Creative Commons license icon

Feed aggregator

In A World…

In-Fur-Nation - Wed 9 Dec 2020 - 23:05

Proper movie-trailer speak. This is one we came across on Facebook, of all places. Brok The InvestiGator is a new “narrative-driven adventure game” that’s coming soon from Cowcat and Gog. “In a futuristic ‘light cyberpunk’ world where animals have replaced humans, privileged citizens live under a dome protected from the ambient pollution while others struggle to make a living outside. Brok, a private detective and former boxer, lives with Graff, the son of his deceased wife. Although he could never elucidate her accident, recent events may shed some light on an even more tragic outcome… one that may be linked to their own existence. Will they be able to withstand the threats of this corrupted world and face their own destiny?” There’s a cool trailer on YouTube as well.

image c. 2020 Cowcat

Categories: News

Exploring New Places, ed. Fred Patten

Furry Book Review - Wed 9 Dec 2020 - 21:28

Exploration! That age-old activity. Whether it be exploration of new lands, planets, universes, or mindsets, people have been Exploring New Places for a long time and hopefully will continue to do so far into the future. But why should humans have all the fun? This anthology has stories where furries make first contact with humans, and others where they test themselves against hostile environments, and in yet other stories they make more esoteric discoveries.

The first story, “To Drive the Cold Winter Away” by Michael H. Payne, is one of those more esoteric expeditions. In this one, a simple country mouse learns that his entire world is nothing but the fiction of another, far larger, species, and that music has a quite literal magic to it. When he finds himself stranded in the human world, how will he get back home? This story shows how alien and terrifying humans can be through the eyes of small creatures, even if they mean well. It’s a bit unorthodox, somewhat evocative of Neil Gaiman’s lighter stories, but has an upbeat ending.

Alan Loewen’s “In Search of the Creators” is another story about furries discovering humans, this time in a sci-fi setting. After an exploratory craft crewed by “uplifted” rabbits finds not only signs of the species that created their ancestors, but a small colony, questions arise of how to handle this galaxy-shaking discovery. I appreciated the nod to lapine mentality as fear-motivated, being descended from prey species, but thought the apparently enlightened nature of the humans on their metal-poor planet seemed overly optimistic. It makes one wonder if they’re not being totally honest with the bunnies.

“The Rocky Spires of Planet 227” is one of Mary E. Lowd’s “Tri-Galactic Trek” stories, actually included in the more recent compilation, and based loosely on a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. I’m afraid I haven’t seen this one, but it’s where the crew accidentally kidnap a silicon-based lifeform that uses sound to attack them. An unprecedented situation, and an innocent mistake, yet the consequences could have been dire. It’s interesting that the sound only affects the cats in the crew at first, given that Lowd uses both cats and dogs as stand-ins for humans in these Trek-inspired stories; it was nice to see some differentiation between them.

Horwich Wolcott’s “Defiant” shows how first contact with another culture can go horribly, terribly wrong when a human ship lands on a planet populated by stone-age squirrel people. Plans of making peaceful contact go out the window when the squirrels assume their drones are creatures of some kind of evil god, and the translator software misses that particular nuance. I have a bit of a nitpick on that one scientist who tries to relate to the squirrels on religious terms: she seems to have a concept of “God” limited to a Christian viewpoint, despite being said to have grown up with a Hindu cultural background. I also didn’t think the big reveal at the end was strictly necessary for the story as a standalone, but it could act as foreshadowing for a greater series.

“Why Indeed” by Pepper Hume has a feline alien as the protagonist, but the main focus is on a species of trilaterally symmetrical aliens that can’t really be called “furry.” You see, the trilateral aliens are applying to join the galactic Federation and claim to be complete pacifists, yet it appears that some of their youths murdered a few off-world merchants. The feline is there to investigate what happened. I appreciated the exhibition of cultural differences, but I have to wonder what “incompatible barbarities” the investigator was attempting to suss out exactly. The Federation investigator wears a sword as a badge of her office, while the aliens applying to join the Federation ban all blades longer than their own claws. Also I could see the plot twist coming a mile away.

