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

D’Arc: A Novel from the War With No Name, by Robert Repino. Illustrated by Sam Chung and Kapo Ng.
NYC, Soho Press, May 2017, hardcover $26.95 (386 pages), Kindle $14.99.

I don’t usually quote other writers’ blurbs, but how could anyone resist this from Corey Redekop, the author of Husk, on the front cover:

“Think The Fantastic Mr. Fox, with advanced weaponry, Charlotte’s Web, with armed combat, The Wind in the Willows, with machetes. D’Arc is all this and way more besides.”

S-f author Paul DiFilippo compares D’Arc to Cordwainer Smith’s Underpeople, David Brin’s Uplifted dolphins, Puss in Boots, and Brian Jacques’ Redwall. If I looked hard enough, I could doubtlessly find many comparisons to Animal Farm and Watership Down as well.

D’Arc is a sequel to Mort(e). Almost the first thing that you learn in D’Arc is a big spoiler for Mort(e): yes, Mort(e) the cat, the renamed Sebastian, does find Sheba, the pet dog who he was searching for all through that novel.

The first chapter, though, introduces Taalik and his Sarcops. They will appear again later. They are not Changed animals, but a new mutation. To quote a later description of them: “Part fish, part crab, part cephalopod. A bulbous head. Black eyes. Segmented armor on the spine, with four tentacles unfurling from within. Two jointed claws extending from the shoulders, with longer ones at the pelvis that could be used for walking. A long tail with spikes on the end of it.” (p. 54)

Mort(e) and Sheba appear in Chapter 2. Mort(e) does not join either the Changed animals or the remaining humans. He strikes out on his own – with Sheba. The “strange technology” of the ant Queen that Changed all natural animals into anthropomorphic animals in Mort(e) was actually a pill that the unnoticed ants inserted into each animal; and the Queen had not given this pill to Sheba in order to control Mort(e). After the Queen’s death and the disintegration of the Colony, Mort(e) and Sheba sail up the Delaware River, where Mort(e) gives Sheba the pill that Changes her. They continue past the abandoned ruins of Philadelphia, and finally leave the river and trek into the Pocono Mountains.

Here Mort(e) and Sheba are eating the remains of a giant Alpha warrior ant around a campfire:

“‘I didn’t go looking for you so you could be my pet,’ he said.

Sheba stopped fiddling with a leg and placed it in the fire.

‘You’re free now,’ he said. ‘I can’t be your mate. I won’t be your master. I’m your friend. I don’t know how many lives I have left, but they’re yours, if you need them.’

[…]

When she did not respond, Mort(e) took her hand. ‘There is a whole world out there, but I’m going deeper into the forest tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?’

Sheba gazed beyond the flames, out to the mountains rising like black monoliths.” (pgs. 28-29)

They become ant ranchers, domesticating the brainless Alpha giant ants left over after the Queen’s death; a herd that slowly shrinks as the Alphas gradually age and die, and are not replaced.

Many years pass. Chapter 3 introduces Falkirk, a husky officer of the Department of Tranquility of the animals’ growing Sanctuary Union. He is sent from their capital of Hosanna (“a big city with many different species”) to Lodge City, a beaver community. He finds that the beavers have evacuated their city for a refugee camp nearby:

“As they crested one final hill, with the sun going down, they crawled on their bellies so they [Falkirk and two beavers] could peer over the ridge without being seen. Booker followed, though he stopped short of the top.   Castor pulled the goggles over his beady eyes.

From the hillside, Lodge City sprawled out before them in the failing light. Several buildings from the human era survived, all built from stone – a post office, a high school, a fire station. Around these decaying structures stood massive mounds of earth and tree branches, the lodges that the beavers preferred.

[…]

From his perch on the hillside, the town seemed out of focus to Falkirk, as if some gel had been smeared over his eyes. He pulled the binoculars from his satchel. Through the magnified lenses, he stared at the town for a long time before he could accept what he saw. ‘Why didn’t you come to us sooner?’ he asked.

‘Why did Tranquility send only one agent?’ Castor replied. ‘We need an army.’

Unable to answer, Falkirk looked again, panning more slowly this time. He could make out the contours of it: a spiderweb, consisting of millions of strands, draped over the town like a snowfall suspended in midair.” (pgs. 34-35)

Falkirk and Castor contact Mort(e) and Sheba and ask their help against the spiders. The Battle of Lodge City is brutal but successful, though not in the way that the reader expects. But then Falkirk asks their aid in more cases. More fights.

“‘Let me put it this way. The case number I’m working on for this spider attack is 0519. That means there are 518 cases before mine.’

‘Cases. You mean mutations.’

‘Yes. Most of them are harmless. But we don’t have the resources to address the ones that aren’t. And it turns out that the world is a big place. We have both a country and an ocean to explore. But we’ve been out of touch with the other continents for years. That’s what the expedition is for.’

‘What expedition?’” (p. 109)

Mort(e) isn’t interested. Sheba is. On page 144 she leaves Mort(e), takes a new name as he did – D’Arc, for Dog Joan of Arc – and joins the husky on the Sanctuary Union expedition.

