Feed aggregator

NEW AND IMPROVED guest post with update at bottom!

Here’s a community access guest post with anonymity to protect sources. New readers will benefit from background in the Altfurry tag, which documents a loose fringe of pests who include terrorists like Portland mass shooter Benjamin Smith. The guest author says: “they’re a nasty bunch… this is a great way to get all this info out. There’s so much information most furries don’t know or have context for. I appreciate that you’re willing to go up against these people.” It’s hosted with opinions belonging to the guest. – Editor 

(PART 1 / 2) – Notable names and their ties and tells.

This report is meant to shed light on a particular strain of furry fascist that is far more ideological and militant than Altfurry ever was, with most people involved orbiting Reagan Lodge, a die-hard fascist and furry artist who has been in the fandom for 2 decades but was not exposed until 2020. The common pattern between all of them is an obsession for drawing furries and military imagery, often themed around historical conflicts and authoritarian regimes. (Their obscure ideologies/dogwhistles get a look in the second half.)

Reagan Lodge AKA Sulacoyote

The Kevin Bacon of the twitter far-right. Reagan Lodge, aka Sulacoyote, has been in the furry fandom for years, drawing art of furries in Nazi uniforms or the armor from Jin-Roh (an anime beloved by online Nazis). He somehow got quite the following despite drawing like this; (red labeled by editor.)

These were titled “Aryan Vixen” and “Jewlacoyote“. (Are we really surprised a guy who drew this was a Nazi?)

However, for most of his time in furry and the indie comics scenes, Lodge kept up a veneer of at the most being just a rightwinger, until he was exposed as having been a die-hard race-war Nazi the whole time. He had been a user on Ironmarch (the founding site of Atomwaffen, National Action, and other violent Nazi terrorist groups), who idolized mass murderer Anders Brevik no less. The full information is detailed in his entry on the Iron March Dossiers blog here – it should be worth noting that Lodge was introduced to Ironmarch by another Nazi furry, Kacen, who is covered later;

• Meet Reagan Lodge: Former Marine, Fascist Illustrator, and Member of Neo-Nazi Iron March Forums. February 1, 2020 (archive)

In response to this, Lodge publicly apologized and claimed to be a reformed man, thanking his conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity for “saving” him…

… But really he had just adopted a new uniform, moving to a slightly different group of far-right reactionaries, most of which is organized around the far right/reactionary podcast The Perfume Nationalist. Lodge was a guest on the show – to talk about Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH, no less. Jack Mason, the host of Perfume Nationalist, was also a guest on another reactionary podcast along with disgraced musician Ariel Pink (who’d been present at the January 6th insurrection). There’s connections here between Lodge and Perfume Nationalist with Red Scare and a league of other reactionary/”post left” types, as well as the assorted other twitter-dwelling far-rightists such as LogoDaedulus, Pyeerk, Lofirepublican and Zero HP Lovecraft. Reagan Lodge is also a friend of far right artist Doug Tennapel (creator of Earthworm Jim) who has been vocal about his hatred of the LGBT community among other things.

• The Perfume Nationalist: Xinagears Genesis Edengelion Episode LXXVI w/ Reagan Lodge. Jul 21, 2020 (archive)

I should note also that Orthodox Christianity has a long history of being associated with anti-semitism and reactionary politics, which is touched on below in the section about Orthodox Converts. The book The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Holocaust by Ion Popa is an important read on the matter if anyone is interested. A lot of Eastern Orthodox followers will claim that they don’t stand for fascism and that “the nazis targeted us” but this is a blatant lie – rather it seems more that in Romania the sympathies were more with local reactionary movements, such as the vicious Iron Guard which is covered in detail below – but also this article notices the increasing surge of far-rightists becoming Orthodox Christians:

• Slate: “A Unique Death Cult” How the Romanian Iron Guard blended nationalistic violence with Christian martyrdom to spread a singularly morbid fascist movement. Feb 21, 2017

Orthodox Iron Guard fascists were so brutal that the Nazis balked at the way they operated – of course the nazis were doing the same or worse, but with a veneer of order and civility. During the pogrom of 1941 the Iron Guard slaughtered and tortured jews with wild abandon and hung their bodies from meat hooks.

• Haaretz: This Day in Jewish History | 1941: A Sadistic 3-day Pogrom Starts in Romania. Jan 21, 2016

Regarding the connection between Lodge, Eastern Orthodox, and Iron March – the members of Iron March openly idolized the fascist Iron Guard. Matthew Heimbach of the “Traditionalist Worker Party” was an Iron March member and official fascist leader involved there with notable terrorists while organizing Unite The Right, the 2017 torchlit fascist rally in Charlottesville. Heimbach is Eastern Orthodox. He was in the American church until he was excommunicated after beating a protester at a hate rally with an Orthodox wooden cross, but he found a new Romanian group. From here, you can see why “converting” to Eastern Orthodox was an appealing move for ex-Iron March members after they got busted.

• Balkan Insight: Charlottesville Nationalist Leader Inspired by Romanian Fascism Aug 15, 2017

Reagan Lodge’s “reform” now looks like nothing more than slight rebranding when you do a quick scroll through his subsequent twitter likes. It reveals an assortment of reactionary material – including anti-vaxx sentiments, support of the fascist Trucker Convoy in Ottowa, shilling for cryptocurrency and NFTs, anti-communist sentiment, and likes of other tweets by far right and reactionary accounts – Amanda Millius, Filthy Armenian, Perfume Nationalist, Jack Posobeic.

If you look at the types of people interacting with Lodge as well (who he actively replies to and follows) you will also find lots of reactionary sentiments.

Pyotr Wrangel was an anti-bolshevik imperialist Russian general. This publishing company, Mystery Grove, publishes out-of-print, far-right military works including another by an anti-communist pro-Franco soldier from Spain, and the company account was banned from Twitter.

Lodge’s Facebook is no exception – plenty of far-right sympathies being laid bare for all to see, such as him being proud of the infamous Jordan Peterson sharing his artwork.

The more you dig, the more you’ll find. Lodge doesn’t make his connections deeply obvious from his tweets alone, but if you pay attention to who he interacts with, what he likes, his interests etc, there’s a lot of dogwhistles the average person may overlook. He doesn’t say “the quiet part out loud” so to speak, something he has been doing for a decade – but is very friendly with those who are more brazen about saying it.

Fascism isn’t just swastikas and MAGA hats, a lot of nationalist and reactionary thought is operating under different symbols and flags; for one, Lodge would draw art on his FurAffinity and Tumblr of such obscure fascist and nationalist figures as:

• Ernst Junger (A more ‘obscure’ German fascist, one of the many far-right conservatives who were part of the forces that snowballed into Nazism)
• Yukio Mishima (the infamous reactionary Japanese writer, who has became increasingly more beloved in fascist circles online)
• Baron Ungern von Sternberg (Russian anti-communist, antisemitic leader in the Russian Civil War, a religious warlord who was famed for his brutality)
• Marcus Garvey (anti-socialist black nationalist who collaborated with the Ku Klux Klan no less – he is idolized by fascists for his ‘Africa for the Africans’ idea to take all African-Americans away to another country, more or less turning the USA fully white)
• And even art of the ‘Remove Kebab’ soldier celebrating the Bosnian genocide.

Some of Lodge’s fanart, left to right: Ernst Junger, Yukio Mishima, Baron Ungern von Sternberg / (Our red label)

Jean-Luc Sabourin AKA Whaleoilfurry, WhaleOil1/WhaleOil2, Cettus4, NSFWmeezer

WhaleOil is a Canadian furry artist who draws a lot of military artwork that resembles the videogame concept artist Viktor Antonov’s work. He is friendly with/active in Reagan Lodge’s circle – noticeably, he linked up with Lodge AFTER the latter’s exposure as a Nazi. Like Lodge, Sabourin attempts to hide his fascist sympathies as more ‘neutral’ but he was a bit sloppier about it… actually, much sloppier. For one, he’s posted openly in the past about admiring the Nazis on his still abandoned Curiouscat – (with two-facedness to call broad groups “swine” while claiming to be for “the people”… which color?)

“World building” from WhaleOil

Some of this was discussed on twitter previously, here in this thread. More with samples of his work is easy to search.

