Feed aggregator

Besides furry art itself, among the things that many furry fans like to collect are wildlife art and other illustrations of “real animals”. Take the works of Denise Ballou, an artist from New Mexico who recently displayed at Further Confusion. Largely self-taught, she has become quite a prolific painter, creating pictures of animals wild and domestic in oil paint. Already her works have been seen in galleries around the American Southwest. Visit her web site to see some examples.

image c. 2018 by Denise Ballou

Birds and music.
View Video

Thanks to Rex and Flash for their reviews! Dogpatch Press welcomes community access writers – get in touch. – Patch

A review of Mascot Fur Life

I have just watched a film titled Mascot Fur Life (2016 German with English subtitles). To be honest I was a bit apprehensive to watch another “furry film/ documentary” – the last one I watched left me feeling betrayed and hollow inside. Anyway, on to this film.

The main character is a Lion named Willion Richards.  Willion’s dream is to be the mascot of a soccer team.  He trains very hard with the help of his coach Berk.  Life is difficult for Willion, who struggles as a greeter in a large hardware store.

The film is professionally made, with excellent editing, good camera angles, great sets, and most scenes being shot on location.  I’m sure none of us will argue that the costumes aren’t first rate!

Can Willion make the tryouts?  Will this lion be happy, or forever doomed to work at a hardware store?  Will he overcome despair and the prejudice against him? Can he even pay the rent for his flat?

I found this film to be most enjoyable; in fact, I highly recommend you see it!

It most assuredly receives a Five Paw rating from this old dog.

– Rex Masters

Hard Work Fur the passionate

A review of the YouTube mockumentary Mascot Fur Life

By Jeremiah “Flash Hound” Stanley

Ever since I entered the furry fandom in 2014, as I got further and further into it, I’ve seen content from a range of media and points of view such as musical furries – like NIIC and Pepper Coyote – along with sports furries, like Huscoon and myself.  I recently watched the newly released Mascot Fur Life from Willion. I think it’s one of the best furry films since Disney’s popular Zootopia (2016) made the mainstream take a little notice about the fandom. I’d like to go deeper into the film, and break it down from different aspects.

● Story

The meaning of the story is something everyone can relate to in their own special way. It’s a similar story to Rocky films from the last few decades, and features a variety of fursuiters such as Keenora, who is shown in the film at the mascot auditions. The meaning of the film is to never give up, and work hard for that one thing you’re passionate for and determined to get in your lifetime.

● Characters

Every character in the film, whether speaking or mute, plays their roles perfectly as directed. The one character I have many questions about is Berk. I’m certain that he’ll raise questions for other viewers too. Some questions I have about Berk would be: “How can he hear what Julia is telling him through his cell phone if he put his cell phone at his fursuit cheek instead of his fursuit ears which are obviously higher than his cheek?” and “How did Berk and Julia agree about settling a walk-in mascot audition for Willion so quickly?” The only way to get the answers would be to ask Willion directly.

● Music

The music in the film is well put together to fit every situation faced by Willion, the main character, in each scene. It’s created beautifully to capture the viewer’s attention. It nearly puts the viewer in the fur of the main character, Willion, to share his experiences in the storyline of the film.

● Overall rating

The film is well put together and all the fursuiters who took part in the film give it a family friendly feeling. I’m certain between most recording sessions that the fursuiters were treated to healthy food and drinks. The one thing I didn’t like was the drinks that were shown in the film – thankfully I don’t believe they were told to drink them. Despite that one complaint, I would give Mascot Fur Life a 9.5 out of 10 rating.

– Flash Hound

Follow the film on Facebook or Twitter – and watch for their next project, a web series called Wolfgang Doe that starts filming in summer 2018.  But first, here’s a notice about supporting the film makers:

You can help “Mascot Fur Life” to win a prize!!!

To be nominated for the Ursa Major Award, we need your vote by February 15th! Go to the linked page and register to vote for our film. We want to be nominated in the category “Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work or Series.”

The Ursa Major Awards are prizes awarded annually by the furry community for the best media / literary works dealing with Anthrophomorphism (Animal-human) content.

The Mascots are counting on you!

http://www.ursamajorawards.org/nominations.htm

[And we’re back from Further Confusion with lots to talk about…!] Kea Swartz is an artist who works under the name Talenshi, creating colorful works of fantasy that often feature anthropomorphic animals — and other just plain strange and interesting creatures. The front page of her web site shows you a lot of what we’re talking about. She also illustrated a children’s book called The Little Orange Man which you ought to check out.

image c. 2018 by Talenshi

I have the same problem with magic and food.
View Video

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

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, by John Crowley. Illustrated by Melody Newcomb.
NYC, Saga Press, October 2017, hardcover $28.99 ([4 +] 442 [+2] pages), trade paperback $16.99, Kindle $7.99.

This is the story of Dar Oakley, “the first Crow in all of history with a name of his own” (blurb). It is told by a nameless human narrator in the time of death, when both humans and Crows are all dying. The narrator’s wife Debra has just died, and he is sick, delirious, and alone in his country house. He finds a sick, obviously dying Crow in his back yard:

“I approached it warily – those bills are sharp – and heard from several directions the calling of other Crows, so close I thought I ought to be able to see them, though I couldn’t. The sick one made no attempt to get away, and didn’t even watch me come closer. Or so I thought then. It would take me a long time to understand that Crows, courting or walking a field together, never turning heir heads to observe one another, aren’t indifferent to or unconscious of their neighbors. No. A Crow’s eyes are set far apart, far enough apart that he can best see very close things out of only one eye. Crows beside one another are, in their way, face-to-face.” (p. 4)

The narrator brings the dying Crow into his house on a shovel. But the Crow does not die, nor does the narrator. During the next two years the Crow and the narrator, always alone, both get well, and the narrator learn to talk to the Crow. The Crow, Dar Oakley, tells him his life story. All two thousand years of it:

“He tells me now that he can’t remember much at all of the worst days of his sickness, and the story that I tell – the backyard, the Crows, the shovel, the bathtub – will have to do for him as well as for me. The one thing he knew and I didn’t was that he wouldn’t die. That would take more than a bout of West Nile, if that’s what this was.” (p. 6)

Ka pages 13 to 442 are Dar Oakley’s story. It starts long before the days of Julius Caesar, in the lands of the Celts in northern Europe. One day the Crow who would become Dar Oakley was boasting to a wandering Vagrant Crow:

“‘You’d probably not believe me,’ Dar Oakley said one day to the Vagrant, ‘if I told you how far from here I’ve been.’

