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

Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending, by Mary E. Lowd
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, July 2017, trade paperback, $9.95 (227 pages), Kindle $6.99.

Otters in Space III follows right after Otters in Space II, published four years ago. There’s not even a brief What Has Gone Before. Unless you have a really good memory, you had better reread the first two books before starting this.

The series is set in the far future, after humans have uplifted cats, dogs, and otters (and some others), then disappeared. The dogs and cats run Earth, and the otters run everything in space. The protagonist is Kipper Brighton, the tabby cat sister of Petra and Alastair Brighton. Alastair has just run for Senator of California, and despite cat voters outnumbering the dogs four to one, the dogs who control the results announce the dog nominee has won in a landslide. Alastair and Petra must decide whether to challenge the vote and risk starting a cat-vs.-dog civil war. Meanwhile, Kipper has gone into space and is aboard the Jolly Barracuda, an otter merchant spaceship on a supply run to the Jovian colonies. They find the colonies under attack by aliens that turn out to be raptor dinosaurs who have already conquered an octopus space civilization that the cats, dogs, and otters didn’t know about. Otters in Space II ends with the cats and dogs of Earth uniting to oppose the dinosaurs, while Kipper commands a spaceship full of rescued cat refugees returning to Earth.

(I hope that Lowd plans to eventually republish the three books of Otters in Space as a single novel.)

Otters in Space III begins with Jenny, an otter, and Ordol, the leader of the octopi (that’s them on Idess’ cover), flying back from the Persian cat colony of New Persia on Europa in a stolen spaceship, to the Jolly Barracuda hidden in Jupiter’s Red Spot:

“As they flew toward Io, Ordol’s tentacles continued to work in Jenny’s peripheral vision, running scans and taking readings. The ship’s computer displayed the results in a language Jenny couldn’t yet read. Sharp angular letters clustered erratically into words – or so Jenny assumed – and scrolled senselessly across the computer screens arranged beneath the central viewscreen.

The sight of the alien language made it impossible for Jenny to forget: this ship was stolen. They had disabled the homing signal to hide it from the original owners, but it was stolen nonetheless.

Ordol could read the writing, at least, a little of it. He’d been a slave to the aliens who’d built the ship. Before it was renamed Brighton’s Destiny; the aliens who wrote the inscrutable language that filled its screens and who still enslaved the rest of his people.” (p. 10)

Meanwhile, Kipper and the evacuated Persian cats of Europa have successfully returned to Earth, but everyone knows that the raptors are coming:

“Only two people in the entire solar system had infiltrated one of the raptors’ sail ships inside the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. And only one of them had seen the aquariums where the raptors kept octopi enslaved.

Kipper remembered the yellow eyes staring at her and pale tentacles. She remembered those tentacles writhing and struggling as raptors grabbed them, pulled them from the water, and forced them into electronic harnesses that overrode the octopi’s own brains. Raptors hadn’t merely enslaved octopi – they violated them, robbing the octopi of their own wills and bodies on a daily basis.” (p. 17)

Otters in Space III consists of 34 short chapters, going back and forth between the main characters. Kipper Brighton, a cat, hates the water but she ventures deep into the oceans to convince Earth’s octopi and the government of the octopus oligarchy to join the resistance to the raptors.

“‘It looks like a brain, doesn’t it?’ Pearl asked, breaking Kipper’s trance.

Kipper skewed one ear, slightly annoyed by the interruption of her reverie, but she had to admit it was true. Choir’s Deep looked like a giant green brain nestled into the crevice between two underwater cliffs.

As they got closer, the front lights on the submarine began to illuminate the scene. The colors grew clearer and more complicated – patches of peach and orange anemones grew on the coral like blushes of rust; darting schools of copper fish sparkled like pennies sprinkled down a wishing well; and strange plant-like growths in brilliant red and cobalt blue clawed upward like grasping hands.

In many ways, it was a more alien world than Mars or Europa.

‘Do otters visit Choir’s Deep often?’ Kipper asked.

[…]

No.’ Chauncey looked pensive for a moment. […] ‘We’ll be the first to visit Choir’s Deep in nearly a hundred years!’

Kipper blinked. ‘That’s because most otter-octopus interactions happen at a different octopus city?’ she asked hopefully.

Captain Cod turned from his wheel to stare levelly at Kipper. He didn’t usually do anything levelly, so it was quite disturbing. ‘That’s because the only octopi that have been in communication with otters – or anyone – for the last century are refugees and exiles.’” (pgs. 69-70)

Jenny, one of the otters from the Jolly Barracuda, is frustrated by the infighting over who should command the resistance in the Jupiter-Europa theater:

“The spherical room had been designed for octopi, and the only octopus there was Ordol, clinging to the ceiling with his sucker disks, wearing a breathing apparatus that looked like inverse-SCUBA gear. He looked as uncomfortable as Jenny felt. and he was the only one who should have been comfortable in a room like that.

