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Black History Month Spotlight: Cedric G! Bacon

Furry Writers' Guild - Wed 17 Feb 2021 - 10:00

Hello again everyone! It’s February, so in honor of Black History Month, the FWG wanted to feature interviews with Black authors, publishers, and creators within the furry fandom. Today we’ll be interviewing Cedric G! Bacon, the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher at Thurston Howl Publications.

Those familiar with furry writing have likely seen his written works in Infurno, Furries Hate Nazies, or Thrill of the Hunt. He is particularly known for his horror stories though never turns down opportunities to work outside his usual comfort zone.

With the introductions out of the way, let’s get onto the interview!

FWG: What is your favorite work that you have written and favorite work you have published?

Cedric: I’m actually going to separate this into three answers, hahaha. The first two are my written/published, and then one that I’ve published for someone else.

For my own favorite work that I’ve published it’s a tie: the first would maybe be “Yule Carol” in 12 Days of Yiffmas (Red Ferret Press). To give a summary, it’s a Christmas themed story set in Japan and focuses on a vixen named Kiyohoko missing her deceased husband Heath terribly. Thus, on Yule Eve, she performs a ritual that binds his spirit into the physical plane, albeit briefly.

I took inspiration from the Bon festivals with this one and a lot of creative license in terms of the traditions, but the end result became very satisfactory and for being an early attempt at erotica, it was probably one of my most successful due to having dark elements and not outright horror, but also having characters that are just genuinely likeable, without having to force the reader into liking them, and I tried to make it appear as believable as possible. Definitely one I recommend to readers but because it’s in an erotic collection, definitely for the adult readership!

Second favorite story that I’ve written and published, it’s “The Battler” from Furries Hate Nazis. I’ve always been a fan of boxing and wrestling, and I’ve always wanted to do a story featuring either sport. It ended up becoming that “The Battler” (which was partly inspired by the story of Salamo Arouch and also being set in the universe of The Adventures of Peter Gray by Nathan Hopp) was that story, and it gave me an opportunity to say something about anti-Semitism and racism in the 1960s.

The final act fight scene between my Jewish boxer Mickey and the Nazi antagonist Vilm was probably the most cinematic writing I’d ever done, and definitely had to look at the various motions and movements from sources like Christy Martin’s fights and the old boxing anime Ashita no Joe.

For my answer on favorite written but not yet published, that would be “Poyekhali!” which will be appearing in ROAR 11. It’s a little bit of alternate history, but largely inspired by the Soviet space program that launched human beings into orbit. The main thrust of the story is inspired by Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, but I also take bits from others who were there, and even created an anthro version of Laika. But the reason I liked this story so much is because it used so much of my favorite themes—strong women in the leading roles, history, action, and research—and I can’t wait for everyone else to read it soon too!

And for my favorite work that’s not my own but one that I’ve published, I think that would be Fire-Branded Leather by F. Gibbs. It was the first long form work I ever edited and so it was great having a great writer to work with and break the ice, learning communication and listening skills along the way. First in a trilogy (with the second book, Cold Trailing, out now and the third on the way!) I can’t say enough how much I’ll always stand by this book. 

FWG: What do you think makes a good story?

Cedric: For me, I think a good story the sum of a bunch of different parts. When I sit down to write, I always try to think of the things that could click: the characters for one, setting for another, dialogue for yet another, and the plot that I’m hoping to tell with the story. Sometimes, even with beta reading and positive feedback, the story may not land…that doesn’t necessarily means it was a terrible story because as well known, there are a lot of intentionally terrible stories that actually did get published (looking at you Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey), but one that just didn’t hit right with a reviewer or an editor doth not a bad story make. But the key ingredient I think in this literary bouillabaisse is the writer having the confidence and believing in the story to really make it good: its that having the faith in the characters and having a solid track as you’re moving from point A to point B to point C with the plot, and the dialogue is firing on cylinders with you, you just have this knowing feeling that “Hey, this is actually turning out pretty sweet!” 

FWG: What does Black History mean to you?

Cedric: It’s most definitely the acknowledgment of the achievements made by folks that don’t get that shine too often. Yeah, we do celebrate the achievements of Amelia Earhart for example and her most definitely defining pioneering career as an aviatrix, but how many know about Bessie Coleman, who was the first woman to be an African American and Native American pilot? Or the recently passed Charles Saunders, whose novels and stories of the heroic Imaro gave a blackness to the fantasy genre that’d previously been dominated by writers (Lovecraft, most notoriously) who often relegated the black character to a stereotype.

