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“Furry Film Festival:” thoughts from Fred Patten and Califur’s video programmer.
Gideon & BuckHopper
“The San Francisco Furry Film Festival” was a fantasy article inspired by many potential reasons for why it could happen for real. A movie journalist even told me it was an idea “way past due!”
Once put together, it could have built-in audience at any con. However, the practical work of organizing a festival wouldn’t be too different from making a small con. With such a special niche, that puts it out of reach unless a team of dedicated movie lovers gather around the idea. That hasn’t happened yet… but 2016 has brought amazing Furry movie events. There were sold-out furry screenings for Zootopia, and the furry-made documentary ‘Fursonas‘ won unprecedented notice on the festival circuit.
A furry film fest isn’t so far-fetched. Here’s hoping it happens. Meanwhile, below are reactions from Changa, video programmer for Califur and admin of Furry.today (check the site for great videos!) And then Fred Patten.
– Patch
From Changa:
One of the reasons I started furry.today was to keep myself constantly looking for new furry shorts and animations and keep track of them for things like our Parties and the animation festivals I had been putting on at Califur. Here was the play list for the Animation Festivals we showed in 2015. Warning: Lots of embeds. I mostly put that page up not linked anywhere as it was my way of handing out a link to people asking me what specific films were after the con. A dedicated Furry film festival is a great idea (not sure of the logistics.) From your article, I haven’t seen Finsterworld but was aware of Furry Force – they were at Califur, they received the Ursa Major award and it was rather awesome. I do know about your site and it’s cool that you noticed my video blog.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Furry Film Festival
The suggestion of a Furry Film Festival makes my mind overflow with potential titles. Such a festival could easily be filled by excellent but obscure features (many foreign). That would have the advantages of probably being cheaper to rent than those by large American studios like Disney and DreamWorks (which might snub a Furry Film Festival even if it was willing to pay really expensive rentals), and more enticing to the public that might be overly familiar with big American studio “classics” anyway. Here are some suggestions (emphasizing what I would like to see):
American Features
Mr. Bug Goes to Town, directed by Dave Fleischer. 78 minutes. December 5, 1941.
Bill and Coo, directed by Dean Riesner. 61 minutes. March 28, 1948.
Gay Purr-ee, directed by Abe Levitow. 105 minutes. October 24, 1962.
Shinbone Alley, directed by John David Wilson. 85 minutes. April 7, 1971.
Fritz the Cat, directed by Ralph Bakshi. 80 minutes. April 12, 1972.
Coonskin, directed by Ralph Bakshi. 89 minutes. August 20, 1975.
An American Tail, directed by Don Bluth. 80 minutes. November 21, 1986.
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, directed by Barry Caldwell and six others. 80 minutes. March 11, 1992.
Once Upon a Forest, directed by Charles Grosvenor. 72 minutes. June 18, 1993.
Balto, directed by Simon Wells. 77 minutes. December 22, 1995.
The Nut Job, directed by Peter Lepeniotis. 86 minutes. January 17, 2014.
Foreign Features
Puss in Boots, directed by Kimio Yabuki. 80 minutes. March 18, 1969. (Japan)
Blinky Bill, directed by Yoram Gross. 90 minutes. September 24, 1992. (Australia)
Felidae, directed by Michael Schaak. 78 minutes. November 3, 1994. (Germany)
Catnapped!, directed by Takashi Nakamura. 76 minutes. June 10, 1995. (Japan)
The Fearless Four, directed by Michael Coldewey, Eberhard Junkersdorf, and Jürgen Richter. 89 minutes. October 2, 1997. (Germany) NOTE: Warner Bros. has an excellent American dub of this, unreleased. Ask for it.
Help! I’m a Fish, directed by Stefan Fjeldmark and Michael Hegner. 83 minutes. October 6, 2000. (Denmark)
The Adventures of Renny the Fox, directed by Thierry Schiel. 90 minutes. August 12, 2005. (Luxembourg)
Blinky Bill’s White Christmas, directed by Guy Gross. 80 minutes. December 24, 2005. (Australia)
El Arca, directed by Juan Pablo Buscarini. 88 minutes. July 5, 2007. (Argentina)
Niko & the Way to the Stars, directed by Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen. 81 minutes. October 10, 2008. (Finland)
Roadside Romeo, directed by Jugal Hansraj. 93 minutes. October 24, 2008. (India)
The Missing Lynx, directed by Raul Garcia and Manuel Sicilia. 100 minutes. December 25, 2008. (Spain)
Cinderella in the Far West, directed by Pascal Herold. 81 minutes. April 16, 2012. (France)
Bitter Lake, directed by Shay. 41 minutes. August 19, 2012. (France/Germany/Netherlands)
A Turtle’s Tale 2: Sammy’s Escape From Paradise, directed by Vincent Kesteloot and Ben Stassen. 93 minutes. August 15, 2012. (Belgium)
Delhi Safari, directed by Nikhil Advani. 92 minutes. October 19, 2012. (India)
The House of Magic, directed by Jeremy Degruson and Ben Stassen. 85 minutes. December 25, 2013. (Belgium)
Sheep and Wolves, directed by Andrei Galat. Scheduled for 2014; postponed to 2015. (Russia)
Shorts
This is a mixture of furry films, animation school student projects, and even commercial films. It only briefly suggests the wealth of material that exists.
Anthrocon 2014: Compass. 5:16
Chicken or the Egg. 3:22
Children of the Night. 4:20
Control Bear. 4:04
Crayon Dragon. 3:13
Kickball. 2:26
Merry XXXmas from Room 366. 2:55
RusFurence 2012: The Movie. 16:37
I could go on, but this gives you an idea of how enjoyable a Furry Film Festival could be. These particular films might not be available, but others could surely be found to fill a three-day festival program. Would it be best to schedule such a film festival in conjunction with a furry convention? I’ll leave the details to the festival organizers.
FA 012 Collie's Follies and Metriko's Mistakes - A brief look into the lives and mistakes of Viro and Metriko.
Hello Everyone!
This week we go into the past and talk about our lives. What mistakes in life and relationships have we made, and how did we move forward from these negative situations? How have we handled some of the lowest moments of our life and what did we learn from this?
We also take a question about whether or not you should sacrifice your relationship for employment.
Please note that this episode contains some sensitive material and covers some topics that some listeners might view as being disturbing. Please review our show notes for timestamps in order to prevent any emotional or mental issues that you might experience.
For more information, including a list of topics by timestamp, see our Show Notes for this episode.
Thanks and, as always, be well!
FA 012 Collie's Follies and Metriko's Mistakes - A brief look into the lives and mistakes of Viro and Metriko.In His Comic Book, Humans Kill Evil Furries
I just had one hard question: every time I draw and post art online other furries hate it. Although I’m making a project for a comic book, they hated it and sometimes they report me for hate. I don’t hate furries, but all I did is draw humans the good guys and they’re Mexican soldiers fighting anthros, saving the world from evil creatures. Every time I post them, furries blocked me and some are cool with it. This has to do with my Christian religion and I always thought that furries are open minded but I believe they’re open minded but limited to things. Furries I talk to are aholes sometimes and I meet new friends on the fandom. And I meet Christian furries that do understand me.
