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Ep 169 - Firecast! - We did this live on Youtube, but here it is in au…

The Dragget Show - Fri 14 Jul 2017 - 17:54

We did this live on Youtube, but here it is in audioform! Go here if you prefer the youtube: https://youtu.be/HTHxjIAoHRI Ep 169 - Firecast! - We did this live on Youtube, but here it is in au…
Categories: Podcasts

PlayStation: Tooth and Tail

Furry.Today - Fri 14 Jul 2017 - 17:45

"Tooth and Tail releases on September 12th -- Lead the revolution with an army of flamethrowing Boars, mustard gas-lobbing Skunks, and paratrooper-puking Owls. From Pocketwatch Games, the creators of Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, Tooth and Tail is a Real-Time Strategy game featuring an extensive Single Player Campaign, Online Competitive Play, Split Screen, Replays, and more. Build a base, lead your army, eat your enemies!" Squirrels as 'zerglings'? I'm in.
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Categories: Videos

When He Puts Friends above His Mate

Ask Papabear - Fri 14 Jul 2017 - 13:38
Dear Papabear,

I'm in a relationship that I would describe as stable and really makes the both of us happy, but recently we've had a bit of a falling out. It started with my first impressions of one of his friends, basically overseeing his rant concerning transgenders, for the sake of accuracy he referenced them as 'dumbasses who get upset easily and deserve to die.' I was annoyed by the whole thing but chose to not say anything as I didn't see the conflict being worth it.

Hours later my mate was depressed and was trying to vent and I advised him to be cautious where he stayed and who he was with, as he's trying to find a temporary place to stay and his previous company had abused him. The friend in question had offered to let my mate stay with him a while back and made a passive aggressive response to that advice I had given, seeing it as an attack against him and I had responded in a very dismissive manner as I wasn't in the mood for arguments.

Days after all of this, both my mate and his friend are upset with me because I had an issue with how the guy was acting and the violent words he would easily pass around. Both of them are trying to state that my impressions of him are wrong and that him being dyslexic is a reason to excuse everything negative that he says, I disagree with this as well. To others I'd imagine that this seems like a small issue, but I feel like it's really crippled our relationship, with my mate ignoring me a bit and indirectly stating that he trusts his friends over me now. I was wondering, how I would go about trying to repair our relationship and get past this?

Asthenia

* * *

Dear Asthenia,

Well, first of all, being dyslexic does not cause people to say nasty things such as hoping transgender people die. Dyslexia is simply a condition that makes it difficult to read and interpret other symbols such as numbers. Therefore *annoying buzzer sound*--ech! Wrong!

What is even more concerning is that your mate trusts his friends over you. If you are his mate, you should be the one he trusts and cherishes the most. You take precedence over other friends. If that is no longer true, then, by default, you are no longer his mate but are actually lower in priority than his other friends. This is made even more apparent by his ignoring you on occasion.

If I were you, I would have a sit-down with him and tell him that if you are no longer a priority and if he likes his friends more than you, then it's over.

Sorry,
Papabear​

What’s Yiffin’? – July 2017 edition of syndicated furry news.

Dogpatch Press - Fri 14 Jul 2017 - 10:50

2017 is officially halfway over, and boy has it been one hell of a year for the fandom. We’ve covered the official demise of Rainfurrest, 2’s fall from grace and subsequent cancellation at Anthrocon, and more than one fake bomb threat being called into a convention… and we still have six months left to go! Fret not, because while we’ve collected four more of the top stories in the fandom to present to you today most of them aren’t that soul crushing. Most.

BIGGEST LITTLE SH*T SHOW

Furries in Reno rejoiced last month as Biggest Little Fur Con (“BLFC”) took place to the tune of approximately 5,100 attendees. This was a jump of more than 1,500 people compared to 2016’s turnout making 2017’s convention the largest on record. This rapid growth could not have come at a worse time however, because BLFC took place hot on the heels of — and around the same geographic location as — the smoldering remains of Rocky Mountain Fur Con which crashed and burned in a mess of fascist/anti-fascist drama, threats of violence, and some bizarre sovereign citizen lawsuit thing that ended up propelling law blogger The Boozy Barrister into fandom stardom. To this day none of this makes any sense to the What’s Yiffin’ news team, but the important takeaway is that there was plenty of lingering animosity that bled over into BLFC.

BLFC had your standard “big convention” issues with things like spills and accidents and “The Floor 21 Incident“, but there were bigger problems publicly in the form of certain furs electing to use the convention as a platform for political demonstrations. Pictures began circulating of furs taking the convention’s theme of “kaiju” and twisting it onto its head by emblazoning prop buildings with “FASCISM” before stomping on them or kicking them over. Issues of a Communist zine titled “The Cultural Barxist” began cropping up in communal places at the convention with articles meant to incite politically-charged violence against others.

