Feed aggregator

Guess how many furries there are in the world? I’d say at least the population of a medium-to-large city. That’s a lot of members to remember for the holidays. Santa Claws couldn’t deliver all the plushies and bones you need with just one trip on Christmas Eve. Of course instead of Christmas dinner, some of you might be having lox or falafel (or fruitcake pizza). Anyways, whether this is your holiday or not, it’s a good time to look back at 2017 and appreciate things shared in common. I’ve been wondering what kind of gift to give the fandom for supporting this site and each other, for having a successful year of record-breaking cons, and for being my favorite thing. I decided that instead of pleasing everyone, let’s pick one furry who gives a lot and give thanks back to him.

That’s Fred Patten, who helped make it all happen. It started 3-4 decades ago when there were only handfuls of people who couldn’t get enough stuff like this…

Fred as The Flash at the 1962 World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago. Photo (c) William Schelly, from the Founders of Comic Fandom book. More Fred photos thanks to Kay Shapero.

Funny animal comics that were huge in the Golden Age but mostly went extinct (except in newspaper strips like Pogo that spoke to adults too.) 1960’s counterculture-inspired, untamed underground comix like Fritz the Cat. A renewal of Disney excellence that suffered in the 1970’s “dark age” of animation after Robin Hood. An adult side to anthropomorphics with action and sci-fi stories seen in anime, leading to 1980’s alternative comics like TMNT and Usagi Yojimbo. Those are roots that grew into a thriving scene that’s now full of young creative people who can learn from founders like Fred.

Fred’s fan activity started with comics in the 1940’s. He joined science fiction fandom in 1960, and in the 1970’s he helped import Anime to North America. It found a place at the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society clubhouse where fans shared movies, writing and art. That led to funny-animal fan organizing. They gathered in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago, with house parties, room parties at sci fi cons, and APA’s and zines. Fred’s 17 years of editing Rowrbrazzle put him at the center of it while furries started their first con in 1989 and expanded overseas. He’s won lots of awards, written countless book reviews and animation columns, and edited a dozen furry story anthologies.

Fred also makes Dogpatch Press what it is. He’s a keystone from the past to now, so the bookish beginnings don’t get forgotten with the rise of costuming, bigger events and social media. My part with the site is building “Furry Media” for a more direct line than what outsiders publish. That involves looking for the pulse of fandom, sometimes on the street level with fursuiting, partygoing and event organizing, as well as muckraking or occasionally even being featured in spicy rumors. But meanwhile, without playing a fursona, Fred tells the history, and dives into quiet concentration to review books that furries pour their hearts into writing.

Fred stays in a convalescent hospital and isn’t likely to be at cons (although he does see movies sometimes in a wheelchair), so I hope your messages are like a window on a happy view that you made for him. Smile and wave!

Many furs answered the request I put out. Whether it’s for Christmas or otherwise, it’s a birthday gift too – Fred turned 77 on December 11.

Any furry have some christmas appreciation to give Fred Patten for all he does for fandom? Please email to patch.ofurr (at) gmail, I'm assembling a post full of it. He doesn't read Twitter so it will be a surprise!

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) December 21, 2017

Fred gave me my first publishing break and has done a lot for the fandom; show him some love!! https://t.co/cnUcS0ptvX

— Gullwulf Survives Winter (@gullwulf) December 21, 2017

Fzygal:

I want to give a big thank you to Mr. Patten. Without him, I wouldn’t know know what furry fiction is. More to the point, I wouldn’t know what good furry fiction is. I owe hi my literary life. So big thank you, and much love to him <3 I don’t have anything I can give physically but he deserves so much and then some. Give him a big hug, even if digital.

Tryp the Wolfyote:

I just wanna give my best wishes and thanks to Fred Patten, and thanks to all your contributions you’ve made for the fandom. Merry Christmas.

Cassidy The Civet:

As someone who frequents Flayrah, it’s hard to not notice the work you put in with your reviews and detailed content. I can still count on one hand the amount of years I’ve been in this fandom, but even I know the sheer scope of all you’ve done. And I really thank you, for your passion helps inspire and drive new content creators, myself included.

Rechan:

Merry Christmas! May these well wishes find you merry, holly, and jolly.

Alice/Huskyteer:

Dear Fred, Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement you’ve given me. I’ll never forget the positive review you gave my very first published story, ‘Magnificent Dogs’ back in ROAR 4 – it made me feel I must be doing something right, and helped me to keep at it. Later you were kind enough to accept my stories into some of your own anthologies, and two of them went on to win an Ursa Major, which was a huge compliment and confidence boost. Wishing you all the best!

D.T. Jones:

Dear Fred,

Your work for the community I’ve grown to love is legendary. I feel as though it wouldn’t exist without you and everything you’ve done. If you are not the foundation of the fandom, then you, as a historian, are the glue that holds it together. Without you, I don’t think we would be what we are today. From your collection to your writing, you have given us a place to be ourselves in a world where that may be hard to come by. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Mr. Patten.

All my warm wishes,
D.T. Jones

Pell:

Hey Fred,

I loved talking to you at FC.  You were so full of information, and I always like seeing you still around.  Even if we haven’t spoken in years, I really appreciate all you’ve done for the fans

Also i really enjoyed your stories where-ever I found them in old Albedo or Furrlough.  Anyway, thank you for everything.

-Pell Riverclaw

Around 2013, 14, a fellow MK writer found me and said that Fred was looking for me. But when I finally reached out, it was too late. Fed's Ursa Major book was at the printers.

I told Fred, because I no longer felt compelled to write, that he could just reprint anything, any time

— Cold Blood: Fatal Fables coming soon (@Greyflank) December 21, 2017

Except, I was just killing time. I wasnt building anything for a future. My meds were destroying my liver. We started weening me off the meds, found a maintenance dosage.

