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Thanks to Animation Magazine we learned about some new games coming to Steam, based on Brian Jacques’ world-famous Redawall series of anthropomorphic fantasy books. “The Scout Anthology, available now for PC, PS5 and X|S on Steam, is a narrative puzzle-driven action-adventure in three acts following young mouse recruits in Mossflower on a mission to save their home from pirates. For the cute and cozy casual gaming crowd, Feasts & Friends (for the PC, coming soon) savors the peaceful town of Lilygrove as players forage for ingredients, craft recipes, and meet charming characters.” Both of them were created by Forthright Entertainment and Soma Games.

image c. 2024 Forthright Entertainment

TigerTails Radio Season 15 Episode 19. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Here’s a science fiction limited-series comic that came to us from CEX last year: Josif 1957. “You know about Laika, the Cosmonaut dog sent into orbit on Sputnik 2. But no one knows about Josif, the first gorilla in space! Born on Josif Stalin’s birthday and subjected to terrible genetic experiments, Josif soon grew far too powerful. The leadership of the Soviet Union did all they could to stop him. But not everything went as planned!” It’s written by Davide Barzi, and illustrated by a talented young Italian artist, Fabiano Ambu.

image c. 2024 CEX Publishing

Wizkit is the name of a new graphic novel for young readers, written and illustrated by Tanya J. Scott. The publisher describes it as Hilda and the Troll meets The Okay Witch. “It’s a wild, enchanted, wonderful world out there, way beyond the fjord that a one-eyed cat named Wizkit calls home. But Wizkit wouldn’t know anything about that—as a Wizard’s apprentice, all her lessons are indoors, and she’s far too lazy to go out exploring. There’s no need to—she already knows enough spells to conjure up delicious snacks whenever she’s hungry! But when an overdue library book literally cries out to be returned, Wizkit’s Teacher decides she must be the one to take it back. Reluctantly (and rather accidentally), the journey to the Library begins. With the annoyingly optimistic Book in tow, Wizkit sets off on an adventure that is full of strange characters with even stranger problems. Wizkit will soon find out that, with a little support and a new friendship, her own magical talents can be part of the solution.” You can find out more from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2024 Simon & Schuster

Trailer for Episode 125: Spicy Ramen Challenge / Pt. 4 | Flash Flash is the next contestant in the Spicy Ramen Challenge! What does the fox say after a bowl of hot noodles? #TheRaccoonsDen #TRDs9 #SpicyRamenChallenge

Flash is the next contestant in the Spicy Ramen Challenge! What does the fox say after a bowl of hot noodles? This challenge is also raising money for the ALS Association! Watch to find out how! See more at: http://www.TheRaccoonsDen.com Learn more about the challenge: http://www.TheRaccoonsDen.com/SRC Learn more about ALS: http://www.als.org/ Fursona Art in Thumbnail by GuarezWolf: http://www.Twitter.com/TeCreatureMaker Featuring Music by: DJ EAR: https://djear.com/ Out of the Way: https://outoftheway.bandcamp.com/ FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TheRaccoonsDen TWITTER/X: http://www.Twitter.com/TheRaccoonsDen FURAFFINITY: http://www.FurAffinity.net/user/TheRaccoonsDen INSTAGRAM: http://www.Instagram.com/TheRaccoonsDen TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@theraccoonsden #TheRaccoonsDen #TRDs9 #SpicyRamenChallenge

by Chase Anderson

Seeing your story rendered in ink and paper is a goal for many writers, but how do you make that happen? The business of publishing can seem opaque and intimidating. There’s a lot you’re expected to know, and the purpose of this blog post is to equip you with the tools and knowledge to get your writing chosen by editors for publication.

0 | Is this the right path for you?

Every writer has different measurements of success, and that’s okay. Just like how there’s writers who can’t imagine ever self-publishing their story, there’s writers who can’t imagine the opposite.

So, you need to ask yourself: do I want to go through this process? Is this the best thing to do for me and this story?

Fanfiction won’t be published, for legal reasons, and your story might fit a niche so specific that all your readers only exist on FurAffinity. Multi-media pieces, interactive fiction, and other hybrid works inherently limit where they can be published.

Traditional publishing doesn’t make you a “realer” or “better” writer than someone who doesn’t, and that’s important to remember.

1 | Have a piece to publish

You can’t sell a story if you haven’t written it! Make it the best possible version you can, and then get feedback from your fellow writers and make it even better. The amount of editing a publication will do is likely minimal, focusing on making your grammar and punctuation match their “house style,” not fixing the ending.

