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Hello everyone!

We open this week with a discussion on how to have the best headspace for making important decisions in your life. All too often we make choices in our life when we're in an emotional state (breaking up when you're having an argument, agreeing to plans when you're in a good mood, etc...) that end up backfiring on us. We discuss some research on how to make the best, rational decisions for yourself and your life. Remember-- never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach!

Our main topic is on monogamy. While Feral Attraction exists primarily as a podcast to detain non-traditional and non-monogamous relationships and lifestyles, monogamy is still the relationship style of choice for much of the public. While the furry fandom might be uniquely enriched with individuals exploring alternatives to monogamy, we did want to dedicate an episode to monogamy as it does carry its own unique challenges and difficulties to prosper.

We discuss the benefits of monogamy and why many people choose (or never deviate from the cultural norm) to be monogamous. We also discuss some of the challenges and pitfalls that people who are monogamous might experience, both in their relationships in general and in the fandom at large. 

We also have two questions this week, one on whether or not it's a good idea to invite a third into the bedroom, and another on what to do if you find yourself falling for your Master/Dom/Domme in a D/s relationship. Buckle in-- it's a long ride this week with Metriko and Viro! 

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 046 Monogamy - Should you make decisions when you're angry? What about if you're too happy? How can you be happy and monogamous? Should you be worried if your partner asks for a threesome? Should you tell your dom that you love them? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Non-Fandom Friends (Pawsome! #23)
Jackie shares her first impression on the fandom as well as her views on the community with Bandit and Abbey. ***NEW EPISODES BIWEEKLY ON WEDNESDAYS*** THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING!!! FACEBOOK:... From: The Raccoon's Den Views: 1719 24 ratings Time: 13:59 More in Entertainment

Thanks to Animation News Network we found out about an article over at the Hollywood Reporter. It seems that Mark Osborne (director of Kung Fu Panda and the recent film The Little Prince) has been tapped to finally adapt Jeff Smith’s award-winning comic Bone for the cinema — not just as one animated movie, but an entire trilogy to be produced by Warner Brothers. “The comic told of three Bone cousins — Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, all small, bald and human-like creatures with big noses — who are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert after being run out of Boneville. One by one they find their way into a deep forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. The comics were published from 1991 to 2004 and then rediscovered by a new and more mainstream generation when Scholastic began releasing them in graphic novel form.” Adam Kline is writing the script for the first film, along with Mr. Osborne, and Animal Logic (Happy Feet) are involved as well, so expect some top-notch CGI. We’ll let you know when we find out a release date.

image c. 2016 by Jeff Smith

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

The Right to Arm Bears, by Gordon R. Dickson
Riverdale, NY, Baen Books, November 2016, trade paperback $16.00 (384 pages).

Several years ago I had a review published on Flayrah of The Right to Arm Bears, by Gordon R. Dickson. It wasn’t a new book then, being published by Baen Books in December 2000. It’s gone through several printings so it’s remained available (with a slightly modified cover), but I don’t know how many furry fans have sought it out.

Guess what! Baen Books has reprinted it again this November, as a large trade paperback with a new cover by Kurt Miller. My old review will become pertinent again. Here it is.

The Right to Arm Bears, by Gordon R. Dickson
Riverdale, NY, Baen Books, December 2000, paperback $6.99 (431 pages).

This “novel” collects Dickson’s three light space-opera adventures about humans, the bearlike Dilbians, and the jovial-but-sinister Hemnoids: Spatial Delivery, first published as a novel by Ace Books, November 1961, 123 pages; Spacepaw, first published as a novel by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, February 1969, 222 pages; and “The Law-Twister Shorty”, a novelette in The Many Worlds of Science Fiction, edited by Ben Bova (E. P. Dutton, November 1971, pages 51-105).

Back-cover blurb: “Planet Dilbia is in a crucial location for both humans and their adversaries, the Hemnoids. Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They’re not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn’t need machines to do his work for him. But Dilbians are impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human “shorties” have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be….”

