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Never sure what to make of anthropomorphic works where the furry folk are specifically presented as the villains… but anyway, here’s this: A classic manga fantasy, re-printed and translated into English (for the first time) by Drawn & Quarterly. “Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War features adventures of Shigeru Mizuki’s beloved yokai boy. In the epic title story, Kitaro battles the tanuki, a Japanese animal that features prominently in the country’s yokai legends. The furry beasts draw on the power of the blood moon to awaken the monstrous catfish that lives in the depths of the Earth. The twisting of the catfish causes earthquakes that threaten to destroy all of Japan. With his yokai allies captured, Kitaro is the only one left who can take on the great tanuki and his army. Will he be up for the challenge?” It’s available now at the D & Q web site.

image c. 2017 Drawn & Quarterly

 

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I'll take a pack! ...also don't awoo as you'll start a howl. [1] [1] https://furry.today/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/zootopia_wolf_howl__animated__by_timweeks-d9ub1h4.gif
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But we still like Brontosaurus better! Anyway, Boom! Studios and Archaia present a new partial-color hardcover book for young readers. “A young cave girl and her triceratops set out on an adventure from A to Z and make new friends along the way-galloping goliaths, nine newts, petite plesiosaurs, and more greet them on their journey through the alphabet!” An Apple and An Adventure was written and illustrated by Martin Cendreda. It’s available now.

image c. 2017 Archaia

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"A scorpion hating scorpion slaying mouse passes out in the desert, and finds himself revisiting his childhood days through a mirage. Our tiny nomad slowly remembers his origins, and what had shaped him the way he is now."
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Dogpatch Press welcomes Arrkay of the furry YouTube channel Culturally F’d.

RMFC, AltFurry, Badgers, and a shaken fandom. This week, a sombre Arrkay addresses some big issues affecting Furries, and some ideas to fix it.

The video is the most disliked video in Culturally F’d history, even more disliked than 17 Misconceptions. Still overall, a great response from the community. The comments section had many misinformed and differing opinions but overall everyone stayed respectful, which is all I really wanted. I’m probably still going to turn off comments in the future, I don’t think there’s any value in keeping them open. Another surprise after the release was the watch-time, it matches that of a healthy video with a surprising number of viewers reaching all the way to the end. I was expecting a sudden drop off at points where many people would rage quit. I was hoping that from there I could figure out the exact point people nope-d out, and explore that part of the script more in this article. But it seems people who clicked out did so at a pace like any other video.

Below is a transcript of the episode, edited slightly for a better reading experience.

There’s been a lot of… drama lately on twitter. A convention abruptly shut down due to tax evasion, and a very small group of furries who self-identify as Nazis making more noise than they are worth. Today on Culturally F’d we need to have a serious talk. The last time we needed to chat like this was last winter when we looked at the media noticing furries during the #tonytigergate twitter storm.  We’re going to discuss the divide that’s shaking the fandom, and yes, Nazi furs. Defending a genocidal regime while being a talking animal is culturally F’d.

Here are some very differing opinions on the matter:

• May 2017 | What’s Yiffin’? by Gatorbox 
• Furry Raiders, Crazy Letters, and Rocky Mountain Furcon by Furry Days 
• RMFC Cancelled? My Thoughts by Reinfoxy 
• WHAT KILLED RMFC? | BIRD BAWKS #8 by 2, The Ranting Gryphon 
• Rooview – Rocky Mountain Fur Con’s Rocky Demise by World in RooView 

If you’ve been on twitter, or exist anywhere online alongside furries, you’ve definitely been witness to some very loud tweet activity lately. Even louder than #TonyTigerGate. It’s not our intention here at culturally F’d to point at any specific individuals or the drama that certain furries have been in the center of, with some exceptions. Instead we’re looking at the larger problems that are being presented, and hopefully, what we can do about it as a community.

The summary of events has been removed for your reading pleasure. There’s no new information in the summary.  Please see these links if you don’t know what’s going on:

• http://dogpatch.press/2017/04/10/rocky-mountain-fur-con-threat/
• http://dogpatch.press/2017/04/20/false-rumor-rmfc/
• http://dogpatch.press/2017/04/25/interview-sorin-rmfc-2/
• http://dogpatch.press/2017/04/28/collapse-of-rmfc-problem/
• http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/13/neo-nazis-are-tearing-apart-the-furry-world

So that was a lot. Just take a second. Breath with me. Ok. Let’s dive in.

So, you may be asking, “what’s the problem?” “Are they really Nazi’s?” “What’s so bad about X anyway?”. The thing that I keep asking myself, is what can I do? How can I contribute something meaningful to the conversation.

Part of the problem, to me it seems, is this division we’ve placed ourselves in. Maybe it’s more of a microcosm of the political discourse at large, but I’m trying to keep the discussion relevant to the fandom. A lot of rhetoric in the furry twitterverse is not done so with enough research. It boils down really quickly to personal insults, which gets us nowhere.

