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IDW Publishing have a new full-color Disney comic miniseries coming out later this month: Disney Magic Kingdom Comics. “IDW’s Disneyland 60th anniversary anthology is here… collecting decades of Disney’s park-themed adventure comics! Carl Barks’ Scrooge McDuck travels from the Mark Twain Riverboat to a Beagle Boy battle; then Donald and Mickey investigate the strange disappearance of the Country Bear Jamboree!” Hmm, we’d like to solve that last one ourselves! Featuring works by Carl Barks, Thad Komorowski, Victor Rios, Don R. Christensen, Al Hubbard,  and Massimo Fecchi. Previews has more.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

Pic: UltraGor

There was a hunt for a missing giraffe…

Zarafa is a furry superstar lately.  But he didn’t go looking for notoriety.  It happened one night after a show when his treasured purple giraffe fursuit was stolen from his car.  It led to community-wide support, and miraculous recovery of the suit. Now people recognize him on the street.

Credit is due to Neonbunny, the show DJ, for pounding the sidewalk to spread flyers.  How many promoters would do it for one show goer?  Dedication like that built a local scene for furry dance parties.

Finding the suit flipped around the loss to amazing extremes beyond Zarafa and a circle of furry friends.  The support drew notice from local media, and they found it irresistible to share:

• SAN FRANCISCO FURRIES NOW TARGETS FOR ROBBERY.
• Identity Theft: Furry Furious Until Stolen Suit Recovered.

The San Francisco Bay Area Furry scene drew a journalist from New York.

A new surprise came two months later.  Another news article covered Zarafa’s night out and loss of his suit.  The journalist had been on the scene, but not with intentions to write about drama like that.

Whitney Kimball originally contacted me through Dogpatch Press.  She was looking for leads for a story about older people who may have discovered Furry fandom in later life. (I told her the word was “greymuzzle”). I pointed her to Zarafa, Neonbunny, and Spottacus.

After my introductions, they handled the rest.  Whitney learned about Neonbunny’s “Furries vs. Drag Queens” dance party.  Soon she was flying from New York to San Francisco to be there.  (That’s dedication, right?)  I had nothing else to do with the resulting article (although I’m told the main graphic seems to show me in the background. Nice!)  It’s exciting to share it:

How the furry community rallied when Zarafa Giraffe lost his head – by Whitney Kimball.

It’s a kickass article, according to the feedback.  Have you read many others that talk about the “lightning bolts” you get from wearing a fursuit?  (It invited more interest too – Zarafa was then contacted by Zoomin TV, a euro outfit doing video news for niche channels.) Spottacus said:

‘This is wonderful… it sets the right tone, weaves several threads into a great story with exactly the right feeling, and captures the essence of what is going on inside the head inside the fursuit.”

One furry friend (and journalist in real life) had an interesting comment:

@Spottacus @DogpatchPress Also, Patch, this article needs to go in some type of Furry Hall of Fame. Do we have an award for media coverage?

— Zeigler IRL (@ZeiglerJaguar) April 25, 2016

Why don’t we have an award?

The Ursa Major award seems to be all for fiction, even if there’s an “other” category. Fred Patten is a member of the award committee.  He told me: “what to do about non-fiction works with regard to the Ursa Majors is being discussed.”  

Everyfur knows how the furry community regards the dreaded “THE MEDIA”. It starts with supersensitivity, and maybe a hate/hate relationship.  Attention from them seems to cause a defensive crouch with claws out.

But furries are in many ways created by the media. It’s an internet-based subculture of fans. With “The Year of Furry” happening, and furry movies blowing up the box office, I think it’s a good time to stop dancing around this frenemy.

The quality of Whitney’s article makes me want to do more than share. It made me talk about establishing an award because of the story. Whitney liked that:

“WOW, I think that is the most flattering feedback I have ever gotten in 6 years of writing!! Thank you for featuring the story, Patch, I really appreciate it! And I’m happy to hear that the news coverage is improving in general. That Vanity Fair piece was just godawful.”

If “the media” is mostly bad, reward it when it’s good.

If they’ve spread negativity before, it’s part of notoriety that now draws them back.  That’s a monster they helped to create.  Now the more interest grows, the more you have power to say “no” if they ask for access.  Making them work to do better would flip the dynamic.  It would be smart to own that power and award good attention.

Well written articles are coming with growing frequency. It makes me want to start a short list of the best. Here’s a few that I would list for special recognition:

• You Can’t Get Inside – by mouse at The Hooded Utilitarian.
• CSI Fur Fest: The Unsolved Case of the Gas Attack at a Furry Convention – by Jennifer Swann at Vice.
• How the furry community rallied when Zarafa Giraffe lost his head – by Whitney Kimball at The Kernel.
• Fursonas Takes On the Secretive World of Furries—and the Movement’s Furrious Fuhrer – by Matt Coker at OC Weekly.

What do you think about an award name?  How should it be organized?  Who could pitch in? 

Look for a second article here soon about more spotlight on Bay Area Furries.