Instead, Ordol watched silently, reading the paws of the one otter from the Imperial star-Ocean Navy who was taking the time to translate the arguments between his fellow officer-otters, the dachshund and Australian Cattle Dog from Howard Industries, and the yellow-furred former-empress of New Persia into sign language. The cats and dogs didn’t know Standard Swimmer’s Sign. Of course.

That didn’t stop them from arguing over who should own a base designed by octopi, for octopi, and meant to float just under the surface of an ocean planet.” (p. 20)

Kipper’s sister Petra tries to help in the supposedly united cat-and-dog defense against the raptors, but quickly learns that the unity is just a façade for the usual dog supremacy.

“Nothing had changed.

She was the president’s sister, but out here, next to a dog in a police uniform with a gun, she was still just an alley cat.

‘Get out of the car,’ the dog barked. She’d taken too long to answer.

‘Please,’ Petra hissed. ‘Keep your voice down. I have kittens slee==’

‘DON’T YOU HISS AT ME, CAT!’ The dog stepped back from the car and pulled his gun.” (p. 84)

Earth is saved, of course, but how it is saved may surprise you.

Otters in Space III: Octopus Ascending (cover by Idess) is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. But, since it has been four years since the middle volume, you might as well go back and read the whole trilogy from the beginning. If you’ve got the first two volumes – I won’t say novels, because this is one novel in three volumes – you can reread them while waiting for this one.

There’s an intriguing passage around pages 34 to 41 and 63 to 68 where Kipper learns facts about uplifted squirrels and mice that she’d never known about before. Lowd offers convincing reasons for her not knowing, but it would be interesting to see a future novel about them.

– Fred Patten

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Man, Fox hunting is a brutal thing.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons, by David A. Bossert. Introduction by J. B. Kaufman. Illustrated.
Glendale, CA, Disney Editions, August 2017, hardcover $40.00 (176 pages).

I can’t say that I have been waiting all my life for this book, but it seems like it. As an animation fan during the 1970s and 1980s, everyone knew the Walt Disney story from the creation of Mickey Mouse onward, but nobody seemed to know what came before Mickey Mouse. Information about Disney’s first Laugh-O-Gram cartoons in Kansas City was gradually learned – his move to Hollywood and the Alice Comedies, then Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; then in early 1928 – nobody knew the exact date — the Oswald cartoons were somehow stolen from him, and he quickly created Mickey Mouse to replace his loss. But what happened in early 1928? Animation fans wanted to know.

The general story slowly emerged, but there was a shortage of details, and no one place contained all the information. Then in 2006 the Disney Studios reacquired the long-dormant Oswald rights from Universal. Well, to cut a long story short, this book now presents those details, with contemporary illustrations from the Disney Archives on almost every page. It’s not complete; there are still seven of Disney’s 26 1927-1928 Oswald cartoons that have not been found. But there is enough information here, in text and illustrations, to fill a book – this book.

This is fine for the animation fan. Is it worth it for the furry fan? Definitely! Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a major anthro animal star of the late 1920s; by Disney in 1927-28, and it took him a decade to sink out of popularity under other directors during the 1930s. Here he is during his original stardom. If Disney hadn’t had Oswald taken away from him, we would never have gotten Mickey Mouse. Instead Oswald would have gone on to the mega-popularity that Mickey won. (Maybe. Oswald was still owned by Universal Studios, so Disney never would have had the creative freedom that he did with Mickey, who was 100% his own character.) Furry fandom would have acknowledged Oswald instead of Mickey as one of its major influences.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit relates Walt Disney’s story from his and his brother Roy’s coming to Hollywood in 1923 and starting their studio. Back then it was standard for an animator to create an idea, present it to an agent, and for his agent to shop it around to the big studios. A studio that liked the idea would buy the property, and hire the animator and his assistants to create the cartoons which it would pay for, through their agent. That is what happened with the Oswald cartoons. Disney created the concept, had it approved by his agent, Charles Mintz, and Mintz sold the concept to Universal Studios, which then hired Disney to make the cartoons, two per month. Universal was a major studio and Disney’s future seemed assured. But during 1927, Disney began spending more and more to make each cartoon. Oswald was a big animated cartoon star and Disney wanted to constantly improve each film’s qualities, while businesslike Universal just wanted the cartoons made as cheaply as possible. Universal and Mintz agreed together to replace Disney with a new animation director to produce Universal’s Oswald cartoons. Disney knew that he had sold all rights to Oswald, so he didn’t protest – he secretly created Mickey to replace Oswald, and he got his own funding so he never had to sell the rights to Mickey. With more money and imagination, the Disney Mickey cartoons grew to worldwide popularity during the 1930s, while the cheaper and less imaginative Universal Oswald cartoons dwindled and disappeared.

