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Past The Last Mountain is a new full-color alternate reality series from Comics Experience. It’s written by Paul Allor, with art by Louie Joyce and Gannon Beck. “Half a century ago, the United States rounded up and imprisoned all the fantasy creatures that live amongst us. Now, a faun, a dragon and an adorable troll boy have escaped confinement, and are on the run from the United States Army!” Also featured in each issue are other short stories by the same writer.

image c. 2022 Comics Experience

Dear Papabear,

​Hey, there. My name is William and I had been lying about my age on my Twitter for about a couple of months. I came clean to my online friends who were 18+ artists just yesterday. A big reason I lied was due to how the fandom treats minors who are just trying to enjoy themselves. But I still felt icky and guilty doing it. I told it publicly. Some were hoping to see me when I was 18, but I hurt one of my biggest friends and supporters, and I don't know if I could come back after 4 years knowing what I have done to my most loyal followers. Do you have any advice?

William Blur

* * *

Dear William,

To be frank, you have a lot of damage control in store for you. As you know, you violated people's trust, and it sounds like you did so for months (or years?) That ain't good.

​There are several steps you need to take in order to try to repair this and move forward. Oh, and don't expect this to go quickly. You lied for a long time, and now it will take a long time to get back what you've lost.

1. Confess your lie not just once but two or more times--publicly.
2. Apologize profusely for what you did.
3. Explain why you did it, honestly, but also do not say that this is an excuse for lying. 
4. Invite those you lied to to tell you how they feel about what you have done and read (or listen to) every word they say. Don't interrupt. Listen. Don't argue.
5. Make a promise and commitment to yourself and others that you will never ever repeat this mistake or lie again in any other way.
6. Do NOT indulge in creating a new fursona or other identity and then try to pretend you are not the same person because that is yet another lie, and, as a lie, it will eventually be discovered, and THEN you will have NO HOPE of recovering any legitimacy to your good character ever again. I've seen furries try to do this, and what happens is they end up on furry beware lists and become anathema to the community.
7. Learn from the comments you hear. Really listen to how you have affected others. Use this as an opportunity to grow as a person.
8. This step takes the longest: spend the next months and years being an honest furry, one whose word is as good as gold. You must rebuild your reputation not just with words but with actions. Be very patient because, as I said, it will take a loooooong time, but, eventually, people will begin to trust you again with enough evidence provided by you of your good character.
9. Accept that, no matter what you do, you will lose at least some of your friends. Not everyone will forgive you no matter what you do.
10. Finally, learn to forgive yourself. What you did does not necessarily mean you are a bad person, just that you have flaws. We all have flaws. The good news is that if we allow ourselves to acknowledge these flaws, we CAN change. I do not believe in the old saw that people don't change. They do; they can, if they are willing to put in the effort.

The good news? You're young. You have time to recover from this.

Good luck!
Papabear

Didn’t hear about this coming, but here it is: “Disney Channel has dropped the official trailer for its upcoming 2D animated sibling superhero comedy Hamster & Gretel. From Disney Branded Television and produced by Disney Television Animation, the series introduces Kevin and his younger sister Gretel, who are prepped and readied to become a superhero sibling duo. In the show, the super siblings are about to receive superpowers from space aliens. But alas, things do not go as planned, and Gretel’s pet hamster, who happens to be named ‘Hamster,’ suddenly has new abilities. So now Kevin must figure out how to work with Gretel and Hamster to protect their city from mysterious dangers.” Check out the trailer at Animation World Network. It hits the air (ha ha) on August 12th.

image c. 2022 Disney Branded TV

Protogen Fursuits: Everything You Need To Know

Xege Kheiru, Writer, Furry

11 July 2022

What Are Protogen Fursuits?

Protogen fursuits are suits reserved for the protogen species of furries. They are a partly artificial species, being around 40% cyborg and 60% animal, they are a predominantly mammalian species. For the most part you’ll see these in furry art more than you’ll see them in actual fursuits, but protogen fursuits do exist. However, there are a few rules that must be followed when creating a protogen fursona. They must not bear any dinosaur traits / anatomy, they must have biological ears, they must have a short round visor, they must be bipedal and they typically shouldn’t have wings unless they are part of a rare variant.  

Protogens are what is known as an open species which means that anyone can make one and as many as they like. This is in contrast to a species like Primagen, which Protogens are a predecessor of, which is a closed species meaning that you can only obtain them by purchasing them from the creator of the species. This is a way of regulating the number of a species in circulation. 

These fursuits attempt to capture the intergalactic vibe of the concept art it is based off but this can be hard for obvious reasons. For one, the suit has a mask / visor that is tightly stuck to the face of the fursuit. These aren’t just any masks though, these are masks with lights in them, lights which make up a face that sometimes can even move. They have also been known to have robotic limbs, in the lore, which serve a practical purpose for space exploration such as jet-powered legs or rocket-boosted arms.

Where Can I Get A Protogen Fursuit?

 

If you’ve done any research at all into getting a protogen fursuit, you’ve probably realized that it is not the easiest task in the world finding a fursuit maker who specializes in protogen fursuits. To make a high-end protogen fursuit, it requires someone who is both competent in the construction of a fursuit and circuitry for the most important bit, the visor. Alternatively, teams of people can work on it together but once again this is hard to find. We’re going to list a few places you can buy suits but the worst thing you could do is get distracted by the flashing lights and bright colors of the first site you see and immediately settle for one before looking into the others. So instead, we recommend browsing through other sites and deciding your favorite. So where do you get one? 

Well, to start, Kaiborg Studios have some absolutely stunning work in their portfolio if you’re looking to get any vinyl / epoxy based products outside of protogen fursuits. They’ve done work on several League of Legends cosplays like Project: Kindred (which is technically a protogen lamb fursuit) and have quite a few nonspecific protogen fursuits on their resume including a protogen leaf-nosed bat. These guys are experienced to say the least and it definitely shows in their work, so if you’re willing to put some money down on a suit, give them a look. 

If you’re looking for a protogen fursuit made by someone who specializes in making fursuits as opposed to general cosplays, then you should check out Tiko Wolf Protogens. For the most part, their specialty seems to be (as you might’ve been able to guess from the name) wolf fursuits judging by their portfolio. However, one thing that Tiko Wolf makes clear from their home page is that there is a very apparent waiting list for fursuits. As you could imagine, protogen fursuits take longer to make than a standard fursuit because of the circuitry and there’s a whole list of people willing to wait for this service because of it. 

However, a lot of protogen fursuit makers don’t have a website and instead carry out their transactions and commissions over sites like Etsy and Furaffinity as an alternative. If you aren’t happy with the aforementioned options, try checking these two out where you can get in touch with a variety of artists.

Protogen Fursuit Head

Image by Jting-F via YouTube

How Much Does A Protogen Fursuit Cost? 

Chances are if you’re looking to buy a protogen fursuit you’re already aware that fursuits in general require you to break the bank a little bit if you want a high quality one. So we hope that this eases the blow a little when we say that if you’re looking to get a good protogen fursuit, you’re probably going to be paying upwards of $3000 for a head alone. If this puts you off buying a protogen fursuit you can check this article out for more information about standard fursuits. However, the good news is that the head is typically the most expensive part of protogen fursuits because of the skills and materials required to make them. So in total you’ll probably be paying around $6000 – $7000 for a full protogen fursuit including a body, four paws and a tail. Let’s break down the specifics though for those who are still curious. 

Kaiborg Studios pricing for a protogen fursuit head starts at $3165. From there, pricing for a full bodysuit starts at $4900 meaning by the end with the cost of paws accounted for you’ll be looking at a total price of around $7500. Tiko Wolf Protogens on the other hand do not do more than protogen fursuit heads but are considerably cheaper than Kaiborg Studios, with their head pricing starting at $2200. However, extra bits such as the expressions that the LEDs display, LED colors, more fur colors and bigger power banks can bump up this price quite a bit. 