There’s WhaleOil and a friend drawn in the style of Boogaloo Boys in a Hawaiian shirt. It should be noted that Hawaiian/tiki aesthetics were also seen at Charlottesville. Revival of the tiki aesthetic was popularized in the 90’s by nazi musician and “rape advocate” Boyd Rice, which connects it to far right movements in the present day.

Hawaiian shirts and tiki aesthetic is usually innocuous by itself; but when mingled with militarism and other dogwhistles, it points to far-right sympathies.

There was fallout between him and another military history furry, whose name we’ll skip to focus on the main stuff. They went on record saying that WhaleOil isn’t just interested in history or being ironic about reactionary thinking. These tweets have since been deleted.

Above is WhaleOil’s Youtube channel in his real name, showing subscriptions to Pewdiepie and a fascist parody he uploaded of a Gilette Ad about masculinity, making it feature Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists.

Sabourin’s current new obsession, with all that talk of ‘productivity’, seems to be Henry Ford – presumably because Ford was a raging anti-semite, who distributed fascist tracts such as The International Jew, and was a die-hard admirer of Hitler whose company even assisted the Nazis in WWII, as well as giving military support to Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War in the form of tanks.

Sabourin’s history in furry as a community is much shorter than Lodge’s, but his fascism obsession runs deep judging by his youtube – with even his older tumblr account, ‘thatotherwhaleoil’ (now since deleted) having art of foxes dressed as fascist blackshirts. And, well, there’s this ‘delightful’ art he did turning the Christchurch shooter into a furry. (He’s not the first fascist to do that.)

Link to callout post (Our red label)

Marko Milankhov (?) AKA Mawkvult, Askymzbuki, Eastern Crow
https://twitter.com/MAWKVLT
https://askymzbuki.tumblr.com/

This Sabourin/Lodge orbiter was exposed in the Iron March leaks under the name “Eastern Crow”. He’s an Eastern Orthodox convert living in Serbia, has went through several usernames and previous accounts (previous ones including ‘SinningCrow’ which are now deleted), and is very, very eager to publicly harass and threaten to dox people – his technique of ‘doxxing’ people is to send them money on Paypal under fake names. It should be worth noting that the anti-fascists who run the Ironmarch leaks/dossiers blog, know his real name which admittedly could be possibly misremembered here.

What distinguished Marko a bit from Sabourin and Lodge is that he never stops posting – this guy’s account is a stream of right-wing messaging – Marko seems to be a bit of a rising star in the ‘military history’ furry art scene, judging by all the commissions he has done that resemble Lodge’s artstyle. His constant account hopping could be evasion of being monitored. You could perhaps contact the people behind the Ironmarch Dossiers blog for more confirmation.

Other orbiters of note:

This section is improved with trimming lesser details to honor the wonderful feedback of all our caring readers, and although it may not be the ideal response, to spare anyone who had changed or been misjudged. We’ll briefly mention some art and backgrounds that were seen.

Country demographics of the Lodge/Sabourin scene made an interesting, although anecdotal note; Eastern Europe was as common as Central/South America. Although the region is home to many allies, like other places, it had reactionary politics in its history:

• Ardent fascist movements such as Mexico’s Goldshirts, Chile’s National Socialist Movement, and Brazil’s Integralists,
• Fascist-aligned strongmen such as Argentina’s Juan Peron (also admired by fascists) and Brazil’s Getulio Vargas (who worked with Brazil’s Integralists)
• Rightwing military juntas such as Pinochet’s Chile, Videla’s Argentina and the military junta in Brazil, all regimes that enlisted the help of Italian fascist terrorists in the 1970s to help kill dissidents in and outside their countries – as well as having given asylum to Nazi war criminals.

Besides personal origins, there was art that mingled Italian Futurist artwork (historically connected with fascism), Soviet uniforms, and Italian ‘Arditi’ uniforms – the Arditi were the precursor to Mussolini’s Blackshirts, in the same way the WWI German ‘stormtroopers’ were precursors to the far-right Freikorps militias, whose members also joined the Nazis’s ‘stormtrooper’ Brownshirts. We noticed art of furries in the uniforms of the Hlinka Guard, the Slovakian collaborationist movement that sided with the Nazis and took part in the Holocaust (see the section at the bottom on ‘tradcaths’). Mingled or incoherent symbolism may marry fascist imagery with historic ‘workers’ imagery. The more it harmonizes with other dogwhistles, the more it can be a tell of Nazbol ideology (covered below.)

There is one notable fascist furry that seems to have no real presence publicly…

Casen aka Ironmarch’s Kacen
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/casen/
https://g6jy5jkx466lrqojcngbnksugrcfxsl562bzuikrka5rv7srgguqbjid.onion.ly/fa/kacen/

The big one – Ironmarch’s token furry admin, and the odd one out of its admins in that he has not either been publicly exposed such as Alisher Mukhitdinov (aka Alexander Slavros, now in hiding) – or Benjamin Kyle Raymond (former leader of National Action, now imprisoned).

Kacen apparently got involved in this motley crew on Deviantart in the late 2000s, and helped run the first iteration of Ironmarch for them, the ‘International Third Positionist Federation’ – that itself grew out of their Deviantart Nazi scene (that had the likes of infamous serial killer fan/artist Torture-device, who may also have been an Ironmarch admin too).

It seems that Kacen was friends with Reagan Lodge from the very start, and had invited him to Ironmarch. By chance, Kacen’s current identity, Casen (extremely subtle), was found by art of his sona on furaffinity. This was instantly recognizable – it is the exact same fursona that Kacen had during the peak of his fascist activities, which he tried to spread to Second Life no less.

Thanks in part to both Furaffinity and the preserved Onion archive of Kacen, we can confirm that one of the founders of an actual terrorist group, is still present in the furry community to this day, with other fascists in the fandom ready to pass his torch.

PART (2) – Lowdown on the obscure reactionary ideologies/dogwhistles

What separates the Lodge/Sabourin axis from Altfurry is that, due to being more ideological than Altfurry was, they also know a bit better how to claim plausible deniability. Whilst being diehard fascists, unlike Altfurry they tend to be a bit shy from openly saying racial slurs or cheering for genocide… most of the time, anyway. This means that usually, the members of the Lodge/Sabourin scene will draw on the imagery of relatively more obscure fascist movements (as seen above; Italian Fascists, Hlinka Guard, etc). Beyond this are also an array of more obscure ideologies and practices very common among the Lodge/Sabourin scene, and indeed a good chunk of the twitter-dwelling far-right (ie Perfume Nationalist orbiters). This section is lengthy, so apologies in advance.

‘National Bolsheviks’ aka Nazbols

This apparently contradictory ideology is espoused by many in particularly Whaleoil’s circle, and whilst having been deeply obscure for decades, surprisingly has been there from fascism’s beginning but was resurrected by Russian nationalists in the 90s, then by Ironmarch (which, natch, had been set up by a Russian fascist, Alexander Slavros, who had worked with these ones, and apparently had quite the love for Stalin as a leader)

This tendency started in both German nationalist circles, and the Russian nationalist emigre that had left the country after the Russian Civil War (one of these Russians, Nikolay Ustralyov, having been idolized on Ironmarch) but its greatest claim to fame before the 90s was that it was more or less the ideology of Ernst Rohm and the Strasser brothers, who were purged out of the Nazi Party in the Night of the Long Knives (Otto Strasser, the surviving Strasser, would attempt to restart his Nazi Party offshoot, ‘the Black Front’, after the war). ‘National Bolshevism’ did not get any real traction again until the 90s in Russia when the National Bolshevik Party was set up, and currently exists in the USA in the form of Ironmarch user and Orthodox convert (see below about the Orthodox convert/fascism connection) Mathew Heimbach’s Traditionalist Worker Party – the flags are really subtle about what sort of ideologies this is intending to marry.

Otto Strasser (the surviving Strasser brother) after the war

Russian National Bolshevik demonstration

Mathew Heimbach

Whilst seeming like a ridiculous contradiction of an ideology thanks to fascism’s historically fierce ‘anti-Bolshevism’, it actually makes a certain kind of sense – to the sort of brain poisoned nerds that would be trying to spread fascism in the furry fandom of all places anyway. ‘Nazbols’ idolize in particular the Soviet Union, especially under the Stalinist era, as well as similarly militarized communist states such as China at the height of Maoism, or North Korea. (There are even those who endorse Pol Pot – these tend to overlap more with the Unabomber fans, see below).