The Vagrant, poking in the mud of a pond’s edge for larvae or Frog’s eggs or whatever else might turn up, said nothing in response.

‘I’ve been where there are no Crows at all,’ Dar Oakley said. ‘None anywhere but me.’

‘No such place,’ the Vagrant averred,

‘Oh no?’ said Dar Oakley. ‘Go as far as I have,’

The Vagrant stopped his hunting. ‘Listen, fledgling.’ He said, in a low but not soft voice. ‘Long ago I left the places where I grew up. I was run out. Never mind why. Always between then and now I’ve been on the wing.’” (p. 17)

Dar Oakley flies far to prove the Vagrant wrong, but he never does. He returns to the home of his parents and siblings and his murder, where they watch the two-legs and their rolling carts come into their woods and settle. But there is always something a bit different, more adventurous about him; a willingness to go farther than the others.

One day Dar Oakley visits a farther land yet (the human Underworld). When he returns home, he is immortal.

Centuries pass. The Celts become Irish monks, and Dar Oakley travels with them to the unknown lands of the West.

More time passes. Eventually Dar Oakley’s and the narrator’s lives become intertwined.

Ymr is the human world, and Ka is the land of the Crows. Of all animals, actually, but Dar Oakley is corvid-centric. Ka has other talking animals among Dar Oakley’s adventures:

“The Owl looked around itself with its mobile head as though for a definite answer to give. Then it said, This is possible.

Yes, Dar Oakley cried. I knew it must be, and it is!

It is possible, the Owl went on. Because you have been a friend to Death, I will tell you how.

Yes, Dar Oakley said. (Had he been a friend to Death? Where, in what land, among whom?)

To do it, the Owl said, you must do exactly as I say.

I will.” (p. 327)

“The two Ravens turned to one another with a look that seemed to say, Has a question been put to us? Then one bent forward a little toward Dar Oakley. ‘Of Crows,’ it said, ‘there are gnone.’

‘Where have they gone? There are Crows everywhere.’

‘As you say,’ said the other Raven. ‘But gnot here.’” (p. 379)

“Night should have fallen by then but somehow hadn’t, as though the sun hovered just below the horizon and sank no farther. Dar Oakley followed the beast through the wilderness of the riverbank ruins, they passed among People unnoticed, the People seeming dim and hardly present. It was light enough to fly, and sometimes he flew, unable otherwise to keep up with Coyote’s ceaseless trotting.

He wasn’t from these places, he told Dar Oakley; not city-bred, no: he was unwelcome in the city, and if he was caught by the People, he’d be got rid of without hesitation.

Of course they have to catch me before the trial can start, he said, if there’s a trial, which there wouldn’t be, because they don’t catch me, so on we go.” (pgs. 420-421)

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (cover by Sonia Chaghatzbanian) is not as much a furry novel as a mainstream talking-animal fable. John Crowley is a World Fantasy Award-winning author who was originally classified as a science-fiction writer – see his 1976 s-f novel Beasts with bioengineered leos (lion-men) and one fox-man – but today is considered to write in general fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, and experimental writing.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Simon and Schuster

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.

​Hello, 

I just wanted to make a point. I live in NYC and recently visited the Museum of Sex. It's a pretty good museum, but in one of the exhibitions I saw a Furry head-piece. Although I am not a furry myself, I found this offensive since it was displayed around a number of curious sexual devices. 

My first thought was that being a furry isn't just about being sexual. I think that there might be a general misconception about what makes Furries tick. I think most non-Furries joke about Furries in a sexual context, and that's not right. 

Anyhow, just FYI, it might be a opportunity to set something right and email the NYC Museum of Sex.

Oh yeah, question. Do you agree with this notion, and what are your thoughts?

Love, 
Abel

* * *

Dear Abel,

Ah, yes, the Museum of Sex, LOL. It does indeed contain some furry paraFURnalia, some of which was loaned to the museum in the past by fursuit pioneer Robert Hill. Here is a photo of a display that, it seems, is no longer at the museum: There is no denying that sexuality is part of the art and culture of the fandom, but it certainly is not the only part or even a main part of it. The subject of sex in the fandom and why it is there will be addressed in my upcoming book.

In the meantime, there are several books out there that try to talk about "what makes furries tick" that you can check out, including Furry Nation by Joe Strike, and Furries Among Us (volumes 1 and 2), essay collections edited by Thurston Howl. If you're really interested, you could also check out two research sites about furries: The International Anthropomorphic Research Project, which is run by scientists in fields such as psychology and sociology, and the [adjective][species] site, which also does surveys about furries.

But you are correct: the furry fandom and its members are complicated. There is not just one reason why people are attracted to the fandom, and there is not just one type of furry, not by a long shot. The reasons range from creative expression to social, psychological, and even spiritual reasons. Furries are writers, musicians, artists, performers, gamers, or simply people trying to have a fun time and socializing with friends and making new ones.

​But sex museums and people in the media don't want to hear about that. It's too complicated and too difficult to explain in a display or a special TV news report, so they go for the low-hanging fruit, which is that if you want to draw eyes a great way to do it is to talk about sex. Sex sells, as they say, and that (in a nutshell) is why non-furries zoom in on this one aspect of a complex and fascinating fandom.

