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Guest post by Arrkay from Culturally F’d, the furry youtube channel. See their tag on Dogpatch Press for more.

Get a load of this sneak peak for this weeks long-awaited Culturally F’d Miniseries. Inspired by a series of articles right here on Dogpatch.Press, Fursuiting: A History is an expedition straight into the uncanny valley.

This multi-part miniseries will look at animal-costume history from the basics of the mask, theatrical outfits, Hollywood rubber-suits, fandom cosplay, and our very own fuzzy army of unique performers. Stay tuned this #FursuitFriday for the first installment of our 2018 series – and make sure to subscribe to Culturally F’d on YouTube to catch new videos as they come.

The music used in the trailer is “Ascendance” by Fox Amoore.

Also check out our older, concept trailer that parodies the Westworld opening titles.

Plus you can see our version side by side with the Westworld open:

Like this and want more? Buy Culturally F’d Merch, Support Culturally F’d on Patreon, and subscribe to their Newsletter.

We had not heard about the Hammy and Gerbee series, but now the first volume is out, and apparently more are coming soon. Written and illustrated by Wong Herbert Yee, the first story of this graphic novel series for young readers is called Hammy and Gerbee: Mummies at the Museum. “Things are looking up for best friends Hammy and Gerbee—a hamster and a gerbil—when they find out they’re both in Miss Capybara’s class. But it’s not long before school becomes a battle between the good (Hammy and Gerbee), the bad (spelling bees and pop quizzes), and the evil (mice twins Anna and Hanna). Can things get any worse? Or mischievous? Yep! They’re going on a field trip to the science museum. What are two rodent friends to do but find their own fun (and trouble)?” It’s available now over at Barnes & Noble, from Henry Holt.

image c. 2018 Henry Holt

It appears this bear has a touch of actual OCD.
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Hello everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion our panel on TFF. We then launch into a conversation about a recent article from the New York Times about how porn might be causing harm in the approach teenagers have toward sexual encounters. We discuss whether or not porn should be expected to be an educator for sex and what we can do better on a societal level.

Our main topic is on Active Listening and Maintaining Empathy. We've had many episodes on how to use nonviolent communication. This is only half of the equation, and that you must employ active listening skills in order to maintain empathy and find a way to bridge the divide between perspectives. We also talk about the terrifying concept that we as people can be fallible and oftentimes are the ones who are causing stress in a relationship, and how we can employ active listening to lower our barriers and identify ways to communicate and reciprocate everyone's wants and needs in a relationship.

We close out the show with a question on anal-- a top is concerned with the amount of Santorum produced when he has sex with his fuck buddy. How can he talk to his friend with benefits about douching before dicking?

For more information, including a list of topics, see our Show Notes for this episode.

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 099.5 Active Listening and Maintaining Empathy - Is porn a good teacher for sex? Is talking the talk good enough to maintain empathy? Santorum strikes when you least expect it! All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Bear with me, I’m going to mention that old CSI episode “Fur and Loathing” again. Few media portrayals have upset furry fandom so much. A fiction show about murder should get a license to exaggerate for entertainment, but the public somehow took it as a documentary. It made impressions that a furry convention for good natured nerd stuff, like drawing cartoons and getting dinner with friends, is a weekend long furpile for sex-mad fetishists. Other sensational media was even more responsible for spreading the impression. Of course to be fair, so are some furries.

Fursuit Modded With Power To Pull Bad Dragon Products Into Tailhole From 25 Yards Away

— Dogpatch Clickbait (@DogpatchNewsBot) February 12, 2018

This was on my mind when I found a thread about Fay V’s worst convention ever. It’s a wild trip with 78 tweets about eldritch horror pudding and orgies.

Alright, I'll open this up to followers in general because this is a really fun story.
My worst con experience EVER! (1) https://t.co/wVxCaGDYur

— Fay V (@FayVFox) February 12, 2018

With that in mind, here are some of the more unusual kinks among furries, which I’m totally not making up at all.

(Art: Bencoon)

• Vore and Rooting

Vorarephilia is a fantasy interest in having one character consume another.  Rooting is where a character like a snake goes in one entrance and out another at the same time.

• Elebating

The infamous “elevator incident” at ConFurence 8 (all the way back in 1997) memorialized this scandalous behavior. A con-goer was disturbed by a mysterious ectoplasmic substance that migrated from an elevator wall to his pants leg. Witnesses who were trusted as non-gossipers swore up and down that it was exactly what you’re thinking of. It was variously explained as mayonnaise, moisture from bathing suits from a hot tub next to the elevator, or a sneeze:

Never having heard the actual complaints (despite being on staff) I suspect part of this may have been my fault. I was fighting a head cold the first day of the con. Staggering up to my room lay down for a couple hours I sneezed QUITE messily in one of the elevators. By the time I found something to clean it up with and got back to the elevator the hotel staff (?) had taken care of the mess. – Rivercoon

• Elevator hookup

Get in an elevator at a con and ask if anyone wants a hug. If a hug keeps going until it gets to your floor, ask if they wanna get off with you (wink!) It’s a way to have a contest – the fewer floors it takes, the better the score. Now you know what to blame for elevator lines.

• Davy Crockett Style

Wearing a raccoon’s ass for a hat.

• Weaseling and Double Weaseling

That’s when one furry puts on another’s fursuit for yiffing with a partner who doesn’t know. (Obviously it requires implied consent from freaky furries who will just laugh about it). A less typical situation is when a target furry catches on to the plan and secretly switches places with another, so both partners are in the wrong fursuit. That’s Double Weaseling.  A Weasel Party is when a whole group of furries switch suits at the same time.