As for the sellers on Etsy and Furaffinity, it’s the wild wild west. It’s hard to pin down the pricing to just once price but we found that it averages in the ballpark of $2500 for a protogen fursuit head and around $5000 for a full suit.

Kaiborg Studios’ Super Galaxy Kindred Head

Image by Kaiborg Studios via KaiborgStudios

How Long Does It Take To Make A Protogen Fursuit? 

Just like with normal fursuit commissions or commissions in general, the amount of time it takes to finish the piece varies from artist to artist. It depends on the nature and complexity of the piece, the amount of people commissioning before you, how accessible the materials are etc. However, that’s not why you came here so we’ll try to give you an average. Considering that a normal fursuit can take around a year to finish, with the extra bits and bobs required to make a protogen fursuit, you will probably be waiting around a year and a half to two years if you’re looking to commission someone to make the suit for you. This will especially be the case if you order from the aforementioned sites as their commissions are often pretty stacked.

 

Full Protogen Fursuit

Image by Dr. Wildlife via AminoApps

Can I Make A Protogen Suit Myself? 

 

Of course there is no harm in trying, we’re not going to put our foot down and say “no you shouldn’t make a protogen fursuit yourself” but if what you’re asking is “can I make a professional looking protogen fursuit myself?” then the answer is a possible no. If you’re confident in your abilities with both craftsmanship and circuitry then by all means go ahead and make your dream fursuit. However, logistically, if you aren’t that adept with electronics, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to make a professional looking protogen suit so it might be better to save yourself the expense.

The post Protogen Fursuits: Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Fursonafy.

Robert “Magnus Diridian” Sojkowski

The 2014 Midwest Furfest chemical attack is one of the biggest unsolved crimes in furry fandom. It has a main suspect who was raided by the FBI, and they found physical evidence (read below). His name is Robert “Magnus Diridian” Sojkowski, also known as the Confederate Fursuiter.

In separate news from July 2022, two men in Asheville, North Carolina face terror charges in a bomb incident. One is a furry and subject of online rumors. His name is Chioke “Tech Coyote” Fugate.

That’s two separate crimes, with two separate suspects… but when the news about Fugate came out, rumors named him as the Confederate Fursuiter. This is critically misleading. Sojkowski made the suit in 2015 and stayed the ongoing owner and wearer, so the identity belongs to him. The mixup came from a meeting in 2017 where Fugate took photos with the suit and possibly wore it once. Why is it a big deal? It led to falsely naming Fugate for the Midwest Furfest attack he had nothing to do with (he was 14 in 2014).

Huge Twitter accounts fueled rumors that Fugate “was the one behind the MFF Chlorine bombing years back” (1) (2) (3), causing many deletions and corrections (4) (5) (6). It’s critical to untangle the two suspects. Remember, the mixup would help both to deny and mislead — and both have records of doing exactly that — so let’s set the record straight.

Mistaken info is going around that mixes up 2 nazifurs. Tech Coyote is not the confederate fursuiter. Tech took a photo with it in 2017 but Magnus Diridian is the maker and regular wearer. We have a unique video from Magnus in 2020 suiting in an empty parking lot. Screencap here. https://t.co/oK5oezeZhL pic.twitter.com/5MSP7YWrcS

— Nazifur Receipts (@NazifurReceipts) July 9, 2022

Chioke “Tech Coyote” Fugate and the Asheville bomb incident – the reason for the hype

• 6/30/22: Man accused of being armed at Asheville protest is arrested; second man still sought (WLOS)
• 7/4/22: Asheville PD calls ‘ANTIFA’ email threatening (WJHL)
• 7/5/22: 2 accused of igniting explosive devices in downtown Asheville; Persons of interest sought (WLOS)
• 7/5/22: Demonstrators arrested for explosion at Asheville park, police say (WYFF4)
• Reddit r/asheville post with 97 comments including some local witnesses

The Asheville news concerns protesting about Roe v. Wade, and the arrest of Florida man Duncan Small for a weapons charge. His then-unknown associate (Fugate) was sought for being armed. The next week, police received a threat about protests signed “ANTIFA” from a hotmail address (indicating a ruse or prank-type sender). Then Duncan Small was arrested again with Chioke Fugate, on terror charges for exploding devices “similar to pipe bombs” at the empty base for a dismantled monument to a Confederate general. Small had zip-tie restraints and an anti-government pamphlet. There was a flare gun and replica gun believed to be Fugate’s and his body armor, gas mask, and more. Fugate was quickly out of jail on a $15,000 bond.

DOGPATCH PRESS OPINION ON FUGATE’S CHARGES: Tech Coyote was known in fandom, so we can go beyond mainstream news with inside reporting. Tech is back in the fandom now, with help from right-wing group owners. His posts cite lawyer advice to avoid talking too much. Questions sent to his account were read and he chose not to explain his side. From inside sources and a receipts channel:

• Tech was a kid with development issues and social problems in life and fandom.
• He gained a bad reputation and community bans while joining Nazifurs like the Furry Raiders and other Altfurry hate groups on the right-wing fringe.
• His motivation included collecting and displaying Nazi and Confederate symbols, guns and military gear.
• Tech protested his reputation by claiming to oppose nazis and the left equally and saying he was just a collector for the aesthetic.
• It’s partially true because his social problems rose inside fringe groups, they fell out, and at one point he burned his Furry Raiders armband.
• It’s not true because he wants things both ways to sympathize with the far-right while posing as more separate than he is.
• He chronically confabulates fake stories about being in gun or knife fights, with injury photos taken off the web to glorify himself.
• Ideologically this looks like an unreliable person who can’t fully compute his beliefs, behavior, groups, and reputation – a classic fringe group follower.
• The takeaway: it’s hard to guess the true motivation behind his current trouble… false-flag provocation or naive bumbling?
• The truth could come from learning about his relationship with Duncan Small (it’s unclear if he is furry). Background indicates Small is personally pro-choice, anti-Confederate, and anti-government, and got in trouble from bad judgement. Tech may have been helping his left-ish friend as an excuse to blow things up on July 4. It could make him less of a terrorist than a fool who got in trouble for Beavis and Butthead stunts — as the small $15,000 bond hints — but his history speaks for itself, and everyone saw this coming.

Robert “Magnus Diridian” Sojkowski and the 2014 Midwest Furfest chemical attack – the suspect who got mixed up

Three Dogpatch Press articles from 2017-2018 make extensive reporting on Sojkowski. The sources are police investigation and reporting about it in mainstream news, like the Vice story CSI Fur Fest: The Unsolved Case of the Gas Attack at a Furry Convention by Jennifer Swann (which made the Ursa Major Awards list.) There’s Sojkowski’s long crime record, furry con ban letters, personal journals, and exclusive interviews. His hotel roommates during the 2014 Midwest Furfest attack had never been questioned by police or anyone else, until they were interviewed by Dogpatch Press. Multiple of Sojkowski’s other roommates and associates provided info. Sojkowski was an associate of Furry Raiders founder Foxler, whose admins tipped the FBI and leaked info about Foxler’s alleged knowledge of the attack. Sojkowski’s boyfriend sent personal messages, and Dogpatch Press interviewed Sojkowski himself.

