Furry videographer Kothorix has left Furdom and he explains why in this vid:
One reason is just plain burn-out. After three years of making loads of vids, this happens. He'd like to try new things. Understandable, but you don't need to leave Furdom to do that, or leave in such a public manner. He starts off with a complaint that there are too many Zoos and pedophiles in the Furry Community. I haven't seen it myself, but I'll take Koth at his word on this. Zoos, yes, I've met a few. However, all of them understood that not all Furs are into this, or feel comfortable knowing it. At least they know better to be discreet about it. It is a PR problem when you have people like Kero Wolf who can't seem to grasp the simple concept that if you put it on the Web, you're telling the whole goddamn world all about it. As for pedophiles, it happens, and has even been in the news. I personally haven't witnessed any attempts to groom children and teens. If I ever did, I would see the appropriate authorities were alerted.
He goes on to criticize the socially inept affiliates. This is certainly nothing new, and was a staple of furbashers fifteen years ago. We do have them, maybe represented more than among the PaL. It goes with trying to be an open and accepting community. I don't see this as much of a problem. No, Koth, it's not your business to "improve" them. He whines about how "cuddly" Furs are, and how frequently they hug. There's even a category for this in the Fur Code. He describes this as something abnormal and undesirable. Koth, Koth, Koth, you have never been around Baha'i's have you? Next to Furs, you will not find a more cuddly, touchy-feelie community. And no, Koth, it has nothing -- NO THING -- to do with their not being able to have a normal conversation. Don't want to do it? Wave the hugger off: 99.99999999999% of the time that solves the problem.
"Perpetually High School": whatevs, Koth. The majority of Furs are young un's: it goes with Furry's being an on-line community. Your tech-illiterate older folks are highly unlikely to ever encounter Furdom. Mom and Dad can't operate a simple tablet or smart phone; they have to call the kid next door whenever the cable router needs a reboot. Seniors grew up in a time when televisions and phones had dials, when VCRs had two buttons: start recording at some time and stop at a later time, and the VCR was tuned with a dial channel selector. Their cars didn't have computers. Hell, even as long ago as the 1960s, there was an advert where older people complained about how "complicated" cars had become, and gone was the day when a simple turn of a screw fixed everything. Still, I go to furcons and see lots of seniors there as guests. You won't be seeing them on forums and message boards. When I started out, I was well past high school age. I was worried about signing on my first furry forum, as this one displayed everyones' ages, and I was old enough to be their father. I considered either lying (glad I didn't as I met local Furs through that forum) or not saying. I decided not to do either of those things. It made no difference. Indeed, I may have actually helped these kids as they'd take advice from me that they would reject coming from parents and/or teachers. One other thing I never saw was the kind of "high school" behaviors Koth describes. Not saying that some Furs will sometimes behave like they never left high school, but it's not so wide spread as he would have you think.
Just because they're young doesn't mean that they are still stuck in the high school mentality of cool kids v. "freaks 'n' geeks". And no, Koth, 30 isn't too old to relate. There's a lot of gray on my muzzle. If I can do it, so can you. Really, it's not that hard.
Unjustified criticism of fursuiters. I have never seen what he describes here. Some fursuiters like flamboyant, and LEDs to decorate their costumes. Not my preference, but whatever floats your boat. As for fursuiters using noise makers, this was due to the belief that fursuiters need to follow the same rules as mascots and amusement park greeters: don't "break the magic", "don't speak". That's fine if you're a mascot, but I'm not. Removing the head in public sure beats heat exhaustion or dehydration. If you speak to me while I'm in suit, I will answer back. I am not a mascot and I am not bound by the same rules. Other fursuiters disagree, so they squeak back when spoken to and/or mime a reply. It has nothing to do with being an attention whore.
So what's the problem? It could very well be a local problem. I have no idea where Koth lives, and the Furries he's seen could very well be every bit as bad as he describes. I hope that kind of rot never spreads to my QTH, and the cons I attend. If it does, I will run for the exit. I don't see that happening any time soon. I also don't believe there is as much of a problem as he makes out. It is unfortunate Koth just couldn't leave quietly, just announce a change of format for his YouTube channel. I see no need for this particular rant.
Published on Nov 1, 2018
I'm done with the furry community. These are my reasons why. If you want to live like this, I'm not going to stop you. I just feel it's fair to warn those who are new and don't yet know what it's really like.
Was it really necessary, Koth, to poison the well like that? Didn't it ever occur to you that other Furs outside your hometown just might not be like the ones you've had to put up with? Didn't it occur to you that you may be chasing the curious away from some really decent folks who aren't your friends, neighbors, or even countrymen? Do you even care? A big part of the problem is that Koth admits to frequenting very toxic places. He mentions Twitter often, and nearly every example he cites came from Twitter. I have said it before and I'll say it again: Twitter is toxic -- it's filled with all sorts of toxic people. You are well advised to stay away. I don't have a Twitter account, I don't want one, and I will never have one. I knew that the day Twitter started: its 140 character limit doesn't allow you to develop any thought in any sort of depth. All it does is enable mindless sloganeering. This is why it so suits the far Left: slogans endlessly repeated are all they have. This is also attractive to the neurotic, who tend to repeat the same things over and over and insist they are right even when proved to the contrary. Not people you want to deal with if you value your sanity. Toxic people aren't all in Furdom: you can find them everywhere.
There's a lesson in there if you care to learn it. As they say, "Lie down with dogs; get up with fleas". You can't spend time in toxic places surrounded by toxic people and not have it rub off onto you. You just can't. It doesn't matter what your intentions are. All that will get you is what it got Koth: frustration, cynicism, and burn-out.
Kothorix is right about how a lot of this shit got into Furdom in the first place. It's another foul legacy we inherited from the Burned Furs. The Great Internet Furry Flame War back in the Usenet days has made all too many Furries all too unwilling to call out behavior bad enough to even cross the line into criminality. Torturing animals for sexual kicks is plain sick and very wrong. If you know it's happening, alert the authorities. Fucking kids: the same. Call the police. To remind someone that playing "Squick the Mundanes" isn't OK isn't being a Burned Fur, a prude, a kill-joy. It's common sense. It's making sure the PaL sees the best of Furry, nor do you have to make a scene. A polite reminder made in private to tone the shit down a notch or two will suffice, and will more likely get a positive response. Attacking in public, naming and shaming, never works. In extreme cases, you may have to disassociate yourself. There's little else you can do: you can't control the actions of another, but you damn sure can control the company you keep.
In conclusion, a lot of what Koth describes isn't a Furry problem: it's a people problem, and you will see the same things in every other fandom. For years, the Digimon fandom was chock full of these toxic people. I was there to share fanfic and hang out to discuss something I found interesting and a pleasure. That didn't last long, as I'd get flamed for having ""OOC" characters because I wouldn't litter my fanfics with apologies for going "OOC". Try to explain that I make characters my own, and add my own interpretations: more flame bait. If it's "canon" you want, well, that's what reruns are for. That brought on even more flaming from people acting like assholes. Needless to say, I didn't last long until years later after Digimon fans had calmed down considerably. If Koth thinks Furdom is bad, well, I can name another fandom that's even worse where grudges are held onto for years, and where character assassination is SOP even against those who were driven off and had nothing to do with it ever since. I won't name that fandom, and won't have to if you've ever been around it.
There's no escaping it: all too many people insist on being assholes whether inside Furdom or out there in the wider world.