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We came across this: Pizzasaurus Rex, a new graphic novel for teens written and illustrated by Justin Wagner (with inks and colors by Warren Wucinich). “Meet Jeremy Duderman, the most extremely awesome scientific mind of his generation. Too bad everyone’s too busy bullying him or just generally disliking him to realize it. But that all ends today. Jeremy has invented the Reality Alternative Dimensionator (R.A.D. for short), a device that allows Rex Raditude, the Pizzasaurus, to enter our dimension. He’s a guitar-shredding, pizza-loving party animal with only one thing on his mind: BEING TOTALLY RAD, DUDE. But is that enough to stop Emperor Buzzkill and his horde of hapless minions who are bent on ending pizza parties, skateboarding, and all things rad? And can poor, pitiful Jeremy Duderman, quite possibly the dorkiest dude in the universe, help Rex in defeating them?” It’s all available now from Oni Press.

image c. 2018 Oni Press

Here is a trailer for the 2nd animated film to come out of Pakistan this year. It's apparently about Mangu Mangu Jan Mangu, a daydreaming donkey dreaming of a better life. The designs are interesting but odd they didn't go with a hoof-hand hybrid instead of a full on hoof.
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Keiran Larwood is a kindergarten teacher on the Isle of Wight in the UK. In the free time that leaves him, he’s created a series of fantasy adventure novels for young readers called Larwood. (In the USA — in Europe it’s called The Five Realms.) The first book is Podkin One-Ear.  From Amazon: “In a classic fantasy world of anthropomorphic rabbits, three young siblings are on the run from the villainous Gorm tribe who have killed and enslaved their clan. Podkin, once destined to be clan leader, has always been spoiled, but now he must act bravely as he, his older sister, and baby brother flee for their lives. Facing pursuit and treachery, the three collect allies in their search for refuge, until at last they are ready to fight back against the Gorm…” All three books in the series are available in hardcover from Faber & Faber.

image c. 2018 Faber & Faber

I do love the style but what does it mean?
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Cinnabar's people live comfortable, peaceful lives, until the mountains fall and war sweeps down on them without warning...A race of critters almost exactly like rabbits lives in a valley protected by a ring of mountains. Divided by family clans that serve as a caste system, the Leporines are mainly concerned with their harvest, their local politics, and their love lives...until a natural disaster unleashes an enemy like nothing they have seen before. Suddenly, the entire population is on the run and under attack, and the costs are amazingly high.Cinnabar Rusk is a member of the elite clan of Leporines. He's a bit plump, a bit of a dreamer, and a good guy with a huge crush on the most popular girl in town. When the disaster begins, Cinnie rises to the occasion, using his knowledge of history and myth to save his friends and family and guide them toward safety, if such a thing still exists in the Valley.Heirloom of the Rusks is an epic story that contrasts the tragedy of war and abuse against a backdrop of whimsy and fairytale. It began a little slow but, once the action hit, was unbelievably gripping, sweet, heartbreaking, and lyrical. The characters are delightful, fully envisioned, and touching. Each has their own goals, challenges, and deep conflicts. The world is so fully built to be Tolkien-esque. I'm not certain I'm allowed to say "I loved this book," but I did. It put a knot in my stomach and brought tears to my eyes more than once.The writing is fluid and smooth, and my sole quibble would be that the author repeats the same word close together quite a bit, something that could have been easily resolved during editing, and also uses some "pet" words (like purling) enough times that they become jarring and pull you out of the story for just a second. Very minor nitpicks for a story that was such a glorious ride overall.I highly recommend Heirloom of the Rusks to any reader of fantasy, in particular epic fantasy, or to anyone who loves a strong character-driven story and who isn't afraid of a powerful tale that will hit you in the gut more than once.

Our Patreon w/ great new rewards! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow for all things Dragget: www.draggetshow.com Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow Dungeons & Draggets #21 - Our Patreon w/ great new rewards! www.patreon.com…

Sometimes we just let the publishers provide our tag line! Megabat is a new hardcover book for young readers by Anna Humphrey (illustrated by Kass Reich and published by Tundra Books). “Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It’s big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it’s haunted . . . or is it? Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he’s living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there. Daniel realizes it’s not a ghost in his new house. It’s a bat. And he can talk. And he’s actually kind of cute. Megabat realizes that not every human wants to whack him with a broom. This one shares his smooshfruit. Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a light-saber and a common enemy and you’ve got a new friendship in the making!” Again, find out more over at PRH.

image c. 2018 Tundra Books

Came across a new children’s book from award-winning author Cynthia Voigt. Toaff’s Way is illustrated by Sydney Hanson, and it’s available now in hardcover from Knopf Books. “Toaff is a small squirrel full of big questions. Why must I stay away from the human’s house? Why shouldn’t I go beyond the pine trees? Why do we fight with the red squirrels across the drive? His sister shrugs–that’s just the way things are. His brother bullies–because I said so. And the older squirrels scold–too many questions! Can Toaff really be the only one to wonder why? When a winter storm separates him from his family, Toaff must make his own way in the world.” Check it out over at Penguin Random House.

image c. 2018 Knopf Books

It's rare I cover sports here but man! I didn't know that the MLB was this interesting! It kinda makes me want to take up the sport.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Tales from the Guild: World Tour, Edited by Ocean Tigrox.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, July 2018, trade paperback, $9.95 (210 pages), eBook $4.95.