Besides being freaky deaky like you saw on the CSI documentary – and definitely not creative fans who share art and encourage each other to express playful sides of their personalities in innocent and joyful ways – furries also enjoy telling totally ridiculous stories. With that in mind, enjoy the below.

Challenging myths about furries and sex. pic.twitter.com/94e1Mxrjl2

— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) February 1, 2018

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

We have here a commercial by a Moscow based production company called Fetish Film. This is a bit like a russian 2d Fantastic Mr Fox in commercial form.
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In 2017, FurPlanet chose to deviate from their usual custom of designating differing themes for FANG and ROAR by instead assigning their two annual anthologies the same theme: Paradise. In FANG 8, edited by Ashe Valisca, 14 authors of gay erotica explore the concept of paradise in a variety of contexts; real or imaginary, natural or created, lasting or transitory. This review aims to examine each of these stories.We begin with Al Song’s “Serenity in Blue.” Holt, a fennec fox, has suffered a painful breakup with his boyfriend and now, post-college, works a job he despises. The story follows his efforts to find a path to new love and a more inspiring career. The ‘paradise’ element wasn’t particularly obvious, but Song’s themes of a search for love and purpose in a competitive modern world will likely be relatable to many young people.“For Metal Do I Bleed” by NightEyes DaySpring follows Evie, a wolf struggling with a crush on a close friend, which may or may not be returned. Along with friends, he attends a heavy metal concert. The evening’s subsequent events, which include him meeting a band member he idolises, have lasting effects on Evie’s conception of his idol, his crush, and himself. I myself did not find Evie a particularly sympathetic protagonist, but as an initial degree of immaturity is hardly unusual in the heroes of ‘loss of innocence’ tales, this does not detract from the quality of the story.“Reflections” by TJ Minde features a couple, Jared (raccoon), and Derrick (rabbit), as they address Jared’s sexual inexperience by having a threesome with Derrick’s friend Charlie (fox). Again the ‘paradise’ element was fairly loosely interpreted, but given most of the other stories in the anthology feature monogamous couples, Minde’s portrayal of a couple opening their relationship up for the first time was a welcome nod to the diversity of modern relationship types. My one quibble was that Derrick comes across as a rather overdone caricature of the ‘flamboyant gay’ stereotype but this may be personal taste. In "A Night Out" by Jaden Drackus, another example of a ‘paradise found’ tale, we follow Captain Kerry Cooper, a US Army pilot fox stationed in Paris during WWI. While exploring Montmartre, Cooper visits a cabaret designed for gay males, where he meets Claude, a French lion. Drackus’s skill at bringing the sights, sounds, and scents of Edwardian Montmartre alive for the reader made this one of my favourite stories in the anthology.“Antisocial Paradise” by Miriam “Camio” Curzon tells the tale of Landon, a British African Wild Dog, as he tries to balance his affection for Mina (genet), an Egyptian student studying in London, with his zeal for anarchist activism and rebellion. This was by far the most divisive story for me in the anthology. Curzon’s rich and descriptive narrative style makes “Antisocial Paradise” without doubt one of the best-written stories in the collection, if not the best, but the outstanding narrative quality is equally balanced by it having the least-likeable cast (Mina being the exception; I felt sorry for him). Often Landon’s dialogue, or that of supporting characters, was so far-out I half-wondered if I was reading a social satire. I’m very curious to see if other readers’ reactions to this story match or differ, but for writing quality and characterisation (a character doesn’t need be likable to be well-conceived, after all) it was my favourite story in the anthology."Cause No Trouble" also by NightEyes DaySpring is set in Soviet Russia, where Ivan, a snow leopard, finds himself in trouble with the authorities. To his surprise, the official placed in charge of his case, Nikolai (husky), offers to look the other way on Ivan’s transgressions if Ivan takes him to a gay club. More trouble follows for both of them. This was another of my favourite stories in FANG 8; a fine tale of two individuals finding companionship amid deplorable circumstances."IRL" by Billy Leigh comes next, the story of Peter, a coyote testing out a new X-rated visual reality program. I will not be reviewing it here however for conflict of interest reasons given Billy is my husband.What would it be like if we could switch to a different body any time we wished? This is the question posed in "Heavenly Flesh" by Slip Wolf. In a colony far in distant space, Janus (bear) tries to be supportive of his boyfriend Puca, who, having lost his memory during transit from Earth, tries to ‘refind’ himself through frequent changes to different bodies. There is an excellent twist at the end few readers will see coming. Through various elements of an entirely-fabricated world, Slip Wolf does a fine job of exploring the concept of ‘paradise created.’ The predominant erotic scene involves tentacles which some readers may find not to their tastes.“Waking Neil” by Skunkbomb follows beaver Archie as he attempts to draw his ferret boyfriend Neil out of a car-accident induced coma. Neil has found that within his mind he can create his own paradise; what if he doesn’t want to return to reality? While the erotic scenes in this story did not stand out to me, I did appreciate the subplot concerning Archie’s and Neil’s plans to become parents, a topic less-often touched on in gay furry fiction.Like several of the other stories in this anthology, “Too Good” by MythicFox also explores the concept of a fabricated paradise. Paul, a coyote, is staying at an exotic resort staffed by fennec foxes who cater to his every whim, but as his memory of his life outside the resort begins to fade, he increasingly wonders if all is as it seems. As with the previous story, this tale makes the suggestion that given the choice reality may be better than paradise.“Making Contact” by Tym Greene handles the theme of an escape from Earth a little differently than “Heavenly Flesh”: in this story, the spaceship Osiris has been in transit for hundreds of years, but as it approaches the distant planet which is to be its destination, other spaceships appear. Have aliens been discovered at last? This is the question Orville, a wildebeest, must answer as, having become acting-captain, he attempts to resolve the conflict. I’ve very little experience reading sci-fi but this story was very well-written, the sci-fi elements come across as very believable, and the twist ending was both surprising and satisfactory.Another sci-fi tale, “The Centre of my Universe” by T.D. Coltraine features Frank, the bear ‘scavenger’ whose spaceship scrounges scrap materials. While investigating a crashed government spaceship with his fennec lover Zeke, Frank discovers a seeming-paradise on an uncharted planet, but the crashed spaceship harbours secrets that endanger the happiness he and Zeke have found there. While the twist at this story’s climax was pleasingly surprising, overall ‘The Centre of my Universe’ did not resonate as well with me as some of the other stories in this anthology did. It began with an extended sex scene that I felt did not give the reader adequate time to connect with the characters, the dialogue often felt forced and unbelievable, and there were numerous typos which sometimes made me question what a sentence was saying – this stood out as otherwise the anthology is largely well edited.The penultimate story, “Little Death” by James Hudson follows Frederick, a fox who in a near-death experience finds himself transplanted into his own conception of paradise: a tropical beach on which his crush, snow leopard Toby, is his lover. This story’s interpretation of the ‘paradise’ theme suggests that the boundaries between reality and a conceived paradise may not be so distinct as one might think.“Empty” by Faora Meridian is the shortest story in the anthology, and one of my favourites. The tale of a fox visited in bed by his wolf lover, I can’t reveal much else without spoiling the ending – it has one of the best surprise endings in the anthology, perhaps my favourite take on ‘paradise’ as a theme.Overall, FANG 8 does a great job of exploring the concept of ‘paradise’ through various incarnations and interpretations. While some stories are better in quality than others, all were enjoyable on some level, and the variety of genres included, from sci-fi to historical fiction to contemporary settings in various contexts, makes it likely that most readers will find at least a few stories to their tastes, if not also introduction to other genres. The erotic element is much more evident in some stories than others, ranging from obvious, lengthy sex scenes to shorter sexual incidences nestled within the greater narrative, but in this respect as well I expect the diversity of approaches will help make the anthology appealing to a wider audience. Generally speaking the editing quality was high, as I noticed typos in only two or three stories out of fourteen. My compliments to Ashe Valisca and the authors of FANG 8 for putting together a fine anthology.

