RE: Loss of our newest

Brimstone slowly walks out on stage, carrying a wireless microphone. He's wearing his trademark white leather trench-coat, his pink-tailtip swishing behind him. Waving to the stage folks, he gets them to turn on a spotlight, focused on a small stool like what you see stand-up comedians use. He picks up the water glass from the small tray beside the stool and gets comfortable, taking a sip as he looks over his audience. Setting the glass down again, he begins speaking, "Hello all. Many of you haven't seen me in several years. Even more of you probably never knew me." His voice is smooth, old, and sad. He pauses for a moment and holds up a gray card from his pocket. "But I'm what's known as one of the Gray Muzzles. The old furs that have been around since this community got it's start. We were the ones there back when Skunkworks were new, and we confused the comic shops by buying it. It's been a long time since I mounted this stage. But I'm back, for tonight only, and I'm here to tell you all a story. A story of passion, sex, love, and death. Ya'll are going to sit and listen, cuz that's about all this card of mine is good for. Well, that and discounts at Denny's."

The dragon takes another sip, then setting the glass down once more, continues. "Long ago, as a community, we were very different. Sex wasn't the taboo it seems to be now. Time was, you went to ConFurence, it was pretty much the wildest party you could imagine. If you took a shine to someone, or she took a fancy to you, inevitably you'd end up in bed together. Maybe it was because there were about 2,000 of us tops around then. We all knew each other through places like FurryMUCK and Tapestries. Now a-days, you'd call them 'text-based erotic role-play fetish MMOs'. Basically though it was just everyone in the furry lifestyle logged into the same game, and we pretty much were of the 'Yiff anything that moved' opinion at the time. Maybe it was Furry-dom's 'Hippy Period'. Who knows. Either way, wall to wall sex, and fun. No one was angry, angsty, or even really jealous. The kind of things you read about in Skunkworks were not all that far from the truth. It was a comic about an idealized version of the fandom sure, but it wasn't complete fiction. We loved freely, and openly. We wern't afraid of getting hurt, because as a community we cared for each other. I'm told Burning Man is kinda like that now. You just trusted everyone. When we started to meet in the 'real world', we were meeting people we'd already role-played with online, so it was kinda natural I suppose that it carried over. Regardless, more than once I saw that look in some vixen's eye that told me she had every intention of having me, and it'd go smoother if I didn't resist.

The elder dragon chuckles. "It was a good time. This was when I got up on a stage like this for the first time in front of a room full of nearly a thousand furries. Omaha had finished stripping for us. (Yes, there's a real Omaha the Cat Dancer.) And I proceeded to 'sell' people off in a Pet Auction. Another tradition we carried over from the Muck. It was great fun, and I got the privilege of handing a crazy large pile of cash to the widows of two furs who'd been shot and killed in LA just a little bit prior. She thanked me a ton, but really it was the community that had done it. I just stood there and traded volunteers for donations. I was just a middleman really, nothing special. I mention this because I want to impress upon the new among you, that's just how open and loving of a community we used to be.

He pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, a moment of silence for Rufus and Metal Head. "Soon after that, the 'Burned Fur' movement started up, demanding that furries stop yiffing and opposing all sexuality in the community. ConFurence became a much less wild place to be. I stopped going, as did most of us from the 'wild party' camp. Pretty soon I dropped out of sight completely, as did many of the great artists of that time: Hardiman, Perry, Moore, Foglio. Artists who work was based around the more sexual side of the furry lifestyle. So, what's any of this got to do with us today, and why did I bother to come out of retirement to tell you all this? Well, about three months ago we were graced with a new member. Lily joined us, coming to this quiet dusty corner to appreciate one of the great artists from that era. She was a breath of fresh air that we needed. She reminded me so very much of Omaha actually. A very outspoken, passionate, loving girl.

"So of course I struck up a conversation with her. I was infinitely curious where such a gal had come from. So I asked her a million questions, and she was kind enough to answer them all. Much like Omaha, she was a dancer. (And not the ballet kind.) She was gorgeous. But most of all, she was loving. She was the sweetest person I'd spoken to in a long time. And she reminded me of the best our community once had to offer, back when we were young. She was able to find something to love about anyone, and didn't seem to mind showing it, with words, or with flesh. It's a natural expression of love to touch, to hold, to kiss, and yes, to yiff. It's how we show another person that they are not alone in a cold world. It's how we care about one another. If there's anything in this world more precious then the soft touch of a lover's lips on yours, then I've never found it.

"She didn't have a perfect life. No one does. But she didn't let it break her. Didn't let her stop loving people. If anything, I think it made her open up even more, so she could show people how to love. I know she helped teach her mate(s) how to open up and be more loving. She seemed to have that spark where she just wanted the world to be happy.

The dragon pulls an iPad out from his jacket. "We ended up writing a fun little story together. She liked to write stories you see. It was her art for expressing herself I think. Most of it was porn, and this is no exception. It was 90 pages by the time we finished it. Probably one of the sweetest, most loving, and hottest pieces of fiction I've read. Sex, BDSM, love, passion. All the important things are there.

Brimstone pauses a moment, a tear forming. "And then she left."

"Life is usually shorter than expected. She was actually the second major friend from the fandom I've had die this month. The other passed away the weekend prior. I'll miss them both a lot. But if there's anything Lily would have wanted I think, it'd be for people to learn to love again. Love themselves. Love their mate. Love their friends. Love their community. And if that love takes a physical form, then be okay with that. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

"So in her name, and mine, I ask that you try to remember the vixen that came into this world, and this community, for not nearly long enough. Find someone, or preferably several someones, and show them you love them. Hold them. Caress them. Yiff them till they can't walk straight. Tell them you love them. Then do it all over again.

Brimstone sets down the microphone and gets up to leave. Pulling out a photograph of a vixen, he leaves it on the stool as he turns and walks off stage, the spotlight centered on her picture.