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Post-Con Report: Furry Tea Party in Kaohsiung - May Live Stream. ---- What other fur cons are there in Taiwan? Let’s hear what Ray (Shouyi) and Hananeko (Bing Yumao) have to say about Tea Party (茶會) in Kaohisung! ---- Social media: Our official Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxandburger Matcha Fox: https://twitter.com/foxnakh https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9xoFQrxFTNPMjmXfUg2cg Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner Hananeko: https://twitter.com/haneneko0909

2022年8月17日，东南亚首个兽圈新闻频道国际兽圈电视（GFTV）迎来了它的8岁生日。 以下是这个生日蛋糕时间的五大收获。

Seems we’re never far away from more anthropomorphic vehicles. Got this from Animation World Network: “Disney Branded Television’s new musical animated comedy-adventure series, Firebuds, follows a team of young first responders who embark on adventures with their talking sidekick vehicles to help their community and learn what it truly means to be a hero… Set in a world where talking vehicles live, work, and play with the humans who drive them, Firebuds follows a boy named Bo and his fire engine best friend Flash as they team up with their first responder friends to help others in their community with problems, big and small.” Various episodes feature musical performances by the likes of Weird Al Yankovic, Lisa Loeb, and Patton Oswalt. Coming this fall to Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and various Disney streams on September 21st.

image c. 2022 Disney Junior

Dear Papabear,
​
I am new to the furry/fursuiting community and have suddenly risen to popularity in a little over a month. It has been a great opportunity and has really made my life amazing. My only worry is not knowing what to do with it all. I worry that I soon will be labeled as a popufur and not be seen as the person I am but instead for my fame and name. I don't want that. I just was a simple person like the rest of all of you. What do you think I should do? It's impossible for me to talk to all of my fans, but I also don't want them to feel ignored and used. Thank you for the time.

Anonymous

* * *

​Dear Furiend,

Interesting question, and thank you for posing it. To address this issue properly, one must first define what a "popufur" is.  If you ask 50 furries what a popufur is, you will likely get 50 different answers. Like most things in the furry fandom, crystalline definitions are nowhere to be found. Heck, furries can't even define "furry" to everyone's satisfaction.

So, let's just go by Papabear's definition: to be a popufur, it is not enough just to be popular and have a large following; you must also be full of yourself, crave attention, behave in ways that are designed to attract attention, get angry when you don't get that attention, and, basically, be a furry for the reason that you are obsessed with being validated. This, as you might imagine, makes for a rather unpleasant personality. Popufurs are in the fandom because they discovered a subculture that, unlike in the mainstream, gives them attention and validation, and not so much because they love the anthropomorphic arts in their own right. In other words, they tend to be narcissists.

If the above does not describe who you are, then--at least, to this bear's mind--you are not behaving like a popufur. So, the question might next be: Why are you suddenly so popular? My guess is that you have either made or purchased a pawsome fursuit and that you are a good fursuit performer (since you mentioned fursuiting specifically and not, say, being an artist). This likely means that furries glom onto you for the very superficial reason that they like your fursuit. If, therefore, you wish to take a little attention off yourself, take the fursuit off and attend furmeets and furcons sans suit for a while. You can then more easily gauge how much people like you for you.

This is not to say you should quit fursuiting. I mean, I love fursuiting myself because I think it's wonderful how it breaks down barriers and people like to give me hugs and pose for pictures, which are things they would never do if I am just strolling through a hotel as myself. Fursuiting is great fun, so don't quit. What I do recommend for you, though, is that you spend more time exploring other aspects of the fandom, such as literature and gaming and movies. Diversify.

Meanwhile, when you DO fursuit, don't let it go to your head that furries give you so many compliments. Just thank them kindly and go on with your life. Don't try to "brand" yourself, don't strive to increase your following, don't be a media whore (forgive my French). Just be your fuzzy self and enjoy. Be gracious, be kind, be humble.

Hope that helps.

Hugs,
Papabear

TigerTails Radio Season 14 Episode 05. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

More comic-book type adventures for young readers in Housecat Trouble Volume 1, a new hardcover graphic novel by Mason Dickerson. “One house, three cats, and a lot of trouble! Buster has only one job: Keep the house safe. Too bad he is a massive scaredy-cat. When his owner goes away and he suddenly finds his home filled with monsters, Buster has the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. Can he learn to be brave before his owner gets back?” Find out over at Penguin Random House, and look for more volumes too.

image c. 2022 Penguin Random House

​​Dear Papa Bear,
​
I just turned 23 on July 27th! Here's my question: I'm not a huge fan of Iron Maiden, but being a Christian, I decided to do some research and I found out that not only is their drummer a Christian (for real!), but their song "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" is a Christian song ... allegorical it may be! So, since I enjoy a variety of music, how do you know which rock/metal - or other genres - bands to listen to and which ones are just plain trashy like Slipknot?

