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Now you get to mod your character in the new Sonic Game? This game hits sometime by the end of the year.
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Dogpatch Press is honored to host guest writer Mark Merlino.  He’s a fandom founder who helped found the first furry convention (ConFurence Zero in 1989). Mark maintains the Prancing Skiltaire house in So Cal, with fellow fans Rod O’Riley and Changa Lion.  Below is his submission, followed by a part 2 with additional questions I sent.  

Mark is announcing a treasure trove of pre-internet furry lore.  Now you can see stuff like the ConFurence Zero conbook. You may love this if you got involved in the days of trading ‘zines by mail (like me), or if you just want to compare what cons do now to how they did it decades ago.  Now we have a thriving subculture on top of the 1980’s fan ways, with unique features like a cottage industry for fursuiting, dance events beyond compare, and cons every weekend around the world.  But some things never change – this blog is basically my ideal 90’s ‘zine, except I’d love to add more art as it grows. ( – Patch)

Mark in 1989 – and check out the ConFurence Zero Aftermath Report.

(Mark:) Here is my article about fan publication history, the Prancing Skiltaire house library/archive, and the recent creation of the on-line ConFurence Archive made by my partner Changa.  It also mentions Rodney’s and my blog Two Old Furry Fans, and InFurNation (Rod’s labor of love for 25 years of so). There is a real interest in the history of fandoms, and finally a way to research early records.

The ConFurence Archive (at confurence.com)

You can find anything on the Internet! At least that’s the popular perception due to the rise and eventual acceptance of search engines like Google, information aggregation web sites like Wikipedia, and archival collections like archive.org. Where did people find things out before the Internet? Well, libraries! Growing up, I learned all about the libraries in my schools, and the local public libraries and how to use all of them. Card catalogs for finding books by subject or author, and the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, which indexed hundreds of magazines; these were my Google on dead trees.  My first real job (for pay) was a “page” at our neighborhood branch. The job required putting books back on the shelves, in order. I expanded my responsibilities by keeping the record players in the listening rooms and the copy machine all working (always was a nerd…)  In high school I was a library assistant for 2 years, sorting shipping and receiving, and even rebinding. I spent many hours, from grade school to my time in the university devouring entire libraries. I collected my own books: science fiction and fantasy paperbacks; comic collections (Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” was my favorite); art and reference books, magazines like National Geographic, Natural History, Science, and Zoobooks; and illustrated books for young readers.

ConFurence 4, 1993 – I’m guessing this show-stopper bunny was Shawn Kellers’. – Patch

When I met my partners and we moved in together with friends, all of our collections combined.  We ended up living in a library. (Twilight Sparkle would approve!) In 1970, I discovered science fiction and comic fandom and fan conventions. I began collecting convention souvenir program books, convention reports, and daily newsletters. In the dealer’s room I found fan published magazines (zines) with reviews, non-fiction articles, art and fan fiction. Joining the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS, founded in 1934) I became familiar with Amateur Publishing Associations (APAs), the compiled magazines made of participants pre-printed articles and GenZines, fan published collections of articles, fiction and art. My partner Rodney was also active in various fandoms.  He had his own collection of fan publications (he even edited an APA for a writers’ group). His and other household members’ collections joined mine in our house, The Prancing Skiltaire.

Eventually our shared interest in all things anthropomorphic caused us to take leave of our senses completely, and we organized the first furry fan conventions. I negotiated with venues, signed contracts, and took care of registration, while Rodney handled programming and publications. Convention flyers, advertisements, progress reports, newsletters and convention souvenir program books were produced.  Eventually the convention progress reports became the newsletter InFurNation, mailed to members and other subscribers 4 times a year. (It’s still being published on-line at infurnation.com). Copies of everything we produced, along with business documents and correspondence were filed away. Sounds organized, doesn’t it? It wasn’t.

The important thing to understand is that fandoms, even our furry kind, were chronicled in print and on paper (much of it distributed by the US mail) before the Internet happened. Everything you can find on-line, using the wonder of search technology, had to be put there by somebody. A lot of somebodies who must be willing to work hard, for little or no compensation, to make all of this material available to all of us.

After years of depending on publishing, printing, address lists and bulk mailings, it became obvious that ConFurence needed a web presence. A site was created and maintained intermittently by volunteers (who actually did computer stuff, unlike me) until ConFurence itself became a part of history.

That was the extent of things until a few years ago, my partner Changa began posting scans and digitized video of fannish ephemera he found around our house and shop, on his Google+ and YouTube channels.  Some of it (the ConFurence 0 video, for example) attracted considerable attention. Rodney and I were guests at FurCon in 2014, and our panel on “25 Years of Furry Conventions” (25 years, can you believe it?) was a hit at the convention and on-line, thanks to Changa’s efforts. Surprised by the interest in furry history, Rodney was inspired to start a blog “Two Old Furry Fans” (twooldfurryfans.com), with audio net-casts where Rodney and I talk about our fury interests and experiences (Eventually we’ll be talking with some famous guests, we hope!).

