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An independent and alternative review of the new FFA convention

Edited by Sonious as of 11:36
Your rating: None Average: 2.7 (42 votes)

As I've been browsing Twitter recently, scrolling through various news about the fandom, I came across this QRT (quote retweet for the less savvy) talking about a new con and how it was going to fail right out of the gate. Being the curious investigator I am, I decided to look at the original post from an organization calling themselves AWOO or Anthro West Open Organization. From what I saw, I was saddened by the number of my fellow furs calling for death to the con, or wish harm to those that would hold it, especially since we used to be such a loving fandom. I kept reading more into the reasons why people both hated, and loved this con or the idea of it (whichever it is, we'll know for certain soon enough).

Evaluating the Cons against the Con

I decided to break this review up into two parts, the cons and the reasons for the con. Let's talk about some of the reasons people are against the con.

Rumor 1: The con is run by PeaceWolf, an alt-right, neo-nazi, white supremacy, Christian woman!

This was the most prominent rumor I had seen on Twitter or a variation that goes something along the lines of the con being aligned with the alt-right, neo-nazis, etc. After some digging, all I can find are alleged rumors that PeaceWolf is running the con, and even if she is (I did some more digging into her twitters I could find) I don't think that will be an issue as she is certainly not the neo-nazi, alt-right, white supremacist people are making her out to be. From what I can see, she has sad some hurtful things about various topics like Transgender people only having that label for the benefit, but her view is not an "abnormal" or "out of this world" opinion that's "inhuman". In fact, that viewpoint can logically be described as valid humanity. By that I mean that humans will always align themselves with something they think they can get the most benefit from. At the time she posted that tweet, I have no doubt but that there were quite a few doing that just to curry favor with others. On the flip side, it can also be viewed as an attack on those that actually have had to hide in the closet like myself, away from their families, friends, loved ones, so on so forth; but overall, was just an opinion and not a threat thus should be treated as if it was just one person's opinion, not someone holding a gun to your head. We are humans and won't get along or agree on everything, but we can agree to disagree while still being humane in our disagreements.

Verdict on Rumor 1

Having failed to find anything to verify independently or through the AWOO website who the leaders are, this stands as just a rumor and nothing more. Until AWOO or FFA definitively say who or reveal who their leaders/management is, this rumor remains unverified and just a rumor of social media circles.

Rumor 2: Pedophiles, Zoophiles, Sexual Assault people and others accused of henious crimes will be allowed at the con!

Now this one I was able to get a bit of information on not via AWOO, but through various other sources I know. AWOO being non-political and non-controversial once had Cani Lupine (an alleged zoophile, I cannot verify the legitimacy of these claims at the current time) as an attendee who would show up at the con. Since the announcement of FFA and the statement from the AWOO organization on being anti-political, Cani has withdrawn support of the con (though various other sources say that his fiance or girlfriend - we are unsure which it is - is still part of AWOO and may attend the con or be helping out, though these claims have yet to be validated). Since Cani has withdrawn support of the con, I am sure that various other figures like Growly (who has a verified history of jailtime for various charges), Magnus (various charges in various states), and others will get the picture that if they have a police history and or are political, they will be escorted from the con.

Verdict on Rumor 2

Having done the research on this rumor I'm more excited to see this con take off now. I'm very much a skeptic on any new con that shows up, but I have been very happy to read up that this rumor is utterly false and that those convicts will be removed from the con.

Rumor 3: This con was created to spite another Tulsa con known as TTFC!

This one I can actually speak on a bit more personally knowing some of the people involved in starting TTFC. TTFC was the brain child of the admins of a now defunct Telegram group called Tulsa Area Furs or TAF. The head of TAF at the time was Doitsu. Various admins from their group included May Opossum, Ace Shep, PeaceWolf, Rae (Koori Kitty's Wife), Koori Kitty, Nocty, and Rowdy. TAF was a splinter group of the Oklahoma Furs that was not directly under control of the state organization, but rather was modeled off the state organization and run independently sharing various information between the two organizations. TAF had decided that it had been too long since Oklahoma had a dedicated hotel-based furcon and decided to start up TTFC. When TTFC was founded, the con chair was PeaceWolf; Nocty was vice chair; Koori was head of the Board of Directors; Rae (Koori's Wife) was the secretary; Ace in charge of Photography; and Doitsu in charge of Security.

For various reasons, this board changed before the first con resulting in a mess of leadership that still produced an amazing first con. Having seen how amazing the first con was and ready to register for the second con, I was slammed with bad news from TTFC that made me rethink my plans to register and attend. The board had apparently gotten into an argument over their GOHs stating that one of them was too "homophobic" inspite of this GOH redacting her statement publicly and drawing homosexual artwork. This lead to the HR lead, Con Chair, and a few other leads, members, staff, ect leaving TTFC completely before the con. Thankfully for TTFC, they were saved from having to worry about finding new GOHs or organizing hurriedly again by COVID. The reason given by the board to an insider for picking the GOHs they did this year was "we need the popularity of the GOHs to help bring in the people otherwise we won't survive."