PenguinDareangel12

* * *

Dear PenguinDareangel12,

If you mean how do you tell by the lyrics, then the simplest thing to do is go to a website that posts music lyrics, the most obvious one being lyrics.com.  Sometimes, it can be hard to tell just by lyrics, though, especially when you get some very poetic or symbolic or abstruse or, as in the case you cite, allegorical lyrics that are difficult to understand. Often, lyrics are very personal to the artist, self-referential, and hard to get unless you know the artist well.

If you're truly concerned as to whether a song is "Christian" enough for you, there are plenty of Christian rock bands you can listen to, as well as plain ol' church music. GodTube.com lists what it considers the 20 best Christian rock bands here.

As for mainstream rock, pop, and other genres, my thought is that you shouldn't worry about it. Just listen to what you enjoy. If you are a Christian in your heart, accidentally listening to some "bad" music is not going to make you turn Satanic. Music is to be enjoyed, not analyzed.

Cheers,
Papabear

Guest Doppelfoxx writes fiction and nonfiction, and last submitted a story about NFTs affecting the culture. This interview with NIIC was dual-submitted to Flayrah. NIIC the Singing Dog is a well known furry musician from Philadelphia, with 5 albums of howling electro-pop and over 7 million views across Youtube, Spotify and other platforms. Fun fact: Patch O’Furr jumped around with his live show at Anthrocon and shared funny reactions from his videos. After a period of low activity, NIIC has new music on the way.

(Doppelfoxx): Welcome and thank you for interviewing with us! Who are you and what do you do? Describe yourself in a few sentences.

Hey hey! My name is Kyle McCarthy, but I’m wayyy better known as N I I C, or NIIC the Singing Dog. I am a furry singer-songwriter-producer from New York City, and my genre is a pop-hybrid of electronic and folk. I write and perform songs, collaborate with other awesome furry artists, and make my own album art and photography when I can!

When did you start having an interest in making music, and what/who gave you the inspiration to start releasing it?

I’ve always loved to make music. Since I was like 6 or whenever, I would hate how a song that I liked would go away. I was a kid and it was the 90s so there wasn’t phones or YouTube or MP3 players, I couldn’t just stream a song immediately or have a collection of CDs around. So I would figure out as much of songs as I could and I would try playing them on an electric piano and tried singing them, this way I could keep them around longer than the radio or a movie. This concept would just keep on rolling onward in my life. I’d pick up guitar, play sax in marching band and sing in drama club, and I’d eventually go to University of the Arts in Philadelphia as a music composer. The idea just kept on evolving. The idea flipped from liking songs I heard and trying to make them eternal, to making songs of my own and making those eternal.

Prior to NIIC (so, University of the Arts), I was working on musicals. I liked the musical route because I could have my own characters and stories ALONG with music, so it was the whole package! I would make worlds and characters and songs for those worlds and characters. Then I would get college mates together to sing and play instruments and record the songs, it was a lot of fun. Right before I moved up to NYC and started NIIC, I worked at a panini-coffee shop and they let me film my puppets in there – I had a web musical show called Sebastian the Singing Cockroach. He’s actually NIIC 1.0 haha. The singing dog used to be a cockroach. But it was a lot of work and not in a way that I felt fulfilled. A lot of fidgeting around with iMovie and the graphics/film editing part.

By the time I moved up to NYC, I was taking internship and gig leads from my professors’ contacts and I was working in music studios while pulling two restaurant jobs. I was overworked, underpaid, and when I actually WAS doing music it wasn’t even MY music, it was other peoples’. That was not for me. Probably a month or two before this revelation, I was scrolling on the internet and started seeing furries and art here and there. I wasn’t active but I was always scrolling through stuff.

When I finally was at my peak of frustration with my life, I said to hell with it all and I just combined the coolest strangest things in my life at the time: my desire to do music my way; my arsenal of music equipment, education, and contacts; and the new element: furries! But different than before, I wouldn’t figure out every dimension of this character right off the bat. I wasn’t going to solve the meaning of life or map out the whole universe. This character would develop over time, he’d grow and shape as his world grew and shaped. At the start, my NIIC character would be some… um dog… green? sure! That… um, yeah… sings electronic pop songs, and um… stuff! Yeah!