“But her most important question was why. Why would people leave the fragile civilization in Hosanna to explore?

Falkirk put it this way. ‘We want to meet a panda who speaks Mandarin.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We want to see who’s out there. We want to hear their stories. We want to tell them ours.’

She smiled. He gave her the best answer she could have asked for. ‘What about a lizard speaking Arabic?’

He laughed. ‘Or a silverback gorilla speaking Swahili?’

This made her giggle. ‘How about … a kangaroo. Speaking … Australian!’

Falkirk furrowed his brow. ‘Australian’s not a language.’ D’Arc laughed. ‘It’s not,’ he said.” (p. 160)

D’Arc (cover by Sam Chung) is less than halfway through at this point. Read it to find out what the two uplifted dogs and the expedition discover. There are marvels. There are dangers, external and internal. The story never gets boring. So far, D’Arc is my choice for best anthropomorphic novel of 2017.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Penguin Random House
• Check out Fred’s review of Culdesac

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This short had a trailer around 2 years ago and it seems to finally be here. Seems a lot like the new Guillermo del Toro film only his is less distopia. "1983: an atomic war has polluted the air and raised the sea level to such a height that it reaches the mountaintops. Mankind tries to survive with the help of oxygen masks; breathing from tanks on their backs. High up in the mountains they have built a research centre in search of gills suited for mankind, so they can breathe freely once again and start a new life under water. However, they soon found out that they needed a gill different from the species known to man. They had to find the most human-like creature of the sea: a merman, which they called, a sea ape. The Scientific theories about these sea-apes were not much different from the fantasies or the fairytales about the mermen. In the end, it was accepted that this sort of beast could never be found. So the research continued, without any directions, without any real hope. They just kept “researching”, cutting into every species they could find. Trying to make it work while knowing its impossibility. But then, one day, when all hope seemed to be lost, the ‘Adam’ is brought inside: the savior of mankind."
View Video

Get ready for a big topic about toxic behavior, the cult-like groups doing it, how they’re targeting kids, and how the fandom is cutting ties with it for positive progress.  This is a followup to last week’s article: “The Confederate fursuit incident shows how you can’t be a troll and a victim at the same time“. It focuses on the source of the problem:

• At Anthrocon 2017, a troll provoked drama with defenders who claimed he was being unfairly censored.
• The defense missed a basic point – he was an antagonistic outsider who was banned and didn’t register or support the con.
• It showed how trolls twist facts about consequences for bad behavior, so they can pretend to be the victims.
• Posing as victims requires a scapegoat (“SJW’s”). The misinformation is being spread like cult propaganda.

Anthrocon’s response

Anthrocon’s letter recognizes how the troll was pushing a “political message” on others.  It’s an example of recent fandom activity by alt-right “altfurs” and their enablers.  They do it with a twofaced pose that they want “freedom”, want “politics out of fandom,” and are just giving “their side”. But “their side” relies on false middle ground. (In other words, saying the earth is round doesn’t require Flat Earthers to give their side.  Newspapers don’t interview vandals to get their side.) The real goal is to exploit and undermine the fandom behind a false front of “freedom”.  That includes grooming and recruiting kids, trolling and harassing, dodging accountability, and worse things like welcoming literal neo-nazis (see below.)

Anthrocon’s response shows a reasonable solution not unlike my article’s: point out dishonesty, stop defending it, and demand better.  That’s a far cry from claims that “SJW’s” are trying to control fandom ( a weak version of propaganda that “jews control the world”.) Blaming “SJW’s” is really an attack on reasonable standards of the fandom itself.

Of course “SJW’s” aren’t an organized group. Such a vague label can be conveniently given to anybody. On the other hand there are organized troll groups for altfurs and  the Furry Raiders. Both use provocative symbols like a Confederate flag or Foxler’s nazi-styling to troll from behind a false front of “freedom”. Both share overlap of core members, and a mission of “battle” against “SJW’s”.

Here’s that mission in a recent video from Furry Raiders founder Foxler.  He made it after “raiding” a meet in Colorado to spite them because Raiders and hate groups were banned. Then he complained of being the victim and invited altfurry to join his battle. (see 15:00). Preaching about battle is what cults do.

Advertised policy of the meet that Foxler “raided”

That gives some context about the bad behavior.  The article about trolling at Anthrocon got a lot of response, including from one subject in it, Ricky.  Then Ricky chose to leave the Furry Raiders, cueing the topic of cutting ties.

Leaving the group risks punishment for disloyalty.

If a group uses positive attention to groom or recruit members, the negative side might only be obvious to outsiders. Especially if it draws good people who don’t see what organizers do. But the downside can hit insiders too.  It happened last week when several associates chose to leave the Furry Raiders and spoke up about the group’s problems, causing backlash.

Colt, Ricky, and DancerSwor are former associates between ages 14 and 18. (That means exposure to Foxler’s anti-SJW battle at barely voting age.) Colt, the youngest at age 14, was quickly disavowed by Foxler for not being a member of the Furry Raiders (yet).  Altfurs joined in denying his connection, deflecting the issue of recruiting.  Then they attacked Colt.

