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...wait for it. "Myrtille is desperately attracted to the the Cabaret's Singer. One night, the power of a peculiar perfume gives her a chance to step out of the shadows..."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Editor’s Note: Hello, Matthias here. It has been brought to my attention that some of the words Fred used are transphobic. As it is my job to format, I failed to take the time to look over the words being said nor to prepare readers for them. I apologize to the trans community for not doing better. I’ll keep a keener eye over what we print and talk to Fred over any potential issues in future reviews. CW: the following review contains examples of transphobia and homophobia. You are free to express your concerns in the comments below. Thank you. I promise to do better. – Matthias

Claw volume 1, edited by Kirisis “KC” Alpinus.
Dallas, TX, Bad Dog Books, July 2018, trade paperback, $19.95 (266 pages).

This is a mature content book.  Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region. (publisher’s advisory)

For the first time in eleven years, Bad Dog Books has added a new anthology series to its popular FANG and ROAR titles. FANG, beginning in 2005, is for adult M/M homosexual erotic short fiction. ROAR, beginning in 2007, is for non-erotic short fiction. Now CLAW, beginning in 2018, is for adult F/F lesbian erotic short fiction.

Bad Dog Books was started by Alex Vance in Amsterdam in September 2005, as Osfer’s Joint Publications, to publish “the finest modern homoerotica to the anthropomorphic reading public” with FANG, “The Little Black Book of Furry Fiction”. Osfer’s changed its name to Bad Dog Books the next year, and ROAR, “The Little White Book of Furry Fiction”, was added for literate furry non-erotic fantasy in July 2007. The two were marketed in the U.S., along with BDB’s novels, by FurPlanet Productions. But Alex Vance had health problems, and it was awkward running a furry specialty publisher whose sales were primarily in the U.S. from the Netherlands. On December 14, 2011, Vance sold Bad Dog Books completely to FurPlanet Productions in Dallas, Texas. The sale included a requirement that FurPlanet would continue to publish volumes of FANG and ROAR annually under the BDB imprint. In 2013, FurPlanet expanded Bad Dog Books as its imprint for all electronic book sales.

Now FurPlanet Productions feels that feminine participation in furry fandom has grown to the point that there is a viable market for adult F/F erotic fiction. CLAW is intended to be an ongoing 18+ short fiction anthology.

“Thirteen authors have come together to create this collection of hot tales that show what happens when the ladies take the center stage. They’ve come to turn a few heads while strutting their stuff and throwing caution to the wind.” (back-cover blurb)

“Contextual Intercourse” by Erin Quinn is about three girls at a rave: Blair, a raccoon with heavy eye makeup to hide her mask; Dyna, a deer with antlers (reindeer?) who constantly refers to itself as “they”; and Marcy, the rave’s DJ who goes by Crimson Fluff. At least one of the girls is transgender. The sex between two of them is consensually hot ‘n heavy. CLAW’s cover by Teagan Gavet illustrates the rave. I think the use of “they” to refer to an individual is needlessly confusing, but I recognize that some people prefer it to “it” which they consider demeaning.

“The Beating of Wild Hooves” by Dwale is set in a grimly regimented society where euthanasia is the regular fate of those deemed unproductive. When Meg, cat, becomes sure that her foreman at work plans to sexually assault her, she asks Babs, a Scottish blackface ewe, to teach her how to defend herself. Babs is an accomplished fighter in the arena of combat sports, martial arts for female ungulates. There is some sexuality between Meg and Babs, but the emphasis of the story is on Babs as a martial artist:

“She cleared the weigh-in and stepped into the scanner, a machine the size of a wardrobe. With its twin, gleaming-white panels, it looked like a cross between a refrigerator and a waffle iron. The ring lights dimmed when they switched it on.

The doctor crouched over the display, spectacles reflecting the screen through the eyeholes in his hood. He was looking for contraband, anything that might breach one of hoofbeats’ most sacred tenets: that unnatural weaponization of the limb was prohibited. Whether by the addition of studs or spikes, internal or external, or through power return in the form of motors, springs, hydraulics, artificial muscle fibers or any other such mechanism, the rule against unnatural weaponization was absolute. Violation meant a permanent ban.” (pgs. 54-55)

In “The Church Mouse” by Madison Keller, Anise Pentti, an elderly mouse, goes to church to pray for the memory of Chandra Munix, her partner of forty years, who died a year earlier. As long as she is in the church, Anise decides she may as well go to confession. She finds a dead body in the confessional.

This is a murder mystery, but much more than a murder mystery. The murdered body is Anise’s own, but from when she was much younger. Anise feels rejuvenated since discovering her own dead body. She finds Chandra alive and well at home. There are more oddities:

[Two police detectives have come to Anise’s apartment to interview her about the body.] “‘Please, have a seat.’ Anise followed this up by sinking down into her favorite spot on the loveseat.

However, rather than sitting the rats continued looming about the room. Detective Gruenhut went over and picked up one of the framed pictures from the mantle. He held it up and squinted at it, snickered, and passed it to his partner. Detective Boom laughed out loud. Anise racked her brain trying to remember what pictures were on the mantel and why they might be funny but couldn’t think of what they might be looking at. They deliberately kept the pictures in the living room bland, things like her grandpups’ school photos.

Boom grinned and shook his head. ‘Where’s this park at? I’d love to take my pups.’ He flipped the picture around to show it to Anise.

Anise had to stare at it for a lone moment. It wasn’t a picture she’d ever seen before. The picture showed her and Chadra riding a dinosaur, horns, frills and all. Chandra had a big grin on her muzzle and was holding a frilled parasol. The dino was in a running pose, their dresses were flapping, and their fur was plastered back, as if they really were moving fast.” (pgs. 66-67)

After the detectives leave, Chandra explains what’s going on. It involves deliberate time travel to commit or to stop murder, and Anise and Chandra having graphic lesbian sex. “Ewww.” It’s really complicated.

