I hosted a panel on writing furry erotica last year and in 2022 at Mephit Furmeet. Unfortunately, a writing panel after 11 PM cannot hope to compete with other goings-on, so last year I only had two people show up.

I'm not offering the panel this year.

*nods* Yup, wuff has attended quite a few "adult level" panels at various conventions. Some were for art, some, like yours, for writing, others for role-playing and character development. And of course there were the ones by folks like Alkali, for telling stories about various events at prior cons and other such, where "adult language" and subject frequently strayed away from "kid-friendly" zones.

But this is the first that Vrghr has heard of a main-stage event, like a fur dance or variety show, specifically focused on "getting your kink on."

Yeah, never saw anything like that at MFM, and I've been going since 2009.

*nods* Wuffy has seen programs for Antro Con, MFM, BLFC, and past Megaplex cons as well as others, and this is the first Vrghr has run across this.
The assertion that this was being added because of its popularity at other fur cons is what peaked wuff's curiosity.

There is always a pup play panel at Fur Squared, all be it after 9PM or 10PM.

*nods* But once again, that's a panel. Wuff has seen MANY panels with adult topics. Those can be hosted at any time of day (with proper screening at the doors). And they're certainly not set up for the same levels of participation as a main stage event.
Also, those are generally offered as interests of one of more con attendees who have volunteered to host a panel event, not as a con-sponsored major focus of the convention.

Ok.

So, had you heard if other conventions had made this "night market" a featured event hosted by the convention and not a guest-sponsored panel?

Fur Squared has a Night Market. It is held in the room that Artist's Alley is in during the day.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/51892929/

Thanks for the info!

You are welcome. You might enjoy Fur Squared. Here is their site. https://fursquared.com/

Thank you!

You are welcome. You ever been to Wisconsin?

Never had that opportunity, unfortunately.

Well, you really should come for a visit to the Dairy State for Fur Squared. There are several ways you can get here. There is an Amtrak Station/Grayhound Bus Terminal several blocks away from the hotel that Fur Squared is now held at. There is also Mitchell International Airport, which is in Milwaukee as well. You can find more info here. https://fursquared.com/hotel/

Thank you again!
We'll have to see how plans work out in the future. Wuff might be able to get there. Thanks!

Cool. Also, you are welcome.

I’ll stay away from those things V, but that’s just me. I’ll take Red Skelton any day.

Vix

OH! Wuff LOVED Red Skelton! What a great clown and comedian! The characters he played on his show were adorable and funny!

Yeah, this wuff has no intention of attending that function at Mega. Vrghr has no need to see a room of folks running around in their underwear with strap-ons, padded "bulges", and diapers. Let alone participate in it. Sadly, the current staff seems to be shifting the focus of that convention from, "Furry is a celebration of 'funny animals' in art, music, story, & costume," to "Furry is a celebration of gender identity, sex, and kink." Wuff rather preferred the former focus over the latter.

But wuff posted this journal because of their assertion that this was so popular at current conventions that they wanted to adopt it too. Wuffy wanted the community's input on that. Vrghr knows he's very out-of-touch with a lot of current culture, and was wondering if this was just another thing he'd missed noticing.

nooooooo... I think you and I are the same, and what we once loved - do love - has been morphed into a thing we no longer recognize.

Vix

That's kinda been my observation, yeah. Like there are two competing groups in the furry fandom, and one of them is kinda taking over, and isn't real keen on talking about things like "self-control" or "restraint". (Well, maybe restraint, but only in a kink context. =P) Granted, don't know if I've rubbed elbows with many folks like that, and I'd rather stay away anyhow. There's just a point where it feels silly and/or disgusting to me.

You can kinda see an extreme version of this shift if you pay attention to fan created content over the decades. Sometime within the 90's, there was suddenly a lot more porn and BDSM stuff, and a lot of stories about gay guys... who just happened to be furries. What Uncle Kage has referred to as "Zipperbacks", though I don't think he included the use of gay characters in his definition. Just that they seemed to be humans in fursuits more than actual anthropomorphic animals.

At this point, I'd rather go back to celebrating "funny animals" again. Heck, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is exactly the kind of thing I want to see in my media: a talking animal character actually treated as something more than a funny mascot. As a being with hopes and dreams... and, in some cases, major trauma caused by the general suckitude of the universe, and that of the people living in it. Kinks and fetishes can be fun, but I don't think they feed the soul. They sure don't feed mine. Just make me horny. =P

But if we want things to change, we'll probably have to do it ourselves. At the least, choose to hang out with people who share our values and ideals, or who at least are willing and able to geek out over talking animals. Especially if you're world-building stuff with them in it. That's always fun, no?

People can hold kink panels if they like, but I probably won't show up. And if I did, I'd probably be profoundly uncomfortable. I'm a gentleman at heart, and I'd rather keep such things quiet and in personal circles. Especially if it means avoiding people screeching at me because I might have an objection to a particular kink, or dare to suggest maybe we shouldn't give unconditional support to every kind of sexual act or lifestyle. Label me a prude or "sex negative" if you like, but I have my doubts. If I can't talk about them without fear of reprisal or scolding, are we really friends?

this, 100%
kinks, and sexual preferences should be kept in the bedroom, not shoved in the faces of everyone for no reason at all other then forcing people to "accept" them
until quite recently, 10 to 15 years that is, absolutely nobody could have possibly cared less about what you did behind closed doors and hardly anybody forcefully shoved it in everyone's faces either. The fandom was so much better back then because the only thing people cared about was the community and that they had similar likes and dislikes about/with mainstream cartoon animals. The fandom lost it's way with all this gender identity political BS. I doubt it will be salvageable, but I do hold out hope that it can be.

