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Our gray wolf friend Cheimon joins us for a crazy night of giggly stories, a good handful of emails and Sozan ruining everything.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• CJ went drifting
• South African Furry Podcast
• Furry.fm – Swiss Furry Radio
• Hidden Brain – Google At Work
• Eurofurence 22: Paws on Fire Trailer
• [BREAK VIDEO] BBF – Eurofurence Sneak Preview: Fursuit Friendly Dance
• Shisha Sheppy got a Zootopia Jumbopop
• My mind’s tellin’ me no

News:

• Wolves Are Gamblers But Dogs Play It Safe
• Maine Man Tries to Cross Into Canada on Air Mattress
• Man Crashes Girlfriend’s Car Into Building — 8 Feet Off The Ground
• Florida Man Has World’s Greatest Criminal Alias Ever
• Rubber Chickens Bounce To The Beak In EDM-Style Banger

Emails:

• NethGooRat – 5 completely different questions about topics you might be interested in (or not)
• Hachi – Questions
• Mfalme & Marshmallow – Jobless and hungry boyfriend, don’t know what to do.
• Rye the German Fox – First Con Adventure Awaits!

FC-244 All Terrain Mattress - Our gray wolf friend Cheimon joins us for a crazy night of giggly stories, a good handful of emails and Sozan ruining everything.

Our gray wolf friend Cheimon joins us for a crazy night of giggly stories, a good handful of emails and Sozan ruining everything.

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• CJ went drifting
• South African Furry Podcast
• Furry.fm – Swiss Furry Radio
• Hidden Brain – Google At Work
• Eurofurence 22: Paws on Fire Trailer
• [BREAK VIDEO] BBF – Eurofurence Sneak Preview: Fursuit Friendly Dance
• Shisha Sheppy got a Zootopia Jumbopop
• My mind’s tellin’ me no

News:

• Wolves Are Gamblers But Dogs Play It Safe
• Maine Man Tries to Cross Into Canada on Air Mattress
• Man Crashes Girlfriend’s Car Into Building — 8 Feet Off The Ground
• Florida Man Has World’s Greatest Criminal Alias Ever
• Rubber Chickens Bounce To The Beak In EDM-Style Banger

Emails:

• NethGooRat – 5 completely different questions about topics you might be interested in (or not)
• Hachi – Questions
• Mfalme & Marshmallow – Jobless and hungry boyfriend, don’t know what to do.
• Rye the German Fox – First Con Adventure Awaits!

FC-244 All Terrain Mattress - Our gray wolf friend Cheimon joins us for a crazy night of giggly stories, a good handful of emails and Sozan ruining everything.

Our gray wolf friend Cheimon joins us for a crazy night of giggly stories, a good handful of emails and Sozan ruining everything.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• CJ went drifting
• South African Furry Podcast
• Furry.fm – Swiss Furry Radio
• Hidden Brain – Google At Work
• Eurofurence 22: Paws on Fire Trailer
• [BREAK VIDEO] BBF – Eurofurence Sneak Preview: Fursuit Friendly Dance
• Shisha Sheppy got a Zootopia Jumbopop
• My mind’s tellin’ me no

News:

• Wolves Are Gamblers But Dogs Play It Safe
• Maine Man Tries to Cross Into Canada on Air Mattress
• Man Crashes Girlfriend’s Car Into Building — 8 Feet Off The Ground
• Florida Man Has World’s Greatest Criminal Alias Ever
• Rubber Chickens Bounce To The Beak In EDM-Style Banger

Emails:

• NethGooRat – 5 completely different questions about topics you might be interested in (or not)
• Hachi – Questions
• Mfalme & Marshmallow – Jobless and hungry boyfriend, don’t know what to do.
• Rye the German Fox – First Con Adventure Awaits!

[Live] All Terrain Mattress

Below is an article about a stolen fursuit, on the website of California's television channel KNTV:
http://www.ktnv.com/news/owner-heartbroken-after-furry-animal-costume-stolen-from-storage-facility


Thousands of dollars in property was stolen from a Henderson storage facility, but one item in particular might raise eyebrows.

A "furry animal" suit that looks like a mascot costume was taken, and the owner is heartbroken.

When Steavphan Feasel walks around in his wolf suit, he waves and dances as his alter ego, Oreo.

Feasel says he took on the character as a way to stop being himself for a while, and a way to make friends with other "furries."

"We just see it as a comfort zone because a lot of us are shy," he said. "[It's about] feeling free basically, away from the whole human thing."

The suit is worth $2,600, and now it's gone.

Oreo was stolen from Feasel's unit at Public Storage on Sunset Road in Henderson, along with bicycles, RC cars, and construction equipment.

Cory Ausiello says his unit was also burglarized. His heart sank when he discovered what happened.

"It's really hard to know that the stuff is gone," Ausiello said.

Public Storage's manager wouldn't answer any questions about the burglaries. 13 Action News left a message at the corporate office that wasn't returned.

