FennekFuchs has been trying to draw commissions to pay her bills, but here's the problem: I don't see anyone commissioning her! If anyone wants cheap art made fast without the baggage of the insufferable culture war brain rot that's made most artists here in America uncommissionable, now's your chance to get some real art with no strings attached. Consider this a shameless shout-out from me to help a fellow obscure furry artist out. It's better than resorting to AI! That's for sure!

Out-of-touch politicians who don't know how the Internet works are trying to censor the Internet again. Just like SOPA, PIPA, COPPA, and countless other bills written in the name of "anti-piracy" and "protecting children" online, we once again have to deal with a poorly-written bill made with good intentions that could be a disaster for privacy on the Internet.

Right now, a new bill in Arizona, HB 2112, is making its way through the Senate that would force websites hosting explicit content (including Derpibooru, e621, and possibly even this website) to implement mandatory age verification for all users in the form of uploading official identification to have access. In other words, the politicians behind the bill think adult websites can work just like a nightclub, not realizing that submitting a picture of your driver's license and your face on multiple websites is much more dangerous than merely showing those things to a bouncer. Once something is put on the Internet, there's always the chance that it could stay on the Internet, and that could easily pave the way to hackers stealing personal information if there's a data breach. The fact that we just had a major data breach with our social security information a few months ago should be more than enough of a reason to not trust the government to keep that sort of information safe on such a large scale. I don't trust the government that much, and neither should you. Having to essentially dox yourself just to verify your age is a terrible idea.

If you can, please help me and other Americans in the United States contact Arizona’s leaders and ask them to shoot down the bill. The last thing we need is a Trojan Horse for surveillance and censorship to make its way into the freest nation in existence. This isn't about stopping piracy or protecting children from porn. Don't let that smokescreen fool you. This is about upholding and respecting the privacy of countless across the world who depend on my country's laws protecting freedom of speech to access content that oftentimes gets censored elsewhere. VPNs are basically the only lifeline for people in countries like China and Russia right now if they want to access websites like this one, and they will lose that ability if the USA bends the knee to censorship and creates its own Great Firewall. Please help spread the word about this potential violation of our constitution and encourage others to take action against the bill.

Use this link to message the governor of Arizona and relay these concerns to that state's leadership: https://azgovernor.gov/office-arizo.....ice-an-opinion

Further information on the bill itself can be found at the Free Speech Coalition: https://action.freespeechcoalition......izona-hb-2112/

In case you missed it, the latest site update is here, giving users the ability to blacklist tags and block submissions to their liking. While the implications of the recent rule changes remain unclear, I'm still considering this a win overall. One of the most common talking points I've heard in defense of the content guidelines becoming increasingly strict for characters looking "too childlike" has been the idea that "most people don't want to be subjected to those things" and that it's "bad for advertising" to have potentially unappealing content visible to everyone. Now, that's not longer an excuse people can make. Much like how the "SFW Mode" setting works, if people don't want to see certain things, the tags for them can simply be blacklisted to block them by default, which should keep most of those complaints at bay.

You can try it out for yourself right now. While it's technically functional, just know that it's still rough around the edges and doesn't perfectly block everything yet. There's still a long way to go, especially seeing as the tagging system on this website desperately needs better implementation and organization (akin to how it works on an image booru), but I'm assuming that will probably be the next step for FurAffinity's staff. I don't envy their work, seeing as it will probably be a long, tedious process that could take years to fully roll out, but I'm optimistic about the end result. If it means submission tags will finally have more of a purpose on this website than merely boosting visibility in search results, that would be a huge improvement.

Of course, this inevitably raises the question of why FurAffinity's staff never tried to implement this sort of feature before rolling out a multitude of ban waves and stricter rules, but I'll take what I can get. Like a lot of artists who have felt hesitant about posting new artwork out of fear of getting unfairly suspended, this should hopefully put those fears to rest. While I think it's long overdue, better late than never, right?

Check your bank accounts over the coming weeks and monitor them for any suspicious transactions if you live in the United States like me. Consider updating your passwords as well. You can never be too safe.

In case anyone here is out of the loop, there was a massive data breach last night. It was recently reported that online hackers just leaked millions of people's Social Security numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and other information used to verify citizens in the United States. This means there's a good chance that impersonators can create fraudulent IDs and bank accounts in your name. The only safeguard left to protect your money from being transferred to about account is your password, so make sure it's up to date and hasn't been shared with anyone. The last thing you want to see is someone pulling your money out of your bank account by pretending to be you. Be safe, everyone.

Consider helping out an artist in a hard financial situation.

 TifferDoodle is currently facing eviction by Friday of next week and could use some donations to make ends meet. Please consider pitching in if you have some extra money lying around.