Once that’s done, you need to make the files you’ll be submitting. 90%+ will ask for—or expect—“standard manuscript formatting,” which means Shunn’s standard modern formatting [link: https://www.shunn.net/format/story/]. You’ll put your legal name on the top left and your byline (pen name, fandom name, etc.) under the title. Save the file as a .docx and name it something like [My Awesome Story – John Smith].

Make a copy of that file and remove your name from the title. Remove all the personal info from the document (byline, personal info on page 1, and name in the header). This is an “anonymized” version of your story, which some markets request to limit bias caused by assuming the gender, religion, nationality, etc. from a person’s name or where they live.

Some places will ask for something different, like a PDF file or the font to be in Courier. Make a separate file and save it to another folder so you don’t constantly fiddle with the main file (and forget to change it back!)

2 | Find a market

This can be an anthology, a zine, a literary journal, a website, an eBook, a podcast…I’ve even seen places that publish stories as games on Telegram or performances on stage. The all fall under the term “market.”

There’re several resources for finding markets:

• The Submission Grinder
• Duotrope (costs money)
• Chill Subs
• The Short List
• The Furry Writers Guild Discord + Website

The last one is for furry-specific markets, of course! Writing communities like forums or local clubs share opportunities with their members. If you find a market that’s perfect for a friend’s story, send it to them! Build up your fellow writers instead of seeing them as competition.

Once you find a market, look for the submission guidelines (could be under “about” or called “writers guidelines”) and see what genres, tones, subjects, and wordcounts they’re looking for. Some markets are very narrow—especially anthologies—and others are very broad. If you’re unsure if your piece fits the tone or subject matter, sub anyways! The worst they’ll do is say no, and they’ll never say yes if you don’t give them the chance.

Some places accept AI-generated writing, use AI-generated artwork, and/or require writers to pay a fee with their submission. Some markets have strong political opinions or are tied to specific groups. Whether or not you want to submit is up to you. Would you be proud for your story to be in that market? Is this market promoting ideas you’re okay with? When your story is published in a market, they profit from it. Are you okay with them benefiting from your (under/unpaid) labor?

Finally, some markets only publish stories from specific writers, such as women, LGBTQIA2S+ folx, POC/BIPOC, people with neurodivergences or disabilities, immigrants, or inhabitants of certain countries. They may want to amplify certain voices or they need to publish a certain percent of, say, Canadians to get a grant from the Canadian government. It’s up to you if you feel like you belong to one of those groups. And if you’re not a member of one of these groups, please don’t lie about it. There’s plenty of markets out there.

3 | Submit your story

You’ll need to find a couple bits of important information from the guidelines:

• The method of submission (email, Moksha, Submittable, their own form, etc.)
• Any specific requests for the file (file type, anonymized, etc.)
• Wordcount (It’s okay if you’re above/below the limit by a word or three)
• When you can expect to hear back from them (can be specific date or after X days/weeks/months)
• Payment (if it’s not listed, it’s probably unpaid)
• What rights they want (I’ll go into further details about this in the acceptance step)
• If they accept simultaneous and/or multiple submissions

Sometimes, you might encounter something you don’t like, or isn’t a good fit for your story, so it’s okay to pass on a market at that time.

A simultaneous submission is when you have open submissions to multiple markets for the same piece. Many places accept them, but those who don’t usually have good reason. If you’re caught secretly simsubbing, it won’t make the editor happy, and that’s not something you want. If a market doesn’t say either way, you could assume they’re okay with it, but it doesn’t hurt to do some googling or even asking them on social media.

Multiple submissions are having multiple open submissions at the same market, for multiple pieces. This is expected with poetry, and some flash fiction (1,000 words or less) markets, but is almost always forbidden for longer works. If a market doesn’t mention either way, you should assume they’re not okay with it.

Most places ask for a cover letter. It’s nothing like the one for a job or a query letter for a novel. It’s so simple, I have an Excel script to write one for me!

Dear editor,

Please consider “MOVE X TO Y2K” (1500 words). It has been previously published in the Further Confusion 2023 conbook on January 12, 2023 and I have the rights to have it reprinted elsewhere.
I have stories published in The Razor, One Universe to the Left, and Another Name for Darkness.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Chase Anderson

It’s the bare minimum needed to help an editor make a decision and track your submission in their system. No explaining your story, no begging for an acceptance. Don’t overthink it.