The main characters in “Tempered” by Crimson Ruari are Kahina, a hyena, and Retha, an African painted dog. Both have daughters, Kahina from a recently divorced marriage, and Retha – well, she and her grandmother have a loose lifestyle. Kahina meets Retha when she takes a class in “Chocolate 101: Chocolate for the Home Enthusiast” because her therapist recommended, “that getting out was part of learning to be single again”. Retha volunteers her home for some chocolate-making practice for the two of them. Both Kahina and Retha are bi, and do you need it spelled out for you?

In “A Simple Wager” by Holly A. Morrison, Aventine is a rabbit priestess and Cora is a skunk warrior meeting in a tavern. Despite the D&D stereotypes, it’s the priestess who’s wild and looking for fun, and the warrior who’s naïve. The simple wager is that whoever loses a game of chess has to share a drink with the winner. Cora loses (she suspects that Aventine cheats). The rabbit not only picks the drink but:

“‘We’ll have that drink in my room, if that’s alright,’ she said, giving Cora a swift pat on the shoulder as she passed.

Cora stared after the bunny, half-formed protests dying on her lips. With a grunt, the skunk pushed herself away from the table, ignoring the stares of the tavern’s patrons. She allowed herself to be shown to the small, steamy bathing room, complete with an oversized tub brimming with hot water.” (pgs. 103-104)

Cora gets a lot more than a drink. But hey! it’s consensual.

The main characters in “Support” by Kristina “Orrery” Tracer are Ndidi, an anthro impala, and Aqua, an anthro mouse, her wife, in Gujarat, northwestern India. But they are anthro animals only through months of painful surgery. Aqua is a newly-made mouse, and Ndidi, the narrator, is helping (supporting) her to adjust:

“‘It’s okay,’ I whispered as I pulled her against me. ‘It was a long time ago. I thought I was over it, but I guess I’m not.’ I hugged her carefully, mindful of her stitches, then let go. ‘I’ll let you finish.’

She kissed my muzzle, then smiled at me. ‘Would you help me with my skirt, then spot me to the mirror? I want to see how I look.’

I smiled back and nodded. ‘Can you stand?’ She raised herself onto her crutches, and I knelt to carefully work her skirt past her hips. The back of the bedroom door had a full-length mirror on it, and I escorted her over to it. An anthropomorphic mouse stood in its reflection, leaning heavily on her medical crutches. Teal-blue eyes darted about as she took in all her changes. Her light grey pelt was still awkwardly short and pink skin showed through in places, riddled with fresh, angry scars from the full-body rebuild. Her front teeth hadn’t yet fully grown in, so her muzzle looked oddly bare as she opened her jaw and studied herself. She didn’t look like the picture she’d shown me three years ago, the one that started this journey. Behind her, an impala stood, tan fur shaved oddly short, the white of her chest and black spot on her forehead pale against the skin beneath. ‘It’ll improve in time,’ I cautioned her, remembering my own shock at seeing myself the first time. In the mirror, the impala’s hoof gently gripped the mouse’s shoulder with blunt black-tipped fingers.” (pgs. 119-120)

The pain may make you wince, but the love of the two women for each other comes through more powerfully than in any other story in this anthology.

“She Who Wears the Mask” by Tenza is either Madi, a raccoon who is into cosplaying, or Annette, a cheetah that Madi is introducing to cosplaying. Their sessions at Madi’s home get increasingly personal. This story is okay, but after the others it seems pretty slight.

In “Trophy Hunting” by BlueSeiryuu, Impa (deer) and Sheera (tigress) are playing an online video game. Impa has to try to score while Sheera tries to distract her:

“Then the sound of a distant gong echoed through the desk to the tigress underneath. The deer’s game had begun.

The tiger grinned, the devilish voice in her head telling her that she needed to taste Impa. Her reward would come when she made the deer moan and a hoof would reach down to pull on one of her whiskers a little too roughly.

The tiger took a deep breath, nostrils filling with the scent of cherries from the deer’s shower gel, mixed with the earthy scent of her desire. She grinned as she pressed her nose against the top of her pussy, chilling the skin and earning a surprised gasp from the deer who yanked roughly on her chain. The tiger chuffed before licking gently, the sandpaper texture making the deer squirm once more.” (p. 146)

Impa loses her concentration and the game. She makes Sheera pay for it. Rowf!

The protagonist in “The True Villain” by Dark End is the costumed villainess Doctor Midnight (skunk), who has just been foiled again by the superheroine Stardust (coyote). DM isn’t as concerned by her defeat as she is about Stardust’s costume:

[DM is relaxing in a bar, The Hideout, after her defeat.] “Midnight gave a quick roll of her eyes and tapped a tongue impatiently on her sharp teeth. ‘Have you seen her costume?’

The mouse [the bartender, Rochelle] shook her head.

‘Boob window.’

‘What?’

The skunk gave an even longer roll of her eyes as if accusing the mouse of not paying attention. ‘She dresses in skintight silver spandex from the neck down, covering every inch of her fur, except, of course, for a big patch right over her oh-so-fucking-perfect cleavage.’

Although Rochelle had mental barriers up, the image in Doctor Midnight’s mind was sharp enough to cut right through. ‘Really?’ Rochelle said.

The skunk took a drink and hmmmed non-commitally in her throat. ‘We were finally making progress. No more stupid mini-skirts and close-cut suits. We could finally wear more practical clothing.’ She gave a tug on her own cloak, which rattled with numerous pockets filled with everything an evil genius might need, far more useful than any utility belt. ‘Then along she comes in that tight little number as if the 90s never happened, flaunting herself all over the place like a centerfold starlet.’” (p. 158)

Rochelle decides to join DM as her minion as they go after Stardust together. They make an interesting threesome.