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10761619/

Has anyone noticed the increasing hostility toward feral artists over the past few years? Granted, there's always been the usual anti-furry outrage which encompasses ferals, but up until a few years ago, I had never seen hate directed toward ferals from other furries. From what I've seen, like most of the worst things on the Internet, it originated from social media, specifically Twitter. Obviously, people over there tend to look for the pettiest excuses to gin up drama in order to get attention, but up until now, that manufactured outrage has been safely quarantined away from the rest of society, allowing the rest of us furries outside of that toxic echo chamber of radicalization to live out our lives in relative peace. While the hateful tweets were frustrating to come across whenever I'd be searching for stuff over there, at least there was always the option to simply go to another website. However, I can't help but notice how it's now starting to spread and infect other online furry communities. At this point, you'd have to be living under a rock to not notice the growing trend of hostility toward the feral side of the furry fandom.

For example, just last week over on Reddit, r/RealFurryHours, a subreddit created specifically for furry-related discussion regarding topics considered too controversial for the more mainstream furry subreddits, recently appointed new moderators who immediately did away with any feral-related discussion and threatened to ban any users who disagree with their new announcement about it being "pro-zoophilia" in a stickied post. This happened despite me and most of the other users there protesting against the change. Just like on Twitter, there's a certain group of people who believe themselves to be above everyone else and therefore entitled to push for rules that better suit their own personal tastes.

We're even starting to see it here on FurAffinity. The most obvious example of this would be the infamous "cub ban" that kickstarted one of the worst witch hunts in furry history, a problem that's still ongoing as of right now, but let's not pretend ferals aren't going to be next on the chopping block. Remember, we're talking about a website run by the same people who openly belittle victims of gatekeeping if it means earning brownie points on Twitter. If they've already gone after cub artists and succeeded, it shouldn't surprise you to know that feral artists are starting to experience the same unfair treatment.

The double standard isn't lost on me either. Why must a completely non-suggestive image like this be forced to have a "mature" rating slapped on it by this site's administration when humanoid anthros get a free pass to be as suggestive as they want, showing obvious bulges and cameltoes with "general" rating? Drawing the basic outline of a sheath on a feral character is no more revealing than drawing a humanoid anthro wearing tight clothing that reveals the outline of the anatomy underneath. Most of the time, it's simply done for the sake of realism, meaning that unless there's some sort of extra detail or suggestive emphasis put on that aspect of an image, there's no reason for it to be given a higher rating. What makes it even more frustrating is that this hypocritical rule change against sheaths being allowed in SFW images was only enacted after e621 forced the same change onto its userbase without any justification. Seriously, what's the logic here? "Drawing anthros wearing skimpy outfits is perfectly acceptable, but adding the slightest hint of extra mass between a male quadruped's hind legs? Unacceptable! Think of the children, you pervert! Next thing you know, those kids will start drawing pictures of... Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron! Oh the horror!" Get real. These new rules are just being made up to give the people in charge more excuses to unfairly crack down on feral artists because they've become a popular target.

The only reason this double standard exists is because, as I mentioned earlier, there's a growing movement on social media being pushed by people who think our fandom needs to be sanitized of any politically incorrect elements in order to appeal more to outsiders. This is especially applicable for those who seek to rebrand our community as a leftist movement. It's a well-known fact that furries with more conservative political leanings tend to have fursonas with more conservative designs, as they generally prefer detailed realism over abstract escapism. That's also the reason behind why so many stereotypes involving "sparkledogs" with "socialist teeth" exist, as leftist furries, especially those who spend most of their time chasing the same trends on social media, tend to look homogeneous as a result, and unsurprisingly, their ideal vision of the furry fandom, despite claiming to support diversity, is just as mundane. Every fursona must look like theirs, act like theirs, and endorse the same ideology as they do. If you don't fit in, you're looked down upon with disgust and lumped in with a variety of undesirable outsiders (namely pedophiles, zoophiles, fascists, and any other monsters of the week). Again, these people are the ones spearheading this pro-censorship trend, pushing it onto every major furry website, hence why these unwarranted rule changes keep happening with increasing intensity.

Since then, things have only gotten even more strict, and there's no sign of it stopping any time soon. FurAffinity is going all gas and no brakes on ramping up the censorship, especially if it makes those of us with unpopular opinions (whether aesthetic or political) feel less welcome. I think it goes without saying that this is all by design. Update 2.7, the most recent update to this site's rules, has already had the side effect of forcing feral and semi-anthro artists such as  TaniDaReal and  Ruki to self-censor over accusations of their characters looking "too childish" due to their less humanoid character designs having smaller bodies. If we're already at that point, who's to say it'll end there?

