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Episode 312 - Hashtag Furries
FA 016 Communication Styles - How can you improve your communication skills to better yourself and your relationships?
Hello Everyone!
This week we lead off with a discussion about a recent study showing that DNA may influence your sex life. Check out the Show Notes for a link to the study.
Our main topic is about communication. What different styles are there and what are the pros and cons of each? Healthy communication in a relationship is what nourishes the love that grows. Developing communication skills and habits can be incredibly difficult, especially if you grew up in an environment that did not foster such growth. We discuss all of this, as well as how to identify and avoid the pitfalls of communication styles and how to work with your partner to ensure that there are fewer misunderstandings in your relationship.
We also have a listener question about what to do if you are involuntarily celibate. This can have a long-lasting impact on the health and well being of an individual and, for some, it is a real struggle.
For more information, including a list of topics by timestamp, see our Show Notes for this episode.
Thanks and, as always, be well!
FA 016 Communication Styles - How can you improve your communication skills to better yourself and your relationships?The Forges of Dawn, by E. M. Kinsey – Book Review by Fred Patten.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
The Forges of Dawn, by E. M. Kinsey
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, September 2014, trade paperback $18.50 ([3] + 480 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $9.99.
“In a world where lions evolved and man did not… An epic adventure begins” (blurb)
“The stories are focused around the felines of our world, but mostly around Lyons of Afriik. It takes place on an alternate world where humans have been hunted to extinction, allowing other animals to thrive and grow after they learn how to master and create fire.” (The Iron Lyons Wiki)
The Forges of Dawn, Book 1 of the “Iron Lyons” series, is the first novel in this series. But E. M. Kinsey has been developing the world of Afriik and its Lyons for a long time. Her Wiki cites both this novel and several other short stories and comic stories such as “Escape”, “Unbroken”, “The Lady of Snow”, “Vicious Circle”, and others. Some are published on DeviantArt, some on Patreon, and some are still unpublished. Her Patreon page describes the forthcoming The Road to Ruin: An Iron Lyons Novella Collection; three novellas still to be written.
Briefly, there are many tribes of Lyons in Afriik, but two main groupings; the Refugees including the deep red Barbari Lyons, spread across what would be North Africa in our world, and the Pale Ones, ruling most of the rest of the continent. (The southern tip of Afriik is the Hynar or hyena Territories.)
The Forges of Dawn begins with a Glossary and a six-page prologue in almost religious prose of the background of this novel. It’s important, but if you’re really interested, you can get that in greater depth on The Iron Lyons Wiki, described above. The protagonist is Uhuru (later Uru), the Red Queen of the deep red Barbari Lyons. The antagonists are the Pale Ones, white Lyons led by cruel Lord Vireka.
Chapter One wallows in bleakness and despair. The cruel Pale Ones are closing in on the last Lyon leaders, or rather the matriarchal Lyonesses. Their pregnant Red Queen, Mjane, sees her mate Sahibu sacrifice himself to temporarily draw their pursuers away. Realizing that the Pale Ones will never stop searching until they have her corpse, she gives birth to a son and then has her followers take the cub to safely while she remains behind to be slaughtered – or worse.
A century passes …
“A reddish blur moved across the grasses of the open plains, its shape gradually resolving into the form of a young Lyonesse coming into her full adulthood, her pelt done all over in a shade very much like that of blood. Her legs churned, pumping swiftly as she wove amongst the long golden blades around her, her breath coming in swift pants. She didn’t even slow for a partially rotted tree trunk that had fallen across the path she was taking; she simply leapt over it with a bunching of her powerful muscles and continued her run on the other side.” (p. 17)
“She was overgrown – too big for a Lyonesse, really – more like a male than a female in size, with large paws and more muscle than most of the boys she knew. She dwarfed most of them, now that she was settling into her full adult size, […]” (p. 18)
The Lyons and Lyonesses are four-legged, but not entirely unadorned:
“Her large paws ran over the gourds hanging around her throat, the water in one sloshing gently as it was jostled, and when she lifted it to sniff, she could tell the other still contained the couple strips of dried antelope she had stashed there. Check. Her right ear still had its bone piercing, and the bright blue feathers hadn’t come loose from their weavings in her thick neck fur. Check. Her light bark armor still held fast to the fronts of her legs, the plates still along her back. Check. And last, but not least, her grandfather’s loop of shiny swirled blue and white stones still clung to her left foreleg’s wrist. Check!” (p. 20)
I could spend pages quoting EMK’s detailed descriptions of each Lyon and Pale One. The Forges of Dawn is a rich and colorful novel.
The Lyonesse described above is Uhuru, the oldest child of their pride leader, Hotio. She is considered large and clumsy for a girl. Since she is only a girl, her father intends to marry her off and forget about her. The story is a little too obviously an adventure about a strong female refusing to conform to her pride’s male-centric traditions, overcoming all obstacles, and rising to leadership. But EMK never lets the message get in the way of a rousing story!
