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

Dawn, by Marcus J. LaGrone. Illustrated by Minna Sundberg.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, December 2011, trade paperback $14.95 ([1 +] 192 pages), Kindle $3.95.

Edward, by Marcus LaGrone.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, January 2013, trade paperback $9.95 (314 pages), Kindle $2.99.

The Highlands of Afon series must be science-fiction since the novels are set on the planets Afon and Ramidar in the far future, when humans have spread throughout the galaxy. But they read more like adolescent funny-animal dramatic fantasies featuring Afon’s dominant felinoid “race”, the Taik. (They aren’t just on Afon; they too have spread through the galaxy. See the complex “Introduction to the races and cultures”.) There are also the Shukurae, oversimplified as huge (9’ tall) muscular warthogs, intimidating but loyal to Taik leadership, and the Gelkin, short, squat, bearlike, and militaristic; both also spacefaring peoples.

Dawn is the story, in flashback, of Dawn Winteroak. She’s the Taik teenage schoolgirl in the middle on Minna Sundberg’s cover. Besides other adolescent problems, she’s embarrassed because her fur is “boring. Black and plain, not a spot or stripe to be seen. All her sisters had wonderful coats with spots and rosettes, a fact they used to take some pride in pointing out to her.” (blurb)

Dawn has worse problems. Her story begins: “As Dawn cracked open her eyes, she realized one thing immediately: she hurt. From the tip of her pointy ears to the end of her fuzzy tail she hurt. Even her fur hurt. How does fur hurt? she wondered. Well she wasn’t sure, but it certainly did. She sat up only to find that it was possible to hurt even more! Her ears rang and her head throbbed as she straightened up her spine. Looking down she noticed her jet black fur was horribly tousled and her dress, a gift for her fourteenth birthday all of a week ago, was now in tatters. Shredded and charred, it still stank of smoke.” (p. 3)

Dawn has been caught in the assassination of most of her family including her First Mother, the Highland Taik Ambassador at Large on the Taik-settled planet Ramidar. Worse, she has been taken hostage by the villains. She is rescued by her uncle Llewellyn Silverglade (“A man stood there, dressed like a Highland Taik. His fur was a gorgeous silver and white with black rosettes and a long, long tail. He stood there, looking very much like a snow leopard walking erect and just as graceful in his movements.” — p. 6), leading a group of five Shukurae warriors.

But all that is in the first ten pages. Dawn, now orphaned, is adopted by her Uncle Llewellyn and taken to his very large estate on Afon to live. Much of Dawn could almost be called a felinoid comedy of manners, taking into account differences like the Highland Taik social custom of having families like lion prides:

“Having four mothers seemed to cause no end of confusion and curiosity [in human space]. That and the fact that it was her First Mother rather than her father who was ambassador. Of course it was her First Mother! First Mothers were the heads of the family; why in the world would someone expect her father to be the ambassador? Males didn’t get involved in politics and things like that; that didn’t even make sense.” (p. 10) Males get involved in military affairs. Dawn, and Llewellyn, also have Second and Third Mothers, and large families of half-siblings. The Lowland Taiks, with a lower male-to-female ratio, have different customs.

And technological differences like the gates, or dimensional portals:

“‘Aurora [a Taik with pure white fur] was able to open one of the portals, gates as it were. These gates connect the other regions together and permit people and goods to cover long distances just by walking through their thresholds.

‘The humans described them as a stable wormhole or something. I know they were all very curious about them for a whole lot of technical reasons,’ Dawn rolled her eyes, ‘that I never really paid attention to even though I probably should have.’” (p. 27)

Dawn also has a Personal Secret:

“She all but purred as she flexed and then relaxed her wings, the stretch was doing them quite a bit of good. Wings? Oh yes indeed! Her stately wings filled almost two-thirds of the room they were so large, well more than eighteen feet across. It had been a long time since she had stretched them, much less tried to use them. Jet black feathers perfectly matching her fur coat fluttered in the breeze.

