Feed aggregator
Episode -22 - Clownshark
Episode -23 - The shark ate the bull
The Frog Always Rings Twice
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
Save
Bad Body Image Is Due to Anorexia, in This Case
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
Is this news editorial cartoon about furries making fun of a tragedy?
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?
Son of Man
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
Save
S6 Episode 5 – You Did What in the Parlor? - This episode has Tugs and guest host Lyrick talking about their con roommate strategies, horror stories, and more. During the episode they talk about managing expectations with those you share a room with, hand
NOW LISTEN!
Show Notes
Special Thanks
Lyrick, our guest host!
Fido
Leo
Mfalme, for the ident.
Dronon
Amethyst
Commander Wolfe
Music
Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller– Cloud Fields (Radio Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Game Round 1: Mystery Skulls – Ghost. USA: Warner Bros Records, 2011. Used with permission.
Some music was provided by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. We used the following pieces: Phantom from Space, Leopard PRint Elevator, Secret of Tiki Island . Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Get Psyched Music: Fredrik Miller – Universe, USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Headnodic Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Patreon Love
The following people have decided this month's Fur What It's Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!
Premium Supporters
Oaken Bowler Hat Supporters
Rifka
Plus Tier Supporters
Skylos
McRib Tier Supporters
Snares
Bassblitzed
Ilya / EpicRive
Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again!
Next episode: We’re accepting stories for the Halloween episode! Send them before October 19! S6 Episode 5 – You Did What in the Parlor? - This episode has Tugs and guest host Lyrick talking about their con roommate strategies, horror stories, and more. During the episode they talk about managing expectations with those you share a room with, hand
A brief history of who ruined furry.
Many people are to blame for ruining furry. This list isn’t comprehensive, and some of the jerks on it caused multiple problems at the same time.
1960’s – 1970’s: Artists ruined furry.
Underground comic artists made a plan to stigmatize fans of funny-animal comics by putting adult stuff in ones like Robert Crumb’s Fritz The Cat and Reed Waller’s Omaha The Cat Dancer. It worked well enough to keep fans from openly using the “furry” name until the 1980’s.
1985-1988: “Skunkfuckers” ruined furry.
It was just starting to be OK to be furry in public. Then some bad apples got us kicked out of respectable science fiction fandom. Look at these 1980’s convention room party flyers from Lance Rund and Sy – this is the kind of thing that made furries get isolated apart from other fans, with our own private shame-cons.
1989-1992: Transexual freaks ruined furry.
After getting our own con (ConFurence 0 in 1989), outsiders who weren’t even real furries came in. Here’s a pic of “Furry fandom founder” Fred Patten with one of the freaks, Robert Hill, AKA Hilda the Bambioid. You can see Hilda proudly ruining our image in a weird, sexy alien-like costume. This was scandalous enough to make sure that Fred Patten would never be heard from again. It also ruined reliable gender roles in costuming for both men and women at the same time, and made it impossible to tell what kind of person is inside by looking at the outside.
Flayrah commenter: “…the first furry costume worn at a furry convention… Hilda the Bambioid as performed by Robert Hill at CF0 in 1989.“
“Fred becomes editor of Rowrbrazzle at the LASFS Clubhouse in January 1989.”
1993: Furries are finally acceptable!
Things got better. We were decent enough to show on TV. This special has been cited as the best public representation ever made about furry. It has every furry in the world in the same place together. You can tell things got worse, because when did that ever happen again?
Commenter Dwight Dutton: “I spotted myself in the background. The way to put this in perspective is that this was the LAST “Pre-Internet” furry convention. AOL opened the floodgates a few months after this event.“
1994-1995: The internet ruined furry.
Art and creative writing were overshadowed by the internet, which has neither. Everything decayed into vapid sex chats and “cybering” on “MUDs” and “MUCKs”. Degenerate cartoonists spread filth like Tiny Toons porn to undermine any remaining value of the fandom.
Fred Patten: “What seems most interesting to me is the apparent assumption that furry fandom (and people in general) are just discovering the pornography of high-profile animated cartoon characters with Zootopia. Doesn’t anyone remember the furry fan pornography of Warner Bros.’ Tiny Toon Adventures TV series in the early 1990s, with the series’ own emphasis on gags about Buster Bunny’s not wearing any pants?“
1996-1998: Gays and fetishists ruined furry.
After Mark Merlino started ConFurence, he ruined it. A homosexual propaganda zine reported that he had a convention you could “write to for more info”, a code to solicit perverted activity. Then the con was overrun with horny gay men who had no other interest.