The protagonist of “Smoky and the Jaybird” by Slip Wolf is Smoky, a woman bear trucker; but all bear truckers are called Smoky and her real name is Lee-Anne. Other characters are Veronica, the otter manager of a Waffle Den coffee shop in West Virginia; April, the Waffle Den’s blue jay short-order cook; and Stickley, a mountain lion male sexist rival trucker. I won’t try to summarize this or quote from it because it’s one of the most complex and best stories in Claw vol. 1, with several surprises. Just read it. You won’t be disappointed.

“Frontier Living” by Jeeves Bunny is okay but too predictable. Tabitha (cougar) is panning for gold in a frontier river when two vicious robbers (Eddie and Ed, badger and rabbit) surprise her. They plan to rob her camp before her husband returns. This being Claw, you know the “husband” will be another woman (Maria, coyote), that they’ll turn the tables on the men-robbers, and that there’ll be a lot of sex afterward.

Claw Vol. 1 cover by Blackteagan

“Roses” by Searska GreyRaven is a very clever, very lyrical, and adult (but not as steamy as some of the stories in this anthology) retelling of the Beauty and the Beast legend. Again, any meaningful synopsis would give away spoilers, though I will reveal that the Beast is a mixture of wolf and stag. Again, my recommendation is to just read it.

In “The Tutor Learns” by Skunkbomb, Julia (squirrel), the narrator, has come from a Catholic high school to a secular college. She is assigned to tutor two roommates in math, Ramona (otter) and Mark (coyote). Julia understood the students at the college would not be all Catholic, but she didn’t understand what that meant. Or that it applied to her, too:

“I had a roommate my freshman year. Rosy, a mouse, was one of those girls who had strict parents and was tasting freedom for the first time. I made the mistake of letting her drag me to one of those frat parties and mixing my drink. I couldn’t taste the alcohol. It was a great night. We just chatted about how overbearing our parents could be, complained about professors, and I called her cute. She’s a little feisty mouse. Of course she was cute. But then I kissed her. I’m a girl and I kissed a girl. She laughed it off that night, but she didn’t speak to me the same way afterward. At the end of the semester, she didn’t even tell me she was moving in with some other girls.” (p. 241)

Ramona is wild and lezzy. Julia feels that God wants her to be the tutor that Ramona needs, but she learns more than she teaches, in a subject other than math.

13 stories. Only “Support” by Kristina Tracer and “Roses” by Searska GreyRaven are not funny-animal stories where the characters could be human as well as anthro animals, but I confess that some of the funny-animal stories were among my favorites. My favorite picks are “The Church Mouse” by Madison Keller, “The True Villain” by Dark End, “Smoky and the Jaybird” by Slip Wolf, and “Roses” by Searska GreyRaven; but several others are also very well-written. CLAW is a solid addition to FANG and ROAR.

Edited by K.C. Alpinus. Cover art by Teagan Gavet. 266 pages. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-61450-443-6. Released at Anthrocon 2018 in July. As with FANG and ROAR, you must state that you are of legal age to purchase CLAW.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Fur Planet
• Buy on Amazon

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared will now being made as a series by Super Deluxe and is being shopped around. Be afraid.
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Welcome back to Kijani Lion, who I previously interviewed in 2016. Kijani’s bio includes being a con Guest of Honor and organizer for FurLifeNW and their bowling meet that set a world record for attendance. And he’s been a journalist who contributed to Furry News Network, writing profile articles about outstanding fursuiters in 2011-2013. FNN’s articles seem to have fallen off the web in 2015, but I asked to bring this back.

FNN Fursuiter of the Month (August 2011) was Dogbomb. In 2018, Dogbomb has gotten a lot of love from the fandom with a serious story that you should know before moving on to this reprint. I asked Kijani to write a new update, and that’s in the works. Look forward to it soon. – Patch

Dogbomb: Not your ordinary canine (2011)

By Kijani Lion 

As long as he can remember, dogs have always been a big part of Tony Barrett’s life.

He has been a registered veterinary technician for the last 16 years, and currently manages a veterinary hospital in his hometown of Costa Mesa, Calif., helping keep local pets healthy and happy.

Barrett, better known as “Dogbomb” among furry fans, also has owned a number of dogs in his life – but one particular German shepherd mix named Rodger stood out among the rest.

“They say everyone that owns dogs has one special dog in their life, and he was the dog,” Barrett recalled. “He was the first dog I got when I bought my first house, he was just a very special dog. Very smart, he was one of those creatures that was in tune with everything that you do.”

Rodger would go on to be Barrett’s best friend for the next 14 years.

After Rodger passed away, Barrett – whose only knowledge of “furry” at the time was something that happened to bread when it was left out for too long – was at dinner with some friends dressed in his typical canine garb.

“I was wearing a shirt that said “Woof,” a hat with a greyhound on it and something else,” said Barrett, adding that his Halloween costumes always included random dog-related accessories. “The waitress comes over and says, “Why is he dressed up like a dog?” My friend turns to her and says, “Don’t worry about him, he’s just a furry.”

Having never heard that term before, he was then subjected to the dreaded “CSI” question, which he hadn’t seen either.

Until he got home that fateful night in August of 2009.

“Of course I thought it was creepy and bizarre,” said Barrett on his initial reaction to the infamous “Fur and Loathing” episode. “But I wanted to look into it more. I Googled ‘furry’ and found some websites, and the more I looked at it, the more I seemed intrigued by it. After that I jumped in with both feet, and really wanted to get involved with it… I discovered it was such a nice social group, so many neat, pleasant, exciting, creative people. It was a nice outlet.”

Needless to say, the furry fandom hasn’t been the same since.

A MAGICAL EFFECT

One of the first things that Barrett did upon joining the fandom was to get a fursuit commissioned, with a design based off of Rodger. That way, his longtime furry friend could be commemorated forever.

He first bought an pre-made head and colored it in to match a character description, and soon after decided to go the whole nine yards, choosing Beastcub Creations to create the final version of Dogbomb.

