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Hello Papa Bear,

My name is Kreed and I'm a 29 year old husky living in southern Louisiana. I've been in the fandom since pre-teens and have pretty much grown up with it and love it more than anything.

Now my problem is, I'm going to be turning 30 in October. I'm no longer going to be known as a young fur but a grey-muzzle now, ironically my beard is infact greying. My only problem is that the vast majority of the fandom are younger furs, and want nothing to do with an "oldie" like me, trust me I've tried befriending some.

So my question is if there's still a place for a greymuzzle like me in this fandom full of younger furs? Or should I hang up my sona and say thanks for the good run?

Borks and wags,
Kreed

* * *

Dear Kreed,

OMG yes! There is a place for you in the fandom and always will be! Are you on Facebook? If so, please join the Greymuzzle group there that I administer. We are 1,686 members and growing, with furries aged 30 to 74 (and no age limit on the higher end, of course).

In this bear's opinion, greymuzzles are hardcore furries. Yes, the majority of furries are in their teens and twenties, but many of those furries drop out of the fandom when they "get too old for childish stuff" and mutate into mundanes (how sad). Hardcore furries are furries for life with no limit because they are furries in their hearts and the only way one can change that is through invasive surgery ;-3

Do not hang up your fursona. Don't make me come over there and spank you, bad boy. Stay furry!

Hugs,
Papabear

REGISTER NOW AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND!

Please join our family!https://t.co/J4AOGGw47v

Pre-reg for our campers is open until 11:59pm Sunday, July 15th.

Pre-reg campers have a chance to be selected as Attendee Guest of Honor and be bumped up to Wolf camper! (The winner will be notified Monday, July 16th.)

10/

— Camp Tiny Paws (@TinyPaws_Con) July 13, 2018

 

I’ve enjoyed many kinds of furry conventions with different themes, size, and pacing.

There’s the small local relax-a-con near me, Pacific Anthropomorphics Weekend (November 2018) – an underrated gem in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the party floor is one long open balcony and the whole con can be friends at the same time.  Then there’s the extravagance of Anthrocon, where it feels like a whole neighborhood of Pittsburgh gets in theme without being asked. The playful storefronts and sidewalk signs make it feel like Furry Christmas, and there’s nothing like it anywhere else I’ve been. When the fursuit parade fills the city street, and you’re there with thousands of ordinary citizens cheering for it, it’s one of the 7 Wonders of the Furry World. (Mine, anyways. Make your own list – that’s the beauty of what furries do.)

But I’ve always gone as an ordinary fan like any other. Tiny Paws changed that by inviting me to be a Guest of Honor. Wow! I don’t care whether they stuff 7 hotels like that thing in that other place (who needs elevator lines?) – it makes me wag my tail like a propeller.

Guess what… it’s amazing and special and cool, but it’s also hard work!  Every con depends on volunteers to make it happen (give a special shout out to con staff whenever you can). It’s no different for a GOH.  They’re supposed to be part of the attraction, and that means helping to promote, entertain and provide whatever talent got the invitation.

In this case, it’s being a GOH who isn’t known as an artist. How often do cons recognize non-artists who contribute to the fandom? I don’t know, but it would be a nice topic for a chat.

As for what I can contribute… that means running a panel which I tentatively summarized like this:

DIY Furry Power: Self Employment and what fandom is all about.

“Furry fandom is: Creativity and Doing It Yourself. It’s a dog eat dog world, but self employed people can thrive here – that’s the challenge every artist faces. It’s a sandbox where you build what you want. It’s also about direct exchange of skills, working together, and strength in numbers. In this panel, we’ll look at ways to get into building projects or offering services, what kinds succeed and why, and the state of “the furry economy”. There will be practical discussion for artists and freelancers, but also a fun look at furry creativity for anyone who loves what fandom is about. And maybe some shared spirit of DIY Punk. This panel draws from deep research and experience that Patch writes about at Dogpatch.press, the most active furry news site – and his 14 years of making a living boss-free as a dog on the loose.”

There’s helping to judge the Talent Show, which I think means just sticking a marker in my paws and holding up one of those number cards, and looking fluffy!

There’s having a table in the Expo (Dealer’s Den), where I might put out some silly-headline graphic prints? And maybe some furry soap and stickers?

And showing up all bleary-eyed but ready to snarfle a dog bowl at the Breakfast Buffet for special Wolf level friends of the con.

Some of this is going to involve fellow guests; artist Shadra, Uncle Kage, Boozy Badger, and even his badg-lets(?) Badgotts. I’m not worthy!

Our Wolf campers will also enjoy two exclusive events:

Saturday morning breakfast buffet with our GOHs (@BoozyBadger, @ShadraAvroArt, and @DogpatchPress)

and for our 21+ year old Wolves...
a sake tasting with our GOHs and led by @Unclekage

7/

— Camp Tiny Paws (@TinyPaws_Con) July 13, 2018

This says I’m a non-artist GOH… that’s a bit of a fib. (Fake news!!) I very rarely do any drawing specifically for fandom, and have never been free for commissions, but Tiny Paws is just so special I made an exception. Here’s one I did for promotion (others here.)

Get a gander at this laser-engraved pint glass! Only available as a special gift for our Wolf campers!

Pre-register for Camp Tiny Paws 2018 today! Only FOUR more days left!

(Thank you @DogpatchPress and @ToyPonyStudios who made this beautiful gift possible!) pic.twitter.com/h7pzJXAARx

— Camp Tiny Paws (@TinyPaws_Con) July 11, 2018

If you go, expect this stuff and more (and this is a family-friendly con.)

• Expo
• Large tabletop gaming room
• Charity raffle
• Photo studio
• Open crafting room
• Numerous panels and fun events, three days of fursuit events, and a happy birthday celebration with cake!

Dealers:

• Art By Mitsene
• AshWolves5
• BeanMews
• Cadmiumtea and Tenza
• Copper Centipede
• Crazdude Art & Design
• Dogpatch Press (GOH)
• The Dragon’s Lair
• Fur The More
• gBlazeWear, LLC
• Grandpaw Joe’s Defaced Vinyls And More!
• Hopeful Monster Studio
• How Bout Meow
• JenKiwi
• KatUsedCharm
• K Brand Art
• Lawyers & Liquor (GOH)
• LittlePawzfursuits
• M&T Comics and Cards
• Mad Tea Kreations
• Magical Girl Soap Company
• Magic Foxy Artworks
• Makoto’s Creations
• The Manic Macaw
• Name Tags By Nyght
• NightlineZ
• Open Wing Studio
• Owl’s Mirror Studio
• RCSI Publishing
• Rylucius
• Saba illustration
• Sam Neukirch
• Scents Fur All
• Shadra Avro Art (GOH)
• Star Sweets
• Static Claws
• Stormslegacy Designs
• Technicolour Costumes
• Trot L’Oeil Artistry
• Vulturesong
• Wingtip Designs

Whether you live near or far, hope to see you there. Be fabulous and frisky until it’s time for fun!