Just another day in San Francisco! @AlastairGSD, me, @ZantalScalie,& @chairoraccoon #FursuitFriday pic:@LoboLoc0 pic.twitter.com/lITrXqU4Wv

— Zarafa (@Zarafagiraffe) April 29, 2016

OMG! @LoboLoc0 does amazing work! A shot from our SF photoshoot last Sun,in front of the Painted Ladies of Alamo Sq. pic.twitter.com/R53FAGZzV4

— Zarafa (@Zarafagiraffe) April 23, 2016

 

 

Would I recommend Anna Sewell’s 1877 classic Black Beauty for inclusion in the furry canon? Yes, but with one qualification: the book’s central conceit is innovatively furry; the rest of the book is not.

I will begin with the furry element of Black Beauty: it is, as its subtitle proclaims, the auto-biography of a horse. More than just the story of a particular, modern horse’s life—not merely as a symbolic or allegorical gesture—it is a horse’s life told in the first person. In his own voice, Beauty guides us through the daily adventures and boredoms of a horse’s life, commenting on his masters’ behavior, his material condition, and his emotive reaction to it all. Though Beauty never vocalizes an English word, he is a talking horse by virtue of the fact that he addresses us.

And I am sorry to say it, but this is the extent of the book’s anthropomorphism. Despite his internal rational faculties, Beauty is definitely a horse. Throughout the entire book, I waited for him to act in some way that would reflect the thoughtfulness of his narration, but no: this is not a fantasy, and Sewell makes sure that Black Beauty’s behavior fits solidly within equine parameters.

In fact, to have anthropomorphized Beauty beyond a narrative voice would have undermined the book’s purpose, which relied on being a unimpeachable record of the sufferings of Victorian-era horses. Despite their prevailing reputation as unfeeling killjoys, Victorians were some the first Westerners who could have mustered the compassion—or, perhaps, the proto-furry sensibility—to produce and appreciate a novel like Black Beauty.

Following Descartes, many Europeans since the Enlightenment had believed that animals–in contrast to humans–were the equivalent of biological machines, possessing no interior life, senses, or pain. They had no memories or thoughts, only instincts, programs set running by God and death terminated. Away from the philosophers, the situation was even easier to explain: animals were appliances. You made an investment in them and discarded them when they could no longer return your investment. Indeed, Black Beauty then may have inspired the same bemused reactions as The Brave Little Toaster today.

Nevertheless, a new social consciousness gradually arose. The likes of Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens depicted, however caricatured, the desperate situation of Europe’s poor. In the United States, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin described the plight of slaves in the American South and kindled the tinder of the Civil War. John Snow discovered that cholera spread not from noxious vapors but from contaminated water—a conclusion he reached from caring about poor Londoners enough to quantify their deaths and illnesses. Movements began to abolish debtors’ prisons and to provide humanitarian aid. Temperance societies arose to raise awareness about the effects of alcohol abuse on families and to persuade men to abandon the devil’s drink1.

With this awareness came a new concern about nonhuman life. Contradicting philosophical and theological justifications for beating and killing animals, some reformers declared that animal pain was an evil to be mitigated just as much as human pain. Members of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, founded in the United Kingdom in 1824, became known as “angels for horses” for the work they did to punish unkind owners, provide drinking fountains for thirsty carriage horses, and euthanize horses beyond treatment or relief. Its American affiliate, founded in New York City in 1866, was even granted formal police authority to punish animal abusers.

But while these movements have evolved into “animal rights” today, primary among the reasons they offered for caring about animals was an anthropocentric one that has fallen out of fashion: practicing cruelty toward “dumb brutes” would habituate its (mostly male) practitioners to treat humans, especially women and children, with cruelty. Treating animals with kindness was an integral part of human (again, particularly male—gender featured hugely in these campaigns) moral development.

Having studied the time period, I had a hard time viewing Black Beauty as anything more than a narrativized morality manual. Beauty never has an owner who is not either lauded as a paragon of virtue or criticized as one who indulges in vice. (Regarding gender, note that his best owner is surnamed “Manly”!) He receives an unsightly injury from a master who rode him too hard in a drunken rage; he watches other horses and owners deteriorate due to rock-bottom wages and greedy employers; he witnesses a corrupt stable-owner defraud those whose horses are under his stingy, neglectful care. Beauty himself is sold several times—changing names each time—because of his owners’ economic hardship. While a Londoner might be able to brush off the sale of a horse as one would that of a practical but out-of-style car, Sewell reminds us that the horse has a life after being sold and that, as a horse ages and its physical ability degenerates, his or her life becomes ever more desperate and troubled. Humans, therefore, share some responsibility for their animals’ continued well-being; for someone with a good conscience, out of sight could not mean out of mind.

In this light, Beauty’s ability to talk to horses is revealed less as essential anthropomorphism but as an instrumentally deployed device: Beauty’s conversations with other horses serve almost exclusively to illuminate other fields of equine life Beauty could not himself experience. Ginger shows how poor training can effectively disable a horse for work; Captain gives an insight into the life of a war horse on the front lines of the Crimean War2. Again, these stories are meant to demonstrate the proper care of horses through both positive and negative examples.