It was this year (2017) that Changa (with a bit of help from us) realized that all the pieces were in place, and it was time for the Next Big Thing. A furry (and related fandoms) public access information archive.

The long abandoned ConFurence.com site, revitalized with nearly 2000 images and files to search (so far) is now the Confurence Archive.  Anyone and everyone can now access documents from the early (pre-Internet) years of science fiction and comic conventions, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO, the first US animation fan club with emphasis on the animation of Japan), and of course, ConFurence and the furry community. The site is still growing, but it’s open now.  Go to confurence.com, and study the extensive material excavated and prepared for you by Changa. Take notes. There will be a test at the end of the semester.

– Mark AKA Sylys Sable

Further Q&A by Patch.

 

Is there any physical part like an actual room where visitors can check out zines and stuff?

Here at the PS, people are welcome to look at stuff anywhere in the common areas, and some do during the parties. We have let some people who were working on projects visit at other times to dig through the shelves and boxes.

I have also let a few people borrow some magazines (anime related) for a month or so, and maybe I will do more of that. We have to be careful of a lot of the old stuff because it is on high-acid paper, often mimeograph, which fades with age, held together with rusty staples. Luckily Changa is scanning such materials while they can still be read.

What’s the rarest/coolest material in the collection… like do you have any unpublished fan works from people who went on to be famous names? (I think there were at least a few in the early 80’s APA days.)

Interesting rare stuff? Well, we have some art by Peter Chung in various C/FO publications. He was a long-time member of the club and went on to create Aeon Flux the post-apocalyptic bad-ass female assassin. Quite a few animation students, including those attending Cal Arts (Disney) got their first taste of anime at the club. Dave Kune, an artist and animator was involved in the local furry community, and an early fursuit maker/performer. He is a professor/administrator for an art school in Laguna. Many of his students display their work at the Orange County Fair, and some of it shows furry influence. Shawn Keller, a Disney animator and character designer for WB (Space Jam) used to have private art shows at furry conventions and also made fursuits and presented them at cons. We have art from them and others who have gone on to become professionals, as well as art from “lost” artists like Jerry Collins (though he does have an FA account now, under a different name). One of the interesting finds of recent excavations were newsletters and correspondence for C/FO New York by and about Jerry Beck, an animation fan that came to California and got involved with the studios, and is now the head of the Hollywood chapter of the International Animation Society (ASIFA), the group that has the Annie Awards, the Oscars of the animation industry.

There is likely a lot more, but I can’t think of any right now…

I wonder if there could be some discussion of collecting some of this info into a retrospective? (I have roughly outlined a “furry coffee table book”.)

We have has some early interest in contributions to the archive, and certainly welcome any. I would enjoy doing more articles and being involved in discussions about fandoms, particularly furry. A few people are working on books about furry. Fred Patten’s “Furry Conventions” book is mainly an index of all the conventions with basic information, until 1999. He rejected any input from us and chose to create his “facts” from the recycled rumors and statements made by people who were trying to do character assassination of me, Rod and other ConFurence staff form the first 11 years of the con.  Joe Strike is working on a furry book, likely from his perspective of comics/science fiction and the early artists, which considered themselves “funny animal” artists. He has been around a long time, as a fan and as a writer, producer and production assistant in the film industry, and no one currently in the furry fandom has ever heard of him :(. One of the founders of the Graymuzzle Facebook community is also working on a book (Grubbs Grizzly). Rodney suggested (years ago) doing a “Furry for Dummies” book, which would be easier for us, since those books are usually a series of topical essays, with lots of illustrations. We could even have content from other contributors. Will it actually happen? I can’t say…

The coffee table book sounds interesting. One of my dreams was to have a (or perhaps several) real furry art gallery shows, in legitimate galleries/museums. I did arrange and curate a large animation art show at the university I attended in 1975. It was one of the largest shows of it’s kind, with more studios and artist represented then ever before. Rod also arranged some gallery shows with an art association in the Santa Ana artist village, with opening planned for the monthly Art Walk. The shows were small, as it was very difficult to get artists to contribute, but the events were well received and got a lot of local press. I think furry art as a genre includes some of the most beautiful illustrative art produced today. A show in a museum environment (not a sales situation) could include some incredible pieces from several personal collections (like ours).

Thanks again to Mark and be sure to check out confurence.com.

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.

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A new reprint of something we seem to have missed the first time around: A coloring book adventure comic called The Unlikley Trio — Last Barn On The Left. Here’s what we found in Previews: “Lil’Bit the mouse, Mrs. Butters the cat, and Abby the Collie dog join together to confront a scary monster that lives in the barn of their small town. Can the three friends overcome their fears and get through this adventure? Kids can be the colorist in this black and white adventure that features fun activities in the back of the book. Alterna will be donating all proceeds to the ASPCA foundation to help protect animals in need!” It’s written and illustrated by Scott West, with writing help from Callie West. On-line there’s all kinds of contradictory information about when this was published, but hopefully Alterna Comics should have it back in stores soon.

image c. 2017 Alterna Comics

 

Here is a rather cool furry independent animated film that is a bit like a mix of Heavy Metal and Rock & Rule. https://youtu.be/flaUHJhU_gY While they are selling it on iTunes and Google play it is also available DRM free on their own website: http://www.gorgonpictures.com/ [1] [1] http://www.gorgonpictures.com/
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As in the past, we’ve worked with the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, and we occasionally receive news of a survey or study they or related researchers are conducting.