The division is simple, common and is applied to any group of people. Us versus Them. You’re either an SJW cry bully or a Nazi, neither which label are helpful. Us is right, them are wrong. Newsflash. There never was an us or a them. We’re all us, we’re all in this fandom together like it or not. So it’s up to all of us to try to solve this argument and attempt to do so respectfully.

Is Furry too inclusive?

It’s the pride of the fandom to be open to any of the weirdos and freaks of the internet, and providing a safe fan community to engage with. In many ways the furry fandom’s greatest strength is its inclusivity. We legitimize people’s fantasies, and make them feel at least a little bit more normal letting them know that there are other people out there with the same talking animals in their heads. All are technically welcome in Furry. All shapes, genders, political views etc. This has created a beautifully diverse framework of furries from all walks of life. Anyone can be furry, all they have to do is label themselves as such, maybe attend an event or join a chat group. Furry is an open-invite party.

Though, it may seem that this inclusiveness is starting to back-fire on us. In the past we were small enough that if someone stirred trouble, the news spread quickly on who to avoid. These days it’s not as simple. We attract such a diversity of people, we do have lots of examples of very fringe beliefs and extreme views. It’s easy to forget that the vast majority of the group are perfectly reasonable, respectable people when we have such loud and extreme personalities trying to dictate their limited views on the rest of the fandom.

One response to this over-inclusiveness, was the Burned Furs, which Viro and Metriko of Feral Attraction talked about in our Ursa Major award nominated episode on “How you Perceive Porn”. The Burned Furs lobbied against the over-sexualization of the fandom and in a sense they were trying to censure the fandom.

In front of millions at San Francisco Pride! (Thanks: Chrisastro.com)

Censuring the fandom isn’t necessarily bad, I can appreciate the SFW button on art sites and conventions efforts to create an all-ages appropriate atmosphere. But the burned Furs also lobbied against “alternative lifestyles”, like homosexuality and trans people.That was distasteful to a fandom largely made up of LGBT people, so the movement fizzled out after only about 2 years.

What I’m trying to address with over-inclusiveness is how we, as a fandom, deal with bad behaviour. People who harass, online or in person, or individuals whose actions strain the relationship between convention and hotel. RainFurest2016 was cancelled amid allegations of rampant vandalism and property destruction. As Buni put it in his Rainfurest “Post Mortem” article:  

“What really killed RF2016 was RF2011 to RF2015. During those years [the convention staff] failed to deal with problem behavior as it started happening… we didn’t work with our venue to discourage bad behavior, and we didn’t create an environment where people who wanted to solve these problems were able to.”

Whose job is it to filter this activity out and discourage these individuals from quite literally ruining it for the rest of us? Conventions are the institutions that glue this fandom together, and make it go much further beyond an art forum or website. Conventions and in-person events make this fandom beautiful, and let us embrace each other in actual hugs and not digital hugs flanked with asterisk’s. Conventions do talk to each other, and some preemptively ban troublesome individuals who were removed from other events. Others, worryingly, not only ignore the warnings from other cons but actively broadcast that they don’t ban people, which is basically inviting those individuals. It’s a bad look for your organization. It is the job of organizers to weed out misbehaving attendees to show them that there are repercussions to their actions, that bad behaviour affects the group and gets events shut down.

About Nazi-furs.

Do they exist? Yes. Definitively.

[This exceptional human being mansplanes to an SJW cry-bully why it’s OK for him to break the magic and reveal the SS uniform tucked under his fursuit. It’s totally OK though, I’m sure his Jewish grandmother approves.]

Are they the Furry Raiders? No, not necessarily. The Raiders actively try to brand themselves as all-inclusive, like the fandom at large, and welcome furries of all backgrounds. This is…. contradictory to the actions, words and tweets that some of their membership post on a regular basis. There is evidence that at least some of their ranks self-identify as Nazi-furs, and have even gone as far as to donate money to and try to join real neo-Nazi groups. If they aren’t currently Nazi furs, they were in the near past.

The knee-jerk reactions to these accusations are usually along the lines that homosexuals and people of colour wouldn’t be Nazis. For the most part that’s true, but historically, lookup Ernst Rohm, a Nazi general who was pretty open about being gay and helped lead Hitler to power until other Nazi’s convinced Hitler to arrest Rohm. He would be executed before the war and before outed homosexuals were forced to wear the pink triangle and systematically murdered. As for people of colour, the Japanese were OK enough with Nazis during the war. So please stop saying that LGBT and PoC can’t be Nazi’s, it’s just not the case.   

[Not a single comment was made on the above point, which I guess means it’s one of the stronger ones of the video]

About their choice of symbolism.

