Feed aggregator

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

Payu’s Journey, by R. Lawson Gamble. Map.
Los Alamos, CA, Rich Gamble Associates, November 2016, trade paperback $19.98 ([4 +] 91 pages), Kindle $2.99)

This is an oversized 8½” x 11” All Ages book, which means that it is written for Young Adults but will be of interest to adults. As the cover by Krista Lynn shows, it is set in Australia and features Australian animals – and a human baby.

“Payu wandered through softly falling darkness across the barren desert emptiness, her heart choked with grief. Every step brought a jarring reminder from her milk-swollen teats.

Payu was a dingo, the wide land she traveled Australia’s Great Sandy Desert where the sparse vegetation sent long roots deep into the cracked earth in search of any scant moisture, where small patches of hardy bunch grass clung to crumbly soil surfaces. Here and there a desert pea or acacia shrub cast a long spindly shadow.” (p. 1)

Payu’s mate has been killed at their den by humans while she was out hunting, and her pups stolen. Wandering grief-filled through Australia’s northwest, she comes across two human campers, a husband and wife, and steals their infant.

“Payu watched the little one feed and considered her situation. Somehow she had made the decision to keep this tiny human. Yet in the hostile environment of the desert it could not survive without more support. She could not hunt for food and at the same time protect a hairless, defenseless pup. Not without a mate or the support of a pack.” (p. 4)

Payu’s Journey is her adventures looking for support.   At first she goes to a large dingo pack, the Red Sand Pack, with which Payu and her mate had had friendly relations, sometimes hunting together. But Ruwa, its alpha male, fears the human retaliation that is sure to follow.

“Payu stepped away from her bundle. ‘The humans took away my pups. I have taken a pup from the humans. I come to seek your support.’

A look of surprise crossed Ruwa’s face, followed by anger. ‘You have acted thoughtlessly. The humans will follow you. They will come to take back their pup and they will punish all of us. You must leave now and take the human pup far from here.’” (p. 5)

She comes across a lone dingo, Ngur, who offers to help. She is startled when he brings a red kangaroo to meet her.

“Still she stared as they smiled and watched. When Payu spoke again, it was all in a rush. ‘But how did you two … you know … dingoes and kangaroos don’t usually …’ Her voice trailed off.

Ritta laughed loudly, a high-pitched whoop of a laugh. Her big brown eyes gleamed with amusement.

‘Yes, it’s true,’ she said. ‘Crazy, isn’t it? It’s quite unusual for natural enemies like us, may I say historic enemies like us, to cross species lines, so to speak. It’s not expected, it’s not accepted. Like Ngur here, I don’t follow the rules, I go my own way, I don’t follow the mob. If you want to survive in this desert you’ve got to have friends here and there, you’ve got to have allies, you’ve got to have folks you can call on in an emergency. You’ll see, you’ll learn, now that you’re on your own too.’” (p. 12)

Ritta carries the human pup, a boy whom they name Yawa, in her pouch so the tracking human dogs will not find any scent to follow. The three set out for the far north, where the desert gives way to a green and lush jungle with plenty of fruits and water.

They encounter both friends and enemies: Death, the Desert Death Adder; Camu the camel, descendant of 19th-century human attempts to introduce camels to Australia’s deserts; the Panka outlaw wild dog pack; Aptaca, the Goanna lizard; Kinta the brown eagle; Mika, “the foxy lady”. Some have to be escaped from, while others aid them, and some join their Motley Pack. Dangers include a savannah wildfire, a deep river with crocodiles, constant human hunters in helicopters, and an apparently impassable cliff.

Payu’s Journey comes to a definite conclusion, yet it also ends on a cliffhanger with a promise that her and Yawa’s journey will take a markedly different turn in the next book. This is Book 1 of the Tales of Yawa trilogy.

Gamble writes a straightforward yet sophisticated story. He makes several characters stand out by their distinctive voices. Ngur the white dingo: ‘Mah bad paw is actin’ up. Sometimes if ah push it too hard, the tendon pulls tight and ah have to rest it.’ Death the adder: ‘Sssstop, cur, or I will sssstrike the baby.’ Ritta the Roo: ‘Oh my goodness, how terrible, how frightening, how worrisome.’ Camu the camel constantly swears by his mother’s hump, and he belches and his stomach rumbles. Aptaca the Goanna talks with an educated accent. These are blended smoothly into the adventure. Payu’s Journey is, if not for All Ages, certainly for middle schools on up through all adult ages. Readers of this Book 1 will want to read the next two books of the Tales of Yawa when they are published.

Payu’s Journey is obviously inspired by the famous Australian case of a two-month-old baby girl who was stolen by dingoes from camping parents in 1980. The true-life adventure was much less happy; the human parents reported her theft by dingoes to the police, but when the authorities could not find anything, they convicted the mother of murdering her daughter. She was imprisoned for three years of a life sentence before the remains of the eaten baby were discovered in a dingo den, and the parents were exonerated.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

If you would like 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, from opinions to book reviews.

Nuka joins us once again for some awesome psychology talk and furry survey updates. Then we do a quick roundup and jump into news involving drunk animals. Wait.

Download MP3

Watch Video Interview:

Dr. Courtney “Nuka” Plante (he’s a kitty!) from FurScience.com joins us once again to discuss the project. After compiling several years of results we discuss some of the findings, their new freely downloadable book, and future plans of the project.

Link Roundup:

• Spawts puts out a Q&A video
• Mika Brzezinski Confuses Easter Bunny with Furry Fetishists, Traumatizes Morning Joe Team
• Paradox’s favorite desktop wallpaper artist
• Anthrocon #2 convention in Pittsburgh
• Mailman delivers package to strange name
• Ontario license plate “Paradox” but it’s blue

News:

• Hero Squirrel Attempts To Eat Taco Nearly The Size Of Its Whole Body
• Loner Crayfish Can Handle More Alcohol Than Sociable Ones
• Drunk Fish Convince Sober Ones To Follow Them Around
• What Really Happens When You Drink The “Shaman Drink” Ayahuasca?
• Psychedelic Drugs Induce A Higher State Of Consciousness

FC-264 Designated Swimmer - Nuka joins us once again for some awesome psychology talk and furry survey updates. Then we do a quick roundup and jump into news involving drunk animals. Wait.

Nuka joins us once again for some awesome psychology talk and furry survey updates. Then we do a quick roundup and jump into news involving drunk animals. Wait.

Download MP3

Watch Video Interview:

Dr. Courtney “Nuka” Plante (he’s a kitty!) from FurScience.com joins us once again to discuss the project. After compiling several years of results we discuss some of the findings, their new freely downloadable book, and future plans of the project.