This says, “Edited by Ocean Tigrox. Co-edited by Madison Keller, George Squares, and MikasiWolf”. Giving credit to everyone involved.

This is not a sequel, but it is the second Tales from the Guild book. The first was Music to Your Ears, edited by AnthroAquatic, and published by Rabbit Valley in September 2014.

The Guild is the Furry Writers’ Guild, founded in 2010 by Sean Silva. In 2012 it created the Cóyotl Awards, voted on by the FWG members annually for the best anthropomorphic novel, novella, short story, and anthology of the year. The FWG currently consists of over 180 members; most of the authors who write the stories that fill the anthologies and novels from the furry specialty publishers. Tales from the Guild is a showcase of the writing of its members, published as a fundraiser for the Guild.

World Tour consists of eight stories set all around the world. “But how would these tales change if, instead of humans, the world was populated by anthropomorphic creatures?”

“She Who Eats” by Frances Pauli is set in Ternate, East Indonesia. Kittitas Jones, a calico cat, travels from Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, to Ternate where her mother has just died:

“The boat railing pitched again, making the Molucca Sea a diagonal slash of blue and turning Kit’s stomach inside out. She clenched both paws around the wood and closed her eyes tight against the vertigo, the sense that her world was toppling overboard.” (p. 11)

Kit’s mother was a scientist who left modernized Jakarta for Ternate ten years ago to study the native customs, and never came back. Kit, traveling there to wrap up her mother’s affairs, finds that Ternate is inhabited by Monitor lizard natives who still practice their old culture, including the eating of meat.

“‘I was hoping to be quick.’ She flicked her tail against the back of her legs and pressed the tips of her claws against her pants leg. ‘I’m not here to sightsee.’

‘These things take a while,’ the tiger [the captain of her boat] insisted. ‘You’ll see. Island animals don’t move like city animals, don’t do anything like city animals. He shuddered, prompting her curiosity despite her intentions.

‘What does that mean?’

‘Island life is slow,’ he said. ‘But Ternate is different. Some say, in the shadow of Gamalama, they still eat the meat.’ He grimaced, showing a mouthful of yellow-stained fangs.

‘That’s ridiculous.’ Kit sniffed and then pressed a paw pad over her nose. She mumbled, trying not to let the smell in. ‘My mother wouldn’t have stayed if they did.’” (pgs. 12-13)

Kit and her mother were vegetarians. “’Predation was eradicated through generations of adaptation, through study and dietary modification…’” (p. 31) Kit learns that her mother went native and became She Who Eats, the high-priestess/goddess of the lizards’ religion, which included eating fish; and that the natives want her to become her mother’s successor.

It’s a good story, but I’m not sure how it shows “instead of humans, the world was populated by anthropomorphic creatures”. According to Wikipedia, Ternate and its natives are modernized. Kit wouldn’t have to take a small boat to get there. “During the 2011 eruption [of Gamalama], Indonesia closed a domestic airport near the volcano for several days”. The story looks like a fantasy in more than turning Ternate’s inhabitants into anthro Monitor lizards.

“The White World” by Dark End is set in Antarctica, around Antarctic Station Zeta-3:

“Antarctic Station Zeta-3 was a series of industrial buildings connected by a spider’s web of underground tunnels, all kept at a habitable temperature and humidity. The natives found it uncomfortable to be in for too long, but tourists, especially artists, loved the exotic environs and visited during the summer months, when travel in and out was easiest. By far the most common inhabitants of Zeta-3 were scientists, engineers, and explorers like Estela, coming from far-off countries to investigate the last Terran frontier.” (pgs. 44-45)

The main characters are Estela, a Portuguese lynx with psychological problems – maybe; Igor, a Russian polar bear; and Hugo, a ghost if he isn’t just in Estela’s imagination. There actually isn’t anything in the story that calls for the characters to be anthro animals, except the suggestion that, outside the station, the natives – anthro penguins – have their own culture.

“Waterlogged” by Madison Keller is set in a Portland, Oregon inhabited by anthro otters, beavers, raccoons (local natives), dogs, cats – and humans:

“Sam slapped her long, flat tail on the docks watching the otter police divers swim the corpse to shore. As they grew close, the spotlights illuminated light-brown fur, a stocky body, webbed feet, and a flat tail like her own. A beaver. Dead in the Willamette River.” (p. 61)

Sam Digger is a beaver police detective, and this is a murder mystery. A human is a suspect:

“‘Rick. Eric Russel?’ She poked the human’s leg to get his attention.

