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TigerTails Radio Season 10 Episode 28
Yāoguài
Yay! New Gobelins short for the Annecy film festival! If you are not aware Gobelins is an ant/animation school in France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobelins_School_of_the_Image [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobelins_School_of_the_Image
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What’s Yiffin’? – June 2017 edition of syndicated furry news.
Can you believe it’s been five months since What’s Yiffin’ was picked up by Dogpatch Press? We can’t; it still feels like we’re just getting started here every month even though this feature is now a regular thing (and we’ve been running this series since 2015). It’s all about having confidence really, and this will make a nice segue into one of our stories because it’s exactly that. No, wait that’s “Confurence”. Anyway we’ve got your usual lineup this month: something gets cancelled, someone phones in a bomb threat somewhere, and Dracokon complains about the current state of the fandom. Get out your officially licensed What’s Yiffin’ bingo cards and play along because it’s time to start this article proper.
THE O.C. IS THE NEW O.G.
We’re pretty sure everyone reading this has played the “[Your Name] the Hedgehog” game; you know, the one where you literally punch something like “Andre the Hedgehog” into Google and see what DeviantArt-tier Sonic fanon characters crop up? It’s incredible but there’s usually an “OC” (“Original Character”) for every name you can think of. Make no mistake, “the OC” is a huge thing in Sonic circles and it has been dating as far back as the early years of the Internet on places such as the late Sonic HQ. If it pleases the jury, one of the two people behind What’s Yiffin’ even had an OC at one point, that’s how prevalent this is.
But why all the OC talk though? Well, coming to stores this holiday season is Sonic Forces which comes with a built-in character creator. Believe it or not this is the first of its kind in a Sonic game, never before have players been able to create their own characters and team up with the Blue Blur himself. Up until now that privilege has been reserved solely for the realm of awkward and shameful fanfiction. In a trailer that has been dubbed the “Custom Hero” trailer SEGA revealed Forces’ character creator by finally clearing up just who this “new character” was that’s had people biting at tooth and nail for more information. It’s you.
SEGA later followed up with a list of species available for use in the creator: bear, bird, dog, cat, wolf, rabbit, and hedgehog. Each of them have their own unique traits which have subtle effects on gameplay regarding things such as how the characters take and recover from damage, how they can collect rings, or how inflation art of them should be drawn. Eagle-eyed readers have probably noticed by now the huge hole in the species list –“fox” and “echidna” are nowhere to be seen. Yes that’s right, Tails and Knuckles superfans are currently high and dry at the moment with no confirmation one way or the other if their OC’s will have a place in the game. There’s still a whole half of a year before this game’s release though so anything can change between now and then.
Finally, DeviantArt — arguably the ground zero of Sonic OC’s — had a moment of self-awareness on social media when they tweeted out a congratulations to their fanbase for making “the OC” official canon. Smiles all around, everyone. We’re looking forward to the release of Sonic Forces later this year, available on all major platforms including PC.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1989
Mark Merlino might not be a household fandom name to you, and that’s truly a shame because in the grand scope of the furry fandom he’s quite an important person. Back in 1989, Mark was one of the organizers of Confurence Zero, considered by and large to be the world’s very first furry convention. Yes, as crazy as it sounds and as hard as it might be to believe “furry” predates the commoditization of the Internet by just a narrow window and got on its feet before a significant slice of its current base was even born. Hell, if you add together the ages of the What’s Yiffin’ news team in 1989 you get four.
Mark and his partner Changa Lion have put forth an incredible amount of work digitizing and putting online “The Confurence Archive” (www.confurence.com). They’ve taken the old defunct Confurence convention website and have revitalized it with over TWO THOUSAND images, videos, and digital scans from Confurence’s seasoned history plus additional odds and ends such as magazine advertisements, conbooks, mailing forms, old fandom memes, and much more ephemera that thankfully was not lost to time. In an interview right here on Dogpatch Press, Mark said when he and his friends all moved in together way back in the day their collections of books and mementos formed a sort of “library”. Now, 28 years after the first Confurence, it’s all online. For you. For free.