She didn’t understand them, but she’d had them for as long as she could remember. They would wink in and out of existence just as easily as she might stick out her tongue. Sticking out her tongue … She could almost hear her older sisters and their heckling. ‘Freak!’ That was the word du jour. She sighed to herself as her mind raced. Her new family seemed nice enough, but a black coat was one thing, wings were another thing entirely. Well, they hadn’t batted an eye at her appearance yet, and she was loathe to do anything to change that!” (p. 18)

… but it doesn’t stay a secret for long, and when Dawn is caught practicing flying early one morning, she’s told briskly, “‘while that was a marvelous flight, breakfast is the next order of business.’” (p. 44) So: for all its strangeness with an anthro feline cast, large families like lion prides, convenient wormholes, wings and other personal talents like invisibility, Dawn is very much a comedy of manners about socially meeting the Right Boy, adjusting to the Silverglade family of relatives including matchmakers, being menaced by highwaymen with swords, various dances, and making an enemy of the haughty daughter of the local Lady Mayor.

Dawn learns to grow out of being a shy 14-year-old into a popular teenager; by taking advantage of her abilities, not being embarrassed by them. There is some menace – one of the villains who killed her real parents strikes again – but it’s so downplayed that it’s barely an afterthought. The feline traits of the characters are used casually: “As Dawn stepped inside, her claws clicked on the hardwood floors and she had to consciously retract them. No sense messing up a nice floor!” (p. 15) There are a half-dozen line-drawing portraits of Dawn and her family & friends.

Edward is about Dawn’s young uncle; an eighteen-year-old bobcat-looking Taik. Edward Silverglade is the youngest of seven children, all of whom have succeeded brilliantly at their professions. Determined to prove himself their equal, Edward chooses a military career in the space force’s 517th Assault Group, a volunteer unit of Taiks, Shukurae, and humans serving together. They are involved in the rescue of Dawn from terrorists against the Taik governor of the planet Ramidar, where Dawn’s First Mother and family had been killed.

That mission is quickly concluded, but the terrorists are still at large, causing destruction and death. The 517th Assault Group is asked to remain on that planet as a bodyguard detail for the governor’s daughter, Tatiana, a megapopular pop star. The 517th’s job is not only to protect Tatiana but to serve as counterinsurgency experts to help the planetary police catch whoever is behind the terrorism.

Edward finds that Tatiana is no diva. She is an intelligent 18-year-old Taik resembling an anthro jaguar, who works with her bodyguards to catch the terrorists. Edward becomes the 517th’s personal bodyguard of Tatiana, while the rest of its team – 25 of them; 15 Shukurae, 5 Taik (both Highlanders and Lowlanders), and 5 humans; explosive experts, snipers, martial-arts warriors, police liaison – works together smoothly to protect not only Tatiana but the rest of her musical group and her crowds of fans. Edward’s individual talent of changing his fur’s color makes him an excellent furry chameleon:

“Edward slipped into the shadows of a corner of the room and let his fur shift in hue to match the walls.” (p. 27)

It also makes blushing a real problem:

“Edward’s fur stood straight up on end and he fought to keep his color from cycling. ‘Um.’” (p. 107)

The reader becomes familiar with not only Edward but others of the 517th – Kadu, Edward’s Shukurae partner; Jake, a human sniper; Gigirena, a Lowland Taik hand-to-hand combat expert; Meeka and Patuk, more Shukurae; Trevor, their Lowlander police liaison. At the same time, Edward becomes familiar with Tatiana and those closely involved with her, especially Gillian Rose, her motherly agent. When Tatiana forms a girl-to-girl friendship with one of her group’s musicians, Zoë Sylva, a Taik who looks like a clouded leopard with black hair, she is drawn into their orbit. Edward becomes so closely involved with them (that’s Zoë, Edward, and Tatiana on Minna Sundberg’s cover) that at one point he asks to be relieved due to becoming too emotionally involved with the two. Gillian becomes “Mom”, and the Shukurae Kadu is a big sister.

Despite the romantic entanglements, there is plenty of action as the terrorists strike on the streets, in theaters and concert halls, and in hotels:

“Things felt wrong as soon as Edward stepped off the elevator. It was going to be a long night. Like the morning, there was a mob of fans waiting outside. Instead of the protestors of the morning, there was a plethora of of media hacks with cameras in hand. Tabloid vultures, ready to document exactly what Tatiana was or wasn’t wearing as she headed out for the night. They were a hazard of the course, unfortunately. It wasn’t up to Edward to judge people, he was there for one thing: protect the client, protect Tatiana.” (p. 44)

“‘You think they’d bomb the elevator?’ asked Alex.