• Sojkoswki admitted being raided by the FBI, and questioned 4 times by police about the Midwest Furfest attack.
• At Sojkowski’s home, the FBI found red duct tape used in the chemical device (he claimed it belonged to his roommate.)
• His roommate posted a journal about being harmed by the attack and questioned by police.
• Sojkowski worked as a lifeguard, who would have access to large amounts of untraceable chlorine.
• He drove to Midwest Furfest from Wisconsin, so wouldn’t need air travel to have chlorine.
• Sojkowski had a long felony crime record going back to the 1990’s, including jail for a chemical attack on a bank.
• The bank chemical attack was a prank for petty revenge (about an overdraft fee) that did serious harm, which Sojkowski downplayed.
• A petty revenge motive against Midwest Furfest was found in the exclusive interview with Sojkowski’s hotel roommates; he was mad at con staff for threatening to yank his badge for running drunk in the street in suit.
• The attack caused a diabetic emergency to his hotel roommate’s friend, but in Sojkowski’s journals afterward, he only focused on the media attention.
• After the attack, he kept being banned for nuisances and crimes at cons.
• When Anthrocon banned him, he said his Confederate Fursuit was a protest at takedown of Confederate flags after the Dylan Roof mass shooting.
• Sojkowski was banned from Midwest Furfest, but came back to stir up a nuisance after his Anthrocon ban and was arrested for trespassing.
• An info leak from the Furry Raiders connected to FBI tips that the founder Foxler boasted of knowing who did the Midwest Furfest chemical attack.
• In Colorado, Foxler was visited by the FBI. He posted the agent’s card, who wasn’t local, connecting Chicago and the Midwest Furfest case. This pairs with subsequent evasion by Sojkowski.
• When Sojkowski was questioned about Foxler, he wouldn’t answer, then admitted knowing Foxler before the attack (when it was much rarer to know him.)
• Sojkowski gave a baseless name for the 2014 chemical attack (Skrat), and also tried to evade admitting arrest for trespassing at Midwest Furfest in 2018.

DOGPATCH PRESS OPINION FOR WHY SOJKOWSKI WASN’T CHARGED: This evidence could have gotten bolder featuring in the 2018 Sojkowski interview. The article hedged, because the police investigation was allowed to go cold and nobody was charged:

• Police botched the chemical testing, according to Vice News; this could be crucial to prove motive, even though they knew it was deliberate.
• There were no cameras at the Midwest Furfest hotel, and the hotel had masked people everywhere.
• A crime scene like that makes highest deniability for a single suspect acting randomly, which fits Sojkowski’s history of petty revenge.
• It’s easier to get a group to snitch on each other; proving “beyond a reasonable doubt” on one person is the hardest burden.
• It’s expensive to try one person on major charges, which could backfire and clear them with acquittal.
• Assume low priority for weird gay furries, with less concern for minority and alternative groups from the police.
• Not charging Sojkowski or letting him clear his name in court leaves suspicion to keep watching him.
• He WAS still watched: after his interview, an angry Sojkowski tried to get a Dogpatch Press home address and was visited by police to warn him off.

What are the alternative suspects? Rumors named Foxler, Skrat, Ryan Hill, and a theorized latex chlorination accident. None of these work. The latex chlorination theory is the most commonly accepted, but the type of chlorine used for latex is not the powdered kind used in the attack, and “authorities deemed it a deliberate, criminal act“. Foxler wasn’t in Chicago. Skrat was baselessly named by Sojkowski himself. Ryan Hill is a mentally disabled man who had no connection besides a history of threats that got him briefly looked at by police before they ruled him out. This leaves only Sojkowski. It’s obligatory to say he’s not convicted but you can use personal judgement about the evidence.

How the mixup spread despite immediate correction

The arrest of Chioke Fugate was ripe for culture war controversy, with terror charges, supposed “Antifa” activity, and his own furry and far-right absurdity. It quickly fueled falsehoods from Andy Ngo, a discredited right-wing propagandist. Ngo called Fugate Antifa while obviously not knowing much about him. Ngo lied; Fugate was a fan of Ngo himself. Ngo misled over a million Twitter followers.

Meanwhile, left-wing accounts were misleadingly identifying Fugate as the Confederate Fursuiter. That was set off in a Youtube video by Labb Ratt. (It did have good intentions to feature Fugate’s 2017 meeting with Sojkowski without knowing the full context). Labb Ratt was contacted right away with more context, and helpfully posted a correction, but the Midwest Furfest attack mixup was already out and boosted to hundreds of thousands of left-wing Twitter followers.

This mixup was a combination of bad intentions to lie on the right, good intentions without context on the left, and Twitter’s inflammatory nature to spread bullshit beyond containment.

It’s a cautionary story about hot takes and knee-jerk reactions, verifying and trust, the danger of unmoderated media platforms, and the importance of keeping records (especially with coordination between mainstream news and furry news).

Update: Tech was arrested again with a new charge and higher bail shortly after this report. The charge didn’t say why, it indicated “flight risk” so it’s not clear if it means he did something else or it was just part of the investigation process.

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.)

A dog from the future explains a pleasant interstellar society in this sci-fi audio series. This series explores the topics of transhumanism, animal uplift, space travel, realistic artificial intelligence, terraforming, and a future you'd want to live in. Allison & The Cool New Spaceship Body https://shipfolk.neocities.org/Shipfolk.html Music: "Dew" by Jinpa https://soundcloud.com/user-975748551-495337716 Writing & Narration: Tempe O'Kun https://www.furaffinity.net/user/tempo321/ Merch, Sweet Tees and stuff: http://www.culturallyfd.com https://teespring.com/stores/culturally-fd-merchandise Support Culturally F'd: https://www.patreon.com/culturallyfd Plus a Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/gsz8us7 Listen in on TEMPO TALKS with Tempe O'Kun https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPyIK2c7mK-LpbvfDNqfcSW Check out Tempe O'Kun's books "Sixes Wild" and "Windfall" here: http://furplanet.com/shop/?affillink=YOUTU2907 Here's a playlist of his other Culturally F'd videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPS7tnT4hdJwBI-CeLF8Kb_ #hopepunk #scifi #science #fiction

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Moobarkfluff!  Taebyn is on vacation this week, so Misha B. Barkin' stepped up to substitute for him. We chat about stupid things, play a little this or that, and share a Grimms Fairy Tale. Bearly tells us about being an altar boy. Do crabs wear hats? Moobarkfluff! 

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

Bearly Furcasting S3E11 - Misha B. Barkin' Guest Co-Host

Hello!

I had a bit of a weird / sexual question I wanted some affirmation on… So, I’m aroused by furry porn and porn of furry-like monsters. I feel really intense guilt about this. How do I get over it?

I didn’t used to feel bad at all about it, but when I look into the fanbase, I see people who are secretly into things like zoophilia, and it just makes me feel really guilty for being sexually attracted to furries. (Even though the amount of zoophiles are very low, it still really disturbs me.) Like, am I bad for being attracted to them? Is there some sort of psychological problem when I’m attracted to animal-like humans??

I struggle with OCD a lot, and my intrusive thoughts include a lot of what I’m worrying about… How would you recommended I cope with this guilt?

P.S. I see a therapist and I talk to her about my OCD … but the furry porn thing is really hard to bring up tbh. I feel so embarrassed about it.

Thank you!!

Jack
​
* * *

Dear Jack,

Thank you for your fascinating question. Let's step away from the zoophilia topic, since I don't think you are a zoophile, and talk about monster porn and attraction to monsters in a sexual fashion. In the world of psychology, this is called "teratophilia," a term that applies not only to monsters but also an attraction to deformed people. There is also something called "exophilia," which is having sexual fantasies about extraterrestrial sex. In this bear's opinion, the two are related closely enough to be basically the same thing, only differing on minor specifics. 

In both cases, the fantasy tends to involve a powerful, alien creature that exhibits sexual prowess over the fantasizer (correct me if I am wrong, but I am guessing that in your fantasies, the monster is dominant over you; in alien dreams, it usual involves space beings performing "sex research" on human subjects). This dominance aspect of the fantasy, too, makes teratophilia related to such fetishes as S&M bondage, macrophilia, and vorarephilia. Bottom line of this is that the most common explanation for such a fantasy is that you desire to be dominated. 