The following comes from Moses Simpson

I’m a Masters student from the University of Waikato and I’m doing research into the mental health and protective factors of the furry community.

This research draws from work done by the IARP and adds an investigation into how being within the furry community can be a predictor factor for or protective factor against mental health issues.

The survey is well-designed and understanding of the basics of the furry subculture and of mental health. And, hey, you could win an Amazon voucher for taking the survey! Sweet.

Take the survey here.

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Registration is open for the Alamo City Furry Invasion : The Furry Furry West, October 6-8, 2017.  Follow on twitter: @FurryInvasion. 

Yay for a new frontier of fun in Texas!  The well-established con is Furry Fiesta in Dallas. The new Furry Invasion is a 4-hour drive south, and thoughtfully scheduled 6 months after.  This fandom IS big enough for the both of them.  That bodes well for success, and it already seems to be going great. They sold out their original hotel (the Marriott), and upgraded (with transfer of reservations) to a nicer place.  Now it’s at San Antonio’s El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel.

What’s cool in the southwest furry scene?  Besides cons, I previously posted about independent efforts to start furry dance parties (a small series by Whines, and FurNightATX by Haven, who is also the founder and fursuiter mascot of HavenCon.) Haven is one of the Guests of Honor at the upcoming ACFI, along with Telephone, Omnom, and Thorgi.

Did I say cool? This con is so far south, I think fursuiters will be glad it’s in October.  So mosey on up to their registration page, and get deputized with a badge for fun.  (-Patch)

Registration info and more:

Lifetime badges only available for this year. There is a limited supply so act now!

Registration pricing:

• Supporters. $15
• Attendee. $35
• Sponsor. $75
• Super Sponsor $120

Available for additional purchase:

• Attendee level lifetime badge. $220 only 6 left!
• Sponsor level lifetime badge. $500 only 2 left!
• Additional Convention T-shirt. $20 only available to those that pre-register!

Attendee gets a member badge, choice of custom pet tag or wristband, and access to the dealer’s, artist alley, game room and Saturday night dance party.

Sponsor gets all of the attendee package plus a convention T-shirt!

Super Sponsor gets all of the sponsor’s package plus dinner with the guest of honor (Limited to first 20 Super Sponsor purchases) plus entry into a raffle for ATTENDEE LEVEL LIFETIME BADGE!

Vendor table pricing:

• Dealer’s Den $50 plus any registration. Limited to 8 tables in the Dealer’s Den.
• Artist Alley. $25 plus any registration. Limited to 9 tables in the Artist Alley.
• Raffle tables. $5 (not including registration). Limited to 3 tables in the Artist Alley.

Act now to secure your badge or table!  Merchandise at the door is at a limited supply on a first come first serve basis!

Register at: Alamo City Furry Invasion : The Furry Furry West.

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.

enjoy! ep. 162 - The Assterlife - enjoy!

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I’ve never gotten to interview Fred Patten personally, though he’s very amicable and we’ve exchanged letters. The reason is simple. Before I interview someone, I research who they are, what they do and what they’ve done. The research allows me not only to write better interviews and articles, but also, I believe, it gives me the privilege of finding out new things about the inhabitants of our shared furry society, our culture, our stories. I haven’t been able to interview Fred Patten to my liking because, as it stands now, while I’m being constrained by normal every day life as both a worker and a self-sustained college student, Fred’s background as a fandom member is absolutely overwhelming. I don’t think I can do him justice, though I can try to introduce him.

A 76-year-old furry from Southern California (Western US coast), Fred is a retired librarian and documenter, with a Master’s Degree in Library Science. It comes as no surprise that, as such, he’s an avid reader, an industrious book reviewer, and a writer. After becoming greatly involved in the Sci-Fi fandom in the 60s, he found out about anime & manga, and became a co-founder of the first American anime fan club in 1977. He partnered with Richard Kyle (creator of the term “graphic novel”) to open a bookshop in California, and wrote to Japanese publishers to import their manga overseas, to the US, for the first time. He’s interacted with Osamu Tezuka, Ray Bradbury, and other sci-fi & manga authors. Considered one of the leading Japanese cartoons experts and promoters up to the 90s, he started becoming involved with the Furry fandom as it diverted from the Sci-Fi fandom, in the 1980s.

  Fred cosplaying as The Flash in 1962, at the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, (C) William Schelly.   Takaji Kusonoki and Fred Patten looking at a pressbook
for the animated feature Phoenix 2772, in 1980.