Please do go and check it out, we implore you to give a shit about this. With the fandom in its current state at times it feels like we’ve completely forgotten where we’ve come from as a fandom and The Confurence Archive is here to give us that rare glimpse back to the way things used to be, before the drama. We owe a lot to Mark & Co. for helping us get to where we are today, so from us and everyone else at Gatorbox, thank you. Thank you Mark, Changa, and everyone else who played a role in the creation of this archive; we can only hope in coming years more archives such as this one will appear.
GROUNDED
Over the weekend of May 19-21 Califur took place. We’ll leave it up to you to guess which state it was in. This just so happened to be Califur’s 13th convention and its theme was “horror” (because Friday the 13th, get it?), however if you’re a superstitious person then you know 13 is an unlucky number and luck would rear its ugly side at Califur this year.
Historically, the convention has always hosted a small number of BDSM panels for people interested in learning more about the lifestyle — whether or not you believe a BDSM panel to be appropriate content at a furry convention is up to you, and while we won’t be getting into a specific side of that argument it does play an integral role in this particular story. One of the panels, formerly named “BDSM 101: What is a Little/Big?” was renamed to simply “Meet the Babyfurs!”. Now that we’ve said “the B word” you can probably pinpoint with surgical precision exactly where problems arose.
An unknown fur (or potentially a group of them) took it upon themselves to phone in some threats to the Califur venue because of this panel. The immediate fallout caused the panel to be renamed “Littles Meetup”, but the damage was done. Everyone knew what that panel was and now that nefarious people had their sights set on it it’s not a huge stretch for them to see this through to its ultimate conclusion. Security at the convention was increased, obviously, but in the end the “Littles” panel was canned. That’s right, the people making the threats got what they wanted in the worst manner possible.
The people calling in these bogus threats are total assholes, don’t get us wrong, but despite this perhaps the only sympathetic aspect of their cause was the notion of “it happened to them, it can happen to us too”; the inappropriate behavior of many furs has led to the indefinite termination of at least one convention (Rainfurrest), and the seemingly negative viewpoint people take with things such as babyfurs would be reason for concern. “Concern” is an important emotion to highlight here, because in a statement released by the convention Califur stated that at no point did anyone approach or contact the con staff with concerns regarding the content of the panel or the existence of the panel itself. Nope, they just went straight to bogus bombs, which is a felony offense.
Personally, we don’t care what consenting adults do behind closed doors as long as it stays between them and the public isn’t subjected to it against their will. That said, if you really have a problem with things like a panel for babyfurs, bring it up through the appropriate channels. That’s why they’re there.
(Editor’s note from Patch: Trolling attacks at Califur’s venue originated from @altfurrydiscord, a group of Nazi furs who use extreme racism as a shit-test to filter members for a smaller secret “cyber_activism” group where the planning is done. It’s led by Casey Hoerth, a former staffer of the Trump campaign, also known as “Len Gilbert / The Furred Reich”. Before this info leaked, he lied to deny his group was the source of the attack and attempted to scapegoat supposed “SJW’s”. When it leaked and the smokescreen failed, those posts were deleted and he removed his role as owner of “cyber_activism” to hide it.)
DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS
Last but not least it wouldn’t be a proper edition of What’s Yiffin’ without some convention somewhere getting cancelled and that’s exactly what we’ve got here. The Great Lakes Fur Con was set to happen May 26-28, however due to a shortage of staff the event was called off. That’s it. Nothing happened. Nobody crapped in a hot tub, nobody had sex in public, nobody left used diapers on someone’s car, nobody partook in unknown substances and had to have the paramedics called in… this was just a case of convention staff having to step down due to personal reasons.