As for Oreo, a friend of Feasel's spotted the suit on Fremont Street downtown, but that was about a week ago and they're no closer to finding the costume now than when it was first taken.

Below is an article about a stolen fursuit, on the website of California's television channel KNTV:
http://www.ktnv.com/news/owner-heartbroken-after-furry-animal-costume-stolen-from-storage-facility


Thousands of dollars in property was stolen from a Henderson storage facility, but one item in particular might raise eyebrows.

A "furry animal" suit that looks like a mascot costume was taken, and the owner is heartbroken.

When Steavphan Feasel walks around in his wolf suit, he waves and dances as his alter ego, Oreo.

Feasel says he took on the character as a way to stop being himself for a while, and a way to make friends with other "furries."

"We just see it as a comfort zone because a lot of us are shy," he said. "[It's about] feeling free basically, away from the whole human thing."

The suit is worth $2,600, and now it's gone.

Oreo was stolen from Feasel's unit at Public Storage on Sunset Road in Henderson, along with bicycles, RC cars, and construction equipment.

Cory Ausiello says his unit was also burglarized. His heart sank when he discovered what happened.

"It's really hard to know that the stuff is gone," Ausiello said.

Public Storage's manager wouldn't answer any questions about the burglaries. 13 Action News left a message at the corporate office that wasn't returned.

As for Oreo, a friend of Feasel's spotted the suit on Fremont Street downtown, but that was about a week ago and they're no closer to finding the costume now than when it was first taken.

September 2016’s Book of the Month is ROAR 7, edited by Mary E. Lowd.

Welcome to a LEGENDARY volume of ROAR! That’s right, the theme for the seventh volume is legend, and it will take you on a journey from a fortune teller’s bamboo hut to the end of the world in the coils of a dead snake god, back in time to the Cretaceous and then up to the stars. You’ll meet tigers and cranes practicing Kung Fu, a singing frog, a gambling pigeon, a rap-star bearded dragon, a rhinoceros who’s friends with a goat, and several creatures you’ve probably never seen before.

The seventh volume of FurPlanet’s annual general audience anthology has 17 stories:

• “Crouching Tiger, Standing Crane,” Kyla Chapek
• “The Frog Who Swallowed the Moon,” Renee Carter Hall
• “The Torch,” Chris “Sparf” Williams
• “A Rock Among Millions,” Skunkbomb
• “The Pigeon Who Wished For Golden Feathers,” Corgi W.
• “Unbalanced Scales,” Bill Kieffer
• “Reason,” Heidi C. Vlach
• “Old-Dry-Snakeskin,” Ross Whitlock
• “Kitsune Tea,” E.A. Lawrence
• “A Touch of Magic,” John B. Rosenman
• “Long Time I Hunt,” Erin Lale
• “The Butterfly Effect,” Jay “Shirou” Coughlan
• “The Roar,” John Giezentanner
• “Trust,” TJ Minde
• “The Golden Flowers,” Priya Sridhar
• “A Thousand Dreams,” Amy Fontaine
• “Puppets,” Ellis Aen

ROAR 7 is available in print from FurPlanet and DRM-free ebook from Bad Dog Books, as well as from Amazon.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is a French animated TV series by Thomas Astruc and ZAG Animation, which premiered in 2015. It tells the story of two high school kids in Paris, Marinette and Adrien, who inherit the powers of Ladybug and Cat Noir — charged with defeating the evil spirits that turn ordinary people into dangerous criminals. Each of them has joined up with a Kwami, a good magical spirit who transforms them into their super-selves for a limited time. The series was dubbed in English and it’s been running on Nickelodeon in North America — as well as released on DVD by Shout! Factory. What’s more, now Action Lab have now produced a new full-color Miraculous comic book series.

image c. 2016 ZAG Animation

This is a bonus episode where we will start by playing a song written by Rebecca Sugar from the Cartoon Network show, Steven Universe. We will discuss the meaning and importance behind the lyrics, and how they can be used as a mantra to help you find inner peace and strength when you are lost or consumed by emotion.

We will be discussing this song in a way that will not spoil the plot of the show or reveal character motivations; we will only be discussing the meaning behind the lyrics. Stay tuned after the show for a discussion that goes into detail about the characters and their motivations; we will provide a spoiler warning for those who have not seen the show yet so they can choose to stop listening. We highly recommend watching Steven Universe from the beginning so that the song and the story behind it will have a fuller effect.

Next week we will be discussing Jealousy and Envy. We hope you enjoy this bonus content!

Be well

FA 035.5 Flexibility, Love, and Trust - Take a moment to think of just Flexibility, Love, and Trust

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

The Digital Coyote, by Kris Schnee.
Seattle WA, CreateSpace, July 2016, trade paperback $8.49 (238 pages), Kindle $3.99.