I'm glad you found the display misleading about the fandom. Good for you for having an open mind! However, it won't help to write to the Museum of Sex. As long as someone is willing to donate masks or fusuits or drawings to the museum, you can bet they will display them. It's fine, we're used to this nonsense by now. The cool thing is that, as the fandom grows, we've started to gain some acceptance in the world. Sure, there may be jeers here and there, someone ranting against "furfags" on YouTube, but most of us recognize by now that these are just trolls making pathetic bids for attention.

Meanwhile, furcons and other furry meetings continue to spread and grow. And someday, we will take over the world! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Our evil furplan has just begun! Silly hoomans!

Fox and a hot wolf? No comment. "The fox named Manivald still lives at home with his retired mother. The day before his 33rd birthday, a hot young wolf comes to fix their washing machine. A love triangle develops and things get out of hand."
View Video

did we mention the ANNOUNCEMENT STREAM on SATURDAY AT 6:30 CENTRAL??? Oh we did? Oh, ok. Anyway, enjoy the episode. Our Patreon! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow 185 - WILD Speculation! - did we mention the ANNOUNCEMENT STREAM on SATURDA…

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/14/san-jose-furcon-brings-furries-and-their-animal-costumes-downtown/

Seven photos, and even a video! Go watch :)

SAN JOSE — By Sunday morning, after partying all weekend in heavy, head-to-toe animal costumes, many FurCon attendees outside the convention center downtown had scaled down to just their tails or paws.

As much as dressing up like a plush, cartoon version of a wolf, fox or ferret has become an identity, or an alter ego, even “Furries” need a break.

“The struggle is real, man,” said Jordan Leach, 24, who swung around his thick blue, black and white tail as he slid into a booth at The Flames restaurant Sunday morning for “Bottomless Mimosas.” If he were wearing his outsize fox-coyote hybrid head, he wouldn’t be able to eat anything bigger than a cracker and would need an extra long straw for a drink. Still, he said, “even when I’m not in full fur suit, I’ll always have my tail on.”

After a weekend of parades, poker and dodge ball tournaments, the 20th annual FurCon in San Jose that has attracted some 3,500 Furries is wrapping up after its “Dead Dog Dance” Monday night.

Furry creatures take part in a dog sled race during festivities at the 12th annual Further Confusion convention at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose on Jan. 24, 2010. FurCon celebrates the anthropomorphics genre with people dressing as furry creatures that have human and animal characteristics. (Gary Reyes/Mercury News)
Furry creatures take part in a dog sled race during festivities at the 12th annual Further Confusion convention at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose on Jan. 14, 2010. FurCon celebrates the anthropomorphics genre with people dressing as furry creatures that have human and animal characteristics. (Gary Reyes/Mercury News)
While outsiders might still find the idea of adults assuming an animal persona a bit bewildering, the Furries say they’re not that much different than other costumed subcultures, like Trekkies dressing up like Klingons and Cosplay fans dressing up like Game of Thrones characters. Some are even cross-promoting, like a group of Klingons did at the Marriott Hotel on Saturday night. Like other sponsors, the Klingons handed out free drinks from their room on the 4th floor, the “party floor” at the hotel, which installed wall-to-wall clear plastic tarps spanning every room and hallway.

As much as FurCon has been a non-stop party — and stigmatized by the sexualized nature of some of the activities — Furries say it is a welcoming place for people who feel marginalized or unaccepted by larger society.

“I come from a conservative family. I’ve struggled with my sexuality. This has helped me come to terms,” said a 30-year-old East Bay man, who only felt comfortable giving his Furry name, Ozzy Koala. “Radical self expression is a big part of it. Once people are putting on animals suits, everything else is out the window.”

Furries have attracted many from the LGBTQ community, as well as those on the autism spectrum, he said, who are looking for accepting, creative communities.

“There are a lot of Transfurs,” he said of transgender Furries. “It starts with putting on a costume that is literally a different gender. People get to feel what that’s like for the first time.”

For another convention goer from the East Bay, also uncomfortable giving his real name, “this was the social environment that gave me the ability to say I’m OK with myself.”

Many Furries became captivated by anthropomorphism — giving human characteristics to animals — as children by watching Disney’s talking animal classics, like Bambi and Lion King, or watching Looney Tunes’s Bugs Bunny.

“When I was a kid, I was like, I wish I was an animal, damn it,” said Leach, who also goes by the name “Foyote.” “Just think how it would be to be an animal and be able to talk.”

Not everyone at the convention wears an animal costume, which can become overwhelmingly hot. The custom, plush costumes can be expensive, between $2,000 and $10,000. Some are equipped with flashing LEDs that light up tails and make eyes glow, and liquid cooling systems inside.

“But if that gets damaged, you’re leaking everywhere,” said Russell Bumala, 30, of La Honda.

In costume or not, Leach says he is happy to express himself.

“It’s been such an extreme positive life change,” he said. “It’s opened me up socially. I was living a boring life before I got into fandom. Now I’m having a great time.”

On Sunday evening at Further Confusion, I chatted with Mark Merlino and Rod O’Riley of the Prancing Skiltaire furry house, founders of ConFurence, the first furry con. We talked about how a certain fandom controversy today is dragging on one that started all the way back with the divide between fans and “lifestylers”. That is, people who only liked furry stuff – vs. people who dared call themselves Furries, with a community beyond simply being a consumer for anthropomorphic animal media. It looks out for its members like any other.

This community recognizes contributors with annual awards. The awards are funded by Rod and Mark, and they need help. It’s a modest 3-digit cost… but still the help has to happen. We discussed the monthly model of Patreon vs. a one-time cost of GoFundMe or IndieGogo. Expect more info on that soon. Furry readers: is this something you would contribute to? Please speak up in the comments! – Patch  

Fred Patten tells more about those awards:

Nominations for the 2017 Ursa Major Awards opened on January 11, the first day of Further Confusion 2018. The awards celebrate the best anthropomorphic literature and art first published during the previous calendar year.

