Most of these, I don't think are drawings, back in here.
I don't know how many I got. More drawings.
But there are a few.
See? And this is what they wouldn't like,
because you see all this stuff.
Why somebody who is supposed to be thinking about driving cars
and what they're gonna do in their life
mes-sing around, putting-pasting pictures
of random dogs into a notebook?
So, that's why things are better these days,
because now you can point anybody to of
on the net, and they'll say, "hey."
You know, even if your teacher doesn't know about it,
you can say, "well, I'm a furry."
I like animals 'cause I'm a furry.
I'm in... you know, I draw this stuff.
It's not because I'm totally weird.
I just draw this stuff 'cause I'm,
you know, into this group
"and into this kind of scene."
A lot of double takes,
downtown Pittsburgh, this weekend, Janelle.
Yeah, there are a lot of business suits,
and people going to work,
and then, you see folks like this.
Yes, the of have arrived.
Folks who have never seen them before,
don't be scared if you see a six-foot tall raccoon
walking by your window. No, you're not going crazy, it's just us.
A lot of people might ask,
why is it so popular?
Why is... what's the draw here?
Everybody loves animals.
Everybody loves costumes.
We are all about creativity.
We are all about imagination. We are all about dreaming.
This weekend is our chance
to say to the people of Pittsburgh,
we want to share our dreams with you.
If somebody comes up and wants to know what it's about,
tell 'em what it's about.
Cartoon animals, costumes.
Drawing, art, performance.
Creativity, dreaming.
Every single one of you in here is a creative.
Every one of you is an artist.
We are all dreamers here.
This is a remarkable family,
a unique community.
There is so much it has to offer,
so many beautiful things.
Don't describe us by what we are not.
Use positive imagery.
Don't act like you have something to hide,
('cause quite frankly, I don't think we have anything Tc) Hide.
This is a magnificent we,
and to me, there is nothing at all to be ashamed of.
Do you cover
just what furries do that's furry
that people don't see in the background?
Or what if they're into, like, sports cars,
or you know, fast cars or whatever...
what other activities... like, anything?
Or are you trying to keep it mainly to the fur scene, do you think?
We're trying to go beyond the scene as well,
because it's portraits of people,
ultimately, it's more about even people
than it is about furries, 'cause we're all just people,
just from different backgrounds, into different stuff, so-
definitely, any tangents that goes on is where we go.
I have called myself a furry,
but I never really understood it
until I was about 17 years old.
I went to work as a mascot
for a single-a baseball team,
surprisingly, as a raccoon.
And the first time I got in that suit and that mascot
was just completely surreal.
I mean, Will was gone. I mean, he was gone.
I didn't know who he was anymore,
and I was performing in this character,
and I just felt nobody could see me, nobody knew who I was,
so I could be as energetic, as happy,
as crazy as I could be, and people loved it.
And after that first time I did it,
I really felt, it's like-
this is what it feels like.
This one, as you can see, is totally different.
And it's different because it's made by a different suit-maker.
Any suit-maker has their own different style,
this was specifically was made by Cody.
He kind of has more of a cartoony kind of look, more energetic look,
and that's what I wanted to go for
and why I commissioned him to make Diezel 2.0.
I try to be as creative as I can,
and a lot of people come up to me every time and say to me,
"man, there's not many raccoons in the fandom.
Your suit is, like, the best one I've ever seen."
And of course, I'm just like,
"stop, come on. You're making me blush."
Of course, I am blushing inside when they say that.
But, you know, and I try to add-
you know, like, I squeak-talk a lot,
and that's one thing a lot of people view me for.
It's all of... it's kind of like a brand,
really, is what it is.
Everybody tries to find their own unique style
on what they do.
They try to bring it to life,
and that's what people can get to know you for.
You know, they'll hear me squeak-talking,
but they'll be out of view, and they're like,
"oh, my god, I hear Diezel. Is he here?"
And sure enough, it's me.
Everybody has a unique story.
The more and more you get involved,
you'll see that it is so easy to get to meet people,
who they are specifically,
and how... who's behind that character.
I mean, who's behind that fursona
or that pursuit, if they have one.
All right.
DOM, if you will...
This little part ends up being on the inside when you flip it over.
When I first started, very few people had a suit.
Only if you had tons of money did you have one,
and only if you were really hardcore furry did you have one.
It's almost a rite of passage, if you will,
for people to get a suit,
'cause it really lets them put on their persona,
live it, and do what they wanna do,
and see themselves how they wanna be seen.
Because I wanted to be able to hear some stuff,
that's why the other one is not floppy,
but it means a lot to me
to be able to even do this,
and to be able to walk around
and be something different,
and something that I wanted to do.
So, it's important that I'm even able to do this for you,
and show you my floppy ear of cuteness.
Have you ever come out here in these woods,
like, with your pursuit before?
This is a first.
I've been in the woods, but not these woods.
This Will be interesting.
They said that there was hunters around,
to be honest, I've gotta say,
they're probably not gonna shoot a six-foot tall fox,
but you never know.
It may be a short season.
Maybe they need a trophy.
And, come on, this is a trophy.
Oh, my back.
I would say that I'm very rare.
I'm not the norm.
Yeah, you do see a lot of guys,
and a lot of times, when I say I'm a mother,
people are like, "whoa, really?',"
like it's taboo or something to be a mother,
and I don't think that's the case at all.
I think it's really awesome to have kids.
I think it's really awesome
to have kids exposed to furry fandom.
It's just a great experience for them, too.
All right, there you go.
You guys have a lot of fun, okay?
I don't think it'll be confusing for her at all,
I actually think it's something that she might
actually be interested in when she's older.
I've already seen her... she likes animals a lot.
She likes to wear Halloween costumes that are animals.
And that's just so cool
to have that experience with her, too,
and see her grow up like that.