Ronnie Alvarez (age 28)
* * *
Dear Ronnie,
Wow.
This is not a “hard question” at all. You are drawing art in which anthros (portrayed as evil) are being attacked and hated by human soldiers, apparently. Now, look at it from the other side, which you actually do in your letter. Don’t you hate it when people don’t like your art because it is homophilic (favors humans)? Don’t you feel persecuted for your Christian beliefs by feeling that the furries aren’t tolerant of what you are doing? Can you seriously not understand that furries would feel the same way about your art?
Complaining that furries aren’t open minded enough to accept your art is to misunderstand what it means to be open minded. Open minded doesn’t mean accepting hatred. Furries don’t dislike you because you are Christian (as you noted, there are Christian furries in the fandom), they dislike your art because it inflames their sensitivities of already being persecuted.
Your question is like asking why black people wouldn’t appreciate hooded KKK members marching down a street in Savannah, Georgia. KKK members espouse Christianity, too, you know. Doesn’t mean blacks don’t like Christians (many many African Americans are Christians); it means they don’t like hatred.
You can say "I don't hate furries" all you like, but actions speak louder than words.
Understand?
My suggestion: either seek another (non-furry) audience for your art or draw art that furries will enjoy. Continuing to do what you are doing just deliberately stokes the fire of hatred.
Papabear
WiLD party in Mission Viejo, CA – organizer DJ Ear gives a Q&A for the Furclub Survey.
Furclubbing: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries.” It’s a New Thing that’s been spreading since the late 2000’s. This kind of dance party is independent from cons. This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther. It’s more ambitious than events that happen once, house parties, or informal meets. Those can stay inner-focused for friends who already know each other. This brings partnership with venues that aren’t hotels, and new supportive interest in the kind of events they host. It crosses a line to public space. A stranger may walk in off the street to discover their new favorite thing. It encourages new blood, and crossover to other scenes. It makes subculture thrive. It’s a movement!
See the list of parties at The Furclub survey. Any party that gives a Q&A will get a featured article.
Featured here is WiLD, a new event in Mission Viejo, CA. So Cal furs have complained of a lack of furry parties. With Tail! recently started not too far away, WiLD promises to amplify awesome developments for one of the longest existing populations of the fandom. WiLD’s first venue was lost with ownership change, so it seems like hard work to get established, but their new place looks like it has a lot of potential. LOVE the toony graphics! Party organizer DJ Ear tells more:
WiLD party (2016) ____________________- The party name: WiLD (official website.)
- Who: WiLD is organized by myself, DJ EAR – with lots of help from the Orange County Music League (OCML) as well as our local fur community and DJs (some of whom are not furry themselves – but love to come out and party with us).
- What: We’re starting at a new location in Mission Viejo CA. We are not at a nightclub, there is no bar (although we do have a snack bar!) – and as such we have opened our doors to an 18+ crowd. Our ultimate goal is to pack the entire building head-to-tail in furries, speaker systems, and DJs for anyone who wants to enjoy a night out with friends, EDM, and fur. Our two previous incarnations the previous year saw roughly 20-30 people show up, and we expect that number to hold for our return until we can prove WiLD is worth returning to. (You’ve gotta start somewhere!)
- When: WiLD is every last Saturday of the month and while we started last year – we’ve only had 2 previous events (due to a change in ownership at our previous venue.) We want everything to be as transparent as we can in the building and structure of WiLD – so feedback from those who come out to our event is really valuable to us and we’ve tried to learn from our mistakes. We’ve already been contacted by a few furs in the area wanting to help however they can – all it takes is a quick email or message on Facebook or Twitter. We’re always listening!
- Where: Studio One Live Venue (Pacific Coast Center for the Arts) – 25732 Taladro Circle, Mission Viejo, CA 92691.Furs from around the Orange County area and beyond (San Diego, LA and more) have come out to WiLD.
- How (the behind the scenes story:) I was approached by one of the Co-Founder’s of OCML with an idea to host a furry EDM event built on the success of recent EDM night’s they had organized. Details got ironed out quickly – DJs were lined up even quicker, and we had less than a month to promote for our first event! It was a big learning experience for me as I was basically given the reigns to organize almost all the aspects of WiLD with OCML providing the backup and know-how to help make it happen.
- Vibe: WiLD hopes to be a place for furs to come enjoy a night of EDM from local furry DJs with friends. We’re an 18+ event and anyone’s welcome to come by. We’ve got a headless lounge & some changing areas setup so we hope to see some fursuiters stop by en mass.
- Promotion: So far we’ve been getting the word out by mouth about our event at local fur meetups & online thru social media. It’s still too early to tell how business will go – but we do hope to make some money from this event so that we can improve WiLD and make it bigger & better!
Follow WiLD and check out previous events on Facebook and Twitter.
Good luck to DJ EAR and all of the So Cal furries – I hope WiLD takes off, and proves the awesome potential shared by furry communities starting their own dance parties all over the place.
Skitch and Corvin.
Haze Tiger.
Gender of furries vs Age of furries: interactive visualization
Click here for our interactive visualization showing the relationship between furry gender and age.
Visualization by Ruxley. Species and age data taken from the 2015 Furry Survey. click through for the interactive version.
A Long Letter about the Nature of Friendship
First of all i want to apologize about the last letter i sent you and i couldn't reply due personal problems and many things to do. I have a problem that has been haunting me for a long time. I know, i'm a bit old for this kind of stuff, but i'm tired of have the same problem when i meet someone, and i think you're professional with this kind of problems: this is an example what's happening, but this is a bit more important, and it's one of the most bigger problems I have I got two friends: one from San Diego and another from South Africa, I met the first one when a year after I started in FurAffinity, and we became best friends some months later, and the another one, I saw his profile in FA thanks to a friend, but at first I thought he was someone egotistical, but when the San Diego started a role play group on Skype, with me and another 5 guys I changed my mind about him, It was the opposite of what I thought at first, so later we became friends, the first group only it lasted until August 2015 due we had various problems with one of the members and we started another one with just the only four members.
But during May or June 2015 I started to get many anxiety problems, at first I thought I could control that, but it wasn't, and to date I still have these problems but knowing why it happened, but over time he began to generate problems of depression, and I began to reflect on the RP group, I got into trouble within the group, and I got to leave the group on several occasions, but the last was a reason that bothered me from the beginning of the first group, the guy from San Diego always helped me when I left the group for several occasions, so the last time I left the group I said I was sick of not put me attention as others, there was some favoritism between them and it seemed like I was not important to them, and made their own stories without will include me in them, he tried to see a way to help, but did not seem to be helpful, and indeed, there came a time I spoke to the boy of South Africa for the gradually began to behave very sharp me both RP and chat, send a letter asking him what was wrong, that was not the first time I did that, the first time, when our friendship was much closer, he apologized to me and told me that no happen again, but this time was much different, let me in them, just she told me to do something to change, but at that time, I did my best to be treated like others, but all were in vain. Finally the boy from San Diego came up with something to help taking advantage of Halloween approached, he had a character not used for a long time and started to do a story involving my character and where we were all going to participate, everything was very well planned, but everything gets worse after we began the story within the group, I had the stupid idea that one of my characters commit suicide to fix the main problem of the story, I doubted that but just when I wanted to fix it was too late, and one member who was present quickly left the group, the guy from South Africa, just sent a message saying "WTF?!" and also he left the group. Quickly me and the guy from San Diego I wonder what was wrong with me, I told him I had never been my intention, and try to talk to the two who had left the group, but the guy from South Africa was very angry, and the girl He would not return to know the group, I did not know what to do, and burst into tears explaining everything that had happened to me and intimating my reasons that had left the group several times.
