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submitted by HappyWulf
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Are you prepared for disaster? In today’s episode we talk about our individual preparedness plans in the event of some emergency. We also have a hyperactive wolfin.

Metadata and Credits WagzTail Podcast 2.0 Episode 91
Runtime: 30m
Cast: JWingy, Levi, Wolfin
Editor: Levi
Format: 128kbps ABR split-stereo MP3
Copyright: © 2013 WagzTail.com. Some Rights Reserved. This podcast is released by WagzTail.com as CC BY-ND 3.0. If distributed with a facility that has an existing agreement in place with a Professional Rights Organisation (PRO), file a cue sheet for 26:00 to Fabien Renoult (BMI) 1.67%, Josquin des Pres (BMI) 1.67%, WagzTail.com 96.67%. Rights have been acquired to all content for national and international broadcast and web release with no royalties due. Podcast image belongs to Deacon Kevin, used with permission. Emergency Preparation - Are you prepared for disaster? In today's episode we talk about our individual preparedness plans in the event of some emergency.

Author: Fred Endtown has been a black-&-white Monday-Friday webcomic since January 18, 2009. Its popularity has grown fast, and it was shortlisted for the 2011 Ursa Major Award in the Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story category. A rave review by Bill Sherman in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (June 24, 2011) [originally on Blogcritics] began: A snappy blend […]

So a little bit back I said I was going to start 3D modelling, starting of first with "myself" and once I have that mastered move on to other things.

One of the other plans I have is making an animation, similar to that of the spyfox animation that was on the front page a few days ago...but probably nowhere near as good quality or puns :P

It will be very serious so don't expect much humour...sorry.

I have already written out the script for the teaser I will make...and if you guys really do like it and want to see more I will try and make the full thing.

I'll post the script if anyone is interested in reading about it before seeing it and I am sorry if I have posted this in the wrong subreddit.

submitted by the_bi_lizard
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BADLY TRANSLATED WITH GOOGLE TRANSLATE
http://e-consulta.com/nota/2013-08-12/sociedad/los-furries-invaden-al-planeta
The furries can be artists, writers, puppeteers or any kind of fan who identify with animals "furry
Growing worldwide movement "Furry Fandom". These are people who dress in costumes stuffed animals, and are known as furry fans, furries, or simply furs, all derived from the word furry (which in English means "hairy").

The furries can be artists, writers, puppeteers or any kind of fan who identify with animals "furry" anthropomorphic (albeit with a lot of personality). The most common are cats, dogs and fantastic creatures (dragons or type alebrijes). Many furries congregate in cyberspace enjoy artwork depicting anthropomorphic animals, and especially like to attend furry conventions.

The Furry Fandom community has also developed its own vocabulary, including words such as "fursona" (person who has a furry character) or "fleshie" (a non-furry). They even have the furotismo, also known as furry erotica or pornography, and the "fursuiters" are fursonas who engage in furry pornography.

At the costumes to be used by "fursonas" are called "fursuits" (English "fur" coat and "suit" suit). To make matters worse there is also a WikiFur, where you can see articles and definitions for each term furry.

"Furry Fandom" is a whole way of life and of course huge profits: many furries are dedicated to puppetry, video design, creating comics or perform live shows. And of course, also prepared stripper shows adult furry style.

The movement also follows a legion of researchers, journalists, photographers and artists seeking inspiration from this trend, the same to establish anthropological treatise on the subject, a series of photographs, videos or pictures pornofurries.

The furries are inspired by cartoon characters (like Bugs Bunny), TV shows, movies, video games and even sports mascots and company logos.

Some researchers of the phenomenon "Furry Fandom" considered to have originated in the 1960s, when it became popular anthropomorphic cartoons. Others believe that arise in the '80s, between the conventions of comics and science fiction boom. Some more place the "Furry Fandom" as part of Fashion Cosplay; although the furry trend grew so much that almost became independent, as indicated by furry historian Fred Patten.

The action of creating a fursona is one of the first steps to enter and become known in the furry community: the new member chooses a certain animal that feels particularly strong identification, which will become your avatar or icon within the fandom . Through this character will interact with other members of role playing games online, or appearing in fantastic stories, pictures, forums and communities throughout the world. Another objective is to attend meetings or themed events to meet other members with general or private interest.