My fursona is basically to memorialize my dog.
He was bouncy and fun and loving.
And I guess whenever I'm wearing bandit,
I'm a little him.
I could say it's opposite my life,
because I'm a pretty laid back guy out of suit.
And I get in suit and I get party-fun,
if that's a word.
This guy down here cutting a tree down.
You said your neighbors...
what were you saying about your neighbors,
that they knew about your suit?
Oh, my next door neighbors,
they knew about the suit,
and their grandchildren were over one day.
I put bandit on and I walked over,
and they just loved it.
What's the color that's underneath there on the arms?
- What? - You have the color on the arms.
Oh, that's the rainbow flag.
If I turn my arms up...
It's in the correct order.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
It angers me when I find people that say,
"oh, all you do is dress up in those suits,"
and party and carry on
and have sex in them suits," and all that.
If you've ever had vigorous sex naked,
you know how much you sweat.
Can you imagine doing that in a full pursuit?
You would die.
It can quickly get over 100 degrees inside the head.
So, no, that's... that's a false statement
to even think that that's all it does.
Yes, there's sex that happens in the fandom.
I remember when I was in my twenties-
okay.
But, uh, sex...
the fursona fandom thing is, um...
I think it's about helping other people
to put a smile on people's face,
and let them, even for a few minutes,
forget about the real world and all the troubles.
J” we don't even have to try I
♪ it's always a good time ♪
♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ Whoa, oh, oh, it's always a good time I
A lot of furry conventions have dance competitions
'cause there's a big dancer community
in the furry fandom.
It's different than I would say, like, a normal competition.
Because here no one cares who wins.
Everyone supports everyone
and it's just a big family, which is what I love.
And a lot of times, I know that I've gone
to meet people at a convention
and then we'll all just go to lunch together
after meeting each other for 10 minutes,
and that's how you make friends.
J” do our thing, do our thing I
J” and the wonder girls are back ♪
♪ Watching ♪
J” 'cause you've got me patiently waiting j”
j” I think you're amazing, baby I
♪ it's okay, you're worth the wait I
♪ but I just can't no more ♪
J” dreaming of you every night, and I'm praying ♪
♪ Will you hold me tight ♪
J” and just wrap those arms around me, boy? ♪
J” I really wanna feel you in my soul j”
I never really told anyone about it,
it was just kind of something I did.
But then my friend discovered it by himself,
and then, he, like...
he kept saying all these things,
mentioning fursuits and anthrocon and stuff.
His name is Jake, and I was like,
"Jake, are you a furry?"
And he was like, "I don't think so."
And I was like, "you talk about fur suits and blah, blah, blah."
And he was like, "well, maybe I am."
And I was like, "I am, too!"
So, that was kind of cool.
Boomer the dog
out in the middle of the woods right now.
And he can hear the wind in the trees
on a nice fall day, the day before Halloween.
And I just got back yesterday
from the final sections of the appeal,
getting it into the court.
So, hopefully, we're gonna do well,
and the judges are gonna have to get back to me
on whether I can get the name "boomer the dog" or not.
So, we'll see. I mean, it is my name.
It's always been my name, for many years.
And I believe in the spirit
of what "here's boomer" was all about-
you know, the TV show.
I mean, I love that show.
See, I didn't see every episode of "here's boomer,"
but the show went off the air,
and then after that, I kind of was-I was sad,
because I really liked the dog
and I liked the show.
And I thought, well...
What am I gonna do?
How do I keep this spirit alive?
Because it's so good to me,
just at this right time in my life.
How do I keep this going?
Okay, and here's... this is how I do it.
And I always have a shirt on.
And a lot of furries-
a lot of costumers will work with a shirt on
'cause it absorbs sweat,
so it doesn't actually go into their costume.
I mean, there are a lot of manufacturing methods.
I just have the benefit of clothes, and that's it.
So, I just use this as a covering,
and sometimes you'll have fine satin
or mesh under a lot of costumes.
But I just did it cheap,
like, seven dollars to make the whole thing,
and all of that was for paper,
'cause I just used old clothes that I had.
So, there's my paw shoes.
I mean, I think for a lot of furs,
it's a weekend release sort of thing,
and then others, it's a lifestyle
where you have it around you all the time,
and kind of think in that mode.
'Cause I like to think like I'm a dog,
and I'm looking out at the world
with canine-type eyes and seeing things that way.
I could change my name, but it's pretty wild
to change my name to "boomer," or "boomer the dog."
How could I go through this process?
I went down to the courthouse,
got the paperwork,
filled it out, and got-
they had to do fingerprints and get those taken.
And then I submitted,
and I went to court,
and I lost my case.
And then also he said,
"even though the petitioner"
may wish it were otherwise,
"the petitioner is not a dog."
That was the final words in that document.
My friend actually told me about the people,
you know, that there were furry people on the computer.
(And they said they're into the kind of drawings you DC)
And stuff like that.
And he says, "but I think they're mostly foxes."
But they weren't actually, you know?
And I was like,
"wow, I have to get the Internet right away."
So, then I found them, and I was like,
"wow, there's other people like me-— others like me."
You shouldn't be asking who we are.
You should ask who we were.
We... we... we were the fat kid.
We were the brainy kid.
We were the bookish kid,
we were the kid with the big thick glasses.
We were the kid concerned about his sexual identity.
We were the kid who couldn't throw a baseball.
We were the kid, who for whatever reason,
all the other kids said, "you don't belong with us."
Now, human beings as social animals, crave companionship.
And denied companionship by our peers,
we sought it out the next best place we could find it.
Some of us look to the stars,
others to the far past of human history.
We looked to the happy, smiling,
accepting faces that we saw on Saturday morning cartoons.
Now, to answer your question, "who are we?"
We are adults who never forgot our old friends.