These three adventures betray their Cold War time-period. The Humans (Americans) and the totalitarian Hemnoids (Soviets) are both expanding through the galaxy, trying to win over the unaligned planets like Dilbia to their spheres of influence. “‘We must influence Dilbians like that chap or the Hemnoids are going to get the inside track on this planet. And the Dilbian system, as I’m sure your hypno training didn’t omit to inform you, is absolutely necessary as a supply and reequipment stage for further expansion on any large scale beyond the Belt Stars. If the Hemnoids beat us out here, they’ve got the thin end of a wedge started that could eventually chop our heads off.’” (pgs. 6-7) The problem is that the Dilbians resemble nine-foot-tall lanky Kodiak bears, and while they prefer to stay neutral in the rivalry between those whom they call the Shorties and the Fatties, they naturally feel more akin to the eight-foot-tall Hemnoids:

“… John saw, a sort of enormous robed, Buddha-like parody of a human being. The Hemnoid was a good eight feet in height, enormously boned, and while not as tall as the Dilbians themselves, fantastically padded with heavy-gravity muscles.” (p. 5) Compared to the Dilbians and the Hemnoids, the humans look like puny weaklings. Also, humans smell bad to Dilbians. The Dilbians’ attitude to the humans is one of friendly but condescending superiority.

The Dilbians also have a fondness for mildly insulting humorous names for themselves and for anyone else who comes to Dilbia, such as Daddy Shaking Knees, Two Answers, and Split Nose. The Hemnoid ambassador is dubbed the Beer-Guts Bouncer, a name of approval to the beer-loving Dilbians. Humans on Dilbia usually don’t like the names they are given.

In Spatial Delivery (expanded from “The Man in the Mailbag”, Galaxy, April 1959), young John Tardy, who expects to become an interstellar expert in biochemistry, is diverted to Dilbia instead. A human woman, Greasy Face (she wears a lot of makeup) has been kidnapped as a pawn in an affair of honor by the Streamside Terror, the leading brawler of the Dilbian hillbilly community of Clan Hollows. “‘You knows why they call him the Streamside Terror, don’t you, Half Pint? It’s because he likes to do his fighting alongside a stream, and pull the other man in the water and get him drowned.’” (p. 24) Tardy was an Olympic decathlon champion while he was in college, and Earth’s Alien Relations Office figures that he has the best chance of rescuing Greasy Face (Miss Ty Lamorc, a sociologist studying the Dilbians) if it comes down to a physical fight with the nine-foot bear.

To get Tardy to the remote community where she is held, the Human Embassy decides to mail him: to have the local Dilbian postman carry him in his mailsack. “‘Hill Bluffer, that’s my name and trade! Anything on two feet walk away from me? Not over solid ground or living rock! When I look at a hill, it knows it’s beat; and it lays out flat for my trampling feet!’” (p. 13) A special saddle-like harness is rigged for Tardy to ride on Hill Bluffer’s back, which neither of them like but is better than riding in a mailbag.

During their trek across the countryside through one small Dilbian hamlet after another, Tardy (dubbed the Half-Pint Posted) and Hill Bluffer become Odd-Fellow friends. Tardy, assigned to win the Dilbians’ support for the Humans, comes to respect their independence, their stiff sense of honor, and their casual contempt for formality and bureaucracy. He also gradually learns that there is more to the Streamside Terror’s kidnapping of Greasy Face than the official story. He has near-fatal accidents; he discovers that the Streamside Terror’s girl friend, Boy Is She Built, is following and trying to sabotage them to protect her lover; that a Hemnoid agent, Tark-ay, is helping her for his own reasons; and more. By the time he and Hill Bluffer catch up to the Streamside Terror, Tardy has iron-clad reasons both to fight and to avoid fighting, as well as the seemingly impossible dilemma of how a six-foot human can defeat a nine-foot clawed Dilbian experienced battler. Tardy takes advantage of the fact that Dilbians respect intelligence and cunning even over physical strength, and the Hemnoids are thwarted.

Bill Waltham, the protagonist of Spacepaw, is introduced similarly to John Tardy. He has studied to become a terraforming engineer – “He thought again of the great symphony of engineering and development that was a terraforming project – changing the surface and weather of a whole world to make it humanly habitable” (p. 142) – and he is disappointed to be drafted instead into the Agricultural Assistance Program’s Project Spacepaw as a sort of interstellar Peace Corps instructor to Dilbian farmers. “This is a spade. You hold it by this end. You stick the other end in the earth. Yes, deep in the earth. Then you tilt it, like this.” Etc. Waltham can imagine himself wasting the next two years among the giant bearlike peasants of the village of Muddy Nose.