This surprised me to hear this because a GOH should - in my opinion - never be chosen based on their popularity and the number of people they will bring in, but rather be chosen for their deeds and personality and how they affect the people around them. To me choosing a GOH just for their popularity is shameful and unbecoming of a con and led me to decide not to attend TTFC when it ran this year.

As for the rumor, if it was created to spite the con (of which the only "evidence" is that they're using the same hotel and announced it a week before TTFC) then let them spite the con. However, I have a feeling that FFA was not created to hurt TTFC or the Oklahoma Furs, but rather help them regain an image they've lost.

Verdict on Rumor 3?

While not confirmed, I cannot deny that the con was created for spiteful purposes, though I have a gut feeling it wasn't. As such, I cannot say if this rumor is true or false.

Edit to Rumor 3: At the time this article was written (9/10/21), the hotel was still the same Marriott Hotel in Tulsa that TTFC was using. As of 9/14/21 at approximately 10:30 PM, AWOO made a public statement about the loss of the Marriott hotel but also of the continuation of Free Fur All through means of another venue.

Rumor 4: The Con Staff are hateful and have sent violent threats towards people!

I have run across tweets stating that one of the supposed staff members named "KKKlyde" is threatening people's lives and spewing hateful rhetoric. There have also been other various accounts that have popped up and have since been deleted or locked down doing similar. I was able to verify via a public statement made on both Telegram and Twitter last night that these people are not part of the organization, and - based on the response - are not welcome at the organization or convention.

Verdict on Rumor 4:

While I was happy to hear that they don't support hate or threats of any kind and that these people are imposters trying to damage the organization, I was left feeling sort of out and curious why they didn't address it earlier before it became a big issue for their organization.

The Reasons to Have the Con

Now let's talk about why the con may succeed over its competitors and critiques.

Reason 1: Apolitical con

AWOO remains firm that FFA will stand apolitical and not support any political candidates or topics. The trend from various cons over the past five to ten years has to been to trend towards being supportive of certain political topics or candidates. Whether for sincere reasons or just to hop on the bandwagon is speculation, but has happened and has had a negative impact on furcons over the years. Looking solely at the QRTs from the FFA announcement, I'd say that an apolitical con would be a very welcome sight in the fandom in this day and age. It seems that the "majority" is not actually the majority and is rather the minority with a god-like complex that they use to belittle people who don't agree with them. As such, I will hold back going to the first edition of the con until I have reports from inside as to how the con was run, but I will continue to look hopefully towards this new con being a beacon in the American Furry Fandom.

Reason 2: They aren't replying to social media posts

AWOO nor FFA have posted anything online that I have been able to see or confirm in response to rumors, or comments whether positive or negative. The only thing that I have seen is some of the people who RT/QRTed the announcement of FFA getting a reply from random people including the alleged leader PeaceWolf saying they couldn't wait to see them there.

This is good on the con's and organization's part because they aren't allowing themselves to be swayed by rumors or get riled over things and let others win. Cons on social media have a bad tendency to throw in the towel and make a statement on "such and such" issue when they really just should be quiet and let things go away. It's the reason the Oklahoma Furs have gained such a negative viewing in other states like Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia just to name a few. When you are worried about your image, you will damage your image. This con doesn't seem to be worried about their image other than what they've already said on their website and social media, and as such won't budge from the "staying silent" option. I believe this will help AWOO and FFA in the long run.

Reason 3: You have to apply to be part of AWOO

This was perhaps the most interesting one to me yet. We all know how private clubs are "pay to enter", but have you ever seen an organization in a hobby where it's free to join, but they run checks on you? AWOO has a form to submit that looks similar to a background check form you may fill out for an employer. While I have never seen this, it does make me think about how much easier it'd be to hold people accountable for their actions if you have their real life names and addresses. In my opinion, this is a good step in the right direction for the fandom.

Summary

To summarize, I am trying not to get my hopes up about FFA, but it seems like the con will have an amazing first year, especially since they were so ready to go on announcement day. Just checking their slightly bugged website, we were able to find various information about FFA and forms to fill out as well as how to apply to go to FFA as a con-goer or a dealer/artist. Again, I won't go the first year, but I am hopeful for this con to set the stage for other cons to follow.

Comments

Your rating: None Average: 4.4 (5 votes)

As one of the people who had to edit this piece, I will denote that I will be not commenting on these for at least a week to give the readers to read it and say their thoughts without my interference.

That and I'm a bit tired so, have fun guys.

Your rating: None Average: 2.7 (10 votes)

Thank you for all your edit help~ I wasn't familiar with the code needed to get things cited or linked, so you helped out a lot.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 3.2 (11 votes)

this article is a garbage fire of right-wing disinformation and should be pulled. it lacks any journalistic integrity.

the second top search on google for "anthro west open organization" is the bizpedia page which lists peacewolf as one of three incorporators for the nonprofit entity. this was also already covered by another news outlet here. capps also shows that peacewolf did a video with the neonazi furry raiders in june of 2021.