My ego found its spurs.

I started and failed to create stories. I read a few MK stories from my time away.

— Cold Blood: Fatal Fables coming soon (@Greyflank) December 21, 2017

So, I rewrote a bit of The Good Sport to get rid of a shared NPC. And that was easy... no ego hang ups. That was a new experience, which I owed to the meds.

Fred wasn't poetic about it, he just matter of factly, handed my pride to back me, told me my worth, and I believed him.

— Cold Blood: Fatal Fables coming soon (@Greyflank) December 21, 2017

Takaji Kusonoki and Fred Patten look at a pressbook for the animated feature Phoenix 2772. More Fred photos thanks to Kay Shapero.

 

Shining River:

If you study art long enough, even if your study is done in a casual manner and limited to the resources of library books, local public displays and exhibitions, and online, you will see that the production of art is everywhere and neverending.  Millions of us humans make artistic creations in one form or another.  But art, like glory, is a fleeting thing. The drawings and writings of our youth are easily lost as we move through life, and are often deliberately discarded by the creators.  To have one’s art viewed and recognized by another person is a small step toward finding some meaning in our existence.  To have widespread recognition of our life’s works may be more than we can hope to achieve.

In the folk culture of modern fandoms, writers of literature have some people to help their work become recognized, and these people are reviewers and critics of literary works. These people are relatively few in number, often work for little or no compensation, and may in fact have only basic education in literature.  What matters most is their personal hands-on experience of literature that gives them the ability to discern the good from the bad and the good from the great.  A handful of individuals and websites over the past twenty years have given us reviews of the literature of the furry community and the most prolific and successful of these individuals is Fred Patten.

When a furry author gets to the point where they can bring their work to public attention, they still have a road ahead of them. If your work is good enough in the eyes of a publisher, your book or other literary work may get some real world, on-paper publication, then a listing on the publisher’s and/or a retailer’s website. If your name is previously unknown in furry literature, good luck. That good luck may actually arrive when Fred Patten gets a copy of your book, reads it, writes his review and publishes it on such popular and credible websites as Dogpatch Press and Flayrah. Fred makes the effort to look through a book and tell prospective readers whether or not they may find it worth some amount of money to purchase some author’s stories. The furry writers community may be relatively small but we still generate enough books that it can be a challenge to choose one that’s worth our time and coin. Fred’s work, accomplished despite a serious physical disablity, and at a time in life when many people are just going from one day to the next, is producing his reviews and commentary greater than persons half his age or younger. Fred, you make other people greater than they are alone, you lift our literary works above and beyond where we ourselves can take them.  Your writing saves ours from being “washed away like tears in the rain.”

Regards,
Shining River

Hugo Jackson:

Dear Fred,

I hope the holiday season finds you well! It’s weird to think you’re not on Twitter, because I see your influence on there pretty much daily. There isn’t a single moment that I’m not grateful for the time and consideration for your reviews of my books, and for what you do for furry authors generally. It’s honestly an enormous honour and encouragement to me to look back on them. It feels amazing to be part of the platform and community you’ve helped build among furry writers to help bring them recognition in a fandom that can so easily dismiss something that isn’t presented to them visually. It’s allowed me to grow in huge amounts, professionally and personally, and meet so many other amazing like-minded people to help them do the same. I would have very little right now if it weren’t for your tireless, extensive, and historical work to put all this in place.

Wishing you all the best for Christmas and the New Year; I hope it brings you health and happiness.

Best regards,
Hugo Jackson

Mark Engels:

I’ve made some great friends among the furrydom whom I’ve learned are also anime and manga fans like me.  Fred is one of them, having been at the epicenter of fandom back when my boyhood fascination with Disney’s Robin Hood drove me to find authors/artists like Steven A. Gallacci, Monika Livingstone, Stan Sakai and Eastman & Laird.  I think Fred’s tireless support of these creatives is in part what allowed me to find them and come to enjoy their work.

I still have a copy of Amazing Heroes #75, July 15, 1985 featuring Fred’s interview ROBOTECH: Japanimation Invades Comics With a Trio of Comico Titles with Carl Macek (not to mention all of the Comico comics themselves.)  Fred recently shared with me the story how he and Carl under the auspices of Streamline Pictures continued to make Robotech available to a new generation of fans at the closing of the VHS age.  My time and experiences in the fandom have been enriched by people like Fred, who used their time and treasure to share the joy these stories and characters brought them.

Thank you Fred.  But for people like you I would have never taken notion to write paranormal sci-fi thrillers featuring the modern-day remnant of an ancient clan of werecats in the first place.

MJE
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin  USA

Fred becomes OE of Rowrbrazzle at the LASFS Clubhouse in January 1989. Present are former OE Marc Schirmeister, and Bob Hill as a Bambioid. More Fred photos thanks to Kay Shapero.

Dwale:

My debts to Mr. Patten are manifold. His efforts in bringing anime into popular awareness are part of what allowed me to take a lifelong interest in it. And when I began to publish stories within the furry fandom, he was the first one to review them. That let me know, at least, that someone was listening, that I wasn’t throwing my fiction out into the void. That simple fact helped to keep me going.

Looking back, long before I knew his name, his work in the nascent anime fandom of decades past means that he has played some role in my development as a creator since I was a child. Now, all these years later, we have reached a point where he has edited and published my stories directly. What were the odds?

But while the turns of life and fate are mysterious, I doubt my testimony is unique. So, Fred, from all of us whose lives you’ve touched, thank you, and best wishes.

Peace,
Dwale

Summercat:

I started off this email five times.