I’d be the first to admit that I never knew much about Black History growing up, besides the big stuff that you learn in school. The good stuff, the stuff that really makes one take notice, didn’t come to me till much later, or learning how many sacrifices were made to retain one’s pride (Muhammad Ali telling the draft board to stuff it saying he wasn’t going to Vietnam—in a famous rebuttal—when he did, which stalled his boxing career for a long while is one example to think of) in order to make movements for a race that’s been marginalized for centuries due to being a couple shades darker than their friends and neighbors.   

FWG: Do you feel that your Blackness has affected your writing? How about your work in publishing?

Cedric: I think it’s informed how I shape certain characters and situations, most definitely. In “The Battler” for example, I made the narrator a black man who has to deal with the racism of his fellow humans but also that of the furren (borrowed once again from Nate Hopp for an anthro species) who will deign themselves uplifted from humans and especially a black man like my narrator. That the boxer he trains is an anthro and Jewish was a nice thing to write because it’s two people who come from different backgrounds but don’t care and are just happy to have each other in their lives for this experience… It’s just the hope I always have but have been disappointed on in reality.

The experience of having one’s differences made front and center has happened to me a number of times, from the drive-thru at McDonald’s all the way down to relationships, and internally that feeling of being like an outsider looking in is something that isn’t forgotten. And then that feeling that if I spoke up and out then the consequences could either be dire or fatal depending on the circumstances. There’s a lot of wrong that’s out there and few speaking on it, and the ones who do are just the worst types who are only speaking on it and chasing clout. 

Since becoming the top bat at THP, I’ve continued our namesake’s mission to always look out for marginalized voices that are speaking and saying what they have to say as loud as possible. And not only that but taking ownership of their stories and not having them told by someone without that background or knowledge—despite the well intentions, I must say. And you know, as a publisher I’ve had a chance to really get to know what is happening and the voices that are out there. And I’ve come to the realization that there’s no such thing as everything and everyone “having a place” and firmly do reject what the status quo has made of things. The status quo will protect shitty—if I can say that, if not censor haha—views and coddle the ones saying them, and that’s just not cool. 

I want our authors—our BIPOC, our women, our trans—to feel that they can speak on those issues that have affected them and not feel afraid to say them. I want them to say “FUCK YOU” to the Karen at Target that was acting out on them and not using their preferred pronoun. I want them to tell their story and be proud and stand up and be counted and know that they all do exist and ain’t going anywhere.

FWG: Do you feel that issues in the outside world affect your writing and publishing in the fandom?

Cedric: I believe so! I’d only be regurgitating my viewpoints above so I’ll be shorter here, but I think a combination of growing up reading superhero comic books and literature gave me an intense dislike whenever I read or see or hear about injustice being done. I was also raised by strong women so I have a fondness for a woman that takes no shit from a man, and if I may use this spot to say so, I very much welcome submissions from women in the fandom to send their works, whatever the genre, on over! 

FWG: If you could convince everyone to read a single book, what would it be and why?

Cedric: That would probably be Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. It was the first time I truly felt I was reading about a character just like me, not just because the main protagonist Atticus Turner was a black young man in mid-1950s America, but also because he was a black young man who’d grown up loving the stories of Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and other white writers who often denigrated people of color in their stories and grappled with that dichotomy, just like me.

The novel upends the expectations that the weirdness of Lovecraft et al was just that of the white man, and Ruff ties in a lot of the racism that was happening across America with the weirdness occurring to Atticus and his family, dispensing with Lovecraft’s whole thing of making characters white, upper-class academics and intellectuals and showcasing Atticus and his black, working-class and very close-knit family who approach the horror, are summarily frightened, but try to approach it logically and without Lovecraft’s whole trope of beginning scared, staying scared, and then going crazy afterward. 

That it was made into a TV series last fall on HBO should be another feather in its cap for interest. There were a bunch of deviations from the novel in the adaptation, but I think with that translation from prose to visual, it really helps enhance the theme and messaging and allows for the story to go deeper than the novel did (for example, dispensing with two male characters and adding more women to the cast really does a further one-up) and also creating further horrors and atrocities of that Jim Crow era in the United States at that time.

FWG: Do you have any projects incoming you’d like to tell people about?