Those obstacles are often violent and bloody. These are Lyons:
“The great Pale One screeched as she sank teeth into the side of his head, sharp molars grinding into his ear while she reached around to his face with her frontal claws, and although they slid along the metal of his mask, one did manage to slip into the slits for his eyes. Uhuru took great satisfaction in the feeling of a single claw piercing that condescending and smug orb.” (pgs. 106-107)
And this hasn’t even reached the part in The Forges of Dawn (cover by Sophie “Wilhuna” Danko) where Uhuru becomes Uru. You won’t believe what happens! There are sentient raptors, evil magic that makes the user invisible (but not undetectable for a Lyonesse with a strong sense of scent), metal armor for the Pale Ones’ guards, silverback gorilla (Gora) forgemasters, and above all the seemingly all-powerful, all-evil Lord Vireka, who considers himself to be the ultimate god of all Lyons – all before the Tigrisians and the pirates enter the saga. As the blurb says:
“From the shores of the only land she has ever known to the steps of faraway empires and back again, Uhuru will face pirates, monsters, and heart-breaking loss to finally learn the greatest lesson of all: heroes are never really born. Like any weapon…HEROES MUST BE FORGED”
Be aware that “‘… the story is far from over yet.’” (p. 478) Wilhuna’s covers for the unfinished (but which are being written Even As We Speak) The Thousand Winters, Book 2 of the Iron Lyons saga, and The Road to Ruin, are already painted.
And Speaking of Kitties…
Watch out! We’re about to get flooded by announcements for new sampler comics coming out for Free Comic Book Day — in just a couple of weeks on May 7th. Bleeding Cool has several lists of the titles being released. As usual, there are several titles of furry interest in there if you look, including Awake, Sonic, Grumpy Cat, Sanjay & Craig, The Stuff of Legend, and more. Here’s one that caught our eye: The Pink Panther, released by American Mythology. “He’s been the coolest cat in all of cartoondom for over 50 years! The Pink Panther is back in brand new adventures to tickle your funny bone and test the sanity of The Little Man! Join all of Pink’s pals from the DePatie-Freleng stable including The Inspector and The Ant and The Aardvark, as we welcome The Pink Panther to 21st Century comic books in style! This special FCBD issue is chock-full of fun with new and classic Pink Panther adventures, including the hilarious antics of The Mighty Pan-Thor!” We’ll see, in a couple of weeks!
image c. 2016 American Mythology
Anubis: Dark Desire – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Anubis: Dark Desire
St. Paul, MN, Sofawolf Press, September 2015, hardcover $59.95, softcover $39.95 (189 pages).
Anubis: Dark Desire is intended for an adult audience only and contains explicit sexual material. It will not be for sale to persons under the age of 18. (publisher’s advisory)
Anubis: Dark Desire began as an adults-only comic book published by Radio Comix under its Sin Factory label in June 2002. It contained stories and stand-alone pages featuring the anthropomorphic animals and gods of Egyptian mythology, mainly Anubis, the black-furred, jackal-headed god of the dead, having erotic encounters. The short comic-book stories were by many of the most prominent artists in furry fandom: Dark Natasha, Heather Bruton, Sara “Caribou” Palmer, Terrie Smith, Diana Harlan Stein, and Michele Light. The black-&-white comic book was extremely popular, running for four biannual issues to June 2008.
There was an immediate demand from the furry fandom for somebody, anybody, to publish a collection of the four issues. Sofawolf Press announced that it would, but not in a black-&-white comic-book format. Sofawolf would contact the artists to get their permissions, and their collaborations to produce a full-color, high-quality volume. It took over six years. On March 6, 2015 Sofawolf announced a Kickstarter campaign to raise $18,000 to produce such a book. It reached its goal by March 15. By the time the one-month Kickstarter ended on April 5, Sofawolf Press had $32,413 from 413 backers. The additional money was used to commission 17 new pages by Dark Natasha and Heather Bruton (plus appropriate bonuses that only the backers got such as stickers, lapel pins, shot glasses, and T- and bowling shirts).
Production of the book (cover by Dark Natasha and Blotch) was unexpectedly delayed when Sofawolf Press couldn’t find any North American offset printer that would accept such explicit material, even if it was fantasy art with consenting adult anthropomorphic animals. Sofawolf finally had it produced by a Chinese printer, leading to further shipping delays. Despite the announced September 2015 publication date, it wasn’t until November that the first copies went out.
But it’s here at last! “A Scroll in the Hay” by Sara Palmer. (She’s married and is Sara Miles now.) “God, What a Night!” by Diana Harlan Stein. “The Great Treasure of Anubis” by Dark Natasha. “Offerings” by Heather Bruton. And seventeen others, plus standalone pages and the four original comic-book covers.
The stories are about ten to a dozen pages each. There’s not a lot to say about them other than they are about anthropomorphic animal adults having explicit erotic fun. Some are set entirely in Egypt’s past. Some feature a modern animal drawn by Anubis into the past. The lovers are usually North African and African animals such as jackals, cheetahs, lionesses, jaguars, servals, wild dogs, hyenas, fennecs, gazelles, rabbits, elands – one story features Sobek the crocodile, and another shows Anubis with an Egyptian human woman – but “Virtual Reality – Here I Come” by Diana Harlan Stein, and “No Photography” by Heather Bruton introduce Anubis to a North American red fox and to a Dalmatian dog. (The latter is male; it’s one of only two homosexual trysts in the book.) Four stories by Sara “Caribou” Miles feature the jackal lovers Duamutef (a son of Horus in Egyptian mythology) and Khaybat.
It’s well-drawn anthropomorphic animals, many with ancient Egyptian face-painting, having sex, with lots of both male and female full-frontal nudity. But always in good taste. Remember, furry fandom is primarily composed of adults. If you like the fine art of Dark Natasha, Heather Bruton, et al., showing adult anthropomorphic erotic action, you can’t do better than this.