These are the growing pains of a convention stretching very large very quickly, and BLFC would be wise to nip this in the bud and completely put a stop to dissemination of political materials at their con altogether; people do not attend furry conventions to be lectured to politically no matter which side or argument is being presented. No arm bands, no flags, no leaflets; none of that — and punch some holes in the badges of people who willingly disobey the rules. For the sake and future of BLFC, the con organizers have some important choices and decisions to make regarding how they should carry onward for 2018’s convention, the dates of which are already announced. We wish them the best of luck in coming to an agreeable situation that puts the best interests of their general attendees front and center.

 

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT!

You ever accidentally wander into that section of YouTube devoted to weird fetish videos? Things like videos of women in stilettos stepping on watermelons, or people changing pudding-filled diapers on baby dolls? It’s pretty obvious what purpose videos such as these serve but banning them from the service has always been a sort of gray area because technically it’s “not” porn. Reptile Channel (not to be confused with HerpersTV’s “The Reptile Channel”) is one of the many YouTube accounts that occupies this No Man’s Land of strange and cringey fetish material.

In a story originally cracked by Dogpatch Press it was determined that Reptile Channel may potentially be owned and operated by JonahVore, a voreaphile whose antagonistic and potentially illegal content has resulted in multiple bans and suspensions all over the Internet. You see, reptiles often swallow their food whole. Hopefully that’s something you’ve already been aware of, however Reptile Channel takes pleasure in showcasing these animals feeding with just a little too much gusto and borderlines on straight up animal cruelty. Hiding behind the veneer of “this is for herpetological/educational purposes” the channel has thus far gotten away with showcasing some rather brutal content.

The link to JonahVore came about by a tip from FurAffinity user Tanookicatoon who compared historical post information with crossposts on websites such as YouTube, Patreon, and a vore forum called “Big Gulp”. Additionally, Big Gulp had been running advertisements for the forum using lingo like “some [videos] you might remember” which raised a red flag to Tanookicatoon. The aforementioned forum ads disappeared once this was pointed out, and Big Gulp’s primary administrator Strega has declined to comment on the person(s) behind the channel.

Currently, Reptile Channel is still online and uploading content.

 

ANTHROCON’S NEW CHAIR

Pittsburgh’s Anthrocon is “THE” furry convention; it’s among the longest running conventions in the United States and for quite some time has been the barometer against which all other conventions are measured against. Anthrocon has the biggest turnouts, the most media exposure, and the biggest guests. You name it, they’ve got it — and now if “mobility scooters” is something you’re going to try and name Anthrocon’s got those as well. Prior to the convention the organizers announced via Twitter that they were partnering up with Scootaround to provide powerchairs to the physically impaired at Anthrocon this year.

Some responses to the Tweet took lighthearted jabs at con chair Uncle Kage, who’s getting up there in years, but here at What’s Yiffin’ we elected to take the low-hanging fruit and make some good ol’ fashioned fat fur jokes. That’s gotta be the case, because if there’s an attendee with a chronic condition or injury chances are they already own a chair and have brought it with them; the only people likely to use Anthrocon’s chairs would be the same people who use the ones at Walmart. But hey, jokes aside increasing the accessibility of their convention is certainly a step in the right direction if this is what Anthrocon needs to maintain its edge in the fandom.

Besides, what else are you going to do with a powerchair at a fur con? Bad Dragon jousting?

 

CRACKED CASHES IN

Former comedy-website-turned-“hey-we-can-complain-about-politics-too” rag Cracked Magazine recently published another article about the furry fandom titled “5 Things I Learned Attending a Furry Convention“. Unlike the last time we took some cheap pot shots at Cracked, this time around the article was written by Mark “Firebird” Hill. No, just because his nickname is Firebird doesn’t make him one of us; chances are this normie is just a fan of the Pontiac car and named himself after that.

A quick look through Mark’s work reveals that he’s previously written Pulitzer Prize winning articles such as “7 Secret (And Stupid) Rules For Working For President Trump” and “5 Movie Plots That No Longer Make Sense Post-Trump”. Like we said this is what Cracked has become in this day and age so we can’t say we’re not at least a little bit apprehensive about what this dude has to say about the fandom. (Full disclosure, we just cherry-picked some antagonistic article titles. Mark has also written about normal things that doesn’t involve the current President like movies and video games.)

Mark chose Fur-Eh! in Edmonton as his convention du jour and that’s a good thing too because had he come to the United States and gone to something like Biggest Little Fur Con he probably would’ve written a totally different article. Despite this, throughout his piece Mark kept hitting on this point that fur cons are allegedly a good place to score drugs which is a pretty crummy punchline to harp on when #4 on his list is literally “The Media Hasn’t Been Kind to Furries”. You don’t get to have your cake and eat it too, and we’re assuming this isn’t a joke in and of itself because A) that kind of humor is a bit too out of Cracked’s reach these days and B) he keeps up the gag for the entire article.

