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Originally posted on Jakebe’s blog here.

Further Confusion 2016 will begin tomorrow, and for most of us furries we’re just counting down the hours until we can head to San Jose to immerse ourselves in fandom for four glorious days. I know I’m itching to get there myself. But one of the things that rarely gets talked about at these conventions is how big a disruption they are to our daily lives, and what that disruption can do for those of us coping with mental illness. While the potential is there for a brilliant weekend, the craziness of the convention alone can throw us off-kilter.

For many of us, FC 2016 is one of our only chances to be with people we feel truly understand us; for four days we can put aside the problems of our regular lives and enjoy company and kinship in a way we rarely get to experience. We become so attached to the promise of a non-stop great time that any disappointment or gap in pleasure can send us spiraling into dark places. Unfortunately, downtime and disappointment are both facts of life; we can do ourselves a huge favor by learning to roll with them.

I want folks who are going through rough times at the convention to know that I see them, and I sympathize with what they’re dealing with. I’d like to share a few things that have helped me get through conventions and have made sure I have the best time possible.

Absolutely take care of the basics. 6/2/1 is a mnemonic I’ve seen floating around recently to remind people about the basic things you should do every day during a convention. 6 hours of sleep, 2 meals a day (at least), 1 shower. Making sure you’re well-rested, well-fed and well-groomed can have a profound effect on your mood — this goes doubly so for those of us with mental issues.

If nothing else, making sure you get enough sleep and enough to eat is absolutely essential for managing your mood. Sleep allows the brain to recover from daily stresses, and your body needs nutrients to keep it running properly while you’re awake. And making sure you’re clean and wearing comfortable clothing you feel good about being seen in helps tremendously with self-esteem. Those three things alone are vital, easy things we can do to keep us on a stable footing emotionally.

I know that sleep and showers can go by the wayside pretty easily, especially for those of us stricken by FOMO — the Fear of Missing Out. It can feel like leaving our friends is a guarantee of not getting to see or do something awesome. But it’s important to remember that the convention (and your friends) will be there when you’re awake, cleaned and your hunger is satisfied. It’s a trade-off of quantity of time for quality time. When you feel better, you will have more fun. Trust me on this! I’ve stuck around for things way longer than I should have, when I was hungry or tired, just because I didn’t want to leave. It was miserable.

For those of us who need a little extra self-care, I would recommend sleeping at least 7 hours a day, eating 3 square meals, taking 1 shower and making absolutely sure you take any medications that you’ve been prescribed.

If possible, adapt your routine for travel. One of the ways I manage my mental state is by doing my best to establish a routine. I get up at a certain time, I go to the bathroom, I meditate, take my medication, then get to writing. Doing this every day gives me a nice foundation to center on through the craziness of the day; it’s how I try to put my best foot forward. Obviously, it’s a lot harder to stick to it when traveling, but I give it my best shot and I recommend you do the same.

If you have a small set of activities you do at certain times, find ways to stick to them when you’re traveling — especially if it helps to center and calm you. If that’s just not possible, think of alternate activities that provide you with the tools you need to be mentally resilient through the day. It can really help you through the marathon of interaction that conventions tend to be.

Learn to be OK with being alone or having downtime. This can be difficult, especially if the convention is the one time you get to spend with friends you only know online. But the fact of the matter is sometimes your friends will be doing something else or you’re waiting to join up with someone; you will find yourself alone with nothing to do. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing; there’s an enormous convention happening all around you, with new people to meet and all kinds of interesting things to do.

If you find yourself having downtime — unexpected or otherwise — take advantage of the events being set up by the hard-working convention staff. Take a look at the schedule to see what’s open and where things are; the gaming area tends to be open most of the day and night, and there’s a number of meeting areas that you can camp out in and hang out. If nothing grabs your fancy, pre-planning an “alone time” activity or two to fall back on can help keep you occupied for a while. Take advantage of downtime to center yourself and collect your thoughts. Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean being lonely.

Allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling. Sometimes, despite our best efforts and careful planning, we’ll fall into a bad mental state. That is OK! No one — not even at a world-class furry convention — feels great all the time! Sometimes we’ll be sad, or bored, or angry and frustrated. There’s a huge emphasis on avoiding the negative feelings we have, but that can make things worse. I know for me, I’ll think that I “shouldn’t” feel the way I do and that guilt or frustration (What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just be happy?) just makes things that much worse.

If you’re having a bad time, or you’re feeling low, take a moment to tell yourself that it’s OK you feel this way. It’s a valid emotion to have, and it’s only temporary. It will pass in time, even though it might not feel like it. What’s more, you don’t have to necessarily *do* anything about what you’re feeling. It can be a powerful thing to accept your feelings, even when they hurt. You may not feel better, exactly, but it can ease the pressure that we can feel about our emotions.

Further Confusion is a wonderful con, and I hope that everyone who attends has an amazing time. If you find yourself struggling to deal with emotions, please reach out to someone. You are not alone, even though it may feel like it. But you have to take care of yourself before you can expect others to take care of you.

Make sure you get enough sleep, get enough to eat, and present yourself as best you can. Plan to take care of your needs ahead of time if at all possible. Accept who you are and how you feel. It can be difficult work, I know, but the work is worth it. I’ll see you folks in San Jose soon.

submitted by Ryuu_Girl
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submitted by yiruma99
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submitted by Quilknife
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submitted by IAMA_dragon-AMA
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submitted by VentKazemaru
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Hey fluffy, I'm a gamer myself and I got to thinking, what games do you all like? From rpgs to action to fps. Tell me what your favorite game or game series is!

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

Dear Patch;

FurPlanet is advertising that its appearance at Further Confusion will be the final opportunity at present to buy the RainFurrest charity anthologies.  FurPlanet is no longer carrying them after last December 31st and it is bringing its final printed copies for sale at FC 2016.  The book is at least temporarily unavailable, because it will be up to the con to take over printing and selling after this year. – Fred

A Menagerie of Heroes; A Rainfurrest Anthology, edited by Ryan Hickey and Garrett Biggerstaff.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, September 2015, trade paperback $15.00 (320 pages).

Seattle’s annual RainFurrest convention has published a charity anthology every year since 2011, growing from 108 pages in 2011 to 269 pages in 2014. All stories are donated to RainFurrest by mid-June, and the anthology is printed by FurPlanet Productions in Dallas to be sold at the convention in September, with all proceeds donated to that year’s charity. RainFurrest 2015’s total donation was over $10,000 to the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, Washington. The anthologies are subsequently sold through the FurPlanet catalogue.

In 2015 for the first time there were two charity anthologies; the “clean” A Menagerie of Heroes with 14 stories totaling 320 pages, and the “adult” Naughty Sexy Furry Writing; Enter at your own Risk with six stories totaling 124 pages. Here is the G- and PG-rated one, featuring RainFurrest 2015’s theme of Swords and Sorcery.

“Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” by Wilfred B. Wolf is a charming story, but you have to get through some clunky writing to read it. In a medieval Japanese fantasy setting, Gasu Yeo is a Bard, a gifted musician and a royal official sent out to spread the news and the latest royal pronouncements to the farthest corners of the Empire. He is also one of the first Kitsu Bards; one of the first of the Empire’s foxlike anthros to be accepted into the Bards. When he is assigned to visit a distant village that has never seen a Kitsu, he is mistaken for a mythical fox trickster bringing bad luck or a curse. Yeo must convince the human peasants that while he may look like a humanoid fox, he is as human and peaceful (and a royal official) as any of them. The story is delightful, even though given a choice of words, Wolf picks a flat one every time.

“The Lady’s Service” by Renee Carter Hall may not be a better story, but it is much better written. The animal Kingdom of Asteria is about to fall into civil war. The throne has been usurped by Roden, a dictator, and Prince Tiren is about to try to seize it back. But Roden’s soldiers are battle-hardened elks, and Tiren’s are small forest animals, mostly squirrels. Their advantages are that they’re really fast and can climb, but to win a war they’ll have to fight at close quarters, as well. All the squirrels are in training with quarterstaffs and knives in their hidden forest home. Breckon, a young rabbit, wants to join them. Breckon is earnest and determined, but a rabbit isn’t a squirrel. Over the months of training, both Breckon and the squirrels learn that. He grows from a clumsy beginner and an outsider to a confident warrior who also learns how to find friendship.

