Virtual Censorship Museum

In response to the growing number of requests to censor the Virtual Furry Museum, rejections for tours, and displays in VR Furry groups and events, for the month of April 2026, every single piece that was requested to be censored was censored and blocked in the museum. The pieces were censored by a box or cylinder with a striped grey pattern, and Tyler the Gator, avatar and Fursona of curator/creator Sotalo, was filled with a shader showing the words "censored" using screenspace alignment. This was announced via a Youtube video released on April 1, 2026 as part of an April Fool's joke.

Rather than showing the art, tours shared the stories of censorship requests against the art, the talking points used to justify censorship, and the truth behind how those pieces were included and the people they helped. Mary Madonna, Sr. Censorship Consultant, portrayed by Kitfoxis, attended all tours with playful banter regarding censorship.

Trivia

The concept of censoring the entire Virtual Furry Museum in this manner was years in the making. After finding many people who wished to censor the Subculture Exhibit were OK with most pieces, except one in particular, and the offending piece was different for each person, it became obvious such a project censoring the museum would end with most of the art censored. I had shared this fact with people for years, but actually engaging in a month-long censorship project made sense after removal from the VR Community Awards, Project Fang, and Furality.
The earliest requests for censorship came from a touring creator group that regularly viewed the Virtual Furry Museum before and after its public release, and an individual who was responsible for inspiring me to create the museum. Some of the responses in the video make mention to these requests.
The most requested exhibit to be censored is the Subculture Exhibit. It has been explicitly listed as cause for censorship by two touring groups and a half-dozen individuals minimum. Trolls have attempted to attack the Virtual Furry Museum while the exhibit is toured. The exhibit was screened by VRChat's T&S Team and determined to be art, which is subjective.
The single most requested piece to be censored is the piece representing age regression by OverFlo207. The image is of a rabbit adult looking in the mirror and seeing her younger self in a diaper looking back inquisitively.
Every single conversation in the video is based off a real conversation regarding censorship in real life, with some changes for the dramatization.
The most accurately presented conversation was regarding dragons not being Furries, made by a non-Furry prior to the Museum's release. The wording was as close to the original interaction as possible. The biggest difference? The individual requesting censorship was extremely irate. His attitude was toned down for the final video. In the real interaction, they were stopped by the group moderator.
Suggested reference for Mary's character included real life anti-LGBTQ spokeswoman Anita Bryant, Azula from Avatar: the Last Airbender, Migel's Grandmother from Coco, Judge Judy, and the real estate agent from Spongebob Squarepants episode "Opposite Day." Fandom trolls/gatekeepers and Christian extremists defined Mary's character.
Joe's character was heavily defined by Patrick Starr from Spongebob Squarepants.
It was difficult to find a fitting voice actress for Mary. Most comics were too nice, didn't have a commanding voice, and couldn't play a convincing female figure. Kitfoxis, being Trans-fem, took a while to find the role during filming. Performing the Subculture scene helped her get into character.
Joe's model was found immediately before filming. Modest clothing was required, and Joe needed to be significantly shorter than Mary. The symbolism of her husband being a plush toy implied Mary couldn't find an appropriate husband and settled. Others quickly pointed out the hypocrisy of Joe finding many things to be pedophillic while being a plush himself. Hypocrisy was sewn into the characters.
The criticism of Mister Rogers was based on the protests against his funeral by a radical church group due to his acceptance of gay actors (François Clemmons, who portrayed Officer Clemmons). Priests have also dismissed Mister Rogers preaching acceptance of differences.
Ironically, the actor/actress originally intended to play Mary and Joe declined after seeing the examples of defamation and believing them at face-value.
Several actors and stand-ins play Joe in the Virtual Furry Museum during presentations: Haldrie, and hegyak. The original actor who portrayed most of the character's physical and vocal performance in the video chose to remain anonymous.
Filming took place on 3/29/2026-3/30/2026.
Mary and Joe's names are a biblical reference to Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents.
The VRChat world Storm Drain was named by Sotalo as an example of a VRChat world showing excellent lighting during his Furality Umbra presentation The Art of Light and Shading.
Joe's line "Too much water" is a reference to IGN's infamous 7.8/10 review of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The brief at the end of the review listed "too much water" as the reason for the unusually low rating. The review explained water gameplay slowed the pace while taking a significant portion of the game. This still caused significant backlash among Pokémon fans who believed the game deserved a better review, and the phrase became a meme undercutting the critic.
The world Fish! in VRChat was exceptionally popular in March 2026 during filming. The most frequent criticism of the world by new playuers is the need to purchase expensive boats to travel to other islands or travel faster and take time to obtain. Thus, the critique "too much water" does hold some water.
mercilessdug (leader of The Nut Hut) finished a party as the film crew scrambled for a party to film at the last minute. He put the music back on for a small cameo role as a few friends and crew were invited to dance for the short scene.
The list Mary hands Sotalo to censor is actually a page describing Panda Paco's feelings about the creation of Borderless World, an art piece showing 106 Furries holding hands in an interconnected map of the world, made as a tribute to the Furry Fandom sticking together through COVID-19. The name of each Furry drawn is listed on the reverse.
Kitfoxis, actress for Mary, has been an LGBTQ activist for 20 years. Trans-fem herself, she speaks up about the dangers of censorship at the end of the Censorship tours.
Mary's real-life husband, hegyak, worked as a Best Boy on set, performing similar tasks during stage productions in real life, and had an onscreen cameo role in the party scene. His Fursona is a blue bipedal dragon.
Mary is always filmed with her head high in the frame, giving her character a consistently strong, domineering appearance.
Heads and faces are usually covered in the blocking of shots, symbolically alluding to censorship and the fact that we are sometimes unable to see our true censors. This also puts most of the frame and visual on the artwork being censored.
Dutch camera angle tilts and perspective shots get more extreme as the video progresses.