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.

We haven’t heard of Flying Bark Productions before, but according to Animation World Network it sounds like we should start paying attention to them! The studio is hard at work on a CGI feature film called 100% Wolf, which they plan to follow with a TV series of the same name immediately after.  The plot? “Lovers of surreal, laugh-out-loud animation should enjoy this comedy series about Freddy Lupin, an 11-year-old boy set to turn into a werewolf, just like everyone else in his family. But things don’t go as planned when Freddy turns into an adorable poodle instead.” Got that? Interesting thing is the feature and series are based on a popular Australian children’s novel by Jayne Lyons. No word yet on distribution, but the film and series are scheduled to be complete in 2019.

image c. 2018 Flying Bark Productions

It's that time of year! It's time for amazing post anthrocon videos.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

The Adventures of Peter Gray, by Nathan Hopp.
Green Bay, WI, Written Dreams Publishing, April 2018, hardcover, $25.50 (248 pages), trade paperback $16.99.

The Adventures of Peter Gray is told as an autobiography, being written by an elderly Peter Gray, a wolf Furren, in a retirement home in New York City, presumably in the 1960s or later. (The Epilogue gives a specific date.) There is a reference to watching I Love Lucy on a color TV. He seems to be strongly religious:

“No one stops playing their fancy radios, singing ‘Top of the World’ or watching I Love Lucy on their colored televisions to ever be thankful for what’s been given. Or is to be given. Nobody kneels down and thanks the Lord for how much a single year can impact who you are, who you have become, and who you love. No one even thanks Him that much anymore.” (p. 8)

The autobiography begins on New Year’s Day, 1899, when Peter is a homeless 12-year-old street orphan freezing in the alleys of lower Manhattan. His descriptions make it clear that this is a funny-animal world. There are humans, but they are rare compared to the Furren, who seem almost exactly like the humans:

“A Catholic raccoon, Lance Turner was no taller or older than me, but he was more dedicated to his faith. He was also one of my best friends. We’d known each other for nearly five years, and the raccoon and I had gotten some real bruises from our meets. He was a funny guy when not quoting scripture, though I couldn’t say the same about his older twin brothers.” (p. 15)

“As the she-wolves gathered the items they needed, I glanced at the Furren helping them. It was Alan himself, a six-foot mouse with black fur, an unpleasant face, and covered in burly muscles. I knew the guy, and had once stolen a package of cheese from him earlier in my youth. I prayed the mouse didn’t recognize me.” (p. 16)

“‘Hey, cub. Would ya’ like a new pair of boots?’ a raccoon vendor asked me after he’d crossed the road. He had a single tooth and his musky stench made me gag. I didn’t try hiding my distance. ‘These are made of the finest leather in all of the East Coast, and I’ll give half –’

‘—and I’m a Crown Prince of England. Not interested,’ I mumbled, passing by. ‘We can’t even wear boots.’” (p. 19)

So the Furren don’t wear footwear, at least. The humans are roughly analogous to the African-Americans:

“‘Gosh…’ Lance gasped. ‘Are those…?’

‘Humans?’ I nodded, still staring. I’d heard of them, but had never seen two this close. ‘What else could they be?’

Humans were a very strange species, having no fur or tail as a distinct feature to the bodies, nor any claws or large fangs to hunt. Their short, angular noses didn’t smell as good compared to wolves or bloodhounds. I remember once reading in a newspaper that humans were scattered across the planet and often thrived in bands like packs, keeping together. Others preferred the cities over countryside, but humans were kept far below the Furren in the food chain everywhere. Always under the Furren, especially the carnivores.

It wasn’t until decades ago that they were freed from the chains of slavery in America, thanks to a powerful wolf in the White House. Some, mainly canines, still look down on them as dirtier than sooty snow, but I chose not to. As long as they had a stove and coal, any human was a friend of mine.” (pgs. 21-22)

Peter and Lance make the acquaintance of the Lawtons, who have just moved to NYC from Buffalo for Mr. Lawton to take a better job. James, who is Peter’s and Lance’s age, becomes their friend. James joins Lance in the next to last year of the local elementary school. Peter, as an orphan, isn’t welcome.

Aside from the anthropomorphic animals, it’s a good historical description of the lower classes of New York in 1899. Some of the “facts” might be quibbled with; there weren’t any automobiles in 1899 except rich men’s toys, and I’m pretty sure there were no radios except experimental sets. Peter, wandering homeless, meets a Furren youth selling newspapers:

“A mixed breed of raccoon and whitish fox, maybe some wolfish blood in there, too. […]

The mixed breed wore a black pirate’s patch on his left eye, but his right met mine.

‘Louis Ballat.’ He offered a friendly paw.

Hearing him speak as he set a newspaper beside his ankles, I couldn’t miss his heavy Brooklyn accent. ‘But me friens call me Kid Blink.’” (p. 54)

For those who don’t get the historical reference, it’s to the NYC newsboys’ strike of July 1899. Read the Wikipedia article on it: “The newsboys’ strike of 1899 was a U.S. youth-led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers compensated their child labor force of newspaper hawkers. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer’s New York World to decrease its circulation from 360,000 to 125,000.” Kid Blink (Wikipedia spells Ballatt with two t’s), a one-eyed 13- or 14-year-old newsboy, was a leader of the strike. Disney made a cleaned-up live-action musical of it, Newsies, in 1992, and of course there is the 2012 Broadway musical, currently touring.

But for most of The Adventures of Peter Gray, it’s the fictional biography of an almost-adolescent cocky homeless orphan and his tenement-dwelling pals of lower Manhattan during 1899, playing kick-the-can in the streets, getting involved in juvenile gang fights, trying to stay cool in the summer – Hopp refers to the problems of Furren with thick fur in a NYC summer — and the like. On page 120, Peter runs into Kid Blink again and he recruits Peter as a newsboy:

“As I walked away, I spotted a certain fox-raccoon hybrid a few yards to my right.

‘Petuh Gray!’ Kid Blink lunged at me for a hug. Standing back, he adjusted his eyepatch and flashed a toothy grin. ‘Great tuh see yuh today.’