This is detailed in the first chapter, “The Origins of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”. Subsequent chapters are “Reacquiring the Rights to Oswald” (the Disney studio getting them back from Universal in 2006). “The Search Begins” (Universal hadn’t bothered to keep any of the 1927-1928 cartoons, so Disney had to search for them elsewhere). “Restoration, Preservation, and Music” (many of the cartoons, all silent films, were partial and in deteriorating condition), and “Walt Disney’s Original 26 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Episodes”.

Each of the 26 cartoons – “Poor Papa”, “Trolley Troubles”, “Oh, Teacher”, “The Mechanical Cow”, “Great Guns”, and all the others released from September 5, 1927 to September 3, 1928 — gets a five- or six-page profile, with its premiere date, complete credits, running time, and a lengthy plot synopsis. Even the seven cartoons that have not been rediscovered yet have their scripts and samples of their artwork preserved. The illustrations include film stills, cartoon scene notes (storyboards had not been invented yet), full-color posters that have been found, and pencil rough layouts for posters that have not survived. The opening chapters are illustrated with photographs, story notes, telegrams, and other materials from the Disney Archives. Apparently Disney hoarded everything, whether Universal did or not.

Comic books did not exist yet, so these 26 one-reel theatrical cartoons were all the existence that Oswald got. But they were enough to make him a major cartoon movie star of 1927-28. Many of the story ideas and gags in these cartoons were recycled by Disney in his later Mickey Mouse cartoons. The character of Mickey evolved over the years, in animated cartoons, newspaper comics, comic books, and more. The character of Oswald never got the chance to evolve. By the time furry fandom arose, all that was available of Oswald were some very bland and completely redesigned and forgettable Dell comic books, from the 1950s through December-January 1961-62. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shows both the history of the cartoons, and what character the furry fan has unknowingly been missing.

Today Disney is reintroducing Oswald through new video games, comic books, merchandise, and theme-park costumes. Don’t miss this chance to find out about Oswald’s origins.

– Fred Patten

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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.&

Chris Lovejoy is an artist and animator who works in a variety of media, as you can see on her web site. Recently she’s been working on a new on-line comic called Trash Cat, featuring the adventures of a young opossum named Mishka. The comic updates several times a week, so make sure to keep up.

image c. 2017 by Chris Lovejoy

Welp, Playmobil Toothless was just added to my Christmas list.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, by Margaret Killjoy
NYC, Tom Doherty Associates/TOR Books, August 2017, trade paperback, $14.99 (127 pages), Kindle $3.99.

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion is the first novella in the new Danielle Cain horror series, “a dropkick-in-the-mouth anarcho-punk fantasy that pits traveling anarchist Danielle Cain against vengeful demons, hypocritical ideologues, and brutal, unfeeling officers of the law,” as a blurb says. #2 will be The Barrow Will Send What It May, to be published in April 2018. This is not a furry series; #2 will pit Danielle against zombies. But this #1 is fantasy-animal-related, although not anthropomorphic.

Danielle is the foul-mouthed narrator, a late-twenties now-cynical anarchist, no longer looking for the idealized commune where everyone loves everyone else and anarchy really works. As The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion begins, she is hitchhiking in rural Iowa to such a rumored commune, and she has to pull a knife on the car’s driver who does not want to let her out in the middle of “nowhere”.

“Ten years of putting up with shit like that from drivers. It was getting old. Hell, at twenty-eight, I was getting old. Ten years ago I’d talk to drivers about anything and love them for it. I loved the nice ones for their kindness, I loved the crazies for their stories, and sure, I hated the racist pieces of shit, but if nothing else I got to feel like I had the pulse of this racist, piece-of-shit country. But a decade is an awfully long time, and whatever shine I’d found on the shit that is hitchhiking had long since faded. Still, it got me where I wanted to go.” (p. 12)

Freedom, Iowa is a commune of about two hundred squatters and anarchist activists in an abandoned ghost town. But why Danielle wants to go there is:

“It was the last place Clay had lived, the last place he’d spent much time before he’d found his way west and his hand had shown his razor the way to his throat. No warning signs, no cries for help.

I had a lot of questions. If there were answers, I might find them in Freedom, Iowa.” (p. 13)

Danielle encounters the first horrific animal near the town right away.

“After a hundred yards and a couple turns, when the trees were getting thick enough to cast the whole of the road into shadow, I saw a deer on the shoulder ahead, rooting at something on the pavement. The beast was crimson red. Bloodred. I didn’t know deer even came in that color.

I crossed to the far side of the street so I wouldn’t disturb him, but I couldn’t help staring. A rabbit was dead on the ground beneath him, its belly up, its rib cage splayed open. The deer looked up at me then, his red muzzle dripping red blood.

On the right side of his head, he bore an antler. On the left side of his head, he bore two.” (ibid.)

Freedom, Iowa turns out to be the kind of deserted Midwest small town that you would find in a Stephen King short story. Houses’ roofs have fallen in. Cars are rusting at the curbs. It’s quiet. Too quiet. When the punk and hippie squatters appear, they’re all friendly but afraid. Clay had talked about her while he lived there, so they welcome her. They have names like Vulture, Doomsday, Thursday, Eric Tall-As-Fuck, and Kestrel. Danielle’s name is also her own adoption, but it’s not weird like that. She sees that one has a tattoo of a stylized three-antlered deer head on his neck.