Editor Fred Patten’s own story, “Come to Todor,” is set amid a universe where humans live peacefully with many alien species. When a ship of otterlike traders lands on a human frontier colony they find very little of value, but one of the crew decides it looks like a nice place to retire and stays behind. A couple years later, she’s decided that homesteading ain’t all it’s made out to be. It’s pretty good at subverting the “idyllic country life” trope, while still showing that it has its perks. However the captain’s objections to coming back seemed a bit forced, like he didn’t really believe them.

“You Are Our Lifeboat” by Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen is one of those stories where humans are exploiting uplifted animals for their own benefit, in this case sapient rats forming the crew of a colony ship to Proxima Centauri. Only, it turns out the rats’ creator decided the humans in hibernation didn’t deserve a new planet after they destroyed their old one. So, now the rats have a choice to make that will decide the fates of two different species. I appreciated the little reminders that the rats are not humans with fur and tails, like their difficulty forming certain sounds with their mouths and the resulting changes to their number-based names like “743” to “Sehunsotre.” However, I’m still a little sick of “humanity is evil” furry stories and differentiating your furries from the humans isn’t quite enough to salvage this story in my view.

Vixxy Fox’s “The Animal Game” seems at first to be a dig at the FurryMUCK segment of the fandom, with a new “drug” making the rounds that seemingly allows online roleplayers to enter a full virtual reality. Unfortunately, diving into their fursonas so deeply makes it harder for them to hide their furriness in public, especially once their tails come in. Aside from the furry self-references it’s good with fakeouts. Are the lozenges actually a drug, is it a placebo, or perhaps something entirely new? Is the protagonist of this story the teenage fox boy, the diner’s owner he introduced to the game, or possibly the detective searching for the origin of the Animal Game who keeps switching species?

“Ashland’s Fury” by MikasiWolf seems evocative of old-style dark fantasy stories like “Conan the Barbarian,” as seen when we start with a cougar adventurer in the middle of a bar brawl. Soon he gets hired by a maned wolf druid to escort him to the volcanic Ashlands, where some strange disappearances have occurred recently. Unfortunately, this story exposes the weaknesses of such nihilistic stories: there’s no sympathetic characters. You’ve got the abrasive barbarian, the mage who refuses to use magic except to smack his bodyguard silly, the villagers who want to burn said mage at the stake, the baron who almost let them, and the lizardfolk who’ve been tossing villagers into the volcano. (SPOILER ALERT) And it all amounts to nothing in the end, the volcano blows and everyone but the two main characters die, having accomplished nothing but some abstract “restoration of balance.” (SPOILERS OVER)

M.R. Anglin’s “Legacy” is part of her larger “Silver Foxes” series, about a world with a militant isolationist nation of foxes called Expermia surrounded by several multi-species countries. This story is set right after Expermia lost a war with those other countries. Our POV character is a teenage Expermian who has to venture to another country in order to settle the affairs of his uncle who was executed for war crimes. When a song on the radio catches his attention he finds himself forced to confront the differences between the propaganda he grew up with and the reality of the world outside. It’s depressing, but shows how travel can expose a person to different viewpoints and even tackle one's own subconscious racism. Seeing that people outside your community are really just people, only a little different, listening to their music, walking around their cities, talking to them… No matter how central to one’s identity such beliefs might be.

The next two stories are both in the same military sci-fi series, “Umbra’s Legion”, but by different authors and from radically different perspectives. “Shamblers of Woe” by Adam Baker takes us into the heat of the war between the Canines and their Feline allies against the Getran Empire of United Simians. After taking out one of the Empire’s pet mad scientists a mixed-species squad finds themselves confronted by creatures that have no business being in the same universe as them. Again, I found indications that these characters had their own unique cultural quirks, which got me curious to learn more about them. One of the cats removing a fallen saber-toothed comrade’s fangs, was that some funeral rite or just to keep the enemy from making trophies of them? Why is it a big deal that one character was half-thylacine? The lack of dog-cat animosity was something of a breath of fresh air too, even if it was only due to a common enemy.

