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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In an omnibus bill passed by Congress in December 2020, this law was repealed for reasons unclear.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.





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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!

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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.

German Furs in Taiwan? Beer, Bread, and Baozi - February Livestream ---- In our second livestream ever, we invited three German furs who have been to Taiwan before to share with us their experiences here. Our guests for this livestream were Streifi, Azurfox, and Parca! All have been to Taiwan before as well as Infurnity. The goal of our live streams is to ask questions that are an extension of the podcast. Using a more free-form format, we focus on broader topics not limited to Asia. We also want to use this format to better engage with our audience. We sincerely appreciate everyone’s questions as interactions during the stream. Let’s explore the furry fandom together! ---- Social media: Our official Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxandburger Matcha Fox: https://twitter.com/foxnakh https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9xoFQrxFTNPMjmXfUg2cg Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner Streifi: https://twitter.com/StreifiGreif Parca: https://twitter.com/parcatheorca

We had not heard about this, but we should probably mention it now! Animation World Network just reported that PBS Kids has secured some really big grants to help fund new TV series created by Fred Rogers Productions (named after the late great creator of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, of course). And at least one of those series is of note to furry fans: “Inspired by the funny, quirky side of children’s television pioneer Fred Rogers, Donkey Hodie is an imaginative puppet series following the adventures of Donkey Hodie, an enthusiastic and charming go-getter who takes on each day with curiosity and resilience, and her pals Purple Panda, Duck Duck, and Bob Dog. Set in the whimsical land of Someplace Else, the social-emotional series is designed to empower children ages 3-5 to dream big and overcome obstacles in their own lives, to work hard and persevere in the face of failure, to be resourceful and discover they can solve problems on their own — and to laugh themselves silly along the way.”

image c. 2022 Fred Rogers Productions

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This week while Bearly is away, special guest host Path Hyena joins us for an off the rails super-sized show chock full of laughs. We have some fun when Ski Sharp visits with us on Five Minute Furs For Fun. Grubbs Grizzly stops buy to chat about his new publishing company and this year's Good Furry Awards. Taebyn has a hot time with Lux at the Transfurmation Station. Taebyn and Path perform a dramatic reading of the show notes. We take a detour to story time to visit with Frog and Toad and learn all about willpower. Then, Taebyn and Path try to see who tells the worst jokes. You don't want to miss a second of this week's thrilling episode!!!

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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 S2E44 - Guest Host Path Hyena, Transfurmation Station

Has war ever come to any sizeable part of the furry fandom, in 4 decades of growth for this worldwide group?

There are members who went to fight in foreign lands, or maybe had relatives flee when war happened. I’m just not recalling any place where hundreds or thousands of them had their houses shaken by hostile tanks, jets and shelling.

Strong explosions began in my Ukrainian suburb, we try not to panic, everyone is alive. How I wish there was no war.

— Helen San (@HelenSanOwO2) February 24, 2022

This hobby writer in California is challenged to cover news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are furries on both sides. Recent Russian news here leads me to know about Russian furries sent to Ukraine, where they may kill Ukrainian furries. Furries with political aid jobs will help guide refugees to safety. Others face military conscription to fight back.

They see what I see: “the first time in the history of furry fandom that almost all members of one country are in fact combatants / victims of war.” – @DimaOusti

The imperialist attack on a fully-accessible European nation feels as personal as the stress of a fursuit maker forced to flee, leaving his suits and bicycle behind.

I got tickets to Lviv. I'll stay there for several days or a week. Or unless it's getting worse. I don't want to leave my place, my bike and my precious suits. But I have to.
I still might need financial help, it's tricky, but possible to send money to Ukraine #StayWithUkraine

— Furoar Suits (@FuroarSuits) February 24, 2022

An inside view takes grounding beyond a smidgen of Soviet Bloc history, and outstanding incidents that made North American news. Beware of industrialized deception. (Putin’s propaganda has tried to disrupt American elections too; you can take it personally while reviewing history of the conflict.)

Using translation apps and tips to visit Ukrainian furry groups feels like you don’t even know where to start. Imagine everyone you know showing you burning things near their house, and talking about picking up weapons to repel invaders. You feel at a loss for how to help with just words.

Here’s a thread based on Twitter and Telegram activity. There’s a map of furry chats in Ukraine, including 4 in capital city Kyiv alone; and a group owner estimate of 1000 or more furries in the country. Kyiv’s furry con is WUFF (UAfurence).

Here's a contact I made to try learning what's going on with Ukraine furry groups. It's hard to get a sense of happenings from far outside, so it's a very basic start. pic.twitter.com/bR8WIeN2sL

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) February 25, 2022

Thankfully, tips are coming to help.