Foxler’s wikifur

please support @ColtDaWolf, @ProcyonAves, and @DancerSwor. They all have recently left the Furry Raiders and are being harassed by fascists.

— Ameriphobic @MFF (@vuurren) July 13, 2017

Recently left a group called The Furry Raiders. I don't know if someone within the group is talking shit about me or not, but if so then the

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Been feeling more love from the "opposition since I left then the people who said they cared about me, but instantly began making fun of me

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

So if they try to spread rumours about me, please don't believe them. They're just mad I didn't want to stay in their stupid cult

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I've received. From the way everyone described...well everyone that wasn't a raider I thought I'd

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Forgiven for the shitty decision I made to join and advocate for that group many months ago.

— Ricky Raccoon @ FM (@ProcyonAves) July 13, 2017

Why I left Furry Raiders pic.twitter.com/lCjpUSuuB9

— SworDanceR (@FurryIdiotSDR) July 14, 2017

Foxler Nightfire has betrayed me. More details + a possible video to come. pic.twitter.com/XGrk9d3KhC

— Usain Colt (@ColtDaWolf) July 12, 2017

As a cult, the furry raiders groom kids and punish people for leaving. Happened to @ColtDaWolf, plz back his vid. https://t.co/5bIZQEJIkX

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) July 13, 2017

Altfurs, Neo-nazis and Stormfront members support Foxler by harassing a 14-year-old.

Don’t miss Colt’s video about being betrayed by Foxler. It was very disconcerting for Foxler and the altfurs. Fear of losing recruits is why Foxler spitefully “raided” the Colorado meet where he was banned, and declared battle. Meanwhile, altfurs bombed Colt’s video with dislikes and harassment. (Archive).  The participants overlap: Foxler is in the Altfurrydiscord group that organizes trolling.  Altfurry welcomes members of Stormfront (“a white nationalist, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi Internet forum that was the Web’s first major racial hate site.”)  

Here’s a few who supported Foxler by harassing Colt:

• Casey Hoerth / “Len Gilbert” is organizer of @altfurrydiscord.
• Author of erotic nazi fanfic “The Furred Reich” (sample)
• 34-year old financial writer for The Street, and Trump campaign staffer.
• He led the altfurry group attack that “swatted” Califur and cost them $24,000 for security, then lied about it.
• He told Colt: “you look like… a snot-nosed brat who is spreading slander.”

• Nathan Gate / TheBigKK / KryptoKroenen is member of Stormfront and @altfurrydiscord.
• College student from Arizona.
• Hitler fan on Stormfront and Daily Stormer: “Far-Right is 100% completely Facist. At least to me, it describes someone who is willing to go all the way, no matter how violent or cruel, to establish White Nationalism.”
• He told Colt: “what a cringy little fuck… you’ll end up living the rest of your life as a social reject that nobody cares about.”

• Before harassing a 14 year old, he helped Altfurrydiscord attack Califur with fake complaints regarding kids:

• Aethryx wants nazis to rise again:
• He told Colt: “EVERYONE WHO CRITICIZES MY VIDEO AND DOESN’T AGREE WITH ME IS A NAZI!!!!! Fucking children”
• His post about Nazis: “I feel disappointed that I couldn’t live in this society, but I feel courage knowing that the arms will one day rise again. Hail Victory.”

Wow, I didn't realise who this was. I'm genuinely disappointed. Thought he was a cool guy. Later, you could have been better than this. pic.twitter.com/QA0h29ZLq1

— Megaplexing Kaiju (@TwitchDaWoof) July 11, 2017

RT [priv]: how do u become that type of person whos like "i wanna be a fuzzy wuzzy bappy husky also i love fascism, big fascism fan here"

— TOP CHOMP (@squeedgemonster) April 13, 2016

Those are just a few of the brave trolls who came down on a 14-year-old for cutting ties with Foxler. Something is really messed up with a group that hassles kids for disloyalty.  It’s interesting that out of four who recently left, the youngest was treated the worst. (Even more info is withheld by request to avoid negative backlash at others.)

So much for “freedom” and concern for kids.

Positive progress is coming because furries support each other.

That trolling has nothing to do with being members of a fandom.  Their goal is to selfishly exploit it and spread hate.  That’s not the goal of furs like Ricky, Colt and their friends. They’re here to be fans and artists with a community. Good people can be pulled in to groups with bad organizers, but they’re still furries.

Why are people suddenly evacuating #AltFurry?

— Elliot Cerulean (@ElliotCerulean) July 20, 2017

Maybe they realized they were in a cult when Foxler started abusing a "defector" who went public

— Zarpaulus (@zarpaulus) July 20, 2017

Actually, the amount of outside respect the fandom has got for actively taking out white supremacists has been impressive.

— Hugo Jackson / Arc (@phoenixtheblade) July 20, 2017

They don't want friends, they want followers, obedience, and justification of their own spite. They'll take it out on anyone who objects.