The remaining staff chose to cancel the convention because they did not want to host a sub-par event and let everyone down, and really? That was the smart move. Even smarter is that if you had already registered for this year’s GLFC you’re already good to go for 2018. No dates have been announced, so if this potentially isn’t good for you and you’re unsure if you can make it next year the con staff wants you to contact them at registration@greatlakesfurcon.com to work something out. Again, that’s the smart move. We had never really even heard of this convention but thus far we’re impressed with how they handle business. Everyone else should be taking notes here.
Even though there was no official convention this story still has a happy ending, too; the remaining staff of GLFC elected to hold a big cookout/potluck and invited furs in the area to bring a dish and come hang out. Afterwards, everyone went bowling! Sure, it’s not a convention but that still sounds like a hell of a way to spend a day.
That’s a wrap on last month’s most interesting stories from the fandom. Thank you for checking us out! As always, we’d like to invite you to come check out What’s Yiffin’ when it is broadcast live as part of the first Friday show of Gatorbox, every Friday night at 9PM. Follow us on Twitch so you’ll know when we are live!
– 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
Catch Our Next Thrilling Episode
American Mythology continue their quest to bring back classic cartoons in comic book form. Next up? The heroes of Frostbite Falls, Rocky the flying squirrel and Bullwinkle the not-flying moose. According to Bleeding Cool, “Rocky & Bullwinkle comic books have been published by Gold Key, Charlton, Marvel and IDW over the decades, the last being in 2013. Well, the latest comic publisher to take on the pair is American Mythology Productions, with a new series by Todd Livingston and Jacob Greenwalt.” Meanwhile, the publisher says it like this: “Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat! That staple of Saturday morning cartoon shenanigans, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, is back in all its satirical slapsticky joy! The entire misfit cast of Jay Ward’s wonderful series are here — Rocket J. Squirrel, Bullwinkle the Moose, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Dudley Do-Right, and everyone’s favorite Russian hooligans, Boris and Natasha! American Mythology celebrates the return of a one-of-a kind comic book with adventures and high jinx that are fresh and funny while remaining true to the look and format of the classics!” Look for the first issue later in June.
image c. 2017 American Mythology Productions
Episode 1 - Sharks are positive
Episode 0 - Shark Zero!
Episode -1 - No more negative sharks
And You Think YOU’RE A Fanboy…
Something else that slipped below the radar, even though it appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. Brigsby Bear is a new surreal live-action comedy produced by the Lonely Island folks from Saturday Night Live. According to Wikipedia, the story goes like this: “James Pope was kidnapped from a hospital as a baby and since childhood all the way to adulthood has known nothing about the world except Brigsby Bear, a children’s show character fabricated by his kidnapper parents. One day, James is rescued and brought out into the real world where he learns that Brigsby Bear is not a real children’s show. Confused and baffled by these turn of events, James sets out to make a Brigsby Bear movie to show the world what he has learned.” Starring Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live) as James, the film is directed by Dave McCary. Other notable names in the cast include Greg Kinnear and Mark Hamill. Sony Pictures picked up Brigsby Bear and will release it to theaters at the end of July.
image c. 2017 Sony Pictures
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FC-269 Adorable Agony - The Fay was out, so CJ & Paradox run a short show with a sprinkle of news and an email followup.
The Fay was out, so CJ & Paradox run a short show with a sprinkle of news and an email followup.
Watch Video Link Roundup: News:- Gator Takes Memorial Day Dip In Backyard Pool
- Tourist attacked by Komodo dragon in Indonesia
- Two Burglars Sodomized For Five Days Straight After Breaking Into The House Of Notorious Gay Rapist
- Oanta – Life Update: Big Changes Have Arrived (Read and Reply a.s.a.p. either on the show or via email – Thanks!)
FC-269 Adorable Agony - The Fay was out, so CJ & Paradox run a short show with a sprinkle of news and an email followup.
The Fay was out, so CJ & Paradox run a short show with a sprinkle of news and an email followup.