Spoiler alert: After all this, Mark’s #1 is “wow you guys totally won’t believe this but furries are normal people too!” Gee, that ending wasn’t hamfisted at all!

 

That’s a wrap on last month’s top fandom stories. That’s all we’ve got, hope you enjoyed it! Because we’ve been asked about it, the Ursa Major Award winners were not included in this month’s edition because they were announced on July 1st. Since this happened right at the start of the month we’ll be covering them in August’s edition of the show. Make sure you’ve subscribed to Gatorbox on YouTube and Twitch so you’ll catch it!

André “Dracokon” Kon & Rob “Roastmaster” Maestro

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon, where you can access exclusive stuff for just $1.  Want to do something REALLY awesome? Ask two friends to share the link.  Thank you – Patch600

Categories: News

Le Souffle Du Printemps

Furry.Today - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 22:20

It isn't just floof ... it's poof!
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Categories: Videos

Blacksad Noir | Episode 52

Culturally F'd - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 10:38
Categories: Videos

Hot Dish Vol. 2, Edited by Dark End – Book Review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 10:00

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

Hot Dish. Volume 2, edited by Dark End. Illustrated.
St. Paul, MN, Sofawolf Press, December 2016, trade paperback $17.95 (viii + 307 pages)

Hot Dish #2 is an anthology intended for an adult audience only and contains some explicit sexual scenes of various sexual orientations. It is not for sale to persons under the age of 18. (publisher’s rating)

Hot Dish #1 (edited by Alopex) was published in March 2013. Sofawolf described it as “Hot Dish is a collection of stories about the romantic and erotic relationships between characters of disparate species and sexual orientations. It is a hearty portion of quality fiction which was too long to fit into our yearly adult anthology, Heat.” It won the 2013 Cóyotl Award for Best Anthology.

Hot Dish #2 does not have only stories that were too long for Heat. Sofawolf solicited stories especially for it during 2014. But otherwise this is a good description of Hot Dish #2: eight long novelettes of romantic and erotic s-f & fantasy relationships with humanoid animals, each illustrated by one of three artists. Romance and eroticism are presented in an extremely wide range of backgrounds and emotions.

These eight novelettes are so lengthy that each feels almost like a short novel. This is a long review.

“Loops and Knots” by Tempe O’Kun (illustrated by Anyare) is a time-travel comedy. Tess, a jackal, and Erik, her golden retriever mad scientist/hippie lover, can’t get enough of each other. So Eric turns their large refrigerator into a time machine and brings his one-week-future self to join them for three-way fun-&-games. When Tess is too tired and needs a break, she gets an erotic thrill watching present-Ertk and future-Erik making love to himself.

“‘It’s more like retro-chronal masturbation, really.’ Erik draped a blanket over her lap.” (p. 10)

“Still in a post-orgasmic daze, Tess watched her boyfriend’s temporal tryst. His silken shag blended together, every shade of gold shining in the autumn sun. His muzzle locked with itself. Feeling an odd pang of jealousy, she crossed her arms. ‘You’re completely shameless, aren’t you?’

[…]

She pressed a hand to her forehead, trying not to smile. ‘Oh, all right. Go fuck yourself.’” (p. 17)

It’s very lewd, very sticky, and very funny.

“Spaces to Breathe” by Slip-Wolf (illustrated by Kalahari; also the book’s cover by Merystic) is an intriguing story, but ultimately unconvincing. Earlan Rokeh is a young otter technician on an exploratory spaceship with a mixed species crew, investigating a large “artefact” drifting in space for over two hundred years. They bring with them Kaenshi, a mystery Seracete alien who may know what the artefact contains. She wears a lifelike female wolf body suit to conceal her true form. The body suit has been created by Dr. Harmun Cirjus, a real wolf. The body suit is realistic enough (including a vagina) that Earlan and Cirjus both fall in lust/love with her. Supposedly Kaenshi’s true form – the reason a body suit is necessary — is so shocking that she fears nobody would want to have anything to do with her, but Earlan proves faithful.

Earlan is an earnest, naïve adolescent tech-geek who is required by the story to fall in lust with any attractive female mammal. Several flashbacks to his pre-mission life make the teenage tech-geek persona more convincing, but the lover persona less convincing. Dr. Cirjus must know what her true form looks like; why does he fall in lust/love with the body suit he’s made for her? I didn’t buy the original Pygmalion legend and I don’t buy this reworking of it. The story is not helped by such poor proofreading as a lack of commas (“Kaenji what of the systems on the artefact?” Dr. Cirjus intoned), incorrect pronouns, and run-on sentences (“Her and that coyote first officer of hers didn’t know how to follow orders properly and it surprised Cirjus that this was one of the Tribes Commission’s most highly rated crew.”)