He became editor of Rowrbrazzle, one of the first furry magazines, from 1989 to 2005. ConFurence 0: Yep, he was there too! As a furry book reviewer, he’s worked with magazines Yarf! (1990-2003), Claw & Quill (2004-2005), Anthro (2005-2008), and Renard’s Menagerie (2008). As a furry literature promoter, he’s edited a number of furry anthologies, the latest of which are ‘Gods with Fur’ (2016) and ‘Dogs of War’ (2017), a collection of 23 short stories each, from different writers, about historic and original furry gods, and furry stories set in military scenarios. But he’s got many other books too! He is the co-founder and corresponding secretary of the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA), the organization responsible for the Ursa Major Awards, since 2001. He’s also a member of the Furry Writers’ Guild. His compilation of furry stories ‘Best In Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction’ won two 2003 Ursa Major Awards. He was inducted into the Furry Hall of Fame, of MiDFur (Melbourne, Australia), in 2011, an annual award that honors contributing members of the fandom for their loyalty and undying commitment to furthering the fandom’s culture worldwide.

A group discussion on the history of the Furry fandom feat. Fred Patten, Mel White, Drew Maxwell, Mark Merlino, and others. Recorded in 1998 at ConFurence 9. Video edited and uploaded by Rivercoon.

The 2011 induction into the Furry Hall of Fame, at MiDFur.

Friends visit Fred in June 2015. Fred in front, left to right behind are
Bernard Doove (furry author), Carol Alves, Roy D. Pounds II (furry artist), James Alves.

Fred has made a number of praiseworthy efforts to keep historic records of furry happenings throughout the years. As a current collaborator of furry news sites Flayrah and Dogpatch Press, he is still very active on the internet. He writes and comments with great insight based on his knowledge, experience, and research. You can read one of his many articles here (link⇒), an illustrated retrospective on the furry fandom. He also currently writes on animation and manga for the website Cartoon Research.

Fred’s latest published book is “Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015”, a copy of which he kindly sent me for reviewing purposes. This book is a reasonably complete recollection of information and curiosities of all the furry conventions that have happened, since the first in 1989, up to two years ago. And boy, let me tell you, have there been many! The time and dedication put into this book are representative of Fred’s general disposition. Methodical and observant, some have described Fred as a “walking compendium of information”. But of course, all Fred could have written about, is events arranged and orchestrated by contributing members of the fandom, whether attendees or organizers. So there’s a bit of many many people in this book. Taking into account that to a great extent these massive gatherings are not-for-profit or non-profit, such a publication highlights and reinforces the sense of community that, to me, is embedded as a core value of the fandom.

The ‘furword’ (wordplay on ‘foreword’) is written by Kathy Gerbasi, Ph.D. in Social Psychology and co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP). She’s a lovely cheerful woman, last seen as a spokesperson in the documentary ‘Furries’ by Eric Risher (2016) (link⇒). She very well points out that the book is an invaluable source as a historic archive, and one of its uses is documenting how some cons achieved success, while others did not, and why it actually happened. The change of date of ConFurence 10 (1999) from January to April, and its change of location from Buena Park to San Diego, was met with disapproval, and so was the amount of problems and unresolved complaints that the convention had. Its directors stepped down to pass on the duty to a different furry for ConFurence 11 (2000), but by that year, there were already other furry conventions in the US that had had better runnings, with which they competed in the area. Hence the progressive decline in attendance that resulted in the closure of the convention in 2003. It was not an advertisement for the con at a ‘queer lifestyle’ magazine which lowered its popularity, a false rumor that furry journalist Patch O’ Furr has repeatedly denounced (link⇒). Similarly, the book files the ending of the RainFurrest convention in 2015. Unresolved severe hotel vandalism worsened the relationship of the con organizers with its hotel, which resulted in revoking further hostings. This shows how important it is for con staff to stay on good terms with the venue owners, and for them to remind attendants that they can’t just do whatever they want but must remain respectful.

It’s not all saddening incidents though; in fact most of the conventions reported have stories of shared joyful activities and overall normalcy. There are curious, sometimes funny, tidbits, sprinkled throughout. One of these was CaliFur 4 (2008) being hosted at a hotel which also hosted a Japanese wedding party and a heavily drunken high-schoolers party. Attendees conflated the two, calling it the “drunken wedding of doom”. On another case, at RusCon 2000, attendees rented, from a circus, a tame lioness and a leopard, and took pictures with them.

The overall writing style of the tome is concise and informative, such that it reads more like an encyclopedia or a reference textbook rather than a novel, with entries dedicated to each different convention, ordered alphabetically. It includes a short intro on the fandom’s history, centered mostly on furry conventions. It also includes some illustrations pertaining to cons, such as logos, conbook covers or posters, mostly in black and white, and some in color. It always feels special to see someone made a beautiful furry drawing, with noticeable enthusiasm, for a gathering of furry friends, at some point in the past. This is our history, and I wish furries will admire it, some remember it, for as long as the fandom stays alive.