Episode -40 - Scholngs!
Ep 65 – A Feral Scene - We are joined this week by DalanTiger and Kirisis! Join us as we talk about ferals vs. anthros and other distracted topics! Please mind the mild Star Wars spoilers at 1:06:16 to 1:07:42. Send us your feedback, questions, concerns,
We are joined this week by DalanTiger and Kirisis! Join us as we talk about ferals vs. anthros and other distracted topics!
Please mind the mild Star Wars spoilers at 1:06:16 to 1:07:42.
Send us your feedback, questions, concerns, complaints:
@FangsAndFonts
Facebook.com/FangsAndFonts
Fangs and Fonts
Click below to Listen http://www.fangsandfonts.com/FnF/Episodes/Ep65-A_Feral_Scene.mp3Download here | Open Player in New Window
Ep 65 – A Feral Scene - We are joined this week by DalanTiger and Kirisis! Join us as we talk about ferals vs. anthros and other distracted topics! Please mind the mild Star Wars spoilers at 1:06:16 to 1:07:42. Send us your feedback, questions, concerns, complaints: [...]TigerTails Radio Season 9 Episode 41
Clair C and the limits of anthropomorphism
Clair C is an unusually prolific furry comic artist. She has several long comic collections, including Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon satires, the delirious Unicorn in Black, and her ongoing comedy/adventures The Flying Lion and Mythical Adventures.
Yet perhaps her best work is not a long story, but her collection of one- or two-page comics, published under the title Slices of Something.
Slices of Something is thematically united by its exploration of the boundaries of an anthropomorphic universe. The comics are, to a furry reader, immediately engaging and funny and, to a lay reader, befuddling. Her ideas are subtle enough to feel magical, yet deep enough that the magic doesn’t fade when you manage to put your finger on exactly what she’s doing.
Clair’s default character is an anthro unicorn, with a garish rainbow mane. He is always drawn in a version of today’s world, as the magical furry counterpoint to mundane surroundings.
Clair C’s unicorn highlights the absurdity of a universe that puts anthros inside our regular world. We furries, or at least a lot of us, exist in a version of this universe, when we fursuit, or roleplay online, seeing ourselves as a furry first (and a human second). Clair plays around at the edges of this fantasy construction; instead of creating an overt contradiction, she lets loose her unicorn everyfur in entirely unmagical roles. So he has the flu, or works behind a nondescript bar in the middle of a forest.
A panel from Slices of Something Vol. 1
Clair also likes to explore the inherent contradiction between having anthro and non-anthro animals in the same universe. In one comic, an anthro duck out for a stroll takes a break to toss breadcrumbs into a pond. And an überanthro duck appear, perhaps out for stroll of their own, to toss our anthro some glazed doughnuts.
A panel from Slices of Something Vol. 1
This isn’t a groundbreaking idea, but it’s executed with a lot of restraint. There are no punchlines in Slices of Something, just the introduction of a concept that challenges the very fabric of a furry world, and left alone for the reader to ponder and enjoy.
Another comic has a hamster confused to find himself in a cage with kibbles, a drinking tube, and an exercise wheel. It turns out to be all a dream—he awakes back in anthro form with his partner sleeping nearby—with a huge grin from the memory of the wonderful playground his imagination brought him.
Ultimately, Clair jettisons the hint of a punchline or payoff and just lets her anthros exist in a mundane world. We are all so used to seeing furry characters in stories with a start and finish, or to imagine/roleplay our own characters taking action. By taking furries and letting them be genuinely mundane—conversation at a coffee shop for example—Clair gently pokes at another limitation in an imaginary anthropomorphic universe: that all those furries are always doing something.
A panel from Slices of Something Vol. 1
There is a lot more to be discovered in Slices of Something: woolly sheep in the shower, dragons worried about food being undercooked, bunnies playing DDR. It’s simple and complex all at once.
All of Clair C’s published work, including Slices of Something Vol. 1 & 2, can be bought as a magazine, or a PDF. All Slices of Something strips are available online at Tapastic.
We’ve written about Clair C before here on [adjective][species]. We interviewed her about her satirical work, and she drew our mascot, RandomWolf, for our third birthday.
Feeling Ashamed of Being a Furry Can Be Communicated in Subtle, Unintentional Ways
Have recently admitted to myself that I'm a furry, I have just ordered my first fursuit, told my gf that I was a furry and she totally freaked out. She hardly talks to me, plus when she does its short answers. I haven't been with her long, but why would she freak out so badly? Have sent her links about what a furry is, and it's still the same. I thought I would tell her because I don't want any secrets. I thought she would have reacted badly, but not this badly. Any words of encouragement would be good.
Regards,
Spiritpaw
* * *
Hi, Spiritpaw,
It's a bizarre facet of the furry fandom that people feel they have to "admit" or "confess" or "come out" to being furry as if it were some horrible sin like confessing to murder or being a Republican (joke). You might not realize it, but others around you perceive and react to the most subtle of emotions, even when they are not verbally communicated. Once someone feels ashamed or guilty about something they have done, therefore, unconscious signals are released through facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and so on.
I'm not sure what your girlfriend knows of furries, but I bet you she picked up on your signals and that made her decide it was something bad. The best thing you can do, then, is NOT be ashamed or guilty of being a furry. If you consider it a fun, happy, positive hobby that is like, say, putting on period clothing to attend a Renaissance Faire, then I bet you she would see you differently as well. The problem, though, is that you have already planted the seed of shame, and it will be hard to pluck out the growing weed in her mind by its roots.