Each time I had to delete it and start over because it just felt wrong. Some of them felt like they were about me than him, one was almost accusatory, and one was full of saccharine.

None worked.

I don’t know Fred personally – I only first heard of his name in 2006, shortly after his stroke. We’ve met twice, during some brief trips to Califur, but it was only a fleeting greetings.

What heartfelt thing can I say to a man I only know professionally and culturally? How can I craft a message of “Seasons Greetings” that isn’t ripped off from a Halmark Card for a man that I can only feel comfortable addressing as “Mr. Patten” out of respect for everything he’s done?

Fred has been in this since the start, and has been involved in so much that I doubt that there is much that does not bear his influence even indirectly. His professional tone is such that I can only dream of ever being on his level.

Fred is the reason why I demur when people call me a Furry Historian, because to me that means Fred, and I don’t think I’d be a good stand-in for him.

I keep saying, to borrow from Asimov, that there is but a single light of Furry, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere. Fred has spent decades in the fandom, often working behind the scenes, to brighten that light.

I wish him a Happy Hannukah (although that’s passed), a Merry Christmas, a Fabulous Fetisvus, a Sublime Solstice, and a Happy New Year.

Fred’s sister Sherry wrote in with news about…

…always bringing MORE and MORE BOOKS to Fred every afternoon (from our local libraries; those sent to him by authors or publishers; AND, ALL THE BOOKS Fred orders on Amazon.com… since most all FURRY BOOKS are not in libraries).

Also… now that movies of interest to Fred are coming out we recently saw COCO and FERDINAND.  Fred has a long list of movies he wants to see in 2018 (including PADDINGTON 2 and SHERLOCK GNOMES that I do look forward to seeing, too).

Fred’s longtime LASFS friend, Kay Shapero, very kindly MAINTAINS the Fred Patten Website… and, she just sent us the “link” to this wonderful PHOTO MONTAGE she assembled from ALL the photos Fred had received over the years (most all “candid pix” taken at various venues):

http://www.kayshapero.net/fredpatten/fred.html

At the top, click ABOUT FRED, and then on PHOTOS to PLAY the VIDEO MONTAGE of “Fred Patten thru the years”.

And… while I’m “waxing nostalgic”… this is my most cherished photo, Fred and me at his junior high school graduation June 1955 (Fred is 14; I am 7). My dress was PINK but obviously FADED in this photo… and, each subsequent copy of it (62.5 years ago was a long time).  FYI, Audubon Junior High School was RAZED after one of the South CA earthquakes (I think in the early 1990’s).

Fred chatted with me before reading all these messages:

My sister just took me in my wheelchair to a theater to see the animated Ferdinand.  I also keep up with animation news, and there is a lot of speculation right now if the Blue Sky Studios in Connecticut will survive no matter how successful Ferdinand is.  Blue Sky is wholly owned by 20th Century-Fox, and Disney has just bought 20th Century.  Disney already has itself and Pixar; it doesn’t need another animation studio, no matter how successful.

Coco is one of my favorite Pixar movies.  I tried to get someone to write a story about Mexico and a xoloitzcuintli when I was editing Symbol of a Nation, but nobody was inspired to.

My birthday is on December 11 (I just turned 77), so I am also getting many birthday and Christmas greetings at the same time.

– Fred

Happy birthday and Merry Christmas Fred, the site couldn’t have a better partner. Best wishes for 2018 from me and fans around the world.

Update 12/26 – Post shared by the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy plus more appreciation:

Fred is so important to the anthropomorphic community -- and he's been kind and supportive to this writer, too! He personally invited me to submit to the Gods With Fur anthology. https://t.co/szFoX4xAps

— Heidi C. Vlach (@hcvlach) December 27, 2017

He quite literally is, though. Also so for anime fandom in the west. He was literally the first anime importer for fans+commerce. He was organizing funny animal fandom events at sci-fi events for years before institutional foundations like Rowrbrazzle, etc.

— ꙮ Bahu ꙮ (@BahuWrites) December 26, 2017

Yo furries. ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW WHO FRED PATTEN IS.

This here is mandatory reading. Genuflect, respect. Fred Patten is the reason we have so many nice fandom things today. https://t.co/Yu0LwZIRKb

— ꙮ Bahu ꙮ (@BahuWrites) December 26, 2017

If you want to enjoy some of Fred’s writing, he works with Dogpatch crew to list his work published online here, at Flayrah and elsewhere. Here’s what’s listed so far (there’s more that isn’t added yet, any volunteers?) Also check his latest posts. 

• • The State of Furry Publishing – Fred Patten gives the inside story of eight groups.
  • How did Disney inspire Furry fandom? A look at early influences by Fred Patten.
  • What the Well-Read Furry Should Read.
  • More of What the Well-Read Furry Should Read.
  • What The Well-Read Furry Should Read: Early 2016 update.
  • Fred Patten Presents his articles about Furry publishing, animation, and history.

Thanks to Animation World Network we found out about Manivald, a new animated short film by Estonian director Chintis Lundgren. It’s been making quite a stir at international animation festivals. Here’s what they say: “Manivald, in the same vein of Lundgren’s previous work, is both absurdist drama and social satire. The eponymous fox, an academic drowning in various degrees, is unemployed and depends on his controlling mother for his livelihood. Manivald is a character the young and educated may find all too relate-able. The tense mother-son relationship is pushed to a breaking point when both Manivald and his mother fall for handyman Toomas, a handsome wolf with pecs and abs to spare. The ensuing conflict is the final nudge Manivald needs to leave home and start a life of his own.” Next up is a presentation at the Sundance Film Festival.

