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Furry Family Ofrenda on VRchat

It seems appropriate to write about losing things and carrying on, after a doomful week in America…

Hydraheads, an artist in Canada, is a player of Flight Rising, “a social web-based activity site featuring dragon breeding, adventuring, combat, and collecting.” You get your own clan of dragons and work with other clans. It’s more than solo fun, it was also a family connection. Hydraheads joins Dogpatch Press with a story:

Recently, Flight Rising closed my own account and my deceased mum’s account. I adopted and inherited from her before she passed.

It happened when someone attempted to hack in, and I couldn’t reset my password, so I started a trouble ticket and they investigated. They closed my account and hers, because they considered it an unfair advantage in the game to have two accounts. I had been active on both, and it’s against their TOS.

I appealed anyways, because I didn’t really want to lose my mum’s account or dragons she gave me; but you can’t exactly merge accounts or transfer progen dragons. My appeal was denied and I permanently lost both. They issued half-hearted condolences to my mum and said I could start a new account. It stung, mainly because I used her account to set it up as a comforting memorial for myself. We used to play it together and it was our thing.

This made me recognize and reflect on how furries on a wide scale put importance on and have tendencies to memorialize our lost members, friends and family, in ways that I think are uniquely touching. It says so much about how we value each other and are connected. Community ties can be so widespread through a single furry, and make support for one another when facing mortality… The more I look, it’s everywhere. A lot of us live very digitally. For some furries that were more isolated, this was their life. Maybe it was their only way to participate in the fandom.

Be it shrines on Second Life, or VRchat, obituary posts, or the ∞ of Furaffinity (RIP Dragoneer), you can see the outpour of friends and strangers coming together for someone like Dogbomb when they pass, and the continued memory for furs like them kept alive by the rest of us. It’s a beautiful thing.

Furry Family Ofrenda on VRchat

Losing an important account like that says something about the difference between corporate owned spaces, and things we make and own. Having a choice of how to keep things private also brings to mind an experience for Patch O’Furr:

Go back 5 years, when my girlfriend then brought me into her favorite things, before I brought her into mine. She helped found a huge monthly Bike Party event years before I met her. It brings 1000 people to the street on festive lit-up bicycles, like a rave on wheels, with music speakers on trailers, and dance party stops in special places. We started going together, and I figured out how to mount a fursuit head on my bike handlebars and ride in partial suit or bring a full suit on a trailer for the stops. Then she joined me for street fursuiting events. She even volunteered to be a helper and dressed fabulously for our furry contingent at San Francisco Pride, and fit perfectly as a non-furry.

In 2021, she died, and hundreds of people rode bikes for her memorial. Only a few dozen private furry followers got to read about it and see our photos together, because I wanted to keep it personal.

Around then, there was a glitch with this news site. I’m not the admin and it’s purposely kept minimal, like an old-school paper zine put on the web. The glitch wasn’t immediately solveable and I was busy. Then an insistent stranger who claimed tech expertise got upset that I wasn’t personally fixing it immediately, talking down to me without knowing how the site was set up. They assumed I was admin and had the latest install of WordPress instead of a version with a legacy theme on purpose, which couldn’t accommodate what they expected. Since I wasn’t fixing things right away, this person called in friends and led an online harassment dogpile campaign while I was busy helping my girlfriend’s mom. As hate posts poured on, I wasn’t looking. I was saying goodbye with her family at the edge of the San Francisco Bay closest to where she grew up, and scattering her ashes on the water.

Her memorial was huge on the street, but it stayed purely for those involved because I wanted it to stay private. Now the bike party runs every month and everyone there is carrying on for her. I’ll keep photos to myself, except this one was us…

Till next time, LA pic.twitter.com/oUvm6I1x0U

— [adult swim] (@adultswim) November 17, 2019

Hydraheads adds:

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend, goodness. It’s people like them that are still a part of our community by extension, even if they weren’t a furry, they were loved among and by furries. My mum thought furries were cool AF, even if she didn’t fully understand it, haha, but she was so supportive too.