My recommendation is to not obsess about being furry and to start enjoying activities with your girlfriend that you both like to do, and also focus some attention on her needs. Don't hide being furry, but don't make it central to your relationship, either. She must still have feelings for you or else she would have dumped you by now, so try the above and see if you can't restore a healthy relationship.
Best of Luck!
Papabear
Krazy Kat: A Novel in Five Panels, by Jay Cantor – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Krazy Kat: A Novel in Five Panels, by Jay Cantor. Illustrated by George Herriman.
NYC, A. A. Knopf, January 1988, hardcover $16.95 ([x] + 245 + [viii] pages).
The reviews for this unauthorized (since it was written long after Herriman’s death) sequel to George Herriman’s classic Krazy Kat comic strip, all praise how imaginative it is. But they use terminology like “an elaborate intellectual game”, “post-narrative techniques”, “Psychoanalysis, Hollywood, radical politics, television, popular and high art are all grist for Cantor’s satirical mill”, “an X-rated sort-of-sequel to the comic strip”, and “simultaneously maddening, shocking, funny and quite disturbing.” It is, in short, an absurdist, post-modernist novel that carries the cast of the gentle (despite Ignatz’s constant bopping of Krazy’s bean with a brick), isolated Kokonino Kounty into the full complexity of modern civilization.
Cartoonist George Herriman died on April 25, 1944. The Alamogordo test explosion of the atomic bomb was on July 16, 1945. Despite the bomb blast being in the wrong state and over a year later, it is Cantor’s postulate that it was Krazy Kat’s traumatization by the atomic bomb that was responsible for the comic strip’s disappearance.
“Krazy’s unexpected retirement has put the entire cast out of work: KWAKK WAKK, the gossipy duck who sang out Coconino’s dirty linen, has no one to tattle on. JOE STORK, a lean decent creature who brought the babies and the mail from Outside, is a nearly dead letter man, for fickle fans no longer want to get in touch. DON KIYOTI, native-born long-eared snob, lacks an audience to lord it over. BEAU KOO JACK, the black rabbit of thumping paws, finds fancy trade falling off at his grocery store. KOLIN KELLEY, who fired the bricks that Ignatz threw, cleans and recleans his cold kiln, knowing that if Krazy never works again he is cursed king of useless rocks. And MRS. MICE, Ignatz’s big-footed spouse, with MILTON, MARSHALL and IRVING, her Joe-delivered progeny, bicker pointlessly, Dad out of work and time on their hands.
Why did Krazy, they wonder, suddenly shy from the spotlight? And if only she would work again …” (p. x)
The Five Panels into which the novel is divided are described succinctly:
“THE GADGET: In which Krazy and Ignatz watch the first atomic test, and Krazy becomes very depressed.
THE TALKING CURE: Ignatz’s attempt to cure – and transform – the Kat is revealed in his letters to his new ‘colleague,’ the Pup.
THE TALKING PICTURES: In which our cast, its leading lady ready to work once more, goes to Hollywood.
THE POSSESSED: We will get the rights to ourselves – by any means necessary!
VENUS IN FURS: In which, as always, fantasy makes reality.” (p. vii)
The novel is written in unnatural styles. THE GADGET is in long, page-filling paragraphs of meandering prose with little dialogue. THE TALKING CURE is in the form of long letters from Ignatz to Offisa Pup, recounting at exhaustive length the Kat’s and the Mouse’s conversations, with Ignatz’s shallow psychoanalytic analyses of them. THE TALKING PICTURES is more blocky paragraphs. Krazy has been cured of her depression, and Ignatz brings to Coconino County a Hollywood Producer and his Assistant, who bedazzle them with Hollywoodese-speak. THE POSSESSED is the depressing revelation of Krazy’s slavery at the paws of her brainwashed friends:
“Careless hands had broken her Zuni cups – all but the one that Ignatz swilled his endless plum wine from. And his wine spills stained her Hopi rug, which Ignatz used as a blanket, lying rigidly awake all night beneath it, drinking, his beady eyes glowing. Kiyoti and the others – under their leader’s direction – had daubed slogans on her once spotless white walls: Death to the Fascist Copyright Holders Who Suck the Brains of Avant–Garde Artists! And: All Power to the Audiences of the Future! The slogans were crudely lettered – the ComiSalads had worked at making the graffiti badly formed, ‘the way poor folks write’ – in blue and gold fingerpaint.” (p. 129)
In VENUS IN FURS, the final panel, the thoroughly brainwashed Kat becomes Kate, the human starlet, beating them all at their own game. Triumph is Failure is Success is Total Surrender is With It, Baby! is …
Here is the back-cover blurb: “The action begins in 1945, when Ignatz and Krazy witness an awesome explosion engineered by ‘New Clear fizzyits’ near Alamogordo, changing Krazy’s world – and ours – forever. In his attempt to get his top tomato out of her mega-brick depression, Ignatz invents psychoanalysis to therapize her, flies in a Hollywood producer to lure her with stardom, recruits the whole cast to kidnap and terrorize her. And through Ignatz’s machinations, highbrow stuff like sex and death enters their flat cartoon world, until Krazy, Offisa Pup and Ignatz can actually imagine themselves as human beings.”