The appeal these regimes have to military obsessed, culturally reactionary nerds is obvious – under Stalin the USSR was fiercely militaristic, a police state, and culturally reactionary and oppressive (homosexuality being classed as ‘bourgeois’ and warranting imprisonment). Between that, the imagery of Red Army parades, and all the kitschy ‘socialist realism’ artwork of the era, it’s no wonder it would seem appealing to people who idolize the fascist regimes for identical reasons – especially if they despise what the current Left is, which is being all about cultural criticism, aversion to the police/military and open sexuality/gender expression.

Whaleoil was a blatant Nazbol in this scene, at one point following ‘Boulderlob’, a Nazbol ‘parody’ of infamous rightwing cartoonist Stonetoss (all it actually adds in is praising North Korea, which says a bit about the ideology’s supposedly radical qualities).

This is probably confusing to the sort of self-described ‘tankies’ online who think Stalin was ‘a smol woke bae’ but to anyone else it is blatant. Nazbols online rarely use the actual National Bolshevik flag – it’s too obvious a tell – but they tend to use other bastardizations of historic ‘workers’ imagery, such as hammers, sickles, and other traditional anarchist/communist imagery (Red Army soldiers, pastiches of ‘socialist realism’ art, the IWW logo) which sometimes makes them hard to spot. The more subtle (or so they think) Nazbols will sometimes even refer to themselves as ‘leftists’ or ‘communists’, as their ideology states that they are the ‘true’ leftists. (This is, again, possibly what they see in the Stalin-era USSR that would have people killed for any ideological infraction – particularly related to ‘bourgeois’ ‘degenerate’ sexuality). This is nothing new when some ‘post-left’ orbiting Perfume Nationalist is touting that same line. Usually the biggest tell of whether someone is a Nazbol or not is when they draw fascist soldiers alongside ‘communist’ ones or pally with outright fash. Language of ‘real workers’ whilst being scathing of LGBT or other social issues, is a big tell of both ‘Nazbols’ and ‘post-left’ reactionaries.

Matthew Heimbach with his white supremacist group and Romanian Iron Guard flag

Orthodox Christian converts 

Perhaps the most unhinged new development in the far-right scene, which considering the types that already infest it is saying something. Whilst appearing to be an entirely new development, Orthodox Christianity and fascism have a surprisingly long, and vicious connection together, that culminated in the Holocaust in several countries. The most fierce of the various Orthodox fascist movements was Romania’s Iron Guard aka the Legion of the Archangel Michael – so religious was this particular movement that its leader, Corneliu Codreanu, insisted that he had been visited by the actual angel Michael. The Iron Guard was infamous for its brutality compared to even other fascist movements, with bizarre rituals involving blood drinking, and briefly ruled Romania under the ‘National Legionary State’ before it was ousted in an inter-political spat, with the Legion committing the vicious Bucharest pogrom in response – they would even skin their victims alive and hang them from meat hooks, something that even repelled the Nazis. When the Iron Guard was ousted, its former collaborator Ion Antonescu would rule the country under a military junta, and was Hitler’s most fervent ally – and a fierce anti-semite who did not need any backing to deport Jews and other ethnic minorities to extermination camps under his reign.

Romania was not the only Orthodox Christian fascist regime – Greece was briefly ruled under the fascist junta of Ioannis Metaxas’s ‘4th of August regime’, before it was then invaded by the Nazis and replaced with a puppet regime, the Hellenic State, whose vicious ‘Security Battalions’ performed brutal executions on communist partisans and rounded up Jews to send to death camps as well. Some of these former Hellenic State collaborators (given a slap on the wrist by the West in order to help them fight communist militants after the war) would then form the US-backed ‘Regime of the Colonels’ in the 1960s, and both the Metaxas and Colonels regimes are idolized by Golden Dawn, Greece’s vicious neo-Nazi movement. All of these regimes/movements professed Orthodox Christianity, citing it as their bulwark against godless communism, and the Greek Orthodox Church firmly supported both the Metaxas and Colonels governments, as it did Golden Dawn as well.

How do a couple of backwards fascist regimes in 1930s-40s Romania and 1930s-40s/1960s Greece connect to modern American fascists? Again, the answer is Ironmarch. Codreanu, Antonescu and Golden Dawn were idolized by Ironmarch’s founders and members, with Codreanu’s blathering tracts such as ‘For My Legionaires’ being shared to its users (the site even briefly had a ‘Fascist Internet Archive’ in a bad imitation of the Marxist Internet Archive – unsurprisingly it was tiny compared to the latter, as fascist ideology is historically not ‘intellectual’ or thoughtful if it can rely on obedience and violence) – and noticeably, both Reagan Lodge and Mathew Heimbach had been users on it, and ergo converted to Orthodox Christianity soon after, as did other Ironmarch veterans such as EasternCrow.

There are more relevant connections as to why Orthodox fascism spreads easily, if not for how much Eastern European fascists of all stripes flourished on both Ironmarch (with several Russian and Serbian users), and on 4chan, whose various ‘international’ boards, the places were some of the most insufferable internet memes came from, most of them started from rabid Balkan nationalists. (See: the infamous ‘Serbia Strong/Remove Kebab’ meme, making light of the Bosnian genocide which was committed by Orthodox, Serbian nationalists.) There is also the fact of how the Pope in recent years has began giving more liberal gestures, making him less appealing to whatever Catholic fascists are about… which brings us to;

Catholic converts aka ‘Tradcaths’

History of Italian fascism and the Vatican

Again, a relatively new online development with a very long real-world history – Catholicism and reactionary movements have been hand in hand for nearly 2 centuries, so it is no wonder that modern fascists would get the hint, especially when two of the most ‘successful’ fascist regimes in history – Antonio Salazar’s Portugal, and Francisco Franco’s Spain – were indeed ‘traditional Catholic’ clerical fascist states. (Never mind also, that Fascist Italy also worked hand in hand with the Catholic church), as well as the Austrian ‘Fatherland Front’ regime of Engelbert Dolfuss (who nominally opposed Nazism only due to Germany’s nationalist ideals to take over Austria – the two regimes were more or less identical otherwise, with Austria even having its own SS style militia, the Sturm Korps). Despite Ironmarch being full of the sort of godawful nerds who would make distinctions about ‘true fascism’ or not, it had several staunch Catholic users. There were several more outright vicious Catholic movements that, of course, collaborated with the Nazis and took part in the Holocaust – a lot of these having had fanart drawn of them by Whaleoil’s scene.

The three most notable of the Catholic fascist collaborator movements were Jozef Tiso’s Hlinka Guard in Slovakia, Ante Pavelic’s Ustase in Croatia, and Leon Degrelle’s Rexists in Belgium – all three were ardent collaborators with the Nazis (Tiso and Degrelle even sent troops to fight with the Germans against the Soviets). All three took part in the Holocaust (the Ustase being the most vicious of all, perhaps the Catholic equivalent to the Iron Guard, as they would not use bullets or gas chambers, but instead burn people alive and slit victims throats with a wrist-mounted knife). And all three were fervently Catholic. This distinction may sound like pointless fluff, but I feel it’s important as several of the ‘Orthodox’ and ‘tradcath’ types try to pretend their ideologies were either not fascist, or opposed to Hitler. (This ties in with untruth spread by Christian revisionists that the Nazis were ‘anti-Christian’ – when the truth was, the Nazis actually wanted to heal the Protestant-Catholic divide in Germany with a new ‘Positive Christianity’, hence why Nazi Germany never became fully ‘clerical fascist’ like Portugal, Spain, Austria, the collaborator regimes, or even Italy).

Religious fascism of the Christian sort already has a long-standing history in the USA as is, what with the existence of Father Coughlin in the 1930s. Coughlin was perhaps the precedent to Alex Jones and the most militant fascist the USA ever had – and that’s not even getting into the USA’s huge contingent of Evangelicals either. It is only the Orthodox converts that are the new guys on the block, but them and their Catholic cousins are far more easy to spot than Nazbols – profiles with the Vatican flag or the Orthodox cross in their usernames are always a dead giveaway, especially if the profile then has scripture quotes or some sort of religious artwork for a banner (coupled with a furry or anime avatar half the time). The scene around Lodge/Sulacoyote and Sabourin/Whaleoil is infested with other Orthodox and Catholic converts who often draw art of the collaborator regimes, with even Whaleoil having drawn artwork of furries dressed as Orthodox priests. (It possibly ties in with his undying obsession for the fictional religious orders in Looking Glass Studio’s Thief games, which he has drawn tons of fanart of and even cosplayed as.)