Hello, everybody. I am Diezel raccoon,
here at McDonald's across the street
from one of the best ever conventions-
furry connection north.
Uh, I'm partially drunk, I know.
I don't know about the public intoxication laws here,
whatever the fuck you wanna call it.
I can say that furry connection north 2013
Will be my last convention for a little while.
(I had Tc) Make some life changes with my career.
I'm going to a different shift, different job.
It was for the best.
My life comes first.
Furry does come second.
So, I mean, I won't be doing a con every month.
I'll be doing one every so often.
I'm gonna try as hard as I can
to attend as many as I can,
because all of you out there are my friends...
the people that see these videos,
uh, my friends that watch the videos,
just everybody.
You all are big family to me,
and that's why I go to conventions.
How can I move back in with those people?
Please, tell me.
They're insane. You know that.
[Jerry Seinfeld on I TV hey, my parents are just as crazy as your parents.
This is what I think people perceive it as.
They perceive it as...
some folks may perceive it as,
"this is how they live it day to day,"
yeah, I come in my house,
I put my fursuit head on,
and I literally live this way all my life.
I go over here and make dinner
on my 400-degree stove,
I mop the floors,
I clean the refrigerator... all with this on.
My ass.
Remember how mommy wears this sometimes?
You like when mommy wears her, huh?
'Cause you can play with her?
Um, is mommy going to wear this?
Yep.
It's a lot of fun, huh?
Do you wanna wear it again?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Here.
It's hard, isn't it?
- Can you see? - Mm-hmm.
Okay. It's tough to see through that, isn't it?
Ah!
Hey!
You know, I've been married before.
My ex-husband was not a furry,
and that kind of made things really hard sometimes
because he just didn't get the fandom at all
and I was really into it.
And, you know, he just-
I think that's part of the reason
why we ended up separating-
part of the big reason why.
Um, and, you know,
I think that I would still love Ryan
if he weren't a furry,
but because he is, it just makes the experience
so much better for both of us.
I saw her for the first time,
and she was this, tiny, little, unimposing,
cute, you know...
she almost looked like the human form
of a plushy or something.
I just wanted to hug her, you know?
And she came up to me and she did hug me,
and it was just...
she was so forward and so natural,
and it really did just feel right.
- Porcupine. - Porcupine.
Porcupines sleeping
Porcupines sleeping.
I love how she makes the little noises
like we do with the animals.
Here.
Here. Don't...
don't let them jump on you.
Part of my family is native,
and in our culture,
there are spirit animals...
having phantom ears, phantom tail, you know?
Having dreams about being feral,
having dreams about, you know,
just romping through the woods, kind of thing,
and I've definitely always felt that way.
Even when I was a young child, I felt that way.
I mean, we have a friend who,
um, you know, he wants to be an elf.
Like, literally, that's his life,
and he wears elf ears all the time.
He wore prosthetic ears to a session of congress, I think it was?
Yeah, I mean, that's just,
and we're all like, more power to you.
- It's great. - If you want to do that-
he's one of the greatest guys we know.
He's just, you know, wonderful,
and he really thinks he should be an elf.
Yeah, and it's good,
because people like that often are so nice,
because they're they're true to themselves.
- You have to be true to yourself. - Yeah, absolutely.
It's hard, the way we're primed to interact with society,
and, like I said, filter yourself
it's beaten into you from almost the time
you're aware of your surroundings.
It looks like a house in Greentree.
But it's actually a radio station.
And you might confuse this for some kite string caught in a tree,
but it's really an antenna leading from the house
specially elevated for signal strength.
Did you climb that tree in order to get it all the way up there?
Nope, just took a bow and arrow and shot it up.
And this gentleman,
he's 22-year-old Gary Mathews,
vice president and general manager
of radio station WKND,
a small pirate station Gary put on the air himself.
N
Funkadelic...
Right here at 1620 WKND.
You know, I'm just a radio freak...
a radio animal.
That's what my name says right there.
N
yeah, I'm not gonna start barking yet,
but since it's close.
All right, let me see the listeners are doing.
Check my stats.
There's six people already listening.
♪ Testing 1, 2, 3 ♪
This is just a loop.
And it goes... repeats over and over,
and it kinda builds tension or suspense maybe.
♪ Testing 1, 2, 3 ♪
This is the Barenaked ladies-
beginning of the song,
I think it's "testing 1, 2, 3."
♪ Testing 1, 2, 3 ♪
And it just repeats.
Other stations don't do stuff like this,
so we do it.
I just played music and I barked on the air,
and I was a dog.
And this was at a time when I was having trouble
with a lot of people in my life about being a dog,
because it was like-it was interfering with things supposedly,
and getting a career.
That was a really strong push at that time
by everybody around me,
so, I felt since they were saying,
"you can't. You just can't be a dog."
They would tell me all the time
"dogs don't go to jobs,"
or "you're hardcore unemployable like this."
I was trying to do it,
and I was, you know, being pushed back,
and one of the places I could actually go
and be a dog and let it out was on the radio.
My mom signed it with a "G" name back then-
1982.
And then we go way back to me as a young pup.
And I don't know what I have
that I'm holding and showing,
but that's me as a young pup
in 1968, November.
I was about three years old right there.
This one...
this has where my mom signed the back of the picture
on her own free will...
she signed it "boomer."
That's 1998 there.
I did have my family here,
and I lived with my family till I was almost 40 years old.
A family is like giving...
or having a mate is like giving
yourself to one person, more or less.
That part of you
is wrapped up in your love for your mate.
And I feel like I'd like to give the friendship
out to a wider group, people who'll-
make them happy by being a dog,
showing them that you can have a different lifestyle,
and a different outlook, and things like that.
So, I'm kind of in a role
of maybe putting that out there,
teaching that it's possible.
I kind of think that's my role in life,
rather than just making one person happy
or a small group.