The human set his phone down and turned on his stool, scanning the bar overtop of Sam’s head. ‘Huh, thought I heard my name?’

‘Yeah, down here!’ Sam’s tail struck the wooden floor again with a solid whack.

‘Oh my gosh!’ Rick slid off his stool and crouched in front of her. Alcohol fumes from his breath stung her nose. ‘Aren’t you just so cute!’

‘Sir, I’m a detective with the Portland City Police Department.’ Sam held her badge up into the human’s face while she backed up a few steps. ‘Are you Eric Russel, Dillon Dam’s emergency contact?’” (pgs. 67-68)

The species in this story are their natural sizes. The humans are much larger than foxes, beavers, rats, skunks, and similarly-sized mammals, but smaller than the bears, bison, and foreign animals like zebras, hippos, tigers, and pandas. Different areas of Portland are designed for different species:

“With the house being human-sized in construction the light switches would be above her head, out of easy groping reach, so Sam pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on. After a few moments of shining the light around near the door she located the switch. She had to stretch to reach it. Sam blinked, blinded by the overhead light as it winked on, but at least now she could examine the room.” (p. 80)

The species have adapted to living together despite their natural sizes and appearances. “The locks on the other side of the door rattled and the door clicked open to reveal the gorgeous female beaver from the Voodoo surveillance video. She wore a pair of lacy pajamas covered by a robe.” (p. 84) There is enthusiastic mutual M/M sex between a human and a much smaller animal. “Waterlogged” has a stereotypical plot, but the multispecies setting makes it highly unusual.

“Frost Bridge” by Amethystos, set in the Bering Strait, is the first story that matches the challenge of “if, instead of humans, the world was populated by anthropomorphic creatures”. The characters are Sybil Windbrooke, a sparrow, and Dmitri, an old elk (reindeer), and the location is the Siberian side of the frozen ocean over what used to be the land bridge connecting Siberia with North America. Dmitri has built a Frost Bridge rest point for the exhausted herds of elk who are drawn by instinct to migrate each year from Siberia to America over the ice bridge that no longer stretches all the way:

“Dmitri suddenly surged forward and loomed over the bull. Standing side by side with another elk, Sybil could finally see that his large frame and huge antlers were outstanding, even by elk terms. ‘I have seen dozens more winters than you – yet, you come to challenge my knowledge? I, who journeyed the Frost Bridge to its end? I, who watched as my herd fell from cold, fro exhaustion, from starvation? I, who lives my winters out in solace where the cold burns?’

[…]

‘What’s your name, fool?’

‘I am no fool,’ spat the bull. ‘My name is Artyom. We traveled for miles across Siberia because our souls call out from the other side of the land. You must feel it, too. The path of our ancestors burns in our hearts. We must go to meet them.’

‘You are fifty winters too late. Each year, the bridge grows shorter and shorter. No elk has returned from the land of our ancestors for as long as I’ve guarded this place. I offer you food and shelter. I can guide you to the next rest point on your journey south. But I cannot allow you to pass without the knowledge that you will die on the bridge.’” (p. 102)

This is turning into a long review. Let me say right now that all of the stories are well-written and enjoyable, although all except “Waterlogged” and “Frost Bridge” fail at being “instead of humans, the world was populated by anthropomorphic creatures”. The others are really funny-animal stories that would work just as well with human characters.

“Tempus Inperfectum” by Al Song takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, and is about Volker, a badger, and Lorenzo, an Italian otter, who are young amateur musicians in a M/M relationship. “The Forgiveness Hex” by George Squares has Acapulco, Mexico as a very Catholic location. Lupe and Eliana, lovebirds, are cousins; two girls at St. Aloysius school, preparing for a school pageant with Sister Luciana, a doe, as their teacher. “Vanillupus and Other People’s Wits Take on the Inhospitable World” by Slip Wolf, is an almost-slapstick comedy (and my favorite); narrated by Van, a vain husky rock star. His private airplane, flying with him and his backup entourage from gigs in Europe to San Francisco, is forced by storms off course to Prince Patrick Island, Canada, at the edge of the Arctic Circle. They barely manage to land on an airstrip by a town of penguins. (Yes, penguin at the North Pole. The story justifies it.) “Here I am, trapped thousands of miles from waiting fans in a polar purgatory with the skies unflyable, a giant ice floe blocking the only way out by boat and nobody loving me – let’s not forget that part.” (p. 174) Van’s team convince him that while they’re there, they might as well create a winter-wonderland music video. “The Gaucho” by Corgi W, is set in Tres Lagos, Argentina, a small town at the tip of Patagonia. The gaucho, an old bobcat, encounters Luc, a coyote, the mayor’s young son. Or is it Lucia, the mayor’s young daughter?

