Feed aggregator

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

Amphibians’ End: A Kulipari Novel, by Trevor Pryce with Joel Naftali. Illustrated by Sanford Greene.
NYC, Abrams/Amulet Books, October 2015, hardcover $15.95 ([5 +] 291 [+ 3] pages), Kindle $10.49.

Here is the conclusion of this rousing Young Adult trilogy of warfare between the defending poisonous frogs of the Amphibilands and the invading arachnids of the Outback desert. “Frogs and Platypuses versus Scorpions and Spiders”, says the caption in the full-color list of characters.

In An Army of Frogs and The Rainbow Serpent, the first and second volumes of this novel in three parts, teenage frog warrior Darel and his friend Gurnugan (Gee) find themselves facing all the adventure they have ever wanted when the desert spider and scorpion armies unite under the latter’s power-mad leader, Lord Marmoo, to invade the lush green Amphibilands. Darel had always wanted to become a Kulipari warrior, one of the band of legendary invincible defenders of the Amphibilands. But the Kulipari had all disappeared a generation ago.

When the endless scorpion armies reappear out of the desert, and Gee is captured, Darel thinks that the Amphibilands’ only hope of salvation is to find where the Kulipari have vanished to and persuade them to return.   The Rainbow Serpent introduces little Pippi of the platypus village and her search to find the mysterious frog warrior Darel, whom their elderly seer has had a vision of as being their savior. The book mixes Pippi’s adventures with Darel’s own with the Kulipari. He’s found them – but unfortunately they aren’t as invincible as legend has built them up to be. Can Darel’s joining them restore them to greatness?

Amphibian’s End is the climax. The mystic Veil that the now-dead turtle King Sergu had placed around the Amphibilands to hide them from the scorpions and spiders has been torn by the spider’s evil Queen Jarrah. Yabber, the turtle king’s Dreamcaster heir, has restored the Veil; but now that Lord Marmoo knows where to look for it, how long can the Amphibiands hold out?

“‘The spiders tore the Veil once,’ he [Lord Marmoo] snapped. ‘They can do it again.’

‘But Queen Jarrah is dead,’ Pigo said, his voice soft. He knew better than to mention that Lord Marmoo himself had killed her.

‘So they need a new queen.’ A tattered sneer spread across Marmoo’s face. ‘Or a king.’” (p. 7)

Darel is now the frog’s hero, but when he joins them in beseeching the heavenly Rainbow Serpent to maintain the Veil that hides them, he is aghast when the visions indicate that they should discard the Veil instead.

“‘I …’ Darel swallowed. ‘I saw the Serpent on the mountaintop. And then again outside the platypus village, after the chief sacrificed herself to beat Marmoo. The Stargazer showed me a rainbow on the river – and that’s when I knew. That’s when the Serpent told me, Lower the Veil.’

‘Why?’ a Baw Baw asked.

‘I don’t know. Maybe because we need to face our enemy once and for all. Maybe we need to stop hiding and rejoin the outback. Maybe … I’m not sure. All I know is, we have to have faith.’” (p. 12)

Kulipari (assuming that all three books are to be taken as a single novel) is an annoying mixture of the overly dramatic and desperate, and the overly playful, with words like amphibitastic, platyperfect and platypretty, and dialogue like:

‘I am serious. Haven’t you heard the saying ‘An army marches on its stomach’?’

‘I think that only applies to gastropods,’ Darel said.” (p. 33)

If they aren’t to have the Veil to protect them, what are the frogs and platypuses to do? Darel leads a mission outside the Amphibilands, hoping to find new allies among the possums, lizards, and emus, while Marmoo is sidetracked trying to make himself the new king of the spiders despite the unwilling cooperation of the dead Queen Jarrah’s own heir apparent, Lady Fahlga. As you can see from the cover illustration, things look increasingly bleak for the frogs – until the end.

To repeat the information from my review of An Army of Frogs: “Trevor Pryce is best-known as a NFL veteran for 14 years as a defensive end for the Denver Broncos, the Baltimore Ravens, and the New York Jets. Joel Naftali is the author of both Young Adult novels and career guides for recent high school and college graduates. Illustrator Sanford Greene is a currently “hot” artist of realistic adventure and costumed-hero comic books for DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse.” The three books are illustrated in full color on glossy paper throughout, and have color-tinted text pages: forest-green in An Army of Frogs, watery-blue in The Rainbow Serpent, and fiery-red in Amphibians’ End.

Kulipari: An Army of Frogs is also coming as a 13-episode animated program to Netflix in 2016. It is being produced by the Paris-based Splash Entertainment animation studio and Pryce’s Outlook Company. Pryce originally developed the plot in 2010 as a proposed animated movie for Sony:

“‘The movie idea was a lot heavier and a lot darker than this,’ Pryce told USA Today in 2013. ‘I had pitched it as ‘300’ but with outback animals. It was like an action-adventure movie, just animated.’”

Pryce was quoted in an article in The Caw, the news site of the Baltimore Ravens football team. When it failed to sell as a movie, Pryce rewrote it into a Young Adult trilogy and a TV animated series. There will also be the usual merchandising based on a children’s cartoon series: toys, action figures, etc.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Learn more about the book on Abrams
• Fred’s Review of Book 2: The Rainbow Serpent
• Fred’s Review of Book 1: An Army of Frogs
• Learn more about the Kulipari
• Learn about the Netflix Animated Series
• The Animated Series Announcement
• More news about the series
• And even more news about the series (Take your pick)

Nathan “Crookedwolf” Johnson admits that art is not his full-time job (yet?), but he likes to work on commissions as often as possible. “I love painting imaginary things and I like painting them with a combination acrylics, watercolors and pixels,” he says on his web site. “Starting with wall scribblings and school book additions my mind has always been wandering about fantastical places filled with monsters and creatures of all sorts. Illustrations for video games and the art that goes into them has always been my biggest influence. The drawings that Samwise Didier and Mark Gibbons did for Warcraft 2 were among my first obsessions. Many of the artworks done for the Games Workshop tabletop games had a big effect on me and are now also wandering about somewhere in my head.” You’ll find him as Crookedwolf on FurAffinity and Deviantart, also.

image c. 2016 by Crookedwolf

Hello Everyone!