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

Raid on Sullin, by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, October 2017, trade paperback, $15.99 (233 [+ 9] pages), Kindle $4.99.

Raid on Sullin is #2 in the Packmasters series. #1, The Relics of Thiala, was reviewed here last April. I concluded that review, “But this is space opera, not hard science s-f. This review covers the first 50 pages of the 190-page novel (cover by Darbaras, a.k.a. Dávid László Tóth). What will Cat, Ferret, Bear, Wolf, and Ana find on Thiala and the sleazy Vandal space station? Since this is space opera, expect mucho dramatic action and weapons fire.”

I’m a sucker for good space opera, and The Relics of Thiala is great furry space opera. I’ve been looking forward to the sequel, and Raid on Sullin is not a disappointment. I recommend starting with The Relics of Thiala, but Raid on Sullin has a very good “What happened so far” for those who don’t want to bother. Roughly, Cat (the narrator), Ferret, Bear, and Wolf are four bestiae, bioengineered anthro-animen in a far-future interstellar community. The bestiae are considered beneath contempt by most humans, and were enslaved by a cult called the Packmasters. The Packmasters were apparently all killed by the rest of humanity in a civil war a generation ago. Ana, a mistreated young adopted orphan, escapes with the help of Cat. They gather three other bestiae and discover that Ana has Packmaster powers, but instead of using them to dominate the others, they form a pack of friends with a telempathetic bond under Ana’s leadership, Cat’s guidance, Bear’s piloting, and Wolf’s muscle. They steal a luxury space yacht, the Lollipop, belonging to a corrupt human Senator, Viscount Tomori, and flee to Vandal, a distant space station towards the Fringe of the galaxy that is (what else?) “a wretched hive of scum and villainy”. But Tomori comes after them. The book ends with Tomori and Bear dead, and the others unsure of how Vandal’s laws will treat them.

Raid on Sullin begins with such law as Vandal has ruling that Ana is the new owner of Tomori’s property. The small pack is delighted, but unsure what to do next.

“‘So what do we do, now that we are free to go?’ Ferret asked.

We hadn’t discussed the question. What little time Ana and I had spent together, we had used to prepare her testimony and we hadn’t had a meeting of the whole pack since our victory over Tomori. It hadn’t seemed necessary as long as we hadn’t won the case. We’d be staying at Vandal a little longer to pick up some supplies, but I had no plan yet where to go next.” (p. 21)

While they are discussing on the Lollipop where to go next, and how to replace the dead Bear, they are visited by one of Vandal’s small community of free bestiae.

“The insistent knocking at the main hatch sounded again, and I looked up from my reading. […] I made a quick detour back to the lounge and picked up a blaster gun from the pile of weapons we kept on one of the coffee tables. Never wrong to have plenty of guns within easy reach. While I always had a few knives somewhere on my person, a blaster might come in handy on this occasion. I shoved the gun into the back of of my pants and made it back just before the next impatient knock.” (pgs. 24-25)

“I punched in the code for the hatch and pulled it open.

And then I stared.