‘No, but I didn’t think they’d bomb the car either. They have escalated their game, just as Kestrel feared. Our job has just begun.’” (p. 46)

It seems like Edward can’t turn around without the terrorists striking again. So: one romantic comedy for women, and one adventurous military drama/police procedural, both feline-furry.

There are two more books in LaGrone’s The Highlands of Afon series, but they are in Kindle editions only: Chloë (397 pages) and Theodore (288 pages), also with covers by Minna Sundberg. If you like these first two, you may enjoy the last two.

–Fred Patten

• Buy Dawn on Lulu
• Buy Dawn on Amazon
• Buy Edward on Amazon
• Buy Chloe on Amazon
• Buy Theodore on Amazon

He’s back! Or he will be, this December. From the pages of Previews magalog: “The first new Cerebus comic since 2004! Where has Cerebus been since he died twelve years ago? Is he in hell? Purgatory? Limbo? Some strange 1980 disco with links to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Henry Kissinger? Some ancient Greek disco with links to Plato, Socrates, Aristotle? Some 1990s disco with links to The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, and Oasis? Is he stuck inside his own Cerebus Online Disco Twitter-feed? Well, wherever he is, he deserves it, so feel free to laugh at his misfortune! This one shot leads into the Cerebus In Hell? 4-issue mini-series in 2017 celebrating Cerebus‘ 40th-anniversary!” Brought to us by none other than Dave Sim (with a little extra help), the new black & white Cerebrus in Hell? #0 hits the shelves right after Christmas.

image c. 2016 Aardvark-Vanaheim

Here’s one we definitely missed the first time around, but now it’s back thanks to the folks at IDW: “Finally, Spiral-Bound is coming back in print! With an ensemble cast straight from a box of Animal Crackers, this delightful tale of ambition, morality, and self-discovery is an all-ages classic. Drawn in a decidedly beautiful fashion, reminiscent of Richard Scary and Lewis Trondheim, Aaron Renier gives us a fully-realized and compellingly adventurous narrative, at once both achingly naive and profoundly worldly. This tightly crafted graphic novel is the real deal, and will charm your socks off.” Here’s a little bit more about the plot, courtesy of Booklist: “In this [black & white] graphic novel about the young animal characters who live in the Town, Turnip the elephant is using the summer to find his artistic voice through sculpture, his friend Stucky the dog is building a submarine, and Ana the rabbit is working on the town’s underground newspaper. Their stories all wind around the town’s deep, dark secret about the monster that lives in the pond.” Got all that?

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

inbetweenasode! Xander & Miko talk about VR headsets, a pinball convention, spooky games, costumes & more! Fuzzy Graffix - Spoopy Virtual Insanity - inbetweenasode! Xander & Miko talk about VR head…

So we came across an add for a new plushie toy line called Feisty Pets from WMC Toys. Here’s what they say on their web site: “Feisty Pets go from cute to feisty with just a squeeze to the back of the head. Choose from 4 animals: bear, dog, cat, and monkey – and more animals are currently in production. Which one do you like most?” Actually, it’s more like they go from cute to nightmare fuel! Seriously, check out this introduction video on YouTube. But beware!

image c. 2016 WMC Toys

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Our friends over at IDW put it best: “In 2015, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed began (without warning!) producing ALL-NEW Bloom County strips—for the first time in more than 25 years! Breathed released the new Bloom County strips exclusively through his Facebook page, to the cheers of devoted and delighted fans everywhere. These brand new strips have NEVER before been available in print—until now! All the wit, charm, and biting satire that are trademarks of Bloom County and Berkeley Breathed are clearly on display and evident in this handsome new volume. Featuring all your favorite characters: Opus, Milo, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, and many more. Bloom County has come home… and it’s about time!” Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope is available in trade paperback, and it’s on the shelves now.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

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Hello again,

Sorry, I seem to be a boomerang, always coming back to ask questions. I'll try to keep this short. Hope you are doing well. So I work at a Vet Clinic and they work me to near absolute exhausted, I make the least about of money and they promised a raised but they never came through. I'm a really hard worker, coming on days off, never had a vacation. Do all the holidays. I know that they don't appreciate me as an employee and don't care what happens to me. I was in the hospital and the ER doctor got into a fight with them because they demanded I come in, but I had a head injury and couldn't. I'm extremely disappointed and sad about this, I always hoped to work in a place that cared about its people. Do I just accept that, this is a myth, really no company cares about its employees? That no matter where I go it will always be the same? I don't know if I should quit, won't it all be the same? I'm not even super sure what to expect from employers.
 