Cedric: The conclusion to F. Gibbs Fire Dog Trilogy in The Eastern Horizon for one! Another conclusion is the third book in Stephen Coghlan’s furry sci-fi series GENMOS (Genetically Modified Species) entitled Conclusions. We also have the anthologies The Furry Game Show Network, Beneath the Suit, Howloween Vol. 2, Difursity Vol. 2 coming soon and as we speak we’re going through submissions for iPawd and edits for The Howling Dead. So far, the beginning of the year is looking quite up for Thurston Howl Publications!

FWG: Any last words for our readers?

Cedric: Just one! Tell your readers to never give up on their hopes and dreams. Writing is hard, goodness knows it is, but it’s just like anything else: time, effort, patience, and a little bit of persistence. Make your messaging clear and concise and don’t sweat about all that stuff about compared to so and so and such and such. Stand on your own two feet first and do your best on your own first, and all that good accolades will follow!

We would like to thank Cedric once again for taking the time to sit down and talk with us. He can be found on Twitter @batced. We hope you’ll join us again next week for our final interview with a Black creative within the furry fandom for Black History Month. Until next time, may your words flow like water.

Categories: News

Ponies Coming Right Into Your Home

In-Fur-Nation - Wed 17 Feb 2021 - 02:52

Well, some information is better than none, it seems. Animation World Network has an update (at least a little) on this “mysterious” My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic second feature film we’ve been hearing about. “My Little Pony fans will be able to keep their cutie marks parked at home for the Mane Six’s next, as-yet untitled animated feature frolic. Previously slated for theatrical release September 24 through Paramount Pictures, the eOne/Boulder Media project has been hitched up by Netflix for global distribution — excluding China, which is covered by Hasbro’s eOne. A release date has not been revealed. Little has been announced about the new MLP movie, which will once again be based on the smash hit Friendship Is Magic reboot created by Lauren Faust. The film is being directed by Emmy-nominated comedy writer Robb Cullen — co-creator/director/writer of the Spike adult toon Gary the Rat, starring Kelsey Grammer — and kids’ TV animation writer-director José Luis Ucha (Invizimals, Angus & Cheryl, Bernard), with Mark Fattibene (CG supervisor, Monsters vs. Aliens, Kung Fu Panda). Trust us, you’ll know more as soon as we do!

image c. 2021 Boulder Media

Categories: News

Interview With Azoth - Comic Panels, ADHD, & Tokenism

What's The Fuzz?! - Tue 16 Feb 2021 - 23:48

Resources, Social Media & Donation Links
Follow Azoth
Read Revenant
Join Rhyner’s Telegram Channel

On January 11th 2021 I sat down with Azoth, a skilled black trans artist creating their dream web comic Revenant at an astounding pace of 5 pages per week. Not only does he manage to write in a black protagonist to head this fantasy world, he also creates something totally unique: spinning an urban fantasy adventure that criticizes colonialism and doesn't hold back from going all out on the art. 

Of course it's not all fun and games. As an artist struggling with a recent ADHD diagnosis he goes into detail weighing the pros and cons of the affliction from 10 hour days of straight drawing to struggling with executive dysfunction. He goes over the steps to creating a successful page with tips on how to panel a scene.

It's obvious Azoth isn't gonna let anyone get in his way. And as you'll hear in this interview, they've tried before. 

Thanks everyone for the support over the past few months. We're glad to be back! Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes delivered to your device as soon as it drops. 

Support the show

Interview With Azoth - Comic Panels, ADHD, & Tokenism
Categories: Podcasts

"Robin Hood & Her Valkyrie" read by The Voice of Dog Podcast | Audio Drama by Tempe O'Kun

Culturally F'd - Tue 16 Feb 2021 - 11:12

A short story that was included in a promo Culturally F'd zine, read by The Voice of Dog podcast host Khaki. Learn more about The Voice of Dog podcast: https://www.thevoice.dog/ Art by Slate: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/slate Merch, Sweet Tees and stuff: http://www.culturallyfd.com https://teespring.com/stores/culturally-fd-merchandise Support Culturally F'd: https://www.patreon.com/culturallyfd Plus a Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/gsz8us7 Listen in on TEMPO TALKS with Tempe O'Kun https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPyIK2c7mK-LpbvfDNqfcSW Check out Tempe O'Kun's books "Sixes Wild" and "Windfall" here: http://furplanet.com/shop/?affillink=YOUTU2907 Here's a playlist of his other Culturally F'd videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPS7tnT4hdJwBI-CeLF8Kb_
Categories: Videos