If the story hasn’t been published before, you can state that if you want. Most markets consider a piece previously published if it’s on your website, social media, a display site (FurAffinity, Wattpad, etc.), a chapbook with a print run of only 20…if the story has ever been “out there” for people to find and read, it’s been published, even if you’ve since taken it down. Sharing a story with a critique group or private writing forum does not count as previously published, as it’s not available for anyone to find.

If you don’t have any previously published work, that’s also okay! You can leave out that part. If you have several, pick the most important/impressive two or three and say “and elsewhere” or the like. It’s also okay if you want to keep your “fandom” writing separate from your “professional human” writing. So if you submit to Asimov’s Science Fiction, you don’t need to tell them you’ve been published in a furry anthology if you don’t want to.

Some places will want a “brief bio.” This is in the third person, about you, and either up to 50 or 100 words. Write both and keep them on hand. Here’s my <100-word bio, as an example:

Chase is a weird, queer, digital storyteller who writes weird, queer stories. He dropped out of chemical engineering to pursue a journalism degree and escape calculus. He draws inspiration from biology, chemistry, medicine, history, and whatever his neurochemicals are doing today. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he handles eCommerce integrations, marketing, spreadsheet wrangling, and identification of his coworkers’s backyard birds. Find his writing and more at chasej.xyz

You can list all the places you’ve been published, your job, your hobbies, anything that might be interesting about you. You don’t have to say the exact city, state, or even country you live in. But you should include where people can find you online!

I know this feels like a lot, and some of these requests seem silly. But markets must sift through hundreds, if not thousands of stories to pick a dozen or so to publish. Breaking or ignoring a rule might give them a reason to reject you and move on to the next thing.

4 | Wait

This is what most of your time will be spent doing. Some places will get back to you in a few days, others a few months. A couple places even take a year or more. Databases like The Submission Grinder aggregates data from many submissions to calculate average response times. Sometimes these are a lot longer or shorter than what a publisher says. So, wait until the longer of the two passes before you do something about it.

As soon as you submit something, you should record it. The minimum should be the name of the market, the name of the piece you sent, and when you should expect to hear back (calculate the specific date instead of writing “in 90 days”). Feel free to add whatever other data points you feel are important. Use a spreadsheet, a notebook, whatever works for you. You don’t want to accidentally simsub or multisub or send the same piece to a market twice.

In the submission guidelines, you might have seen something about querying. This is when you ask for the status of a piece:

Dear editor,
I would like to inquire about the status of my short story [story title] submitted to [publisher] on [date].
Thank you for your time.

Chase Anderson

They might say “We’re working on it” or “it’s being held for additional consideration” or even “our records don’t show your submission, internet gremlins must have eaten it.” Which happens sometimes, and it sucks, but all you can do is send in your piece again and reset the counter.

Some markets won’t respond if they reject your piece. This also sucks, but publishing is a lot like job hunting. You will be ghosted, so try not to take it personally. A market might also not respond to you because they closed shop. Check their website and social media to see if they’ve posted anything in the past 12 months. If not, you can assume you’ll never hear back.

But while you wait, don’t keep refreshing your inbox. Go do something else, like writing your next story! It’s very easy to obsess over the data and hype yourself up that a long wait means it’ll likely get accepted when there’s no reason to think that.

Pick a day of the week or month where you’ll spend an hour or so looking for new markets and checking up on your old submissions. Even if you only have one piece out and it’s not being simsubbed, you can make a list where to send it next. You also might find a brand-new market with a theme or prompt you really like, which will inspire you to write something new.

5 | So, you got a rejection

It’s going to happen. A lot, probably. I even got one while editing this! And it might hurt, and that’s okay. And it’s possible to drive yourself into an anxious mess by reading too much into a rejection. Here’s the one I just got (with names removed):

Dear Chase,

Thank you so much for submitting to [market]! While your submission was not selected for publication, we sincerely appreciate the time and trust it took to send your work our way, and hope you’ll keep us in mind for future work.
Take care and, as always, keep writing!

Warmly,

A. Person

This is a “form rejection,” which is going to be most of your rejections. “Doesn’t meet our needs” or “wasn’t quite the right fit” or “not what we’re looking for” is vague, and that’s by design. And not every place will say “best of luck placing it elsewhere” or “we hope to see more from you.” That doesn’t mean they hate you or your story! There isn’t any secret to glean from these, it’s not that deep.