“I really liked what (Beastcub) had done with realistic suits,” Barrett noted. “She really helped me, she was very kind, and took me through the process. It was very interactive, and she made some suggestions. She was just the right person at the right moment.”

Eventually, the long-awaited package arrived at Barrett’s front door, and he was floored at the result.

“I couldn’t believe it, that she made something come alive like that,” he said. “She really seemed to capture his spirit. It wasn’t just a collection of fur, the whole thing was a very magical effect.”

While some fursuiting enthusiasts prefer to enjoy their craft mainly at conventions and house parties, Barrett admitted that once he started wearing his Dogbomb costume out on the streets of sunny Southern California, he got hooked on the positive reactions and joy he brought to everyone he came in contact with.

“It breaks down all the social barriers,” said Barrett on what he enjoys most about fursuiting in public. “You’re used to, as an adult, walking around and cavorting yourself in a certain way, and all of a sudden you meet some guy in a dog suit and he’s chatting and putting his arm around you. It opens up a whole realm of possibilities that aren’t available everyday.”

AN FA PHENOMENON

Like many enthusiastic costumers, Barrett wanted to share his experiences with the rest of the furry world.

Starting about a year and a half ago, he started posting photos from his fursuit outings on Fur Affinity, mostly at the Newport Beach pier and the surrounding bars, while writing up short, humorous anecdotes accompanying each photo.

“Someone suggested I write a little bit more with the picture, so I tried posting one and writing more of a story about what happened before, during and after the picture, and people seemed to respond to it,” Barrett recalled. “So I kept being long-winded and verbose.”

From that point on, as word spread and his gallery posts got re-linked, Dogbomb practically went viral. Comments and watchers – 2,642 as of press time – came in by the droves, humbling Barrett to his canine core.

“I can’t believe it, it seems surreal,” he said. “I can’t imagine why people would spend time looking at (my stuff).”

Among his most popular posts is the heartfelt and inspirational “Courage on Two Wheels,” during which he relives an encounter with Sarah – a young, wheelchair-bound woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. Numerous additional entries detail true fursuiting magic at work, as Dogbomb tells of his experiences with children that are fully convinced they are conversing with a real talking dog.

Whether they are four or 40, Barrett said he truly enjoys and cherishes every encounter he has with the public.

“(Children) are such wonderful sponges, they’ll just soak up anything and give back so much love,” he said. “To tell the honest truth, some of the adults that I’ve met that at first were so stone-faced and don’t want to really interact or talk – you spend a few minutes chatting with them and all of a sudden you’ve got a friend. They’re smiling, they’re happy… my favorite thing about fursuiting is that people open up, they’ll tell you things that they might not tell anybody else. It’s a really interesting social experiment.”

Up next for the 47-year-old will be attending the furry convention Rainfurrest for the first time in late September, and then he will be eventually getting Dogbomb version 2.0, as his suit has put quite a bit of mileage in just over a year and a half.

In addition, Barrett, an avid runner, hopes to get involved in charity work with the running group he participates in regularly, the Orange Country Frontrunners.

“If we can incorporate fursuiting into that in some way, that would be wonderful,” he said. “I’ve been on a public cable TV show a couple times through work, for an adoption agency that does rescue of strays.”

In 2010, he slogged through 26.2 miles and finished the Los Angeles Marathon, while raising $3,300 a local dog rescue group.

But for now, Barrett simply wants to acknowledge all of the wonderful people he’s met since joining the fandom, and keep doing what he does best – one fursuit-induced smile at a time.

“Just a huge “thank you,” expressed Barrett to all of his supportive fans and friends. “It’s really made a huge difference in my life, the wonderful people that I’ve met, both in person and online. People respond in such positive ways, I’m really gratified by it. It’s been a big positive for me.”

Additional Q & A with “Dogbomb,” Tony Barrett

Q:  If you could sum up the “Dogbomb Philosophy of life,” how would it go?

A:  Two words: “Have fun.” People get so worked up about doing things in a responsible manner, and living as an adult, people (don’t) let a little bit of silliness and fun into their everyday lives. I think it’s important that we not lose sight of that, and get in touch with our side that is open to having fun, being a little bit silly and a little bit out there, and  to help others interact and get a smile too.

Q:  What do you think is most important for those that fursuit in public areas to entertain and bring joy to people like yourself, to gain public acceptance moving forward?

A:  Interact on a level that is a bit self-depreciating, not trying to put yourself in their face. Say “How are you?” and take an interest in that person. That works under any circumstances. If you want to really make a friend, give them a big smile and ask them a question about themselves, and I think that works especially well for fursuiting because people are gratified that you’re interested.

Give Dogbomb and Kijani a follow on Twitter, and I can’t wait to see the new update. – Patch

Feral Attraction
Episode 107 - Friendship 9/14/18

Intro

On this week’s show we open with a discussion of the history of happiness, and why happiness may be elusive. Soatok Dhole joins us to discuss our main topic, friendship — what is a good friendship, when is the right time to distance yourself from a friend, and how do you revive a fading friendship worth saving? We close with a question about how to handle developing feelings for a straight roommate.

Introduction topic

A history of happiness explains why capitalism makes us feel empty inside

Sean Illing - Vox

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/9/4/17759590/happiness-fantasy-capitalism-culture-carl-cederstrom

Topic

What is friendship?

“Essential and fundamental to friendship is that it is a natural, spontaneous, freely given and entered into relationship promised as much on subliminal cues that prompt liking as on anything that the parties could specify as a reason for engaging in it” – philosopher AC Grayling

Friend vs. friendly acquaintance

Common to both:

People who make you a better person

People who you enjoy spending time with

People who you have a history of shared experience with

People who share your values, your hobbies, your interests, and/or your kinks

Unique to friends:

People you can trust

People you can confide in

People you can be yourself around

Loyalty

Problems arise when you expect loyalty from someone you considered a friend, but who views you as a friendly acquaintance

What is a bad friendship?