Tales from the Guild: World Tour (cover by Lando) is enjoyably exotic, with eight stories bouncing from the South Seas to the South Pole; from rainy Oregon today to the frozen Bering Strait thousands of years ago; from Germany to Mexico; and from the top of Canada to the tip of Argentina. It’s a very good showcase of the authors in the Furry Writers’ Guild.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Fur Planet
• Buy e-book on Bad Dog Books

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BIRD! We do need more birbs here and in this case soon on the switch.
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I want to talk a little bit about how magical furry is.

Magic, as they say, is nothing more than an act of intent. It is “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will,” if one is to believe Crowley (not necessarily recommended). In this sense, if spells are acts of intent, then coming up with spells is the act of defining one’s intentions. In this sense, magic is living deliberately.

I’ve had a lot of thoughts like this on my mind, lately, for a lot of different reasons. Perhaps it’s worth expanding on them

It’s been some months, now, since my gender affirmation surgery. May 10th involved getting up at 5 AM – though I don’t think I slept the night before – and driving to the hospital, where I spent the day without time. I blinked, and when I opened my eyes some hours later, I had a different physical form than when I went to closed them.

I’ve been involved in the purchase of three houses, I’ve gotten married, I’ve moved halfway across the country, and this *still*, months later, feels like the largest intentional act that I’ve taken.

This is an act that stretches far beyond the necessary requirements to fulfill and complete it, in and of itself. I just “needed” letters, insurance, and time off work to complete it. More than that I actually needed was the will to perform the act, and discovering that was all that was required, I just…did it. For a long time leading up to beginning this process, I believed that it required something that I didn’t have, that I could never have. When I found out that all it took was a phone call to the surgeon to get started, I leaped at the chance. Not to say that it’s been easy, but neither has it required any mystical element I didn’t already have.

This act goes beyond just its requirements because that act of intent itself changed me in turn (and not in the obvious surgical way). In magical systems, both in media and in the world at large, there is often a price to pay for your acts. Karma, mana drain, however you want to look at it. in the case described above, it’s the fact that no act occurs in isolation, and you’re going to have to live with the consequences of the act.

Sometimes these are concrete. For instance, I had to live with the pain that comes with a major surgery affecting the pelvic floor. I was limited in terms of movement for weeks after the surgery. Some of those were financial – after all, transition is incredibly expensive, even with insurance. I freely acknowledge the privilege inherent in this. I’m thankful for it, and do my best to pay it forward.

And some are less tangible.

As I mentioned back in…oh jeez, 2013 was really five years ago!? As I mentioned half a decade back, a change in species or character often happens around large life changes, and I’m no different. The process of death and rebirth that goes along with this surgery, where I die – hopefully metaphorically – on the table and am reborn, changed, is no small feat.

So it was that, shortly after my surgery consult back in 2016, I got the idea to start interacting with friends as something other than an arctic fox. More and more, I started appearing as a snow leopard (because I couldn’t seem to let go of those wintry species). At first, it was an ‘alt’ situation: Maddy, as the snow leopard was called, was an alternate character to use when I wasn’t feeling the fox.

Art by Grey White

She was different from the ‘usual’ in a few ways. She’s cis, for one, unlike the arctic fox, who transitioned along with me. She’s shorter and a bit pudgier than I am. She’s happier and struggles less with mental health. She’s an ideal rather than a reality, and something to be played for fun.

Or, well, she was. This ‘alt’ phase lasted a few months, I suppose, before I woke up one morning and realized I’d not interacted as an arctic fox in a few days. Slowly but surely, the snow leopard had started to overtake the fox.

Becoming an arctic fox, originally, was something that just sort of happened to me. Back in 2005, I was pretty firmly camped out in red fox territory with a character named Ranna, and yet, in 2006, I shifted pretty quickly away from that character to Makyo Alopex.

It took a bit of time before I figured out what the big life change was that went along with this. I finally settled on how, once my friends Ash, Shannon, and I moved to our own house, I finally felt on my own. When I was living in the dorms, I was simply ‘away from home’. Now, though, paying rent, I was well and truly moved out. No empty nester, my mom greeted the news that I wasn’t coming home for the summer with joy, telling me, “Good, now you can take the rest of your stuff.”

Art by n

2005 and 2006 were the years I finally started to grow up, and so that was the end of Ranna. 2017 and 2018 have been the years I’ve started living pretty authentically as a woman – visibly trans, sure, but also visibly feminine. This upcoming surgery has been something of a final blow to Makyo Alopex as a character, or at least as a main.

One of the downsides to the end of Ranna, is that it happened very suddenly, and not at all deliberately. Which, come to think of it, also applies to me moving out on my own and starting to grow up. It felt like an accident, slipping away from who I used to be.

My goal is to avoid that with the change from arctic fox to snow leopard. This is, as with surgery, a process of death and rebirth. Makyo Alopex is dying, in many senses of the word, and being reborn in Makyo Uncia, called Maddy. I have intent here, more than I did when I left Ranna behind. I have the will, in Crowley’s terms, and the ability to make it manifest.