That’s beautiful despite the circumstances occurring, I’m genuinely relieved that your IRL friends could do that for you to preserve her memory. And I like where this topic is going, about perseverance and strength, and trying to find and make those things in the shadow of uncertainty that comes after death. A friend shared this one with me and it has helped me cope: “When someone you love passes away, the things they leave behind or the qualities you remember them by are now gifted to you, and become your qualities. That’s how they live on through us.”

We continue to try and live and honor those things and carry forward through bad times. With your personal story about your girlfriend, it’s important that we ourselves as a community recognize the reach we have to one another. Good and bad. Whether our family and friends were furry or not. They were a support for you alongside and part of that network or our community too.

Considering the elections and what everyone is now facing going forward in America, more than ever we need the strength of each other, and the memories we hold of each other helps to propel us towards the vision and keep our focus. The importance of why and who we stay strong for. Ourselves, our family. For those ahead and after us, and in honor for those that have already departed.

One of the best keepers of memories is Changa, who is deeply involved on VRChat with the Furality event, and founded the Furry Family Ofrenda. Since 2020, it has collected memories of departed fandom members to view with a Dia de los Muertos theme.

Have you ever had a close call with death, and did it make you think about instructions for what to do when the time comes? If you have a very active life online and with a fursona, should your identities be remembered all together, or kept separate just for those in the know?

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

It harms pets too, never overlook animal abuse as a red flag.

In 2018, I told Dizzy he shouldn’t come to a furry party at a club in San Francisco. I was one of the organizers who keeps an eye on who is coming. He was a soft-looking guy who acted persistently pitiful about it, so I let him know it wasn’t because of something I knew he did, or any personal issue. It was for caution and to keep things harmonious, and there were other events he could go to. If he had a bad reputation, he could change it by doing good at other ones. I just wasn’t going to be pliable to begging for pity. If you don’t respect someone’s “no”, that’s a red flag itself.

To my confidential knowledge, the caution was because of multiple people tipping me to beware of someone abusive who they were uncomfortable being around, who they said would try manipulating for sympathy.

A few years before this, some other manipulation pulled me in to being a victim of a con artist. (He was judged liable for fraud and elder abuse after I had to defend whistleblower retaliation, cross-sue and beat him to stop it, winning a $32,000 judgement. When people sue me for defamation, I don’t settle and I bankrupt them.) The con artist was a monster with a lot of power over others, who were viciously whipped up against me for reporting abuse by their then-trusted manipulator. The experience of being the only person to point at The Emperor’s New Clothes and fighting for vindication made it easy to say no to Dizzy, stay firm, and watch what happened.

We had no more contact until it just came up again. Now I see things got worse after 2018 for Dizzy (AKA Hushpuppy, real name Brooks Buncher). A lot of Beware evidence was gathered by other people and got him removed from many groups. An elder abuse lawsuit also comes up and a TV news report that interviews him about being homeless in San Jose, CA. There’s allegations of rape including pets. Then he was charged with serial domestic violence causing the 2022 murder of a furry named Fin, who I had no idea existed until now.

One source talked to me about having an experience in common with many others, with being convinced into sex by Dizzy and then pressured and disturbed by possessiveness. It involved a super sketchy abandoned house and “hardcore guilt tripping rants”:

I was both surprised and not surprised when I saw the murder charges, and it seems like a lot of people who knew him had similar reactions. Dude is crazy and the venn diagram of domestic abusers, zoophiles, and rapists is basically a circle.

I don’t know how many people knew or tried to help Fin, but even many police and hospital visits didn’t do it. It’s so disturbing and sad. Maybe that doesn’t mean to blame the furry community for failure, but it reminds me — I never see helpful action from anyone who reacts to Bewares with counter-complaints about terms like “witch hunt” — which I see a lot when trying to report patterns of behavior. Superficial social media often has knee-jerk reactions to single offenses that may be mischaracterized, but petty offenses are different from allegations of abuse. Patterns is a good word, because there are often many victims before an abuser is caught once. It’s very helpful to apply a little pattern recognition, which is often dishonestly omitted from complaints about “witch hunts”. I will never trust anyone who presents callouts as a problem with false equivalence to abuse.