Pepe the frog is dead, the Nazis killed him. More accurately, they used his image to represent their ideas online. Pepe is registered as a hate symbol and creator Matt Furie worked Furie-ously to win Pepe back as a passive peace loving stoner and not the hate symbol he’s become. “Feels bad, man” Similarly, artists and writers for Marvel have had to explain that the Captain America for Hydra story line is not promoting Nazis, but “alt-right”ers have certainly been using their imagery against the original intentions of the artist:

(1/?) Symbols matter. Popular perception of symbols matter. If you have to explain that you’re not promoting Nazis, you’ve fucked up badly

— (((Jay Edidin))) (@RaeBeta) May 7, 2017

I think that changing a logo to make it less offensive is far easier than explaining over and over and over that it’s not like that. Unfortunately for the Furry Raiders, enough of them have self-identified as Nazi’s that we still need to ask if the whole group are a part of that.

We’re all collectively making this Nazi problem worse. Mostly by calling any racist or conservative a Nazi. If we alienate someone for a racist tweet or stupid joke by calling them a Nazi, it alienates them from the group and into the open arms of real Nazis. No one likes to be called a Nazi, unless they are one. We can avoid doing this by scaling our criticisms back. Still call out racists, sexists and assholes, but then leave or block them. When they realize no one is listening is when they’ll start to reconsider their motives.

You don’t solve racism by denying you are racist. You solve it by admitting your faults and asking questions to learn how to better present yourself in the future. Try to refrain from a knee-jerk emotional defense and try to understand why someone is offended before pulling a free-speech card. Are they an actual Nazi or are they a troll pretending to be a Nazi to get a rise out of you? That’s just as awful as being an actual white supremacist. It normalizes it and emboldens other, real white supremacists. I don’t believe in “ironic Nazis” unless it’s a sketch from British television.

What most people are referring to when accusing someone of Nazi-ism is racism or fascism. There are a lot of white people in the furry fandom, and with that comes a lot of white privilege. We’re seeing this challenged as “SJW cry-bullies” are trying to destroy free speech and censure perfectly legal racist remarks, so maybe THEY’RE the real Nazis! SJW stands for “social justice warrior”, which used to refer to tumblr users who got far too offended on behalf of a group they don’t even belong to. Now it seems to be labelled on anyone who’s offended by anything or even worse, calling out genuine problems. These people are probably outraged for a legitimate reason and calling them cry babies neither helps your case nor contributes any valuable counterpoint. “SJW” creates a false antagonist, a straw-man argument. Placing someone in a fictional role of the constantly outraged and defending people’s actions that don’t really need defending. Do you want your words to make you sound like you’re defending a Nazi, and be labelled a Nazi? Do you want to leap to the defense of a minority or someone who isn’t in the room and be labelled an SJW? I’d be the SJW cry-bully any day of the week.

The language you use matters. Attacking someone online, regardless of what side you’re on, only makes them shut you out and reinforces their ideas. They double down on their beliefs in spite of you.

More people of colour are entering the fandom. As furry spreads its fuzzy arms across the internet in a global hug, people from every continent are getting involved. Furry cannot grow if members of our fandom are actively shutting out furries who are black, furries who are Muslim, or basically any furry who doesn’t fit in with someone’s limited standards.

If all are welcome in Furry, then act like it.

What you can do to help stop this?

Talk to your friends. Speak up if someone makes a racist comment, and talk to them. Small changes make a huge difference. Even if it just lets your friend know that those things make you uncomfortable, at least you can get their assurance that they aren’t serious. And if they were, get some new friends.

Support furs of colour. FurryBlackHistoryMonth hashtag from February was beautiful and shows how much talent in the fandom is coming from people of colour from around the world. Support their art, their video, their fursuit performance, and make them feel a welcome part of our growing community.

Furry is like a family. And some families have that really racist gandpa or aunt or something. Right now, we’re kind of dealing with our version of that. I don’t want to call this “Drama”.

Calling it “drama” belittles these very important issues.

“Drama” is a label the community uses as a defense mechanism to avoid dealing with issues. These problems lie beyond the individuals that are involved and needs to be addressed by all of us.

I want to end on a lighter note and address one individual, The Boozy Barrister or The Boozy Badger. The fandom’s new badger lawyer came in while investigating all this. And after? He stuck around. He changed his twitter image to a Badger and is invited to just about every convention. I feel that this is a sign that overall, the furry fandom is handling these issues well. Better than it might appear on twitter. Better than the small group of bigoted jerks and kids who just don’t know any better want you to think.

Here is something for you guys to ponder in the comments, is this special to Furry? Is there any part of this conversation that is unique to our community or is this a small conversation in the larger discourse in the ‘human’ world? I expect all the comments will be thoughtful and respectful to the other users. I do not want to have to shut down the comments section but I will if I have to. I challenge all commenters not to use the words “Nazi” or “SJW” at all.

So to conclude, RMFC closed for a number of reasons including tax evasion and heightened security costs at the threat of violence. The Furry Raiders are not necessarily Nazis, but enough of their members have very questionable pasts. I believe the problem lies in the us-v-them mentality that has arisen in the recent political climate. We have to be careful with labeling people as it can be counter-productive and likewise we should all strive to be at least a little bit social-justice-warriors to help the fandom grow and foster a true community of acceptance.