But if you get a personalized rejection, that’s a good sign. They took the time to say specific things they liked about your story or what they think can improve it. That isn’t permission to send in a revised version of the story, unless they explicitly say so.

You might even get a “We loved X, Y, and Z, but there is only so many spots, and, unfortunately, we have to pass on this.” This means you probably made it to the very final round. And this is a very good sign! Your story is a good one to get that far. It’ll find a home soon.

You might disagree with criticism in a personalized rejection, and that’s okay. Just because an editor didn’t like a part of your story, it doesn’t mean everyone won’t like it. Editors have personal tastes, and not every story is going to land with every person. But if they highlight an issue and you feel it’s a valid criticism, feel free to revise your story to address it.

It does get easier the more rejections you get. But they can still hurt, a lot. It might be a piece you’re really proud of, or one you wrote specifically for that market, or you’re having a bad day and this is the fifth rejection you got that afternoon. It happens, and that’s okay. Do something nice for yourself. And, remember: it’s all about having the right piece end up at the right editor at the right market at the right time. It can take dozens, if not hundreds of no’s before you get a yes.

6 | You got an acceptance!

You may now jump up and down and post a bunch of emojis in the group chat.

Once you’ve calmed down, let’s read the acceptance email closely. Are there edits they want first? Is there a specific date they plan to publish it? How about a contract?

I know that sounds scary! But you probably don’t need a lawyer, especially for the amount of money going on here. Unpaid markets might not have contracts, but you’re going to want one for larger amounts of money. At least get information about payment, publication dates, and needed editing in writing.

Here’s some terms you’re likely to see in a contract, and what they mean:

• First [X] rights: This market will be the first place to publish this specific piece in [X] way. These are more valuable than reprint rights and pay out more.
• English/Spanish/etc. rights: The right to publish the piece in the English/Spanish/etc. language.
• Serial rights: The right to publish your piece in a periodical (i.e. a magazine or newspaper)
• Anthology rights: The right to publish your piece in an anthology.
• [country/region] rights: The right to publish a piece in a certain country/region.
• Worldwide/global rights: Thanks to the Internet and eBooks, this is a lot more common. It means anyone in any country can buy/read your story.
• Audio rights: The right to adapt your story into an audio format, like an audio book or podcast.
• Perpetual/archival rights: The piece can be accessed for forever in some way. Theoretically; the website might go down some day or the publisher goes out of business. This is common with websites and print on demand books.
• Exclusive [X] rights: This market will be the only place that can publish your piece in [X] for a specific period. If your piece comes out on January 1 and there is a 6-month exclusive period, it means no other place (even your own website) can publish that story until July 1. There’s usually an explicitly stated exception for “best of” anthologies.
• Non-exclusive [X] rights: You’re free to publish your piece in other markets in [X] as much as you like…as long as no one else is requesting exclusive rights at the same time, of course.
• Reprint rights: This story has already been published elsewhere.
• Contributor copy: A free copy of the publication that’s sent to you. Very common with magazines, but might not be possible if you live in a different country than the publisher.

They’re probably going to stick a bunch of those into one string, like “First English worldwide serial and audio rights,” and that just means each of those things apply at the same time.

If there’s something in there you don’t like or have questions about, don’t be afraid to ask the editors about it. Or other writers. Don’t sign something you don’t understand or don’t feel okay with signing.

Example: There is a Buzzfeed spinoff YouTube channel that I shall not name who was requesting people submit stories for one of their series. They want you to sign off your rights when you submit the piece (), and they want rights to the work in perpetuity (normal-ish enough), across the universe (), and the ability to make derivative works () and they won’t need to pay () or even credit you () for it. Did I mention they didn’t even pay you for the story in the first place?

As you can imagine, the stories they got were terrible and/or written by staff members of the channel. Why should a writer do free labor to submit a story that could be turned into a movie that makes millions of dollars and they receive neither payment nor credit for it? If a place has an awful contract and they won’t change it, or there’s anything you don’t like, you can turn them down!

If your story was simultaneously submitted, you’ll need to withdraw the story from other markets. I usually wait until I get a contract I am okay with signing before doing this, in case it falls through. Submission systems will have a button to withdraw, but in other situations, you’ll need to send a withdrawal email. Check the submission guidelines page for an email address. If there isn’t one, you could use the submission email address.