What made you introduce the furry element to what you do? Any special moments with the fandom, a special connection, or is it just something that interested you?

NIIC… and I guess in this context the NIIC we’re talking about is really at his core… the Music OF NIIC and all the songs I make for him… NIIC from the get-go was furry, so from the start this was non negotiable. The actual idea that inspired me to really push forward with this furry character came in my initial research. Yes, I was SUCH A NERD about all of this. I studied furries like it was my graduate dissertation. Before I pushed the button on him in March 2013, I spent that WHOLE winter surfing, seeing everyone’s fursonas, looking at artists’ work, trying to find musicians in the fandom too, anything and everything I could absorb to give me a clear of idea of what I was getting into as NIIC as much as possible.

However, finding MUSICIANS was so difficult, especially at the time in 2013. The musicians I did find were DJs, a majority of their content – as awesome as it was – were EDM song remixes, a minority of the DJs actually having original EDM songs. These songs weren’t very furry either. Other musicians I was looking at in the fandom were also skilled, but something I couldn’t seem to find in all of them. Music about furry topics and things. I managed to find a furry musician here or there with actually a furry song or two, but they felt more novelty or just not something I would jam out to. I don’t mean to sound condescending because this was just my opinion, but this shaped the idea that would govern NIIC. I had an idea that I could be the one to add to the thin collection of furry songs for the fandom – by writing epic furry lyrics of my own with high-notch music backing them. This idea really sparked me to push NIIC as much as I could, the idea that I could contribute a ton to Furry Pride in the songs that we were all listening to.

Do you have any influences in mind, favorite artists, that help you develop your style?

My influences have changed as NIIC has become more defined. In the beginning, I needed to manifest him as this pop icon entity in my head, so Ke$ha, Britney, and Karmin were my go-tos. The go-big or go-homes. Overtime, I was able to focus more on the music as I solidified my imagination of his character, and I started diving into inspirations like AJR, Imagine Dragons, Madeon, and Haelstorm. I’m still in the latter phase, to be honest haha. In all of my inspirations, no matter at which point in time, have always been artists who are characters themselves – larger-than-life musicians who have taken on an augmented ‘sona of their own and perpetuating it into epic songs!

I heard that you have a new album in the works! Can you tell us anything about it?

ESCAPE is NIIC’s long awaited next album! Another entourage of high-energy electro-pop, these songs will cut to your core like an unapologetic buzz-saw! An ode to love, a suffocated cry for help, an existential crisis, a tribute to a bodega cat… this album is one giant tribute to the archangel and the monstrosity in all of us. Because the beast in us has been awakened, and instinct will save and will ruin you here. And if you don’t unleash yourself from it all now, there may never be an escape! Those who supported the album during the Kickstarter can watch the songs unfold in their final phases of production on private Youtube livestream! Updates and other announcements are coming soon, too!

Any messages you want to send to people who read this, and anything you want to say about the community as a whole?

The Furry fandom is the purest Pandora’s Box you could ever find. The possibilities are endless, the adventures are countless, the friends and relationships you’ll make are as many as you’re willing to reach out for. I have spent years working to get my life back together and even stronger, to bring NIIC back out from the shadows and even transcend with him father than I ever have before. In my long and brutal search to find how I can truly move forward with myself and NIIC, and discovering what more I can contribute to the fandom, I have found my answer simply by looking at the fandom itself and everything it is. This is a place where anything and everything happens, and depending on the lens we use it can all look bleak and toxic, or it can be seen as a community of acceptable, support and love. The only difference is our perception and what love we put into the fandom. And in a realm where we can be anything, I’d rather be that support and love. We all should be. It is up to us to take care of this fandom, and not just be reactive to it. It is not something we experience, it is an actively evolving story that we are all writing. And it is up to us to make this realm of ours the greatest story of our lives!

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

F.Y.N.N. The Hologram Fox – Furality mascot by @Spainimation

1980’s furry fans first gathered with room parties at science fiction conventions, until Sylys Sable helped co-found the first convention for furries in 1989. Sy was there from the birth of a worldwide subculture to a new kind of experience with virtual furry conventions today. These offer many of the features of live cons, while accommodating more members across geographic and social isolation. The premiere virtual con, Furality, started in 2020 and soon beat the live furry con attendance record. Sy is the guy to tell us why!

