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The Effervescent Shitshow by SSL

(This is taken from the original at https://furrypile.co.uk/threads/the.....-lead-up.1469/ . Be advised if you see (here) like that, I had a link to something pertaining to the topic at hand in that spot. You can still get the gist of what is going on without the links)

The title alone should tell you what's coming, and I'll say straight off the bat, you're gonna be reading for a long while. There has been a major storm of drama affecting some very high ranking pieces of the furry fandom that many furs may not know about. Well, after reading this, it is my hope you'll be well informed of what is going on, as well as know where I, SSL, stand on the issue.

Many of you wonder why I'm giving this thread such a name. What does Effervescent even mean? Old time latin used the term to mean, "boiling up," but it can also mean vivacious or enthusiastic. (Credit to Google for the definition and origin). That's an odd term to put up next to the word, shitshow, SSL. Why did you use it? You'll see.

But in order for you to see, You have to know what is going on. Strap in and hang on tight.

This whole mess started from a short twitter squabble (seen here) between users Artdecade, Deo, Oliviameles, and DreamerHyena. Art Decade accused the group Furry Raiders of being Nazis. Deo responds by saying she cannot wait to, "punch these nazis." Olivia responds to that saying that she believed that watching Deo get shot for unprovoked assault would be far more entertaining. Dreamer Hyena interjects, "sure hope you're not planning on bringing a gun to the con." Olivia responds, "sure hope you're not planning on attacking innocent folks. I stand for legal concealed carry." Dreamer Hyena responds that the con (Rocky Mountain Furcon) does not allow CCP in the hotel.

So we effectively have a threat to the con now, but I want to focus on something else first. The Furry Raiders. Who are these guys, and why are they being called Nazi's? The short answer is the arm band that many of their members wear containing a white circle, black paw, surrounded by all red (you can see it here). Many other furs believe this represents the Nazi arm band (seen here for comparison).

First glance, I can see why they believe that. They certainly do look very similar, and the name of the group, furry raiders, doesn't help that situation any. But I'm willing to look past this. Who actually are the furry raiders? Are they really Nazi's?

A short look at their Twitter, Wikifur, and their own website doesn't really seem to give any details as to whether they are in fact nazis or not. While it does seem they enjoy the idea of trolling via that term, it's unclear whether or not this is the case. The issue got large enough that the major magazine Rolling Stone even published a feature article on the subject matter. However, it seems obvious that the group's leader, Foxler Nightfire (twitter seen here) is definitely a member of the so called, alt-right of the political spectrum.

The issue was brought to Denver police, who deemed that there was a credible threat to Rocky Mountain Furcon. As a result, the hotel the con was to be staying in delivered an ultimatum to the con staff. Pay up for independent security or you cannot have your con here. The amount for that security? $22,000. That's a lot of money, but furries have raised that much before right? FWA just earlier this month raised a grand total of $35,000 for their charity.

But this was just the final nail in the coffin for RMFC. A con that had been plagued with issues stemming from the CEO and a 25 year old sex conviction, to a tax issue that lead to the con having to pay thousands in back taxes, to the disastrous cease and desist letter sent to Deo, and now this... The con simply did not have the money to pay for that, and folded for 2017. The Nazi punching twitter comments that had seemed like so little at the time, had brought down a relatively well know convention.

Had it all stopped there, maybe this wouldn't have caused too much of a stir. Sure the furry raiders were still being accused of Nazis and Deo was in fear of being sued, (not to mention the Con chair's possible ties to Sovereign citizen) but that should have been the end of it.

Or should it have been?

Cause it most certainly wasn't. This was only just the beginning.

Furry comedian and youtuber, 2 the Ranting Gryphon, picked up on all of this as it was occurring. (2's video on the Furry Raiders) (2's video on the folding of RMFC). 2 is a figurehead of the fandom. He's one of Uncle Kage's best friends. He's well known for his more aggressive style of comedy, influenced heavily by one George Carlin.

2 argued that Deo was in the wrong, stating that, "you can't just go up and punch someone just because you think they're a nazi."