But his life on Dilbia turns out to be much more of a whirlwind than that. He arrives in Muddy Nose to find it full of wild-whooping outlaws who plan to hold him for ransom. He is saved by the Hill Bluffer, who names him Pick-and-Shovel and expects him to duplicate the Half-Pint Posted’s feat by rescuing another Human female captive, Dirty Teeth (Anita Lyme, the Humans’ Agricultural Resident’s trainee assistant), from Outlaw Valley. Hill Bluffer is not alone. Dirty Teeth has been kidnapped by the outlaws because she is a rabble-rousing Women’s Libber who has been stirring up the women-folk of the Dilbians’ patriarchical society, and those women, led by the militant Sweet Thing, expect Pick-and-Shovel to liberate her from outlaw chief Bone Breaker immediately. “‘And none of that sissy lowland stuff with swords and shields,’ put in the Hill Bluffer. ‘Just honest, man to man, teeth, claws, and muscle.” (p. 398) Bone Breaker’s outlaws are being secretly manipulated by a Hemnoid agent, Mula-ay (Barrel Belly) …

Spacepaw is basically Spatial Delivery all over again and longer. But the details are considerably different (plus the added exasperation of Pick-and-Shovel’s having to live up to the exaggerated reputation of the Half-Pint Posted), and they are colorfully humorous enough that you will not mind reading the story twice.

“The Law-Twister Shorty” is Malcolm O’Keefe, a bewildered high-school student inexplicably drafted to quietly “rescue” three human tourists that an imperious young Dilbian, Gentle Maiden, has decided to “adopt” and, essentially, keep as pets in her community of Clan Water Gap. Both the Humans and Hemnoids have a strict noninterference treaty with the Dilbians at this time, except for rigidly-supervised exceptions such as this tourist party; and if the Hemnoids can prove the presence of humans in Water Gap after the tourist group has left, even as unwilling prisoners, they can gleefully accuse the Humans galactically as treaty-breakers. O’Keefe’s (or Law-Twister’s; he’s a school debating champion) assignment is complicated by the fact that Gentle Maiden’s boyfriend and protector is Iron Bender, Water Gap’s strongest young male, who is honor-bound to defend her actions. Neither Law-Twister nor Iron Bender are keen to be forced into a “let’s you and him fight” situation, so with the canny suggestions of Hill Bluffer and Water Gap’s elders who want to avoid a public incident, they find a way to defuse the crisis.

The book’s jokey title and Richard Martin’s cover are very amusing, but they totally misrepresent the Dilbians as to the amount of clothes they wear, and to their preference for “verbal fencing” which favors outwitting an adversary rather than fighting. See the “imitation Ed Emshwiller” (not by Emsh?) anonymous cover of Ace Books’ Spatial Delivery for a more accurate depiction. In fact, while I usually show only the first-edition covers in my reviews, here is a gallery of the previous editions of Spatial Delivery and Spacepaw. Note how the artist of the “imitation Ed Emshwiller” cover, Stephen Hickman, and Tom Kidd have tried to illustrate the Dilbians accurately (although usually still depicting them as giant bears rather than “bearlike”); while Leon Gregori and Paul Lehr have not bothered — Lehr(?) even depicting the Dilbians as gorillas! Wayne Barlowe, in his 1979 Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials, has done the best job of drawing them as they are supposed to look.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy the old edition on Amazon

But enough about the recent election… Kronen’s Kaiju is a new full-color comic series written and illustrated by Chris Scalf (Werewolves vs. Dinosaurs). “Giant freaking city crushing monsters are real!  Darren Kronen lives in a small town. His friends all think he’s an awkward nerd living in a fantasy world obsessed with make-believe creatures and monsters. He even writes a blog called ‘Kronen’s Kaiju Chronicles’ where he speculates about the creatures of legend he obsesses over. But after a series of unexplained earthquakes brings teams of scientists and authorities into town to investigate, Darrin’s obsession grabs the unwanted attention of high level officials when details on his blog match the strange phenomenon that is secretly being investigated!” They’re coming to comic stores this December, thanks to American Mythology. Find out more over at Previews.

image c. 2016 American Mythology

WagzTail answers an email from a listener asking for advice on “coming out” as furry. Listen for our advice!

Metadata and Credits Come Out as Furry?

Runtime: 38:58m

Cast: Braniff, KZorroFuego, Levi, Pamiiruq, Wolfin

Editor: Levi

Format: 196kbps AAC Copyright: © 2016 WagzTail.com. Some Rights Reserved. This podcast is released by WagzTail.com as CC BY-ND 3.0.