Editor note: Sy submitted his story after the latest Furality event in June 2022, but it was delayed. Since then, a situation with VR as a community (of several platforms) could use explaining. In late July, VRchat implemented a security update that seriously upset their users, causing massive backlash and review-bombing. A statement from the company addressed the situation: cheating and Griefing by malicious users was out of control, and their solution was removal of game modding. But many good-faith users depended on mods, including for accessibility (like for disabilities) and felt their creative work was sabotaged by the update.  

Meanwhile, furries talked about jumping ship to other platforms. A friend of Sy (another old school furry fan and VR user) said that Second Life isn’t officially supporting VR, NeosVR is having a tragic fall from “crypto BS” (a feud between owners, would-be investor control and creators), and ChilloutVR is in “very early days… They are in that scrambling to scale stage.” This makes a cloudy future, but Sy’s story highlights what stands out as the best of the community. 

Furality in the eyes of Sylys Sable.

VR Chat, the free cross-platform virtual reality social multiplayer system has attracted the attention of the furry community… and why not? You can build worlds and create avatars and interact with others as YOU. It’s like a furry meetup/convention that never ends, and everyone has a fursuit (or several)! (with the same limited field of view. How realistic!)

In 2020 some enterprising furry folks decided to create an actual furry convention with VR Chat as the venue. The big difference in their concept was the convention venue would be separate from the open worlds that make up VR Chat. Worlds where any player can show up (public worlds) often attract antisocial types who enjoy irritating others. (Great hobby…) You can create “instances” where only your friends, or their friends can show up, which makes them more private; and you can always block/mute the abusive types. But what these guys wanted to do was create a “virtual” hotel/convention center, with stages, meeting rooms, events and dealer dens. VR Chat was willing to “rent” them space for a limited time, and the team created custom worlds to host the convention. Charging a membership fee, like RL conventions, would cover the costs. Furality was born.

From Danny Grey – a very nicely produced music video from the Furality Community Showcase

This sort of thing was new to VR Chat. How would it be possible to make worlds that only convention members could enter? The VR Chat website could create “invitations” that would show up to VR users that would allow them to jump to that specific instance. There was a problem of scale, however, so the team created their own website, the F.O.X. Portal (Furry Online Xperience) where attendees could view the schedule of events, see a list of the world instances and select one. An invitation would appear in their VR menu and they could jump there. Con-Ops was a Discord channel, where attendees, presenters, dealers and staff could communicate. If this sounds complex to you, you’d be correct. Furality happened, bugs and glitches included. Was the team discouraged? Well their decision was to organize another Furality… 6 months later! So it seems even virtual furry convention organizers tend to be masochistic.

Some furry VRC users complained: why should we pay for something that is free? Other conventions retreated to VR and online venues during the pandemic, including EuroFurence. They created a duplicate of their RL venue, with help from the actual hotel/convention center. It was so accurate that the elevators even broke down occasionally! The EF Online convention happened in open worlds, with events broadcast on Twitch and YouTube, and shown in a VR theater. Griefers were a common problem, however, as other furry conventions that followed the EF example discovered.

Furality 2000 came next. As the Furality team chased down bugs and improved their system, more people realized that their concept was superior to having conventions in open worlds. The Furality worlds were also amazing! Since they were created from scratch for each convention, the theme encompassed the entire design and experience. From beautiful world designs and special effects to original soundtrack music, they had creative control of every aspect of their virtual venue. The retro (Disney?) future of space luxury liners in orbit around Earth, with space-age cocktail lounges and conference rooms with views of space was great fun!

Then came Furality Luma. Since the creative team could literally do anything they could imagine, they decided to go all out and create a new beautiful, mysterious world as their venue. You could customize your avatar to respond to lighting effects in Luma worlds. The opinion of most of the attendees is that they “knocked it out of the park!” Luma attendees know what I’m talking about, and though there are pictures online of the convention, they really don’t do it justice. Luckily you can enjoy a small piece of the Luma world in Fynn’s Room in VR Chat. By this time, the team had added new features to the F.O.X. Portal, including a process to load your friends list from the VR Chat website into the portal so you could join your friends in various event instances. RL furry conventions don’t have this feature. We’re stuck trying to coordinate with our phones and message apps…

Next up: Furality Legends. This convention happened in a super-hero comic! You could customize your avatar to look like they stepped off the pages of a color comic book, and choose to be a hero or a villain. Convention event spaces were also tailored to the good guys and bad guys. The dealers den was the Infinity Mall, a huge glass-roofed shopping mall with a 5 story aquarium as the centerpiece. The (160+) dealers each had a storefront on one of two levels. By this time the furry community had embraced the concept of a virtual convention, and attendance increased. You may think this would be a tough act to follow…

Made this music video for for #FuralityAqua creators showcase and took me ages.

