WikiFur - User contributions [en]

Define "Cynical"

2017-06-23T10:51:40Z

Likeafox: removing section because it's defamatory

'''''Define "Cynical"''''', usually shortened to '''DC''', is a furry community founded in 2003 as a discussion website for the webcomic [[Ozy and Millie]]. In its early days DC was populated largely by O&M fans and self-loathing closet furries, but has since departed from its O&M roots and matured into a community of self-assured furries who celebrate furry culture. A members of DC is called a ''DCer''. DCers are from diverse geographical locations but the majority have attended DC meetups. There have been many meetup locations but the most common by far is [[Midwest FurFest]] where a significant portion of the DC community has been in attendance every year since 2010.
As of 2017, DC has at least 30 members who are active within the community on a daily basis, and an extended member base of over 100.

== History ==

=== Beginnings (2003-2005) ===
[[File:Definecynical origin.png|framed|right|The eponymous [[Ozy and Millie]] comic strip was published on [http://ozyandmillie.org/2000/12/29/ozy-and-millie-561/ Dec. 29, 2000].]]
[[Simmo]] founded Define "Cynical" on October 5, 2003, as a forum dedicated to the appreciation of [[Ozy and Millie]]. The first few months saw rapid growth, during which the website branched out to cover many more topics, support posting of member-contributed fan art, and introduce an [[Wikipedia:Internet Relay Chat|IRC]] channel. News and politics became popular discussion topics owing to the political themes often present in Ozy and Millie, and all types of discussion was typically laden with O&M memes.

=== Hacker Vietnam ===
In late 2005 the forum was thrown into upheaval by a string of hacking incidents perpetrated by one identifying himself as "Hacker Vietnam". His vandalism, which seemed to only serve the purpose of his own self-aggrandizement, caused threads to be decategorized, posts to disappear, and ultimately took the forum out of commission for many weeks. In a bid to restore order to DC, the unprepared Simmo ultimately stepped down as administrator and handed the reins to [[User:Likeafox|likeafox]]. likeafox ended the forum's down-time by migrating the site to a personally-run server, migrating forum software from [[Wikipedia:Invision Power Board|Invision Power Board]] to [[Wikipedia:PhpBB|PhpBB 2]], and assembling a team to recategorize forum topics. A newly designed custom DC forum theme was deployed soon afterward. Curiously, and despite extensive damage caused, Hacker Vietnam's antics were actually met with widespread adulation, particularly for his commandeering of Simmo's admin account to post "fuck to all member". To this day he lives on as a legend within DC.

=== Involvement by D. C. Simpson ===
[[D.C. Simpson|D. C. Simpson]], the creator of Ozy and Millie, initially publicized the forum on [http://www.ozyandmillie.org/ ozyandmillie.org], which was widely considered to be responsible for DC's early bubble of popularity. Simpson would also occasionally contribute to discussion on the forum. Then in December 2006 there was an flame war at Simpson's expense and, because of forum politics existing at the time, the incident resolved disfavorably for her. As a result, Simpson revoked her endorsement of the community website, on the basis that she did not want her comic associated with a community she deemed to be of ill repute.

=== Conclusion of O&M, and culture shift ===
On December 28, 2008, Ozy and Millie published its final comic. With a frustrated user base, and now the community's central theme dwindling in significance, DC faced an uncertain future. Deliberate efforts to find a replacement topic proved ineffective, and with lack of directed discussion it didn't take long for forum participation to begin to fall off. The more personal and disorganized nature of IRC fared much better without a theme, and many members took to using IRC exclusively. It was a natural progression over the few years that followed that lead DC to become a definitively furry community: By the time Ozy and Millie had ended, furry culture had become much more widely accepted within DC, and many began branching out in their appreciation of it.