The most common fursonas felines (cats, lions, tigers), canines (wolves, foxes, dogs, and even skunks) fantastic creatures (dragons or alebrijes type) and combination of different furries as a "folf" (Fox and wolf) or an "cabbit" (cat and rabbit). Some choose most unique characters such as giraffes, horses, ponies, zebras, bobcats or deer. And while there are all kinds, rarely (if ever) are identified with primates.

Furry Fandom culture has its own art, animation, comics and literature, and many of the activities are carried out online. There is a wide variety of furry files on the network (art and writings), and some are free but some have to pay. The latter include adult-only materials.

In regard to the tendency to meet other furry fursonas, worldwide there are groups that meet regularly. The Anthrocon, held every July in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA) is the most recognized of all, but there are similar events in the UK, Germany, Brazil, France, Russia and of course Mexico. (Twitter: @ rolandolino)

Welcome to Fuzzy Logic Episode 90! Guilty Pleasures!

After a prolonged absence, Kyo makes an auspicious return! Yay! Fox is back!

Discussions start off with the saga of the noob drawing to a close at long last! YAY! …unfortunately, the Smokey now has all of the overtime trying to catch up. Oh well. Better that than error correction!

Kyo regales us briefly on what happened while he was gone as well as reports on Rocky Mountain Fur Con and Indie Fur Con. Then, we get his impromptu word of the week! (that’ll learn ya fer being gone for six weeks!)

Halfwit tells the tale of the centipede that found its way into her bed, and then expresses displeasure with the changes to the American Health Care system, more specifically, how they have impacted her indirectly.

Isty engages rant mode over a certain individual who has been arrested for alleged acts of a rather heinous nature. Really? We gotta defend ourselves against this now? He then mentions a bit of an inconvenience that has recently befallen him.

At the end of our music break, we have us a little ad from our sister podcast, Fur What Its Worth! Go give them a listen and a subscribe! They’s good peoples!

Emails arrive next and they are four in number (with a surprise bonus message that arrived mid-show!)

First up, Ryo, mentioning how he enjoyed a certain theatrical feature for a certain multi-colored-pony-themed cartoon that Kyo will cut a bitch over. He also continues the discussion regarding a church’s behavior in regards to offensive speech.

Next comes Lux, the email-deflowered European transplant now living in Houston! He tells us he enjoys having his hair fiddled with and how it makes him feel cuddly!

Legionbunny gives us a quick little cover of ‘A few of my favorite things’ and then lists off some of them! Nice job on the re-writing lyrics!

Runes Iceblur provides a fairly lengthy message, a nice introductory one none-the-less, about himself, focusing pretty strongly on writing. We give him a few tips based on the limited information we have, and then move on to discussing his job search progress. More info is needed, write in again! Good luck with your writing!

Our bonus message was from Morgain and was read in a fast Scottish accent for being late! They tell of ‘Teen-Mom’ and crochet!

Next show’s topic will be about ANGER MANAGEMENT!! How do you deal with it? Do you have trouble? Have you met with success? Do you have tips for those who might need a means of keeping their cool under pressure? Write in and let us know!

Music Break: Lily Allen – The Fear

Episode Summary Music: Gay Activity – Ren & Stimpy Production Music

Episode 90 – Guilty Pleasures - Welcome to Fuzzy Logic Episode 90! Guilty Pleasures! After a prolonged absence, Kyo makes an auspicious return! Yay! Fox is back! Discussions start off with the saga of the noob drawing to a close at long last! YAY! …un[...]

So hey guys, I just moved into my dorm at college, and because schedules are so weird, there's a lot of downtime and not a lot of people to hang out with. I was wondering if anyone was interested in chatting some every once in a while :)

Just a bit of background information, I'm Trystan, the Skunk. 18, male, and gay. International business major, huge video game and sport fan, and really haven't had many furry friends in a while, so I'd like to reconnect.