‘Blink, it’s good to see ya’!’ I laughed, wagging my tail and perking up my ears. ‘I haven’t seen ya’ in months. How have ya’ been?’” (p. 120)

All the articles on the newsboys’ strike say that Kid Blink was a colorful newsboy strike leader, and the other NYC newspapers that quoted him emphasized his thick Brooklyn accent.

So the last half of The Adventures of Peter Gray (cover by Mark Shamlian) is a historical novel about the strike, with most of the characters being Furren. There are constant mentions of wagging tails, perked or lowered ears, thick fur (and the humans not having any) and the problems of having fleas, and so on to keep you thinking of what a furry novel this is, but it’s really just stage costuming. Read it for a snapshot of 1899 lower Manhattan – with Furren.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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

This makes me want to check out my nearby natural history museum just in case this shit is going on.
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Situated in Prestwich, Tri-Heart Interactive is a community driven video game development company that alters the game’s development based on the feedback they receive from the public. Their ambition is to let their fanbase and newcomers to the video game fandom to feel like they are actually included in the aforesaid game’s development. Their current project is a game of our audience's interest called, "The Otterman Empire"

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

Endling: [Book One] The Last, by Katharine Applegate. Illustrated by Max Kostenko. Map,
NYC, HarperCollinsPublishers/Harper, May 2018, hardcover, $17.99 ([vi +] 383 pages), Kindle $10.99.

This first book in a Young Adult fantasy series, recommended for 8 to 12-year-olds, is narrated by Byx, a young dairne; apparently the last of the dairnes – the endling.

“My parents feared I would be the first among us to die when trouble came, and trouble, they knew, was fast approaching.

I was small. And sometimes disappointing.

But I knew I could be brave as well. I was not afraid to be the first to die.

I just did not want to be the last to live.

I did not want to be the endling.” (p. 5)

Dairnes are a golden-furred doglike people with marsupial-like pouches and arm membranes (glissaires) that can glide, like flying squirrels.

“Dairnes were often mistaken for dogs. We share many physical similarities.

Dogs, however, lack opposable thumbs. They can’t walk upright. They aren’t able to glide from tree to tree. They can’t speak to humans.

And dogs aren’t – forgive me – the sharpest claws in the hunt, if you take my meaning.” (p. 4)

Byx lives in the Kingdom of Nedarra, a large land shown on endpaper maps. Nedarra has nine talking animal species including six primary species:

“That was the closest I had ever come to humans, one of the six great governing species. Those six – humans, dairnes, felivets, natites, terramants, and raptidons – had once been considered the most powerful in our land. But now all of them – even the humans – were controlled by the despotic Murdano.” (pgs. 7-8)

Other talking animals of Nedarra include the wobbyks, the starlons, and the gorellis. Below those are the non-talking animals like chimps, whales, horses, crows, crickets, and so on. That’s Byx and Tobble, a wobbyk, on the cover by Max Kostenko. The wobbyks have three tails and are fierce fighters – according to Tobble:

“‘It’s only fair to warn you,’ said Tobble. ‘You do not want to see an angry wobbyk. We are fearsome to behold. I in particular am known for my fierce temper.’

‘Thank you, Tobble,’ I said. ‘But –’

‘Back home they called me Tobble the Terrible.’” (p. 93)

Byx has never seen a human, but they have been described to her.

“And I learned, most importantly, that humans were never to be trusted, and always to be feared.” (p. 8)

But now most are gone, and those left are enslaved by the Murdano. Byx’s pack of dairnes lived in hiding, only 29 left. They are about to migrate to the north searching for other dairne survivors. Byx is away from her home when the Murdano’s human soldiers attack, slaughtering her family and all the remaining dairnes, leaving her as the last of the dairnes – unless she can find any others in hiding.

Byx, alone, comes together with the equally alone Tobble, a wobbyk, and Khara, a 14-year-old renegade human girl. They set out all through Neddara – see the map – for a place where they can be safe and, maybe, find more dairnes. But they are an Odd Threesome, and Byx has been brought up to believe that humans can never be trusted:

“‘We’re going to Cora di Schola.’

I exchanged a look with Tobble. No, he didn’t know what that meant, either.

‘And that is …?’ I asked.

‘It’s an island city. Its real name is the Isle of Ursina. But everyone calls it ‘Cora di Schola.’ It means ‘Heart of the Scholars.’’

‘Why do they call it that?’ Tobble asked.

‘It’s shaped roughly like a human heart. And it’s home to scholars and students. The Imperial Academy of Alchemy, Astronomy, Theurgy, and Science is housed there.’

I had to digest each word separately.

‘Alchemy,’ I’d learned from Dalyntor, was the art of blending substances to create new substances, like medicines. ‘Astronomy,’ I thought, had something to do with stars. ‘Theurgy’ was the study of spells and incantations. And ‘Science’? I was not quite certain what that was, but it sounded impressive.

‘Imperial’ sounded impressive, too, until I remembered –

‘Imperial? I cried. ‘As in the Murdano?’

‘His Imperial Highness, the Murdano of Nedarra, Defender of Truth, Guardian of the Righteous, Peacemaker of the People, and so on and so on and so forth,’ Khara said, waving her hand.” (pgs. 90-91)

Byx and Tobble see amazing sights. Khara is familiar with them, although not entirely:

“Tobble hissed. ‘Pirate ship!’ he said, pointing at a boat slightly smaller than the freighters. It had two raked masts and shining brass cannons arrayed down each side.

‘Don’t worry.   We have no business with pirates,’ Khara assured him. ‘We’re looking for a ferry to the isle.

I looked around and risked a whispered question. ‘If the natites rule the seas, why do they allow pirates?’

‘That’s a very good question,’ Khara said. ‘They allow fishing boats and freighters but will not allow the Murdano to build a navy. No one knows for certain why the natites do anything, but most people believe they tolerate the pirates in exchange for information about the world of the land.   I doubt that’s the only reason, though.’” (p. 129)

Applegate first came to prominence as the author of record of the Animorphs fantasy series, 54 monthly Young Adult novels and ten spinoffs from June 1996 to May 2001. She has since revealed that she was helped by her husband and several editors and friends to produce a novel a month for five years. Since then Applegate has written several Young Adult novels on her own, many of which have been award-winning or –nominated; notably the 2012 The One and Only Ivan, which won the 2013 Newbery Medal. It contains talking animals including Ivan, a caged silverback gorilla. Her Crenshaw is about a boy who has an imaginary giant anthropomorphic cat friend.

With Endling, Applegate has begun a new series full of action, suspense, drama, magic, humor, and taking animals. This first book ends with two humans, a dairne, a wobbyk, a felivet, a horse, and a dog setting out for the north and Byx’s quest for other dairnes, in the hope that she is not an endling, after all.