“The Theorist” by Huskyteer (illustrated by Anyare) is a pastiche of the Victorian uproar over the theory of natural selection, with cats rather than man as the “divine” creation. Leo Mountjoy is a feline scientist who has theorized the evolution of all species. Even though he does not deny the existence of God, he is aware that almost everyone else is “on the side of the angels”. In private life, Leo’s wife Felicity almost died from the difficult birth of their child, and the doctors assure Leo that another pregnancy will be fatal to her. Leo has never felt homosexual, but when Noel Tate, a young fan of his theory, indicates a physical interest as well in Leo, he accepts it as a means of relieving his bodily needs while remaining romantically faithful to Felicity. Of course, it doesn’t stop there…

It would be possible to rewrite “The Theorist” with humans instead of cats, but Huskyteer does an excellent job of adding enough feline attributes to make this a furry story. Printing in this civilization consists of raised symbols read by paws instead of inked symbols read with eyes:

“It was raining when he left, fat drops pattering on his hat and overcoat. He caught the last train and buried himself behind the pages of his newspaper; flicking his wet tail and ears. He studied the print with fierce absorption, running the sensitive pad of his finger across the pattern of lines and dots. Halfway down, the text was interrupted by a cartoon. Under his pads, he suddenly recognized his own features, crudely drawn and transplanted upon the body of a black and white cat.

He did not bother reading the caption.

Leo realized that his claws were out and had scored the paper, rendering the second and third pages illegible. He snorted, and a drip fell from his whiskers. Outside the train, the dairy farms around London would be giving way to the trout and salmon lakes of the south. He let his claws work in and out of the fabric of his carpet bag instead.” (p. 81)

But most of all, she makes Leo, Felicity, Noel, and one other such sympathetic and appealing characters that you will not care whether they are cats or humans. It’s touching and very satisfying.

“The Favor of the Gods” is by Kyell Gold (illustrated by Kalahari). Gold is one of the top writers in furry fandom, but I can’t decide which I like better here; the story or its background?

The story is set in the ancient mythological Greek town of Taxos, a favorite of the Greek gods and where most of their half-animal children live. “When everyone is somebody, then no one’s anybody”, as W. S. Gilbert wrote, so being a grandson of Hermes doesn’t get Teknas, an apprentice carpenter, any special privileges:

“Before anyone else (such as Giles) could start, Teknas told the selector the story of how Hermes had traveled to a distant land and taken on a shape he’d seen there, something between a fox and wolf. ‘And he fathered our ancestors on a maiden named Kaothus, and so we took our name from her,’” (pgs. 110-111)

Teknas is a coyote, and that’s what coyotes are doing in ancient Greece. But he’s not the only coyote; Hermes has been lusty. Taxos is also the home of anthro bulls, foxes, sheep, rabbits – you name it, besides humans. I’m tempted to just quote background and not get to the plot at all:

“Most of Taxos worked in the orchards and fields, rising before Teknas and returning during the mid-afternoon heat while he still labored in Master Risto’s workshop. […] and then he found the small cluster of coyotes standing near the fox families, a veritable storm of wagging tails.” (p. 108)

Teknas is in love (or adolescent lust) with Thea, who wants a feather from the famous Pegasus, who is visiting Taxos. Teknos hopes that the flying horse has shed one, but he finds that the flying horse is actually Galatea, Pegasus’ granddaughter – and she develops a crush on him. Teknas pretends to reciprocate to get the feather, and there’s some graphic … is it bestiality between a flying mare and an anthro coyote? Teknas isn’t too worried because a lusty male taking advantage of an innocent female is a proud tradition of ancient Greece; but this is a granddaughter of Pegasus, which makes her a (favorite) great-granddaughter of Poseidon:

“I’m sorry, he cries, but the god’s eyes do not relent, boring deep into his own. ‘I SHOULDST KEEP THOU HERE, AS A TOY FOR AMPHITRITE’S CHILDREN.’ The Nereids holding him draw back their lips and grin in glee. ‘BUT FOR ONE OF HERMES’, SOMETHING MORE … EDUCATIONAL IS IN ORDER.’” (p. 131)

What does Poseidon do to Teknas? And what does Hermes do about it? Read “The Favor of the Gods” and find out. Teknas and Galatea are two very physically different but sympathetically presented adolescents.

