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Welcome to another episode of BFFT! On this episode we wish Rayne Raccoon a fond farewell as he is moving to Chile. We will miss you locally Rayne! We also have a discussion about Pi, go over some events coming up, play a VERY obvious game of this and that from Taebyn, Cheetaro gives their take on the 2008 film;  The Tales of Despereaux streaming on Netflix, and Taebyn rants about Paramount Plus. So tune in for another amazing(?) episode of BFFT! Moobarkfluff everyfur!

Click here for article about the Indiana Pi Bill.

This podcast contains adult language and adult topics. It is rated M for Mature. Listener discretion is advised.

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Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting S6E5 - 100 Degrees!

Dear Papabear,
I recently lost my job, and I’m struggling more than I know how to explain. I had a real passion for it, and it was something I worked very hard to gain. For once, I felt like I was on the right track, building something, making progress. It gave me purpose, momentum, a reason to believe I was finally doing something worthwhile with my life. And now it’s gone, I wasn't cut out for it, I found it way too difficult and they got rid of me because I wasn't capable of keeping up with it.

Since losing it, I feel like I’ve screwed up everything. Not just my job, but my whole future. I keep thinking: what if this was my only shot? What if I’ve made myself unemployable? I'm scared that I’ve made the wrong choices, that I’ve let people down, and that I’ve ruined something I worked so hard for. I feel like I’ve failed before I ever really got started, and that I've somehow screwed my life up this much.

To make things harder, my boyfriend from the US is dealing with depression. And I love him a lot. But I feel so helpless. I can tell he’s in pain, and I want to help him, and show him he's not alone. It's like I'm watching the life slowly get sucked out of someone and it makes me feel like I’m crumbling too. I can barely get through the day myself, and that makes me feel like I’m failing him as well. I want to be his safe place, but I can’t even be my own right now.

Then there’s this pressure I've started to carry around constantly ever since I hit 25, I just feel different now. My cousin’s already a dad. He has a house, a job, a family. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m still trying to figure out how to stand up straight. I start asking myself: am I wasting time? Should I be more focused on getting my life “together”? Am I being foolish for trying to make a long-distance relationship work while everything else is falling apart? Am I *ever* going to make any of this work or is this just a pipe dream that I need to let go of?

Some days I think: maybe I’m just not cut out for this. Maybe I’ve been lying to myself about what I’m capable of and I don’t know what direction to go in anymore. I don’t want to give up, but it’s hard to find hope when everything feels so heavy and uncertain.

I guess I’m just asking: what do I do from here?

* * *

Dear Glyn,

Everyone in this world will experience a unique journey of some kind. No two lives will be the same, so the first thing you need to do is absolve yourself of the onus that your life should be like someone else's. Just because you don't have a job right now, aren't married with kids and a mortgage, and doing all the things society says are measures of "success" doesn't mean you are lost. You haven't "screwed up" just because you have had some setbacks. Indeed, for all you know, losing that job might turn out to be a blessing. What if you had stayed in that job, doing what was expected of you, working the weekly grind, paying your taxes, etc., and because you were doing that you never discovered that your real talent lay somewhere else entirely? Maybe now you have an opportunity to explore other options.

So, first lesson above was "Don't compare yourself to others, and don't compete with them." Second lesson is to put aside what is expected of you and try to explore what you really want to do. You write that you had a passion for that job, but your bosses apparently felt you were struggling too much to keep up. That might be because they were poor managers and gave you too much to do, or it might be that you really couldn't manage the job. If the former is the case, then perhaps you can find similar work with another company and do better there; if the latter is the case, then it may be time to explore other career paths.

You are far from unique in switching careers. In fact, it is the norm. Check out this article, for example, which states, among other things, that the average person will change careers 7 times and hold 12 different jobs. The fact that you are 25 and just changing careers for the first time probably even puts you below the curve.

So, you lost one job. That's okay. You haven't let anyone down; pretty much everyone loses a job at some point in their lives. You only let others down if you stop trying. Don't give up. You have options. You could look for temporary work in various fields to see what might suit you; you could hire a career counselor; you could go back to school; you could start freelancing in your field of choice and become self-employed. I assure you, that job you lost was not your only shot. You are young and have a LOT of living yet to do.