"i have failed to find something, therefore it isn't true" fails to meet the most basic of journalistic standards. it even fails to meet a 5th-grade 1-page essay standard. the fact that this article made it to publication shows a grave error on the part of anyone who had a hand editing this piece.

[This comment was originally hidden due to the word 'essay' triggering the spam filter, and so is duplicated with replies below. --GR]

Your rating: None Average: 2.4 (8 votes)

I will double my reply from below since you decided to double your comment:

Funny you link Bizapedia. Let's look at their BBB reviews shall we? Doesn't look like they're a very good website to use if they're just going to copy and paste one response to every complaint they get. Let's not even talk about the ratings I could find on them... Yeesh... That was a disaster...

Also, let's talk about "WeGotThisCovered"... Pulled from their own tags, they are supposedly a "Movie News, Gaming News, Blu-Ray News, Music News, and TV News" website and their public ratings on review sites vary from 3 stars or lower (my threshold is normally about 3.5 or higher for trustworthiness). First of all... Nothing in the furry fandom right now is "news worthy", so for an article to be written by them based on rumors and biased feelings (yes, that's how the article read to me and quite a few editors I asked that work at various actual news agencies like CBS and the AP) just shows they're not a reliable source of information. Second of all, you call it right-wing disinformation, but I don't remember saying anything right-wing? I quite clearly point out that I'm LGBT and thus not a right-wing person, so I'm sorry that you think this is a "right-wing disinformation" when it really is independently written. I will do my best to try to make it as independent as I can so I get hate from both sides. That's something I was taught. "If you aren't making enemies on both sides, you aren't doing it right."

Now granted, I did make a few stretches in this article I probably shouldn't have while I was keeping this as unbiased and neutral as possible (even my editor friends at CBS and the AP said so). However, we all make mistakes (we are human so it is natural) and we can improve upon our mistakes in the future. Thank you for your review and I will try to do better in the future where I can.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (5 votes)

@The Anonymous Inari wrote: "she has sad some hurtful things"

Did you mean "said some hurtful things"?

Your rating: None Average: 3 (5 votes)

Yes. I thought I edited that part cause I noticed it earlier... I'm sorry about that.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 2.5 (23 votes)

This article is right-wing disinformation and should be pulled. It lacks any journalistic integrity.

The second top search on Google for "Anthro West Open Organization" lists Peacewolf as one of three incorporators for the nonprofit entity. This was also already covered by another news outlet here. Capps also shows that Peacewolf did a video with the neonazi furry raiders in June of 2021.

"I have failed to find something, therefore it isn't true" fails to meet the most basic of journalistic standards. The fact that this article made it to publication shows a grave error on the part of anyone who had a hand editing this piece.

Your rating: None Average: 2.8 (13 votes)

Funny you link Bizapedia. Let's look at their BBB reviews shall we? Doesn't look like they're a very good website to use if they're just going to copy and paste one response to every complaint they get. Let's not even talk about the ratings I could find on them... Yeesh... That was a disaster...

Also, let's talk about "WeGotThisCovered"... Pulled from their own tags, they are supposedly a "Movie News, Gaming News, Blu-Ray News, Music News, and TV News" website and their public ratings on review sites vary from 3 stars or lower (my threshold is normally about 3.5 or higher for trustworthiness). First of all... Nothing in the furry fandom right now is "news worthy", so for an article to be written by them based on rumors and biased feelings (yes, that's how the article read to me and quite a few editors I asked that work at various actual news agencies like CBS and the AP) just shows they're not a reliable source of information. Second of all, you call it right-wing disinformation, but I don't remember saying anything right-wing? I quite clearly point out that I'm LGBT and thus not a right-wing person, so I'm sorry that you think this is a "right-wing disinformation" when it really is independently written. I will do my best to try to make it as independent as I can so I get hate from both sides. That's something I was taught. "If you aren't making enemies on both sides, you aren't doing it right."

Now granted, I did make a few stretches in this article I probably shouldn't have while I was keeping this as unbiased and neutral as possible (even my editor friends at CBS and the AP said so). However, we all make mistakes (we are human so it is natural) and we can improve upon our mistakes in the future. Thank you for your review and I will try to do better in the future where I can.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1.7 (11 votes)

Furry raiders aren't neonazis you silly wanker.

Your rating: None Average: 2.6 (15 votes)

Your rating: None Average: 2.4 (12 votes)

Nazi and fascist aren't the same thing. And at this point everyone who is for freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom to believe whatever you want, is a fascist, which is super ironic XD

Your rating: None Average: 2.8 (11 votes)

Your rating: None Average: 3.1 (16 votes)

Yeah, pretty funny the people who want to beat up and send death threats to anyone who doesn't think like them are calling others fascists.

Your rating: None Average: 2.7 (13 votes)

This either needs the context to the entire thing posted with this or needs to be removed because there isn't any integrity to give context as to why they said that. Was it an inside joke? Was it serious? We can't tell because there is nothing else given to us in this screen shot you sent.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 2.3 (6 votes)

Context for your disingenuous act

Keep moving, this isn't the place for you.

