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submitted by HappyWulf
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This is my second ref sheet which was commissioned by the same person who made my first. If you're looking for fast, quality work. Look no further! Here's a link to her FA page

submitted by Poloroid457
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Author: RingtailedFox I know this sounds hilarious, but in all seriousness, this is a nasty form of animal cruelty: duct-taping a little box turtle to some balloons, and then letting it go, to float who knows HOW high in the atmosphere. Thankfully, it was snagged a few feet off the ground by a eucalyptus tree [...]

submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by slyweazal
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Okay so....I have been reading your advice stuff for a while ^^. I seriously am turning here because instead of my few friends, you can actually give advice, where they just say things like "you're still okay to me" and stuff, but that's not what I'm looking for.

To start things off, I have like one friend in real life. I'm fifteen years old, and I'm not exaggerating, trust me. The school I attend, EPHS, has a horrid student body that’s voted me and another girl the most hated people of the school. Now in a school of 1800, that's a bad reputation to have. Rumors about me have spread among the student body and they severely hate me. This stuff has been going on since sixth grade. I left school that entire year because I had to have reconstructive surgery on my right leg. at the last couple weeks of school I came back, and nobody was really glad to see me. 7th grade erupted in constant bullying and teasing, and then in 8th grade I required another surgery. When I came back from that one, the kids, knowing exactly what that surgery was on, tried to mess me up. They yanked out a chair from under me as I was about to sit at lunch and I injured my leg, not bad enough to require surgery, but walking became a bit of an issue for a bit.

I still don't know exactly why they started to hate me, and it carried over into ninth grade, where apparently word of me had even reached the students at other middle schools. I should probably mention now that during the sixth grade I discovered this fandom and it helped me escape to some extent, and really, the fact that I Can just go on to sites like that, and draw my comics, is one of the only things keeping my from losing it. Anyways, 9th grade involved a lot of death threats as well from older students, a kid tried to rape me (for what reason I still don't know since everybody has agreed I'm generally unattractive). And I was punched in the back of the head, knocked unconscious, and kicked in the ribs a couple times towards the end of the year. I should have had a lot worse injuries because of how rough he was, but I musta been blessed or something. 10th grade was even worse for me. The physical bullying became less, but a collective of students would tease, taunt, steal from me, and degrade me on a regular basis for every little thing. I'm not the most normal child, I know this.

I listen to Korean Pop music a lot, I watch Asian horror films, and I draw, well, furry stuff because I feel better when I do it. They tease me about my weight, art, the music I make, the films I watch , to my sexuality (but everyone in that school acts like a slut and claims they've slept around with both sexes ANYWAYS), to anything and everything they can think of. So more and more into my work and the fandom I go. I've started to put on a sort of D-Baggy personality to deal with these creeps, but that only gets me in trouble because administration doesn't /listen/ to the minority, and they never will. I somehow, (and I'm still in shock myself) acquired a boyfriend, who doesn't live too far away from me, and that makes things a bit better too, but I can't continually rely on him to make me feel better, that's selfish and rude. Also, due to all the stress and everything, and my own desire to become...well..slim...has caused me to put tremendous stress on my body through physical exercise and lack of nourishment.

Anyways, I'm beating around the bush. my question here is this. 

How am I going to deal with the coming year in school, I can't stand to do it anymore and I'm afraid I'll either become more of a recluse than I already am or I'll lash out and hurt someone or multiple people given the chance. I seen stuff on the news about stuff like that that happens when kids in my situation just snap and believe me I don't wanna snap, I have a family and a boyfriend to care for.

Sorry for giving you such a long letter, I Rewrote this quite a few times to shorten it up and this is as good as I could get. Help would be greatly appreciated though.

Sincerely, 
Koda the Squirrel

* * *

Dear Koda,

First of all, it is incredible to me that you would have to endure such a hellish school environment. If what you say here is true, you should have filed assault charges on those other children, ESPECIALLY when they hurt your already injured leg. You are the victim of two crimes here: bullying and assault, and, if I were you, I would collect all the evidence I had on these crimes and contact a lawyer. No one should go through this kind of crap in school, and you need to do something about it.  Seek some advice from an attorney, Koda.  Many offer free consultations and, if you are low on money, will accept a percentage of any settlement you might get.

Papabear is appalled. You’re not attending a school, you are being tossed into a jungle filled with nasty subhuman filth.  And no one better write to me excusing that behavior as “just kids having harmless fun” or “this is what happens in every school, so you should get over it.” Bullshit.  There are more laws in place to help you with this, Koda, than ever before. I suggest you do something about it.  If the school authorities give you trouble about what you are doing, contact your local newspaper, TV, and radio outlets and tell them what is going on.

In the meantime, see what you can do about being home schooled and/or taking classes online so you don’t have to go back to that cesspool of a school.

Time to defend yourself, Koda.

Good luck to you.

Papabear 

submitted by EccentricWyvern
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submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by Nidonocu
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To help me test my furry "arting skills", I asked a bunch of friends if they wanted me to draw them in a sketch. I have about 7 people either in the drawing together already or waiting to be drawn. So far, it looks like I could fit a lot more people into this sketch. So instead of drawing randomly made up people to fill he space... I want you guys! I want every character to have their own personality which determines their pose or what their doing ect. So, if you have a referance I can use or just whatever, and you just had that urge hat you needed someone to draw you, drop a comment down there. Species doesn't matter as I am practicing after all. I currently don't have a link to the work in progress, but I'll get one soon enough. Let's just say you have to like suits.

submitted by FoxInASuit
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submitted by StrawburryMiwk
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submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by VenomousCrab
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submitted by zimgir8
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submitted by FezWad
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submitted by WolfTweak
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submitted by l0llerskates
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submitted by Blazeholden
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Dear Papabear, 

I'm currently a 5th year senior in High School.

