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Cat and Kitty
More new and interesting stuff coming out of China. (By the way, did you miss Duck Duck Goose back in April? So did we.) Animation World Network has an article about the latest animated feature from Light Chaser Animation (home of the critically-acclaimed Little Door Gods). The new film is called Cats & Peachtopia, and once again it was written and directed by company founder Gary Wang. It goes like this: “Cats & Peachtopia tells the story of father and son cats, Blanket and Cape, living a carefree life in a tower block in the southwestern Chinese megacity of Chongqing. Curious about the outside world and longing for his deceased mother, Cape sets off in search of the cat heaven Peachtopia. Blanket goes after his son and adventures ensue.” The article goes into more detail, as well as discussing the financial difficulties faced by an animation company that produces films primarily (though not exclusively) for the Chinese market. No word yet if Cats & Peachtopia will reach North America anytime soon (DVD or otherwise), but the film did show at this year’s Annecy animation festival.
image c. 2018 Light Chaser Animation
Trailer: White Fang
Looks like Netflix has a new an animated film based on the Jack London book White Fang. This was made by Bidibul Productions and has the voice cast of Nick Offerman, Rashida Jones, Paul Giamatti, and Eddie Spears. Hey Netflix, do The Wainscott Weasel next!
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He's Worried He Won't Hear the Words "I Love You" Returned
It’s been quite a while since I wrote my first letter, and I never properly thanked you what you’d written me. So, Thank you very much! Your kind words helped me decide to really buckle down. In the year to come, I have chosen to focus my career and school involvement on film. I’m truly excited to see what the future holds for me.
This letter is also focused on the future, or rather, my future with someone. At the start of this year I met a fantastic guy at a furry con. Something struck me about him and inspired me to reach out to him after the convention. The two of us have been talking with each other daily since then, and have met up several times at conventions through the year. On a deeper level we’ve both helped each other through difficult times this past year, the loss of his father, and the animosity I perceived from certain friends. Even more recently we spent a fantastic weekend together; exploring towns, attending a furry pool party, and more.
During that weekend I asked him what he would call us. He expressed that he felt we were very close friends, and followed by asking me if what I felt for him was love.
While holding him in my arms, I told him yes.
It takes me a while to fall in love, He told me the same about himself. He comes from a very strict background and opening up is hard for him. But he wants to open up to me, and he even gave me tips on how to help him with it.
I know that I love him, and knows it too. At every turn he has shown me that it’s okay, and that he truly appreciates my affection. But, he also expressed that he has yet to feel a spark, and seems to genuinely want to.
I want this to be his decision, I don’t want to convince him. I guess my question is,
Is it okay to want things?
At the close of my last relationship, I asked myself the same question. I keep getting close to why I feel it’s not okay for me to want things; I fear that my selfishness will hurt someone. That if it’s meant to be it will be, and if it’s not…. It still hurts.
I wanted this to be a shorter or a simpler problem than last time.… Anything you think may help will always be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rillee Satranack
* * *
Dear Rillee,
Glad to hear that you have some exciting things going on in your life.
Is it okay to want things? Yes and no. On one paw, everyone has wants and desires in life, and feeling guilty about that because you somehow feel selfish or unworthy is something that many misguided people endure.
Let's rephrase your question: Are you worthy of love and happiness? Absolutely, you are. It is not selfish to want to be happy and to have people in our lives to love.
Where we get into problems is when we have clingy, needy, codependent love. Love can be demanding and selfish and one-way. These are unhealthy expressions of love that are often born of low self-esteem and usually end up destroying relationships.
In your case, no, I don't think you are being selfish, clingy, or unreasonable. You are approaching this with caution and creating communication with your love interest that is open and honest. Wonderful! Great job!
The question now becomes: Will he love you back? There's no way I can answer for him, of course. Clearly, he has affection for you, so that is a solid start. Also, the best and most dependable love relationships begin with good friendships. Blessed are they who find love with their best friends!
My advice to you in this case is just take it slowly. Keep the communication open; keep doing things with him and share good times. Don't push him or nag him to answer the question, "Do you love me back?" For some reason, he might not be ready for that just yet, but that doesn't mean he won't ever be.
This will sound very open-ended and inconclusive, but just enjoy what you have now and see where it goes. Live in the moment. It's fine to let him know what you are feeling, but don't press him. When the moment is right and he decides, he will tell you.
Love is a marathon, not a sprint.
Blessed Be,
Papabear
Garfield at 40
Garfield turned 40 at the end of last month and Vice managed to tour and talk to Jim Davis. Also have a lasagnacat. https://youtu.be/mochwFNbkt0
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Music Video: Mama
So many cheap mascot costumes. It's a shame they just didn't reach out can get actual furries.
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Plushies to the Rescue!