If there is something I would change to this first edition of the book, is adding some kind of map, or several maps, to have an idea of how conventions have multiplied and where they’re located. Maybe another possible arrangement of the entries would be by continent, in which case an appendix listing them alphabetically would be needed anyhow. One way or another it should be easier to search for conventions by country or state. This information is easily found out using a search engine on the internet, but it would be fitting to include it in the book in some form. The book has a link to a short video / GIF Huscoon made with the time-lapsed growth of furry conventions in North America (link⇒).

On the whole, “Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015” is a must have for scholars either amateur or professional, who wish to have a record of our furry conventions, in a single convenient printed volume. It’s also the kind of book that greymuzzles who’ve visited conventions, and have some attachment to the fandom, will enjoy having in their collection.

The book can be found at the publisher’s website, McFarland (link⇒), and on other bookshop platforms such as Amazon. More information at Dogpatch Press’ article on the book (link⇒).

Fred with a lizard on his head, at the furry party of San Diego Comics Con in 1993. Photo by William Earl Haskell.

The entry Fred Patten: A Lifetime of Dedication; </br>‘Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015’ appears first in FurryFandom.Es.

Fred Patten: A Lifetime of Dedication; ‘Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015’

It happens to everyone from time to time - you're browsing your art site of choice, or perusing your convention of choice, and suddenly....crush! Caudle joins Roo and Tugs to talk about all things Furry Crush. Be it art, another furry character, cartoon show character, fursuit, or others - they read your emails and talk about the "warm squishy feelings" inside they generate. Be it 18, 34, or 60 - it's still fun to crush! We also have Fifty Sheds of Grey, Space News, a new episode of Get Psyched!, and a couple unexpected surprises packed in this episode! (Note: We had so much content this episode, it's spilled over into a show bonus download! Catch an episode of Fifty Sheds of Grey, Roo's Tumor Time, several letters from the mailbag, and more!)





NOW LISTEN!

Show Notes

Special Thanks

Caudle, our guest
Fatigue, for the ident
Clunk
Commander Wolfe
Levvy
Moss
Anonypup
Kira
Amethyst
Fox Pup
Jax
Dee Otter
Falcon

Music

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

Spy Glass
Happy Happy Game Show


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

SHOW BONUS!
We had so much content this episode, tons spilled into the show bonus bucket!

Patreon Love

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

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Premium Supporters – None :c

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

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Plus Tier Supporters

Skylos
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Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again!

Next episode: Con parties! They're legendarily spoken of in many places, but what the hell is so magic about them? How do you get into the "private party circuit"?  And what happens inside? What memories do you have of epic con parties? Let us know by May 19, 2017. S6 Episode 16 – I’ve Got My Spine - It happens to everyone from time to time - you're browsing your art site of choice, or perusing your convention of choice, and suddenly....crush! Caudle joins Roo and Tugs to talk about all things Furry Crush. Be it art

Once again, looks like Europe is getting cool stuff that we’re not getting here in the USA. According to Cartoon Brew, “Cartoon Network EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will launch a new series in 2017: The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, created by Danish animators Christian Bøving-Andersen and Eva Lee Wallberg. Prince Ivandoe is comprised of 10 three-minute episodes that follow the adventure of young forest prince Ivandoe, whose father, The Mighty Stag, has sent him on a mission to reclaim a magical Golden Feather from the Eagle King… The project is set to launch as both a linear series and an interactive online experience that allows viewers to join the quest of Prince Ivandoe and his bird buddy, Bert.” Keep your eyes open for a launch date.

image c. 2017 Sun Creature Studio

We didn't record a full episode this week, but Savrin sat down and talked about the nonsense this week has thrown his way, discusses The Division, shills Dead Cells, and is disappointed in STRAFE. It's about 25 minutes of Savrin in your ears.. and not a fennec scream to be heard. Here is the Extra Credits video he mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKsj345Jjw Dead Cells: http://store.steampowered.com/app/588650/Dead_Cells/ Ziggurat: http://store.steampowered.com/app/308420/Ziggurat/ Want to help support the show? We have a Patreon! www.patreon.com/knotcast You can also use our coupon code KNOT at AdamEve.com to get 50% off one item, free shipping, and a free sex swing if you spend over $18. We got our good ad deal back yay! Episode 348 - Knotcast Micro

Ok, I want a Zootopia/Sing crossover now.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Animalis, by John Peter Jones
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, October 2014, trade paperback $12.99 (330 pages), Kindle $0.99.

Animalis begins with 17-year-old pod pilot Jax Minette, his same-age best friend and commanding officer Hank Schneps, and two other pod pilots being launched into low orbit to intercept a space plane controlled by a rat Animalis.

“At the end of the sparring field, the path turned and joined a road running through the middle of the small base, passing the armory and storehouse. Jax tilted his head up to gaze at the launch shaft of the base’s airport disappearing into the clouds. It was used to sling space planes almost to low orbit, saving thousands of pounds of fuel. It was a magnificent sight. The honey comb pattern of the beams started wide at the brightly lit base and rose up to a slender point a thousand feet in the air, like a giant had pinched the metal and dragged it into the sky.