This is Schnee’s third Thousand Tales book, following the novel Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game, and the novella 2040: Reconnection. There is also the short story “Wings of Faith”, in the anthology Gods with Fur, ed. by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions, June 2016). To quote from my review of 2040: Reconnection: “Ludo is the advanced Artificial Intelligence who can scan anyone’s brain and recreate it in ‘her’ fantasy world, in the setting and body of their choice. Handsome men and beautiful women, noble warriors, flying griffins, anthropomorphic animals; anything, living in an ancient Greek or medieval European or sci-fi futuristic paradise. Of course, their original body in 2040 A.D. Earth is dead, and the consequences of this back on Earth may be unknown, but who in Ludo’s world cares?”

Pete Timaeus is a Washington, D.C. senator’s aide; great at data analysis but otherwise with massive psychological problems about dealing with the real world. He wants Ludo to “fix” him. “She” demurs:

“‘You can fix me!’

The AI shook her head. ‘That’s not what uploading is for. People already argue that converting a human brain into software destroys the soul, that my residents are false copies made for suicidal customers. If I deliberately get your mind wrong, what’s the point?’” (p. 3)

What Ludo does is to take Pete into the computer world of Talespace as he is, with his inferiority complex and hypochondria and inability to make choices and acrophobia and insecurities about dealing with other personalities, and lead him into fixing himself. Mostly as a coyote.

Talespace is the bewildering but magnificent world established in Schnee’s earlier books:

“Pete looked outside the store, finally noticing the area around him, and his heart beat faster. The space around him was a bazaar in a cylindrical room of marble and gold. A unicorn and an astronaut waved to customers from competing stalls of magic and technology. Frat boys had a booth full of sports gear and pizza. A black griffin dozed with its head on its talons across from smiths hammering armor. Too many options!” (p. 8)

Ludo apparently considers that being turned into a coyote is what Pete needs to evolve out of his personality problems. The other people of Talespace are blasé about that:

“He banged into someone and said, ‘I want whatever you’re selling!’ Though he only barked, really.

‘What’s that, little guy?’ said the man he’d hit, rocking on a stool outside a tiki hut. Green swirls and runes decorated his dark skin. He wore sandals and Hawaiian patterned swim trunks. ‘Did Timmy fall down the well?’

Pete felt saddlebags on his back. He reached around to grab them with one paw, but the lack of thumbs made that tricky. He was able to unbuckle the pouches, eventually, and he rolled over to dump them out. Inside were silver coins, a gem-studded token, and a scrap of construction paper scrawled with ‘IOU: ONE SPEL PEECE.’

The surfer tapped the paper, and a silver braid appeared. ‘Ha! It’s a note from Ludo herself.’

Pete tilted his head, wondering if there was an identification spell.

‘Public-key cryptography,’ the man explained. Then he picked up the token, laughed, and tossed it back. ‘You got a pass to Kinky’s, too! You don’t know the place? It’s the Talespace brothel.’

Pete pictured walking into a place like that on all fours. Humiliating! Pete blushed through his fur, and pushed the token away.

‘Keep it, dude. Or sell it later; those are tough to get. What do you want?’” (pgs. 11-12)

Pete gets adventurous and explores other lands and bodies:

“He had information, but he still needed direction. In his old life he’d always had a mom, teacher, or boss to instruct him. His total lack of obligations stunned him now, like the time he wasted a summer by having no job or hobby. He needed somebody to lead him! Except … what did their opinion matter? Without any goal, why not go … This way! He ran off along the cavern floor, toward the first world-portal he could find. His path took him to a bending tunnel at the cavern’s edge, then to a room of flowers and grass and a shimmering magical gate. He leaped through, deliberately not reading any of the labels or warning signs.” (p. 15)

In Hoofland, Pete becomes a pony:

“Pete looked outside, then down into a fountain beside him. He was a dull grey pony in the same style as the unicorn, halfway between the real thing and a sappy toy-commercial cartoon. Naked … but that didn’t matter, right? Pete walked out of the room, ignoring the chatter from the dumb signpost NPC.

His hooves clip-clopped on a cobblestone road. It sloped out of the stone fort he’d just left, and along a hill of grapevines. Half-timber cottages lined the river delta and shoreline below. A team of colorful, winged pegasuses (pegasi?) tugged an airship toward a flying dock that on a platform made of clouds. Then as the sun rapidly sank below the hills, a golden moon sprang up and an aurora flashed the stars to life. Warm wind stirred his mane.” (p. 16)

He becomes a coyote again, but humanoid:

“A ninja throwing star embedded itself in a bamboo stalk next to his face. Pete dived to the leaf-strewn floor just in time to dodge another. He grabbed the flint knife from his belt and spotted the ninja himself, swathed head to toe in  black. Cruel eyes looked out from the figure’s headscarf. Pete called out, ‘Who are you?’ but his foe only drew a katana in response. It was even matte-black, so Pete knew he meant business.” (p. 35)

This review could go another thousand words just describing all the things that Pete becomes (but the two- or four-legged coyote is always his fallback mode), and the worlds that he visits/things that he learns:

“For instance, formerly-human griffins found that the new quadruped stance and wings gave them a different perspective on even ordinary tasks like carrying things. Unlike a disguise that changed the graphic others saw, physically being a flier or six inches tall or robotic was bound to affect people’s minds. Several religious movements started this way.” (p. 49)

Ludo also learns from dealing with Pete:

“Pete groaned at being tricked. About then, his spell wore off and he found himself on two coyote legs again. ‘You’re not Ludo, right?’

