Off-topic: Fliers, Posters, and Furry World Domination

Randyg · Post by **Randyg** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:27 am

welp, so far no emails, and about 20 hits to the web site. But, most students aren't out of their morning classes yet...

Off-topic: is someone here using/infected with the FunWebProdcts-MyWay toolbar? It sends funky/annoying things to the web server, and seems to be repeatedly download the same file for no reason... or the browser you've installed it under is severely broken, one or the other.

(I pay $5/gb, don't like seeing 50 requests for the same page. :)

--Randy

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:09 am

randyg wrote:welp, so far no emails, and about 20 hits to the web site. But, most students aren't out of their morning classes yet...

Off-topic: is someone here using/infected with the FunWebProdcts-MyWay toolbar? It sends funky/annoying things to the web server, and seems to be repeatedly download the same file for no reason... or the browser you've installed it under is severely broken, one or the other.

(I pay $5/gb, don't like seeing 50 requests for the same page.

--Randy

If it's me, then it's not obvious...but I don't think it's me. Anyway, I would just like to restate how impressed I am with this project of yours Randy. Hope you open some eyes.

Fox - The (Sometimes) Eternally Hopeful

Randyg · Post by **Randyg** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:07 pm

Welp, day 1.

About half the fliers have been torn down, which annoys me. When I'm done with dinner I'll go re-post some of them, and this time I'll be putting them places such as inside of all the labs I still have keys to, etc.

The site has gotten about 1000 unique viewers.

Half those have been from a Something Awful posting: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showth ... id=1074375 (Remember my comment that bigots will be bigots no matter how many fliers they see?)

A number of those were from a livejournal posting: http://www.livejournal.com/users/ladyka ... 85285.html

The remaining ones either typed it in by hand or don't send referer headers. Many resolve to local IPs, so probably typed in by people who saw the fliers.

So far, no emails or positive comments. sigh. And I spent a week of time and lots of money _why_ now? *needs more snuggles*

--Randy

Randyg · Post by **Randyg** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:16 am

sigh. the somethingawful "people" seem to be out to make my life miserable. Current plans of theirs include anti-furry posters, continuing to tear down my posters, modifying my posters (putting stickers on with a different web address), threats of physical violence, and basic all-around crap.

Worst of all, I think I might have hurt someone else. One of the local furs who wears his ears and tail constantly seems to be getting the "blame" for the posters, even though he had nothing to do with it. so I don't know what to do now. Do nothing, and hope no one harasses/hurts him? Put my full name and photo on the front page of the site, so I get most of the crap? Wait and see if they actually do anything or are just blowing hot air? I never expected nearly this much crap from a few posters, and certainly not threats of violence against random people...

*now really needs snuggles* :(
--Randy

Alfador · Post by **Alfador** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:40 am

randyg wrote:*now really needs snuggles*
--Randy

*gives lots of snuggles* Why are so many people jerks for no apparent reason?!

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:33 am

Alfador wrote:
randyg wrote:*now really needs snuggles*
--Randy
*gives lots of snuggles* Why are so many people jerks for no apparent reason?!

People fear what they don't understand. Add into that that most people are ignorant and don't WANT to understand, and you have a society which is built upon the concept of building uniformity and conformity. I imagine that as a teacher, Randy is familiar with the phenomona. We have somehow developed a culture that openly rewards tolerance and diversty, but behind closed doors stands for just the opposite.

In this day and age, people are not just sheep. They are rabid sheep. They believe the word of authority, no matter how outlandish. The word of someone they percieve as someone better can cause them to turn on all of their peers, screaming for blood. Unfortunately, you're in for a hard tough slog Randy, so I hope you're up to it. Perhaps you will make a difference for someone. And even if it's only a small group, or even one person, would that make it worth it?

*gets Randy a thank you card*

I think you should keep going. Stopping now only appears an admission you were wrong. Be strong, and you will overcome.