Watch Video Link Roundup: News:- Gator Takes Memorial Day Dip In Backyard Pool
- Tourist attacked by Komodo dragon in Indonesia
- Two Burglars Sodomized For Five Days Straight After Breaking Into The House Of Notorious Gay Rapist
- Oanta – Life Update: Big Changes Have Arrived (Read and Reply a.s.a.p. either on the show or via email – Thanks!)
[Live] Adorable Agony
The Fay was out, so CJ & Paradox run a short show with a sprinkle of news and an email followup.
Link Roundup: News:- Gator Takes Memorial Day Dip In Backyard Pool
- Tourist attacked by Komodo dragon in Indonesia
- Two Burglars Sodomized For Five Days Straight After Breaking Into The House Of Notorious Gay Rapist
- Oanta – Life Update: Big Changes Have Arrived (Read and Reply a.s.a.p. either on the show or via email – Thanks!)
Monsters of War
Whoops! Another, more-recent one that passed us by — and once again it’s about werewolves. Namwolf is a new full-color comic series from Albatross Funnybooks. “When scrawny Marty Spencer is drafted into the Vietnam War, he finds himself smack dab in the middle of the heart of darkness. But Marty has a secret. A secret even from himself. And Vietnam is a hell of a place to find out you’re a werewolf.” It’s written by Fabian Rangel Jr., with art by Logan Faerber. Three issues are out so far, and Comixology has a preview of each.
image c. 2017 Albatross
S6 Special 1 – FWIW LIVE! at BLFC 2017 - At long last, Fur What It's Worth has made it to a convention to run a LIVE! show for everyone. Roo and Tugs are joined by Kyo and Harvey as they discuss their thoughts on our place in this "Biggest Little World" (
NOW LISTEN!
Show Notes
Special Thanks
Kyo, our guest
Harvey, our guest
Husky in Denial, for making awesome remixes for the show
Dr. Nuka
Our special snipe announcer for the preshow.
Everyone who attended FWIW LIVE! YOU MATTER TO US SO MUCH! THANK YOU FOR COMING!
Music
Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Kaiju Fields. USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2017 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!)
Get Psyched Music: Husky In Denial - Universe (Untitled Remix). USA: Unpublished, 2017. ©2017 Fur What It's Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller - Universe). (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (1984 Closing 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
Fido
Premium Supporters – None :c
Bride of Pinbot Supporters
Docos (Picture coming soon…when he has one! Any artists out there wanna hook him up? 🙂 )
Bowler Hat Supporters
Rifka
Deluxe Supporter
Lokimut
Plus Tier Supporters
Skylos
Guardian Lion
McRib Tier Supporters
Snares
Hachi Shibaru
Kyoto Koyote
Ilya / EpicRive
Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again!
Giveaway
The giveaway for this show was a customized collar! We also had a bonus random giveaway of custom condoms which read "Save a Fox. Use a Condom. Listen to Fur What It's Worth."
Next episode: He's become a new legend - we're interviewing Boozy Badger and talking about Fandom Touristing! S6 Special 1 – FWIW LIVE! at BLFC 2017 - At long last, Fur What It's Worth has made it to a convention to run a LIVE! show for everyone. Roo and Tugs are joined by Kyo and Harvey as they discuss their thoughts on our place in this "Biggest Little World" (
Welcome to Duckberg!
Disney is starting to release more clips from the new Ducktales series. So here is 3 new shorts to help you get into the series. Of course time travel jokes now they have David Tennent. https://youtu.be/aAm8aw_7RXM https://youtu.be/97PgkLg_jFY
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Celebrity Dish, by M. R. Anglin – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Celebrity Dish, by M. R. Anglin
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, March 2017, trade paperback $4.99 (100 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $1.99.