“The Hound and the Tree” by Kandrel (illustrated by Black Teagan) is set twenty years after the hounds have destroyed civilization. It’s narrated by Alex, an anthro wolf, a lone survivor who may have gone a little crazy from loneliness. He names a tree “Roger” for companionship:

“I had been sweeping up Roger’s discarded leaves – he really was a pig. All that slurry got slippery when it rained. I’d had more than a few undignified face-plants, and under those leaves was steel. Home was a platform, built before the hounds. I’d found it not long after I’d escaped from that crowded train car. Near the scaffolding I’d climbed up into the sky, signs advertised the new ‘Alfland Arcology.’ It was one of the most ambitious projects ever started. In it, a million and a half people would be able to live, work, and enjoy the very greatest of life above the old city. All that had ever been finished was the stilts and platforms upon which the arcology was planned to be built. This was home now – whole square miles of suspended steel, with the occasional crown of a tree pushing its way through, like Roger. It was safety. It was isolation. It was also hell on the knees when I slipped. Steel did not forgive. So up went the leaves, into a pile, then down into the below. I’d cleaned the front of my little hut and out towards the trail. Not that anyone would be coming down it. They never did, but it was good to be prepared in case they did.” (p. 144)

Someone finally does come down the trail:

“She was running – sprinting really — through through the twilight-dark forest. In my view, she was just a reddish blob, but I could clearly make out the posture. Two arms, two legs, one tail, so definitely not one of the pack. I tracked her from camera three, then to camera eight, then to camera one as she stopped against Roger’s roots to catch her breath. This was the closest any survivor had come to Roger and I with the pack on their tail. This time, I could see it, watch what happened. Before, they’d always been too far away, and only after weeks of searching after a hunt would I find the sad little bundle of clothes and scavenged gear. This time, I’d finally learn what hounds could do,” (p. 146)

Alex saves Lee, the wolf woman, and since they’ve both been alone for years, they have lots of sex. To add any more plot would give too much away.

I’ve quoted this at length to show you what Kandrel’s writing is like. It’s very rich and descriptive – but it could be condensed 50% or more. It is well-written, but it never escapes Alex’s overwhelming loneliness. So much solo-wolf background becomes annoying; the reader gets impatient for some action. It’s also very much a funny-animal story that could easily feature humans. It feels like the main characters are given fur and tails just to fit this story into a furry anthology.

“The Years of Living Dangerously Happy” by Patrick “Bahumat” Rochefort (illustrated by Kalahari) is a pas de trois between Colin, otter; Katey, gemsbok; and Stellan, mule. Ten years ago, they all lived at Silverbell Lake Lodge, a rustic forest fishing chalet that was home and business for them. Six years ago, Katey and Stellan left for the city to pursue their research, leaving Colin, who cared for the lodge and its environment more than the others, to continue to run it in their absence. Now they have come back to sell it; both his business and his home. Their reunion goes from politely strained to wildly erotic.

Unlike “The Hound and the Tree”, this is an excellent furry story. Colin is not just an otter; he could not be anything but an otter:

“He ran down the dock and dove from it in a clean, tense arc. Colin knifed through the surface with ease and with hardly a splash.

Hitting the water was like being born again.

The cool sunlit water closed around him, and Colin came alive in a way few people ever knew anymore. The water closed around his mind just as much as his body, reducing his thoughts and his perceptions to natural essentials. […]   There, under the surface of the water, he was just an otter. And otters were For Fishing.” (p. 174)

Katey and Stellan need the money from the sale of the lodge to complete their research to make Stellan, and other sterile mules, fertile:

“‘You were going to tell me about having kids,’ Colin prompted, after a while.

Katey closed her eyes. ‘It’s why we need the money, Colin. Stellan’s sperm is mostly no good, but about one in ten thousand is viable. Isolating those from the rest is possible, but it’s expensive and difficult. We’ve come up with a way, repurposing the technology they use for livestock breeding. Basically we make microscopic chips that measure and weigh the sperm, and all the bad ones get chucked. Only the ones that are viable get kept. We can do it, Stellan and I. Already filed the patents. But actually building the chips is going to cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then there’s IVF fees to get a viable fetus. Then we look at government approval.’” (p. 187)

The anthro animals are convincing. Their emotions are convincing. The sex is basically humanoid and joyous.

“Cold Sleep” by Faora Meridian (illustrated by Black Teagan) is the emotional opposite. The main characters are Engineers Brishen, an older vular (fox) with graying russet fur, and Tariku, his young new partner. They are part of the engineering team on the Dreamflight space station, desperately trying to save the last remnants of the vular race after its extinction on the planet Vularim.

The corruption has killed (agonizingly and horribly) almost all the vular. Brishen is emotionally exhausted, desperately keeping alive a wife and daughter in cold sleep pods for over two decades. When Brishen’s friend and veteran partner Barriken is killed, he is assigned the idealistic engineering graduate Tariku, just out of the crèche, as his new partner. Since this story is in Hot Dish, the reader can guess that Tariku will renew Brishen’s spirit through a homosexual uplift.

“Cold Sleep” is well-written, but it wallows in bleak despair. This is another story that could be easily rewritten to make the vular humans.