I hadn’t expected anything, but the creature who looked back at me was so unexpected I just couldn’t help myself. Almost as tall as Wolf, she was only half his mass at most. She was slender to the point of seeming frail, with short tan fur and intricate white markings showing on her exposed face and hands. Elegant horns rose from her brow. Some sort of deer, I thought, but none I had ever seen.

[…]

‘Well, you sure are just as pretty a kitty as I heard,’ she commented, startling me.

If I had been a human I would probably have blushed. As it was, I knew my ears were pointing in different directions most embarrassingly. It was pointless to pretend she wasn’t getting to me.

‘I have to admit I have no idea what you are,’ I answered, unable to keep my curiosity in check.

She cocked her head, showing off the long smooth line of her neck deliberately. ‘Antelope,’ she explained readily enough, ‘more specifically, a gazelle. And you are … a house cat?’” (pgs. 25-27)

The gazelle is Ten, shown on the cover (again by Darbaras). She runs a private investigator agency out of Vandal.

“‘As it happens, I find myself in need of assistance from someone who doesn’t run and hide from big bad people. So I was wondering if maybe an exchange of services might be possible. You help me with my problem and I help you with whatever you need from me.’

[…]

She was looking to hire us. After all the gossip about us taking out Tomori, she had to believe we were some sort of mercenary crew. It made sense, really. […] The thought appealed to me. No so much the misconception of us being just another bunch of hardened criminals, but the idea of helping a fellow bestia in need. Of course, it was pretty far from the vacation we had scheduled as our next ‘mission’. Still, I couldn’t resist at least asking for some more details.” (p. 29)

It’s really bad. The Core Worlds of humans, and its Core Military, are getting around to cleansing themselves of the bestiae. The Fringe is mostly still free. But:

“‘I used to be Core Military,’ she revealed, once more catching me completely off guard. ‘Part of a special experimental unit of bestiae. We didn’t exactly like the way we were treated, so when we got the chance, we ran. Once we reached the Fringe, we split up. To hide and disappear. When I came back from my last job yesterday, I had a message from one of my former comrades waiting for me. Says Core Military had found him and he is running from them again. I want to check on him and on another friend from my old unit. See if they are okay, or need any help to relocate.’” (p. 30)

Before Cat can make up his mind, Ten and Cat are attacked by the Core Military unit that has also targeted her. Defeating them leads to the pack’s agreeing to help her.

This takes the story to about page 45. The rest of the 233-page Raid on Sullin tells of the pack’s and Ten’s rescue of her former unit from the Core Military. This leads, not surprisingly to the enlargement of the pack.

The adventure will be enjoyed by furry fans. There are many nice anthro touches in it:

“‘Will you be able to deal with having a herbivore in your pack?’ My confusion must have been obvious, as she immediately elaborated. ‘Our unit was all herbivores. The trainer told us carnivore and herbivore bestiae didn’t mix well and that carnivores were much harder to manage.’ She paused thoughtfully for a moment, a grim smile on her narrow face. ‘Not so sure they still subscribe to that last bit, though.’” (p. 46)

“‘How do you all feel about skipping that vacation and rescuing a bestia from a Core Military base?’

Wolf’s ball hit him in the head and bounced off towards the kitchen. Since we were so closely connected, I intimately sensed how he went from ‘outraged no’ past ‘must be important to him if he even asks’ to ‘why the fuck not, could be fun’. Of course he knew that I knew, and it ended with him giving me a wide grin, showing off large, sharp teeth, ready to tear some poor Core soldiers to pieces.” (p. 49)

The Core Military hadn’t named its bestiae soldiers, it had numbered them. Ten’s first squad mate who needs rescuing is Four, a bison. I will give away that Two is the most gun-crazy, untrustworthy, back-stabbing rabbit you could imagine.

Be prepared for a lot of “fuck” and “shit”, some for macho humor, as when a space pirate says:

“‘Listen up, fuckers, you all get out of the way when that mother-fucking red thing flies your way, you hear me? Any of you shoot at the fucking flying cherry and I will fucking skin you and turn your hide into a fucking hat!’

I briefly wondered how she would cope if someone suddenly removed the word ‘fuck’ from her vocabulary. She didn’t bother closing the com channel and I heard various pirate pilots check in and acknowledge their orders. I quickly came to the conclusion that ‘fuck’ was an integral part of their language.” (p. 112)

Raid on Sullin ends very satisfactorily with a new member of the pack to replace Bear, but there is a brief preview of Packmasters #3, Tomori’s Legacy, out later in 2018.

Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus are two German retirees who have written several other novels, as listed on their The Adventure of Romance website. Raid on Sullin is freer of typographical errors than many books from major publishers, but it does have British spelling like armour and programme. It also has non-standard hyphenizations like dra-wings, trea-ting, me-ans, che-ap, and joi-ning, although most readers shouldn’t object to those.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

You may recall that a few years ago Fred Patten wrote an article for Flayrah.com about a very, very strange Korean animated film called Satellite Girl and Milk Cow. Here, we’ll let Fred summarize the plot: It’s about “… a pianist (male), transformed into a cow (female) by Merlin the Magician in the form of an anthropomorphic roll of toilet paper, and pursued by a villainous incinerator that wants to incinerate him/her; while a communication satellite falls from space, becomes an Astro Boy-like robot girl, and saves the cow from the incinerator and its secret agents.” Got all that? No? It’s okay, we don’t either. So why bring this up now? Well thanks to Animation World Network we’ve learned that GKIDS has finally picked up the rights for the film, and they will be releasing a subtitled version to theaters and DVD later this summer.