M. R. Anglin has written five previous books in her Silver Foxes series. The foxes with metallic, silvery fur who controlled electricity had made themselves and their nation of Expermia the masters of the world of Clorth. 1,500 years ago the other nations of Clorth joined together in invading Expermia and killing all the silver foxes. They have been extinct until now. J. R. Dunsworth (wolf), a criminal with a soft heart, rescues two orphaned fox kits and raises them as his own children. When Xenatha (Xena), a gray fox, approaches puberty, her fur begins to turn silvery and she develops electrical powers that she can’t control. The first four Silver Foxes novels tells what happens to Xena; her younger sister Kathra; their foster father J. R.; Hunter, the boyfriend Xena finds; and the villains who plot to kill the others and control Xena’s powers for themselves.
Book 5 is the small 79-page Interlude, and it does seem like an interlude in the series. J.R. takes the others to hide on the Isle de Losierres, the most exclusive and richest vacation resort on Clorth. He hadn’t revealed that the wolf businesswoman who runs the Isle is his long-suffering sister Chloe. Xena and the others finally have a chance to relax and bond as a family. Xena’s adolescent foster cousin Mira (wolf) introduces her to her friends (Shandra, a tigress, Dori, a chameleon, and Katie, a raccoon), and Xena, still hiding her silver fox nature, begins to live as a normal teen. Xena’s enemies search for her, apparently in vain.
Celebrity Dish, the sixth Silver Foxes book, is a second interlude. Jessica, the hottest pop superstar on Clorth, comes to the Isle de Losierres for a vacation and to give a concert. Jessica is a bird, but what kind is a mystery and part of her mystique – she constantly appears in new costumes to keep everyone guessing.
“One was a tan mongoose [her manager] and the other a bird of … indeterminate species. She had the yellow feathers of a canary, but her tail had the shape of an ostrich’s. Those tail feathers filled the seat so that the mongoose sat tilted toward the door. The feathers on her head curled and swirled around her face, and a crest of three feathers extended beyond them. She had the curved beak of a red-tailed hawk. Her arms – wings, really – rested on her lap. She wore a red, asymmetrical dress that grazed her upper thigh. The dress was so short that Alex, the mongoose, feared that any movement would show of [sic.] her … “treasures” … so he insisted she wear black tights underneath.” (p. 14)
The real reason is that “Dan”, an obsessed fan, has been threatening to find out Jessica’s real species and reveal it. She hopes that the exclusiveness and security of the Isle will keep him away. Hunter, Xena’s boyfriend, is hired as part of her security, and he brings Xena along as Zed, his assistant. The job looks like an easy one, until anomalies about “Dan” begin appearing; and it looks like his real goal is not to reveal Jessica’s true species but to murder her.
A further complication is whether Hunter and Xena can find out who “Dan” is and save Jessica without revealing Xena’s own secret.
Celebrity Dish (cover by the author with Tazia Hall) is a complete story, but there is the brief reappearance of a ghostly German Shepherd from Interlude and a coda that, unknown to Xena and her friends, her enemies are closing in that promises more adventures in the future.
Celebrity Dish is an enjoyable story, but despite all of the anthropomorphic characters – the cat celebrity reporter, the pelican nightclub bouncer, the skunk assassin – and Xena’s electromagnetic silver fur, it’s really the same kind of all-human thriller that I’ve seen in countless 1930s B-movie murder mysteries, especially the Charlie Chan series. Anglin has been developing the Silver Foxes slowly – besides the six books, there are the short stories “On the Run from Isofell” in the anthology Gods With Fur (FurPlanet Productions), and “My Experiences With J. R. Dunsworth“, As Told By Mira”, a 29-page Kindle purchase – but I hope that she returns to full-scale novels soon.
To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.
Werewolf To The Rescue
Somehow this missed us the first time around, but now it’s out in a new in a new full-color hardcover collection from Image Comics: All 25 issues of The Astounding Wolf-Man. “When Gary Hampton is mauled and left for dead, his life takes a drastic turn! When the moon is full, he transforms into a beast of the night—a werewolf! But this curse will not be used for evil. Witness the birth of the world’s most unlikely new superhero—The Astounding Wolf-Man!” It’s written by none other than Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) with art by Jason Howard. Look for it at the end of this month.
image c. 2017 Image Comics
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Patrick’s BLFC 2017 Video
Furry Nights movie review – a crowd pleaser for lovers of campy indie horror.