As for your long-distance boyfriend--yes, LDRs are very challenging; yes, if you're not in a good place yourself, it is much more challenging to help others. Just as with the job, though, you're putting too much pressure on yourself. It is not up to you to solve your boyfriend's problems with depression. All you need to do--and all anyone should expect you to do for someone you care about--is be there and listen. That's what relationships are about: leaning on each other in bad times and celebrating good times. You are struggling and so is he. This is a time when you are both lucky enough to have a sympathetic and loving ear to speak to, a shoulder to cry on. Let him talk to you, and you, in turn, should talk to him and share your troubles. You can even cry together. That makes for a beautiful and compassionate relationship, knowing the two of you can be there for each other. That's the job you signed up for. You're not necessarily a "fixer." You're a friend and a confidante. Fortunately, modern tech makes that possible even when you are thousands of miles apart. You can do a video chat on WhatsApp and it's almost like being there. As long as you are there for him to listen and care, you are not failing him.

Our modern society often acts like life is a race towards a goal and if you're not in peak condition and running as fast as you can, you're letting down your team.

Bullshit.

Life is not a race. It's a dance. The purpose of the dance isn't to cross the ballroom floor and exit the room; it's to enjoy the movement, the graceful circles, dips, and sways, which are all the more fun if you have a partner but can be awesome even as a solo (with a nod to Alan Watts). You were not put on this earth to have a career, build a family, buy a house, and hoard money for retirement. While some of those might be involved in the dance, none of them are essential. No, the purpose of life is to discover your humanity and the awesomeness of creation and of life. Other than that, the only necessary things are eating, sleeping, breathing, and excreting waste. 

Stop trying to achieve goals and fulfill expectations and learn to simply live.

Bear Hugs,
Papabear

​

This is not so much a question as an update to an update, and a sign for others to not give up hope.

Fifteen years ago, I left a relationship that was highly toxic and borderline abusive. I resolved to enjoy myself in all sorts of ways, and I wrote asking if this was normal or if I was overreacting.

Not long after that, the Universe dropped a Dragon in my lap. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

We are still going strong nearly twelve years on. We now live together, with two other roommates, in an almost frighteningly harmonious arrangement. It helps that we're all mature, sane adults with similar interests, and the other two are a couple who have been together even longer than I and my Dragon.

It's not perfect, it takes work from all of us in concert, but it is a comfortable and equitable arrangement for all of us.

Never say never, and don't stress out if you don't find The One©. Life's what happens while you're busy making other plans.

Stilghar

* * *

Hi, Stilghar,

Thanks for the happy news update!

​Papabear

Hi Papabear,

Since 3 years ago I noticed that I haven't done anything with my life. The only things I do are home school, piano, gaming, and drawing. I don't have any friends, except a few from a big online gaming platform.

Here recently I've been wanting to join a forum, like one for people who are also interested in the furry hobby, and I ask you if you know of anything good. I was originally on FA (not a great site for minors; I was 13) and I didn't like the site, but that was the only one I knew. I would be looking for friends in real life, but I don't go out much. Love too, though.

I'm not that great at writing, so I'm going to leave it off there. One extra question though: Does dragnuki sound good as a combo word of dragon and tanuki?

Fern the Dragon Tanuki

* * *

Hi, Fern,

I think that the safest places for you right now at your age would be mainstream social media such as Facebook that restricts porn and other adult stuff. For example, on Facebook there is a group called Clean, Straight Furries ((2) Clean, Straight Furries | Facebook) that should be quite safe. I believe they are fine with minors joining, and they are fine with LGBTQ people despite the title of the group (I'm a member despite being gay). There are over 5,000 members in that group, so it should be a pretty safe place to start.

As for "not doing anything with your life," you're only 16, so give yourself a break. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate, including school, piano, art, and gaming. Since you're home schooled, you probably spend a bit too much time at home. I would recommend you try to find some outside activities of some kind, whether that is sport, charity work, or simply finding a social club of some sort. You need to get out of the house more, I think, and online furry activities will not help much with that. It's much easier to make friends if you're actually meeting people face-to-face in the real world.

As to the last question, yes, dragnuki sounds like a portmanteau of dragon and tanuki. There's nothing wrong with that.

Hope that helps!

Stay Fuzzy!

Papabear​

Hello, Papabear,

Is it a furry if a human uses transformation by nanotechnology to morph into anthropomorphic animals? Uses digital construct nanotechnology?

Skorge

* * *

Hi, Skorge,

What an interesting question :) Thanks for posing it.