Galileo (age 27)
 
* * *
 
Hi, Galileo,
 
As with people in general, everyone is different. There are good employers, and there are bad ones. Doesn’t sound like you have a good one, but that doesn’t mean they are all bad. If I were in your situation, I would not be happy with an employer who gets mad that I didn’t go in to work when I’m in the ER with a head injury. That’s ludicrous.
 
My recommendation is this: do NOT quit your job … yet. Instead, start putting out feelers for a better job elsewhere. Scope out businesses you think might be good for you and see if you can talk to some of their employees. If you wish to remain in the veterinary clinic field, you can do a little research online, such as at http://www.usa-veterinarians.com/reviews. Customer reviews are a good indication of whether or not a business is good. In my experience, businesses that are good to their customers also tend to be good to their employees. For example, if an employee is cheerful and helpful to a customer, this is probably because they are happy at their job, which means they are likely happy with their bosses, too.
 
While you are doing this, be the best employee you can be at your current job. You do not want to burn your bridges—meaning if your current place of employment is dissatisfied with you, word can get around, even if they don’t write you a recommendation.
 
Be patient. Work deliberately and methodically as you do your research. Do not jump at the first opportunity, but check it out thoroughly. If you find someplace that looks like a needed improvement for you, give your two weeks’ notice and make plans for the move!
 
Good Luck!
Papabear​

Things get decidedly more anthropomorphic in issue #18 of Scooby Doo Team Up from DC Comics: “Can it be? The entire universe threatened by the spectral spirit of Canis Major, the dog star? To get to the bottom of the space-spanning mystery, canine crimebuster Scooby will have to team up with some of DC’s greatest dog heroes, including old friends Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound, plus G’Nort, Wonder Dog, and the Space Canine Patrol Agency!” Woof. Have a look at it on-line over at Read Comics.

image c. 2016 DC Comics

WHY DON’T FURRIES RECOGNIZE GOOD JOURNALISM?

 

This topic has come up before: “Bay Area Furs find out why there should be a Furry award for Best Journalism” (see some good articles within) – and – “VICE looks back on the Midwest Furfest attack, earning kudos for thoughtful journalism.”

The simplistic answer is – back around 2001, this little fan group was mistreated by Vanity Fair, MTV and CSI.  Forevermore, “The Media” was a thing to hate.

But it’s not so simple. In a chicken-or-egg way, “The Media” deserves some credit for creating furries. (It’s a FANdom!)  That usually means fiction media, but there’s much more than that. There’s the “science” part of science fiction; transhumanism, animals and nature, and anything about growing a self-defined subculture. There’s info coming from the Anthropomorphic Research Project.  A top selling nonfiction book (from Thurston Howl publishers) is the fandom-essay collection Furries Among Us.

Nonfiction is a big deal in fandom for anthropomorphic animals.

As the group grows and gains attention, members could use their own internal media to report stories that outsiders might not understand.  And outsiders are getting way better, too.  Bad-old Vanity Fair stigma is going out with a big rise in good-new Zootopia kind of attention.

In the history of furry fandom, almost all official recognition for its favorite media has gone to fiction. Look at The Coyotl Awards of the Furry Writers’ Guild; and the Ursa Major Awards are dominated by fiction, with no official category for nonfiction (just “Best Other Literary Work.”)

Until now. Fred Patten tells more:

Dear Patch;

The Ursa Major Awards, which have had eleven categories since 2011, have added a twelfth category; by popular demand and after consideration by the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association’s administrators.  The new category is Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction.

This is split off from the Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work category.  Up to now, non-fiction works such as art books of anthropomorphic motion pictures and social studies of furry fan culture have been in competition with fiction collections and anthologies, graphic albums, and other works of anthropomorphic literature that did not fit into the Novel and Short Fiction categories.