image c. 2018 GKIDS

A Chinese retailer (jd.com [1]) made this cute film to celebrate the year of the dog. In other news: It will soon be the year of the doggo. [1] http://jd.com
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http://draggetshow.com Be sure to check our website for all Things Dragget Show! Podcasts, videos, merch and more! Also, don't forget we stream the D&D sessions Friday at 7pm Central on YouTube! YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/DraggetShow Patreon: www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow telegram chat: t.me/draggetshow 188 - Snowpocalympics - http://draggetshow.com Be sure to check our webs…

Camouflage is Kyell Gold’s new historical fiction novel about a young, college-aged white tiger named Danilo who finds himself supernaturally shifted to 1508 Scotland. Danilo is desperate to find a way back to his own time, but is quickly caught up in his attempts to help the underground gay community in their persecution by the Catholic church.The story is typical of Kyell Gold with its just-finding-himself gay young-adult protagonist and the contemplative yet action-packed flow to the story. However, it differs greatly in a thematic sense from his usual fare, and caught me well off-guard with the visceral brutality through which it accurately depicts the horrors inflicted on gay men and women during the time. The scene in question made me queasy enough to set the book down and make sure I had a trash can nearby.That isn’t a bad thing, though. After reading the scene over the three occasions it took me to get through it, I was at the same time thoroughly horrified with what just happened and newly in love with the story itself. It was a gut punch at the perfect time to break the reader (and the main character) out of the idea that Danilo’s trip into the past was a pretty little fairy tale to teach some lesson. That scene was an excellent inclusion at just the right time to tear down the reader’s preconceptions about what this setting would be.The plot as a whole was thoroughly action-packed, including a scene of "action" that departed from Kyell’s norm. However, that scene tied into the story perfectly well, and wonderfully built up Danilo’s character.In fact, the most impressive aspect of the story to me was how deftly the characters were handled, both those with an arc and the side-characters who interacted with the protagonist. The corollaries between the characters in the present and past were eerie in their differentiation.The biggest problem with the story, however, is how little time we have to understand the modern Danilo before he falls backward in time. This is understandable, given that most of the conflict takes place in the past, but there was so much exposition dumped on me during that first chapter that I felt like I was drowning in backstory information. Then, once we were in the past, the information and conflict presented played a bare minimum role.Furthermore, I personally didn’t enjoy how brutally heavy the story was starting around a third of the way in, all the way up through the climax. It felt like Danilo just couldn’t win at anything up to the point where I almost wanted to put the book down rather than see him fail again and get shoved another step backward. I love dark stories, but I personally need some semblance of small victories and steps forward to keep myself motivated.However, despite those elements that didn’t resonate as well with me, Camouflage was one of my favorite Kyell Gold stories, and a book that I absolutely recommend. It can be tough and gut-twisting to get through, but the journey is absolutely worth it.9/10

Nearly ten thousand users last month, and rapidly approaching five thousand artist listings - looks like we're having a growth spurt!

— Commiss.io (@Commissioapp) February 8, 2018

How devoted are furries?  To commission a fursuit, they tortuously wrap themselves in duct tape, pay thousands of dollars and trust a years-long wait before getting something back. Imagine if you had to do that for a new car or stove?

The upside is direct exchange for hand-made goods, but the downside is a clunky process with a lot of invested effort and risk of fraud or failure. It works because fandom is close-knit, but there’s opportunity for better platforms to help buyer and seller. (I was posting about it in 2013). Fursuit makers seem to be niche enough to handle their own business, but freelance artists handle smaller projects much more frequently. Art commissioning sites have started up to help. Achieving scale of users may be a challenge, but they’re in a growing fandom and word is getting out.

Commiss.io first caught my notice with their banner in the dealer’s den at BLFC. Now Hunter, the CEO, joins me to chat about the service.

My impression of Commiss.io is a business aimed at the freelance art marketplace. It was started by furries but it’s for any and all users. Do I have that right? Who’s on the team?

Pretty much! Though most of us have at least some involvement in the fandom, Commiss.io was created for any and all creators. Not just anthro artists, but musicians, sculptors, and more! We’ve really seen a lot of adoption within fandoms, furry and otherwise, and we’re really happy to provide a great place for that!

Right now there are four of us that work on the project. Myself, Mark, Chris, and Nate. There are, of course, all of the great artists and commissioners on the site as well! Right now we all do a little bit of everything, from outreach, marketing, customer support, and coding.

Commiss.io is described as a “place to manage your creative shop” – helping with payments, project management, licensing, asset delivery, and more.  Is this improving on other services?

We saw a niche that needed filling. There are gallery sites, social networks, project management sites, and sites for very small freelance projects and very large ones. Together they all create a very disjointed experience, with little focus on projects in the range that many freelance fandom artists tend to focus on. As a result, creators end up with an uneven experience and the need to manage themselves across a number of platforms, without a central location to track their projects and ensure protection for sellers. When things are messy, it’s easy to get lost.

Our goal is to be a central hub, with the process fading into the background so creators can focus on creating, and clients can have a great experience.

Can you give a few numbers about how it’s doing so far?

Sure thing! Since we got started earlier last, we’ve helped creators raise over $100,000, quickly growing now to over $10,000 each month! We have several hundred active creators and many more active clients. We’ve also seen several folks move most, if not all, of their custom projects and digital downloads to the platform. Though we have a lot still to do, we take that as a sign we’re on the right track! We’ve got happy clients and happy creators.

Happy New Year! Some great stats from 2017: Creators earned nearly $90k on Commissio even though we're still in our early stages. Plus, there's around $25k in the earnings pipeline at any given time. Nice job creators, keep up the fantastic work!