Geoff Galt’s “Where Pride Planted” gives us the civilian view from within the Getran Empire. Specifically that of a gorilla child on a school field trip to a museum. After she’s shown the story of a self-proclaimed God-King who got flattened by an asteroid, and how the ensuing wars between religious fanatics and scientists led to the foundation of the Empire, she wanders off. There she finds much later exhibits chronicling the beginning of the Empire’s conquest of the stars. Many modern readers might find the apes’ response to picking up radio signals of other planets to be disturbing, but it sounds in line with the “Manifest Destiny” attitude so common in the 19th century.

“Beyond Acacia Ridge” by Amy Fontaine is a tale of inter-class friendship in a hyena clan. The tribe has a quite rigid hereditary hierarchy, Straggletail is at the bottom, like her mother before her; while Glossycoat’s mother expects her to succeed her as matriarch. Yet Glossycoat has no desire to perpetuate the grossly unfair system and actively seeks out Straggletail’s friendship, even though her mother killed her mother for defying her. Male hyenas aren’t even worth notice. After Glossycoat’s mother tries to separate them, the two of them leave the safety of the clan to seek where the sun goes at night. This story shows the difficulties of inter-class relationships, and why some people might remain in an oppressive society, though presented as simply something that may be overcome. Both main characters have their own reasons to go on their quest, unattainable as it may be, and it truly doesn’t matter whether they actually achieve their goal.

Thomas “Faux” Steele’s “One Day in Hanoi” is a bit of an alternate history, post-WWI with some steampunk elements, though moving to internal combustion. Our heroes, a French bluejay detective and his Russian otter boyfriend, have barely left the airship to French Vietnam when they get pick-pocketed. Thus leading them on a sweep of the Hanoi underworld in pursuit of the stolen property, impersonating the local police and both winning and losing a small fortune in the gambling dens. It comes across as a lighthearted interlude to a larger noir story, 20s tourist drama with low physical stakes. However, it does jump you into the world without much of an introduction and you might find yourself wondering who these people are.

“Welcome, Furries” by Cathy Smith is a comedy of errors based around culture shock and mistaken identities. Earth has made contact with some sort of interstellar Empire that already has human citizens, somehow, ruled by these vaguely defined “Overseers” who have formalized some student exchange programs with the humans of Earth. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have percolated down to the average “Terran” citizen that one of the Empire’s other sapient species is feline, with the attitudes to match. Thus, we find a pair of feline exchange students who get mistaken for pets, assume the fish in an aquarium are snacks, and then get directed to a furry con. All while making the poor unaware Terrans bend over backwards apologizing for the inconvenience. These two are probably the most catlike furries in terms of behavior that I’ve read, and they make sure everybody knows it. Stories about “real” furries coming into contact with the furry subculture are always fun to read, and this was one of the more entertaining ones.

Frank LeRenard’s “Back Then” is more confusing than anything else really. You’ve got a nameless male and nameless female working in an immense otherwise abandoned laboratory; there’s some hints they’re reptiles of some sort. It doesn’t really give anything to latch onto. Just leaves the reader confused about what’s going on and who’s in there.

“Tortoise Who” is another story by Mary E. Lowd, this time set in her “Shreddy the Cat” universe, at least at first. As Rosie the mouse tries to escape Shreddy’s claws, she runs into The Tortoise, whose shell is a bit bigger on the inside. The Tortoise claims he wouldn’t interfere with Shreddy’s hunt, but he can give his prey a lifetime before he claims her. And thus, The Tortoise takes Rosie on a series of adventures through space and time. A fascinating story that gets a bit trippy at times and forces a housecat to philosophize. It would make a good Doctor Who episode.