“Our friends aren’t toxic — they’re just human”

Ephrat Livni - Quartz

https://qz.com/1352437/our-friends-arent-toxic-theyre-just-human/

Many people argue a “bad friend” is one who consistently brings you down or holds you back

“The current cultural discourse suggests that friends are people who we use to improve ourselves, and get rid of when the going gets tough or if we’re not having enough fun. … It’s friendship as a capitalistic exchange, instead of relationships involving people who care about each other, hanging out, and helping each other through life’s ups and downs.”

This philosophy leads many people to treat their friends as disposable, and to abandon them when they need support and are not contributing to the friendship — right when they need a friend the most

It is important to remember the golden rule in friendship, and to treat others as we’d like to be treated

You wouldn’t want to be abandoned during a time of hardship when you couldn’t be there for your friends as much as you’d like to be

Abandoning a friend at the first sign of conflict or distress in the relationship will leave you with very few friends

It is often worth it to attempt to reconcile or ignore certain conflicts for the sake of maintaining an otherwise valuable friendship

Friends who consistently do not support you, who do not share your values, and who have a history of being unreliable may be less worthy of continued or increased investment of time and other resources

In some circumstances, it can be worthwhile to invest in old friendships even when values and goals have drifted apart, for the sake of having someone who can “ground you” in your own history

It is difficult for new friends to offer the same level of insight that old friends can provide to you

If you have many old friends, and a particular friendship is no longer offering benefit to either of you, it is okay to let a friendship turn back into a friendly acquaintanceship

Keep in mind: people change over time (and that’s ok!)

What is a good friendship?

In general, it is wise to invest in friends who:

Share your values

Support you as you pursue your goals

Point out your weaknesses and mistakes in a loving way

It can be tempting to seek friends who tell you everything you do is awesome, but it’s wise to have a few close friends who can call you on your mistakes

Assume good faith: When your close friends suggest you’ve done something wrong, it is generally because they care about your success, and not because they want to put you down

Have a history of being trustworthy and reliable

It isn’t all about you

“Real friendship is a kind of love, writes philosopher Bennet Helm. As such, it must ‘involve a concern for your friend for his sake and not for your own.’”

It isn’t a great idea to be friends only with people who tell you everything you do is good

“A true friend didn’t just flatter and please. Quite the contrary, their value lie in the fact that they sometimes corrected or fought with their pals, to whom they’d give their all.”

Criticism that comes from a place of loyalty and respect, with the intent of making you a more authentic version of yourself, is very different from someone tearing you down

When you’re around a good friend, you should feel liberated to act with authenticity.

How do you revive a friendship?

How to Revive a Friendship

Anna Goldfarb — The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/smarter-living/how-to-revive-a-friendship.html

Start by “identifying what variables, if any, have changed since your falling out.”

“Maybe you’re in a more stable place in life and are confident you can be a better, more attentive friend this time around.”

“Thinking about the reasons you grew apart and how things might be different now can help you take the steps needed to rebuild a closer and longer lasting friendship.”

Make the first move!

If neither of you reach out, you won’t talk

Being vulnerable and honest about missing your former friend can help you reconnect if they’re feeling the same way

Be prepared for rejection

Game out what you’d say and what you’d do to feel better if you are rejected

Assume good faith

It’s possible your friend would love to talk to you, but the thought just hasn’t occurred to them, because many other things are on their mind

It’s harmless to remind them you exist and would like to talk

Establish interest in re-establishing the friendship before jumping into emotionally difficult topics

Go in as if this were a new friendship

Start small with light topics and catching up on what is new with each of you

Good topics for conversation are anecdotes and requests for advice that focus on what is shared between you right now

Similar life experiences

Places you’ve both been to

Where you are in life

Location

Career

Lifestyle/Living Situation

Try socializing at first in a group setting

Game night

Movie night

Dinner party

Outing to a park for a hike or picnic

Try to present your best self

This will remind your former friend what they liked about you to begin with

It isn’t always possible to get back to the same level of friendship you had before

Be willing to accept a less intimate relationship, at least at first

Feedback

None for this week

Question(s)

I live with my best friend, who is a straight male. I am a gay male furry, and I am crushing hard on the the friend that I live with. How can I continue to be friends with him given the feelings I cannot share?

Received via Telegram (name withheld)

Closer

Contact info

Contact Viro:

t.me/viroscicollie

twitter.com/viroscicollie

Contact Soatok:

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Coaching Services now available!

As our audience has grown, many of our listeners and advice column readers have asked to speak with Viro in a one-on-one setting so as to get help with resolving relationship issues or overcoming stumbling blocks that can trip us up on life's journey. Until now, it was not possible to offer such one-on-one attention, simply because of time constraints. Fortunately, Viro is now offering this kind of individualized attention as a service!

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Joel Kreissman is a published author of anthropomorphic science-fiction in his Para-Imperium universe. His first novel, The Pride of Parahumans, was published with Thurston Howl publications in 2017 and he has more free stories on his blog at https://paraimperium.wordpress.com/

FA 107 Friendship - What is a good friendship, when is the right time to distance yourself from a friend, and how do you revive a fading friendship worth saving?

Looks like this is the season when folks-in-charge are shopping around for new TV series to sell around the world. Now from Animation Magazine we learn that Jetpack Distribution have picked up the world-wide rights to a 2D series from Britain called Pip Ahoy! It goes like this: “The series is a warm and boisterous show that centers on Pip and his friends as they carry out rescue missions, solve problems and take care of their community. It features the inimitable voice of Sir David Jason, who plays Skipper, an old seadog and Pip’s Uncle… Pip’s fans can also interact with the property offscreen in the UK thanks to recent renewals of both the master toy and apparel licenses and, in association with PJSL, character meet and greets at popular family entertainment parks across the country this summer. CHF Pip! Plc and PJSL are now in talks with two parks for a long-term, on-site Pip Ahoy! live show.” Good news for cartoon fans in the UK all right. Meanwhile for the rest of us, here’s some episodes on YouTube.

image c. 2018 Jetpack Distribution

SQUAWK!
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Sign up to fly: https://canisvulpes.com/furflight/

Super organizer MikeFolf/Canis Vulpes got in touch to share his project of herding an airplane full of furries all the way to Midwest Furfest, taking the good vibes of the con much farther than one city. If you want to go, don’t sleep on this, the seats are filling fast!