Your rating: None Average: 2.4 (8 votes)

Funny. So you link something I talk about in my article? Let me remind you. Go back to Rumor 4 and reread that. Also click the link and read for yourself that they disavowed people like that that only want to harm others. This isn't the place for you either since you apparently can't read before commenting.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1.7 (11 votes)

LMAO HE IS STAFF OF THE CON

Your rating: None Average: 2 (7 votes)

I am staff of the con. Do you have evidence that he is staff of the con? Because I don't recognize his name and don't see him on any of the staff lists.

Your rating: None Average: 2 (8 votes)

How do you think evidence of the hotel canceling was posted online before the con was forced to prove it

The people behind this failcon are dishonest, some of them are fascists who lie about it, their security is compromised, and any denials posted about it are to be highly doubted

Your rating: None Average: 3.5 (11 votes)

The evidence of the con being cancelled came out because those who registered their rooms had their rooms cancelled by the hotel, and trying to register though the room block link resulted in "no rooms available." The hotel canceled people's rooms and stopped new registrations before it even notified the con staff that they were cancelling the contract. Nothing "secret" or "dishonest" about that.

Your rating: None Average: 1 (2 votes)

Room cancels were a day after posting news of the hotel canceling https://twitter.com/NazifurReceipts/status/1437375144322732038?s=19

Your rating: None Average: 2.6 (5 votes)

That tweet came out before the con made their official announcement, not after. Actually that tweet was how some of the staff realized that the hotel decided to cancel.

Your rating: None Average: 1 (4 votes)

Exactly as said above: "How do you think evidence of the hotel canceling was posted online before the con was forced to prove it?"

That info came from inside, wasn't public when it leaked, and lower staff aren't even told the decisions of management. The fools are getting their info from leaks HAHAHA

Some staff are being kept in the dark because of ones like the open fascist up there having the inside track, SCAM SCAM SCAM LOOK AT THE DENIALISM

Your rating: None Average: 2 (4 votes)

I only see he's admin at the Furry Raiders.

Your rating: None Average: 3 (4 votes)

Intredasting

Your rating: None Average: 1.6 (7 votes)

Funny. So you link denial I deny in my article? Let me deny to you. Go back to denial 4 and reread that. Also click the denial and read for yourself that they deny people like that and they only want to harm others. This isn't the place for my denial since I apparently can't stop denial before I deny.

Your rating: None Average: 2.3 (9 votes)

Sorry you got upset that you couldn't read and that I already covered that topic you tried to bring in. Have a nice life!

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1.9 (9 votes)

LMAO HE IS STAFF OF THE CON

denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial denial

Your rating: None Average: 1.7 (6 votes)

You can keep trying to push your rumor. He's not. They've disavowed anyone IN A PUBLIC STATEMENT who would go against their creed of being open to anyone and everyone as well as non-violent. Also, they've stated - AGAIN, PUBLICLY - that the telegram chat you've linked is not their official chat. They only have announcement channels according to their social medias, and not an actual chat. So anything from a unofficial channel means literally 0 to me or any true journalist.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1.7 (6 votes)

You can keep trying to deny my denial. Deny deny. They've denieed anyone IN A PUBLIC STATEMENT who would deny their denial of being denialist to anyone and everyone as well as denialist. Also, they've denied - AGAIN, PUBLICLY - that the denial denial you've linked is not their denying denial. They only have denial channels according to their denials, and not an actual denial. So anything from a denial channel means literally denial to me or any true denialist.

Your rating: None Average: 2.5 (10 votes)

So you admit I have won because you copy everything I say and are using my name. Thanks~ ^w^

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1.7 (6 votes)

So you deny you have denied because you deny everything and are denying denial. Thanks~ ^w^

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 1 (3 votes)

Even without context, I 100% guarantee this is from that "political spectrum test" that was circulating a while ago.

Because fascist was one of the available results; and (for context purposes) one of the questions was "Who is your favourite dictator", and listed a bunch of horrible people, and it was a trick question. It was the only question on the form which you could leave blank, so of course it would be surprising(but it also heavily weighted your results).

I doubt this is a statement of "I'm a fascist." and more a "Hmm. I'm a fascist, apparently, according to this thing."

Of course, it might not be, but without context, this just reads like an attempt to snapshot something that could appears bad if taken a certain way.

Your rating: None Average: 3.9 (15 votes)

"This article disagrees wtih my viewpoint"

"This article must be right-wing propoganda!"

"Everyone who disagrees with me is RIGHT WING"

Your black-and-white view of the world is pitiable. I hope your twenties treat you better than your teen years.

Your rating: None Average: 3.1 (7 votes)

"Another News Outlet". More like some activist thats farming for hate clicks using hate mobs, that is literally just making shit up for profit. BTW: Don't click their link. Use an Archived Version so they don't get paid for the clicks. If they were are real news outlet, they wouldn't be actively trying to support hate mobs to flood everyone who is related to the con. Zero freaking ethics.

