Brenda Banks

2019-04-20T15:54:17Z

108.168.56.73: Fleshed out stuff about my involvement in helping with dance comps. Also, attendance update.

[[File:Brenda_Banks_BLFC2017.jpg|right|thumb|Brenda hosting the [[Biggest Little Fur Con 2017]] Dance Competition.]]
'''Brenda Banks''', also known as '''Ben''', formerly as '''Benchilla''' (born October 1992), is a [[W:drag queen|drag queen]] from [[W:Philadelphia|Philadelphia]], [[W:Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]. Since joining the community in August of 2008, they have attended over fifty furry conventions, where they are best known for judging, hosting or competing in many [[Fursuit Dance Competition|dance competitions.]] They currently reside in [[W:Toronto|Toronto, Ontario.]]

== Fandom involvement ==
[[File:Benchilla_Suit.png|right|thumb|150x|Ben introducing Weasyl at their 2012 Anthrocon panel.]]
Although aware of the [[furry fandom]] since the age of twelve, Brenda didn't officially become a member of the community until they were fifteen.<ref>[http://benchilla.sofurry.com/?clean=1 Benchilla's profile] on SoFurry. Retrieved April 3, 2018.</ref> This lapse between fandom awareness and actual involvement can be attributed to their involvement with the wiki [[Encyclopædia Dramatica (.com)|Encyclopedia Dramatica]], where they were an active member from December 2006 to February 2008, and a [[W:Sysop|Sysop]] from July 2007 to January 2008. Brenda has gone on record as saying that they're "glad" they grew past their involvement with the site, citing displeasure with "harassing people online while trying to claim other people are losers."<ref>[https://twitter.com/ItsBrendaBanks/status/940115442231906304 Brenda Banks' post] on Twitter. Posted December 11th 2017. Retrieved April 3rd, 2018.</ref>

After leaving the site, they gradually became more immersed in the [[furry community]], joining [[Fur Affinity]] in October 2008. From May to November 2010, Brenda served as a moderator on the [[Fur Affinity Forums]], before quitting to focus on other endeavors. In 2012, Brenda was banned from Fur Affinity after exploiting a bug that permitted [[avatar]]s larger than the size normally allowed. Initially, their ban was for only two weeks, but this was made permanent due to "previous history of hijinks,"<ref>[http://www.flayrah.com/3977/fur-affinity-bug-permits-huge-avatars-former-mod-banned ''Fur Affinity bug permits huge avatars; former mod banned''] news post by [[Rakuen Growlithe]] on ''[[Flayrah]]''. Posted April 10, 2012. Retrieved ?.</ref> despite having no previous history of being banned.

On January 2012, Brenda co-founded the social art gallery [[Weasyl]] alongside [[Kihari]], the website's primary creator. Together, along with the rest of the staff, they ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to launch the site that pulled in over $6000 dollars, with the site formally launching on September 30th, 2012. Brenda served as co-owner of the site until January 2014,  having stepped down amidst accusations of a Weasyl founder sockpuppeting on Fur Affinity's [http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4383428/ donation drive journal].<ref>[https://twitter.com/Anpumon/status/307579752380768256 ''Is it true what I heard about Weasyl staff catching one of the founders sockpuppeting?''] thread on [[Twitter]]. Posted March 13, 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.</ref> Although Brenda has stated that the accusation is simply a rumor, and to not believe anything without "actual physical evidence,"<ref>[http://waitwaitfixate.com/post/52341125373/is-it-true-that-you-sockpuppeted-on-furaffinity-back-in ''Q: is it true that you sockpuppeted on Furaffinity back in march telling people to donate to Weasyl instead of FA?''] post on [http://waitwaitfixate.com/ Waitwaitfixate.com]. Posted June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.</ref> the rest of the staff felt it was best to have them step back from the site, for the sake of its future growth.

Since 2014, Brenda has been heavily involved with assisting with [[Fursuit dance competition|Fursuit Dance Competitions]], most notably running and hosting the [[Biggest Little Fur Con]] dance competition in [[Biggest Little Fur Con 2016|2016]] and [[Biggest Little Fur Con 2017|2017]]. They have also been a key part of the dance competitions at [[Midwest Furfest]], [[Furry Weekend Atlanta]] and [[Furpocalypse]] since 2014, primarily in judging roles, as well as having hosted the latter two during their 2017 iterations. They have also helped judge at the dance competitions for [[Further Confusion]], [[Anthro New England]], [[Anthrocon]], and several more.

