Hello to all of our lovely FTO supporters and community!

This is Tony the Bear here! You probably recognize seeing me around Furry Takeover's various events as the master of ceremonies. You probably also recognize that dashing green wolf next to me as he is my partner and the founder of Furry Takeover and another one of the representative mascots since the beginning (joined this year by two non-suit mascots Wani and Bentley to form our four regional car factions). He and I started Furry Takeover in Fontana Dam, NC, way back in 2018 and have watched it only grow ever since!

I first off wanted to thank all of you for your support in helping us grow such an amazing convention and space for you all! FTO 2026 was an incredible success and we are already excited for next year!

That being said, I'm here to raise funds for Fenris after his wolf fursuit was lost or stolen at some point during setup this year. Despite having packed his suit away with our other convention materials, we didn't realize it was gone until the day before the con, when we were practicing for opening ceremonies at the resort already. I had to quickly write his parts out of the script, and we searched everywhere for the suit but couldn't find it.

This loss has been deeply personal for both of us. As you can see from some of the older photos, Fenris has had this particular suit for many years and there were many memories attached to him. When we first met, he wore that fursuit and swept me off my bear feet paws, and over the years it became part of so many memories we made together across countless furry, cosplay, and convention events. Even in recent years, when he was too busy running the convention to wear it as much, the character still stayed part of our story via body double (as many of you saw when we caught the bandit in 2025). Our characters both serve as mascots for the con, and that suit meant more than just a costume to us and to Furry Takeover as a whole.

Furry Takeover has grown so much over the years, and this year we got close to 1,000 registrants. We have been beyond blessed by the support and excitement our community has shown us. Fenris works tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly, from coordinating guests of honor to handling all the moving parts most people never see. Seeing this piece of our history disappear right before the convention was heartbreaking to say the least.

The funds from this fundraiser will go toward the full cost of remaking Fenris from scratch. That includes the head, full body suit, tail, paws, and feet paws. The fursuit maker in question is the same one who brought you the latest version of Tony Bear since 2024! Her name is Mayhem and she does amazing work and is always willing to help us with needed repairs. She is already planning to make a whole new Fenris 2.0 for him, and I want to make sure she can be compensated for the amazing work she does.

If possible, we would love to have Fenris ready again by next year's convention on September 24th, 2027. Any donation or share would mean so much to us and help bring back a character who has been part of our lives, our convention, and our community for years. Thank you for supporting my husband and all the hard work he does to bring this convention to life. I can't thank all of our supporters enough for keeping us going with FTO and hopefully helping Fenris return!