Leaving Home...

My name is Alan, but many of you know me as Bastion .

I am a furry artist from Venezuela. I've been active in the furry community since early 2011, and I support myself and others through my art.

This fandom is my life, in more ways than one. Of course there is friendship and community, but you have also been paying my bills, caring for me when I'm down, and celebrating with me when I've succeeded. In all the highs and lows of my life, you have been there for me... so I have to ask this amazing fandom one last time, from the very bottom of my heart, please help me through this terrifying time.

To put this bluntly, I am leaving my home country of Venezuela.

I have patiently dealt with many things, including rape, abuse, scarcity of food and medicine, and as many of you know, kidnapping and attempted murder ... but these latest blackouts affect me in ways nothing else has.

For these past days I have not had electricity, internet, telephone, running water, access to food, or even the ability to buy those things if I could find them, since the banks don't have internet either. I wasn't able to contact my friends or loved ones overseas, and I couldn't even call my family here in Venezuela... All I could do was sit in the dark and listen to gunfire, sirens, screaming, and silence... and wonder if I was going to die.

I've been remarkably durable and patient... but staying here longer means risking my ability to make money and access the outside world. It means being cut off and isolated... It means death.

For the time being I will be staying in Columbia and living out of a hotel. I am leaving on Wednesday morning, and my passport will let me stay for 90 days. After that I do not know what I will do or where I will go next. I do not have citizenship anywhere else, and I won't be able to work in any other countries.

My monthly costs are going to increase by almost $1500 USD, and even taking commissions like a mad man, I don't know how long I can last. My fiancee and I are filing for US citizenship, but it takes time (4-7 months) and a lot of money... The legal and filing fees make up $6,000 of what I'm asking for, and will be used to get a K-1 Fiancee Visa and ultimately my citizenship in the United States.

My loving fiancee, Krechevskoy , has been with me for 8 years, and we have saved a good portion of that money, but we now find we need to spend it on airfare, hotels, grocery and supplies. We both plan to keep working, but it will be difficult to overcome the costs of living abroad.

Apart from a few pairs of clothes, a laptop, and what electronics I need to do my art, I am leaving everything behind... So I am asking for a bit more than the legal and filing fees, to help buy new clothes, art supplies, maybe a new phone as this one is dying.

The power just went out again, so I'll send this before my battery dies.

I love you all,

~Bastion