=== Fursona ===
[[File:Brenda Banks FE2018 2.jpg|right|thumb|Brenda at Furnal Equinox 2018.]]
Brenda's [[fursona]] is a brown [[chinchilla]], the design of which has changed very little over the course of ten years. Although the [[character]] initially presented as a boy, upon the subject's discovery of drag, the character began presenting as both [[male]] and [[female]]. On June 2017, Brenda commissioned [[Jolteon Kitty]] of [[Gold Ribbon Studio]] to make a [[suit]] of their character.

Much like Brenda's fursona, the suit can switch between being a boy and a girl, possessing interchangeable wigs, removable eyelashes, and two sets of feet, with one pair being constructed around a pair of heel boots.

The suit was completed in January 2018, and has since made appearances at several events.

=== Convention attendance ===

* [[Anthro New England]] - 2015*, 2017*, 2018*
* [[Anthrocon]]- 2010, 2011, 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015*, 2017*, 2018*
* [[AnthrOhio]] - 2016*, 2017*, 2018
* [[Biggest Little Fur Con]] - 2014, 2016*, 2017*, 2018*
* [[CanFURence]] - 2018
* [[FA: United]] - 2010, 2011, 2012*
* [[Furnal Equinox]] - 2018, 2019
* [[Furry Weekend Atlanta]] - 2012, 2013*, 2014*, 2015*, 2016*, 2017*, 2018
* [[Furrydelphia]] - 2018
* [[FurFright]] - 2011, 2012*, 2013
* [[Furpocalypse]] - 2014*, 2015*, 2016*, 2017*
* [[Furstivus]] - 2011*
* [[Further Confusion]] - 2013*, 2014*, 2015*, 2016*, 2018, 2019
* [[Great Lakes Fur Con]] - 2014
* [[IndyFurCon]] - 2015*
* [[Megaplex]] - 2014, 2017*
* [[Midwest FurFest]] - 2011*, 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015*, 2016*, 2017*, 2018
* [[Motor City Furry Con]] - 2016*, 2019
* [[Rainfurrest]] - 2013*, 2015*
* [[Texas Furry Fiesta]] - 2019

(*) Conventions where the subject attended in drag.

== Artistry ==
[[File:Nicki Benaj.png|right|thumb|A still from the ''Where Them Girls At'' music video, featuring Aky (left) and Sai (right)]]
===Drag===

Brenda first discovered an interest in drag at [[Midwest Furfest 2011|MFF 2011]], where they were involved in the filming of a music video for [[Wikipedia:David Guetta|David Guetta]]'s [[W:Where Them Girls At|Where Them Girls At]], a collaborative effort between [[Kwik|Kwik Cheetah]] and [[Char (administrator)|Char]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWxhrDuZNyY Where Them Girls At (feat the Girls of MFF)] Posted to Youtube December 30th, 2011</ref> Brenda plays Nicki Minaj in the video, as they perform behind fursuiters Tesxa Coyote, Aky and Sai. The video has racked up over 100,000 plays between YouTube and Vimeo combined as of April 2018. Following this, they have appeared in other self-produced music videos, such as "Go Hard" (alongside co-star [[Scrumpet]])<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIJbcVU50kc Brenda Banks ft. Baby Trap Beat$ - GO HARD] Posted to Youtube November 2nd, 2012</ref> which was filmed at [[FurFright 2012]], "Wild Right Now", which incorporated footage from various furry events such as [[Anthrocon 2013]] and [[Rainfurrest 2013]]<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C57u0-Zj1M Brenda Banks - Wild Right Now [Jessie J, Rihanna & Pink vs. Capital Cities & Cash Cash] Posted to Youtube October 23rd, 2013</ref>, and "Summer Home", which focuses on footage from [[Further Confusion 2014]]. <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hFAJ9Exwb4 Summer Home] Posted to Youtube November 20th, 2015</ref> Since 2011, Brenda has attended over forty conventions in drag.
[[File:Ben_judge.jpg|right|thumb|Brenda judging at the FWA 2015 dance competition.]]
===Video Production===