Come Out as Furry? - WagzTail answers an email from a listener asking for advice on "coming out" as furry. Listen for our advice!

WagzTail answers an email from a listener asking for advice on “coming out” as furry. Listen for our advice!

Metadata and Credits Come Out as Furry?

Runtime: 38:58m

Cast: Braniff, KZorroFuego, Levi, Pamiiruq, Wolfin

Editor: Levi

Format: 196kbps AAC Copyright: © 2016 WagzTail.com. Some Rights Reserved. This podcast is released by WagzTail.com as CC BY-ND 3.0.

Come Out as Furry? - WagzTail answers an email from a listener asking for advice on "coming out" as furry. Listen for our advice!

Study Group Comics is a very large collective of writers and artists creating a whole slew of mini-comics, zines, and webcomics. Among them is Magical Character Rabbit, an on-line comic story created by Evans Kinoko. “Magical Character Rabbit is the tale of a young Magi who lives in an enchanted city full of wizards, witches, and warlocks. When she’s entrusted with performing the big Winter Solstice Ritual in front of the whole town, she must go on a quest to find the perfect spell as well as the courage to go forward. An engaging, all ages fantasy for fans of Richard Scarry, Hilda, and Steven Universe!” You can check out the on-line comic at the Study Group web site, but recently they’ve also released a one-shot version on paper which you can find at their Shop.

image c. 2016 Study Group Comics

New ep! Waterparks! Pokemon! Trump (sorry)! Carmen Sandiego! Have a great Thanksgiving, guys!!! Reminder: We're on Patreon! If you could kick us a buck or two, we'd greatly appreciate it. www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow 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 146 - Where In The Waterpark Is Carmen Sandiego? - New ep! Waterparks! Pokemon! Trump (sorry)! Ca…

Terry Moore is a comic book artist and writer known for titles like Strangers in Paradise and Rachel Rising. Well now he’s got a new black & white comic out from Abstract Studios called Motor Girl. Here’s how they describe it: “When Samantha’s junkyard is visited by a UFO looking for spare parts, she is only too happy to oblige. But when word gets out she is a reliable source, Sam’s booming alien business catches the attention of an Area 51 investigator determined to shut her down!” Oh, and did we mention that Samantha’s best friend is a talking gorilla who may or may not exist? Find out more about it all at Ultimate Comics.

image c. 2016 Abstract Studios

Only one more show before MFF! We laugh and cry at some creepy articles and have an extended discussion during the email segment about being yourself. :3

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• The Onion Looks Back on ‘Beauty And The Beast’
• What.cd shuts down
  • TorrentFreak’s Article
  • The Verge’s Article
  • ArsTechnica’s Article
• One patient’s blood may hold a new weapon against HIV
• Metallica: Here Comes Revenge (Official Music Video)
• Bonjour, Girl!
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race

News:

• ‘I’m coming back in 200 years’: 14yo girl wins right to be cryogenically frozen
• Competitive males are a blessing and a curse, study reveals
• Newfound Spider Species Masquerades as Dried Up Leaf
• Doctors Remove Wedding Ring From Man’s Penis
• Man Who Fell Into Yellowstone Hot Spring Completely Dissolved Within A Day
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race
• The Internet Mourns Francis, Furry Star of YouTube’s ‘Cooking With Dog’

Emails:

• Milo Vic – “Fayroe, Can You Show Me the- MFF?”
• Ethan – “I can’t decide on what to do”
• Cheubey – “Question”

FC-251 Watery Doom Portals - Only one more show before MFF! We laugh and cry at some creepy articles and have an extended discussion during the email segment about being yourself. :3

Only one more show before MFF! We laugh and cry at some creepy articles and have an extended discussion during the email segment about being yourself. :3

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• The Onion Looks Back on ‘Beauty And The Beast’
• What.cd shuts down
  • TorrentFreak’s Article
  • The Verge’s Article
  • ArsTechnica’s Article
• One patient’s blood may hold a new weapon against HIV
• Metallica: Here Comes Revenge (Official Music Video)
• Bonjour, Girl!
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race

News:

• ‘I’m coming back in 200 years’: 14yo girl wins right to be cryogenically frozen
• Competitive males are a blessing and a curse, study reveals
• Newfound Spider Species Masquerades as Dried Up Leaf
• Doctors Remove Wedding Ring From Man’s Penis
• Man Who Fell Into Yellowstone Hot Spring Completely Dissolved Within A Day
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race
• The Internet Mourns Francis, Furry Star of YouTube’s ‘Cooking With Dog’