“I was about to ask about it, but a sudden fear shut my mouth. There was something more to Freedom than I knew, and as much as I wanted to feel right at home, I didn’t.” (p. 21)

Okay, it’s a horror novella, so you can expect something grisly. It’s all animal-related.

“The sun sat fat and low on the western horizon, at the top of the street, and the last light of the day lent everything vivid faded colors. White lambs, dappled with red and purple wounds, paced a circle around both lanes of the street, not twenty yards from where we stood. Geese dodged in and out between them, and a regal goat oversaw the parade. Each creature had only a gaping wound where its rib cage had been, yet they lived. They opened their mouths to bellow and squawk and bleat, but their organless bodies let out only strange rasps.” (p. 24)

The ghoul animals are controlled by the deer.

“‘The deer’s name is Uliksi,’ she [Doomsday] told me again. ‘An endless spirit. A demon. A creature of vengeance hat walks these woods, swims in this river, watches this town. He’s been a guardian spirit, until tonight.’” (p. 28)

Why, if Uliksi has begun killing them, do Freedom’s hippies want to stay? Because they’ve finally gotten an anarchic community that works. A community of free-living friendship that’s worth fighting for, from The Establishment and from Uliksi’s ghoul animals. But the community’s defense leaves something to be desired.

“‘What do we do if we see anything?’ I asked.

‘Oh, right,’ Vulture said. He unslung a hunting horn from his belt. An honest-to-god hunting horn, like the kind that comes off an animal, with the tip cut off so you can blow through it. ‘Blow this. Or, you know, call someone. There’s decent cell signal everywhere in town and on this side of the hill. Maybe do both. I would do both.’

‘Okay,’ I said.

‘You’re looking for cops on the highway, large gatherings of undead animals, or I guess in this case very tall figures running around with my no-good ex-boyfriend or especially making their way toward the house.’

‘Got it,’ I said.

Vulture put his arm around my shoulders. ‘Did you floss?’ he asked.

‘What?’

‘Flossing is super important. Some people say it’s more important than brushing your teeth. It’s easy to forget to floss at times like this, but you’ve got to live today like you’ll survive till tomorrow.’

He was being serious. Kind of scarily so.

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I floss.’” (pgs. 62-63)

There turns out to be three forces, not two, menacing the anarchist commune: The Establishment/police, Uliksi and his undead/ghoul animals, and a cabal within the commune-where-everyone-is-equal who secretly plan to seize power over the rest. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion is more of a detective novella than a horror novella. Danielle must figure out who the true enemy is.

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion (cover by Mark Smith) is full of suspense and fear – but more because it tells you that it is than because of anything that happens.

“He lit a second cigarette with the end of the first one. He wasn’t smoking as an affectation, he was smoking because he was scared as hell and trying to keep his cool.” (p. 46)

But the scenes with the ghoul animals are creepy:

“Animal eyes turned toward us with mute curiosity, which turned to malice as we tried to rush past them. A silent mess of geese got underfoot and lunged for my hands. I started swinging. It wasn’t animal abuse. They were dead already. Some of the ones I hit didn’t get up again.

Brynn was almost to the gate when the goat ran at me. Someone or something had sheared off the beast’s horns, presumably before Uliksi had stolen the creature’s rib cage. Not an easy life, or unlife or whatever. I pulled back and swung from the hip, like a one-handed batter, and hit the goat in the skull with all my strength.

I must have grown up watching too many zombie movies. Hitting that thing’s skull was like hitting a boulder, and I probably hurt my hand more than I hurt the goat. Still, the blow seemed to have stopped its charge. It was still in my way. It tried to bleat, but had no lungs.

I heard a low rumble like distant thunder and turned in time to see a demon bull crash out of the trees and barrel toward us.” (p. 77)

The ghoul animals may not be anthropomorphic, but The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion is a good Halloween read.

– Fred Patten

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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.&

Looks like Chrysler is targeting California furs with a new plug-in Hybrid. There appears to be a whole series involving this bear.
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Ventana Sur, Argentina’s annual film marketing convention, has a division called Animation! — which, no prizes for guessing, covers animated film and TV produced in Argentina and other Latin American countries. Recently Variety had an article about the latest crop of films being pushed this year, and at least two of them are of particular interest to furry fans. Noah’s Ark (perhaps not the most original title…) is being directed by Sérgio Machado (The Violin Teacher). According to the article, “…the musical comedy unspools as both an adventure and political fable turning on two bohemian mice – inspired by celebrated Brazilian composers Vinicius de Moraes and Carlos Jobim – confronted by the flood.” Then there’s Escape to India, produced by Juan José Campanella and directed by Gastón Gorali — the same team that gave us Underdogs, the foosball-come-to-life movie. “Escape to India follows Azadi, a courageous cow who, destined for the slaughterhouse in Patagonia, escapes and begins an epic journey to India, where her mother tells her that cows are venerated.” Again, no word yet on when these films might be released, but they are in the works.