=== Expanding offline presence (2010-2012) ===
Before 2009, DC meetups were comparatively small and infrequent, with never more than a few members meeting at a time. In 2010, Simmo toured North America, visiting as many DCers as possible, culminating in a gathering at [[MFF]] of at least a dozen members. This unprecedented event created the spark within the community that would lead to much more togetherness. DC has attended MFF every year since. There grew demand for more DC-focused gatherings too, and so the very first ''DC Con'' was held in 2012 at a cabin in the US state of Georgia. It was also in 2012 that "DC House" began, which saw 6 DCers all sharing one house in Ohio.

=== Modern DC (2014-Present) ===
Activity on the forum continued its steep decline every year until mid-2014, when it was finally shut down permanently. It remains archived on the website in read-only mode.
DC Con 2 was held in Summer 2014 at a cabin in Ohio, and may have been the largest gathering of DCers to date. That same season, DC House disbanded, partly because the house they were renting was going up for sale.
In 2015 a DCer named klimt passed away. As a member of 8 years he had spent a significant portion of his life with DC, and his passing was felt within DC for long afterward.
Years of people using their phones more and computers less made the limitations of IRC as a platform more apparent; by 2015 activity in IRC too had fallen off considerably. DCers explored alternatives until [[Wikipedia:Telegram (messaging service)|Telegram]] was found. The migration of DCers to Telegram was not immediate but, once in full force, it caused an explosive revival in DC's online activity. DC's Telegram chats remain extremely active today, and even many old DCers that had drifted away from DC have now rejoined.
DC continues to regularly organize gatherings. In April 2017, a US west coast road trip made contact with 17 DCers.

== Mascots ==
Define "Cynical"'s mascots are Marty and Martini, both foxes. The original designs of DC's mascots are by [[CritterEli]], but owned by and with contribution by the community.
<gallery>
File:marty_by_percavius.png|Marty (boy fox)
File:SimmoMartini3D.jpg|Martini (girl fox)
</gallery>

== Members ==
=== Current leadership positions ===
* Forum archive curator - [[baloki]]
* Historian - [[Tai]]
* Dad - Sasha
* Duck dad - [[Astro]]
* Pun master - [[Tavis]]

=== Previous leadership positions ===
* Founder, website admin (2003-2005) - [[Simmo]], formerly known as 5hfifty
* Website admin (2005-2009), system admin (2005-2014) - [[User:Likeafox|likeafox]]
* Website admin (2009-?) - [[nickspoon]]
* IRC admin - [[jent]]
* Lead moderator - [[Tavis]]

== External links ==
Website - [http://definecynical.net http://definecynical.net]

[[Category:Forums]]

Talk:Define "Cynical"

2017-06-23T10:47:34Z

Likeafox: talk

I was going to object to the removal of Dclogo.png (uploaded 2007 Dec) from article, but I don't see it at [https://web.archive.org/web/20071116083330/http://www.definecynical.net:80/ 2007 Nov archive of mainpage], but there is a empty space near top of archived page that might be where dclogo.png was (possibly blocked from archiving by a robots.txt?) --[[User:EarthFurst|EarthFurst]] ([[User talk:EarthFurst|talk]]) 03:22, 23 June 2017 (EDT)
:Hi. That title image from the forum was used from 2005-2009, so it's extremely old by now, I don't know if it's very representative of DC. [[User:Likeafox|Likeafox]] ([[User talk:Likeafox|talk]]) 06:47, 23 June 2017 (EDT)

File:Definecynical origin.png

2017-06-23T10:21:10Z

Likeafox: added licensing info

== Licensing ==
{{Comic-panel}}

File:Marty by percavius.png

2017-06-23T10:16:12Z

Likeafox: filled licensing template

== Licensing ==
{{Limited license|likeafox||WikiFur is granted non-transferable rights to display this image on the Define "Cynical" article of the WikiFur wiki, as well as any other places on the wiki that are a required by the wiki software to facilitate displaying it on that article, such as the Special:RecentChanges page, and the page of the image itself.}}

Define "Cynical"