Do you love trash like I do? In the 1970’s, exploitation movies became a thing where trash and sleaze were loveable qualities. They had fun doing stuff the mainstream wouldn’t do. Along with the bad, came good access for audiences that Hollywood didn’t represent, like minorities and subcultures. Now “Fursploitation” is creeping into popular awareness. I characterize it that way if it portrays “furries” with off-the-rack, poorly fitting mascot costumes and orgy jokes. That stuff may not play well with furries, but it can. They’ll probably dislike it if it has low effort at research, or feels carelessly opportunistic or mean, but it helps to be indie and share inside references to laugh together. A success would be CollegeHumor’s “Furry Force”, which the fandom took with good humor.
Furry Nights is an indie horror movie directed by J. Zachary. It premiered in late 2016 with a theater show in Atlanta. I heard from several very happy furry watchers who attended. Then Zachary asked me to tell you about it.
Furry Nights is now available on iTunes. Here’s the synopsis from the official website:
“What begins as a carefree weekend amongst a group of camping teens soon takes a strange turn when the gang discovers they are not alone in the forest. FURRIES have rooted camp just across the nearby lake. Not worried about the “party animals,” the kids sleep soundly that night, only to be woken by a real life horror — A BEAR! One of the teens shoots and kills the grizzly monster, but quickly realizes the tragic truth — HE HAS SHOT A FURRY . . . Now, the maniacal furries will stop at nothing to make them pay . . .
CAN THE TEENS SURVIVE THE REVENGE OF THE FURRIES?!”
@KaiWulf said: “Indy film, very campy. We had a good laugh.” And here’s another happy watcher.
FURRY GUEST REVIEW: Lucas Hale shares his experience of the movie premiere in Atlanta.
(Lucas:) Once upon a time, in the magical realm of infinite shitposting that is known as “Furry Twitter”, there was an Internet dog. He was yellow and labradorable, because he associated himself in the fandom of weirdos that play dress-up as talking animals as a yellow labrador. He was slacking around at work as usual, struggling to retain interest in his mountain of boring projects, thumbing through his phone. It was me!
Some anonymous stranger with an avatar of one of “them animal people” had been retweeted onto my twitter timeline. In that tweet-that-changed-my-life was mention of a film playing at the oldest local historic independent theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Some film about killer furries was booked to play there. I’d never heard of such a film, but it immediately caught my interest. I quickly googled the title and didn’t discover much. I went to youtube and hit the keywords. “Furry Nights movie trailer”. There it was. This thing was real.
I first thought it was like a five or ten minute short film. (The Plaza shows them quite often) It was feature length! Breathing heavily and squealing with indescribable joy, I rallied the squad, blasting friends all over Twitter and Telegram, determined to find some brave souls eager enough to sit through me and another one of my shitty movie adventures. (I attend movies every week, no matter what the content. I’ll usually sit through it good or bad.) I quickly found at least five friends, willing to get to Atlanta, come hell or high water. Good or bad, whether it portrayed furries as horrible sexual deviants, this movie had to be witnessed. The fellowship was born.
We traveled across the land, searching far and wide for parking, of which there was very limited spaces. When we got inside, we shuffled our way nervously to the counter and planted our money on the concession counter, demanding tickets. We were flabbergasted when they told us that the entire theater had been rented out, and all seats were for grabs to anyone willing to watch it. I ain’t gonna complain, I got bills to pay and an insatiable appetite for impulsive purchases.
Shuffling into the back of the theater, trying to go unnoticed, we were greeted and thanked by a suspiciously friendly man, who we could only assume was involved with the picture. Praise was showered upon us, how wonderful it was we came out, what it meant to him that we were supporting it. Did he know who we were? Were we even supposed to be there? Was this some sort of private event we were quietly crashing? We had no idea, but we eventually began to toy with the twitter account for the theater, hinting that our presence had infiltrated one of their movie premieres.
