Feed aggregator
[Live] SmolCast
Just a quick news roundup!
Link Roundup:- Lizard Sex Satellite Out Of Control
- Telegram Badge Count Reminder
- How Do Furries Feel About The New Cats Movie
- Furry convention goers explain how their fursona as foxes and wolves has improved their lives
- Tuca & Bertie Dropped by Netflix After Just One Season
- Netflix’s Invader Zim
- Defcon Furs Badge Behind The Scenes
- Happy Summer from Bad Dragon
- BrazilFurFest enters partnership with Converse
- This Beautiful Fur Suit Head Is Lit with Hundreds of Adafruit NeoPixels
- Lights Out DC video trailer
Mephit Fur Meet Makes 2019 Conbook available for Download
Brazil FurFest starts partnership with Converse
Just recently, Brazilian furry convention Brazil FurFest has officially started a partnership with American shoe company Converse. In the official video posted by Brazil FurFest, they said the reason for the partnership is that Converse “has been celebrating individuality in each one’s journey” and that they also “supports initiatives that tells different stories and inspire […]
Dissident Signals, ed. NightEyes DaySpring and Slip-Wolf
S8 Episode 16 – Six Walls - Roo and Tugs are joined by none other than Koru! Yes, Koru comes back to discuss the roommate world and how who you live with can (and also might not) impact happiness. Do you choose furry roommates or non-furry?
Show Notes
Special Thanks
Koru, our guest.
Shane
August
Miski (ident and email)
Patreon Love
The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!
Get Stickered Tier Supporters
Kit and Jake Fox
Fancy Supporter Tier
Rifka, the San Francisco Treat and Baldrik
Deluxe Supporters Tier
Lokimutt and Guardian Lion and Dusky and Katchshi and August Otter (Pic missing)
Plus Tier Supporters
Skylos
Snares
Ausi Kat
Chaphogriff
Lygris
Tomori Boba
McRib Tier Supporters
Roliga
Music
Opening Theme: Jupiter Dog – Cloud Fields (Technology Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2019. ©2011-2019 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
First Break: Fine Line - Geographer, Unknown. Creative Commons, 2019
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Patreon: The Tudor Consort, Inflammatus. Online: Free Music Archive, Creative Commons, 2010
Second Break - Ghost, Mystery Skulls, USA: Warner Bros Records, 2011. Used with permission.
Closing Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Chill Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!) S8 Episode 16 – Six Walls - Roo and Tugs are joined by none other than Koru! Yes, Koru comes back to discuss the roommate world and how who you live with can (and also might not) impact happiness. Do you choose furry roommates or non-furry?
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling
After waiting for what seems like forever the Rocko's Modern Life film is finally hitting on Netflix on August 9. I do find it amazing a a bit cool this Nick stuff is hitting Netflix instead of Nick. While not exactly furry (Does moose count?) we also get the new Invader Zim special also on Netflix. https://youtu.be/QChx0aMglS0
View Video
Status of Non-members in the FWG
It has come to our attention that an old misconception regarding the Furry Writers’ Guild is still prevalent in the furry writing community at large, that being the belief that only full FWG members may use FWG spaces and resources. We would like to quell that misconception now.
To be clear: FWG SPACES ARE OPEN TO ALL FURRY WRITERS, REGARDLESS OF MEMBERSHIP STATUS.
The main difference between a member and a non-member (or “future member” as we call them) is that only full members have the privilege to nominate and vote in the Coyotl Awards. When it comes to using the various FWG-branded spaces, there is no difference between members and non-members whatsoever. So long as a person is a furry writer of good conduct, they are welcome to use our chats and resources as much as they desire.
If anyone should make a claim to the contrary, please take a moment to correct them, or direct them to this statement.
Thank you,
The FWG Staff
New Adventures Brought Together
Boom! Studios recently collected two different comic book series of furry note (both of which we’ve talked about before!) into trade paperbacks. Ruinworld: Eye For An Eye brings together issues 1 through 5 of this funny animal fantasy series by Derek Laufman. “Join Pogo and Rex as they set out on a quest to hunt for valuable artifacts and magical weapons across the land. Along with plenty of not-always faithful companions, our heroes must battle dangerous tribes of Toadies, survive giant stone Golems, and stop a catastrophic world-ending disaster, all while evading a cunning gang of thieves as they race towards the biggest treasure of all time.” And then there’s Midas, a truly strange 8-issue science fiction series by Ryan North, Braden Lamb, and Shelli Paroline. “Space captain Joey, navigator Fatima, and scientist (and dinosaur) Cooper are headed to Earth—a planet completely sectioned off, abandoned, and covered in gold—and are confronted by the most powerful weapon in the universe: Some ancient dead guy’s body?! Now they gotta keep King Midas’s body from being dropped on planets across the universe, and figure out exactly what to do with a gross dead dude with one truly ridiculous superpower.” Yes, and a talking dinosaur too. Both collections are available now.