“Reunion” by Sisco Polaris (illustrated by Anyare) is mostly flashback, framed by a beginning and end at a high-school’s ten-year reunion. Damien, a tiger former sports jock, is married to Cheryl, a cheetah former cheerleader. She henpecks him savagely; he meekly takes it. At the reunion, Damien slips into a long flashback to when he was a 17-year-old student and spent all his time trying to get Cheryl to spread her legs; beating up Josh Henderson, a nerdy chubby bunny; and having his cock sucked by a mystery cocksucker. There’s more to “Reunion”, but it feels like 36 pages of nonstop cocksucking. This is a very male story. The story cleverly sets up how Damien could get his cock sucked for months without knowing who the mystery cocksucker is. There are clues, but the revelation back at the reunion is designed to surprise you. The story is with more animal-headed humans.

So: If you don’t care for lots of in-your-face adult sex, don’t read Hot Dish. “Loops and Knots”, “The Theorist”, “The Favor of the Gods”, “The Years of Living Dangerously Happy”, and “Reunion” are all feel-good stories. “The Hound and the Tree” and “Cold Sleep” are designed to be intellectually satisfying but emotional downers. The anthology skillfully blends them among the others. These seven are all well-written, making Hot Dish 2 definitely worth the $17.95 price – if you don’t mind lots of sex. Only “Spaces to Breathe” ought to be better.

As you can tell, I don’t care for funny-animal stories where the characters could be humans just as easily as anthro animals. If you don’t care, you’ll like Hot Dish 2 a lot better.

Fred Patten

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon, where you can access exclusive stuff for just $1.

Categories: News

Episode 3 - Shark has a new home

Unfurled - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 05:30
Hey Guys, First episode posted since Tal has moved so the sound on this one is a little rough. If there are any problems with it let Vox know and he can try to fix them maybe. Episode 3 - Shark has a new home
Categories: Podcasts

Episode 2.5 - Shark woke up!

Unfurled - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 05:28
Holy crap the editing delay is over! After the move it took a bit to get things going again. Sorry for the late episodes. Tonight the group gets together to discuss the weeks news. Come join in and enjoy! Episode 2.5 - Shark woke up!
Categories: Podcasts

Talk About Pigs on the Wing…!

In-Fur-Nation - Thu 13 Jul 2017 - 01:50

Nick Abadzis (Laika) has returned. He’s written a new full-color graphic novel, illustrated by Jerel Dye, called Pigs Might Fly. “All the sensible hogfolk in Pigdom Plains know that if pigs were meant to fly, they’d have been born with wings―but there’s no convincing Lily Leanchops. The daughter of renowned inventor Hercules Fatchops, Lily has watched her father’s flying machines fail time and time again. Working in secret, Lily is trying to build what her father couldn’t: an aircraft that actually works. And of course, she’s following his example and employing scientific principals alone―not magic. (Well, a protection spell or two doesn’t count, right?) Lily’s secret project takes on a new sense of urgency when a mysterious enemy emerges from beyond the mountains. The Warthogs are coming, and they’re piloting flying machines powered by dangerous magic spells. To save Pigdom Plains, Lily must take to the skies in her own experimental aircraft ― and there’s no time for a test run.” It’s available now from First Second. There’s an extensive preview over at Bleeding Cool.

image c. 2017 First Second

Categories: News

Mended Little Hearts

Furry.Today - Wed 12 Jul 2017 - 23:11

"The MENDED LITTLE HEARTS [1] organization supports children, patients and families suffering from congenital heart disease. To create more awareness of their important work, they commissioned BLACKLIST & STUDIO AKA to create a unique set of animations that illustrate the proposition that the more you donate the better the story gets. "   [1] http://www.mendedlittlehearts.org/
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Categories: Videos

FA 078 Sex Mistakes and Hot Takes - Is weed good for bed? How many times can we make ourselves laugh at our sex mistakes? How do you be more positive? WHY IS KINK EQUIPMENT SO EXPENSIVE? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction.

Feral Attraction - Wed 12 Jul 2017 - 18:00

Hello Everyone!

This week we open with a conversation on weed. Many people think that it is strictly for relaxation or for creativity, but are there applications for marijuana in the bedroom as an aphrodisiac? We look at a study and try to remove the stigma from sativa. 

Our main topic is a relaxed show. In response to last year's episode on our relationship mistakes, many people think that we are masters of sex. This is not the case. We talk about problems, errors, mistakes, and negative situations we've come across in our sex play throughout our life? Want to hear about the time that Viro had his dick pepper sprayed? About the time a guy laughed at a commercial and voided all over Metriko's bed? Want to take pleasure in our past miseries? This is your episode!

We close out the show with two questions: one on getting over negativity, the other on finding affordable sex toys and fetish gear. 

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 078 Sex Mistakes and Hot Takes - Is weed good for bed? How many times can we make ourselves laugh at our sex mistakes? How do you be more positive? WHY IS KINK EQUIPMENT SO EXPENSIVE? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction.
Categories: Podcasts

Furry Fandom, by Wikipedians – Book Review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Wed 12 Jul 2017 - 10:00

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

Furry Fandom, by Wikipedians. Illustrated.
Limburg an der Lahn, Germany, PediaPress, —–, trade paperback $21.65 ([v +] 258 pages).