This week we have a more lighthearted discussion about Netiquette. While much of what we say might be seen as common sense, it is important to go over it from time to time. How do you tell someone that their artwork turned you on without turning them off to you? Should you send porn to Tony the Tiger? Also, how do you handle a breakup?

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 004 Netiquette - How should furries behave on the internet

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Guest posts welcome. Tips: patch.ofurr@gmail.com. 

Fabfelipe on DA

Site goes down with high traffic for #tonytigergate – and the hits keep coming.

The Twitter joke of #tonytigergate drew enough mainstream curiosity to overload this site. (An upgrade may hopefully prevent that next time.)  After the story about it was posted here, it kept getting mainstream traction – highlighting a cheeky dichotomy. On one hand, there’s reputation concern – on the other hand, tickling an audience is kind of validating. It’s two sides to the coin of furry subculture and I don’t think that will ever change.

• Slate.com: Avid Furries Pit Tony the Tiger Against Chester the Cheetah in Junk-Food Sex War.
• Theblemish.com: Chester Cheetah Is Down With the Furry Lust Rejected by Tony the Tiger.
• Gay Times: Tony the Tiger is sick of Furries sending him porn.

It reminded Fred Patten of something else:

Dear Patch; I vaguely remember that during all the news and publicity in 1987 for  Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there was a report that Charles Fleischer, the voice actor for Roger, got many NSFW erotic invitations from women, addressed specifically to Roger, not to him.

For National Hugging Day, the new episode of Culturally F’d is based on a Dogpatch Press article.

National Hugging Day is every January 21 for normal people.  (It’s every day for furries.)  I propose making a special occasion of it next year. And it was like a big fuzzy hug to get surprised with an entire video based on my article – “Hugs are the handshake of furries.” Wow thanks Arrkay and crew, nice to see you used it!  Anyone can freely use any content on this site that way.

Hero Cop stops suicide with a hug. It’s another way to suit up and make a difference. They need a whole squad for this… I know some willing volunteers.

Adafruit does a panel at Further Confusion 2016.

“Adafruit visits FurCon San Jose.” The 50-employee company calls itself “the best place online for learning electronics and making the best designed products for makers of all ages and skill levels.” They have a large category of electronic products to assist Cosplay/Costuming. Phil B says Furries are ‘power users’ for that:

What really sets this group apart is the emphasis on world-building and personal characters. Also, there’s more costume electronics…and more Adafruit electronics especially…at this one convention than I’ve seen in an entire year’s worth of anime, comics and steampunk events.

Super Smash Brothers at FC 2016.

‘Our Fuzzy Neighbors: Further Confusion 2016‘. On the weekend of Jan. 15, there was a national tournament series for Nintendo’s crossover fighting games on the other side of the San Jose convention center. It was ‘one the largest most spectacular events Smash has ever seen’.  eSports Writer SmashCapps was welcomed as a guest to Fur Con.  He said it was the most warm welcome he had ever received.  He enjoyed a guided tour, borrowed a fursuit, and went to the dance. He covers ‘what the furry community can teach us on running better events’ in his Part 2 to the article.

FC2016 wrapup. 3,536 attendees, 760 fursuiters, and a move to an expanded con center next year.

FurnightATX in Austin – first show is a success.

A blog post looks back on the show.  This newest ‘Furclub’ dance was pre-announced here. “Attendance was amazing” at around 100 with 25 fursuiters.  The 2010’s growing movement of furry dance nights gets a lot of notice in my articles – I think it’s really exciting to see a first-time show start bigger than some well established ones, like Foxtrot in Denver.

Furry Con History Map. Huscoon is a fursuiter and Professional Data Analyst.

The History of Furry Conventions in North America. In map form. pic.twitter.com/tZKbMSdKAl

— Ian Huscoon² (@Huscoon) January 20, 2016

Rightwing ranter picks on furries.

His actual profile pic wasn’t singled out to show constipation. That’s built in.

Make-believe is fun. Paranoia about imaginary threats is disturbing.  The Gay Agenda and the even more bizarrely imagined Furry Agenda are what grinds the gears of Phil E. at “World Net Daily.”  His spirit animal must be a potato… he can’t get his mind out of the dirt.  He would have little to say if he couldn’t rant about the sex lives of strangers, as if anyone asked for HIS opinion.

The furries are coming!  Phil fears they’ll hug his manhood away.  But he’s not going to take that fluff like a little girly-man. He’s getting steely hard to beat us off.  Some people with pent-up aggression bully the weak or kick puppies… this guy picks on people who role-play as puppies.  Out of anyone, why would he target a tiny and harmless subculture (instead of fighting crime or terrorists to save us all?)

Oh, I found out why.  He’s been stalking a Furry for a year with a grudge, because that one mocked his writing in a news column that had nothing to do with furries. He seems to take these things badly. (There’s more silliness at Encyclopedia Dramatica.)

People get negative like this out of deep insecurity.  Actually, I sympathize for Phil.  I’m sorry that Disney is catering to us instead of making manly wrassle-fests for him.  This is happening.  We’re just cool, and he’s not – cool with ourselves enough to dress how we want.  We have friends and fun.  We’re not mad.  That’s what being big is about… being a cool cat no matter what Spudboy thinks.

Movie seeks furries… furries not OK with it.

At the Rochesterfurs forum, old school greymuzzle PeterCat reports reading a movie script. Ron Perlman (Hellboy, etc) is involved. PeterCat says to avoid the same old, same old tasteless cliches in it.  But apparently a pair of furries ignored taste and appeared as fursuit extras in the film.  That’s under Non-Disclosure, so no more will be said for a while… but just so you know, Hollywood has some crap coming through the pipes.

