So... what would you do if you found out you'd been lied to about something pretty huge and foundational to the relationship you have with someone? Like... they've been lying about it from day one, and this lie is one of the big reasons you even liked them in the first place...

It would completely destroy your trust and understanding of that person, wouldn't it? You wouldn't be able to trust anything they claimed. And I'm not talking about a "Oh, I'm rated in the top 5% in a game" kind of claim. I'm talking about the kind of claim that fundamentally alters the perception of them as a person. It would be devastating. Especially if your relationship with this person is something that's been a large foundation for your life.






Whooooooooboy do I have something for you then. Easter is a lie. Easter's origin started with Eostre or Ostara. The Germanic goddess of the Dawn, who's domain was Spring, the start of the agricultural season, fertility, and renewal. Her symbols are the hare, eggs, and flowers. Her holiday is celebrated by feasting, sweet treats, and children's games. Sound familiar? So ask yourself then... if the holiday was about Jesus being killed and resurrected, then why are all of symbols for the holiday related to someone else's traditions? If it was about Jesus, why is the holiday's very Name a different god's name?


Now... remember that premise I laid out at the head of this? If Christianity is willing to lie about one of their foundational holidays (not the only one by the way, Christmas is just about as bad), why would they be bothered by lying about other parts of the doctrine? Hint hint, they lie about MOST of it. A common question people ask is "What would it take to change your mind about X thing?" And I feel like "Finding out that I've been lied to about the very foundational beliefs about the subject," should rate up there pretty highly on that list. So to any Cristians reading this, I'm sorry, but you've been lied to, badly. And not just about this. Even the origins of your holy scripture is a lie. Look up The Council of Nicaea, and look at Historians and archeological reports, not your own people.


So I ask you again, Christians... If they've lied to you from the very start about foundational aspects of their religion from the ground up... How Can You Trust Anything They Teach?









Now I'm going to go celebrate Eostre the way it's meant to be, as a fertility holiday.

I'll be in Newport News, VA for FursonaCon from yesterday (8/25) until the Tuesday(9/3) after!

Yeah, taking a vacation in VA with the con as the main event! Attending with a group of dear ones, so it's gonna be great!

Feel free to come say Hi! I love meeting others in the community!

It's that time of year again~

Yup, it's Blackstripe's "you don't understand Easter" rant! And to make sure there's no confusion, the 'you' in that is directed specifically at Abrahamic religions that celebrate Easter.

First up, lets start with the Name!!! EASTER. Come on "Christians" tell me, what does Easter mean? The word. Where did it come from? What relevance does that word have to anything Christian? I'll wait.
...
...
...
A BIG FAT FUCKING NOTHING. That's right. Easter is derived from Eostra or Ostara, a PAGAN goddess of fertility! It has absolutely NOTHING to do with Christ, Christianity, or anything related. Not a single fucking thing.

Next, lets look at the Symbols! Bunnies, Eggs, Chocolate! So, again, "Christians" tell me, what do those symbols have to do with Christianity?
...
Again, A BIG FAT FUCKING NOTHING. There are sites out there claiming with some pure mental-gymnastics that it's about 'christ's rebirth', but for fucks sake... NO. Every Symbol for Easter is about ONE FUCKING THING. Fertility. FUCKING. BREEDING.

Noticing a trend here?
Christianity is a culture of THIEVES, or rather, a THIEF OF CULTURE. It rapes and pillages concepts and symbols and holidays from the people it's conquered and perverts them to suit it's own narrative as a means of indoctrinating the new people it's trying to absorb.






So, Christians...
If your faith lied to you about Easter, one of it's biggest holidays... Think about it... What else have they lied to you about in order to get you to follow like good little cattle?
The answer... So much. So so so much...
So much that you don't even have a religion left when you take out all the parts that Christianity STOLE.

The Video of my panel from MCFC, “Going to Space Today” just went up!

“Going to Space Today” An Educational Discussion on Kinky Headspaces!


https://youtube.com/watch?v=qJto1EQ09SQ

To start off, I'd just like to say a heartfelt thankyou to all the people watching my profile here, and Faving the art I'm able to get posted. Most of it is done by amazing artists, and provided as gifts from people very dear to me. These pieces symbolize a lot of different things to me, whether it be fond memories of old times, snapshots of 'slice-of-life' RPs, fun kinky things, or just a representation of how I see myself at heart. And to know that so many others enjoy them and appreciate them means the world to me.