One of the most overused analogies is that of the frog in boiling water. In most cases, it's just used by people attempting to rationalize a slippery slope fallacy, but in this case, it's actually applicable. For the longest time, we've been told that FurAffinity is meant to be a safe haven for furries to post whatever pieces of artwork they make as long as they're given the proper rating, but that's quickly changing. Now, we're dealing with a website that's run by people who act as judge, jury, and executioner, having the final say in whether or not the art you make even qualifies under their ever-changing rules, and those rules are getting stricter and stricter. How much longer are people going to tolerate these new rule changes no one outside of Twitter asked for before more people speak up about the obvious censorship on display? Ferals are a cornerstone in the furry fandom and have been around since the very beginning, and you'll quickly find that not a lot of artists will be left if ferals were to disappear from this site, so let this be my message to the people running FurAffinity: I don't care what your personal tastes are as long as you tolerate mine, and my preference for feral characters should not disqualify me from being a member of this community. Whether you like it or not, ferals have always been a part of the furry fandom, and no amount of rule changes in service of double standards will change that. We were here first, and you better believe we'll still be here when this all blows over.

If you've ever frequented Twitter, you've probably come across something like this. It's what happens when someone with way too much free time and nothing better to do decides to start some drama by "calling out" someone else (usually someone who's relatively well known) over a supposed past offense that the poster thinks is deserving on Internet-wide attention. It can be done for a variety of reasons, whether it's a personal grudge, an ego trip, cancel culture, or some combination of all three, but the intention is always the same. The post (or thread) usually goes something like "X person is bad because I say so, therefore you must believe me or you're bad like X person too," oftentimes followed up with "so please send me and my mutuals some money on PayPal while you're at it." Basically it's a way to be a social justice warrior and feign victimhood while also using the whole thing as an opportunity to selfishly benefit from the attention that comes from mentioning someone who has more of a reputation.

Obviously, Twitter is full of these sorts of tweets, so deconstructing every single "call-out" post would be a fool's errand. However, they all have similar tactics, and my intention here is simply to show just how dishonest these tweet threads can be and how they work. Consider this journal something of a quick cancel culture deep dive.

In the example above, the "bad person" happens to be PeaceWolf, a former member of Tails and Tornadoes Fur Con and a part-time fursuit maker. She's gotten herself in a lot of hot water lately (mostly due to her openness about her political views), so she's an easy target, but fortunately for this journal, it also makes researching the claims made about her easy as well. As you can probably tell, nothing stated in the thread comes with any proof. It's just gossip.

The sexual assault story, for example, comes from one person on Twitter claiming to have been groped by someone else at Tails and Tornadoes Fur Con, but there are no details given other than that. That's because it was apparently more important to throw Peace under the bus by telling a story about supposedly being told by the con staff that a "free hugs" pin justified it while conveniently leaving out any hard proof. Who did the groping? Shouldn't that person be blamed rather than the con staff who weren't present until later on? Is there any video evidence? Were there any eyewitness accounts (aside from baseless "I was there" claims) to back up this story? Nope! None of that stuff matters. What matters is that PeaceWolf is a bad person and you should feel bad for supporting her. The other stuff is just to tug at your heartstrings and get you onboard with the idea of canceling Peace by making you outraged through a story that's most likely made up and has little to no connection to her outside of a "free hugs" pin she apparently mentioned at some point in time afterward. That's hardly justification.

But see, now that I'm doubting the story due to its lack of evidence, I look like I'm an evil monster who's defending sexual assault because that just so happened to be a subject that was brought up by the person making the "call-out" post. That's how it works. It's not about evidence, but rather how one can bring up as many sensitive subjects as possible in order to guilt people into believing whatever accusations put forth. After all, no one wants to be associated with sexual assault, right? Even if the only connection to PeaceWolf is that one remark about a "free hugs" pin (and that's only if we're assuming she even knew what the poster claimed to have experienced before, which she probably wouldn't have) after the sexual assaulting supposedly happened, it still frames you as a bad person for having doubts about the story's validity. That's how they get you.

Next up? PeaceWolf's "racism" with a story about her using racial slurs. What a horrible bigot! But wait, where's the evidence again? All that's shown in the thread is another "call-out" post by someone else claiming to have been called "colored" once (which isn't even a slur), but once again, there's nothing to back it up. It's just hearsay.

The only real "evidence" provided throughout the entire thread is the occasional screencap here and there of a few of her tweets from years ago taken out of context. It's easy to be manipulative with that kind of stuff. For example, Peace's posts in favor of self-defense against looters and rioters are easy to recontextualize by simply showing a picture of them while saying "This is what she thinks of black people." It's lying by omission. There is also the fact that she has denounced Black Lives Matter on multiple occasions, but that has more to do with the group's tactics and ideology than the color of people's skin. I'm not going to waste too much time with this, so let's keep going.

In the next part, PeaceWolf is unfairly lumped in with CaniLupine. That story is a whole other can of worms, but basically, to keep things brief, that person has gone under fire for making some tone deaf statements about transgender people recently. However, it's important to remember that PeaceWolf cut ties with CaniLupine years ago, so treating her as if she's still complicit when it comes to those statements made later on isn't a fair assessment. Plus, even at the time, Peace was only defending that person on the basis of not wanting to see people attack others for their Christian faith. It had nothing to do with "homo/transphobia" or anything else the thread in question brings up.