Searching Joan Jett’s ‘Bad Reputation’ + Furry gets this.

______________

AMAZING FURRY NEWS COMING SOON –  #7 Will Make You Roll Around Like A Hedgehog!

______________

Toys R Us Accidentally Puts Bad Dragon On Hot Christmas Gifts List

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) September 30, 2015

Scandal Erupts When ABDL Furries Keep It In Their Rooms And Can't Be Glared At In Public

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) September 29, 2015

Hotel Guest Trapped In Elevator With Furries No Longer Recognizes Relatives, Has New Family Now

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) September 30, 2015

Fursuit Parade Followed By Guy With Shovel

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) October 1, 2015

Wall Street Journal Covers Mounting Business For Bad Dragon

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) October 1, 2015

Reviews: Which Mutagenic Ooze Is Best For Your Fur?

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) October 1, 2015

Savannah Horrocks is an illustrator of fantasy and furry works that are of a notably spooky nature. She has created both single works and comics, and she’s even been a guest artist on such well-known comics as Prydwen and Peachy Keen. Lately she’s been branching out into creating original creature dolls as well, which you can see displayed at her web site. She has an Etsy store, a Redbubble store, and a Society 6 store as well (whew!), and there you can see her works on pillows, t-shirts, prints, and other such stuff.

image c. 2016 by Savannah Horrocks

At the time of writing, I have just seen somebody posting a picture of a Nick Wilde (the fox from Zootopia) plush they have bought. This is not an uncommon sight in the fandom, at least for those following the furry side of social media. It’s a curious purchase, because the plush was sold based only on marketing.

The Nick Wilde plush exists only in relationship to what is, currently, a promised other product. To me, merchandise comes after the fact, not before. What I mean by this is the following: Merchandise is something you buy having already read the book, watched the film, played the game, etc. Merchandise is, in theory, meant to be a form of memorabilia, and supports the creation of something you’ve enjoyed. Note the past tense of enjoyed. It’s not something bought on the idea of going to enjoy it. And that going to enjoy as opposed to have already enjoyed is my concern with Zootopia (known as Zootropolis in some countries).

People are already buying merchandise for a film they have never seen, and spending money on representations of things they have not yet experienced.

You may ask, “Well, what’s the problem with this? People are free to spend their money on what they wish? Why does it matter?”

That question deserves an answer.

Definition:

To begin, let me define what I am referring to when I say “hype-culture”. It is important to distinguish “hype,” from “excitement”. For the purpose of this article, hype is the state of mind in which a person is willing to invest in a franchise or product before having direct experience of it, excluding, of course, any investment that may be required to gain aforementioned experience. For example, hype, would refer to buying anything related to a film prior to having seen said film, excluding the cost of the ticket required to see it. To a lesser extent, time can also be considered an investment. If a significant amount of time is spent in relation to a product before direct experience, this could be considered hype. An example of this would be creating fan-art for a film before having seen it.

Hype, can also be distinguished in mind-set. The difference between “being hyped,” and “excited about” is the surety of the quality. Somebody who is excited will be of the mind-set of “I think that this is going to be good, but I readily accept that it may not.” A person who is hyped will be of the mind-set: “This will be good.” The difference is that an excited person is fully aware that the product may not meet expectations, whilst somebody who is hyped will not seriously entertain such a notion.

A note on these two qualifiers (investment—financial and temporal—and surety of quality): Only one of these conditions needs to be met for something to be considered “hype-culture.” If somebody has met the surety criterion, but not invested, this still ought to be considered hype. The same is true in reverse; one can invest without absolute surety, and this to, ought to be thought of as hype.

“Hype-Culture,” a Marketing Department’s Dream

The first issue around hype is the message it sends to companies. It embodies the mind-set of “our marketing is more important than our product.” So long as bums are in seats and toys are off shelves, the quality of the film becomes irrelevant.

People may be joking or serious when they say “the creators care for the fandom,” (or something to that effect) but this is an unhealthy mind-set. The creators want money. Whatever they think of furries does not matter. If they like us, great, but never forget that their eyes are aimed at the cash.

Zootopia is, above all else, a commercial endeavour. There’s nothing wrong with that, commercial endeavours can have artistic merit and/or become beloved cultural works. But as a consumer, you owe it to yourself to remember why the film exists, what the producers want out of you, and to cast a critical eye when you part with your cash. At the end of the day, we want good products, not good marketing campaigns. A consumer’s money should reflect that. My advice would be to wait until you’ve seen the film, and decide whether you enjoy it, before you buy anything other than the admission ticket.

The temporal investment of fan-art is a similar, since it’s essentially doing the job of marketing departments for free. It shows that all that needs to be done is sweep people away with a good marketing campaign, the final product mattering less. If you follow enough furries on social- media, you will see a great many fan-made advertisements for a film which they have not seen. This is an endorsement for something that has not yet been directly experienced. If, after having seen it, somebody decides they wish to promote it in this way, then there’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s good that somebody enjoyed something so much.

This may come across as a cynical view, dampening hopeful spirits, but I would say the reverse is true. It argues that people are smart enough to be active, thinking, consumers, not being taken in by a wave of hype, able to look at a company and say “I’ll give you my money when you show me you deserve it.”

Furthermore, ask yourself this: “How does generating hype help consumers?” The answer is that it doesn’t. Hype exists purely for corporate benefit.

Zootopia in relation to the fandom

My second point is more focussed around the fandom. The furry fandom is bursting with creative minds; artists, writers, fursuit makers, etc. The community would not exist as it does without this creativity. However, the hype around Zootopia feels to me like people are turning their backs on what built the fandom, focussing their attention and giving their money to a large corporate venture. There’s nothing wrong with liking products that exist at the corporate scale of Zootopia, many of those are important to the fandom (Robin Hood, The Lion King, etc.). My issue is that I feel, for a community with humble, home-grown roots, suddenly jumping onto a purely commercial product feels wrong.