— Hugo Jackson / Arc (@phoenixtheblade) July 20, 2017

the salt is so real lmao. furry raiders are a curious bunch; they love freedom of speech until it reflects negatively on themselves.

— Liie (@Lucariwhoa) July 13, 2017

To people claiming we "can't" run right-wingers out of our fandom

We already did it with the Burned Furs

You are objectively wrong pic.twitter.com/XGWQmKPsQi

— Vex is Extra (@andreuswolf) July 19, 2017

The reason people want altfurry members out of the community is mostly because they contribute nothing of value and ruin things for others.

— LOT'S WIFE (@LibrettoTaur) July 21, 2017

a relatively guaranteed passive audience to fling them at in hopes of landing a few recruits who don't know any better.

— LOT'S WIFE (@LibrettoTaur) July 21, 2017

Read the above thread by @LibrettoTaur for excellent insight.

Furries grew a thriving community by themselves. There’s drama, but also plenty of support.  It comes naturally in a fandom for things made by each other.

Joining cult-like groups happens for a reason. Good people may not see what goes on behind a false front. Casual involvement can only have the positive side. Lonely people who may not have a place in other groups can be manipulated by smooth talk. Outcasts who have earned consequences for bad behavior can find enabling from organizers who recruit them. They can feel more important by dragging others down.

Ruining things and making battle is the opposite of creative fandom. It can be important to confront bad faith and dishonesty and demand better.  It can also be important to listen and give space to people questioning involvement. Nobody needs friends picked for them – it’s just good to let them know that they don’t need a cult for that.  The whole fandom has plenty of better friends everywhere.

Picking better friends isn’t “policing”.

Another ex-Raider comes back.

When the article was almost done, I got a nice contact from Stoplight. He talked about leaving the Raiders, so I asked if he wanted to say anything. Keep in mind I didn’t suggest anything, it’s purely his thoughts:

“Right now…as an ex Raider, I’d like to say that there is no excuse for my actions that I did when I associated with the Furry Raiders. They were the result of believing a manipulative and vindictive person who cares not for those he uses.  It took a drastic turn of events in which he offered a way out that, in a time when I was suicidal and depressed, was appalling.  That was when I realized he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and his image.

After that, I can say that leaving was the best choice for me.  It freed me from the weight that was placed on my shoulders.  I feel that if anyone is currently thinking of leaving that group I encourage you to do so. You may run into people who still hold a grudge against you, but the number of people who will support that decision will out number those who are holding your past against you.”

Found a piece of my past, and decided to rid myself of it. I never want to remind myself of my past actions. I'm moving on to better things. pic.twitter.com/uQ4Ibk5uNP

— Stop Light (@StopLightDraggo) July 22, 2017

A cool thing about a fursona is how it represents changing yourself into something new.  You can become your best self, or just grow and be different.  A fursona isn’t just for “being yourself,” like Foxler says – “Always be yourself and never let anyone change you”.  It’s not for being sociopathic, and expecting everyone else to adjust for you because it’s their problem.  It’s not about selfishly making “battle” about Nazi armbands, “Raiding” or harassing because you hate change.

Everyone in furry fandom has power to be something new, but it doesn’t just involve yourself. Furry fandom has that “fandom” part. Make-believe isn’t so fun on your own. Sharing is one of those things you learn in kindergarten. But the small fringe of Altfurries and Foxlers didn’t get the message. They can go figure that out in the corner.

Demand better, and every time they try to drag someone down, let two of them leave and come back to the real fandom.

UPDATE 7/25/17:

Turn more furries into neo nazis. Called him out, and got this. Stereotypical far-right behavior, act like they care then shove you down.

— Feyd (@BluFawx) July 25, 2017

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OH HEY, WE HAVE A WEBSITE NOW TOO www.thedraggetshow.com Patreons will get episodes first right after recording. Just a buck gets you early access and a downloadable mp3 file! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Serathin's amazing Dragget Show story! - docs.google.com/document/d/1AYkJR…y8RCsCK0NjEw/edit ALSO, we're not just on SoundCloud, you can also subscribe to this on most podcast services like iTunes! Ep 170 - Take Me To Church - OH HEY, WE HAVE A WEBSITE NOW TOO www.thedragget…

Con parties - they're probably one of the first things most hear of when talking about furry conventions. But why? What makes these so damn popular? Are they vital to a good con experience? What's the private party circuit? Roo and Tugs read your email, talk about everything to do with parties, and more! As always, we have new Fifty Sheds of Grey, Space News, Get Psyched!, Olde Timey Ads, idents, and more!





NOW LISTEN!

Show Notes

Special Thanks

Joey the Chubby Fox, for the ident in Italian and also English!
Fido
Caudle
Hachi (kinda)
Dark Yuan
Anonyfur
Dee Otter

Music

Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller– Cloud Fields (Radio Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Some music was provided by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. We used the following pieces:

Spy Glass


Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Headnodic Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)


Patreon Love

The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!