I primarily use Skype, so if you'd like to talk some, you can add me at wolfee.fur. I don't add people, I apologize; I wait for requests. This can basically be a big skype username friend so everyone can meet everyone and the like.

submitted by Skunkers
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Author: Fred C. Edwards reports on the Cartoon Brew website that Amazon Studios, which produces childrens’ animation for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video and the U.K.’s LOVEFiLM, has greenlit pilots for four new animated series to begin in fall 2013. Two of the four contain anthropomorphic characters, and a third has monsters and mutants, […]

I am heading out on a camping trip Friday and I'm looking for something to read while I'm there. I need something that is available available in an ebook format and I like sci-fi and adventure stories. I like Stephen King, but Im looking for something a bit fluffier for this trip. If it helps at all, I have just read "A Distant Sun" and "Rosettes and Ribbons" by MCA Hogarth and liked both stories, although, I am looking for a full length novel rather than a short story.

ED: Also, it should be SFW.

ED2: Thanks for all of your suggestions! I ended up buying "The Shattered Sky" Paul Lucas and "The Colour of Magic" by Terry Pratchett.

submitted by mayupvoterandomly
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Bill Robinson is an animator and illustrator living in the Bay Area in California. He’s currently a lead artist at Kabam, where he helps to create social massively multi-player online games like Dragons of Atlantis.  At his personal web site. FlimFlammery.com, you’ll find other examples of Mr. Robinson’s illustration projects, including several children’s books and fantasy works. Turns out he even illustrated a tie-in book for the animated film HOP.

image c. 2013 Universal Pictures / Bill Robinson

Telltale Games' next choice and consequence game is The Wolf Among Us, which is based off the Vertigo comic books, "Fables" by Bill Willingham. It follows Bigby Wolf (aka Big Bad Wolf) as the nicotine-addicted, werewolf, detective sheriff of Fabletown, which is occupied by downtrodden fable story characters. In this new trailer, we see the rough-looking Bigby explain a little more about what he's doing in this town. On the eve of The Walking Dead game, we cannot -wait- to see what Telltale does with this series.

submitted by JoJoJoshua
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submitted by anthroguy101
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Author: crossaffliction I recently learned that Marvel’s superhero MMO Marvel Heroes will feature a playable Squirrel Girl (as well as Rocket Raccoon), voiced by Tara Strong. That means that Doreen Green and Twilight Sparkle have the same voice, and that’s awesome. So, since I’ve got a Marvel title and a My Little Pony title this […]

submitted by austron
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submitted by Cacoman04
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Author: Mister Twister I detest unnecessary wordiness, but keeping it short just doesn’t work. Before I begin, I would like to present an apology of sorts to Patch Packrat. I very much dislike to be misunderstood, but also cannot stand to be the source of said misunderstanding. I guess I should have been more clear […]

I have been thinking about a lot. I was thinking of kind of a black and white arctic wolf but I'm not sure. P.s I would love any pictures of that if you can find them thanks guys!

submitted by ShadowrageZz
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submitted by TheRandomSam
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“Welcome to the Internet. Where the men are men, the women are men, and —”

Wait, what?

Hang out in the chatrooms that dot the furry landscape, and you’ll find this sentiment expressed not infrequently. Boiled down, it encapsulates the belief that you can’t trust what you see, which is simple enough — but I’ll suggest that this line of thinking is both inaccurate and also slightly troublesome.

If you’re not a roleplayer, this line of discussion is all somewhat irrelevant to you. But according to the 2012 Furry Survey, more than half of furries do engage in roleplaying to some degree, and at some time. This probably isn’t surprising; roleplaying offers a safe space to explore our identities, and it probably goes without saying that furries would gravitate towards this exploration.

It seems to be self-evident that people are willing to accept interacting with people who present themselves as a different species than they really are, and in my experience it’s generally accepted that one’s online sexual orientation can legitimately differ from one’s real-world orientation. So why is gender so problematic?

Well, first of all, what do I mean by “problematic”?

Quantitatively, we notice a strong aversion to changing one’s sex online: 82% of people say that they do not do so, with a strong majority (58.5%) saying they would not do so. Even amongst active roleplayers, 74% hew strictly to the biological sex they were born with — that is, the remaining 18% (26% amongst roleplayers) also encapsulates the (admittedly small) number of transgendered persons who are electing to accurately represent their gender.