Emails:

• Milo Vic – “Fayroe, Can You Show Me the- MFF?”
• Ethan – “I can’t decide on what to do”
• Cheubey – “Question”

FC-251 Watery Doom Portals - Only one more show before MFF! We laugh and cry at some creepy articles and have an extended discussion during the email segment about being yourself. :3

Only one more show before MFF! We laugh and cry at some creepy articles and have an extended discussion during the email segment about being yourself. :3

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• The Onion Looks Back on ‘Beauty And The Beast’
• What.cd shuts down
  • TorrentFreak’s Article
  • The Verge’s Article
  • ArsTechnica’s Article
• One patient’s blood may hold a new weapon against HIV
• Metallica: Here Comes Revenge (Official Music Video)
• Bonjour, Girl!
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race

News:

• ‘I’m coming back in 200 years’: 14yo girl wins right to be cryogenically frozen
• Competitive males are a blessing and a curse, study reveals
• Newfound Spider Species Masquerades as Dried Up Leaf
• Doctors Remove Wedding Ring From Man’s Penis
• Man Who Fell Into Yellowstone Hot Spring Completely Dissolved Within A Day
• Deer Wipes Out Cross-Country Runner In The Middle Of A Race
• The Internet Mourns Francis, Furry Star of YouTube’s ‘Cooking With Dog’

Emails:

• Milo Vic – “Fayroe, Can You Show Me the- MFF?”
• Ethan – “I can’t decide on what to do”
• Cheubey – “Question”

[Live] Watery Doom Portals

Now here’s a Donald who hasn’t been as much in the news lately — much to his chagrin, probably! IDW Publishing presents Donald Quest, a new full-color adventure mini-series featuring Disney’s favorite duck. “In the steampunk warrior world of Feudarnia, only the Magnus Malleus can save humanity from marauding Meteorbeasts! It’s an epic weapon for an epic hero… so why is it up to Donald Duck to grab it before Magica De Spell, the Beagle Boys, and the Phantom Blot get there first?” Guess we’ll find out soon enough. Donald Quest is written by Stefano Ambrosio and Pat McGreal, with illustration by Andrea Freccero. Check it out over at IDW. Issue #1 is on the shelves now.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

Fuzz and Savrin this week, with good news, movie talk, advice on writing, advice on butt stuff, and more. Next episode is 2 weeks from now, so make sure to let us know of your Thanksgiving adventures~ Want to help support the show? Check out our Patreon - www.patreon.com/knotcast Episode 333 - Halfway to Hell

November 2016’s Book of the Month is Fragments of Life’s Heart, an anthology edited by Laura “Munchkin” Lewis and Stefano “Mando” Zocchi.

They say Love is the oldest story on Earth, but we don’t have to tell it the same way every time. How many ways are there to explore our feelings that we may have never even considered? Countless fragments of different worlds, all held together by the greatest force of all.

Join us as we explore the many different forms of love—family love, forbidden love, love that embraces what society always taught was wrong. Love can bloom, thrive, and end. Love can heal, mesh, and blend. We’re all Fragments trying to stick together.

Fragments of Life’s Heart includes 17 stories, many of which are from FWG members:

• “Tending the Fires,” Jess E. Owen
• “Transitions,” Mog Moogle
• “The Mistress of Tidwell Manor,” Renee Carter Hall
• “Yet Time and Distance,” Kris Carver
• “Polynomials,” Fever Low
• “Raise Your Voice,” Stefano “Mando” Zocchi
• “Going Out,” T.C. Powell
• “Harvest Home,” Altivo Overo
• “The Foreigner,” Dwale
• “Trade All the Stars,” Watts Martin
• “Draw to the Heart,” Ocean Tigrox
• “Paint the Square-Cut Sky,” Slip-Wolf
• “Hearth Soup,” Laura “Munchkin” Lewis
• “Brass Candy Girl,” M.C.A. Hogarth
• “Footsteps,” Televassi
• “Rain Check,” Field T. Mouse
• “The Soul of Wit,” Daniel Lowd

The anthology is published by Weasel Press, and is available from the publisher as well as Amazon, Rabbit Valley and major ebook sellers.