Curiously, throughout the entire book Sewell seldom has Beauty himself criticize humans; instead, she gives that duty to human characters Beauty overhears. However, Black Beauty’s acquiescence to the most unreasonable or painful treatment he receives—his perfect loyalty, unwillingness to judge, and unflaggingly obliging temperament—only prove his innocence and pile the sins even deeper on his abusers’ heads.

That Sewell’s purpose is moral is affirmed by when she decides to end the book: not with Beauty’s old age (it would be hard to end an autobiography with death), but with his return to a secure life. “My troubles are over, and I am at home,” he says. The end of life’s vicissitudes—adventures with the potential for moral commentary—is the end of story. And it is not altogether happy: in the book’s final lines, Beauty, solitary, finds himself reminiscing about his unblemished colthood: “often before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my old friends under the apple-trees.” These friends and vistas he will never see again.

Sewell’s didacticism, in my opinion, has not aged well. Black Beauty’s passivity seldom engages more than the reader’s compassion and pity. This, of course, is the point3. If, however, you want to learn about the plight of the horse in its heyday, Black Beauty is exactly what you should read. As it did in Victorians for their working animals, hopefully Beauty’s minimal anthropomorphism can serve to evoke in modern readers empathy with cattle in feedlots or pigs in gestation crates.

1 Which in the mid-1800s America and Britain was hard liquor, not beer or wine.
2 Notably, the war in which Florence Nightingale pioneered life-saving practices that would become standard medical procedure.
3 I will admit that for me it was refreshing to read an explicitly Christian defense of kindness to animals; so far has the discourse moved toward utilitarianism and “rights”—and so split is society among culture-wars lines—that religious arguments are seldom prominently made in animal ethics.

Follow this link to explore everything we have published on the [adjective][species] Furry Canon project.

The Furry Canon, recommended, at the time of publication:
Redwall

There’s a vast community of writers within the Furry Fandom.  From building community sites like SoFurry, to their own Furry Writers Guild, they come together to explore the anthropomorphic writing arts with novels, comics, and anthologies.  Many anthologies are being made in the fandom, and they’re always looking for new talent.  Keep your ears perked for announcements about anthologies open for submission, and you may find one with a vision that inspires you to get involved.

Did you like Zootopia, and the way Disney brought an anthropomorphic world to life, accounting for all the different sizes and species and their needs?  Did it make you imagine your own society of walking, talking animals? Zootopia was only about mammals, but what about reptiles, birds or insects? Will they all live together, or is one group seen as lesser to another?

If you think about this when you write, The Society Pages is the anthology for you.

The Society Pages is edited by Lily White, known for writing the NSFW webcomic Pierce Me. She founded Scratchpost Press earlier this year to publish a variety of work she found lacking in the fandom. Lily says:

“I’ve always wanted to work in publishing so this seemed like a great way to just dive in.”

Those questions of how an anthro society works inspired this anthology.  Lily says:

“I’m interested to see writers look into how an anthro society would actually function instead of hand-waving of it just functioning. How do you make friends with a species that traditionally eats yours? How does that extrapolate into an entire civilization that somehow manages to get along?

It is something that has always bothered me about the fandom, though it might be I don’t delve deeply enough into the content produced by other artists and writers, that it often feels like this is something that is just sort of ignored. When writing fiction so closely linked to people’s personas there is a tendency towards wish fulfillment and I think that makes these opportunities for drama fall away. I really love exploring this stuff and wanted to see more of it in print.

There have been some that have looked at it in different forms. Comics like Blacksad use anthro animals to represent what role/kind of character they are. While Endtown looks at how well we adapt in a post apocalypse where people are mutated into animals and how much we don’t. And of course Zootopia. There are many examples for writers to get inspired by.

… the first that comes to [my] mind is Fauxlacine’s fantastic series of short stories and illustrations under the title of ‘Dog Eat Dog’. While a bit gory for a lot of people their work explores some of the realities of a furry society under pressure and I think it is a great body of work to look at. Not everything needs to be as gloomy as hers, of course.

Of course you go with the tone that works for you. You want hard hitting drama? Go for it. Absurd comedy? Tragic romance? Horrific horror? Go for it. It’s your world. Have fun with it.”

The Society Pages will be the first book published from Scratchpost, but it’s not planned to be the last.

“I have a few other anthology concepts I would like to produce based on how The Society Pages works out. If it seems like anthologies are a sustainable system to get new work out into the world I will likely continue in that vein, but I am also always keeping an eye out for submissions that are not necessarily for an anthology – I would love to help produce long-form fiction for writers.”

The Society Pages deadline is June 1st, with a projected publishing date sometime around September. Accepted authors will be paid 30 dollars, a contributor’s copy, plus a code for extra discounted copies. Lily shares the submission details:

“The pieces should be 2,000 to 8,000 words and saved in whatever format you are most comfortable with using. I would also prefer that people provide an introduction to themselves and their piece in the initial email. Aside from that, it should be sent to scratchpostpress@gmail.com with the subject line ‘The Society Pages – (Author Name) Query’.