Cartoons For Grown-Ups

In-Fur-Nation - Sun 14 Feb 2021 - 02:20

… or at very least, for adult persons. Over at Animation World Network there’s a new article about a slate of upcoming adult-themed animated TV series in development for HBO Max. Sandwiched right in the middle of the set is word about one particular show of furry interest: “From creator and musician Sean Solomon, Hello Paul features a neurotic millennial cat whose intense job and freeloading mouse roommate stress him out.” That’s what we know so far. “In development” is often a fancy way of saying there’s no planned release date yet, but you’ll find out more as soon as we know it.

image c. 2021 HBO Max

Categories: News

Bearly Furcasting #42 - Finn/TraaaashPanda, History with Bearly, Math, and Really Bad Jokes

Bearly Furcasting - Sat 13 Feb 2021 - 15:00

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

Finn/TraaaashPanda and founder of Fuzznet World joins us this week to discuss their involvement in the fandom and all the things they do in the fandom. Taebyn tries really, really hard to set up a failed joke. Bearly relates a story about when he found his first mailbag.  Bearly Sings a song…yep…Bearly! Does Majira listen to our podcast? Did a cockatiel want to go to schoool? We chat a bit about Statler the Flying Fox, the Ursa Major Award, Taebyn has a lot of questions, and tells us a story, and we once again tell some really bad jokes. Just what happens when Taebyn is left alone for a few minutes? So join us and spend some time without a care!

Support the show

Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting #42 - Finn/TraaaashPanda, History with Bearly, Math, and Really Bad Jokes
Categories: Podcasts

From Paw to Print, compiled by Thurston Howl

Furry Book Review - Fri 12 Feb 2021 - 17:28

If you’ve ever wanted a conglomeration of great writing advice from established writers and publishers in the furry fandom, “From Paw to Print” is your book. It’s like a mini-anthology with the theme being writing, but now the authors are free to talk candidly about their experiences for the sole purpose of educating aspiring writers about the good, the bad, and the unspoken aspects one will probably find in their journey to put a published piece in someone else’s hands. Or paws. I thoroughly enjoyed all eleven essays in this book, and I believe I will be coming back to them several times as I try to wade through the (less) daunting waters of publishing.

“From Paw to Print” is a book about the process of taking a piece of writing and turning it into a published work. Each essay inside was written by a different writer or publisher, with topics ranging from the differences of sex, erotica, and porn to the importance of having a writer’s platform. Most of the essays serve as a place to start for beginning writers while others serve as food for thought. “Furry Erotica and Pornography: Art, Yiff, and the Self” by Katav, for example, was a particularly compelling essay about harmful preconceptions we may have about writing and reading sexual stories. “Small Press vs. Self Publishing” by Weasel, on the other hand, served as a helpful guide about what to expect, as well as what to avoid, when using small press to publish your work. So if you’re curious about where to start or what to expect in the writing world, try reading this book. It’ll give you a lot to think about.

A daring, but much needed, essay about the differences between romance, erotica, and porn starts off the book. Tarl “Voice” Hoch explains that, on a basic level, the difference is how much eroticism goes into them. A helpful tip for deciding which to write is to think about what your audience is there for. Overall, I found this essay extremely helpful in deciding which of the three I’d personally like to write about, and I’m sure the same will happen for you. If you want to, that is.

Next is an essay about worldbuilding by J.F.R. Coates. He separates his essay into four parts, with each one being an important starting point to creating your own world. Knowing what to leave out, Coates states, is just as important as what to put in. He also gives a few pointers on how to not be racist when creating your world, which can be tricky if you’re considering putting stereotypes from the real world into your fictional world. I would have liked a bit more from Coates into how he goes about worldbuilding in his own stories. I think a few examples from his own work would have been nice to read about.

Amy Claire Fontaine details a very helpful guide about animal behavior in her essay titled “Animal Attributes in Furry Writing.” Using her experience as a wildlife biologist, Fontaine writes about topics like sensory perception, cognition, and communication—aspects of animal behavior that differ greatly from our own. I really liked this essay; there was a lot to learn, and a lot I would like to implement in my own writing. I especially liked how she talked about the “spectrum of zoological realism” we find in furry media, and how differing levels of anthropomorphism can achieve different kinds of effects in furry writing.