As the movie neared showtime, the man who had greeted us took to the front of the room. He, the director, described the labor of love he had put into making this, how it was his dream to make a feature film and have it play out on a big screen. I admired that about him. He presented himself as a genuinely nice individual and he didn’t really care what anyone else thought. He hoped people would like it, but most of all, he made it for himself and he was proud of it.
We crashed the premiere of #FurryNights & got applauded when the director found out actual furries were in attendance. video:Cajuntagious pic.twitter.com/1aSfbcX4Tf
— Werewulf Dad (@KaiWulf) December 1, 2016I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in to be honest. This was either going to be so bad and stupid and dumb that it was going to be a laugh riot, or it was just going to be really boring and offensive. Luckily it was the former. My furry fam and I all enjoyed it very much.
Plotwise, it’s fairly simple. Nothing complicated here. It’s your basic horror comedy movie setup for a creature feature. A small group of people adventure out into the woods, for some reason they choose not to leave, despite multiple opportunities. They find an unspeakable evil that hunts them down and whittles them down to smaller numbers.
The difference here being that this time, the creatures terrorizing the hot young cast are humans wearing animal costumes. The monsters in the movie are literally furries in fursuits. Kinda crummy cheap looking ones compared to what people in the fandom would spend to get one, but it adds to the idea I’m watching some sort of surreal episode of Scooby Doo. I don’t fault the movie for this at all – I can’t think of a single furry who would volunteer to ruin their $2,000 costume. I spent $1,450 just to get my own. Think of all the delicious big macs I had to sacrifice to be a banana dog at furry conventions.
The cheesy fursuits make the film perfect. The entire film pretty much honors and accepts that it’s a low budget B-horror movie production. It hits the ground running and never lets go. Hell, even the main characters in the movie are in the forest producing their own cheesy horror movie. From start to finish it knows it’s ridiculous. The dialogue is quippy and humorous, often bringing a smirky chuckle to your face. Other parts are outlandish and surreal and your eyes are glued to the screen. Did that just happen? Yes it did!
I’m the perfect audience for this film. I watch horror and sci-fi genre media like a nutcase. I pretty much consume cheesy Sy Fy and Asylum movies like nourishment for my soul. I have the added benefit of being able to call myself a furry. I have no idea what someone would think of this that’s not in the furry fandom, like myself, but I thought it was stupidly awesome. It was entrancing.
Furry Nights is an 80’s midnight movie rebranded for a modern audience. What’s not to love? The movie isn’t very original, or smart, or scary, but it’s highly amusing and entertaining and that’s all it is trying to do. It’s all it needs to do honestly. This film isn’t trying to break any new ground, it was clearly meant to be shared with friends late at night at a party with a bunch of alcohol.
It has many different classic horror movie tropes, right down to the fact it begins with a quick kill of an unimportant nameless bastard before the opening title card, who stumbles upon the maniac sex cult of furries. There’s a cabin in the woods like Evil Dead. There’s some great gross out gags here and there. Furry Nights (to my relief) was not trying to make people in the furry fandom look bad, it’s just poking fun at them and it feels good to laugh at yourself.
The whole movie knows how ridiculous it is. It never tries to pass itself off as anything serious, and that’s exactly why it works. I watched this movie to see killer furries, and goddamn did I get that! It delivered on every level! You don’t pay to ride a rollercoaster then complain when you get off! I saw murderous fursuiters terrorizing mostly innocent campers.
I’ve told so many people about this movie, how it needs to be shared, because socially, that’s where this movie is supposed to be viewed. You don’t watch this alone. To fully enjoy this movie to the maximum potential, you need to get your friends for a completely different viewing experience. Audience interaction builds upon the intensity of this odd little gem. It’s kind of like how on its own, Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Room, they’re just not the same animal. But if you’re laughing at it with your friends, it becomes the best thing ever made. I’m glad I watched it and invite you to do the same.