Furry Fandom is supposedly an “all that you want to know” book about furry fandom, but with a major flaw. It’s only current to around 2010. It’s a fine book at 258 well-indexed pages and with 46 illustrations (mostly photographs) to give to a non-furry who asks what furry fandom is all about. It presents a complete overview. But the fandom has grown and otherwise changed so much since 2010 that anyone becoming a furry fan today will need more information to be brought up to date.

PediaPress is a modern print-on-demand publisher in a suburb of Mainz, Germany that is closely associated with Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, “PediaPress was established to provide an online service that enabled Web users to create customized books from wiki content, an example of web-to-print technology.” Anyone can request a book on any subject, and “the Wikipedians” will collate all the information on that subject spread throughout “the over 4 million articles on Wikipedia in English alone” into a handy book – officially.

This Furry Fandom book does not have any publication date other than a statement that this copy was printed on April 24, 2017 at 23:51 UTC. But that does not mean the book has all Wikipedia’s information on furry fandom up to April 2017. It states that Anthrocon was held from 1997 to 2009. EuroFurence and Further Confusion are covered up to 2010. The Ursa Major Awards were presented from 2001 to 2008. (p. 44) The Furry Writers’ Guild and its Cóyotl Award, created in 2010 and 2011, are not mentioned. A four-page list of active furry conventions does not include anything after November 2010. The list of furry comic strips and webcomics includes some titles that have been discontinued since 2010 and does not include some that have become major since then. There is no section on furry specialty publishers, although Sofawolf Press is briefly mentioned – FurPlanet and Rabbit Valley are not. Dr. Kathy Gerbasi and the Anthropomorphic Research Project are not mentioned.

So is Furry Fandom worthwhile if it only goes up to 2010? Yes! It’s a great time capsule of what furry fandom was like up until then. It does include the basic information of what furry fandom is all about. It’s got some great photographs; black-&-white here, but often in color if you can find the entry on Wikipedia that they are taken from.

For ongoing activities and works that were started before 2010 and are still ongoing, Furry Fandom presents an in-depth encyclopedic description. This includes conventions like Anthrocon, Internet comic strips like Kevin & Kell, Lackadaisy, and Newshounds, and activities like the Funday PawPet Show and the Ursa Major Awards. There is an excellent gallery of 15 photographs of fursuiters.

If you are active in furry fandom, you probably know all this, but it is still a handy book to have around.

Mistakes are all very trivial. “… the concept of furry originated at a science fiction convention in 1980, when a character drawing from Steve Gallacci’s Albedo Anthropomorphics started a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels.” (p. 1) The discussion included anthropomorphic animals in s-f, animated movies and TV, and comic books; the greater inclusivity was what helped furry fandom separate from just another s-f group. At that 1980 convention and for the next couple of years, Gallacci had only a file folder full of loose drawings. He did not begin to publish them as Albedo Anthropomorphics until June 1984. Furry Fandom says misleadingly, “The first issue of Albedo was published in 1983.” (p. 28) Yes, there was a slim prototype Albedo #0 in Summer 1983, but it was a funny-animal Bladerunner parody, not Gallacci’s serious Erma Felna of the EDF graphic novel that kickstarted furry fandom. Marc Schirmeister was Official Editor of Rowrbrazzle for its first eighteen mailings, not fourteen. (p. 31)

Presumably the lack of a publication date means that PediaPress is giving itself the option of updating Furry Fandom someday. A more up-to-date printing will be larger and more expensive, whether it acknowledges that it’s a new edition or not. Get this, and keep an eye out for an updated edition.

Even if it is outdated, furry fans will have fun poring over Furry Fandom. It’s $21.65 well spent.

Fred Patten

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Categories: News

Mature: Good Business

Furry.Today - Tue 11 Jul 2017 - 23:06

First rule of first contact: Never assume the aliens don't understand what you are up to.    
View Video
Categories: Videos

Are You a Pervert?

Ask Papabear - Tue 11 Jul 2017 - 11:29
Papabear,

I being a huge fan of Robin Hood have this to say since my favorite character is the sheriff of Nottingham and I often dream about him, which includes binging with him and getting massive fat beyond compare: Does this make me a pervert?
 
Sergie
 
* * *
 
Dear Sergie,
 
There are a couple definitions for the word “pervert”: 1) to distort or corrupt the original meaning of a thing; 2) someone whose sexual behavior is considered abnormal or unacceptable. The first definition doesn’t apply to you; the second actually depends upon the society that you keep.
 
If one is talking about mundane society, then everything that furries like regarding sex would be defined as perverted because it is not “normal” (whatever the heck that means). So, yes, you’re a pervert.
 
So am I.
 
Who cares?
 
If one defines sex as having to be a man and woman knowing each other biblically only in the missionary position for the sake of procreation, how boring is that?
 
But if you are talking about living within furry society, you’re practically white bread.
 