‘Primitivists’ aka Unabomber fans

These are perhaps the most bizarre and incoherent of the lot, somewhere between Nazbols and Orthodox converts on the insanity scale. It is, again, not very surprising if you know how the more ‘esoteric’ fascists operate – obsession with themes of nature and ‘folk’ have been a mainstay of fascist bullshit since the start, from the Nazis drawing on ‘Volkische’ nonsense, to the aesthetics of bands such as Death in June and Current 93, to even infamous Nazi black metal musician Varg Vikernes now becoming a massive Tolkien nerd (Tolkien himself wrote articles supporting Franco and his Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War).

This form of bizarre ‘back to the land’ fascism’s ideological pinnacle comes in the form of two ‘primitivist’ ideologues – Ted Kaczynski aka the ‘Unabomber’, and the more obscure Pentti Linkola, a sort of Finnish equivalent to Kaczynski (minus the terrorism part) whose great idea to solve the climate crisis was more or less mass genocide and eugenics. Kaczynski in general is especially appealing to fascists – despite all the claims that his ideology was ‘hard to pin down’, he was basically a rightwinger who snapped, and his manifesto is full of pithy snipes against the gay liberation movement and feminism. These sort of ‘ecological’ fascists are rare to come by, but usually can be easily spotted by directly referencing Kaczynski or Linkola’s names, quotations from either’s manifestos, general ‘back to the land’ yap, or using that one police sketch of the Unabomber as an icon.

These types will typically tend to be aligned with other ‘folk’ minded fascists usually obsessing over Norse runes and whatever (always easy to spot) unless they happen to be Orthodox/Catholic converts, sharing memes about Death in June and other neofolk bands, or sharing images and ‘funny’ posts relating to Varg Vikernes since he became a Gandalf cosplayer. They will typically have little tree icons in their profiles, usually wedged next to the lightning bolts, Vatican flags or Orthodox crosses. Sometimes these types will have overlap with the Nazbols, the focal point being Pol Pot especially due to his slaughter of ‘intellectuals’ – and occasionally, other more incoherent ideologies not particularly loved by typical far-rightists, such as Islamism or Gaddafi’s Green Book.

You will also see references to pine trees from the ecofascist / primmie subset, some describing themselves as followers of “Deep Ecology” (in connection to Linkola). Pine tree flags were spotted at the January 6th insurrection and pine tree emojis can be found in the profiles of online reactionaries.

Thanks to the guest author for this huge report! We needed this when even the obscure references have been seen on the fringe by the editor.

NEW AND IMPROVED editor’s note:

It’s nice to host guest writers. Often, if something reads as thoughtful and linked to lots of supporting material, it goes out as the writers intend.

Of course there is the value of “less is more”. A triple length story that hits big parts good might do better with less.

When the writers don’t make people happy, people do comments like these.

(Person briefly mentioned in the story): Basically, what they’re writing on is true, and a pretty fucking annoying problem. As an artist who draws millitary stuff and happens to be in the millitary, I attract these people like flies. There’s literally too many of them to do anything about. I have examples time and time again of them commenting cringey shit on my art. Personally I try to stay as far away from the political sphere while not being a huge pushover or enabler, because I really don’t know that much. I’m essentially a bluecollar worker that happens to draw stuff that either turns me on or I think is cool. The issue here and that since I don’t always blatantly announce where I am politically (for reasons mentioned above) people like to fill in the blanks with whatever they want me to be. And I really have no idea who Lodge is. The last gripe I have is how much weight the authors seemed to put on who someone follows or has following them. To a lot of us, Twitter is literally just to post furry porn and pictures of cars, and I have a habit of following back randomly. I have way more important things in my life than screening every single one of my followers or the people I follow, nor am I responsible for the weird shit some talented artist did in their past. That’s between them and the offended party.

Dogpatch, I love you guys, but some of these people aren’t war-hungry nazi idiots!! It hurts seeing Crassus on there especially, who seems to focus on African militia and hasn’t shown a shred of nazi ideology. Hell, a lot of these people are leftists!!

— ranibow sprimkle boy (@plushievik) March 9, 2022

If I had one sentence to describe that, it would be : "it's not reasonable"
It can even be ridiculous at times
I think you write well. I don't understand why you need to bother with this. Yes there's nazi, it does exist.
But don't post it if you don't have solid proofs

— crit102-Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Enthusiast (@Marikermrua) March 9, 2022

This was a tough read, Patch, and not because of the subject. The armchair psychology, historical tangents and pointless art criticism didn't do the readability oft his piece any favours.

Coupled with some call-outs seeming to be purely conjecture… makes it a bit of a grind.

— Baikal (@Baikalicious) March 9, 2022

The salty replies to this really show how Reagan Lodge could do nazi fan art while being among literal terrorists, and still be popular for decades https://t.co/u12NnnGv95

— Nazifur Receipts (@NazifurReceipts) March 9, 2022

A – True.
B – Thanks.
C – Fair.
D – Honest.
E – Also true.

Anyways, I constantly read people saying, we should have a better news site! Why doesn’t someone make a better news site!

YEAH, I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR YEARS! I’ll be a big reader when you start it!

Meanwhile, things are better and better here all the time. That’s why the several writers were asked to update.

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’s no secret that Japanese manga often find the most interesting and unusual angles to take for their erotic stories. Such is probably the case with Cat in a Hot Girls’ Dorm (what a title!), a new black & white series written and illustrated by Haruki. “Follow the everyday lives of ten horny residents of a woman’s dorm – from the point of view of the feisty cat, Tama-san. The ladies find him as a stray, and soon Tama is sticking his nose in everyone’s business: What do these girls do when they’re alone, or with each other? Who’s dating who? The cat sees all, from out of the streets to between the sheets!” See what we mean? Issues are available now from Seven Seas Entertainment.

image c. 2022 Seven Seas Entertainment

Savrin, Fuzz, and Ajax talk about the Steam Deck being impressive, questionable tattoos, the need to separate people from nationality, and ah jeez Furry Fiesta is in less than 2 weeks.

LINKS

Patreon- Southpaws is creating and promoting The Queer Agenda | Patreon
Telegram fan chat - https://t.me/+6pbv_U1AY95jOWU5

Episode 513 - Amazing Hole Ahead

The 5 Best Furry Discord Servers Xege Kheiru, Writer, Furry 08 March 2022

What’s Discord?

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years, then you might have no clue what this article is even about. Not to worry, we’ll catch you up to speed on everything you need to know about furry discord servers before we jump into the 5 best servers. 

 

In short, Discord is a communication service that allows its users to message, voice and video call, stream their screens etc. You can use it to chat with friends, meet new people and most importantly build communities. One of the main features of Discord however are servers; they’re like group chats but for potentially thousands of people, with hundreds of text channels for hundreds of different subjects. Thousands of great communities have been built just through discord, and furry communities are no exception. 

Discord’s emphasis on individuality and innovation, allowing its users to have unique banners, animated profile pictures, assign roles to a server’s members, unique permissions for specific roles, assistant bots, listening parties and more gives users almost complete freedom to do whatever they want. This makes it ideal for building and maintaining large communities. 

Discord Logo Image by PCMag via PCMag

 

Then, What’s a Furry Discord Server?

As you might’ve been able to guess, a furry discord server is just a discord server exclusively for furries. While there is no way of verifying whether or not someone is actually a furry or just a troll, this issue is rectified pretty quickly by discord’s handy permanent ban feature. As well as this, most furry discord servers go through a validation process that makes users discuss their likes and dislikes, fursona (if you have one), age etc. 

 

Furry communities can even have sub-communities. For example, furry Minecraft communities, furry role-playing communities or rather 18+ furry communities, where users can share NSFW (furry porn) art. While we are going to go through a list of the 10 (what we think are) best furry communities, this is more of a general overview, so, there’s a good chance that we won’t cover a community that takes your fancy as much. 

 

Where Can I Find Them? 

With that in mind, there are plenty of places you can find furry communities for yourself if you aren’t happy with the list we offer. Websites such as discord.me provide a database of hundreds of thousands of discord servers and categorize them based on their tags. It’s also a great place to advertise your own server, not even necessarily a furry one, if you are trying to build your own community. Pretty much any server with a platinum subscription you can be sure is legit, but you’re here to find the best of the best. Sites like top.gg, discordservers.com and disboard.org all also provide the same service. 