Imagine Dragons: Birds
Nice official animated video by Zachary Wong [1] for Imagine Dragons here. Kids are cruel and really that "Freak" is adorable and needed a hug. [1] http://www.zacharyleewong.com
View Video
Akela, by Ben Goodridge
A chat with Meru Tenshi, Filipino furry artist for the new site banner.
(Patch:) Hi Meru! thanks for the cool art – the site is starting to commission regular new banners and feature the artists. There’s a particular interest in lesser-seen artists from the world outside of American fandom. The last featured artist was Ligoni from Mexico. Want to share your social media links?
(Meru Tenshi:) Hello there. I’m Meru Tenshi, nice to meet you! Regarding on my social links. I’m very active on my Twitter (@MeruTenshiArt) and Facebook (Meru Tenshi). I have a Furaffinity account (Meru-Tenshi) but it’s pretty outdated. For now, I’m prioritizing other stuff until I can update it.
Can I ask where you live, and a profile about yourself and what you do?
I live in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines, and I’m 22 years old.
I’m a wolf-tiger hybrid (A Wiger,) pronounced as a “Wayger”. About my fursona:
He mostly resembles me in real life being all funny and serious at the same time.
Meru has two brothers.
-Rouka Tenshi is his big brother.
-Koushiro Tenshi is his younger brother.
I started drawing when I was in Grade 2 where I drew Pokemon a lot. In my high school days, I started watching anime and “Bleach” was my favorite anime series. This anime was the reason why I discovered the furry fandom.
My favorite anime character from Bleach was actually a furry creature named “Komamura Sajin” and I was such a big fan of him back in my high school days. Whenever I browsed him on Google, I kept seeing fanart of him as well, being involved with different furry characters from Deviantart and Furaffinity. This made me curious and eventually, when I was 17, I discovered the fandom and become a furry artist!
Do you do furry things in real life, like going to meets and cons, or just online?
In my school days, I had never been to furmeets. I just kept posting my art on FB and my social life mostly ran through online. But last year, I graduated as an IT (Information Technology) graduate and become free. That’s when I started being active with the fandom where I post art and join furmeets more often.
FurryPinas 2019 was my first fur con I got involved and it was very awesome. I met a lot of cool furries and fursuiters who were very kind and nice.
What kind of art do you do, and what’s your favorite thing about making art?
Talking about my art life, I’m a Furry Digital Artist with sort of a Kemono style. And I love drawing furries because I really see them being awesome and badass and it makes me all excited whenever I draw them. I can pretty much draw anything but I mostly draw furries all my life.
My favorite thing about making art is drawing furries involving their stories made by their respective owners. It’s such an honor for me to make a story of an OC, even just a little part of it, bringing their imaginary life to reality through my art.
Also, my motto as an artist is “Art takes time.” I’ve been living with this after I graduated from college. It’s short but wholesome.
I love how this fandom brings people around the world together who might have no other reason to meet. Can I ask, how does it feel to be you, besides just a furry online? What’s going on in your life?
Regarding my current life, my work is making commissions as a furry artist after I lost my job last December. I feel discouraged to be honest, and get stressed about how am I supposed to help my family with our current financial state. We’re not rich to be honest, we’re just living life with hard work, and without it we’ll starve. But the furry community gave me hope and I would like to thank all of my friends, supporters and commissioners for supporting me whenever I’m in a financial crisis, I could cry to be honest hahaha.
As of now, I’m still drawing commissions and about to get a new job soon after I pass my civil examinations in August, hopefully.
And I’m SINGLE XD, just saying wahaha.
My inspiration is my family because I’m a family-centered guy and I love my mom so much for being there for me no matter what, along with my big sister and big brother.
Thanks Meru, and I hope a lot more people check out your art and help you have success with everything.
Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.
Arrest of Growly brings feeling of vindication for furries with safety concerns.