I'd like to spread it around.
I made the mistake of talking about it
in my old facility I came from.
It started off by...
Kind of introducing it to my managers.
They would always ask, "where do you go every month?
What do you do?"
And I had a good relationship with them
and they didn't harass me
or gang up on me in any way.
They actually were kind of intrigued by it a little bit.
They kind of tossed jokes around.
They say jokes like,
"why don't you become a porcupine or something?"
I don't want to. A raccoon is like-
"well, a porcupine would be funny.
You'd be the first one" I'm like, no.
So, then I thought to myself,
maybe I'll share it with a couple (lo-workers that I trust.
But understand that in the work environment,
don't place too much trust in people,
even the people that you think you can trust the most,
because eventually people do talk.
Something you don't want to be let out or told?
Don't say anything at all.
Well, I did,
and it got out to some of the wrong folks.
They started looking at things online,
searching the name,
finding stuff, finding artwork,
um, finding journals.
Um, eventually got to the point where
comments would be said.
I kinda rolled it off.
Things would be written about me
on the bathroom stalls and in these freight elevators
on the walls there in permanent marker.
Um, so, it wasn't a fun experience.
So the simple answer of how I keep it separate from my work life
is I don't talk about it.
I think it goes to show
that people really aren't ready for that stuff.
The fandom, as you can see, if very accepting.
People in general,
they accept what they think is the norm.
What is the norm? I don't know what it is.
Not really my place to say.
What feels normal to me may not be normal to you.
We're just trying to get together
and let our hair down and have some fun for the weekend.
We're not doing it to be entertainment fodder for you.
That's not what we're here for.
These people don't want to have to hide in their rooms
because you're going to destroy their lives.
See, and that's the kind of thing,
not everybody gets to break the barrier either.
Maybe it's their approach or something.
I mean, you guys seem to understand what it's about
and why furries would want to be private and public.
And I'm glad you did this study
because sometimes producers come on strong, I think,
to the community,
and they've, like, alienated people.
And maybe it's the wrong kind of media
or something like that,
but you guys have the understanding
of what, you know, the furry scene is like more.
So, I think you can connect a little better,
and that's good.
Yeah, I just feel like other things about it,
they're trying to give you an answer for it
and trying to make it really simple and cut and dry
so that way, you don't have to think about it anymore.
But for me it's like, the more people you meet
the more interesting it is
'cause there's no one answer and stuff.
Yeah, that's-— wow. It's great.
I'm really happy about "fursonas."
I hope I see... I get to see it,
you know, in its full glory and all that.
Take one.
This is a picture of me and my friends.
That's me and my boyfriend, obviously.
Someone would have to be really accepting
if they weren't a furry for me to date them.
And it's definitely a lot more fun
to date someone, I think, who is a furry,
because then you can go to conventions together
and do things like that.
I don't understand where the correlation is
between, like, making an animal character for yourself
and liking men.
I don't... I don't understand
where that comes from.
People have told me that
Tc create an animal character for yourself,
you have to appreciate cuteness more
than, I don't... maybe, I don't know,
more than like a blatantly straight man would be like.
"I'm gonna make a little puppy character of myself."
I don't think that would happen.
But, I mean, I don't know.
I think about that often.
I don't understand where that comes into play.
I feel like 80% of furries are males,
and then 80% of those males are gay,
and I don't know why.
And then the other ones are bi.
Like, no one... I don't know.
Oh, you.
N
you want to know my theory
on why there was an uprising of furries
through the late '90s, early 2000s?
Yes.
Okay, so, you were saying
there was a lot of furries
that joined the community around the 20005...
late '90s, early 2000s,
and the reason for that possibly stems from the fact-
uh, two reasons.
One is that a Disney movie came out.
"The lion king" came out in 1995, I believe?
I want to say 1993.
- 1994. - It came out-1994.
- Split the difference. -"The lion king" came out in 1994.
Ha! Pinned ya.
And that proved to be an extremely popular film.
Especially in the furry world,
that became a very popular film.
At the turn of the millennium,
basically you had all these people
who grew up knowing these very iconic
Disney anthropomorphic movies
as well as getting very involved in the Internet.
Yeah, and I think world communication
allowed the globalization of furry.
N
all right, if they wanna get-
they wanna get a fox on film
smoking some... smoking some ganja.
Yeah!
It's people in action, if you think about it.
Because we're part of this fandom
that is so accepting.
And we accept transsexuals and gays
and people that can't talk to anybody else,
and all these crazy things.
But if you show furries what I'm about to do,
more than 70% of them would be like...
However, the ones that we have met that do smoke
tend to be the most accepting out of all of 'em
and the coolest and easiest to get along with.
They kind of can see things a little bit more
for the reality rather than the spectacle.
Whoo!
Shit.
♪ ♪
I don't know who that border collie is.
That's a bad suit.
♪ Santa baby ♪
♪ Light blue ♪
♪ I'll wait up for you, dear I
♪ Santa baby ♪
Right there.
This is Garador.
I don't know who the otter is.
J” think of all the fun I've missed ♪
- This is Brody. -.L” think of all the fellas j”
♪ that I haven't kissed ♪
His name on F.A. Is "Wooley."
W-o-o-l-e-y.
♪ If you check off my Christmas list j”
Is there anybody
that you think we should talk to?
Other suiters or furries?
I would say uncle Kage.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Sam Conway.
I'm known in this fandom as uncle Kage.
I'm the chairman of this organization.
I want to thank each and every one of you
for being here tonight.
I've got a professional reputation
that I have to maintain.
I am a well-known public figure
in my hometown of Malvern, Pennsylvania.
I am a borough official,
I am a scientist,
I am...
I am somebody that is what some people would call
a pillar of the community.
He loves the fandom. He loves all of us.