Why Should I Join a Furry Discord Server?

Meeting New People: With that whole pandemic thing going on, something that has become increasingly difficult is meeting new people, let alone people who share your interests. Furry discord servers (any discord server) essentially puts you in a room with thousands of people who share the exact same interest as you. Given that mainstream media is typically hostile to the furry fandom, furry discord servers provide a safe space to meet new people where you can be pretty sure that you aren’t just being used as the butt of a joke. 

Share Your Art: Although sites like Furrafinity and DeviantArt allow you to share your art with others, none of them really allow for live discussion about your art like discord servers do. Sure you can read comments or whatever, but with furry discord servers that typically have a dedicated art channel, users can send any of their art and discuss it, whether it be praise or constructive criticism. It’s a great way to improve your fursona or get inspiration if you are looking to make one. 

 

Take Part in Events: If you are looking for a way to keep up to date on upcoming furry events such as meetups or conventions, then a discord server is perfect for you. With access to thousands of furries, it’s easy to ask for recommendations on events to go to or ask about what to expect from one if you’ve never been. 

 

Look For Contests and Giveaways: Furry contests are few and far apart in non-furry discord servers, which is why furry discord servers are so great. Contests typically boil down to an art or animation contest and can even sometimes have prizes. Better yet, some furry discord servers will occasionally do furry giveaways with prizes like fursuit accessories if that’s something you’re interested in.

 

Gaming Communities: Sometimes finding the right people to play your favorite games with can be really difficult, luckily discord caters more towards the gaming community than anything. A lot of furry discord servers have a gaming sub-category within them for fellow furries looking to play games with each other. 

It’s funny because it’s the Discord logo… but it’s an animal Illustration by SteamGridDB via SteamGridDB

The Typical Joining Process

Unlike a lot of servers, furry discords are a lot more scrupulous with who they let in. Thanks to their extreme marginalization by mainstream media, they can get quite a bit of hate. Because of this, a lot of servers will go through a similar process to verify your furriness. 

 

1. You’ll be asked to click some sort of verification button that begins an invisible timer on the joining process
2. After clicking the verification button you will likely be DM’d an automated response with several prompts like “What is your fursona name?”, “How old are you?” , “How specifically did you find our server?” etc.
3. Once you have answered the prompts, your entry to the server will be reviewed by one of the server staff who will ask a follow up question like “Why are you looking to join the server?”.
4. Once this is answered, the staff will decide whether or not they should let you in, and given you’re not blatantly trolling, they will let you in to the server. 

 

Sidenote, many servers have an introduction channel where you can introduce yourself to other members while you wait for your request to join the server to be reviewed. Now, let’s get into the list. 

An Empty Discord Server   Image by Discord via Discord

Paradox Paws

 

If you, like me, don’t want to spend hours waiting for verification to get into a server, then Paradox Paws is perfect for you. They are a lot more lenient with their verification process while maintaining a non-toxic community that is pretty welcoming even if you are unsure how you feel about the furry fandom. Some members in the server aren’t even furries but just supporters of the community! This makes the server great if you are new to the furry fandom as there is no elitism about how long you have spent in it. 

 

Looking for a movie or games night? Paradox Paws has your back with their weekly games and movie night. 

 

Also, if you are looking for a furry gaming community, then look not further, as Paradox Paws put a huge emphasis on its gaming community, more specifically, Minecraft and Pokemon. They even have a dedicated Minecraft server!  

 

Planet Floof

Planet Floof is one of the few furry discord servers that is explicitly SFW… I mean seriously, they do not tolerate NSFW content. Anything from yiff porn to naked furries will result in an almost immediate ban on this server. This makes it perfect for the younger furry audience who are still looking to meet other furries. As well as this, like most furry discord servers, there is a large emphasis on LGBT and gender positivity in this server, xenophobia is not tolerated. 

They also have an art advertising channel for furry artists looking to self-promote or network themselves and since they are SFW only, you don’t have to worry about furry porn in the art channel. This also doubles as an opportunity for furries looking to commission someone to make a piece for them to get in direct contact with their artist. 

Much like Paradox Paws, they don’t have a particularly grueling verification process either, you simply have to explain what was appealing about the server to you and whether or not you are a furry. Of course they are less likely to let you in if you aren’t a furry, but they are pretty welcoming regardless.

 

Furr Cafe

 

If you’re a Discord Nitro user, Furr Cafe has some of my favorite custom emotes including some great animated ones. Also, Thanks to their dedicated roleplaying channel, this server is great for any furries who’ve been looking for a safe space to roleplay with hundreds of others. Or, if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, this server has a pokemon bot… you can literally play pokemon on discord with this bot. Pokemon will randomly appear in the text channel and the first person to type the catch command can catch it. You can battle other furries with your teams and trade pokemon, it’s really cool. 

 

The staff in this server are really helpful as well, joining a new server can be a bit confusing but if you just ask, they are quite often happy to help with any issues you’re having. Some of the members are even musicians and 

 

The Furry Forest

Furry Forest is one of the less safe for work entries on this list due to its NSFW art channels. It’s also one of the smaller communities but they describe themselves as an environment “away from the chaos of other fur servers” and that they are. With only 600 people, this server is much quieter compared to the previous three and entry into the server isn’t really difficult at all. 

 

They’re also pretty frequent with art giveaways for members who are willing to invite a friend as entry into the giveaway! 

 

Furr Cafe Server Icon Illustration by Furr Cafe via Discord.me

West’s Haven

 

This one was tricky because it was (from what I found) the hardest server to get into. However, this difficulty is not without reason, they claim to have, and I’m still not entirely sure how this works, a “Zero-Raider Entry System”. Regardless of whatever Tony Stark technology they have running behind the scenes on this server, it is the safest space for furries and non-furries alike to express their interest. Furry servers, more than any other discord servers, get raided like crazy whether it be homophobic or transphobic attacks. There is an absolute zero-tolerance policy on top of the scrupulous verification that you have to go through. If you’re looking for a safe place to hunker down and just let your hair loose on discord, West’s Haven is your best bet. 

 

They even have personalized roles, an art channel, a dedicated events team, and a “no-drama guarantee”. 

 

How Do I Start My Own Furry Discord Server? 

 

Starting a discord server of your own is the easy part. Growing a community of your own however can be a bit more challenging. If you are looking to start a large community like the ones listed above, you need one of two things: pre-existing clout or a good reason for people to join. Here’s some steps you can take to start building the server.

 

• Before you do anything, make the server look presentable. Make dedicated text channels, verification bots, automatic role-assignment, the full works!
  • The less professional a server looks, unless it’s a server for friends, the less likely people are to stay on it
• Create quirky roles that give people a sense of progression and welcoming into the server. Some servers allow users to climb up the ranks depending on their activity in it. 
• Start inviting people. This could be your friends or people you know may be interested.
  • If you’re struggling to find people to invite, consider checking out furry subreddits or other social media to see if you can spark any interest there. Hopefully these people can start some initial buzz; encourage them to invite friends of their own. 
• Assign people you know you can trust to moderate the server, you’re gonna need it. There’s a good chance the server could get raided and trolled so it’s key to have people on at all times who can handle that sort of thing 
• While this is optional, if your server is getting traction, you should consider some paid advertisement on sites like discord.me as if your server has a growing and active community, people looking for furry communities will feel more inclined to join.
  • Also, if you do decide to advertise on these sites, make sure you are marking your server with relevant keywords such as “furry” or “yiff” as it gives it a better chance of being found by users. 
• Host weekly or even daily events. This can be a giveaway, a competition, movie nights, gaming sessions, anything you wish really. As long as it keeps the users of the server engaged, it should be alright. This is to maintain activity on the server. 

 

Of course this isn’t a guaranteed route to success, luck will always play a big factor on whether or not your community is thriving, but those are just some of the steps you can take to increase your chances of success greatly. 

 

West’s Haven Logo Illustration by West’s Haven via Discord.me

Are There Any Discord Alternatives? 

If, for some reason, you have no interest in using Discord, there are several text-based communities out there that are equally if not bigger than some of the aforementioned Discord servers. Social media like twitter, reddit, even VRChat, has some great furry communities. Here’s just a few of the furry communities in each. 