Some people tried to do something about an abuser here, but not enough. Now the least I can do is tell what happened and pay respects to Fin.

I’m sick of organizers who don’t take charge of supporting more than escapist fun while they pass off decisions to police or others and say it’s not their job to judge. Actually it is. When you run a group, you can just tell someone “no”, then see if they respect it. Whether an organizer is even capable of saying “no” is a test of competence itself. I’m not talking about conventions taking liability, I’m talking about the pure social level and social fallacies about who is welcome.

Next: a nice story about memorializing.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

The crowdfunding campaign for "Paws and Leave" just kicked off! In it, you'll follow "Me" the fox on his final journey to rediscover his memories. By his side is a charming butterfly named Ani, who will help you, sometimes more, sometimes less. Me relies on his senses, like smelling, to locate his memories in the realm between life and death.  The Kickstarter campaign has lots of stretch goals and exclusive opportunities for backers to have some of the most treasured memories immortalized in the game itself. It looks like a wonderful little adventure, full of surprises and cute (and mysterious) critters. Check out more details below and on their official Kickstarter Page.

🦊 Play as "Me"
Experience the emotional journey of a young fox in his final tale. Get guidance from a charming butterfly named Ani, who helps you on your last journey. Use Me’s senses, like smelling, to locate memories in the world in-between.

😢 Emotional Storytelling with Fearful Elements
A deeply moving narrative that includes darker and dangerous moments to reflect the protagonist's fading life. Meet various characters, uncover their stories and retrieve hidden memories.

🎣 Unique Gameplay Activities
Engage in activities like fishing for keepsakes on the back of an ancient wise turtle.

⛄ Beautiful World with small open world zones in different seasons
While the game has a strong linear storyline, players are free to explore the breathtaking world at their own pace to uncover secrets, collect keepsakes and unravel new tales.

💬 Personal Keepsakes
Discover and collect player-submitted keepsakes, such as messages, images or videos, scattered throughout the world.

👻 Whispering Echoes (Twitch Integration)
🔒 FEATURE UNLOCKS AT €55,000
Let your community engage with your adventure using our Twitch integration to interact with you and your journey in specific zones.

I am saddened that the majority of Americans prefer a white man with a record of tax evasion, molestation, fraud, criminality, and disloyalty to American ideals over a woman who is ethnic and has a clean record as an upstanding citizen. I anticipate there will be a lot of unpleasant days ahead of us, especially for women, LGBTQIA people, immigrants, and anyone else who is not a white male fake Christian in America.

If the results of this election are causing you stress, I understand 100%. If you want to talk about it, please feel free to write me any time and your letter will go to the top of my pile when it comes to this issue.

Now more than ever, we furries need to stand together.

TigerTails Radio Season 15 Episode 52. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Here comes a new hardcover graphic novel for young readers called Birtle and the Purple Turtles. “Everyone is a turtle in Turtletown. So Teeny thinks she must be a turtle, too. But when Teeny sprouts feathers, she begins to wonder… is there a teeny possibility she’s a… Birtle? Tootie loves tag, but the other turtles in Turtletown don’t like to play. That is, until Tootie meets Teeny. Teeny loves tag. They have tons in common! Except one big thing: Teeny may not be a turtle at all. This adorable graphic novel is about being true to yourself, friendship, and most of all, celebrating differences.” It’s written and illustrated by Tara J. Hannon, and it’s available now from Andrews McMeel.

image c. 2024 Andrews McMeel

Two arrested during preparation for a big party

On 9/26/2024, a popular furry event organizer (Frisky Hyena) and another group leader were arrested together for child sex crimes. They have been in jail without bond since then. Both had furry scene influence in the San Francisco Bay area, after Frisky relocated there from Las Vegas. This report features Steven “Frisky” Darling as the owner of Party Animals West (PAW), with an LLC registered in Nevada.

