(Note: This is a follow-up from a letter published in 2014)

Hey there, Papa Bear!

[There are several topics in this letter that I feel will be kind of strange or even verging on the unbelievable for your followers, because there's a lot of heavy Christianity in this letter. However, it is a huge part of my letter so I really cannot hide the truth of what really happened, and I can't really change the story because it is what it is. So I please ask for respect and discretion as always from everyone, since I know Christianity can be a touchy subject to many. I know you're open minded and respectful, so I thank you in advance for not judging me. Also, I would like it if my letter remained anonymous.
I don't know if you remember my case, but I want you to know that my sad story had a beautiful ending that I want to share with you and everyone else.

I will briefly summarize the events in my lasts letters to you a few years ago. The gist of it was that my boyfriend, and later fiancé, was a ladies's man, and it put me through a lot of emotional turmoil. He had changed, and he had improved immensely although not entirely, only to fall into the same pattern again. I called him Lion in my letters to you, and I remember clearly that you told me to dump him because he wasn't going to change, and that he was going to continue this behavior. I remember you told me amazing advice, and I followed most of it, except the aspect of dumping him, and I will explain below why.

I will speak to you in an entirely Christian perspective, so I apologize if I mention God a lot in this letter, but in my opinion, He was and is the most pivotal, important part of the story so it wouldn't be the same without that element. I respect everyone equally and I know that you're really open minded, so I come to you without fear of judgement. You're awesome, Papa Bear!

So, it all takes off right after you told me to dump him. I spent the couple following weeks heavily considering it--after all, why would I keep on holding to a man that had clearly said that he didn't love me anymore? I had found out every little lie he told me, and everything began to crumble. Things began to turn volatile. I succumbed to a big, severe depression where I felt like literal death. We had to cancel the wedding two months and a half before the set date, because he was left without a job, and because of the problems we were facing. He was now left with nothing--a crumbling relationship, jobless, with debts, and with an emotional problem that was crushing us both.

We tried to break it apart, we tried to move our separate ways, but for some reason, we couldn't. Every time I tried to, I froze. And, every time he tried to, he froze as well. We can't explain it, but it was as if something was avoiding our separation. I didn't want to end things, because I loved him with every fiber of my being even if he had taken my heart and shattered it twice, but for my own sanity I had to. Things had taken a turn for the worse. We fought every day, we argued like crazy and we began to walk into a dead end. Our fights were mostly about this Foxy person I had mentioned in my other letter, and I told him several times that she would be his demise. She had a son, and a toxic relationship with her son's father that would affect him as well. I knew that he was going to be in a life where he would be miserable. And, I loved him. I didn't want to see the man I love succumb to a life that he does not deserve, even if he had given me a moment in our relationship I did not deserve.

My heart was torn. What could I do? I don't have the strength to dump him, and I know he didn't have it either. He can't be like this. After everything we've been through, I know who he is. He wasn't being himself. Everything seemed too off for me to actually believe it. Call me a fool, if you want. Call me naïve, but I wasn't going to throw away four to five years of a beautiful relationship and let it fall to the dust. My heart was shattered, I began to get sick, until my hyperthyroidism problems started to affect me again due to the intense stress and agony I was going through. And... after hitting a dead end, all I had left was to pray.

I didn't go and dump him, I didn't want to fight anymore... so I just prayed. And prayed, and prayed, and prayed... And I know God heard my prayers. I began to focus on myself. On my self love, on my Bible reading, and I began to grow as a person. My mind began to feel healthier, and even if my circumstances began to get worse and worse, all I did was pray. I began to change tactics because something in me changed... my heart felt heavy, but my soul felt at peace. And thus, I began to change tactics--I became the loving partner I always was, even if he wasn't responding at first. Until he began to observe my change in behavior. At first, he couldn't understand how I could be treating him like this after he did what he did. He thought he didn't deserve my love. But, I told him, I know you don't deserve it, but I still want to give it to you, like Jesus did with us. We didn't deserve His love, but He still loves us all the same.

That shocked him. I kept praying, and growing stronger spiritually and mentally. My heart was shattered in pieces, but I could feel myself much stronger than before. One day, I was sitting in my car, listening to the radio [a Christian radio station] and I laid down in fetal position in the back seat, and I began to cry at lunch while I was working. I cried so, so much, my heart felt burdened and weary. Suddenly, someone began to talk in the radio, and he said, "Hey, there is a person listening right now that cleans their church every Saturday (And I did clean my church every Saturday back then!), you have cried so much in silence. God has seen every tear, and He wants to tell you, that your blessing is on it's way, and you will see it with your own eyes very, very soon."

The VERY SAME DAY, he came to my house after months of me barely seeing him. He threw himself at me, crying like a small child. He was crying so, so much, Papa Bear, and I began to cry as well. Confused, I asked him what was going on. He told me that he was sorry; he told me that he didn't know what got into him, but that he was lost. It was as if he really had no idea why he did what he did, or why he did any of it in the first place. He told me that he was sick and disgusted at himself, that he was tired of the life he was living, and that he wanted to change once and for all. He told me he felt his heart was torn into two, and that he felt destroyed. He spent all day crying, and so did I. He told me he was desperate, and then he told me that he was tired of everything. He wanted to make things right, and he told me that he would spend his entire life treating me like I deserved, because I had been nothing but good and graceful to him. He told me I showed him what a real Christian was--a person that gives love, without expecting love in return. A person who loves someone who is entirely unworthy of their love. Just like Jesus did, and still does.

We went one night to see the movie War Room, and, it spoke to both of us. We were going through what the main characters in the movie were going through, and we ended up crying and hugging each other in the middle of the movie. A couple of weeks later he confessed to me a lot of things. He told me that he had fallen in love with this Foxy person, and that for some time, he was blinded. He told me that he saw her as amazing but he was so, so wrong. He told me that after the illusion wore off, he began to see her for the serpent she truly was. They fought every day, and she was incredibly abusive and manipulative. He confessed to me that he was wrong, confessed to me that he had been unfaithful to me with her in many aspects, and also told me that he had been unfaithful to me in other occasions before Foxy. He confessed everything he did to me, and he wept like a child. He told me, however, that in the midst of it all, whenever he went, he saw things that reminded him of me. Every time I gave him love, he felt unworthy. He told me that my change of heart won him over and made him realize that he was throwing away a treasure he had to grab a piece of coal. And, little by little, he began to open his eyes. He began to see the huge mistake he was about to do, and he understood that sometimes, God destroys our plans before we destroy ourselves. I forgave him, but gave him an ultimatum that this was his last chance, and I meant it. I told him this in a serious tone, and he understood. This is where things began to improve... a LOT.