 

Reddit: Let’s just get the easiest and most obvious out of the way, r/furry is one of the largest furry subreddits that you can find. It has around 270,000 members as of the publication of this article and is predominantly used to share and discuss furry art. Then there is r/fursuit, with about 20,000 members, it’s a community for furries to share and discuss their fursuits. If you’re looking for something a little more explicit, one of the biggest furry porn subreddits is r/yiff, where around 300,000 members can share their furry porn. If you’re struggling to find suitable subreddits to post to, consider checking out this article on the best reddit communities for furries for some inspiration. 

 

Twitter: While its often joked that twitter is just a toxic cesspit, you can find some really loveable people on there. Some good users to follow if you’re looking for safe furry communities on twitter would firstly have to be Furry Valley. They have their own Discord server and telegram if that tickles your fancy. They have a big gaming community under their belt as well, more specifically Animal Crossing, Pokemon and Rainbow Six Siege. Also, Furs Of Color serves a more specific purpose because, as you could probably guess, it’s a community for furries who are also people of color. It does the same thing as pretty much any twitter community, but is specifically inclusive of people of color. 

 

VRChat: This is an exciting one to discuss because things start to get really interesting. Although VRChat is less accessible to those who don’t have a PC and such, some of the communities on this game are just buzzing with personality. Firstly, there is TailBass which is a virtual dance coordination group that has live furry DJs playing in VRChat. If that isn’t brilliant enough, they created an event called HexFurryfest, which is a virtual furry rave that takes place two times a year. There’s also RubberDragonLabs which a bit more on the NSFW side of VRChat as its a community centered around the artwork of Jackie Demon who depicts a rubber species of furry, in… let’s just say… compromising positions. 

Now go and join a furry community and explore this beautiful, furry world!

The post The 5 Best Furry Discord Servers appeared first on Fursonafy.

The annual Ursa Major Awards are open — Vote now for the fandom’s favorite creations!

Out in the wild, I saw a human sharing some very furry-adjacent news. Suzyn was on a group for paid Slate podcast subscribers, and this story was her suggestion for one they should do. If they wouldn’t, I thought someone should. Thanks to Suzyn for her parts, and I added comments for furry readers.

There was a related Slate story from December 2020: When Did Smokey Bear Get So Hot?

It shows his buff yiffability predates furries. Don’t blame us! Hot anthropomorphic animal people are just nature’s way of showing imagination is healthy. Proof:

Phwoarrr.

When Smokey was a newly-minted mascot, there was a risk to taking this farther. The 1950’s American government, preoccupied with Red Scares, might have forecasted a subversively thirsty fandom and made their love forbidden.

A law passed in 1952 made it ILLEGAL to misuse the image of Smokey Bear. (Not Smokey THE Bear, the Forest Service gets salty about that). You could be JAILED. Here’s the law: 18 U.S. Code § 711 – “Smokey Bear” character or name.

A stiff sentence for yiff

In an omnibus bill passed by Congress in December 2020, this law was repealed for reasons unclear. (If I’m ever forced to testify about furries infiltrating the government, I’ll take the 5th).

This law was why Suzyn noticed Smokey; she personally wouldn’t mess with the government’s intellectual property rights, but it made her curious. She started looking into Smokey and the rules and fandom for him, and found it pretty fun.

First off, the rules for dressing up as Smokey are almost exactly the rules about being a Disney cast member in character at Disney theme parks — as in — they are to a layperson’s eye oddly strict:

Click to access finalsmokeyhandoutsacessibleforweb.pdf

Yes, the government mandates no breaking the magic. They say don’t be a stinker, brush your fur, bring an escort, and no wardrobe malfunctions or impropriety for the shirtless shoveler. It means sirens would go off if he tried to sneak into a furry convention after dark party.

Second, if you want to properly gear up to prevent forest fires, www.smokeybear.com links to a shovelful of Official Smokey Bear Licensees and Products.

For $2499 plus a $635 cooling system, there’s a full Smokey costume from pro mascot supplier Facemakers Inc. (“Sold ONLY to US and Canadian Foresters.”) If you can pony up 11 grand, Robotronics has an animated RoBear. There’s also an 8-foot inflatable costume from Signs & Shapes International.

Third, he was a real bear and in the 1950’s was so cool he needed a zipcode for his fan mail, something that may not even be true for Elvis.

The brawny hunk-a burnin’ love starred in many ads, TV and radio guest spots with celebrity hosts like Bing Crosby. There’s a decade-by-decade timeline with many of them.

Fourth, if your dream guest is Betty White, you’re in luck.

The history of Smokey Bear, the other celebrities who have appeared in ads with Smokey Bear, the “Smokey Bear effect” and, um, youtube fan videos where he fights McGruff are all out there. 

Obviously, there’s a huge rabbit hole of weird. If you make videos, or have a podcast, a LOT of it is audio friendly and there may be some park rangers who would love to talk to you!

If you enjoyed this, you’ll probably enjoy this podcast — technically about Woodsy the Owl — but it discusses all those odd laws that also covered Smokey. (February 23, 2021): UnderUnderstood — Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute.

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.)

Join Roo, Sammy, and Klik as they dive into the Furpile and find out why this is not a Test! Fur What It’s Worth has been found with its zipper down! The Admins of the Furry Clubhouse will be whipping you into shape and command you to dive into a fur pile.They didn’t ask or say please….. they demanded that you send in emails on this not-so-kid-friendly topic. They will be talking about what it takes to run a kink/sex club, how to create kink scenes, how to be safe, and how to have fun.





NOW LISTEN!
SHOW NOTES
SPECIAL THANKS

YOU! We run the clubhouse!

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

Uber Supporters

Sly

Premium Tier Supporters



Jarle, the Spirit Wolf

Get Stickered Tier Supporters

Nuka goes here  

Kit, Jake Fox, Nuka (Picture Pending), Ichi Okami

Fancy Supporter Tier



Rifka, the San Francisco Treat and Baldrik and Adilor and Luno

Deluxe Supporters Tier

 

Guardian Lion and Koru Colt (Yes, him), Ashton Sergal, Harlan Fox

Plus Tier Supporters

Skylos
Snares
Simone Parker
Ausi Kat
Chaphogriff
Lygris
Tomori Boba
Bubblewhip
GW
Moss

McRib Tier Supporters

August Otter
TyR

 
MUSIC

Opening Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Break: Mystery Skulls – Ghost. USA: Warner Bros Records, 2011. Used with permission.
Closing Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Chill Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!) S9 Episode 19 – Kink Club Rub - Join Roo, Sammy, and Klik as they dive into the Furpile and find out why this is not a Test! Fur What It’s Worth has been found with its zipper down! The Admins of the Furry Clubhouse will be whipping you into shape and com

Now that Season 13 has completed and the show is off air for a few weeks while upgrades are done and things are reassembled, let's have a look back to one of the pre-recorded sections of Episode 1000 at some of the times pies and gunge went flying in the studio, either for fun or for charity. Music from YouTube's library. Thumbnail/Title Card artwork by Zodd: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/zodd95/

Getting ahead of the curve with a new fantasy/horror/mystery novel coming later this year from writer Tim Susman: Unfinished Business. “Private Investigator Jae Kim doesn’t have a werewolf problem – at least not as long as he can keep clear of his ex-boyfriend Czoltan. But when a suspicious police report hits the streets of Wolftown, Jae suddenly finds himself hunted on the streets he used to freely roam. Dodging bullets from Wolftown vigilantes, he’s stuck hiding out with Czoltan while he and his were-bear ghost Sergei search out whoever set him up – and his life isn’t the only one at stake.” Look for it this July from Argyll.

image c. 2022 Argyll Productions

Papabear,

I’ve heard of this term "species dysphoria." Is this a valid term? I sometimes feel like I’m just going crazy, but I still just don’t know what I am. There are days I feel like I am a human being, but there are days where I just don’t. It stresses me. I hope my best friend doesn’t judge me for it. I have a very good feeling he wouldn’t; he’s always a very open-minded person and a huge sweetheart. But I’m scared about the chance of him rejecting my possible identities. However, I do remember we talked about how there are so many things in this world we probably don’t know the truth to and probably never will, and he explain that he does believe that maybe it can be possible for someone to be some kind of therian deep within their being. So, I do know he’s a very open-minded person.