So, you ask, why don't you just fantasize about a dominant, muscular human? This is where feelings of guilt and shame come in. Sexual fantasies often disguise desires with symbolism, masks, and other obfuscating strategies. The "monster" is a symbol that is used to conceal your true desire for some form of forbidden sex with a real person. This, on the surface, might sound silly, I bet, because you're saying to yourself, "But I'm embarrassed about a dream involving sex with a monster! Why would that be better than a dream about sex with a hunky man?" Because you know, intellectually, that sex with a monster is impossible and, therefore, the dream fantasy is also impossible. Since the dream can never be a reality, it actually eases the moral tension you are feeling because you know you can never act out such a fantasy in real life and you will, consequently, never be "guilty" of the sin for which you yearn.

When psychologists talk about monster fantasies, they usually do it in terms of women having fantasies about monsters, but I feel this can apply to anyone with submissive tendencies, whether they are 100% submissive or only feel that way on occasion.

There might be some other underlying reasons for monster sex fantasies. Psychologists note that, in surveys, women who are more sexually open-minded respond that they have such fantasies more often than those who are conservative. Certainly, furries tend to be more open and willing to explore outside the boundaries of social standards in their sexuality, so--although I don't believe this has ever been tested--furries probably have monster fantasies more than normies. One might also, I suppose, characterize anthros as a type of "monster," though fursonas run the gamut of personalities from dom to sub to everything in between. I do, however, believe that furry sex fantasies also occur as a way of concealing feelings of guilt about sex in some--not all, by any means--cases.

To answer the question at the heart of your letter: no, you are not psychologically disturbed (and you are not a zoophile). Your brain is coming up with coping mechanisms to resolve your feelings of guilt about sex. The source of this guilt is, duh, society, which loves to impose guilt on us for being sexually open rather than repressed. The solution for you, my furiend, is to work on not feeling guilty about your sexual desires. As long as you aren't hurting anyone (and the sex is always consensual), you should pursue whatever sexual desires you wish. 

Will this get rid of your monster fantasies? Well, if they are purely guilt-generated, it might. Or, it might loosen you up to create even more lurid monster dreams, but these will be dreams you enjoy rather than feel bad about.

Hope that helps! Sorry for my slow reply!

Hugs,
Papabear ​

Young beginning readers can check out the Ollie and Bea series of graphic novels, written and illustrated by Renee Tremi. The set up is as simple as can be: “Ollie is an owl who wears glasses. And Bea is a bunny with very big feet. They don’t know it yet, but they are about to be best friends. Can they help each other to find their otter-ly awesome inner superhero?” It’s Owl Good and other books in the series are available now from Allen & Unwin Book Publishers.

image c. 2022 Allen & Unwin

And once again, thanks to Animation World Network for pointing us at something we might have missed otherwise — Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience. (Top that for a title!) “Get ready because a rock opera like no other is coming, based on Mo Willems’ New York Times best-selling picture book of the same name… The animated musical event is a fun and funny tale about a sensitive, curious, and rockin’ Naked Mole Rat named Wilbur (voiced by Jordan Fisher) who ‘scandalously’ decides to (gasp!) get dressed! See what happens when Wilbur’s newfound love of rocking outfits rocks Naked Mole Rat society to its core.” It’s already up and running on HBO Max. Seriously, you have to see the trailer to believe it! And even then…

image c. 2022 Cartoonito

Photo by AniMajor

Sunday, June 26 marked 20 years of furries at San Francisco Pride. (See the 2019 event and history or the Pride tag for more.) The Norcal Furries made a welcome return after no official parade marching for 2 years of a pandemic. They brought their own float, and it all came together so smoothly, it made an incredibly positive memory.

The biggest change from past years was no longer using rental trucks or Burning Man art cars. This year, Norcal Furries built their own float on a trailer. It was a wonderful asset. Using other people’s was always less than ideal (constrained by costs, time and logistics for loading/unloading, and even height with streetcar wires). All of that was easier under self management.

Compared to their last appearance in 2019, promotion and planning was lower-key and locked in place at the last minute. It was all thanks to the dedication of a small handful of volunteers. To name a few (no intention of forgetting anyone:) The float was built on an old boat trailer by Mr Disko, with Zoren who also handled the insurance, application, and fundraiser backed by Spottacus. Sound and music was set up by Groggy, Super Jay was a volunteer organizer, and Relay was the generous after party host, with chef catering by Renkairu. Contingent monitors kept the group safe to meet the requirements of SF Pride.

Furries start at about 1:56:24 and go until 1:58:45

For the Sunday morning parade, travel and gathering seemed slightly more challenging than past years. There was standstill traffic for crowds to pack the San Francisco parade route, so parking plans didn’t work for some. My car and passenger did a Plan B: park near the afterparty and take the BART train in with fursuits. That worked well thanks to leaving an hour early. A few others weren’t lucky and were too late. On arrival at the street for assembling the Norcal Furries contingent, the pair of us were alarmed. Other contingents were already starting to march! That wasn’t like past years when there were hours of wait after the official Go time. After hustling and almost running for blocks to find the furries, we made it just on time for a calm step-off.

The parade was a steady flow of amazing cheers and good vibes. I stayed with the Norcal Furries front banner the whole way and didn’t weave around and play with the crowd, but really enjoyed a few occasions of hyping them up. Being one of the first corner banner carriers they saw, I could do howling poses for a call and response from the crowd. The early step-off included a brisk pace, but the high energy made it feel like just the right dose of kaleidoscopic furry fun, with low risk of heat stroke in gentle weather. Head count from video after the parade was 75 or so members. It wasn’t overpacked and not skimpy, but just right with our resources and self-made trailer.

Walter Ringtail’s video of the float

There was fursuit change space and breakfast before the parade at Relay’s. The after party was also at his super tasteful ground floor apartment with a full rainbow of cocktails on tap, and catering trays of a furry-made (extremely delicious) dinner menu by Renkairu. The place was buzzing with eating and couch chats, backyard patio drinking and a hot tub. Previous years had packed a restaurant to bursting. Self-organizing this time made things much more chill and enjoyable. Although the 2019 pre-pandemic parade meet was somewhat bigger, I would call this the best, most fun, least stressful, most Prideful furry Pride I’ve done in 10 years of being there.

Afterthoughts: One difference in the vibe this year was the fresh rage at the overturning of Roe vs Wade and removal of body rights, and the close-to-home threat of rising fascism. It had even hit the SF Bay area with a library invaded by the Proud Boys hate group. There was also their attempted terrorism and mass arrest at a Pride event in Idaho. Fear lurked around the edges, with increased police presence. Every huge event can have risks and an incident of fighting shut the event slightly early, but it was after we were gone. It was all outshone by the fearless rainbow magic we all brought.

Dancing Zae Dragon, from Walter Ringtail

Group feedback: next year’s parade should have more focus on cooling the fursuiters like with leaf blowers on hand. There should be a contingent monitor meeting before the day. Restroom access is challenging and should have plans. The afterparty could have used more volunteer help. Securing a hotel room for fursuit changing is a thought for as soon as they open up, due to demand. Having a float opens many possibilities for an event at a campground or even coinciding with the rolling event Bike Party. The trailer could get redone with modular railings, and a generator and gear storage built beneath.

Gallery of photos and videos on Telegram: @sfpride2022furries

One unexpected piece of media turned up. A photo of the 2022 Norcal Furries was used (without a direct connection) in a Chinese based news source about a hacker group claiming to be gay furries and leaking private info from U.S. state governments who removed abortion rights.

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.)

