Kind: Articles

traditional long form content: a post with an explicit title and body
A beautiful yellow Labrador retriever stares at his owner eating breakfast. Two long strings of drool hang from his jowls.
Labrador retrievers are often described as “food-motivated.” This guy is.

Did you know a mutation called POMC causes some labs to have a 25% lower resting metabolic rate than other labs, but markedly increased hunger? I didn’t. It’s true. The same mutation exists in humans. Who knew? Now I’m thinking about lunch…

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I was offline most of last evening, so I was surprised by the hack of FurAffinity and their associated Twitter accounts. It’s shocking that someone would do this, but don’t let it throw you.

What they want is to discourage us. We are a community. We found each other and encouraged each other to explore and be our true selves, in a lot of ways that make bigots uncomfortable and scared. Stand fast. Nobody online can hurt us in a way that matters.

Don’t lose hope or back down. We’re not a website—we’re not going anywhere. We are goddamn proud of who we are and what we do, and we are right to be. People who hate furries usually hate us because we’re not straight, white, cisgender, allosexual, allistic, or because we have the gall to want more than hustle culture and capital. They consider these things unacceptable in polite society. We will continue to do our thing—and we will do it LOUDER.

I am a furry, among other things. The alt-right considers me a degenerate and a deviant. In accepting myself as I am and in finding my community, I am happy and proud. I will be happy and proud out of spite, at the very least.

Now, what we can do personally: Make sure your art is posted somewhere you control. Use social media, but keep copies somewhere safe. Consider a personal website. Use 2FA and secure passwords. Talk to your friends, check in with friends who are being quiet, help each other, and continue to create and do what brings you joy. Illegitimi non carborundum.

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I know this is a difficult time for everybody, and we’re all upset by how unfair and sudden the loss of Dragoneer was, but I want to talk about the GoFundMe started in Dragoneer’s name to support FurAffinity. I don’t want to make any assumptions, but I have some questions.

As of Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 6:00pm CDT, 2745 donations put $153,519 into the FurAffinity GoFundMe. Obviously this is a tremendously generous outpouring of support from the community. Dragoneer and his contributions to the furry fandom meant a lot to a lot of us, and a lot of people wanted to give something back. For a goal of $75,000, to double the goal in just days is laudable and says a lot about the generosity of our community.

This morning, though, the GoFundMe’s goal nearly tripled to $221,800. Obviously, information comes to light gradually when a person passes, so a revision was not unexpected. But FurAffinity, via Susan Hess AKA Sciggles, is asking for nearly a quarter of a million dollars. From an initial estimate of $75,000, this is staggering.

If the initial estimate was so far off, some questions need to be answered about who is determining how these generous donations are going to be spent, and the basis for their huge request. To that end, I’ve divided up the expenses listed on the GoFundMe page into three categories, and listed my questions and concerns on each.

DEBTS OF THE ESTATE: $84,400.

Medical expenses: $38,300. This is a bare minimum. Medical bills can take months to be processed and sent to patients, so this number is very likely to rise, possibly significantly. What is the plan when that happens?

Back taxes owed: $6,000. This only covers taxes owed to the IRS for fiscal year 2022. Taxes for fiscal year 2023 and 2024 will still be due, and we as yet have no information on what they will be. State taxes are also entirely absent. What is the plan when those come due?

Mortgage: $12,600. Who owns the house?  Is Rita staying at the house? How long is Rita staying at the house? What happens after six months? Why isn’t the house being sold to settle estate debts?

ESTATE EXPENSES: $27,500.

Funeral expenses: $13,000. The average funeral in Virginia costs approx. $8000. Why is this so high?

Medical examiner and cremation: $9,500. What are they trying to examine? Is this part of a potential medical malpractice lawsuit? If so, won’t the proceeds from any medical malpractice case go toward paying medical bills?

Legal fees: $5,000.00. The cost of the deed transfer ($3,500) seems very high. This estimate also does not include the estate lawyer’s fees for time spent administering the estate. This number is likely to rise, possibly significantly.

BUSINESS DEBTS AND EXPENSES: $137,400.

This is the big one. The majority of the ask is for this category. 

FurAffinity debts: $87,400. This includes a working capital loan ($32,000), the balance owed to IMVU for FurAffinity’s buyback ($17,000), and past contract services owed ($38,400). Are there any other outstanding debts owed by Frost Dragon, LLC or FurAffinity? Who owns this debt? What was the plan to pay it back? What were the terms of the debt? Was it in Dragoneer’s name, or Frost Dragon LLC’s, or FurAffinity’s? Is this number likely to rise as more information is discovered, or are all of FurAffinity’s debts and contracts known?

FurAffinity operating expenses: $50,000. This includes two months of operating costs to help with the transition of ownership ($20,000 each), plus an additional $10,000 for backup savings. Where are these numbers coming from? What happens at the end of two months? What is the plan to pay FurAffinity’s operating expenses moving forward? Why is FurAffinity’s current income not supporting its operating costs?

Do the donations go to Dragoneer’s estate, or to someone else? Who is accountable for the quarter-million they’ve asked for?