He became a much better version of himself than he ever was. For the first time in five years, I saw that his change was genuine. He felt as if all of his emotions came back, and he told me that he felt that his heart had been restored. He told me, however, that he needed time to heal, and I told him that I did so too. We worked on our relationship, and we both began to seek God with all of our hearts. He became a faithful man, and all of his fears and doubts vanished into thin air, and he became a better, much more mature version of himself. I also matured a lot, and we both feel closer than ever, and as if nothing had ever happened. He got a new job where they treated him like royalty, and they still do. Things began to improve, and we both began to seek God in prayer and Bible reading more and more, and amazingly, growing closer to God made us grow closer together as a couple.

One day, we were spending some time with his family from his mother's side, and there was this man that they didn't know about looking at us. I recognized him, but it had been years since I last saw him. He's a kind man of God with a humble heart, but he's terminally ill with cancer. He's also almost blind, but he still goes into little adventures, of sorts and goes to shopping malls and the like, to try and not fall into depression due to the short amount of time he has on this Earth. My fiancé had left briefly to search something for me, and this man had approached us and sat down with us. He began to speak to us, and then to me, and told me, "Where is your fiancé?" How did he know? I didn't have my ring on at the time, since I forgot to put it on that day. He hadn't seen me since I was 15 years old, and by that time, I was still with my ex-boyfriend. I am now 23 years old; back then when we encountered this man, I was 22.

He proceeded to describe him exactly as he was, and then when my fiancé arrived, this man began to confirm everything about the wedding to us. He even told him, "Get married, son! You will be happy. God will bless your marriage, because he has already blessed your union. He has corrected what was twisted, and he has brought you back home. You will have everything your heart desires. A family, a home... happiness. So take the leap in faith, because God is with you." And, my fiancé began to cry in the middle of a shopping mall. And, to make things even more amazing, this man ended his statements with, "Ah, Lord! What a beautiful cruise they will embark on for their honeymoon!" and, we were BLOWN AWAY. How did he know we were going on a cruise?! No one had told him anything!

A month later, on August 27th, 2016, we got married. The wedding was beautiful, emotional, and we were so, so happy. In our honeymoon--which, of course, was in a cruise--, we spoke about everything that happened. We were so overjoyed that we spent almost our entire two week honeymoon crying--tears of joy and tears of healing. I told him how I felt about everything, and he told me what had happened that made him return and details he hadn't told me about when he first confessed. He told me that he had tried time and time again to dump me, but something stopped him. He tried to make up excuses to not be with me, but every single time, I did something that he thought he didn't deserve. He felt angry, he felt confused, and he told me that he even hit himself in the head several times and tried to rip his hair out in frustration because he didn't know why he had done everything he had done and he began to heavily evaluate his life. He told me that he reached a dead end, and even attempted to commit suicide once by driving at full speed until something stopped him and made him stop the car.

He told me that he got angry at God, but why? He was the one wrong here. And, day after day, he was confronted with his own reality and he told me that he had no idea why he had done something he knew I didn't deserve. Until one day, he found something hidden in his old car one day that he went to check up on it and clean it out a bit. This part may be incredible to you, and even unbelievable, but it's what we went through and it helped us explain a lot. He found two voodoo dolls, filled with needles. One was a faceless male doll, and another one was a female doll with my exact same hairstyle. He immediately threw them away in horror, and he called me, and he didn't know that, at that exact time, I was praying, telling God to reveal everything that was hidden. We had been subject to witchcraft by a family that do not like us one bit due to a long history of envious and malicious intents from their part, and they had gone far enough to voodoo us to see our downfall.

But, now we're happy. We both closed that chapter in our lives, and he is now a man of God, changed, reformed, and he is now the current Youth Group Leader/Pastor. He even has gone far enough that he now preaches, and everyone around us has seen that he is a new man. He is a true testimony of how someone can truly change if they really mean to, and even if they have their ups and downs in that changing process, it is entirely possible. I gave him an ultimatum, however, like I mentioned earlier. I told him that this was his last chance, and I didn't care if we were going to be married for 1 month or 20 years. If I saw another slip like the one he had, I would divorce him without qualms, ifs or buts. And, he told me he learned from his mistakes. He told me that if he didn't learn, he would be the most dumbest and stupidest man alive and that I was free to divorce him. He told me he knew I didn't deserve what he put me through, and now he spends every moment of his days trying to make himself a better man, and to make me happy in every way possible. He's not perfect, and I am not either, but I couldn't be happier with how things turned out.

It was hard for me, but I proved to those who knew about what was going on what was going on what it means to be a true Christian. To be selfless enough to love and not expect anything in return--to cross oceans for someone even if that person won't cross a puddle for you. Because life is not about what you are given; life is about what you give. And I gave my all, and I trusted God, and everything turned out for the better. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.

I think God allowed everything, from the postponed wedding to the entire situation, to bring out in him his rawest, darkest secrets and to confront him with himself. So that he himself could see his true colors, and to confront him with his own reality, to later redeem him and transform him into a new man. God loves him, as he loves me, so he didn't want him to succumb to a life of depression and aimless living. So, he allowed this painful situation to expose the worst in him, to make him new again, and to then bring out only the best in him that only He knew he had.

I just wanted to update you, and I feel this will be my last letter to you unless I want to update you on how things have been since the last time we talked. I know things will be better, and I feel it in my heart. I am crying as I write this, because my heart is so, so thankful for everything the Lord has done, and for the pieces that completed the puzzle in that confusing time. You were one of those pieces, Papa Bear. I want to thank you for all your advice, for everything you do, because you played a really important part in my decisions and for that I thank you. Everyone, you can call me naïve if you want, or that I don't have self respect, but I feel quite the contrary, and I really don't mind what others think of me as long as I feel happy. Maybe you won't believe in him anymore, Papa Bear, and that's entirely understandable and I won't hold anything against you... After all, I wrote to you in desperate times, and I know you wanted for me what seemed to be the best option at that time. But I wanted to let you know that after all I went through, I finally feel happy, fulfilled, and at peace with the world and myself.

I know that you may not believe things that I mentioned here, and I feel like so will others who read this letter, but I can't change what happened and I can't cover up the details that make what happened so amazing. My heart is beating fast as I'm about to send you this letter, and while I always have a fear of judgement, I know that this place is a safe spot for a large group of religious and non religious points of view so I want to thank you for being so kind and open minded.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to send you another letter in the future filled with great news and a message of hope for others out there that need it.