Apart from music videos starring their drag persona, Brenda also specializes in creating films centering around their convention experiences and the experiences of others since [[Midwest Furfest 2011]]. The most notable example of this is "Further Confusion Twenty Twerkteen", a 90 minute movie filmed at [[Further Confusion 2013]],<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvz9CC7mxRk FURTHER CONFUSION TWENTY TWERKTEEN [THE FULL MOVIE] Posted March 31st, 2014</ref> with its sequel, "[[Further Confusion 2014|FC 2014: The Wrektoning]]", having been their last release. They have also produced numerous videos as commissions for others, such as [[Rahne Kallon]], Storm Husky and more.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hFAJ9Exwb4&list=PLjwIwMO7HITUJ-lvYT9EBefWSlQOHiEtg Brenda Banks - My Music Videos & Commissions] - Retrieved April 2nd, 2018</ref>

===Dance===

Since 2012, Brenda has been heavily involved in the dance community of the furry fandom, having competed in twelve different [[Floor Wars]] since [[Furry Weekend Atlanta 2013|FWA 2013]], with their most successful showing being runner-up at [[Anthrocon 2014]] with Dalmy, as part of the team Ratchet Couture. Brenda and Dalmy would later reprise the Ratchet Couture moniker at three more Floor Wars events, with their last showing together having been at [[Midwest Furfest 2015]].

In 2014, Brenda began serving as a judge at various dance conventions, with their first occurrence being at [[Further Confusion 2014]]'s preliminaries, and their first public appearance as a judge being at the [[Furpocalypse 2014]] Dance Competition. Two years later, Brenda (along with [[Eaite Randjam]]) became the showrunner for [[Biggest Little Fur Con]] for the 2016 and 2017 iterations of its dance competition, having also served as a prelim judge and host, alongside [[Haku Panther]]. Since then, Brenda has appeared on numerous judging panels, and has done showcases for several of the events she's judged at, including [[IndyFurCon]], [[Rainfurrest]], [[Anthro New England]], and [[Motor City Fur Con]].

In 2018, Brenda competed in their very first Fursuit Dance Competition at [[Furnal Equinox 2018]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSAri-Pg-gk Furnal Equinox 2018 - Dance Competition - Brenda Banks] - Posted March 22nd, 2018</ref>, where they received third place for their effort.<ref>[https://twitter.com/ItsBrendaBanks/status/975483324662771717 Brenda Banks on Twitter - Furnal Equinox 2018 Trophy] - Posted March 18th, 2018.</ref> They competed again in the [[Furrydelphia]] Dance Competition later that year, placing 2nd overall,<ref>[https://twitter.com/ItsBrendaBanks/status/1029122915126726658 Hello. I did a little dance thing at @Furrydelphia this weekend and got 2nd place.] - Posted August 13th, 2018</ref> as well as competing in the Further Confusion and Texas Furry Fiesta Dance Competitions in 2019.

===Music===

Since 2016, Brenda has made appearances at many cons as a DJ, including multiple showings at [[Biggest Little Fur Con]], [[Furpocalypse]] and [[AnthrOhio]], as well as [[Furry Weekend Atlanta]] and [[Anthro New England]].<ref>https://www.mixcloud.com/BrendaBanks/ Brenda Banks on Mixcloud.] - Retrieved April 2nd, 2018.</ref> Brenda mainly specializes in creating original mashups of pop music, having done so since 2013 before becoming a DJ. Although the original purpose of creating mashups was to bypass content filters on YouTube, they have since taken to creating them for performance mixes, whether for themselves, or as commissions for others.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwIwMO7HITUN9oMwYSv0kcQfk3PRR0Si Dance Comp Mixes made by Me] - Retrieved April 2nd, 2018</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Contributor|Benchilla}}
* [http://waitwaitfixate.com/ Waitwaitfixate.com] - Brenda's personal website
* [http://benchilla.deviantart.com Brenda] on [[deviantART]]
* [http://weasyl.com/~Ben Brenda] on [[Weasyl]]
* [http://benchilla.sofurry.com/ Brenda] on [[SoFurry]]
* [https://www.facebook.com/Benjadumb Brenda] on [[Facebook]]
* [https://twitter.com/ItsBrendaBanks Brenda] on [[Twitter]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WaitWaitFixate Brenda] on [[YouTube]]

{{Dance}}

[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Writers]]
[[Category:Fursuiters]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Chinchilla characters]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
[[Category:1992 births]]

WikiFur - User contributions [en]

Brenda Banks