The LAPD Juvenile Division, based solely on their website, handles cases involving the exploitation or harm of children. pic.twitter.com/8FIGyAVlVo
— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) July 16, 2019
In regards to Mr. Llamas, the Los Angeles County Superior Court updated their online docket yesterday to show Mr. Llamas has pled "not guilty" to two counts of California Penal Code 311.11(a), relating to the possession of pornography of persons under the age of 18.
— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) July 19, 2019
A problematic record.
Growly, a long time Southern California furry fan (named Daniel Llamas in many public sources), was arrested on 7/10/2019.
(An update link was added to a section about him in a previous broadly-related article: R.C. Fox arrested for child pornography, furries question fandom connections.)
Little is open about what happened so far besides charges. It’s a little unusual to give a headline to an arrest, and people are presumed innocent in court. Summarizing Growly’s history is also hard to do with calm about laws and policies and incentive to rehabilitate. But there’s a lot of background making it worth sharing.
The main points start with a sex offense record from 2001, shared with another offender. Then in 2009, Growly was banned from FurAffinity following inappropriate messaging with a person claimed to be a minor (which left some facts murky, such as their identity.) Growly’s statement about it was posted to Wikifur.
The 2001 conviction led to serving over two years in jail, completing parole, and working to re-enter the furry fandom. A very active presence at events included volunteering as staff or running panels.
That background happened before I was active in fandom. I didn’t know who he was when he chanced to ask me to pose for a photo at one of the first few cons I went to. It was taken by a furry known for thousands of similar photos.
It helps to have context to avoid chasing clout with out of context photos. At BLFC 2014 a stranger asked me to pose for a sec. Sadly I'm not psychic, but I didnt do cons pre-2012 and wasn't in fandom when he got in trouble. I think @LostWolf321 took the one of thousands like it. pic.twitter.com/iEOU0T05c8
— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 17, 2019
Misinformation and knee-jerk reactions
If you look into attacks about a photo with a stranger at a con — you can see how calm understanding gets trashed by misinformation, panic, and malice with no intention to solve problems.
A decade after Growly finished parole, a conviction 18 years ago began to raise more, not less outrage (perhaps fed by a boom in new young members). While blunt criticisms rose on social media, it could frustrate a quieter section of event organizers.
There were concerns about rehab. How does that happen if people won’t let it? There were objections that attacking Growly’s attendance at 18+ adult events with no kids had nothing to do with safety for kids. There were opinions that PG-rated panels in full view of everyone had oversight. There were claims that his volunteering involved buying favor, but people who wanted him gone weren’t taking his place while getting volunteer’s work. The more aggressive it was, the more it was called bullying or clout-chasing — which had merit when alt-furries made him a stalking-horse to snipe at con hotels. (That’s pointless because hotels don’t care to interfere on behalf of non-customers, according to secure info I was tipped about Growly and Anthrocon.)
Why is this hard for cons?
On the other hand, objections about convention policies being too lax — and erring on the side of careful process instead of safety — have a compelling case following this new arrest.
Which leaves a standout question: why don’t cons err on the side of safety, and ban anyone with an offense?
I’m not a lawyer or con staff, but I can reveal a part in this. I didn’t take credit to avoid feeding trolls. In December 2018, Fur Con made the first con policy that I know of specifically banning people with a history of pedophilia or sexual violence. It came from a report I sent about a related issue (confirmed in secure info kept on file — because people get doxed and threatened for acting, at the same time as harassed for not visibly acting, as I’ve experienced while secure action happens behind the scenes.)
We have clarified and updated our Code of Conduct regarding membership eligibility and conditions. The new text appears under the "Membership" heading on https://t.co/eheSwKvsuA, and will be in effect for FC2019. Please contact chairman@furcon.org with any concerns.
— Further Confusion (@furcon) December 18, 2018
Their wording:
“AAE and FurCon do not permit membership or attendance by any individual who is a convicted sex offender, or appears on any federal or state sex offender registry. In addition, AAE and FurCon reserve the right, at the board’s discretion, to deny membership or attendance to anyone with a documented history of sexual violence, including inappropriate conduct towards minors.”
Personally, I support cons that refuse to be shouted down by angry mobs, where individuals can ban other individuals. That’s how you get:
- Religious/moral zealots taking illegitimate power to police spaces for consenting adults.
- Trolls weaponizing “think of the children” concerns to ruin events altogether, like Califur.
I’m all for working for a calm, organized, platform-level change in policy instead, like Fur Con did.
Unfortunately, corruption can happen and sometimes management won’t care.