“Playing the Hero” by Billy Bob Butler is also set in a medieval animal kingdom plagued by war. Here it’s the Avin Empire ruled by harpy eagles, a part of the Fellowship of the Five Kingdoms. The protagonists are four children in the city of Havenpin: Aerin and Claire, two crane sisters; Simon, their hawk step-brother; and Riki, a muskrat:

“The City of Havenpin’s inhabitants were mostly Avin: hawks, corvids, and cranes. However, despite the predominantly Avin population, one could still see representation from all five of the Fellowship Kingdoms. A Scaled merchant was arguing with two Avin over a peculiar rug she was trying to sell, presumably about how muddy the red dyes were in it. Riki learned quickly to not call the them [sic.] lizards. He could still remember the guttural hissing the Scaled emitted before telling him to leave his stall front.” (p. 69)

Riki is a refugee from Moorsend, a nearby city currently occupied by the cat and dog warriors of the Ferrin enemy. He wants to become part of Havenpin’s Watch guards, or maybe a Ranger scout, but his father wants him to succeed him in the family business of being an alchemist. But when the four children venture out into the Ravenwoods on an approved mentorship expedition, it is Riki’s alchemical training that saves them all from an unexpected deadly danger. “Playing the Hero” is a good story, but somehow I was left expecting more. There is too much background, resulting in the story feeling like a brief excerpt taken from a longer novel. I hope that Butler writes it.

“Come the Storm” by Tony Greyfox presents two young animals, Talia the deer and Kristan the bobcat. Each is on a quest of salvation for her or his village, which is dying of thirst:

“It had been many years since the grass had gone this dry, but the elders remembered what had happened before, stories passed down from generation to generation about the long summers and the suffering that had followed – famine and death through the cold winters that invariably came on the heels of the heat.” (pgs. 91-92)

Each youth has been sent with gifts to the gods who supposedly dwell within legendary Oakbend Forest far to the south, to plea for rains. The two youths meet on the parched plains and decide to travel together for safety, although a predator and a prey animal together – well, it isn’t usual. As Talia and Kristan trade tales of their deer and bobcat peoples, convenience develops into friendship, which leads to … (to tell would be a spoiler).

That’s actually a plot synopsis, not a review. “Come the Storm” is neither good enough to be memorable, or bad enough to criticize. It’s just mediocre. The same can be said for most of the other stories in A Menagerie of Heroes. Most are serious: “The Pendant of Westbriar Swamp”, by Skunkbomb; “The Monster’s Story”, by Amy Fontaine; “Tach’s Tale”, by Garrett “Hunter” Biggerstaff; “Tiny Hooves”, by Yannarra Cheetah; “The Black Fang’s Bite”, by Ocean Tigrox; “A Guard’s Tale”, by Tarl “Hoch” Vincnt; “Bond of Spirit”, by Anor-Roc Wildheart; and “In the Days of the Witch-Queens”, by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt. One is humorous: “The Princess and the Dragon”, by Kandrel Fox.

These are all funny-animal stories, many narrated in the first person, about wolf or lion or fox warriors, or cat maidens, most of whom could have just as easily been humans. Several are about dragons, evil or good, and a couple are about kobolds. All are in pseudo-medieval European settings, except for “In the Days of the Witch-Queen” which takes place in the tribal African Veldt. None are bad; most are pleasant to read. They just are not really memorable. The day after you’ve read them, you’ll find it difficult to remember what any of them were about.

There is one other standout: “The Dragon Tax”, by Madison Keller. This gets an A+ for imagination. Riastel is a traditional dragon; fire-breathing, maiden-eating, gold-and-jewels-hoarding, living in a cave; the whole nine yards. His cave is in the Kingdom of Thima. The King of Thima doesn’t want to kill him as much as to make him pay an income tax on his hoard.

“‘As, as a citizen of Thima…’ the man [the royal tax collector] trailed off, gulped, then continued. ‘You are required to pay a tax on all your income. Ten percent, to the King.’