It's a synthwave Max Headroom video for the amazing @decobanduk's cover of Bittersweet Symphony.

It took me ages. #VrChat #Furry #Furality #VrFurry #Vtubers pic.twitter.com/wDn6mTcBmu

— Changa Husky (@Changa_Husky) June 19, 2022

Furality Aqua: Of all the previous Furality conventions, the beautiful, mysterious, glowing world of Luma remained a favorite of attendees and the creative team. At the closing ceremonies of Legends, a short teaser video introduced Furality: Oceans of Luma. Attendees were once again blown away by the images of underwater views of Luma. Anticipation was high. At Furry Weekend Atlanta (and Biggest Little Fur Con), the Furality team set up a two-way portal for RL convention members to see and speak to furs in VR Chat visiting the Luma world in Fynn’s Room. Then on the night of June 16th 2022, starting with DJ sets in Club Fynn, Furality Aqua began, and it was Amazing! Over the weekend over 15,000 registered members enjoyed presentations, concerts, meetups and nearly round-the-clock DJ sets, all in a beautiful underwater world. You could customize your avatar, adding translucent wings, fins and flippers, and even small sea creature companions. The F.O.X. portal worked nearly flawlessly, so getting to events and finding your friends was easier than ever. Of course, just like RL conventions, there will be many that suffer from Post Con Depression. It’s another aspect the VR conventions share with the RL ones.

So, after some rough spots and learning experiences over a few years (I still can’t believe that they did this twice a year!), it seems that the furry community embraced the idea of virtual furry conventions. They just have to be run well, and fun! Chuck Jones, the WB animator once said “Animation takes a lot of work, and a lot of love. In the end, only the love should show”. It was obvious that the creative and technical team of Furality really loved what they do! Furality Aqua raised over $20,000 for their Save A Fox charity, and had over 15,000 registered attendees, making Furality the largest furry convention ever!

– Sy Sable

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon.Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

The Best Furry Dating Services You Should Try Xege Kheiru, Writer, Furry

22 Aug 2022

Why Should I Use A Furry Dating Service? 

Finding love in the 21st century feels like it’s getting harder day by day, meeting new people is becoming less and less common as online dating has eliminated the need to even do so, social anxiety is at an all time high and the world is ending, but hey that’s not what we’re here for. Dating is even harder for furries as, believe it or not, a lot of people aren’t super accepting of the fandom meaning that a lot of furries end up just dating other furries to save them the trouble of essentially coming out as a furry to their partner. 

So, with the introduction of furry dating services in the past few years, finding love for furries has become so much easier that it’s hard to imagine trying to date without it.

Is It The Same As All Online Dating 

 

A lot of the following services operate on the same basis as pretty much any dating site and that is you see a profile of a person that you like, you send them a like and if they like you back, well, you just found yourself a match. Of course this has been adapted in the modern-day into an addictive swipe-fest that suckers you out of all of your money on infinite swipes, increased match chances and super likes galore. However, furry dating services seem less predatory than a lot of the biggest dating sites right now. 

 

So, without further ado let’s get into the list!

 

Starfox 64 Game Cover

Image by wikifur.com

Furfling.com   

Let’s kick this off with Furfling. We’re going to get this out of the way now if it wasn’t already obvious but all users must be 18 or over to use this or any other service on the list below. With that aside, if you’ve looked into furry dating before, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of furfling.com considering its launch in 2012. As of 2018 it had around 125,000 active users which may not sound like a lot for a dating service, but when you consider how small and niche the furry community is already, it’s no surprise that the membership is so small. 

 

While they may not be as sleek as most modern dating services, they compensate for this with functionality and accessibility. Furfling offers its users a search function, a private messaging area, a contact organizer, a “wink” system which works like super likes on most dating services and a plethora of other features.