Finally he understood everything, and said that would not give up for helping restore friendship boy from South Africa and after a week, after she asked him to ask him to send a letter via skype apologizing and explaining everything that happened, the guy from South Africa sent me a private message forgiving me and I finally understood why he had been so curt with me I was going through family problems related to his father and did not want to embarrass him with my role plays depressants, and asked me to promise not to return to that sort of thing, and with everything that happened I did not want that to happen again that and I promised, then said he would have to spend a good time to come back to the group, I said no problem, but apparently he was mad at me, and there were times I had to ask the guy from San Diego on how I was the guy from South Africa, he came to me to show several chats boy from South Africa saying he knew that it was never my intention to hurt him, but still remained uncertain until finally in December of that same year the boy from San Diego said we were going to return all in a Christmas role play, but anyway I was very unsure about that, and personally wrote a letter via skype the boy from South Africa, explaining everything and apologetically as I never had, it took two days to answer, the apparently he was annoyed to hear the same story, but he told me not to worry about that, because he had forgiven me for several months, and I was more than relieved when I sent that message.
before it was Christmas I sent them to draw a picture for the boy from San Diego, but just a day before told the artist that will fix the mistakes he had and took a lot more than I expected, I warned him that I would take to reach you, and I said no problem, if I'm not wrong was around that time that the following happened: also because of my anxiety problems I suffer, I tend to be jealous, but before I suffer these problems was not jealous.
I think it was a few days before Christmas, the guy from South Africa made a vore comic character boy from San Diego (I feel like I get in trouble for this but here I leave the link of the comic: also because of my anxiety problems I suffer, I tend to be jealous, but before I suffer these problems was not jealous.
I think it was a few days before Christmas, the guy from South Africa made a vore comic character boy from San Diego (I feel like I get in trouble for this but here I leave to you the link of the comic: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18524978/)in a way I felt jealous, in fact there was a time that I refrained from entering FurAffinity by the comic, but in my mind told me "will come your day ... he will do something for you" and otherwise felt guilty ... very guilty, I felt I did something wrong to not deserve his respect, felt I was not friendly enough and I should do something to deserve their respect, after a while I forced myself to see the comic and tell me myself "will get your day ... he will do something for you, and if he doesn't you do not mind, he do not need to make you a picture to show you you're his friend" and for a while I said that and I forget it, had passed the Role Christmas Play and everything returned to normal, my friendship with the two became much narrower, and only three of us create our own group Role Play, referring to the game Assassin's Creed, but before that, in early February I got the picture that would give gift to man from San Diego (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18922338/) I apologized to him, and he did not care how long it takes, the intention was the which had, when I showed, I think something did not like, I asked if he liked, but apparently not reflected, and told him that if he did not like he could do anything for him, he said it was not necessary, He said he liked a lot, but I knew not, and in fact I told him that if he wanted he could raise his profile, I felt bad because I felt it was not the best thing I did, later seeing the two of them had better than me, during Valentine's day I sent a letter explaining better what happened to me, I apologized for not being a good friend, he understood everything and said he has always been to help me, but my problem is that I feel impotence, because the two of them usually wear well and gifts between them are made, and my helplessness I can not do something for them, and I really do not know if I'm not doing something right or do not consider me as a good friend.
I do not know what to do, I do not have a credit card much less money to do something for them two, have perhaps been a bad friend? I can not speak more, because I have already done several letters explaining everything, what I can do? I am doing something wrong? Is there something I'm forgetting? are not the only ones with which this happening to me, just with some friends I feel like it was not someone important to them, please Papa Bear, help me, I am very confused and worried, I do not know to do. Thanks a lot for your time, and I’ll wait the time you need for reply, I’ll be grateful if you can help me in this situation. Needless to say I appreciate all
Sincerely:
Guilmon 1998 a.k.a Jake The Flamedramon/ Drake Daigo (age 25, Mexico)
P.S: all of them I know personally
* * *
Dear Guilmon,
Yours was a long and kind of confusing letter, but here is my reaction to what I understand of it:
The RP thing where you have a character commit suicide: the people who promptly left probably overreacted (unless you did it in a graphic, tasteless way, which I doubt). This is a bit of a case of dramaqueenitis. People need to get a grip; this is fiction, role play, get over yourselves. Sheesh.
As for the friendships: remember, friendship is not about giving gifts or giving money. And true friends who do give gifts should never expect something in return. If you are only giving something to a friend because you want something back, then that is not a sign of generosity.
True friends do not care if you are rich or poor. They care about you for who you are, including your flaws. How do you repay them, then, for their kindnesses? By being kind, respectful, and helpful in return. By giving them someone to talk to who offers sympathy and empathy.
Jealousy results from lack of confidence. When we are not confident in ourselves, we fear that people we want to like us will not see us as worthy and turn to other people for affection. Therefore, self-confidence is a key to happiness. You say you suffer from anxiety. Not sure if this is a medical condition or something that is self-inflicted. If it is medical, see a doctor; if it is self-inflicted, then the best way to relieve anxiety (and stress) is a thorough routine of meditation, exercise, sleep, and eating correctly. It will do wonders for your mental and physical health.
Finally, don't play games with people. For example, don't use furry art as a manipulative tool to gain friends or hurt people. Be sincere. Say what you mean and when you make a promise, keep it. When you are honorable and true to yourself and others, you will find that contentment follows, neither will you ever find an occasion when you need to apologize for your actions.
Hugs,
Papabear
Claw the Way to Victory, Edited by AnthroAquatic – Book Review by Fred Patten.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Cover by Jenn ‘Pac’ Rodriguez
Claw the Way to Victory, edited by AnthroAquatic
Capalaba, Queensland, Australia, Jaffa Books, January 2016, trade paperback $17.50 (285 pages), Kindle $5.00.
Claw the Way to Victory is an original-fiction anthology of eleven short stories by nine authors, “each showcasing a different sport and [showing] just how the instincts of an animal matched with the intelligence of a human can help or hurt a player. Scratching? Biting? Against the rules? Not this time.” (blurb) It is published by Jaffa Books in Australia, but printed and also sold by editor AnthroAquatic in the U.S., and was released by him at Anthro New England 2016 in Cambridge, MA on January 21-24; hence the price in U.S. dollars and the Amazon Kindle edition.
In “Descent” by TrianglePascal (gliding), Anthony, a mallard TV reporter, interviews Lacy Gallant, a golden eagle who is about to attempt the first unassisted thousand-foot descent off a cliff into a sheer gorge in history – without a parachute.