image c. Videofilmes

Our Patreon! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow ep. 182 -MFF 2017 w/ Boozy Badger! - Our Patreon! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Tele…

Huevocartoon is an animation studio from Mexico that made a name for itself with the Huevos series of animated films — which were quite profitable north and south of the border. Now they’re taking things in a different direction with their new CGI film Grimalkin. According to an article in Variety, “…the horror comedy narrates how a domestic cat’s love for his family is tested when mischievous creatures invade the house, a foster home run by a loving young couple. Being the only one with the ability to see them, the cat must confront the creatures before they take over the house and its inhabitants.” The film is being directed by storyboard artist Sant Arellano. There’s no word yet on a planned release date — but check under your bed just in case.

image c. 2017 Huevocartoon

Busy animals are often on the move, and, when they need a little help getting where they're going, anything can happen. Passing Through features six furry stories of hitching a lift and lending a paw. From straight up horrific to downright sexy, one thing's for certain—it's going to be one hell of a ride. "First Time Ain't Easy" (Tyson West) is a rough-and-tumble tale about a nice guy who falls in with the wrong crowd and learns a hard, hard lesson. Rod is a raccoon coming out of a relationship who decides to hitch to Seattle to help his cousin with a job. On the way, however, he climbs into a car full of trouble and ends up on the wrong side of the law and forced to learn some hard and fast survival skills. "Seed of a Doubt" was written by this reviewer and will not be considered in the review. "The Savage Caravan" (Jako Malan) features a wily mutt who picks up a sexy sheep for a ride that is bound to be full of surprises. Set in South Africa, the tale plays on the predator-prey relationship of the two characters and pulls off both sexy and creepy in a great hitch-hiker horror that twists in delightful and unexpected ways. In "El Vucko" (Billy Leigh), we meet Jamie, a broken-hearted dingo on a driving trip around Spain with his best friend. But when they pick up a sexy and mysterious hitchhiker, things take a twist toward trouble. The wolf who climbs into their van might not be who he says he is, but he does a great job of stealing Jamie's heart. "Highway to Hell" (Thurston Howl) is a fun flash piece that reads somewhere between the Twilight Zone and a morality fable. A lecherous truck driver picks up a hitching kid who ends up taking him for a ride right into surreal territory. In "Underpass" (BanWynn Oakshadow), a down-and-out cougar relays his trials and tribulations to his therapist in a gorgeous, stream-of-consciousness style story. His road to recovery wanders through themes of spirituality, mental illness, and redemption, and the beautiful writing makes this my favorite piece in the collection. The stories in Passing Through are diverse but also cohesive. There is a gritty, knife-sharp edge to most of the stories and a sense of depth and beauty in even the darkest moments. It should be a welcome read to any reader who enjoys edgy entertaining stories with anthropomorphic protagonists.

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

Passing Through; Tails from the Road [edited by Weasel]
Manvil, TX, Weasel Press, September 2017, trade paperback, $9.99 (138 pages), Kindle $2.99.

There is an editor’s introduction that sets the mood of hitchhiking drama, but isn’t clear whether it’s just a mood piece for this anthro universe, or if it was a real-life personal event that inspired this anthology. Here are six short stories and novelettes about anthro hitchhikers. “Cash, Grass, or Ass, open up and hitch a ride!” (blurb)

In “First Time Ain’t Easy” by Tyson West, Rod (called both Roderick and Rodney) is a 20-year-old raccoon whose father and friends consider to be soft and immature. He hitchhikes from Illinois to Seattle to visit a cousin, gets a ride from a friendly black panther (clearly an African-American), and the two are arrested and jailed in Montana. Rod hopes to be released in a few days, but is he tough enough to survive in prison until then?

“Seed of a Doubt” by Frances Pauli is a rare anthro story with sealife:

“‘Raise your right fin.’ The bailiff fluttered silver gills and rolled one eyeball the size of Ray’s head in the direction of the judge. ‘And state your name.’

‘I’m Ray.’ The courtroom water ran a good five degrees warmer than he was used to, but the increase in temperature behind his scales was more from nerves than the fact that hey were in the shallows. ‘Sorry. Ray Blythe.’” (p. 27)

The judge is a squid, the bailiff is a cod, and the defendant who Ray is a reluctant witness against is a shark mob boss. A big shark. Ray is a remora who had hitched a ride — was attached to Carl Sanguini, the shark, at the time of the alleged murder. A remora is a small fish, used to being silent and unnoticed, as Ray was when the alleged murder took place. He is extra nervous at being the center of attention in the coral courtroom.

What happens in the trial could only happen if the characters are anthro sealife. Kudos to Pauli.