What do I think of Krazy Kat: A Novel in Five Panels (cover by Steven Guarnaccia)? Too self-consciously Modern Fiction. Artificial in the worst meanings of that word. Cynical. But it is clever. Fans of avant-garde writing are praising it. You may like it.
Note that Jay Cantor refers to Krazy as “she”. The Kat’s gender has long been argued over. This is Cantor’s and many experts’ opinion.
There is a $9.99 Kindle edition of the out-of-print February 2004 Vintage Books trade paperback edition.
Member Spotlight: Tarl “Voice” Hoch
1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?
My most recent project is what I have come to call ASfHA. (Which stands for: Anthropomorphic Science Fiction Horror Anthology, which is quite a mouthful as you can see.) It’s largely inspired by a number of science fiction horror films I watched while growing up. Chief among these being Alien, Aliens, and Event Horizon. There is something to be said for the terrors that the future will bring to humans as we take each step forwards, and that intrigues me.
2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?
I’m a total pantser. Maybe it had to do with all the essays I had to write in University, but my stories only seem to flow when I am keyboard composing. I’ve tried doing the whole outline thing, and when it worked it worked beautifully, but ultimately I work better on the fly. The characters take on a life of their own and the story they tell is theirs. I’m just there to put it into words.
3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?
The members of my local writer group would say ‘Female Betrayal’.
Really though, I enjoy writing stories with complex characters and the interactions between them. Take my Raven and Holly stories (featured in Taboo and Will of the Alpha 2 & 3, all published by FurPlanet). I’m not a huge fan of setting stories in our current timeline, yet here are a couple I can’t seem to get enough writing about. Sure, the stories are erotic, but the more you look into Raven and Holly’s lives, the more you realize just how complex it is and how much juggling it takes to maintain their polyamorous relationship. It’s something I enjoy exploring and more importantly, want to keep exploring.
4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?
Kaden Stockheimer from Wild Night in Trick or Treat, published by Rabbit Valley.
I spent my twenties as a goth and even now still dip into the culture every so often since hanging up my lucky PVC pants. Kaden represents a lot of my own attitudes from that time in my life, and his experiences with his friends and his girlfriend share a lot of echoes with my own life. He’s not a self inserted character by a long shot, but is the closest I have ever come to putting a part of me into a character.
5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?
Lovecraft is easily my primary influence. Yes, he was a terribly xenophobe and racist, but he wrote weird fiction that changed the face of horror and influenced many of today’s contemporary horror masters. The scope of his horrors, the inclusion of multi-generational sin, and the idea that mankind is insignificant and unimportance in the scope of the universe are themes that still resonate today and are interesting to explore while writing.
C.L.Werner is another one. Despite writing primarily in the preexisting Warhammer setting, Werner manages to bring his own flavour and personal preferences to his writing. His fantasy stories always seem to have a touch of Lovecraft to them without smacking of it, and that’s always a win for me.
Lastly, Andrzej Sapkowski has recently become a large influence to me. His fantasy novels are easily the most realistic ones I have read when it comes to his characters and their interactions. Much like real life, his characters wear different masks for different situations or people, and often the dueling dialogues between them are as engaging as his fight scenes.
6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?
She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror, edited by Tim Lieder and published by Dybbuk Press. The concept captured my attention due to my degree in religious studies and my love of horror anthologies. The stories within were amazing and extremely creative. Not only did the writers who submitted capture various themes found within the Bible, but did it in such ways as to make your skin crawl and breath quicken over a variety of timelines.
7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?
I work with Ocean, Roland and Yannarra on the writing podcast Fangs and Fonts, which has been going for over two years now. I also read a lot, go for hikes, tend to my two feline overlords and fursuit for charities when time permits.
8. Advice for other writers?
When your inner voice says you can’t write, ignore it.
Keep writing, never stop, and continue to practice your craft. You will always continue to improve as long as you write. No matter how bad a rejection may sting or linger in your mind, always remember that you can either run from it, or learn from it. And trust me, learning from it is always the better option. Less repetition of painful lessons that way.
9. Where can readers find your work?
Primarily my works can be found through FurPlanet while my non-furry works can be found on Amazon. For a full list of what I have done, readers can check out my Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5759304.Tarl_Voice_Hoch
10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?
It’s where I met my wife.
Also, the sheer creative force in the fandom is amazing to watch. We have people from every walk of the creative arts who are constantly creating, be it stories, artwork, dance routines, music, you name it, furries create it. We’ve come a long way from when I first got into the fandom, and that was only 20 years ago. I am excited to see where this all goes, what works we create and how we will continue to change mainstream culture. It’s an exciting time for the fandom and I love it.
Check out Tarl “Voice” Hoch’s member bio here!
Kitty Kitty Rescue Me
Recently we discovered an author named Jaimi Ilama. Her last name is an acronym for “I Love All My Animals”. As she explains it, “I have eleven animals right now in my home. Three cats, two dogs, and seven turtles. I have written a series of children’s picture books called Rescue Me. There are five stories in all, and they all have an animal as the main character. The books are made to help parents and teachers talk to kids about ‘life struggles’ that both humans and animals go through sometime in their life. The themes that are discussed are facing fears and change, abandonment, prejudice, homelessness and saying goodbye to a loved one.” The first book in the series is called The Upstairs Cat (illustrated by Audrey Miller), and it tells the story of a cat named Amazon and how she deals with her feelings of loneliness when ‘her boy’ moves off to college. Can she find the courage to explore the rest of the house — let alone the outside world? At Mousebreath.com there’s an interview with Jaimi about this and other upcoming books in the series. Check it out — and meanwhile, take a look around the rest of Mousebreath. The web site describes itself as “an award-winning lifestyle magazine by cats, for cats and cat lovers”.
image c. 2016 Open Door Publishing
Furries...Britain's kinkiest sex craze: People who romp dressed as ANIMALS
Dated April 24, here is an article in the UK's Daily Star tabloid newspaper:
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/508842/furries-sex-weird-fetish-fur-fandom-animals-bizarre
THE phrase "animal lover" might bring up images of people with a lot of pets, volunteering at a rescue centre.
