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Title: Injuries, and Furry Art Gallery Sites
Date: August 31, 2024
Now Listening: "FNAF Kids" by The Chalkeaters [0]

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//////////////// Content Warning: Kinda Gross Medical Stuff ///////////////////

  So, I've been meaning to write something, but after a couple of incidents
online, and insanity at home, I finally ended up with a bit of a medical issue
that's been getting dealt with since around the 25th. /Edema/, fluid retention
in my left foot in this case, led to some issues, and while dealing with that,
I wound up with a rather large blister. That's been driving my partner that I
live with up the wall, freaking out that it's infected after it burst, and I
had to reassure him that it's trying to heal, and all the things he thinks are
signs are actually natural for wounds like this.

I've got my feet propped up as I write this on my MacBook, the wound is airing
out as the healing continues. Thankfully, the only /pain/ I'm dealing with is a
slight headache from a couple of sleepless nights of calming my own anxiety
from all that's happened.

//////////////// End of Content Warned Section ////////////////////////////////

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  In other news, as a member of the furry fandom, it kinda hurt when one of the
biggest art gallery sites of the fandom had their domain name hijacked, and
only a short time after the site's founder and owner passed away from medical
issues. Not long before it happened, someone who follows me here (Hi Cheery)
mentioned that it was strange there was no furry art/story gallery in
gopherspace. Oddly enough, I've thought the same, though there /was/ something
akin to that idea that only recently closed down: VCL.

  VCL (Velan Central Library) was started in 1995, and lasted until 2023 when
it fully closed down. The site's featureset was sparse, having a UI almost like
a tilde gopher server with a user listing, some folders for separating types of
content, and a search engine. The only thing not translatable to gopher was the
ability to show thumbnails for images. People began moving off of it when sites
like Transfur and FurAffinity came along.

  I wouldn't mind seeing someone try to make something similar for gopherspace,
though I'm not knowledgable enough to be the one to do it. Even if it's /just/
for furs who use the smolweb/smolnet, it would still be nice if the shit hits
the fan with the commercial web as a backup, or as something to point furs to
the smolnet with.

  Admittedly, with the number of furs who're into retro/vintage tech and IT,
I'm legitimately surprised I haven't ran into more among Gopher and Gemini
spaces. Likewise with therians and *kin (like myself), many of whom I first
encountered through newsgroups, MUCKs, IRC, and old websites. Newsgroups like
/alt.fan.furry/, /alt.fan.dragons/ (for dragonkin), and /alt.horror.werewolves/
(for therians) come to mind immediately, along with Basil's /Tomorrowlands/[1].

  Maybe we'll see more furries joining the smolnet protocols or smolweb in the
future. Especially with the way things have been going on the commercial web
lately.

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  Aside: Yes, despite my username and fursona being Gallows /Gryph/, I'm
dragonkin. It's why I mention that I'm "TeraDyne" in my about page, but go by
"Gallows" (or "Galley") as well.

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[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QCYPRu8pY
[1]: http://www.tomorrowlands.org/index.html