Death of a (Dildo) Salesman

[Conan]

So, Athus (AKA Brian Dyer), one of the owners of Bad Dragon, and Narse's "mate", was involved in a car accident in Phoenix on Tuesday and died from his injuries.

This, of course, has lead to the usual outpouring of grief from the furry fandom, inevitably with people who never met him grieving over the loss of the man who designed their dog cock dildo a great man.

Worth noting in the article are these two lines:

Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said a 27-year-old male driver and 29-year-old Brian Dyer were in a Hyundai Elantra traveling eastbound on Deer Valley Road around 5:40 p.m.

the Hyundai turned left at 22nd Street, failing to yield for a 2003 Chevrolet S10 pickup traveling westbound on Deer Valley Road. The two vehicles collided.

It's being rumored that Narse is the "27-year-old male driver" seeing as he's 27 and has disappeared off the internet since late Monday night, though someone pointed out they believe he drives a Honda and not a Hyundai...

[Jim Demintia]

Wonder if they were wearing seatbelts. However, with this kind of crash, it has a potential to be fatal even if they were. The truck probably smashed right into where he was sitting. An S10 vs. a small Hyundai sedan (I can't recall of the top of my head where that model sits in their size lineup) is pretty damn serious.

You don't really wish anyone ill will, nor do you wish to appear indifferent to someone's death, but lately it seems the Internet needs a lesson in appropriate expressions of emotion regarding the passing of people you don't actually know, even as acquaintances. The Internet seems to warp social norms in that way, I guess. You feel like because you read about them or whatever, you "knew" them. No, you didn't.

That they had the same fetish inclinations as you is not really a reason to see it as any different than anyone else in the obituaries on a given day.




For what it's worth, Chris Sturtivant- an engineer with VMware who was known in furry for organizing a muck, as well as some kind of involvment with FC- died, and nowhere is anyone saying how or why, other than it was "unexpected". Appears to have been in his 30s somewhere, was "openly polyamorous", whatever that means. Probably not too weird for certain crowds in California.

Probably they don't know, could very well have been some kind of undetected heart condition, aneurysm, or something of that nature.

[rodox_video]

For what it's worth, Chris Sturtivant- an engineer with VMware who was known in furry for organizing a muck, as well as some kind of involvment with FC- died, and nowhere is anyone saying how or why, other than it was "unexpected". Appears to have been in his 30s somewhere, was "openly polyamorous", whatever that means. Probably not too weird for certain crowds in California.

Probably they don't know, could very well have been some kind of undetected heart condition, aneurysm, or something of that nature.

This really should be it's own thread. People in the know about what happened to him are so adamant about not saying a thing about how he died that it's starting to look suspicious. Already there are rumors flying about, rumors that could have been avoided by just telling the truth from the start (or just making something up - who would know?). It has managed to completely overshadow any discussion about what the guy was like, what he did with his life, and recollections from his friends.

[magus]

Agreed, it's starting to look a bit odd.

Similarly, the response to the Athus situation was truly something to behold. Everyone related to the situation copy/pasted the same brief few paragraphs of text, pointing everyone at the new memorial site(!), Athus' page was spammed clean of errant shouts by the corporate FA account... It was coordinated media management the likes of which you don't often see with furries. Well, the 'coordinated' part, anyway.

[Three Cheese Pepperoni]

You don't really wish anyone ill will, nor do you wish to appear indifferent to someone's death, but lately it seems the Internet needs a lesson in appropriate expressions of emotion regarding the passing of people you don't actually know, even as acquaintances. The Internet seems to warp social norms in that way, I guess. You feel like because you read about them or whatever, you "knew" them. No, you didn't.

That they had the same fetish inclinations as you is not really a reason to see it as any different than anyone else in the obituaries on a given day.

Oh gosh, this.

I think it's always wonderful to respect the loss of someone's life, wish them an easy passing and maybe give a little reflection on their accomplishes, but the outpouring for this is crazy. The way they are heralding this man is almost sickening. Even just reading his last journal post and all the "I'M CRYING!!!!! YOU TOUCHED MY LIFE ABLOOBLOOBLOO" messages is just like, come on. You didn't even know the guy from Adam in the *slightest* except maybe his screenname and he made some dragon dongs and mediocre art. It's overwhelming.

[greaseyote]

You don't really wish anyone ill will, nor do you wish to appear indifferent to someone's death, but lately it seems the Internet needs a lesson in appropriate expressions of emotion regarding the passing of people you don't actually know, even as acquaintances. The Internet seems to warp social norms in that way, I guess. You feel like because you read about them or whatever, you "knew" them. No, you didn't.

Well, I can see how a lot of furries really do feel like Athus touched them deep inside.

[Spip]

Appears to have been in his 30s somewhere, was "openly polyamorous", whatever that means.

What I've seen of fluffy's interactions with people suggests he's (a.) self-centered and (b.) clingy, so anything he says about being in a relationship with someone, "polyamorous" or otherwise, should be, let's say, taken under advisement.

People in the know about what happened to him are so adamant about not saying a thing about how he died that it's starting to look suspicious. Already there are rumors flying about, rumors that could have been avoided by just telling the truth from the start (or just making something up - who would know?). It has managed to completely overshadow any discussion about what the guy was like, what he did with his life, and recollections from his friends.

It's unfortunate, and probably makes the unknown circumstances seem worse than they (likely) were, but unless an official obituary pops up somewhere, I suppose rumors are all there'll be.

[GreenReaper]

Findra was 44, and a member of furry fandom for at least a decade and a half; plenty of time to build meaningful relationships.

I don't know what happened, either. As a reporter, I'd like to find out; as a friend, I'd prefer to remember him as he lived, rather than as he died.

It's too bad. Findra was one of those who worked in the back rooms to make the community a better place for everyone - well, almost everyone. He'll be missed.