“The Savage Caravan” by Jako Malan takes advantage of the author being South African:

“It was then I saw her by the roadside.

Her tiny hooves leisurely disturbed the roadside gravel. A small backpack of possessions slung over her shoulder and a pinstripe of smoke curled upward from a cigarette clasped in her left hoof. An upturned third digit on her right signaled her intentions. She trawled the highway or transportation. Companionship. Maybe more? I would take the bait. A twisted smile stretched across my muzzle, and my tail flicked beneath my backside on the sagging leather seat.

[…]

‘Rebellious, small-town adolescent,’ I thought to myself. Not the kind of ewe your parents would want you to bring home. My parents, however, would hardly approve of anyone or anything that didn’t have a wonderfully shiny coat, sported canines, perky ears, and had a bushy tail.’” (pgs. 53-54)

The narrator is Ed, the lorry driver, a dog (breed unspecified but German shepherd would fit). Any description of what happens would be a spoiler, but let’s just say that they’re both psychopaths; there are zebras, leopards, and meerkats; and there’s a lot of blood. And that this is another story that requires the characters to be anthro animals. Kudos to Malan, too.

In “El Vucko” by Billy Leigh, Jamie (Dingo) and Evelyn (Vixen) are a couple of tourists who fly to Spain a rent a van to tour the countryside. As they set out they hear a radio news report that the police are looking for El Vucko, a jewel thief. They pick up a hitchhiker; Rufus, a handsome Wolf with a British accent who claims that his car has broken down. As they spend time camping out together, Jamie who is gay begins to resent the attention that Evelyn shows for Rufus. He also begins to suspect Rufus of being El Vucko. There is a bit of excitement at the end. “El Vucko” isn’t a bad story but not much happens. It’s successful mainly as a story about three young friends camping out in the Spanish countryside.

“Highway to Hell” by Thurston Howl is about Harry, a drunken driver, and Stan, the hitchhiker he picks up. I can’t say anything about the story, not even their species, except that it’s short; less than four pages.

“Underpass” by BanWynn Oakshadow is stream-of-consciousness narration from Sutah, a cougar mutie vagrant with Bi-Polar Personality Disorder who usually lives under the eaves of a highway underpass, to a government shrink examining him:

“I’ve got my bedroll, but I ain’t ‘bout to use it here. Highway Patrol cops are total shits ‘bout ‘vagrants’ sleeping up here, specially muties. They grab my tail most every time I try, haul my fuzzy ass in to take my paw prints and check for priors – I got one for ‘Inducing Panic’ and a couple for vagrancy – then, if I’m lucky, they’ll toss me in a cell ‘til I get a TV face-to-face with the judge an’ DA. It don’t matter if I’m found guilty; I ain’t got no money to pay the fine, so I get a couple weeks in the county jail instead. […]

[…]

“I was also seeing animals, natural looking, not like muties, but they talked and did shit. Once, a raccoon climbed out of the trash can in my California shrink’s office. He crawled up onto her desk behind her and swiped some of her paper clips. I pretty much ignored the shrink; which pretty much put her girdle in a twist. The ‘coon unbent and rebent the paperclips and made them into glasses just like the ones Dr. Yeng was wearing. He put them on and started making faces at her and imitating every move she made behind her back. Made me laugh so hard, I blew snot bubbles. I wished I had a mirror. I’d kill a skin to see what a big cat with a snot bubble hanging from his muzzle looked like. […]

[…]

After a couple months, the VA decided that I had enough fixing. They measured that by dollars, not recovery. Even that I was a disabled vet didn’t help me stay. Mutie disabled vets is only worth half as much. The food was actually good there, and my yowling from the nightmares got me a private room. I gotta love my anal glands. Spraying the bed when I had one of them nightmares made the other seven muties in the room raise hell til I was gone. […]” (pgs. 113-115)

Sutah rambles on and on. The government in this country doesn’t cure those fucked up with mental problems; it dumps them out into the public, and onto the road. “NO FUR!” muties included.

Passing Through; Tails from the Road (cover by Tabsley) is a short anthology about anthro hitchhikers with someplace to go; hitchhikers with nowhere to go; hitchhiker predators and victims; and permanent drifters. “Seed of a Doubt” and “The Savage Caravan” depend on their characters being anthro animals in an anthro world. “Highway to Hell” and “Underpass” depend on their characters being anthro animals in a human world. “First Time Ain’t Easy” and “El Vucko” are just funny-animal stories. The former is a fine one, but the latter is the kind of story where the writing is good enough but you keep waiting for something to happen, and waiting … and when it does, it wasn’t worth the wait. Sorry. “Seed of a Doubt” and “The Savage Caravan” are worth the price of Passing Through alone, though. Overall: recommended.