Ludo, in human shape, waved from a set of bleachers that hadn’t been visible. She was eating popcorn. ‘Thanks for giving me some combat test data! Want to go again?’” (p. 59)

The climax grows more dramatic and bloody, justifying Pete’s transformation into a coyote, as everyone is aware that a coyote is a Trickster. Readers of the first two Thousand Tales books will not be disappointed. The Digital Coyote (cover by Annie Engvall) contains several supporting characters, some from the previous books and some new ones; one of whom will be the protagonist of the next book.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

Here's something a little silly for you guys we cranked out last night. We'll be recording a lot of material this weekend, so send in those questions and stay tuned! RANDOM POETRY SLAM - Here's something a little silly for you guys we c…

Bobby London was a member of the infamous Air Pirates collective — a group of underground cartoonists who got together in the late 1960’s to spoof American suburbia and conformity… choosing Disney animation and comics as a symbolic target for their satire. (The Walt Disney Company rewarded them with a lawsuit for their efforts.) Mr. London’s contribution to the project was Dirty Duck, the adventures of a *ahem* foul-mouthed anthropomorphic duck and his put-upon funny animal butler, Weevil. Most of there adventures seemed to involve lots of naked human women… Perhaps why the comic eventually found its way onto the pages of Playboy for many years. Now, IDW/Top Shelf have gathered together more than 300 pages of original full-color Dirty Duck comics into a new hardcover collection. Take a look at their web page to find out more.

image c. 2016 comixjoint.com

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

Rise of the Silver Moon, by Kuragari Inuken and K. G. Hobbes. Illustrated by Shiki Z. Shigls.
Las Vegas, NV, Rabbit Valley Books, May 2016, trade paperback $20.00 (177 pages).

This is a Medievalish fantasy adventure with funny-animal warriors and wizards, including “dragonkin”. I’m not sure what the dragonkin are supposed to look like, despite the picture of one on the cover:

“The dragonkin straightened and unfurled his wings briefly, flexing them in the cool night air then folding them against his back. Adjusting his clothes nervously and checking that he was presentable in his reflection from a window he stepped up to the door, and knocked far more quietly than such a large fist would seem to allow.” (pgs. 2-3)

So the dragonkin have large wings plus clothes. How does that work? Are the shirts or tunics backless? If the dragonkin are humanoid, do they sleep on their backs with those wings?

Never mind. For a funny-animal adventure like this, it doesn’t matter.

Khan the dragonkin/dragon is the monk-sensei of a martial-art school. He is determined to climb a cursed mountain for the healing flowers that grow only at its top. The flowers grow at the foot of a stone statue of a humanoid wolf that comes to life when he picks them. After an exhausting fight, Khan throws the wolf off the mountaintop to its death. But when it dies, the wolf’s spirit possesses Khan:

“He felt something bubble up in his chest and rise in his throat, escaping his maw in a loud lupine howl! Khan clapped his hands over his mouth and shivered as he kneeled, feeling extremely weak and shaky. Another howl pierced the now silent night and made the dragon double over retching on his hands and knees.” (p. 19)

Khan returns to his dojo (he uses his dragon wings, which are not powerful enough for flight, to glide down from the mountaintop) apparently unaffected, but when the moon rises he is felled by an excruciating pain. He begins to grow blue fur beneath his scales; a sign that his body is being taken over by Saaros, an evil wolf god:

“‘I’ve known enough of the Wolf Cult to see the signs but I never thought to see them in you, old friend,’ he [Bosbe, a Bernese mountain dog] muttered, picking up the pestle and starting to grind the herbs into a fine powder.

‘Wolf Cult?’ Khan asked, his tone confused. ‘W-what are you talking about? Oh gods, my head!’ he moaned, laying back in the bed [yep, he lies on his wings] as he blinked at the Bernese in confusion.

‘The cult of the Wolf,’ the canine replied with a sarcastic laugh. ‘Worshippers of an ancient spirit, a creature of darkness, evil, and vile. They seek to bring it physically in to the world again and with it an age of chaos and violence!’ Bosbe finished dramatically a slightly maniacal gleam in his eyes as he turned to look at Khan.” (p. 43)

Doom approaches! To forestall Saaros and the evil Wolf Cult, Genru the husky hunter, another of Khan’s friends, and Lhixe the red fox thief must get The Book from the mage’s library before Fjlow, the leader of the six green-robed and grey-hooded wolves, do:

“Fjlow started pacing the room back and forth. Stopping frequently to check the suns progress as it starting to set behind the horizon. ‘He knows,’ he muttered barely above a whisper. The perked sets of ears twitched trying to catch every word.