He portrays us very well,
he's just very good with his words,
uses the right words,
is very cautious about
what he says, who he says it to,
to what media outlet may be trying to get in
and try to film us or film anthrocon.
He's very protective of it, which I highly respect.
We have had a few black eyes
given to us by the media.
We've had some very, very good reporting,
and we've had some reporting that, shall we say,
focused on aspects of the fandom
that we really try to minimize.
"We understand that furries
have been treated unfairly by the media, but we..."
Uh-huh. Yeah.
I have probably 600 emails in my archive
that all have that phrase in 'em,
and they're all lying.
When we were at anthrocon, as you know,
we got into some trouble because we're the media.
Can you tell me about the relationship
of furries to the media?
Um, it's not very good for two reasons.
One, the media oftentimes
over-exaggerates things,
and I guess you could say in a way
they maybe make some stuff up
and dig into things that really shouldn't be dug into.
They care more so about their ratings
than the truth.
You have people who are, you know,
they've heard the stereotypes
or they're apprehensive about people in fur suits,
and, you know, a lot of people thinking
it's a sexual thing when it's not.
Furries are just into sexual acts.
They do it inside of their fursuits.
They're a bunch of perverts.
The list goes on,
and it's absolutely not true.
How much of a part of the fandom
is sexual for you?
Well, that I...
that I probably really won't say,
because I feel that that's something
that's personal to myself
and to whomever it may be.
If your back is to the wall
and you got no better answer,
play dumb.
That's always worked for me,
and I'm real good at it.
What is this all about?
Nothing.
That's a lie. They know that.
What are you hiding? What don't you want us to see?
What is going on here? What's really going on here?
I mean, okay,
there are some people in the fandom
that they're just known for their sexual aspects,
their porn of their character and things like that,
and I don't want to be anywhere near that.
I want people to know me for me
and not what my character looks like naked.
You can't talk about the furry community
without talking about sexual things.
I mean, the two go basically hand in hand.
It's not so overt, not everybody's into it,
but it's certainly a very large presence in the community,
and to say that there is not that presence would be remiss.
I mean, it's obviously there
and it's obviously a big part.
I don't really look at erotic art.
I see it online
and I know that is a big part of the fandom,
but it's not something I actually look at.
And on furry affinity, I have the kid filter on.
I never specified age.
I don't even see the adult stuff on it.
Where's the best place to look at,
- you or the camera? Okay. - At me.
So, my name's Varka. My real name's Jan.
I am a cocksmith by trade.
I work for Bad dragon,
and Bad dragon makes fantasy-themed toys.
The human condition of where we're at
in terms of accepting adult things in our lives
is kind of depressing.
I hate to say it, but particularly in America,
this was stuff that was the foundation of religion.
It was stuff to do with
what is the socially-accepted norm, right?
What are things that are, you know,
that are considered good or bad?
And I don't think masturbation
should ever be an acceptable dinner table conversation ever
because everybody should have standards.
And I think that's something very important to emphasize,
is any community needs standards,
and there needs to be certain topics that are not on the table.
But at the same time,
I feel that people should be comfortable enough with themselves
and with their close-knit group of friends
to be able to be honest with themselves
about what they really want.
What we've got is... it's called a come tube.
And so what you do is you have this stuff
which looks like come, and you put it in a syringe,
and you run it, and you squirt it down the tube,
and it comes out the end.
Just a tube down the middle.
This is one we found in fantasy-themed fan-fiction
and furry porn and stuff,
the jizz always looks like this stuff does.
It's always everywhere, right?
And we were like, "oh, if we're doing fantasy toys",
let's make fantasy lube to go with it,
'cause lube is expensive.
If you go and buy it from the pharmacy.
It's six bucks for a tube, right?
And it doesn't work very well with toys
because it goes away a lot.
It's designed for sex, it's not designed for,
you know, your own use.
And so we made this stuff
which we called come lube
because it's your idealized fantasy...
Fantasy come.
And it's all stringy,
and it's white tinted,
and it makes a huge mess.
But it's... I think it's hot.
In the right context,
I think this stuff's amazing.
I have worked very, very, very hard
to foster good relationships with the local media
and with the city of Pittsburgh.
The city of Pittsburgh loves us.
The media likes us.
I want to keep it that way.
A Pittsburgh man,
we're gonna start with him.
He believes his spirit is more dog than human.
Take a look at this guy.
That's why he wanted
to legally change his name to boomer the dog.
But a judge won't let him change his name.
These are my puppy ears right here.
And I have a dog tag.
Do you consider yourself what's called a furry?
I do.
I feel that I'm a dog by default,
but furry is the scene that I'm in.
I found it after I discovered that I was a dog.
Oh, well, I love the media.
I'm in the media in my own way
with my little radio station
and podcasts and stuff like that.
I really do like cameras.
I like to be on the other side of the camera,
the lens side of the camera,
and to just do productions of any kind.
I really like media, just all in general.
I've been holding it in for a long time,
you know, being canine.
It was something I was put down for
back in my early days.
When I first started out, people didn't get it.
So, I like to do media,
and I kind of feel like it's an answer,
some of this, to what people said,
or they didn't want me to do this stuff,
or thought it wouldn't amount to anything.
And it's kind oe like,
I'd like the people in my school to see this,
and my teachers and everything,
to see the media and, yes, I'm still out there.
Oh, god.
He made his suit out of shredded paper.
- Mm-hmm. - And he was on "Dr. Phil."
Oh, god.
What a bad representation of the furry community.
So are a lot of furries upset about that?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, when it first aired,
oh, my god. F.A. Just blew up.
It was unbelievable.
Anyone who's outside the fandom looking in,
and they see a person like boomer
and they say, "oh, what the heck is he doing?"
And a group of furs, who naturally should be
accepting people to begin with,
are like, "oh, boomer."
And I just don't think that should be the way that it is.