— Commiss.io (@Commissioapp) January 5, 2018

If I don’t care about numbers or technical stuff, what can you say about it for an art lover? 

For an art lover, I think the best part of the site is being able to find new artists doing things you might love – and being able to get yourself into the art easier. In furry culture, you often see art lovers convert that love into art for themselves – inserting their character into the art style of the artists they love. They also connect with the artists via prints, or shirts, downloads…whatever art forms, whatever mediums a particular artist makes. And that’s awesome that the community supports each other.

That’s why we’re here – making it easier for people to support their favorite creators – and helping creators manage their business so they can focus on art.

What’s the best benefit users can get, like for time or money?

From an artist’s perspective, it helps them manage all of their projects in one place. No more digging through notes, emails, and DMs to try and find all the details, and no more trying to remember in your head everything you have to do this week. All of your projects are laid out right in front of you. So you’re definitely saving time. Plus, we support instant payouts. Funds can go from a paid invoice to their bank account in a matter of minutes!

From a client perspective, there are a lot of benefits. First, it can act as a repository for your files, somewhere where can always go back and find the original files months or even years later. Another benefit is buyer security. We don’t collect payment until the artist starts on your project. And, we help oversee disputes between artists and commissioners.

For artists, that means no more “I lost my money because of a paypal chargeback”. And, clients, that means no more “I lost my money because I never got my art”. This is a big deal for direct money savings on both sides. And so far we’ve had ZERO chargebacks. For those familiar with the art industry, or even any product sales, that’s a huge deal.

We’ve also built out a marketplace to help creators connect with clients and vice versa. I think that’s going to be big business for our creators. It’s still growing, and we’re pushing really hard to get more users so that’s sustainable and it’ll make everyone’s lives even better. But in the meantime we’ve built some great tools that really help creators and commissioners alike.

Tips are also baked into the platform as well, allowing clients to give a little something extra at the end of a project, or just give their support to a creator!

New customer info summaries are live - keep track of who's buying from you! pic.twitter.com/q2ySreMXg2

— Commiss.io (@Commissioapp) February 1, 2018

I see you have thousands of creators. Is this already a primary entrance to find an artist, and help artists to promote their work? Or is it more about bringing in clients from elsewhere?

That’s the long-term vision. When people complete the entire commissioning loop – from finding an artist – we think it’ll be awesome. But we’ve still built a system that’s very helpful for our clients and artists even before then.

We also know there’s a lot of artists who may not want that at all! They may see a lot of success promoting their presence and their products on their own sites or communities. So we’ve made it so they can put their commiss.io store in a tumblr post, on their own site, wherever they want. Anywhere they can put an iFrame, they can put their store and it’ll look just like they did it themselves. And that’s already available; you can do that today.

In the future, we hope that we’ll be able to integrate directly into external sites as well. It’s a definite goal of ours!

Can you tell me more about users? Who has adopted it and how many do you think are furries? Does it affect planning, like where you might promote?

We’ve had users adopt the service ranging in volume from a couple projects a month, to hundreds over the year. Some still invoice with PayPal, others use our tools. The vast majority of projects, though, are invoiced through the site, with positive feedback from both buyers and sellers.

The furry community has definitely been one of our biggest supporters, and we’re thrilled about that. We’re always looking to expand into other communities, and hope to support a wide variety of folks moving forward. Like any business, we’ll split our promotion between communities we already support and groups we want to encourage to adopt the platform.

What portion are actively making money through you? Do you know what stuff is doing the most business?

Well, right now we’ve chosen not to make money because we want the site to grow, and people to try it out – and we recognize that we’ve got some growth to do too. We know that building this thing up is the most important thing for our users.

Long-term, we’re looking at some different options. We’ll most likely adopt a “freemium” model, where users can opt to pay for a pro membership and avoid platform fees, or pay a small platform fee on top of standard transaction fees to help us cover costs.

But regardless, we’re be committed to keeping fees low as we move forward. We’re here to help the artistic community, not weigh people down with fees.

I’ll bet furries are curious about content standards. Are there limits for adult content? How about payment handling – do you have to be cautious of what happened with other services, like rejecting clients for having tricky content?

Of course content policies are something we take very seriously. We allow NSFW content so long as it’s properly flagged, and outline what content is restricted in our Community Guidelines. We’ll make adjustments as necessary, and work with our payment partners to ensure that we can support a wide variety of content. We have a proven track record of safe and secure transactions, and this only helps to strengthen our relationship with our providers.

Has Commiss.io had adjustments or cool opportunities since launch?

We’ve made a number of changes since we started. One thing we’ve focused on since the beginning was an ability to iterate quickly and stay flexible. We generally push a few updates to the site a week. Some big, some small, but always ensuring that we’re working hard to keep the site (relatively) bug-free and reliable. We’re constantly making adjustments based on community feedback.

Probably the coolest thing has been seeing the variety of artists coming through. There’s people doing all kinds of amazing things, and I know that diversity and quality of the art on commiss.io is only going to be even more amazing as time goes on.

5 new features?! You heard us right. We've been busy busy. Check it out in our February Creators' Update! https://t.co/Uu2cH6pzf1

— Commiss.io (@Commissioapp) February 11, 2018

What’s in the future for it?

We have a lot on the roadmap at any given point. We’ve recently launched some awesome features that build into these, like customer management tools. But here’s an idea of what we’re looking at in the near future:

• Client subscriptions to their favorite artists
• Direct PayPal support
• More robust Physical item sales (so you can sell t-shirts, pins, comics, etc. – we already have digital download support)
• Phased or installation payments for larger projects and orders

Of course, we’re always listening to our community to determine what’s coming next, too.