So, Thanks A Lot! But could you maybe...
Comment on them? When you click +Fave maybe leave a comment saying what about the piece caught your attention, what you loved about it. Something that I can respond to, create an interaction, create a connection for that brief moment. All over the internet, platforms are built on 'likes' 'faves' '<3s' and whatnot, it distills a social interaction down to a single click... taking out the very soul of the interaction. If we want a world where we can bring people closer together, close some of the divides in our societies, and have a true community, then we need to learn how to Be a community again. Bring back the Soul of the interactions. Form those connections and sparks of the moment.

So, Thanks a lot, I really mean it. Lets turn it into something more than a single click. Lets make it a Spark.

George Floyd.
A man being arrested on charges of forgery, a non-violent offense. The police already had him subdued. He was not resisting. He was face-down to the ground, laying there. A police officer was kneeling on him, pinning him, with their knee against the back of his neck. Other officers were present. He was no threat to them.
George Floyd, a man with family, friends, people he cared about, and people that care about him. A Human Being.
He was laying, pinned to the ground, having a hard time breathing. He could be heard saying so. "I can't breathe." The cop didn't move. He pleaded. He couldn't breathe. There is a common misconception that if you are talking, you can still breathe. This is not true. But even if the cop tried that line of defense, it fails. There was no reason to kneel, pinning your knee to the back of a man's neck, pressing a grown man's body-weight into someone's back and neck. He Was Not Resisting. He was begging for air. The cop stayed on top of him. The other officers did not help him. The other officers did not stop the first.
George Floyd, a man who did not get to go home that day.
He stopped pleading. He stopped begging. He had no air left. George Floyd died with a cop kneeling on his back and neck, crushing the air out of him. Whether by incompetence, gross negligence, or intent, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. Murdered.
This heinous act should have never occurred. I don't care if he was stopped for something as minor as Jay-walking, or as grievous as murder. Once a person is in custody, he is the police's charge to Protect as much as detain. As soon as the cop had him subdued, the cop should have gotten off of him. I haven't seen any reporting on what lead up to the scene we've all seen, I don't know if he'd tried to resist or run prior to that moment, but those details are Entirely Irrelevant. He was already subdued. He was no threat. And the officer stayed atop him. There is no justifying that. None.
Officials seem to agree. The officers involved were immediately fired. Not put on administrative leave for investigation, not suspended. They were Fired. The one ultimately responsible for George Floyd's death is being charged for it, on several counts. As of now, from my understanding, the other officers are not. ((Correction, they have been. All are charged with Accessory to Murder)) They should be. It happened in their presence, in their custody. They may not have been the one who killed him, but his blood is on their hands.

Those are the details as I know them, and some of my thoughts on that specific event. What follows are more opinion and conjecture.
Based on reporting, Officials investigating the event have said that they believe race played a role in how George Floyd was treated by those officers. I have seen some reporting that the officer may have known George Floyd. That they worked together at a club of some sort and even had overlapping shifts. Was it an intentional murder, motivated by race, or some personal offense? I don't know. Until all the investigations are done, we won't know. But as it stands right now, it looks like his race did play a part.
I do actually support the Death-Penalty, but only for the most egregious and heinous of crimes. The officer who killed George Floyd is one I would say deserves it. Murdering a man. Abuse of power. Callous disregard. And more that I don't have the right words to express. The other officers involved... They deserve to never feel freedom again. It won't bring George Floyd back to life. It won't make it right. But it would at least be some semblance of justice. I will be paying close attention to that investigation, trial, and hopefully, sentencing. Police forces across the country need more oversight, better training, and far more strict regulations on the use of force, and harsher penalties when they are broken.

I wish that was were I could leave this one. I wish that was all there was to be said about it.
Sadly, those events don't exist in a vacuum. Covid-19 is still a real danger. hundreds of thousands dead world-wide, even in First-world countries. If you're going to go out and protest, or engage in civil-disobedience, PLEASE, wear your masks, don't bunch up shoulder to shoulder, Please Protect Yourselves and stay safe. You are the only person who can protect you. You can not trust other people to be smart about it.