Traditionally, a furry is simply an anthropomorphized animal. This can mean anything from feral critters that communicate and express emotions like humans but who live mostly like animals (e.g. Watership Down) to bipedal characters that are very human in the society they live in and in being bipedal and acting human in every way. But, even early in the fandom, it could also mean aliens that have animalistic forms or mythological creatures that talk and think like humans.

Usually, these furry characters take whatever form they are in from birth, we assume. But, of course, there are also many transformation stories. Transformations (from human to animal, but also at times the reverse) commonly occur with the use of some kind of magical spell or other. This goes back to ancient mythological tales to modern literature and TV/film stories (e.g. Turning Red). Another method of transformation is through the use of science. This can be a slow process (e.g. H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, the "Uplift" sci-fi novels by David Brin), or it can be a quick process (the "Animorphs" books in which an alien gifts five youngsters the power to turn into animals). The Animorphs books, in fact, use the premise that this transformation is accomplished through the use of advanced nanotechnology. I think it's pretty safe to say that Animorphs qualifies as being a fiction series that falls under the umbrella of furry fiction. 

High-tech stuff is increasingly popular in the modern fandom. Cyborg tech has led to the creation of protogens and primagens, for example. I have also been seeing fursonas in the fantom that are 100% robots that take on animal shapes.

In summary, one can say that a furry character is pretty much any non-human being that has an animal form. Whether this is achieved by natural biology, magical forces, or advanced technology doesn't really matter. 

A long time ago, there was a debate among those in the early fandom whether to call ourselves furries or anthros. Furries won, but I kind of wish they hadn't because "furry" only describes anthros that are covered in fur (or, at least, hair), and that never applied to all anthros (e.g. reptiles, avians, fish...). And now, with the increasing number of cybertronic "furries," it is even less apt to call ourselves "furries." But that is how language works. Kind of like the name Holy Roman Empire, which was not an empire, wasn't Roman, and certainly wasn't holy. That's just how things go sometimes, but I digress.

To answer your question: yes, you can call an anthropomorphic animal that becomes such through the use of nanotech a "furry." And if people object, that's their problem. Don't let people gatekeep you.

Have a Happy Day!

Papabear

Not long ago we came across the announcement for an upcoming video game called Beastro — which if nothing else, wins some kind of pun award! But more than that, it’s an anthropomorphic game with a very unusual angle on the common fantasy tropes: “In Beastro, play as Panko, a young, talented chef, helping to run the local eatery. When Panko’s teacher goes missing, a mysterious visitor arrives with warnings of the dangers beyond the wall. It’s up to Panko to step up and take over the restaurant, farm and forage for ingredients and tend to  patrons. But that’s not all, Panko also finds himself serving the Caretakers, brave adventurers, sent to save the world. In this adventure, preserving peace starts in the kitchen! Through cooking minigames Panko will chop, sizzle and flip his way to success.” Look for it from Timberline Studios, on Steam in 2026.

image c. 2025 Timberline Studios

TigerTails Radio Season 16 Episode 31 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf Join the Telegram Chat: https://t.me/+yold2C77m0I1MmM0 Visit the website at http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of any song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. Credits: Opening music: Magic by Hedge Haiden (Double Hedge Studios) Character art: Fitzroy Fox - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/lunara-toons / https://bsky.app/profile/fitzroyfox.bsky.social Background art: Charleston Rat - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/charlestonrat / https://bsky.app/profile/charlestonrat.bsky.social If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

I do enjoy a good mystery. There’s something to be said for that moment when you figure out the culprit and are rewarded for your diligence. I love games like Ace Attorney where humor meets murder mystery, leaving you smiling as much as it leaves you thinking. So when the opportunity to review a detective game where you play as a dragon came along, I was all for it.

国际兽视推出《星光计划》 扩展本地活动与社群空间​

"不落下任何人"：国际兽视庆祝11周年，回顾成长与展望未来

Recently we came across the Haru series of graphic novels, written and illustrated by Joe Latham. First up is Spring: “In The Valley, best friends Haru (a small bird) and Yama (a talkative boar) both dream of leaving as they’re bullied at school, frustrated at home, and struggling to figure out who they are. One day, a powerful artifact connects itself to Yama, and they discover that they’ll have to journey to The Beacon in search of answers.” More issues have followed — and all of them are available now from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2025 Simon & Schuster

“抽象”的新加坡人创造了这一切：国际兽视十一周年致辞

Guest post by Kameno -O.