‘Uhh, who knows what, sir?’ the wolf at the back said.

It was a minute before Fjlow turned again to his group. ‘The husky, Genru. If he asked about the mage library he must have known that the book with all the information is hidden there. But he does not know that we seek it as well. I doubt he even knows about us,’ he glowered at the wolves as if they had failed him. They took a step back. ‘He probably doesn’t know the significance of that book either. Still though, we must acquire it before he does! He has the help of that little sneak Lhixe also.’” (pgs. 66-67)

Much helter-skelter ensues. It all ends on a cliffhanger, with “To be concluded in Book 2 – Reign of the Silver Moon.”

Rise of the Silver Moon (cover by Shiki Z. Shigls) is very much a funny-animal novel, with an otter barmaid, lion guardsmen, an eagle librarian, a raccoon martial-arts student, a sheepdog medic, and more. Shigls’ illustrations include an impressive double-page spread.

But! Rise of the Silver Moon is poorly proofread. The authors don’t believe in much interior punctuation in a sentence. “You know there is a curse upon that peak right?” “‘Quite the sight isn’t it Khan?’ said a soft voice.” “He was exhausted his body did not want to obey anymore […]” “Khan pulled his cloak off his scales glittered in the bright light, showing off his muscles and curves.” “The dragon’s earlier question about the wolf statues purpose was answered as the large brute stalk towards him stepping on the precious flowers in the process.” “Hearing the ragged breathing from the beast as it approached.”

Some of the descriptive passages could have used more dialogue. “A soldier at the gate stopped him and asked where he was going. He replied back he planned to ascend the mountain. The guard gasped and pleaded for him to not do so, as everyone that has tried ended up never being seen again.” (p. 6)

I could go on for the length of the book, but you get the point. If you’d like a funny-animal Magic Quest-type novel, you don’t mind the cliffhanger ending, and you’re willing to plow through the wonky punctuation and grammar, then you’ll enjoy Rise of the Silver Moon.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Rabbit Valley

Levi journeys to the Canadian wilderness to interview the Camp Feral 2016 guests of hono(u)r, Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda. Be sure to listen to this one-of-a-kind show you’re sure not to hear anywhere else!

Metadata and Credits WagzTail @ Camp Feral 2016

Runtime: 44:57m

Cast: Levi, Potoroo, Matthew Ebel, Tairu Panda

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.

WagzTail @ Camp Feral 2016 w/ Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda - Levi journeys to the Canadian wilderness to interview the Camp Feral 2016 guests of hono(u)r, Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda. Be sure to listen to this one-of-a-kind show you're sure not to hear anywhere else!

Levi journeys to the Canadian wilderness to interview the Camp Feral 2016 guests of hono(u)r, Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda. Be sure to listen to this one-of-a-kind show you’re sure not to hear anywhere else!

Metadata and Credits WagzTail @ Camp Feral 2016

Runtime: 44:57m

Cast: Levi, Potoroo, Matthew Ebel, Tairu Panda

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.

WagzTail @ Camp Feral 2016 w/ Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda - Levi journeys to the Canadian wilderness to interview the Camp Feral 2016 guests of hono(u)r, Matthew Ebel and Tairu Panda. Be sure to listen to this one-of-a-kind show you're sure not to hear anywhere else!

By now you have likely heard about the Mickey Mouse Shorts TV series — truly mad little animated cartoons brought to us by Paul Rudish and his crazy crew. Well now IDW Comics have been tasked with bringing us comic book adaptations of several of the Shorts, which they have done with the new Mickey Mouse Shorts: Season One full-color miniseries. “Join Mickey, Minnie, and all their pals in a comic adaptation of the celebrated, multi-Emmy and Annie Award-winning shorts from Disney Television Animation! In this issue, Mickey battles his way through a Tokyo bullet train during rush hour, an unlikely character competes in a dog show, and Donald suffers from….Flipperboobootosis?! And that’s just the start!” Adapted by Scott Tipton and featuring a variety of artists, the series is available now — and you can read all about it over at IDW’s web site.

image c. 2016 IDW Comics

Hello Everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion on how your activity on Facebook (and potentially other Social Media) might be a reflection of your true self and what might be happening when your online persona differs drastically from your meatspace reality. 

Our main topic is on being your own filter. The idea of content warnings and trigger warnings have been a discussion now for several years. Unfortunately, there seems to be a disconnect where individuals are equating offense to a trigger, which can limit the ability to communicate honestly and openly. We talk about the important of discussion and how to approach individuals you find offensive, or how to handle topics you take offense to. 

Our question is on transphobia- our questioner is a cisgendered gay man who is being called transphobic for not wanting a relationship with a transwoman. 

We also have some feedback on other ways you might be able to send yourself sex toys without your parents at home opening them by accident. 

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 035 Being Your Own Filter - Is Facebook an accurate depiction of self? Are trigger warnings inherently anti-intellectual? Are you transphobic for wanting to date cisgendered partners? All this and more on this week's Feral Attraction.