Cairyn’s “I Am The Jaguar” is a long one, not only telling a story of exploring the unknown, but also the inventions, diplomacy, and logistics needed to carry out the expedition beforehand. As well as the fate of the previous expedition’s last survivor. The focus are a tribe of jungle-dwelling bat-people called the Awraa, who have an uneasy peace with the nearby Jaguars. The Awraa are adept at botany and animal domestication, while the Jaguars have made great strides in metalwork since the two species made their treaty; the expertise of both species is needed if they can hope to reach the far side of the great desert. Yet, is even that enough? The tensions between the species are palpable, with the fructivorous Awraa suspicious of the sharp-fanged Jaguars, but as the title suggests the expedition gives the Awraa an opportunity to see themselves on their neighbors’ footpads. I also appreciated the misdirection with the first expedition’s dying words, “We drank…”

The final story, “The Promise of New Heffe” by Kary M. Jomb, illustrates the differences between those who would seek a new home and those who would rather stay. About a generation before the story some human scientists accidentally triggered a supernova that destroyed a star system inhabited by a canine alien species. Fortunately, they were able to evacuate the population, who’ve been living as refugees aboard human space stations ever since. Now the human government has chartered a new colony planet for them, but not all of the Heffens are interested in going, such as a few of the younger members of one family who grew up on the station and are annoyed with their elders. I thought the contrast between the elders who want to live on a planet again and the younger generation who’ve grown up stationside was an interesting exploration, possibly even moreso than any exploration of New Heffe itself.

This anthology has been sitting on FBR’s virtual desk for a while, and given its size that’s not particularly surprising, but unfortunate nonetheless. Like any anthology, the stories are somewhat hit-or-miss, but if you like at least half of them I’d consider this book worth the price. Overall, I feel the collected stories give a good sense of the exploration of strange places, meeting new life and civilizations, going where no furry has gone before!

Exploring New Places, ed. Fred Patten
Categories: News

Fixed: Deep Fears

Furry.Today - Wed 9 Dec 2020 - 20:29

Nothing worse than an otter who is afraid of the water.

A sea otter who is afraid of the ocean is challenged to face his fears when he loses his precious pink shell necklace at sea.

Fixed: Deep Fears
Categories: Videos

Lone Copper

Furry.Today - Tue 8 Dec 2020 - 19:59

Nice work here and …. Oh no.

If you don’t get the reference it helps to see this music video by Caravan Palace:

Lone Copper
Categories: Videos

TigerTails Radio Season 12 Episode 51

TigerTails Radio - Tue 8 Dec 2020 - 05:35

TigerTails Radio Season 12 Episode 51 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. Some music provided by https://audiograb.com/u/XimerTracks Some music provided by http://spoti.fi/NCS Backing music by Sanxion7.
Categories: Podcasts

BROK the InvestiGator

Furry.Today - Mon 7 Dec 2020 - 19:41

Check out this furry adventure game.

In a futuristic “light cyberpunk” world where animals have replaced humans, privileged citizens live under a dome protected from the ambient pollution while others struggle to make a living outside. Brok, a private detective and former boxer, lives with Graff, the son of his deceased wife. Although he could never elucidate her accident, recent events may shed some light on an even more tragic outcome… one that may be linked to their own existence.

Will they be able to withstand the threats of this corrupted world and face their own destiny?

 

When Classic Adventure meets Beat ’em Up! Coming 2021 on PC + current and new gen consoles. Play the free prologue! BROK the InvestiGator Prologue

BROK the InvestiGator
Categories: Videos

Furry Film Festival 2020: Premiere screening dates announced; 5 award categories this year

Global Furry Television - Mon 7 Dec 2020 - 11:05

F3, or the Furry Film Festival recently announced the dates for their virtual screening event slated to be held on 19 December. This year, YouTuber Majira Strawberry, filmmaker Ash Coyote and Twitch streamer Kiit Lock will be in attendance at the judge panel. There will be a total of five awards presented compared to last […]
Categories: News

COVID-19 and Furries: FA: United announces closure, citing difficulties due to the pandemic

Global Furry Television - Mon 7 Dec 2020 - 11:02

It’s been 10 months since the WHO declared the coronavirus a public health emergency, and so far almost a hundred furcons globally have announced postponement until 2021. They have been faced with many challenges due to the virus, and recently because of it one furcon announced closure. FA: United, a furcon based in the US […]
Categories: News

Missing Tiger?