– Fred Patten

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Here is a making of for the costume over at Tested: https://youtu.be/Yirumj7Ftr8 "It's been one year since the great migration and there is a nationwide hunt for the blue alien population "Tierra Amarillas," which is also the name of the rumored enchanted land they call home. The government has deemed Tierra Amarillas dangerous because of their mystical powers, but deep in South Central Los Angeles, a group of outcast teens are secretly protecting one of them, Yoshua. Now that the group is growing up and moving apart, they are forced to make decisions on how they will protect their big blue alien friend. Will they stay in South Central or flee?"
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Imperium Lupi, by Adam Browne. Illustrations, maps by the author.
Kent, England, U.K., Dayfly Publications, July 2017, trade paperback, £15.99, $20.99 (724 pages), Kindle £3.99, $5.99.

The book starts off with three complex full-page maps and several insignia. One map is of the walled city of Lupa, captioned “The capital of Wolfkind”. The insignia are of such things as “Buttle Skyways”, showing a dirigible, and “Lupan Laws”, the seal of the Lupan Republic’s government. There is also a ten-page lexicon at the rear of the book of terms used in the novel, such as:

Chakaa: The hyena answer to the Howlers, they are forbidden to use white-imperium by their beliefs, but unlike wolves they cope well with the psychotic side effects of purple-imperium. Even so, Chakaa are often unstable and are sidelined by the exacting standards set by noble-born hyena society, and only tolerated at all for their great strength and usefulness in battle.

The Politzi: Lupa’s police force, consisting largely of hogs, rats, rabbits and other lesser beasts who are for the most part unable to wield imperium directly.

Queens Town: Cat colony on the east coast, independent of Lupine Law. It was allowed to remain sovereign Felician territory as part of an ancient peace settlement between Felicia and Lupa. It is the first port of entry for any cats, or other beasts, coming to the Lupine Continent from across the Teich.

Imperium Lupi is set on the world of Erde. The first character that the reader meets in Part 1, Chapter 1 is Howler Rufus, a red-furred wolf, on a train:

“The pain subsiding, Rufus leant back into his seat, chest heaving beneath his cloak. He glanced around the dilapidated carriage; his fellow passengers diverted their curious gaze or hid behind newspapers. Little beasts mostly, mice, rats, rabbits, all the lesser races, who wouldn’t dare speak to Rufus without being spoken to.

The train slowed and the station panned into view, its fine marbled columns standing proud, each tarnished by the faintly spangled lustre of imperium ash. Rufus reached over and grabbed his helmet from the adjoining threadbare seat. He placed it over his brow; the padded metal hugging his sleek wolfen skull. It was black, save for the cheeks, which were white. Luminous red triangles were set beneath each eye-hole, like that found on Rufus’ brooch. Made of the wonder mineral imperium, they glowed even in the muted daylight, and against the helm’s white cheeks they resembled two bloodied fangs lying atop freshly fallen snow. The helm’s nose was covered by a grille punctured by a dozen round holes that enabled Rufus to breathe. Only his inquisitive green eyes and perky red ears remained visible, endowing him with menacing anonymity.” (p. 25)

The minutiae of this civilization are described in fine detail. It would be easy for a cosplayer to make the costumes, or for a model-builder to craft the vehicles and devices:

“At the bottom of the sprawling stairs, Ivan peeled away from Rufus, keys jangling in paw, and found his monobike parked by the road – and a fine machine it was, too, its large, singular wheel housed seamlessly under a chunky, polished black chassis marked on the flank with a small white spider motif.

Brushing globules of rainwater from the seat, Ivan threw an armoured leg over his marvellous bike, inserted the keys, and started it up with a kick of the pedal. Amidst a loud bang and several ear-thumping pops, imperium ash exploded forth from the exhaust in grey, yet slightly glittery clouds. The inside rim of the bike’s lone, broad wheel nestled between Ivan’s legs lit up in a bright ring of white as the imperium-laced gyroscope came to life. The bike rose up a little and righted itself, like a metallic beetle awakening from hibernation.” (p. 28)

It takes an age for the plot to get moving, but the richness of the buildup is exquisite. Here is an important quote:

“‘The imperium in our bodies is what gives us Howlers power,’ the imperologist went on, enjoying his role as the wellspring of knowledge, ‘but there’s a price. Whenever it’s burnt, whether it be in a car, a train, or our muscles, imperium of all colours decays into imperium ash. It’s bad enough when it clogs Lupa’s air, but when it fouls our bodies up it causes great pain…it’s well you know.’

Bruno gulped audibly.” (pgs. 35-36)

There is also drama:

“A flash of light and puff of ash burst from the pistol’s end. A fraction later and a colourful spark dashed off the leading monobike’s one wheel. The tyre exploded and tore itself apart in an instant.