Ferzu Banner Art

Image by ferzu.com

Ferzu  

Ferzu is an awesome service for those of you looking to find love on the go. While they also have a web app, its mobile app is where it truly shines. Ferzu is one of the newer furry dating services starting in 2017 out there so it’s definitely worth a look. For one it’s got a thriving community making finding profiles is no challenge at all. It also rocks that sleek modern dating service look, making navigation and usability completely fluid. But its web app isn’t half-bad either, it seems to be more catered for the messaging side of things although, this is no problem at all as it is still great anyway.

Reddit Logo

Image by Reddit

r/r4rFurry Subreddit  

This one is kind of cheating but we’re going to use it because reliable furry dating services are few and far between. So, if the prior two services don’t tickle your fancy very much, you could definitely check out this subreddit. It works like this, you make a post, almost like a profile, explaining a little bit about yourself, your fursona, your dating situation and what you’re looking for in terms of dating. Then, you sit with your fingers crossed that someone replies. You have to remember that this is a little bit more saturated or rather overwhelming than most furry dating services as rather than presenting you with one option at a time, you have a whole wall of options placed in front of you that you have to skim through. So, chances are you won’t get a reply for days sometimes weeks, but when you do, there’s a good chance that something can come of it. 

 

Of course users should be a lot more cautious when using Reddit as a means of meeting people as that is not what Reddit is designed for and therefore catfishing and users with malicious intent can use the site with little to no moderation.

What To Avoid In Furry Dating

 

A lot of these rules will apply to general dating but it’s important that you stay safe when meeting up with people you meet on the internet. For one, if you are skeptical of somebody’s profile and you just don’t quite buy who they are you can simply reverse image search whatever picture they are claiming to be themselves and that should somewhat answer your question as to who this person really is. 

 

Also, if you’ve watched any furry video on YouTube (and I mean any, these guys literally take up all of the ad space on the furry side of Youtube) there’s a good chance you’ve heard of FurryMate which as you might have noticed we didn’t feature on this list. That’s because FurryMate is a bit of a shady service in the sense that it allegedly uses bot replies to lure its users into repeat memberships which will automatically activate if you don’t cancel your trial subscription. For more information on it we highly recommend you check out this video which breaks it all down. 

The reason this list is so scarce is because furry dating sites for some reason have a history of slipping into some sort of controversy and inevitably getting taken down or shutting themselves down. Pounced.org, one of the biggest furry dating sites at one point ended up shutting down in 2018 due to some sex trafficking act. Not to mention other services like Howlr shutting down literally this year following a controversy with the owner.

 

 

The post The Best Furry Dating Services You Should Try appeared first on Fursonafy.

On Aug 17, 2022, SE Asia’s first furry news channel Global Furry Television (GFTV) marked its 8th birthday. The past year was marked with challenges both to the furry community and GFTV. But they both emerged strong so far – hence why this year’s theme is “Connected In Unity”. GFTV’s eighth-anniversary logo represents a diversity […]