Link Roundup:

• Spawts puts out a Q&A video
• Mika Brzezinski Confuses Easter Bunny with Furry Fetishists, Traumatizes Morning Joe Team
• Paradox’s favorite desktop wallpaper artist
• Anthrocon #2 convention in Pittsburgh
• Mailman delivers package to strange name
• Ontario license plate “Paradox” but it’s blue

News:

• Hero Squirrel Attempts To Eat Taco Nearly The Size Of Its Whole Body
• Loner Crayfish Can Handle More Alcohol Than Sociable Ones
• Drunk Fish Convince Sober Ones To Follow Them Around
• What Really Happens When You Drink The “Shaman Drink” Ayahuasca?
• Psychedelic Drugs Induce A Higher State Of Consciousness

FC-264 Designated Swimmer - Nuka joins us once again for some awesome psychology talk and furry survey updates. Then we do a quick roundup and jump into news involving drunk animals. Wait.

Nuka joins us once again for some awesome psychology talk and furry survey updates. Then we do a quick roundup and jump into news involving drunk animals. Wait.

Download MP3

Interview:

Dr. Courtney “Nuka” Plante (he’s a kitty!) from FurScience.com joins us once again to discuss the project. After compiling several years of results we discuss some of the findings, their new freely downloadable book, and future plans of the project.

Link Roundup:

• Spawts puts out a Q&A video
• Mika Brzezinski Confuses Easter Bunny with Furry Fetishists, Traumatizes Morning Joe Team
• Paradox’s favorite desktop wallpaper artist
• Anthrocon #2 convention in Pittsburgh
• Mailman delivers package to strange name
• Ontario license plate “Paradox” but it’s blue

News:

• Hero Squirrel Attempts To Eat Taco Nearly The Size Of Its Whole Body
• Loner Crayfish Can Handle More Alcohol Than Sociable Ones
• Drunk Fish Convince Sober Ones To Follow Them Around
• What Really Happens When You Drink The “Shaman Drink” Ayahuasca?
• Psychedelic Drugs Induce A Higher State Of Consciousness

[Live] Designated Swimmer

Took ’em a while, but Dreamworks have finally brought us more adventures with Spirit, star of the 2002 2D animated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Animation Scoop has a recent article introducing us to Spirit Riding Free, a new DreamworksTV animated series coming to NetFlix on May 5th. The story and characters are considerably different from the animated feature this time around: “When city-turned-country girl Lucky meets a wild mustang named Spirit, she feels an instant connection to the untamable horse. A courageous and natural-born leader, Lucky navigates this new world with her two new best friends, Pru and Abigail by her side. The trio embark on thrilling adventures, find genuine friendship, and discover what it means to be free!” No sign of Matt Damon to be found. Anyway, visit the article to see a trailer for the series.

image c. 2017 DreamworksTV

Save

Fursuit friday! "Another year of fun and entertainment with friends in Atlanta, Georgia! The night dances were spectacular this year and was a real treat to capture that on video for you guys to see. And of course, the dance competition was amazing. Some of the best that the fandom has to offer!" ...yeah purple is awesome. Kiba Wolf on FA [1] [1] http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kibamal
View Video

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

Love Match, by Kyell Gold. Illustrated by Rukis.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, January 2017, trade paperback $19.95 (378 pages), e-books $9.99.

Kyell Gold is arguably the best author in furry fandom. He has won many literary awards inside and outside the fandom. Even those who do not like adult explicit writing have been won over by the high quality of his fiction.

Many of his books are set in what is loosely called his Forester University world. The best-known are the five “Dev and Lee” novels, chronicling the meeting of Devlin Miski, tiger football star, and Lee Farrel, fox gay activist, during their senior year at Forester U.; their becoming homosexual lovers, at first secretly and then openly; and their graduation from college and their first year out. Dev becomes a professional football player and Lee becomes a professional football talent scout to stay with him. Readers of the five novels became immersed in the details of professional football as Dev and Lee firmed up their personal relationship.

Now Kyell Gold has started a new series, projected at three novels. It is superficially similar, except that the sport featured is tennis, not football; and the main characters are, at the beginning, too young to have a sexual orientation. There are references to the Dev and Lee books.

Love Match is narrated by Rochi N’Guwe, a black-backed jackal from the African nation of Lunda who is brought to America the Union of the States with his mother on a scholarship from the Palm Gables Tennis Center. Rochi is immediately nicknamed Rocky by the other students, including Marquize, a cheetah from Madiyah who becomes his best friend. The Palm Gables Center, a leading tennis institution, has scoured the world for promising young players, and has brought Rocky and his mother to the States when he is only 14. (Probably. Lunda is casual about recording births.)

The novel begins with a brief prologue set in the present (2015), then drops into a book-length flashback to 2008 through 2010 for Rocky’s experiences in Palm Gables. This begins with his being introduced to the States and Palm Gables by Marquize, who is also 14 but has been in the States longer. Rocky does have some observations:

“Coyotes unsettled me because they looked so like jackals and yet the colorations were different. They had many of our mannerisms and the muzzles and ears matched exactly, more closely than the other canids at the school, none of which I’d encountered back in Lunda. Foxes were skinnier and more flamboyant, wolves stockier. I’d never met a maned wolf, but there was one named Veronica in our class and she looked like a fox who’d been stretched out. She and Kim [a coyote] hung around together a lot, but she was quieter; every now and then she would drop in a single smart comment. (p. 51)

Rocky also develops a dubious relationship with the older Braden Longacre, a dark-furred cross fox who is one of the Center’s top alumni but, as Rocky puts it, “He’s also kind of a jerk.” He and Braden get off on the wrong paw from the start:

“The sharp tone of Coach’s voice always brought us to attention. Marquize and I looked up to see him staring at us. ‘You three,’ he said, waving a paw. ‘Go start your practice games. You’re not getting time.’

Marquize and I hadn’t thought we were going to anyway, so it wasn’t that big a deal. But Braden was looking right at me, and so I paused and looked back as Marquize turned to go, and before I knew it, Braden had put a paw on Coach’s shoulder. ‘Now hold on,’ he said. ‘Why don’t I play a little one-on-two to warm up?’ He reached out a long, dark finger. ‘The coyote and cheetah there?’

‘I’m a jackal,’ I said loudly.

Coach’s big white ears swiveled. ‘Rocky and Marquize? They’re frosh –‘

‘It’s okay.’ Braden pulled his lips back in a smile. ‘It won’t take long.’” (p. 37)

But Love Match isn’t all tennis and Rocky’s school experiences. He has many short reminiscences of growing up in Lunda, which were often mixed with a long war there. His father was killed when he was too young to remember him. Rocky is devoted to his younger sister Ori, who could not come to the States with him and his mother; and he is shocked when she tells him when he phones home that she is being betrothed by their Aunt Kamina in an arranged marriage, at age 13.

