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Another evening with the cast for..fun? Episode 37 - Shark this title please

Want some scorekeeping about Dogpatch Press? The site is getting close to 1,000 stories in 4 years, with quadruple readership since 2017 and tons of positive news about fun and cool accomplishments furries keep doing.

Then there’s stories that expose hate and abuse from the fringes. People who don’t follow what the site does like to misrepresent it as nothing more than a source for “drama”, muckraking, “fake news” or angry mob “witch hunts”. These attacks often come from a vested interest in keeping things nice and quiet.

Here’s an example of such a story. (This one started before Dogpatch Press existed, so attacking the messenger is pointless.) This sheds light on the motivation of a former fandom celebrity who fell into disgrace:

(Links in here): Why doesn’t 2 Gryphon tell the truth about how his partner went to prison? Why does he attack abuse victims just like he Protests Too Hard against “SJW’s” and “witch hunts”? Why is he no longer welcome on convention stages?

An honest look at the links will find the answer. It’s complicity by a Quisling who doesn’t give a shit about this fandom. Complicity is a theme for this article, and solutions too.

In 2018, fandom is maturing with more stories like that coming to light. When they do, they earn fair public recognition. But sometimes problems get fogged up with bad faith complaints instead of addressing the roots. Complainers attack the “drama” of bringing problems to light, as if they wouldn’t exist if everyone shut up. (Shutting up too long is how they get worse.) Misguided fence-sitters follow along, who may be motivated by mistaken belief in a “just world” fallacy – a form of cognitive bias to rationalize bad deeds, often involving victim-blaming, where people believe that noble actions will always be rewarded and evil will be punished. It lets them sit in a false center with clearly one-sided problems because it’s “fair”. But fairness doesn’t just happen. It takes work and there can be a lot of friction holding it back. As 2 Gryphon shows, false “centrism”, ignorance, and complicity can all be the same thing holding it back.

Speaking up in the face of bad faith has a great benefit. It brings out stories from other people who are unjustly intimidated about talking and feel nobody will listen. They may have no help from authorities, even when there’s evidence of crime.

The following stories help show why. Many others may never come out. (If you ever hear anyone say “shut up and go to the police”, link them here.)

If you have such a story, reach out and ask for confidentiality. The site depends on promising that. These have names changed and locations protected for safety.

1) A crime by a con staffer with powerful connections, and a tipper afraid to talk.

A tipper wrote in that they were trying to get attention about an adult having sex with minors. The adult, Sam, was in his mid-to-late 20’s. The minors were Sam’s boyfriend Rob, who was 16 when they first dated, and Terry, who was 14 when all three of them had sex.

I saw screenshots of age verification for Sam and Terry, and chats about this. One chat was by a minor who knew Terry, telling someone else they learned about what happened. Another chat showed Terry telling another fur not to get involved. Another had Terry using the term statutory rape about Sam.

Terry (the 14 year old) was strongly opposed to consequences, believing Sam (the adult) did nothing wrong. He was still staying with Sam, and Terry’s mom wouldn’t do anything after being told in person.

The tipper felt like people should know the truth, but felt like they couldn’t say anything since Sam was never charged. They feared backlash. Sam had a lot of friends and no one believed the tipper, and it was making them sick. I asked if Sam was predatorial on anyone else. The tipper said they wouldn’t be surprised, but had to leave their social group and cut all communication with Sam. They told me:

“I don’t know if I even want to go though with this – people keep threatening me. Everyone wanted to protect Sam.

Sam just doesn’t understand real world actions – he’s one of *those* furries who thinks he lives in the furry world: “Age is nothing, we’re all animals.”

I said:

“if there was a crime by Sam and he doesn’t own it, that’s the basic problem, and the mom and anyone attacking you is being complicit. Terry being a minor means that even if he hates consequences, it’s irrelevant.”

The tipper added:

“I still went to the police, but they told me unless the parent wanted to press charges they were not going to bother with it.

Sam’s father threatened to take us to court and just everyone backed off. He’s rich, might be a part of the legal system, I’m not 100% sure.

Sam is staff of [con name] and leads the DJ/dance stuff in a position of popularity.”

As far as I know, the con wasn’t complicit, and these events didn’t come directly from Sam’s staff role, but there were already known rumors that got confirmed. Followup was passed to sources that can’t be discussed for security.

2) Another predator who personally crossed the line with me, possibly staffing the same con.

Several years ago I went to a party hosted regularly by local furries. There was an attendee old enough to be a parent to the average fur. He knew that I was pretty open to others, and got extremely touchy with me without asking. It definitely crossed the line of consent. I wasn’t into it, but didn’t say anything at that moment because of being caught off guard. But I didn’t say yes or go there for that reason. It took time to process that it really was a violation, and that’s not something an adult guy is typically supposed to be vulnerable to.

He did it to others. Then I found out from a Beware by another local fur: 1) This guy had a sex offender record and Megan’s Law registry entry for it – I verified his face was on the state website. 2) He had been kicked out of local kink events that didn’t allow sex offenders to attend, and tried using social manipulation to get in anyways. Soon after this came out, he disappeared.

Recently I saw him surface in the Altfurry chat group. I asked around and found out he may be staffing the same con as in story 1) above. Again, as far as I know the con wasn’t complicit, and these events didn’t come directly from a staff role. Followup was passed to sources that can’t be discussed for security.

3) Another predator staffing the same con, and another minor who couldn’t talk about a crime.