Commenter: “Confurence ran a add in a gay magazine in the 90’s and furry became identified with gays.” – (Dogpatch Press, There’s a persistent rumor that Furry fandom was perverted by a bad ad for ConFurence).
There was also the “elevator jizz” incident at the con hotel. Merlino tried to cover up suspicious moisture by explaining that you had to use the elevator to get to the pool, so it was a little wet from bathing suits. Yeah, right… furries don’t have physiques for swimming, and you know what it means when you see shorts on a fursuiter.
1999: The Burned Furs ruined furry.
This was a big ruin. A battle between yiffers and non-yiffers tore furry in two, never to be forgotten. Now anything using the “furry” name has to get approved by the Burned Furs Board Of Decency. Behind the scenes, they work closely with The Roberts (a secret society including Crumb and Hill).
2000-2004: The media ruined furry.
Another big ruin. MTV, CSI, and Vanity Fair did attack pieces to stigmatize furries. Now not only was furry torn in two, it would also never grow bigger than it was.
2005-2007: “Popufurs” ruined furry.
The Furaffinity website was launched. It turned fandom into a shallow game to have the best social media profile. Fursuiting raised the bar with incredibly nicely made suits, and you could only be a real furry if you had thousands to spend on them. It was no longer about being an anthropomorphic animal, but just about pretending to be one. Winners got high social status and riches, and everyone else had no choice except to follow them.
2007-2010: Cons ruined furry.
Too many cons started, watering down the power of the original con, Anthrocon, and it’s defense of furry virtue. CEO Uncle Kage was the one holding things together with a “family-friendly” policy. It was so fragile that one wrong word, or one mean news piece could make it all come crashing down.
2010-2014: Kids ruined furry.
It’s no longer a serious scholarly pursuit. Now furry is all about being silly. Cons are overwhelmed with drunken, rowdy young fans who chase off the older “graymuzzles” and bring unwelcome new customs like dance crews. They only come for “raving” and parties, forgetting how the fandom was founded.
2015-now: Everyone ruined furry.
IMVU bought FurAffinity. After the announcement in March 2015, the site was dragged down for shameless commerce instead of keeping it pure for macrophile cockvore art. Look at this sellout furfag (*me):
Last day @furcon! We hope to see our #IMVU users at our booth and new FURiends too! #SundayFunday pic.twitter.com/leKpAJvNoF
— IMVU (@IMVU) January 18, 2015
Babyfurs, cubfurs and diaperfurs ruined furry. Rainfurrest could have survived small stuff like vandalism causing office floods – but the hotel simply couldn’t abide the PR damage of a back-view pic of a funny-dressed guy being shared on twitter by furries.
2 The Ranting Gryphon ruined furry with mean transphobic jokes, showing that people who cross species for fun aren’t tolerant.
Uncle Kage ruined furry by being a Fuhrer-like cult leader, causing those mean articles we hoped would never happen.
Dominic Rodriguez directed the movie Fursonas, ruining furry by talking about Kage.
Disney ruined furry by putting out Zootopia without giving us enough credit for inventing anthro animals. Soon we’ll be overwhelmed by fake furs.
This week: I ruined furry TWICE.
There was a tragedy in Southern California, and it involved super obvious furry social media profiles. So I put out a statement and talked to one reporter. Requests to say more were turned down, but then it went into articles from the LA Times, NY Daily News and others. There was no way to stop them from saying it was sad and sharing fundraisers for victims. Whoops.
Then Rolling Stone did an article. Articles are written ahead of time, so without knowing it, they posted a link to here just 15 minutes before a new one posted here. Theirs said “the entire fur fandom is sometimes equated with fetishism. The truth is, in fact, much more innocent…” and it linked here when the top headline was for Wild Things, a furry fetish party.
Whoops again.
My tail is tucked and my head is hanging in shame for ruining everything. Mea culpa. OK, their article was nice and nobody sent abuse here, but somebody somewhere is judging.
Quick fact: 1993 was the only year furry wasn’t ruined. That’s the one we need to get back.
PS. I forgot to blame scammers, art thieves and plagiarists. Am I missing anyone else who ruined furry? Please tell me below.
Actually nobody ruined furry. There are no fake furries vs. real ones. And there’s no nerd fandom that can be kept “pure”, but others have more powerful bad influences than ours. (What real power do members have in organizations run by volunteerism?) Our bad influences are good at keeping distance from insincerity, while bringing passion to a thriving, yet self-directed subculture. That’s the kind of purity I love. Thank the freaks.