Visit their site to participate: http://www.ursamajorawards.org/

The awards are selected through a two-stage process of nomination and voting. Members of the public send in up to five nominations in each of the twelve categories. The top nominations in each category are then presented for a public vote.

Award categories:

• Motion Picture
• Dramatic Short Work or Series
• Novel
• Short Fiction
• Other Literary Work
• Non-Fiction Work
• Graphic Story
• Comic Strip
• Magazine
• Published Illustration
• Game
• Website

Many nominations are likely to come from the ALAA’s Recommended Anthropomorphics List, which has been built up through prior suggestions; however, inclusion on the list is not necessary nor sufficient for a work to be nominated.

Nominations close on February 15, and will be tallied during the end of February. The final ballot will be announced on March 1 and voting will take place until the end of March. All those who register for nominations may use the same registration key to vote in the final ballot. Those people who did not send in nominations may still vote on the final ballot. The ballots will be counted, the trophies made, and the results will be announced at the award presentations in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, at FurDU 2018, scheduled for May 4-6.

Please note that the nominations period has been shortened to only the first half of February, instead of the entire month of February as is usual. This is so the final ballot may be concluded at the end of March.

The awards are sponsored by the independent Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association.

Fred added that the Fursuit category is not active at this time because substantiating information is needed, and only one person made the effort to provide it since the time of the category started, so it will not be on the Recommended List for 2018. 

Our gamer friend WishStone Dragon joins us for a usual roundup of news, followed by some live furry game reviews and playthrough.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• Paradox’s Phantom New Years
• Edible Tide Pod Recipe
• Merriam Webster tweets about doggos
• IKEA Wants You To Pee On Their Advert, And It’s Actually A Pretty Neat Idea
• Fuck Youth
• Wired piece on “History of the word Doggo”
• Today I Found Out on YouTube: “Where did Werewolves come from?”
• Weird eBay seller with fursuits
• SwiftOnSecurity tweet about furries running Nuclear Communications
• Further Confusion tweets about HIV testing
• Vive Pro raises the bar for VR
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

News:

• 7 New Spider Species
• Damore Suit Google Caters to Furries
• Sexy Kangaroo Needs to Model
• Male Sexbots On High Demand 2018
• Owner of urn donated to Goodwill being sought by Washington State police
• Butcher trapped in freezer uses sausage to bash his way out
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

Furry Game Reviews:

We review three upcoming furry games. As of recording all three are based in Unity, have Patreon pages and are in “alpha” stages of development. Only one supported VR when we did our playthrough. Although each of these games may change drastically as their development continues, we share some comments, laughs and intrigue at the various directions they seem to be headed in.

Yiffalicious:

Yiffalicious Website

Yiffalicious Patreon

The Cathouse Tale:

The Cathouse Tale Patreon

Shades of Elysium:

Shades of Elysium Patreon

FC-290 Press 1 For Clothing - Our gamer friend WishStone Dragon joins us for a usual roundup of news, followed by some live furry game reviews and playthrough.

Our gamer friend WishStone Dragon joins us for a usual roundup of news, followed by some live furry game reviews and playthrough.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• Paradox’s Phantom New Years
• Edible Tide Pod Recipe
• Merriam Webster tweets about doggos
• IKEA Wants You To Pee On Their Advert, And It’s Actually A Pretty Neat Idea
• Fuck Youth
• Wired piece on “History of the word Doggo”
• Today I Found Out on YouTube: “Where did Werewolves come from?”
• Weird eBay seller with fursuits
• SwiftOnSecurity tweet about furries running Nuclear Communications
• Further Confusion tweets about HIV testing
• Vive Pro raises the bar for VR
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

News:

• 7 New Spider Species
• Damore Suit Google Caters to Furries
• Sexy Kangaroo Needs to Model
• Male Sexbots On High Demand 2018
• Owner of urn donated to Goodwill being sought by Washington State police
• Butcher trapped in freezer uses sausage to bash his way out
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

Furry Game Reviews:

We review three upcoming furry games. As of recording all three are based in Unity, have Patreon pages and are in “alpha” stages of development. Only one supported VR when we did our playthrough. Although each of these games may change drastically as their development continues, we share some comments, laughs and intrigue at the various directions they seem to be headed in.

Yiffalicious:

Yiffalicious Website

Yiffalicious Patreon

The Cathouse Tale:

The Cathouse Tale Patreon

Shades of Elysium:

Shades of Elysium Patreon

FC-290 Press 1 For Clothing - Our gamer friend WishStone Dragon joins us for a usual roundup of news, followed by some live furry game reviews and playthrough.

Our gamer friend WishStone Dragon joins us for a usual roundup of news, followed by some live furry game reviews and playthrough.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• Paradox’s Phantom New Years
• Edible Tide Pod Recipe
• Merriam Webster tweets about doggos
• IKEA Wants You To Pee On Their Advert, And It’s Actually A Pretty Neat Idea
• Fuck Youth
• Wired piece on “History of the word Doggo”
• Today I Found Out on YouTube: “Where did Werewolves come from?”
• Weird eBay seller with fursuits
• SwiftOnSecurity tweet about furries running Nuclear Communications
• Further Confusion tweets about HIV testing
• Vive Pro raises the bar for VR
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

News:

• 7 New Spider Species
• Damore Suit Google Caters to Furries
• Sexy Kangaroo Needs to Model
• Male Sexbots On High Demand 2018
• Owner of urn donated to Goodwill being sought by Washington State police
• Butcher trapped in freezer uses sausage to bash his way out
• Man Rams Armored Vehicle Into Shop Just For 1 Bottle Of Wine

Furry Game Reviews:

We review three upcoming furry games. As of recording all three are based in Unity, have Patreon pages and are in “alpha” stages of development. Only one supported VR when we did our playthrough. Although each of these games may change drastically as their development continues, we share some comments, laughs and intrigue at the various directions they seem to be headed in.