I would prefer to know what I’m going to be reading before I receive it – query before delivery if possible. There isn’t much reason for it, but it does help show the writer knows their own work (and read the submission guidelines). If a writer can break down their story effectively into a pitch it can usually show any major issues from the start.”

To learn more about the submission guidelines please visit Scratchpost’s website.

Well? What are you waiting for? You only have a month. Crack open that Word Doc and bring your society to life.

-Pup Matthias

Last April Norwegian fursuiter Lumo registered for the contest ‘Garantert Oppgradert’ (Guaranteed Upgrade) on the radio channel Radio Metro, which offered as a winning prize the refurbishment of a house room, valued in 90,000 Norwegian Crowns (11,000 US Dollars). The people wishing to take part in the contest were to send an SMS. A selected few would then receive a call from radio host Hege Tepstad, so they could detail their messed-up appliances. Lumo was chosen as one of 20 finalists, and subsequently had to gain enough votes through Facebook to win over the other 19 contestants. He pleaded for votes in FurAffinity and other social networks, and friends, in the best way a fursuiter can – by being all cutesy!

 
Lumo won by 25% of the votes, and his campaign didn’t go unnoticed to the radio host, who was previously unfamiliar with the furry fandom, and pleasantly surprised by the funny tactics.

“Dan Rogers’ hobby has helped him well on his way for votes, both home and abroad. He dresses up in a blue fur costume as a hobby called furry (you can read more about it on Wikipedia.) Through the weekend he shared several funny images in social media asking for votes.” (link⇒)

That same morning, Monday 25th April, Lumo got a call from the radio host announcing the achievement. Lumo’s voice was snoozy, admittedly because he was tired from traveling abroad that same weekend. He’s been tremendously happy after winning, as shown on his FA journals! (link⇒)

The entry Fursuiter Lumo Wins $11,000 Bathroom Refurbishment Thanks to Furry appears first in FurryFandom.es.

May’s Book of the Month, Fellowship of the Ringtails, is by member Angela “LemurKat” Oliver.

The kingdom of Madigaska is in turmoil. The King has died under suspicious circumstances and now his Queen has usurped the throne. The only remnant of the last ruler is an illegitimate orphan. Born many miles away, and raised by a peaceable fishing tribe, she knows little of her heritage, her destiny. But with the fierce Hunter, Noir, on her trail, what hope does she have?

Set in an alternate world Madagascar, where the dominant life forms are lemurs with a level of technology equal to primitive tribes, “Lemurs: A Saga” contains true elements of Malagasy history and culture, intermingled with a heavy dose of pure fantasy. It is, indeed, epic fantasy, with lemurs.

Available from Amazon in paperback and ebook.

Later this month IDW will be premiering a new creator-owned full-color comic book series called Brutal Nature. “A collection of masks transforms the young man known as Ich into innumerable different beasts and monsters. Using this ancient power, he embarks on a battle that pits the indigenous people of Colombia against the encroaching Spanish empire. But can one man hope to beat back the massive forces of the conquering Spaniards? [Writer] Luciano Saracino and [artist] Ariel Olivetti (Venom: Space Knight) bring readers a stunningly illustrated story of beasts and men fighting for the soul of a nation!” Comics Alliance has more information.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

Unfurled is back yet again to accost your ears. Come on in and join Vox, Tal, Roland and Adoom as they talk about another toddler with a gun and YouTube with some new policies! Episode -39 - YouTube doing it right...for once

old episode that didn't transfer over for some reason, so re-uploading! 042 - Dirty Bomb - old episode that didn't transfer over for some re…

Hello Everyone!

We begin this week's podcast with a discussion on "ghosting" furry conventions: What exactly is ghosting, what are the ethics of con attendance, and who is ghosting really hurting (spoiler: everyone).

For our main topic this week, we kick off our Mental Health Month by talking about emotional blackmail. We here at Feral Attraction believe that emotional blackmail can be one of the most insidious poisons in a relationship, and as we have mentioned it in the past, we wanted to dedicate an entire episode to it.

Emotional blackmail can take many forms, and everyone is vulnerable to it — whether you are the child of a passive aggressive parent, or the dom in your D/s relationship. The good news is that there are warning signs of emotional blackmail that you can look out for, and ways to de-escalate and resolve these situations without them turning into a relationship cold war. 

We do discuss some topics relating to abuse and self-harm in this episode, so please be advised of this content. We also would like to reiterate that if you find yourself in an abusive relationship, please seek the appropriate level of care and assistance to get you safely out of that situation.

After our main topic, we take a listener question that is in response to our STI Prevention and Risk Mitigation episode, pertaining to anxiety after being informed of a partner's STI status. Though the asker understands the low risk associated with his partner's STI, he is still a bit nervous when it comes to having a full-blown sex life with his partner. What should he do?