Small but Growing, the Future Is Bright for Vietnamese Furries! Feat. Kusu and Bio [FABP E24]. ---- Welcome to another episode of the Fox and Burger Podcast! In this episode, we interviewed two Vietnamese furries, Kusu and Bio, to talk to us more about furries in Vietnam. Kusu, an artist, is a blue wolf and Bio, a fursuiter/fursuit maker, is husky. Both of them have been on our list for an extremely long time, so we’re excited to finally have a chance to talk to him in this episode. Bonus points: order some Vietnamese food as you watch this episode! ---- Timestamps 00:00 Podcast intro 00:00 Section 1: Introduction 02:49 Guest introduction 05:37 Section 2: Guest Spotlight, Art and Fursuit Making 05:45 What got you into art? 07:48 How popular are doujinshis in Vietnam? 09:35 Do you plan on publishing your doujins in print? 11:42 Best advice for new artists? 12:38 How did you get into fursuit making? 13:48 Where do you buy your fur? 15:13 Do you have any fursuit making senpais? 16:47 Does Vietnam have any animals that are unique to Vietnam? 18:13 Overall, do Vietnamese fursuit makers take more inspiration from Asia or from the West? 20:12 What other unique challenges do you face Vietnam in regards to fursuit making? 21:39 Section 3: Comparing and Contrasting Fandoms 21:45 How would you describe Vietnamese furries? 25:36 Why are Vietnamese not as visible in fandom? 29:07 How often do furries meet up (before COVID)? 31:27 Will there be a Vietnamese furry convention anytime soon? 38:38 Social media shout out and outro ---- Social Media: Official FABP Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxandburger Michael: https://twitter.com/foxnakh https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9xoFQrxFTNPMjmXfUg2cg Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner http://www.youtube.com/c/LightningRunner Kusu: https://twitter.com/x_Kusunagi_x https://www.facebook.com/KusunagiArt Bio: https://twitter.com/BioHusky13 https://www.facebook.com/bio.hoangda ---- Footage Credit: https://matrices.net/ https://sgfurs.com/2015/12/23/sg-furs-at-furs-upon-malaysia-furum-2015/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/43319075/ http://costumecon39.org/2020/01/21/further-confusion-2020/ https://www.tripsavvy.com/disneyland-and-california-adventure-best-rides-3225803 https://www.cbr.com/nostalgia-punch-the-15-best-hanna-barbera-cartoons-ranked/ https://www.deviantart.com/rouzille/art/Onepunchman-x-RWBY-How-to-get-Stronger-570387316 https://www.yyzzbaby.com/statuses/12335542.html https://www.yyzzbaby.com/statuses/11565290.html https://www.yyzzbaby.com/statuses/10637690.html https://www.yyzzbaby.com/statuses/12335511.html https://rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/duesseldorf/manga-convention-dokomi-2017-in-duesseldorf_bid-20952269 https://www.no-xice.com/album/paris-manga-13/ https://www.weasyl.com/~skychaser/submissions/1198431/kirin https://www.matrices.net/tutorials.htm https://pupdates.matrices.net/post/151035616279/furring https://twitter.com/BusCaptainDrgn/status/1012756930303913984 https://logos-world.net/deviantart-logo/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z20pEmSdig0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBdrgGJsCJo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1YxxS4SMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBp7OxscfZg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgr9szzN0_A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLYKCOnrRoc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VULqRSR2EUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiYqhRb_veg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uh3aEOgBpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpYzSOIw__k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-1KVvMxwEo Other pictures and video provided by Kusu, Bio, Pixabay, and hosts' personal footage. Intro/Outro Music: Aioli by Andrew Langdon. ---- The Fox and Burger Podcast is one segment of our production house, Fox and Burger Productions. The podcast’s goal is twofold: 1, to know more about the Asian furry fandom; and 2, compare and contrast the Asian and Western furry fandoms. If you have a guest that you would like to see on the show, please PM us! We will also take questions for our guests, so don’t miss this opportunity to know some amazing furs.

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Moobarkfluff!   Rayne sits in with us this week. Bearly shares a camp song from his youth. We learn so much. The CEU Bell is getting worn out.  Come learn with us this week about big words and little maths. Listening to this episode will make you smarter! We guarantee it!Moobarkfluff! 

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Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting S3E17 - The Past repast, Stupid Things, Mathy Tidbits

We really need to get caught up on our YouTube phenoms. We found this at Animation World Network: “Guru Studio is ramping up production on Moonbug Entertainment’s newest CG animated series based on their popular YouTube hit, My Magic Pet Morphle… The show follows Mila and her stepbrother, Jordie, as they leap into a world of adventure with the help of Morphle, Mila’s magical and loyal pet, who has the power to change into whatever she needs.” Morphle is scheduled to hit Disney + and Disney Junior in 2024.

image c. 2022 Moonbug Entertainment

Recently we came across this at Cartoon Brew: “Tubi, a division of Fox Entertainment, adds to its growing roster of adult-focused animation with Breaking Bear, a new animal-based mobster parody series created by Julien Nitzberg… The show, described as Yogi-Bear-meets-The-Sopranos, follows the escapades of three bear siblings who decide they have to start selling drugs in order to raise money and save their home after gas companies start fracking next to their cave. The bears soon enlist other forest animals in a scheme that will pit them against oil companies, The Russian Mafia, local Hell’s Angels, and polar bears who hate anything that isn’t white.” Oh is that all? Well…

image c. 2022 Tubi

Papabear,
​
I began dabbling in the furry fandom when I was 19, and in college (early 2014ish). I went to a small college, and I didn't know a whole lot of furries (though I did know a lot of bronies), so I hung around with other furries on the internet. I have never been to a convention, though I've always wanted to go, but didn't have the money, the opportunity, nor my parents's approval. I have never owned a fursuit (the closest thing to one I owned was a Kigurumi until I donated it due to my parents continuously mocking me over it). Then, I got a really nice engineering job in Jacksonville. I thought I was set, and could participate in conventions, meet actual furries in real life, not just behind a screen, maybe acquire a fursuit. But due to the sensitivity of the job, I had to undergo an extensive, and highly intrusive "background investigation" (i.e. list every social media post, alias or "identity" I have ever held, credit card history, list people I was close with, etc.). I panicked. I wasn't sure if my association with the furry fandom, let alone having a secret fursona, was going to be a liability, or even prevent me from holding the job. In a frenzy, I shut down every furry/fursona-related account I had and disappeared off the internet, I didn't even tell anyone why.