With love,
Anonymous

* * *

Hi, Furiend:

Yes, I remember you. You last wrote me three years ago. Thanks for writing again. Thank you for your compliments about my being open-minded. As a preface to what I'm about to write, let me say a couple things. First, about Christianity. Faith is a powerful thing, and, as you know, it can be both constructive and destructive. When it comes to finding one's way to God, I am of a mind that there are many paths to the truth. People take certain paths, often, because of how they were raised and because of the culture within which they live (e.g., it is unlikely that someone raised Southern Baptist in Texas is going to convert to Islam--unlikely, but not impossible). So, I have no problem with your Christian faith. Secondly, about the Voodoo thing. Since I have not had much exposure to Voodoo or its beliefs and rituals (though I have edited books about it), I will reserve my judgment.

Back to the issue at hand: Lion. You will recall that back in 2014 you celebrated renewing your relationship with him despite his philandering ways, and believed that he was now faithful and committed to you. I quote your words: "He has changed DRASTICALLY, he hasn't returned to his player and ladies' man ways of the past, and we're saving up for marriage. He has stopped and cut short all communication with all the girls that he used to talk to, and he has really stopped his wandering ways. He has regained my trust, yet I always do keep an eye on him just in case. But he has really improved and he has proved to me in many ways that he does love me and that he has changed. He respects me completely [in all aspects of the word] and has shown that he wants to take things seriously now. I feel that we are going to be a long-term relationship and I couldn't be happier. He is the most caring, loving and gentleman Lion I could ever ask for."

Apparently, after that, he continued with his old ways for about two years, until he lost everything, correct? Then you told him about Christ and His forgiveness and he became all blubbery and cried and cried and got your sympathy. So, you reaffirm your relationship. Then, one day, you are visiting relatives and meet this mysterious man who is a man of God and is blind or nearly so. You are mystified by how much he knows. I have to stop there: if this guy is at this family function and knows your relatives, I would surmise he talks to them and they talk to you and that's how he knows about your fiance. You seem befuddled how he knows you are engaged, even though you are not wearing the ring. If he is blind, how would he know if you were wearing it or not? It doesn't matter; his information came from your family members. No mystery there. He encourages you to get married, and you do so.

Now your husband is youth leader/pastor espousing the Word of God. He promises he will never break his word again. You say that if he does so one more time it is over.

Sweetie, when reading what I'm about to say, keep in mind that I am an outsider who has not been living your life and who does not know Lion intimately as you do. Nevertheless, you asked for my advice and I will do my best.

It is always possible for people to change--for better or worse. I know from my own life that I have changed tremendously. I truly hope this is the case with Lion.

However, I must go on history. Based on history, I will be really blunt here and say that I feel Lion is full of shit and is manipulating you not only with tears but by feigning a belief in Christianity. Why would he do something so awful? Because, as you said, he had lost everything, including the girl he was doing and his job. He had nowhere to go, so he runs to you saying he is sorry and even playing the role of good Christian. You make this possible because of your continued codependency on Lion and lack of self-worth that you can do better.

(I suspect you are writing to me not because you wish to update me so much as you wish to get some validation, no?)

I know that's painful to hear. And, as you did last time, you can completely ignore what I say. My advice is free and sometimes worth the money.

Again, I cannot definitively say that my suspicions are true, but I am using my bear senses here. I fervently hope that Lion's faith is real and that you two have a wonderful marriage for the rest of your lives.

BUT!

If he does cheat on you again, I beg you: keep your word and dump him and don't let his tears or his faith of convenience sway you ever again.

Wishing You Happiness,

Papabear

And Speaking of Wolves…

In-Fur-Nation - Sat 25 Mar 2017 - 00:54

We got this direct from Anime News Network. Seven Seas Entertainment have licensed Spica Aoki’s fantasy manga series Beasts of Abigaile for distribution in North America. Here’s what the publishers say: “Beasts of Abigaile follows a young woman’s fantastical adventures in the mythical country of Ruberia—and all the trials, tribulations, and attractive half-beast people that come with it! In this exciting new series loosely inspired by the classic fable of Little Red Riding Hood, readers will embark on a beautifully-illustrated journey of magical adventure and romance. Tsukishiro Nina has just arrived in the beautiful country of Ruberia, and its charming denizens and lush scenery are like a fairy tale come true. That is until she’s beset by a mysterious young man with a steely gaze and furry wolf ears—who promptly bites her! Nina finds herself turning into one of these beasts of legend, and whisked away to the prison of Abigaile where all their kind are sent. Nina must keep her wits about her if she’s to learn the secrets of this magical world where everyone either makes her blood boil or her young heart race!” Look for it to be released in black & white this June.

image c. 2017 Seven Seas Entertainment

Categories: News

Your Zootopia Fursona!

Furry.Today - Fri 24 Mar 2017 - 17:31

So is there a Furry at Channel Frederator now? It is so weird hearing non-furry channels talking about Fursona. Looks like Zootopia managed to make a whole lot more furries. Yes, I may be a lion but in the case of Zootopia I could just lean towards those fabulous tigers. The reality? I would be this lion: [1] [1] https://furry.today/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Untitled-3.jpg
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Categories: Videos

Slave Trade, by comidacomida – book review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Fri 24 Mar 2017 - 10:00

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

Slave Trade,, by comidacomida. Illustrated by SpottyJaguar.
Birmingham, AL, Two-Lips Press, January 2017, hardcover $29.99 (466 pages), Kindle $9.99.

The first sight of the telephone-sized hardcover edition of this book is stunning. It’s a huge 8½ x 11 x 1-inch tome that’s almost impossible to hold open without using both hands, and so heavy (over 3 pounds) that it’s tiresome to hold it without resting it on a table or your lap. Slave Trade seems designed mostly for Kindle sales, although each 8½ x 11” page takes two pages to fit onto a Kindle reader. Amazon says that the Kindle edition is 912 pages.

Slave Trade is a furry erotic adventure-fantasy (although there is no rating) set in a Medieval/Renaissance-like world that is not quite funny-animal. There are six main mammal kingdoms; three for anthro animals with plantigrade (flat) legs like bears, rodents, and primates – Tenvier, Larana, and Pross — and three for those with digitigrade (walking on toes) legs; canines, felines, ungulates — Diermyna, Meisenyl, and Vensii. Some practice slavery; others don’t. Usually the characters act so human that they might as well be funny animals; then someone does something that could only be done with an animal’s nature.

“The porcupine [Gaius, a tanner] reached back behind himself to snap a quill free; he then used it to pin up a loose section of leather on the harness.” (p. 84)

Most of this takes place on the vast estates of Lord Hector Desanti, a white Stag nobleman from Vensii now residing in Pross. The main character is Sidney, a young slave (Fox) on Lord Hector’s estates. Sidney hero-worships Lord Hector from afar; he’s like a god to Sidney. So he’s stunned when Lord Hector not only notices him, but gives him personal attention.