“With the camera off, Anthony let himself slouch back into his camp chair, then eyed Lacy again. The eagle was watching the bear and the squirrel [Anthony’s camera crew] with curiosity while she sipped her coffee. She looked impossibly relaxed considering what she was going to be attempting that day. She was dressed in a tank top and a tight pair of shorts, both of them specifically designed to reveal as much of her plumage as possible. It showed off the impressive musculature that stretched from her shoulders down to her powerful arms. Despite how dirty and ragtag the rest of her looked, the flight feathers hanging down from those arms were more immaculately cared for than the claws of most supermodels. There was a healthy sheen about them that bespoke hours of daily care.” (p. 11)
The mammals in the sports camera crew think she’s crazy. Anthony, as a bird but not a hunter-diver, can dimly appreciate what she feels when she’s gliding.
“Discus Dog” by James L. Steele (discus) features Greg Rett, a young wolf in his first Major League Discus game, like football but much more brutal. The two teams are The Force, a nine-animal mix of three canines, four felines, and two reptiles, and The Pack, all wolves.
“The equine switched off his mic and walked up and down the gap between the two teams.
‘All right, you animals, here are the rules. Blood happens, and claws and teeth are okay, but no intentional wounds above the shoulders. Do not use the coin as a weapon against another player. Do not use the stadium walls as a weapon against another player. Do not …’” (p.27)
Greg, in the excitement of the game, bites a rival player’s throat out.
The National Discus League officials question him. The press questions him. No police question him. Everybody agrees that these things happen in the passion of the game, and Greg is a rookie who hasn’t yet developed self-control, so it’s okay. Greg feels that he committed murder (or at least manslaughter), and he can’t believe that he’s getting off so easily. He researches the history of the organized Discus games …
“Bottom of the Ninth” by PJ Wolf (baseball) is narrated by “six-year-old me”, the batter at the bottom of the last inning of Game Three of the Super Series. As he faces the other team’s tanuki pitcher, his musings about the game fill in the reader about animal baseball.
“Felipe Infante is a bull, and he’s paid – handsomely – to hit home runs. Had a pretty good season, too, with thirty-eight of ‘em. He isn’t paid to run the bases, which is why the rabbit is pinch-running for him.” (p. 57)
We never do find out who or what “six-year-old me” is, but we find out so much else about animal baseball that it doesn’t matter.
“A Knight’s Tale” by Eric Lane (tournament swordsmanship) is narrated by Jacob Harper a.k.a. Sir Michael Hemsworth, a coyote knight dueling a boar for the lordship of a modern renaissance fair. When he is gored by one of the boar’s tusks – an accident outside of the dueling rules – he loses his nerve even after he heals. Marcus Wen, his otter best friend, helps him get it back again. This is a well-written story with the knight-reinactors taking advantage of their animal traits, although the dueling is hacking with blunt flat-edged swords which Lane constantly refers to as rapiers, which are later thin-pointed swords used for thrusting. I think that Sir Michael Hemsworth should have been Sir Michael rather than Sir Hemsworth, too.
“Ping Pong Diplomacy” by Huskyteer (ping pong) is, no surprise, about an internationally-prestigious table-tennis tournament between teams led by Tux, a U.S. cat, and a Communist Chinese team led by a tiger.
“‘I’m Jun,’ the tiger rumbled. “It means ‘army’.’
That worked. The guy was pretty much an army all by himself.” (p. 102)
Tux has always been a fan and player of table-tennis, which is why he is chosen for the U.S. team invited to China. But the Chinese have developed table-tennis into a cross between a science, an art form, and a religion; and they are helped here by their animal nature.
“Only then did Tux have time to work out what was off-kilter about the game.
Jun wasn’t using a paddle. He was simply hitting the ball with the enormous pad of his paw, easily as broad as a competition paddle, and, Tux thought, remembering the pawshake, with just the right combination of firmness and flexibility, like a layer of rubber.
Was that even legal? And how was he supposed to counter it?’ (p. 104)
Tux takes advantage of his own feline instincts to stay glued to the bouncing ball. Huskyteer mixes the game competition with low-grade diplomatic espionage.
In “After the Last Bell’s Rung” by Patrick Rochefort (boxing), Balus Bubalis is an Asian water-buffalo by species but a Texas native. He was the Texas Pro-Am Heavyweight Champion in his youth twenty-five years earlier, but he never went professional, retiring instead to help his dirt-poor family. He later became a physiotherapist specializing in treating sports injuries. The unnamed narrator interviewing him and his old coaches for his life’s story focuses upon how having thick horns affects boxing. There’s no drama in this story, but a lot of heart. Balus is the sort of quiet man who was featured in lots of “The Most Unforgettable Character I’ve Ever Met” stories.
“A Leap Forward” by MikasiWolf (running) isn’t about a formal sport as much as using running training to stay ahead of the police. Lesaut (civet) and Liam (angora cat) are parentless street youths who have their own society, The Movement, on the rooftops of the city of Intersection. They practice the Art of Displacement, both a physical exercise and a philosophy to hone their speed and agility.
“Each day, the disciples of The Movement, known as ‘Traceurs’, would meet on their own mutually-agreed roof for dinner and socializing. And once a week, there would be a get-together known as the Gathering, in which everyone would share their own thoughts and encouragement they may have for the rest of the immediate community. Lessons learnt, job offers, and personal philosophies; everything went as long as it was constructive to one’s well-being.” (p. 142)
The older Liam asks Lesaut to mentor a newcomer, the 16-year-old horse Snoss, to The Movement. He doesn’t tell Lesaut that the police in the streets and subways below are looking for Snoss. Lesaut needs all that he has learned of the Art of Displacement to keep himself and Snoss out of the hands of the authorities.
“A Gentleman of Strength” by Dwale (sumo wrestling) is a polite translation of rikishi, a sumo wrestler, usually translated just as “strong man”. This is the story of the final tournament of Ame, an aging honey bear sumo wrestler, who is wondering whether he should keep wrestling until he attains the title of komusubi or retire before fading strength forces his retirement. The story describes sumo wrestling in depth, adding such animal traits as whether a plantigrade or a digitigrade stance is better for a sumo wrestler, the disadvantages of having a long tail, and so on.
“Nightball” by TrianglePascal (basketball) contrasts the playing of day animals and night animals. Never the twain shall meet – until a day animal, a cat, goes out for a nocturnal team. The attributes of the nocs (a skunk, an owl, a deer, etc.) are illustrated. The story is why the cat wants to play with them. None of the characters are named except for their species. They don’t need names here. This is the second story here by TrianglePascal.
“Eight Seconds and the Grace of God” by Patrick Rochefort (rodeo) is set in the macho world of cowboy poker players and rodeo contestants (of both sexes) in Alberta, where both the stallion and steer riders and the stallions and steers are sentient. This is Rochefort’s secod story here.
“The big, brown steer had a coat like cheap milk chocolate, and he stared down at Dawson in a way that mutt didn’t like, as if he was just measuring him up for how hard he’d have to stomp the dog flat.” (p. 226)
Barroom fights and fights in the rodeo ring. American and Canadian rivalry. Bradley Shoulders and Cameron McKenzie are both steers, but they sure aren’t friends. Cameron is friends with Dawson Chinook, the mutt. Dawson is hot to ride Bradley in the rodeo and win, to square up for his pal getting sucker-punched. But the hulking steer is three times Dawson’s size. Who the fuck cares!