He says:

FurFlight is a series of group flights on existing commercial aircraft that extends the convention experience to the journey. That reduces stress of travel there, and eliminates PCD on return, with a lot of friends along for the trip.

If they're traveling by plane does that make them a flying carpet?

— Zidders RooFurry (@ZiddersRoofurry) September 13, 2018

For those who want a visual update, here's how #MWFurFlight stands so far. Seats are filling up quickly, so sign up now at https://t.co/gvQ2SrnAy5! pic.twitter.com/8NqrYfUs9T

— FurFlight (@CVFurFlight) September 12, 2018

We did a test run for MFF 2017 from SFO.  There were over 70 furries on a 110-seat plane, run by Virgin America. Fursuiting was cleared post-security with SFO and Virgin.  That allowed for a parade of sorts from screening to gate, with plenty of eager photo ops from other passengers and gate agents.

For many of us, the flight was one of the only times they enjoyed flying. Because of the success, we’re expanding to a flight on Wednesday, as well as a Wednesday and Thursday Flight in Seattle, all operated by Alaska Airlines. They bought Virgin last year and have been bending over backwards to accommodate us, of which we’re grateful for. We’re also looking at what’s tricky about getting to cons, to see how we can smooth out the rough spots.

All FurFlight guests are guaranteed a refundable ticket and group seating, and a PAW (Prepared-Assortment of-Wellness) Pack – which contains basic toiletries, snacks, and treatments to get through the convention. In addition, we have guides – SkyCollies – who are helping guests out with tickets and preparing to fly as well as guiding them through the airports. We also bundle in foods and WiFI for higher paying guests that want a little extra.

The end goal is to make the journey as fun as the con, and we hope to bring this experience to more furries as we look at other cons to expand to.

I’ve included pics from last year and here’s a video that shows Midwest FurFlight in the first bit.

@CVFurFlight has this all handled. https://t.co/GjFsZZMM9P

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) September 13, 2018

Even more recent news from Animation World Network: Now we hear about a new musical animated TV series for preschoolers called Do, Re & Mi, currently starting production. “Created by Jackie Tohn (Glow, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, American Idol) and Michael Scharf (Moon and The Son: An Imagined Conversation), every episode of Do, Re & Mi starts with an adventure and ends in a song, featuring original tracks performed by Kristen Bell (Princess Anna in Disney’s Frozen), Tohn, and other surprise guests… Do, Re & Mi is about three birdy best friends named Do, Re & Mi who live in a world filled with rhythm, beats and melodies. Along with their day-to-day adventures, the characters model ways for parents and young kids to talk about music and connect these ideas to their social-emotional development.” [ Fun fact: Ms. Bell actually had one line in Zootopia, as Priscilla the sloth. ] No word yet on a planned release date.

image c. 2018 Gaumont

Welcome to the launch of Zooscape!

Animals are among the most precious and fascinating resources in our world.  Their variety extends from bizarre deep sea creatures to cuddly friends who sit on our couches hoping for a bite of your sandwich.  They are the most extreme aliens we’ve truly encountered and also the archetypes we tell fairy tales about.  When we tell stories about animals, we’re telling stories about ourselves, both as we are and as we could become.  Furry fiction includes all varieties of stories featuring anthropomorphic animals — from talking dragons to witches’ familiars, from animal-like aliens to Aesop’s fables, and everything in between.

Furry fiction is an exciting frontier.  Explore it with us.

For our zeroth issue, we have a single story for you, to whet your appetite.

* * *

Dragon Toast by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

* * *

We’ll be back every few months with more animal tales. If you’re a writer who specializes or dabbles in stories about anthropomorphic animals of any variety, please consider submitting to us, and your story could be one of them.

by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

“Clovialla guarded a hoard of gold and gems in a cave behind the Falls of Forgetfulness.”

The dragon wanted to raise a toast at her first meeting with our coven, and what the dragon wanted, the dragon got.  She held up a golden goblet in her claw and glared at the rest of us until we held up our mugs, teacups, and glasses.

I glanced at the other eleven members of the coven.  We had gathered in the biggest room of my house’s basement, since that was a room that could accommodate a dragon.  It was lit only by candlelight, so it was full of shadows.  Everyone had brought stumps of candles, though, so there were lots of flickering flames, and a strong smell of earth, burning plants, and buried secrets.

Amardi, the coven leader, was an elder who had been witching since her twelfth birthday seventy years earlier.  She sat at the table’s head, near the flat-topped column where our ritual objects lay — the ceremonial dagger; the small brass cauldron that hosted a fire in which herbs burned, sending up fragrant smoke of rosemary and sage; the glass bowl that held waters of the world; the cupped clay hand with a mound of earth on its palm.  The other witches ranged in age from mid-sixties to late teen (that would be me).  We dressed however we thought witches should dress — cone-shaped hats?  Black tulle tutus?  Steampunk vests and skirts?  Striped stockings?  Or just jeans and a T-shirt?  A little of everything.  (I went with all black, a ninja minus the headgear.)  Everyone else was alike, though, in their expressions of fear.  This was the first meeting the dragon had attended, and they weren’t sure what to expect.