Qualitatively, we see statements like, “I’m not a fan of people who are [girls online but] guys in real life” — the backronymic pejorative “GIRL” (Guy In Real Life) applies here — and it is here that we start to see one of the interesting dimensions of the issue, which is that it is expressly gendered and generally heteronormative: far fewer people seem as troubled by the idea that the male winged magic-using bipedal talking sapient fox-wolf mix they’re talking to is actually being operated by a female puppeteer.

We understand, at least to some degree, that furry chatrooms are not accurate representations of reality, as my last description indicates. In my sojourns through the fandom I’ve seen people who claimed to be Russian when they were really American, people who claimed to be lawyers, people who claimed to be thin, people who claimed to have master’s degrees in esoteric subjects…

It’s pretty much par for the course.

So why’s it gender that sets people off? Why not other areas of body image? Why wouldn’t you put in your profile, “I only want to talk to people who are physically fit in real life”? Possibly because it would seem shallow, and slightly irrelevant for the purposes of light conversation, nondirected roleplay, and typefucking?

Let’s examine some possible answers.

The first is that it’s an inherent dishonesty that is fair to judge people on. That is: if I can’t trust that you’re honest about such a fundamental aspect of your personality, then what can I trust you on? Is it supposed to not matter because we’re talking as two avatars? If we’re only interacting mask-on-mask, then what does anything really matter, anyway?

This seems like a logical statement, until you unpack it a bit. After all, someone’s real-world physical attributes are only actually relevant if you enter every conversation expecting the possibility that your interaction on FurryMUCK could logically lead to a real-world romantic or sexual encounter. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is a weird, overbearing, and even slightly offputting mindset to start from.

We are, after all, expressly entering into an abstracted, idealized world when we engage with avatars. Even chatroom sexuality is transgressive: we gain the ability to interact free of many of the restrictions and repercussions imposed by the real world. Make the phrasing honest: “I would like to pretend to be a dog, and for you to pretend to be a red panda-lynx hybrid, and I would like to put some of my pretend bipedal clothes-wearing ambient-music-appreciating dog parts inside your pretend red-panda lynx body but only if I’d be cool doing that in real life, too.”

As pickup lines go, it’s a little awkward.

A more interesting objection, though it’s not often phrased explicitly, is the one that boils it down to the unseemliness of straight men pretending to be women so that they can have straight sex, or to otherwise benefit from the attention they would otherwise lack.

So, then. Fetch me the numbers, Igor!

On the Furry Survey, I ask about presenting yourself in the fandom as a gender different from your biological sex. Five options are presented:

• No, and I would not do so
• No, but I might do so
• Yes, sometimes
• Yes, often
• My primary furry avatar fits this description

As said, 58.5% of respondents gave the first answer — that is, that they “would not” do so. When we limit the response to only straight men, that number jumps to 71.6%. A further 21.4% of straight men say they don’t, but they might consider it. Straight men are a third as likely to say they do it “often” (<1% compared to 3% in the general population), and around a quarter as likely to say their primary avatar differs from their own biological sex (1.5% compared to 5.6% in the general population).

It is here that we pause to note a couple more things about the prevalence of gender fluidity. Firstly, in a proportional sense it’s substantially more common amongst women; women are 2.5 times as likely to have a male primary avatar than men are to have a female one, and 2.7 times as likely to say they “often” represent themselves as a different gender. Only 37.2% of women say they “would not” use a male avatar; 64.3% of men say they “would not” use a female one.

Secondly, it would seem that since straight people are substantially less likely to do, then the slack is made up by those in other portions of the sexuality spectrum. It was suggested that partly this might be because changing genders allows you to explore your own notional homo- or bi-sexuality in interesting — and safe — new ways.

But this is an interesting concept, and we’re going to come back to it in a bit.

If we compare those who say they would not and those who say they always present themselves as a different gender, it’s true that there are certain evident differences. For one, as stated, people who always do so are less likely to be straight (22% vs 43%), and far more likely to be pansexual (24% vs 4%). They’re also three times as likely to be asexual, though — 11.3% vs 3.7%. In real number terms, they make up 5.6% of the fandom, but 22% of the fandom’s asexual people and more than a third of the pansexual members.