Attendees gather together to hug in Phoenix Bark. Photo Credit: Eberrawolf

NYFurs hosted the first ever Phoenix Bark at the Phoenix Bar

NYC’s furry community continues to grow this year as it hosted its first ever Phoenix Bark event on August 16th.

Hosted by NYFurs, the event was made with the goal to bring furry culture and community in New York City, a city that, compared to other parts of the United States, hasn’t had an established furry scene until this year. To cater to the growing community, Phoenix Bark marketed itself on NYFurs website by claiming “Phoenix Bark isn’t just a bar night, it’s New York City’s furry takeover.”

Phoenix Bark was different from usual furry events hosted in New York City, as this event took place in Phoenix Bar in Manhattan’s East Village, known for its LGBTQ nightlife. Other events they have held such as NYCFurwalks or Round1 furs were for all ages and took place earlier, but Phoenix Bark was a 21+ event that took place late into the evening.

For many in New York City’s furry community, this was a different experience from what they are used to. This rang true for NYFurs’ founder Gamboiuwu, who was in charge of coordinating the event with the bar.

The idea was brought to Gam thanks to a mutual contact, Kahze, who had strong ties with the East Village bar. From there, Gam saw an opportunity to support communities that don’t always get the spotlight. This gave Gam and his staff the boost needed to start coordinating Phoenix Bark.

“The NYFurs team stepped up,” said the NYFurs owner, “Flax, our Arts & Media Director, collaborated with grahmnic and Zorrito to create posters that spread across both the internet and the bar. My partner, Hex.Fuzzy, worked with the owners to create their furry-themed drinks. Meanwhile, the Events Team, with members like Vinegar and Jackary, worked hard to promote the event and make sure people knew this community existed in New York.”

On the night of, Phoenix Bark had reached their registration limit of 120 people early, with little dropouts as the event got closer. The event had around 152 people in attendance during the night, including staff and other acquaintances of Gam. Phoenix Bar hosted the group’s event from 10pm to 2am, providing board games, darts, pool, and an outdoor section for bargoers to gather and socialize throughout the night. The bar was packed with furries dancing and socializing, some with their fursuit heads and accessories on. Alongside the drinks and games, live music was played by DJ Mixed Mutt, his first time playing live in New York City.

DJ Mixed Mutt performing at Phoenix Bar for “Phoenix Bark”. Photo Credit: Eberrawolf

DJ Mixed Mutt has been an active DJ for two years, and has recently played at other furry events such as Furpocalypse and LIFurs’ BBQ meet. For Mixed Mutt’s first time in New York it was nervewracking, as this was also his longest set he’s ever played. Despite this, his nervousness quickly faded away as the night went on.

As a DJ, Mixed Mutt wanted to mix as many genres for the event and incorporated genres like house, pop, DNB, hardcore, and even speedcore. He was complimented by the bartender who stated “I think you’re the first DJ I ever heard play Hardstyle in a gay bar.”

“What was supposed to be a two hour set ended up going for roughly three and a half hours,” remarked the DJ, “When I ran out of songs I had planned out, I just kept going, figuring out stuff on the fly. It was insane, I would watch people stop conversations and just start dancing and groove, and for me as a DJ, that’s the biggest compliment I can get.”

Mixed Mutt looks back at Phoenix Bar as an accomplishment in his career as a DJ. Not only was this event his first time playing for more than one hour, but his first time playing in New York City. Mutt hopes that more opportunities will come for him to perform in New York City, including for Phoenix Bar.

“I’ll remember Phoenix Bar as a memorable, incredible experience for me. I feel like it was once again another milestone for me, the fact that it was in NYC (a place I always wanted to play in and never thought I would), it was my first time playing for more than an hour, and just the overall joy I got out of it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

Reflecting on the night, Gam had the same sentiment of accomplishment and pride at the event, as he felt like he was surrounded by friends. Gam was also surprised that an event like Phoenix Bark was hosted in New York City, after highlighting the furry scene being relatively new in New York. “I told myself to focus only on what was happening in the room and enjoy it with everyone else—and it worked,” stated Gam, “I’m not trying to be cheesy, but I really couldn’t stop smiling all night. It just felt like one big celebration with friends.”

NYFurs rode off the success of the event by hinting towards another Phoenix Bark event in October, alongside Fuwa Furry Fest which is expected to take place in Japan Village later in the year.