That’s another topic, so I’ll leave the last word to informed sources. This issue can be a Catch-22 for cons by their nature. Being volunteer-based and run on a shoestring means lack of resources to do better, under threat of fatal liability. Con-goers have fun times and low costs because of the way things run. To ask for better, save callouts for last, and volunteer and pay them first.
But the real questions are a lot tougher to answer: Is that guy really dangerous, or is he just really unpopular?
You don't want your con to become like that TV show where the audience can vote anyone off the island.
It's a suuuuuper delicate questions.
— he/him/himbeere (@cheetah_spotty) July 16, 2019
So cons have to go all or nothing. Which is why FC and TFF’s wording is basically “if you’re on the sex offender registry.”
They’re not making a judgement call there. It’s already been decided by a judge, however imperfect that system is.
— FuzzWolf (@FuzzWolf) July 16, 2019
I’m not making that assumption, the law is. The registry is highly flawed, but that’s not a liability cons can afford to take. They could be sued out of existence.
— FuzzWolf (@FuzzWolf) July 16, 2019
The choice cons have is either ban 100% of people on the SOR or 0%. That’s the only choice. Anything between those two extremes burdens the con with the legal concept of “duty of care” which puts them in a ton of legal liability. Might be different over there though.
— FuzzWolf (@FuzzWolf) July 16, 2019
Cosmo, a UK furry and con staffer, says:
“I think it’d be worth adding some context to Cheetah’s commentary. That conversation between him and Pepper strikes me as two sides of a coin – rehabilitation vs. punishment.
It makes even more sense when you factor in that, say, calling the police in a European city and asking “is <name> on the Sex Offenders Register” will likely get you a stern “I’m not telling you for legal reasons”.
In an EU member state, you’re not likely to find out about a furry engaging in crime unless it was serious enough to get printed in the newspapers.
And he’s very right about “a system where sending a nude pic to your 17yo partner” – UK has had that exact issue, and it’s entirely possible that someone who was 16-18 could have been convicted of a CP offence for sending a nude selfie to their then-partner of a similar age.
It doesn’t seem terribly fair to punish someone for their entire life for a stupid mistake they made as a kid.”
Whatever the story is with Growly this time, a lot of people can feel like they saw it coming. It will surely be part of any discussion to come, and perhaps organizers won’t be quite so forgiving again.
UPDATE:
I get a lot of news tips. Here's one that just came that follows the recent story about Growly — https://t.co/wb2pbg6hov — someone mailed a letter to Growly to ask for more info and got his response. pic.twitter.com/Pb4Z4Gu79L
— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) August 11, 2019
Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.
A Disney… Classic?
Okay, how did we miss this one? Disney Hamlet, Starring Donald Duck, a new full-color graphic novel written by Giorgio Salati and illustrated by Paolo De Lorenzi. “The ghost of a betrayed king appoints Prince Ducklet to restore peace to his kingdom in this adaptation of the classic tragic play by William Shakespeare. Huey, Dewey and Louie, along with Uncle Scrooge, head on a road trip to Denmark, passing by the famous landmark–the phantom castle of Ducksinore! The triplets recall the story of Ducklet, written by the celebrated playwright William Duckspeare. Scrooge’s interest is piqued and the story of tragedy, betrayal, and corruption unfolds.” Published by Dark Horse Books in trade paperback, it’s available now from Penguin Random House.
[Live] Pretty Gay Prey
Pretty Gay Prey (PGP) is an encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. So that’s what the kids are calling it these days.
Link Roundup:- Cats Trailer
- Av writes a Latex For Beginners article
- 33 Confirmed Dead After Fire At Kyoto Animation, Suspected Arsonist In Custody [Updated]
- @FurryCons: Cons This Weekend
- ChipFox’s 2017 Con Attendance Projection Graph
- Anthrocon Fursuit Dance Comp Premieres Sunday
- Shoe Ad causes a unique “converse” in the Furry Fandom
- Wasps now Making Super Nests
- Police Warn Citizens to not overdose on Wasp Spray
- Area 51 Meme has caused a Huge increase in Alien Porn Creation and Searches
- Five guys arrested for fighting at Five Guys restaurant in Florida
- Man Goes Under Knife to Become Parrot
- Jersey Devils Mascot Crashes through Window
Kaar Segment - Solo 05 - Sharking it folflike!
His Dark Materials
I am ready for a HDM series! My worry with this trailer is the daemons are not talking but that could be just the way they are cutting the trailer. Please don't screw this up!