Might require what some would consider a dirty word: gate-keeping.

Personally, I think it's gotten a bad reputation thanks to some people abusing it. Also, because many geek fandoms tend to adopt the Geek Social Fallacies, though here we'd mostly be concerned with the aversion to ostracizing people. Which, granted, does suck when you're on the pointy end of it, especially if it seems to be for no reason other than folks just don't like you. Or know you're easy to push around. But if you can't establish certain baseline rules about behavior - and enforce them - you're just inviting trouble. And some people running the Cons are more concerned with their party time than making sure things are running smooth. Plus, you get the sociopaths always trying to game the system or gain power and influence in order to protect themselves... and I bet you there's a few actual sexual predators who've made themselves "indispensable" to this or that group of furries. Which means they can go hunting without fear of reprisal.

(Thankfully, everyone dies someday, so the most wicked among us won't be around forever. Lenin is still dead, and we should all be grateful for that. But maybe keep an eye on that glass coffin, just in case.)

The other difficulty, of course, is how do you gatekeep a fandom based purely upon a vague concept that shows up everywhere? Even in mythology and religion. Other fandoms are usually based around a book or TV show or movie. Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars... then stuff like Marvel and DC comics, or the insane amount of content coming over from Japan... these are rather concrete things with facts you can memorize to show off your geekiness. To prove to the guards at the gate that you're One of Us (gooble, gobble, gooble, gobble), or at least impress your geeky friends... when you're not arguing over those facts and which ones are more important. =P Or which characters are more awesome or would win in a fight. (Kirk vs. Picard is still going on, I'll bet.) Maybe the color of someone's outfit or superhero costume in Issue #9 of some old comic.

"Furry" doesn't have that, not so much. Maybe some of the Old Guard do, like RabbiTom or the Wuff here who made this journal. They certainly know about things from ages past, long before any of this started. Fanzines were all the rage, and - to me, at least - it seems like the stuff produced back then was more focused on story and world-building than pulling people's clothes off and mashing their genitals together. Heck, even the porn often had plot. I think I found an old issue of Omaha the Cat Dancer online once, and read through it... and when one couple were about to get intimate, the guy kinda brought up her making eyes at another woman... 'cause she was bisexual and he wasn't... and he was a little scared she might leave him. Suffice to say, it soured the mood, and the sex scene never happened. I don't often see that today, and I'd like to see more of it, if people don't drop the porn altogether.

But yeah, it's kinda hard to gatekeep the way some other geeks do, which can be both good and bad (some guys take it way too far, due to poor social skills and maybe a bit of paranoia over girls just pretending to be into it to land a guy). I'm pretty sure I'd fail most of the tests about the old comics and fanzines... but I think I'd also express some interest in them, to learn what they were like, or read stuff that was made before I was even a teenager. Or possibly even before I was born. But I dunno how many furries today want that... and I suspect a large part of the fandom doesn't really care about world-building or lore or discussing their favorite fuzzy characters in media. It's all about the costumes and the badges, the stuff they did, maybe drinking and drugs and sex... and those stupid dances that only play techno music that just doesn't inspire me to dance at all. A lot of it just feels so... shallow. Not that I want to discourage people from it; you're free to like what you like. And I do like the creativity people have with the costumes and the art they commission. I just feel some of the stuff popular at cons and with many furries is just... pure hedonism. An attempt to numb the pain and the deep desires left unfulfilled. I'm generalizing a lot, I know, and I can't say none of this is out of my own stubborn pride over what I'm into... how it's somehow better than the other stuff...

...but I really do think a lot of this stuff isn't truly "furry". Not that I want to push it out, but... it doesn't interest me. Never has. And I'd like to be able to enjoy my hobby about funny talking animals without feeling pressured to make it about things that really have no direct connection to it. At least the cons I attended in the past seemed chill enough that I didn't have to worry. But if the fandom is going in a direction I'm not comfortable with, then I'm out. I can still enjoy my furry media with people I already know. Even non-furries who are tolerant enough and can see the appeal. We came outta science fiction and fantasy conventions. Can always hook back up with them, and maybe find kindred souls who are open to a conversation about how my own personal werewolves work. =P

Ugh, sorry. This has been a sore topic with me for a while. I really should be in bed instead of writing long comments like this. But regardless, I retain hope that I can still find a happy niche in this world. Even if it's not in the furry fandom itself.

they lost their way YEARS ago and after pushing Yappy out they've fallen, hard. Even before the policies that they had to adhere to because of the new state laws they basically admitted to the fact that MegaPlex was NOT for kids, this is just further proof that they never wanted to be in the first place. Yappy was the only one keeping things mostly family friendly and now that he's not in charge it's turning into the very thing most of us older furries have been dreading, an adults only fetish convention and their loosing the people that helped create furries in lieu of certain massively leaning political ideologies. but thats my 2 cents. I'll likely never be returning to MegaPlex as a result.

I had been having trouble getting into megaplex for the last few years but now I feel better about it. I’ve always been a strictly SFW family friendly artist and feel that conventions should be that way too. I had thought of wanting to take my nephew who is a budding artist to see the cool costumes and handmade plush etc but not if it’s all just kink. I don’t mind furfest having an id checking closed curtain area for stuff but yea I wouldn’t want a con centered around that. That is sad megaplex has turned into that I had hoped to go back