That argument quickly got him trouble as his defense of free speech quickly became what others saw as defense of Nazis. In turn, 2 came under heavy fire for simply saying that it was wrong to assault people you don't agree with politically. 2, known for saying some crazy batshit things, could have easily whethered this, but his words would soon have dire consequences.

Word came out earlier in April that Anthrocon, the world's largest furry convention held in Pittsburgh, PA, was removing all acts that involved 2 gryphon from the schedule and that he would not be allowed on any stage at Anthrocon. When pressed as to why this was, AsheValisca, director of Programming at AC, responded,

"We originally withheld this information as a professional curtesy to 2, but with the ongoing debate, it has become pertant to make public. Programming has reviewed the overall attendance of 2's shows over the past several years. Based on this data we have decided to remove him from the main stage in order to offer more popular programming that requires the more substantial space. Given the continual reduction in attendance over the past several years at his shows I have decided that it would not be an effective use of programming space given other events that are currently planned for the convention. "

That seems simple right? The attendance at his shows is going down and we decided to have other things. On the surface, yeah, that's a reasonable answer..... but have a look at this. (2 Gryphon AC 2016, 2 Gryphon AC 2015). Just by listening to these videos, we can tell there is a large crowd. 2 Gryphon claimed that each of his shows there garnered nearly a thousand attendees at the main stage. Whether or not that is true, is hard to say...

The main issue remains this. 2 gryphon, even at the beginning before all of this happened, was only scheduled for 2 events. Even more interesting? NONE OF THESE EVENTS WAS HIS OWN SHOW. 1 was the charity auction, the other was a mix of him and Uncle Kage. Ashe's response that the idea to open up more space for other events to happen is a lie based on this very fact. It's completely bullshit, since both of these other shows.... are still on the schedule.

And besides, even IF 2 Gryphon's overall attendance was going down, he still attracts a large crowd. Put him on a smaller stage. It's not like Anthrocon doesn't have enough of them.

But no. They removed him completely. And here is where we get to the real meat of this thread.
Why did anthrocon remove 2 gryphon? What was the -REAL- reason?

Simply put? The Board members WANTED HIM GONE. That's it. Simple as that. SSL, you cannot possibly back that up. oooooo, but I can.

You it starts with this guy, Xydexx Unicorn. This is Anthrocon's Publications Director. Why is that important? I'm glad you asked. Xydexx and 2 Gryphon have a long history together. And it's not good. Xydexx has time and time again attacked 2 for his political beliefs on twitter (full list seen here). Therefore, to me at least, it seems like a massive conflict of interest for Xydexx to be able to make any decision whatsoever on whether or not 2 is allowed to perform on stage or not. However, we know for certain that he had it out for 2 gryphon... and it seems likely he wasn't alone in the board for that matter, as obvious by the fact that the board overruled Kage in this manner of 2 performing or not.

With that in mind, it can, quite safely I might add, assumed that the board simply wanted 2 gone. And when they saw they had the opportunity to do so, they took action. You can view 2 gryphon's responses here and here.

So now, not only has Rocky Mountain FurCon collapsed, but now Anthrocon has moved to remove a figurehead of the fandom from their stages and all of this resulted from a single twitter squabble... Pretty sad huh?

I wouldn't have a problem with Anthrocon removing 2 from their stage provided they actually told everyone why they did it to begin with. Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with 2 the Ranting Gryphon and what he says, how this all went down with Anthrcon was just plain wrong. He was treated terribly by the convention and his fans were treated terribly by the convention. They didn't even plan to release any of this information to begin with. They planned to keep this silent until someone burst their bubble and called them out for it. Then they came up with this bullshit reason as to why when the real reason was they just didn't like him and wanted him gone. Even Kothorix on youtube spoke of this incident, you can see his response here. You can also view an interesting piece from a non furry perspective here.

There's a serious issue beginning to creep into the fandom that I have not ever seen before. The identity politics that has plagued US society over the last few years is creeping into the fandom. On the left, SJWS, and the so called Alt-right on the...well.. right... Furry Raiders, I'm looking at you as I believe this is where they fall.