I think, you know,
like, look at yourself.
I mean, you're the one... you're dressing up in a suit.
You're running around town and barking.
How are you any different than boomer is?
You're always gonna have a small portion of folks
that stand out in a negative way,
especially to the media.
I just personally felt that
that was possibly one individual
that didn't really represent
the true meaning of the fandom.
I mean, what makes his opinion
more valuable than boomer's?
Sure, and there are things that Diezel likes
that other people consider to be,
you know, taboo,
or not a good representation of the community.
So, we each have our own things
that we like and don't like.
However, it's all part of one community
and you should talk to everybody
to get the extremes of it.
I do think that boomer is one extreme,
and I think that we are another.
You know, we are much unlike boomer,
and even Diezel...
but two sides of the same coin.
Boomer is a little,
I mean, I don't want to say that.
That sounds so bad, but he-
yeah, I mean, his fursuit's made out of paper
and it's a little sketchy,
and he tried to change his name.
And I am not about that life.
♪ All my love ♪
See, there it is.
Listen to my monitor. From the A.M., there's delay.
There's a lot of delay in this.
♪ What am I supposed to do ♪
Isn't that weird? That's through A.M.
It's going... 'cause there's delay through everything.
It's streaming down there and...
♪ what can I do for you ♪
♪ What can I do for you ♪
A lot of the times on TV shows-
like, it's been on "Tyra banks"
and it's been on...
Lots of shows,
and they bring in that type of...
Bad, like, typical furry.
Or they might just tell 'em to ham it up.
I don't know what happens.
But they always end up saying not good things
and making everyone else look bad.
Okay.
Tell me about what a furry does.
Well, we are furries.
Furries are people
who have an inner animal that they like to celebrate.
- Okay. - And we celebrate it
through drawing ourselves and wearing costumes.
Do you have sex when you have the costume on?
Yes.
And I've heard that that person,
I don't know who it is,
but, like, people don't talk to her anymore
and she feels bad or something,
but I don't know how it went.
I haven't looked up on it, so-
oh!
Did you really? Oh, my goodness. Okay.
Shit.
This bitch so crunchy right here.
Oh, wait a minute. Hey, how's it going?
- I know, right? - I just realized.
- Takes a while. - I was like, "cl-l, wait a minute."
I've got, like, my little missiles targeting it.
Fuck it! You caught me!
Jesus.
"I don't know really what to say about chew fox"
that hasn't already been said.
Suffice to say, she...
she sold out the fandom for her own personal gain.
She got her 15 minutes on national TV
by showing herself to be the very kind of person
"we all like to pretend doesn't exist."
And that's that point you were talking about.
Everyone likes to pretend that it doesn't exist at all.
Like, no, it doesn't happen at all.
And that's just a wretched way to think.
"She did it by taking a collective shit"
on the rest of us for a few dollars- ♪
Which I didn't make...
"and her moment in the limelight."
I was less embarrassed
over the Alan panda pedophilia issue
"than I am this shit."
Isn't that, like...
I am more insulting than a pedophile.
I'm more insulting than someone
who was found sexually assaulting children.
I am more offensive than that.
See? "Great. Just what we need."
We were almost forgotten."
So, what? This is something that
we have to feel ashamed about, apparently.
There will be people who will hate you
for this documentary.
There will be people who will dislike me,
and you, and anyone involved in this project.
One of the best pieces of artwork I saw in my honor
was a picture of someone holding me
by the scruff of my shirt,
and all it said was, "You told."
That says it.
That's all that needs to be said.
It's not what we say,
it's that we said it at all.
You guys might wanna get a picture of this one.
More interesting sex partners when we come back.
We'll be right back. We'll keep guessing.
Oh. "Uncle Kage's furries in the media" next.
- Look at that. - Don't.
Suggested?
Suggested to play immediately afterwards.
Let me guess, it's probably about me.
So, reporters would come to me and they would say, "Will you talk to us?"
I'd say, "I'd rather not. No."
So, they would go and find someone who would.
Well, we can go on and on with many examples.
I'm not going to name names...
Like chew fox.
I'm not gonna name that name...
Little fucking bitch.
He just uses diversion tactics.
He knows... he knows how to manipulate
a conversation in his favor.
And that is a very valuable skill,
and that's probably a skill I don't necessarily have.
Maybe a little. I don't know.
But I don't like that approach.
I'm gonna be up front with you,
I think fursuits can be very attractive.
I would still have sex with someone in a fursuit.
I prefer to have sex with someone in a fursuit
than to be in suit... it's very hot.
Um, you know, really hot.
When we went on the show,
they kind of lied to us to get in there,
but that's what a lot of them do.
They said hype up the story and make it real.
So, they said, "hey, you're gonna be paired"
with these two other peopl... these two other couples,
and you guys are gonna be the people who have sex in their fursuits.
And we're like, "we don't do that."
"No, but we want you to say you do that."
- Mm-hmm. - But I don't do that.
- Well, the thing... - no, we haven't.
- We did a little bit. - No, we didn't.
- Little bit. - No.
Anyways, um, so...
At that time, we just said,
"you know what? Forget it."
Let's just go on there
"and try to portray it the best way we can."
And it totally backfired.
And looking back at it, we shouldn't have done it,
but hindsight is 20/20.
What's done is done.
As I've told him, I don't regret it.
I don't.
I don't think we personally did anything that wrong.
And what I had told them yesterday
is that anything that I said-
the first question was directed at the fandom.
"What is the furry fandom?"
And I answered that.
But any question that was asked after that
was purely about what goes on between us.
- Yeah. - Yeah, really.
I think furries tend to become very defensive
if they feel attacked, regardless of the situation.
It's very common for one person
to say something, and then a group...
a mob Will just form and attack that person.
Which isn't good, but...