“[I] hung up, then went inside to where Ma was sitting on the couch reading. ‘Ori’s getting married,’ I said, standing there with my arms folded.

Ma flicked her ears and turned the page in her book. ‘Already?’

‘You knew about this. You told Kamina to do it.’

‘No.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘I told Kamina to take care of Ori as best she could. She thinks Ori should be married, and I’m thousands of kilometers away. I’m in no position to argue, and it wouldn’t be good for Ori for me to argue.’” (p. 48)

Rocky (who is just 14) feels that he must earn enough money to bring Ori to the States where he can somehow take care of her.

Love Match is about Rocky’s mid-adolescence in Palm Gables, growing up with his tennis-playing classmates, and his stern-but-loving Ma. Other important characters are Frio (ferret), the Center’s assistant tennis coach; and Coach Murphy (white rabbit). His classmates are his pals, but they are also his rivals. Frio trains them all to play their best, and that means to study each other sharply for their weaknesses. These are mostly funny-animal scenarios, but Gold emphasizes the animal nature of the characters when he can:

“Pom had great footwork and speed and he used his tail for balance better than any other fox I’ve seen since then, except for one (a lot of players keep their tails curled around them; some let them flop around).” (p. 144)

Rocky’s classmates are Bret, a cougar; Yu, a panda; Pom (red fox) and Dom (arctic fox); and Malik, a Geoffroy’s cat; among others. And of course Marquize. Rocky and all the boys discover Internet pornography together. Rocky goes from learning theoretically what gay romance means to developing a solid gay relationship with Marquise. Braden, who has already graduated and gone on to tennis stardom, appears just often enough to not be forgotten; his role as Rocky’s mentor/enemy will grow in the sequels.

Love Match (wraparound cover and over a dozen interior illustrations by Rukis) comes to a satisfactory conclusion but leads right into the next stage of Rocky’s life. It is a bravura addition to Gold’s Forester U. world.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Furplanet
• Buy at Bad Dog Books

So this happened. Warner Brothers Animation decided to mash up the original Gene Wilder Willy Wonka film with Tom and Jerry for ... reasons? So it's now official and they have lost their 'effen minds. The trailer here is a wonder to behold and this is an abomination of so many levels. I think this storyboard artist put it best: I have been sitting in my office for 30 minutes like pic.twitter.com/2rQM3z01mw [1] — Sam King (@SamanthaCKing) April 18, 2017 [2] [1] https://t.co/2rQM3z01mw [2] https://twitter.com/SamanthaCKing/status/854468952163889152
View Video

Dear Papabear,
​
Last year because of Donald Trump many people from Islamic countries have been deported back to their home countries. They were forced to board planes leaving from New York, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and California after being arrested and detained by Immigration Control Enforcemen—or ICE—agents. What can I do to prevent further deportations of people from Islamic countries from happening?

Sergie
 
* * *
 
Dear Sergie,
 
Excellent question. I think, in truth, this is the first time Papabear has ever received such a politically hot query (conservative "Ask Papabear" readers might be offended by what I am about to say, but oh, well). Even though the outright ban on immigrants from several countries ordered by Trump has been stayed by a federal judge, border security prejudice against Muslims and deportations have increased significantly. A witch hunt like this has not been seen in our country since the anti-Communist McCarthy era of the 1950s. The election of Donald Trump has brought back a flood of racist feelings in this country. Hateful people feel empowered by his being elected and are coming out like cockroaches when the light of justice (forgive me for sounding like Po here) has been turned off.
 
Americans have a long history of that here, including prejudice and mistreatment of African Americans, Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, Irish immigrants, Japanese Americans, Communists, LGBT people, and now Muslims (especially if they are from the Middle East; many Americans are too dumb to realize many Muslims are not from Arabic countries, even sometimes confusing Sikhs for Muslims if they are wearing turbans). In short, our country thrives by hating other people, it seems. Politically, inciting a people to hate a certain nationality, ethnicity, or religion as an "outside threat" is used to unite people behind a government striving to stay in power. Americans talk a good game about being lovers of freedom (I remember in grade school how they tried to convince us we were a "Melting Pot"--lies), but we are just as prejudiced as any other country. Controlling people in this manner is better achieved, too, when the people are uneducated, which is why our public school system has been deliberately dumbed down by politicians and religious extremists.
 
But there is some hope. 
 
Slowly, over the centuries, America has experienced some encouraging waves of liberalism and open-mindedness. Since the 1970s, especially, we have been making some significant progress in gay, women, and minority rights. What sometimes happens (as we are seeing now) is that "conservative" whites, when they see this kind of evolution in civil rights taking place, become defensive and fearful that "their way of life" is being threatened (meaning white Christian "American" values). When this happens, there is a backlash of conservative paranoia, resulting in sympathy towards Christian televangelists, neo-Nazis, the KKK, and more subtle groups that pretend not to hold those values but really do.
 
What can you do about it? The above problem arises when liberal and progressive thinkers become lazy and complacent (this is why Hillary Clinton lost the election--she assumed she would win and this resulted in her making many serious mistakes, such as assuming she would win Wisconsin and Michigan, therefore, not campaigning enough there). So, what you need to do is:

1. Know your legal rights. This makes it harder for police and government officials to take advantage of you.
2. Get involved politically; campaign for politicians who hold your values (even if you are not eligible to vote, you can still help the right politicians with their campaigns).
3. Keep informed. Knowledge empowers.
4. Keep thorough records on anything that seems to target you and other Muslims. This is your ammunition.
5. Get the word out about Islam. Unfortunately, the U.S. media is doing little or nothing to share news about Muslims who are NOT terrorists and who do NOT support terrorism. The result is increased fear among Americans against terrorists (the media does this because they care more about ratings than the truth because ratings = money). You could start a blog, write your newspaper, and be active on social media about the true spirit of Islam.

 
I hope that helps. Fight the good fight, my furiend.
 
Papabear

​P.S. Below is a helpful book I edited about Islam that should clear things up for many people.

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

The Goat: Building the Perfect Victim, by Bill Kieffer
Manvel, TX, Red Ferret Press, September 2016, trade paperback $13.95 (158 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $3.99.

This book boasts – or warns – in a back-cover blurb that it delves into “the darkest, deepest reaches of human nature.” It isn’t pretty.

Frank, the narrator, seems like a total loser. He’s sullen, gloomy, depressed, works at a junk yard, and is in an abusive marital relationship. He keeps walking out on his domineering wife Kim, getting into a good relationship with some other woman, then Kim finds him, throws out the other woman, and starts her game of psychological dominance again.