From a tipper:

“I know of someone, who I will hold his name, who is 15 years old.  RJ, boyfriend of Aaron and staffer at [con name], pushed to have sex with this unnamed teen. He was too nervous to go to the police or parents (he sent nude photos to RJ so technically he distributed child porn and he’s not out to his conservative parents). So he went to me, and I suggested to go to con security.

He wrote to security who said they won’t do anything without a police report. No request for more evidence. Now he’s crushed and feeling helpless.

So the con security was given evidence that one of their own staff pushed and coerced a 15 year old to have sex with him. They chose to do nothing and now the teen is scared to attend [con] due to his abuser staffing it and feels like no justice is done. He refuses to go to the police which is a fair decision and I support him on it. He’s just trying to make sure RJ no longer holds a position of power at a con where other underage furries attend.

I know the evidence isn’t fake because [redacted]. The sad part is that this teen also went to Aaron, RJ’s boyfriend, and Aaron didn’t believe him and blocked him. RJ goes around unscathed as he abuses boys.”

I saw screenshots of explicit coercion that alluded to illegal file sharing. There were also screenshots of the minor confiding to someone about feeling powerless and trapped by a need to maintain living circumstances. Followup was passed to sources that can’t be discussed for security, but I got this informed explanation:

“The reasoning behind the police report, and this really does suck, is that it makes a paper trail that shields the convention from any accusations of libel from this creeper guy if action is taken. Likelihood of legal action is always low, but we have to have on-paper reasons for concrete actions.”

Bottom line

Now we get to what these stories have to say about fandom. Maybe you expect me to say “OMG everything is horrible and broken…”

Nah, get that defeatist garbage out of here. I think the issue isn’t fandom itself. It’s fringe elements sharing a toxic ethic among themselves. (More context: R.C. Fox arrested for child pornography, furries question fandom connections.)

Fandom has that fringe of bad faith and bullshit attitudes, ranging from “not my problem” to victim blaming, “what about both sides for nazis/predators”, and “down with witch hunting”, led by people like 2 Gryphon, who cares more about abusers than their victims.

It’s concentrated among tiny hate groups like “alt furry”, who made 2 Gryphon their “PR department” (in their words).

"(2Gryphon)... is literally running our PR department right now" - TheFurredReich, the guy that said this stuff https://t.co/4wfEXo1td3

— Ed "Tedious" Bear (@That_Edward) May 17, 2018

Then there’s the altfurry admin who was caught grooming a 16-year-old.

Altfurries do this at the same time as they have been caught attacking conventions like Califur with fake “pedophile” accusations they cook up to play wolves in sheep’s clothing. They obviously don’t give a shit about abuse when their admins and “PR Department” are complicit with it.  It’s simply a 2-faced ploy to “redpill” their tiny membership. Grooming isn’t the full extent, either.

Their false accusations at Califur cost it $24,000 for extra security costs. They make it part of a usual tactic to harm cons economically, and for the same reasons, they try to use court trolling/frivolous litigation to take websites down.

“IT SURE WOULD BE A SHAME IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOUR NICE LITTLE CON…”

This kind of malicious trolling is why cons have to be overprotective about liability, as explained in story 3). The result is leaving people less safe about reporting security issues that expose them to backlash. Altfurries are pushing an agenda to raise costs for security and lower consequences for predators. They want to make their own targets more vulnerable for grooming.

But there’s genuine peer help here too, and that’s why you’re getting to read about the three examples above. This article will circulate with tippers and staffers who have privilege to know confidential ID’s and facts that make those stories true.

Fandom is where people can talk about this stuff, whether privately or with public news. There’s ways it supports people who need it but can’t get it elsewhere. This is why so many gay kids come out here. They can get something from peers that doesn’t come from parents, authorities or the status quo. They can feel confident in seeing the 0.1% fringe of “altfurry” predators be rejected across the board by cons and fandom. They can see that fandom is a good place because people like 2 Gryphon don’t get stages any more.

As a point of failure, there’s also an important part of these stories that’s more at the root than fandom is. It’s conservative attitudes of parents who won’t do right for kids who don’t feel safe to come out.

“Hey ma and pa, what the hell is wrong with y’all?” (Fun and powerful messages DO go together. What dummy would say Funk can’t have Politics?)

Isn’t it funny how a lowly subculture can support like a surrogate family? That’s you. Enjoy furry art and parties, and being more than the sum of the parts.

Meanwhile, conventions might be able to vet their low level staff better. And there should be more understanding about why not to backlash at honest whistleblowers who try to get info shared without fear. These stories can keep being short term problems, but in the long term you’re part of the solution.

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.

And look: Here’s a whole new series of novels for young readers by Bruce Hale. The first book in the Class Pets series is called Fuzzy’s Great Escape. “Fuzzy is the ambitious and unfortunately named guinea pig of class 5B. He has big plans for this year — namely, to be president of the Class Pets Club. Then the cutest, most charming new bunny shows up and spins Fuzzy’s plan like a hamster wheel. There’s only one way to topple the adorable new club president: Fuzzy is taking the pets on a field trip!” Follow up that fun with Fuzzy Takes Charge and Fuzzy Freaks Out. All of them are available now from Scholastic Press.

image c. 2018 Scholastic Press

It really is amazing what can be done by 3 or 4 people with consumer equipment that used to take a large crew and large budgets. "This video was premiered at Eurofurence 24 Opening Ceremony. We're super proud of the result and we hope you enjoy it. A lot of hard work went into it which you can see in the behind the scenes that we will publish soon. A thank you to TheFatRat for making the music available, the patrons for the support, and most of all our team on our journey through Switzerland for their work!"
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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

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.

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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