Endling: The Last was just published in May 2018. I got it almost immediately from the Los Angeles Public Library. Try your local public library.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on HarperCollins Publishing

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.

Animation World Network recently published an article of interest to fans of traditional 2D animation — and funny animals. Tonko House has released a full episode of its new series Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems on-line for a limited time. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, here’s this: “Previously only available in Japan via production partner Hulu, The Dam Keeper Poems is based on the studio’s 2014 Oscar-nominated short film The Dam Keeper. Directed by former Pixar artists Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, The Dam Keeper tells the story of Pig, an introverted youth who lives in a windmill and keeps a dark fog from engulfing his town. Although socially rejected by his peers, he is befriended by the artistic Fox. The Dam Keeper Poems is a 10-episode series written and directed by Tonko House’s Erick Oh, who also served as Animation Supervisor of the original short film. Seen through Pig’s youthful perspective, with abstract and surreal visuals, the dialog-free series is centered around the friendship between Pig and Fox as Pig remembers how he became the Dam Keeper.” There’s a link in the article, but remember this is only available for a short while.

image c. 2018 Tonko House

Here we have a student project for a furry game called Lyra that was done at the University of Hertfordshire Digital Animation Programme. "Lyra: The Traitor Lyngrave is a small proof of concept demo we put together as an introduction to our universe. Featuring non-linear narrative with turn based combat, the demo acts as a prologue to a wider story, following the two main characters Lyra and Oakmont on their journey through a dark world currently embroiled in the start of civil war. We hope you enjoy the style and tone of the world." You can download it and play around with it from here: http://www.montebearo.com/lyra [1] [1] http://www.montebearo.com/lyra
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Hello, Papabear,

I just wanted to talk a bit about some things that have been bothering me (mostly relates to the furry fandom, I promise). Anyway, I've been a part of the furry fandom for technically 10 years ever since I discovered what fursonas were back in early high school (though my childhood love of anthro animals in Disney and WB cartoons actually predates my discovery of the fandom).

Anyway, for a while I grew interested in the artwork of certain furry artists on deviantART. Sure, the furry art was enjoyable but over time, I discovered the site known as FurAffinity. I lurked on there for quite a few years (still on there) but since I was a teenager, I was quite paranoid and anxious about it because I usually enjoyed the more...expansive furry art. It's kind of embarrassing but inflation and weight gain art was and is still very appealing to me but even though I very much favorite family friendly furry art and those artists I like too, it's been part of the reason I'm unsure of how to actually try and show my parents the tame (family friendly) side of the fandom so they don't get weirded out by the whole fandom and tell me not to do it even though I want to be a part of the community more, genuinely make friends and go to furcons/furmeets.

The thing is that I had gone through a very traumatic experience back in primary school where I was made fun of a lot but even worse, people made fun of my weight behind my back. It shattered my worldview and made me anxious, upset and scared people may have secretly hated me for so long and just were pretending to like me and I would have no idea who actually did it. It deeply affected me right into high school to the point where I was lonely, severely depressed and suicidal but even though I don't want to die now, I just want friends who understand me (I have friends but I barely see them and none of them are furries). That horrible experience still affects me to this day. I still am afraid of what people think of me and I have social anxiety at times and it's for that reason why I'm not sure about going to a furry convention because of all the squeakers and mutes that I'd feel unable to talk to and I'd feel intimidated too.

My parents (they're separated) do love me and are not religious because they thought we would be effectively brainwashed with hateful propaganda. The reason I stopped being a Christian years ago was because of the conservative bigots over the years who hate the LGBT+ community (I'm bisexual). It's just I never told them about the furry fandom except for this one time by PC froze up, my mum walked in and violated my privacy by going into my FurAffinity faves that I was browsing on which was both mortifying and infurating. She said it was disturbing (her words) and even though I empathized with her feelings, I've always by instinct minimized/muted my browser whenever I go out of my room because the thought of people looking into my...interests only makes me immensely uncomfortable because I fear being judged by my family when I already have a mild learning disability (Aspergers) and I already have a hard time dealing with loneliness and my frustrations with my own family after we split apart. They don't judge my disability and they are supporting me on that so that's good.

I don't want to keep hiding this fandom from them anymore. It keeps eating away at me and makes me feel worse about myself. I obviously feel uncomfortable showing the suggestive kink art but I'd rather show the family friendly works so they can at least understand (I hope).

Though all in all, what I'm trying to ask is is it wrong liking that artwork (even the family stuff), let alone being a furry?

I just want to know because this has been bothering me for a long time and I would love to get an answer as soon as you can.

Sincerely, Sam the dog (age 23, Australia)

* * *

Dear Sam,

You should know that in the furry world you are in good company. There is a plethora (love saying that word: plethora! PLEH-THOO-RAAH LOL) of furries who really like big furries, inflation, or both. Heck, there is a Facebook group that is not at all ashamed to call the group Fat Furry Fans, and there is a group of over 700 members called Inflatable Furries/Scalies. As a FurAffinity and deviantArt member who collects such art, you must surely be aware that these are popular subcultures within the subculture of furries in general, yes? So, while your experience within the mundane world involving shaming because of your weight is indeed harsh, I firmly believe you will be much more accepted at furry conventions and other social gatherings than you are in the mundane world.

Addressing the whole parent thing: While it is important for a parent to have an interest in their kids' lives and behaviors, and they should try to protect them from harm, it is intrusive to spy on sexual behavior--at least, legal sexual behavior. Everyone has private sexual habits that are not for everyone's eyes, and sneaking onto your computer to check out what you like in porn is a violation of your privacy and trust. Many parents think that trust is a one-way street, but it should be both ways: you should trust your parents and they should trust you. You don't sneak onto their computers and they shouldn't sneak onto yours. That said, having a secretive behavior is not cool, either. 

This is, admittedly, a tricky thing in families. You want to be open and have good communication, but on the other paw, you have a right to some privacy. I'm sure Mom and Dad have some sexual proclivities they are not anxious to tell you about, too. Parents, under the law, have certain rights and responsibilities, including providing you with food, clothing, and a secure environment. However, you are now 23, which is legal age, so they have absolutely NO business butting into your business. Just because you have Asperger's is no excuse to treat you like a child, either.