In-Fur-Nation - Sun 6 Dec 2020 - 02:52

We were looking for something else, and we came across this completely by accident! Hidden Dragon is a new animated feature film that’s due this year, according to the IMDB page. We don’t know much about it, but the production crew names are mostly Chinese while the voice actor names are mostly western, so it’s an international production. “In a magical undersea world where dragons rule and humans are feared, a naive young dragon forms an uneasy alliance with the sea’s greatest enemy – a human girl.” We don’t know if they’ll successfully get it out this year, but it should be coming soon.

image c. 2020 Magic Hill Animation

Categories: News

Bearly Furcasting #32 - Quoise Raccoon, Too Much Cheese, Math

Bearly Furcasting - Sat 5 Dec 2020 - 15:00

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

Quoise Raccoon joins us this week to discuss many things in an orderly but random manner!  We have way too much fun with cheese puns, talk a bit about VR for cons and hugs, do some fast food follow-up, and just what IS Onomatopoeia? Bearly and Taebyn look forward to your joining them. 

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 #32 - Quoise Raccoon, Too Much Cheese, Math
Categories: Podcasts

Can Your Fursona Be a Sex or Gender Different from Yours?

Ask Papabear - Sat 5 Dec 2020 - 10:54
Papabear,

IHey! I'm back and with a question, does it matter if i have for instance: a non- binary sona, or a trans one? - even tho I'm cisgender, does it change anything, i wanna stay christian, but its just a fursona! right? ?? (no offense to anyone lgbtq, i support you.)

Lacra (age 11)

* * *

Dear Lacra,

Fursonas are a way of expressing yourself and/or experimenting with different identities. Sometimes, fursonas express who we would like to be in an ideal world; sometimes, they express who we really are but are afraid to be or are too shy to express; sometimes, they are a way to experiment with other identities of all types. I've known furries who are male but their fursona is female (and vice versa), and furries who are straight might explore being bi or gay in their fursona.

Fursonas are just playful ways to experiment and explore and rejoice in being you or to take a break from being you. Oh, and you can be Christian no matter what your gender or sexuality, so don't worry about that. Anyone who says you can't has not listened to what Jesus really said.

Create a fursona who is whatever you like them to be. That's the fun of being in this fandom. And while you do that, your fursona might surprise you and teach you things about yourself you didn't know or want to admit.

Be what you wanna be, dear. And have fun with it!

Hugs,
Papabear

MFF: I miss you all (2020)

Furry.Today - Fri 4 Dec 2020 - 20:08

I’m not crying, you’re crying.  I’ve only been to one MFF last year and I miss it so much this weekend.

Lets hope next year gets better.  In the meantime you can visit this hotel in VR:

https://vrchat.com/i/lexi-likemazen-43bdd

 

MFF: I miss you all (2020)
Categories: Videos

Punch Buggy

Furry.Today - Thu 3 Dec 2020 - 18:47

A cute bug themed thesis film from Cynthia Dávila-Chase.

A ladybug crosses a street. A short film I completed shortly after finishing my thesis at the Laguna College of Art and Design in roughly two weeks.