He’s escaped from Kim again (only temporarily, he’s sure), gotten drunk at Phil’s Liquor Locker, and is walking back to his junker car when he sees a gang of wolfboys shoving around a gay man.

“Oh, they weren’t real wolves, but try to tell them that. The six or seven of them were trans-anthropomorphic teenagers from that private wizard school, Matthias.” (p. 18)

He decides to come to the rescue. He’s not gay himself; he’s just in the mood for a fight. (He’s previously established that he was a bully in school.) The wolfboys don’t want a real fight, so they run. The narrator finds that he’s rescued Glenn, a geeky former High School classmate of his who was even more sullen, gloomy, and depressed than he is.

Frank had always beaten Glenn up in High School, so now he rewards himself for rescuing Glenn by sodomizing him. What he doesn’t count on is that Glenn, being gay and a submissive type, likes it.

“Like I said, he was a walking victim, and he ate it up.

You could say that was our first date.” (p. 21)

There’s a lot of m/m sex, sex, and more sex. Frank wants to be a brutal dom, and Glenn, being a submissive, lets him go wilder and wilder.

“He hadn’t called the police. He was never going to call the police, it occurred to me. Glenn walked over to me as my thoughts slammed to a halt as the anger flared violently inside of me. He slowly wrapped his scarecrow arms around me as I ground my teeth. Then he started kissing my stained t-shirt, walking his lips slowly up my chest.” (p. 30)

Glenn moves in with Frank, who’s not gay but may be bi. Sometimes he brings girls home and makes Glenn watch him fucking a chick. Eventually he wonders how Glenn was supporting himself before he came along.

“Glenn got a check every two weeks for not going to work. It wasn’t disability per se, but a retainer. I wasn’t really interested, it worked out fine knowing he was always at my place, but after a while I was curious. He avoided telling me and I got all pissed off when I realized he was keeping secrets from me. Secrets are dangerous things.” (p. 31).

Well, you can guess that there’s a connection between the wizard school, Matthias; transformative magic; and the goat-man on the cover. To say what it is would be a spoiler, but the goat’s name is Cheech.

Frank starts spending a lot of time hanging around Matthias.

“My eye caught something odd on the other side of the teacher parking lot. There was a big white horse prancing around unattended on one of the fields. It was very handsome and powerful and I find myself comparing it to Cheech. It was probably just as human as Cheech, after all and that made me curious.

Just as I got close enough for the drafter to notice me, I suddenly noticed he wasn’t alone. A ninth-grader by the look of him was busy trying to get his pants back on. I looked at the horse with raised eyebrows and it glared at me, ears back, head lowered aggressively. It was very definitely a non-verbal GO AWAY.” (p. 59)

Frank, and the reader, learn the rules of – magic? Were-dom? It’s pretty intriguing what animals people can be turned into and what they can’t, and why. Frank mixes it with a lot of sex.

“That poor horse. It was disgusting.

I pictured the kid sucking my dick while Glenn had to take the horse’s cock up his ass.

That made me smile and we said our pleasant good-byes.

I beat the crap out of Glenn that night. Just because.” (p. 65)

Kim finally finds them. How do the three react to each other?

The Goat: Building the Perfect Victim (cover by Viergacht) mixes kinky sex with zoomorphs. Here is Guido’s, a restaurant that caters to zoomorphs:

“‘North?’ she said, her appearance as sudden as unexpected as Anthony’s [the manager] had been. She was merely six feet seven, six foot eight and much more slender than the bull’s. The cow moose carried a diapered human child on her hips and wore a pretty pink print dress that was dotted with small red hearts. ‘Is everything alright?’” (p. 96)

Yeah, “She put down the child, who promptly became a gangling and uncertain moose calf.” There is plenty here for the furry fan. Especially one who likes mind games and sex.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon, where you can access exclusive stuff for just $1. Thank you – Patch

Remember Rainfurrest? Bad behavior was blamed for the con’s demise. In 2015, vandalism caused a fatal economic issue between the con and its hotel. Popular attention focused on fetish activity, but the public didn’t care about it and the media was incredibly positive. That debate stayed between furries, but it was at least based on partial truth. That’s different from dishonesty you can see below. It connects the long-dead 2000-era Burned Furs and the end of ConFurence, with falsehoods that exploit the closing of Rocky Mountain Fur Con. It shows an agenda to divide fandom. (You may ask: why is this still happening in 2017?)

ConFurence, the first fur con, drew criticism about bad behavior. Organizers were blamed for advertising in gay lifestyle magazines to increase attendance, supposedly attracting fetishists who had nothing to do with furry fandom. Then in 2015, a fur dug up the actual 1997 “ad” that people were citing without seeing it.  It wasn’t an ad, and it didn’t come from furries.  The obscure ‘zine publication happened at a time when it couldn’t have influenced anyone. The rumor was a false smear.

The rumor is almost 20 years old now, but it still exists:

“we still hear stories about the early ConFurence when the organizers allowed some BDSM people in to improve attendance, with horrible results” Ask Papabear, 4/12/17 (graciously modified after discussion.)

Pernicious is a good word for such a long-standing rumor.  It spread by conveniently serving agendas, including for the Burned Furs, a group of puritans against “perversion” in fandom.  They lasted about as long as a wet fart, but they’re still a topic because they started this kind of thing.  Put them in a “stupid idea” category full of false “us vs. them” divisions against sex, sin, or “SJW’s”. (Another stupid idea: defending 2 The Ranting Gryphon because he’s “us”.) Maybe call it “hypertribalism?”

At Further Confusion 2017, I got dinner with Mark Merlino, Rod O’Riley, and Changa Lion, staff and founders of ConFurence.  They graciously answered questions about how the con died after the ownership was transferred in 1999.  The next owner was a Burned Fur.  Meanwhile, Burned Furs spread the rumors against fetishists and just plain gay people.  (They are in fandom and were never outsiders.)  The rumors went so far, you could call it a malicious hoax.

From 2005, here’s a look at a Burned Fur not just passing on a rumor, but trumping up a falsehood:

“Regarding Merlino’s marketing of ConFurence to the gay community through specialty magazines, this was confirmed at ConDorCon in the mid-’90s when furry artist Lia Graf directly faced down Mr. Merlino at a convention panel (where I was in attendance) and asked him if he had been doing this. He admitted to the action and said he felt that sexual diversity would do the fandom good.”

– Calbeck, AKA Scott Malcomson, from Wikipedia. (But there was no confirmation of such marketing, as you can see.)