People who are creative and experimental in their sexual activities will have much more fun and have more satisfying sex than those who do not. As long as it is between consenting adults (and if you’re just looking at stuff online that is not relevant either) and you are not hurting anyone, do whatever pleases you.
 
Enjoy.
 
Papabear (who also has the hots for the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood)

Of Cloak and Fangs Vol.12, If It Isn’t You…, by Alain Ayroles & Jean-Luc Masbou – Book Review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Tue 11 Jul 2017 - 10:00

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

De Cape et de Crocs. Acte 12, Si Ce N’Est Toi…, by Alain Ayroles & Jean-Luc Masbou.
Paris, Delcourt, November 2016, hardbound €14,50 (47 [+3] pages).

The Fred Patten & Lex Nakashima plan to bring you the best French-language talking-animal comics has a real winner this time: Of Cloak and Fangs. Vol. 12, If It Isn’t You…, the twelfth & final(!) volume of De Cape et de Crocs, the 17th-century swashbuckling series parodying Cyrano de Bergerac, Molière, Montesquieu, and Co. that has been running since 1995.

Confusingly, volume 10 was originally announced as the end of the series. The main characters through vol. 10 are two wandering gentleman-swordsmen, Armand Raynal de Maupertuis (French fox) and Don Lope de Villalobos y Sangrin (Spanish wolf). They are introduced in 17th-century Venice, then a powerful Mediterranean nation. In the first volume they are betrayed and sentenced to serve as galley-slaves in Venice’s navy, where they meet fellow-slave Eusèbius, the cutest bunny-rabbit in the world. They escape, bringing Eusèbius with them. Eusèbius becomes their loyal squire-valet for the rest of the series, through adventures in Europe and on the Moon; so naïve and self-effacing that you almost forget he’s there. Volume 10 appeared to wrap everything up with a happily-ever-after ending, but the ten albums never said what the cutest bunny-rabbit in the world was doing as a Venetian galley-slave when they met him. Did readers demand an explanation? Volumes 11 and 12 answer the question.

Act 11, Twenty Months Earlier, begins as a pastiche of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. Eusèbius, young and naïve, sets out in the French countryside to join the famous Cardinal’s Guard in Paris. The adventures he has are partly a parody of what d’Artagnan goes through at the beginning of The Three Musketeers, and partly original. Eusèbius is not the only anthropomorphic animal in 17th-century France. Others include a bear thief posing as a gypsy’s trained bear, and a duck nobleman almost buried under one of those elaborate wigs the nobility of Louis XIII’s time wore. Despite Eusèbius’ efforts to be an outstanding Cardinal’s Guard, he makes two powerful enemies: the Grand Veneur (Royal Huntsman), a human nobleman who aspires to let nothing stop him from replacing the Cardinal as the King’s prime minister; and Monsieur Fagotin, a deadly black-clad chimpanzee assassin.

Act 12, If It Isn’t You… finishes the prologue. Eusèbius is kidnapped and taken to the Court of Miracles (see Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame) where he finds that the king of the Court is his long-missing twin brother Fulgence – an exact double, but without his scruples. All the supporting characters from t. 11 are here: the Grand Veneur, Fagotin, Brioché the puppeteer, d’Ortolan the friendly Musketeer, The Bastille jailkeeper’s sweet daughter, and so on. The album’s ending is known from the beginning; Eusèbius will be condemned to a life sentence as a galley slave. Ayrolles & Masbou tell an engrossing adventure as to how he gets there.

NOTE: The following video features the creators talking about their series. It is in French. You can translate it to English if you want through YouTube’s Auto Translate – Matthias

Ayrolles pulls out all the stops in writing this final album. It’s not easy French. Be prepared for obscure and obsolete words. You had better read this at your computer, ready to pause at least once on each page to Google on some French word that you haven’t seen before.

Fred Patten

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Categories: News

Here He Comes…

In-Fur-Nation - Tue 11 Jul 2017 - 01:28

Everything old really is new again! Usually with a new and different spin, of course. Now the latest is a new Mighty Mouse comic book series, brought to us in full color by Dynamite Entertainment. “You’re the world’s greatest hero, exiled to another dimension with no way back. Trapped in an alien world, where not even the laws of physics work the way they should. The only person who even believes you exist is a young kid whom no one will listen to. Yet, you’re the shining light that this drab, cynical world needs to restore its color and life. Oh — and you’re a cartoon mouse. Here comes Mighty Mouse to save the day, in his most unexpected adventure yet… right here, in the real world!” Written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Igor Lima, Mighty Mouse #1 is on the shelves now. Check out the preview pages (and the variant covers) over at Dynamite’s web site.

image c. 2017 Dynamite Ent.

Categories: News

TigerTails Radio Season 10 Episode 32

TigerTails Radio - Mon 10 Jul 2017 - 16:46
Categories: Podcasts