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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hal Adhil – Artwork by David Lillie

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

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

Miri Rodgers – Artwork by David Lillie

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

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

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

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

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

Marcus from Deviantart

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

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

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

– Fred Patten

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

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[…]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Melyl is already planning to escape Pyzot’s control:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

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

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

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

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

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

image c. 2017 Growl After Dark

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

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

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

BUTT CONTEST WITH PRIZES!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— DirtCoyote (@DirtCoyote) May 20, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

image c. 2017 Antarctic Press

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we REALLY liked this one. I know we say that often, but srsly. Patreons will get episodes first right after recording. Just a buck gets you early access and a downloadable mp3 file! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow Serathin's amazing Dragget Show story! - docs.google.com/document/d/1AYkJR…y8RCsCK0NjEw/edit ALSO, we're not just on SoundCloud, you can also subscribe to this on most podcast services like iTunes! Don't forget to hang out in our telegram chat, now w/ over 100 members!telegram.me/draggetshow ep. 163 - I'M ANDY WARHOL - we REALLY liked this one. I know we say that oft…

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

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

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

News:

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

Emails:

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

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

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

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

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

News:

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

Emails:

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

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

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

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

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

News:

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

Emails:

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

[Live] Satyr Hatyr

A natural born button pusher.
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Redeeming Factors, by James R. Lane. Illustrated by Eugene Arenhaus.
Morrisville, NC, Lulu Press, August 2016, trade paperback $19.99 (356 pages), Kindle $2.99.

This should emphasize 2nd Edition or revised edition more. Redeeming Factors was first published by Xlibris Corp. in September 2000, one of both the original self-published books and of furry fandom’s novels. Lane has revised it for this edition. The cover and interior art by Eugene Arenhaus are from the first edition.

In the very near future, the jumperdrive is invented, giving Earth not only cheap and easy space flight but interstellar flight.

“[…] most people bought their own personal starships the way they bought RV motor homes, travel trailers and small pleasure boats. […] For less than five thousand New Millennium UN dollars a person could have his very own basic spaceship, taxes and local license fees extra, space suits and common sense not included. […] The resulting first contact discoveries with distant alien worlds, alien creatures – and above all, alien sentients, with all the biological hazards and culture shocks such events must entail – were quick to follow.” (pgs. 11-12)

“The H’kaah were just one of over two dozen more-or-less sociable non-human sentient species discovered in a loose cluster of stars a mere three hundred light years from Earth.” (p. 13)

Most of the aliens, even those that look like Earth animals such as the otter-like Mn’rii and the bear-like Ruug’h, much less the more aggressive carnivores –

“Humanity wasn’t just about to give ‘smart wolves’ and their ilk free access to entire planets full of defenseless, sentient ‘prey’.” (p. 20)

— are too independent to mix with humanity; but the rabbit-like H’kaah are docile and defer to humans as Big Brothers. And humanoid bunnies are popular with humans, both with children as nursemaids and with adults for NSFW reasons. So why shouldn’t they be brought to Earth?

(This is just a summary of a lengthy prologue that is necessary and interesting, but is quite an expository lump before the story starts.)

Jack Ross is a just-50 ex-US/UN government employee; a former US top-secret special ops agent until he inherited an automobile agency and retired to run it. His former government friends ask him to become one of the organizers of Patrons, a UN/H’kaah joint program to introduce the rabbitoids to Earth society “as personal companions to mostly middle-class families and individuals.” (p. 21) They would serve as, frankly, many third-world “resident alien” humans do in first-world countries, establishing themselves as gainfully employed, able to send money home, and introducing their nationality/species peacefully to the vast mass of humanity who aren’t interested in flying off into outer space. Jack becomes, secretly, one of the bureaucrats who sets up Patrons from the human end, and publicly he becomes the first human “customer” to hire one of the H’kaah.

“In his younger years Ross had seen photos of the world-famous Playboy Clubs before they became extinct, and he had been fascinated by [the] concept of ‘bunny girl’ waitresses, sexy young women wearing clip-on rabbit ears and powder-puff tails. Now, decades later, he was facing a roomful of the genuine article, and he found them to be undeniably feminine and sexy beyond the point of merely exotic, yet at the same time they were disturbingly alien. He noticed that he was beginning to sweat.” (p. 26)

Ross picks the honey-blonde furred S’leen. For the next few dozen pages, the story is about Ross’ introducing her to Florida society and to his home, and their getting acquainted. There are a few mentions of her rabbit-girl nature (he struggles to maintain a professional relationship despite her being “an incredibly sexy creature” with a shy personality), but it’s generally similar to what an average 50-year-old American living alone (he’s a divorcee) might go through upon hiring a young housemaid from a poorer third-world country experiencing America for the first time.

During Ross’ “explaining America”, he makes it clear that he – and Lane makes it clear that Ross is speaking for him – is politically conservative and has a large gun collection. This is pertinent when Ross takes S’leen to a firing range and teaches her to shoot. One of Lane’s more subtle touches is to refer to Jack Ross constantly as “Ross”, while everybody addresses him as “Jack”. This keeps him a more objective protagonist while making it clear that everyone who knows him considers him a good guy.

This is all pertinent because it’s obvious to the reader how this will all turn out, despite Ross’ and S’leen’s determination to keep everything on a detached, intellectual level. A healthy but sex-starved older but still active male and an equally abstemious 20-year-old bunny-girl, alone together?