The assassin’s monobike shuddered and twisted violently to one side, before catapulting itself seat over wheel and flinging the rider in front. He sailed through the air and disappeared amidst the carnage as his machine slid along the cobbles, shedding a shower of sparks and pieces of chrome bodywork all the way, before smashing into a heap of rubbish piled against the end of the alleyway.” (p. 41)

Here is more detail:

“Uther danced over to his locker and turned the dial on the combination lock, all the while flicking his tail and jigging his legs like some cabaret star. He removed his helmet like a hat, twirling it deftly over one paw and into the darkness of the locker, whereupon the red-imperium fangs slowly lost their lustre. Uther’s whole helmet was fortified with imperium not just the fang decoration, his leg armour too. The metal comprising Howler armour was known as eisenglanz, an alloy of steel and, of all things, imperium ash. Eisenglanz was not only physically tough, but the ash melded within the steel acted as an insulator and helped diminish the burning plasmatic attacks Howlers could inflict on one another. The ash gave naked eisenglanz a distinctive grey sheen, like pencil-lead.” (p. 66)

There are many major characters in Imperium Lupi. Some of the most important are the wolf Howler officers Rufus Valerio and Ivan Donskoy, Troopers veteran Uther “Wild-heart” (orphan; family name unknown) and young Linus Mills (all Bloodfangs); Rufus’ politically well-connected wife Janoah Valerio; the effete Felician aristocrats Montague and Penelope Buttle who keep appearing or being referred to; the Hyena terrorist Prince Noss and The Hyena Organisation for Recognition of Nationhood (THORN); the rabbit tavern cook Casimir Claybourne; and Casimir’s adopted son, the mysterious wolf pup Bruno Claybourne, and his wolfess girlfriend Sara Hummel.

The highly convoluted plot revolves around the Lupan Republic’s dominance of the Lupine Continent on the world of Erde. There are schemes within Lupa’s elite wolf government to turn the Republic into an Empire; there are schemes by some of the other animal peoples within Lupa for their own independent nations; there are fears around Erde that Lupa’s dependence on the powerful but ultimately deadly imperium (Lupa city is perpetually under “the choking clouds of the Ashfall”) is slowly poisoning the entire world, and schemes by some to get rid of imperium by ending Lupa’s dominance; and there are schemes by some who just want to end wolfkind’s rule.

Imperium Lupi (cover by Mike Nash) is a rich mixture of action, comedy, mystery, tragedy, political intrigue at the highest levels, and sentient bugs, among the animal peoples of the world of Erde. The wolves dominate, but there is plenty here for the fans of rabbits, pigs, hyenas, otters, and others. Imperium Lupi is proof that not all of the best furry literature is being produced within furry fandom.

– 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.&

More stuff we found at a recent My Little Pony convention. Snuggle Trumpet is, according to their web site, the home for t-shirts, dice bags, athletic jerseys, and other good stuff all decorated with custom-made vinyl decals.  So far, it’s mostly about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic of course, but they not only make stuff based on canon characters but also based on fans’ own creations. Plus, they plan on expanding their line before long.

image c. 2017 SnuggleTrumpet.com

So is this Night in the Woods meets the Lathe of Heaven pushed though When the Wind Blows? After watching this trailer and seeing the company is called Gkids I just have to say: [1] [2] "There is light and beauty, even in the darkest of worlds. Stranded on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, teenager Dinky and her friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape in the hope of finding a better life. Meanwhile, her old friend Birdboy has shut himself off from the world, pursued by the police and haunted by demon tormentors. But unbeknownst to anyone, he contains a secret inside him that could change the world forever." "Based on a graphic novel and short film by co-director Alberto Vázquez and winner of the Goya Award for Best Animated Feature (where Vázquez won Best Animated Short Film in the same year), BIRDBOY: THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN is a darkly comic, beautiful and haunting tale of coming of age in a world gone to ruin." [1] https://furry.today/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/You_898fdb_5956808.jpg [2] https://furry.today/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Kids.gif
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Here's the audio of our Black Friday Stream! We hope to see you at our show at Midwest Furfest on Saturday night! Our Patreon! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Telegram Chat: t.me/draggetshow ep. 181 - Black Friday Stream - Here's the audio of our Black Friday Stream! We …

Hello Everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion on a comic concerning cuckholding from Oh Joy Sex Toy! We go over what cuckholding is and why there has been heightened focus on people who are cucks within the past few years. What starts out as a lighthearted discussion almost turned into a full episode's worth of content. Stay tuned for a future show on cuckholding because we have a lot to say on this topic!

Our main topic is on Sexual Etiquette. While we've discussed more of the varsity ideals of sex, we realized that we had not had a talk about the basics. An oversight on our behalf has turned into a discussion of best practices, of things you can ask, look for, and try to do. We talk about mistakes we've made, ways we've learned, and whether or not you should "superman that hoe". 

We close out the show with a question on breaking up. Our questioner has more to lose than romance if he breaks up with his boyfriend-- should he keep in a relationship he wants to end in order to keep the additional benefits? 

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 094 Sexual Etiquette - Cuckholding! Sex Toys! Sexual Etiquette. Having sex to the Pokemon theme song. All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction.

Too real, man. Also if it isn't obvious the music is Habanera from the opera Carmen.
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