And here comes the part I really dread saying, because without fail, people will twist the meaning, and use it to attack. I save this part for last, because I want it very, VERY clear that what I have already said is what I view as the Far more important message.
There are people out there using this tragic, heinous crime as cover for doing abhorrent things. Using George Floyd's murder to justify hurting others. And worse, there are people intentionally trying to spark further violence and loss of life. A quote has been making the rounds "Riots are the language of the unheard" -Martin Luther King Jr. There is something to that. There is truth in it. But take care that innocent people aren't made to pay the price. Communities are being destroyed. People are being hurt and killed. Local stores and businesses are being smashed, looted, destroyed. Homes are being destroyed. Take care that in trying to slay a monster, you do not become a monster. Remember that you are a human being, whether you are a protester, rioter, bystander or a cop. And remember that they are all human beings too. There can not be healing while new wounds are still being caused. This needs to de-escalate, we need to stop the flow of blood before it drowns us all.


We are all human. We all bleed red. There needs to be more love in the world. There needs to be less hate. We all need more empathy.

*edit-note Edited journal to include more information involving the officers involved. They all have been charged as accessory to murder, and the officer that killed George Floyd has had his charge increased.

UPDATE: A link to this journal has been sent to the WNCFurs/BRFF admin who was much more courteous in their handling of the topic. Not sure if anything will come of it, but THANKYOU to EVERYONE who replied to this journal and helped spread the word. Yes, even the people who dissented.




It's taken me a couple days to calm down enough to discuss this topic and address the major issues going on.

About a week ago, I was made aware that a local fur group, WNCFurs, for Western North Carolina, was putting together a new con, BlueRidge FurFare for 2020. A new con, practically in my back-yard, HELL YEAH, I was Excited. But that quickly changed. In the process of talking to the folks in their Telegram groups, a discussion about Chakats came up, and when I mentioned that Chakats are Hermaphrodites, the reaction I got was... unexpected. I was told by their admins that Herm/Hermaphrodite was a slur, and that I can't use that term, I can't identify myself as it in their groups, and that I have to use "intersex" instead. The discussion was taken to PMs.

Here's screen-caps of the relevant convos with two of their admin staff. I will not be including names, because I do not want them brigaded or harassed in any way.
Admin 1- http://prntscr.com/naqxfp http://prntscr.com/naqxq9 http://prntscr.com/naqy5w
Admin 2- http://prntscr.com/naqyk8 <Same convo as above was forwarded> http://prntscr.com/naqyzy http://prntscr.com/naqzc4 (Prior link screencap cut off one message slightly to avoid disclosing a name.) http://prntscr.com/nar0a9 http://prntscr.com/nar0kd http://prntscr.com/nar0r7


Yes, I was hella-angry at the time this was going on. And yes, I said things in a manner that could have seriously been better. But I stand by my points.
There was a Third Admin, who DID discuss the matter with me in a much more reasoned and nuanced manner, and to that person, I give my sincere thanks. But when two of the three Admins take that kind of stance... There's a massive problem.

NO ONE should be allowed to dictate what is, and isn't, OK for another person to Identify Themselves as, Publicly OR Privately.

Hermaphrodite/Herm IS NOT A SLUR. It's a scientific, biological, WIDELY USED term.
Intersex is a relatively NEW term, and it's an umbrella/blanket term that can cover anyone who's got a mix of masculine and feminine traits. Effectively whitewashing all the amazing and nuanced differences of the people who aren't binary.
And I refuse to have part of my personal identity covered up like this.

Being told that I'm not allowed to identify myself as something that is a major part of my personal identity was deeply hurtful. Being a Chakat isn't just part of a character I play. Anyone who knows me at all knows that Chakat Blackstripe isn't just my name in the community, it's part of the core of my being. It's ME.

How is it that people can claim to be the 'tolerant' ones, and then be so utterly hypocritical and discriminatory towards one of the communities that is one of the smallest minorities out there.
And to see this all coming from a group, and a con organizing team that's local to me... I was devastated and enraged.

This is exactly what's wrong with the Authoritarianism. Other people telling you what you can or can't be/do/identify as. No one has that right.

I don't want anyone going after those groups. What I DO want is this...