It should be noted here, though, that online sexual behavior between minors or between a minor and an adult is illegal, both federally and in most states in the United States. You, of course, are from Australia, where it is also illegal, and a penalty of up to two years in prison is possible there. Because of these laws--which are pervasive internationally--it can be dangerous for you to explore sexuality online. This, sorry to say, is particularly true with furry sites because a huge part of the demographic is under 18 years of age. The part where you have to be careful is with any art or real-life photos that show minors (some furries into the babyfur scene have discovered that, sad to say), all of which can be classified as child pornography. Also, doing sexual RP online with someone who is a minor can be construed as breaking the law. This is particularly difficult in the furry world because there are people online who are under 18 who pose as adults when they RP or share art. You must be very very very cautious.

Bottom line: 1) According to your letter, your parents sound pretty cool for the most part; strike up an honest conversation with them about your interest in furries. Tell them you appreciate their interest in your life and their desire to keep you safe, but do insist that you deserve a little privacy when it comes to sex just as you respect their privacy on such matters; 2) keep your regular furry behavior and your sexual interests separate--at least, while you still live with your family; if you save art, keep it on an external drive that you keep in a safe place or in the cloud or somewhere where it is not readily available to someone without a password. You can fave art on your FurAffinity page and keep it from prying eyes by logging out of FA when you go offline and then using your password to get back in. Never share your password with anyone, obviously, even people you think you can trust; 3) and once you have your G furry life separated from your adult furry life, open up more about your furriness to your parents, with an emphasis that there is a HUGE difference between being a furry and one's sex life and that the two are not bound together in the furry community (i.e., furry isn't about sex; it is about furry fun is all). Finally, you're 23. Time to move out of your parents' house and start your own life. You can do it. Mild Asperger's should not hinder you.

It is okay for you to be furry. It is okay to have sexual desires. It is okay if those sexual desires are "unconventional" as long as you are not hurting people (e.g., rape is not okay, child molestation is not okay, but you are not engaging in either of those, so you're cool).

Hope that helps.

Big Bear Hugs,
Papabear

There was a lot of recent drama about Artworktee, an indie operation catering to furries. This video covers how it started, but there’s a lot more to say.

I had mixed feelings on watching it unfold on social media. “But Patch, isn’t reporting not supposed to have feelings?” I’m a fan like any other, and “objective fan” is an oxymoron.  I couldn’t pretend not to be one, or miss the point of having an independent subculture by fans, for fans that’s best written about from inside. For this story, I dug deeper into some of the issues involved:

• Complaints about underpaid artists.
• Questionable practices for the business of art.
• The mission and allegiance involved in profiting from fandom.
• The stakes of overlooking problems and calling it “just business”, vs. how formal business can solve problems too.

Let me try to bring understanding from several perspectives, including the travails of small-business, and the devotion of grassroots fans. This is a great case for that stuff, because it’s not every day that a business comes from this niche fandom that kind of resembles mainstream startup companies. Until now, the most successful commercial enterprise like that is probably Bad Dragon.

Pro-fans and profiteering

Say you’re a devoted furry, maybe even the kind with art prints on your wall, decals on your car and a paw print tattoo. You want to commission quality providers who make you feel good about your hobby and won’t underperform. You can pick one who does a 9-5 job, comes home tired and can’t put their entire soul into what they do.  Or maybe there’s a full-time “pro fan”… one of a special class that has risen up to making a living with direct support from individuals, who can buckle down and deliver without distraction.

There aren’t a lot of people like that, and few of them make big money (most deserve more.) Furry is full of young people, but it’s been going since the 1980’s and there are older ones with kids here. Keeping people at least comfortable matters. Making a living with decent pay isn’t a bad thing.

“The furry economy” is a place where consciously or not, there’s a lot of subsidizing.  Look at how artists work in the zone between hobbyist and freelancer, and fans come to expect low fandom pricing. Cons are run by volunteers and donors, and it’s generally a DIY effort by everyone with little if any outside corporate investment. They largely control the Means of Production. It’s more than business – it’s for love as much as money.

That’s why saying “sellout,” “hack”, “huckster” or “scammer” can strike a nerve, and motive deserves scrutiny. There’s a lot of trust in the love of it, but we all know why there’s a need for Artist Beware type efforts, (and one or two news sites, hopefully) and people resort to callouts. It’s an ad-hoc, organic substitute for formal ratings, mediation or consumer protection. Fans who do that are saying “hey, we built this platform… be accountable to us!”

There’s a concept for mainstream startup business called “growth hacking”. It involves cutting corners, overselling, or taking advantage to outcompete others in the market. A touch of cleverness is supposed to be grease for the wheels of commerce, but isn’t it Machiavellian, the more it’s taken for granted (or lets crime pay and predators win?) And is growth the point here? Fans certainly shouldn’t welcome attempts to squeeze maximum profit from a grassroots art community with minimal care for its noncommercial heart.

Or maybe it’s not always that simple.  America can make independent business operation a matter of blind luck, with brutal problems like lack of access to health care. Imagine having carpal tunnel and depending on furry commissions with no choice about persisting. Like that. Sometimes being caught in such a bind is inevitable. Then cutting corners is an escape tactic. Maybe money earmarked for some other purpose pays off a debt. Or someone resorts to tracing to dial up delivery with an overcommitted queue.

There are highly demanded fursuit makers whose commission queues stretch back 10 years. (Think of all that deposit money as a pile of personal debt, like other households owe to banks… but loaned interest-free by trusting fans). Their rate of accepting new commissions doesn’t show a rosy outlook on fixing that. I could name multiple makers like that I’ve been asked to do stories on (perhaps a list and their cases are needed.) People love their art anyways.

This is why businesses are accommodated to fail and go bankrupt and absolve debt, to encourage starting them. (If only people and families had a better safety net in the USA). Some people are good creators but bad with numbers. Others are full of excuses or malice. The by-fans-for-fans way isn’t necessarily pure. We don’t know every deeper story, so judge carefully case by case. Is the appearance of greed actually evil, or a byproduct of circumstance and risk taking?

Things really get sketchy if there’s a history of bad credibility and failures, intentional deceptive practices, or ducking accountability and rebranding to hide it. Fursonas make that easy. Those might be mitigated by something closer to a mainstream marketplace. That’s where it’s crucial to ask, can it keep the heart?

Scandal: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Lets dig deeper into what you saw in the top video, where fans discovered past problems and took the news badly.

In 2015, MLP/Brony fandom site Horse News exposed bad practices by artist Drawponies. He was tracing TV show animation and selling it as custom commissions. The MLP fandom took him to task for being “he’s not sorry he did it, he’s sorry he got caught” and displacing honest hard working artists with aggressive growth methods.