However, in one community, it means something completely different.
Members of the furry fandom, or furries, are so obsessed with humanoid animal characters they go to conventions to celebrate them, get suits made up to look like one and can even be sexually interested in them.
The furry fandom is a community of people who love "humanoid animals" – or anthropomorphic animals and are also interested in animals with human qualities.
This could range from a more conventional liking for ladies wearing cat ears or bunny tails – to bombarding the Frosties mascot with declarations of love.
Although the following began in the 80s it blew up when Disney released their version of Robin Hood – with a very human fox as Robin.
After the recent release of film Zootopia this year has seen a new wave of people converting to the fandom.
Furries can come in a wide variety of different forms.
At one end of the spectrum, there are those who prefer to simply draw or create art dedicated to human-like animals.
But at the other extreme, there are furries who pay thousands of pounds for custom-made suits, have their own "fursona" and even like to have sex in character.
A "fursona" is a persona created by a furry – one they believe reflects who they truly are inside and they have a lot of fun in character as the animal.
This can go as far as having a custom-made suit built, which costs around £2,000 in total, creating Twitter accounts for their "fursona" and going about their day to day business dressed as the animal.
There are companies which thrive purely from making costumes for members of the furry fandom.
In some cases, being a furry fan can go even further than that.
Some members of the fandom even get sexual kicks out of having sex in character and there are plenty of porn sites dedicated to giving some furries their kicks.
"The furry fandom spreads far and wide," said one furry, who didn't want to be named.
"A lot of furries feel like their animal fursona is truly part of them and when they put the suit on, they become truly who they are.
"A fursona is an animal identity created by the person. You can be whatever species you like, whatever gender you like, have whatever traits you want. It is completely down to you."
He added that his personal "fursona" is a fox crossed with a cat because he wanted to create one that reflected his true personality.
"I personally got into the fandom when I was quite young, and felt like a bit of a misfit in my every day life. I couldn't really explain why I got into it, but it just happened.
"I think the web has helped a lot with bringing the furry fandom together. We all tend to have Twitter accounts set up for our fursonas, and it's a forum where we can truly be who we want.
"There's a big following on Tumblr, too, which is a bit of a home for people with kinks."
And although this furry claims he isn't part of the fandom for sex, he does know of plenty of people who are.
"We often act differently when we are all together – we act more freely like animals sometimes.
"This can include scratching each other, nuzzling each other, hugging and petting each other – but that isn't necessarily sexual.
"I do know a lot of people who feel sex is an important aspect of their furry lives. For some, it is freeing to have sex in character. I think this is true for a lot of people, getting dressed up for their partners.
"But I know that furries will not usually have sex in their fur suits. They are hot, heavy and also very expensive. They wouldn't want to risk staining or ruining them and also, that isn't really part of it."
The sexual side of the furry fandom came into the media spotlight earlier this year, when it was revealed that Tony the Tiger, character of Frosties cereal, was being harassed on Twitter by horny furries.
It emerged the character was being bombarded with lewd tweets and images from furry fans idolising him.
When the account begged fans to stop, they found a new idol in Chester Cheetah, the Cheetos ambassador.
Furries are keen to reiterate that they aren't attracted to animals, however – only animals with human qualities, or humans with animal qualities.
"It's not beastiality. It's not about having sex with cats or dogs," the anonymous furry told Daily Star Online.
There are "fur-cons" all over the world where fans can meet up and have fun with each other – and some of the proceeds from the events even go to charity.
Plenty of books and studies have been done on the furry community, and there was even a furries newspaper until 2010, when the internet began to take over.
Jonathan Thurston, who runs Howl Publications and has written numerous books on the topic, said: "The media tend to portray furries as sexual deviants, who either have sex with animals or who have sex in animal costumes.
"To contest that, however, fursuits are personally made. They can easily cost $3,000 (£2,000) and having them custom made for sex purposes is laughable to most of the fandom.
"The furry fandom is about community. My first time attending a furry meet-up was strictly for research purposes.
"I wanted to see if all these people wore leather harnesses, tails and sex gear in public.
"However, I was honestly unimpressed when I realised it was just a bunch of close friends playing Gameboy games in a coffee shop."
Jonathan adds that the fandom welcomed him with "open paws" and he adopted the name Thurlston Howl – a fox-wolf hybrid – as his "fursona".
"I am a member of the furry fandom because I love the people and believe it or not it's kind of fun imagining myself not as an animal, but as an anthropomorphic animal."
Jonathan says being part of the fandom isn't sexual at all for him – but points out members who do enjoy the sexual side aren't really that different from anyone who dresses in a risque way.
"Furries don't have sex while making animal noises. They don't do anything non-furries wouldn't do.
"Look at the Playboy bunny, the constantly sexualised cat costumes for women at Halloween and the use of animal-based sex terminology.