The premise of Zootopia isn’t unique (furries have imagined what a society of anthropomorphic animals would be like countless times before Zootopia). It probably won’t be a revolutionary, insightful, cultural classic. Yet furries seem to be holding it up, not because of its quality, but because it’s mainstream. Within the community, more interesting and creative products can be found. In fact, the non-mainstream aspect of furry allows for these more interesting products to flourish.

My concern is that people are pushing aside art and stories created by others within the fandom, based on a belief that Zootopia the first “furry-targeted” film aimed at the mainstream. Liking Zootopia is fine, and it’s likely it will be a decent film; nothing revolutionary, but enjoyable whilst it lasts. However I feel it is important that it doesn’t take too much attention away from the individuals in the fandom.

Conclusion

As companies become better at manipulating social media, and generating a culture of hype around their products, it is the responsible consumer’s duty to look through a critical eye. There is nothing wrong with being excited for Zootopia, or whatever else Disney or other companies produce, but it is important to temper that excitement with the behaviours and spending tendencies that lead to a better, more consumer-friendly environment.

Hello, Papabear.

In the past two months, I've started seriously contemplating my religion, the reason for human existence and my fandom. The more I think about it, the more I understand how exactly inferior and stupid those things are (mainly applied to humanity, the other two aren't as bad). And it has a effect on me, I feel disappointed and sad...

I will try to make this letter as short as possible, sorry if it's too long.

I will start with number one of course, humanity.

Now, first I will need to share a part of my childhood with you and other dear furries... Yes... I was SUPER OBSESSED with animals and anthropomorphic animals, mainly because of the cartoons I've used to watch (Disney and other). There wasn't a single day without thinking about anthropomorphic animals and creating new worlds and scenarios. Everything that had humans in it was a no go. Later, when I turned 10, I've found furry porn and got attracted by it... To make it short, I have literally woken up one day (I was 13 then) and started to think about how humans are cool (what, how is this possible)... While I still had the same love for anthros, I don't love them as much as I love humans nowadays (yeah yeah, you guys must think that I'm the most boring person on earth now, no lying :-) ).

Okay now, I don't want to call our species "monsters", but something close to that. I don't know why I love humans, but I'm sure that this is who I am.

Here is a question for you Papa, what makes humans, well, humans. What is the only difference between us and other species? I will answer that for you: Nothing. There is literally nothing that we can do other species can't do 1000x times better than us. I used to think that we were smarter than animals but I was, sadly, proven wrong. As much as I don't like to say this, yes, animals are SMARTER than us. Shockingly enough, crows are smarter, lions are smarter, even rabbits are, come on mankind?!Why do you suck so much? The point is, everything we do, they can do, except they do it 1000x times better.

Here is a small note for everyone that says humans are "superior." We need animals and plants, but they don't need us. If we disappear right now, nature would rebuild in 5 years. But if those so called "pasts" disappear (aka insects or any other animal), the ecosystem falls apart. Tell me, what is a human being without technology and machinery? Just a harmless bone bag, a sack of meat ready to get executed by a rat or a cat. So much for human anatomy. You may think that we are the best ... just open your eyes and you will see that we are plainly the worst. P.S. Even with technology, we get annihilated by the most "simplest" of animals. Enough said. We are only good for wars, not even in that.

Second, we have religion. Maybe the only thing that makes us differ from other species. Not something to be proud about, I think that YOU already know a lot about this topic. Other animals can practice religion throughout telepathy for all I know. I love my religion (Christianity), but sadly, just like any other thing humans invented, it is very much flawed and abused. The crusades are a good example. Such as any other religion. Again, enough said.

And third, my fandom, the anime fandom (the most inferior of them all). I don't know if you interacted with my fandom in the past and not exactly sure if you know much about it, I assure you, there are many things flawed with my fandom. It's not the worst thing in the world, I enjoy the content and the community (even if I am not active yet, just decided to become one last year.) but oh man! The majority of my fandom is great, just typical anime fans who don't feel the urge to sleep with a anime character, marry them and "become Japanese" . The ones who don't place a shrine of an anime character inside of their house and finally, the ones who won't go around saying that they have a soul of an anime character inside them regardless of the time when the anime was created... Ahhhhhhh... Weaboos, otaku, otakukin, waifu and God only knows how more of... I can't, I can't bear to hear about weird people like these (otakus aren't that bad ,though) who happened to destroy our reputation and made other people call us weaboos...

Just as Uncle Kage said: "Anime conventions have entire booths dedicated to tentacle rape.” As much as I dislike his statement, I don't want to issue a selfish remark so I'll accept it like a man. 

I don't understand anything anymore, I'm confused and don't know what to think anymore. 

What is wrong with me exactly? Why didn't I find a normal hobby?! Why aren't I a furry, that is far more normal from the shit I'm into! Why are humans so bad?! Why does religion make no sense sometimes?! I don't understand anything anymore!

How come that the furry fandom is so good and my fandom sucks...how?

Sorry for the lengthy one and for the God awful grammar...

That's my part, now here is where you, Papabear, step in!

Iro (age 15)

P.S. It may sound like I don't have hope in humanity but it's quite different, I still love all the things I've mentioned, it's just that I needed to show you how exactly flawed they are.

* * *
 
Dear Iro,
 
I’m not sure what has gotten you so upset about anime or humanity since in your letter you simply say how you are so frustrated by how sucky they are but you never explain why you feel that way (except maybe the tentacle thing).
 
I’m not a huge fan of anime, but that’s just me. I have no objections to it, it just isn’t my thing. Because of this, I don’t feel I can discuss anime with you with much of a sense of authority, so let’s just talk about humanity and religion.
 