At first this personal attention is all homosexual. Sidney is used to being a sex toy; he used to be owned by Lord Bulhue (hippopotamus), who was so brutal he almost killed Sidney. In fact, Lord Bulhue only sold him when he was so “used up” that he was barely still alive. So Sidney doesn’t expect anything better. He is dumbfounded when Lord Hector is actually gentle with him.

“When Lord Hector spoke he did so quietly, his firm voice carrying a sweet, melodious tone to Sidney’s ears. ‘You’ve done well with the dressing.’

Though it was barely above a whisper, the Fox had no trouble hearing it and clung to every word; his master had praised him. The Fox glowed at the compliment. ‘Thank you, Master. I wish only to please.’

The words came out of his muzzle, a veiled admission of just how much he wanted to serve. He heard the sound of his master returning to him from across the room. Sidney wished longingly that his loincloth was within reach. When the sound of the hooves on the floorboards stopped right in front of him, Lord Hector made his request known. ‘Stand for me, Sidney.’

Whimpering inaudibly, Sidney complied. He tried standing at a half-angle, avoiding meeting the Stag’s eyes as a suitable excuse. The Fox folded his paws across his abdomen in what he hoped looked like a casual stance, hoping beyond hope that he’d be able to hide his excitement at having his master so close to him. He felt as if his body betrayed him as the proximity of his paws and their warmth made his member emerge just a little further; he cursed his body under his breath.

Without saying a word Lord Hector approached him. The Stag came from the side and stopped uncomfortably close; Sidney imagined that he could feel his master’s breath against his fur and fought back the urge to shiver at how near the perfect, silvery body was from him. He kept his eyes down, biting down on his tongue until he could taste blood in an attempt to get his body under control. The Stag walked around him to his backside.” (pgs. 23-24)

No need to get more explicit; the text and the full-page illustrations by SpottyJaguar do that. (Chapter heading sketches that don’t reveal as much are by CBH.) The first fifty pages are a mixture of background exposition and eroticism, with throbbing members, sticky bodily fluids, and a frightening electronic sex machine, the Sardassi. After about page 50, the plot gets moving.

But what is the plot? Sidney is unbelievably naïve and timid. All he knows is that Pross is ruled by numerous Lords, most of them much more brutal then the gentle, adorable Lord Hector. They have absolute power over their vassals. When he is told that Pross is a kingdom, with a King above the Lords, he has to have what a King is explained to him. He is content to follow orders and never think for himself. So why does Lord Hector give him increasing responsibility in areas that he knows nothing about? He doesn’t understand what’s going on, but he likes it.

“Ever since he first became a slave he’d either shared a bed with a trainer or master, or, when he was given time to himself he was still surrounded by dozens of other slaves. The thought of having the work shed was unheard of; it not only provided him with privacy, but an actual door! His eyes slowly swiveled to look at the blessed portal that he never expected to provide the privacy that slaves weren’t supposed to have.” (p. 53)

Sidney is a house slave. He is dimly aware of the field slaves who tend and harvest Lord Hector’s crops. He knows nothing about the gladiator slaves. Each Lord is required by Lord Levid, the King, to train several gladiators; for the public’s entertainment in the arena, and for the King to take the best of them for the army in Pross’ war with reptilian Sarvis. Lord Hector has three brawny gladiators-in-training; Dorias (Yak), Choel (Tiger), and Uraou (Brown Bear), and a new slave that Lord Hector wants trained as a gladiator, Maern, a Stallion from Vensii who does not speak Prossian. And Tharis (Bull), but he’s old and no longer a gladiator, reassigned to stud service. Sidney is dumbfounded again to be promoted to a gladiator slave master, in charge of training Dorias, Choel, Uraou, and Maern. The first three are contemptuous of Sidney at first, but they do appreciate his going easy on them instead of savagely beating them just to show off his authority. In desperation, he gets the idea of asking Tharis to help out.

“Choel and Uraou spoke their disbelief in unison. ‘Tharis?’

The Fox shrugged. ‘Well … he has some experience as a gladiator. I guess it’d make sense that he could help everybody learn a little.’

Several of the slaves looked as though they might have wanted to say something but Sidney decided that he had to be more decisive and so he raised his voice and called out. ‘Tharis! Come here, please!’” (p. 147)

Tharis does help, and Lord Hector is pleased that the gladiators are making progress. Since Sidney is doing so well with Tharis, he is also put in charge of the Bull’s official duty; of milking his erection to collect semen.

The gladiatorial bout in the arena at Pross’ Equinox Festival is supposed to only demonstrate the gladiators-in-training’s skills, but the king suddenly orders it intensified.

“Sidney stood up when the sound of metal-on-metal indicated that their storage room door was indeed opening. Although the Fox was overjoyed to see his master the grave expression on the Stag’s muzzle was not very reassuring and Lord Hector wasted no time mincing words. ‘Only one of you is fighting tonight.’

Uraou snorted, glancing at Sidney. ‘Just one? How’re we supposed to show what we –‘

The Stag continued, speaking over the slave. ‘It’s a fight to the death.’

The Bear fell silent immediately.” (p. 187)

To give away what’s going on (sorry; it’s supposed to be a revelation), Lord Hector and King/Lord Levid hate each other’s guts. The Stag is from Vensii, where slavery is illegal. The customs of Pross require him to own slaves. The Prossian nobility is extremely brutal towards its slaves. Lord Hector, by showing kindness to his, is subtly showing contempt to the Prossian royal court and King Levid (who is always hidden behind a rich purple curtain). The Prossian nobility believe that one must torture one’s slaves to train them to be worth anything. Lord Hector, by making his least competent slave his slave master, is showing them all up – if he can really guide Sidney into holding his own with the best Prossian slave masters.

“Even as Lord Hector took his seat a wave of servants emerged from all sides of the room with silver pitchers and Lord Levid continued his conversation as if they didn’t exist. ‘Hector … we have been hearing that you aren’t your slave master’s first owner.’

The Stag nodded again, appearing to pay more attention to his empty plate than the figure behind the purple cloth. ‘That is correct, your Majesty.’

Lord Levid’s musings were spoken rather than thought. ‘How strange that must be … we could imagine that such an arrangement would be awkward at times.’

Lord Hector finally looked up, smiling pleasantly. ‘Oh, it most assuredly started that way, your Highness. There were certain aspects of his training that were required to be relearned when he became responsible for my fighting stables.’

Lord Levid’s voice was full of patronizing mirth. ‘We mean with regard to using another Lord’s cast-offs, Hector … though, we suppose we might also appreciate the difficulty of having to teach a pleasure slave how to deal with fighting slaves.’