– Lucas
Furry Nights is now available on iTunes. Visit the official website for updates and more.
Thanks to Lucas for being the experimental volunteer to watch this. Personally, I would love to see more such fandom productions – but it’s such a niche that we have to grow and give it time. Until then, I definitely appreciate good natured “fursploitation”, and friendly fellow travelers on the indie side. I hope you do too. Try this for a furry movie party!
To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.
Fursuit theft in San Francisco leads to a lion hunt.
Meet Clumzy Lion from Toronto. He was one of 5,138 furries who came to Biggest Little Fur Con in Reno on June 1-4, 2017. His trip included a night in San Francisco’s popular Fisherman’s Wharf area before flying home. That’s where he lost his head. Clumzy’s car was broken into, and they even took his passport so he couldn’t fly. Being robbed and stuck is much worse than just a sad feline.
Remember a similar fursuit theft that made local news by SFist and Broke-Ass Stuart? More about that below. They’re linked in case they can help.
(Update: thanks to @SFist for sharing the story!)
Clumzy’s plight spread through the grapevine of the SF Bay Area Furs. Zarafa, a purple giraffe and beloved member, took charge of helping. He told me the story hit him like PTSD, because he was a former victim too.
In January 2016, Zarafa’s giraffe suit disappeared out of his car after Frolic furry dance in SOMA. The next day, party organizer Neonbunny personally flyered the neighborhood. A homeless person saw the giraffe abandoned in an alley, and a flyer made the connection to get it home. Neonbunny’s fast, determined footwork saved the day. (Thanks also to SFist, Broke-Ass Stuart, and furries around the world for moral support. Zarafa says people still come up to him at cons to say they’re happy about it.)
The story brought hope for Clumzy. Meanwhile, the Canadian Consulate accommodated his other bags and helped him to start getting a new passport. Zarafa took him in as a house guest for the night. On Twitter, he was advised to come to the Berkeley Furmeet at Au Coquelet Cafe, where dozens of Bay Area Furries gather on every first Tuesday. There he was offered hugs, rides, and a flyer by Lilly, and I offered to spread the story.
The next day brought some good luck. The passport was found on the ground near Ghirardelli Square. It was a clue that connected the theft and the find to a small area. But searching and flyering was fruitless. Clumzy was free to fly home, but with a big loss.
The search continues. Please share, and if the fursuit turns up, we’ll get it home for another happy ending.
I couldn't find the suit head sadly. Rakota will be helping me hunt it down as I head to the airport.
— Clumzy (@ClumzyLion) June 8, 2017
Zarafa was upset to see history repeat. Keeping a Pelican case in a car appears to make special temptation – thieves think a big case means it’s full of gold, instead of a custom-tailored costume with priceless personal value. He compared the situation to New York City in the 1970’s, when people couldn’t leave their cars closed. They would leave the windows open and take the radios out.
From the NY Times:
Recent data from the F.B.I. show that San Francisco has the highest per-capita property crime rate of the nation’s top 50 cities. About half the cases here are thefts from vehicles, smash-and-grabs that scatter glittering broken glass onto the sidewalks.
It’s a hot discussion in groups for night life. Some venues like DNA Lounge give extra attention to have their security patrol the street. Cyclists are hard hit, and the SFPD has a twitter channel just to help with bike theft. People are even having their grandma’s ashes stolen. What’s the solution? Whatever it is, you can’t avoid problems all the time. For times like this, it’s good to have a community that steps up for one of their own.
(Update: Felix The Fox also lost luggage to look for.)
@Felix_the_Fox bag : looks like this pic.twitter.com/eXtmFbF0sG
— Spring Red Lynx (@Jinxthelynx) June 7, 2017Strap on the bag pic.twitter.com/sx7iyS1TWD
— Spring Red Lynx (@Jinxthelynx) June 7, 2017To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.