Yiffalicious:

Yiffalicious Website

Yiffalicious Patreon

The Cathouse Tale:

The Cathouse Tale Patreon

Shades of Elysium:

Shades of Elysium Patreon

[Live] Press 1 For Clothing

So this will be a thing soon.
View Video

Welcome once again to the FWG Awareness Week! To help us in our goal of highlighting minority culture and writers in furry literature, we’ve reached out to editors, authors, and publishers in the fandom to bring you a short reading list of works both from and about our region in focus: Southeast and East Asia. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of titles, we hope it serves as a good jumping-off point and gives a rough starting view of the cultures and people from this area.

From the region:

Allison Thai (who we interviewed earlier this week) is a Vietnamese-American husky who has been published in several furry anthologies, including Symbol of a Nation, ROAR 8, and Arcana – Tarot. Readers may be interested in her story, “A Time For Giving“, from Arcana, about an injured, stranded Russian wolf who is given hospitality by a family of Mongolian horses, despite her deeds as a treacherous NKVD agent. Her entry for ROAR 8, “Hope for the Harbingers“, sees God lift up damned souls from Hell to appoint them as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, while Death finds a glimpse of redemption in doing his duty.

Al Song, a Laotian-American kangaroo with a degree in German literature from University of Washington, writes in “Serenity in Blue” (from FANG 8) about a fresh college graduate unhappy with his employment as a security officer, and his attempt to seek out a better future for himself. In “Tempus Imperfectum“, to be published in Tales from the Guild – World Tour 2, a young Italian otter newly immigrated to Germany finds friendship and romance through his high-school orchestra.

Singaporean artist and writer MikasiWolf writes in “Adversary’s Fall“, from Gods With Fur, about the mythical Monkey King, who, with the help of a drunk merlion and an old comrade, seeks vengeance against the most powerful demon of all. His story, “Fathers and Sons“, found in Dogs of War, talks about a young recruit who, despite his disastrous first day in military service, eventually learns the experience gained by generations of servicemen.

About the region:

Faolan provides “Instinct“, the closing entry to the Species: WOLVES anthology – an account of a lupine K-Pop idol pack of the same name, as they attempt to maintain group cohesion despite their individual egos and feelings for one another.

Takaa Silvermane‘s story collection, Closer Than Brothers, examines gay relationships throughout history. “Sparring Session” follows fox Gichoi and cat Daejung in in 667 CE South Korea. Following Korean funeral rites of the time, the two soldiers take a respite from battle and find intimate comfort in each other despite the knowledge it is forbidden love. In “Kamogawa“, three-tailed fox Akio abandons his guard post in Sekigahara, Japan (1600 CE) to find his childhood playmate, white cat Hideki, in a nearby stream. Not your typical “Romeo and Juliet” story, the two are now on opposite sides of the war. What will they do to preserve themselves – or sacrifice for love of the other?

In Kyell Gold‘s “Unfinished Business“, from Heat #13, as private investigator Jae Kim visits supernatural Wolftown Detroit, he runs into his former boyfriend and some issues from his Korean family.

Edited by Fred Patten, the Symbol of a Nation anthology consists of eleven short stories and novelettes featuring the anthropomorphized animal symbols of nations, and exploring their significance and the ideas they represent in their cultures.

Though himself not a furry author, the origami animals in Ken Liu‘s short story “The Paper Menagerie” (read) come to life as magically as our own furry characters do. This poignant story, about a young Connecticut boy, his Chinese mother, and the cultural tension of immigration, is the first work of fiction to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and the World Fantasy Awards.

Special thanks go out to Ocean Tigrox, Thurston Howl, Makyo, and Dark End for their suggestions and assistance in putting this list together.

Discuss this article on the Guild forums, or check out the profiles of our FWG members.

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

Arcana: A Tarot Anthology, Madison Scott-Clary, ed. Illustrated by Joseph Chou.
Lansing, MI, Thurston Howl Publications, November 2017, trade paperback, $17.99 (xi + 423 pages).

The tarot cards, according to the Preface by editor Scott-Clary, were introduced to Europe in the 15th century. They have been used for fortune-telling since the 16thth century, if not earlier. There are four suits of 14 cards each, plus 22 “major arcana” cards. The arcana have individual names: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Hierophant, and so on. Arcana: A Tarot Anthology presents 22 stories, one for each arcana card, featuring anthro animals. Each is illustrated by a full-page portrait in the style of an anthro arcana card by Joseph Chou.

The first story, “The First Step” (The Fool) by editor Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary, is less a story than a tutorial on how tarot fortune-telling works. Avery, a shy young mountain lion, is sent by his mother to a nameless older badger fortune-teller by his mother. Avery, the narrator, is just about to leave home for college, and his mother insists that he find out from the tarot cards what the future will bring. The motherly badger is as much a lay psychologist as a fortune-teller. “The First Step” is unusual in being narrated in the present tense:

“She leans in close to me, stage-whispering, ‘I’ll let you in on a secret. None of the cards in the swords suit – in any suits – show blood. Death, yes. Change, definitely. But no blood.   It’s hardly hacking and slashing.’

‘But they’re still –‘

She holds up a paw. ‘They’re still swords, but they’re tools. Swords show work. Strife, sometimes, sure; striving toward a goal. But what they is show work. These swords aren’t working right now, they’re just standing there. So where is the striving?’

‘Behind them?’ I ask. “They figures are all facing away from something.’

‘Or toward something.’