Punch Buggy
Categories: Videos

AFF archive?

alt.fan.furry - Thu 3 Dec 2020 - 02:28
Heya! Anyone know of a good Usenet/AFF archive, other than Google Groups? Internet Archive https://archive.org/download/usenet-alt/alt.fan.furry.mbox.zip/alt.fan.furry.mbox only goes back till 2000. btw im doing this for a little project.
Categories: News

Move Along, Mate

In-Fur-Nation - Wed 2 Dec 2020 - 23:48

We stumbled across this announcement from Deadline: Back To The Outback, a new animated feature due from Netflix in 2021. “In the movie, tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they’re monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot a daring escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they’ll fit in without being judged for their scales and fangs. Leading the group is Maddie (Isla Fisher), a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured Thorny Devil lizard Zoe (Miranda Tapsell), a lovelorn hairy spider Frank (Guy Pearce), and a sensitive scorpion Nigel (Angus Imrie). But when their nemesis — Pretty Boy (Tim Minchin), a cute but obnoxious koala — unexpectedly joins their escape, Maddie and the gang have no choice but to take him with them.” Hmm… sounds a bit like an Australian version of Disney’s The Wild — remember that one? Anyway, we’ll know more when Reel FX brings us the film next fall. (Can’t help wondering if some of this is about making up to Tim Minchin for his aborted film Larrikins.)

image c. 2020 Netflix

Categories: News

Godzilla vs Kong 2020

Furry.Today - Wed 2 Dec 2020 - 19:38

Ok, this honestly made me laugh out loud.

Godzilla vs Kong is a full CGI best animated shortfilm – parody of classic action movies and their stereotypes. We love Kaiju monstes and Kvg is a tribute to the monsterverse ( with some humor ). This is an independent short-film made without a budget, brought to you buy HUPE!animation. If you liked KVG, this is the another monster shortfilm, from the same director.

Godzilla vs Kong 2020
Categories: Videos

FWG Newsletter: November 2020

Furry Writers' Guild - Wed 2 Dec 2020 - 16:30

Hello there FWG members, it’s time for another monthly newsletter! Let’s get right down to business, shall we?

Usually, I save the part where I directly talk to you all until the end but we’re switching things up this month. I don’t want to talk about money, but I’ve got to bring it up. It isn’t free to keep the guild running. We are moving to becoming a 501©(3) and between running a convention and the Cóyotl Awards costs add up. Plus we have web hosting and a new logo… You get the picture.

The guild has never made mandatory dues and does not have plans to do so in the future. However, the guild keeps going thanks to donations from our members. A lot of you enjoyed Oxfurred Comma and the guild having more activity this year, and hope you will consider showing some support if able (2020 has been a hard year, we all know it).

If you can, please consider donating to the guild. We accept donations on paypal.

That’s all from me folks, we’ll show off the open markets and such as usual but until next time, stay safe, stay well, and I’ll see you next month. 

– FWG President Linnea Capps

Pre-Orders This Month:

Remember to submit to our Promotion Tip Line to have your books included in this section.

You can find all of the open markets for furry writing in our Furry Writers’ Market! Currently, these markets are open:

Categories: News

Trailer: Dragon Rider

Furry.Today - Tue 1 Dec 2020 - 21:30

From the graphic novel by Cornelia Funke (Inkheart,Ghosthunters) comes a movie that is nothing like How to Train Your Dragon…. I’m sure.

….Please ignore the title font.

Firedrake, the young silver dragon, has had enough of constantly having to hide in a wooded valley. He wants to show the older generation that he is a real dragon. When humans are about to destroy his family’s very last refuge, Firedrake secretly sets off on an adventurous journey with forest brownie Sorrel. He wants to find the “Rim of Heaven”, the dragons’ mysterious haven. On their quest Firedrake and Sorrel encounter Ben, an orphan and stray, who claims to be a dragon rider. While Ben and Firedrake make friends quickly, Sorrel becomes increasingly distrustful and tries to get rid of the orphan at every opportunity. But the unlikely trio have to learn to pull together, because they are being hunted by Nettlebrand. The evil, dragon-eating monster was created by an alchemist with the aim of tracking down and destroying every dragon on Earth…

Trailer: Dragon Rider
Categories: Videos

Fire Branded Leather by F. Gibbs

Furry Book Review - Tue 1 Dec 2020 - 19:44

I had my suspicions from the title that this book was going to be kinky--and it was--but I knew after reading the first chapter that there was going to be so much more to it. This isn’t to say writing kinky stuff is a bad thing. In fact, I quite enjoyed the interactions between Will the dalmatian and Anne, his mistress. They were fun, mysterious, and daringly beautiful. Being with Anne served as a striking contrast to his stressful job as a fireman, where every call may be the last, especially in a city that’s losing its sanity.