“He’s one of the most successful and well-traveled vendors in the fandom, with plans for over 20 pony, comic, and anime conventions in 2015 alone, and makes enough money off his business, he makes a fulltime income off of it. Drawponies also has turned his artist name into a company of sorts; he needs an artist team to complete all his commissions and help him trace all his artwork.”

• A 2015 public statement/apology from Drawponies was posted to an Artworktee account on Deviantart. In 2018, Artworktee retroactively explained it was one of their manager’s social media presences that got folded into a group company, while citing his efforts to be professional and not repeat mistakes.

That past was rediscovered in a new 2018 complaint about Artworktee underpaying artists. It seemed like Drawponies was part of rebranding for furries with Artworktee calling themselves a new company. Their new concept involved strategically approaching highly-followed popufurs to ride their tails for exposure with an “insert-name fan club” line of shirts. There were even reports of people feeling hassled by aggressive marketing to join. But it worked to sell many shirts of popufur designs by other artists, who may have been commissioned for a mere $50. The price was slammed by critics as vastly undervalued (while citing the 2015 story).

• The 2018 apology from Artworktee offered much better pay to solve the problem – even retroactively. They explained that they previously accepted what artists set as their own rates. However, as professional as the response was, critics made their own conclusions about the history. Had underpaid artists been kept in the dark and was the apology just because of being caught? A number of partners parted ways. One of the biggest may be Majira Strawberry.  However, then he posted an update that was friendly about the separation. Many others posted support for their own good relationships with Artworktee, who said the shirt sales included paying highest commissions compared to other companies for selling their likeness that way.

My impression: Artworktee makes big effort to be responsive to their user base and the fandom that built it… with one Big Caveat we’ll get into below.

For comparison, the business of selling shirts can be a pit of exploitation against indie artists by overseas thieves out of legal reach. They rip off designs with no credit, and would let artists go homeless if they can make a single penny. It’s a small part of counterfeiting abetted by the biggest companies on the internet. A personal, responsive company is miles above others.

Sometimes it’s better to have the devil you know, especially when that devil has shown it’s willing to do better.

— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 18, 2018

Remember: nobody is infallible because of their follower count. People fuck up all the time, even giant animal people. How someone responds to their fuck ups is what shows you whether they’re someone worth your time or not.

— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 25, 2018

Looking for the heart

My nose for commercializing got started around 2012, when curiosity and love led me to the Furry News biz (and a hundredaire fortune that should get me a title like Magnate, Mogul, or Maven by now.) In 2013 I covered pay-dating services targeting furries with deceptive business practices. The bottom line of that story: “one case of scam worries may not be that prominent, but it seems to be slowly growing above the level of personal fan activity. Be vigilant for the future.”

Like I said above, fans can look much deeper than just for good service. What I saw here made me very curious: Artworktee isn’t a scam operation, and their marketing towards popufurs is methodical and smart. But is the PR just hollow outer packaging?

To follow up, I sent a list of questions to Artworktee with a compliment for their effort with relationships, and an open invite to hear them out. It included asking about how they relate to the community, how they support artists, and questions about a Big Caveat.

Their answer was very comprehensive, with details about their team, company and values.

Around 2 weeks ago, I sent some questions to @artworktee and asked for comments. They responded well about getting them, and just posted a long post with an impressive amount of effort to answer what was coming in from that and elsewhere.https://t.co/kWukl85pat

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 2, 2018

But it dodged direct questions about how they make money from people that fandom platforms have stopped supporting for being malicious and toxic. Instead they gave a general non-answer answer. If furries have any reservations about commercializing fandom, consider this as a dividing line.

Question: “I heard that (fill in the blank) sells with you – do you support them?”

Answer: No. As is clearly stated in our terms of service: “ArtworkTee is a marketplace, not a consultancy or agent. ArtworkTee does not endorse any actions or statements by any artist or creator. Compensation, product samples, discounts, promotions, etc do not constitute endorsement.” In the same way that other platforms like Twitter and Facebook don’t endorse content creators, neither does ArtworkTee. Like other marketplace websites, including Etsy, Amazon, and Ebay, we do not judge our vendors based on their actions off of our platform, especially not messages sent in private. This would be an unfair breach of privacy, not to mention impossible to maintain for 400+ vendors. As long as a person complies with our terms of service, they are welcome to sell with us. The exceptions to this include criminal behavior, abusive behavior, or threats of violence against another person. Because our content is uploaded by and created by users, it’s our job to moderate the designs and make sure they don’t violate our terms of service, just like any other user-generated content website. We check every design as it is posted, and also rely on our users as a secondary check to let us know if a design that infringes our terms is posted. We are dedicated to making ArtworkTee the best marketplace for furries and other fandoms to sell shirts, regardless of their religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, heritage, disability, or any other factor.

Agree on both, feels like have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 3, 2018

Big Caveat: “Have-Your-Cake-And-Eat-It-Too” ethics.

This isn’t just about general policy. When we’re talking about malicious behavior, you might guess where this is going. Furry Raiders, Alt-furries, and Nazi Furs.

Artworktee has acted on this issue when it involved harming their business or brand. It started with managing PR when Furry Raider/Nazifur Foxler was called out by the “Insert Name Fan Club” shirt designer for stealing their design to troll people.

Yikes. Let me be extremely clear - we did not make this shirt design, and we want nothing to do with it. This is a poor copy of our "fan club" design style and nothing more.

— ArtworkTee (@artworktee) June 19, 2018

Wow. Okay, let me go through these lies one by one. I didn't want to give Foxler any attention, but these lies have to be corrected. pic.twitter.com/GgoYnL7uEX

— ArtworkTee (@artworktee) June 19, 2018

2. “AWT wanted to … listen to all furries bitch about the Raiders.” I can’t believe I’m typing these words, but let me be completely, 100% clear. We do not support or endorse Nazis. People with racist views, including Nazis, are not welcome to sell on ArtworkTee, as they ...

— ArtworkTee (@artworktee) June 19, 2018

Artworktee said they don’t support or endorse Nazis, and racists aren’t welcome… in that one case where they might lose money.

What about working with 2 Gryphon, who is currently using Artworktee and making them money after falling into disgrace and being dropped by cons that used to give him stages? He’s now representing the Altfurry “PR Department”, and spreads hate in ways that harm the fandom itself.

In March, before the underpaid artist issue came up, we’d traded messages about 2 Gryphon selling on their site. It was brought up by furries noticing his later-severed relationship with Eurofurence.

Public criticism led Artworktee to label his merchandise with a nonsupport message. They were obviously aware that he was causing a problem.