The rear end of the donkey hit the sand as Riastel blew jets of flame into the air. ‘Pay tax, to a human kingdom? Thank you for the meal and the laugh.’ Riastel scooped back up the donkey in one talon and the dead ox in the other.

His flared wings seized the sea breeze and a quick flap took him away from the laughable human. Taxes indeed.” (pgs. 130-131)

So the King hires Sybil Dragonsbane, a professional dragonslayer:

‘I think you have a dragon that’s too alive for your tastes.’ Sybil shrugged. Why else would anyone call her?

‘Actually, we quite like having a dragon on the island.’ The King said. He sat up now, eyes shining in the mage-light from the sconces on the wall. Multiple chins jiggled as he wagged his hands around theatrically. ‘Brings lots of adventurers through town, they drop gold at local businesses, and, of course, pay an entry tax to come to Thima. If they survive or not, not my problem. Boosts the local economy.’” (pgs. 131-132)

Sybil has never been hired to force a dragon to pay a tax instead of killing it. She wants double pay for the job:

“‘Double?!’ The anger in the King’s voice tore her attention away from the bottle. ‘I’m not asking you to kill the thing.’

‘True. What you’re asking is even more dangerous. You’re asking me to leave a dragon alive. A very pissed-off, angry dragon who now knows my scent.’ […]” (p. 133)

So far the story is humorous, but to give away a major spoiler, what the King and his tax collector really want is far more than ten percent of the dragon’s hoard. The adventure rapidly turns grimly serious, forcing the dragon and the dragonslayer to team up to stay alive. Even with this revealed, there are surprises aplenty. “The Dragon Tax” is one story that you will not forget soon, and “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” (despite its poor writing) and “Playing the Hero” are also pleasantly memorable. The rest are the literary equivalent of snack food; tasty and filling, but not a real meal.

Five of the stories are illustrated, and Jan, the RainFurrest 2015 guest-of-honor, did separate front and back covers. Remember, it’s for charity.

Features the following stories:

Back cover art by Jan

• Fox Confessor Brings The Flood by Wilford B Wolf
• The Lady’s Service by Renee Carter Hall
• Playing the Hero by Billy Bob Butler
• Come The Storm by Tony Greyfox
• The Pendant of Westbriar Swamp by Skunkbomb
• The Dragon Tax by Madison Keller
• The Monster’s Story by Amy Fontaine
• Tatch’s Tale by Garret “Hunter” Biggerstaff
• The Princess and the Dragon by Kandrel Fox
• Tiny Hooves by Yannarra Cheenah
• The Black Fang’s Bite by Ocean Tigrox
• A Guard’s Tale by Tarl “Voice” Hoch
• Bond of Spirit by Anor-Roc Wildheart
• In the Days of the Witch-Queens by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Featuring art by Tim Weeks, Cadmiumtea, Markel Soikes, Kelly Tsvahl, Ben Butler, and cover by Jan.

Previous Rainfurrest anthology reviews:

• Furtual Horizons
• ‘Dancing in the Moonlight: RainFurrest 2013 Charity Anthology’
• ‘Tails of a Clockwork World’
• ‘Stories of Camp RainFurrest’

– Fred Patten

submitted by Ryuu_Girl
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submitted by Mr-Pokon
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I've got a few close friends who are furries, which is the reason that I sometimes hang out on this sub. And it rubs me the wrong way how they'll usually refer to me as a "furry in denial". Constantly ask if I'll be buying a fursuit soon or attending FurCon 2016.

Of course, it's only jokes between us but... shit gets old.

They're good friends, but a little pushy. They don't bother me this much usually. Just... about this one thing.

I don't really want anything, just needed to get that one off my chest. Anyone have a similar experience?

submitted by Kawaii_Goddess
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The great tradition of wordless comic book storytelling continues with The Only Child, a new black & white graphic novel by Guojing (a concept artist for games and animated TV series). “A little girl—lost and alone—follows a mysterious stag deep into the woods, and, like Alice down the rabbit hole, she finds herself in a strange and wondrous world. But… home and family are very far away. How will she get back there?” Published in hardcover last December by Schwartz & Wade, The Only Child is available now over at Barnes & Noble.

image c. 2015 Schwartz & Wade

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