IF YOU ARE A HERMAPHRODITES/HERM IN OUR COMMUNITY, OR WANT TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR WONDERFUL NICHE IN THE GENDER SPECTRUM, REPLY TO THIS JOURNAL WITH: "MY GENDER IS NOT A SLUR!" OR "I SUPPORT OUR HERMS!"

And most importantly, SHARE THIS JOURNAL. Signal boost this PLEASE. So we can change the ignorant and uneducated view of these people and hopefully get them to backstep away from this hurtful, harmful, and discriminatory policy position.

Journal edited to remove an unnecessary statement of my personal politics that people rightly questioned in comments.

So, as many of you have seen I've had a journal up about Easter, and how it's NOT a Christian holiday at all.

Well, guess what...

CHRISTMAS ISN'T EITHER!!!

That's right. The whole thing about the 'true meaning of Christmas', that has been shoveled like manure from religious types, IS BULLSHIT!

A Majority of our Holiday traditions around Christmas date back to a holiday called Yule, which was always celebrated around the Winter Solstice. In many places, Yule would feature a festival and feasting around a large tree with many candles in it's branches. They'd let the candles burn until the whole tree catches fire. The festival continues until the fire burns out. Which is where our modern Christmas Tree tradition comes from.
And that's also where the tradition of giving gifts came from as well.

The Christian narrative about Jesus's birth, and that being the origin of Christmas is Horseshit. In fact, historical records pretty well prove that he wasn't even born during that time of year, at all. And that's if you believe the Jesus story At All.

So yeah... Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Hollidays.

A long time ago, in a dusty old IRC chat, I was part of a conversation. We discussed the term "greymuzzle". The general concensus everyone seemed to come to revolved around two "versions" of being a Greymuzzle. One being that the person has been part of our community for over ten years. The other, being a fur at age 30+.

As of a few minutes ago... I met the second of those two qualifiers. I broke the first one years ago.

So yeah... I'm 30 now. One of the "milestone" years. Yay! Maybe? I don't really know anymore.

It's a little dry to listen to, but I believe many people here should take a look at this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfPJUjOQi3Q

A video by TL;DR (Tealdear), about media bias, and how they're actually creating the issues they report on.

O this sacred, holy day, let's take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Easter. It's not about the egg-hunts, bunnies, or even the candy and treats... no, Easter's meaning runs much deeper than that.

Easter my friends.. is about...

GOD
DAMN
FUCKING AND BREEDING

Easter, just as EVERY holiday 'Christians' claim, has absolutely NOTHING to do with an ancient dead-dude and their fairy-tales. It's not about a corpse coming back to life.

Easter is a Pagan holiday that they Highjacked, just like Yule. Except with Easter, they couldn't take out most the pagan referances. Easter is the celebration of the Spring and new life. It's about FERTILITY and BREEDING. The eggs, the rabbits, the name, and even the baskets are all symbols of the pagan origin.

So today, celebrate Easter the Pagan way. Grab your partner, lover, FWB, and fuck'm good and hard.

And to any of you 'christians' who read this... Perhaps you should do your research, and cross-reference the stories and the lies your preachers force down your throats. Christianity is thieving Faith, assimilating other cultures holidays and twisting them to their own meaning. Christmas was Yule, Easter's not theirs either. And lets be honest... Good Friday? It wasn't so good for Jesus... he got executed.

Happy Easter

https://twitter.com/CKTBlackstripe/.....77743807860736

The Chakat Thought of the Day is returning!!!!

I've started writing this... like... 3 times now. And each time I ended up with a huge wall-o-text. Because summarizing how the con was for me is... well... impossible.

I met friends and lovers for the first time... Hung out with amazing people. Met some of my favorite artists. Ate some incredible food. And overall... It was just amazing...



All in all... If I went into any more detail... I'd end up writing a book... So I'll end with a sentiment that I've heard many times about AC... and now I fully agree with it 110%...

It doesn't feel like going to a Con...
It feels like coming Home.

Where are you staying?
Hotel near the con...

What day are you getting there?
Thursday

How are you traveling?
Driving up from NC

Who will you be rooming with?
 werewolfss  voxian  Cat_Named_Fish  -undefined-

How is the best way to find you?
Skype probably...

Are there any panels you might be attending?
I really don't know yet.

What do you look like?
5'11", long dark hair, and a goatee

Will you be suiting?
Nope

Do you do free art?
Nope.