Fox - Sage foxie? Probably not. But it sounded good...

RandomScribe · Post by **RandomScribe** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:19 am

Sorry to hear it's not going so well, Randy.

But take heart. Basically, the people who are furries you don't need to convince, and the people who are determined to hate furries are probably going to keep doing so no matter what. ( Pulling a slightly out-of-context but telling quote from that Something Awful thread you linked to: "See, you're using logic. You're not supposed to do that." )

So really, the people you're trying to influence are the average folks who may have seen furries portrayed negatively in the popular culture but don't harbor any particular animus towards them. However, these people probably don't care strongly enough about the issue either way to go out of their way to contact you, even if the posters did make them rethink their views. So just because you're not getting a lot of feedback doesn't mean you're not having any impact.

On the other hand... if someone else is being harassed over these posters, that's bad. Not only is it the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish, but it's not fair that he should suffer for something he wasn't responsible for. I think the best thing would be to talk to him: if he's fine with it, then don't worry about it; but if he feels that he really is being harassed/harmed over this, then you need to somehow make it clear that you're the one who put up the flyers. If people are actually getting angry about this, it's unfair for you to hide behind an innocent bystander.

But enough of my moralizing. I sincerely hope things take a turn for the better for you. *hugs*

Sadly, there's really not much you can do. At times like these, I think of something a very wise woman once told me: "People," she said, "...are idiots."

Best of luck,
--RandomScribe (who finds the thought of rabid sheep somehow amusing)

Maximuscoolman · Post by **Maximuscoolman** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:40 pm

there's just no getting to someone who thinks

Best in their field my ass

is a good argument. it's a lot easier to destory something than to create something, especially if the destroyers have an army of drones helping them.
something on that forum which i find ironic as that at elast 2 people, just in the first two pages have sonic the hedgehog (tm) in their avatar!

Randyg · Post by **Randyg** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:56 pm

Just drove around campus, and 50% of them are down AGAIN, after I reposted them last night... I can't afford another print run, so won't be posting any more.

Some of them have been defaced, but none in a way that would hurt the furry community.

The somethingawful people seem to be serious about an anti-furry poster campaign, and have drafted up fliers. To keep referer headers from this forum showing up in the guy's logs, I'm not going to give the url, but you can find them on page 7 of the somethingawful thread.

I'm not sure what to do about them, other than hope people are smart enough to recognize blatent crap. but, we're talking about a country where 80% of people believe iraq attacked the world trade towers, so I don't have any faith in their crap-recognition ability.

This project was a failure. Not just a failure, it was beyond a failure, as in worse than not doing anything at all. Now people are going to be explicitly exposed to anti-furry crap, and local furs are likely to be harassed or worse. sigh. remind me to never stand up for what I believe ever again.

--Randy

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 8:49 pm

*sighs softly and gives Randy a hug* At least you tried Randy. I haven't even done that much. Allow me to share some wisdom with you, friend...

Harper Lee wrote: I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.

*snuggles Randy* I believe you've done a good thing Randy. But I can't make you believe it. *smiles* It'll all blow over sooner or later for the harassment anyway. The good thing about those people is that they're easily distracted. Pretty much anything will do it.

Fox

Randyg · Post by **Randyg** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:11 pm

the campus is now covered in their anti-furry fliers, designed to look like mine, and all mine have been torn down or posted over.

I spent several weeks of pouring my heart and soul into this, just to have it destroyed by a couple morons. I spent tons of time on this... designing the fliers, designing the web site, recruiting other furs, searching for art, postering (a total of 14 hours (!) spent putting posters up), printing, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc... and they destroy it all in less time than it takes me to print each big flier.

all that time and mental effort gone to waste... and not only did it go to waste, it looks like it ended up hurting the very community I was trying to help.

*curls up alone and cries, since he doesn't deserve hugs for hurting other furs*

Allan_ecker · Post by **Allan_ecker** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:40 pm

...Jesus.