Art by Cadmium Tea

I took this as an almost alchemical act. After all, alchemy is more than just transmuting literal lead into literal gold. It’s the transmutation of a base substance into something better. Through calcination and dissolution, the base – the *prima materia*, the self, the fox – is broken down. Through separation, conjunction, and fermentation, something new is compiled from what was in rough shapes. Through distillation and coagulation, the new self – the cat – is solidified, completed, made whole.

As with a lot of how I experience furry, this is a microcosm, rather than something unique. I am not the only one to be deliberate about changing my species, just as I’m not the only one to read way too much into the furry fandom.

Furry, as a whole, is an exercise in self-actualization. It is taking the idea of “this is how I want to be seen” to places and extents not often tread.

Through each aspect of ourselves, we choose how we want to interact. We choose a species, we choose a name, we choose what aspects of our personalities to show to each other and the world. We construct and create every day of our lives, and we’re made all the better for it.

Shameless boosterism aside, we’re good at what we do and what we make, whether that’s art or fun or just ourselves. The more we create, the better we get at it, too. All that’s left to do is to keep on creating, to keep putting our intent and our will to work.

Just as I can dig into the intent behind changing a name, a fursona, an identity, I can look for the magic of self-actualization within furry as a whole. After all, furry is magic.

How do you experience the magic of furry? Let us know in the comments!

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Queen of Arts, by Frances Pauli.
Moses Lake, WA, Gastropod Press, February 2018, trade paperback, $8.99 (184 pages), Kindle $0.99.

This is purely a funny-animal soap-opera. It’s also a connected collection masquerading as a novel. “Queen of Arts” is on pages 1 to 132. “In the Margins” is pages 134 to 167. “Off the Record” is pages 168 to 182.

Waterville has two rival newspapers, the Arts Examiner and the Gazette. They compete for scoops and more, angling for contacts with the municipal government and Waterville’s social leaders. When the latter decide to hold a Waterville Festival of the Arts, including a city-wide art contest, and the Gazette pledges to sponsor its prizes, the Arts Examiner has to scramble to make up any lost ground.

Stella Rose, the Arts Examiner’s senior editor, is the protagonist. Stella is a cinnamon bear. Marge, a squirrel, is the assistant editor. Vanessa Lorne, a rabbit, is one of the Examiner’s reporters, along with Gerald, an ibex, and Buck, a zebra photographer. Others are Mr. Mort Growning (tapir), the paper’s manager and Stella’s boss; his secretary Francine Tsarong (snow leopard); Mayor Stimple (bison); Lydia Willard (black panther), an art gallery owner; Terrence Ortega (polar bear), another art gallery owner; and many more.

“‘There you are.’ Growning huffed and leaned to the side, out of the line of the mayor’s horns. His rubbery snout uncurled, dangling like a stub of hose below his piggy eyes. ‘Stella, at last.’

‘I’m five minutes early.’ She checked the clock on the far wall to be certain.

‘Fine. Yes.’ Growning waved a gesture of dismissal. ‘Feel free to continue, Mr. Mayor.’

‘We’ll rely on you for full coverage.’ The bison’s voice shook the door on its hinges. ‘I want a dedicated team for this.’

‘Exclusive coverage?’ The tapir’s trunk extended to its full length. Not exactly impressive, but enough to tell Stella his interest was piqued, focused on whatever the bison had proposed before she arrived.

‘Now, now.’ The mayor tugged at the front of his suit, and his two companions exchanged a look that told Stella they wouldn’t be getting an exclusive. ‘The Gazette has sponsored the awards. We have to allow them…’

‘You went to the Gazette first?’ Growning clutched at his heart with one hoofed paw. ‘To the Gazette? We’re the Arts Examiner. Arts. That rag only publishes a column on culture once a fortnight, not to mention some of the garbage they’ve printed about y–’

‘They came to us.’ The bison rumbled over the top of Growning’s tirade. ‘Almost the second we had the idea, in fact. We have to allow them coverage, but the Examiner has more space for arts columns. We came to you first.’” (pgs. 7-8)

Stella’s job is a cross to bear. Her boss is a male chauvinist:

“‘We’ll put together a dedicated team. Growning pulled his trunk in tight, stood as tall as he could and patted his belly. ‘I’ll have Stella put our best men on it.’

Except their best men were women, and Growning knew it… and hated it.” (p. 10)

Marge, her assistant editor, is an incompetent imposed on her by Growning:

“Ignoring the squirrel’s gossip, Stella grunted and ambled past the coffee pots, behind the reporters’ desks to the hallway which led to their office. Marge continued to chatter all the way to editing. When Stella had settled her purse behind the desk, removed and hung her jacket, and taken a seat, Marge threw both paws over her little muzzle and gasped.

‘You’d better get in there.’

‘What?’

‘Mr. Growning wants you in his office first thing.’ Marge puffed her chest out and flicked her tail, nose in air and little paws clasped as if in prayer.