Do you do trades?
Nah.

Do you do badges?
No.

What is your gender?
Male

How tall are you?
5' 11"

Can I talk to you?
Of Course!

Can I touch you?
Sure

Can I visit your room?
Probably not.

Can I buy you drinks?
I doubt I'll be drinking, but if I am, sure.

Can I give you stuff?
Yes, but only if you want me to feel really bad because I don't have anything for you.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Hugs are cool

How long are you going?
Thursday til Sunday

Do you have an artist table?
Nope

Will you be going to parties?
No.

Will you be performing?
Nope.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Usually calling out "Stripe" is a good way.

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
I really have no idea

What/where will you be eating?
Restaurants around the con

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
I don't know.

Can I take your picture?
Sure!

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
This is my very first Fur-con... I have little idea of what to expect...

http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe

http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe

http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe

GOING LIVE SOON WITH DARK SOULS III!~

ESTIMATED START TIME- 12:00 EST, or in roughly 20 minutes from the time this is posted.

Happy Easter Everyone! But before you go wishing that to others, perhaps you ought to know where the Holiday Easter comes from.

Popular modern culture would tell you that it's from Jesus returning from the dead after three days.
Popular modern culture... Lies. As does Christianity.

The Holiday of Easter was originally a PAGAN holiday and a festival for FERTILITY! That's right, it's spring. The time of year for the cycle of life to begin anew, and for swelling populations. That's why the icons of the holiday, Rabbits and Eggs, are still present today. Rabbits have always been the 'Breeders' of the animal world, able to out-pace the hunting habits of their predators by shear force of numbers. And Eggs... I really don't need to explain that one, eh?

So the next time you wish someone Happy Easter, just make sure you really want to wish them a 'productive' holiday, and to see them big-bellied in the coming months.

But I know there will be some among you who will argue that it really is about Jesus... And I call bullshit.

Christians have a LONGSTANDING PROVEN HISTORY of taking over other cultures' holidays. Guess what, that means Christmas too. Has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. And if you don't believe me... Look it up... Centuries before Christ was even supposed to be born, other cultures had the EXACT SAME STORY, but with a different 'holy power' in the place of Jesus. One of the most notable was, I believe, the Egyptian god Horus. But I could be wrong, but I know one of the Egyptian pantheon had the same story.

In the grand scheme of things, Christianity is still Young. It's still New. And anything Young and New that tries to profess itself to be the 'only truth' in the face of not only history, but also PROVEN SCIENCE... Is nothing but Marketing.

TL;DR- Christianity, the most aggressive Marketing Campaign the world has ever known. Converting opposing religion's holidays since their very beginning. Nothing original in the entire thing.

Yep, I'm going to AC this year.

Finally, eh?

Got my funding for the trip in-hand, room settled, and now... just need to do the Registration.

Hey everyone, I'd like you all to go give  Ozelot some attention. He's really trying to make a name for himself in the art scene and has some pretty good work! If you enjoy feminine males, bondage, dominant/submissive, and cute characters, got give him a look!

 Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot Ozelot

I will give NO spoilers for the movie at all...

BUT HOT DAMN did JJ Abrams PULL IT OFF...

He captured that same 'feel' of the original trilogy... It was...

UGH... SO GOOD.

I'm also disabling the comments to keep others from posting spoilers here.

You know... I was going to say something about the holidays... but this time... I'm gonna just keep it simple.

Merry Christmas. I hope it finds you well.

OK, so everyone already knows about the fuck'n poor management of the Ad system that happened a while back, how that inappropriate ads were showing up on the site.

Well, FA, YA DONE FUCKED UP... again...

Now, while on my iPhone, on FA, any time I'm reading a Journal, or looking at my Comments/Journals control-panel page, I CONSTANTLY get redirected away from the site to the App-store, or to other websites. Most the time, DURING me trying to read the journal. And it's not opening a new browser page, no, it's moving the page I'm on away from the site, away from what I'm reading, WITHOUT WARNING OR MY CONSENT! And this happens RELIABLY every 2-3 minutes during me reading journals.

Seriously, Dragoneer, admins, SCREEN YOUR FUCKING AD PROVIDERS!