– Kameno -O

From https://www.instagram.com/nyfurs

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

When you start this game, you are dragged along the floor by a large, mysterious creature. When this blue-eyed creature greets you from the shadows, telling you we’re going to play a game, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Inscryption’s first chapter. This is perhaps everyone’s favorite part of Inscryption, the grim atmosphere, playing a game of life or death with an unknown creature that narrates your encounters in their game. Inkshade successfully captures that feeling of being trapped with an entity that treats this situation with the same callous amusement as someone pulling the wings off flies. 

Word is getting around about Good Boy, a new and unique supernatural horror that premiered last March at SXSW. Here’s the description: “Following the death of a family member, Todd (Shane Jensen) relocates with his dog Indy to an old rural farmhouse once owned by his grandfather (Larry Fessenden). Although the house is rumored to be haunted, Todd ignores the warnings. However, Indy begins to see disturbing supernatural presences throughout the home — entities invisible to humans but all too real to him. Unable to communicate his fears to Todd, Indy must confront and understand the malevolent forces threatening his owner. As the supernatural activity escalates, the dog’s loyalty is put to the ultimate test in a desperate attempt to protect his human companion.” Director Ben Leonberg used his own real-life dog Indy in the starring role, and much of the film is shot as from Indy’s perspective. Having received rave reviews at SXSW, the film is slowly making its way around to art theaters. Be on the lookout!

image c. 2025 Independent Film Company

Space-faring ship warfare with friends is a great hook for a game. Even since videogames have been a thing, people have wanted to fly around outside of our Earthly orbit and take fiery, laser-powered shots at one another. What’s surprising is that it hasn’t been done on the carefully crafted scale that Wildgate does it at. Five ships with 1-4 person crews all spawn into a battlefield filled with hazards, loot-filled PvE opportunities, challenges, and a game-winning artifact to capture. Pilot, protect, and power up your ship’s arsenal all whilst the constant threat of opposing ships sits somewhere within the nearby space you occupy as they all try and reach the same goal: capture the artifact or take out all other ships to win the match. Wildgate, at its core, is a fun & super engaging team-based extraction shooter that facilitates some really epic moments with your buddies, but comes with a pretty steep learning curve to achieve success. After 7 hours in the skies around the Wildgate with various crews, I can say that I did come around to understanding and appreciating the mission Moonshot Games had with Wildgate, but there are some areas where I wish they’d tweak some decisions to better the gameplay experience for all skill levels.

Something’s…off. You arrive in a mysterious world in control of a mysterious “Batter” character. Suddenly, you’re approached by a semi-terrifying cat-like character named “The Judge” and tasked with purifying the world you’ve been thrown into. Oh…okay, you say, unaware of the repercussions of your actions in this virtual world. How often do we go along with whatever a videogame places in front of us? This is the basis for “OFF”, a remastering of the original 2008 classic that inspired many RPG concepts after it, including the incredibly popular “Undertale” game. After playing through it, I can see why the uniquely unsettling nature of this game could be the seed that produced such thought-provoking concepts Undertale tackled later on. I wasn’t sure how I felt about OFF until about 2/3rds of the way through the story, when it all started to tie together more tangibly. After that, it became very clear how this little game became so influential.

TigerTails Radio Season 16 Episode 30 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf Join the Telegram Chat: https://t.me/+yold2C77m0I1MmM0 Visit the website at http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of any song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. Credits: Opening music: Magic by Hedge Haiden (Double Hedge Studios) Character art: Fitzroy Fox - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/lunara-toons / https://bsky.app/profile/fitzroyfox.bsky.social Background art: Charleston Rat - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/charlestonrat / https://bsky.app/profile/charlestonrat.bsky.social If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Yep, there are still new My Little Pony items turning up, especially for fans of the G5 series. Here’s one we missed, but it’s still out there for you to find — it’s the My Little Pony: Mane Event one-shot comic from IDW. “First, Pipp dragonsitting Sparky becomes a hairy situation when she mixes up her mane products and Sparky grows some luscious locks. Then, Zipp and Hitch split hairs about the best morning mane-care routines. Finally, Izzy is having a hair-raisingly bad mane day and decides a wash day is just what the curls need.” Available still from IDW, with a variety of covers from some of your favorite Pony artists.

image c. 2025 IDW Comics

I did not receive this in a letter, but it is a hugely important video that expresses Papabear's views about society's manipulation of people through guilt in order to maintain power (often through organized religions). It is a must-see. Truer words have never been put into a video.