Sidney admired his master for how efficiently he controlled his displeasure; the banter didn’t appear to affect the Stag at all. Lord Hector held his goblet up as the Panther servant poured wine into it. ‘Indeed. As I said, there were certain aspects of his training that were required to be relearned when he became responsible for my stable.’

A well dressed ferret woman almost directly across the table from Lord Hector placed her elbows on the table and rested her muzzle on her laced-together fingers. ‘I’m surprised such a little spit of a Fox could expect to command the obedience of a stable of gladiators.’” (pgs. 200-201)

After Sidney realizes what this is all about, he, Lord Hector, and Lord Hector’s gladiators (especially Maern) become more of a partnership in planning to show up the Prossian nobility. But King Levid, as an absolute monarch, doesn’t play fair.

Slave Trade (cover by MoltenGoldArt) mixes well-written refined, deadly Renaissance court politics, including attempted assassinations and ambushes, with continued scenes of graphic m/m sex. The sadistic King Levid uses everything to humiliate Sidney and Lord Hector, and to try and kill Lord Hector’s gladiators. The slow bedroom beginning at Lord Hector’s estates turns about halfway through the novel into intrigue and action at the gladiatorial arena, the Prossian royal court, and wherever King Levid may strike next.

–Fred Patten

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

Categories: News

Lasagna Cat: 07/30/2000

Furry.Today - Thu 23 Mar 2017 - 23:33

So 9 years ago a rather weird youtube channel called lasagnacat was posting live action parodies of Garfield comics produced by the production companion Fatal Farm [1]. Their mission was to give tribute to the genius that was Jim Davis, most of the channel was dada-esque [2] surrealism. After a 9 year gap in video's they just started publishing again. I just couldn't resist a surreal mashup of shoddy Garfield suits and Kraftwerk music. Enjoy? [1] http://www.fatalfarm.com/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada
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Categories: Videos

Kismet, by Watts Martin – book review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Thu 23 Mar 2017 - 10:00

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

Kismet, by Watts Martin
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, January 2017, trade paperback $17.95 (323 pages), e-book $5.99.

Kismet, by Watts Martin
Dallas, TX, Argyll Productions, January 2017, trade paperback $17.95 (323 pages), e-book $5.99*.

This is a first for furry publishing, as far as I know. The only differences between these two editions are the publisher’s name and illustrated logo on the title page, the ISBN number, and the cover by Teagan Gavet. Both are dark blue and feature the protagonist in a spacesuit in deep space, but the Argyll cover displays her at a distance without showing what she looks like, and the FurPlanet cover is a closeup showing that she is a rat-woman. The FurPlanet edition is marketed as furry science fiction; the Argyll edition is marketed as just science fiction, for those outside furry fandom who may buy s-f but not a furry book.

Whichever it’s read as, hard s-f or furry fiction, Kismet is a winner. Several hundred years in the future, mankind has settled the Asteroid Belt. Mankind has also developed advanced bioengineering that enables people to have themselves bioengineered into anthropomorphic animals. There has been the mix of social acceptance and rejection that this results in for over a century. At this present, most of Earth is human and most of the anthropomorphs have migrated to the Asteroid Belt. In the Belt, the humans are called cisforms and the anthropomorphs are totemics.

Gail Simmons is a rat-woman totemic in the Ceres Ring, with her AI spaceship Kismet. She’s a salvage operator, a salvor, doing odd jobs of space hauling and space junk reclamation. She’s basically a hermit, living inside Kismet; the ship smart-AI brain is her only friend. Gail is contacted by an old childhood acquaintance who she hasn’t seen in two decades; he’s a yacht charter pilot now, and he’s just seen what looks like a derelict spaceship while making a chartered flight. His customer won’t give him the time to check it out, so he’s notifying Gail. Gail and Kismet find what appears to be an abandoned or sabotaged spaceship and two dead bodies. When Gail reports this, it leads to her being accused of theft and murder, and the missing cargo to be a handheld databox – a Macguffin – that holds information that at least one party will kill to get, that can mean “the end of the human race”.

The adventure involves action, suspense, betrayal, and murder. Gail and two allies (it would be a spoiler who say who they are) travel to different parts of the Ceres Ring and discuss a lot of totemic history. Other totemics met include Ansel Santara, a red fox-man; Bright Sky, a wolf-woman; Karen Dupree, a rabbit-woman; Robert Bunten, a raccoon-man, Officer Jon Wolfe, a leopard-man (there’s a joke about a leopard named Wolfe); Travis Duarte, a stag-man; Nevada Argent, a gray fox vixen; and an implied thousands of other background totemics as bank officers, mechanics, police and judiciary, waitresses, and more in the Belt. And plenty of cisforms (humans), because totemics may be the majority in the Belt, but there are lots of humans, too.

Jack Thomas, an FBI agent from the U.S. assigned to Interpol and sent to the Ceres Ring on a case that turns out to be mixed up with Gail’s, is a handy character to explain the totemics to:

“Ansel sniffs. ‘We don’t need shoes.’

‘Says the fox bitching about walking on gravel,’ Gail chuckles. ‘I think some of it’s kind of aesthetic, but some of it’s practical. Shoes and fur aren’t a comfortable combination.’

‘I’m still trying to get a sense of what animal characteristics totemics have adopted and why [Jack says]. I can read our emotions through your ears. And tails. But I’m presuming that while Ansel has better hearing and smell than I do, he has full color vision, isn’t allergic to chocolate, and doesn’t have any other drawbacks from canine/vulpine genetics mixed in.’

Ansel grins. ‘That’s an advantage to being able to mix and match genes. On the flip side, cisform humans can wear clothes that fur makes impractical. And they don’t get fleas, mange, or other furry problems that can’t be addressed by flipping a genetic switch.’” (p. 128)

The civilization of the Asteroid Belt – Cerelia River, Ceres Ring, the Panorica Federation, the Rothbard Republic, and several independent arcologies like New Coyoacán; plus organizations like PFS (Panorica Federation Security), RJC (Ring Judicial Cooperative), and RTEA (River Totemic Equality Ass’n) – may be confusing all at once, but Martin develops them gradually, one or two new locations or terms at a time. It’s like being a tourist in an exotic foreign country; if you don’t stay in your hotel room, you pick up on things fast. New Coyoacán is very tourist-friendly.