‘So,’ I say hesitantly. ‘I’m going to go on a journey?’” (p. 11)

“Cat’s Paw” (The Magician) by Mut is narrated by a nameless desperate were-dog who accosts a lion-man wizard and his date in a bar to get his curse removed. But nobody is what they seem. Very sardonically amusing:

“So here’s the secret to spotting a wizard: look for the one with a body that’s just too perfect. There’s a stud who’s six three, muscles fighting to escape his shirt, not a hair out of place? Wizard. Or a porn star, maybe, but probably a wizard.

[…]

I’d been trawling through bars for a wizard all evening, ad it was getting close to the deadline. I’d found a couple of almosts and one obvious poseur, but nobody with real magic. This guy, though, he was unmistakeable. He hadn’t even bothered to keep it human – too green to know better, or too powerful to care. He was a lion, with a mane and golden fur and whiskers and everything. There was even a tail flicking away under the barstool.” (pgs. 21-22)

“Catalyst” (The High Priestess) by Kristina “th ‘buni” Tracer is good, but it suffers from being too similar to “The First Step”. The narrator, unnamed until the last page, gets stinking drunk and into a fight at the Unicorn Chaser nightclub. His date, an impala named Ndidi, walks out on him. He is sobered up the next day at the nearby home of an also-unnamed porcupine “spiritual consultant”. She uses the tarot, but her “fortunetelling” is more lay psychiatry than anything else. Her counseling solves the narrator’s emotional problems that led to his drunkenness. A feel-good incident.

“Domestic Violence” (The Empress) by Frances Pauli features a modern domestic home of dinosaurs; George & Anni Raptor, and their daughters Ellie & Emily. Were raptors really this short-tempered?

“Anni peered through the glass oven door and tapped one oversized sickle-claw against her linoleum tiles. Her casserole bubbled happily away on the rack inside. One half pound of gooey melted cheese almost near perfection, and George was late getting home again.

It would be cold, ruined, by the time he finally dragged his tail through the front door.

She squinted at the bubbles and raked her claw against the tiles, digging an angry rut in the floor that George was bound to notice. That, he’d see. Her new nail polish or the dress she’d picked out for their anniversary, however, he’d likely never even acknowledge.” (p. 51)

“George warbled deep in his throat and walked into his house to see a ring of disapproving expressions. They sat around the dining table, in the alcove just off the kitchen, and it looked like they’d fully stuffed themselves without him.

You’re late again,’ Anni snapped. Her toe tapped an irritating staccato against the flooring and he could already see a spot where she’d damaged it again. More remodels he could barely afford.” (p. 53)

Two angry, frustrated raptors.   A perfect recipe for domestic violence.

“Domestic Violence” is the first story here that has no obvious connection to the tarot arcana. Anni is certainly the Empress of the Raptor household, though. Arcana or not, this is one of the most wickedly humorous stories in this anthology. Pauli never lets you forget that these are ferocious, hissing raptors in a business suit and a dress.

“Joseph and the Technicolor Fur Coat” (The Emperor) by Stephen Coughlan is a sweet tale of confronting modernity:

“It used to be that he [Joseph T. Macintosh, a human] rented a bull from one of his neighbors for a month or two, got most, if not all, of his herd pregnant and then sent the bull back to its home on a trailer.   Nowadays, Joseph had to contact the breeder industry and then within hours of ordering a stud, a half-human/half-cow creation, a recent creation of science, would pull up in a fancy automobile, lurch his way to the field, and commence, ahem, ‘meeting’ every cow in the vicinity.” (p. 63)

Joseph, sixty years old, is the Emperor of his farm, but he’s resigned himself that he’s behind the times. He’s satisfied that his three “wayward children” have created modern lives of their own. Peter will come home to take over the farm. Susan is a university graduate with a good job lined up, and a reliable fiancé. David … well, Joseph has a hard time accepting David’s lifestyle, but at least David is a successful hair stylist. Joseph is even ready to grit his teeth and accept David’s homosexual marriage to another man. Then he learns that Felix is a hybrid:

“‘Yeah I’m sure.’ Felix finally purred. His voice was deep and guttural. He was a cross between human, black leopard, and Himalayan housecat. His dark fur shone n the morning light, and painted highlights, which had been lovingly applied by his fiancé and covered his body from head to foot, sparkled in a brilliant Technicolor display.” (p. 73)

Can Joseph accept Felix as David’s “husband” or is this Too Much?

“The Lunatic” (The Hierophant) by C. M. Averin may be the most subtle story in this anthology. “‘I need it,’ she whispered. ‘Kill him.’” (p. 85) Rafael, a wolf in a bar, hears her voice and follows a coyote out into the snowy forest to the river to kill him. Who is Rafael, the coyote, listening to? Who is “her”? Consider the title and the meaning of “hierophant”.

In “Love Not Misplaced” (The Lovers) by Hypetaph, Annette (cheetah) confesses her doubts about her husband Keiran’s love for her and the stability of their marriage, in the cathedral’s confessional. Father Joseph (fossa) reassures her. The story has a stinger at the end.

In “Avoiding the Subject” (The Chariot) by TJ Minde, the chariot is the car that Robert (rabbit) and Danny (pika) drive to Robert’s Midwestern childhood home for a family reunion dinner. As they drive back to the city afterwards, Robert asks Danny why he never talks about his family.   Danny tells him. A nice slice-of-life story.

“Chasing the Dragon” (Strength) by Baxil is narrated by Regan, a dragon suffering hoard-withdrawal in Pangaea, where he’s lived for 18 days on a visa granting asylum. Regan’s native Draconia is on the verge of declaring war on Pangaea, and Regan, a pacifist, has emigrated. Pangaea is a herbivore nation, but determined not to back down in the face of Draconian aggression. Regan can take the prejudice of most Pangaeans against dragons, but he’s afraid of succumbing to addiction to his hoard of coins, which he had to leave behind in Draconia. Will Regan have the emotional Strength to survive in Pangaea without it?