Where Hoch talked about the overarching differences between romance, erotica, and porn, Katav’s essay talks more about how our views of such topics say a lot about ourselves. Not only that, but there are pitfalls we may stumble into if we don’t think critically about these topics. Even as I’m writing this, I’m trying to treat this with the importance I’ve learned since reading Katav’s essay. Our preconceived notions about each type of writing—romance, erotica, and porn—do affect us. I thoroughly enjoyed this essay and plan on coming back to it whenever I think about these genres.

“Small Press vs. Self Publishing” by Weasel kicks off the Publishing portion of the book. Weasel’s essay is filled with tips and pointers for those considering either method of publication. He breaks down the task of publishing into specific points to consider, and then gives monetary examples of each to give you a real world example of the cost of publishing. In addition to financial things, he also warns us about the possibility of being taken advantage of. I really enjoyed the tips Weasel gave, but not as much as his voice. It was a fun essay to read.

Rayah’s essay about submitting work is a good read for anyone who is vaguely considering writing to submit or publish their work. It’s a shorter essay, but, nonetheless, it’s helpful to think about the proper practices any writer should incorporate into their creative flow. I think Rayah’s essay could have also benefited from a few examples of their own experiences, just to let me and the readers know what to do if we get stuck somewhere along the way.

Andrew Rabbit gives us a brief look into how the publishing world has changed in the twenty years Rabbit Valley Comics has been around. The pictures and descriptions were a nice touch, but overall I think this essay could be expanded into a full story. It was hard for me to grasp what some of the terms meant in the few pages this essay crossed. There’s history here, and where there’s history, there’s a story. It was a nice break from some of the more critical essays though.

The next two essays are by Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary. The first one is about layout and design, a super important part in all publishing journeys. She mentions how things you may not notice, like margin length and odd lines that stick out at the bottoms and tops of pages, are actually huge factors in how the reader, well, reads. (I took a book arts class in college where I had to learn about margin length, text size, font, kerning… Let me tell you, it’s not easy.) There’s a ton that goes into the way a page looks. The point, she says, is to not let it be distracting. I would have liked to know so much more about the designing process, but I also know it’s very technical, so I really appreciate the way she broke it down into easily digestible words.

In her next essay, she talks about problems you may run into if you plan on running an anthology. The process is not easy and takes a lot of time, but with careful time management and communication, you can make a masterpiece. Like her previous essay, I really enjoyed this one. Again, it serves as a simple introduction to the process of creating an anthology, but having a generic step-by-step process is extremely helpful to those starting out.

Moving along the anthology train, Thurston Howl writes about how to give an anthology cohesion. First, they refute a couple preconceptions that may be popular in the writing field, then they share a few tips to keep in mind when editing the anthology, like including trigger warnings and varying the types of stories you’ve accepted. It’s a pleasant essay that is sure to help anyone considering making an anthology.

Tarl “Voice” Hoch finishes us off with a longer essay about writers’ platforms and why they’re important. What happens after someone reads your book for the first time? They google your name. Which is why, Hoch states, that it’s important to have something that comes up in Google’s search engine. Book reviews, blog posts, anything to give your new fan a better read on you as a writer, and more content that you hope they will like. Underneath it all, Hoch says the best thing you can do is to be professional, and I fully agree. This essay was extremely helpful, and it was wonderfully written.

The essays in this book were super helpful, but not in the way I expected. Like I said before, every essay is a helpful start at the writing and publishing scene, but it’s the fact that they’re essays and not stories that kept me reading. Most of the time when you read books, you’re reading the most polished version of a journey that someone wanted to take you on. Which is great! But rarely ever do you see those authors producing short-form content that aim to help people. At least, I haven’t seen much of that, and that’s why I really like this book. Not because what they’re saying is helpful—although that’s also a huge reason I like it—but because I feel like I’m getting to know the authors’ voices a little better. There’s a lot more personality shining through the words that you don’t always get to see. This doesn’t come as a surprise. Rather, an observation I wanted to share. Such is the way essays tend to be.

Aside from the amazing content, I really liked how the book was organized. The table of contents categorizes the topics into four themes: writing, publishing, anthologies, and other. More importantly, the bios section at the end of the book lists each author by name and tells you a little about them, as well as where you can find them. There were a fair amount of typos here and there, but nothing that really broke me out of my ramen-fueled concentration.

“From Paw to Print” is great for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the writing world. That being said, there are some adult themes so I wouldn’t recommend it for minors.