This video only represents the opinions of the writer, and does not reflect the opinions of our Affiliates, Sponsors or Patreon Subscribers. Or even Dogpatch.press.

Culturally F’d is not a news outlet, and is subject to being incorrect or bias when regards to communicating the story. We do strive for accuracy and where possible providing links to sources. We encourage viewers and readers to conduct their own research and form their own opinions.

We would like to thank our contributing editors for their feedback: Aberguine, BlackLynk, Fletz, Kothorix, Queenie Deerhart, Nayo.

Comment Response Video and Closing Thoughts

Basically, I felt the overwhelming urge to do and say something. There’s so much happening and everyone is so confused to what to do. I felt a responsibility to use the platform that I’ve built to spread my message and hopefully spread some hope. I’ll admit that it was first drafted under a lot of stressed out anxiety, and a lot of that was scaled back after several revisions and good friends helping shape the script.

Some more of my own thoughts post-video. A few of the comments showed a complete denial that anything is wrong in the fandom. Many still think that racism is not a part of the issue, but personally I have seen way way WAY too many racist comments and tweets from furries about this. Some, understandably, want to ignore the issues outright and wait for it to go away.

There are still an alarming number who are defensive of Nazi’s. Since when were they aloud back as legitimate speakers? After WW2, basically every allied nation reshaped their entire society and government structures specifically to avoid ever giving those people any legitimacy or chance to power ever again. Free speech is super important to Americans, I know that. But it’s only really recently that these extreme views have been given the validation and equal footing that they really don’t deserve. Just because someone dresses nicer, gets a haircut and rebrands as “white identarian” (a real thing someone said in the comments), doesn’t make them any less of a neo-nazi.

Another thing that’s upsetting to me, is that people are still reeling over “nazi-punching”. Yes, sucker-punching people you don’t like is a shitty thing to do. You should check out the top link the research below on “The Ethics of Punching Nazis” which I got from Boozy Badgers twitter feed. What’s shittier is validating people who advocate for genocide, and encouraging them to conceal-carry firearms at furry parties just in case someone gets done putting up with their shitty views.

A fist fight at a school happens daily, it’s easy for the school to deal with, it’s easy to deal out repercussions and even make the offending parties make up after. A gun at a school makes international news and a lot of the time too many people are on the wrong end of it. So many furries don’t see the threat in the tweet about shooting Deo, just because of how it was carefully worded. I see it. And it scares the crap out of me. I would think that the country with the highest number of mass public shootings in the world would take a gun threat more seriously. The Denver Police sure did.

Research Links:
The ethics of “Punching Nazis”: https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/21/on-punching-nazis/
Boozy Barrister/Badget SovCit Breakdown http://www.lawyersandliquor.com/2017/04/free-furry-of-the-land-when-sovcits-and-furries-collide/
Vice Media: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pony-nationalism-and-the-furred-reich-inside-the-alt-furrys-online-zoo?asd%3Futm_source=mbtwitter
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/even-furries-are-fighting-fascists
RF2016 Post-Mortem http://orrery.prismaticmedia.com/2016/02/20/rainfurrest-2016-post-mortem/
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Furry_Raiders

Additional links:

RMFC2016 Footage by The Halloweiners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_k7y7W-VNs
Anthrocon – Arguing against Nazi furs by RNCoyote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C_zec9f8Gg
ArcticSkyWolf’s Furnal Equinox 2017 Con Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geKcsGK-bmo
Are We The Baddies? – The German Soldiers by Mitchel and Webb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOpPNra4bw

 

If you like Culturally F’ds other videos on Pop-culture and more light hearted fandom stuff, please subscribe to us on YouTube and check out these other wonderful links to support us:

Buy Culturally F’d Merch today: http://www.culturallyfd.com

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

The Wayward Astronomer, by Geoffrey Thomas. Illustrated, map by David Lillie.
Midland, TX, Corvus Publishing, May 2017, hardcover $24.99 ([ix +] 309 pages).

Wow! Geoffrey Thomas wrote this as fan fiction in David & Liz Lillie’s Dreamkeepers universe, set about a year before the Lillies’ Dreamkeepers serial, and got Lillie’s permission to publish it as a novel. Lillie even agreed to illustrate it. Thomas wanted to make it a particularly handsome book, so he started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $18,000 for its publication. He got 484 backers and $32,309. The Wayward Astronomer is a Beautiful Book, with each of 25 chapters getting a full-page illustration and a chapter heading picture by Lillie.

The Dreamworld is inhabited by funny animals. Each character also has a special psionic power. The largest city in the Dreamworld is Anduruna, but its repressive government has made use of special powers illegal.