Here’s a template for a withdrawal email:

Dear editor:

I would like to withdraw my short story “A Cool Title” from further consideration, as it has been accepted elsewhere. I submitted it to you on DATE, 202X.
I apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Chase Anderson

Ask the editor when you’re allowed to publicly announce the acceptance. Some want to keep the table of contents private until it’s settled, others are cool with you telling people ASAP. Once you get the okay, post to your heart’s content!

7 | It’s publishing day!

Your story is now out in the world! Now it’s time to tell everyone about it!

• Your social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and Twitter alternatives, FurAffinity, etc.)
• Your website (either as a blog post or a listing on your bibliography)
• Your mailing list.
• Communities you’re a part of, like the Furry Writers Guild, your local critique group, etc.

Include a link to where people can read or buy your story and a little tidbit about it to draw them in. If there’s any relevant content warnings, it would be kind to include them, too. Save a copy of the publication for yourself, in case the website ever goes down, and save the link in a spreadsheet or bookmarks folder so you can find it quickly in the future.

Final Thoughts

I know this seems intimidating, but once you’ve prepared your materials, it’s actually quite easy. The worst part is waiting.

But don’t stop everything while waiting for a piece to sell. Write the next story, and the next, and the next one. The more stories you have, the more submissions you can send, which means more opportunities for one of them to become an acceptance. Plus, with every piece you write, you get better as a writer, which further increases your chances of getting published.

Publishing can be a real emotional roller coaster; without those lows, the highs won’t feel as sweet. And once you get off, you’ll want to run back to the line again. Try to bring some friends along to make the wait go by quicker.

As a fan of deer, you may think I am biased towards them. However, I’d argue there’s no one better than a deer to judge the quality of cervine-based games. With that said, a new trendy game released on March 15, 2024 called Oh Deer, and oh boy is it a trip. The game consists of (up to) four player-controlled deer trying to survive being hunted by one player-controlled hunter. Every round, the hunter is randomly selected from the group of players at the beginning of the round and the cycle continues over and over until you end the session. During the round, the deer try to blend in with other NPC deer that are ambling around the level by moving like them and faking eating grass. However, the deer players have a hunger meter that they must keep above empty by eating mushrooms that are scattered around the map, or their stomach will start growling -very- loudly, and the hunter can be tipped off to their location. On the flip side, the hunter has a Sanity meter that, if it reaches zero, the day becomes night and ALL of the deer players become deadly wendigos that then attempt to attack and kill the hunter before they reach a randomly selected cabin around the map for safety. The hunter loses sanity over time, and a chunk if they shoot a deer that isn’t a player. They also gain sanity if they do successfully take out a player deer, and they win if they kill them all.

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

Moobarkfluff!  

***Hi Listener….we have been away for a couple weeks and we are happy to be back.  This episode was recorded a couple weeks ago, but life sometimes gets in the way.  We have moved our release schedule to every OTHER Saturday now.*** 

Bearly, Taebyn and Rayne discuss the revamp of the show, talk about movies and television shows. Bearly rants about the pseudo science in TV and Movies,  we get a movie review from Cheetaro, Rayne reads us a story, and we have some general good times. So tune in and pup out! Moobarkfluff all you furs! 

The links below are ‘clickable’ on most platforms

Taebyn YouTube 

Taebyn Merch at Fourthwall 

Rayne’s Friday Night Traxx

 

Wild Bills Soda 

Merch at Redbubble 

Merch at Bonfire 

Merch at Fourthwall 

This podcast contains adult language and adult topics. It is rated M for Mature. Listener discretion is advised.

Support the show

Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting S4E44 - The Fluffination

Well here’s a team we’ve heard about previously. Sean Patrick O’Reilly is head of Arcana Studios, and David Alvarez is a popular comic artist. Their new creation is called Kotto Kotorra. The description is pretty darn simple: “The book follows Kotto, an average Puerto Rican who runs an empanadilla food truck. His daily life is always an adventure, thanks to his boisterous friends.” That hardly scratches the surface of this old-school “funny animal cartoon” comic. What’s more, it’s not just a graphic novel, but a game app as well!

image c. 2024 Arcana Studios

Social Media: Official FABP Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxandburger Michael: https://twitter.com/foxnakh https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9xoFQrxFTNPMjmXfUg2cg Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner

TigerTails Radio Season 15 Episode 18. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Look, we couldn’t even hope to give you a better description of The Mighty Bite than this: “What happens when a couple of prehistoric creatures want to become Internet stars? Trilobite and Amber (a walking whale) dream of fame and fortune. They don’t realize that most of the world thinks that they’re extinct. When a wandering paleo-newscaster introduces them to the world of internet videos, they hop at the chance to get behind the camera. The competition for internet fame will be fierce—Trilobite and Amber will face off against ancient sea creatures, talking cacti, floating cat heads, and more! Friendships will be tested, allies will be made, and cameras will be smashed! Our heroes will have to use all of their newfound skills when they find themselves competing in an all-out video-making battle royale!” All of this thanks to popular cartoonist Nathan Hale. The Mighty Bite is available in hardcover from Amulet Books.

image c. 2024 Amulet Books

Trailer for Episode 124: The Prancing Skiltaire Sylys (Mark Merlino) and Vinson (Rod O’Riley) share the history of a local staple gathering Furries together from near and far since 1980. #TheRaccoonsDen #TRDs9 #ThePrancingSkiltaire

Sylys (Mark Merlino) and Vinson (Rod O’Riley) share the history of a local staple gathering Furries together from near and far since 1980. See more at: http://www.TheRaccoonsDen.com FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TheRaccoonsDen TWITTER/X: http://www.Twitter.com/TheRaccoonsDen FURAFFINITY: http://www.FurAffinity.net/user/TheRaccoonsDen INSTAGRAM: http://www.Instagram.com/TheRaccoonsDen TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@theraccoonsden SySable Memorial RSVP: https://t.me/SySableMemorial Featuring Music by: E Royale: https://www.eroyalemusic.com DayFive: https://dayfive.bandcamp.com ❤ GOJII ❤: https://gojii.bandcamp.com Jaiko: https://furaffinity.net/user/jaiko Steven Esso: https://stevenesso.bandcamp.com/ Soaringjupier: https://soundcloud.com/soaringjupiter #TheRaccoonsDen #TRDs9 #ThePrancingSkiltaire

We missed the Hairball horror mini-series last year, but now Dark Horse have released issues #1 – #4 in a very special single-volume collection. “A young girl with a black cat begins to suspect the innocuous beast is behind all her troubles: Her parents’ fighting, family plagues, and innumerable supernatural horrors. As she tries her best to rid herself of this creature, she discovers that maybe the cat is not evil after all and a greater terror may be behind these horrific events harming her life. Collects Hairball #1-#4 in a deluxe, hardcover die-cut format featuring faux cat fur.” Seriously, they did that. It’s written by Matt Kindt, with artwork by Tyler Jenkins and Hilary Jenkins.

image c. 2024 Dark Horse Press

Hello, Papabear:

I will graduate with my 2nd A.S. degree this spring. After 8 years total of going to CCollege, I am mentally exhausted. Everyone has been asking me, "Are you going to transfer and get a bachelor's degree?" I wish I could, but tbh I am exhausted. Seven years of school and I leave with insecurities that I am not smart enough for UNI. I mean, 3 more years would be a commitment!

I have always had other interests such as in science and foreign languages. I have always wanted to learn about chemistry and learn a third language. How can I learn these two subjects for fun on my own and feel confident about it? I know I'll never be a chemist or science major, plus you don't need to go to university to learn a third language, anyways.

Thanks!

EmmyLovesFurries (age 26)

* * *

Dear EmmyLovesFurries,

Thanks for your questions. Let's start with the foreign language question. It's wonderful to learn other languages, especially if you have a gift for it. I studied German for seven years, French for two, and Spanish for one, and I can tell you, I don't have much of a talent for it. But, honestly, here's why I struggled: high schools and colleges teach language wrong. Endless vocabulary list memorization and grammar instruction is a mechanical, unhelpful way to learn. You know who teaches languages right? The U.S. military. What they do is throw you into an environment where you are only allowed to speak in the language you are learning. This total immersion in a new language is highly effective. 

The other way to do it is to move (or travel for an extended time) to a country that speaks the language in which you have an interest. One of my biggest regrets in life was when my German professor urged me to study in Germany for a while to really get comfortable with the language, but I was honestly too afraid to do that by myself and I turned down the opportunity. Now, living where I do (America is one of the most culturally isolated countries in the world because of its geography and poor public education system) my German is terribly rusty. I envy Europeans because they are constantly exposed to languages, and going to a foreign land is like traveling to another state in the U.S.--easier, too, because they have a good train system.... But I digress.