Uber Supporters

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Premium Supporters – None :c

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Docos (Picture coming soon…when he has one! Any artists out there wanna hook him up? 🙂 )
Bowler Hat Supporters

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Deluxe Supporter

Lokimut
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Plus Tier Supporters

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McRib Tier Supporters

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Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again! S6 Episode 18 – P.A.T.T. - Con parties - they're probably one of the first things most hear of when talking about furry conventions. But why? What makes these so damn popular? Are they vital to a good con experience? What's the private party circuit?

Back from Comic Con, with lots to talk about. So why not start off with something delightfully odd? This fall, the Muppets return in a new illustrated book, Muppets Meet The Classics: The Phantom Of The Opera. Seriously. “This classic tale of love, intrigue, and jealousy at the Paris Opera House, which has thrilled readers, musical lovers, and movie goers for more than a century, has now been reimagined with the cast of the Muppets. Readers will gasp, cry, laugh, and laugh again as Kermit (as Raoul), Miss Piggy (as Christine), Uncle Deadly (as the phantom), and the chickens (as the ballet corps) give a whole new meaning to the word classic.” You read it here. Gaston LeRoux’s famous work has been adapted for the Muppets by Erik Forrest Jackson, and it’s illustrated by Owen Richardson. Look for it in paperback this October.

image c. 2017 Penguin Workshop

Yep... Furries made it to @Midnight :)

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/p1lhwc/-midnight-with-chris-hardwick-a-furry-alternative-to-comic-con

-Dia

Yep... Furries made it to @Midnight :)

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/p1lhwc/-midnight-with-chris-hardwick-a-furry-alternative-to-comic-con

-Dia

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

Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever, by Bill Schorr and Ralph Smith
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, January 2017, trade paperback $9.99 (242 pages), Kindle $8.49.

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy, by Doug Savage
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2016, hardcover $31.99, trade paperback $9.97 (144 pages), Kindle $9.47.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn, by Dana Simpson. Introduction by Peter S. Beagle.
Kansas City, MO, Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2014, hardcover $13.99, trade paperback $9.99 (222 [+2] pages, Kindle $7.71.

These three books are samples of Andrews McMeel Publishing’s “AMP! comics for kids” series for children 8 to 12 years old (grades 3 to 7). The AMP! books are a combination of original book-length cartoon-art works and collections of newspaper or Internet daily comic strips. Most of them are not animal oriented, but here are two that are, plus Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn, mostly for her previously-acclaimed hit in furry fandom, Ozy and Millie (although Phoebe does contain Marigold the Unicorn, and sometimes goblins). Furry fans may want to take a look at some of these. Many are in public libraries.

Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever, by Bill Schorr and Ralph Smith, is a standalone original 242-page spinoff from Schorr’s The Grizzwells newspaper comic strip (1987 to present), featuring a funny-animal family of grizzly bears and their community. The newspaper strip is gag-a-day without any continuity. Schorr and his assistant Smith have tried to create a coherent novel, but what they have here is really a collection of lame one-liners with a thin connecting plot line. Astronomy class: “Do you know anything about asteroid belts?” “Only that they’re what asteroids wear when they can’t find their suspenders.” The characters compound the groaners by often breaking the fourth wall and looking knowingly at the reader. You can almost hear a drum-roll’s bada-boom.

Tucker is the young teenage cub in sixth-grade of middle school, with his slightly older sister Fauna. Other family members are Pop Gunther and Mom Flora. Friends include Pop’s buddy Pierpoint Porcupine, and the cubs’ schoolmates Mandy Fox, Hector Lobo (wolf), Lisa DeLovely (bear; Tucker’s crush), Norville Paddlebutt (beaver), Max Turtle, Walter Blimpnik (bear; school bully); and their school teachers and staff Miss Furball, Ms. Belch, Ms. Swinetrough, Ms. Fishbreath, Mr. Wheelbase. The overly-civilized Tucker’s worst week ever is the week anticipating “the ancient father-son rite of passage known as ‘Jaws and Claws’ weekend”, when his Pop and Pierpont Porcupine will teach him how to terrorize hikers, scare off picnickers (leaving their food behind), raid garbage pails, and eat roadkill.

Looking at this funny-animal comic strip forces the reader to consider the ancient conundrum: Why are female funny-animals always fully clothed, while the pre-puberty boys wear shirts and are nude below the waist? Funny-animal adult males can be either fully dressed, shirted only, or completely nude, depending on the needs of the comic; usually whether the setting is in a town or in the forest.

Anyway, Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever is 242 pages of furry nudge-nudge-wink-wink and bada-boom. Buy according to your tastes.

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy is an original 144-page graphic novel in three chapters by Doug Savage, the Canadian cartoonist who draws the webcomic Savage Chickens. Its sequel, Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy: Disco Fever, will be published in October.