"None of these are sexualised 'animals'. These are sexualised 'anthro-animals'.
"Animals that stand on two legs, have mostly human anatomy, but with animal features.
"The feeling of being turned on by sexualised furry art is no different really. It's a fantasy for anthro-animal sexual contact, but a fantasy that no furry actually believes can/will/should happen."
Furries...Britain's kinkiest sex craze: People who romp dressed as ANIMALS
Dated April 24, here is an article in the UK's Daily Star tabloid newspaper:
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/508842/furries-sex-weird-fetish-fur-fandom-animals-bizarre
THE phrase "animal lover" might bring up images of people with a lot of pets, volunteering at a rescue centre.
However, in one community, it means something completely different.
Members of the furry fandom, or furries, are so obsessed with humanoid animal characters they go to conventions to celebrate them, get suits made up to look like one and can even be sexually interested in them.
The furry fandom is a community of people who love "humanoid animals" – or anthropomorphic animals and are also interested in animals with human qualities.
This could range from a more conventional liking for ladies wearing cat ears or bunny tails – to bombarding the Frosties mascot with declarations of love.
Although the following began in the 80s it blew up when Disney released their version of Robin Hood – with a very human fox as Robin.
After the recent release of film Zootopia this year has seen a new wave of people converting to the fandom.
Furries can come in a wide variety of different forms.
At one end of the spectrum, there are those who prefer to simply draw or create art dedicated to human-like animals.
But at the other extreme, there are furries who pay thousands of pounds for custom-made suits, have their own "fursona" and even like to have sex in character.
A "fursona" is a persona created by a furry – one they believe reflects who they truly are inside and they have a lot of fun in character as the animal.
This can go as far as having a custom-made suit built, which costs around £2,000 in total, creating Twitter accounts for their "fursona" and going about their day to day business dressed as the animal.
There are companies which thrive purely from making costumes for members of the furry fandom.
In some cases, being a furry fan can go even further than that.
Some members of the fandom even get sexual kicks out of having sex in character and there are plenty of porn sites dedicated to giving some furries their kicks.
"The furry fandom spreads far and wide," said one furry, who didn't want to be named.
"A lot of furries feel like their animal fursona is truly part of them and when they put the suit on, they become truly who they are.
"A fursona is an animal identity created by the person. You can be whatever species you like, whatever gender you like, have whatever traits you want. It is completely down to you."
He added that his personal "fursona" is a fox crossed with a cat because he wanted to create one that reflected his true personality.
"I personally got into the fandom when I was quite young, and felt like a bit of a misfit in my every day life. I couldn't really explain why I got into it, but it just happened.
"I think the web has helped a lot with bringing the furry fandom together. We all tend to have Twitter accounts set up for our fursonas, and it's a forum where we can truly be who we want.
"There's a big following on Tumblr, too, which is a bit of a home for people with kinks."
And although this furry claims he isn't part of the fandom for sex, he does know of plenty of people who are.
"We often act differently when we are all together – we act more freely like animals sometimes.
"This can include scratching each other, nuzzling each other, hugging and petting each other – but that isn't necessarily sexual.
"I do know a lot of people who feel sex is an important aspect of their furry lives. For some, it is freeing to have sex in character. I think this is true for a lot of people, getting dressed up for their partners.
"But I know that furries will not usually have sex in their fur suits. They are hot, heavy and also very expensive. They wouldn't want to risk staining or ruining them and also, that isn't really part of it."
The sexual side of the furry fandom came into the media spotlight earlier this year, when it was revealed that Tony the Tiger, character of Frosties cereal, was being harassed on Twitter by horny furries.
It emerged the character was being bombarded with lewd tweets and images from furry fans idolising him.
When the account begged fans to stop, they found a new idol in Chester Cheetah, the Cheetos ambassador.
Furries are keen to reiterate that they aren't attracted to animals, however – only animals with human qualities, or humans with animal qualities.
"It's not beastiality. It's not about having sex with cats or dogs," the anonymous furry told Daily Star Online.
There are "fur-cons" all over the world where fans can meet up and have fun with each other – and some of the proceeds from the events even go to charity.
Plenty of books and studies have been done on the furry community, and there was even a furries newspaper until 2010, when the internet began to take over.
Jonathan Thurston, who runs Howl Publications and has written numerous books on the topic, said: "The media tend to portray furries as sexual deviants, who either have sex with animals or who have sex in animal costumes.
"To contest that, however, fursuits are personally made. They can easily cost $3,000 (£2,000) and having them custom made for sex purposes is laughable to most of the fandom.
"The furry fandom is about community. My first time attending a furry meet-up was strictly for research purposes.
"I wanted to see if all these people wore leather harnesses, tails and sex gear in public.
"However, I was honestly unimpressed when I realised it was just a bunch of close friends playing Gameboy games in a coffee shop."
Jonathan adds that the fandom welcomed him with "open paws" and he adopted the name Thurlston Howl – a fox-wolf hybrid – as his "fursona".
"I am a member of the furry fandom because I love the people and believe it or not it's kind of fun imagining myself not as an animal, but as an anthropomorphic animal."
Jonathan says being part of the fandom isn't sexual at all for him – but points out members who do enjoy the sexual side aren't really that different from anyone who dresses in a risque way.
"Furries don't have sex while making animal noises. They don't do anything non-furries wouldn't do.