The following story comes from Tillian the Fox. He explains: “Scary and dark stuff is going on and I need people to know this. Also I wanted to warn people that they should be vigilant and critical of what info they see online, because there is a lot of misinformation going around.”

My name is Tim, I am 18 years old, and I am a furry, I live in Kazakhstan, and although I am not the citizen of either Russia or Ukraine, I have relatives and friends from Ukraine, who I love and deeply care about.

Yesterday morning, I got a few voice messages in our Telegram chat from my friend Elena, she is from Ukraine. (name changed for anonymity). She was crying, she was terrified and she told me she didn’t know what to do.

I was confused. I asked her what the hell was going on. Elena told me that the Russian Army attacked her country and that she can hear the sounds of explosions far away.

And then she sent me multiple messages and videos of news sources in Telegram.

According to them, on 24th February at about 3:00 UTC, President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in East Ukraine, and few minutes after that, missile strikes began at locations all across the country, including the capital Kyiv, and two hours later, Russian ground military forces entered the country.

I instantly logged onto Twitter to see what was happening, and the whole feed was in absolute chaos.

Each and every one of my friends in Ukraine were in panic. They posted sounds and videos of explosions and shots fired in their cities, air raid sirens going off, helicopters flying above the rooftops.

Some of them tweeted about evacuating and leaving the country, people were reposting safety threads about what to do during an air raid, where to seek shelter and what stuff they should take with themselves.

Small video to realize that this conflict is not a game.
It is really horrible what is happening.
Courage to @HelenSanOwO2 and to all Ukrainians who are there!

pic.twitter.com/HvTukJa3gL

— Over44 (@Over__44) February 25, 2022

I still remember that gut-wrenching feeling of dread and fear when I actually realized the whole scale and danger of the situation.

I was afraid, just like them — and even though bombs and missiles were no threat to my hometown, I simply could not believe that this was happening, I just could not believe that this might be the last time I will ever see my relatives or friends.

Fortunately enough, by the time I write this, they are still alive.

Over time, it got progressively worse though. People were posting news and information. There was destruction, civilian deaths and terror, innocent people losing their homes, lives, families because of this senseless war.

In the evening, my friends from Russia, and dozens of other people went on a anti-war protest. There were rallies all across the country, including Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

Russian citizens wanted to rebel, to show this world that they don’t want this war and will do anything to stop this invasion, even at risk of being arrested or beaten up by the police. Among the protesters were the elderly WW2 veterans, who have fought against the nazis and have seen the war.

Anti-war protest in Saint Petersburg, Russia (by Anton Vaganov of Reuters) – From a good Facebook post by Rebecca Solnit

And here is what I have to say. I don’t care how much anyone who reads this story will judge me.

I don’t care what the Russian government thinks it will achieve with this violence. This is not how it is supposed to be.

At my young age of 18 years, I am supposed to hang out with my friends, not to shake in fear, thinking that I might see my Ukrainian relatives or friends for the last time.

At 18, I should be throwing parties, not monitoring military movements on the internet.

I am supposed to read books, to devote time to my dreams and hobbies, I am supposed to think about what clothes to go out in, to play video games and argue if Nirvana is better than Pink Floyd, BUT I CAN’T.

Because somewhere out there the Kremlin army is KILLING PEOPLE.

Not only the inhabitants of Ukraine got involved, but also everyone who has friends, lovers and relatives from this country.

But it is not supposed to be like this. defenseless people and children are not supposed to die, bullets are not supposed to whistle, and houses are not supposed to blow up.

No violence is ever justified, and I appeal to every person who reads this. Please, protest, donate to humanitarian organizations that help Ukrainian people and let the world know what is happening here. Don’t let the voices of the victims to be forgotten.

Because it’s not supposed to be like this.

– Tillian The Fox

Here is some charity donation information. Keep in mind that direct donation isn’t allowed to Ukrainians by PayPal, Ko-fi, etc. Crowdfunds may restrict military related funding. You may need to research methods or charities that aren’t restricted.

Ill try to sleep. Hope I dont wake up in a drastically different world. Consider supporting a Ukrainian charity , a good list was published on reddit (linked). Love you buns… hope to update you very soon.https://t.co/Q5rQztElij

— Zepla (@Xepla) February 24, 2022

For everyone who is interested in sending money to Ukraine. I remind you, Ukraine can not receive money with PayPal. All donation services, like Ko-Fi, that requires PayPal, won't work.

— Furoar Suits (@FuroarSuits) February 25, 2022

#artforUA
Callout for artists today!
Many of you asked me if you can join. YES ABSOLUTELY.
All you need to do is join us during our streams -online or offline and offer sketches for the proof of donation to one of listed charities. pic.twitter.com/kx6ueOmb3m

— Wereblajn (@Blajnart) February 25, 2022

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