Finally, we close the show with some feedback in which a listener shares resources that may be helpful to the non-monogamous community, focusing on one of our favorite books, More Than Two.

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 017 Emotional Blackmail - What is Emotional Blackmail and how can you protect against it?

Papabear,
 
I love the idea of walking around, wearing a fursuit, making merriment &c. However, I have read that it is not for everyone due to concerns about overheating and claustrophobia. I would like to make sure they are non-issues before I proceed with any commissioning.

I understand that people are reluctant to loan others their fursuits, so I'm not sure how feasible it would be to try one on. Would you recommend an experiment to help determine whether fursuiting is an option.

Also, I'm fat (183 cm 100 kg). Does this present an issue when fursuiting? I read from your reply to the letter entitled "Fursuiting Tips" that one should act lively (as opposed to standing there), so I am not sure how endurance might come in to play.

I appreciate your insight in to this matter and look forward to your reply.

Diogenes 

* * *

Hi, Diogenes,
 
It’s great you’re getting into the fun :-3  Trying on someone else’s fursuit could be a real problem, though. Not so much because you can’t find a nice person willing to loan you a fursuit, but because each fursuit is custom made to the exact measurements of that person. So, unless you are the exact same size, weight, and even shape as the other fursuit wearer, it’s not going to work for you.
 
Being large isn’t so much an issue as your stamina. Skinny or chubby, you are going to sweat, no question about it. So, if you DO get a custom fursuit some day, there are things you can do to ease the discomfort. My bear fursuit has padding all over it because my fursona, Grubbs Grizzly, is stockier than I am. These things help:
 
1. My fursuit maker, Beastcub, installed a fan in the head. It is battery operated. I use lithium batteries, which last longer. Helps a lot.
2. I wear underarmor. This helps wick sweat away from the torso and also helps keep sweat from the fursuit somewhat. People also wear balaclavas.
3. I wear cooling vests. There are a variety of these you can get online. I put ice packs in them and that lasts a couple hours.
 
With the above, I can fursuit for 2 hours comfortably and have been known to go for as long as 4-5 hours before needing a break.
 
If you’re still not sure about taking this step, there are other things you can do. You can get a partial fursuit, including head, arms, tail, feet, keeping your torso free. If you like to wear costumes, such as a wizard’s outfit or Medieval armor or a samurai outfit, this is actually a better way to go and will look very cool.
 
If you really want to experiment around, try this: buy some long underwear and put that one with snow pants, a down jacket, and several other layers of clothing and a wool cap. Do some physical activity while wearing all this stuff and see how you feel.
 
That all said, if you are having health issues because of your weight, I would definitely talk to your doctor and see if this kind of stuff is okay. You might tell him a white lie and say you have been asked to wear a mascot outfit, if that helps. It’s important to have a healthy heart when you fursuit. Heck, the first time I did it, I wore the fursuit too long at a parade and almost fainted. Oh! And it is a good idea to have a fursuit handler, too, especially for newbies. That is someone who helps you not bump or trip on things, helps keep people from harassing you (e.g. kids pulling on your tail), and so forth.
 
Hope that helps! Good luck!
 
Papabear
​

The Poll is up!  The Poll is up!  Tell all your friends, the poll is up! Check here!

No pressure! (Art by Grey)

That’s right, it’s time once again for the furry survey, the fandom’s largest marketing survey.  Completing the survey helps to give us a more complete picture of the furry fandom, because otherwise, it’s just some critters writing about themselves.  Remember, you can take the survey once per year!  If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, take some time to fill out the 2016 Furry Poll.

The poll is up here!

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

DreamKeepers, volume 4, Descent to the Archives, by David & Liz Lille
Monroe, MI, Vivid Independent Publishing, July 2015, trade paperback $24.99 (117 [+ 11] pages).

“Dreamkeepers is a supernatural fantasy adventure series for teens and up.” (publishers’ advisory)

After two years and an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, here is DreamKeepers, volume 4, Descent to the Archives, containing Chapters 10 through 12. By now, so much has happened that you have to first read What Has Gone Before; either page-by-page for free on the DreamKeepers website or as albums from Amazon.com.

To rephrase what I have said in my reviews of the first three volumes, “The Dreamworld is a mysterious reality that parallels our own,” inhabited by funny-animal DreamKeepers, one for each person in the world. They guard us from the nightmares that would drive us mad. “Everyone’s DreamKeeper is completely unique – your personality and subconscious influence your DreamKeeper’s appearance and abilities.” Since there are now over seven billion people in the world, that’s a lot of almost-all different funny animals; but David Lillie has shown in large crowd scenes that he can draw that many DreamKeepers. Most DreamKeepers live in “Anduruna, the largest DreamKeeper city in the DreamWorld.”