Frisky’s organization used a team of helpers to throw parties around the year, sometimes with rooms at conventions, or partnered with other furry brands or DJ’s. PAW also hosted a chat group of 1000 followers who would mobilize support across furry spaces. Their larger events would attract hundreds of paying attendees, using venues with professional light and sound, like a barcade chain with locations in several big cities. Many gave support without knowing Frisky’s secrets, but after he was jailed, his partner Scoop stepped in to play one of his surrogates for actions that are very controversial now.

For the last weekend of September, supporters were looking forward to a huge occasion in San Francisco. Folsom Street Fair would draw hundreds of thousands for kink-themed activities, including many furries to the PAW barcade party on 9/29/2024. As it approached, on 9/27/2024, Frisky’s surrogate Scoop decided to tell the PAW chat group that Frisky’s phone was broken and he couldn’t answer. His accounts were allegedly accessed for impersonation messages to tell close contacts he was taking a break.

Frisky has a slew of serious charges with a long history

Frisky’s surrogates knew, and weren’t telling, that he was jailed the day before on charges of:

• Sodomy with person under 16
• Oral copulation with person under 16
• Lewd Act Upon A Child
• Penetration By Foreign Object: (V) Under 16
• Contribute To The Delinquency Of A Minor
• Arranging a Meeting with a Child for Lewd Purposes
• Attempting to Contact Minor w/Intent to Commit Offense
• Distribution or Exhibition of Lewd Material to a Minor (with Prior)

After keeping people in the dark to take support for Frisky’s event, over the next month, the arrest news started to circulate. It shocked many, but others were upset that it was being reported at all (neglecting aid for victims to come forward). If that isn’t messy enough, hindsight and connecting dots finds a history of red flags, where sources report complaints were suppressed in Las Vegas for a long time until history repeated in San Francisco.

Since 2017, complaints went without action even from the police

In Las Vegas, Frisky had built a reputation of unreliability and failing to pay debts, until relocating to California to resume parties there. Around 2017, an apartment sharing debacle led to discovering illegal media on devices Frisky kept there. He was known for preying on minors, but reports to police in Las Vegas had no results. Allegations have come out about furry groups enabling this situation by favoring cliquish friends.

More recently in the SF Bay Area, details of the arrests match a situation of risky people being allowed in groups, putting all members at risk while certain organizers shift blame and act like others should do their job for their meets. The problem started with letting risky people in at all especially after being warned and overruling it. These negligents have a chronic history of sympathy for offenders, rejecting responsibility and overlooking problems until police intervene, if ever. This reporter has been experiencing that behavior since 2018 while negligents turn their backs on protecting their groups.

Party promo – lives were ruined.

Suppression surrounded Frisky’s arrest for a month to keep his PAW organization operating, instead of accepting that it’s fatal to things under his name. Some people did work against the in-group pressure. Las Vegas Fur Con (LVFC), other events, performers, and associates ended their relationships. Finally, there was a grudging statement about dissolving PAW from operators like Scoop whose credibility was lost.

How soon could this have been stopped? Abuse might have been prevented if complaints were heard and leaders took responsibility. It could have been easier to prevent at the gate instead of trying to fix it after. We don’t yet know the extent of the problem, with multiple offenders and ties to other suspicious people. The whole situation has legal action pending, with sensitivity about it being undermined on behalf of offenders and helping them to escape consequences again. Therefore some information is protected for security and this report is edited to be a general summary.

Furry space can be for predators to access victims, and leaders to prioritize selfish fun over ruined lives, with negligence about red flags. Or…

You can take action

If you have any information about abuse in the community, or enabling by organizers, and are reluctant to come forward without confidentiality — Dogpatch Press has an established role of working with whistleblowers, making legal privilege from being compelled to disclose private information. That gives ability to report what others can’t. Even if police aren’t helpful, solutions may start with carefully documenting what’s suppressed. (Be careful, because even people who slept with Frisky didn’t know about problems made worse by leaders suppressing things.)

Police don’t manage your community. YOU DO. Protecting it doesn’t have to wait for years of processing while suppression makes things worse, and there is no entitlement to invitation into its spaces. It can be run with care instead of making it so open that anything can crawl in.