The moose and squirrel rabbit are a couple of animals in the unspoiled Canadian North Woods, right by the factory of Toxicorp, “makers of fine toxic waste since 1892”. I expected that Laser Moose would get his light-saber vision from the flying saucers in the first story, but no, he already has it when the book starts. As you may imagine, it is hard to swing a laser beam around wildly in a thick forest without lopping down trees right and left. The wildlife like Frank the deer isn’t crazy about it, either. Rabbit Boy is a wide-eyed innocent who marvels at the stars and the beauties of nature. Laser Moose is a paranoid who suspects that every tree has a monster hiding behind it.

Rabbit Boy: “Isn’t it amazing? I love the night sky!”

Laser Moose: “Well, I don’t. The night sky is fraught with danger… Night is when evil can hide, under cover of darkness, waiting to strike! At night, evil can creep out from the seedy underbelly of the forest, where it –“

Rabbit Boy: “What’s a ‘seedy underbelly’?”

Laser Moose: “Um…a seedy underbelly is…well, it’s not good.”

Since Laser Moose has laser-beam vision, watch out! He definitely believes in shooting to kill first; asking questions afterward.

The stories are mild parodies of super-hero comic books. Some of the villains, who are real and not just in Laser Moose’s imagination, are Cyborgupine, Aquabear, and Mechasquirrel.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn is the first of five (so far) books; the others are Unicorn on a Roll (May 2015), Unicorn vs. Goblins (February 2016), Razzle Dazzle Unicorn (September 2016), and Unicorn Crossing (March 2017). The next will be The Magic Storm in October 2017. This first book collects her daily strips (six weekly days and a Sunday page) from April 22, 2012 to November 18, 2012 – approximately seven months per volume. The strips are rearranged from newspaper-strip format to book format, typically four panels per page (the Sunday pages are reduced), and colored when the newspaper strips were black-&-white.

Phoebe Howell is a 9-year-old fourth grader at Tipton Elementary who meets a unicorn. The unicorn grants her one wish. She wishes for the unicorn to become her best friend. The unicorn, whose name is Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, moves in with her. Her parents and classmates can see and hear Marigold, but thanks to her magic Shield of Boringness, nobody considers her worth calling to anyone’s attention.

Much of the Phoebe and Her Unicorn comic strip consists of Phoebe riding Marigold as the two converse. Marigold drops words of unicorn wisdom, but since she is also incredibly vain and self-centered (“Bask in my wonderfulness.” “The stars themselves are jealous of my loveliness.”), it’s hard to tell how seriously to take her. Continuing supporting characters include Phoebe’s parents, and her two classmates Dakota, her fabulously rich and beautiful “frenemy” who claims to be vastly superior and constantly calls her insulting names like “Princess Stupidbutt”, and the brainy but nerdy Max. The book concludes with seven pages of children’s activities: how to draw Marigold and Phoebe, “Make a Marigold Heavenly Nostrils Stick Puppet”, and similar others.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn, the book, does not present many anthropomorphic animals besides Marigold, but she is on practically every page doing unicorn things, often involving magic such as making the annoying Dakota’s flowing wavy hair disappear, leaving her as bald as Lex Luthor. (In Unicorn vs. Goblins, Dakota is given sentient hair.) One other magical animal does very briefly appear; Todd the Candy Dragon, who spews trick-or-treat candy on Halloween. Rar. Future volumes may feature other anthropomorphic fantasy animals, such as the small green goblins who say only “BLART!” The Phoebe and Her Unicorn books work as well as collections of gag-a-day comic strip collections usually do.

So: the Andrews McMeel Publishing’s “AMP! comics for kids” series that feature anthro animals are a mixed bag; mostly silly and juvenile, but worth checking out. You may find something to your taste.

–Fred Patten

• Buy Tucker Grizzwells Worst Week Ever on Amazon
• Buy Laser Moose on Amazon
• Buy Laser Moose Book 2 on Amazon
• Buy Phoebe and Her Unicorn on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn on a Roll on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn vs. Goblins on Amazon
• Buy Razzle Dazzle Unicorn on Amazon
• Buy Unicorn Crossing on Amazon

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.

Early entry for Friday! Since SDCC is going on I expect more things may show up that are worth posting tomorrow as well. New Rocco? This looks like a hoot!
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I'll have what he's having. This is starting to look like transformation week here.
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Thanks to Alecta Andromeda for contributing a first guest post.

This is a mature content book.  Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region.

I keep hoping that a new renaissance in furry erotica is upon us, bringing hot, sexy anthro copulation in increasing quality, but the search for real stars in the genre is tough one as the field still needs to find it’s legs.

On that note, I am excited to highlight an exciting name to watch. Lilith K. Duat and Maria Delynn collaborated on the E-book Balance in Chaos. It’s an oddball title with an overload of exposition in places, but overall the furry and erotic elements are well balanced and hot.

The concept itself is also quite the page turner. Anup is a corollary to Egypt’s Anubis, ruling the realm of the dead as an obsessive (and dominant!) master. Some may say that the furry aspect of this novel is light, and it is, but I have a huge thing for Jackals and always wanted to get laid by Anubis. Egypt and Greek gods are colliding in a conflict of souls and waging war over followers. Turns out as one nation invades another, the Gods of the defeated faith suffer a loss of power. The give and take of this conflict laid a great backdrop for the characters, and it was nice to go into the book with a sense of familiarity.