image c. 2017 by Chintis Lundgren

Sorry, sorry… too obvious. Thanks to some friends on Facebook, we stumbled across an upcoming fantasy film called Hanson and the Beast — from China, no less. Drama Panda has a preview. The story goes like this: “Yuan Shuai (Feng Shaofeng) is a a man who is drowning in debt. In order to pay up, he goes on blind dates with daughters from wealthy families but ends up falling in love with Bai Xian Chu (Crystal Liu), a fox demon who’s come to the human realm to repay a debt. However, relationships between humans and demons are strictly forbidden. Bai Xian Chu is dragged back to the demon world and Yuan Shuai sets out to rescue her.” So who’s Hanson? We don’t know yet. Written and directed by Xiao Yang, Hanson comes to theaters in China right at the end of December, then everywhere else on January 5th. Check out the trailer on YouTube as well.

image c. 2017 CKF Pictures

Aura joins us this week before the holidays for a plethora of analytical news.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup

• A Bread Company Accidentally Used A Furry Community Hashtag And It Caused Chaos
• $514,746 for charity from the top 40 cons alone in 2017!
• Credit cards used at Midwest Furfest ATMs get fraud calls
• “Animal Noises” podcast by Path Hyena and MMMatches
• ConRoomies Service
• Digital Show & Tell from Xiph.org
• Boozy’s Night Before Christmas Reading
• Furry_irl reddit post weatherfox
• Hanson And The Beast Trailer
• ArcticSkyWolf’s MidWest FurFest 2017 Con Video
• Hiyu Explains Living in Space

News:

• Plastic Objects without Electronics using Wifi
• Science Says Men Should Masterbate 21 Times a Month
• Flushing Human Bodies Down Drains, Denied
• Bargin Hunting Shoppers Treat Customer Service Works as Less than Human
• Male Contraceptive Rubin Gel
• This Website Claims It Can “Erase Your Memories” Of TV Shows So You Can Watch Them Again, Unspoiled
• 60 Lbs of Marijuana
• Florida Attorney Allegedly Filmed Porn Videos In Jail With Inmates

FC-288 Floof Precipitate - Aura joins us this week before the holidays for a plethora of analytical news.

Aura joins us this week before the holidays for a plethora of analytical news.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup

• A Bread Company Accidentally Used A Furry Community Hashtag And It Caused Chaos
• $514,746 for charity from the top 40 cons alone in 2017!
• Credit cards used at Midwest Furfest ATMs get fraud calls
• “Animal Noises” podcast by Path Hyena and MMMatches
• ConRoomies Service
• Digital Show & Tell from Xiph.org
• Boozy’s Night Before Christmas Reading
• Furry_irl reddit post weatherfox
• Hanson And The Beast Trailer
• ArcticSkyWolf’s MidWest FurFest 2017 Con Video
• Hiyu Explains Living in Space

News:

• Plastic Objects without Electronics using Wifi
• Science Says Men Should Masterbate 21 Times a Month
• Flushing Human Bodies Down Drains, Denied
• Bargin Hunting Shoppers Treat Customer Service Works as Less than Human
• Male Contraceptive Rubin Gel
• This Website Claims It Can “Erase Your Memories” Of TV Shows So You Can Watch Them Again, Unspoiled
• 60 Lbs of Marijuana
• Florida Attorney Allegedly Filmed Porn Videos In Jail With Inmates

FC-288 Floof Precipitate - Aura joins us this week before the holidays for a plethora of analytical news.

Aura joins us this week before the holidays for a plethora of analytical news.

Download MP3

Link Roundup

• A Bread Company Accidentally Used A Furry Community Hashtag And It Caused Chaos
• $514,746 for charity from the top 40 cons alone in 2017!
• Credit cards used at Midwest Furfest ATMs get fraud calls
• “Animal Noises” podcast by Path Hyena and MMMatches
• ConRoomies Service
• Digital Show & Tell from Xiph.org
• Boozy’s Night Before Christmas Reading
• Furry_irl reddit post weatherfox
• Hanson And The Beast Trailer
• ArcticSkyWolf’s MidWest FurFest 2017 Con Video
• Hiyu Explains Living in Space

News:

• Plastic Objects without Electronics using Wifi
• Science Says Men Should Masterbate 21 Times a Month
• Flushing Human Bodies Down Drains, Denied
• Bargin Hunting Shoppers Treat Customer Service Works as Less than Human
• Male Contraceptive Rubin Gel
• This Website Claims It Can “Erase Your Memories” Of TV Shows So You Can Watch Them Again, Unspoiled
• 60 Lbs of Marijuana
• Florida Attorney Allegedly Filmed Porn Videos In Jail With Inmates

[Live] Floof Precipitate

And the great comic book crossover festival continues: Kong on the Planet of the Apes.  What more can we say?  Well this is how Boom! Studios has it: “Following the events of the first Planet of the Apes film (1968), Dr. Zaius and General Ursus lead a small group of soldiers to the Forbidden Zone to destroy any remaining evidence of Taylor’s time among them. To their surprise, they discover… A Kong! Now they must venture to Skull Island with Cornelius and Zira to discover the truth, but they may not survive the deadliest journey of their lives!” Written by Ryan Ferrier and illustrated by Carlos Magno (with a cover by Mike Huddleston), this 6-issue full-color mini-series just hit the shelves this month. Empire Online has an interview with Mr. Ferrier about the whole thing.

image c. 2017 Boom! Studios

Recorded on ZBC in Tundratown affiliate around 1988 and I didn't get the full commercial for Jerry Vole but left in what I had. Still looking for the full copy of the Electronic Time Machine News special that is advertised at the end. "A mysterious bear appears in Nick's and Judy's agency, who does not want to show her face. She wants Judy and Nick to find her former lover, who is the reason why she can't show her face. The two detectives find this man, but find out on the next day that someone murdered him. Of course, the mysterious woman is their very first suspect." Note: Man, this actually was quite a lot of work and it's amazing how complex edits like this get. I'm tired now. And posted it. And it is done. So I did do that.
View Video

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

Scurry: [Book 1] The Doomed Colony, by Mac Smith. Illustrated.
Vancouver, WA, Easy Prey Entertainment, November 2017, hardcover $30.00 (unpaged [104 pages]), softcover $20.00, Kindle $11.99.