The Hermit in “While It Lasts” (The Hermit) by John Kulp is Curtis Vintner, a southern possum (presumably an American opossum, not an Aussie possum) living alone in a cabin with his shotgun. The narrator is his nephew Trevor, a gay teenage punk full of piercings who has been sent to his uncle for a week for punishment for having been caught with weed. Trev hates his uncle’s redneck lifestyle, but he hates government bureaucracy more. When the government tries to seize Uncle Curtis’ land for non-payment of taxes, Trev plans to fight the government’s lawyers in court. But first he has to convince Uncle Curtis not to fight them from ambush with his bear traps and shotgun. A nice funny-animal tale of two different generations and lifestyles bonding.

“The Dragon of Volcano Island” (Wheel of Fortune) by Madison Keller is a short-story prequel to her Dragonsbane Saga series. Riastel, a dragon youth, is turned out of his mother’s cave to find his own home. His search leads to a perfect cavern on a volcanic island, already occupied by a larger dragon who has amassed a hoard of gleaming gold. He just has to figure out how to get rid of the older, deadlier dragon. Riastel’s story leads to Keller’s The Dragon Tax, where he meets Sybil Dragonsbane.

In “Red” (Justice) by Searska GreyRaven, four lycan (wolf) teens dare each other to call Bloody Mary, a supernatural lamb whose fleece is soaked with blood, who (according to urban legend) comes through a household mirror if summoned at midnight on Halloween. So they call her through the bathroom mirror at Jason’s house. Is this supposed to be a Halloween horror story? The writing is okay, but the mood is just of four teens goofing off on Halloween night. Totally un-scary. What’s more, this is the most “funny animal” story in the anthology. The “lycans” and lambs never feel like anthro animals instead of modern urban humans.

The Hanged Man means reversal. In “Unbound” by Chris “Sparf” Williams, is Finn (wolf) gay or transgender? Finn feels fucked up several ways. His father hates “queers”. His mother doesn’t care what gender he is; she just wants him to become a successful corporate office climber instead of the independent artist he wants to be. Finn’s older brother Blair is supportive, but he’s ultra-straight and Finn can tell he doesn’t really understand what Finn wants. What does Finn want? He doesn’t know himself. In “Unbound”, Finn struggles to discover what he really is.

“Unbound” is a really strong story, but it kept flagging my hangup about funny-animals vs. real anthropomorphs. Mentions of anthro wolves, foxes, otters, and other species shopping at IKEA, drinking beers or martinis, eating meat loaf, “a pine marten chewing on his morning pastry” (p. 231) at a coffee shop, kept me seeing them as just animal-headed humans despite Williams’ frequent mentions of fur and tails. (Would a wolf order a Caesar salad at a restaurant?) “Unbound” is great if little details like this don’t bother you.

“St. John’s Bridge” (Death) by Rose LaCroix also has a transgender theme. The first-person focus is developed through back-and-forth incidents in Allen’s/Erica’s life between 2014 and 2010. Death is involved, but how? Again, this is a better story if you aren’t bothered by hangups about foxes, deer, hyenas, and ocelots living together in real cities like Las Vegas, driving cars of real makes like Mustangs, and so on.

“A Temper for Order” (Temperance), a second story by Frances Pauli, is set in a seaside community of birds. Piper, a sandpiper, is a herbalist. Trudy, a neighboring shopkeeper, is a weaver bird. Dash, a stork, collects and sells pretty seashells. Trudy, a matchmaker, is trying to set up a romance between Piper and Dash, but Piper is a neatness freak and Dash appears to be a sloppy drunk. “A Temper for Order” dramatizes that Temperance means moderation in all things, not just drinking.

“Faux” (The Devil) by Atrum is highly unusual in never saying specifically what the protagonist is. The reader has to piece together clues in the story: “The practice opened at seven, closed at six, five days a week; he spent months becoming primarily diurnal, there weren’t enough nocturnal species in that area to cater to.” (p. 296) Ian, a doctor (Chou’s arcana portrait shows him as a raccoon), has built a successful practice, but he’s obsessed with displaying that success. He works longer hours to make more money to buy flashy signs of wealth for his home and office. Iker (husky), his receptionist, argues that he should get more rest, hire more help; Iker is less worried about Ian’s health as that he’s starting to make mistakes from overwork. But Ian can’t cut back because that might look like he was less successful. The Devil is a symbol of obsession with material things.

“The Storm” (The Tower) by J. S. Hawthorne is so vividly written that you don’t need Chou’s illustration to see the action:

“The rat called Paladin – the only name left to him – stood at the end of the craggy pass, staring up at the tower. It was a huge monolith, and its black-marble façade was alive with blue-green light from the electric sensors embedded in its surface. Sparks and electrical arcs lit the night from the Tesla generator on top, and threw him into sharp relief against the obsidian around him.” (p. 315)

Paladin is part of a team of revolutionaries attacking a major bastion of the oppressive government, a tower disguised as a Weather Monitoring Station. He fights his way to the top despite fierce resistance wielding both swords and electric weapons. A tense, exciting story.

In “No Peas in My Garden” (The Star) by Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen, narrated by a nameless priest, it is the Church that is bioengineering Nhab experiments like Lucia the lioness assistant curate, and the public that protests against them. After all, the Church teaches that we are all – all – God’s children, and it was a priest who first discovered the laws of genetics with pea plants. The priest is about to soothe the crowd, but Lucia asks to speak for herself. This is a different viewpoint from one often heard in furry fandom, but quietly, powerfully expressed.

In “Who Fights With Monsters” (The Moon), Kyell Gold packs a novel’s worth of plot into a sixteen-page short story. Czoltan, a teenager, has been a werewolf for eight months. The U.N. has ruled that the werewolves in the Balkans should have their own country, but the armies of the former Yugoslav nations try to “ethnic cleanse” the area of werewolves before that can happen. There is silver dust as a weapon to kill werewolves, and the “fact” that if a werewolf stays in wolf form for too long, it becomes normal wolf permanently. Czoltan wants to fight for the werewolf nation, but should he do it as a human, a half-wolf, or a full wolf?