** EDIT ** Yes this article is entirely satire made with love for everyone, including freaks, oddballs, and their bad influences and strangely sexy selves. Chasing acceptance too much is craving approval from people who don’t give a shit. Express yourself and #KeepFurryWeird.
The Alien’s New Ohana
You may recall that there was an anime series in Japan that was based off of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch movies and TV series. In it, Stitch has left Hawaii and moved to an island off Okinawa in Japan. There, he meets (and moves in with) a young girl named Yuna who is skillful in karate. (Where Lilo is in all of this is a spoiler that we will not give away.) Also notable is the fact that Angel, the pink alien “counterpart” to Stitch, made frequent visits to the Japanese series as well. So now, Tokyo Pop have adapted Stitch! into a new digest-sized black & white manga series written and illustrated by Yumi Tsukirino. Take a look over at Amazon to find out more and order your copy.
image c. 2016 Tokyo Pop
Save
ep 139 - Fur Reality 2016 LIVE! - also, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx7Gs…
also, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx7GsgnOgLo 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 139 - Fur Reality 2016 LIVE! - also, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx7Gs…
Little Birdie, Big Bear
Put this in the “offered again” category (since we apparently missed it the first time!). Renaud Dillies, creator of Bubbles & Gondola and Betty Blues (both of which we’ve reviewed before) returns with a new full-color graphic novel in hardcover. This time, his subject is a young bird named Abelard. “To lure pretty Emily, Abelard sees only one solution: to catch the moon for her! So off he goes to America, the country which invented flying machines. Armed with his banjo and his proverb-sharing hat, he launches out on the country roads, meets Gypsies, then Gaston, a grumpy bear with whom he will share a good bit of his way! With this funny animal road-movie where the absurd becomes poetry, Regis Hautiere and Renaud Dillies offer us another small jewel.” Once again, brought to us by the folks at NBM. Find out more over at Blog Critics.
image c. 2016 NBM
Save
Save
Ep 70 – Twenty-five Erotic Cliches - Lead Heat editor, Dark End, recently ranted about his latest slushpile, coming up with a list of twenty-five erotic cliches he sees too often in submissions. We go through each of them and discuss their validity, the c
Lead Heat editor, Dark End, recently ranted about his latest slushpile, coming up with a list of twenty-five erotic cliches he sees too often in submissions. We go through each of them and discuss their validity, the core of them and how to avoid them. All while having fun doing it!
Check out the list here: https://storify.com/KyellGold/dark-end-s-tips-for-erotic-stories
Send us your feedback, questions, concerns, complaints:
@FangsAndFonts
Facebook.com/FangsAndFonts
Fangs and Fonts
Click below to Listen http://www.fangsandfonts.com/FnF/Episodes/Ep70-Twenty-Five_Erotica_Cliches.mp3Download here | Open Player in New Window
Ep 70 – Twenty-five Erotic Cliches - Lead Heat editor, Dark End, recently ranted about his latest slushpile, coming up with a list of twenty-five erotic cliches he sees too often in submissions. We go through each of them and discuss their validity, the core of them and how to avoid [...]FC-247 Sabertooth Sucking Logistics - From mindless silliness to intricate political discussion, this episode is packed!
From mindless silliness to intricate political discussion, this episode is packed!
Watch Video Link Roundup:- The future of furry trash
- DeviantArt tweets at Newt Gingrich
- The Racoon’s Den.com
- Seasons After Fall – Game Trailer
- South Furry Con kickstarter
- The Tab – Day In The Life of a Furry
- 2016 Furry Survey
- Foxes are just dogs with cat firmware tweet
- 20 years later, a furry MMO fights to stay alive
- Gay Werewolf tail from the 12th Century
- FBI now considers animal abuse a felony
- Court stops fish & wildlife from killing red wolves
- How the most hated animal in america outwitted us all
- Super fleas with giant penises aren’t about to invade your home despite ‘experts’ saying so
FC-247 Sabertooth Sucking Logistics - From mindless silliness to intricate political discussion, this episode is packed!
From mindless silliness to intricate political discussion, this episode is packed!
Watch Video Link Roundup:- The future of furry trash
- DeviantArt tweets at Newt Gingrich
- The Racoon’s Den.com
- Seasons After Fall – Game Trailer
- South Furry Con kickstarter
- The Tab – Day In The Life of a Furry
- 2016 Furry Survey
- Foxes are just dogs with cat firmware tweet
- 20 years later, a furry MMO fights to stay alive
- Gay Werewolf tail from the 12th Century
- FBI now considers animal abuse a felony
- Court stops fish & wildlife from killing red wolves
- How the most hated animal in america outwitted us all
- Super fleas with giant penises aren’t about to invade your home despite ‘experts’ saying so
[Live] Sabertooth Sucking Logistics
From mindless silliness to intricate political discussion, this episode is packed!