This is the first collection of one of the best, largest (13.7” x 8.3”), and most beautiful anthropomorphic-animal comic strips on the Internet. Mac Smith, a graphic designer in Portland, Oregon, began Scurry: A Post-Apocalyptic Mouse Tale on January 17, 2016, and has been posting about two pages a week. The Doomed Colony contains Part I, Lingering Light, Part II, Beasts of Winter, and Part III, Grim Shadows. These add up to 84 pages, and an Afterword, an extensive Cast of Characters, and samples of Smith’s working process bring The Doomed Colony up to 104 pages.

Smith ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise $8,000 to publish this book. He got $101,230 from 2,129 backers in a month. Smith says in his Afterword that he has not read any of the anthro-animal books that readers have been recommending to him. His influences are 1980s movies like The Secret of NIMH, The Dark Crystal, and The Neverending Story.

Scurry is set in a “post-apocalyptic” world in which the humans are dead or gone but their cities are undamaged. There has been no explanation yet of what happened to the humans (despite the book’s cover, no bodies or skeletons are around), or whether what happened is responsible for the animals’ intelligence (although probably this is just a talking-animal fantasy). The mice in the colony wonder whether the humans could return, or whether there are still some left elsewhere. The setting could be Smith’s Pacific Northwest; the fauna and flora fit it. The rusted and decayed look of the buildings and vehicles, and the overgrown lawns implies that humanity disappeared about a year earlier. Food in the houses has run out. Pets like cats have turned feral and hunt the mice for food.

The Doomed Colony is that of the mice in a house in an unnamed suburban neighborhood. They have eaten all of the food that they can find in their own and other nearby homes. The local ex-pet cats are growing increasingly dangerous. Feral wildlife is moving in; some like beavers and moose are harmless, but others like hawks, wolves, snakes, and owls eat mice. The colony is divided between those who want to stay put and explore farther for food, and those who want to move the whole colony into a nearby city where there may be more food and shelter from wild animals.

Politics makes the debate more convoluted. The mice have been ruled well by an Elder Council, but the Council is literally dying of old age. Is the Council’s preference to stay put based on wisdom, or a refusal to consider new ideas? Is Council Leader Orim’s wish to be replaced by his daughter Pict, whom he has trained to replace him when he dies, a good one, or is it pure nepotism? Is Resher, who leads the faction to move into the city, really working for the colony’s benefit, or does he plan that the colony’s upheaval will give him the chance to take over its leadership?

The protagonist of The Doomed Colony is Wix, a young mouse who is one of the best scavengers in the colony. He is potentially Pict’s boyfriend, but he’s really more interested in exploring new locations. Part I introduces Wix and his best friend Umf, a rat, looking for food in the last house in the neighborhood and running into the neighborhood’s cats; and Pict with her father arguing over the colony’s politics. In Part II there is a rumor of the discovery of a human food delivery truck, resulting in an expedition to find it, which lures Wix and others out of the colony. Part III takes Wix into the forest and introduces some of the more feral characters in Scurry: a hawk, a moose, a wolf.

Smith’s plotting and dialogue are taut. His action seldom slows down. Wix, Pict, and Umf are constantly escaping from huge, bloodthirsty cats and hawks, and enemies among the mice themselves scheme for their betrayal and deaths. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and a notice that Book II, The Drowned Forest, will come in May 2018.

In the meantime, read the semi-weekly Scurry on the Internet.

(Although this book says that Easy Prey Entertainment has a Vancouver, WA address, its Facebook page says it is a Portland, OR business. Scurry is beautifully printed on thick, glossy paper in China. If I may be permitted a personal kvetch, books without page numbers on thick, glossy paper are very annoying because it’s hard to tell when you’re accidentally turning two pages at once.)

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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

CONTENT WARNING: Explosions, pill popping, and freaky animated hybrid creatures. YAY!
View Video

Welcome to Bessie, of Marfedblog, a comics review and criticism site. There’s furry stuff there, and much more, with devoted curation by a fan doing exactly what they love. If you like this, give it a follow. And expect more syndicated content reposted here. (- Patch)

Emily Rose Lambert, is an illustrator and first class graduate from Loughborough University who works as a greetings card designer. Her work encompasses comics, design and illustration, often featuring repeating patterns, showcasing a preoccupation with indigenous American culture, nature and animals.

Dreamscape is the lovely, achingly cute story of two adorable animal characters travelling through a series of dreamlike vignettes that evokes the ephemeral nature of dreams and conveys that sense of disjointed dreamlike logic as the characters drift between seemingly disparate situations and emotions. The story floats effortlessly from the fantastical, one of the figures breaking into fragments, one lovingly patching up the other with clay and leaves to the more everyday, as the dreamers enter a birthday party late and unable to sing along with the other revellers. From the small embarrassments that gently gnaw away at us in the night to the gentle sense of dread as an unknown figure watches us from afar, each instance captures the moments in dreams where feelings seem always just a little too close to the surface, more immediate and raw.

On her own blog, Emily briefly describes her process behind the comic revealing an early draft that she had begun creating digitally until, as she puts it a “boost of confidence in using ink and pencil” promoted her to switch over to more traditional methods resulting in the final comic. It’s a decision that definitely works in her favour, as does the restriction to black and white owing to the anthology it’s collected in.