To understand harmful management patterns, also check the recent article about Garden State Fur the Weekend and what it welcomed in.

Some sources

PAW chat group: now closed (a full export is on file.)

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/BEg4f

https://archive.ph/Mrd1n

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

After 15 years, its finally come down to this... ROADS AHEAD // Furry YouTube Series, "The Raccoon's Den" presents a cinematic 2-part special featuring the group faced with an obstacle that may split them apart as a team. STARRING: Bandit / Byrdz / BcB / Abbey / Static GUEST APPEARANCES: Sashimy / Flash PREMIERES Nov. 23rd, 2024! Editing: @BanditTheRaccoon Fursona Artwork: Com (dr11white via Telegram) Series Logo: Fifth Forager See more at: http://www.TheRaccoonsDen.com FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TheRaccoonsDen TWITTER: http://www.Twitter.com/TheRaccoonsDen FURAFFINITY: http://www.FurAffinity.net/user/TheRaccoonsDen INSTAGRAM: http://www.Instagram.com/TheRaccoonsDen TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@theraccoonsden #TheRaccoonsDen #TRDs9 #FurryFandom

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

The gang is all here this week: Bearly, Taebyn, Rayne, TickTock and Cheetaro!  Taebyn creates a new workspace for all the Meta folks.  We get zen with Raccoon Furmations. All the regular bits are here, and Taebyn goes off the rails several times.  So tune in for a great visit with all your BFFT friends.  It will be time you will never get back, but it will be well, spent.  Moobarkfluff everyfur!

This podcast contains adult language and adult topics. It is rated M for Mature. Listener discretion is advised.

Support the show

Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting S5E10 - Fluffy Furry Crazy Days

Look, sometimes we can’t explain things, we can only tell you that things exist. Things like the Acid Chimp vs. Business Dog one-shot from Ahoy Comics. “Business Dog controls the wealth of nations! Acid Chimp has been abducted by crooks who want him to kill the canine trillionaire with corrosive acid! And why wouldn’t he? Splashing acid is the only thing that Acid Chimp enjoys!” Okay, we’ll try to fill you in about what’s going on here… Business Dog is a character from a popular indie comic called Billionaire Island, while Acid Chimp is from a popular indie comic called My Bad. The creators of each met up and decided it would be fun to set their two weird characters against each other. And so writers Mark Russell and Bryce Ingman enlisted the help of artists Peter Krause and Steve Pugh, and here’s what we get. Major Spoilers has a review that helps it all make more sense… maybe. We can’t make promises.

image c. 2024 Ahoy Comics

Did we die?

Why No Pod?

Furry Book Month has drawn to a close for another year. Hopefully everyone who wanted a copy of the 2024 book bundle had a chance to download it.

For those of us who participated in the first Furry Novel Jam, congratulations! Even if you only wrote a handful of words in October, those were words you hadn’t written before. I didn’t finish my novella, but I wrote over 15,000 words total and feel really good about my progress. The Furry Novel Jam doesn’t have to end if you don’t want it to end!

Awards season is coming up fast, so if there are recently-published books on your to-read pile, this is a good time to bump them to the top. If you have recently-published works, this is also a good time to send in updates for your guild member profile and the suggested reading lists. If you have a book coming out soon, let us know so we can list it in future posts. Make it easy for potential readers to find what you’ve written!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest releases from our members:

Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

What do you do when you’re in need of inspiration for your writing? Why, you take a much needed break and visit the creepiest abbey in town. This is the premise of Mercury Abbey. Players step into the paws of Harrod, a character based on a gray wolf who’s a struggling writer. At the start of the story, Harrod is working on his latest novel and feeling pretty pessimistic about it. Sales have been lackluster since an influx of competition from similar works have flooded the market including a cyberpunk style adventure featuring a cat as a protagonist. Harrod isn’t given any peace to work or stew as he receives a call from his sister, who tells him that she's dropping off his nephew Willie with him. It’s at this point, the game finally starts. 