I would have to disagree with you that humanity is inferior to all animals. Let us just say that all species have their part in the world. Humans evolved large brains because they lacked wings, fangs, claws, and other adaptations that would have helped them survive, so, instead, they evolved large brains to help them build tools to survive, and the other thing they did is develop strong social structure (strength in numbers). You might argue that a rabbit can run faster, a bird can fly, a tiger can easily kill a human, but together humans can do all these things (go fast in a car, fly in a plane, invent a spear or a gun). For many eons, we did not have sophisticated technology. We survived with spears, knives, bows and arrows, pottery, fire, the ability to adapt using shelters and clothing. It is our adaptability to different environments that also makes us successful as a species. Where many animals need a forest or certain types of food sources to survive (e.g., mow down all the bamboo and the pandas perish), we can live pretty much anywhere (the development of agriculture was a huge step, too). So, I would say, humans are not inferior to other species, we have simply learned different ways to survive. We are, really, an evolutionary experiment. Whether that experiment succeeds or not remains to be seen. We could easily go extinct, and, if we do, something else will take our place. That’s how nature works. As long as the planet is habitable, there will be life on it.

I disagree, too, that if humans suddenly disappeared it would not have an averse effect. Actually, because we have changed the environment so much, if humans suddenly disappeared there would be a period of several hundred years before Nature would be able to achieve a new balance because things like weeds, invasive animals, etc., that we are currently controlling to some extent would run rampant, devastating many ecosystems until a new equilibrium could be achieved. The main difference between humans and the rest of nature is we can adapt rather quickly, while Nature takes more time.
 
Another difference between humans and other species (at least, as far as we know) is religion. While it has been shown that animals can have emotions (something people in the past once denied), no one has ever seen a bear going to temple or a crocodile participating in communion. Does religion have some kind of evolutionary benefit? I believe that evolution is not merely biological but also has to do with the progress of consciousness. Biologists and psychologists know that as you move up the evolutionary scale, species’ consciousness evolves, too, kind of like this (except I added the last step):

• Reactionary: not really being consciously aware of the environment, but being able to react to it, such as is done by plants or single-celled organisms. For example, when night falls, flowers on a plant will close their petals.
• Externally aware: being able to consciously perceive what is outside the self. Such as an animal that is hunting for food.
• Self-aware: being able to recognize the self, that one is a unique individual. A good example of how this differs from externally aware animals is the mirror experiment. Place a cat in front of a mirror and it will think the reflection is a different cat and it will hiss or react in some way accordingly; however, put a chimpanzee in front of a mirror and it will recognize the reflection as being itself. The chimp is more consciously evolved than the cat.
• Spiritually aware: humans are all of the above, plus they are aware that there is something beyond the physical and beyond themselves. They recognize that there is a spiritual consciousness. Religions are attempts to define and understand this spiritual consciousness. As far as we know, human beings are the only creatures on this planet to have achieved this level of conscious evolution.

 
Religion, too, undergoes evolution. Mostly, in our history, we see it going from polytheism to monotheism. The predominant trend at the moment is for monotheism that is blended with cultural constructs. It is the contamination from cultural constructs that cause misunderstandings and lead people to fight with and even kill one another. (The other reason for war, of course, having to do with money, power, and the struggle for natural resources, which are all the result of people being misguided into believing that the physical world is the only important world).
 
I believe that humans are not yet done with their spiritual evolution. Indeed, one sees some signs now of the next step, which is to realize that God (or whatever you wish to call it) is not a being who is separate from us (monotheism) but, rather, God is Everything (what I like to call ultratheism). We are a living piece of the Great Spirit, and God is evolving through all of us and through every living and “inanimate” thing that exists. Our consciousness is a synapse in the Mind of God. God thinks, dreams, imagines, and evolves through us and we through God. We are a part of one another and are, therefore, connected. Monotheism requires a priestly class (or a Christ figure) to serve as a liaison between God and humanity because in this system the two are not connected; ultratheism has no need of priests, religious rulers, and prophets (or a Son of God) because it recognizes we all have a direct connection to one another. Once we all realize this, wars will cease and our violent acts against the natural world will end because we will recognize that we are all a part of the Body of God and that killing and harming others is the same as killing ourselves.
 
But we aren’t there yet.

We are here, Iro, to learn and to grow. Each of us has his or her part in it. We are on a path to a higher end, but we are only partway done with the journey. You are frustrated because you see the world in its current, progressing state, but don’t be angry at humanity because it hasn’t finished its journey yet. Instead, what we should all do is try to help it along. See the good in humanity and try to help mend the things that are wrong with it. Humans are capable of some wonderful things (I always think of music and the other arts as wonderful examples—art is the expression of spirit in our hearts), and, yes, we are capable of horrendous things (but, actually, so are other animals).
 
Nothing is perfect. You seem to see the furry fandom as better than anime. That’s probably a skewed viewpoint: neither one is perfect, both have their good points. The same is true for all things. Life is a progression; life is evolution; life is the gradual awakening of God to a higher state of mind.
 
And you are a part of that greatest evolution of all. Embrace it. Live.
 
Hugs,
Papabear

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

My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria, by Mary Jane Begin. Foreword by Jayson Thiessen. Illustrated.
NYC, Abrams, October 2015, hardcover $29.95 (215 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $13.49.

Furry fandom has had a sometimes adversarial relationship with the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic TV series and its fandom, or at least its Brony often-extremist fans. The TV animated cartoon series that premiered on October 10, 2010 is in its fifth season/year now. It has won the Ursa Major Award as the Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short or Series for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, resulting in screams of both (from within furry fandom), “Oh, no! How could it have lost!?” (in 2014, to Furry Force), and (from Brony fandom), “How dare you furry fans try to hijack our program!? MLP:FIM is totally unanthropomorphic! The ponies of Equestria can just talk and sometimes fly, that’s all!”