Beginning immediately, and with the 2016 awards to be voted upon during 2017, the category of Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction will be included on the Anthropomorphic Recommended Reading List and on the UMA final ballot.

Dogpatch Press is a furry news source, so I’m telling you about it… Obviously, the winning by Thurston Howl’s Furries Among Us in the 2015 Best Other Literary Work category has a lot to do with this.  This year’s The Art of Zootopia, The Art of Finding Dory, The Art of Kung Fu Panda 3 and other coffee-table art books of anthropomorphic movies will go into this category as well.

Best wishes;
Fred

I think this is long overdue. If “The Media” has been an enemy (or a frenemy) in the past, this is a good way to develop understanding and reward them for doing well.  And (with no selfishness) I love how this could encourage more writing from newsfurs, a small-but-enthusiastic corner of the fandom itself.

Skylanders Academy is a new CGI animated series set to premier this month on Netflix. According to the Skylanders Wiki (yes there is one), the series is being produced by Activision Blizzard Studios under the guidance of Eric Rogers (writer on Futurama). Spyro the dragon, Eruptor, and Stealth Elf study to use their diverse powers to protect their world from the evil forces of Kaos and the Doom Raiders. Look for it October 28th, and check out the trailer on YouTube.

image c. 2016 Activision Blizzard

Hello Everyone!

On this week's show we open with a discussion of an article Debra Soh wrote on common misconceptions people make about polyamorous relationships. We use science to debunk mistakes: it's almost as if one of the hosts is a scientist! 

Our main topic is on Boundaries versus Rules (featuring Ultimatums). We go into the differences between these ideas, why they are not interchangeable, and why you might need to change how you think about your relationship terms. 

We close out the show with a Patreon shoutout to Snares (seriously go and give money to this comic), a reminder to see our episode of Culturally F'd!, and a question on changing the expectations of a poly relationship when locations and living circumstances change. 

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 040 Boundaries vs Rules - Is Polyamory a magnet for STIs? Should you give ultimatums in a relationship? How do you handle a discussion of shifting expectations with your partner? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer. This goes out a little late (sorry). You might also be interested in others announced here at Adjective Species. 

Goal Publications is announcing its first original short story anthology.

Title: The Symbol of a Nation. Theme: national animals. Deadline: December 1st, 2016.

Wanted: original short stories (no reprints) of 2,000 to 15,000 words, featuring furries that are the national animals of countries, such as Afghanistan’s snow leopard, Algeria’s fennec, Australia’s red kangaroo, Bangladesh’s tiger, Canada’s beaver, Denmark’s swan, Eritrea’s camel, France’s rooster (fighting cock), Germany’s black eagle, Honduras’ white-tailed deer, Italy’s wolf, the U.S.’s bald eagle … There are over 200 countries and most of them have a national animal.

For this anthology, we are extending the theme to the official animals of provinces and states. There are several animals such as the koala (Queensland) and platypus (New South Wales) of Australia, or the giant squirrel (Maharashtra) and red panda (Sikkim) of India, or the coyote (South Dakota) and raccoon (Tennessee) of North America that are not national animals, but are the official animals of provinces or states.

But: this is limited to the officially adopted animals (including birds) of national or sub-national entities only. No sports team mascots, corporate mascots like the NBC peacock, political party mascots, or breakfast cereal mascots. No fictional official animals or countries like Transylvania and vampire bats. However, some countries have both a national animal and a national bird, such as Chile – its animal is the huemal, an Andean deer, and its bird is the Andean condor. We will accept stories featuring either or both.

Romania’s official Lynx.

Please make sure that they are official. There are many animals that are often associated with countries, such as the eagle & snake on the Mexican flag, or Mexico’s Chihuahua, but they are not official animals. (Mexico’s official animal is the xoloitzcuintli. Don’t know what that is? Look it up.)

If you would like to submit a story, write to the managing editor (Fred Patten) first to find out if that animal or country is already claimed. If you would like to use an animal or country but don’t know what to pair it with, ask the editor or look it up. Stories sent to the editor without checking first may be wasted effort.

