Recently an opinion piece was published here by Cassidy Civet about alleged fraud in the fandom and its infestation of furry spaces. I feel many would believe that it is beneath this platform to have released it to the general public as it is “obvious” that its intention was not to foster improvements within the community, but instead to act as a platform for the author herself in order to rant about the situation she finds herself in when it comes to her desired musical career in the fandom. Which we'll cover is mostly true. However, I do think allowing such a piece to publish can act as a springboard for a larger conversation on situations that actually has come up in the fandom from time to time.

This is where someone with a stage addiction gets caught up in the euphoria and gets poisoned by narcissism and typically guises it as altruism and virtue.

This may seem harsh as a counter statement to Civet’s article, especially since sprinkled in there are genuine concerns that other furries do hold. But the way in which they are presented leads to her own words countering herself in such a way where when all of them are put together, all that truly remains is a rant about our convention boards having agency on those they are allowing to have a stage and what can appear to be purely sour grapes towards those that are getting it.

So let’s take these issues from another angle to try and separate the chaff from the wheat.

Quote: "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled."

- Mark Twain

A Preamble; I remember when I first joined the fandom, and decided I wanted to be a musician within it. No one was really making Pop music like I wanted to make, and the day I decided to abandon using my “human” name in my art was the climax of an internal months-long struggle. I also decided if I was going to put music out there for people to listen to, that I would fund it entirely myself. I didn’t want to start my time in this community by asking for money, or borrowing, or anything like that. Maybe it’s a symptom of how I was raised, but regardless I held true to that goal and managed to release 2 full length, studio recorded, mixed, and mastered albums. All I’ve ever had is a Patreon, and my supporters' names have been permanently etched into the inside cover of both physical CD releases. I had sought to make my work as professional as possible, and hoped that this sheen of professionalism would be appreciated by the community I was just beginning to join.

Skipping ahead over the dirge years of COVID in which most cons were frozen, things are relatively back to normal now (even if they really shouldn’t be). Thus the fandom carries on! But these past few years have been transformative for many of us, and brought to light the side of the furry fandom I had long heard about but was now witnessing in full view.

Hello, and welcome to the first episode of the fifth year of Digging Up Positivity! This episode we do highly various members of our community both new ones and older guests with some updates. And there will be some news from nature and the wonderful world of animation. And if you would like to get your paws on the T-shirt I am wearing or get some other Thabo merchandise, check the end of the video! As for now, let’s get started with the charities!