I mean if we're talking about supporting toxic people, I never understood why he got to be on T shirts of a rather well known website like a lot of other furry content creators as part of their "Anatomy of __" and "___ fan club" series

— Foster (@Foster_Purrnin) March 8, 2018

I had no idea of this, so I decided to take a look. It's interesting that they include this blurb, yet continue to sell the product.https://t.co/1eyqTHvVwu pic.twitter.com/EhKRe9tbP0

— Kaelis @ KiTX & EVO (@KaelisMirage) March 8, 2018

If there's a message of nonsupport, doesn't "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" apply?

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) March 8, 2018

My questions about alt-furry representatives using their site got non-answers. Read their terms again. If they don’t want to commit to a stand about it, that’s not considered “support” despite profiting from it.  Apparently, if bad things happen off their site then it’s just business as long as the stuff on the site is in compliance with the terms of the site.

The PR highlights what you might call a double standard in taking a stand or making excuses, depending on who makes them money. Keeping 2 Gryphon could involve a pre-existing contract. Except it gets even more slippery.

After using the nonsupport message to pacify a public problem, they apparently removed it. I can’t find it on his merchandise being sold on the site now.

How can you be a Switzerland-neutral marketplace, comparing it to Ebay or Amazon, but be by fans, for fans at the same time? How can you use fandom and it’s subsidizing and volunteer benefit, but not be accountable to the fans who built it? They can say they have a broader mission – but they’re leveraging furries. The majority don’t want Nazi Furs to use fandom to spread hate and troll their cons to death.  What’s better than a neutral market is being truly responsive.

A contact who runs a pretty high profile operation told me:

If it’s a truly automated upload system and they have a shitload of people creating accounts to upload designs then I don’t expect them to do a ton of research on every user. I’d say they should remain open to community feedback on their users, and also implement a “report this design” function if they don’t have one already.  For shitty people they are supporting, I’d like to see them have some kind of community manager that would look into concerns the community raises and not pull any punches when it comes to excluding problematic people.

Short-term profit at the cost of integrity

Even with the inertia of 2’s following staying in place, he has stopped getting shows at cons because he unambiguously, emphatically sides with hateful trolls.

From what I've heard, he has enough supporters that would want his merchandise to be put *back* on our website. Either way, it's sadly a PR disaster, with both those for and against him fighting about his merch on our site. >~<

— ArtworkTee (@artworktee) March 8, 2018

Opportunistic merchandising might bring money from any kind of customer, but this also isn’t about one bad actor in fandom, it’s an invitation for trouble from more, like these altfurries. Compare it to an arms dealer who sells to both sides to double sales – except “both sides” here means the majority of fandom who wants to minimize trolling vs. a declining fringe of trolls.

And they’re yesterday’s news, not the future, just like Burned Furs before them.

See a lot of "Nazi Furs F*ck Off" ribbons this weekend at con? I hear something else wasn't seen. "2 Gryphon Fan Club" shirts.

Furry fandom is on fire... with the power of being better and better pic.twitter.com/EQHXCsmsic

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 9, 2018

Is it worth it to make a few bucks? Is it better to keep dealing with problems when people notice slippery dealing and a double standard, or really make an effort? When Fur Affinity finally banned alt-right trolls, there was brief uproar but it proved hugely popular.

It has something to do with the entire internet culture and how change isn’t likely to come from the top without active attention from the bottom. (See this thread and comments about stock prices, from Seth Rogen about chatting with the CEO of Twitter. This is beyond “politics” because nazis don’t deserve a seat at the table for any reason, and that hasn’t been controversial since 1945.)

I’ve been DMing with @jack about his bizarre need to verify white supremacists on his platform for the last 8 months or so, and after all the exchanges, I’ve reached a conclusion: the dude simply does not seem to give a fuck.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) July 3, 2018

I like what ArtworkTee has built. They were extra cool to put in so much effort for talking about it. I truly admire their hard work which is why I put so much effort into this article. I wish them well for considering if they have the right long term strategy for that one Big Caveat, and showing where their heart is.

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

DON'T FORGET about the Saturday Fox & Pepper HASHTAG2 Stream!!! www.draggetshow.com Be sure to check our website for all Things Dragget Show! Podcasts, videos, merch and more! Also, don't forget we stream the D&D sessions Sunday at 7pm Central on YouTube! YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/DraggetShow Patreon: www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow EPISODE 200!! - DON'T FORGET about the Saturday Fox & Pepper HASH…

Awesome furry YouTube & Twitch content creators got together to create the first CLUSTERcast! Here's where you can find them all: Majira Strawberry: https://www.youtube.com/user/kyleispu... Marks Barks: https://www.youtube.com/user/recese112 Kiwi Foxx: https://www.youtube.com/user/NarutosC... Boozy Badger: https://www.twitch.tv/boozybadger Dragget Show: http://draggetshow.com Clustercast - Awesome furry YouTube & Twitch content creators g…

New Felix Cosgrove short! Love his work but every shot just raises so many questions.
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For a while we’ve been hearing about a new animated film called Wonder Park. Well now Paramount Pictures have released the first teaser trailer, and Animation Scoop has more information. What’s it about? “One magical day, June is running through the woods to find her way home where she discovers an old rollercoaster car and climbs inside. She suddenly finds herself in Wonderland, an amusement park she had created in her mind and put aside. All of her rides and characters are brought to life but are falling into disarray without her. Now, with the help of her fun and lovable park characters, June will have to put the wonder back in Wonderland before it is lost forever.”  Ooo… The voice cast includes Jennifer Garner, Matthew Broderick, John Oliver, Mila Kunis, and Kenan Thompson. Directed by Dylan Brown, Wonder Park is set to be released in March of 2019.

image c. 2018 Paramount Pictures

New film animated Paramount Pictures (The SpongeBob Movie, Monster Trucks, Sherlock Gnomes) about a magic theme park. Ok, I'm off to check the woods for magic theme parks full of Anthros. "A young creative girl named June (Brianna Denski), finds an incredible amusement park filled with fantastical rides and funny, talking animals called Wonder Park that was abandoned in the woods but soon realizes that the park came from her imagination and she is the only one who can save the magical place and revive the wonder with the help of the animals."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Snow in the Year of the Dragon, by H. Leighton Dickson.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, May 2018, trade paperback, $19.99 (i + 335 pages), Kindle $2.99.

Snow in the Year of the Dragon is dedicated “To Readers of Infinite Patience”. I assume that’s because this is Book 4 of Dickson’s The Rise of the Upper Kingdom series; and it’s been five years since Book 3, Songs in the Year of the Cat.

Has it been worth the wait? YES!!