From Paw to Print, compiled by Thurston Howl
Categories: News

Dog Gone… Over the Rainbow

In-Fur-Nation - Fri 12 Feb 2021 - 02:48

We got this straight from Animation World Network: “Animal Logic has announced that the next project produced in their Vancouver studio will be Toto, the animated musical adaptation of Michael Morpurgo and Emma Chichester Clark’s 2017 book, Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz. A family film told from the perspective of Dorothy’s beloved companion, the screenplay was written by John August, with two-time Tony nominee Alex Timbers attached to direct… The Vancouver studio is currently in production on an animated film based on the DC Super Pets franchise, directed by Jared Stern and set for release in 2022.” Check out the original Toto book from Harper Collins.

image c. 2021 Harper Collins

Categories: News

快報:FF主辦發出〈場內防疫公告〉與繪師竹本嵐宣布缺席本次活動!

Fur Times - 獸時報 - Thu 11 Feb 2021 - 10:17

撰文/澍星;審稿/藍風

  武漢肺炎疫情自2019年12月26日至今,已持續延燒將近有一年兩個月的時間。第37屆FancyFrontiera開拓動漫祭在2月10日於官網發布〈場內加強防疫措施公告〉,要求參與活動的設攤單位「排隊隊伍不可超過三人」及「不得進行非販售之活動」,如:簽名、合照、握手會、拍賣⋯⋯等。

  知名繪師竹本嵐於同日當晚發出聲明,宣布本次活動將不會出攤,原因是近期的身體狀況不佳及諸多考量下做出的決定。本人也特別表明不是肺炎,且在調整飲食與休息的狀況下情況已有好轉,請各位粉絲不用擔心!

  目前未有更多創作者發布缺席聲明或表態,本報將會針對後續消息持續追蹤!

Categories: News

Black History Month Spotlight: Rhyner

Furry Writers' Guild - Thu 11 Feb 2021 - 04:30

Hello again everyone! It’s February, so in honor of Black History Month, the FWG wanted to feature interviews with Black authors, publishers, and creators within the furry fandom. Today we’ll be interviewing Rhyner — a Black/Mexican transmasc queer dragon who hosts the What The Fuzz?! podcast which interviews furries of color to ask “real questions to dig into the people under the fur.”

In the world of furry writing, Rhyner actively updates Rhyner Writes, a blog where he discusses general topics for furry audiences. He was also a member of the inaugural Oxfurred Comma Inclusivity Award committee.

With this in mind, just one last thing from Rhyner before we get to the interview — “Please keep in mind: no one person can represent an entire group and that includes myself. I can only speak to my experiences and shared experiences as a mixed person. One story doesn’t paint the picture.”

FWG: What is your favorite work that you have written?

Rhyner: Normally you’d think it’d be a story I’ve written, but honestly nothing I’ve written has ever given me as much joy as the articles I have up on my website. The one in particular that folks seem to love is about overcoming anxieties to chat with others over Telegram or forums. While it’s something incredibly small it means a lot to me to be able to help someone with something that is so easily overlooked.

FWG: What do you think makes a good story?

Rhyner: A “good” story to me is a plot driven by realistic, grounded characters. They can have fantastical powers or be facing the annihilation of the universe, but if they don’t have relatability it’s not going to keep anyone invested in what’s going on. For instance “Breaking Bad” and “A Silent Voice” are wildly different stories that have pretty much nothing in common. Why am I so drawn to the plight of some old boomer selling meth on the side? Why do I care about what happens to some deaf girl? It’s because I can understand their struggles, and I latch onto them little by little. We see them at their worst, we see them do terrible things, but we see them do great things too. It’s that heavy helping of humanity that makes a story resonate with me no matter how recycled the plot itself is. But hey, if you want to throw some lore in there too it sure wouldn’t hurt!

FWG: What does Black History mean to you?

Rhyner: Black history at this moment means to me… Retreading my footsteps. It means going somewhere I’ve been before but things don’t look the same. People like me who grew up in “liberal California” were told racism was over when MLK gave his speech. We were told they desegregated schools and everything was fine after that. The Civil War being fought over slaves? “No, of course not! That was about states’ rights.” Since the start of June I’ve started to learn the real history. The resurgence of BLM flooded my timeline with things I never heard about before. The MOVE bombing, the rise and fall of Black Wallstreet, mass incarceration, and the list goes on and on. It’s painful to have to go back and re-learn your own history. Like getting bleach out of your clothes. But I’m glad to learn and I’m hungry to learn more.