(This is somewhat different from rules of the Lillies’ Dreamkeepers visual series. In that, the Dreamworld is inhabited by an equal number of people as our world, which currently is estimated at seven billion people; and each character looks different. He or she also has a special power. With over seven billion inhabitants, that’s a tremendous number of physical and psionic differences. David Lillie can show the variety in his art, but in this text novel, it would keep stopping the action to describe in words how each character looks different from everybody else. So the cast of The Wayward Astronomer is mostly just funny animals; an anthropomorphic raccoon here, a wolf there, or an owl or rhinoceros or jackal or another well-known animal. As for the restriction against using special powers, that has a plot purpose but it’s also to keep from having to write dozens of special powers into the story.)

(Something that is unexplained in either this novel or the regular series is what other cities besides Anduruna are in the Dreamworld; and how far beyond the Anduruna city limits its laws extend. The Wayward Astronomer begins at a small observatory in the Starfall Mountains, shown on the map as far outside of Anduruna; but apparently still subject to Anduruna’s laws.)

The protagonist is Halcyon (Hal) Adhil, who is not a standard funny animal:

“Hal was a feathered reptile; a raptor. Neither dinosaur nor bird, he found himself on the terminus between two eras of evolution. His scaly skin was colored a dark jet black, save for patches of green around his eyes and along his limbs.   A crown of gray feathers atop his predator-shaped head buffeted and billowed in the blustery air.” (p. 1)

Hal also has a long tail with an unintelligent four-eyed head on the end. (You can see why Thomas doesn’t want to describe each character in such detail.)

Hal Adhil – Artwork by David Lillie

Hal has taken such an isolated position (the observatory belongs to Calypsa District University in Anduruna) so that he can use his special power in secrecy. He can see in all ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. When he uses it, a shimmery halo appears over his head that anyone can see.

Miriel (Miri) Rodgers, a purple-&-gray fox from the University who knows his power, is visiting him when they see a meteorite fall nearby. They trek to it, and are examining it when armed strangers attack them. Miri is kidnapped, and Hal is shot and left for dead. A farmer family nurses him back to health, and he returns to Anduruna two months later to find Miri and learn what’s going on.

Miri Rodgers – Artwork by David Lillie

To describe the plot in any more detail would give away too many spoilers. It’s basically a noirish detective story, with Hal despondent and depressed, and with everybody against him; but never giving up. Hal’s gunshot drove splinters of the meteorite into him that, when he uses his power, give him enhanced but crazy senses that may be killing him:

“‘Why is his breath so foggy?’ asked Vanir’s gravity. He tasted her eager curiosity. Miri’s heartbeat moved closer to him.

‘Is he extracting energy from the air around him?’ Miri smelled like uncertainty. ‘That doesn’t seem physically possible.’

‘This is more than I remember last time.’ Hal’s tail looked up at the ceiling, tasting the air. He continued to pace around the punching bag that served as the center of his accelerating orbit. ‘I need new words.’

‘Hal, slow down.’ Miri paced alongside him, alarm sharpening her sound. Heat shaped like a hand grabbed his wrist, pressing firmly against a throbbing vein. ‘Spirits! Hal, you need to stop. Your heart rate is insane.’

Marcus from Deviantart

The words fell on the floor, unacknowledged. He kicked them aside to clear a path. The sound of static filled his brain, like sand pouring from a broken hourglass. The weight of the flow came from somewhere up above. He turned towards the white noise, the volume increasing as he homed in on the source. Somewhere, out beyond the invisible walls of stone and life, there it was.” (pgs. 138-139)

In a sense, The Wayward Astronomer’s being a text novel does it a disservice. I’ve called the characters funny animals rather than anthropomorphic animals because, despite being called talking zebras and panthers and bears, without constant illustrations it’s hard to envision them as anything but people. They’re all human sized. They all eat human foods, ride in human vehicles, and so on.

But if you don’t mind this, this is an exciting novel, especially for fans of the Dreamkeepers graphic novel. There is additional information here about the city of Anduruna, too. Don’t miss it.

– Fred Patten

• Buy The Wayward Astronomer on Amazon
• Press release
• The Wayward Astronomer Kickstarter 
• Dreamkeepers.wikia.com: The Wayward Astronomer
• Dreamkeepers.com
• DreamKeepers Vol. 4, Descent to the Archives, by David & Liz Lille – review by Fred Patten
• ‘DreamKeepers, volume 3, Intentions Entwined’, by Dave & Liz Lillie – review by Fred Patten
• Flight to Starfall (DreamKeepers vol. 2) – review by Fred Patten
• DreamKeepers. Vol. 1, Awakenings – review by Fred Patten

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.

"A common fate is shared among three strange creatures. Does the story have an end, or are they caught in a dream?"
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Hello Everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion on sexting. Mainstream media likes to report on the fact that sexting is corrupting our youth and pushing us to make uninformed sex choices and practice unsafe (and possibly illegal) behaviors. We look at research that analyzes whether such a correlation exists and, if so, what can we do to stop the spread of evil sexting (spoiler: there is no such correlation and sexting is pretty swell).

Our main topic is on exhibitionism and other thrills. All too often we at Feral Attraction are asked why people like having sex outside, or why we think it's okay for people to wear tame BDSM gear at conventions, or why we think it's okay for people to privately engage in kink in public. We go through why people might like exhibitionism, what to look out for, and share stories about times where we've skirted the law on these issues. 