The view was cut off as they entered the hangar beside the launch shaft and continued walking toward the Hornet. The barracks, the mess hall, the officers quarters, and the command center were all part of the Hornet – a monstrous space plane with two pod bays, four turrets, and room to house forty men.” (p. 8)

Mankind is fighting for survival against the Animalis. The Animalis are all vicious killers.

“Arena fights – Two Animalis fighting to the death. Not just to the death, but till the loser was devoured. Or worse, till the body was thrown into the crowd of Animalis watching in the stands, and they devoured the loser. The Animalis were still mostly animals, and animals needed to hunt. It was better than Animalis hunting on the streets, as long as you didn’t have to watch it.” (p. 21)

The Animalis are supposed to be savage, feral animals. Then how do they build arenas? How do they build space planes and put them into orbit? But they are clearly hostile to humans:

“Hank held his hand out to block the door: ‘Hold on.’

Jax had already expanded one of the crate icons as Hank had spoken. It expanded to reveal its contents: Weapons. Tactical, long-range laser rifles. Jax expanded more icons. Rifles, pistols, shock sticks – the whole plane was loaded with military-grade weapons. The mission had a new layer of complexity. It was illegal. They had to be Animalis militants willing to die to protect their payload. Jax could have a shootout. Blasting holes in the walls, sucking the plastic debris out into space.” (pgs. 22-23)

Jax has only heard about the Animalis and seen videos of them up to now:

“Easy – stay and watch the hole. But as Jax waited, his subconscious mind filled with the conflicting information he had heard about the Animalis, trying to prepare him for a possible encounter. He had seen plenty of videos of Animalis. Of course there were the violent and disturbingly brutal videos of the arena. In Jax’s mind, they confirmed that the Animalis were as unpredictable and unthinking as their animal counterparts. Then there were the videos of Animalis acting like humans, and sometimes super humans: working complex jobs, learning new languages, and most surprisingly, teaching other Animalis similar skills. The behaviors were likely mindlessly programmed into the Animalis through training, and if left alone, the Animalis were sure to revert back to normal animal behaviors.” (p. 24)

Jax’s first encounter with the rat Animalis belies this:

“Up close, the Animalis looked surreal. In gravity, it would have stood upright at about four and a half feet tall. It was like a human, but the proportions were all wrong: head was too big, arms too short, legs too thick, spine too long. And yet every feature had the same design language as a human’s.

[…]

But its face was where any resemblance to human beauty ended. The head was almost identical to its rodent relatives. The long, bent snout of a rat. Two large front teeth. Ears the size of baseballs. Fur that was glossy and black. But the eyes were the hardest to look at – yellow, expressionless eyes. They gave no hint to the creature’s thoughts or emptions, so Jax assumed it wanted to kill him. The image of the teeth breaking through his glass helmet and biting into his face repeated over and over in his mind.

[…]

‘What is this, human? You shouldn’t be here,’ the rat said. The dry lips stretched with large movements, revealing the two jagged front teeth. A growl punctuated its speech. ‘Don’t touch anything. On my plane, and you think this is your space? Confused, it must be confused, insane. […]’” (pgs. 26-27)

The rat Animalis’ ship escapes but Jax and Hank bring back two ferret-like animals of an unknown species they find on it. This raises the possibility that the Animalis are creating new forms of animals. Jax’s and Hank’s commander considers this important enough that he sends them with the mystery animals to Hurley Grimshaw, a young scientist he knows who is developing her own theory that the humans and Animalis can live together in peace. She already has trained Hodge, a fox Animalis, as her assistant.

Jax accompanies Hank, Hurley, Hodge, and the two quasi-ferrets as they roar off in Hurley’s plane/spaceship/flying lab to find if the Animalis are naturally savage or if someone/something is making them that way. They also learn whether the Animalis have been bred or created by the ominous Ivanovich Machine; whether mankind could have been artificially created by aliens in the distant past, and more. There are lots of Animalis:

“Just beyond the next section of desert, beside a large rock formation, were the two kangaroo Animalis. They stood talking while leaning back on their thick tan and white tails. Their khaki shorts and shirts were straight and starched, and matched the expedition hats they both wore. Straps from a harness looped over their shoulders and connected with a heavy buckle across the chest. One of them turned, noticing Jax and Hank approaching.

‘G’day, mates! I’m Talon, and this here’s Wes. Starting bright and early today, aren’t we? So much to see.’” (p. 82)

In fact, everyone except Jax seems to know what’s going on. Jax may not be an idiot, but he seems unbelievably uneducated to be sent on such an important secret mission. Animalis (cover uncredited) is an enjoyable light s-f adventure with humans and intelligent animals mixing in equality, if not necessarily in friendship. My Little Pony fans will love the little Russian horse.