In “Remembering Sisyphus” (The Sun) by George Squares, Salim (Tiger), Chrissy (Border Collie), and Victor (Yellow Labrador) are attending an endless party throughout the resort city of Cape Carolyn. They pick up the nameless narrator (Spathy, a Squirrel), alone, and he and Salim go off together.

“I took him to the pier which held the biggest Ferris wheel in the city. Its lights dazzled in day glow vivacity that sparkled and shined as a spinning medallion. The twilit horizon line of the ocean made the wheel appear god-like, Aztec, holding attentions immeasurable as they passed us, shrieking with delight and rapture. A dapper weasel in a boater hat handed us change and two ticket stubs as we entered our cart.” (p. 375)

Will Salim ever realize that they are trapped in a sunny, endless party that really does go on forever?

“A Time for Giving” (Judgment) by Allison Thai focuses on Sonya, a Soviet wolf who awakens from a freezing wintry train wreck in the tent of Batu and his family of Mongolian horses. As Sonya heals and the weather improves, she has time to compare the worlds of the ruthless NKVD with that of the peaceful nomadic peasants.

Diamma, in “The Unification of Worlds” (The World) by Mary E. Lowd, is one of a party of hybrid spacemen; a lion-lizard. Others are Aggem, a deer-bird, and Mundo, a turtle-elephant. They are sent to the perpetually pink-snowy world of Snomoth, inhabited by a tiny, mouselike civilization.

“‘Wait,’ the mouse squeaked. ‘Take me with you. The universe is ending: take me with you!’” (p. 404)

What can Eip, the yellow Snomoth mouse, teach the galactic civilization?

Arcana: A Tarot Anthology (cover by Joseph Chou) contains 22 stories. Only “The First Step” and “Catalyst” are visibly tarot-arcana oriented; the others are related to the theme in more subtle ways. Some stories are naturally better than others, but almost all are worth reading; some are unforgettable. The anthology may be better than I make it seem by emphasizing my own prejudice against “funny-animal/animal-headed human” stories; if you don’t mind these, Arcana is really good. The 22 arcana-card illustrations by Joseph Chou, each featuring the protagonist of its story, are almost worth the price of the anthology alone. Do not just glance at them; study them. Arcana will bring you reading pleasure for days.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Thurston Howl

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.

Furry Nation is the book on furry fandom written by greymuzzle Joe Strike, published on October 2017. Several years in the making, it is an enthusiastic, comprehensive and detailed account of customs, trends, and activities, within the fandom. As thorough as it is stylistic, it feels a joy to read from start to finish. There is an underlying approach to the narrative that’s well underlined in the preface. Joe’s first draft on a book on anthropomorphic culture, as shown to a publisher, was acceptable, but their response was, “what about you & other furries?” And so, Joe in his final published work describes the fandom through the personal experiences of other furry fans, and his own, which is an excellent choice that pays off.

 

It is often said that a different understanding of the fandom exists for every fan. The overall theme is the same, easily defined with the terms ‘animal anthropomorphics’, but these words often mean nothing to the newcomer who has no context. Within that theme, furry fandom is drive, is being creative, is meeting people, discovering oneself and discovering others, having new experiences, having fun! In the book, an accurate explanation seems effortless when told through the eyes of so many different people that have interesting and valid insights of their own, invariably linked to their personal life affairs, finely connected together. You get the input of aficionados, artists, fursuit makers, cartoonists, convention admins, performers, journalists…

The book manages to fit almost everything related to general furry culture I’d expect a furry fan to know, and more. Had I been given 10 years and unlimited resources to write a similar book, I wouldn’t have done it any better. It’s all-encompassing, and well researched, but not overwhelming. There’s a natural flow in the inquiries that step by step bring curious knowledge to the table. The writing is skillful, tasteful, bordering spicy a limited number of times; Joe occasionally allows himself to be slightly elegantly erotic to make for a more alluring read. His personality shines through his words, he’s a playful talented author that’s invested in the real story he’s telling. Through the development of the fandom as told by him there’s a perception of growth and maturity acquired, as chapters go by he successfully reflects the sense of constant wonder and fulfilled belonging that we longtimers have come to embrace in the fandom.

 

Some objected to the book being US-centric, but really there is no drawback to it. The fandom was born in the US, and the location of the narration is merely incidental. The experiences told by furry fans are universally relatable, and that’s what’s important. Furry fever is a human thing, a human-animal thing, wherever the location. The tome gets its points across; adding even more information could have made it unattractively thick. This is it, this is the book. You can recommend it to anyone either non-furry or furry, and as long as they like reading, both types of people will learn and enjoy reading Furry Nation.

There’s an English saying that goes ‘Home is where the heart is.’ Joe hasn’t just beautifully described home to anyone willing to listen. He’s also made it clear why anyone would call it their home. All that’s left, is to buy the book yourself, and read it!

You can purchase Furry Nation at several bookstores listed on its website (link⇒)

The entry ‘Furry Nation’,</br> Review of Joe Strike’s</br> Masterful Book appears first in FurryFandom.Es.

From Previews: “Collected for the first time, The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen Vol. 1 picks up where the cult-classic 1981 film left off: Three weeks have passed since Chris Halloran revealed on national TV that werewolves walk among us. No one believed him. Now Marsha Quist has returned for revenge–and now there is no colony to hold back her blood lust. This collection includes The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen issues 1-4, and a cover gallery— featuring Bill Sienkiewicz’s supreme cover!” Written by Micky Neilson and with art by Jason Johnson and Milen Parvanov, it’s available now as a full-color trade paperback from Space Goat Publishing. [And with that, we’ll see you all after we get back from Further Confusion!]

image c. 2018 Space Goat

New short by Felix Colgrave ... that is all.
View Video