We close out the show with a classic situation: furry meets furry, furry likes furry, but furry doesn't know what furry looks like in real life. How can you ask people you've met online to send you a picture of them in person without coming off like a superficial creep. We examine this (and talk about AOL Chatrooms: a/s/l, pic s2r, hyd).

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 072 Outdoor Sex and Other Thrills - Is sexting corrupting the youth? Can fucking outside be fun? How much can't could a furry can't if a furry couldn't can't even. All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction

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

The Wrath of Trees, by Bard Bloom. Illustrated, maps by Tod Wills.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, December 2011, trade paperback $16.95 (268 pages), Kindle $2.99.

“The lakku philosopher wagged her tails as she hammered nails into my trunk. Not pleasant, companionable wagging, but wagging them so that they cross each other: the gloating of a victorious predator. I was small at the time, and three of the nails poked out of my bark on the opposite side. They ached, of course, but a plant does not feel her body as acutely as an animal would. Nothing had eaten my fruit, so I had no way to resist her, or even complain.” (p. 14)

Thus the opening paragraph of the story. If anyone wonders why the story begins as late as page 14, the preceding pages are filled with three maps of the world of Kono and the island of Naoth, and a seven-page “prependix” of the characters, language and vocabulary to be encountered.

How to summarize the summary? The lakku, the main characters of Kono, “are generally humanoid, but with some aspects of dogs and birds” (p. 9) with two tails and fur, so they’re furry. Naoth has several social/political factions. Pyzot, the nail-driving philosopher in the opening paragraph, is a member of the Rorojro faction which has recently lost its Great Faction status. She intends to use questionable and illegal methods to regain that status, which will also advance herself in Rorojro’s hierarchy. She has obtained two offworld maraleni trees, which look like regular Kono trees but are sentient and can mentally control weak minds that eat their berries. Bringing any offworld plants to Kono is a capital offense, so Pyzot, her husband Saet, and Rorojro’s kotanay (leader) Utsusei are playing a risky game. Pyzot is brutal, as shown by hammering the nails into Melylunnu (Melyl), the tree, who is the book’s narrator. Melyl hates Pyzot, but what can a speechless tree do? especially when, if she is discovered by anyone else, she will be uprooted and burnt?

“‘The method is this [Pyzot said]. maraleni are intelligent trees. Whatever eats their berries is thereafter subject to the maraleni’s observation and influence, through subtle currents. […] By ‘influence’ I include mental control – of small animals of only minor intellect and will. […]

Saet continued for her, wagging his tails in parallel. ‘In short words, we feed our enemies some maraleni berries. Then the maraleni can look and listen in on our enemies from afar.’

[…]

‘I see [Utsusei said] the traditional Pyzot cleverness at work here! Or perhaps the traditional Pyzot insidiousness. How do we get reports, though? Can the trees talk?’

‘Again, there are many variations. A bird can be compelled to peck at a board of letters and words to spell out a message. Or I shall eat a berry myself, and endure direct mental contact with the maraleni.’” (p. 17)

It is clear that Pyzot, Saet, and Utsusei do not consider Melyl as an individual but as a tool to be used. This is their first mistake. They decide that it is too risky for Pyzot to eat a berry to get into mental contact with Melyl; who knows where the division between a weak mind and a strong mind is? Instead they need a fourth lakku, but one who they can be sure is under their control. They pick Ffip, a young olpi (lakku slave) who is used to being ordered around.

“Ffip was not particularly impressive – not that I had seen more than a half-dozen lakku men. He was no more than five and a half feet tall, and a bit chubby. He was still a foot and a half taller than most women, and not nearly as plump, but he did look distinctly effeminate. Most men are at least six feet, and wiry. He had only two crests, which is not a rare thing of itself; Utsusei also has only two. But one was trimmed short and the other trimmed shorter yet, and he looked lopsided and perpetually confused. His fur, at least, was a respectable reddish-purple, with thin purple stripes on his shoulders and legs, just like Saet’s patterns.” (p. 24)

Ffip is extremely nervous about being put in mental contact with Melyl:

“His tails were flat in dread; he clearly had a very good idea what was going to be asked of him.

‘I need someone to serve as my liaison to Melyl,’ said Pyzot. I can’t be running out to Letse [where Melyl is planted for spying] every time I want something investigated, and I can’t carry on a decent conversation with someone who talks only by commanding a bird to scribble in the sand.’

I suppose I could have seized that moment to volunteer that I had other ways of talking. I can create illusions of sound at an immara [something in mental communication with a maraleni], and I was sure that with some practice I could make spoken words. […] In any case, I chose to keep my powers secret.” (p. 25)

Melyl is already planning to escape Pyzot’s control:

“‘Nothing or next to nothing. My best instruments can barely sense a thing! This is excellent, Utsusei. A few cleverly-placed berries nd we can spy on the other factions,’ said Pyzot at last. ‘Now, try to compel Ffip to, oh, write ‘yes’ in the sand.’