As a sidenote for those who may be wondering, PeaceWolf's "homophobia" accusations stem from another incident at Tails and Tornadoes Fur Con involving Tsebresos, who was a guest of honor at the time. To summarize, Tsebresos used to do SFW art commissions in the past, but after refusing to draw suggestive artwork of gay characters on the basis that she only draws platonic/SFW stuff (as laid out on her website), the commissioner, instead of simply taking "no" for an answer, decided to take to social media and falsely accuse Tsebresos of discriminating against gay people, leading to her being smeared as a "homophobe" over a complete non-issue. To make matters worse, the drama also resulted in the majority of people running Tails and Tornadoes Fur Con stripping her of her guest of honor title and publicly announcing it on Twitter, leading to a barrage of relentless cyberbullying that drove her to shut down almost all of her online accounts and abandon her YouTube channel out of shame. She's basically retired now, and it all could've been avoided if people had just done the slightest bit of research before blindly believing a baseless "call-out" post. The truth is that artists have rules for what they will and won't draw, and it's not unusual for a lot of them to stay away from NSFW content altogether if that's not something they want to be associated with. Basically, Tsebresos was canceled for not drawing NSFW content, which should tell you everything you need to know, but the Twitter thread in question deliberately leaves that important detail out in order to push a false narrative.

Going back to PeaceWolf, this is where the aforementioned thread about her ends. As you can probably tell, not a lot of effort went into "calling out" PeaceWolf herself. She's basically just getting the blame because a lot of the people around her have already been canceled, so she's basically considered guilty by association. What few grievances in the thread were specific to Peace weren't even very offensive and could easily have been simple misunderstandings (assuming they're not just made up altogether). To the people making these "call-out" tweets, however, it's not about finding actual problems to address, but rather about simply cobbling together anything that can be dug up to make a list full of intimidating grievances to demonize someone with for attention.

Another example of how inaccurate these "call-out" posts can be is this one, which paints SparkyCanDo in a negative light, so let's delve into that.

The "Trump supporter" accusation comes from a video posted back in 2019 in which she jokingly wore a MAGA hat while setting off fireworks to the Team America: World Police theme song on the 4th of July. Keep in mind that Sparky lives in New Zealand, so even on the off chance that she did view Donald Trump favorably at the time, there's no way she could've voted for him, so that accusation isn't even in the realm of possibility.

As for the "pro-life" part, I don't see how that's a problem, let alone a cancelable offense. She simply stated in a journal that she believes abortion to be unethical, and you know what? Good for her. She's allowed to have her opinions. She's hardly a fringe extremist for expressing her anti-abortion views, especially seeing as they're perfectly valid and reasonable, not to mention representative of roughly 50% of everyone (including me, by the way, in case my previous journal didn't make that clear enough already). If you personally have a problem with that, commission someone else. Don't go behind that person's back and resort to public shaming just for having a different opinion on a sensitive topic that doesn't affect you personally. That's just petty.

Speaking of which, let's now look at the "anti-LGBT" claim levied against Sparky, which originates from a rumor about her supposedly not taking commissions from gay people. Once again, this is another baseless accusation built purely on assumptions. While some of her older journals (which aren't even around anymore) implied that her Christian beliefs put her at odds with homosexuality, she never said anything about hating homosexual people or refusing to do business with them. That's as close as Sparky ever got to fitting any of the labels being thrown her way, and guess what? One look through her gallery shows that she does, in fact, take commissions from gay people despite that. Here's one example I found while looking for just a few minutes. As you can see, the whole "Sparky hates the gays" smear campaign was a total lie fabricated by a bunch of crybullies who couldn't take a silly "Murica" joke, and the the lengths to which these people went to try to paint her in a bad light, sometimes even deliberately baiting her into blocking them so that they could come up with supposed "evidence of her homophobia" and have something to complain about, show how ridiculous and exaggerated the claims put out by the people making these "call-out" posts can be.

No one in their right mind should be taking "call-out" posts seriously. Call the authorities if there's a real problem. Don't complain on social media. A bunch of strangers on Twitter aren't a reputable source.

As for how to stop this sort of stuff from spreading in the future, my advice would be to come prepared. Instead of regurgitating the same hateful nonsense that's trending from the most influential voices in this community, consider doing your own research. You'll quickly find that it's a lot harder to fall for the outrage these liars try to radicalize you with if you've got evidence to disprove it.

Today is a good day to be proud of my country. It may be controversial (unfortunately), but I think the Supreme Court made the right call this morning. Despite the disgusting attempts by the opposition to leak information and threaten the judges, the infamous decision to institutionalize abortion by exploiting a loophole through a misreading of the constitution has finally been overturned.