In 2017, here’s the same Burned Fur @Calbeck joining “Bronies For Trump” to make a new accusation about RMFC. The agenda is to blame the con’s problems on “SJW’s” and particularly on Deo. It scapegoats her alone among everything else, for her report of a threat to con security:

@HyenaGrin you don't have to take it from me. Here's a first hand account of a journalist contacting the hotel (@roycalbeck) #fur4peace #altfurry pic.twitter.com/o98CcIp9Zg

— #BroniesForTrump (@GWSSDelta) April 18, 2017

There are blatant lies going around that I contacted the Denver Police and/or contacted the RMFC hotel Marriott and neither are true. https://t.co/XsdLSzmQCw

— Deo's Vult (@DeoTasDevil) April 19, 2017

@navajo_leo I keep telling people just fucking ask the Denver PD and hotel. I'm out of state my phone number would be obvious.

Fatally stupid fuckers.

— Deo's Vult (@DeoTasDevil) April 19, 2017

This accuses Deo of causing RMFC to lose support from the hotel, and it’s one of many such claims:

What we know is that Deo sent claims of “gun threats” to the police and hotel, said “threats” being a direct response of intent to defend against their own actual threat. – Calbeck on FA

Except that Deo reported to the con itself, and didn’t call the hotel. She handed responsibility to con security to do what they’re meant for. Months later her report only returned for widespread public discussion after it was reported by Dogpatch Press 12 hours before the con was canceled. The fatal security cost was caused by activity from many sides (according to the con chair) and it happened weeks earlier:

We had been approached by our hotel only 2 (maybe 3) weeks before the convention was canceled with the new costs and that was the first we had heard of them or even the possibility. – RMFC chair Sorin to Dogpatch Press on 4/18/17 (lengthy interview posting soon)

In between were many events, that even led RMFC board member Scorch to contradict Calbeck with a dubious story of the hotel “discovering” random tweets. On FA, LucanShepherd answers Scorch:

Deo and her actions are not the only influence on the sequence of events. The Raiders and upset Colorado locals and other people were involved. Both before and after Deo had any involvement… Yet you continually defend the Raiders.

For the purpose of dishonestly scapegoating Deo on Twitter, Calbeck is representing himself as a journalist… but just take his word for it:

@HyenaGrin @GWSSDelta In that I actually get paid to produce articles for a journalism outlet. Feel free to disbelieve, reality doesn't care about opinions. -:)

— Pointed Commentary (@RoyCalbeck) April 18, 2017

@RoyCalbeck @GWSSDelta > evidence or examples of said journalism to go back and check.

Do you think people should just accept unverified statements on twitter?

— Hyena Grin@BLFC (@HyenaGrin) April 18, 2017

Notice how this “actual paid journalist” NEVER SPOKE TO DEO, who he is accusing. Or to me (who he pre-emptively blocked), who did speak with her.

@GWSSDelta @DogpatchPress Dogpatch calls out an actual paid journalist for doing the most basic research, which they made zero effort to attempt. Typical clickbait.

— Pointed Commentary (@RoyCalbeck) April 19, 2017

He gets paid, so it must be real? Does that apply to working for nutbag sites like World Net Daily or Infowars, and is that why he’s embarrassed to show it?  How embarrassing for a “real journalist” to get owned by this hobbyist here, while he’s revealed as a common link for falsehoods about TWO cons.

It took 3 minutes for Deo to answer my hobbyist contact to her. She told me:

Calbeck just said it was my fault out of the blue. I had never heard of the guy, and for someone who calls himself a “journalist” he did zero effort at research or getting any sort of communication with me. Called me a man, said I was part of a plot, said Art Decade was my leader, all sorts of conspiracy bullshit and regular bullshit that would have been easy to fact check if only minimal effort had been attempted.  Dishonest and negligent should also be used to describe this liar.

If you’d like to read more from Calbeck, visit his journal that absurdly claims:

“I don’t value ANYONE or ANYTHING more than I do HONOR.”

UPDATE:

Interesting that Calbeck and Foxler are both Burned Furs. Hmmm... ???? pic.twitter.com/fSASiEcLcK

— Deo's Vult (@DeoTasDevil) April 21, 2017

With one side of the story about RMFC being dishonestly spread to scapegoat Deo entirely for everything – by 2000-era Burned Furs with friends like the Furry Raiders – smart and reasonable furs may not wish to join their “us vs. them” agenda.  And perhaps it’s all “us”, but some of us are just stuck in the past.  Like back in the 1930’s before it stopped being OK to be cool with nazis.  So what horribly difficult solution does the “SJW” side have for settling this division, so the other side can join us in the modern world of 2017?  Does it take a time machine? Ask this charming blue hyena how simple it is:

Should I get into helpful furry tips? I think this video could help a lot of furries pic.twitter.com/exxNLw5s1K

— THOTIMUS PRIME (@skippyena) April 18, 2017

Listen, do you hear barking about BIAS!?  Ignore that noise. But since this article talks about truth and honesty, remember that the job of journalism isn’t to report both sides.  “Both sides” means equal time between a scientist and a flat-earther.  The job is to report the truth.  If it’s about furries and you are a furry, there is no “objectivity” for that (how many furry stories can be told by non-members?)  Besides, this isn’t mass media, it’s a blog and “voice” is just as important.  People who are mad about mine probably aren’t even paying 2 cents to get theirs in.  (So start your own blog, or leave a comment below.)

If you would like to send a few cents to help me be a REAL PAID JOUNRALIST or get better at being savage, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support furry writing by all of the team, from opinions to book reviews.

More tie-in stuff coming our way as we get closer to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2. Now Marvel Press give us a new hardcover illustrated book called Rocket’s Rules. “Ever wonder how to navigate a quantum asteroid field? Escape a deep-space maximum-security prison? Insult a powerful adversary without anyone catching on? You’re in luck! In this ultimate intergalactic survival guide, Rocket covers everything you need to know – including what it takes to be a good member of a team. So pay attention and read up!” It hits the shelves (like a missile!) right before the movie comes out, but you can pre-order it now over at Simon & Schuster. [Tip #1: Don’t call him a raccoon!]

image c. 2017 Marvel Press

we were sleepy. Hope you like! ep. 160 - Sleepycast - we were sleepy. Hope you like!

It's MC Easter Bunny! I suppose this is Hip Hop? Man, Humans are so weird.
View Video

Hello Everyone!

We open this week with a discussion on disclosure when dating. A recent study shows that sexual stimuli inspire people to be more vulnerable and forthcoming on themselves and their desires and interests in a partner when it comes to dating and long-term relationships. We discuss this phenomenon and go through why sex may not be as bad on a first date.