The first draft almost seems too solid, too real while the traditional hand drawn panels fit the otherworldly tone of the story perfectly. The final version with the soft pencils and ink give her story a suitably intangible feel in the way that dreams often are. A sense that if you tried to bring it any more into focus, recall it in more detail, it would fade away. The sudden sadness upon awakening as you desperately grasp at details that moments ago seemed so clear become more fleeting and blurred around the edges the harder you concentrate on them. Only half remembered,  leaving you only a feeling or a vague sense of them.

The comic ends where it begins as one of the figures looks out onto the stars once more, again emphasizing it’s roots in dream logic and the recursive, circular nature they sometimes taken on, with motifs or events being repeated over and over. Her sparse dialogue has the rhythm and mood of a fairytale. Sweet, whimsical and imbued with both trepidation hope, it manages to cover a complete gamut of emotions in only two pages.

Originally posted on marfedblog, where Bessie reviews and spotlights Furry and mainstream comics.

Let’s add a comment that came up in conversation about syndicating the reviews:

To explain what my ‘aim’ is with my articles and what I’m all about: I love the comics stuff on Dogpatch and other sites but I think it can get a bit insular with people reviewing anything with anthro characters or featuring the same people all the time (Kyle Gold etc) and what I enjoy doing is pointing out new and interesting comics and creators that are part of the fandom that people may not be aware of or increasingly, people outside the fandom who are doing interesting projects using anthro characters. I’m constantly surprised that for a group that gobbles up anything remotely furry still manage not to pick up on some real gems, usually from lack of exposure. I feel that falling back constantly on old favorites doesn’t do the fandom any good. So hopefully I’ll be able to help the site in that way.

Do you recall the Hanazuki cartoon short that ran in front of My Little Pony — The Movie this last summer? It was based on a popular on-line animated series created by Titmouse. Well now IDW Publishing have gotten into the act, bringing out a new Hanazuki: Full Of Treasures full-color comic book series. “Based on the hit animated series, Hanazuki the Moonflower comes to life in this hilarious, action-packed origin tale. See her first encounter with the lovable, pet-able (and only sometimes sassy) Hemkas! Watch her grow her first treasure trees! Witness her run ‘afowl’ of the Chicken-Plant! Enjoy as Hanazuki learns how to harness her emotions to affect real change and save her moon from the forces of darkness!” Got all that? Look for it before the end of December.

image c. 2017 IDW Publishing

DAWWWWW! Where can I get a wolf plush like that one?
View Video

Hello Everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion of social media and health. During the end of the year it can be a time of social anxiety and depression, especially for those of us encountering the cold, dark, winter months. We talk about a recent study that shows how social media can be used as a means of finding support but cautions about what can happen when that support becomes your sole means of communication.

Our main topic this week is on Cuckholding and Hotwifeing. While you might refer to Hotwifeing as Hothusbanding or Hotspousing, we tend to use Hotwifeing but mean it in a neutral fashion. We talk about the differences between Cuckholding and Hotwifeing, how to safely and sanely get involved in either, and what the ultimate risks for this kink are. We also touch on the fun part of "why do people enjoy humiliation". This is a fun discussion about an often ridiculed and misunderstood portion of the kink community with serious undertones of the dangerous elements involved when you introduce a bull into the china shop that is your relationship.

We close out the show with a question on selfishness: our questioner is worried and feels guilty whenever they act in selfishness in their relationship. Should they be more selfless, or is there a way to practice ethical selfishness without turning into Ayn Rand?

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

As a programming note next week will be our last episode of the year and we will be taking the first two weeks of 2018 off for vacation and business related travels. 

Thanks and, as always, be well! 

FA 096 Cuckolding and Hotwifeing - Is Twitter good for social anxiety? Do cucks exist or are they a figment of Trump supporters? Can you be ethically selfish in a relationship? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

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

Marking Territory, by Daniel Potter. Illustrated by Johanna T.
El Cerrito, CA, Fallen Kitten Productions, November 2017, trade paperback, $14.99 (381 pages), Kindle $4.99.

Marking Territory is Book Two in Potter’s Freelance Familiars fantasy series. There is no Synopsis or What Has Gone Before of the events of Book One, Off Leash. The Freelance Familiars series is recommended, but if you aren’t familiar with Off Leash, you won’t know what is going on.

For the record, the Kindle edition was published in July 2016, over a year before the paper edition.

The narrator is Thomas Khatt, a cougar who was a young unemployed librarian in Grantsville, Pennsylvania. Off Leash begins with Thomas’s next-door neighbor being killed in a suspicious hit-&-run “accident”, and Thomas being transformed into a mountain lion/cougar/puma. He learns that he has been transported to the “Real World”, and as an intelligent animal, he is expected to become a wizard or witch’s familiar; an involuntary magical assistant – in practice, a slave to a magus.

“Yet one thing had become crystal clear; I wanted no part of this world. Losing my thumbs, my house and my girlfriend in exchange for the chance to be sold off to some pimple-faced apprentice did not sound like a fair deal to me.” (Off Leash, p. 35)

To quote from my review of Off Leash:

“Thomas decides to take charge of his own life, even if he is not familiar with the Real World yet. He faces the dangers of our “world beyond the Veil”, of being a cougar loose in a San Francisco residential neighborhood, and of the Real World, refusing to join the TAU [Talking Animal Union] or to become bound to a magus – or to an apprentice – as a familiar.