“The protagonist is Mace, a young puppy (or is he a kitten?) in Grunn’s orphanage, a Dickensian hellhole along Anduruna’s eastern seacoast. Mace, the equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human boy, is always getting in trouble for his practical jokes. He doesn’t care that he makes it easy for the orphanage’s real troublemakers to blame their tricks on him. But when his best friend is brutally murdered and he is blamed, he is forced to flee with Whip, his little blue companion (don’t call him a pet) into Anduruna’s lower-class throngs. There he meets Lilith Calah, a female counterpart from the aristocracy’s elite Sabbaton Towers who has just escaped a murder attempt (with the help of her half-sister, Namah) that apparently is connected to a black magic plot (and believe me; Dave & Liz can draw really gory and frightening black magic!) by the Dark DreamKeepers to overthrow the DreamKeepers and bring the nightmare hordes into the ascendency.”

The first three volumes, especially volume 3, Intentions Entwined, establish the original quartet of Mace, Whip, Lilith, and Namah; Bast, who seems to be Mace’s violent enemy but helps them because he has romantic feelings for Lilith; and the trio of Woods, a deer, Bill, a cat, and Damon, a dog. All four albums are “wall-to-wall full-color gorgeous art (no margins) on glossy paper”, printed in China.

This poster shows (front row, left to right) Mace, Paige (Mace’s best friend – she’s murdered in vol. 1), Whip, (second row) Bast, Randy (a bad guy), Lilith, (third & fourth rows) Grunn, Tinsel, Wisp, Namah, (background) Scuttles.

Chapter 10, “Throat of Stone”, begins with Woods, Bill, and Damon having escaped underground, where they are drafted into the Underground to fight the Nightmares (which they don’t believe in). Viriathus (Vi, shown on the cover) teaches them against their will how to fight guerilla-style. But she tries unsuccessfully to get them excused from any action, feeling that they would only be cannon-fodder. Lilith’s group of herself, Namah, Mace, and Whip, with the tagalong Bast, tries to sneak away from the Underground to go even deeper underground, into the caverns beneath Anduruna to find the lost Archives and its books. Meanwhile the Nightmare Lord Nabonidus orders the turncoat DreamKeeper Tinsel Nanaja to go into the caverns (despite her extreme reluctance) to find and get captured by Lilith’s group and get taken by them to the Archives, as a spy to get whatever they learn.

This synopsis omits several other things that are going on. (What is Operation Guillotine?)

Oh, I didn’t mention that each character in the DreamWorld has a superhero psionic talent (Whip = telekinesis, Lilith = healing, Namah = ‘ether tendrils’, Tinsel = ‘burning hair tendrils’, etc). It is illegal in Anduruna to use these, so they are usually undeveloped. In Chapter 11, “Echoes”, Nabonidus wants his agents to start using their powers. He sends the childlike but evil Wisp to train them. Lilith’s group go down and down into the caverns and eventually reach the Archives, but Bast’s legs are broken. After Lilith finds what she needs to fight the Nightmares, they are ready to return except for Bast’s broken legs. While they argue over abandoning Bast or not – he orders them to; they refuse – Lilith suddenly discovers that there is a level lower than the Archives.

In Chapter 12, “Tomb of the Forsaken God”, everybody fights. The Good Guys seem to win, but is it a real victory or just a breathing spell?

“It appears there’s a distinct probability of life as we know it horribly ending.”

“Well … at least we won’t have to file taxes anymore.”

To be continued.

It’s all terribly confusing, but so beautiful that you won’t care. The colors are so vivid (the publisher’s name has been chosen carefully) that they practically glow. The cavern sequences abound in deep purples and fiery reds. There’s a lot of commando action with plenty of bloodshed among cute funny animals, some of whom are so fluffy with such long, flowing tails that it’s impossible that they could keep from tripping over them or keep them from getting slammed in doors.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Learn more about Dreamkeepers
• Dreamkeepers Kickstarter
• Fred’s Review of Volume 3 on Flayrah
• Fred’s Review of Volume 2 on Anthrozine
• Fred’s Review of Volume 1 on Anthrozine

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

Children of Steel, by John Van Stry.
North Charleston, SC, CreateSpace, February 2012, trade paperback $12.99 (350 pages), Kindle $3.99.

Interregnum, by John Van Stry.
North Charleston, SC, CreateSpace, May 2015, trade paperback $9.99 (198 pages), Kindle $2.99.

John Van Stry first came to the notice of furry fandom with the story “Changes” in Yarf! #51, December 1997. But he began writing before that under the pen name of Banner Von Trippen, with “Waiting for Shadamehr (or Someone Like Him)” in Yarf! #49, July 1997. His serialized Dialene, beginning in Yarf! #64, April 2002, under the Von Trippen name, featured a foxmorph living in his Children of Steel universe. Since then he has been publishing through CreateSpace under his real name. Most of his stories have been published as science fiction, not furry fiction, even when they feature anthropomorphic animals.

Children of Steel is set in a familiar-to-furries future. To quote its rear cover, “Raj is just your average everyday genetically modeled and artificially created anthropomorphic worker for one of the many corporations of the future. Extensively trained and conditioned from birth he’s now indentured for the next fifty years of his life; assuming he doesn’t die first, or somehow manage to pay off his creation and training debts. Created by the corporations to deal with the harsh labor shortages of the twenty second century when humans will no longer take on the dangerous jobs Raj finds himself now in the harsh world of space exploration, trading, corporate maneuverings, and sometimes the even more dangerous fanatics that hate Raj and his fellows.”