Virtual Censorship Museum

Trivia

The earliest requests for censorship came from a touring creator group that regularly viewed the Virtual Furry Museum before and after its public release, and an individual who was responsible for inspiring me to create the museum. Some of the responses in the video make mention to these requests.

The single most requested piece to be censored is the piece representing age regression by OverFlo207. The image is of a rabbit adult looking in the mirror and seeing her younger self in a diaper looking back inquisitively.

Every single conversation in the video is based off a real conversation regarding censorship in real life, with some changes for the dramatization.

Joe's character was heavily defined by Patrick Starr from Spongebob Squarepants.

It was difficult to find a fitting voice actress for Mary. Most comics were too nice, didn't have a commanding voice, and couldn't play a convincing female figure. Kitfoxis, being Trans-fem, took a while to find the role during filming. Performing the Subculture scene helped her get into character.

The criticism of Mister Rogers was based on the protests against his funeral by a radical church group due to his acceptance of gay actors (François Clemmons, who portrayed Officer Clemmons). Priests have also dismissed Mister Rogers preaching acceptance of differences.

Ironically, the actor/actress originally intended to play Mary and Joe declined after seeing the examples of defamation and believing them at face-value.

Several actors and stand-ins play Joe in the Virtual Furry Museum during presentations: Haldrie, and hegyak. The original actor who portrayed most of the character's physical and vocal performance in the video chose to remain anonymous.

Filming took place on 3/29/2026-3/30/2026.

Mary and Joe's names are a biblical reference to Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents.

The VRChat world Storm Drain was named by Sotalo as an example of a VRChat world showing excellent lighting during his Furality Umbra presentation The Art of Light and Shading.

mercilessdug (leader of The Nut Hut) finished a party as the film crew scrambled for a party to film at the last minute. He put the music back on for a small cameo role as a few friends and crew were invited to dance for the short scene.

Kitfoxis, actress for Mary, has been an LGBTQ activist for 20 years. Trans-fem herself, she speaks up about the dangers of censorship at the end of the Censorship tours.

Mary's real-life husband, hegyak, worked as a Best Boy on set, performing similar tasks during stage productions in real life, and had an onscreen cameo role in the party scene. His Fursona is a blue bipedal dragon.​​

Mary is always filmed with her head high in the frame, giving her character a consistently strong, domineering appearance.

Heads and faces are usually covered in the blocking of shots, symbolically alluding to censorship and the fact that we are sometimes unable to see our true censors. This also puts most of the frame and visual on the artwork being censored.

Dutch camera angle tilts and perspective shots get more extreme as the video progresses.

Mary's real-life husband, hegyak, worked as a Best Boy on set, performing similar tasks during stage productions in real life, and had an onscreen cameo role in the party scene. His Fursona is a blue bipedal dragon.