N
There's a really interesting dichotomy,
I think, in the furry community,
because on one hand, you have a lot of people
who... they're comfortable with themselves,
they're comfortable with their interests, right?
And to each other, it's accepted and understood-
well understood.
And then whenever media gets involved,
everyone's terrified.
Everyone is terrified.
And I think it's a mistake for furries
to try and hide behind,
"oh, I don't want anything to do with the media
because they might expose me to be a pervert."
Everybody's a pervert in some way.
The real question is
what is the intent of the person
that's looking to do the expose, right?
You need to be sensible.
But also along the lines of, you know,
what does it say about you if you're afraid
to stand up for what you believe in, right?
And I think it's...
that's part of the reason why I'm doing this interview,
is because I think that, um,
the furry fandom has a long way to go
in terms of accepting itself.
Do you know who Varka is?
He's the CEO of Bad dragon.
Oh, okay. Yeah, okay.
So you've heard of Bad dragon?
Unfortunately, Bad dragon
has been taken away from anthrocon.
It used to be an actual store.
They had things covered so that minors couldn't view.
However, they were taken away
because uncle Kage wanted nothing to do with that.
So, that was uncle Kage's decision
to boot Varka and Bad dragon.
Okay, you can mute it.
He's right.
- What was that? - I said he's right.
It does take years to build a reputation
and ten seconds to destroy it.
People would not be totally accepting
of the full truth.
It's like a white lie.
You're telling them part of the truth,
so that they'll understand it,
but they don't need to know everything.
If something really bad happened
and it was exploited by the media to the public,
do you think that families would bring their children
to the Westin hotel lobby
to get hugs from furries?
No.
Right now, my daughters too young
to understand any of the porn side of it.
Obviously, we don't show her that kind of stuff.
And when she's old enough to make her own decision,
she can decide whether she thinks
that it's okay or not okay.
But we're going to raise her
as this is perfectly acceptable
and that everyone is their own person
and you should accept people for who they are.
Did I say that out loud? I'm terribly sorry.
I'm very, very... I apologize.
It is the wine, I blame the wine.
They put something in it... alcohol.
That's all.
I really didn't know I was doing this panel,
- hon est. - Wow.
I feel like even politicians, though,
- that's what bothers me. - I never heard a politician
call someone a fucking bitch.
I mean, okay,
maybe in the privacy of their own home,
but I've never blatantly heard someone on camera say that.
If you have a reputation to preserve,
don't call people "fucking bitches."
That's really sad.
I don't know, I mean,
that you have to be that insecure about yourself
to call someone out like that.
- Kato, get over here. - What's up'?
Okay, so any of that-
do you feel like that's surprising to you in any way?
You're free to judge me, but I agreed with 85% of it.
And with the maybe 15% left,
content-wise, only 5 of it.
Most of it's just in the way you say something.
A politician should never get caught saying his mind.
But, I mean, aside from that,
I don't really disagree with what he's got to say.
I think it's a difficult...
I don't know, it's... do you-
fuck, dude, really? Really?
You don't like that there are people
who are gonna agree with it.
But, I mean, I don't know,
it just doesn't seem that hyperbolic to me.
The way in which he says it, sure,
but I do think most people are too inept
to articulate their own standpoints,
let alone someone else's, or a group's identity.
So, yeah, I think that the guy who is
most able to do so probably should.
But, you guys, you know,
I've been working on this for three years.
You guys have been communicating with me.
You guys are people who know how to speak English.
Right, and I guess that's what I would caution.
I mean, not to sound condescending,
'cause I'm not here to tell you how to do your job.
But, I guess, make sure that you spend more time
bringing to light those voices who can articulate themselves,
rather than bringing down someone who attempts to do it for them
even if, perhaps, not in a way that you approve of.
I don't know, maybe a lot of furries are stupid.
Maybe we're the only smart ones.
I don't know. I don't-
it's not that they're stupid, I think.
I just think that they're just not
held to a high enough standard of behavior.
They don't think about their conduct in a larger sense,
and I think that's what Kage's trying to impose on people.
Whether or not he's going to be successful at that,
whether or not he can be successful at that,
that's up for debate.
But I think that people do need to think about
how they are perceived by other people.
It's an important part of personal responsibility.
And I think as soon as someone like Kage gets up
and says, "be this, be this",
not this, and do this,"
it takes anything valid in the fandom that we've done
and just flushes it right down the toilet.
Because if we are all about acceptance,
if we all are about individuality,
who's to say that he can say that to anybody
and that people should listen to him?
I think it's common knowledge
over people who have the Internet and cable-
everyone's like, "oh, yeah, furries."
They dress up as animals and have sex with each other,
"or they go in the woods and have sex with animals,"
or things like that, and then they move on.
But then the furries are like,
"no, we cannot let this happen!"
It already happened.
You can't change it back.
Like, so...
Do you worry that if you say the wrong thing
that you're gonna get in trouble with furries?
Do I worry a little bit?
Sure.
But I've made the conscious decision
to step in front of this camera right here
and speak my mind on it.
Could there be some repercussions of it?
Sure.
At the end of the day, I've still got my friends
and that's all that matters to me.
I'm not out here to defame anybody.
I'm not out here to throw the fandom under the bus.
I'm not out to change the world.
I'm not out to change the fandom.
I'm just out there to be me.
Once again, I'm going to reiterate this point
because it is very important.
You're not representing you,
you're representing all of us.
I think what he's getting at
is when you decide to get in front of a camera,
you're not representing just you at that time.
You're representing the fandom.
And I think, again,
a lot of people try to do that,
but they don't say it in the right way.
Is that tough for when
you feel like your only responsibility
should just be to be you, right,
instead of somebody who just got into an interview?
Yeah, I mean, it kind of makes sense to what he's saying
at this point in time right now.
I'm not just representing me,
I'm representing the fandom.
The people that like him, do they actually like him?