Our main topic is a discussion on Sexuality and Gender Expression with Debra Soh! Debra is a sex researcher and neuroscientist who writes a weekly column for Playboy and has been published in several other outlets, from Scientific American to the LA Times to the Globe and Mail. You can read a separate interview that Debra had in Quillette earlier this year if you are further interested in her background and areas of focus.

As a sexologist, Debra focuses on why people have the sexual interests they have and if there is cause, neurologically, for there to be a predisposition (or even if these paraphilias are hard-wired into the brain). She discusses recent research and findings in these areas, as well as whether this can be applied to gender identity. We also discuss some of the more taboo paraphilias, including "cub" attraction within the fandom. 

Debra invites all listeners that have questions for her, or if you want to keep up with her recent publications, to visit her Twitter page, @debra_soh. We would like to thank Debra for coming on and sharing her expertise in this. 

We close out the show a question from a listener who is in a long distance relationship with someone who is entirely incompatible in physical appearance, fetishes, and sexual roles. Do two tops make a bottom, or should the listener break up? Debra helps us out on this involved question.

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 067 Sexuality and Gender Expression Ft. Debra Soh - Is sex on the first date a good way to open up other things than your asshole? Debra Soh joins us to discuss gender and sexuality: how much hate mail does it take for our inbox to explode? Do two bottoms make a top? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction

Dogpatch Press welcomes Arrkay of furry channel Culturally F’d.

Nazi-panic got you down? It seems these days everywhere you look there seems to be some sour racists ruining someone’s day. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Working on Culturally F’d gives me a great outlet to explore anthropomorphic animals throughout history and media. So after the public twitter discussions about whether or not it’s ok to punch nazis, I recalled some historical examples that helped. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, there was a huge push in propaganda on all fronts. They encouraged spending money on war-bonds, saving fats and scrap metals, starting community “victory” gardens, empowering a new female workforce, perpetuating false-optimism of a short war, warning against spies listening in, and attempting to shape public opinion and spark a sense of national identity. The military’s of the world commissioned animators to help influence public opinion during a time when Nazi Germany was beginning it’s invasions, and it was becoming clear to more and more governments that the Axis powers were not slowing down or stopping.

Propaganda like these were created to help sway public opinion, and to paint a caricature of the enemies. This was at times, incredibly offensive and racist, and it’s important we don’t forget that and that we don’t repeat it again.

We’re going to start with Animated Shorts, which were created to precede or follow newsreels of current events, often part of a pre-show for a larger, longer feature presentation in the movie theatre.

Wartime propaganda animations were explored here on Dogpatch before in “Did the Axis Have Any Funny Animals? – WWII history from Fred Patten.” (UPDATE: Fred also wrote an extended history of Propaganda representing both sides of the war in this 2012 Flayrah article “Talking Animals in World War II Propaganda” Thanks Fred.)

“Donald Duck Nazi Episode with Prologue Speech (der Fuehrer’s Face 1943)” This one has an excellent lead in.

“Der Fuehrer’s Face (originally titled Donald Duck in Nutzi Land) is a 1943 American animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in 1943 by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany, was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of American propaganda during World War II. The film was directed by Jack Kinney and written by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer from the original music by Oliver Wallace…

Der Fuehrer’s Face won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 15th Academy Awards. It was the only Donald Duck film to receive the honor, although eight other films were also nominated. In 1994, it was voted Number 22 of “the 50 Greatest Cartoons” of all time by members of the animation field. However, because of the propagandistic nature of the short, and the depiction of Donald Duck as a Nazi (albeit a reluctant one), Disney kept the film out of general circulation after its original release. Its first home video release came in 2004 with the release of the third wave of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets.”

This next video is from my home and native land – at least commissioned by the Canadian government. Disney studios created “The Thrifty Pig.” From 1941:

“The Thrifty Pig is an educational short animated film released in 1941. Its aim was to educate the Canadians about war bonds during the World War 2. The Thrifty Pig features reused and reconfigured animation from Three Little Pigs (1933).”

Daffy The Commando, 1943 

Most of the cartoon involves a series of comedic mishaps with Daffy foiling Von Vulture, but it’s the ending that makes this cartoon extremely memorable. Daffy Duck is fired out of a cannon and lands right in Berlin where Adolf Hitler is making a speech; as Hitler is just rambling on in a nonsensical mix of English and German (with a stereotypical German accent), Daffy whacks him with a cartoon mallet, causing Hitler to cry like a baby.

Bugs Bunny also went out of his way to play trickster against a German, and dresses as Stalin to frighten Hitler himself in “Herr Meet Hare” 1945

Some neat trivia for this cartoon from the Wikipedia page:

Daniel Goldmark cites the cartoon as a significant precursor to What’s Opera, Doc? (1957) and a source for its visual imagery. After running off, Bugs re-enters the scene dressed as Brünnhilde. The costume includes a blonde wig with braids and a Viking-style helmet. Bugs rides on a white horse, visually based on the Clydesdale horse. Musically, the scene is accompanied by the “Pilgrim’s Chorus” from the “Tannhäuser” (1845).

On the other side of the German front, the Soviet Union was also hard at work making propaganda animations. The ones I could find don’t have nazi’s getting punched, but I thought they were noteworthy. Some of Europes leaders are depicted here as dogs in “Adolf the Dog Trainer and His Pooches” from 1941 and “Fascist jackboots shall not trample our Motherland” from the same year where Hitler is angry pig stomping through Europe.

Films intended for the public were often meant to build morale. They allowed Americans to release their anger and frustration through ridicule and crude humor. Since the 1940’s, Nazis have been the but end of jokes, the go-to bad guys for films. I always thought it was funny that in most PG13 films, violence is not allowed except against aliens or nazis.

In my next article for this series, we will look at a different kind of propaganda. A type more accessible to furries and is still a powerful tool to sway public opinion today. We will be exploring the war-time propaganda of Dr. Seuss, and some more recent webcomics relevant to the alt-right discussion we have within our own fandom.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, “Culturally F’d” where we explore anthropomorphic animals throughout history, culture and mass media. If these articles get enough traffic I may adapt them to YouTube.

Last week we discussed the History of Redwall, so in this week’s F’d Up Date, Rusty takes a crack at those pesky “Raiders” that keep assaulting his peaceful abbey.

We’re also nominated for three 2016 Ursa Major Awards. “17 Misconceptions about Furries and the Furry Fandom” (Patch was a contributing writer) – and “Burned Furs and How You Perceive Porn feat. Feral Attraction” are both nominated under “Best Non-Fiction”.  The channel itself is nominated for “Best Website”. So head over to www.ursamajorawards.com to vote!