“Marge the Barge” by Mary E. Lowd (ice skating) is a large Newfoundland dog with five rambunctious puppies. She’s a hockey mom in a figure-skating rink where all the skaters are little cats, small dogs like Chihuahuas, and squirrels. Marge suffered an injury that ended her hockey-playing days. Her only hope for staying on the ice is to learn to become a figure skater. But a huge Newfie amidst all those dainty animals performing graceful ballerina twirls and the like? Will Marge’s determination be enough?
Claw the Way to Victory (cover by Jenn ‘Pac’ Rodriguez) may be the best anthology that I’ve ever read, in terms of all of its stories being so well-written that they deeply held my interest even though I don’t have any interest in their sports (in ten cases; “A Leap Forward” is well-written but isn’t really about a sport). Ten different sports. Stories ranging from dramas of whether the protagonist will win, to a quiet human-interest piece. In a couple of cases, notably “A Gentleman of Strength”, it has taught me a lot about its sport while recounting a deep human-interest story. I feel safe in guaranteeing that you’ll really like Claw the Way to Victory even if you’re not interested at all in sports. And if you are …
Rik-Tikki-Tikki The Ivory-Fanged
New discoveries from this year’s WonderCon: Rikki is a full-color comic book adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s well-known mongoose-vs.-cobra story Rikki Tikki Tavi. The story was adapted and updated to a more modern setting by Norm Harper, with illustrations by Matthew Foltz-Gray. Originally created as a 4-issue comic book mini-series, after a successful Kickstarter campaign they re-released Rikki as a graphic novel in trade paperback, complete with the original Kipling story as well as a cover-gallery by the artist Christine Knopp. Find out more over at the publisher, Karate Petshop.
image c. 2016 Karate Petshop
TigerTails Radio Season 9 Episode 37
The Shadows That Linger, by M. Andrew Rudder – Book Review by Fred Patten
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Cover by Randy Thompson
The Shadows That Linger, by M. Andrew Rudder.
Dallas, TX, Argyll Productions, July 2015, trade paperback $17.95 (314 pages), Kindle $7.99.
The Shadows That Linger is a superhero comic book in text form, in a funny-animal world.
“Superpowers had begun to appear five years ago, and with those powers came superheroes. With superheroes simultaneously came supervillains, government agencies to try and sponsor, control, or extinguish them, and a different kind of warfare.” (p. 5)
Among anthropomorphic animals or humans. Well, if I suddenly gained superstrength, superspeed, the ability to fly or to phase through solid objects, invulnerability, or anything else like that, I don’t think that the first things I’d do are to design a flamboyant costume and name for myself, and get together with similar individuals to form a club of superheroes – or, if I decided to become a supervillain, to join others in a society of supervillains. But maybe that’s just me.
Let’s see: The Protectors in Seattle are the good guys. They include Thunderwolf, a “muscular wolf” with a “shockingly blue Mohawk crackling with static electricity”; White Magus, an arctic fox with shimmering fur dressed in a tuxedo, “brandishing a ruby-topped cane like a sword”; Pathfinder, the leader, “a husky, tall and muscular, dressed in segmented body armor that gave her freedom of movement while also protecting her from those criminals who preferred guns to lasers” who can track anything; Zahnrad, a diminutive female pine marten with a thick German accent “dressed in functional overalls” who can undo property damage – well, you get the idea. The Consortium are the supervillains, with Puppeteer, “a fox in black leather motorcycle gear” who controls minds; Firestarter, a superfast female dhole dressed in “a tight outfit in red, black, and blue, completed by a streamlined helmet with a tight visor over her eyes”; Dazzlewolf, garishly costumed who can create multiple copies of himself; and others.
Pariah is the newest member of the Protectors; a 19-year-old “fennec fox” with a thick Iranian accent “in white and green spandex with a green mask. There was a stylized green nightingale on his chest, and a cape billowed behind him thanks to Thunderwolf’s gales.” (p. 7) (Dazzlewolf’s costume also includes a “massive flowing cape”. I’m sorry, but I can’t take either superheroes or supervillains in capes seriously since seeing Pixar’s 2004 The Incredibles.) Pariah’s powers include the ability to heal physical injuries.
“He’d never healed this many people at one time before, and he was definitely tired, but he wouldn’t pass out or anything. He’d only joined the Protectors a month ago, and though his ability to patch up their comrades after skirmishes with the more destructive superheroes had been invaluable, this had been his first large-scale healing. Moving from person to person, letting his power course through them, pushing away their pain and repairing their bodies would definitely earn him a full night’s sleep.” (p. 12)
Pariah is cleaning up after their latest battle when he comes upon the mortally wounded Puppeteer, the leader of the Consortium, dying from one of Thunderwolf’s lightning bolts. Even though he knows that helping their enemies can get him expelled from the Protectors, he cannot refuse to heal anyone needing his aid. The cured Puppeteer promises not to fight him in exchange for having saved his life. The rest of the Consortium would never approve such mercy, so they both have a motive to keep this a secret.
Puppeteer, a 47-year-old red fox who can read minds as well as control them, now knows Pariah’s secret identity and past. He is Aziz Jobrani, who had escaped from the oppressive Iranian government’s genetic experiments, drugs, and torture that had resulted in his superpowers of flight and healing. By an incredible (and not really believable) coincidence, Puppeteer is Suleiman Madani, also an escapee from the same Iranian experimental labs after he developed superpowers. He came openly to America, used his mindreading ability to make himself a billionaire, and has amused himself playing a Seattle society leader and a supporter of the Protectors at the same time he has been building up the Consortium to oppose them.
Puppeteer is no Robin Hood, but he has only stolen from the rich who can afford their losses, and manipulated politicians into voting the way he wants. He has not considered the Protectors a serious threat – he is contemptuous of their only appearing where they can expect favorable receptions and media, not where they might be truly needed. Now he is impressed by its newest member’s genuine desire to help those who need his medical talent. He also knows that Pariah is secretly gay. And so is he.
The Shadows That Linger is intriguingly imaginative. The Consortium only works because all of its supervillains are intelligent, not psychopathic killers as in most comic books. If a crime isn’t profitable, they aren’t interested in it. They don’t slaughter masses of civilians or their own gangs just to demonstrate how evil they are. They don’t monologue at length about how clever they are, giving the heroes/the authorities/anybody plenty of time to prepare their counterattack.
The two groups maintain a wary communication between themselves, since these supervillains aren’t (usually) deliberately destructive.
When a new supercharacter appears in the world, both the Protectors and the Consortium try to recruit him or her until it becomes clear whether he/she will accept “do-gooder” work; is selfish, preferring to join a group devoted to self-interest; preferring to operate alone, whether for good, evil, or self-interest (for personal enrichment by legal means such as superpowers-for-hire); or is a murderous psychotic whom neither the Protectors nor the Consortium want running around loose.
One of the reasons that Puppeteer is not worried about the Protectors is that he has infiltrated them, disguised as Nocturne, a “mystery” superhero from another city who occasionally visits Seattle and “drops in” to socialize with them. [There are many different superheroes and –villains in other cities, such as Ricochet in Baltimore, a grey mouse “dressed in white tights with an orange line down the middle of his chest, with other smaller lines bouncing off of the middle. He did not wear shoes or gloves, but did wear a domino mask, and had an assortment of pouches on a toolbelt.” (p. 32)] That way he can learn their plans without getting too close to them. At least one superhero, Dissimulo, appears as a different “species, gender, sex, or civilian identity” each time he/she appears. I don’t recall any regular comic book in which a supervillain infiltrates the superhero organization in disguise.