‘You might have started with that.’” (p. 6)

But it’s not only her newspaper job. Stella has become the unofficial den mother for much of the office staff, Vanessa and Francine in particular. Vanessa is in a strange relationship with Leonard Velaski (lion), Waterville’s unofficial municipal poet laureate. Francine wants to become a reporter, not the boss’ private secretary. Stella has a bland personal life. She shares an apartment with an actively gay male friend, Frederick Wasco (raccoon), and acts as his den mother, too.

“Queen of Arts” bounces between Stella’s and “her girls’” involvement with the Festival of the Arts (should they just cover it for the Examiner, or should they individually enter it?); Stella’s, Vanessa’s, and Francine’s personal goals; Freddy’s getting into abusive relationships; and Stella’s own romantic life – and why she is terrified of having one. “In the Margins” is about Francine’s joining the Examiner, and “Off the Record” is about what Vanessa learns about Leonard Velaski.

Maybe I shouldn’t be reviewing this book. I don’t have any interest in slice-of-life (“soap opera”) stories, and I prefer my anthro-animal fiction to have more emphasis on the animals’ species natures and instincts. If you do like soap operas and don’t mind funny-animals, then you should enjoy Queen of Arts. It’s very smoothly written.

“The applause swelled again, and Velaski waited for it, nodding in one direction and then the other with that huge, self-satisfied grin on his face. Maybe that was the problem. Perhaps, Vanessa’s change in perspective was a natural side-effect of disillusionment. The hero in person was less worthy than the one she’d imagined while reading his words?

Stella listened for it, when the lion began to recite. She heard the brilliance in the poems’ [sic.] words, but not an ounce of sincerity in the poet’s voice. Two works in, and she found herself bored, watching her companions again.” (p. 83)

“The Galleria del Urso catered to bears. A four foot canvas in the front window displayed a rainbow of dancing grizzlies painted by the exhibit’s featured artist. Stella paused outside to admire it, to take in the ornate golden frame, the brick gallery façade, and the scrolling iron sign above the door.” (p. 85)

“When she caught up, both her friends were admiring a bronze sculpture. It had been installed in a nook near the rear of the space, and a single spotlight aimed to highlight the cast forms which were four, long paw prints mounted on clear glass pillars. Their shadow stretched away on the wall behind, a trick of the light’s angle, and the space above the piece was a stark white contrast.

Stella squinted at it, at the four heavy shapes with nothing but white wall and air above them. Appealing, the contrast, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

‘The bear is implied.’ Terrence Ortega had slipped up behind them. ‘The negative space above, the arrangement of the prints. You can almost see her.’” (pgs. 86-87)

“She’d almost convinced herself that the work [a different one] was secretly Ortega’s, until a frazzled, tuft-tailed, kangaroo rat scampered up to him.

‘How are they doing? Do you think it’s going okay? Shouldn’t we have sold something by now?’

‘Relax, Manny.’ Terrence placed a paw on the rat’s shoulder. ‘It’s going well. They’re engaging. The work looks amazing.’

‘But nothing has sold.’ The smaller animal twisted his paws together and flattened his round ears.

‘Nothing sells this early. Stella, this is our artist, Manuel Rivera.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ Stella tried to hide her surprise, but Rivera had eyes, after all.

‘You thought I’d be a bear, right?’

‘Well, I … I suppose it was an unfair assumption, Mr. Rivera.’

He laughed, a high lilting twitter. ‘An assumption everyone makes. Don’t feel bad. I paint bears for many reasons, but being a bear isn’t one of them.’” (pgs. 88-89)

The cover is by Frances Pauli, but she says that she isn’t the artist. She has computer-manipulated some free art from the Internet. She has chosen excellently. The bear and rabbit certainly look like Stella and Vanessa, and the panther could be Lydia Willard except that she’s described as a black panther.

Pauli is known in furry fiction circles for her excellent s-f stories set on other worlds. Queen of Arts shows her versatility.

– Fred Patten

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There’s an extensive article over at Animation Scoop about the new Amazon Prime animated series Pete the Cat, based on the popular children’s books by James Dean. Check out the voice actor list too! “Pete the Cat is a fun, musically driven series about exploring your world and trying new things, while being smart, accepting, and optimistic. Whether you’re making new friends or facing all of life’s ups and downs, Pete always finds a way to put a groovy spin on things. The series stars Jacob Tremblay (Room) as Pete the Cat, and musicians Diana Krall and Elvis Costello as his Mom and Dad. Pete the Cat features original music from Grammy Award-winners Costello and Krall, which will also be available to stream via Amazon Music. Jessica Biel (The Illusionist), Atticus Shaffer (The Middle) and internationally acclaimed musician KT Tunstall also star in the series… Pete the Cat… is developed by Jeff “Swampy” Marsh (Phineas and Ferb) and Appian Way Production Company.” There’s a preview video too.