View Video
DJ UltraPup barks about what it’s like to be on stage the first time at Anthrocon.
It's going down on Saturday at the @AnthroconDances so catch me all week during @anthrocon in the mean time check out my mixcloud and other links. Preview Set coming soon!
Special thanks to @TimeSuppression for making the poster. pic.twitter.com/YpqspZQm7R
— DJ UltraPup (@DJUltraPup) June 24, 2019
(Patch:) It sounds like you had a blast at Anthrocon! I wanted to ask you about your first time DJing a big con. What’s your story and how did you end up there? Was it your first furry con, or just first time on stage at one?
(DJ UltraPup:) I’m a member of the pup community and I have been for quite some time. I am also however a member of the furry community, and one of my big goals is to try and bridge the divide between furries and pups. When a friend of mine suggested I apply to DJ at Anthrocon, I thought why not. I’m well known in the DC area as a circuit DJ and I have 3 club residencies, so I applied, and sure enough they picked me to play Saturday night at 11pm. AC was my first major con. I had gone to FurTheMore earlier this year just to check it out, but this was my first time DJing a furcon, and it won’t be my last.
Congrats for that. Are you newer to furries? How did DJing at AC compare to your usual gigs?
Thank you, this is actually a funny question when I look back on it. For the longest time I’ve been furry adjacent. A lot of my ex’s were furries, so I’ve always been familiar with the fandom. I went to my first con earlier this year for one day at Furthemore, and that was really cool. It was there that one of my friends suggested I apply for AC.
I come from the pup community, and after my gig at AC, the furry community has embraced me and welcomed me in as one of their own, and more or less adopted me. So now I’m happy to say I’m officially part of the fandom. I even have a partial fursuit now.
I’ve been very lucky to have been given the chance to play so many gigs and venues all around the east coast and the D.C area. For me, having residencies in D.C means I get to do what I love for a living. That being said, playing AC was one of the coolest events I think I’ve ever been a part of. The stage was amazing. The crew was incredible. My fellow DJ’s were awesome, and went out of their way to support me DJing in a pup hood and making me feel welcome.
As for the actual event part, I can’t put into words what it’s like looking out on the dance floor from the stage, and seeing the stage packed with furries and the floor packed with furries, all in fursuit jumping and dancing to your music. It’s impossible to put into words, it’s just something I’ll never forget.
The moment I broke @AnthroconDances and @anthrocon went crazy. Also the moment I introduced myself to the fandom and they welcomed me in. #Anthrocon2019 #Anthrocon #AC2019 pic.twitter.com/VBb164GITJ
— DJ UltraPup (@DJUltraPup) July 8, 2019
Will you DJ more furry cons now?
I will DJ more cons. As a matter of fact, I have confirmed one or two more at least, and will apply for a few other large ones. I’ll be at IFC, WPAFW, and Furrydelphia. I also applied for MFF.
Do you organize events yourself? And how would you say this compares to more mainstream event or music business? It seems to me that there’s few people getting paid for the effort, and more of a sense of doing it for the love of it.
As for my own events, I’m working with another DJ in the community named Pilot to launch a joint event for puppies and furries that will run once a month in D.C.
Being a DJ by trade for work, I’ve played both mainstream club events and cons and everything in between. I would definitely say that those who DJ the furry cons are doing it for love for the community, or love for music. I applied for AC out of love for the music and the puppies and furries. I knew I wasn’t going to get paid but I wanted to DJ in my pup hood and try to bridge some of the divide between them. Watching the amount of effort that my fellow DJ’s put in was amazing, to see the passion we all had for what we do, and you could clearly see it in the product that was presented.
The many sides of Ultra that you will see at @anthrocon and @AnthroconDances pic.twitter.com/T5qdvTKPWp
— DJ UltraPup (@DJUltraPup) June 26, 2019
The coolest part of getting to DJ @anthrocon and @AnthroconDances this week has been the massive outpouring of support I've been shown by the community. I can't wait to make history with you all tonight. No matter what always be you #Anthrocon2019 pic.twitter.com/Nb1IWCAvDV
— DJ UltraPup (@DJUltraPup) July 6, 2019
I didn't mean to break @anthrocon my bad sorry @AnthroconDances next time I will just play an hour of sandstorm special thanks to everyone who came to the dance/rave! #Anthrocon2019 #Anthrocon #AC2019 pic.twitter.com/wua4fgv8pu
— DJ UltraPup (@DJUltraPup) July 15, 2019
Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.