If I had the time to beef up my language skills, here is what I would do: go online to a website such as Babbel or Pimsleur (Rosetta Stone is also good, but rather expensive). These programs teach you conversational, colloquial language and use tried-and-true methods such as repetition. Some programs like Babbel even connect you to volunteer native speakers for practice, which is quite wonderful. 

Another way to approach this is to learn as a child would: that is, pick up some primer reading books in the language you want, read comic books, watch cartoons in that language. (You can watch Sesame Street in Spanish and many other languages!)

You are correct that you don't have to go to uni to learn a language and, as noted above, that is probably the worst way to do it unless you're studying a dead language such as Latin or ancient Greek.

Let's move on to chemistry and other sciences. 

I personally have an interest in history, but I didn't enjoy history in high school. In fact, I hated it because it was all about rote memorization of dates and places, kings and queens, famous battles, etc. Snore. No, I am much more interested in cultural history. How people lived centuries ago; how nations developed, thrived, and fell; what their architecture was like; how they dressed and ate and worked and had fun. You know, in school back in the 1970s (not sure about now), when they taught history it was either American history or European and British history. Never learned squat about Asia or Africa or South America, and these places are fascinating! The history of China goes back 6,000 years! And now I'm learning of discoveries in advanced architecture going back 12,000 years to places like Gobekli Tepe, or about the amazing technology that the Romans possessed. The same is true about science. I love learning about physics and astronomy, but also about advances in technology, environmental sciences, and wildlife (I used to be a zoo docent).

The point is, if you have an interest in a subject, you don't have to go to school to learn about it. There are all kinds of amateurs out there gobbling up books on various topics and becoming quite the experts. Really, the only reason to go to university is if you want a job in your particular field, in which case your employer will want to see your college diploma. But if you just want to learn, there are nearly countless resources online, ranging from science magazine websites to YouTube videos to virtual lecture halls. 

Learning is a joy. You should learn all your life. There is so much to learn that you will never come to the end of it. College is for getting a job. So, the question for you is not what you want to learn but what you want to do for employment. Once you figure out what you want to do for a job (it doesn't matter what, as long as you're okay doing it and it gives you enough money to pay the bills), decide what you need to do in order to obtain that job (whether it is school or some kind of apprenticeship or learning how to make YouTube videos for money) and go for it. Then, you can learn as much about sciences and languages on the side as you want.

Good Luck!

Papabear

And more interesting and odd mangas we found… like Yagi the Bookshop Goat, written and illustrated by Fumi Furukawa. “In this tranquil world where all animals live in peace, carnivores and herbivores have an agreement to live amicably. Yagi is a goat who loves reading (and eating!) books; his dream is to become a bookstore clerk, but goats who eat paper aren’t exactly welcomed at places that sell books! But maybe he can charm Ookami, the scary wolf store manager into giving him a job…” That rather cute description doesn’t point out there are some (gentle) mature themes at play here, so be aware! This black & white graphic novel is available now from Tokyo Pop.

image c. 2024 Tokyo Pop

Eight new wolf variations have been added to the testing versions of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition beta and preview and Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot. These include: Pale, Rusty, Spotted, Black, Striped, Snowy, Ashen, Woods, and Chestnut. The developers of these newly released furry pal variations are looking for feedback as well.

Dyeable wolf armor is also available to test, and it's gotten an upgrade. Wolf armor absorbs all enemy damage until it breaks. Wolf-health-parity came with the most recent Bedrock Preview and Beta, meaning every wolf across both editions of Minecraft will now have 40 hearts when fully grown (Bedrock wolves only had 20 previously. Keeping your wolf armor in top condition will keep your wolf healthy while it’s adventuring by your side. Wolf armor that needs repairing will show cracks, and you can repair it using armadillo scutes.

Instructions for how to add these testable new wolf colors and armors are in the original Minecraft Article link below!

Original article: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/new-minecraft-wolves

More manga we’ve stumbled across: My New Life As A Cat by Konomi Wagata. “Nao Kazushiro is a normal high school student — until he gets in a traffic accident and winds up in the body of a cat! At first, it’s all fun and games as he gets used to his new feline form, but then the novelty wears off and hunger sets in. Luckily, he’s picked up by Chika, a cute girl his age who gives him food and a home off the streets. Will Nao (now Nyao) develop feelings for her? Or will he wake up in his human body once and for all?” This new graphic novel series is available now from Seven Seas Entertainment.

image c. 2024 Seven Seas Entertainment