image c. 2018 Appian Way

Here is a short film made for Greenpeace dealing with the damage caused by palm oil. Getting a very advanced ferngully feel to this short. "Rang-tan is the story of a little girl and her orangutan friend forced from her forest home. Indonesian rainforests are destroyed to grow field upon field of dirty palm oil used to make the everyday products we use. It doesn’t need to be like this, big brands have a responsibility to make sure that the palm oil used in their products isn’t made at the greatest cost for our forests."
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Introduction topic

THE MOST RELAXING VACATION YOU CAN TAKE IS GOING NOWHERE AT ALL

Ephrat Livni - Quartzy

https://qz.com/quartzy/1342058/the-most-relaxing-vacation-you-can-take-is-going-nowhere-at-all/

Importance of unstructured time

“Dolce far niente” - the sweet joy of doing nothing

“Remaining close to home—or just in it, hanging out—leaves you refreshed and provides perspective. And it may be the key to your next great idea.”

Become comfortable with being alone with yourself; wherever you go, your self comes with!

Take time to be present and enjoy wherever you are

avoid having a completionist mindset of ticking boxes just to say you’ve been somewhere

Topic

When is it a good idea to step away from family?

Toxic behavior

Emotional blackmail/coercion

Abusive/threatening behavior

Lack of acceptance

Need to create space to establish own values/priorities

Why reconnect with family?

Source of stability/constancy in your life

Reconnecting with unconditional love underlying family bonds

Greater understanding of self (family of origin)

If they loved you before, they can love you again

Support Structure

When is the right time to reconnect with family?

Financial independence

Stable, independent living situation

no risk, nothing to lose if your family chooses to reject you.

After time to heal / develop “new normal”

“Most parents prefer having a gay son to no son at all”
- Dan Savage

Times of crisis (family member ill/dying)

How to reconnect with family

Non-violent communication

Provide “first-aid” empathy

Seek to understand before seeking to be understood

Express your feelings and needs without placing blame or judgement on your family members

Look for a “win-win”

“My lifestyle is not the same as your lifestyle, but both are okay, and we can choose to live the life that we want”

Look for ways to spend time together that will meet everyone’s needs

Don’t rush it, go at your own pace

Reconnection isn’t going to happen overnight

Feedback

None for this week

Question(s)

What are some of the best techniques you could offer to help get over a toxic relationship? Doesn’t matter if it’s romantic or friends.

Self-empathy

Self-care

Choosing to control what you can (your actions/perceptions/interpretations) and release control of what you cannot (your abuser’s past actions, what your abuser does now)

Forgive your abuser (even if you don’t let them know)

Empathy and understanding can lessen pain

Forgiveness does not absolve someone of being responsible for their actions or of being held accountable

Forgive yourself for allowing the abuse to happen as long as it did

You are only capable of doing your best at any given moment, given the information you have

It is impossible to make a mistake; mistake is a judgement applied to an action after it has occurred

Figure out what you were getting from the toxic relationship

Try to figure out how you can get these needs met in a healthier way

Be mindful not to enter into a relationship with someone very like your previous partner

We are often attracted to what feels familiar, not what feels good

Closer

Contact info

Contact Viro:

t.me/viroscicollie

twitter.com/viroscicollie

Contact Rhythm:

twitter.com/Rhythm_Fox

t.me/RhythmFox

Feral Attraction Twitter:

twitter.com/feralattractfm

Feral Attraction Contact Page:

feralattraction.com/contact

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!

For more information, visit: feralattraction.com/coaching

Other business

Patreon

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 106 Reconnecting With Family - How do you reconnect with family after being estranged, and why would you even want to?

We did a thing again. Alkali will be going to Tiny Paws, but at least there's this. Enjoy! www.patreon.com/draggetshow www.draggetshow.com Hicast! - F*ckable Death Star - We did a thing again. Alkali will be going to Ti…

Dear Papa Bear,
​
This particular issue has been on my mind for a long while, and today I can no longer bear the thought of this daily. I’m not too sure whether you’re the right person to talk to or whether there’s any way you can help, but I don’t really have anything to lose so I thought I might as well try. (You might want to grab a cup of coffee, as this will take a little while to explain. Also, it’s a bit heavy, just thought to warn you before you read further.)

I’m an 18 year old furry from the not-so-sunny land of Wales. I’m known by my friends and family for being a pessimist and sadly that couldn’t be more true. I have a medical condition which means I was born with only a single ear. Obviously, that means I cannot hear as well as other people, but also, I was bullied a lot while I was growing up. The option was presented to me to have a prosthesis attached to implants to make it look like I had two ears to help me “fit in”, and another implant that poked outside of my head to attach a hearing aid, so I could hear. For the most part, this worked as intended and was a great help, however this was not to last.

Back in October 2015, due to the growth spurt in my teenage years, a layer of skin had grown over all of my implants, and the hospital decided they were going to sort out the implants for my prosthesis first. They cut away at the skin around the area to uncover the implants again, then grafted a piece of skin from my thigh to replace it.