– Arrkay

"You love the intoxication of the speed, the roar of the engines, the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber? Then you are exactly right here! Because here everyone can become a racing driver. Well, almost everyone. Whether it is a frog, a squirrel, a lion, an orangutan or a pig, all the animals in the Opel become a racing driver." This ad was made the "The Mill" [1] which is the same effects house that worked on many seasons of Doctor Who. Here is a making of: https://youtu.be/0jq64gXi7uo Also by The Mill: https://youtu.be/nd1MrTqnDd0 [1] http://www.themill.com/
View Video

Greetings, Dogpatch Press readers. We hope you’ve been enjoying the run of What’s Yiffin’? on this website; it’s time for April’s edition! One thing you’ll realize over the course of watching our show is sometimes events happen so close to production time that we can’t include them in the show and they are delegated to next month’s release. The firestorm surrounding RMFC is an example of one such event. Literally a day or two after we wrapped up this episode that whole mess happened, sort of like how the story about 2 Gryphon was pushed back to this month for the same reason. Speaking of 2, here’s the news that’s fit to print!

More details and some additional insight from the show’s writers:

2 UNLIMITED

Furry Hall of Fame (yes, it’s apparently a thing) inductee “2 The Ranting Gryphon” was recently let go by Anthrocon’s board of directors, ending a near two decade run of stand-up comedy shows starting as far back as 2002. Uncle Kage, a personal friend of 2, voted against removing him from the entertainment lineup.  However this did not seem to shift the tables in 2’s favor, as the majority still spoke and the majority said “get out”. It’s important to note that 2 has not been banned from the convention. He just doesn’t have any stage time for a show this year.

2’s style of humor has often been compared to that of George Carlin, due to it’s vulgar yet socially poignant nature. When word got out that he was dismissed, he blamed the fandom’s shift in taste on “SJW’s” (Social Justice Warriors, far-left liberals who are strongly in favor of political correctness and racial/class issues). There was also a stray Twitter account involved named “@0ffensiveFacts” that had been dead for a year and previously had some interesting things to say about Jewish people. Naturally, these kinds of accusations result in drawing attention to the content in question. People began to scrutinize 2’s material to try and see why this paragon of the fandom was kicked out of said fandom’s largest convention.

“What is sexual molestation? The physical nature of it is obvious, but what what does it represent emotionally to the victim? A loss of control. Helplessness. Perhaps some pain. Being forced to do something you don’t want to. Shame and embarrassment. These are all unpleasant things. But they’re also unpleasant things that most people experience nearly every day from their bosses or co-workers at their jobs or from teachers and other students at school.”

The preceding quote comes from a rant blog post on 2’s website from 2012. This isn’t “edgy” humor. This isn’t even humor at all. What this is, is someone who’s never been through the trauma of molestation, before thinking he can be an edgelord about it and look “cool” by telling people to just walk it off. 2, I don’t know how much money you make doing stand-up, so I don’t know if you’ve ever held a job before, but when someone comes home and goes “man the boss really screwed us today”… the boss didn’t literally screw anyone.

2’s response to this criticism was to double-down on his fame, and say when this all blows over he’ll still have 25,000 people watching his videos. (Referring to the number of subscribers on his YouTube channel). That’s not how it works, 2. You have 25,000 subscribers, but most of your content gets about 400 views on average. To put this into perspective this dumb fake news show will average about 200 and the up and coming Gatorbox channel only has 1,000 followers. Your comedy career is fishtailing in a very dangerous manner, 2, and as entertainers ourselves we can only caution you about the next steps you take because — in regards to your career — they very well might be your last ones. Show some humility.

STILL CAN’T ENJOY HER SANDWICH

Nick Robinson, better known as “the guy from Polygon’s Car Boys who isn’t Griffin McElroy”, is an Internet comedian and videographer. The aforementioned Car Boys is arguably his most popular work, but he works on other projects for Polygon as well. Nick is not a furry, but he’s certainly aware of our culture and its memes. Toward the end of last month he tweeted out a joke about how everyone masturbated to Krystal from Star Fox Adventures “and anyone who acts like they didn’t … is lying to you”.  Simple enough. Not the funniest thing we heard that month, but still a solid 5/10 performance from a guy whose usual schtick is commentating a game where he drives a school bus into a spinning hammer.

This tweet would be unmentionable, had it not been for the fact that it attracted — of all people — Feminist Frequency, who were quick to shame Nick and everyone else for participating in this. “Nobody in our office feels that way about Krystal,” the tweet chain began. What, did Anita Sarkeesian herself go around personally asking everyone in the Frequency offices if they jerked off to a cartoon fox from some awful early 00’s video game, or something? Their message to Nick (and presumably everyone else) continued: “she’s literally trapped in a crystal. Finding a female character who is damseled and stripped of her agency arousing is kinda gross. Attitudes like this are indicative of just how male-dominated gaming culture remains.”

Good lord, all this hub-bub over a groaner of a joke. Congratulations, you’ve now propelled Nick and his joke into the spotlight, while shining another that serves to show the world how ridiculous you are that you can’t understand humor. Was the joke sexist? Of course it was, but we don’t see any contrary publications getting into people’s faces for saying gross things about that Guzma character from the latest Pokémon game. Fantastic double standard there. Also, nowhere in Nick’s tweet did he mention anything about getting off on the fact that she’s “in bondage”. We don’t even think her damsel status crosses the minds of the weirdos who obsess over her. We’re 100% certain the only thing they’re focused on is right there on Krystal’s chest.

Everyone has jerked off to Krystal at least once in their lives. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.

SOME DAYS YOU’RE THE DOG

Every year Bad Dragon releases a joke product on April Fool’s Day that’s available for only 24 hours. This year they continued the tradition by releasing a massive 10 inch silicone fire hydrant. The hydrant, 11 inches around at its widest point, was offered in bright red or safety yellow and ran you a cool $100 (plus shipping). Previous years’ toys have included silicone crowbars (“The Freeman”), shot glasses, bowling pins, flashlights… and a human penis billed as “The Ultimate Pleasure”. The What’s Yiffin’? staff (all two of us) agree that “The Ultimate Pleasure” was their funniest one.

Anyways, a hundred bucks in the year of Our Lord 2017 landed you one rubbery fire hydrant, plus matching collectible “Teeny Weeny” and plastic keychain hydrants. The hydrant also came with a free liquid tube upgrade. You know, for shooting water out of it… because it’s a fire hydrant. Get it? Bad Dragon’s sale and store page for the hydrant include the disclaimer that these “toys” are for “novelty purposes only”. But you know people are going to disregard that (LINK IS NSFW).