This seemed an excellent time to seem as weak and unintimidating as possible, and an excellent time to betray Pyzot. It would not be the last. I knew that even my best direct control would not work, rather in the same way that a lakku knows without trying that he can pick up a chair with some effort, but not a full bookcase. Still, I used my weakest spell of compulsion rather than my strongest, sufficient perhaps to persuade a beetle to eat one treat rather than another. The spells I used on the songbird were stronger. ‘I think I felt something,’ said Ffip.” (p. 27)

Melyl slowly enlarges her knowledge of Letse, and of Naoth, as songbirds and mice eat her berries, become her immara, and she sends them out to explore for her. When Pyzot’s adolescent daughter Etefi and her best friend Nyzhi become immara, Melyl doesn’t dare try to compel them to do anything; she uses them to eavesdrop only and learn about lakku social life.

The Wrath of Trees gradually turns into a picture of lakku society, its politics and religion, and finally of Naothian warfare against the rival island of Kepez. Melyl at first merely observes:

“‘The maraleni experiment runs the risk of getting us all lynched if it is discovered. What risks do the others run?’ asked Saet.

‘Various risks, all small. Ffip might end up mindless if one of them works badly. Another might turn our fur into ice needles. The other experiments are all fairly noticeable though: anyone with a Pesamimaan Butterfly will know that something is up. The thing that pleases me most about the maraleni is that she’s unnoticeable.’ I unnoticeably worried that Pyzot would realize that I was listening to her as she decided whether or not to kill me. At least, Ffip didn’t notice it.” (p. 76)

Then she tries to silently influence things. Things get complicated, on Naoth and beyond. The Wrath of Trees is truly unique in its planet, the physiology of its furries, and its rooted, thorny heroine; but the reader is drawn smoothly into it all. It’s a very Different but nevertheless enjoyable read.

The cover by Tod Wills shows Saet (holding the birdcage) and Pyzot standing below Melyl.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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.

May’s Book of the Month is Kismet, a science fiction novel by Watts Martin.

The River: a hodgepodge of arcologies and platforms in a band around Ceres, full of dreamers, utopians, corporatists—and transformed humans, from those with simple biomods to the exotic alien xenos and the totemics, remade with animal aspects. Gail Simmons, an itinerant salvor living aboard her ship Kismet, has docked everywhere totemics like her are welcome…and a few places they’re not.

But when she’s accused of stealing a databox from a mysterious wreck, Gail lands in the crosshairs of corporations, governments, and anti-totemic terrorists. Finding the real thieves is the easy part. To get her life back, Gail will have to confront a past she’s desperate not to face—and what’s at stake may be more than just her future.

Kismet is available in paperback from FurPlanet and DRM-free ebook from Bad Dog Books, as well as paperback and ebook (in an alternate cover edition) from Amazon.

Some of the folks involved with Lemonbrat.com have started a new venture — for a decidedly adult audience. Growl After Dark is described as “Sex-positive smut for people who want something different. Our aim is to celebrate different body types, sexualities, and relationship styles in our sultry tales, focusing on character and story as much as our art.” To that end writer/illustrator Jezebel Tart and writer Riley Black have created a series of digest-sized graphic paperbacks containing both illustrated stories and comics. Furriest among them by far is The Woods, but all of their works have something of interest to furry fans — or collectors of erotica. Needless to say, their web site is for Adults Only!

image c. 2017 Growl After Dark

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Today we have the final trailer for the film Mascot Fur Life by Jens Wernsted. Here they are on Twitter. [1] [1] https://twitter.com/mascotfurlife?lang=en
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2017 sucks. The news is like a dumpster fire.  The best escape is the gentle, fun-loving furry fandom.  But even here, meanies are coming to ruin things. So how do we make it better? I have the answer. Something to neutralize negativity and bring back what’s important. Something made of pure happiness and smiles. Something I can always get behind. Cans. Behinds. Butts.

Cute and colorful butts. Plush, squeezable butts. Fluffy butts with perky tails. Butts to inspect close up and say hello to. Butts to tickle and cuddle and use for a pillow. Butts I want to save on my phone for later. Naughty butts to grind on while dancing. Swaggy, waggy butts. Butts shoved in my face four at a time until they make stars in my eyes. Shiny prize winning butts. The best kind ever invented, with the fanciest of fantasy art and fursuits.

NEWS UPDATE – That’s My Fetish (thanks to Hulex)

BUTT CONTEST WITH PRIZES!

Forget what’s bringing you down. Let Dogpatch Press take you to a better world. A world at your fingertips (as long as there is consent!)

I WANT YOUR HELP to feature the forefront of behinds. Together we can highlight the haut monde of haunches. Harvesting heinies is better for two than one (just like playing with them in your paws.) Let’s unite like two cheeks on the same butt.