“Fire Branded Leather” by F. Gibbs is about Will, a dalmatian who works as a fireman in V-town, one of the last cities remaining after the Cataclysm. With his best friend Davies, a cougar, he stands as second-in-command beneath a verbally abusive bull by the name of Masterson. After a day of getting yelled at for not following the government’s new orders, Will goes home and responds to a personal ad from a lady in her mid-thirties. One date leads to another and the two figure out together just how nice it can be to devote yourself to another. This newfound self-confidence gives Will the power he never knew he needed, but is it enough to stand up to Masterson and keep V-town from burning to ashes?

I really enjoyed this story! It was well-written, balanced, and pretty solid. I enjoyed the characters, especially Will and Davies. Will had good character development; Davies was funny. The tone shifted smoothly from depressing to empowering and nothing felt too jarring or out of place. Moments of action felt exhilarating and moments of vulnerability felt a little uncomfortable and awkward, like they should. It was entertaining from beginning to end, but there were some slightly confusing things.

First, Anne. Don’t get me wrong, she’s supposed to be a mysterious character who lives by her own rules, but there are a few points in the story where she does “things” to Will that make him “better.” These “things” are never explicitly stated, which leads to my confusion. Normally I’d cast them aside as just side effects of devoting yourself to someone else, but these were things that changed Will physically. One example of this is his endurance. Before meeting Anne he has limits: he can’t run that fast for too long, and he can’t breathe in too much smokey air before becoming fatigued. After Anne does something to him, he suddenly can? These weird things didn’t distract from the story all that much, but they did linger in my mind for quite some time. I simply chalked it up to the newfound self-confidence he got from Anne, which works because (spoilers) it also gives him the inner strength to stand up to Masterson. I would have just liked them to be a little more clear.

Second, the world confuses me a little bit. The Cataclysm is mentioned a few times and serves as an anchoring point in the city’s history, but I never fully understand its effects. A story doesn’t need to dive into every aspect of worldbuilding, but I was confused on why there wasn’t more about the history because it seemed like the anti-human riots that were going on were an indirect result of whatever the Cataclysm was. This left a bit of a hole in my understanding of the world, especially because a big part of Will’s motives in the story came from his mother being human. What little information I have about the Cataclysm makes me think that humans had something to do with it. Additionally, Anne mentions time and time again that this world isn’t ready for something. It’s a good thing to say if you’re trying to be ominous, but it just seemed like there was more that could have been said. With all that being said, it didn’t distract from the story too much.

Though there were some things about the story that were ominous or confusing, it was really easy to take in the world as it is. Not only that, but the way F. Gibbs uses the strengths and weaknesses of certain animal species is really fun to read about. I love the imagery of a fireman cat scaling a wall, or horses pulling the fire carriages. Had no idea what the fox character was doing there, but maybe I’m just supposed to come up with my own interpretation…?

This book would appeal to adults who are curious or open to the idea of anthropomorphic animals and/or sexual kinks. This book isn’t overly explicit or detailed about these moments, but they are in there. More importantly, the effects of these intimate moments are shown throughout the book. So keep an open mind and happy reading.

Fire Branded Leather by F. Gibbs
Categories: News

TigerTails Radio Season 12 Episode 50

TigerTails Radio - Tue 1 Dec 2020 - 05:23

TigerTails Radio Season 12 Episode 50 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. Some music provided by https://audiograb.com/u/XimerTracks Some music provided by http://spoti.fi/NCS Backing music by Sanxion7.
Categories: Podcasts