Here’s a new one-shot full-color comic book from Alterna Comics: The Fear Diaries. “A dangerous threat to children across the world has returned. In the depths of The Nightmare Realm, The Dark Mistress has bode her time, waiting for the right moment to strike. Theodore Bearsly and his ragtag team of stuffed heroes face the greatest battle yet as they encounter The Dark Mistress’ army of evil toys who will stop at nothing to collect the fear of every child on earth.” Written by Garrett Gunn and illustrated by Jim Callahan, Ulises Grostieta, and Nicolas Touris, this new compilation brings together issues #1 – #3 of the original comic from last year. Check out the reviews over at Comic Book Round Up.
image c. 2018 Alterna Comics
I Am A Full-Time Furry
Here is a short bio piece done for BBC3 about a full time fursuit maker. That's a term I have been hearing a bunch lately about the idea of people making a living in the fandom. I guess this is another sign our subculture is getting large and diverse. This makes me rather happy. "Furries are people that have a vested interest in Anthropomorphism, which is animals with human characteristics. Fiona is a fursuit maker, who creates them for the furry fandom, a global, underground subculture who dress as animal creatures for fun."
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Ep 77 – Dust off the Rust - It’s been too long! But we’re back with a new episode and some new cast members. Check in on where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to. Come meet Kiri, our new co-host, as we talk to her about her experiences in writing and ed
It’s been too long! But we’re back with a new episode and some new cast members. Check in on where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to. Come meet Kiri, our new co-host, as we talk to her about her experiences in writing and editing.
If you’re going to AnthroCon 2018, both Kiri and Ocean will be there to say hi. Also check out Claw and Tales from the Guild: World Tour, new books coming out at AC from FurPlanet.
Ep 77 – Dust off the Rust - It’s been too long! But we’re back with a new episode and some new cast members. Check in on where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to. Come meet Kiri, our new co-host, as we talk to her about her experiences in writing and editing.The Great & the Small, by A. T. Balsara – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
The Great & the Small, by A. T. Balsara. Illustrated by the author.
London, Ontario, Common Deer Press, August 2017, hardcover, $31.99 (287 [+ 4] pages), Kindle $4.99.
Don’t be scared off by the price. There is also a trade paperback for $14.99. And most of you will get the Kindle edition, anyway.
The Great & the Small begins with a bustling marketplace scene:
“… in the weak December sun, the harbour city’s popular market was bustling with people looking for last minute presents. Middle-Gate Market was festive with its potted evergreen trees and strands of blinking coloured lights. Shiny red balls trembled on the boughs of the tinsel-dressed pinks as salt air gusted up the hill from the sea below and rattled the lights against the rafters where they were strung.
Watching over all of this, under the faux Gothic clock, stood Middle-Gate’s most famous tourist attraction: a brass statue modeled after the gargoyles of Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral. The monster stood on guard, a five-foot winged beast that stood meekly by while tourists thronged around it, snapped selfies, and rubbed the creature’s flared nostrils for luck.” (p. 9)
Then dips beneath it:
“That was the side of the market the tourists saw and the locals loved. They had no idea of the other side, the one that lay below. A distinct world, with its own ways, its own rules: a colony of rats.
Tunnels wound underneath the hill, tooth-carved thoroughfares, veiled from the eyes of humans. There were tunnels high up and tunnels below that snaked deep into the hill’s belly.
The Uppers were dug alongside the city’s swanky cafés and eateries, and food was never far away. But lower down the hill, below the heart of the market, it was different. Tangles of narrow tunnels limped through broken pipes, leaking sewers, and sodden earth, connecting scores of foul smelling, crumbling burrows.
No rat lived in the Lowers by choice. Except one, that is.” (ibid.)
This novel tells two connecting stories; that of the subterranean rats, focusing upon Fin, the young cousin of the rat community’s Beloved Chairman; and that of the aboveground humans, focusing upon young Ananda Blake, a schoolgirl who happens to be the daughter of Thomas Blake, a cancer researcher who experiments on rats.
The Great & the Small appears to be a macabre tale of naïveté leading inexorably to tragedy. It consists of many short chapters of four to a dozen pages, each introduced by a quotation from one of the journals of the Black Death:
“And now disaster is at hand…”
Gabriele de’ Mussis, lawyer, Italy, 1348
“A staggering number of people died…
In many towns only two people out of twenty survived.”
Jean de Venette, Carmelite friar, 1359-60
The implication is that modern civilization will be wiped out by a new Black Death, and that the rats will spread it deliberately; not knowing – or not caring – that it will wipe them out, too.