Please send your favorite furry butt pics, plus a front/face pic to patch.ofurr@gmail.com or @dogpatchpress by May 30. Art or photos are OK. Butts may be pre-screened for selection – sorry if yours doesn’t make it due to amount in the fandom. There’s so many great ones!

Butts by Boiler. If you’re even 10% as much of a furvert as I am, you should immediately find her on FA and get a $40 UNCENSORED poster.

Your ass-istance will be rewarded with a headline and a nice spread in the article. Readers can vote for their favorites. The top three will get prizes for their service to fandom. Thank you for the inspiration you give by being the tops in bottoms.

Prizes go to submitters (send your own butt or someone else’s, just make sure it’s OK with them). Ask friends to vote! Two runners up will get prizes of candy and coffee. The first place gets a hardcover art book. Just to celebrate butts, I’m giving out this:

• Top’s Lapsy candy, a tangy treat made from Nepalese hog plums to remind you of the exotic mystery of bottoms.
• Premium quality coffee beans from Blue Bottle in San Francisco, to put a perk in your cheeks.
• The art book has animal drawing from a Disney artist to inspire you from head to tail.

Furry butt and front/face pic (art or photos) will be accepted to patch.ofurr@gmail.com or @dogpatchpress between now and May 30, for publication and voting shortly after. (Please hide naughty bits on NSFW pics.)

FOR ETHICAL BUTT JOUNRALISM – My own is disqualified so others can have a chance.

Getting my butt inspection from Jason Folf down a special alley in San Francisco

Don't even be playing like there is a more squeezable butt than mine pic.twitter.com/Kh39hdJDgl

— DirtCoyote (@DirtCoyote) May 20, 2017

FOR MORE BUTT COVERAGE:  please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  $1 gets exclusive stuff and helps make wags.  If two new patrons sign up, I’ll do more contests that can lead to a science discovery of the best butt of all butts in fandom. Please share for butt science!

What about SCALIE butts?! Here's my pic of Komos (one half of #KomosandGoldie super-duo) aka @JoeStrike, superb #fursuit by @Artslavefursuit pic.twitter.com/zD4pIlX279

— Oliver (Goldie@AC) (@OliverGoldie1) May 21, 2017

RT @QuarksCoolf It’s official, we have an ass off. Who has the nicest butt? pic.twitter.com/b6HRkESgH0

— supreme nap wizard (@chazzzles) April 16, 2014

It's Circe Bogart's senior thesis film! (She collaborates with Vivienne Medrano)
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A new full-color one-shot comic from Antartic Press: “A chill dude washes up on a totally radical island: Majestic waterfalls, rainbow apples, and crazily great swimming holes. But when a hilarious monkey steals this mellow (but starving) dudes’s rainbow apple, a chase through a jungle results in an radder discovery. Welcome to Rad Island!” What more do you need to know? Well, maybe that it’s written and illustrated by Javier Fox. And it’s available now.

image c. 2017 Antarctic Press

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we REALLY liked this one. I know we say that often, but srsly. 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! Don't forget to hang out in our telegram chat, now w/ over 100 members!telegram.me/draggetshow ep. 163 - I'M ANDY WARHOL - we REALLY liked this one. I know we say that oft…

This week we’ve got a massive roundup, lots of news, and Fayroe getting out of control with blue product purchases.

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Watch Video Link Roundup:

• RockDog on BluRay
• History of the entire world, follow up to history of japan
• New sub-species of snow leopard discovered
• Pence says something weird
• Gatorbox What’s Yiffin’?
• CFz Engineers tweet BTS of equipment management
• New 3D animated animal film SAHARA starring snakes!
  • Link 1
  • Link 2
  • Link 3
• BoozyBadger goes further down the rabbit hole
  • Recent tweets
  • Latest blog post about legality of consent
• Mozilla sends Mascot to DC to promote Net Neutrality
• FurScience’s Prof. Sharon Roberts talks furries with Jenny McCarthy on Sirius XM Radio
• Sonic Forces: Custom Hero Trailer
• @ElektroFuzz – events in the Vancouver area
• Mascot Fur Life Final Trailer
• Culturally F’d tackles RMFC drama
• What We Do In The Shadows Trailer
• Someone at ACEN cosplayed the Hyatt lobby statue
  • Link 1
  • Link 2
• PETA protests outside Califur, LAPD on site

News:

• Thousands of ‘Second Life’ Bunnies Are Going to Starve to Death This Saturday
• Man Accused Of Repeatedly Sending Sex Workers To Strip On Neighbor’s Porch
• Woman Spends 3 Weeks In Intensive Care After Eating Gas Station Nacho Cheese
• Hunter Sexually Assaulted by Sasquatch
• New Blue Pigment being made into a Crayola Crayon and Name Vote on the Color

Emails:

• Psych Fur – “Cons, Questions, and Hellos (Long, >_< Sorry!)”

FC-267 Satyr Hatyr - This week we've got a massive roundup, lots of news, and Fayroe getting out of control with blue product purchases.