Sixteen years ago, I was a not-so-wee lad just starting his freshman year of high school. I had grown a foot and a half in the previous few years, and my voice had fallen down the staircase from alto to baritone. I had just come out to my mom as gay. My favorite saying, which my step-mother hated, was “sarcasm makes the world go ’round”.

And I had just found furry. That too.

Now, today, I’m well on my way to becoming a giant woman working in open-source software. I’ve not grown any taller, really, though my hair is now quite a bit longer, and I no longer sing, not having an outlet I feel safe in. I recently came out to my mom as polyamorous, married to my cis male husband, loving my genderqueer partner, and looking forward to seeing my trans-girl pup again. I’m still in furry; but I no longer believe that sarcasm makes the world go ’round.

A lot has changed in the last sixteen years of being a furry. The tenor of the fandom has changed as the resources have shifted. MUCKs grew less popular, as did IRC, while things such as Twitter, Slack, and social sites have taken off. VCL still exists, as does Yerf!, in some form or another, but FA grew to take their place, and still others are vying for market share. Skype grew, then started to fade, to be replaced by Discord, while AIM and other direct messengers seem to have been overtaken by Telegram and the ilk.

I finished high school in that time, then started university in biochem, switched to music education, switched again to music composition, left university and started working for a health insurance company, and finally wound up at Canonical.

I dated, I stopped dating, I changed species once (from red fox to arctic fox), I composed and wrote. All of this, or at least most of it, took place within furry. At some point, perhaps around 2010, I managed to get in touch with Klisoura, so that I could snag some of his data from the Furry Survey for visualization practice. These visualizations would lead to [a][s] itself and the [a][s] panels, before long, and [a][s] would lead to Love – Sex – Fur and the guides to safer-sex, relationships, and gender.

I like to think that I’ve grown more sincere over the years, that I’ve started to prize earnestness above sardonic humor and honesty above glibness. This started as something that I found myself enjoying more and more in others. Not that I didn’t enjoy the occasional bit of snark, and I certainly enjoyed good humor, but I found myself starting to surround myself with people who were able to express the way they felt about something truly, without as much of a mask as I had built up for myself.

The journey to becoming a more earnest person, myself, has been one of the harder things I’ve had to go through in life. The habits formed when young are hard to break, and just as I still misgender or deadname myself, I still find myself slipping back into those sarcastic ways far too easily. It’s a mask I wear – one of many – and it adheres too readily to my face. For so long, it was inconceivable that I feel emotions other than anger and pride. Not forbidden, not even ill-advised, but, for me to have felt despair or elation, joy, depression, or sadness…well, that would have been a sign of just how broken I was.

As I put it to my therapist, I took a passage from the book Dune by Frank Herbert and applied it way too literally to my life. Young Paul Atreides is being tested by the Bene Gesserit reverend mother with the gom jabbar, a test which will determine whether he is a human or an animal. A human, the reverend mother explains, is in total control of his emotions and feelings, and can use those to better himself, while an animal is ruled by his emotions and feelings, and can easily be overrun. “You’ve heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There’s an animal kind of trick.” she explains. “A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind.”

I was putting myself to this gom jabbar daily, continually.  I still do, if I’m not careful.  If I’m to be a human, I mustn’t let my emotions rule me. I took it far beyond the point where it was healthy, bottling up feelings to the point where they would on escape at moments of crisis. Running away, a suicide attempt, punching a hole in the wall, a fight, a cut, a burn. I would be less than human to feel any emotions but pride in my accomplishments or anger at the shortcomings of others. I would be an animal (and not in the fun way). I was trying to be my view of my father, I was trying to be a support for my mother.

My therapist (perhaps rightly) rolled his eyes, but the meaning got across well enough.

I’m still friends with Klisoura, of course, and had the chance of spending a lovely hour or two yapping with him at Rocky Mountain Fur Con a few weeks ago. As we discussed some trends showing up here and there within the fandom, he said something that knocked me on my tail for a bit with its weight: “My journey through furry has been a journey of decreasing irony.”

Mine has, as well. Of course, like everything I write for [a][s]. I must caution that this doesn’t necessarily apply only to furry: my journey towards living happily has also been a journey of earnestly accepting my emotions and feelings and then expressing them, in not feeling bad about liking the things that I like.

That said, I think it’s not worth discounting the ways in which furry is structured to encourage such a shift, from ironic to sincere. The shift may be one that happens in everyone’s life, but furry provides the social lubrication to allow it to happen more easily.

The primary means by which furry encourages sincerity is by the obvious fact that we’re all really here because we like something. There are plenty of hot takes about hipsters, geeks, sports nerds, and so on, about how uncool it is to be a part of such a group, as though one ought to be sheepish about the things that one enjoys.