But Kismet also takes you places that a tourist wouldn’t see:

“She’d seen pictures of Alexandria before the accident, but it’s shocking how grand the entrance plaza still remains. Copper walls – from the scent, it’s not paint, but a true high-copper alloy – soar behind her up into darkness overhead. High, long windows provide multi-story panoramas of space and the ships docked outside. The plaza itself forms a wide, tiled avenue running between buildings and the buildings, full of unnecessary steps and too-high rooflines supported by grand columns, drip with the opulence of wasted resources. The closest ones, she’s sure, had been museums, the tourist destinations the platform’s owners had expected to be the primary draw. If she remembers right it never came close to breaking even. One conspiracy theory suggests the owners sabotaged it themselves for insurance money.” (p. 285)

Kismet is grand in scope and close in depiction of both its cisform and totemic characters. This novel is also a sequel to Martin’s 20-page “Tow” in The Furry Future – Gail is on the cover of both books. She’s someone that you’ll remember.

–Fred Patten

Categories: News

The Wolves of Ireland

In-Fur-Nation - Thu 23 Mar 2017 - 01:52

Cartoon Brew has a first look at Tomm Moore’s latest animated feature called Wolfwalkers. Mr. Moore, you may recall, is the Irish animation director responsible for The Book of Kells and Song of the Sea, both of which won praises from furry fans and animation lovers the world over. This new feature sounds even more anthropomorphic: “Wolfwalkers tells the story of 11-year-old Robyn Goodfellow, a young apprentice hunter who comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack of wolves. Her life changes though after she saves a native girl, Mebh, which leads to her discovery of the Wolfwalkers and transforms her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.” The article includes a teaser trailer the creators just recently released.

image c. 2017 Cartoon Saloon

Categories: News

MOBILE

Furry.Today - Wed 22 Mar 2017 - 18:36

Mooo? "A cow tips the balance of destiny."
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Categories: Videos

FA 063 Pups and Handlers - What is the origin of jealousy? What are human pups and why are they MOSHING? Why does Metriko talk so much? Can you be religious, gay, and poly? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Feral Attraction - Wed 22 Mar 2017 - 18:00

Hello Everyone!

On this week's show we open with a discussion on five different theories as to why we get jealous in non-monogamous relationships. We go over theories from Freud to Labriola and get to the root to what we personally think on Feral Attraction and why jealousy might not be as bad as we make it out to be.

Our main topic is on Pups and Handlers. We bring on friend of the show Pup Powder to talk about his experience with the pup community. He delves into various areas, like who the pup community is right for, what to look for (and look out for), various terms used within the pup community, and addresses why the pup community gets along so well with the furry fandom. He also talks about Rubbout and why it's awesome.

We close out the show with some Feedback on how much Metriko talks in an episode and a question on reconciling polyamory with Christianity (or any religion, really).

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 063 Pups and Handlers - What is the origin of jealousy? What are human pups and why are they MOSHING? Why does Metriko talk so much? Can you be religious, gay, and poly? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Categories: Podcasts

Furry literature: Advertising it outside of furry fandom – with Fred Patten and Phil Geusz.

Dogpatch Press - Wed 22 Mar 2017 - 10:43

(Patch:) The Furry Writers’ Guild Coyotl Awards have just opened for voting by members. This is a good occasion to talk about furry publishing. Committed operations are putting out a regular stream of content by fans, for fans – but is it healthy enough to support professionals? Can any of them smoothly transition between this niche and the mainstream, to be as well-rounded as they can be? Here’s a look that builds on past stories like:

A complaint: Furry fan publishing is overlooked – by Fred Patten.
The State of Furry Publishing – Fred Patten gives the inside story of eight groups.
In 2017, for the first time, nonfan publishers are documenting Furry as a movement. (Furry Nation and Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015.)

Let some of the most experienced voices in furry tell you more. Here’s Fred Patten, with comments by Phil Geusz.

(Fred:) Watts Martin’s January 2017 novel, Kismet, is being published under two imprints: at FurPlanet Productions, as furry fiction for the furry market, and Argyll Productions, as science fiction for the larger s-f market or mainstream sales; with two different covers, both by Teagan Gavet, tailored for those markets.

This sounds ambitious and imaginative. But how well will it work in practice? The record isn’t encouraging.

FurPlanet Productions, in Dallas, Texas, says that the two imprints on Kismet is mostly due to Watts Martin’s own initiative. Tiny FurPlanet is primarily a furry specialty press, and while it has added Argyll Productions as a second imprint for sales beyond the furry market – and with some exclusive Argyll non-furry titles – it hasn’t had the resources to really promote them. If Martin can do his own promotion of the Argyll imprint of Kismet (the name of the protagonist’s spaceship) to a wider market, more power to him.

Argyll Productions shop

Phil Geusz and Legion Publishing have had some experience with this. In 2012, they advertised Geusz’s seven David Birkenhead novels, about a bioengineered rabbit-man caught in a human interstellar war, on Amazon as military science fiction, not as furry fiction. Geusz said at the time:

“For twenty years I couldn’t get much published. Then the gates opened. Now I’m making hay while the sun shines and have dumped my entire two-decade backlog on the market as rapidly as possible before the gate shuts again.”

And

“I thought you might like to know in passing that the Birkenhead series is selling well in excess of all my expectations on Amazon just now — “Midshipman”, as I write this, has an Amazon sales ranking of #6896, where nothing else I’ve ever written (except other books in the same series) have ever broken the #250,000 level to my knowledge. Sadly, I’m not surprised to discover that few if any of the buyers are furries (judging the “Customers who bought this book also bought” section, it’s mostly military SF readers) The ranking fluctuates every hour or so — I have no idea what it’ll look like if you choose to look it up at any given moment, and “Lieutenant” is running currently in the 15,000 range. “Captain” peaked at #147 in all of Amazon (not just SF). Total sales were well over $100k, mostly concentrated during a three to five month period. “Ship’s Boy” was written specifically to be given away as a free teaser download, and because it was free Amazon uses a separate rating system for it.

“While I have no idea of what this means in terms of actual sales figures, it’s got to beat books ranked at 250,000 plus!”

And, still in 2012:

“As I write this, the five “Birkenhead” books released to date are — all simultaneously — in the Amazon Kindle SF Top 100 list. It varies hour to hour, but no less than four have been there at any given moment (that I’m aware of) for over a week. Sales are in the hundreds per week, and I suspect (but cannot know for certain) that cumulatively they’re over 500/week. Furry is making its mark.”

Today Geusz says:

“All I can say about the Birkenheads is that we never at any point at all understood why it was a success and other projects failed. Legion turned several varieties of on-line advertising off and on repeatedly with no noticeable effect whatsoever, and when sales eventually tanked — they’re very low these days — more advertising of the same kind did nothing to help. The next series of books I wrote — the Byrd series — is IMO better-written and more appealing to most readers, yet its sales are downright pathetic and always have been. We’ve spoken repeatedly about this, the publishers and I, and though we retrace the same old circles over and over again the bottom line is…

“…We don’t understand anything at all about what happened or why.”