In this world, both the Protectors and the Consortium enjoy considerable “down time” when they are in their secret identities as individuals. Aziz and Suleiman meet privately to get to know each other. They are both gay, and the young Aziz is impressed by the more mature Suleiman. It’s hard to say whether they become lovers or whether Suleiman becomes a willing comfortable father-figure.
They have hardly begun to meet when they, and all the Protectors and the Consortium, are confronted by a nameless and insidious menace that destroys by causing overwhelming despair:
“Swirling blackness engulfed the front of the Headquarters of the United Nations. Phantoms walked through it, some kneeling over those trapped within its depths, some whispering to the captives, others reaching for the press or superheroes. As Puppeteer stepped forward, the tendrils solidified into people, people the red fox recognized.
‘You killed us,’ one of the wolf guards from the facility in Iran whispered, floating closer to him.
‘You killed all of us,’ one of the other victims of the experiments said, a crow who had died when he’d set the building on fire.” (pgs. 90-91)
The Shadows That Linger (cover by Randy Thompson) tells how both groups, and Pariah and Puppeteer personally, are affected by and deal with this new menace.
There are several inconsistencies and amateurishnesses in the writing, such as introducing a new character as a stallion who is then referred to as “she”. But on the whole, if you are interested in costumed supercharacters at all, you will enjoy this. (I was amused for personal reasons by one sentence: “Since he [Pariah] didn’t have posters, framed pictures, or had even changed the colors of the walls, his room looked […]” (p. 47). When the Iranian revolution took place in 1979, many of the upper-class monarchist refugees settled with their wealth in Los Angeles. They almost all decorated their new homes and businesses with framed portraits and calendars of the deposed Emperor, or travel posters of scenic Iranian locations.)
Episode 308 - Macabre Fennecs
White Cat vs. Big Bugs
Now check this out over at Kids Can Press: “Fluffy Vandermere, the cat sergeant in charge of P.U.R.S.T. (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), works tirelessly to protect the world from alien (aka bug) domination. It’s a big job. “The whole planet is Fluffy’s space station. All the people in the world are his humans. And every space pet out there is his responsibility.” Now, suddenly and without warning, Fluffy discovers P.U.R.S.T. headquarters, the most secure building in the world, is under attack by an angry swarm of insects, and they’re armed with every cat’s worst nightmare — spray bottles! Warding off this level of terrifying invasion will require cunning, skill, ingenuity and the ability to move quickly. Fluffy’s been out of the field and at his desk job for quite some time now — is he up to this massive challenge? You bet he is!” Fluffy Strikes Back is the creation of writer and artist Ashley Spires. This new full-color graphic novel for intermediate readers is a spin-off from her successful Binky adventure series. It’s available in trade paperback and hardcover editions.
image c. 2016 Kids Can Press
FC-230X Knot FurCast
Fayroe called out sick and CJ was out of town. Then Paradox got sick. Well, it was either cancel, or do something special, so we did! With the cameras turned off and a cup of tea in hand, Paradox played through some YouTube videos that have been building in the video recommendation cue for a while. Normally we shout out YouTube videos or channels as part of our “discovered media” segment and recommend checking them out on your own, but for tonight we decided “this video is an hour long? Cool let’s play the whole thing!”
Instead of recording the show (which would really just be a recording of other people’s videos) instead we’ll just list out all the videos we played. Some are humorous, some are filled with cool science or even both. Most are furry related but not all. A few are simple examples of some fantastic but perhaps not so well known YouTube channels we recommend checking out. If you’re looking for some new things to subscribe to than this is the post for you! Thanks to everyone who joined us live. Hope you enjoyed the random but cool playthrough of some awesome stuff on YouTube.
Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch Video Watch VideoWe Draw Furry Porn: 6 Things We've Learned On The Job - on CRACKED.COM
http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-2060-were-professional-furry-porn-artists-6-on-the-job-lessons.html
OH boy...
-J
We Draw Furry Porn: 6 Things We've Learned On The Job - on CRACKED.COM
http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-2060-were-professional-furry-porn-artists-6-on-the-job-lessons.html
OH boy...
-J
Call for Submissions: The Second [adjective][species] Poetry Collection
Renee Carter Hall (“Poetigress”) is a writer and poet whose work has been published both inside and outside the furry fandom. She is the current president of the Furry Writers’ Guild and was Writer Guest of Honor at RainFurrest 2015.
I’m honored to have been asked to curate the [adjective][species] poetry collection for 2016! Based on last year’s feature and on the recent release of the furry poetry anthology Civilized Beasts, I know there are lots of great poets in the fandom working in a wide variety of styles and voices, so I’m looking forward to seeing what comes my way.
For this year’s feature, I’m narrowing the focus just a bit and looking for submissions relating to animals and spirituality. I’m defining both “animals” and “spirituality” pretty loosely, so this can involve anthropomorphic animals, the furry fandom, therian/Otherkin, and any sort of belief system—or lack of belief—where animals play some role. It doesn’t have to be organized or established religion, although that’s certainly welcome too. Really, the only thing I’m not looking for is work that demeans any particular faith or belief system. What I want, ideally, is celebration, exploration, and introspection, not debate, proselytizing, or anything obviously written for shock value alone.
The fine print on what to send:
- Length, form, style: Totally open. Send me free verse, formal verse, whatever you like. If you’re using an obscure form that I might not be familiar with, let me know what it is so I can understand the full effect.
- Submissions may be published or unpublished. If a poem has appeared previously in a print or online publication, please let me know where, so we can give proper credit. (If it’s only been posted to FurAffinity, SoFurry, your personal blog, etc., there’s no need to note that.)
- Submissions don’t have to be new. You can write something new for this call, or if you have something you wrote years ago that fits, send it along.
- If in doubt, send it. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re looking for until we see it, and the worst we can say is “no thanks.” So if you’re on the fence as to whether your work might suit, send it and let’s see.
- You retain all ownership and rights to your poetry. [adjective][species] simply licenses your work for posting on the site. If you need your work taken down at any time, simply let us know. All posts are made under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license, unless you specify otherwise.
How to submit:
- Send 1-6 poems, either in the body of the email or attached as a Word document, to:
aspoetry2016@gmail.com
no later than April 22. - Be sure to include what name you want your work published under (real name, pen name, furry name, whatever works for you), and if you like, you can also include a link where readers can find more of your work.
- Everyone will get a yes or no response, but I’m afraid I can’t offer feedback or critique on submissions.
I’d like to draw from as many perspectives as possible, so if you can help spread the word about this call to other poets and poetry communities, please do! Any questions, post a comment here or send them to the email listed above.
Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense, by Algernon Blackwood – Book Review by Fred Patten.
Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.
Dudley & Gilderoy: A Nonsense, by Algernon Blackwood.
London, Ernest Benn Ltd, December 1929, hardcover 8/6 (281 pages).
Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was a prominent British author who wrote many literary fantasies and ghost stories during the early 20th century. His John Silence was one of the most popular psychic detectives during the heyday of that literary genre just before World War I. H. P. Lovecraft named him as a “modern master” of supernatural horror.
Dudley & Gilderoy, published toward the end of his literary career, is an anomaly. Because it features a talking cat and a parrot, and is not a supernatural novel in the horror sense, it has been described as a children’s fantasy although there is no evidence that Blackwood or the book’s British or American publishers ever considered it to be for children. Everett F. Bleiler, in his monumental The Guide to Supernatural Fiction (1983), describes it as “A moving story, although the tragic ending is disconcerting.”
The novel begins with a quotation from the then-recent The Modern Cat: Her Mind and Manners. An Introduction to Comparative Psychology, by G. S. Gates (Macmillan, 1928):
“an attempt to prove that the cat is a more delicate organism and of a higher order of intelligence than any other four-footed beast … also possesses a language much like the Chinese and possibly derived from it. In the word part of the language there are, probably, not more than 600 fundamental words, all others being derivatives.”
The late 1920s and early 1930s were a period of several “scientific” attempts to prove that animals had their own languages or could understand whatever human language the researcher spoke; see Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, by Jon Bondeson (Cornell University Press, May 2011) for a description of some of the “talking dogs” experiments, especially in Germany. Blackwood’s “nonsense” may have been to some extent a commentary on this. The intelligence of the West African grey parrot, on the other hand, has been long recognized.
The leisurely novel begins in “The country house in Kent, dreaming among its well-kept gardens”, in early March:
“Something, apparently, was astir at the unearthly hour of 5.30 A.M., though it was not the human occupants of the Elizabethan building, and assuredly not the servants. [Note the pre-World War II British upper-class attitude that servants are less than human.] Colonel Sir Arthur and his Lady still slept audibly; Molly, their thirteen-year-old daughter, at the other end of the house, made no move; the younger children, lying in crumpled heaps, equally held steady; the French Governess showed no symptoms of élan; and the staff, as already mentioned, gave no sign.” (p. 10)
“The Day Nursery, whence it proceeded, lying away from the rest of the house in the eastern wing, held at this early hour two occupants, neither of whom slept; one, a biped, denizen of the air; the other a quadruped, denizen of the world. The speaker was a West African Grey Parrot, a King Grey Parrot, to give him his full title, with red feathers among the grey, and his name was Dudley; the other was a common red-haired cat with a flat-topped skull, and his name was Gilderoy. Dudley belonged to Molly, Gilderoy to himself, and the Day Nursery was their home, the parrot having occupied it for years, the cat for months. […] The two animals were very great friends. In appearance, Dudley was dignified, solemn, austere, aristocratic, his sleek feathers glistened, he was extremely soigné. Gilderoy was – otherwise.” (p. 11)
Dudley sets off the adventure.
“‘I am tired of this dowdy room,’ he announced.” (p. 18)
“‘Let’s go,’” Gilderoy replies, and they are off. Dudley leads. “Whoever went first would, of course, be first to meet the dangers. ‘You look best from behind,’ observed Gilderoy admiringly. ‘Your back view, I consider, is lovely.’” (p. 19)
The two animals get out of the Manor House through an open skylight, and set out walking:
“‘You waddle,’ remarked Gilderoy, his tail in the air like a ramrod. He made himself very big and protective. ‘I’m behind you, remember.’ ‘My wings,’ replied Dudley some twenty yards later, ‘are clipped and I possess two feet.’ He stalked on. ‘I need only – two,’ he added presently. There was a touch of grandeur in his attitude.” (p. 21)
Presently they reach the main road:
“Gilderoy watched him. ‘D’you know where you’re going?’ he flashed with his whiskers, not stirring an inch himself.
‘Er – not exactly,’ the bird replied, indifferently. He did not stop. ‘London, anyhow,’ he added.
‘Wrong direction, then,’ Gilderoy informed him bluntly, as he stood there sniffing the air with little twitching jerks.
Dudley turned in a slow circle till he faced the other way. ‘For where?’ he asked again gently.
‘Train,’ said the cat, watching him with steady eyes. ‘You walk like nothing on earth,’ he commented, as his friend, turning another half-circle, drew alongside with his odd waddling gait.” (p. 25)
The pair agree that they are traveling too slowly:
“‘Then please carry me, he [Dudley] signified. ‘The dust bother my toes rather.’
‘Hop on!’ agreed the other, lowering his scrawny back to an easy position. ‘And don’t scratch or tickle.”
Dudley, without further ado, fluttered on to the red back, raising a cloud of dust as he did so, and the then raced down the long hill towards the station. The cat went at a good speed, though, out of consideration for his friend’s disabilities, hardly his top speed, and the bird held on and kept his balance without undue loss of dignity. The wind blew out his tail feathers grandly.” (p. 29)
The animals have their first encounter with humans at the tiny station at Muddlepuddle:
“He [The Ticket Man] gasped, he paled, he took a step backwards. The pencil dropped from behind his ear, the cap fell off his head, the spectacles slipped down his nose. He stumbled over a chair behind him and collapsed in a heap against the iron stove.
‘Thank you,’ said Dudley, using Mother’s patient voice the children heard when they asked for one more story. He turned away, leaving the tickets where they were. ‘Now, cat!’ he signaled with a shrill, peremptory gesture. ‘Hop for it! Quick!’
Gilderoy, though resenting being spoken to like that in public, was ready in a flash, so that the bird dropped straight down on to his back below the window–ledge, and a second later the pair were racing along the platform among the rolling milk-cans, looking for an empty carriage.
‘I said ‘Leave it to Me,’ didn’t I?’ proclaimed the bird’s attitude proudly, as they scampered along.
‘Use my proper name before people, please,’ said Gilderoy stiffly.
‘Sorry,’ said Dudley promptly in a child’s voice.” (p. 36)
The many adventures that the two friends have in London would be tedious to list. It is difficult to read Dudley & Gilderoy today without thinking of Disney’s The Aristocats, although in detail the two are nothing like each other. Dudley’s imitative vocabulary, switching abruptly from an upper-class woman’s refined tones to a working-man’s roaring epithets, cause much amusing confusion. They take refuge in the home of Mrs. de Mumbles and her lower-class maid Mrs. Dibbs. They are never secure, however:
“… but danger was in the air and his [Gilderoy’s] whole body knew it.
Both creatures realised clearly that they had escaped, that they were being followed, and that steps were being taken for their recapture. A bell would ring … Hawley [the Manor House butler] would enter and enquire for them … they would be taken ignominiously away. Dudley, of course, would play the master rôle, for the cat, true to his evasive nature, had attracted little attention. The point was: how was the Muddlepuddle Manor House menial to be defeated? It called for careful planning.” (p. 163)
The eventual conclusion, which returns Dudley & Gilderoy to their starting point, is both emotionally satisfying and disappointing. The unexpected coda, however, reveals that one of the animals is much older than is realized, and leads to a tragic ending.