Why does this matter? It means Washington DC is no longer in charge of defining who gets to have the right to be born. When we're talking about unborn children (fetuses, "clumps of cells", or whatever you pro-choicers want to call them to help yourselves sleep at night), we're talking about independently-functioning beings made of human flesh with working brains. That, by definition should be allowed to be considered human life and entitled to the same rights as any child. When you look past the normalization our generation has been subjected to with decades of downplaying the severity of ending human life for the sake of personal convenience with nice-sounding euphemisms and dog whistles ("It's just women's healthcare, bro!"), you really start to see why abortion can be considered unethical by a lot of people like me and why it was wrong for the federal government to shut the discussion down with an unconstitutional ruling for so long.

I truly believe our grandchildren will look back at abortion the same way we've come to see lobotomy and slavery. Corrupt societies have always had a disturbing habit of coming up with cruel and unnatural ways to do away with "unwanted" people. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. Take a step back and realize what this means for not only the USA, but for the rest of the world as well. If you're still convinced that Roe v. Wade being overturned is somehow "taking away" human rights (as opposed to protecting the rights of the unborn), you're the one who's on the wrong side of history, not everyone else.

What else needs to be said?

This comic (made by SheepleSlave, by the way) is so accurate that it almost isn't even funny. I've had the unfortunate experience of encountering social justice warriors (like the one portrayed in the comic) at furry conventions in real life, and they really do behave like that. It's insufferable, but at least I know I'm not the only one who's speaking up about it, so it's always nice to see others pointing it out as well.

It's that time again, the time where all these websites pretend to care about the importance of voting just to virtue signal, and the latest site news journal is no exception, with FurAffinity's administration saying the following.

"With only 14 days left until Election Day, your friends at Fur Affinity want to remind you of not only the importance of being registered and ready to vote, but also being informed about the candidates running for office so that you can use your voice to make a difference here in the United States of America."

Seems innocent at first, but like always with these sorts of "get out and vote" PSAs, the political bias starts to show once you get past the grandstanding and start reading the lower text.

"Fur Affinity will continue to stand alongside people of color and support Black Lives Matter. This movement does not end on Election Day. We must push to get our voices heard."

The journal then goes on to feature a link to IMVU's BLM page as well as a Democrat campaign funding site, after which it reads:

"[W]e've been made aware that some do not believe or stand with the movement. [...] Rather than engage with these people, we encourage you to report them to us via Trouble Ticket."

Seriously? It's bad enough that the IMVU-run site administration can't even properly camelcase this website's name (It's called "FurAffinity" without a space, for crying out loud!), but now they're not only shoving USA politics down the throats of an international userbase, but also endorsing left wing political partisan organizations (not just mere "ideas") and telling other users to report anyone who criticizes them. I mean, if I'm being honest, I can't say I'm surprised, seeing as they've already been cracking down on non-leftist users for the past few years after the SJW mob demanded more censorship, but it really says something when the people running this site are now openly admitting it.

Gravity Gaming Lounge, a locally-owned business in Kenosha described by its owners as a fun place for locals to hang out and play a collection of video games, got ransacked and looted by rioters yesterday, leading to its indefinite closure. Basically, they've lost too much to reopen any time soon. However, fans have started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help them repay the damages (and hopefully rebuild). If you get the chance, consider pitching in and helping them out.

https://gf.me/u/yt3z72

Wow... Just wow.

Imagine being an active member on this site for over four years, only for some random loser on Twitter to whine about how what's on your profile isn't "woke" enough. What a hilariously petty thing to get upset about. Honestly, I'm not even mad. I'm just entertained.

"Woke" Twitter is a joke. The people there literally have nothing productive to do, so they just lie and virtue signal about how a stranger's FurAffinity page offends them (without even bothering to cover up the names, no less) for a few meaningless likes. What a miserable existence. There's a reason I'm not on social media sites. They're a waste of time.

For those who are wondering, all I did was try to talk some sense into  LWR after seeing how indoctrinated he had become since the last time I came across his profile. I guess my grown-up talk hurt his feelings, seeing as he's now tweeting at thin air because he apparently doesn't have the courage to simply respond to my message like a decent person.

Also, if you're reading this and actually are offended by the my opposition to radical groups like Antifa displayed on my profile, please refer to this.

Despite what a lot of people think, most furry artists are not self-sufficient on art commissions alone, meaning that the closures being caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have left a lot of artists you may be familiar with to deal with their primary means of income being shut down indefinitely.  RelaxableFur, for example, is basically living on the bare minimum right now because of what's been going on. Now is the time to show as much support for your favorite artists as you can to help them out during these hard times. If you commission someone, consider tipping. A lot of artists accept donations in the form of shinies as well, so if you get the chance, help them out that way if you have any spare change lying around. Otherwise, even doing something as simple as leaving a positive comment or two can help cheer them up and encourage them not to lose hope.