Raj Rakir is “‘a sentient leopard-man of .7 human norm on the Rourstat scale,’” created by the Tri-Star Mining and Manufacturing corporation. He is presented “‘with your bill for creation and training by the corporation. As covered in the created species act of 2069 you must now work for above said corporation until you have either paid this bill, or completed a term of 50 years indentured servitude.’” (p. 4) The bill comes to three-plus million new dollars. Even with an expected lifespan of a hundred years – assuming he isn’t killed in one of those dangerous space jobs first – Raj can expect to spend most of his life working for Tri-Star. But he’s not worried about it.

“Simply put, the bottom line was that if it wasn’t for Tri-Star I wouldn’t exist. I did owe them that much.

I flexed a bicep and grinned toothily at my reflection in the mirror, and they did design well. I was the biggest leopard in my class, and the strongest. I’d graduated at the head of my advanced combat classes for a reason: I enjoyed kicking ass. Whatever was coming, I’d find my way through it one way or the other.” (p. 5)

Raj’s first assignment is as the junior shuttle pilot on the Tri-Star space freighter Astra, a transport and cargo ship. Even though the Astra is a commercial ship in peacetime, Raj can see how it can be quickly converted into a troop transport if necessary. He meets other “animen” such as a tiger, a fox, an opossum, and a raccoon. There are frequent mentions of twitching tails. The difference between free born animen versus the crèche-born, raised, and trained animen who are indentured servants to their companies, is shown. Raj is talking with Gabriel, the other junior pilot and a more experienced foxmorph.

“‘How’s it going, Raj?’ He asked setting down some paperwork and pulling up a chair.

‘Not too bad, Gabe, just looking over the new changes. What’s with you?’

‘Same shit, different day. I hear we’re supposed to make Hobson’s Choice in twelve weeks. Any info on that?’

‘About what I’ve heard.’

‘Great, I’ve been there before; you’ve got to check it out. It’s really something.’

‘Well, I’ve never been on another planet, so that in itself sounds pretty thrilling to me.’

‘It’s not just that, Hobson’s is thirty percent animan.’

‘So?’

‘Man you really are fresh from the crèche, aren’t you?’

I glared at him a little, my ears going back a bit. ‘I never claimed otherwise.’

‘Hey, don’t get your fur in a ruff! If you had got out more you would have noticed that on Earth, we’re not well liked. Heck in a lot of places we’re not even allowed.’

‘Well, I will admit that I did lead a pretty sheltered life in that aspect. Maybe the company does look out for us?’

‘Oh, there’s no doubt about that. Tri-Star actually treats us like we rate. But on Hobson’s the vast majority feel that way. They still got some Auntie-anns, but you won’t dance with the hangman for defending yourself in a fair fight.’

Auntie-ann was slang for the anti-animen people. On Earth they made up a pretty sizeable chunk of the population and we’d been warned continually to avoid them. It was nice to know that my instructors had been honest about their being less of them on the other planets.

‘And you think you would on Earth?’

‘Damn right, Judge Lynch is out there and waiting!’” (p. 15)

There have been brief mentions throughout this that Raj had a sister and best friend among his siblings from the crèche, Cassandra, another leopardmorph or Lepman; but she has already graduated and gone out into space. Raj hopes that he’ll run into her. In addition to getting to know the rest of the crew, Raj is expected to join “his clan” – the other leopards in the Astra’s crew. There are ten of them – Balizar, Herza, Mist, Katrina, and others — and they become Raj’s new close-knit family and important secondary characters in Children of Steel. He misses Cassandra, though.

That’s the setup. Children of Steel is good interstellar military space opera with a furry cast, mostly anthro leopards, told in a pleasantly chatty style. Raj’s experiences begin mildly – a couple of interesting but non-exciting shipboard incidents – and work up over 200+ pages. After carrying cargo, the Astra switches to carrying troops.

“After telling him [a tiger commando] about the makeup of the hundred or so troops we had on board, he told me about his group. They turned out to be tough sounding group all right. About two hundred big cats, almost a hundred Rhino’s, about another hundred wolves, and the remaining hundred made up of specialists; Eagles, Weasels, Badgers, and Beavers mostly. The last two groups being sappers.” (p. 93)

(The above paragraph is a good example of the poor proofreading in Children of Steel. Other examples are “What not in two months?”, “So tell us about yourself Raj”, and “I found my quarter’s pretty quickly, I was sharing a room with three other’s.”; but it’s not too bad.)

From being a pilot on a ship carrying troops, Raj becomes a soldier himself; then the Astra goes to one of the human-supremacy planets. Much more happens, including exploring new planets and a lot of bloody military action. Tri-Star gets involved in a full-scale war. There are surprises for the reader.