I am in my 20s now. I turned 20 recently. I feel like my body has been going through so many strange feelings. I always try not to think about the worst-case scenario, but it’s hard.
 
I just worry I’m going crazy. I want to talk to my therapist about it, but I’m worried she’ll misconstrue [this].

Maxi

* * *

Dear Maxi,

There is, indeed, such a thing as species dysphoria (called Species Identity Disorder among mental health professionals), the feeling that you are inhabiting a body that is the wrong species. Are you familiar with otherkin? Otherkin are those who feel, for one reason or another, they are not human. This can mean they feel "other" in a spiritual/psychological sense or that they are actually, physically different but are concealing their true form under a human guise. I have met otherkin who believe they are from another world that faced some kind of cataclysm and they had to come here and take human shape in order to survive. Others believe they come from another dimension or that they are of an angelic or demonic origin. Some of these otherkin are in an animal form, some are more like a species of elf or other humanoid (but not human) race.

Species dysphoria is comparable in some ways to sex dysphoria (often incorrectly, in my opinion, called Gender Identity Disorder since "gender" just refers to social standards of what is "male" and "female" while "sex" is biological) in that both involve feeling that your physical form does not match who you truly are. It is interesting that psychologists are coming to accept sexual dysphoria as a real thing, but species dysphoria is regarded as a type of mental illness. But I have to ask, if one can feel that they are, say, a woman in a male body, why can't one feel as though they are, again as an example, a lion or a dragon in a human body? (Unfortunately, while surgery can replace male parts with something simulating female anatomy, the same is not true for turning someone into another animal--just don't watch the horror movie Tusk.)

In "Furries from A to Z (Anthropomorphism to Zoomorphism)" by Kathleen Gerbasi et al, published in the journal Society and Animals (August 2008), the authors surveyed over 200 furries at a convention and found that nearly half (46%) had, to a lesser or greater extent, some feeling that they were not entirely human. This coincides fairly well with my experience with furries in that about half of them feel they are furry while the other half are hobbyists and are just doing this for fun (in the same way as a Trekkie might dress up as a Vulcan at a Star Trek convention but never considers themselves to be an actual Vulcan).

So why do many furries feel this way? There are a couple of possibilities, and I will just touch on them here (this could be a book, seriously). One possibility is social. Many furries feel rejected by (or reject) humanity and their own humanness, which leaves them feeling disconnected to the extent that they literally do not wish to be human. When one feels this way intensely and long enough, it can become ingrained in your very being. Another possibility depends on whether or not you feel reincarnation is possible and, perhaps, furries with species dysphoria are recalling former lives as some type of animal (or even alien species). The third possibility has to do with empathy: a deep connection with another animal, one so intense that it begins to fill one's own being. This is kind of how I feel about bears. I feel very connected to these beautiful and majestic animals, almost feeling like they are a part of me.

Or, we could just be crazy.

But I don't think it's that last one. The definition of "crazy" to me means that our perception does not match reality. But if the reality is that we are deeply connected to another species, are we truly crazy? No. No, I don't believe that. Also, if we are really crazy, it would make it impossible to function in this world. 

This all keys into a core belief of mine: we are not our bodies. Even many "mainstream" humans believe this. They believe we are our "soul." But our soul or spirit or essence or ego is not the same thing as our flesh. Our flesh is just something we use to travel around in this reality. The spirit that is within us is connected to all spirit that inhabits this universe. Truly, we should not limit ourselves to thinking that we are just Homo sapiens. That is just a species. You know what I think? I think many furries (and others who don't know about furries or are connected in other ways) have freed themselves of the constraints of species and open themselves up to an interconnectedness with all creatures and spirits. 

Don't let it "stress" you if sometimes you don't "feel human." That's just you reaching outside of your physical limitations. That's just you stretching your spirit and embracing the life that is all around you. Just like a man who refuses to let society say they can't wear a dress or makeup if they choose to, you are rejecting having others impose upon you their standards of what you should look and feel like.

Bottom line: you are not crazy. You're merely struggling with trying to live up to the limitations imposed upon you by our neurotic society that insists on making everyone look and act like we are all the same.

But we are not all the same, are we? Instead of fretting about it, embrace it, explore this otherness you are feeling. You can still do that and function within our lame society. You can attend class or go to work with your human persona firmly in place, but when you have a quiet moment to yourself, you can explore outside your physical self and the rigid standards of humanity. What's cool is that you have an entire furry community that you can talk to about it and who won't call you crazy because we sympathize and empathize with you.

Hope that makes you feel better.

Hugs,
Papabear

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

Moobarkfluff!  This is our 100th published episode and we had no idea! LOL.  Bearly and Taebyn chat about mostly normal things, we have a liars paradox, Taebyn shares a new 'song', many awards are discussed and of course we pepper our show with bad jokes and puns. We apologize for our lousy Italian accents.  Join us for a regular ol' episode won't you? Moobarkfluff!

 https://www.bonfire.com/store/bearly-furcasting/

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 S2E45 - 100th Episode! Explosions, Math, Trivia, and Mayhem!

Voting has opened for the Ursa Major Awards, this time celebrating the best in anthropomorphic stories, movies, comics, art, and more from the year 2021. Modeled on the Hugo Awards (given annually by the World Science Fiction Society), the Ursa Major Awards give furry fans around the world a chance to celebrate their favorite “furry things” from any of 14 categories. For instance: This year’s nominees for “Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture of 2021” include Pixar’s Luca, Netflix’ My Little Pony: A New Generation, Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, Illumination’s Sing 2, and Sony Animation’s Wish Dragon. And that’s just one category! Visit the official web site to register and vote (and maybe donate a little if you’re feeling generous — it’s a not-for-profit operation!). But hurry up! Voting closes at the end of this month.

image c. 2022 ALAA

Scout Comics have an imprint called the Launch Series, which is designed for the youngest of beginning readers. To quote them, “Launch bridges the gap between children’s picture books and comics”. Following a long-honored tradition, of course the effort involves funny animals — chief among them, dogs and cats. First up are the adventures of Bandit the Boston Terrier, in a series of softcover books written by Amy Harlow and illustrated by Jim Mehsling. “Bandit is a spunky Boston Terrier with a wild imagination. Bandit’s best friend, Daisy, is a jolly and somewhat lazy Boston Terrier. Follow their adventures as Bandit confronts his household nemesis, the vacuum cleaner.” Then there’s the Supercats series, written by Caleb Thusat and illustrated by Angela Oddling. “In this origin story we see the young Mewow, destined to become a supercat, in her first adventure she taps into the hero within to save innocents in trouble… because Supercats will always save the day!” Both series have several titles.

image c. 2022 Scout Comics

The end of February has proven to be a very scary one for a lot of people. From everyone here at the Furry Writers Guild, we hope everyone is able to stay safe – whether it be from war, the continued pandemic, or natural disasters. We hope that you’re able to escape to your writing if possible, but also know that it’s ok to step back from it all if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Find your solace and peace however you may.

In the furry writing world, March brings us towards the business end of award season. The finalists for the Ursa Major Awards should be announced soon (if not already), and the Coyotl Awards have just two weeks of nominations left. Both of these awards will then be open for voting on the finalists (with the Coyotls being open only to FWG members). We encourage everyone to get involved and vote for your favourites.

March will also see the Furry Writers Guild start preparing for the guild elections in April. Should anyone wish to put themselves forward for any of the guild officer positions, then please do so in the appropriate area of the forums. An election date has not yet been called, so feel free to take a few weeks to weigh up your position and goals should you put yourself forward.
As of this stage, I am unsure whether I will be standing for president again, due to a changed work situation.

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!

FURVOR #1 – Deadline Around March
Prehistories – Deadline March 31st
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission period.

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

C.A.T.S.: Cycling Across Time And Space: 11 Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories about Bicycling and Cats – an anthology featuring guild member Alice Dryden. Released February 8th 2022.

Brothers At Arms, by R.A. Meenan. Released February 14th, 2022.

Scars of the Golden Dancer, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-order. Released March 4th.

Knotty Works, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-order. Released March 4th.

Aces High, by J. Daniel Phillips. Available for pre-order. Released March 18th.

A Furry Faux Paw, by Jessica Kara. Available for pre-order. Released May 24th 2022.

Red Pandamonium, by Roan Rosser. Available for pre-order. Released June 13th 2022.