It’s the most spooky time of year! Enjoy these fun and spoopy stories which may, or may not, include cookies and foxes.

NOW LISTEN!

SHOW NOTES Thank you!

To Eli, Geo Holms, Iago, and Tenax Raccoon for your stories!

To all our listeners and the continued support!

PATREON LOVE

THANK YOU to our patreons! You help us keep the show going!

A Cookie Factory – OwO

Anthallo

A Pallet of Cookies

 

Barnaby Panda, Nuka

A Case of Cookies

Basel the Dragon, Black Baldrik, Lufis the Raccoon

A Jar of Cookies

 

MephistophEli, Plug, Tenax

A Box of Cookies

• Chaphogriff
• Lygris

A Delicious Cookie

• Christian
• Citrus Fox
• Ichigo Ookami
• Icy Solid
• Sage Lightfang
• TyR
• Victor Mutt

S11E11 – Halloween Special - It's the most spooky time of year! Enjoy these fun and spoopy stories which may, or may not, include cookies and foxes. - NOW LISTEN! SHOW NOTES Thank you! To Eli, Geo Holms, Iago, and Tenax Raccoon for your stories! -

This year at the annual Lightbox Expo we met the artist Naomi VanDoren. Recently they’ve been branching out as an author, and after successful Kickstarter campaign they’ve released their first illustrated book, called Naiya and the Foxdragon. “Naiya is a young teen who has been hiding from her past and her unkind uncle most of her life until she befriends a foxdragon named Aru. When the last of the magic orbs that once powered their city is depleted, she faces her fears and embarks on an unexpected journey into the heart of the jungle to save her home. Along the way, Naiya discovers her own self-worth as she and her foxdragon friend navigate the treacherous jungle and learn about her own relationship with the world’s magic.” Visit their web site to see more.

image c. 2024 by Naomi VanDoren

TigerTails Radio Season 15 Episode 51. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Dear Papabear,

I've been in the furry fandom for over a year, and I've been enjoying my time here. I've made so many friends and even met the love of my life. But there are times where I develop imposter syndrome. Like I feel like I don't deserve the friends and the awesome memories I made in the fandom. People tell me otherwise, but I feel like I genuinely have a hard time proving myself that I belong sometimes. Especially for the fact I don't own a fursuit or that I'm not an artist. Yet I still have people who love me, even outside the fandom too. I was wondering if this feeling is normal in the furry fandom and what are some good ways to remind myself that I do matter. Thank you.

Sincerely,
An anonymous Saint Bernard

P.S. I love your fursona and fursuit so much. It's so awesome and adorable. Genuinely wanna give ya a hug.

* * *

Dear Saint Bernard,

Thank you for your letter and the compliment :-3

First off, it must be emphasized that you do not need to have a fursuit to be an active and beloved member of the fandom; nor do you need to be an artist or a gamer or a writer or even have a fursona. The baseline here is simple: Do you love the anthro arts? This includes movies, TV shows, comic books, novels, furry RPGs, and so on. If you answered "yes," then you're a furry fan. The confusion is common. You see, there are really two types of furries: hobbyists and lifestylers. Hobbyists are those who enjoy the anthro arts but do not get into the self-identity side of it, which involves everything from having furriness engulf everything in your life (i.e., e.g. you have furry art and plushies and fursuit stuff all over your home (sometimes called being "furry trash"), furry stickers plaster your car, you often wear a tail or ears in public places, etc.) to actually feeling like you have an animal spirit or that your fursona is in some way really who you are (the far spectrum of this bleeds into the therian and otherkin communities). The hobbyist is much more caszh about the fandom. They like to go to cons or meets, sure, and they may have a fursona for playing games with their friends, but they fully identify as human and spend the majority of their time as such among their normie friends. I, personally (not that you asked), am somewhere in between. You can find furry art hanging in my office, I will be suiting for normie trick or treaters this week, and I do feel I have a spiritual connection to bears, but for the most part I seem pretty normie when I'm not at a furcon.