“To stay off the leash, he’ll have to take advantage of the chaos caused by the local Archmagus’ death and help the Inquisition solve his murder. A pyromaniac squirrel, religious werewolves, and cat-hating cops all add to the pandemonium as Thomas attempts to become the first Freelance Familiar.” (blurb)

Off Leash ends with Thomas still a cougar, but he’s found and rescued his girlfriend, a werewolf (she’s more like a permanently furry wolf-woman) named Touch, and he’s won his independence as a freelance familiar. He’s become a familiar for hire – and if he doesn’t like his boss, he’ll go elsewhere. He’s satisfactorily bonded as the familiar of O’Meara, a magus who is the Inquisitor (police officer) of the Grantsville of the Real World, but who has been gravely wounded in a magical duel saving his life.

Marking Territory begins six months later. Thomas and Noise – her human name is Angelica – are having dinner at an expensive restaurant “beyond the Veil”, posing as elegantly dressed humans:

“Pity slipped into the waiter’s eyes as I gathered my scattered thoughts. Really, I wanted to savor this moment for as long as I could. Thanks to the Veil that blinded mundanes to any magically-induced weirdness, he surely saw a miserable wretch of a man slumped in a wheelchair despite the snappy tuxedo. I didn’t need pity, for this was a triumph! I sat at the table, instead of hiding under it like a pet. He couldn’t see my smile filled with teeth designed to crush the windpipes of a deer or the huge paws that awkwardly pushed on the armrests of the wheelchair in which I perched. Nobody but Noise saw the nearly three-foot long tail that protruded from the space between the back and the seat of the wheelchair.

No one could comprehend a reason for a cougar to come into their restaurant dressed in a tuxedo and sitting in a wheelchair. Therefore, logically, I must be a man. It was a trick I’d only been able to pull off on the internet or in a dark alley.” (p. 8)

Their dinner is majorly interrupted by a transition. Thomas isn’t experienced with transitions yet. O’Meara’s mental connection saves him from its effects, but Noise isn’t immune to it.

“‘ThoOOOMAS?’ Noise’s voice stretched out into an animal bay as everything around me twisted, including her! I couldn’t turn my head away as black splotches appeared on her skin.

Her eyes, wide with shock, slid to the sides of her head, pushed there by the growth of a heavy muzzle. Horns erupted from either side of her skull, and her dress strained to contain the sudden bulk of her body and breasts. The glass she held shattered, crushed with the strength of a massive two-fingered hand.

Behind her the wall shimmered from plain white into roughhewn planks. The elegant table before us became a barrel covered with a red-checked tablecloth, and the silverware, wooden spoons and knives. The salt and pepper shakers blossomed into shallow bowls with piles of spice.

Noise held a hand up to each eye. Her mouth, a maw filled with blunt teeth and a black tongue, hung open like a dentist had used too much Novocain. She closed and opened it as if to speak, but all that came out was a loud, panicked MOOOOO!

Noise clutched at her muzzle. The waiter, or what had been our water, appeared. He bleated a question at Noise as he effortlessly balanced on cloven feet, wearing nothing but his blue vest. Noise just stared at him, her huge blue eyes flicking up and down the man’s goat-like body. Around us the mundanes, now blended with a reality that resembled a barnyard, continued with their meals, the Veil preventing them from noticing anything unusual had happened.” (pgs. 13-14)

The effect doesn’t last long, but it’s a blatant sign that Thomas, as an intelligent but physically unanthropomorphized cougar, is starting a new adventure.

Thomas, still getting used to life as a physical cougar who’s mentally connected to a magus who has become a wheelchair-bound cripple saving his life, feels personally obligated to getting medical help for O’Meara. To do that, he’ll have to quit being O’Meara’s familiar and earn magic on his own as a talking cougar in the Real World, with only (legally) the help of Rudy, a wisecracking, pyromaniac squirrel. Thomas assumes that they will have to do it in Grantsville. Rudy insists they go to Las Vegas:

“‘Wait on the highway and show some leg [Rudy said]. We hitch a ride to Vegas. There’s trouble there that’s gonna need shooting.’

‘I’m still thinking local. I don’t think the Veil would like us in Vegas.’ I stopped to rub an itchy shoulder against one of my favorite scratching trees.

‘No seriously,’ Rudy said, ‘there’s no Veil in Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Anything magical happens and munds assume it was all a wild bender. Most magical city in the USA. If you want clients to get this whole freelance familiar thing happening, go there. I’ll dig you up a fedora somewhere.’” (pgs. 52-53)

This review is running too long. There are even weirder transitions, a cat-controlled helicopter, and lots more, most of which involves the cougar and the extroverted squirrel dealing with anthro animals of some sort:

“Eight birds stared down at us as Ixey opened her eyes. One was no crow. You might mistake him for a giant raven, but the beak had a wicked curve to it, his talons vicious hooks. This was no scavenger. He was a black eagle, feathers darker than the others, given almost no shine by the glare of their lamppost perch. He hopped forward, gliding down toward us. A single crow followed his lead, her body bursting into a blue light and form blurring as she swooped beneath the eagle, landing as an elegant woman in a white dress. She wore a falconry glove, which the eagle alighted upon as the last of the blue light faded from a ring she wore.” (p. 84)

Marking Territory (cover by Ebooklaunch.com) arguably features magical animals rather than anthropomorphic animals, but what do you care as long as they are talking animals? Decide for yourself whether to read Off Leash first.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Check Out Fallen Kitten Productions Site

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.

Much thanks to Ethan Staghorn for pointing this one out. "A little film about a Little artist and his imaginary friends that about telling his imaginations. Listen to him."
View Video

the audio of our recent Livestream! Here's the show on YouTube if you prefer that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLHfAaMmxOY Our Patreon! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow 183 - Fireside Christmas Stream! - the audio of our recent Livestream! Here's the s…

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

Mist, by Amy Fontaine
Knoxville, TN, Thurston Howl Publications, September 2017, trade paperback, $10.99 (168 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $2.99.

Mist is more like a traditional fairy tale than a usual furry novel.