Soon after, a new model of hearing aid was introduced that involved a magnet under the skin. The doctors presented this to me as a solution to fix my hearing aid implant as it being covered by skin would be okay, and I wouldn’t have to worry about having it uncovered. After a bit of looking into things, they discovered that the hearing aid implant I currently use (installed in around 2008) was too old and therefore couldn’t have a magnet attached to it. So they said I’d need to have another implant a little further up. This would be an exact repeat of the surgery performed in ‘08, and they said as the procedure would only take around 30 minutes, I would most likely be discharged the same day I was admitted.

And here’s where we get to my problem.

After that surgery in 2015 to uncover my prosthesis implants, everything was fine, until about a week after.

Unbeknownst to me, a small section of graft was not bonding with the surrounding tissue, leaving a small pocket. At around 3am that night, it started to bleed heavily, and despite both me and both of my parents being medically trained, we could not stem the bleeding. The paramedics were called as I was going into shock and I was losing consciousness. Although it seems like half of the event was never recorded in my memory, my parents told me I was saying things like “I’m going” or “I can see my great grandparents”. I was rushed off to hospital and I remember my mother praying on a rosary, as the doctors took a sample of my blood and assessed what happened.

The thing is, they found nothing. Their response was “we can’t find a reason why this happened, but for some reason, it happened.”

After two days in hospital, I was discharged again, and after another bleeding episode a few days later that we managed to take care of ourselves, that was the end of it. I was told by my parents that three were told I was very lucky to be alive. The whole near-death experience was extremely traumatizing.

The scary thing is that no-one ever found out why. I have a few guesses, but that’s all they are—guesses.

I’m going in for this new operation in the autumn and all I can think about is the same thing happening again, and me not being so lucky this time around. I’ve been living this past year (since January) in a downward spiral, believing in my heart I only have a few months left to live. I’ve been assured by everyone around me (including my conscious self) that I’m going to live through it, but it’s just not getting through deep down. A voice inside of me just keeps saying “you’re going to die”. Depending on the grades I get at results day on August 16th, I could have finally realized my dream of studying engineering at university, but have it snatched away from me at the last second. That’s what I feel like will happen.

My impending death is all I can think about right now, and it’s just getting worse and worse with each passing day, so ... what do I do?

Yours Faithfully,

Glyn (age 18, Cardiff, Wales)
 
* * *
 
Dear Glyn,
 
That is quite a story, and I am sorry about all you have had to go through.  It is quite amazing that medical science has progressed to the point where they can help you with your ear and hearing issues.  Medicine, though, is also sometimes referred to as the "medical arts" for a reason.  Medicine is not just about knowing anatomy, physiology, epidemiology, etc. Even now, doctors and researchers are still struggling to grasp that every individual is slightly different than everyone else in how their body reacts to medicines and medical procedures, as is apparently the case with you.
 
I'm sensing a reason you are frightened is that you might have a feeling of powerlessness. That can certainly happen when one has been faced with a life-threatening event such as the bleeding problems you have had. Being nervous about another procedure is perfectly understandable and normal. There are a couple things I would suggest: 1) ask to speak with your surgeon and talk to them about the procedure and ask them what they have learned from what happened the first time and if they are going to do anything differently with a second procedure (do not let up until ALL of your questions are answered), and 2) contact the hospital where the procedure was performed and ask to talk with a hospital counselor. Speak to them frankly about your worries and fears. I'm not sure about Wales, but in the USA this is called presurgical counseling.
 
It is very important, too, for you to realize that patients have rights and your decisions on how to handle your health are paramount. They are YOUR decisions, not the doctor's. Often, patients simply bow to whatever their doctors say without question. They fail to ask questions. They fail to tell doctors when they believe the doctor is not listening to their needs or if the doctor is dismissing their symptoms too readily. 
 
You can ease your mind by realizing YOU are in control, not the doctor. The doctor works for you, not the other way around. One thing this means is you are in control of the schedule. If you are not comfortable with the surgery scheduled for this autumn, then tell the hospital you wish to cancel or postpone it.  If I am reading your letter correctly, this is not a life-threatening need right now. That is, you will still be able to live and function without the surgery. Do you feel that you will be able to attend university? I am guessing you can, and if you have trouble hearing lectures, make sure you sit in a front-row seat (you can also record lectures and listen to them later with the volume turned up); if you need a hearing aid in the one ear, get one.
 
Only after all your questions have been answered about the surgery and you are mentally and emotionally prepared for it should you schedule a date. In other words, don't push yourself because pushing yourself about deadlines will only increase your anxiety levels.
 
You, Glyn, are ultimately in control of your own health and body. You have the right to be comfortable and well-informed about any medical treatments and surgical procedures involving your own body.
 
Hope that helps reassure you.
 
Hugs,
Papabear

Furries are everywhere! "Welcome to Menceriakan on the MARCH, which took part in the middle of summer in a quiet Village where the animals gather and live. So we can join Garujix, Clef, Bima, Tigre, Antares, Hopesa, Chirros, Shirou, Benjamin, Frans."
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