Given the above, you are not an imposter. So, why do you feel like one? It might surprise you that the majority of young Americans (70% by one study) say that they have experienced imposter syndrome at least once in their lives. I have often experienced it too, and the result is usually my berating myself as insufficient in some way, and sometimes people misinterpret my anxiety to false modesty. For example, people sometimes compliment my intelligence, but then I say to myself I really am not that bright; I just have a bachelor's degree; I only speak one language fluently; I have never won an important award or grant or recognition yadda yadda. The result is that my negative feelings about myself are roadblocks to my moving ahead with my life at times. This kind of lack of self-esteem can usually be traced back to our childhoods, especially to those who had either very controlling or very protective and permissive parents. If you have been bullied or socially ostracized as a young person, this can certainly contribute to imposter syndrome when you later achieve great things in your life but a voice in the back of your head keeps telling you that you don't deserve it.

My furiend, everyone deserves friendships and respect and love and happiness. And when it comes to the furry family, well, you have landed in a community to which many people who feel like social outcasts are drawn. I think you will (or have already) found people much like yourself who are shy, lack self-confidence or self-esteem, or just feel attracted to the fandom and are blown away by some of the popular furries in it and don't feel like they themselves measure up. Again, I do this too. When I first started getting active in the fandom around 15 years ago, and I saw some awesome artists and writers and musicians and fursuiters (and community leaders like Uncle Kage), I was like, "Okay ... um.... I'll just sit in the corner here and watch and not try to annoy anyone." But the more people I interacted with and the more friends I made, the more I felt like everything was cool here and I began to relax and really enjoy the community.

To sum up: 1) no fursuit or artistic skills needed; 2) yes, it is quite normal at first, especially, to feel like you are an imposter; 3) with time, that feeling will ease as you make friends, find your crew, and have more fun being furry. 

Some techniques to assuage your feelings? 1) don't compare yourself to other furries; there will always be furries who seem more accomplished or whatever; who cares, just do you; 2) try to catch yourself when you say things that put yourself down; when you feel yourself saying things like "I'm not good enough to ... " just stop, pause, and replace that thought with something positive about yourself (e.g., I'm a good friend; I am good company to hang out with; I'm a giving person; I am helpful, etc.); 3) socialize socialize socialize, and by this I mean talk about your feelings with others (you'll find you share much in common) and be supportive of them; find people to lean on and let them lean right back on you; 4) and a great way to feel you contribute is by volunteering at a furcon or getting involved in some furcon charity activity such as the ALS Foundation fundraiser in which many furries have become involved (I can get you in touch with people if this interests you).

I'd also like to share a very excellent article from VeryWellMind that talks all about this stuff in detail. It's like a 5-minute read.

And don't worry! You're doing great! You've already found a support network, and I know that the more you get involved with furries the more comfortable you will become in the community. Don't forget to have fun! That's what it's supposed to be all about!!!

Big Bear Hugs,
Papabear

While at a local vegan festival, your ever-loving ed-otter met up with author Bill Muir, also known as Sgt. Vegan. During his time in the U.S. military, Sgt. Muir served ably while maintaining a plant-based diet, which is no mean feat in itself. Since then he has become well known as a vegan body builder and nutrition expert. But one little side project bears discussion here: He wrote a children’s book, The Adventures of Sergeant Piggy, which was illustrated by Hayden Fowler. The book details Sergeant Piggy’s travels around the world to meet a variety of animals, while also teaching young readers the value of a plant-based diet and green living. And now it’s available on Amazon too!

image c. 2024 Sgt Vegan Press

Turns out the re-invention of Disney properties continued this year with the new Lilo & Stitch comic from Dynamite — the first continuing comic for them in English, actually. “Life seems to have calmed down for Experiment 626 and his new family on Earth – at least until evil aliens come hunting for everyone’s favorite blue-furred troublemaker. The kicker? They’re using giant robots that are powered by Stitch’s own DNA! Will Lilo’s beloved pet be able to take on these villains and lead them away from his adopted planet and loved ones? And even if he succeeds, will he be able to find his way back home?” It’s written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Giulia Giacomino, and issues are still on the shelves.

image c. 2024 Dynamite Comics

Hello, Papabear,

Hey there! I’ve been looking for an answer to my question and wanted to hear your opinion. Due to mental issues, I struggled for a while to design a fursona I was happy with.