My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria is an Everything You Want To Know About MLP:FIM, lavish, heavily-illustrated, full-color coffee-table art book. It has already been reviewed and analyzed in detail by the MLP:FIM fans, to general praise. Here is a review for furry fandom.

The book is a how-to and how-it-was-done about the TV animation series and the development of its world of Equestria, rather than an exploration in detail of Equestria and the “Mane Six” ponies, although the reader does get that, too. It begins with a double-page map, described below. A Foreword by the Supervising Director at DHX Media, the animation studio in Vancouver, outlines on one page the basic framework of the series.

“Equestria is a land where the dominant sentient life-forms are derived from the genus Equus – basically, horse-like creatures. Since there are no humans in Equestria, everything that was ever designed or built in this world had to be done by ponies, for ponies. Tables, chairs, doorways, props – all have to work in a way that befits a world existing under this premise. […] There are three basic types of ponies: Unicorns, Pegasus ponies, and Earth ponies. Unicorns, as we all know, are horses with a single horn on their forehead that can cast magic. They are the upper-class elite who live in the mountains. Their cities are made of more robust and expensive materials: stone, granite, and marble. Everything is polished and shiny. Pegasus ponies are winged, they fly and live in the clouds. So their cities are literally made of clouds and are built with fliers in mind: No stairs are needed, and roofs are optional since it doesn’t rain above the clouds. There is a distinctly ancient Greek aesthetic about it, with all the architecture, and this is a nod to the Greek mythological character for which they are named. Finally, there are the Earth ponies, who keep their hooves planted firmly on the ground. They are regular ponies without any fancy appendages who live in more traditional-looking houses and towns like we are used to seeing and deal mostly with earthbound issues such as agriculture and animals. All of this is kept in mind when we’re designing locations to ensure that it feels logical that those characters would actually live I the environment hey are placed in.” (p. 9)

There are seven main parts. “Pony Evolution” is the history of Hasbro’s My Little Pony from 1983, when the toy line was launched, to the present. “Everypony” is a profile of “The Mane Six” characters of today (Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie), and their “extended family: Spike, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the other major characters. “Foils & Foes” describes some recurring villains like Ahuizotl, King Sombra, and Lord Tirek. “Creatures & Mythical Beasts” lists some of the dangerous non-sentient wild animals of Equestria; classic beasts like the Cerberus, Chimera, and Minotaur, and new creations like the Timberwolf (a giant wolf of living wood), Cragadile, and Sea Serpent. “Exploring Equestria” examines some principal cities and towns such as Ponyville, Cloudsdale, the capital of Canterlot, and specific locations like Twilight Sparkle’s Golden Oak Library and Applejack’s Sweet Apple Acres. “Behind the Scenes” is technical information. And “Pony Revolution” looks to the future.

The art includes many artists’ rough sketches, including creator Lauren Faust’s presentation that brought Hasbro’s existing toy line & TV cartoons into the present. There are discarded early designs of some main characters showing what they might have looked like. And there is that double-page map that leads the book off. The series’ developers clearly had fun creating equine-based place names mimicking those around North America, from the metropolises of Manehattan and Filly Delphia on the East Coast to Vanhoover and Los Pegasus in the West, and landmarks such as the San Palomino Desert.

My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria is designed for both the casual fan and the regular watcher of the TV series. “My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria is the ultimate guidebook, collector’s item, and fan keepsake.” (blurb) Well, it should satisfy everyone except the fanatic followers who want an illustrated profile of all 117 (as of press time) episodes.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Learn more at Abrams
• Learn more at the MLP wiki
• Check out a video review by Sketchy Talks
• Learn more about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic here

Or so he says, anyway. “Physically incapable of not drawing.” You might be glad for this when you view the works of Nero O’Reilly with his decidedly modernist graphic arts style. He’s created several short comic-book style pieces with titles like Carnivore Planet, Red Rivers, and Crystal Wizard, as well as plenty of stand-alone art pieces in both color and black and white. Which you can view at this web site, Trumpet Shark. (Fair warning: Some of his works are of a decidedly adults-only nature.) His site also includes his personal store where you can pick up his works in print form, on buttons, or on stickers.

image c. 2016 by Nero O’Reilly

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

Off Leash, by Daniel Potter. Illustrated by Sabertooth Ermine.
El Cerrito, CA, Fallen Kitten Productions, October 2015, trade paperback $12.99 (vi + i +288 pages), Kindle $3.99.

“It had started as a good day. Objectively that was a lie, but after six months of unemployment self-delusion becomes a survival trait. I was two days from getting booted off unemployment, with my girlfriend AWOL for the last week. By ‘good day’ I mean I had wrestled a small drop of hope out of my heart that one of the half dozen jobs I had applied to while guzzling down iced coffees might result in an interview.” (p. 1)

Thomas Khatt, unemployed librarian, has been practically living in his local coffee shop for the last six months as he applies for job after job. Over the weeks he has noticed his reclusive neighbor as another regular customer; an old man, presumably retired, reading books with a pet cat. One day Thomas and the old man happen to leave the shop at the same time. The old man is immediately struck by a hit-&-run car. As he dies, Thomas blacks out and awakens in his own home as a cougar.

While he is trying to figure out what has happened to him, his door unlocks itself and an elderly hippie witch, Mistress Sabrina, comes in to welcome him to “the Real World”. She demonstrates enough magical power to convince him that objecting would be a bad idea, so he follows her and Rudy, a talking squirrel, to her home where he meets her familiar, a sable named Cornealius. They magically restore his power of speech. While this is going on, Thomas is barraged with a confusing flood of information about how the Real World works:

“‘TAU?’ I paced below him [Rudy], eyes crossing, trying to look at my muzzle, the spell wire looked to thread in and out of it.