This germ warfare seems almost to be justified at first, through numerous examples of the humans’ mistreatment of the rats:
“Fin hunched, quaking in the corner of the box. Fish heads cascaded onto him as the box flaps were torn back. The two-leg was monstrous. It spied Fin, and its mouth gaped open in a roar, teeth bared. Its eyes bulged, red-veined and popping. It swung its arm down hard. Fin dived to one side. A knife whooshed over his head.
Again, the knife swung down. Fin leaped out of the box, onto the two-leg’s bare arm. He vaulted of, soaring through the air, and landed on the pavement. His lame paw bent under his weight. He fell, sprawling.” (p. 16)
Ananda, who seems to be a junior-high student, is having an equally hard time:
The bell rang, bringing Ananda back into the present moment. Looking down at her notebook, she saw that she had doodled the rat at the market. She ripped the paper off and bunched it up, gathered her books and, head down, beelined out the door.
Chris was waiting for her. He bumped her arm and scattered her books. ‘Hey, Rat-Girl!’ he said. His cronies snickered behind her.” (pgs. 44-45)
When the novel isn’t quoting journals of the Black Death, it is quoting Josef Stalin, identified as one of the biggest mass-murderers in history. Fin’s uncle being identified as the Beloved Chairman of the rats gives away that he, like Stalin, is not the kindly leader that he pretends to be. Fin discovers rats being experimented upon by Ananda’s father and wants to help them, but his uncle uses their suffering for his own plans:
“Fin said, ‘Papa! Please! I need to speak!’
Bothwell whirled around, his cheeks puffed out. ‘Oi! I am your superior, my lad!’
Fin pushed by him. ‘Oh shut up! Papa! Rats are dying! They’re dying while we sit around scratching our fleas and talking about… about nothing!’ He burst into tears. ‘They can’t escape. They’ve tried and they can’t. A two-leg has them trapped, and –’
‘Silence!’ said Papa again.
Fin looked up, startled. His uncle gazed down at him from the carved platform.
‘Lesson Number One: ‘There will always be those who die. For the Common Good, we who lead must rise above emotion.’” (pgs. 89-90)
The Great & the Small (cover by the author) is a Young Adult novel. It is a grim novel, full of suffering and death. Will anyone survive, human or rat? Read it to find out.
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Tennis, the Good Boy
Guys, Leave These Ladies ALONE!
Previews made us aware of a new comic series from Image called Maneaters, written by Chelsea Cain. In an interview, here’s how she describes it: “Maneaters is a monster story about women who turn into ferocious killer wildcats when they get their periods. They are very scary and dangerous and extremely grumpy. Naturally their unprovoked attacks cause a great deal of societal consternation, and measures are taken to help the women control themselves.” Got that? With art by Kate Niemczyk and Rachelle Rosenberg, the first issue pounces on the shelves in September.
image c. 2018 Image Comics
S7 Episode 16 – Straight Lines, In Order, Paws Down - Roo and Tugs are joined by Buck Riley, musician extraordinaire, to discuss his lifelong challenges with Autism Spectrum Disorder. What is it like? What changed when you found out? How does it affect yo
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Lygris S7 Episode 16 – Straight Lines, In Order, Paws Down - Roo and Tugs are joined by Buck Riley, musician extraordinaire, to discuss his lifelong challenges with Autism Spectrum Disorder. What is it like? What changed when you found out? How does it affect yo
The Adventures of Peter Gray, by Nathan Hopp
The Adventures of Peter Gray (Written Dreams Publishing, $16.99) is the first novel by Nathan Hopp. It's told from the perspective of the titular Peter Gray, a young wolf living on the streets of an alternate history New York City in 1899. The Adventures of Peter Gray invites us to experience the city through the eyes of one who loves it and see how both it and Peter's life changes over the year.I want to start off with the biggest weakness of this book [as a product]: the blurb. The problem with it is that it sets up misplaced expectations and reading then becomes frustrating when those expectations aren't met. The first paragraph of the blurb is fine, but then it makes the whole book sound like it's about Peter's quest for a family and the Newsies' strike. The Newsies' strike is introduced and finished in fewer than 30 pages; the book has 240.Ignore the blurb and appreciate the book for what it is: a collection of adventures of a young, orphaned wolf in the big city. There is an overall arc to Peter's story, but it develops slowly and organically while many smaller incidents build up to the climax. It's a good structure that works, making the whole book very suitable for quickly picking up and reading without having to worry about forgetting what happened last time.Nearly all the chapters are self-contained. We meet new characters that stay with us but each chapter has a distinct story. Maybe it's Peter having a picnic with his friends, maybe it's a time when he deals with bullies, or maybe he goes to visit the Statue of Liberty. The various adventures are entertaining and reminiscent of the carefree days as a child. However, that carefree feeling is tempered by the reality that Peter is an orphan, homeless, and broke. Setting the story in New York City was perhaps not the best idea. I understand why Nathan Hopp did it: the stories he's telling are based on real events, there are actual historical figures, and it gives us a familiar world. I found that familiarity to work against it. When I played Breath of Fire as a child, it was easy to accept the world. This guy is a dragon, there's a human, he's a