Fearless Furries Celebrate 20 Years at San Francisco Pride

You may recall that recently we discovered the Bad Kitty series of books by Nick Bruel. Well now thanks to Animation World Network we have this news: “Independent entertainment company Boat Rocker has landed the rights to develop an animated television series based on the popular Bad Kitty children’s book series from author Nick Bruel. Since its release in 2005, the Bad Kitty series has become a New York Times best-seller to the tune of over 20 million copies sold, and has been published in 23 languages across dozens of territories internationally. The stories center around a mischievous housecat named Kitty who has a unique knack for creating chaos throughout her owner’s home.” No word yet when this will bust out of development, but we’ll be watching.

image c. 2022 Boat Rocker

Sorry we’re a bit late this month – July has really snuck up on me, as it seems to have done for a lot of people. Quite suddenly, we’re more than halfway through 2022.

Of course, as 2022 progresses, that means we’re moving closer to Furry Book Month in October, and that brings with it Oxfurred Comma. We’re not yet in a position to announce more details, but I can promise that everyone’s favourite furry online writing convention will be back for a third edition! Check out this blog and our social media feeds for all the information as it comes.

And speaking of Oxfurred Comma, the free ebook from the flash fiction contest in 2021 is coming soon. Details will be down in the upcoming releases section.

This week brings about a sorrowful anniversary to the furry writing community. This time last year we sadly lost Dwale, a former guild president and a shining light amongst the guild. Dwale was a mentor to many, and a friend to all. We sadly miss its presence.
Dwale’s final work will soon be coming out, after publication was agreed before its passing – we don’t yet have any details on the release, but we will be sure to share what will be a bittersweet event, as Dwale was most proud about this unreleased story as any other.

There are a few ongoing submission calls for short stories, though we have not seen many themed anthology calls at this stage. If you see something that you think can be highlighted by the FWG, then please contact us with information about it!

Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Temporarily closed for submissions. Reoccurring submission windows.

Please also consider checking out some of the new and upcoming releases from our members.

Winter Without End, by Casimir Laski. Released Early June 2022.

Felis Futura: An Anthology of Future Cats. Released June 6th 2022. Featuring short stories from multiple FWG members.

Red Pandamonium, by Roan Rosser. Released June 13th 2022.

Jiao Tu’s Endeavour, by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt. Released June 16th 2022.

Roar Volume 11, Edited by Ian Madison Keller. Released at Anthrocon 2022.

Opinicus: Gryphon Insurrection 7, by K. Vale Nagle. Released July 1st 2022.

Unfinished Business, by Tim Susman. Available for pre-order. Released July 5th 2022.

Oxfurred Comma Flash Fiction Contest, edited by J.F.R. Coates. Released July 7th 2022.

A Drop In The Motion, by Dwale. Released July 16th.

Nevi’im, by Madison Scott-Clary. Available for pre-order. Released July 21st.

A Furry Faux Paw, by Jessica Kara. Available for pre-order. Released July 26th (Date changed from May 24th 2022.)

Royal Red, by K.C. Shaw. Released July 27th.

Pirating Pups, edited by Rhonda Parrish. Featuring a short story from FWG member Alice Dryden. Available for pre-order. Released August 9th

As always, if there is a story or anthology opening you feel should be shared, please get in contact with us and we can have them added to the list.

Please do check back on this blog and on our twitter feed for updates on Dwale’s final work, and on announcements for Oxfurred Comma.

Until next time, stay safe and keep writing.
J.F.R. Coates

What Are Furry Scales?

Xege Kheiru, Writer, Furry

04 July 2022

What Are Furry Scales?

If you’ve spent some time in the fandom, there’s a chance that you’ve stumbled across a furry scale without even knowing its a furry scale. Furry scales refer to illustrations of a human progressively becoming more and more animal-like until they fully become an animal. Each illustration is typically coupled with a strip of text that describes the phase of progression that the drawing is in like “not furry”, “semi-furry”, “furry”, etc. Furry scales are supposed to help furries find the cut-off point at which the viewer is no longer attracted to the illustration. However, they’re kind of a meme that swept the fandom, people beginning to satirize them as time went on and creating more and more nonsensical versions of them.

The 6 Stages Of The Furry Scale 

 

A lot of furry scales are broken down into six stages of progression ranging from completely human to just an animal and they go as follows.

Not Furry: This is the stage at which the character is still completely human. They do not bear any visible similarities to an animal at all. 

Semi Furry: Semi furry is the point that obscures the character between neko (cat girls) and furry. This is where the character has developed features like animal ears, whiskers or most often a tail 

Furry: This is the point of no return. The character is starting to resemble an animal with human features more than it is a human with animal features. This typically means a full coat of fur, paws, a pointy nose, but they are still bipedal. 

Very Furry: The character begins to fall into the uncanny valley, becoming an animal that if you looked closely you could see human traits in. They have all the same traits as a furry and are now comfortable walking on all fours. Also, they begin to lack a need for clothes as their fur slowly becomes their clothes.

What Are You Doing You Sick Bastard?: This stage is more popularly known by another name which you can find here but for the sake of keeping this appropriate we’ll go with this alternative. This stage describes the point where almost all human-like qualities are gone, the only similarity maybe being human eyes or an accessory like a bow. Apart from this, the character has become completely quadrupedal and has the posture and frame of an animal. 

Please Reconsider: Named this because it assumes the viewer wants to have sex with each progression of the scale, the “Please Reconsider” stage of the furry scale is no longer human in any way. It is literally just an animal, void of all human qualities.

The 6 Stages of The Furry Scale

Illustration Originally by かｂ via Pixiv

Where Did Furry Scales Start?

Furry scales actually date back as far as the 90s. On February 7th 1996, in a document known as The Code of Furries, a rating system which described where people “fall on the human-to-animal scale” was added. It described the following six stages which likely manifested into the illustrations that we know today. 

1 : Basically human, with minor furry features (perhaps eyes, nose, ears, claws, some fur, etc)

2 : Humanoid, with significant furry features (muzzle, tail, etc); this includes centaurs and mer-people

3 : Anthropomorphic animal (or taur)

4 : Equally comfortable on two or four legs (or, if you’re a taur, on four or six)

5 : Animal shape, with some unusual features (perhaps hands, speech, etc); this includes most dragons, griffins, etc

6 : Normal animal shape

After this, furry scales wouldn’t see much of a notable mention until June 16th 2010 when a user on the site pixiv, an art sharing site, uploaded an illustration of a girl progressively turning into a fox. It didn’t have any of the aforementioned text above each stage, instead reading This was likely the post that opened the floodgates for the several hundred more furry scales that came in the following years, many of them even satirizing this exact same post. 

Then, 2 years later on December 4th 2012, a DeviantArt user, Timscorpion, posted an illustration titled “Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism” which depicted a moth-human hybrid slowly turning into a moth. It only took another 2 years, on March 3rd 2014, for Reddit user Psykun to post an illustration of Bastet from the video game SMITE, progressively turning into a cat. Several more would continue to be posted between and after these years and you can still find plenty on sites like DeviantArt to this day.

The Rise In Popularity of Furry Scales

Okay, so we understand a brief history of furry scales and how they work, but why are so many people searching for them. For one, this might be because of a video made September 9th 2021 by YouTuber and meme scholar: Professor Lando titled “The Reason Why You’re Actually A Furry” in which he takes a dive into furry culture and the furry scale. The video is definitely worth a watch, but apart from being a good video, more importantly, it caused several other furry YouTubers like BetaEtaDelota to add their own commentary, creating reaction videos and commentary videos on the topic. Although it’s just speculation, that could be why furry scales have seen such a surge in popularity recently. 

Furry Scale

Accessed via KnowYourMeme

Why Do People Make Furry Scales? 

 

People make furry scales for a load of reasons. For one, some people just like to make them as a cool art concept, as opposed to the standard headshot or portrait of their fursona, furry scales are a fun, creative way of depicting your fursona. 

However, some people make them for the more practical purpose of a guide to help understand how much of a furry someone is. The further on the scale you place yourself, the more of a furry you are. You place yourself on the scale based on your attraction to each character, so, the point at which you have zero attraction to the character is what you should place yourself before. Of course this isn’t indisputable evidence of how much of a furry you are but it’s more of a fun game you can play with friends. 