Raj is constantly getting into trouble because of his leopard’s nature. Children of Steel is more than a funny-animal novel, and leopards like Raj have a reputation as hot-headed and troublemakers.

“‘I’ve seen your records, Raj, you’ve got a real classic leopard’s temper. If you don’t control it, you’re going to end up in real bad trouble and I’d hate to see that happen to someone as talented as you.’” (p. 157)

Leopards also have less inhibitions about incest, and it soon becomes clear that Cassandra and Raj are more than brother-and-sister crèche-mates.

That’s Children of Steel (cover uncredited). Interregnum (cover by Amanda Rozga) is more of the same. The war is over, but as the winners, losers, and survivors of World War II could have told you, the transition to peacetime isn’t immediate and isn’t all smooth. Tri-Star is a winner and has inherited several new worlds from the losers and defunct neutrals. The Astra is assigned to investigate them. There are enemy holdouts. There are survivors to be rescued. Raj is kept busy. Readers who enjoy Children of Steel (which will include most fans of military s-f, and s-f about uplifted animals) will enjoy the sequel.

– Fred Patten

• Buy Children of Steel on Amazon
• Buy Interregnum on Amazon

Christopher Locke has worked for many years in the television industry. In 2004 he read the book Fast Food Nation and went through a personal transformation… emerging as a passionate animal rights advocate. He also decided to have a go at writing full-time for a living. The result is a new trilogy of fanciful fiction for young adults called The Enlightenment Adventures. The first book in the series, published in 2015, is called Persimmon Takes on Humanity. “What would you do if you saw someone committing unimaginable acts of cruelty? Turn the other way or defend those in need—no matter the cost? That’s the dilemma thrust upon Persimmon, a clever and compassionate raccoon, and her loyal forest friends. Instantly, the courageous critters spring into action, risking their own lives to rescue any animal they see suffering at the hands of humans. What the team doesn’t know is just how rampant this violence really is, and soon their exciting rescue missions turn shockingly dangerous and deadly. Will they succeed in saving the animals of the world from humans’ brutality, or will they fall victim to the powerful system of abuse they’re trying so desperately to end?” Persimmon is available now at Amazon, and you can find out more about the series at the author’s web site.

image c. 2016 Fathoming Press

 

Characters, plots and themes are all important but all require glue to put them together. We discuss that glue which is known as the aspects of writing technically well: sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, word choice, punctuation, etc. How can you learn to write technically well and how will it help your stories? To help tackle this topic we bring on editor at Sofawolf, Fugue, to sit down with us and discuss.

 
Send us your feedback, questions, concerns, complaints:

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Ep 64 – Technically Correct - Characters, plots and themes are all important but all require glue to put them together. We discuss that glue which is known as the aspects of writing technically well: sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, word choice, punctuation, etc. How [...]

New Members

Welcome to our newest members Marshall L. Moseley, Gre7g Luterman, Thomas “Faux” Steele, Televassi, and Angela “LemurKat” Oliver!

Member News

In short fiction news, Mary E. Lowd’s flash fiction “Take Them To The Happiness Zoo” appeared in Theme of Absence last month, and Rechan’s story “The Monster Next Door” can be found in Creepy Campfire Quarterly #2.

In poetry news, the Second [adjective][species] Poetry Collection is now live, including poems from several FWG members, and [a][s] also featured a selection of animal-themed poems by the collection’s editor, Renee Carter Hall (day 1, day 2, and day 3).

(Members: Want your news here? Start a thread in our Member News forum!)

Market News

Upcoming deadlines: Issue 3 of A Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Literature is open until May 15.

New markets: The third volume of the charity anthology Wolf Warriors is seeking wolf-themed fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction (deadline June 15), and the second volume of the poetry anthology Civilized Beasts is open for submissions from now until October 1 (see this thread for guidelines and updates).

Remember to keep an eye on our Calls for Submissions thread and our Publishing and Marketing forum for all the latest news and openings!

Guild News

Members, beginning on May 16, we’ll be voting on this proposal to change the FWG by-laws by adding two new officer positions. Watch your inbox for the ballot!

The FWG University is now open! Our first workshop, the FWG Poetry Workshop and Primer, begins tomorrow, May 2. It’s being held entirely in the forums, and all poets are welcome to join in.

Voting is now open through July 1 for this year’s Cóyotl Awards.

Want to hang out and talk shop with other furry writers? Come join us in the forum shoutbox for the Coffeehouse Chats, Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern and Thursdays at 12 p.m. Eastern. More info on the Coffeehouse Chats is here. (Remember, our forums are open to everyone, not just FWG members. Come register and join the conversation!)

Elsewhere on the Internet, we have a Goodreads group with a bookshelf featuring books by our members. Feel free to add any members’ books we’ve missed so far (see the instructions here on how to do that).

Remember, we’re always open for guest blog post submissions from FWG members — it’s a great way to help out fellow writers. See our guidelines for the details.

Have a creative and successful month! If you have news, suggestions, or other feedback to share, send an email to furwritersguild@gmail.com or leave a comment below.