Link Roundup:- The future of furry trash
- DeviantArt tweets at Newt Gingrich
- The Racoon’s Den.com
- Seasons After Fall – Game Trailer
- South Furry Con kickstarter
- The Tab – Day In The Life of a Furry
- 2016 Furry Survey
- Foxes are just dogs with cat firmware tweet
- 20 years later, a furry MMO fights to stay alive
- Gay Werewolf tail from the 12th Century
- FBI now considers animal abuse a felony
- Court stops fish & wildlife from killing red wolves
- How the most hated animal in america outwitted us all
- Super fleas with giant penises aren’t about to invade your home despite ‘experts’ saying so
Episode 329 - And Your Kids Die Too
Rock Dog — Finally
Presented here, verbatim, from our friends over at Cartoon Brew: “Lionsgate has acquired the Chinese/American co-production Rock Dog for release through its Summit Premiere label. The film will debut in American theaters on February 24, 2017… In one of the first examples of reverse-outsourcing in American feature animation, the Chinese backers farmed out the entire production to Dallas-based Reel FX, the company that produced Free Birds and The Book of Life. Rock Dog was conceived by Chinese rockstar Zheng Jun, who wrote and illustrated a popular graphic novel upon which the film is based. The film follows the story of Bodi, a Tibetan Mastiff, who dreams of following in the footsteps of Angus Scattergood, a British cat musician. Directed by Toy Story 2 co-director Ash Brannon, the film was touted as an attempt by Chinese producers to create a culturally-Chinese animated film that would appeal to a worldwide audience. To increase its chances for success in the global marketplace, the film’s original production language was English, with a cast that includes J.K. Simmons, Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Matt Dillon, Sam Elliot, Lewis Black, and Kenan Thompson. In the U.S., Rock Dog will open one week after Warner Bros.’ The LEGO Batman Movie.” Ouch. Here’s a direct link to the new trailer.
image c. 2016 Lionsgate
Spirit Hunters Book 3: Tails High, by Paul Kidd – book review by Fred Patten.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Spirit Hunters. Book 3: Tails High, by Paul Kidd. Illustrated.
Raleigh, NC, Lulu.com/Perth, Western Australia, Kitsune Press, September 2016, trade paperback $26.59 (423 pages), Kindle $7.90.
Here are four more of Paul Kidd’s witty tales of the Sacred Isles, the land of Japanese mythology; about a hundred pages apiece. The Spirit Hunters are a quartet who venture throughout mythical Japan hunting inimical yōkai (supernatural spirits) to exorcise or kill them. They are Lady Kitsune nō Sura, a fox woman, and her companion Tsunetomo Tonbo, a huge human samurai, who hope to be paid for their services; Asodo Kuno, a young low-ranking human samurai who has joined them to gain a reputation and higher status; and Nezumi nō Chiri, a shy rat-spirit who Sura has invited to join them. Sura and Chiri, and any other animal-people who the quartet meet, can shift among three forms: human except for animal ears and tail; anthropomorphic, looking human but with an animal head, full fur or feathers, and tail; and fully animal but still able to talk.
Book 3: Tails High is a bit darker than the first two. The first tale is light, but it turns ominous in its final paragraphs. These four are set a little later than 900 or 1000 A.D. The Emperor is faced by rising powerful regional lords (daimyō). He must decide whether to fight to retain his authority and have the Sacred Isles rent by civil war, or to appoint a warlord as his supreme general – his shogun – and submit to becoming a mere figurehead. We know how this turned out in our Japan. But in the Sacred Isles, with the Spirit Hunters’ aid …?
Book 3 contains the Eighth through Eleventh Encounters. In “Eighth Encounter: The Art of Being Koi …”, the Spirit Hunters come to an entire community of friendly animal-spirits:
“The main house had a great, broad porch shaded by a maple tree. A fine maiden dressed in white priestess’ robes sat in the shade, comforting a desolate young wife.