Outside of sexual orientation terms, they are also, as stated, more likely to be female. They are older, though by less than a year, and have a higher degree of education. They are 19% less likely to be single and 45% more likely to be in a long-term relationship.

Their positions on an attitudinal survey tend to be more extreme. People with gender-transgressive primary identities are 46% more likely to strongly disagree that what other people think of them is important (14.2% to 9.7%). They are 50% more likely to strongly disagree with the statement “creativity is one of my strongest attributes” (43.4% to 28.4%). They are 88% more likely to “strongly agree” that they are more talented than most of their peers (10.9% to 5.8%) — but also 55% more likely to “strongly disagree” with that statement (18% to 11.6%).

They are not appreciably likely to say that sex is more important to their furry identity (average score on 10-point scale is 4.6 vs 4.3), which circles us back to an earlier point. It may seem like I am, to a degree, harping on this, but I think it’s important to note that, from the evidence, people who change their gender online aren’t doing so for sexual reasons.

So what does it tell us if we think they are?

What first drew me to this topic was how closely the discussion recalls classic and unfortunate interactions transgendered individuals are familiar with. As I said to start with, because the question discusses presenting an avatar different from your biological sex, a small number of those people are transgendered persons — but most of them are not, and I am certainly not going to suggest that gender dysphoria is the primary motivation.

But, in furry chatrooms and roleplaying environments, you see the same classic scripts playing out. You see the same troubling, parochial belief in “traps” — people who are disingenuously trying to mislead straight men into a life of… well, certainly a life of something, anyway, and evidently something more problematic than simply pretending to be a tiger. You see the same stigma attached to gender transgressiveness, particularly in the notion that people make the choices they do because they would be relationship-unsuccessful otherwise (a statement that is demonstrably incorrect).

You even see hints of “trans panic,” with people discovering “the truth” about their conversational partners attacking them, belittling them, and engaging in other behaviors that are designed to reinforce a gender-normative worldview. I ran a roleplaying chatroom for nine years, and I cannot count the number of times, as a moderator, I had someone breathlessly “out” someone to me.

“Oh, bloody hell,” you are sighing into your scotch. You wave the waiter over to bring you your check, shaking your head and muttering: “Here they go on about transphobia again.”

Well.

Yeah.

I’m willing to call this out because, as I said, it seems to be equally parts silly and troubling. I have yet to see a clear articulation of why it should be acceptable to change your species but not your sex that doesn’t boil down to balky circumlocutions around the fundamental issue that people still see gender as immutable and transgenderism as the slightly skeevy hallmark of second-class persons.

That is to say, I don’t see a clear articulation that doesn’t either hem and haw around that issue or reveal a hell of a lot more about the speaker than you’d initially suspect. As I said, your conversational partner’s real-world gender is dubiously crucial if you enter into conversations expecting the possibility that you intend to engage with them in real-life sexual contexts, but that’s a can of worms all on its own.

As the New Yorker‘s Peter Steiner once famously quipped: “on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Anonymous communication involves striking a careful balance between respecting the freedom that comes from constructed identity, and being aware of the assumptions we make in our interactions with others.

It’s clearly something that we’re uncomfortable with: anonymity invites its own destruction, and the Internet takes a singular pride in denying of others the right to be anonymous, or to choose on their own terms what they present. And when gender roles come into play, we run headlong into traditional discomfort with people who don’t play by the rules. Hence the invention of new stereotypes, irrespective of whether they are actually accurate — and I have no doubt that some of you who have gotten this far are thinking: yeah, but I know people like that.

Perhaps.

But these seem to be edge cases, and the thing that strikes me about the dim eye turned on those with gender-transgressive identities is that casual chauvinism is still chauvinism, and bears reflection. The fandom has an established and positive legacy of being supportive of all types of self-exploration. How peculiar — and slightly sad — it would be if this is one of the last to enjoy the legitimacy of existing unexamined and uncriticized.

Because in all probability, insisting you will only talk to real dogs is a losing game, of dubious reward.