However, recently I did just that! (A goat fursona) But I recently came across another fursona whose design looks similar to mine. I’m talking about similar markings, color palette and same species. Goat, brown and tans for main body color and markings, and different shades of blue for horns, eyes, and hoofs. My fursona isn't an exact replica, but still… Due to the person being rather popular, I fear I shouldn’t keep my fursona or commission a fursuit of them when I have enough money. I’m scared of people bashing me for this or being compared, when in reality I had no idea this fursona existed till after I made mine. Do you have any advice?

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Furiend,

Thank you for your letter, which brings up an important topic in the fandom. Several points can be made here. The first one is that there is quite a bit of overlap in the fursona world. For example, the single most popular type of fursona is a wolf and/or husky (or similar dog breed) with simple color variations and other minor details. Now, goats are a bit more unique than canids, but a quick look on Furtrack brings up these results for goats with brown or tan markings:

Alexcapranor (📸 @nauta)
Gideon klaus (📸 @oracle_sage)
Baltic berlin (📸 @bluegold1026)
Kurobatte (📸 @hexyc)
Thomasin (📸 @troy_grudin)
Bashfulbeeps (📸 @alleythewoof)
Dirtt goat (📸 @vencrypt)
Mckinley (📸 @linglingfennec)
Meelo (📸 @adelair)
Chamsz (chamois goat-antelope) (📸 @andromedus)
Cedar goat (📸 @thunder_orca)

... and that is just a very cursory, down-and-dirty, incomprehensive search. I'm sure I could find many more, but I think you get the point.

There is a difference between just having the same species with some similar colors and really looking the same. Just by having your fursona drawn by a different artist or having a different maker for a fursuit, you are pretty much guaranteed to have a different look for your particular OC. Truly, you would only get in dangerous waters if your fursona had the same name or you pretended to be the other person (such as hacking into or spoofing their account).

Another issue would be if your fursona was based on a regulated, closed (or semi-closed) species (e.g. Dutch Angel Dragons), which is a unique species said to be an original concept owned by its creator. Closed species have definitive anatomical and physiological attributes and usually their own lore (back story). A semi-closed species has certain required aspects to it but provides more leeway for adding your own spin. In both cases, you are supposed to get permission from the creator to use the closed species (or the aspects of the semi-closed species). Violating such guidelines and avoiding permission approval will likely get you on a blacklist. But, here's the thing: as far as I know, the concept of a closed species is not a legal thing. That is, they more than likely are not copyrighted or have a registered trademark. THAT said, some of the more famous one (returning to DADs) are copyrighted. Deanna Biesemeyer, who created the Dutch Angel Dragon, did in fact go to the trouble of copyrighting their creation, so you do, in fact, need their permission if you want to be a DAD. Protogens and primagens, to give another popular example, used to be closed species, I believe, and they have definite characteristics and lores, but both are now open species (I think primagens might always have been such but protogens did not become open until 2017). 

Sorry for the digression, but it is important. And I note the above because having a brown and tan goat is definitely not an example of a closed or even semi-closed species.

Given all of the above, I would not worry if I were you that there are some similarities between your OC and that of another furry. I would mildly suggest, though, that you take at least a little time to add some of your own unique, personal touches. Not so much for worry about being repetitive but more for the satisfaction and fun of it. This includes lore. For example, Grubbs Grizzly was born somewhere on the Aleutian Islands, but he got a little tired of the cold weather and decided one day to go south, ending up in California. He decided he liked it here, so he moved into the Sierras permanently, built a little cabin, and now spends his days fishing and foraging for food and just being a low-key bear. 

Bottom line: Have fun with it! So many furries fret about stuff like this and forget that being a furry is supposed to be fun. Y'all are fine. And I hope that answers your question.

Bear Hugs,
​Papabear