If you missed out on nabbing yourself one of the hydrants, then you’re out of luck. You’ll have to turn to the secondhand Bad Dragon collectors’ market and pay an inflated collectors’ price. We don’t actually know if there’s a secondhand market for Bad Dragon toys, but none of us are willing to put that term in our search history, especially with congress apparently getting ready to sell that information to anyone with deep enough pockets. No thanks.

WORLD’S CHILLEST MANAGER

2017’s Texas Furry Fiesta took place at the end of last month. The good news is nobody crapped in a place they weren’t supposed to, and nobody blacked out from drug use or had the cops called on them, so all in all it was a good convention. Good by 2017 standards, at least. Furry conventions that take place at hotels are always full of strange people, but often times we forget about the everyman in these situations – people who just so happen to be staying at the same hotel at the same time either for business or personal leisure purposes. Nicola Craig, one such normie, was a guest at the Intercontinental Dallas hotel during the weekend of Furry Fiesta. She left some choice words for the management in a review posted to TripAdvisor.

“Paid $330 a night and it sucked, this place was dirty and had a furry convention on with no warning to other guests. manager is an [sic] BAD. I do not recommend. Also they are on priceline for 89 a night. Wouldn’t even bother. Manager should be fired”

Naturally, she left all one-star reviews for every available amenity category. So, two things. One, hotels don’t usually “warn” people about conventions. If you’re this concerned over sharing a hotel with a convention, most venues have schedules posted on their official websites. If they don’t, you could always call them and ask. Two, you probably should’ve booked on Priceline you idiot. Speaking of calling people, this entitled winner was so displeased with her experience that she apparently did call the hotel at some point and demanded to speak to a manager, because that manager, Stefan Huber, responded to her TripAdvisor review.  He reminded Nicola who’s court she was playing on:

“I have to admit that I am offended by this review for several reasons. I don’t understand how you, particularly as a travel agent, can feel right about insisting on certain guests being better than others … you are harming our reputation simply because I would not compensate you for your guests’ expectations to be surrounded by “like” individuals.”

We can feel the heat coming off that burn all the way from where we are. The 13th Amendment made it illegal to own people like that. We’d kill to know how blasted Nicola became upon reading Mr. Huber’s response, but sadly this is where the paper trail ends. We may never know. One thing we do know, however, is that next year Nicola and her “like individuals” won’t be there ruining the fun for everyone at Furry Fiesta 2018; they’ll be staying a Motel 6 or something instead.

And that’s what April has to offer! We sincerely hope you enjoyed this installment of What’s Yiffin’?, and if you did please consider giving us a subscription on YouTube and a follow on Twitch. What’s Yiffin’? is broadcast as a part of the show Gatorbox, which is live every Friday night at 9PM (US Central). What’s Yiffin’? is performed on the first Friday of every month. Take care, and we hope everyone has a fantastic Easter weekend!

– André “Dracokon” Kon & Rob “Roastmaster” Maestro

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon, where you can access exclusive stuff for just $1.  Want to do something REALLY awesome? Ask two friends to share the link.  Thank you – Patch

 

In the United States and Canada, the month of April is celebrated as National Poetry Month, a tradition in the United States since 1996 and in Canada since 1998. Many literary magazines, libraries, authors, schools, and websites participate in this in a wide variety of ways. Since 2015, writers of the furry community have been celebrating their own version of this, which we may now call Furry Poetry Month.

The writing of poetry by furries, whether they be dedicated writers or occasional writers of poems, is not just a recent development. Poems can be found online in the Usenet newsgroup alt.lifestyle.furry, of the 1990’s. A once-active site that featured furry literature was Anthrozine. Starting as early as their second issue in 2005, twenty-six furry poems were published over the years that the site was maintained by Michael Bard and Quentin Long.

Poetry probably appeared on Fur Affinity user pages soon after it’s beginning in 2005.  Over the years, approximately eight groups have been created to feature poetry and other writing. Most of these groups have had little activity in recent months, some of them not for several years. The Poets Guild began in 2009 features two poetry anthologies and four dozen individual poems that are posted on the site. Their activity declined for a year or so but has recently had an increase in posting. The most active FA group for poetry at this time is Poetic Furs. Begun in 2015, they have featured an interview with a different poet each month.

Over the years there have been some printed versions of furry poetry. This writer still has his copy of the 1999 Conifur NorthWest furcon con book and we find on page 41-42 what might best be described as a rap, but it’s still poetry, titled “I Am The Very Model Of A Furry Individual” by Mee-Shee.  Another example was the first volume of Allasso in 2012, edited by Brian Lee Cook, which contained seven poems along with fiction short stories.

More recently, poetry has been featured on Adjective Species.  Their first publishing of a furry poem, “Whiskey Sour”, by Lunostophiles, appeared in 2013.

In March of 2015 an essay written by this writer, titled “Finding the Animals in Modern Poetry”, was followed by the creation of the “Inaugural Adjective Species Poetry Collection”. It was curated by Lunostophiles. This featured original animal themed poems from thirteen writers of the furry community. The following year in April, Adjective Species published another essay by this writer, “Finding the Animals in Cowboy Poetry”, which was soon followed by the “Second Adjective Species Poetry Collection”, with nine poems contributed. This was curated by a prominent furry writer, Poetigress.  Also at that time seven original poems written by Poetigress were published over three days.

The Furry Writers Guild was founded in 2010 to be a group for writers to share their experiences and to provide information about writing and publishing. In April of 2015 on their site forum, a new discussion board for poetry was created.  Also at this time, Laura “Munchkin” Govednik and Altivo Overo developed the idea for a book of poetry featuring animal themed poems from Furry Writers Guild writers. The sales of the book would be donated to an animal charity.  This successful project, titled “Civilized Beasts”, appeared in December 2015, published by Weasel Press.

In 2016, the project was begun again, as reported here on Dogpatch Press. Poem submissions are closed at this time and the release of the new book has not yet been announced.

Finally, the enjoyment of poetry does not have to be just a solitary, silent, experience. There are many un-traditional ways of creating and experiencing poetry. Recitation and performance of poetry occasionally occurs in the furry community. Fursuiter rap performances on Youtube are a good example, and this writer enjoyed poetry readings by two furry writers at Rainfurrest 2015.  You might find a way to poetically express yourself with some of these activities: https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/30-ways-celebrate-national-poetry-month

Poetry comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors, much like the fursuits of the furry community. Poetry written by others can put into words the ideas and emotions that we ourselves may not have the skill to express.  Poetry that we write can be a way to gather together our thoughts and emotions and get a clear look at them.  Somewhere out there in the world there is a poem, or maybe many poems, that is good for each one of us.

– Shining River