The rules are more complex than for most furry anthologies. (1) There must be a connection between the animal and the country. If you feature a tapir, the national animal of Belize, make sure that there is something about Belize in the story. (2) No funny animal stories where the characters could just as easily be humans. Make your characters feel like uplifted or evolved animals. Most animals with fur don’t sweat. (3) Try to match the animals to their environments. If they have thick fur, don’t have them wearing thick clothing in humid tropical lands. (Or justify the discrepancy.)

Stories may be humorous or serious. There may be humans in the story as secondary characters, but the main character(s) should be furry.

On sale at Fur the More 2017, in Baltimore on April 28-30, as a trade paperback. Payment: 1¢ per word upon publication, plus a contributor’s copy of the book. Contributors may buy additional copies at a 30% discount.

Goal Publications is looking for First Rights on stories, as well as exclusive sales rights to digital and print versions of accepted stories for six months following publication.

 

If you have any questions, please write to fredpatten@earthlink.net.

Tonight the crew is all back together and they discuss the weeks news. Get ready for clowns! Episode -22 - Clownshark

Down one bull the cast brings you their weekly news! Episode -23 - The shark ate the bull

More new stuff from Dark Horse Press: “Dark Horse Comics announces Tree Mail, a forthcoming all-ages graphic novel from the New York Times best-selling The Stuff of Legend creators Mike Raicht and Brian Smith. Rudy—a determined, optimistic frog—hopes to overcome the odds and land his dream job delivering mail to the other animals on Popomoko Island!” This full-color trade paperback hits the shelves in early November. Dark Horse also has an interview with the creators on their main web site.

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Press

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Hello, Papabear.

I'm not writing to you about me today, but rather my boyfriend. He's not a furry, but I figured that you might still be able to help us. So here's the swing of things: He's not happy with anything about his body, period. He said he feels unnatural. I think he's got body dysmorphia, because he's talked about hurting himself and other things like that. I'm just really concerned about him, and I don't know how to help. I've told him that he should talk to someone, but he lives in the southern area of the States (Louisiana), and doesn't feel that the response would be very good. Since you've been giving advice to lots of different people, I figured that you could give me some advice. Sorry in advance for any trouble.

Wreath (age 14)

* * *

Hi, Wreath,

First, never apologize for "the trouble." That is what I am here for.  Do you have a photo of him? What is his family life like? How is he doing in school? Is he sociable or does he keep to himself? 

I will need much more information about your boyfriend. The following is from the Mayo Clinic website. Please look through it and get back to me on your thoughts...

Shame and embarrassment about your appearance may keep you from seeking treatment for body dysmorphic disorder. But if you have any signs or symptoms, see your health care provider or a mental health professional.

Body dysmorphic disorder usually doesn't get better on its own, and if untreated, it may get worse over time, leading to severe depression, anxiety and extensive medical bills, and may lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior.
CausesIt's not known specifically what causes body dysmorphic disorder. Like many other mental illnesses, body dysmorphic disorder may result from a combination of causes, such as:

• Brain differences. Abnormalities in brain structure or neurochemistry may play a role in causing body dysmorphic disorder.
• Genes. Some studies show that body dysmorphic disorder is more common in people whose blood relatives also have this condition or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Environment. Your environment, life experiences and culture may contribute to body dysmorphic disorder, especially if they involve negative social evaluations about your body or self-image, or even childhood neglect or abuse.

Risk factorsCertain factors seem to increase the risk of developing or triggering body dysmorphic disorder, including:

• Having blood relatives with body dysmorphic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Negative life experiences, such as childhood teasing and trauma
• Certain personality traits, such as perfectionism
• Societal pressure or expectations of beauty
• Having another psychiatric disorder, such as anxiety or depression

ComplicationsComplications that may be caused by or associated with body dysmorphic disorder include, for example:

• Major depression or other mood disorders
• Suicidal thoughts or behavior
• Anxiety disorders
• Health problems from behaviors such as skin picking
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Eating disorders
• Substance abuse

Papabear

* * *

Thanks for the quick response. I'm sorry, but I don't have a picture of him. As for his family life, as far as I know it's fairly good, with both parents and a supportive family. From my understanding he's got great grades and is fairly pleased with his work. Lastly, when it comes to friends and being sociable, offline he's very timid and quiet, but online is very outgoing. And concerning the article you sent me, some of the symptoms and complications do match (he has anorexia and depression, as well as social anxiety disorder). He's also teased quite a bit by his cousins, although if it's about his appearance I don't know. Anything else you need to know about him, and I'll tell you. Thank you so much for everything you do.