To summarize, it’s 5,000 years in the future. Civilization has disappeared. In the Far East a new Oriental culture is forming, the Upper Kingdom, a blend of ancient Chinese and Japanese customs with bioengineered animal peoples. To quote the blurb for Book 1, To Journey in the Year of the Tiger:

“This is a powerful, post-apocalyptic story of lions and tigers, wolves and dragons, embracing and blending the cultures of Dynastic China, Ancient India and Feudal Japan. Half feline, half human, this genetically altered world has evolved in the wake of the fall of human civilization.”

In Book 1, Kirin Wynegarde-Grey, a genetic lion-man (yes, he has a tail) is the young Captain of the Empress’ personal guard. While the rest of the great Palace is preparing the celebrations to mark the turning of the Year of the Ox into the Year of the Tiger, he is assigned to leave on a long mission with four others (and several guardsmen). The Upper Kingdom is guided by a Council of Seven, revered Seers whose visions have infallibly led the Empire in wisdom and peace for centuries. Now something, or someone, is killing the Seers, one by one, by unknown means, always in their beds at the close of the Second Watch of the night. Kirin and his companions must discover the cause and stop it.

The four others are Kirin’s adjutant, an aggressive snow leopard woman; the Empire’s Scholar, a young and naïve tigress; the Empire’s Alchemist, an older cheetah-woman of dubious loyalty; and Kerris Wynegarde-Grey, Kirin’s twin but silver-gray where Kirin is golden, the Empire’s Geomancer but a drunken ladies’ man. They have more adventures than they expect, and are led outside the Empire’s borders, into the unknown West (Europe) where they awaken surviving scientists of the forgotten human civilization from suspended cold-sleep. In Book 3, Songs in the Year of the Cat, Kirin and the others return to the Upper Kingdom, and Kirin becomes the Empire’s Shogun-General to mobilize a defense against the awakened Ancestors and their weapons of mass destruction.

Snow in the Year of the Dragon contains action scenes, but it is worth reading for all of Dickson’s writing:

“Dragons are the divine protectors of the Upper Kingdom and the ultimate symbol of Life and Fortune. Their celestial breath, or sheng chi, wards off evil spirits, protects the innocent and bestows safety to all. They show their power in the form of the seasons, bringing water from rain, warmth from sunshine, wind from the seas and soil from the Earth.

Kerris Wynegarde-Grey knows this. Like him, dragons are elemental.

There are wind dragons and water dragons, dragons of fire and dragons of ice. There are dragons that live deep n the earth, crush stone with their teeth and breathe sand like incense. According to Kerris, there are even metal dragons, although these are considerably more rare and are usually closely tied to Ancestors. That makes them dangerous, best to be avoided at all costs.

Perhaps the most dangerous dragon, however, is not really a dragon at all. It is the Year of the Dragon. In a Dragon year there is no peace, said the Chi’Chen Emperor in a previous life, only fire. Dragon years are like the sea – violent and unpredictable with incessant waves of calamity, upheaval and change. Men may make their fortunes in the Year of the Dragon, and just as quickly lose them. And for those born in the Year of the Dragon (called Dragonborn), dragon years are often bad luck.

Empress Thothloryn Parilland Markova Wu was dragonborn,” (pgs. 1-2)

The threat is not from only the reawakened Ancestors. In fact, Jeffery Solomon, in an Ancestor-crewed helijet zeppelin high over the coast of what was once Australia, is one o the “good guys”:

“‘Oh look,’ said Sengupta. ‘Pelicans.’

They all pressed their noses to the glass.

Below them were pelicans, flying low to the water in a perfect V. The birds had changed little despite the wars, plagues and mutations of centuries past. They were familiar, they were natural and to the scientists, they were a comforting sight.

‘I’ll get closer,’ said Ward. She angled the stick and the Griffen dipped a wing. It was a quiet, solar-powered vehicle and soon, they were soaring alongside the flock. Solomon could almost feel the ocean spray on his face.

‘These ae nice,’ said Sengupta. ‘Pelicans are not terribly wild birds.’

‘I love to watch their wings,’ said Dell. ‘Pure biomechanics in motion.

Solomon grinned again, remembering the time a young tigress drove a Humlander along the ruined roads of Turkey. That was not so much biomechanics in motion as an accident waiting to happen.

‘Is that our shadow?’ asked Sengupta and she pointed. There was a dark shape under the water, moving as fast and mirroring the trajectory of the flock.

‘I don’t think so,’ said Solomon. ‘Damaris…’

‘A whale!’ Dell shouted. ‘It’s a whale! I’m sure of it!’

Sengupta turned to look at him.

‘They still have whales?’

‘It’s all worth it then,’ said Dell. ‘Some of us hoped that whales would survive, even if we didn’t.’

The shape grew darker as if rising to the surface. Solomon frowned.

‘Damaris…’

‘Yuh, I’m going to get some altitude,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be knocked out of the sky by a breaching humpback.’

‘Wait, I want to see it,’ said Dell.

‘I don’t,’ said Sengupta. ‘He can stay in the water where he belongs.’

Solomon leaned forward, pressed his forehead against the glass when suddenly, the shadow burst upward with a great spray of water. Ward threw her weight onto the stick and the helijet banked steeply, sending both men out of their seats to the cabin deck. Solomon scrambled to his feet and, through the window he caught a glimpse of white water and grey skin, a huge gaping mouth and rows of dagger teeth. The body of a pelican struck the glass and the Griffen bucked again before the great creature crashed back to the water to disappear beneath the waves.

‘That was no whale,’ muttered Ward.

‘What was it?’ Sengupta cried. ‘What was it?’

‘Physeter macrocephalus?’ Dell now. ‘Carcharodon carcharias? Both? Neither? An entirely new species? New Genus? New Family? New Order? I have no clue, Jian. It’s blown all my learning out the door.’

Solomon peered at the skies above, the water below.

‘So… where are the pelicans?’ he asked.” (pgs. 5-6)

This isn’t even to page 10 yet. To quote the back-cover blurb: “Meanwhile, Kirin, Kerris and the others journey to the mysterious city of Shin Sekai under the ‘protection’ of the Snow Guard [simian soldiers]. Here, they discover a gruesome secret at the heart of the Capuchin Council and the Court of the Rising Suns. With snow and Snow thwarting their every move, will the leaders of the Nine Thousand Dragons get out of this New World alive?”

The uncredited cover shows Major Ursa Laenskaya, Kirin’s former adjutant, now guardian of the Empress’ Seers and protector of Sha’Hadin; a snow leopardess.

Just read it. Snow in the Year of the Dragon comes to a satisfactory conclusion, but there will be a Book 5.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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