Around the late 1950s, s-f fans were reading s-f books faster than they were being published. Everett F. Bleiler’s pioneering The Checklist of Fantastic Literature (Shasta Press, 1948), described in a review in Astounding Science-Fiction (July 1949) as “indispensable to librarians, book dealers, and especially antiquarians,” was pored over by fans for more to read, although its 5,000+ titles are dominated by what could be better described as pre-s-f, such as Jonathan Swift’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships (1726), and Hercule-Savinian Cyrano de Bergerac’s The Other World: or the States and Empires of the Moon (1657). Blackwood was one of the more readable authors indexed, and Dudley & Gilderoy was one of his more popular titles. (The “talking” animals communicate by body-language without speech, however.) Today, with more than enough s-f & fantasy for the most devoted bookaholic, Dudley & Gilderoy is forgotten.
Dudley & Gilderoy was published simultaneously by Ernest Benn Ltd. in London, and by E. P. Dutton in NYC, in December 1929.
Member Spotlight: Ryan “Not Tube” Campbell
1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?
My most recent book is my novella, Koa of the Drowned Kingdom, published through FurPlanet. It’s about a young fruit bat with torn wings who lives with a family of otters and dreams of rejoining the flighted world of the bats he left behind. The original idea for the book, like most of my books, came from a song on the radio. I don’t remember what it was anymore–something about an upside-down world, I think. That set off the fireworks in my head and I started imagining who would live there (bats, obviously), and what that world would be like. That night I couldn’t go to sleep. The story kept twisting and building itself in my head. By the time I finally dropped off, I’d composed nearly the entire thing, including every major plot point and all the major characters. From there it was just an issue of writing it down. I really tried to focus on a tight, well-edited plot, in which every piece is necessary at least twice. Pull one thread and it should fall apart from both ends. I find writing those kinds of plots very satisfying.
2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?
It’s funny–I used to be a pantser, but I’ve found lately that that doesn’t work out well when I’m trying to get motivated to write. I have to know before I sit down what I’m going to be working on for the day, and it also helps if I have big major plot events that I’m looking forward to writing–that I’m writing toward. And now that I’m writing bigger, more complicated novels, I pretty much have to have an outline. That’s not to say that ideas aren’t occurring to me all the time during the process, or that I don’t change things or add things as I go! The outline gets modified a lot. The characters speak to me and require me to motivate them in different ways before they’ll agree to move through the obstacle course I’ve set up for them. But I have to know: if I change this plot element, how does that impact the story later? How will this compromise someone’s character arc? And the stories tend to be just a bit too big for me to do that well without an outline.
3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?
Fantasy all the way. I love working with magic because to me it’s the closest to writing from pure imagination. Anything you can think of you can get away with, as long as you set limitations around it, rules, and then work within those rules consistently. It’d be fun to write scifi, but I kind of feel like I’m not smart enough. To write scifi you have to know how the whole world works, and I’m more an inner mind kind of guy. I’d rather make stuff up than take it apart to see how it works.
4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?
To some degree I identify with all my characters. If we’re talking about The Fire Bearers, then I identify with Clay’s sense of wonder and also his self-doubt. I can be defensive and officious like Doto at times as well. And maybe most of all, I identify with Laughing Dog and his independence, his tendency toward selfishness, and his rejection of his people’s beliefs.
5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?
Okay, I love love LOVE Robin Hobb and snap up everything she’s written. I love the way she writes characters who push back against their destinies and against the identities the world tries to foist on them. I resonate strongly with the way her characters hurt themselves because they feel like they have to. I’m a huge fan of Terry Pratchett as well. I love the way he blended wisdom and humor, the way he found love and compassion for people in their foibles, in their weaknesses. I think he’s one of the greatest humanist writers I’ve ever read. Going farther back, Ray Bradbury and Tolkien were my biggest influences in my youth. They took me to faraway places when, frankly, I kind of needed to leave the place I grew up.
6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?
Probably Kindred, by Octavia Butler. Think of Outlander meets 12 Years a Slave. It’s a great look into how easily people can be seduced into accepting injustice, and how larger cultural narratives are responsible for shaping villains and victims, and how inescapable that can be. But if you’re asking me for recommendations, boy do I have some. Check out:
- Nexus, by Ramez Naam — a Buddhist cyberpunk posthuman action thriller. (Really!) It’s great, imaginative scifi, and the science in it is something we legitimately could be dealing with in the next 30 years. Plus it’s plain fun.
- The Lives of Tao — This is a super fun book by Wesley Chu, who just won the Campbell award last year. It’s about an everyday schlub who gets a millennia-old alien accidentally implanted into his head and learns how to be a badass secret agent serving in a war between two rival factions of the alien species
- The Cloud Roads, by Martha Wells — I dig this one because it’s about a member of a shapeshifting dragonlike guy meeting the rest of his species for the first time in his life and having to decide whether he’s going to be alone forever or get dragged into their conflict with these nasty monsters that they were born to fight. The world has no “humans” per se, but none of the traditional fantasy races either. I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?
I love video games, and I’m heavy into indie adventures. I’m also a weightlifter, I play the piano when I need to relax, watch movies and tv with my husband, and I’m getting back into backpacking and camping again. It’s my dream to camp in Patagonia someday.
8. Advice for other writers?
Read what you love and write what you love. And just keep doing it. Most people fail because they’ve bought into this myth that you either have talent or you don’t, and if you don’t get “discovered” after the first few novels or short stories you write, then you don’t have “it.” But it takes a long, long time to get good at writing, and it takes humility to work to get better. Beyond that, writing is so deeply personal. The Internet is full of writing advice that is going to work for some people and not for others. There are a thousand different ways to be an awesome writer. You just have to find yours.
9. Where can readers find your work?
Kind of all over. Most of my books should (at some point) be available on amazon.com, but my publishers would like people to grab stuff off of furplanet.com and sofawolf.com. You could also visit their tables at your local convention.
10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?
I love that we are probably the most creative fandom out there. We don’t have a show or a book series that we are all fans of like My Little Pony or Star Trek or anime fans. We’re fans of the stuff we create. And we make awesome stuff. The fandom has great writers and great artists and great suitmakers and great musicians — there’s so much art, legitimate art, in the stuff we do. And one of the things that does for us is that it makes us super supportive and welcoming toward each other. Of course you have your bad eggs, but every fandom has those. I think furries get down on themselves so hard, and I wish they wouldn’t. We’re an amazing bunch, and we need to focus on those things that make us a strong community. We see our own problems up close because we’re right next to them, but we should see our strengths, too: our creativity and supportiveness. That’s something to be proud of.
Check out Ryan “Not Tube” Campbell’s member bio here!
In Our Next Thrilling Adventure…
The premier of MULP: Sceptre of the Sun passed us by, but we managed to catch it in time for issue # 2 (of 5). “MULP is an anthropomorphic comic book, a Pulp adventure set in a world of mice, [written] by Matt Gibbs and [illustrated by] Sara Dunkerton. The Sceptre of the Sun follows the exploits of Jack Redpath and Vicky Jones as they attempt to unravel a mystery surrounding an ancient stone tablet unearthed during an archaeological excavation in Egypt. This tablet is the first marker on an adventure that sees them racing around the world in search of a legendary treasure. Joined by their friends Cornelius Field, Prof. Walter Harvest-Scott, and Elisabeth Harvest-Scott, together they must prevent a powerful artifact falling into unscrupulous paws.” Published by Improper Books in full color, you can see a preview over at Matt Gibbs’ web site.
image c. 2016 Improper Books