–Fred Patten

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And speaking of kitties (sort of)… Here’s an interesting bit of news we got from Deadline.com: Princess Unikitty, probably the furriest character from The Lego Movie, will be getting her own TV series on Cartoon Network. Here’s what the folks at Warner Brothers say about it: “As ruler of the kingdom, Unikitty has busy days full of royal responsibilities. Unikitty is most interested in making sure everyone is happy and ridding the kingdom of negativity, but don’t misunderstand her optimism – she is one kitty not to be crossed. While she may be full of boundless energy and creativity, Unikitty is a force to be reckoned with if anyone gets in the way of spreading her positive vibes, especially if anyone makes her little brother and best friend, Puppycorn, sad. Also living in the castle are Dr. Fox, the resident scientist, and Unikitty’s trusty bodyguard, Hawkodile. Through it all, Unikitty and her friends make sure that every day is the happiest and most creative ever. The voice cast is led by Tara Strong (Teen Titans Go!) and Grey Griffin (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!) along with Kate Micucci (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!), Roger Craig Smith (Regular Show), Eric Bauza (The Adventures of Puss in Boots), and H. Michael Croner (Review).” No word yet on a premier date, but the Princess is sure to let us all know. Loudly!

image c. 2017 Warner Brothers Animation

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Ok, Today I learned: There is a fast food chain in South Africia called Hungry Lion. Why is it that all the Lion themed chains are NEVER where I live? Dammit. Also this commercial are seriously cute.
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Hello!

I found out about furries a few months ago, and I've fallen in love with it. I now would really like a fursuit. The problem is I haven't told my parents about it and fursuits cost so much, so I cant afford one. I'm thinking about making my own as I'm relatively good at DIY but first I need to tell them about it and get permission to make (and have help) one. Also materials cost a lot, so I'd need to borrow/earn some cash. I was wondering if you could give me an idea on how to tell them and if DIYing is the best approach for a beginner? I'm thinking of just making a partial suit to start.

Many many thanks.

Zagu (age 13)

* * *

Hi, Zagu,

A partial is a good idea, especially since you are 13 and still growing. One way to go with partials is to browse FurBuy (https://www.furbuy.com/listings/cat98.html) and look for stuff that could be fairly cheap. You can also buy fur and other sewing supplies on FurBuy. Other useful sights you might check out:

https://www.fursuitsupplies.com/
https://www.thedealersden.com/

In the meantime, sure, start learning to sew! A valuable skill. Can your parents help you learn to sew? I would advise that, instead of coming out right up front that you want to do furry stuff, just tell them you want to sew and learn how to make costumes (Halloween, mascots, etc.) It's also useful to learn how to sew clothing and accessories (both for daily use and for furry stuff). You can have a lot of fun with it! (I wish I  could sew!).

Good Luck!
Papabear

Welcome back, Dogpatch Press readers, to another installment of What’s Yiffin’! In the introduction to last month’s update, we mentioned that due to the manner in which this series is produced, some “big” stories (such as the quagmire surrounding Rocky Mountain Furry Con) are forced ahead one month.  Fear not, in case you were hoping for some “hard-hitting” fake news coverage of what is pretty much yesterday’s news by now, look no further – because the What’s Yiffin’ news team has you covered! Without further ado, here’s all the news that’s fit to yiff! Four stories to either amuse your brain, or make you sigh and lose even more hope in the fandom. Or both.

YEAH, REICH

This month’s top story is a doozy whose ripples have been making their way not only throughout the fandom, but has bled out into the mainstream as well. Denver, CO’s Rocky Mountain Furry Con (“RMFC”) was a convention that lasted exactly a decade. It has met its bitter end and transcended into that big slightly overpriced convention center in the sky. Avid members of the furry fandom (or fans of What’s Yiffin’, we know you’re probably out there somewhere) may recall a spot of controversy last year between RMFC and the Neo-Nazi group Furry Raiders.  The Raiders purchased approximately 25% of the available hotel rooms at the convention, which created substantial problems for normal con goers. Like a festering wound that’s reopened, the Raiders once again reared their heads at RMFC and this time the whole convention has gone up in flames.

Unable to deal with people who have differing political opinions, many furs requested that RMFC outright ban the Raiders and anyone associated with them from attending the convention, to which RMFC declined. This prompted a fur by the name of Deo to throw down the now classic threat of “I can’t wait to punch some Nazis.” This in turn caused someone equally as dumb on the opposite side of the spectrum to start talking about concealed carry and self defense (basically threatening to shoot someone.) The Denver police investigated these threats and determined them to be something worth worrying about, so the hotel responded by asking the convention to increase security. The problem here is that this would’ve cost RMFC upwards of $22,000 just to hire some off duty police officers to patrol the convention. Unable to handle these costs, Sorin, the chairman of RMFC, decided to call it quits and ended the convention’s 10 year run.