"Look at the Playboy bunny, the constantly sexualised cat costumes for women at Halloween and the use of animal-based sex terminology.
"None of these are sexualised 'animals'. These are sexualised 'anthro-animals'.
"Animals that stand on two legs, have mostly human anatomy, but with animal features.
"The feeling of being turned on by sexualised furry art is no different really. It's a fantasy for anthro-animal sexual contact, but a fantasy that no furry actually believes can/will/should happen."
Portraits of Your Pet in Paint
Sarah Prescott is a professional painter who specializes in watercolor — and these days, in original pet portraits. “The daughter of renowned artist Larry Gluck, Sarah’s love for painting developed as a child growing up around the smell of turpentine and oil paint in her family’s living room, which doubled as her father’s art studio. In 1975 Sarah’s parents founded Mission: Renaissance Fine Art Classes and, after graduating from Hoover High School and attending Cal State Northridge, Sarah formally trained in her father’s method of art instruction and opened her own Mission: Renaissance studio in La Canada in 1992. It was through teaching children that she discovered her passion for watercolor. ‘The kids I taught were so full of life, it inspired me to paint children and watercolor was the perfect medium.’ She went on to paint commissioned works for her many clients and also vignettes and landscapes. The Prescott family’s 3 dogs inspired her ongoing series of animal portraits and the formation of her company: Unfurgettables.” Her web site shows many of her works, available not only as originals but on bookmarks, note-cards, and other such items.
image c. 2016 by Sarah Prescott
FC-232 Tumblr Salad - Cheimon joins us again (but this time wearing different clothes than the last two times) as we discuss tons of tons of fandom happenings and read fan emails.
Cheimon joins us again (but this time wearing different clothes than the last two times) as we discuss tons of tons of fandom happenings and read fan emails.
Watch Video Link Roundup:- Feral Attraction podcast interviewed on A Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage
- Mikepaws interviewed Paradox on his new podcast Paws and Reflect
- Fursonas film iTunes pre-order released
- Fursonas film trailer released
- WikiHow’s How to Recognize a Manipulative or Controlling Relationship
- Top 5 Interesting People Raised by Animals
- Reddit: School picture day blue fursuit incident
- Magic Mushrooms Help The Brain Deal With Social Rejection
- The case against speciesism
- Dildo Drone Is The Flying Penis Gadget You Know You Want
- Florida man changes name to Bruce Jenner to preserve name’s ‘heterosexual roots’
- Utah declares porn a public health hazard
- Fox Joins Commuters On The Top Deck Of A Bus Like It’s No Big Deal
- English Town Builds Shrine For Cookies Dropped On Street
- Gladwin Lavrov – “Furry Yiff”
- Hawk – “Well that exposure helped this furry find you”
- Tom – “New fur, any tips? good microphones?”
- Thanks in Adavanced – “domination of porn in the fandom”
FC-232 Tumblr Salad - Cheimon joins us again (but this time wearing different clothes than the last two times) as we discuss tons of tons of fandom happenings and read fan emails.
Cheimon joins us again (but this time wearing different clothes than the last two times) as we discuss tons of tons of fandom happenings and read fan emails.
Watch Video Link Roundup:- Feral Attraction podcast interviewed on A Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage
- Mikepaws interviewed Paradox on his new podcast Paws and Reflect
- Fursonas film iTunes pre-order released
- Fursonas film trailer released
- WikiHow’s How to Recognize a Manipulative or Controlling Relationship
- Top 5 Interesting People Raised by Animals
- Reddit: School picture day blue fursuit incident
- Magic Mushrooms Help The Brain Deal With Social Rejection
- The case against speciesism
- Dildo Drone Is The Flying Penis Gadget You Know You Want
- Florida man changes name to Bruce Jenner to preserve name’s ‘heterosexual roots’
- Utah declares porn a public health hazard
- Fox Joins Commuters On The Top Deck Of A Bus Like It’s No Big Deal
- English Town Builds Shrine For Cookies Dropped On Street
- Gladwin Lavrov – “Furry Yiff”
- Hawk – “Well that exposure helped this furry find you”
- Tom – “New fur, any tips? good microphones?”
- Thanks in Adavanced – “domination of porn in the fandom”
[Live] Tumblr Salad
Cheimon joins us again (but this time wearing different clothes than the last two times) as we discuss tons of tons of fandom happenings and read fan emails.
Link Roundup:- Feral Attraction podcast interviewed on A Savage Lovecast by Dan Savage
- Mikepaws interviewed Paradox on his new podcast Paws and Reflect
- Fursonas film iTunes pre-order released
- Fursonas film trailer released
- WikiHow’s How to Recognize a Manipulative or Controlling Relationship
- Top 5 Interesting People Raised by Animals
- Reddit: School picture day blue fursuit incident
- Magic Mushrooms Help The Brain Deal With Social Rejection
- The case against speciesism
- Dildo Drone Is The Flying Penis Gadget You Know You Want
- Florida man changes name to Bruce Jenner to preserve name’s ‘heterosexual roots’
- Utah declares porn a public health hazard
- Fox Joins Commuters On The Top Deck Of A Bus Like It’s No Big Deal
- English Town Builds Shrine For Cookies Dropped On Street
- Gladwin Lavrov – “Furry Yiff”
- Hawk – “Well that exposure helped this furry find you”
- Tom – “New fur, any tips? good microphones?”
- Thanks in Adavanced – “domination of porn in the fandom”