I told my story earlier to show just how this is played out. In the competitive nature in which children, especially those in the formative years of the early teens, are so often raised, it’s not enough to like something, one has to excel at it. That is, one can’t form a portion of one’s identity around something lest that leave a spot for weakness. To enjoy the idea of philately or model trains is fine, but there’s risk to be found in enjoying them too much, basing a portion of your identity off of them There’s no pride to be had, and it’s opens you up too easily to damage and loss, should your stamp be unattainable or your train set ridiculed. Or, to recast in furry terms, forming a portion of your identity around your membership within the fandom opens you to shame as you watch your fandom being derided as a bunch of sad kinksters by an inebriated volleyball parent in the FC convention elevators.

Liking things – just earnestly liking them, without shame or defensiveness – is something of a skill learned over time. By the time that we are able to form a portion of our identity around something that we like, we’ve already learned the skill of shame. It has already become engrained in us as we start to actively pursue hobbies in our early to mid teens. To take that enjoyment beyond a simple hobby and into an identity, from a fan to a member, means stepping past that shame knowing full well that it’s watching your every move.

Contrary as it may seem, through our habit of connecting with each other through created personae and avatars, we are able to construct something of a defense for ourselves. It’s a sort of layer of indirection, which allows, e.g, Makyo to be a member of the subculture while, to her coworkers, Madison is more of a fan of anthropomorphics. The internet has proven a boon for subculture membership in this half-anonymized way; the same may as well be said of a gamer with a penchant for playing games as fast as possible with only one hand, or an entire subculture surrounding countless anonymous individuals playing Pokémon.

Mainstream culture doesn’t know how to interface with furry culture because furries are the only non ironic people left on the Internet

— gay victim soul (@tragicgay) August 24, 2016

It’s not so much that furry makes one sincere, as it provides so many opportunities to be sincere. Furry didn’t make me less ironic, that would be a silly statement for a fandom centered around creating personalized anthropomorphic characters. Furry did, however, make me want to be less ironic. It did help me in getting closer to being a more sincere person.

I think that I’m not alone in this, either. I felt it. Klisoura echoed the sentiment when he said that furry was a journey of becoming less ironic. Twitter user tragicgay felt it when they tweeted about mainstream culture being unable to fully understand furries due to the lack of irony.

@tragicgay I wonder if, despite some ppl saying irony died after 9/11, irony has completely triumphed.

— BilderstreitKünstler (@Christaphorac) August 25, 2016

Is that true, then? That mainstream culture has so enshrined irony that it’s baffling to be earnest? Is that us furries failing their gom jabbar?

I’m not sure, and perhaps am not one to say, given how much trouble I’ve had in my own new sincerity, but I think that may be it, at least to some extent. There’s no small part of me that wants it to be the case, too; that wants furry to be this staggeringly beautiful new way of looking at the world, experiencing enjoyment, showing emotions, just plain unabashedly liking things.

I think that is, perhaps most ironically, what makes us most human.

Hi, Dear Readers,

Today, Papabear is 51. I wanted to take this time to write a column about what this bear has learned by this time in his life. These are things that are at the core of the advice that I give people who write to me, so perhaps they will help you understand where I am coming from.

1. You do not need the approval of other people (even your parents) to be a valuable and worthwhile person.
2. Success is not measured in how much money or stuff you have, but in how much your heart loves.
3. Listen more than you talk. You learn more that way. When you talk, you just repeat what you already know.
4. Just because it's published in a book (even a 2,000-year-old book) doesn't make it true ... or relevant.
5. If someone asks for your help, and you are able to give it without harming yourself, then give it.
6. It is okay to think of your own well-being first, and then, once that is established, help others. This does not mean being selfish; it means taking care of your health, sanity, and spiritual well being, because if you don't have those things then you will not be capable of helping others.
7. There are two fundamental forces in action in this world: the creative force and the destructive force. Devote your life to being a creative force.
8. Appreciate those who are in your life now. They might not be there tomorrow.
9. Live in the now, for the same reason as the above.
10. It's okay to make plans for the future, but don't be surprised if the future is not what you expected it to be. Learn to adapt.
11. If someone cuts you out of their life and you are unable to change their mind, let them go, and don't feel like you are a bad person because, for some reason, they have done this. More than likely it is a problem they are having, not you.
12. Blood is not necessarily thicker than water. Many of my family members are not related to me by blood, but they are no less my brothers and sisters. (You know who you are.)
13. Be kind to and considerate of people, animals, and Mother Earth.
14. Let go of the things you can't change. You will only stress yourself out fretting over them.
15. It's never too late to learn something new.
16. Learn to forgive yourself. We all make mistakes. The only sin is not learning from those mistakes.
17. Learn to forgive others. Often, they, like you, have simply made an unintentional mistake. Even when they don't try to amend an offense against you, being angry and bitter about it only hurts you, not them.
18. There will always be someone smarter, prettier, or more talented than you. Don't worry about it. The only person you need to work on being better than is your present self.
19. Don't allow others to impose their beliefs on you. Instead, gather all the information you can, consider the opinions, listen to your heart, and then draw your own conclusions.
20. If you want to be an elephant, then be an elephant (if you haven't seen Zootopia, you won't get this one, sorry).