2017-06-23T05:00:29Z

Likeafox: This page really needed an overhaul, and as a central figure in DC I was in a good position to do it

'''''Define "Cynical"''''', usually shortened to ''DC'', is a furry community founded in 2003 as a discussion website for the webcomic [[Ozy and Millie]]. In its early days DC was populated largely by O&M fans and self-loathing closet furries, but has since departed from its O&M roots and matured into a community of self-assured furries who celebrate furry culture. A members of DC is called a ''DCer''. DCers are from diverse geographical locations but the majority have attended DC meetups. There have been many meetup locations but the most common by far is MFF where a significant portion of the DC community has been in attendance every year since 2010.
As of 2017, DC has at least 30 members who are active within the community on a daily basis, and an extended member base of over 100.

== History ==

=== Beginnings (2003-2005) ===
[[File:Definecynical origin.png|framed|right|The eponymous [[Ozy and Millie]] comic strip was published on [http://ozyandmillie.org/2000/12/29/ozy-and-millie-561/ Dec. 29, 2000].]]
[[Simmo]] founded Define "Cynical" on October 5, 2003, as a forum dedicated to the appreciation of [[Ozy and Millie]]. The first few months saw rapid growth, during which the website branched out to cover many more topics, support posting of member-contributed fan art, and introduce an [[Wikipedia:Internet Relay Chat|IRC]] channel. News and politics became popular discussion topics owing to the political themes often present in Ozy and Millie, and all types of discussion was typically laden with O&M memes.

=== Hacker Vietnam ===
In late 2005 the forum was thrown into upheaval by a string of hacking incidents perpetrated by one identifying himself as "Hacker Vietnam". His vandalism, which seemed to only serve the purpose of his own self-aggrandizement, caused threads to be decategorized, posts to disappear, and ultimately took the forum out of commission for many weeks. In a bid to restore order to DC, the unprepared Simmo ultimately stepped down as administrator and handed the reins to [[User:Likeafox|likeafox]]. likeafox ended the forum's down-time by migrating the site to a personally-run server, migrating forum software from [[Wikipedia:Invision Power Board|Invision Power Board]] to [[Wikipedia:PhpBB|PhpBB 2]], and assembling a team to recategorize forum topics. A newly designed custom DC forum theme was deployed soon afterward. Curiously, and despite extensive damage caused, Hacker Vietnam's antics were actually met with widespread adulation, particularly for his commandeering of Simmo's admin account to post "fuck to all member". To this day he lives on as a legend within DC.

=== Involvement by D. C. Simpson ===
[[D.C. Simpson|D. C. Simpson]], the creator of Ozy and Millie, initially publicized the forum on [http://www.ozyandmillie.org/ ozyandmillie.org], which was widely considered to be responsible for DC's early bubble of popularity. Simpson would also occasionally contribute to discussion on the forum. Then in December 2006 there was an flame war at Simpson's expense and, because of forum politics existing at the time, the incident resolved disfavorably for her. As a result, Simpson revoked her endorsement of the community website, on the basis that she did not want her comic associated with a community she deemed to be of ill repute.

=== Trolling (2007-2008) ===
Discontent reached an all-time high in the two years following, as trolling became a serious problem. Many trolls emerged and were banned, but only one posed an existential threat to DC: Fritz. The topic of Fritz's banning created a great schism among DCers. He had been a long-time member of the community and many thought him worthy of pity or mercy. But after many months of intermittent suspensions, the situation finally reached a head when Fritz issued a death threat to another DCer; together with his ever-increasing mental instability and radicalized political leanings, this finally generated the consensus needed, and Fritz was banned. The weary and battle-scarred likeafox would later resign as forum admin in 2009.