So will FurPlanet, or Martin alone, have any more success promoting Kismet as a science fiction novel, not mentioning that the main character is a bioengineered rat-woman? As the old saying goes, only time will tell —

Especially if self-promotion by authors rather than advertising by publishers is the trend of the future. Bookstores are becoming obsolete, due to the rise of Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and individual publishers’ catalogues, on the Internet. (There will probably always be a few independent bookstores remaining, like Dark Delicacies, a horror specialty bookstore in the Los Angeles area, for browsing and as social gathering places for their communities.) More and more authors have their own online blogs, or are members of an online writers’ group with a website where they can promote their own works, particularly if those are published by specialty presses, print-your-own-book companies like CreateSpace and Lulu Press that don’t advertise their own titles, or the authors themselves.

Ambitious promotion

Here are some furry or fantasy examples:

So, furry authors, you’ve sold your own short stories or novels. Now stop waiting for your publishers to advertise them, and start promoting them yourselves.

– Fred Patten

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

Categories: News

South Afrifur Pawdcast, 19 Mar 2017 - Fred Patten

South Afrifur Pawdcast - Wed 22 Mar 2017 - 00:32

Categories: Podcasts

I’m a furry. And I’m finally at home with my wild side

Furries In The Media - Tue 21 Mar 2017 - 18:20

Dated March 21, here is an article in The Guardian by Brian Switek:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/21/furry-wild-side-fursona-animal-nature

If I could be anything, I’d be a jaguar. And not just any jaguar. One with a dark coat, blue spots, but my general humanoid shape intact along with the feline features. That’s because I’m a furry.

It took me a long time to admit that to anyone. More than 15 years. That’s because I had always heard the word “furry” as a pejorative, a term practically synonymous with fetish. At best, being open about it would open me to ridicule and at worst, well, I didn’t even want to think about the reactions of friends and family. Despite the proliferation of nerdy pop culture – from anime to cosplay – furries have always been pushed out to the fringes.

Even when I decided to tell my wife about my interest in the fandom, I couldn’t hold back the anxiety. I was in a knot for days leading up to purchasing a ticket to my first furry convention at the relatively late age of 33. It was unexpected enough that my wife called me as soon as she saw the charge on our bank account. She thought some pervert had hijacked it. No, I said, I was the one going to Rocky Mountain Fur Con.

Even then, she asked me “You’re not a secret furry, are you?” To her, the term conjured the implication of people dressed up in mascot-like costumes who set about deviantly despoiling convention centre hotel rooms. All I could say was: “Not secret, but not how you think.”

Furry is not a fetish. I know that runs counter to the atrocious CSI episode about the fandom and a long-form 2001 Vanity Fair hatchet job, but furries are not bound together by some predilection for anonymous yiffing. It’s more like someone asking what superhero you’d want to be and saying no, thanks, you’d rather be a hyena or fox or deer. It’s about identity, picking a fursona – like a persona, naturally – that’s a projection of who you are or wish you could be. Instead of going to comic cons dressed up as Captain America or Black Widow, furries define an identity all their own.

Of course there’s a sexuality to the fandom. There is for almost any you can name. But that doesn’t define what brings furries together, and it would be a mistake to let the sneers and jeers of critics define the conversation. If you want to be surprised by who furries are and what they do, there’s an entire scientific profile on the matter for you to peruse. Stigma shouldn’t drive the way furries present themselves, especially during an era where a little escapism feels sorely needed.

Furries are hardly the only fandom to be misunderstood. But during a time when comic book movies are big box office and cosplaying is normal, I don’t understand why furry hate hangs on. If anything, it’s always been on the edges of our experience.

Anthropomorphic animals completely permeate our culture, from the earliest cave drawings to the Oscar-winning Zootopia (Zootropolis in the UK). People dress as animals for Halloween, identify with certain species as personal favourites, and, hell, a popular trashy novel and movie series had duelling fans debate the merits of whether the female lead should marry a blood-sucking corpse or werewolf. Whether you’re rooting for an animal-themed sports team or listening to Top 40 songs about being “hungry like the wolf”, we’re practically obsessed by crossover between the human and animal.

Furries have a culture all their own, formed through internet forums and conventions over decades. But the basic fascination has always been with us. Furries are simply drawing from our animalistic interests and curiosities to create characters for ourselves instead of trying to co-opt something already pre-packed and sold. It just so happens to be animal-shaped, and so much the better. At the heart of it, everyone’s a little bit furry.

Categories: News

I’m a furry. And I’m finally at home with my wild side

Furries In The Media - Tue 21 Mar 2017 - 18:20

Categories: News

Wolfwalkers: Concept Trailer

Furry.Today - Tue 21 Mar 2017 - 11:32

From the people that brought you Song of the Sea and the Secret of the Kells. "Wolfwalkers tells the story of 11-year-old Robyn Goodfellow, a young apprentice hunter who comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack of wolves. Her life changes though after she saves a native girl, Mebh, which leads to her discovery of the Wolfwalkers and transforms her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy." Also here is a Behind-the-Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NW2QZJSglQ
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Categories: Videos

Memoirs of a Polar Bear, by Yoko Tawada – book review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Tue 21 Mar 2017 - 10:00

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

Memoirs of a Polar Bear, by Yoko Tawada. Translated by Susan Bernofsky.
NYC, New Directions Books, November 2016, trade paperback $16.95 (252 pages), Kindle $9.58.

This was originally published as Etüden im Schnee, konkursbuch Verlag, March 2014. It isn’t published as furry fiction but as mainstream literature, so it is probably classed as fabulism or literary fantasy.

“I’d taken part in a congress that day [in Kiev], and afterward all the participants were invited to a sumptuous feast. When I returned to my hotel room at night, I had a bear’s thirst and greedily drank water straight from the tap. But the taste of oily anchovies refused to leave me. In the mirror I saw my red-smeared lips, a masterpiece of the beets. I’d never eaten root vegetables voluntarily, but when a beet came swimming in my bowl of borsht, I immediately wanted to kiss it. Bobbing amid the lovely dots of fat floating on top – which at once awoke my appetite for meat – the beet was irresistible.

The springs creak beneath my bearish weight as I sit on the hotel sofa thinking how uninteresting the conference had been yet again, but that it had unexpectedly led me back to my childhood. The topic of today’s discussion was The Significance of Bicycles in the National Economy.” (pgs. 4-5)

“a Polar Bear” is actually three polar bears over three generations; a grandmother, mother, and son. The first, never named, is captured and brought as a cub to Moscow, where she is trained to perform in a circus, apparently around the 1960s. Her part is “The Grandmother: An Evolutionary Theory”.