For the most part though, people just make these scales either as a joke or because they want something to draw. It’s even a way people can illustrate how they resemble their own fursona.

 

Po-Ju Furry Scale  

Probably one of the most memed and notorious furry scales is the Po-Ju Furry Scale. Po-Ju is a hentai artist who at some point decided to make a furry scale of his own with 5 levels ranging from 5% to 100%. At 5% and 10% he depicts a girl with blonde hair and cat ears that poke out the top and a collar, the only difference between the two being that in 10% her eyes and ears grow slightly bigger. The text underneath them reads “Not furry”. Then, at 50% the same girl has grown a full coat of fur and her eyes begin to resemble that of a cat and the text underneath her reads “Furry”. By 75% her nose begins to transform into a cat’s nose and the pattern in her fur develops further as the text reads “Dangerously Furry”. 100% is just a literal cat and below the cat it reads “You Sick Bastard”. To this day, the drawing stands as one of the most famous examples of a furry scale and likely will be for the years to come.

 

This isn’t the original meme obviously but I couldn’t find a good resolution image of it

For Original Meme Look Here

The post What Are Furry Scales? appeared first on Fursonafy.

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Moobarkfluff! Taebyn and Bearly take yet another visit to Lux's Transfurmation Station and we subject Taebyn to the ray! What will he become? We chat about a new Furry Event/Con called Get Out the Float in Seaside Oregon. We hear a story about three little wolves. We play some trivia and generally have a flufftacular time! Moobarkfluff!

Get Out the Float registration:  https://getoutthefloat.com/registration

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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 S3E10 - Transfurmation Station, Jokes, Upcoming events, Storytime

Creator Charles Brubaker has returned with a new installment of the Ursa Major Award nominated cartoon series Fuzzy Princess, called Oingo Bongo. “Wanting to win a new set of bongo drums, Chiro enters herself and Kuma in a poetry contest. Can Chiro keep the ever-hungry Kuma ‘inspired’?” The short is already up on YouTube, and there are links to lots of Fuzzy Princess books as well.

image c. 2022 Charles Brubaker

Papabear,

So, this is going to take a while to explain. I’m trans M2X and my parents are Christians. My dad is a LEAD PASTOR at a church that gets HUNDREDS of visitors each service. My mother knows that I was going by they/them pronouns for a while, and she went and had a chat with me. At the time, I thought I was also pansexual, so my mom now thinks I’m gay since she wouldn’t listen. I’m pretty sure I’m aroace now, though. I feel incredibly uncomfortable with getting called he/him pronouns. Some of my friends still use they/them pronouns, but Fred or whatever it was I called him previously and his sister (who I will now call Jo [fake name]) call me he/him. All of the people who know my mom call me he/him. Everyone except 3 people call me a boy.

I’m soon going to a private Christian middle school for the next two years (public school didn’t work out) where they split the kids into boy/girl groups every morning. I’m also not sure whether or not my dad knows. If my dad does know, he hasn’t acknowledged it, talked about it, or done anything about it. If he doesn’t, I really don’t want to be the one to tell him. He is incredibly protective of me, he banned all websites on my computer, so I have to ask for permission. I can’t watch YouTube, my phone doesn’t have the App Store or a web browser (I currently stole my sister’s phone, which has no restrictions at all.) He also monitors all my accounts, so I had to use my school account (it lets outside messages through, don’t worry) so that he wouldn’t track this.

I’m going to counseling, but the person I’m doing it with knows my mom in person, so I’m afraid to say too much. She also caught me off-guard at the start of counseling and asked if I thought I was trans, and I for some dumb reason blatantly lied and said no. I also would like to talk with her more about things like the fact that I think I might have social anxiety, be bipolar, etc., but she always will talk about that sort of thing for the last 10 minutes of the 45-minute sessions, and lately it’s only been about my sexuality (which I did share with her.) She is also Christian, I might add.

​I really don’t know how to get my parents to accept me for who I am, and it’s getting very annoying.

Thanks for the advice,
Xyphon (age 12)
* * *

Dear Xyphon,

There are many things going on here, but I will try and stay focused. To begin, at age 12 you are likely just starting puberty. This is a confusing time for anyone, which is grandly reflected in your letter. Here's the thing: you are not obligated to decide right here and now what your sexuality or gender identity are, and you shouldn't pressure yourself to try. For one thing, it's not like you're going to go on dates or have sex, so what does it matter? You yourself say you think you are aro-ace, and the reason for that is not that you actually are but because at 12 years old you should be asexual. You should not be thinking about sex yet, for Pete's sake!

A huge problem with American society is that we put so much pressure on children to decide who they are right now and where they are going to go for the next 50 years of their lives. No wonder Americans are so dang neurotic. You shouldn't be worried about what your job will be or what sex is going to be like or whether you'll marry or have children or live as a hermit in the Himalayas. And, for God's sake, you should not be going to a therapist. You're 12 friggin years old, dammit. You're not old enough to be traumatized (unless you've had a death in the family or were at a school shooting, of course).

Two words: RE. LAX.

Instead of getting all uptight on serious issues, you should be playing! You should be enjoying time with your friends at school, play soccer, play D&D, go camping, and at school, you should be learning about the wonders of the universe (sadly, American schools just make education about tests instead of learning, but do the best you can; sometimes, you might be lucky enough to have a teacher who actually knows how to instill a love of learning in their students).

When it comes to your parents, they are sadly making the same mistake many parents make: instead of spending time with their kids and monitoring what they do online, they just ban or restrict internet and phone use. This is not parenting; this is being a dictator. And the result of such a parental policy is predictable and already occurring: you're indulging in secretive behavior and doing what you were told not to do anyway. What next happens is that you will, eventually, be caught, and this will severely damage the trust between you and your mom and dad.

Instead of completely banning computer time (or just monitoring it after the fact), what should be done, at least as a first step, is to have family computing time. This is when, with you at the keyboard, you are allowed to explore the internet for school projects or even hobbies and socializing while your parents are there to see what you do. They don't have to be right there next to you, but they should be in the same room as the computer and be able to see the screen. You can start small with an hour of time a day and maybe add time later. One reason why this is important is that you are going to need to learn how to use computers, phones, and the Web in order to function in modern society, so their complete ban of such tech will be harmful to your education. But the other reason is that they need to learn to trust you at the same time you need to trust them that they are trying to protect you. Although you might be aware of the dangers in virtual reality, you don't really know how bad they can be until you actually go online and get exposed to them. There's a lot of bad stuff online, and your parents are not incorrect in their concern about your surfing behavior.

Talk to Mom and Dad. Explain that you will need to use computers in this life and tell them that you will agree to 100% adult supervision so you are able to surf freely but safely. Put the computer in the kitchen or living room or wherever you're parents hang out in plain view. Tell them you understand the internet can be dangerous and that you want them to supervise you and help you.

Pronouns. Okay. I guess I'm an old bear, but when I was in school, and then an office, and also in my house, people called me by my name, Kevin. They didn't say, "Hey, boy." They didn't refer to me in the third person. That's just weird. At school, when I was called on, the teacher was like, "Yes, Kevin. Can you solve the equation on the chalkboard?" When I'm at a party and people are chatting, I don't look at a guest and say in his face: "Does he want a beer?" I say, "Hey, Brian, ya wanna beer?" So, at school, just tell people to refer to you by your first name. 

Pronouns will still sometimes come up, of course. Here's a trick you can do. Whenever you find yourself using a pronoun for other people, always use They/Them. Use it all the time. When people around you use male/female pronouns, repeat what they say and substitute they/them. For example, a classmate asks, referring to a student named John: "Do you think we should ask him to join the team?" Then you say, "Yes, I think THEY would like to join the team."