Clovialla used the pointed tip of her tail to nudge me in the back.  I was the only one in our coven who understood dragon, and I’d recruited her, so I was her translator, which made me happy.  Words were my gift, and I loved crafting dragon speech into standard.  I liked knowing things none of the others knew.  I was the youngest witch in the group.  The others were all spell-deep in magical theory and practice.

I was a legacy recruit.  When my mother died, her spot came open, and they invited me in, not realizing that my mother had passed on none of her knowledge to me.

I had one inborn skill.  I had been able to understand every kind of language from my cradle.  Mother hinted she had done some dangerous spells while she was pregnant with me.  Father blamed her for everything he didn’t like about me.  By the time I was twelve, he had left.

Mother died when I was sixteen, long before she could tell me everything I needed to know about her and myself.

* * *

I met Clovialla the dragon on one of the many qualifying quests Amardi, the head of the coven, gave me, even though I was already a member.  Once she found out about my lack of magical knowledge, Amardi said I was a probationary member.  I went on the quests she gave me hoping I’d pick up knowledge and magical ingredients, and often I did.

Clovialla guarded a hoard of gold and gems in a cave behind the Falls of Forgetfulness.  Amardi had sent me to get some water from the Falls.  Most of the time, people who went on this quest drank from the Falls and forgot what they were supposed to do.  I figured this out ahead of time and brought my own water supply.

And I found Clovialla.  She flamed.  I saw the fire through the water of the Falls, and I found there was a narrow path that led behind the curtain of water and into the cave.  I followed it, and there I found the dragon, a vision of gold and smoke perched on a pile of treasure.

There were a lot of bones littering her cave, some of them human skulls, so I knew she ate people.  But she spoke, and I understood her.  “Come closer, Morsel,” she said.

“I don’t know if I should,” I said.

“What?  What?” she cried, and lifted her head on her long golden neck and bugled.  I had to cover my ears, even though it was a beautiful sound, a trumpet solo that ranged up and down the scale.  It filled the cave to overflowing.

“I apologize if I offended you,” I told her when the sound finally died out.

“Offended me?” she said, and laughed.  She crawled across her pile of treasure, crushing the more fragile items and popping gems from some of the others.  I would have backed out of the cave, only the Water of Forgetfulness was at my back, and I wasn’t sure what would happen if I immersed myself in it.  She was between me and the path.

Clovialla’s whiskers were long, mobile, and muscular.  Their fringed ends reached out and touched my cheeks.  “How is it you have the gift of tongues?” she asked.

“It’s a mystery,” I said.

“You haven’t offended me, little appetizer, but you have made it unlikely I’ll eat you.  I enjoy conversation, and there has been no one in an age I could speak with.”

* * *

I brought home the Water of Forgetfulness for Amardi, who looked disappointed when I handed her the sealed jug — confirming my suspicion that she sent me on these quests hoping I wouldn’t return — and I brought home Clovialla, with her hoard on her back.  The house I inherited from my mother had a deep and extensive system of basements, and Clovialla made her nest there.

She knew much of magic, and accepted me as a student.  Amardi stopped sending me on quests when I demonstrated my first mastery of the element of fire by lighting our summer bonfire with a snap of my fingers.

When the coven’s oldest member died, I invited Clovialla to join the coven, and the others couldn’t say no.

“Say this for me, Snackling,” Clovialla said now as the others waited nervously. “I salute all creatures of power who work together, and I promise not to eat those in this room, who are now my sisters.”

I held up my wooden cup and repeated Clovialla’s words in standard.

Everyone else blinked and smiled.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Amardi, and we all did.

 

* * *

About the Author

Over the past thirty-odd years, Nina Kiriki Hoffman has sold adult and YA novels and more than 300 short stories.  Her works have been finalists for many major awards, and she has won a Stoker and a Nebula Award.

Nina’s novels have been published by Avon, Atheneum, Ace, Scholastic, Tachyon, and Viking.  Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies.

Nina does production work for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and teaches writing.  She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

For a list of Nina’s publications:  http://ofearna.us/books/hoffman.html.

There’s more big news from Animation World Network. Looks as if a kids’ TV favorite from the 90’s has a new “leash” on life! (Sorry, sorry…) “Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues has found a new pal for Blue in TV newcomer and Broadway actor Joshua Dela Cruz, and a brand-new title: Blue’s Clues & You. Dela Cruz will have a new generation of preschoolers searching for clues with the beloved energetic girl puppy Blue.  Production on 20 new episodes of Blue’s Clues & You will commence this month in Toronto… In Blue’s Clues & You, beloved puppy Blue invites viewers to join her and the live-action host on a clue-led adventure and solve a daily puzzle. With each signature paw print, Blue identifies clues in her animated world that propel the story and inspires viewers to interact with the action.” Original series host Steve Burns is in on this new revival too, which is a good thing.

image c. 2018 Nickelodeon

Bonus video for today! Looks like a Gravity Falls-esque semi furry series coming to Netflix this month.
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When forced to volunteer for a daring new mission, Kanti and his friends discover the hardships they left behind might just be the least of their troubles...Small World is the sequel to Skeleton Crew, and picks up where book one left off. Kanti and his mate have settled into their new life, and everything looks peachy for our rascally hero until the Krakun commissioner shows up with vengeance on his mind. Suddenly, Kanti, Tish, and forty-eight other unlucky souls are volunteered for a new mission, as part of the commissioner's cleaning crew back on his home world of Krakuntec. The job is a one-way trip, and before they know it, the mission crew is thrust into a toxic environment, cramped conditions, and deplorable circumstances.The primary conflict in book two is more a series of unfortunate events and emergencies. It's a book about survival and a community that has to come together and solve their most basic problems, not the least of which is how to get along with one another. There is plenty of tension and action, but I missed having a solid rising arc and central protagonist a little. Because Kanti is no longer our only POV character, I found myself less embedded in his story, and on a few occasions, siding with other characters against him. Neither of these facts made the book less enjoyable, but it did make the final conflict at the end of the book seem a bit abrupt to me. And though I don't mind a cliffhanger, I felt like the end of the book was a bit unsatisfying, being more a lead-in to the next book, and a whole new problem, than any resolution to the issues in the plot at hand.The way the world uses scale is unique and fun, though I did wish, particularly in book two's setting, that the size differences had been played up even more. It does affect the plot, but with tiny characters living in a giant's apartment, it felt a little bit like a missed opportunity to really have fun with scale. That being said, Luterman's writing is smooth and engaging and his characters are delightfully individual. I became quickly caught in the story and read straight to the end rather than put it down. It's at the same time light and horrific, whimsical and tragic, and I am very much looking forward to the next installment. If you enjoy endearing characters, mischief, survival situations, and space opera, and you don't mind a bit of a cliffhanger, Small World is definitely a must-read.