Invention Story is a new CGI animated series created by Trad Animation (that’s the name!) from China. Commissioned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the show is intended to spark in young people an interest in science and engineering. “This series of stories take place in a forest surrounding a town called Carrot Town, full of joyful and magic air. The main character is an intelligent, thoughtful, and creative fox, who in each episode makes a new invention. These inventions associate various fields of production in our daily life, which children see, or use everyday, everywhere. In the process of carrying out each invention, our young audience will be thinking and understanding the science, knowledge, and principle behind them, arousing their interest in creating new devises.” That’s what they say. Interestingly, the story editor behind this new series is an American: None other than Jymn Magon, creator of Disney’s Gummi Bears and TaleSpin. The series began with a pilot movie, Agent F.O.X., which is available in English. Currently episodes of Invention Story are posted on YouTube in the original Chinese. No word yet on an English version!

image c. 2016 Trad Animation

Hi....

I told my mom I was a furry, she accepted it and she let me make paws. a while after I wanted to make feet paws and I showed them to her when I was done, I mentioned that I would want to get or make a head and she mentioned the fetishes, I knew about them but I was surprised she knew, she said in not getting a head because of that reason, how do I try to tell her that a lot of other kids are in the fandom too, and that bad part is a small part of the fandom?

~Pinktail the cat (age 11)

* * *

Hi, Pinktail,

Sorry for my late reply. Please share this email with your mother.

Dear Pinktail's Mom,

Hi. I write a column for the furry community. I often get letters from people like your daughter. If you don't mind, I would like to speak frankly to you about the furry fandom, okay?

A little about me. I am a professional author, editor, columnist. I am 51 and divorced. No, I am not a pedophile. Yes, I am a furry (not for prurient reasons). I write the column because many young people come to me for a sympathetic ear and some advice. The column is free to write to or to read online. I do not charge people for anything I do there.

First, let me say that I think you must be a good mom. Many parents don't pay attention to what their children are doing, but you must have gone online and looked at what furries are and are concerned about your 11-year-old girl. (Please note, there is a lot of misinformation on the Internet, too.)

You are quite correct to be concerned.

You see, the furry fandom was begun in the 1970s by some science fiction and comic book fans who decided to create anthropomorphic animal characters in publications for adults with mature themes. Sometimes this involved sex and sometimes just more violence and adult themes.

Anyway, from these roots sprang the furry fandom. I am currently writing a book on the subject, but it won't be out for some time. The fandom is definitely intended, though, for people who are 18 and older. That said, it is definitely NOT true that furries are just about sex and it is NOT a sexual fetish. That is actually just a very very small part of this whole phenomenon, and if you ever go to a furry convention or other furry gathering someday to see for yourself, you'll see it is really pretty G-rated fun like going to a Star Trek convention. It is mostly online that you will see the, well, more kid-unfriendly stuff.

Now, this being said, I can see why furries appeal to young people like your daughter. You see, kids love stuff like Bugs Bunny and Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda and those are all very furry things (fiction about anthropomorphic animals). And they get excited about it and want to perhaps draw furry characters or, like your daughter, make a fursuit. While I will say that you are correct that it is far too early for your daughter to become deeply involved with the fandom, I would like to ask you not to discourage her creative imagination. Just because she wants to make a fursuit head doesn't mean she is going to watch porn online (please do, as all parents should, monitor your daughter's online behavior). Making a costume can be lots of fun, just like making a Halloween costume or dressing up as a hobbit or a Doctor Who character.

Imagination and creativity are good things, I think you will agree. Instead of taking the easy way out and just forbidding your daughter to pursue an interest she has, get more involved with her interest (indeed, often, when parents forbid their kids from doing something it can cause them to be very resentful and hurt your relationship with them). Ask her why she wants to dress up as an animal. Help her to have fun with it. There are many ways to enjoy such things that have absolutely nothing to do with the adult aspects of the fandom. There are a lot of good books for young people (e.g., the Redwall series by Brian Jacques) and fun Disney and Pixar movies you can both enjoy sharing. 

Your daughter's interests can also encourage her to develop some artistic and practical skills, such as drawing and sewing and maybe even animation and filmmaking (potentially lucrative careers in the real world). You know, there are even people involved in these things who are not furries. For example, the woman who sewed my bear costume is not a furry; she just likes making costumes. I'm about to wear it at a parade in Pasadena. It's fun!

So, just some friendly advice, and I hope you don't mind. I would not presume to tell you how to parent. I am just sharing my thoughts with you, and thank you for reading all of this.

Good luck to both you and your daughter.

Papabear (Kevin Hile)