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

As always, any guild members who want to see their upcoming books included in the newsletter, please let us know! We try to keep up to date with everything, but there will always be some things we miss.

Once again, we hope everyone is able to stay safe. If you feel comfortable writing, then we hope you can gain some degree of peace and escape from it. If you can’t, please don’t feel guilty that there are higher priorities.

Until next month.
Happy writing and stay safe.
J.F.R. Coates

The end of February has proven to be a very scary one for a lot of people. From everyone here at the Furry Writers Guild, we hope everyone is able to stay safe – whether it be from war, the continued pandemic, or natural disasters. We hope that you’re able to escape to your writing if possible, but also know that it’s ok to step back from it all if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Find your solace and peace however you may.

In the furry writing world, March brings us towards the business end of award season. The finalists for the Ursa Major Awards should be announced soon (if not already), and the Coyotl Awards have just two weeks of nominations left. Both of these awards will then be open for voting on the finalists (with the Coyotls being open only to FWG members). We encourage everyone to get involved and vote for your favourites.

March will also see the Furry Writers Guild start preparing for the guild elections in April. Should anyone wish to put themselves forward for any of the guild officer positions, then please do so in the appropriate area of the forums. An election date has not yet been called, so feel free to take a few weeks to weigh up your position and goals should you put yourself forward.
As of this stage, I am unsure whether I will be standing for president again, due to a changed work situation.

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!

FURVOR #1 – Deadline Around March
Prehistories – Deadline March 31st
Isekai Me! – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
#ohmurr! – Deadline: Ongoing
Zooscape – Reoccurring submission period.

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

C.A.T.S.: Cycling Across Time And Space: 11 Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories about Bicycling and Cats – an anthology featuring guild member Alice Dryden. Released February 8th 2022.

Brothers At Arms, by R.A. Meenan. Released February 14th, 2022.

Scars of the Golden Dancer, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-order. Released March 4th.

Knotty Works, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-order. Released March 4th.

A Furry Faux Paw, by Jessica Kara. Available for pre-order. Released May 24th 2022.

Red Pandamonium, by Roan Rosser. Available for pre-order. Released June 13th 2022.

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

As always, any guild members who want to see their upcoming books included in the newsletter, please let us know! We try to keep up to date with everything, but there will always be some things we miss.

Once again, we hope everyone is able to stay safe. If you feel comfortable writing, then we hope you can gain some degree of peace and escape from it. If you can’t, please don’t feel guilty that there are higher priorities.

Until next month.
Happy writing and stay safe.
J.F.R. Coates

Hi everyone, there are a lot of updates from conventions locally and abroad so this will be a summary: WUFF (UAFurence) https://twitter.com/uafurence Link to Furry Ukraine Artists https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10138995 StratosFur has opened PreReg https://stratosfur.org/blast-off-with-us/ Board of Anthropomorphic Representatives: Colorado https://twitter.com/justboiler/status/1494466079871152131?s=20&t=WZ89TNrDA8Y4D5rnmSmrDw Furvana https://twitter.com/FurvanaNW SpokAnthro https://twitter.com/SpokAnthro/status/1495249790514253824?s=20&t=2gUb14UQBGfDDYeRa5bcLw Golden State Fur Con https://gsfurcon.com/ HMHF or Harvest Moon Howl Fest https://twitter.com/HMHowlFest/status/1498357772517261319?s=20&t=WZ89TNrDA8Y4D5rnmSmrDw Furry Takeover https://www.furrytakeover.com/ CanFURence https://canfurence.ca/registration/ Ursa Major awards 2021 https://ursamajorawards.org/voting2021/ Weekend Furry Retreat https://twitter.com/wkndfurretreat Artwork at end of video was retweeted from ToasterFox https://twitter.com/Toaster_Fox/status/1498167688316653575?s=20&t=LrQE0uWtHZXxwLDQzyiTdQ If you like the work I do please like/follow/share to support the channel I'm on multiple platforms https://twitter.com/GrovelHusky https://www.twitch.tv/grovelhusky https://t.me/grovelreports Subscribe to show support https://www.youtube.com/c/GrovelHusky/?sub_confirmation=1 Grovel Reports Studio made by Kydek https://twitter.com/FluffyKydek Banners used in the channel were made by Slushi https://twitter.com/Slushi3Brushi3?s=09 Music created for Grovel Husky by Whooshagg https://whooshagg.com/ Grovel Reports March 1st 2022 - Furry Convention News Abroad #furryfandom #furry #furryconvention

Wow, the things you miss if you blink… Things like Carriers, a new full-color comic series from Red 5 Comics. “Fable, Gladius, Cherrybomb, Dark Dove: No one has heard of these brave heroes… yet… but they are the only thing standing between the citizens of New York and the unseen terrors that lurk all around them. A band of weaponized carrier pigeons, they soar the night sky looking for new threats and find their largest one yet when the Croc King comes climbing up out of the New York sewer!” See? It’s written by Ben Ferrari and Erica J. Heflin, with art by Jim O’Riley (no relation!) and Elias Martin.

image c. 2022 Red 5 Comics

天空中的彩虹

Gdakon将为乌克兰与会者提供全额门票和酒店预订退款 

中文：兽展更新 2022-3-1

The Spectacular Rise of Infurnity + More About Taiwanese Furs Feat. J.C., Fox and Burger Podcast Episode 19. ---- We sure do love Taiwan! Because for this month’s episode, we’re going back to the Heart of Asia. Our guest of honor today has been someone on our list for a very, very long time. He’s yellow, he’s a cat - you guessed it, it’s J.C. the yellow cat from Taiwan. J.C. has been in the fandom for almost 20 years and is the current con chair of Infurnity, the largest fur con here in Taiwan. In this episode, we asked him questions about Infurnity and Taiwanese furries overall, plus we featured some questions from you guys, the audience. Let’s give a big meow for J.C.! Correction: The website that J.C. mentioned at 04:23 is actually https://fanart.lionking.org/ ---- Timestamps: 00:00 Section 1: Introduction 00:00 Podcast intro 02:00 Guest introduction 06:07 Section 2: JC and Infurnity 06:14 Growth of Infurnity, and challenges along the way 08:36 Not enough attendees for a fur con? 10:32 What makes Infurnity stand out from other cons? 16:00 Have you ever imagined running a con for 7 years? 17:55 Pros/cons of hosting an online con 21:23 What’s the next goal for Infurnity? 24:23 Section 3: Comparing and Contrasting Fandoms 24:37 How would you describe Taiwanese furs overall? 26:30 Does culture have an affect on how Taiwanese furries act? 29:23 Biggest difference between American and Taiwanese furries? 31:42 Is Taiwan influenced by the Japanese fandom or the Western fandom? 34:34 Ray Q1: What were the early days of Infurnity like? 40:20 Ray Q2: What prompted your journey in the fandom? ---- Social Media: Official FABP Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxandburger Matcha Fox: https://twitter.com/foxnakh https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9xoFQrxFTNPMjmXfUg2cg Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner http://www.youtube.com/c/LightningRunner JC: https://twitter.com/jcdump https://www.facebook.com/jcdump Official Infurnity Twitter: https://twitter.com/infurnity Ask the Con Chairs Panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzg6vyYoA3c ---- Footage Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Bcg8OsOtw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sf5XbqLza8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgX6_WeLIzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGO0IxYSHCw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahh_YbMBNVg https://zh.wikifur.com/w/index.php?title=%E9%87%8E%E6%80%A7%E7%96%86%E7%95%8C&variant=zh-tw http://wolfbbs.net/showthread.php/11182 https://www.beastfantasia.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Bcg8OsOtw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP5lz2CYNR4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afBI2icz7v0 https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35949508/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl56QRAcqYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFBcQbRovw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgX6_WeLIzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Bmp2z89vI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8wbCkvzRac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVCXd97OV98 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sidNKV4JXAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzTB9feYo6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U25fQ3dq3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahh_YbMBNVg Other pictures and video provided by J.C., Pixabay, and hosts' personal footage. Intro/Outro Music: Aioli by Andrew Langdon. ---- The Fox and Burger Podcast is one segment of our production house, Fox and Burger Productions. The podcast’s goal is twofold: 1, to know more about the Asian furry fandom; and 2, compare and contrast the Asian fandom with the Western one. If you have a guest that you would like to interview, please PM us! We will also take questions for our guests, so don’t miss this opportunity to know some amazing furs.