“‘Where am I?’ said the five children. They startled all at once at the sound of each other’s voices.

They peered at each other through the swirling mist, slowly piecing together each other’s appearance. A broad-shouldered girl with brown eyes as fierce as a hawk’s stood firmly, locking eyes with each of the others in turn and staring them down. A much younger, much smaller girl trembled as she gazed into the mist, twirling a golden curl of hair around her finger. A boy with short-cropped, dirty-blond hair smiled kindly at the others. A tall, lanky boy with messy brown hair glanced all around himself, assessing his surroundings. A pale boy with pointed ears frowned at the others. They all seemed to be teenagers of varying ages, except for the quivering little girl.

‘Who are you?’ the children asked each other.” (p. 1)

The five children do not remember their names. They are in a forest of tall trees shrouded in mist. They find a giant redwood with a treehouse containing shelves of books. A book on a candle-lit table is titled Transformations.

“The book had two parts, ‘Part One: Changing Yourself,’ and ‘Part Two: Changing the World.’” (p. 3)

The five children learn that they each have two animal forms (only one of which is revealed immediately to the reader), and they can all talk telepathically, in their animal or human forms. Since they do not know their names, they take new ones. The hawk-eyed girl, who can become a wolf, becomes Karen Starbroke, their leader. The boy with the gentle smile is Samuel Reed, a red deer. The little girl is Tessa Opal, a golden mongoose. The messy-haired boy is Jack Walsh, a lynx. The pale boy with pointed ears, a python, will not show the others what his other animal form is, and only reluctantly chooses a name when pressed by Karen: Loki Avila.

“‘Well, now that we have that established, we can go and use what we can do to be heroes.’” (p. 5)

All during this the mist is swirling closely around them, as though it is watching, listening, and embracing them. Suddenly their apparent adversary appears.

“‘Before the wolf could finish her sentence, a bloodcurdling roar split the night in two.

A quarter-mile away, at the spot from which the roar had come, two slanted yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.

[…]

The yellow eyes belonged to a large, ugly, reptilian face. Its scales melded into the darkness. The big, distinctly split scales made the face seem cracked like ancient mud.

The eyes had risen because the jaws had parted, and the creature’s cavernous mouth now loomed open. Karen saw the ghastly gleam of long, sharp teeth like ivory sabers, with strings of spit clinging like cobwebs to the inside of the gaping maw. For a moment, she stood motionless, watching the creature.

Suddenly, the creature disappeared into the mist.” (pgs. 6-8)

But it turns out that everyone sees the monster differently.

And so it goes. Plenty of exciting events happen, but for no apparent reason. Whenever anyone does ask a reason, it pointedly is not answered.

“Karen blinked rapidly, staring at nothing. Then, she looked at Jack. ‘Let’s wake everyone up. We need to keep moving.’

‘Why?’ asked Jack. Karen wasn’t listening.

After everyone was awake, they took another quick stop at the brook and headed on their way, following Karen toward … well, no one knew where.” (pgs. 13-14)

Karen is friendly toward three of the group, but is constantly berating Loki, usually for being the last to arrive when she orders them to change into animals and dash off.

“Karen returned to human form and glared at Loki. ‘Well, look who decided to show up.’

Loki stared blankly at Karen. ‘What?’

‘Why didn’t you follow us right away?’ growled Karen. ‘If we’re going to be a pack and work together, we have to all stay together. We only have each other to rely on from now on. We might have needed your help to fight that … that thing. And you weren’t there.’

[…]

Karen and Loki glared at each other.

‘What about you, Karen’ said Loki. ‘You charged off and left us without a second thought. How was I supposed to keep up with you all in those swift forms of yours, anyway? I can’t match your pace, as a snake or as a human.’” (p. 8)

The forest, which turns out to be called the Ethereal Forest, seems to be a typical fairy-tale (i.e., European) forest, but its wildlife is North American: coyotes, mountain lions, and so on. There are wondrous things in this world, and the five children have wondrous adventures, yet I get the impression that this was a mistake. Or was it a deliberate effort to bring the magic of Old World fairy-tales into New World settings?

It doesn’t matter.

“In her very soul, Karen felt a yearning as profound as the heavens. Somewhere, a voice was calling her, with music soft and mysterious, lyrics as old as the sea. The voice was without her, yet there within her, too. She might have felt strange, seeking something that was right there inside her, but the urge to wander was too strong. She knew then more than ever that she would fulfill the call no matter what it took. Her emotions a wild dance of red flashes in her head, she was wound up, unable to contain herself, so overcome with feeling. Without realizing it, she had become the wolf. She threw back her shaggy head and let out a powerful, spirited howl. It was so full of lonely longing, so otherworldly and unreal, that the loud, carrying cry seemed alien to all those who heard it. It was so full of strange potentials difficult to grasp that it was like the mist in its ambiguity. The howl that Karen let loose was indeed a thing truly ethereal in nature.” (p. 50)

Mist (cover by Scott L. Ford) is, like most tales of this sort, at heart a teaching experience, for the five children and for the inhabitants of the Ethereal Forest alike. Who is the teacher? What is the mist? Read the book and find out.

Only four will survive.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Thurston Howl Publications

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

This is why I can't get anything done lately. My kitty just wants to play.
View Video

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Fungisaurs.com is ready to get up and running. “What is a ‘Fungisaur’? Fungisaurs is the name we’ve given to our original dinosaur-mushroom hybrid species. We hope to inspired adventure, science education, and appreciation for nature.” And they are going at those goals from several angles all at once: Starting off with 8 different Fungisaur designs, they have toys, dedicated merchandise, an animated origin story, and even an augmented reality app all in the works.

image c. 2017 fungisaurs.com