“For a long time, I didn’t know anything: I sat in my cage, always onstage, never an audience member. If I’d gone out now and then, I would’ve seen the stove that had been installed under the cage. I’d have seen Ivan putting firewood in the stove and lighting it. I might have even seen the gramophone with its giant black tulip on a stand behind the cage. When the floor of the cage got hot, Ivan would drop the needle on the record. As a fanfare split the air like a fist shattering a pane of glass, the palms of my paw-hands felt a searing pain. I stood up, and the pain disappeared.” (p. 11)

“After hours and days spent vigorously shaking my hips, my knees were in such bad shape that I was incapable of performing acrobatics of any sort. I was unfit for circus work. Ordinarily they would have just shot me, but I got lucky and was assigned a desk job in the circus’s administrative offices.

I never dreamed I had a gift for office work. But the personnel office left no talents of their workers unexplored if they could be employed and exploited to the circus’s advantage. I would even go so far as to say I was a born office manager. My nose could sniff out the difference between important and unimportant bills.” (p. 14)

After learning record-keeping, she begins to write her autobiography in her spare time as a hobby, until she learns that a human supervisor has been taking it and getting it published – without telling her or sharing the money. She discovers how to manage her own sales, and finds that her autobiography is a best-seller. She’s become an intellectual, and is invited to literary conferences. But a famous intellectual polar bear as a member of the intelligentsia becomes an embarrassment to the Soviet establishment. She is encouraged to move to Siberia (the climate will be so much more comfortable to polar bears), and finally to emigrate to West Germany; then to Canada where she finds too much freedom. She marries a polar bear from Denmark, has a daughter, and they re-emigrate to East Germany.

Part II, “The Kiss of Death”, is about the first bear’s daughter Tosca; but the narrator is a human in the East German national circus (later identified as Barbara). When the Soviet Union gives the circus nine polar bears – nine bears arrogant with Soviet labor demands, who go on strike – she incidentally learns about Tosca.

“Though she’d graduated from ballet school with top honors, Tosca hadn’t been able to land a role in a single production, not even in Swan Lake, as everyone had expected. And so she was regularly performing for children. Her mother was a celebrity who’d emigrated from Canada to Socialist East Germany and had written an autobiography. The book was long out of print, and no one had ever read it, so it was really more of a legend.” (p. 84)

She brings in Tosca hoping that she will be an encouraging role model for the Soviet bears. When she isn’t – “When her [Tosca’s] vehicle passed the quarters of the nine polar bears, they immediately began to heckle her: “Strike-breaker! Scab!” (p. 88) – she works with Tosca to develop a solo act. Eventually she writes

Tosca’s biography, rather than Tosca writing an autobiography.

“‘I’ve started writing your biography,’ I said to Tosca, who sneezed in surprise.

‘Are you cold?’

‘Very funny. I have a pollen allergy. Here at the North Pole, no flowers bloom, but there’s still pollen in the air, and I can’t stop sneezing. It’s uncanny, having pollen without flowers.’

‘I’ve written up to the period just after your birth. Your eyes weren’t open yet. Your mother and you weren’t alone, there was a third shadow.’

‘My father wanted to live with us, but my mother couldn’t stand him. She used to snarl whenever he came within sight of us.’

‘Isn’t that normal for a mother bear?’” (p. 124)

Eventually Barbara and Tosca become so close that Tosca takes over writing the narrative. After the reunification of Germany, they travel around the world as a duo.

“During the performance, I took great pleasure in watching the children in the audience. They stared at us open-mouthed and wide-eyed. In Japan we received a letter that said: ‘it must be exhausting to put on a bear costume in this heat and perform onstage. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your wonderful performance! Our children were ecstatic.’ Apparently there were audience members who were incapable of believing I was really a bear. How fortunate that no one came into the dressing room and asked me to take off my bearskin.” (p. 160)

When they retire, Tosca is sold to the Berlin Zoo where Knut is born. Part III, “Memories of the North Pole”, is Knut’s story.

Knut’s story is a blend of fiction and fact. Knut was born in the Berlin Zoo, and is probably the most famous polar bear in history. There were Knut T-shirts and plush dolls. Knut’s keeper Matthias became almost as popular, and when he unexpectedly died, Knut was distraught by his disappearance.

“And this news too reached me in the form of a newspaper article: Matthias is dead. He died of a heart attack. At first I didn’t understand what that meant. I read the through several times. Suddenly a thought struck me like a stone: I can never see him again.” (p. 229)

Although the protagonists are individual polar bears in a human world, there are others in supporting roles: the nine Soviet circus bears, the first bear’s Danish husband Christian, and others. The first bear is briefly confused by human anthropomorphic fiction.

“The protagonist was a mouse. Her form of gainful employment: singing. Her audience: the people. On the vocabulary list I found the word Volk, which corresponded to the Russian narod.

[…]

As long as the mouse went on singing, the Volk gave her its full attention. No one aped her, no one giggled, no one disrupted her concerts by making mouse noises. This is just how my own audience behaved, too, and my heart leaped as I remembered the circus.” (p. 49)

The bear is disappointed when she learns the story of the mouse singer is only fiction; a literary conceit.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear (cover by Alyssa Cartwright) has a melancholy, ethereal ending that fits the book nicely. The real Knut died. The book’s Knut goes on. In fiction, he can live forever.

–Fred Patten

Buy on Amazon

Categories: News

Consumers of Art

In-Fur-Nation - Tue 21 Mar 2017 - 01:58

John Layman made a name for himself with the surreal comic book series Chew. Now he’s at Aftershock Comics with a new title called Eleanor & The Egret. Here’s what Comic Alliance said about it: “With the wrap up of Chew this year, John Layman has proved himself one of the go-to creators when it comes to crime comedy comics, and Eleanor and the Egret looks to be at least as surreal as his previous series. Sam Kieth, the legendary creator behind The Maxx, feels like an exciting choice to illustrate this Catch Me If You Can-style caper involving an art thief and a heron.” A heron who eats fine works of art, in fact. This is from the publishers: “A slightly surreal tale of an art thief and her sidekick, a talking egret who gets just a bit bigger after each successful caper, as they embark on a escalating series of daring thefts of world-famous paintings, and dodge pursuers in an increasingly weirdly dangerous game of cat & mouse.” Look for it this April.

image c. 2017 Aftershock Comics

Categories: News

Anything You Can Do

Furry.Today - Mon 20 Mar 2017 - 22:14

Can you bake a pie? Thanks to Sysable for this.
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Categories: Videos

TigerTails Radio Season 10 Episode 16

TigerTails Radio - Mon 20 Mar 2017 - 17:46

Categories: Podcasts