There is this test that me and the other students must pass in order to receive a High School diploma and graduate.

At first I failed all of it, but luckily, scores from an end of course test for the first two sections (English and Social Studies) replaced the exit exam scores. That left me with two more tests that I failed, Math and science.

Before I go any further I would like to say that I have Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, I'm great with some subjects in School, but my main weakness in school is MATH.

I've failed the math portion of the exit exam, five times! Every time they mention this exam, I get very, very angry about it.

I'm getting more and more discouraged every time they bring up the test! As a matter of fact, they say that I have to take it again in two weeks, unless, I can get my mom to email them saying that I don't have to take it, but my mom doesn't know that I failed and I really don't want to take the blasted test again!

What should I do?

--Jacob Munk

* * *

Dear Jacob,

Thank you for writing. This is an important subject, and writing about it might help other “Ask Papabear” readers, as well as, hopefully, you. Papabear has run into quite a few furries who have Asperger’s, which can be an extremely frustrating ailment to deal with. Usually, Papabear hears about the social difficulties of Asperger’s sufferers, but it obviously makes schoolwork more difficult as well.

I think we can immediately rule out your failure, in math especially, to lack of trying, as it looks to me as if you have really been trying. This already puts you ahead of about 20% of Americans who drop out of high school each year, so kudos to you for getting this far.

You say nothing in your letter, however, about seeking outside help—other than yours truly. You haven’t told your mother that you didn’t pass the last test, and you say nothing of looking for a tutor or other assistance.

We all can get a little stubborn about not asking for help. It hurts our pride when we feel we can’t accomplish something by ourselves, and we can feel embarrassed or ashamed. 

But there really is nothing wrong with asking for help. You just did, actually, by writing to Papabear. So, if you haven’t done so already, see what you can do about getting a tutor. Talk to a counselor at high school about getting a free tutor, and you might also check out online services such as Alleyoop (http://www.alleyoop.com/). In your case, too, you might consider doing your studies online instead of in a brick-and-mortar class. The free accredited online high school Connections Academy (http://info.connectionsacademy.com/) might be worth checking out.

And, by the way, if you haven’t talked to your high school counselor, you should. They will be able to make suggestions on getting assistance for your math studies. (I’m assuming you talked to your teacher, but if you haven’t, then there’s another resource).

Furthermore, you need to tell your mom. Ask for her help, as well. If you haven’t done so, too, you should find some help and support for your Asperger’s. Organizations like the Autism Support Network (http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/) offer assistance in a wide array of issues related to those with various forms of autism, including Asperger’s.

In short, Jacob, there is no reason for you to suffer alone with this problem, or to become frustrated by your attempts to pass math. You’ve got the will and determination, and now you just need a bit of a boost and support from your family, tutors, counselors, and online help that is out there for you!

I hope this helps! Big Bear Hugs!

Papabear 

FOLLOW UP

Papabear has a bear friend in Texas who is a brilliant mathematician and teacher. So, I asked him if he had advice and he added the following:

There are a number of such organizations but they usually act locally or at least at the state blevel. Your friend needs to contact the local school system and find a program that can take him.  Some charter schools deal with cases like his but a lot of them are really bad.  Not all though.  His best bet is to look for a local program. There should be some. Some of these are allied with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and he might check out their web site to see if they have anything in Georgia.  If this guy is still in school he has every right to expect them to give him extra help.  If they dont do this, he can sue them under the Americans With Disabilities act,  He may need to remind the administration at his school of this. No Federal judge will accept the "we don't have any money for this excuse".  The law requires them to have resources available and make providing them a priority!  If he is willing to go on Second Life and has a reasonably good enough computer to handle it, then I would be willing to help him at Math Bear's school on Second Life.  tell him there is no way to fake the test, he has to learn the basic mathematical concepts to succeed.  He can do himself a great favor if he makes sure he knows the multiplication table well, backwords and forwards and by heart, This is absolutely if he want to succeed. He must also be able to handle all 4 fundamental operations of arithmetic with pencil and paper without using a calculator and on as non-trivial level!  Single digit problems don't count.  He should also know how to factor whole numbers.  Finally, he needs to aware of all the numbers he runs into in real life and what they ,mean.  Does the number count something? Does it measure something? Does it indicate a place in some sort of ordered list? is it just a label? (i.e. think "Chanel No. 5"). He needs to develop number sense if he wants to be able to handle math. Tell him not to be tempted to use his condition as an excuse.  I once had a student in one of my Algebra2 cl;asees who had Down's Syndrome. He was determined to graduate honestly.  He listened to everything I said, asked questions and took consistent notes.  He did all classwork and homework. He came in after schhool everyday for me to help him. i made a few accomodations for tests but he took the same tests as the other students.  He ended up getting an A- which i thought was really outstanding considering his situation.  

David Nytra is a relative newcomer to the world of fantasy graphic novels. Still The Secret of the Stone Frog, his first work as a writer and illustrator, is drawing a lot of interest from fantasy collectors just prior to its release.  “When Leah and Alan awaken in an enchanted forest, they have only each other and their wits to guide them. In a world of pet bees and giant rabbits, they befriend foppish lions and stone frogs, learning to confront danger as they find both their own independence and the way home. Newcomer David Nytra’s breathtaking pictures break the boundaries of imagination, sending the reader on a wild flight of fantasy while experiencing the most universal of stories: Growing up.” According to the pre-order site at Amazon, Toon Books will publish this hardcover black & white graphic novel in early September.

image c. 2012 Toon Books