Rudy responded with the tone of voice of a phone employee reading the company boilerplate. ‘Talking Animal Union. We represent all animals with the gift of speech or capable of speech within the domain of the council of Merlins. An animal being defined as a being possessing corporeal form but lacking hands and viewed as nonhuman by those on the other side of the Veil. The TAU endeavors to insure familiars are well treated and allows no bonding to take place without its blessing.’” (p. 32)

Thomas is overwhelmed by what he learns, but generally doesn’t like the sound of it:

“I watched the squirrel warily; every question I asked generated at least a half dozen more. Yet one thing had become crystal clear; I wanted no part of this world. Losing my thumbs, my house and my girlfriend in exchange for the chance to be sold off to some pimple-faced apprentice did not sound like a fair deal to me.” (p. 35)

He especially doesn’t like it when he starts to wonder how and why it applies to him in particular:

“My thoughts drifted out, back into the world. How had this happened to me? My mind probed into the last day, looking for things I had overlooked. It all went back to the old man, who had to be another magus. O’Meara had said that a magus named Archibald had been murdered. What had the baristas called the old man? Archie? Archie the Archmagus, poor guy. And that horrible car accident – surely nothing about it had been accidental.” (p. 43)

Thomas decides to take charge of his own life, even if he is not familiar with the Real World yet. He faces the dangers of our “world beyond the Veil”, of being a cougar loose in a San Francisco residential neighborhood, and of the Real World, refusing to join the TAU or to become bound to a magus – or to an apprentice – as a familiar.

“To stay off the leash, he’ll have to take advantage of the chaos caused by the local Archmagus’ death and help the Inquisition solve his murder. A pyromaniac squirrel, religious werewolves, and cat-hating cops all add to the pandemonium as Thomas attempts to become the first Freelance Familiar.” (blurb)

Yes, this is Book 1 of a series, and judging by Off Leash, it’s a winner. All of the characters are intelligent, with many in the Real World hiding secrets. Potter’s writing is wry and full of detail: “The cat, who looked like the sort of thing a Chihuahua could beat up for lunch money” … “For a moment I feared I had fallen into a Disney film and the kitchen appliances were about to burst into song. I gave the toaster a withering look just in case.” … “No need to sweat, or in my case, pant, however.” … “‘It’s bigger on the inside,’ voices from Doctor Who exclaimed in my head. They were right.” … “The white cat rolled her eyes. ‘I’m so glad I was never human. The thumb fetish you all have is so undignified.’” Thomas, in looking out for himself as a cougar in two worlds, becomes enmeshed in the deadly magical politics of the Real World.

Stories of one individual taking on The System are always enjoyable, and are doubly so when it’s a partially furry system. Off Leash does not feature just animal-headed humans. The animal natures of the talking but otherwise unmodified cougar, the squirrel, the owl, the housecat, the redneck werewolves, and others are important plot elements.

Some additional information: The Kindle edition was published in July, three months ahead of the paper edition. The cover is attributed to Ebooklaunch.com, which offers covers from $99 to $379; presumably this is one of the customized, more expensive ones. The illustration by Sabertooth Ermine [sic.; she usually goes by Sabretoothed Ermine] consists of just a single full-page drawing just before the end of the book. The author’s Fallen Kitten Productions website contains an offer of a free ebook story, “Rudy and the Warren Warriors”, featuring the pyromaniac squirrel.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Get a free e-book at Fallen Kitten

New Members

Welcome to our newest member Frances Pauli!

Member News

Book news: Fred Patten’s latest anthology, Cats and More Cats, was released at Further Confusion and will soon be available for order from FurPlanet‘s website. The first furry anthology from Jaffa Books, Claw the Way to Victory, was released at Anthro New England and is edited by Sean Rivercritic of AnthroAquatic. Bill Kieffer’s novella The Goat: Building a Perfect Victim is forthcoming from Red Ferret Press.

Short stories: You can read Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary’s story “Milkshakes and Foxes” in the Further Confusion conbook, and Mary E. Lowd’s flash fiction piece “Dealership with the Devil” is online at Theme of Absence. (Check out their interview with her as well.)

Rechan has been accepted as an Associate Editor at EMP Publishing, for their online horror magazine, and in crowdfunding news, Joel Kreissman has begun a Kickstarter campaign to fund illustrations for his novel.

Congratulations, everyone!

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

Market News

Upcoming deadlines: The second issue of A Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Literature is reading through February 15, and Fur the ‘More is seeking “Cubicle Jungle” submissions for its conbook until February 15 (maximum 2000 words, full info here). FANG Volume 7 and FurPlanet’s science fiction horror anthology both close on March 1; see guidelines for both anthologies here.

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

Guild News

We’re seeking an editor for the next volume of our Tales From the Guild anthology! See this post in our forums for more information, and if you’re interested, please get in touch by February 21.

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

Elsewhere on the Internet, we have a Goodreads group with a bookshelf featuring books by our members. Feel free to add any members’ books we’ve missed so far (see the instructions here on how to do that). We also have a Telegram group, and you can find more info on that and a link in this thread.

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

Have a happy and creative February! If you have news, suggestions, or other feedback to share, send an email to furwritersguild (at) gmail.com or leave a comment below.

 

Laura Garabedian is a painter and illustrator who made the decision a few years ago to “go it full time” as an artist. To that end she has developed several signature styles and subjects, including animal shapes assumed by trees and animals decorated with Native American scripts and designs. As well as your “more standard” fantasy settings. (Is there such a thing?) Her Etsy store features several of her works in print form and also painted on ceramic, but her main web page will show you a more complete collection of her work.

image c. 2016 by Laura Garabedian

Hello Fangs and Fontians!

Suspend your disbelief this week with Ocean, Yanarra, and Tarl!

Contrary to the belief on the podcast, Roland’s reason for being late to his aircraft for reasons beyond his control! But listen as the crew relays his well thought out notes and be dismayed by his lack of counter-arguments!