FWG: Do you feel that your Blackness has affected your writing?

Rhyner: Yes. Normally I’d say it wouldn’t, but I have to write every script for my podcast. It wasn’t easy to come to terms with the fact that people will treat me differently simply because I’m black, but thanks to this Summer I quickly understood how the world saw people like me. I’ve had to make it clear why these things affect me since it could very easily be my black mother or black roommate or black best friends that end up meeting an unfortunate and untimely demise. With that in mind, going forward with writing outside of the scripts I don’t think I could go back to writing with a main character who doesn’t face similar struggles. 

FWG: Do you feel that issues in the outside world affect your writing in the fandom?

Rhyner: Yes. Although racial issues specifically really only pop up in the scripts for my podcast as mentioned before I find themes of social anxiety to be a prevailing topic amongst my blog posts. There isn’t a lot of furry literature to my name, but the stories I have started out there on SoFurry that aren’t just, well, erotic have themes of feeling unable to connect with others. 

FWG: If you could convince everyone to read a single book, what would it be and why?

Rhyner: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. It is nothing short of incredible how much information and thought was put into the careful articulation of every page in this book. It paints a massive, overwhelming picture of what black people are facing and have been facing in the United States from the start of slavery to now. It painstakingly goes over how the drug war started, how it was used as a weapon against black people, and what effect it’s had on us today. It’s a must read if you care about civil rights. Period. 

FWG: You interview a lot of BIPOC furs for your podcast. Have they ever mentioned furry writing or publishing? If so, what kinds of comments have you gotten about it?

Rhyner: Yes, some have. For example one guest known for his outlandish NSFW drawings, is also something of a storyteller. I thought to get his perspective on why writing tends to be overlooked in the fandom and he remarked that it was quite simple, really. Fursuits and art are instantly satisfactory while reading a story takes time – time that could be spent looking at 30 or more pictures in the same time span. It’ll be continually be difficult to get noticed as a writer in the fandom. All we can do is make it easier to get the works out there and put it front and center. 

Another guest on the show described the struggles of starting up a furry driven publishing business. Despite this, I found his drive to be inspiring. After all when forced to compete with Sofawolf, Furplanet, and others – why not have some fun with it? 

FWG: Is there anything the furry writing community could be doing to be more welcoming to Black creators?

Rhyner: The best thing the furry community can do is to be open and uplift. Be open to the storylines brought on by BIPOC creators of all backgrounds. If you’re a publisher, feature black creators during black history month, Indigenous furs during their month, and so on. If you’re a reader and happen upon a story you enjoy that’s from a black person or another person of color be sure to share their work.

Don’t be afraid to call out bigotry when you see it.

FWG: Do you have any projects incoming you’d like to tell people about?

Rhyner: Well, What’s The Fuzz?! Is available on all platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and you can see the full list on my website again rhynerwrites.com anything else I’ve got cooking will be posted up on my Twitter @whatsthefuzz_

FWG: Any last words for our readers?

Rhyner: 2020 was a hard year for everyone and BIPOC individuals in particular. Police brutality raided our timelines. Ignorant questions cornered us at every turn whether it be at the mall, at work, or at home. The audacity of it all. To shepherd BIPOC people, as a monolith, into the role of reluctant teacher to quench the curiosity of the average white moderate. 

In the end, we were expected to dust ourselves off and bounce back like nothing happened. Everything changed, but also nothing changed at all. It’s 2021 now. 

Don’t shield the racist in your group chat. Ban them. Keep Nazis out of furcons, group chats, furmeets – everything. They have no place in this fandom and never will. Don’t just use the hashtag #BLM to make your account prettier. Act on it. We need people to understand the difference between an anti-racist and the person who says they aren’t racist. 

My advice to you? Check out blacklivesmatters.carrd.co sometime and look through the educational resources. There are articles, books, movies, TV shows, documentaries, plays, interviews, audiobooks, and more about the topics of racism in all of its ugly, insidious forms. 

Don’t forget that no BIPOC person owes you an education. You have everything at your disposal to educate yourself. Looking forward to seeing you at Howlfest. Take care.

We would like to thank Rhyner once again for taking the time to sit down and talk with us. We hope you’ll join us again next week as we interview another Black creative within the furry fandom. Until next time, may your words flow like water.

Categories: News