The weeping young woman was startlingly beautiful. Skin covered in magnificent golden scales, her face was that of a golden carp, with a delicately fanned fish-tail peeking out beneath her robes. Utterly exhausted from weeping, the carp spirit’s long sleeves were wet with tears.” (p. 26)
Tosakingyo Lady Asuka and Lord Chikaaki’s infant son Chōisai has been kidnapped. He is still in his formative period; without his parents’ guidance in learning to shape-shift, he will never become more than an especially radiant carp. The first half of this Encounter is a mystery; the Spirit Hunters must learn the motive and who among several suspects is responsible for the kidnapping. In the last half they must retrieve Chōisai; no easy task since the child is a large golden fish who must be kept in water. Sura’s and Chiri’s shape-shifting abilities come in handy here, and the entire Tosakingyo clan is exotic:
“The lesser samurai and ji-samurai that came and went from the courtyard were in human form – but the gold, black and silver patterns of their hair and tails peeking from beneath their robes showed that many of them were fish spirits. Tonbo watched with interest as the carp spirits moved back and forth, admiring their strange, gentle grace.” (p. 27)
The reader is shown why breeding decorative koi was such an art form in ancient Japan. This Eighth Encounter is the first to contain some characters from an earlier tale, the Sixth Encounter: “Friendship’s Sword”; Reiju the priestess, Hako and the Aki-Nami ninja, and Tanchō the crane-woman.
The “Ninth Encounter: Playtime’s End”, is much darker. The Spirit Hunters come to a haunted forest in which both samurai warriors and young children have been vanishing for a decade. The four investigate and find two kinds of menacing yōkai, one of which is truly horrid:
“The black water heaved. Bursting from beneath came a vast, hideous mass of tentacles and countless screaming skulls.
The creature was a nightmare – a titanic, bestial amoeba made of rotting flesh, old armour, swords and fused bone. Skulls were packed all through the immense creature’s body, all shrieking and gibbering in hate.
Like some titanic beast, the entity heaved itself up out of the lake, lashing out with tentacles to seize onto the trees. A mouth as big as a cave formed, suddenly splitting open – countless rusted sword and spear blades dripping like rotten fangs.” (p. 131)
The other seems much nicer but is equally dangerous. For the first time, two of the Spirit Hunters fall prey to the yōkai. They must be rescued by the other two, plus a new ally.
In “Tenth Encounter: Stealer of Skins …”, one of the three Sacred Treasures necessary to invest a new Emperor is stolen. The Spirit Hunters are charged with quietly retrieving it. They track it to a large monastery. Two of its monks have been replaced by deadly mamono – monsters – who have killed and skinned them to impersonate them. The Spirit Hunters must unmask the false monks before they can get back the stolen treasure.
In “Eleventh Encounter: Tears of Ice”, the four venture into the snowy mountains of the Sacred Isles because Sura wants a winter holiday. They come to a small village along a mountain pass that has a hot-springs bath house, the Inn of Mists, for a week’s rest. But the inn’s hostess is mysteriously sad, her son is horribly scarred, most of the village’s shops are dusty and empty, the villagers are reluctant to talk with any outsiders, and the local priestess is openly hostile. Sura wants to just relax, while Chiri wants to investigate what is wrong. It isn’t until one of the Spirit Hunters becomes a victim that the other three go into action against who, or what, has the village secretly terrorized.
Spirit Hunters. Book 3, Tails High (cover by R. H. Potter and interior art by Voracious Fescue) will be enjoyed by readers of the first two. Each book is basically standalone, so those who haven’t read the first two don’t need to. Kuno and Tonbo, the two samurai, are suitably brave and invincible warriors, but it is the impish, exhibitionistic red-furred Sura (“Trust me … I’m a fox!”), and the shy but resolute white-furred Chiri with her two loyal elementals, Bifuuko (an air elemental that looks like a dragonfly) and Daitanishi (an earth elemental resembling a small rock with eyes) that the fantasy reader comes for. The reader will not be disappointed.
Book of the Month: Dog Country
October 2016’s book of the month is Dog Country, by Malcolm F. Cross.
A crowdfunded civil war is Azerbaijan’s only hope against its murderous dictatorship. The war is Edane Estian’s only chance to find out if he’s more than what he was designed to be.
He’s a clone soldier, gengineered from a dog’s DNA and hardened by a brutal training regime. He’d be perfect for the job if an outraged society hadn’t intervened, freed him at age seven, and placed him in an adopted family.
Is he Edane? Cathy and Beth’s son, Janine’s boyfriend, valued member of his MilSim sports team? Or is he still White-Six, serial number CNR5-4853-W6, the untroubled killing machine?
By joining a war to protect the powerless, he hopes to become more than the sum of his parts.
Without White-Six, he’ll never survive this war. If that’s all he can be, he’ll never leave it.
Dog Country is available exclusively as a Kindle ebook from Amazon ($4.99 to buy, or available through Kindle Unlimited).