It's my belief that in the future we might stop using he/him/she/her and just use they/them.  This is already happening in publishing, and professional grammarians have been converting to this philosophy of using They/Them as a singular pronoun. When I was first working in publishing back in Detroit in the late 1980s and early 1990s, writing text could sound awkward when, if we didn't know the sex or a subject in a text, we would write "he/she" and "him/her." This is very cumbersome. "They/Them," however, was supposed to only be used in the plural sense. Today, though, these pronouns are widely used in the singular sense. So, yeah, just refer to everyone as they/them and you will find that others will learn by osmosis (they will absorb your way of using pronouns) and begin using they/them pronouns all the time, too.

As for being grouped with boys at your new school, just go with it. You're ace anyway (and, even if not, you're not sexually mature yet), so don't worry about it. Schools do stupid crap like that all the time, busily trying to categorize students and fit everyone in neat little boxes. Religious schools are particularly good at this, but all schools do it. Just put up with it because you sure won't get anywhere by defying the rules, and doing so will just cause you a lot of grief. 

For the next 2 to 4 years, as you go through puberty, take time to learn about yourself. We are more than just our sexuality. Learn about what interests you in life. Take time to have some fun. Enjoy your childhood because, believe me, it is over sooner than you think and you will become bogged down by college, work, and family soon enough. Meanwhile, allow your sexuality to develop naturally, organically, without pressure. You might be surprised where you end up years from now. And if your parents ask you about it, just say, "I'm not worried about that right now; I'm too busy with school and having fun with my friends (or exploring your faith, if you wish)." It is this bear's opinion that the anxiety or "bipolar" feelings you have are the direct result of your overthinking your sexuality. You're stressing yourself out and need to stop.

And stop sneaking around on school accounts or your sister's phone.

Always remember this: your parents love you and want you to be safe. Be open and honest with them. You'll save them and yourself a lot of grief. Oh, and feel free to share this email with them.

Next time you wonder whether you are gay or bi or trans or ace or whatever, the answer is this: you're a kid. Focus on being a kid. It is a short and precious part of your life. Enjoy it.

Hugs,
Papabear

Welcome to Arrkay, a member of the Toronto furry scene (home of Furnal Equinox), and the bird who creates and produces Culturally F’d, a Youtube show that explores anthropomorphic artwork throughout history, culture and mass media. See Arrkay’s tag for previous stories. He’s sharing his story today by request of Patch who just marched with furries at San Francisco Pride. Here’s Arrkay’s on-the-scene report from Toronto Pride.

It was a terribly populated affair, with covid still ringing in the back of my head. Pride in Toronto was as busy as ever. Me and my partner just walked the street fair once, which was enough to satiate our curiosity and for me to buy some new sunglasses. It’s a strangely foreign feeling seeing this many unmasked people in one place.

Parade morning

My signs were made, and my flag was bundled up into my tricycle with water bottles, lunch, a vape pen of mint flavored cannabis and sunscreen. My outfit was a second-hand hyena agenda tank top, some compression shorts usually worn for fursuiting but with a complimentary jockstrap on top. I zip-tied a flag and protest signs to my trike. “Learn Queer History” and “Teach Queer History” with taglines “Always been here, always will be” and “No More Shit!” (a rallying cry from the 80’s bathhouse riots in Toronto).

A crowd of furries accumulated near the group check-in site. Unfortunately it was nowhere near where we were supposed to muster. Not that it ultimately mattered, we wouldn’t be marching for a couple more hours. Navigating the dense crowd with a large orange trike was difficult, but everyone was generally polite and made way for our slow moving group of animal headed queers.

One of the groups we shouldered our way past was the New Democratic Party, with leader Jagmeet Singh visible with his pink turban.

When we finally landed at our exact waiting spot, my partner had met up with me. We chatted about Jagmeet being mere meters away, and seemingly inching closer to the furries. My reaction was: “Fuck, of all the times to get a picture with Jagmeet, and I’m wearing this” – gesturing to my rabbit head, rainbow tank top, and jock-strap-over-underwear. “Aw fuck it!” We asked for a picture.

Rusty and Jagmeet

In the middle of Bloor street, there was no cover save for the overcast threatening to rain on us. As always happens on Pride, the forecast called for a 50% chance of rain. We maybe experienced a brief sprinkle. It was humid and a sweltering 30 degrees C. Our organizer Skylier reminded us that our group was the most at risk of heat exhaustion, and to hydrate. There was a reason most marchers were poodling. If it was just a few degrees cooler we might have had more full suits.

We waited forever for the parade to start. The organizers handed out the custom event badges and sponsored Kerfuffle pride flags. Someone barfed, which created a small crater in the overcrowded street (he was fine, just overheated). Then we had probably 2 hours of fake-out starts, with people rushing to put their fursuit heads on only to be disappointingly still in the same place. Slowly but surely the groups in front of us started to filter out into the parade. The clouds parted as we lined up near our newly arrived float: a truck painted in military camo, but decked out in rainbows and a DJ booth. The sun shined for the rest of the parade, and the only rain was the spray of water guns from a thrilled public.

The parade:

My big rig tricycle began its slow crawl alongside marchers into the streets of Toronto. The marchers finally were able to spread out a little and feel the cool breeze between us. I wish I could relay a more detailed account of what happened from here, but my rabbit head has pretty narrow tunnel-vision, so my focus was not bumping into other marchers.

Some things did become apparent to me, even though I was partially blinded.

1. There were a LOT of furries (200 registered with the event, and many came without registering, so as many as 250+ furries were in our group.)
2. There were NO barricades to keep parade watchers on the sidewalks like there usually are.

What would usually be a lot of space on a four lane road became a narrow strip, with throngs of onlookers on either side, eagerly holding out their hands for high-paws or pulling fursuiters aside to take selfies. At its best, it was open like there were barricades for 2 lanes of traffic. At its worst, we’re talking about a few feet between either side of the road, practically forcing us to walk single-file. All the better to snap clean pictures of the animal people.

This spread our group out a lot. There were several times when a volunteer would rush past, telling us to slow down to let the float catch up, and when I was far enough away that other noises of the festival drowned out our own DJ booth. It’s normal to stop during the parade to let the back end catch up. It’s not usual that we end up so spread out that we span the entire city block.

This squeezing of the parade route had some unintended effects. Furries were perceived as one of the largest marching groups of the entire parade (WOW). We were also one of the most engaging with the crowd. Someone was riling up groups of people, getting them to howl to become honorary furries. Many furs were stopping for high-paws and selfies. Our float blasted YMCA to the delight of everyone. Toddlers love to point at me when I fursuit in public, and it didn’t seem to matter that I was only wearing the head today. A couple of times I heard shouts about my protest signs, but with my tunnel vision and trike I couldn’t really interact beyond an occasional solidarity fist in the air.

The parade was easy on my trike. I had the luxury to have somewhere to sit and a basket for my belongings. We were also going downhill, so a lot of my march was leisurely letting my trike do the work. I’ve marched in the past so I know how hard it can be on your foot paws.

Photo by Ciardha Avali full gallery linked below

Despite the MASSIVE crowd coming down on us, it dawned on me after the parade that we were probably in the safest possible position in the line-up; smack dab between the political party marching groups (hence why Jagmeet was so close by to our waiting area). So security was likely pretty tight around this group of masked queeirdos interrupting the Green Party, the Liberals and the NDP.

Finally at the end, we turned the last corner at Yonge and Dundas Square, where we filtered out back into reality. It was now 5:30, so we were all marching for about 2 hours. I pulled over behind an events bus to de-head, and disassemble my trike. I was sitting there for a while making sure everything was zipped up for the trip home, and furries just kept coming behind us. When we were ready to leave, the float truck was at last crawling its way past the crowd.