Wreath

* * *

Hi, Wreath,

Okay, well, if he has anorexia that would explain his bad body image, of course! I would suggest visiting this site https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/find-help-support to find some assistance with eating disorders.

Hugs,
Papabear
​

Please help children of the tragedy in this post: Support the Yost family and In Loving Memory Of Billy Boucher.

News tip thanks to Spottacus.  Below is his post about an editorial cartoon in the OC Weekly about a triple homicide in Southern California.

Spottacus Cheetah: “Making fun of murdered family is so offensive.”

“…I imagine the family, somewhat devastated by the murder, seeing two people in costume speculating with happy smiles about what the killers were wearing. That just seems to belittle the tragedy.

In contrast, consider the post-massacre Hebdo cartoon, of a saddened Muhammed grieving over the deaths there.

(Paris, 2015: “4 Cartoonists Killed In Attack On Charlie Hebdo Newspaper“.)

Which made the powerful point that what was done was awful, and at the same time driving the in your face humor of Hebdo by depicting Muhammad again, in print. The entire reason for those Paris murders was exactly that depiction.

Here, in this cartoon, there is a sensationalism on the furry connection, to the point where the depicted characters as almost gleeful when discussing the murder. This makes it seem clueless and sadistic, rather than funny. Unlike Hebdo, the costumes serve no higher purpose to the message, and there’s not much of a moral there. And, unlike a Callahan cartoon, which pokes fun often at tragedy, there is a specific family involved.”

More furry comments at the OC Register:

Gerry Humphrey: “This is EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE! People are killed and OC Weekly is posting an “editorial cartoon” that is way over the line.”

Randolph D Garrett: “A fine example of why print journalism died. Offensive crap… This needs to be removed…”

Nathan Thomas Wolf: “Are you fucking kidding me? How offensive and inappropraite can you be?…  The furry fandom had nothing to do with it… you also are so disrespectful to the family that lost their lives… You are so unprofessional, disgusting, offensive and so wrong as well. Luke McGarry who just proved he is the biggest asshole better be fired to even begin to bring some dignity back to your horrible comapny. He’s to much of a savage to say anything yeah because he’s a peice of shit just like you guys are. If you people don’t get him fired and remove the post I will make it my life goal to see it happen!”

Patch O’Furr: “I dont think this is bad. Like a good cartoon should, this leaves a lot up for interpretation. Here’s mine.

The furries in the cartoon are in “disguises.” But they aren’t shown doing something bad. They’re just reading the news, and seeing something shocking just like everyone else. So this can be taken as a message about how everyone is sharing a sad experience in common, even if they have other differences.

The artist took care to show the accused not in disguise but in regular mug shots on the front page, answering the absurd thought (what if someone wore a disguise on top of a costume? But they were just people.) And I don’t think the readers are smiling and showing humor, as much as they are just dressed like they actually dress in suits that do. It says that life can be comic and tragic at the same time. Isn’t that the truth? I don’t think there’s anything offensive about that.”

Spottacus told me that he had a good chat with the cartoonist. I’ll ask if he can share in comments. What’s your opinion about the cartoon?

Dark Horse Press have been on a universe-crossover kick lately. And frankly you have to notice one of their latest titles: Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes. One of those “so obvious, but so awesome” things… Here’s the idea: What if Cornelius and Zira, the chimpanzee scientists, had escaped via their time-slip… to the turn of the 20th Century? Where, it seems, they found an orphaned human baby and raised him to be their own. See where this is going? Here’s the official word from Dark Horse: “Raised as brothers but separated by slave traders, Tarzan and his ape brother Caesar reunite when the war between man and ape takes them from the jungles of Africa to the center of the earth.” This new comic miniseries is written by Tim Seeley and David Walker, with full-color art by Fernando Dagnino and Sandra Molina. IGN has a detailed review.

image c. 2016 Dark Horse Press

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