Fallout 4 releases at Midnight, for me, that's in 5 minutes. I'll be streaming it! Going in blind, no spoilers. Come check out my reactions to the latest in the Fallout Lineup.

http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe
http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe
http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe
http://www.twitch.tv/cktblackstripe

((Cross-Post from a discussion on www.fetlife.com ( https://fetlife.com/groups/122593/g....._posts/7273988 ) ))

Alright! This is one topic I'm gonna love, since I'm rather invested in all three.

--There will be a TL;DR at the bottom, but I believe the parts about primal and furry will be better to read the whole thing.

Lets start with the on most relevant to this group.
Pets, or rather the pet mentalities... In the pet role, the person takes on some of the mentalities and behaviors of an animal in service to an owner. The person may, or may not, feel any particular connection to the animal they're 'playing' as. They may be in the role as a 24/7 dynamic, or only for scenes. The other discussion in the group has many peoples' views on what Pet means in much more detail.

Next, the more relevant to the community on the site, Primals. This is gonna be a 'wall of text' just to warn you. Sorry... but not really.
I was a member of a Primal Pack local to the area for over a year, but am no longer associated with them. Some serious fallout happened due to the choices made by the leadership and I couldn't overlook it. But in that time, I learned soooo much about what it means to be Primal. And sadly... This website is full of pretenders. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those 'one twue way' types... But I can certainly say what Primal is NOT. And I see it a lot.
Primal is a State of Being. It's not some switch you turn on or off. Everyone has the potential to be primal, but not everyone Can. Fet has Primal as a role... But it's Not. You're Primal ALL THE TIME. There's no such thing as a "Primal Scene"(Well... With the exception of Primal Takedowns). It's just Primals having a Scene, which will likely mean more teeth and claws involved.
Primal means embracing the human-animal. Just because we've mastered technology and architecture does not mean we aren't animals. Primal is freedom. Primal means going back to instinct, to natural behaviors, to being You. Society tries to tell everyone how they should think, feel, act, behave... The cage constructed by 'modern society' is a smothering prison to primals. Being Primal means being true to who, and what, you are, regardless of what society as a whole thinks about it. One of the most common ways the Primals I've known have been described by others we've been around is 'intense'... because we don't hide ourselves behind the socially acceptable masks. We are unabashedly honest. That doesn't necessarily mean we always tell the truth, but with a Primal, what you see is what you get. For the most part, Primals are straight-forward and blunt. And that can make us come across as abrasive at times. There are those who take it way too far, and make no attempt to control their primal natures. We generally refer to those people as Feral. And to quote one man I once greatly respected. "Prison's full of feral Primals." But when a Primal does harness that nature, and put it to good use... What you have is a human who's got the strengths of a beast. And when Primals come together in Packs, Prides, ect, there's no such thing as weakness to them. Primals may feel a particular kinship with an animal. For me, it's Tigers. The way I'd describe my general personality is... Imagine a tiger, full belly, lazing about in the shade of a tree. Aloof, happy, but able to spring to action at a moments notice. A lot of my mannerisms and behaviors relate to feline nature as well, from the way I move, to certain vocalizations... But other Primals may, or may not have that animal kinship. Some just relate to the 'natural human'. But lot of people on here seem to think that Primal is about being wild during sex, or being aggressive and being 'the alpha'... But reality check there... If you have to tell someone you're an alpha... You're Not. And Primal has Nothing to do with sex. Yeah, we tend to be a little more animalistic about it, but that isn't what makes you Primal. And as a side-note... I chuckle every time I see a 'pack' that has it's members in different states, or countries. If you haven't seen a person face to face... touched them, smelled them (and yes, Primals smell each other... weird, but we do), how can you call them Pack? Anyone can act like anything online. But in person, those masks are much harder to keep in place.
Just my 2 cent on the last part. Your Mileage May Vary.