Welcome to the Culture War. And make no mistake about it, it is a WAR.

America is getting so deeply divided that massive civil unrest seems inevitable. I'm very afraid of November, -reguardless- of who wins. All I can do is hope that when it comes down to it, we all remember that there really is value in recognising the good in people, no matter who they are.

Good luck. To all of you. Regardless of how much, or how little, of a fight you're putting up.

Maximuscoolman · Post by **Maximuscoolman** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 3:07 pm

that really does suck.
i think

I'm not sure what to do about them, other than hope people are smart enough to recognize blatent crap. but, we're talking about a country where 80% of people believe iraq attacked the world trade towers, so I don't have any faith in their crap-recognition ability.

just about sums up the problem, what can you expect to do to a society that has been brainwashed to believe everything they see on the TV? nothing, that's what. i really hate today's western society, it's depended on the majority of people letting others think for them, it's why mcdonalds is the worlds most successful fast food restaurant, it's why someone wearing a star trek uniform is a nerd, it's why avril lavigne is number one.
personally, i'm not going to give up with society; i'm not even going to try in the first place.

it seems that furry shouldn't become something popular, it should just be something accepted and understood, and i'm sure one day it will be, just not yet. i would rather be a furry knowing that people have moronic misconceptions of furries than be a furry knowing that it's the latest trend, because that would take away what makes it special. the furry society is a great society, it works on the principle of if you have benefitted from anything furry, you join the community and give back what you can, even if it's just what i'm doing here, replying on a forum. there is no bad in the furry community, no one would claim to be a furry if they had a bad inent.
and that's what we have to remember, it's not about being accepted by everyday drone of society, it's about having a great community, and some brilliant people around. that's something we have, and it's something that no one can take away from us no matter how many posters they tear down or deface.

so let them think what they want to think, if people choose to be ignorant, they aren't worth anybody's time. we still have what we stand for, and if they want to stick to themselves and not share it, then so be it. furry isn't doing to die out, i'm sure the proportion of furries to non-furries has been rising steadily since the begining, it's it's not going to stop. there will always be individuals that want to find things out for themself, and people will find furry in all sorts of ways, and when there are enough of us, it wont be seen as something abnormal, and it will be accepted.

we don't need to push, the fliers and everything seemed like a good idea to begin with, but in the end, it's a bit like preaching. it's a bit like jehova's witnesses knocking on doors giving out leaflets; people would be a lot more tolerant of jehova's witnesses if they didn't do that.
so let's not dwell on this defeat, let's think of it as a lesson leant, that fighting gets us no where, it just provokes retaliation, which is not acceptable when there are so many enemies. let us not fight this war, war is just harmful to all parties.

now that's what i call a rant, phew...

Candide · Post by **Candide** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:35 pm

randyg wrote:the campus is now covered in their anti-furry fliers, designed to look like mine, and all mine have been torn down or posted over.

I spent several weeks of pouring my heart and soul into this, just to have it destroyed by a couple morons.

Ans a wise man once said: "Any jackass can kick down a barn. But it takes a community to build one."

In the end, that's really what Furry or any fan-group is about: a desperate attempt to build a community in a time and culture that actively attacks and tears apart communities.

randyg wrote:all that time and mental effort gone to waste... and not only did it go to waste, it looks like it ended up hurting the very community I was trying to help.

No, not you. You didn't hurt anything.

There are people who make a hobby of destroying others. They need to be given a good thrashing until my arm is tired.

I wish I lived nearby, Randy. I'd post my own fliers, saying something like this: "I never understood Furry. After seeing the pro-Furry fliers, I still didn't get it.

After seeing the anti-Furry fliers, I understood why some are so disgusted with the behavior of human beings as to not even want to be one."

randyg wrote:*curls up alone and cries, since he doesn't deserve hugs for hurting other furs*

*hugz* anyway. You need 'em