Your rating: None Average: 3.1 (7 votes)

For the record, Allie Capps, the author of the article on We Got This Covered really gave a hidden agenda vibe.

This social media post she put is how I came up to the conclusion: https://twitter.com/LiteralGrill/status/1433280225224192001?s=20

If she could even say "researching and taking down the terrible convention at least lets me feel like I'm doing something", that article she wrote just feels like she's doing activist journalism. She is doing something right? To be part of this anti-FreeFurAll activist wave? Covering everything only from the perspective of the dominant sentiment in furry fandom?

And checking what she did here with Reuters and AP standards back to back, there's no way her report can be properly attributed to facts other than linking to many tweets *alleging* the furcon of being some right-wing puppet as they portray.

I can only say her post on We Got This Covered is only one side of the story. People should check even more to clarify on more perspectives that exist here.

Oh yeah side note: We Got This Covered has a bad reputation for releasing inaccurate information. You can look at this Google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=we+got+this+covered+reliable&oq=we+got+this+cove...

Your rating: None Average: 2.8 (10 votes)

Is it really that hard to get someone's pronouns right? It says right there on Capps' Twitter that their pronouns are they/them.

Your rating: None Average: 2.6 (5 votes)

Thanks for the correction! Yes it's they/them.

Your rating: None Average: 2.3 (12 votes)

Head on over to here for some receipts of why the con lost their hotel.

https://twitter.com/NazifurReceipts/status/1437375144322732038?s=20

Your rating: None Average: 3.6 (13 votes)

It's because absolutely insane violent a-holes threatened to bomb it or something. But those violent terrorists are definitely not the ones who are the fascists.

Your rating: None Average: 1.5 (4 votes)

Oklahoma already has an FFA convention; I don't know why you think we need another.

Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

You linked this article - I'm guessing you meant something like this? The FFA's own website isn't resolving for me (perhaps they forgot to renew their domain), but the Web Archive has it.

Your rating: None Average: 2.5 (2 votes)

Yeah, I fucked up the link; oh, well, I'd already kind of made the joke.

That being said, your article ... it's moving to Tulsa. You can't make this shit up!

Your rating: None Average: 3.2 (10 votes)

One of two articles from first-time contributors about American politics... fun times. This whole article reads more like a journal entry than an article and blurs factual reporting with an opinion piece where the boundaries are not clear.

For an article that's supposedly fact checking a controversial event, there seems to be surprisingly little effort made; e.g. you leave the first rumour completely unaddressed while apparently not sending a message to either the convention or Peacewolf to ask directly. The other, major, problem with this whole article is the near-complete absence of supporting information. At times, the article is arguing something that everyone is just assumed to know. In the first rumour we are told that Peacewolf has said some hurtful things but never told what they are. The following sentences about those statements are meaningless because we don't know what the exact accusations and statements are. And we can't follow up anything because there are no links to anything. There are multiple statements and accusations in the first two rumours but not a single link to anything.

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~

Your rating: None Average: 2 (4 votes)

I was wondering where you were while I was in edits. I actually sent you a message in DMs on Twitter asking for your assistance in fact checking and help making sure it stays unbiased. I'm sorry I didn't connect with you before now.

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 2 (3 votes)

Oh, so you did. I don't seem to get notifications for message requests (saw there were a few from months ago) and yours was also hidden behind a "show additional messages" tab.

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~

Your rating: None Average: 2.3 (3 votes)

Ah, well... Hopefully one of these future ones, yes? I'd love to stay as unbiased and factual as I can~

-Anonymous Inari

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (6 votes)

We did in fact get a few links in during editing. However, it's not clear to me that they fully support the assertion about the artist GoH drawing homosexual artwork. Instead, judging by what was said in the video and in the artist's website, it looks like she stopped doing all romantic pieces of couples at all (indirectly not having to do gay art).

I don't think people should be pressured to draw stuff they don't want to, nor do I think it should be a disqualifier for that position, any more than it would be for a regular volunteer; but I can see where some people would take issue with it, or see it as reflecting the event's moral views. (To be frank, I suspect a non-trivial part of the state population shares those views.)

Your rating: None Average: 3.7 (3 votes)

The article has the tag 'opinion'. I don't know if it was added after-the-fact, but it resolves the matter of questionable fact-checking or dubious journalistic value. Later edits have added some links.

Personally I think it's a very amusing useful piece, within the given context.

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (18 votes)

If anything, the vote ratio on the troublemakers posts in this thread gives me hope that maybe this con will give the community the pushback against the bad elements we need. A lot of silent people are tired of the "I DONT LIKE THAT PERSON.. THEYRE A NAZI, AND IF YOU DONT IMMEDIATELY UNWATCH THEM WE CANT BE FRIENDS" ideology- nay, *religion*, which has spread throughout the fandom in the past decade.

We let them bully us to the point that saying "I don't want to talk about politics" gets you thrown into the same boat as (what the claim are) nazis. It's utterly ridiculous.

I'd rather a thousand peacewolfs than a single one of these people.

