toons porn to undermine any remaining value of the fandom.

Fred Patten:  “What seems most interesting to me is the apparent assumption that furry fandom (and people in general) are just discovering the pornography of high-profile animated cartoon characters with Zootopia.  Doesn’t anyone remember the furry fan pornography of Warner Bros.’ Tiny Toon Adventures TV series in the early 1990s, with the series’ own emphasis on gags about Buster Bunny’s not wearing any pants?“

1996-1998: Gays and fetishists ruined furry.

After Mark Merlino started ConFurence, he ruined it.  A homosexual propaganda zine reported that he had a convention you could “write to for more info”, a code to solicit perverted activity. Then the con was overrun with horny gay men who had no other interest.

Commenter: “Confurence ran a add in a gay magazine in the 90’s and furry became identified with gays.” – (Dogpatch Press, There’s a persistent rumor that Furry fandom was perverted by a bad ad for ConFurence).

There was also the “elevator jizz” incident at the con hotel. Merlino tried to cover up suspicious moisture by explaining that you had to use the elevator to get to the pool, so it was a little wet from bathing suits. Yeah, right… furries don’t have physiques for swimming, and you know what it means when you see shorts on a fursuiter.

1999: The Burned Furs ruined furry.

This was a big ruin.  A battle between yiffers and non-yiffers tore furry in two, never to be forgotten.  Now anything using the “furry” name has to get approved by the Burned Furs Board Of Decency.  Behind the scenes, they work closely with The Roberts (a secret society including Crumb and Hill).

2000-2004: The media ruined furry.

Another big ruin.  MTV, CSI, and Vanity Fair did attack pieces to stigmatize furries.  Now not only was furry torn in two, it would also never grow bigger than it was.

2005-2007: “Popufurs” ruined furry.

The Furaffinity website was launched. It turned fandom into a shallow game to have the best social media profile. Fursuiting raised the bar with incredibly nicely made suits, and you could only be a real furry if you had thousands to spend on them.  It was no longer about being an anthropomorphic animal, but just about pretending to be one.  Winners got high social status and riches, and everyone else had no choice except to follow them.

From Furryfandom.info

2007-2010: Cons ruined furry.

Too many cons started, watering down the power of the original con, Anthrocon, and it’s defense of furry virtue.  CEO Uncle Kage was the one holding things together with a “family-friendly” policy.  It was so fragile that one wrong word, or one mean news piece could make it all come crashing down.

2010-2014: Kids ruined furry.

It’s no longer a serious scholarly pursuit. Now furry is all about being silly.  Cons are overwhelmed with drunken, rowdy young fans who chase off the older “graymuzzles” and bring unwelcome new customs like dance crews. They only come for “raving” and parties, forgetting how the fandom was founded.

2015-now: Everyone ruined furry.

IMVU bought FurAffinity. After the announcement in March 2015, the site was dragged down for shameless commerce instead of keeping it pure for macrophile cockvore art. Look at this sellout furfag (*me):

Last day @furcon! We hope to see our #IMVU users at our booth and new FURiends too! #SundayFunday pic.twitter.com/leKpAJvNoF

— IMVU (@IMVU) January 18, 2015

Babyfurs, cubfurs and diaperfurs ruined furry. Rainfurrest could have survived small stuff like vandalism causing office floods – but the hotel simply couldn’t abide the PR damage of a back-view pic of a funny-dressed guy being shared on twitter by furries.

2 The Ranting Gryphon ruined furry with mean transphobic jokes, showing that people who cross species for fun aren’t tolerant.

Uncle Kage ruined furry by being a Fuhrer-like cult leader, causing those mean articles we hoped would never happen.

Dominic Rodriguez directed the movie Fursonas, ruining furry by talking about Kage.

Disney ruined furry by putting out Zootopia without giving us enough credit for inventing anthro animals. Soon we’ll be overwhelmed by fake furs.

This week: I ruined furry TWICE.

There was a tragedy in Southern California, and it involved super obvious furry social media profiles.  So I put out a statement and talked to one reporter. Requests to say more were turned down, but then it went into articles from the LA Times, NY Daily News and others.  There was no way to stop them from saying it was sad and sharing fundraisers for victims. Whoops.

Then Rolling Stone did an article.  Articles are written ahead of time, so without knowing it, they posted a link to here just 15 minutes before a new one posted here.  Theirs said “the entire fur fandom is sometimes equated with fetishism. The truth is, in fact, much more innocent…” and it linked here when the top headline was for Wild Things, a furry fetish party.

Whoops again.

My tail is tucked and my head is hanging in shame for ruining everything. Mea culpa. OK, their article was nice and nobody sent abuse here, but somebody somewhere is judging.

Quick fact: 1993 was the only year furry wasn’t ruined. That’s the one we need to get back.

PS. I forgot to blame scammers, art thieves and plagiarists.  Am I missing anyone else who ruined furry? Please tell me below.

Actually nobody ruined furry. There are no fake furries vs. real ones. And there’s no nerd fandom that can be kept “pure”, but others have more powerful bad influences than ours. (What real power do members have in organizations run by volunteerism?) Our bad influences are good at keeping distance from insincerity, while bringing passion to a thriving, yet self-directed subculture. That’s the kind of purity I love. Thank the freaks.

** EDIT ** Yes this article is entirely satire made with love for everyone, including freaks, oddballs, and their bad influences and strangely sexy selves. Chasing acceptance too much is craving approval from people who don’t give a shit. Express yourself and #KeepFurryWeird. 

You may recall that there was an anime series in Japan that was based off of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch movies and TV series. In it, Stitch has left Hawaii and moved to an island off Okinawa in Japan. There, he meets (and moves in with) a young girl named Yuna who is skillful in karate. (Where Lilo is in all of this is a spoiler that we will not give away.) Also notable is the fact that Angel, the pink alien “counterpart” to Stitch, made frequent visits to the Japanese series as well. So now, Tokyo Pop have adapted Stitch! into a new digest-sized black & white manga series written and illustrated by Yumi Tsukirino. Take a look over at Amazon to find out more and order your copy.

image c. 2016 Tokyo Pop

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