But RMFC’s implosion doesn’t end there. The aforementioned fur Deo ended up receiving a cease & desist letter from convention board member Kahuki Lairu.  It was literally signed with a thumbprint, because like the world’s worst Jerry Springer episode, now we’ve got “sovereign citizens” thrown into the fray. For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, “sovereign citizens” disavow responsibilities to the government. This includes concepts such as taxes – speaking of which, fellow news outlet Flayrah discovered that RMFC hadn’t been paying theirs for coming up on a decade. Even better, RMFC continued to bill itself as a “nonprofit” convention, even though its official nonprofit status had been revoked by the IRS in 2011!

In the end, what do we really have to show for ourselves but yet another dead convention? How many conventions need to meet an untimely end, before we as a fandom collectively just get our act together? Or maybe this is a blessing in disguise and the demises of RMFC and Rainfurrest are the fandom’s way of cleaning up its act? After all, like the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.

HAVING A BLAST!

Let’s shift gears a bit and say hello to our friends in the brony fandom for a change, something we like to try and do at least once a month here on What’s Yiffin’. It’s no secret that with Friendship is Magic entering its 8th season, the brony community is starting to lose its steam, but there are still conventions and meet-ups happening all the time. One such convention — Whinny City Pony Con — took place at the beginning of April and for the most part was just a run of the mill event that carried on without a hitch. That is, until someone phoned in a bomb threat and had the entire thing shut down on Saturday night. We now know the person responsible for the call was a Twitter user by the name @slacka because he just couldn’t leave well enough alone and had to brag about his actions for e-peen points.

“Going from the concert to the panel rooms, having to shut things down because of some pathetic lowlife’s idea of a joke, was devastating.” – Charlie Worthley, convention co-chair

Worthley determined @slacka to be the culprit based upon the user’s oddly specific behavior, and the fact that he was openly gloating about his actions in the livestream of the convention itself where police and SWAT were visible during the shutdown. It is not yet known if any legal action was taken against Slacka. Information from him directly has been difficult to obtain because he blanked his Twitter account after the incident. One thing has been consistent however.  That’s the sentiment toward repercussions for calling in fake bomb threats and “swatting” people; many believe more needs to be done to prevent things like this from happening.  There should be better ways to tell what is and isn’t a credible threat, and appropriate actions should be taken against the latter.

After the convention was shut down on Saturday, festivities resumed the following day for the convention to at least end on a proper high note.

WATERSHIP DOWNS

Last month was April. That meant only two things: Easter, and cheap chocolate the day after Easter. For our friends in Britain, Easter also meant that Channel 5 was showing the animated movie Watership Down to celebrate the holiday. Those of you who’ve seen the movie or read the book the film was based off of know exactly why this is kind of screwed up. Those of you who haven’t, but have noticed the image over to the left, have probably pieced together that at some level something isn’t quite right. Don’t let its nature as an animated film or its cast of cute bunnies deceive you. Watership Down is a pretty horrifying ordeal; the book was written by a World War II veteran, and many believe the contents of the book are based upon his experiences in the war. That’s the level of “real” we’re dealing with here.

Watership Down holds no punches, and is quite gratuitous with its scenes of extreme violence, gore, and even literal death. To give you an idea of how far the animators went, there’s a scene where a group of rabbits suffocate underground. They went as far as to animate their deaths in so much detail that they included the bursting of the capillaries in their eyes. This is like Final Destination levels of messed up, and again Channel 5 elected to show it over Easter weekend. As you’ve probably guessed, this irritated more than a few people who bemoaned Channel 5’s decision on social media, but this wasn’t the first time the station pulled this stunt. A spokesperson for Channel 5 told British news media that they were starting a tradition, and that Watership Down would be airing on Easter every year.

Keep fighting the good fight, Channel 5. If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from British television it’s that they have no shame in showing movies and films that’ll completely ruin you for life. (See also: Threads.)

LATER, ZETA

On April 24th the Twitter account @ExposeTheFandom existed for exactly one day before shutting down. Expose’s goal was to highlight the problem of bestiality within the fandom by screenshotting profiles and conversations from the Telegram chatroom “ZooFurries Society” to put names to potentially illegal activities. Screenshots taken by Expose consisted of user profiles, as well as excerpts of conversations of people complaining about state laws or hinting/bragging about performing illegal acts. Reception to Expose was about what you’d imagine from people unaware of the problem, with most condemning the actions shown in the screenshots and applauding the unknown account owner(s) for their actions.

However, not everyone was pleased to see the fandom’s dirty laundry being aired out for the world to see. Namely many of the implicated. Defenders of the chatroom insisted that Expose’s evidence was fabricated, and that they were all victims of a bait and switch where they had been added to a Telegram chatroom whose name was changed to something zoophile-related and screenshots were taken to defame them. While it would be entirely possible to perform a bait and switch, keep in mind that we’re dealing with an active chatroom of over 900 furs. Occam’s Razor suggests that this simply isn’t the case here, and what we’re looking at are actual snippets from the Telegram group.

In response to Expose, GSD Lovedog (the owner of the Telegram group) closed down ZooFurries Society. The group was promptly remade under the name “The Zeta Corner” and presumably is still in operation, waiting for @ExposeTheFandom2 to inevitably make its appearance.

That’s a wrap on April’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

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