Because now I'm a little...
sort of the way your interview went,
it was, like, not that you were supporting him,
but at first you didn't necessarily
want to speak too ill of him.
So, I almost wonder if it's maybe because
they feel like they have to support him,
or at least not be detractors,
or if they genuinely like him.
Basically, he's got connections to the other...
the other higher...
if you would even call them higher up furs,
as in dragoneer who runs fur affinity
and some of the other web sites.
And I think there's a general fear
that his cronies or his followers
are going to beat the shit out of you
because you spoke ill of Kage,
when I think the reality is
he thinks he speaks for the masses,
and I just think he speaks for some.
And I think a lot of people won't talk ill of that
because they don't want to be shown
as someone who's against the fandom,
and some people think if you don't agree with Kage,
you're against the fandom.
I feel you're a little biased
in your interviewing.
Just a little bit.
Poquito.
Well, I mean, it's like...
where's the other... where's Kage's side?
Fucking, I would love it. I would love that side.
You can't get Kage's side
without Kage's approval on Kage's edit.
Didn't he deny doing this?
Yeah, he said...
sure, yeah.
A lot of other communities
don't really have the same problems
that the furry community does.
But I feel that a lot of the problems
that the furry community has
are brought on by themselves-
mainly trying to spin themselves in a good light
when it not necessarily is.
I'm not saying that things are bad or wrong
with the furry community,
but they are certainly not portrayed real.
It's just what they want you to see,
and that comes off...
people take that and spin that even.
- So... - It's an unnecessary cover-up.
If you just let things be,
it might be a Niger place.
People might actually accept furries for who they are.
And here's the thing, too, let me add to that,
and why he...
I believe he tries to help the fandom
and here's one reason why.
What is the age majority in the fandom?
It's very young. It's a very young fandom.
As I get older, the fandom continues to stay young
and get younger.
A lot of young people in this generation,
they don't always know what to say.
They're very stubborn. They have a lot of pride.
They don't think about the repercussions of things,
and you have to be careful with people like that.
So, uncle Kage's doing a "winestream,"
which is a livestream.
If you're unfamiliar with what that is,
it's just him at his computer at his house
taking questions for hours and getting drunk.
Is this controlling these?
You don't hear an echo? I don't care.
I have an idea.
For those of you who say you hear an echo,
fuck you! Okay, now!
We're getting going because I've not been able to drink
while Jack has been screwing around with the damn server!
Now it's my turn.
- So! - Shit.
I'd like to welcome you all to the winestream.
I apologize.
We had a very, very lovely intro set up,
but, oh, well.
Maybe next time.
I apologize,
I don't like north Carolina wines.
It's a lovely state, and I'm sure they make lovely wines,
but they're not to my taste,
I prefer Columbia valley, Washington state,
or Mosel valley of Germany.
Um, Dominic. "Do we really need
the anthrocon media policy to be so strict?"
Fuck, yes!
Um, okay, cook away.
"The elevators will hold up. What about the escalators?"
- One thing at a time. - One, two, now.
Somebody asked me a question, it went away.
I'm gonna start at the bottom.
"Do you ever feel you're going too far calling furries out
that screw up in the media, like boomer the dog and chew fox?"
No! No, they're a bunch of fucking asswipes.
I don't feel I'm going too far.
I want them Tc shut the hell up.
They're not representing me!
Mmm.
Cool.
I think what you said is probably absolutely true.
I think he probably indulges in some of the same shit
that he sees other people...
and that he doesn't want to be identified with the same thing,
he wants his own image saved.
Um, and it's purely for his own...
I think. It's...
it's for him.
The people that are enjoying
the fandom the most,
the people that get fandom the most
and get the most out of it
are the ones that basically say,
"I don't give a fuck."
I don't give a fuck what dragoneer says.
I don't give a fuck what uncle kage says.
"I don't give a fuck about any of that shit."
N
♪ like magic he appears ♪
♪ A hero to save the day ♪
♪� and just when you think he's here for good ♪
♪ That's when he goes away ♪
♪ 'Cause he's boomer ♪
♪ Boomer ♪
So, this is all about-
and you can see it's still in German.
The titles are still in German and stuff like that.
See, and when I would hear him,
I would tape record these barks-
the pieces, the parts of the show
where he was barking and stuff like that.
And then I'd play it back
and I would try to learn his bark.
And that's how I got
the "here's boomer" bark for me.
I'd just listen over and over
and then try to bark like that.
That's the only way to shut him up.
You figured it out for yourself.
Good for you, boomer.
The thing ls, ls why did that hit me
when it could've been just as much the human world?
Because I was in the human world.
So, why would the dog, like,
step out, you know,
and get me so much
when it could've been any number of factors
or anything else?
But somehow I was different,
and then somehow the dog was there,
and then somehow I kept on being canine all this time,
whatever it's been now.
I don't know how long,
like, 40 years or something ridiculous?
I don't know.
I just go right across here. You don't mind?
Okay.
There's kind of a way of doing things
in the furry scene now
that I think allows less expression
than it did when I first came on the scene.
You didn't have that kind of-
there wasn't a social pressure to conformity as much.
Which is weird to be even saying,
because furry is this different thing to begin with.
So I kind of don't understand...
I don't understand some of the modern philosophy.
But I kinda do, because, like, I bark.
People come into the scene and that's all they know,
so they expect other people to be similar.
I love furries so much.
I want to see all kinds of people have it
and enjoy it if they'd like to.
And I'd like them to see
all the sides of furry, you know,
good and bad, whatever it is.
I don't think there's much bad to it.
It's people trying to discover themselves in different ways.
Right away when I did this, I was told,
"why don't you just keep your regular name like the rest of us?"
And I was like... I almost, like-
I was angry, but I was laughing at the same time
because I was like,
"that's not what it's about for me."
N