=== Conclusion of O&M, and Culture Shift ===
On December 28, 2008, Ozy and Millie published its final comic. With a frustrated user base, and now the community's central theme dwindling in significance, DC faced an uncertain future. Deliberate efforts to find a replacement topic proved ineffective, and with lack of directed discussion it didn't take long for forum participation to begin to fall off. The more personal and disorganized nature of IRC fared much better without a theme, and many members took to using IRC exclusively. It was a natural progression over the few years that followed that lead DC to become a definitively furry community: By the time Ozy and Millie had ended, furry culture had become much more widely accepted within DC, and many began branching out in their appreciation of it.

=== Expanding Offline Presence (2010-2012) ===
Before 2009, DC meetups were comparatively small and infrequent, with never more than a few members meeting at a time. In 2010, Simmo toured North America, visiting as many DCers as possible, culminating in a gathering at [[MFF]] of at least a dozen members. This unprecedented event created the spark within the community that would lead to much more togetherness. DC has attended MFF every year since. There grew demand for more DC-focused gatherings too, and so the very first ''DC Con'' was held in 2012 at a cabin in the US state of Georgia. It was also in 2012 that "DC House" began, which saw 6 DCers all sharing one house in Ohio.

=== Modern DC (2014-Present) ===
Activity on the forum continued its steep decline every year until mid-2014, when it was finally shut down permanently. It remains archived on the website in read-only mode.
DC Con 2 was held in Summer 2014 at a cabin in Ohio, and may have been the largest gathering of DCers to date. That same season, DC House disbanded, partly because the house they were renting was going up for sale.
In 2015 a DCer named klimt passed away. As a member of 8 years he had spent a significant portion of his life with DC, and his passing was felt within DC for long afterward.
Years of people using their phones more and computers less made the limitations of IRC as a platform more apparent; by 2015 activity in IRC too had fallen off considerably. DCers explored alternatives until [[Wikipedia:Telegram (messaging service)|Telegram]] was found. The migration of DCers to Telegram was not immediate but, once in full force, it caused an explosive revival in DC's online activity. DC's Telegram chats remain extremely active today, and even many old DCers that had drifted away from DC have now rejoined.
DC continues to regularly organize gatherings. In April 2017, a US west coast road trip made contact with 17 DCers.

== Mascots ==
Define "Cynical"'s mascots are Marty and Martini, both foxes. The original designs of DC's mascots are by [[CritterEli]], but owned by and with contribution by the community.
<gallery>
File:marty_by_percavius.png|Marty (boy fox)
File:SimmoMartini3D.jpg|Martini (girl fox)
</gallery>

== Members ==
=== Current Leadership Positions ===
* Forum archive curator - [[baloki]]
* Historian - [[Tai]]
* Dad - Sasha
* Duck dad - [[Astro]]
* Pun master - [[Tavis]]

=== Previous Leadership Positions ===
* Founder, website admin (2003-2005) - [[Simmo]], formerly known as 5hfifty
* Website admin (2005-2009), system admin (2005-2014) - [[User:Likeafox|likeafox]]
* Website admin (2009-?) - [[nickspoon]]
* IRC admin - [[jent]]
* Lead moderator - [[Tavis]]

== External Links ==
Website - [http://definecynical.net http://definecynical.net]

File:SimmoMartini3D.jpg

2017-06-23T04:50:14Z

Likeafox:

== Licensing ==
{{subst:No license from license selector|Don't know}}

File:Marty by percavius.png

2017-06-23T04:45:47Z

Likeafox:

== Licensing ==
{{Limited license}}

File:Definecynical origin.png

2017-06-23T04:12:14Z

Likeafox:

User:Likeafox

2017-06-23T04:02:43Z

Likeafox:

'''''Likeafox''''' (stylized in all lower-case as ''likeafox''), is a furry, professional programmer, and hobbyist digital artist. likeafox is a member of [[Define "Cynical"]] and former administrator of its now defunct internet forum.

User:Likeafox

2017-06-23T04:01:42Z

Likeafox: Created page with ''''''Likeafox''''' (stylized in all lower-case as ''likeafox''), is a furry, professional programmer, and hobbyist digital artist. likeafox is a member of [[Define "Cynical"]...'