What do they say: An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Blind. "Nail, the last surviving warrior of the Siamese clan, breaks into enemy territory with only one goal on his mind: avenge his father’s death."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Atlas & Axis [volume 1], by Pau. Illustrated.
London, Titan Comics, July 2018, trade paperback, $19.99 (unpaged [160 pages]).

I reviewed the original French editions of Jean-Marc Pau’s four hardcover albums of 80 pages each, La Saga d’Atlas & Axis, on Flayrah and here, from 2013 to 2017. Now here is a trade paperback graphic novel in English of the first two albums combined. (There’s no translation credit. Did Pau translate it himself? See his blog Escápula News. It’s mostly in Spanish, but there’s enough in English to show that he speaks fluent English.) This was published by Titan’s Statix Press as four comic-book issues from February through May 2018. This trade paperback graphic album has followed promptly.

Atlas & Axis is described as a funny-animal Astérix & Obelix, or in the vein of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo or Jeff Smith’s Bone. I can add Carl Barks’ and Don Rosa’s best Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck stories, and some Japanese graphic novels by Osamu Tezuka or Shotaro Ishinomori. It’s both funny and adventurous/dramatic, with rich, lush art brightly printed on glossy paper.

Atlas and Axis are two dog adventurers, an Afghan hound (Atlas) and a terrier mix (Axis), in the talking-animal world of Pangea, apparently around 1000 A.D. (But events in volume 4, not yet published in English, completely disprove this.) They live near the village of Kanina, somewhere on the coast in what might be northern France. Atlas returns from a mission for their friend Canuto (translating a parchment with a clue to a bone leading to endless food), and he & Axis go to Kanina for a festival. They find it destroyed by Viking raiders, and all their friends killed or kidnapped. Their first adventure together is for revenge against the Vikings and to find Atlas’ kidnapped sister Erika. After that, as Atlas says, “Without our FRIENDS, there’s nothing to keep us here anymore. This is no longer our HOME.”, and later, “What do we do NOW?” They still have Canuto’s parchment with the clue for Chimera’s bone. Axis says, “Oh, yeah? Well, let’s go FIND it then. We’ve got nothing better to do.” And that’s their justification for one quest after another. This volume ends with them taking part (against their wills) in a war against the pirate nation of Escapula (an ingroup reference to Pau’s blog).

One of the quests is started by two academics debating in Mrs. Honey’s Tower Bar over the origin of dogs. One argues that dogs have evolved from wolves, while the other argues for a divine creation by Toby, the dog god. Atlas and Axis go on a quest to far northeastern Sabakistan to look for a tribe of nomads who are rumored to be half dogs and half wolves; “the MISSING LINK in the evolutionary chain between wolf and dog.” They do it because they’re bored. “We’re going on another ADVENTURE!”

The translation is excellent, but there are gags about the dogs sniffing butts throughout the volume that are not in the French. One example: on page 7, panel 2 of the French edition, Axis says only, “Erika!” In the English edition, he says, “Ah, ERIKA! I’d sniff her butt anyday.” These are added about as tastefully as possible, and they do enhance the ambience that this is a canine world. There are plenty of scatological jokes in Pau’s art about Atlas and Axis marking their territory.

This is an animal world, not just a dog world. There are bears, rabbits, goats, and sheep. All can talk to each other, but the predators – including the dogs – casually kill and eat the prey animals.   The sheep organize their own response to being eaten: exploding ewes.

There are anachronisms and “errors” throughout the book that look like just gags or liberties taken for dramatic license, but that turn out in the surprise conclusion to the final album (not in English yet) to show emphatically that this is not 1000 A.D. with funny animals. The name Pangea. Atlas and Axis see dinosaurs. There is a dog pastiche of Genghis Khan, who lived a couple of centuries after 1000, and his death in 1227 was nothing like the murder shown here. The exploding ewes.

If you are interested in excellent comic-book funny-animal comedy-drama in the tradition of Barks, Sakai, and Tezuka (and the recently-lamented Vicky Wyman), Atlas & Axis by Pau is a must-have. Get it while it’s available.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Titan Comics
• Buy on Amazon

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

So we were talking about new games. Also at Long Beach Comic Con we came across the creators of Dogtag, “the attention-grabbing card game for dog-people”.  Here’s how they describe it on their web site: “The inspiration for Dogtag came from Los Angeles, where finding people who have tens of thousands of followers on Instagram is a casual occurrence. Anywhere you go you’ll see people posing in front of walls, taking pictures of food, and sneaking selfies. Showing off the highlights of our lives is a trend we all can relate to, and it only makes sense that we decided to create a card game following these themes. DUH. A splash of pop culture here, and a bucket-load of dog puns there, and this is what we get: A fun satire on social media packaged into a heckin’ cute card game.” Which is available now. The web site has video previews too.

image c. 2018 Dogtag Media

First off, never screw with a raccoon. Second, video game universes are kinda screwed up. So this short seems to be for appears to be for an unreleased phone game that is probably coming out soon: http://trilobitesoft.com/games/wilds.html [1] [1] http://trilobitesoft.com/games/wilds.html
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