And lastly... Furries.
I've been a Fur for most my life now. I discovered the fandom when I was in school. Been Furry longer than I've been Kinky. The Furry Community originated from art. People drawing and writing about humanoid animals. And just think, how many Disney movies does that apply to? Lots. People will give you all kinds of answers to 'what is furry?', but on the whole, if you like the art, the stories, and the characters, then you could say that yeah, you're a Fur. Someone in a post above said that they thought Furry was about cos-playing and costuming. Yes, the Suiters do get a lot of the attention, but they're actually a fairly small percentage of the community. Those suits are EXPENSIVE! If you wanna break it down, Furries are just people who like Anthropomorphic animals. There are some, like myself, who take it a good bit further, but that's the building block, the corner-stone.
Getting more into it... Just like with kink, there are many different 'levels' to it. There are those who just like to look at or draw the art. They may, or may not, have any involvement with the community. The next 'step' to being Furry is creating a character to represent yourself. As some would call it, their Fursona. This character can be anything from an idealized version of themselves, just something they think is cool, a reflection of themselves, or anything. My own is exactly how I see myself in all ways except physically. And if you'd like to hear more about that, I'd welcome anyone to message me personally. From there, Furry becomes more about involvement with the fur community. Websites like www.furaffinity.net are great places to start. You can view/read Furry materials there, interact with the community, and make great friends. Probably the last 'step' to being a Fur is attending the conventions. One coming up next month is Antro-Con in Pittsburgh, PA. It's the larges in the USA, I think... I've yet to make it to a Con as of yet, finances just haven't been good enough to warrant that kind of expense. But at the Cons, you can meet artists, attend events and panels, meet other furs, and in general, have a great time.
Furries are Just Like Kinksters. Just with a different theme.

What brings all three of these things together... is bringing a little more of the Animal into ourselves. A pet takes on characteristics of animal behavior. Primals embrace the animalistic side of humanity. Furries love Animal-People. There's a ton of cross-over between all three. I would like to believe that I'm a good example of what all three can be Together. I'm a Master to pets. I'm a Primal. I'm a Furry. And I wouldn't be ME without the influence of any one of those three things.

--TL;DR--
Animals are Awesome. Playing as an Animal for being a Pet, is Awesome. Primals believing that humans are Animals, is Awesome. Enjoying art of Animals as people, and people as Animals, Is Awesome. And each of the three groups could benefit greatly from knowing more about each other, which would be... Awesome.

Just a little while ago, I was looking at the recent submissions from the artists I'm watching and one caught my eye. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16580505/ by  TheTiedTigress

That grabbed me the most about it, is that it's a non-sexual, Mostly accurate, and beautifully constructed piece. The image starts off with the two characters engaging in a bondage scene. The one character has the other tied up, shibari style with arm bindings and a chest harness. Nothing exposed, nothing sexualized. Then the next panel shows the bound individual being suspended by the ropes. All in a safe manner with the partner never more than an arms length away. The ties shown are ones that would actually be safe and effective to use, gauging from my own experiences. Then, the final panel, the piece that most, if not all, the folks who aren't involved in the BDSM/Kink community forget about... The Aftercare. Tending to each other on a quieter, calmer level, making sure everyone's ok and stable... reconnecting after the Height of the scene...

This... This is the closed to a 'real' Scene I've ever seen depicted in furry art... and I'm amazed and thrilled that  TheTiedTigress pulled it off so well.

Kudos to you... Many many many Kudos.

Go give the piece, and the artist, some much deserved love.

6 Years ago, my life was changed. Things would never be the same again.

She wore a simple red dress, hair down, fixed nice. I was in dress-pants and a button down shirt. Nothing too fancy, but it worked for us. We didn't really think about it at the time, but we'd picked a Friday the 13th for it. Looking back now, the day that was supposed to be bad luck turned into one of the luckiest days of my life.

No fancy ceremony, no big gathering. We really didn't need all that. Just her and me. We went to the courthouse in Pueblo, CO and on Friday the 13th of May, I married the most wonderful woman I could ever hope for. Lili, my wife, my lifemate, my Love.

Our marriage has had it's ups and downs, it's rocky points and it's smooth roads. Any marriage does, and anyone who says they don't is just good at hiding them, and lying. I'd like to think we've had more good times than bad. I certainly wouldn't trade any of my time with her.

Lili, you have been, and very much still are, one of the brightest points in my life. We began as Master and Pet, then added Husband and Wife, and over the years, our relationship has evolved and changed in many ways. But the one thing that has never changed, is my love for you. You've given me so much, done so much, I can never put words to the depth of my love and gratitude for you putting up with me over these many years. I know I'm not easy to be with, that my quirks, and the oddities about me, make things difficult for you at times. But you've stuck right by me.

Happy Anniversary Lili. I love you.