I, frankly, can't wait to get back to being a drunk dog in a fursuit hanging out with other social rejects and talking about our made-up fictional personas, and we can leave this dark and politically-tainted segment of our history in the past.

Your rating: None Average: 3.2 (10 votes)

I think this drawing is an accurate illustration

Your rating: None Average: 2.6 (10 votes)

If that's what a shove does, I wonder what happens when you plow through a Charlottesville stop sign to run over a crowd of people.

Hm...

Your rating: None Average: 3.3 (16 votes)

This is a good post! Freaking no one hating on this con did a lick of research on this con, and just parroted the dmn hate click posts about it, cause they can't step outside their little weird bubble. FFA will get off the ground, and will be a good fun time with friends, and I can only assume THAT is why they're so pissed off: That people will have fun without their okay. Frankly, the haters sound more like the real fascists.

Your rating: None Average: 3.1 (12 votes)

Attempt to brigade from group of Len "revenge based guerilla tactics" white supremacist guy

https://twitter.com/NazifurReceipts/status/1438051549393997825?s=19

Your rating: None Average: 3 (10 votes)

What, you think all the 1 star ratings that this article was immediately flooded with wasn't brigading?

Your rating: None Average: 2 (2 votes)

Oh, come on you guys, it only has 26 votes.

I mean, current poll has more votes. ... Wait that came out wrong, I want a mulligan.

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (11 votes)

So a few things that stand out to me here.

From what I can see, [Peacewolf] has sad some hurtful things about various topics like Transgender people only having that label for the benefit, but her view is not an "abnormal" or "out of this world" opinion that's "inhuman". In fact, that viewpoint can logically be described as valid humanity.

The viewpoint of "transgender people only claim to be transgender because it brings them benefits" can logically be described as "transphobic". The phrase "valid humanity" is difficult to parse here: I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you're not saying that it's "valid humanity" to deny that being trans is a legitimate identity, but it's very hard to read what you wrote any other way.

On the flip side, it can also be viewed as an attack on those that actually have had to hide in the closet like myself…

As someone who's felt like they had to "hide in the closet" for their own safety, would you feel perfectly comfortable at a convention run by, whose policies are set by, someone who believes that you're only claiming to be gay "for the benefit"? Is it the "benefit" of being gay that led you to stay in the closet? Now apply that to being trans in a period when laws are literally being written around the country to punish you for being out of the closet, and ask yourself whether you would really just look at this as something we can "agree to disagree" on.

It's very weird to couple this next bit from the article:

Having failed to find anything to verify independently or through the AWOO website who the leaders are…

With this later comment about "We Got This Covered":

...and quite a few editors I asked that work at various actual news agencies like CBS and the AP…

You're saying you took the time to ask editors who worked at various news agencies about their opinions on "We Got This Covered," but weren't able to verify anything about who runs AWOO? Again, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that means finding out who runs AWOO and FFA is comparatively difficult -- but if that's true, you should think long and hard about what that means. How many other conventions make it so difficult to figure out who's behind them? Is there a reason this one has been so secretive?

I was able to verify via a public statement made on both Telegram and Twitter last night that these people [sending violent threats] are not part of the organization…

Were you able to verify this, or are you just taking the public statement at its word? I'm going to have to assume the latter, since you've made it clear you haven't been able to verify anything about this convention.

AWOO remains firm that FFA will stand apolitical and not support any political candidates or topics. The trend from various cons over the past five to ten years has to been to trend towards being supportive of certain political topics or candidates.

What furry convention has ever officially supported a political candidate? For that matter, what "political topics" are we talking about here? The only thing I can think of are the anodyne statements in support of Black Lives Matter many conventions have released.

I have never found a group that's super upset about "how political furry fandom is getting" that's upset about "politics" in a nebulous, general way. This is never a conversation about how furries should just stop chattering on about tax policy or zoning restrictions. It's about specific "left-wing" topics -- social justice, diversity, trans rights, minority rights -- having risen to the forefront of sociopolitical awareness both in and out of furry.

To put that another way: if cons were coming out with statements in support of "Blue Lives Matter," liberal furries would be hopping mad, right? But they'd be calling it out explicitly with "we hate what that says about your politics," not "uwu stop putting your politics in our fandom." Every time this comes up, this is a repeated and consistent distinction: the people calling for less politics are, with very few exceptions, conservatives who feel that "social justice issues" are liberal attacks on them.

A GOH should - in my opinion - never be chosen based on their popularity and the number of people they will bring in, but rather be chosen for their deeds and personality and how they affect the people around them.

Many criticisms of FFA are almost certainly sparked by the perception that 2 the Ranting Gryphon was chosen for his deeds and personality and how he affects the people around him. He's been largely sidelined by other cons due to statements many furs have considered transphobic, racist, and consistently punching down. Even if you don't see choosing him as the inaugural GOH as a statement of agreement with his apparent politics/attitudes, it's hard not to see it as a statement of "we are choosing him to reject what we see as furry 'cancel culture.'" Either way, that is a political statement. Let's not pretend otherwise.