This divide in politics has created a dramatic showdown, the so called Effervescent shitstorm that this thread is named. I call it this because both sides enthusiastically leap into the fray and are happy to drag the other side through the dirt and proclaim themselves the victors. News flash to both of you dumb fucks in this fight, everyone loses in the end.

You see, all of the press that comes out of this, while some might call good.. after all, any press is good press, signals that the furry fandom is not immune to the trials and tribulations of outside society. Meaning, we are still human, whether we want to be half animal or not. In this way, both sides have turned their backs on the very thing that made furry what it was supposed to be, all inclusive. Furry is supposed to be a place where people can throw aside their differences and come together and just have fun for a while. To not be so serious and to just enjoy being furs. How in the hell have we managed to fuck that up?

Instead, we have created this drama laiden news story that flashes across the screen brighter than a star going supernova. Everywhere you look on twitter now, it's one gigantic flame war after another. You said this, therefore I hate you. I want to punch you, well I want to shoot you. Fuck you, you're blocked...

That's not furry. That's not the furry fandom. That's not why I joined, and that's not what anyone signed up for. We have let the outside world corrupt us to the point where it has broken into the very thing we swore it never would. Our own hatred for everything we disagree with is fast burning everything down. What happened to having an open mind? What happened to not reacting to the very first thing you see? What happened to really being all inclusive? What happened to judging a book, not by it's cover, but by it's contents and it's character? 140 words on twitter is not contents and character. At best it's a preface. And yet, that's all we need to see. And we think we know everything there is to know about someone based on our own judgments, our own assumptions, and our own philosophical theory. Do you ever take into account what someone else might be thinking? What they might have grown up with? Their position in life? Or can you not see past your own little smidgen of time and space?

The thing I'd like most to tell these people, 1, shut the fuck up. 2. Grow the fuck up. These people are supposed to be leaders of our fandom, and yet they're acting like children. That's beyond ridiculous. It's utter insanity. Have any of them asked how they got to the point that they are at? You disagree with me on one issue, therefore I hate you, and everything you stand for. I will vilify and ridicule you until you lay at my feet. Is that not a horrendous line of thinking? And yet, That's exactly what I'm seeing. That's exactly what I'm seeing. From everyone. All sides. It's like there's no middle ground anymore.

My personality type places me as a mediator. I try to see the best of both sides, but how can I do that when all each side shows me is their worst? That's a terrible thing. Have we learned nothing from the past? Since when did all inclusive turn into all inclusive who think like I do, the rest be damned? And you can't fucking reason with anybody either. Try to do so with some of the people listed above and see how long it takes for you to get called an SJW or a nazi, just because you don't immediately agree with their side. Am I the only one who thinks there's a problem with this?

You see, I think all of this, this entire post... comes back to a single long standing issue. We're not willing to see eye-to-eye. We're not willing to compromise. We want things our way or the damn highway. And if there is a god, help us if we don't agree with somebody. That's crazy. What we're seeing now is just this issue rearing it's massive ugly head. And yet, nobody is targeting the central cause. I've thought about this for weeks now, and this is the conclusion I've arrived at. If we don't change this now, the fandom will continue to divide. Soon there will be a Left Furry fandom, and right furry fandom. A bit of a shame really considering that the original idea of furry fandom was to welcome everyone and anyone to it... regardless of how you believed or felt. We all had one unifying trait... we loved to be ourselves, our characters. We loved being furs. We loved anthropomorphics. That's why we all came here. We have lost the ability to see what made us want to be furs to begin with. My friends, that's a tragedy. We cannot continue like this much longer. In the fandom, or outside of it. The rewards of our ways will soon be upon us, and I fear what will come on that day.

Stop it, before it gets here. Reason. Remember why we became furs. Stop seeing someone as our enemy, and instead, try to figure out why they think like they do. It's that simple. Is it easy? No. It's not... but we are all humans. Each of you reading this is my fellow man or woman. Let's stop this effervescent shitshow.

Respectfully,
~SSL

The Effervescent Shitshow

SSL

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