This is not everything I've learned, but it includes the highlights. Thanks for reading.

​Papabear

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

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau, by Justin Reece Swatsworth. Illustrated by the author.
Grampian, PA, Dolphyn Visions, December 2008, trade paperback $34.95 (391 [+ 1] pages), Kindle June 2016 $3.98.

“The universe is a living experiment in the realm of possibility. From the largest stars down to the smallest particles of matter, everything exists because at some point it became possible to exist. In this context, time simply marks the beginning and completion of these possibilities. Everything changes in the universe, yet amazingly it never stops experimenting. As one object reaches the end of its existence, a new one is born … the possibilities are endless.

The only constant in the universe is the experience of curiosity. Curiosity is not only the signature of possibility, it is the beginning of it.” (p. 6) Etc., at great length.

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau is the story of one dolphin’s experiences. To the reader, his background may be of greater interest.

“My family and I decided to swim over to the celebration on this particular occasion. After all we lived on the coastline directly opposite the city, and it was only a short swim to reach the docks. The levitation tram would be packed at this hour and honestly, something just felt more natural about the water. There was noting quite like a warm ocean on a brisk evening!” (p. 9)

“As we both glided through the water, I marveled at the sights taking place below us. Vast green tunnels and tubes could be seen stretching for miles, providing services like power, transportation of goods, and walkways for those who did not feel like traversing the waterways of the city and getting wet. These tubes were particularly busy tonight.” (p. 11)

Mineau is part of a world of anthropomorphized dolphins. He is an adolescent living in a coastal city designed by uplifted dolphins for uplifted dolphins. “Dolphins were shown being given legs and arms to be able to work on land, which allowed them to have increased mobility.” (p. 21) Who uplifted the dolphins? That would be a spoiler.

At an annual semi-religious celebration in the city of Atlantis (which helpfully shows key events of the dolphins’ past in a pageant), Minou is ceremonially chosen to give that year’s blessing. The experience, including a vision of Atlantis in ruins, calls him to the priestly Elders’ attention. This leads to Minou becoming an important part of the dolphins’ religious and political hierarchy.

Everything is described in great detail, which helps to bring the dolphins’ civilization to life:

“The elevator slowed, and then gently leveled off before coming to a final stop. The door opened, and the three Elders stood in front of a gleaming entranceway. Giant pillars stood guard on either side, flowing with some strange luminescent vapor. The pillars seemed to be made of the same material as the cubes each Elder carried as verification of their status. Makara had a slight grin on his face, unusual for such a solemn occasion, for he knew what the two elders were about to witness. The three scanned their Holoform Cubes once more, then walked through the door. The room opened up into a grand semi-circular hall, and had enough seats for all fifty current minor Elders. Up front, on a raised balcony, sat five seats for the High Elders, who were evidently present before anyone else; they sat with expressionless faces, and Makara could not tell if it had to do with the meeting or just their wait. Finally, in the middle of the room, sat the secret for which the Sanctum was created. Encased in a shielded pillar, the Orb sat for all to see, almost completely intact except for one corner where a large crack had formed. Tiny shards lay on the pillow all around the Orb, one of which Makara recognized from the Ceremony. He had recently held it himself.” (p. 32)

The reason for the Elders’ meeting is to discuss Mineau’s vision, and incidents that they know about which support it. Their conclusion is to keep a surreptitious watch upon Mineau. Makara, who turns out to be an important supporting character, has his own opinion. “He felt Mineau may be in more danger than anybody else in the hall realized.” (p. 36)

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau begins with a colorful combination of Mineau’s teenage life alternating with the dolphin Elders’ quiet watch of him, with further details at length of the Elders’ religio-political structure, and of the growing menace to the dolphin civilization. The detail sometimes seems excruciatingly slow, but it leads to scenes of action and violence, including military conflict:

“The battle appeared over, much to the amazement of the Ti’eminar Guard. As the smoke cleared, they surveyed what had just occurred. Outnumbered, outmanned, and outgunned, they had succeeded in averting disaster for the city. The battle was not without losses, however. As the guards began to gather and regroup, most ended up carrying fallen comrades. The mood was solemn; easily half of the guard had been lost. Many dolphins had lost close relatives in the battle; some even carried their family members themselves. Guardsmen expressed every emotion possible, and each took turns expressing the opposite emotions of joy and despair.” (p. 193)

Minou moves from an unaware adolescent to an informed and major shaper of events. Swatsworth provides 22 full-page illustrations, mostly in full color, including the cover. The dolphins’ world (which is shared by intelligent whales) is an exotic one, with sometimes-drastic changes. As the introduction indicates, the universe is a living experiment. Expect the unexpected.

Check out Swatsworth’s website. In addition to his artwork, it includes photographs (taken at Anthrocon?) of several high-quality fursuits that he has made, including one of Mineau.

–Fred Patten

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