AWOO has a form to submit that looks similar to a background check form you may fill out for an employer. While I have never seen this, it does make me think about how much easier it'd be to hold people accountable for their actions if you have their real life names and addresses.

First, if this was a con that you perceived as one of the ones "supportive of certain political topics," would you think this was a good thing? I'm going to bet the answer is no. Why is it better now?

Second, remember how you can't "verify independently or through the AWOO website who the leaders are?" You can't even find their fan names. Doesn't this seem like they want to "hold people accountable for their actions," but don't want anyone to be able to hold them accountable for their actions?

— Chipotle

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So we should clarify, we have sent a request to AWOO directly asking to see their incorporation forms from the IRS but have yet to hear back. We do have confirmation thanks to the emails of someone called "Foxglove" in the organization. We do not however have a list of who all is running the organization outside of that and for all we know this Foxglove person could just be a person who handles the social media or public relations. We don't know yet. We are currently waiting on their two IRS forms and will create a new article later on as an update to this one as we get information directly from the organization that this agency requested from them.

-Anonymous Inari

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Or we can take them at their word that they exist as an organization since they announced it on Twitter as we would in most cases and we wouldn't be discussing here if we didn't.

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The forms we requested should (from our experience) show the financial status and who all is in charge of what as these are the forms needed to show 501c3 status to the IRS as a business.

-Anonymous Inari

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Just so you are aware, there is already business documents out for the organization that I have seen and can confirm that PeaceWolf is one of the signers for AWOO.

That really isn't in too much dispute here since AWOO made a work of art with her fursona and a lion looking forelorn over a grill.

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I thought PeaceWolf's fursona was all white albino wolf, not a grey wolf in the art piece you're referencing? Did she change it and not update her socials? Also, if you have these documents, we'd love to see them in case AWOO decides to drag their feet. You can email us at anonymousinari@gmail.com

-Anonymous Inari

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I think she's been through enough as it is at this point honestly, don't feel like sharing information that has her personal information on it with other people, I don't work for you.

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So let us get this straight... You, the person who posted this article on FFA (which looks like a biased negative review of her and the con, btw), turns around and says that she's been through enough but yet just below in this comment you specifically still try dissing her for not getting Tsebresos back as a GOH for FFA. Speaks to your "ethics". You'll push your agenda, but as soon as someone asks you for evidence to support this, you're suddenly refusing to provide the evidence and saying "[I] don't feel like sharing information . . . I don't work for you." See the bigotry here? We're being open to the idea that maybe you are right and asked you to provide this evidence, but suddenly you don't want to? If it has her personal information on it, then that's her fault for not using a P.O. Box or alternative physical address. Those documents will be obtained at some point or another, it's just a question of how much trouble we have to go through to get it. We'd like for it to be as simple as possible. If we were wrong, we'd like to get a correction out as quickly as possible, but as stated, we can't find these documents yet (we have asked AWOO to provide them as stated in a comment) and are waiting for the discovery process to confirm who all is in the con.

-Anonymous Inari

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So, uh, not to interrupt this fascinating back and forth, but what's with the "we" and "us"? Are you claiming to represent multiple contributors? If so, shouldn't they have their own accounts?

Don't get me wrong, I've used the royal "we" on occasion; but I was speaking as a leader on behalf of a group of contributors about our policies and procedures; whereas as far as I can tell in this case, "we" just means "you", so it just comes off as kinda weird and pretentious.

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We are an agency of multiple contributors. We wish to remain anonymous so we use one account that everyone in this agency has access to, though posts have to be approved by our social media and public relations managers.

-Anonymous Inari

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Yup, called it.

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Ohhh, are we gonna see another member of the exclusive banned-from-Flayrah club?

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You wish. I did have to warn someone today, but not them, and not for that.

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Every time it happens, they make me their personal nemesis, so I really don't!

Edit: Actually, Ahmar has apparently moved on to crossie now, so maybe not.

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No, I just believe right now that you're working for her and their organization or some kind of adjacent (probably why you are using the royal we, because your political ideology certainly isn't a hive mind) and you're fishing for information.

So here is a bit of a bite:

I'm ethical in the sense that I will speak the truth about a situation as I see it, and don't care about the feelings of the individual when they hear it or try and gain favors. And while you are pushing for her and her spouse to spend time and money on trying to give you your convention you neglect the fact that she just bought a house in the summer of 2020 and has a desire to start a family.

So she would probably be better served putting extra money toward the home so that she pays less in interest payments back to the bank over the course of its lifetime. And also so that she has more equity in the property and thus less chance of losing it.

But no, gotta have your furry con in Oklahoma, despite there already being two in the state. I mean, think Tails and Tornados is too political? Then why not AnthroExpo?

If the FFA convention ends up failing to make the money back from the attendees, she risks not only that convention, but her property being foreclosed on if she sacrifices too much of her financial well being in order to make it happen.