An ongoing consideration is that S’leen is from a race of herbivores, while Ross is from a race of carnivores. (Okay, omnivores.) Despite the feelings that they develop for each other, S’leen can’t help cringing on an instinctual level:

“It finally sunk in that she was a long way from home, and completely at the mercy of creatures that EAT the flesh of other species.

She started trembling again.” (p. 69)

About halfway through the 356-page novel, old enemies from Ross’ past catch up with them. S’leen kills them thanks to Ross’ gun lessons, but he is left in a condition that:

“‘Don’t get your hopes up, son,’ Green [St. Augustine police Lieutenant Nolan Green, a friend] cautioned, his expression grim. ‘In all my years of military and police work I’ve never seen someone shot up that badly live more than a handful of minutes.’” (p. 151)

and:

“Each damaged or destroyed organ, by itself, would constitute a serious problem, Green explained, but he had saved the worst for last. ‘Besides all that, and besides losing his left eye and the hearing in his left ear, there’s one more thing: Jack is almost totally paralyzed. One of the bullets punched through his belly to lodge in his spine. They’re afraid to disturb it for fear of doing even more damage, but where it is, as well as what the neurological tests show, says that his entire lower body is effectively dead. And because of his breathing difficulty and unstable heartbeat, they’re certain the bullet is affecting the nerves that govern the upper body functions as well.’ Green took a long, deep breath, then added huskily, ‘Hell, if he’s lucky he might not wake up at all,’” (pgs. 194-195)

If Ross is in such a hopeless condition, how can there be a happy ending? With his human and H’kaah friends working together, there are unexpected surprises. Read Redeeming Factors and find out.

– Fred Patten

• Author’s site
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To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

Furry Videomakers are an under appreciated section of the Furry Fandom. A lot of this falls under different factors like how all the Furry sites don’t offer a way to submit video. We covered this topic back when we covered The Raccoon’s Den. Recently; we had a surprise on YouTube when Rainy Chaos was featured as their Artist on the Rise, which exposed a lot of people, Furry or not, to a personality they never seen. Though Rainy being featured had it’s own series of ups and downs.

However, there are more Furry YouTubers then you might think. Many of which are part of a Slack group. Talking about making better content, contributing with other videos, and showing off their work for feedback from their peers. Talking with several members, we are happy to present to you a list of Furry YouTubers You Might Not Have Seen. A highlight of different creators talking about what their channel is about, featuring their most recent or favorite video they’ve produced. So sit back, relax, and enjoy your next possible Furry obsession.

FURRIES IN THE MEDIA by Aberguine

Furries in the Media is a series that reviews video clips that feature furries based on how accurately and fairly the clip represents the furry fandom. News broadcasts, tv shows, documentaries, movies, and even popular youtube videos are often covered in Furries in the Media.

The youtube channel was originally intended to host a vlog series. The idea for Furries in the Media came about during the planning stages of the vlog as a possible spin-off series, and it was quickly realized that the review series had much more potential than the vlog itself.

Many people are only familiar with the furry community through infrequent yet often misinformed representations of furries in mainstream media. This series strives to dispell misconceptions and to better inform the public about furries. Furries in the Media does this by countering the misconceptions and providing additional context and information so that the furry community may be better understood by all.

 

CLAWY VARIETY SHOW by Taijey

My channel is mainly about covering advice and opinions from the mind of a conniving Toon Cat through my series ‘The Clawy Variety Show’. I decided on that name because its Clawy’s take on a variety of things and common topics in the furry fandom that give information to young or new furs or to furs that are curious about said topic. I decided to dedicate my channel to this because I don’t see too many “Toons” doing videos. Now I have seen a handful do slapstick and whatnot, but I’d like to see more toons being toons, while still addressing things of importance from time to time. Plus its more fun when your character is a bit of a clown and it’s insanely fun to see that added into the mix.

 

HOW FURRY IS IT? by Greger Reindeer

“‘How Furry Is It?’ is a series that looks at various TV shows, movies, videogames, and other media, and analyzes their qualities of anthropomorphism. It’s like a furry review show, but better! Hosted by Greger Reindeer, this series takes a more in depth look in media with plenty of research and educated opinion to boot. Come for the anthro analysis, stay or the antler antics.”

 

THE GRIFFCAST by Malwave

The Griffcast – in its basic form – is about 3 friends hanging out and watching bad movies. Or at least that’s the theme we try and bring across.

We don’t censor our thoughts and dig into all kinds of bad and obscure visual media; TV episodes of old cartoons nobody remembers, bad animated movies, etc. Really nothing is off limits…just tends to sway toward animated features most of the time.

The Youtube channel was born from a necessity to have some way for our viewers to see the content. The show started off as a podcast in 2013… more audio and with an entirely different crew aside from myself. That lasted for a good year until we dissolved and put the show on a permanent hiatus. Around 2016, I talked to my friends Sparx and Bootz and we made a few changes. The show you see now is the result.

 

BIOGODZ just Biogodz

My name is Bio and I’m usually known as Biogodz on Youtube & vine. In the furry community, I’m known for making short skits with Al the wolf and Friends. The best videos I’ve made in the past are Stranger in the room series and the cooking skits with Kale the deer.

Thank you to all the creators for featuring their work. Till next time Fluffer Nutters. Have a nice day.

-Matthias

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

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