Send us your feedback, questions, concerns, complaints:

@FangsAndFonts

Facebook.com/FangsAndFonts

Fangs and Fonts

Click below to Listen http://www.fangsandfonts.com/FnF/Episodes/Ep59-Suspend_Your_Disbelief.mp3

Download here | Open Player in New Window

-Roland

Ep 59 – Suspend Your Disbelief - Hello Fangs and Fontians! Suspend your disbelief this week with Ocean, Yanarra, and Tarl! Contrary to the belief on the podcast, Roland’s reason for being late to his aircraft for reasons beyond his control! But listen as the crew relays his well [...]

Myrtle’s Monsters is the home of one Myrtle Monster (makes sense), a fan who has made a name for herself in a very short time. Since 2013 Myrtle has been creating not only fur-suits but that other so-popular furry art form, personal character art badges. Her personal web site features a full-color gallery of her already-extensive work as well as commission information.

image c. 2016 Myrtle Monster

Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that’s every week.

Download MP3

Watch Video Discovered Media:

• Pizza Hut “Knot or Pizza first” tweet
• Holy Quran Experiment
• How Humor Evolved in Animals DNews
• What makes something not funny DNews
• HBO: Animals Trailer
• Furries Destroy Artwork Courtcase
• Culturally F’d: Hugs, the furry handshake
• KartFox Taur Plush
• Gay Bottom Bible
• NEW ZOOTOPIA CLIP

News:

• The latest deviancy they’re trying to mainstream
• Pesky Redfox now permanent White House resident
• Coyotes Staring Down Drivers May Be Stoned
• Cyanobacteria Toxin May Cause Dementia
• My Little Pony sued for using pirated font

Emails:

• Dreamkeeprs – “Dreamkeepers Contest of Factions”
  • YouTube Promo

• Spook – “Lend a Bunny Advice”
• Chris Otter – “Hashtag TonyTheTigerGate”
• Bearsky – “Studio Setup/Move”
• Fox – “What’s it like in Muricahhh!!!”
• Ladon – “Scared to commission”
• Naylor – “Dear Paradox”
• Piro Rat – “A question from a fan”

FC-225 Fox Jenga - Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that's every week.

Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that’s every week.

Download MP3

Watch Video Discovered Media:

• Pizza Hut “Knot or Pizza first” tweet
• Holy Quran Experiment
• How Humor Evolved in Animals DNews
• What makes something not funny DNews
• HBO: Animals Trailer
• Furries Destroy Artwork Courtcase
• Culturally F’d: Hugs, the furry handshake
• KartFox Taur Plush
• Gay Bottom Bible
• NEW ZOOTOPIA CLIP

News:

• The latest deviancy they’re trying to mainstream
• Pesky Redfox now permanent White House resident
• Coyotes Staring Down Drivers May Be Stoned
• Cyanobacteria Toxin May Cause Dementia
• My Little Pony sued for using pirated font

Emails:

• Dreamkeeprs – “Dreamkeepers Contest of Factions”
  • YouTube Promo

• Spook – “Lend a Bunny Advice”
• Chris Otter – “Hashtag TonyTheTigerGate”
• Bearsky – “Studio Setup/Move”
• Fox – “What’s it like in Muricahhh!!!”
• Ladon – “Scared to commission”
• Naylor – “Dear Paradox”
• Piro Rat – “A question from a fan”

FC-225 Fox Jenga - Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that's every week.

Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that’s every week.

Download MP3

Watch Video Discovered Media:

• Pizza Hut “Knot or Pizza first” tweet
• Holy Quran Experiment
• How Humor Evolved in Animals DNews
• What makes something not funny DNews
• HBO: Animals Trailer
• Furries Destroy Artwork Courtcase
• Culturally F’d: Hugs, the furry handshake
• KartFox Taur Plush
• Gay Bottom Bible
• NEW ZOOTOPIA CLIP

News:

• The latest deviancy they’re trying to mainstream
• Pesky Redfox now permanent White House resident
• Coyotes Staring Down Drivers May Be Stoned
• Cyanobacteria Toxin May Cause Dementia
• My Little Pony sued for using pirated font

Emails:

• Dreamkeeprs – “Dreamkeepers Contest of Factions”
  • YouTube Promo

• Spook – “Lend a Bunny Advice”
• Chris Otter – “Hashtag TonyTheTigerGate”
• Bearsky – “Studio Setup/Move”
• Fox – “What’s it like in Muricahhh!!!”
• Ladon – “Scared to commission”
• Naylor – “Dear Paradox”
• Piro Rat – “A question from a fan”

[Live] Fox Jenga - Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that's every week.

Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that’s every week.

Download MP3

Watch Video Discovered Media:

• Pizza Hut “Knot or Pizza first” tweet
• Holy Quran Experiment
• How Humor Evolved in Animals DNews
• What makes something not funny DNews
• HBO: Animals Trailer
• Furries Destroy Artwork Courtcase
• Culturally F’d: Hugs, the furry handshake
• KartFox Taur Plush
• Gay Bottom Bible
• NEW ZOOTOPIA CLIP

News:

• The latest deviancy they’re trying to mainstream
• Pesky Redfox now permanent White House resident
• Coyotes Staring Down Drivers May Be Stoned
• Cyanobacteria Toxin May Cause Dementia
• My Little Pony sued for using pirated font

Emails:

• Dreamkeeprs – “Dreamkeepers Contest of Factions”
  • YouTube Promo

• Spook – “Lend a Bunny Advice”
• Chris Otter – “Hashtag TonyTheTigerGate”
• Bearsky – “Studio Setup/Move”
• Fox – “What’s it like in Muricahhh!!!”
• Ladon – “Scared to commission”
• Naylor – “Dear Paradox”
• Piro Rat – “A question from a fan”

FC-225 Fox Jenga - Our Canadian cragon friend joins us this week while we read tons of news, have a laugh at #TonyTigerGate, and possibly regret our life choices. Wait, that's every week.