Do you have any other words I can share for furries who might be reading?

Check it out! Make an account, try it out. Click that little button in the bottom right and hit us up with any thoughts/suggestions/feedback, anything you want. We’re always reading that and always trying to make things even better.

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.

Tui T. Sutherland is one of the authors who created the Warriors and Seekers series of cat-fantasy novels under the collective pseudonym of Erin Hunter. You may recall we reviewed her novel series Wings of Fire previously. Well recently Scholastic requested the author to help in adapting that series into a graphic novel, which has been released by Graphix. “Not every dragonet wants a destiny . . . Clay has grown up under the mountain, chosen along with four other dragonets to fulfill a mysterious prophecy and end the war between the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia. He’s not so sure about the prophecy part, but Clay can’t imagine not living with the other dragonets; they’re his best friends. So when one of the dragonets is threatened, all five spring into action. Together, they will choose freedom over fate — on their own terms.” With full-color art by Mike Holmes, Wings of Fire: The Graphic Novel is available now.

image c. 2018 Graphix

https://www.recon.com/en/News/Article/2619

from Recon News11 February 2018For some, the furry identity – or 'fursona' - they adopt when they don their animal suit of choice is pure escapism, with no sexual subtext whatsoever. This is Recon though, so we're focusing our attention on furries as a fetish.

What is a furry?

Broadly speaking, furries are those who like to dress up as anthropomorphic animals; animal characters that have humanlike abilities, like walking and talking – some of these also have overtly masculine physiques. Originally emerging from the cosplay scene, furry subculture has grown exponentially since, becoming a global movement in its own right with dedicated furry conventions all over the world.

Many furries choose animal fursonas that they feel reflect their personalities or that embody qualities they would like to have more of. Fursonas can allow many furries to become a different version of themselves, usually one that's more confident and less inhibited, a kind of 'idealised' self. A fursuit that completely hides a guy's identity can make this even easier.

Furry gear varies though, some furries opt for full body fursuits that cover them from head to toe, some have 'partial' suits that cover just the head, arms and legs, while other just wear a tail and/or ears to tap into their fursonas.

Furries and fetish

Being a furry means different things to different people; for some it's just a way to express their fandom of the kind of animal characters we see in cartoons, movies and videogames. For furry fetish men however there's more to it, and the furry fandom can be a way to meet like-minded guys.

Furry fetish comes with its own set of terminology, including 'scritching' – grooming one another's fur, and 'fur pile' – a group of furries lying on top of each other and scritching, which can be a part of furry play. 'Yiffing' is sex between furries, which takes its name from the sound foxes make when they mate, and some furries incorporate their animal fursonas into roleplay with other furries.

Yiffing may or may not involve wearing fursuits, although there are suits specially designed with cut out sections around the crotch that means they can be worn during play, known as murrsuits. Suit-clad play can be known as 'murrsuiting', although some furries prefer to wear just the head or mask of their fursuit to help them stay in character.

Where fetishes meet and blend together, there can also be a power play or bondage element involved in yiffing for some furries. For some, their fursona is also a sub or a Dom, which again can be an accentuation of the traits of their animal counterpart.

Getting involved in furry fetish

Furry porn is a good place to start, there's a wealth of both animated furry porn art and live action yiffing content out there. If there's something specific you want to see, you can even commission your own piece from a furry porn artist.

You can buy pre-made fursuits from specialist sellers and auction sites, although many furries prefer to go for a custom-made suit that allows them to bring their personal fursona to life. Although they may not advertise the fact, many fursuiters also make murrsuits.

Before you invest in a suit though, it's worth going along to a furry convention first to get a taste of the scene. The fetish side of the furry fandom tends to be underrepresented at most cons, but that's not to say that it's not going on after hours and behind closed doors. 'Furclubbing' is also taking off around the world; furry club nights that mean furries don't have to wait for a con to hit the dancefloor.

Take a look at WikiFur for a list of international furry conventions to find out more.

for all things Dragget: http://draggetshow.com Here is video of it w/ illustrations and more! -- https://youtu.be/Kx_RdplCKQE Our Patreon w/ great new rewards! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow Dungeons & Draggets #04 - for all things Dragget: http://draggetshow.com H…

Here’s a European animated film from last year that we missed somehow: Rabbit School — Guardians of the Golden Egg. According to an article at Animation magazine’s site from last March, “Following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, family animated feature Rabbit School – Guardians of the Golden Egg has had a strong debut in cinemas… Directed by Ute von Münchow‐Pohl, Rabbit School centers on a young urban rabbit named Max who gets stuck in an old-fashioned Easter Rabbit school when it is surrounded by a clan of clever foxes who want to take over the holiday. With the help of cute bunny Emmy and the instruction of the mysterious Madame Hermione, Max learns not only the secret magic of Easter bunnies, but also where he truly belongs.” As you can see from the trailer, the film was dubbed with a British cast for distribution in the UK. No word yet if anyone plans to release it on DVD for North America.

image c. 2018 Akkord Film

"Stop-Motion animation about an unlikely friendship in the Arctic."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Legends of Heraldale, by Brian McNatt
Chickasha, OK, The author, January 2017, trade paperback, $13.95 (243 pages), e-book $3.95.