It seems like a lot of people in this fandom have become increasingly out of touch when it to what constitutes being a furry. I've noticed this popular sentiment going around that having a fursona is somehow equivalent to being transgender with tone deaf tweets like "Imagine being a transphobic furry. 'Stop pretending to be something you're not.' By the way, I'm a cute fox." as if there's some sort of ideological test you need to pass in order to truly be a furry. I think it should go without saying that fursonas are just silly fun. No one seriously thinks they're actually a fox in real life, for example, so comparing that to something like transgenderism is absurd and completely misses the point. It's just a false equivalency made solely for the purpose of moral grandstanding and painting anyone with different beliefs as not being "true furries" while giving a vocal minority of people who are out of touch with the greater community an excuse to pick and choose who they think are welcome. Frankly, it's dishonest and needs to stop.

There are no rules or requirements for being a furry. If you're someone who likes anthropomorphic animals and identifies as such, guess what? You're a furry. That's literally all there is to it. I know that sounds obvious, but a lot of people have apparently forgotten what it actually means to be a furry. It's even gotten to the point where even self-proclaimed furries on Twitter get it wrong, thinking that being queer or whatnot is some sort of requirement or something. That's not to say you can't be those things, as you can be any number of things and still be a furry. You could be Trump supporter for all I care. It doesn't matter. Those things aren't relevant and shouldn't determine whether or not you're allowed to be furry. I'm tired of these identity politics mind games. No, you don't need to feign minority status or have certain political views, nor should there be coordinated efforts (online or at cons) to cast out people you don't see eye to eye with. If more people would realize that, the furry fandom would be a much nicer place.

The past few years have been horrible for the furry fandom. There's no denying it. In 2019 alone, we've seen social justice warriors rally behind a convicted criminal while innocent people get doxed and have the police called on them, a non-profit dog charity get its funding cut over petty political drama, a well-meaning artist pressured out of being guest of honor at Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con for not accepting artwork commissions involving subjects outside her personal comfort zone, and last but not least, Midwest FurFest banning someone for simply being a controversial figure. I could keep going, but I think you get the idea. The furry fandom has been having a serious problem with double standards and bending the knee to political correctness for a while now, but as a new decade begins and a lot of people like myself head to Painted Desert Fur Con 2020 to start it on a high note, I'd like to talk about how I personally deal with hostility and how I think we as a community can help make a positive change and push things in the right direction, starting this year.

You see, I've heard from a lot of people in the furry fandom who have come to me saying they're tired of all the bullying and hostility they've had to deal with in the fandom due to being at odds with the "woke" crowd and want to know how I deal with it. The short answer is simple: I just stick to my principles and stay away from the troublemakers. The long answer is that I don't believe in letting gatekeepers, social justice warriors, and various bullies who use their popularity and political correctness as a tool to control and intimidate other people have the last laugh. I think part of the reason the stuff I mentioned earlier keeps happening is because not enough people are putting up a fight to stop it. Until we as a collective fandom start banding together to stop giving these bad eggs in the community our attention, time, and money simply because they're popular, they'll only continue to go unchallenged and make things worse for everyone. Right now, many of our conventions and websites are being overrun by these people, so for anyone wanting to know how to fight back, I'll be discussing a some strategies you can use to keep your cool in these sorts of situations, especially with all the SJW drama that's been going on recently.

First off, never let them see that they get to you. I know it can feel like you're being outnumbered, especially here on FurAffinity, but that's just their strategy of demoralizing us. They ban, block, and silence all they want in order to create the illusion of being in charge of things they have no control over. Real leaders lead by example, not by acting like insecure tyrants. Don't think for a moment that you're alone in this struggle because you're not. Believe me, I've talked to countless other people in this fandom, both in person and online, and the vast majority of them have had similar gripes with how things are being run by a select few leftists in charge, but are simply too afraid to publicly admit it, so don't let yourself think for a moment that you are alone. Besides, if we act like we're the minority, we're going to stay the minority. If you want things to change, make it your responsibility to challenge those people who seek to control us in every single way at every possible opportunity. If we don't speak up, people from outside the fandom will only continue to see us as the "degenerate SJW-ridden stain on the Internet" that we've been trying so hard to prevent from ruining our reputation.

Be the better person. While it may be tempting to join in on the mudslinging at times, it only serves to make you look guilty by giving people a legitimate reason not to trust you. Try instead to prove yourself as a trustworthy person by maintaining a clean record in spite of everything those naysayers throw at you. If you show gratitude and practice proper etiquette, people will notice it. Even if Dogpatch Press writes hit pieces on you and those socialist ideologues try to feign moral superiority, any unbiased onlooker will be able to clearly see you as the more reasonable person. Most non-furries I've talked to don't believe the sensationalist rhetoric about "Nazi furs dominating the fandom". They just see unhinged creeps like Deo posting cringey tweets about physically assaulting other people's fursonas and laugh it off. It may not look like it, but we are winning. There's a reason Democrats are on a downward spiral. They've been in panic mode ever since the 2016 election, and now it's starting to cost them in the voting booths. Most centrists saw leftists freaking out on one side while the conservatives stood their ground despite all the drama, so it's really no surprise that the majority of level-headed people voted the way they did (and I can guarantee the upcoming election this year will be no different, even despite all the cries for a "blue wave").