After finding a porta-potty for the longest pee ever, I rode home with plenty of energy after an easy parade. No sore feet, but a sore butt. I showed up, I was myself, and I showed hundreds of thousands of people that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere, and we’re going to be weird, so just have fun.

Links and videos

• More from @CulturallyFd on Twitter
• Official Kerfuffle Livestream from the float
• Furtrack photo gallery for the Kerfluffle Pride event
• Good video from random Facebook poster
• Nice pics from random Facebook poster
• Mystic Solstice gallery on Google Drive
• Ciardha Avali gallery on Google Photos
• Komodokitty gallery on Flickr
• The_painted_ski on Instagram

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Greetings Papa Bear!

You may not recall meeting me, but I was just one row away from you at The Good Furry Awards at BLFC 2022!

And the pansy who low-key sobbed at Mark's lifetime award. What a spectacular surprise that was!

Anyways...

In January of this year I unexpectedly lost my best friend and the love of my life, my husband. We've been together for all of my young adult and not-so-young adult life! Although most think it's the trauma of his passing that I struggle with most... I definitely find the hardest parts and times are the most innocuous ones. The time we used to spend eating dinner and talking about our day together, the absence in the bed, the lack of a passenger in the car, waking up with a dream to tell or thinking of something I'd like to share with him but I can't and all those other things we grow used to doing with company until suddenly it just isn't there anymore...

Or better yet, to quote the infamous Scout from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird “With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.”

Although I know the recommendations that are often given as standard fanfare... Keeping busy, finding new hobbies to engaged in, try not to fixate, consider counseling and all that jazz... What recommendations &/or advice might you personally have, for someone struggling with this complex type of life change and all those really difficult struggles that it brings?

Thank you, and hope to see you again soon!

~Lucky

* * *

Dear Lucky,

I grieve for your loss. As you might know, if you read my column much or have seen my FB posts, I lost my husband in 2015 quite unexpectedly to a pulmonary embolism. He was only 59. So, with nearly seven years gone since his death, I am the right person to ask when it comes to what happens years after a spouse's death.

I am going to give you some short-term and long-term advice here. First of all, it is important to note that there is no time limit on grief. People who tell you to "get over it" or "time to move on" either have not experienced what you have or, worse, they don't want to deal with your grief and are brushing you off. Don't listen to them. The absolutely WORST thing a (now former) friend ever told me while I was crying in his car: "Oh, stop your blubbering." That person is irrevocably stricken from my life now. Grieve in your own way and in your own time. Secondly, grief is not the same as depression. Depression is more generalized, while grief is more specific to a particular loss in your life. In a way, this makes grief a bit easier to manage because you know what caused it and can take steps to manage it. (Oh, and whoever told you "try not to fixate" is way wrong; that's just another way of saying "get over it.")

Okay, so, short-term. Cry. Scream. Sleep. Veg. Don't hold back your emotions and let them out. It is extremely painful to do this, but it is also cathartic. You need that release. Don't bury it inside you to try to "get back to normal." I did everything from literally collapsing and gushing tears to yelling at Jim's chair, "You promised me you wouldn't leave me!" I would do this for hours until I was utterly exhausted. You have to let all that stuff out.

I will forgo some advice you already know, though. But something you might have missed is trying to be kind to yourself. One of my friends back in Michigan said you should try to do something you like, even a little thing, each day. For example, buy yourself an ice cream cone. Go on a nice walk. Play with your pet (if you have one; if you don't, I recommend it; having my Ernie with me was one of the things that helped me through the worst years).

Next--very important! Maintain a healthy diet and do some exercise and try to get restful sleep. It is extremely important to try to stay healthy. Why? Well, for one thing, if you let your body slip into illness you'll feel worse, but for another thing, you need brain support and the function of healthy organs. Grief researchers (including neuroscientists) have learned that grief changes your brain chemically and physically. Grief can adversely affect your immune system and your heart. It is actually true that you can die of grief (though this is usually more of a risk for the elderly). Keeping up your immune system is important, especially in the Era of Covid and other nasty diseases. Speaking of the brain, though, some symptoms are similar to Long Covid: brain fog, memory impairment, word fluency, visuospatial function, and decision-making abilities. 

According to an article on the American Brain Foundation website:

"In response to traumatic events, the brain creates connections between nerves and strengthens or weakens existing connections depending on the duration and degree of the emotional response. Neuroplasticity, or the ability to alter neural connections, allows the brain to compensate for injury, illness, loss, and other life-altering traumatic events by forming new neural connections based on these experiences. This helps an individual adapt to new situations or environments. Low to moderate stress increases nerve growth and improves memory while reducing fear. However, chronic stress causes a reduction in nerve growth and memory and increases fear to help an individual focus on survival. This stress response can have a negative effect and the more it happens, the more it becomes hardwired."

In other words, the changes to your brain can become permanent. The ABF article comments that the brain "can be healed" with such things as therapy, journaling, meditation, yoga, etc. In this bear's humble opinion, sure, those can help, but you will never be 100% the same again. 

This leads me to my long-term advice: you must learn to accept that you will be forever changed by your loss. Don't try to go back to "the way things were" and "the way I was before my loss" because you will not be successful.

You will not be the person you once were. Like the accident victim who loses a limb, you can learn to function again and have a life, but that limb will always be gone. You can get a prosthetic limb, but it won't be the same. You can be an athlete in the Paralympic Games and achieve wondrous things, but you will never be in the regular Olympics. The hole in your life that was once filled by your spouse will always be a hole in your heart.

When I write or say things like this, people sometimes think I am being insulting. I am not. Here's why.

First of all, your grief and my grief and the grief of others like us is an affirmation that Love is eternal. I will ALWAYS love Jim, and even Death cannot kill that love. That is extraordinary. Embrace it. Love conquers Death in a very real sense. That's powerful. That's beautiful.

Secondly, I have found that my loss has made me a more complex, more empathetic, and more appreciative person. I don't take things or people for granted (I didn't really before, but now even less so). I led a rather blessed life before Jim died in which things always seemed to work out for me. Now I can really understand as never before what it is like to have a setback. Oh, I did go through a divorce before this, which was very hard, but enduring the death of a loved one is much much worse.

In summary, in the short term, focus on taking care of your health. In the long term, learn to accept that you are a different person now. Not necessarily worse or better, but different. Get to know that new person. You are entering a new stage in your life. You will face new challenges, and experience success and failure. You will lose more people, but you will also meet new people. Leave yourself open to possibilities. 

You are only a few months into the grieving process. You should know that the average period of intense grief is 18 months to 2 years. That's the period where you really need to focus on your health. Now, it can last longer than that, of course, so, again, no rules on time. An analogy that was told to me that I find to be true is this: Suffering through the loss of a spouse or partner is like being a ship in a storm. During the storm, you will be battered by wave after wave of grief and it will be an extremely rough ride, but even after the storm has passed, the sea will still have waves. They become fewer and farther apart and usually much more moderate, but you may still get hit with a big wave of grief, even a rogue wave. Over six years after Jim's death, and there are still days I grieve hard, especially on his birthday or anniversary. But they occur less often.

I like that you still call yourself Lucky Fox and that you are still going to furcons (thanks for your comments about the GFA). Sounds like you're doing all the right things. Just remember that you can keep living without setting the past aside. The love you have in your heart will always be a part of you. 

You're beautiful.

Bear Hugs,
Papabear

Now we’re getting word on Illumination’s next animated feature project. We got this from Deadline: Migration is billed as a modern-day comedy following a family of ducks who convince their overprotective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime as they attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, and ultimately down to the Bahamas. Oscar nominee Benjamin Renner (Ernest et Célestine) is directing the pic from an original screenplay by Mike White (School of Rock, The White Lotus).” They migrate this way in December of 2023.

image c. 2022 Illumination