Legends of Heraldale is very much a stereotypical Young Adult fantasy. Its appeal will be to those who want to see a world where all the most familiar animals of mythology – gryphons (griffins), unicorns, hippogryphs, dragons, cockatrices, wyverns, sphinxs, minotaurs, salamanders, and mermaids – live, including some that I have never heard of like a rockodile and zakarians. But there are many curious aspects to it.

A Prologue tells of the last battle of the First Expansion War between the unicorns and the gryphons:

“For a moment, night turned to day, illuminating the two clashing forces. Through the woods to the canyon’s west massed the unicorns of the Avalon Empire, hooves beating the earth and snow as they galloped among the trees. From their horns streaked bolts of red magic at the many-towered fortress across the canyon, blasting chunks of stone from the high walls and tearing through the gryphon defenders.

From the fortress walls and towers the gryphons rained down flocks of arrows and crossbow bolts in return, each weapon striking true.” (p. 1)

Gryphons are usually thought of as quadrupedal. I have a hard time envisioning them shooting bows & arrows, and firing crossbows.

“Three gryphons in gold-edged leather and mail flew from the gates to meet the enemy charge. There flew a swan-gryphon, a spear as slender as his neck clenched in his talons; there flew a golden eagle-gryphon, her battle-axe as broad as many of the opposing unicorns stood tall; and at the lead flew a cardinal-gryphon, half the size of the others, her wings sheathed in feather-styled blades, a helm-like crown upon her brow.” (p. 2)

Gryphons are traditionally depicted as a combination of the front of an eagle and the rear of a lion. The concepts of a swan-gryphon and a cardinal-gryphon – later crow-gryphons and bluebird-gryphons — are intriguing; but a gryphon is supposed to look fierce and menacing, and a cardinal hardly matches that description. The idea of other birds than an eagle makes the possibility of other avian combinations irresistible; a turkey-gryphon, a vulture-gryphon; a sparrow-gryphon; a hummingbird-gryphon.

Grimhilt the cardinal-gryphon, queen of the gryphons, is mortally wounded. She is helped by her two friends to a secret chamber under the doomed fortress, where her newborn daughter is hidden:

“Trembling talons pulled away the silk blankets so that she could see the gift to the world with fresh eyes, like it was the first time all over again. The child was hardly three weeks old, her front half like a gryphon, her back half like a unicorn, a straight horn the color of polished ivory sprouting from her forehead. The child possessed her father’s shocking blue eyes, bringing Grimhilt to tears, and in time would grow up to have her mother’s vibrant red plumage. ‘A hippogryph … so beloved …’” (p. 5)

Galaxy (Gal) the hippogryph is raised in primitive Feathern Valley, part of the conquered gryphon kingdom now oppressed by the cruel unicorns. Legends of Heraldale begins when she is a 15-year-old teenager, with her friends and adoptive siblings Sascha and Siegfried, two swan-gryphon twins, and Brynjar, a golden eagle-gryphon. The unicorns keep the gryphons of Feathern Valley at the technological level of medieval serfs, while they go about in steam-driven troop transports, flying warships, and magic-powered carriages:

“Despite these dark thoughts, the sound of carriage wheels roused Galaxy’s curiosity. Ignoring Brynjar’s warning look and praying her red plumage would go unnoticed, she lifted her head enough to peer over the grass. She saw a black carriage the size of a small house draw level with them 50 feet eastward down the forest edge. No living creature drew the carriage as far as Galaxy could tell, the job done by a pair of floating crystal orbs each the size of a large pumpkin. A trio of unicorn soldiers in the white barding of the Unicorn Empire kept watch ahead and to the sides.

The carriage pulled to a stop and the doors on their side popped open. Out of the carriage hopped a palomino unicorn stallion looking on the cusp of adulthood.” (p. 13)

The unicorns are led by ruthless Lord Mordred, the personal apprentice (?) of the unicorns’ mad Empress Nova:

“The troop carrier touched down with a clank, steam hissing from vents and corner prongs losing their glow. Half a minute passed before the whole front of the carrier lowered into a ramp. Owain barely resisted backing up as six unicorn soldiers in full white barding marched down, curved steel blades two feet long mounted onto their horns.

The six soldiers divided into two lines of three to the left and right of the opening. Then He appeared, hoof-falls like thunder as he marched down the ramp. That evil feeling Owain felt grew all the stronger as this time he did step back, terrified. This stallion stood head and neck above the unicorns around him, his coat black, his long mane and tail black dotted with white, giving resemblance to the night sky. He wore no barding or caparison. Wolf-eyes shone gold with an inner light. His horn looked dull as bone.” (pgs. 33-34)

Owain is the sympathetic unicorn teenage son of the imperial governor of Feathern Valley. To give away a spoiler, Legends of Heraldale is a Romeo-&-Juliet romance, with Galaxy and Owain as the determined lovers from rival families. That’s Brynjar, Gal, and Owain on the uncredited cover.

To me, anyhow, all the mentions of technology ruin the mythological-animal atmosphere, and I don’t care if My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic does the same thing. Four-footed/hooved gryphons and unicorns using magic/telekinesis to shoot bows-&-arrows and crossbows? To operate a blacksmith’s forge? To travel in aerial warships and horseless carriages? (Try picturing the Owain on the cover riding in a magic-propelled carriage.) A raven-gryphon pirate? Gryphons of many different bird-types, and great flocks of cardinal-gryphons?

But if you don’t mind this, Legends of Heraldale is a shallow but enjoyable adventure of three anthro-animal teenagers going on an unknown journey to escape the cruel unicorn Lord Mordred and his efficient assistant, Commander Bevin. The adventure does not end as much as it comes to a stopping-place. “Galaxy and friends will return.”

– Fred Patten

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