Don't let them control you. You have no obligation to bend a knee and simper to crybullies when they try to slander you with their phony accusations. More often than not, the only people who are really guilty of the things they complain about are the ones pointing fingers. This is especially true of the leftists. They're the ones who rallied behind the Confederate flag back in the Civil War, opposing the abolition of black slavery and pushing anti-American sentiment since the very beginning, which explains why they react to seeing the flag like a celebrity would upon discovering embarrassing photos. They're the same people who will sing socialism's praises until it sabotages entire nations (like Venezuela), then pretend it was those pesky "fascists" that did it. It doesn't matter how hard you try to play into their identity politics-oriented mindset. They'll look for any excuse they can to ostracize you regardless of how many marginalized groups you are a part of, whether it's attacking women for not being feminist enough, racial minority people not endorsing the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter and La Raza, gay artists like Roarey Raccon here on FurAffinity not pandering to their "progressive" views on sexuality, or an autistic person like me receiving threats of violence at Arizona Fur Con for not buying into their "safe space" mentality (which is really just a manifestation of bigotry of low expectations towards the disabled). The inconvenient truth about these people is that they've always been tyrants, racists, sexists, ableists, and delusional bigots. They just don't want to admit it, hence why they always look for ways to deflect blame. When these people virtue signal about "punching Nazis" and "opposing fascism", claiming to be exposing "extremist recruiters within the fandom with racist and sexist motivations", all they're really doing is confessing their own crimes and pinning the blame on you by calling you those things. Don't let them hang their crimes on you. They're just spouting hypocritical lies in a last-ditch effort to excuse their own reprehensible actions, biased attitudes, and blatant willingness to destroy the reputation of anyone who differs from them for their own selfish goals. You owe them nothing. As a person with an inalienable right to a platform and a voice, you have the moral obligation to call these people out and lay their hypocrisy out for what it is. Don't let them think for even one second that they've won.

Be unapologetic (but not obnoxious). Let your voice be heard and don't ever shut up. The moment you stop talking is the moment you've let the speech police win, so don't give them that luxury. They can gloat about deplatforming all they want, but unless you give in to their demands, they'll never truly be successful. I recently said something similar to Roarey Raccoon a while back after SJWs tried to kick him while he was down. Since then, he's doubled down on his haters and has become their worst nightmare. Now we're seeing Kothorix starting to go through the same ordeal. Staying silent is exactly what control freaks like Patch and Deo want, so don't give it to them. Don't let a few minor losses distract you from the greater picture. Being thrown on a few block lists is nothing compared to the audience you'll gain when you're honest and have the courage to speak up. 2 Gryphon is another perfect example of this. His comedy was too politically incorrect for AnthroCon, so the SJWs in charge kicked him out, only for the subsequent controversy to snowball his popularity to the point of becoming a fandom-wide icon. 2 Gryphon might not be performing at AnthroCon anymore, but the influence he has is now far greater (especially on YouTube), much to the leftists' undoing. Why else do you think they're so busy trying to throw him under the bus? Like I said earlier, they're becoming desperate because they know they can't hide their own insecurities forever, and they're getting exposed now more than ever, which brings me to my last point.

Do everything in your power to make a change. Vote with your wallet by doing business with artists you trust who could use a leg up, supporting content creators on YouTube who don't pander to political correctness and censorship, and doing your own research about the people in charge before forking out your hard-earned cash to attend a con that might be overrun by SJW zealots (which I unfortunately forgot to do when I attended Arizona Fur Con back in 2017, which ended horribly, but at least it lead to me discovering Painted Desert Fur Con, which is run far more competently). If it means boycotting AnthroCon and MidWest FurFest, do it. If there are no alternatives, start your own equivalent to compete against them. Start small by getting your name out there and maybe running a local furry meetup or whatnot to work your way up until you're a serious force to be reckoned with. Furries who are on the fence about which artists to support or what conventions they feel safe attending will show up and back you with their buying power if you can deliver. Besides, people like Pepper Coyote have already made it clear that they don't want to do business with you anyway, so why even bother giving them your money? They already openly hate free market capitalism and want to go broke under socialism, so you might as well just give them a taste of their own medicine. Vote literally with your pen at the polling centers when the opportunity arises. Nothing deals a more devastating blow to the leftists than getting voted out both financially and politically, so don't hold back. Assuming you live in the United States like I do, you have a chance to vote in the upcoming 2020 election, which is an opportunity you should not take for granted. Your vote alone is enough to completely counter that of someone like Pepper Coyote, so if you're registered to vote (which, honestly, you have no excuse not to be), get out there and be the change you want to see.