were-tiger, and that's a walking onion. That's just how it is. When Kyell Gold's Dangerous Spirits series uses normal geography but replaces humans with furries, it's still fairly easy to accept. What I find difficult to accept is a world where furries (called Furren in this book) exist in the real world, alongside humans in the historical past. It's disorienting for me because instead of a blank slate that the world fills, I am constantly unsure whether what I know remains true. This is best exemplified by Bromley, a minor character who happens to be an eight-year-old German Shepherd. German Shepherds are a breed of dog that was created by humans, so how does that work in this world? This is the disorienting part of not knowing what is still true and what is not. Historically it doesn't work either. Bromley is a German Shepherd, eight years old and living in New York City in 1899. The German Shepherd breed only began in 1899 and would've taken time to be established in Germany before moving to New York.Of course, that doesn't take away from the development of good characters. Everyone feels and acts like an individual, and it's nice to see them all grow and develop over the year which the book spans. It's especially good to see the development of Gavin who we were introduced to as a bully but whom Peter later befriends. Considering the polarization that we see in the world today, I think it is really good to have characters that show that people can change and that it is possible for enemies to become friends. Other characters, like the fennec Ms. Lesser, show that there is often more to people than we can see.These are not the only themes explored: the book has the Newsies standing up for their rights, many examinations of discrimination, community, and poverty. I think if we empathize with Peter, it should stimulate us to ask questions about our own lives. As I was reading the book, with everyone knowing that Peter was living out on the streets, sleeping in barrels and struggling for food, I wondered why they didn't help him. Why didn't they give him a bed to sleep in? But would I take in someone off the street, even if I talked to him every day? Almost certainly not. Perhaps in that way, one might wonder what that reveals about us. If our lives were a book, what would a reader think of our choices?The last topic I want to touch on is motivation. While the main story aspects have clear motivation, I don't always see that for the world at large. For example, why even have furry characters here? It's seldom brought up, and I don't recall it playing a major role. It doesn't even add much diversity to the world as fennecs, raccoons, humans, wolves, foxes and mice all appear to be roughly the same size with the same capabilities.Species don't seem to correspond to any particular human race or caste, and this can lessen the impact of certain scenes. We see a certain amount of hatred directed at a gay fox and mouse couple but given the date and an encounter elsewhere in the story, it's unclear if the hatred is due to them being gay or them being a mixed-species couple. I think more evidence leans towards it being homophobia, but it's slightly ambiguous. Similarly, we see discrimination against humans, but we are not given any understanding of why. While hatred and discrimination in the real world are almost always based on half truths or whole lies, there is some sort of motivation. Religion, fear of the unknown, fear of losing jobs, and so on. There doesn't seem to be any cause, whether real or imagined, for the anti-human prejudice in the story.The story is written in the first-person from the perspective of Peter Gray. You would think that we would know his motivations well, but they are also seldom explored. This is a huge contrast to Fallout Equestria and some of its spin-offs where we get a constant window into the main characters thoughts. We follow Peter Gray but we don't really know him; there's a vague sense of detachment. Why doesn't he steal? Is it his religion? And, despite his claims, we know he does try to steal small things, so why does he do that? How does he justify himself? We are always left unsure.These are mostly minor flaws. As I said previously, The Adventures of Peter Gray is a good book. It's set up well, easy-to-read, and the short, self-contained chapters make it very convenient to pick up when you only have a short time. The characters are all unique and the themes are handled well without being preachy. As I went through it, I found myself increasingly invested in the outcome and wanting to see more. The ending, although quite cliche, was suitably emotional. I think it is a very strong first novel for Nathan Hopp, and I can definitely recommend it as a good read. Hoo Goes There?
Here’s a very unusual graphic novel which comes to us courtesy of Action Lab, called The Ghost, The Owl. “On a cool evening on the swamp, a figure appears dancing across the water. A human figure, but far from a human form. A Ghost, a young girl spirit that seems to have lost its way. A good Samaritan owl decides to help against the wishes of his animal brethren. What mysteries does the ghost girl hold the secrets to and what will happen when she and the owl unlock them together? Will they find out what happened to her? Will she find her way to where she needs to be? What will happen to the animals in the swamp and surrounding forest?” Written by Franco and illustrated by Sara Richard, it’s available now at Barnes & Noble. Meanwhile there’s a preview over at Comicsverse.
image c. 2018 Action Lab
Overwatch: Wrecking Ball Origin Story
New furry character in Overwatch! I guess this means we need to get ready for all the rule 34 Hammond/Winston slash art.
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