The plot also gives us a perfect backdrop for the sex! Anup is disciplined and moral. Discordia is a God of Chaos. While first embroiled in combat and disdain, Anup takes a sensual control of Discordia and dominates her with the sheer might of his Jackal manhood. The hesitation, the temptation, the wrongness and star crossed lover plot is a little cliche, but works every way it should.

Me personally, I like my erotica with a hint of violence and sadism (check out my own work to see me go to all sorts of nasty extremes) and Chaos and Balance gives a good dose of that. Discordia’s relationship with her brother Ares is tumultuous, leading to a few torture scenes that honestly got my rocks right off. It’s not so bad as to be out of place or a turn off for more casual readers. The violence works for the plot increasing the desire and love between the protagonists.

Overall, it’s a great read. It’s not the nonstop sex obsessed rave most people consider with a “furry” erotica, but it is nonetheless a sexy book and sure to leave you satisfied and ready for a shower!

Hotness rating 4 out of 5 knots.

– Alecta Andromeda

• Read Lillith’s book here!
• For Alecta’s blog with NSFW images and story samples, check out her Tumblr page.

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.

Now there’s a new full-color graphic novel for young readers with the interesting title of Dog Night at the Story Zoo. It’s written by Dan Bar-El and illustrated by Vicki Nerino. Here’s how the publisher says it: “It’s Open Mic Night at the Story Zoo and the dogs are up to tell their tales in this hilarious graphic novel for young readers. At the Story Zoo, you get to tell any story you want in front of the live audience, as long as it’s about you. And tonight is dog night. So sit back, relax, and let these dogs tell their tales. We’ve got some hilarious but quite touching stories from dogs of all kinds, including a bulldog who doesn’t wanted to be judged by his looks; a bloodhound who loses her power of scent and turns to a dog called Surelick Holmes for help; an energetic poodle who saves the day with her yapping; and a stray who takes fetching to a whole new level.” Got all that? It’s available now in hardcover. [And we’ll see YOU all after a quick trip to San Diego Comic Con!]

image c. 2017 Tundra Books

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Interesting read!
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how-furries-became-a-fandom

-Dia

Interesting read!
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how-furries-became-a-fandom

-Dia

Hello everyone!

On this week's show we open with the segment that Viro had on the Savage Lovecast with Dan Savage. We discuss why Metriko was not involved (it's okay) and what our intended points were. Thanks again to Dan Savage and his team for allowing us to air this content for you to enjoy.

Our main topic is on murrsuits. We discuss the practicality and the acceptability of the murrsuit. We discuss the difference between modified fursuits and murrsuits, whether they should be worn in public, and how to take care of your suit. It's another dive into the deep end as we go into one of the more popular (and scandalous) fetishes in the furry fandom.

We close out the show with two questions: one on dating if you are neurologically atypical, the other on how to date someone who comes from a traditional family that does not approve of your relationship-- at what point should you dump your bride to be when their family is abusive?

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 079 Murrsuits - SAVAGE LOVE! MURRSUITS! MUSKY HUSKIES! All this and more on this week's Feral Attraction!

This one goes out to all aquatics out there. This really looks like a sneaky Hellboy prequel as the "Creatre" looks like Abe Sapien it's also played by the same actor. "From master story teller, Guillermo del Toro, comes THE SHAPE OF WATER - an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg and Doug Jones."
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*tap tap* This thing on?

Oh, yes, hi! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

A long while.

The last post of substance was by Howl back in January. My last post was…oh gosh. September 7th, last year. Ten months was an awful long time ago.

In that time, I’ve received several emails about the state of [a][s]. One of them dubbed this period “The Quiet”, which I feel is pretty accurate, even if it makes me feel a little sad.

Those emails have sat in my inbox. I’ve read them all. Each has three or four drafts prepared for it, none of which I’ve had the wherewithal to send. They’re just there, staring me right in the eye every day – I have four active email accounts, which are tiled neatly in a pinned browser tab, and [a][s] was bottom-left. It was there. Just a big, accusatory Draft.

There are even a few emails stuck in there with more in-depth questions: queries, of sorts, for the publication of articles. Each of those has been ticked with a star, GMail’s nifty way of saying, “this is important, you should probably get to it, soon.”

Sigh.

Oh, and then there’s the furry poll.

Ah jeez.

So, I owe everyone a serious, serious apology. I’ve let a lot of folks down, not least of which myself. [adjective][species] is a labor of love for me, as it is and was for so many others, and letting it fall apart like this does everyone a disservice.

Let’s sit down and see what happened, and figure out ways to fix it. Makyo’s good at a lot of things, and talking something to death is definitely one of them.

A not-so-short digression on depression and furry

Depression is a strange thing.

I’ve tried at several points to capture some sense of it in words, but nothing’s ever quite fit. Whenever I do, I find myself using a lot of ellipses, just to fill in, textually, my fumbling for words with enough meaning. I’ll come up with, “I dunno. My brain just isn’t all me. Like… It’s something else. It’s there and exerts influence on me life, but it spends an inordinate about of time trying to destroy me.”