I know I'll be doing everything I can to make things better for all of us, so don't let yourself feel discouraged simply because a few haters out there want to shame you for who you are and what you stand for. I hope this helps you out. Let's help make the 2020s the decade where we all band together to finally put the furry fandom back on track and kick PC culture out.

If anyone reading this hasn't heard about the FTC's new proposed COPPA restrictions going into effect next month, here's the deal: COPPA is basically a set of rules that restricts people from monetizing online content that may appear to be for children at first glance. If implemented in their current iteration, the COPPA restrictions would be devastating for anyone who gets ad revenue from content featuring toys and animated characters or anything deemed "for children" by the FTC. This would most likely include cartoon animals and other furry characters, especially if we're talking about My Little Pony, Zootopia, and so on. If kids might see it, the FTC wants it demonetized.

Right now, they've got place on their website where you can send them your concerns anynomously and hopefully convince them to revise the rules before it's too late. I'm bringing this up now because today is the last day to let the FTC know how the COPPA restrictions will harm countless online content creators (especially those in the furry fandom) if implemented in their current form. Just send them a comment (politely, of course) explaining how children's online safety is the parents' responsibility, not the FTC's, and how people's incomes are at stake. Don't let the Internet fall victim to the same fate as syndicated television. Speak up while you still can.

Here's the link: https://www.regulations.gov/comment.....2019-0054-0001

 RoareyRaccoon just got suspended for "disparaging the mentally disabled", which is odd, seeing as nothing he's posted falls under that category. I'm assuming this has something to do with the image about what classifies as racism he posted earlier today. That image was taken down just a few hours after it was initially posted. No warning or anything. I guess that's how FurAffinity is run these days. I would tell everyone viewing this to send him a tip showing your support and help him through his recent financial struggles, but his shinies have also been removed, so I guess he's just at the mercy of the mods. Here's hoping it's not permanent.

While this was going on, CobaltDawg, someone who's been a part of this community for over a decade, has threatened to leave after putting up with trolls, SJWs, and faulty site administration, the latter of which resulted in an out-of-nowhere year-long ban that was never explained. After finally getting his FurAffinity account back, he's become very disenfranchised with the furry fandom and claims he's had enough in his latest journal. If you appreciate what people like him have been doing, I'd encourage all of you to give him some much-needed encouragement before it's too late.

For those who don't know, Painted Desert Fur Con took place a week ago and I had plenty of fun when I attended it over the weekend. I took plenty of photos and videos (including a recording of the entire fursuit march which can be seen on my YouTube channel), met plenty of nice people, and bought a lot of merchandise. In addition to that, I was also pleasantly surprised with how well it was managed, especially in terms of how the con staff and volunteers kept things running smoothly and made sure certain more problematic people were kept in check by actually enforcing a set of guidelines to follow, which, after what went down at Arizona Fur Con recently with all the drama that went unchecked, is certainly appreciated. All in all, I'd definitely recommend Painted Desert Fur Con to anyone looking for a well-maintained furry convention run by actual furries in the southwestern United States. I know I'll be coming back next year.

A while back, I posed a journal bringing attention to the ways in which certain people on this site abuse the block list feature in order to harass others. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for it to get falsely flagged. For whatever reason, it got taken down for supposedly "promoting harassment", despite the fact that I was condemning such behavior, not endorsing it. Now before anyone here asks, no, I never threatened anyone or leaked any personal information, so I don't see a logical reason for why I received a warning and had my journal deleted.

When I tried to notify the staff of this mistake, I got no response for the remainder of the year. It wasn't until just this morning, six months later, that they finally pretended to do anything about it with the following response:

"I have reviewed the content that was removed and determined that you have been penalized appropriately for violating Fur Affinity's community guidelines.

Because of this, no further action will be taken at this time."

Where do I even begin? First off, I highly doubt they even saw the journal in question, seeing as it was deleted seemingly at random not long after it was posted six months ago. Secondly, unless they can provide me with actual evidence of my supposed misconduct, I have no reason to believe any community guidelines were violated to begin with. Any human being with a brain can see that I didn't harass anyone, so there's no reason why I deserve to be penalized in any way. Honestly, stuff like this is why people like CobaltDawg and SmartWhitefang get their content taken down for no reason and nothing is ever done about it. All I'm asking for is for them to fix a simple slip up, but instead, I just get a seemingly automated response half a year late telling me they've done nothing about the journal being deleted. In fact, I honestly wouldn't even be surprised if this journal gets taken down as well. The amount of laziness displayed by this site's administration never fails to amaze me.

After a lot of consideration, I've finally decided to join Reddit. My only regret is that I didn't join sooner, seeing how prolific the community is there.

https://www.reddit.com/user/dolphanatic

Arizona Fur Con was a ton of fun. The panels and merchandise were great and I got to meet a lot of nice people. I also got a lot of compliments on my Zootopia cosplay, which is pretty awesome considering it was my first time putting together a costume that ambitious.