But the royal you weren't going to tell her that were you? You were going to milk her and then tell her to blame the lefties, the Black folk, the Jewish folk. Because that's your calling card isn't it? Use people for your own ends and then blame them and try to get them to blame others?

Don't give me this ethics lecture. If you were half as good at investigating as you claim you were then you would have known what I know, and if you knew what I knew then what you chose to do with that information is exploitative so I have no reason to give you anymore.

For if you knew what I knew, you would certainly be not advising her to throw money anywhere but her home until she has at least 50% equity in it so that she will have more money for the future family that she has stated she wants.

But, yes, have her sacrifice her own financial future to own the libs... the royal court you work for can't say they were not warned at this point. Is vanity worth losing 4 of them? Personally I wouldn't think so.

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The week is up, and Chipotle's comment is about the closest to what I was going to point out, it's the first to note the line about ignorance about trans* folk. Which, in my opinion was probably the most revealing and harmful inaccuracy of the article.

From what I can see, [Peacewolf] has sad some hurtful things about various topics like Transgender people only having that label for the benefit, but her view is not an "abnormal" or "out of this world" opinion that's "inhuman". In fact, that viewpoint can logically be described as valid humanity. By that I mean that humans will always align themselves with something they think they can get the most benefit from.

There are two segments of power in human civilization: finance and social influence. For the most part, those that are transgender or transsexual certainly do not have the 'path of least resistance'. Those who pursue and just so happen to be privileged enough to be in decent fiscal standing usually have to expend income to take hormones and have surgeries to battle their gender dysmorphia. And as far as social influence, it can be tough to pursue other social matters when you're constantly having to fight a political battle just to have people accept your existence.

If a certain comedian thinks losing a stage is hard, try losing your connections to your family, only to go to a convention and have a guy on the stage say they identify as an attack helicopter. It would make them wonder why furry folk can only get comedians that are pulling their humor from internet memes.

Furry indeed is a place where we leave those things at the door. If a trans* furry wanted to hear those kind of jokes, they'd hang around their drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner instead of go to a furry convention.

But going back to the "there is nothing more human than going for the path of least resistance"? I mean, I hope you say "God Save the Queen" instead of "God Bless the USA" in *checks notes* Texas. Because America's foundation was resistance. I guess our forefathers were 'inhuman'? I understand this kind of word play is why right wingers hate politics, but it's the kind of thing you need to be aware of. In your statement against Trans* folk you basically attacked the core of American Values... and that more than anything highlights why the Republican Party has been losing folks these days. What will you sacrifice and how much power do you want to give to the government just in the hopes they will make 'those people' go away?

The second point I would bring up is around the GOH statement:

A GOH should - in my opinion - never be chosen based on their popularity and the number of people they will bring in, but rather be chosen for their deeds and personality and how they affect the people around them.

The thing is you can tell a lot about the character of a con by who they picked for GOH, as previously noted. But in combination with other parts of the article I would also like to note you can tell the character of a con by who they decided NOT to go with.

As noted before, the reason PeaceWolf left the convention leadership was her reaction to the negative reception of having Tsebresos as a guest of honor. So then, if the GOH is supposed to be for merits, why not bring Tsebresos as the first guest of honor? Is it because she's willing to compromise in the face of criticism and is deemed too weak by PeaceWolf? Is it because 2 was willing to bankroll some of the convention just to get a taste of the stage again? Or perhaps it is simply: 2 Gryphon is more known in the fandom than Tsebresos is, and they brought him in to put butts in the seats.

I think it kind of shows a tragic aspect of that side of the political aisle. When it comes to doing small gestures such as flooding into a system to upvote/downvote an article on a site they usually don't visit, they're all for it. But when it comes to being there and actually providing something of meaning for actual loyalty to their ideals, such as giving a position of honor, don't expect them to stick their neck out for you.

Just ask all those folks who are sitting in prison for where they happened to be on the 6th of January this year led in by the false promise of Presidential protection.

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And you make my point perfectly about apolitical cons being needed, thanks. As for Tsebresos, we have sent her a request for comment as well as a request for comment from AWOO seeing as you named them indirectly. We are awaiting a reply from both parties and will comment back with their replies as soon as we get them, or maybe we just make another article on the whole Tsebresos issue all together~ Who knows~

-Anonymous Inari

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Assuming they can actually find a venue that will allow them in. Let them hold their convention. If it's actually a spite con or an alt-right con, it's doomed anyway. I don't know how they came up with 2 as a GOH. He's certainly well known if no longer well liked by many. Typically, to get a guest of honor that really would boost attendance numbers, it's somebody a convention would have to pay an appearance fee too. Not likely for a first year con.

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How does one "review" a convention that hasn't happened yet? And did anyone ever get this guy to translate this sentence:

In fact, that viewpoint can logically be described as valid humanity.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/Deusex/comments/2pfy5s/daedalus_was_lonely_so_i_drew_ic...

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About the author

The Anonymous Inariread storiescontact (login required)

an Inari from The Human Earth Realm, interested in music, furcons and anime

Just a random Inari doing independent research, reviews, and reports on various aspects of the furry fandom.