Or poetry. I’ve tried to throw that at depression, too, but it just comes out sounding stilted and weird. I wind up talking about fire a lot. Fire and, for some reason, geese.

Which is nonsense, really, but each in such a way that seems to cover at least one small corner of depression.

Depression is big. It’s vast and terrible and empty. Completely empty, and there you are, in the middle of it, feeling bad.

There’s just no sense to it. No sense in trying to describe nothing. A “nothing” which is also nonsensical.

And yet I keep trying. We keep trying.

Much of early [a][s] was borne out of depression. The site was just a blog, the name just a play on a trend in character naming, but the writing was a piece of myself. Each post was a tiny rock to throw at this vasty nothingness. Justifying the things I like, delineating the craziness of our subculture, gushing about gender (I know, I’m sorry, I did that a lot), these were all ways for me to pound my fists against nothing at all.

A scant five months after I started the site, I crashed hard, and after that, I just buried myself in it – in the site and in furry. I found ways to get even furrier, if that was possible, just to try and fill that big ol’ nothingness.

I splashed around in great heaps of data, scrabbling at every pebble of knowledge I could find beneath the surface.

I prowled through the tangled thicket of FA and Weasyl, hunting for artists to highlight.

And I took way too many metaphors way, way too far.

And you know what? It worked.

At least, after a fashion. I started to feel fulfillment. I started filling my weekends with writing. I got in trouble with JM for writing an article on a tablet in a plane just so that I could get it up on a Wednesday. I started to gain energy just from the act of spending energy on something I loved wholeheartedly.

I was also tackling depression in more tangible ways, of course. I started on meds and dug into the task of finding something to help make that nothingness more livable. Meds, after all, don’t just sweep it away, and they certainly don’t make me any less myself, but they do help me perceive where I am. They’re a fine set of glasses for helping me see which things I’m burning myself up over are real, and which are just phantoms in that empty space – Makyo, after all, means ‘ghost cave’.

I started transition, too, which helped improve my life in so many ways that I could did write a several posts about it. I won’t gush about it too much more, here.

Not all of this flailing was healthy, natch. I started drinking heavily, because that’d soften the edges of nothing. I started withdrawing from friends because they weren’t there in the nothing with me.

And it all got to be too much. A few weeks after my last substantial post here, I collapsed in the kitchen, and there was a whole lot more nothing than I was used to. At Mountain Crest, the mental health clinic in Fort Collins, I was taken into an office for a few hours to talk about meds, alcohol, interactions, and so on.

With my new-found sobriety (or at least moderation) under my belt, I started getting back into the furry thing, the healthier way of filling a tiny corner that infinitely empty space with meaning.

And [a][s] sat here.

I ran or helped run six panels at FC, was art track lead, and got to spend time with five other members of the polycule being huge furry nerds.

I started editing a furry fiction anthology, Arcana, based around the major arcana of the RWS tarot deck.

I ran for – and was elected – president of the Furry Writers’ Guild.

And [a][s] still sat here.

Those few months when I was burning too bright in an attempt to light up vast, crenellated spaces of nothing caught up with me. I borrowed a little too much time from the future and that nothing started winning out. Again.

Anyway.

All of the stuff that I loved felt poisoned to me, tainted by the fact that I burned so hard in an attempt to light up all this nothing a little better. I started feeling forced to like these things because I was trammeled by this indescribably empty space with them.

But I had I forgot that I do love them. Earnestly and with all my heart.

I love [a][s]. I love the FWG. I love Arcana and that I can work on it. I love writing a thousand unapologetic words about my relationship with furry and depression. I love furry.

I just need to engage in a healthy  manner.

I have my own lessons to take from this, but those are mine. Let’s talk about us, and our lessons. Well, lesson: [adjective][species] must change.

This is pretty obvious, if only from a personal point of view. I need to be able to engage with it in a more healthy manner. No more article-a-week, and definitely no more no-articles-for-ten-months.

This could also mean that my role as editor needs to shift. I would more than happily share that role. I could even step down, if a convincing argument was made.

But above even that, [a][s] itself needs to change. We need to have a conversation about what needs this resource fills.

• What roles does the project play within the fandom, now that it’s been around for for five and a half years?
• Are articles and data still the best way to engage with an audience, or should we branch out?
• Is the voice of the project too broad, or not broad enough?
• Should the project try to expand, or reduce its scope? Should it spin off new projects, or should it – and we need to admit this as a possibility – decide that 5 years was a good run and draw a line at the end of the page?

[a][s] is a good thing. I’ll always stand by that. It became a resource for talking about the fandom from several different angles. Writers picked up their own voices and added them into this weird and weirdly wonderful stream of posts that ran on for years.

So. With the idea that [a][s] should remain a good thing, what are our next steps?

The comments are open, of course, but please do feel free to email me directly, hit me up on twitter, or on mastodon if you would like!

Person gets turned into their mascot costume? I did not expect this.
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