Many years have passed, and I managed to make normal friends IRL (still single though). And to this day, no one in my current circle of friends knows about my past furry life. Making it more complicated is the fact that most of the people I know have a very net-negative view of furries (one of them even jokes about how he used to bully furries on 4Chan). But that is a separate issue. I want to meet people who share my interest in furry stuff. And now that the social stigma around furries has (sort-of) lightened, and become more mainstream, I figured I want to get back into it.

Over the past few months, I started to contemplate jumping back in to the fandom, and find people who actually share my hobbies and enthusiasm, but it has been years. Everyone I knew before online has run off. Most of the furry groups in this state are now defunct, save for Megaplex and maybe Gainesville Furs. And most of the surviving groups seem to be geared towards much, much younger (just barely out of high-school) furries. I want to create a new local-ish group to meet, but I'm afraid no one in the fandom even knows me, and I have no clue what a good furry meet would even look like. Is there a way for me to start over, despite being out of it for so long and jumping in kind of late? Or has my time passed and I should just close the door?

Tactical Furball (age 27),

* * *

Dear Tactical Furball,

The past is the past and is, often, best left there. My advice to you would be to start anew as if you had never before dabbled in the fandom. You don't have to change your fursona name if you don't want to, but just start creating accounts on various social media and gaming (if you like) sites, reintroduce yourself and have fun. If someone recognizes you from the past, simply explain what happened and that you are coming back to the fandom. Most furries will understand the circumstances that led to your earlier decision to leave and will be glad you returned.

As for furmeets and running them, they can be whatever you like them to be. I would suggest setting up a page on MeetUp.com and see if you can attract some interest there. Meetups can be anything from movie or game night at your place to bowling or bar meets (for the older furs), going to parks or beaches or the lake or camping. Whatever you wish. 

If you like, I invite you to join my Facebook Greymuzzle group. Over 2,000 greymuzzles there, and I'm sure you'll meet some in your state if not more locally. (Remember to answer the questions to join or you won't be allowed into this closed group).

Finally, as for your coworkers and nonfurry friends, that goes on a case-by-case basis. You should know your friends well enough to figure out which ones are cool and which ones (like that guy who torments furries online--you should dump him) are not. Tell the ones who are cool and don't tell the ones who are butt munches.

Sound good?

Stay furry!

Hugs,
Papabear

TigerTails Radio Season 14 Episode 04. Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show. If you like what we do and wish to throw some pennies our way to support us, please consider sending a little tip our way. https://streamlabs.com/tigertailsradio/tip * Please note, tips are made to support TigerTails Radio and are assumed as made with good faith, so are therefore non-refundable. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Welcome to Issue 15 of Zooscape!

One year on my birthday, the devilishly smart orange tabby who was my best friend during childhood managed to sneak a dead bird into the house. He left it in front of my bedroom door as an offering.

This is part of the modern mythology of cats — they kill small birds and rodents, especially mice, and bring them to their people as offerings. Cats value dead mice, so that’s what they offer as gifts. From a cat’s perspective, a dead mouse is the best possible gift you can get. Cats, mice, mythology.

I have always related heavily to cats. In the language of the furry fandom, I suppose, my fursona is a cat. There’s no barrier to claiming a fursona. If you imagine some kind of animal version of yourself — go ahead; close your eyes; pick an animal, and do it, real quick, right now — then there you go. That’s your fursona. Or one of them anyway. You can have as many as you want. You can get really serious about them and commission art or even a fursuit to wear. You can write a story about your life as that animal. Or you can just daydream fitfully about having tabby striped fur and lazing in the sun all day. The furry fandom is a really flexible place that way.

At any rate, this year in anticipation of my birthday, I bring the readers of the world a collection of stories about cats, mice, and mythology. These are the things I value. This is my dead mouse. Maybe there are some other cats out there who will value it too.

* * *

The Best Way to Procure Breakfast by Dana Vickerson

The Sacrificial Mouse by Divyasri Krishnan

Cat and Mouse by Gabriel Robinson

The Analogue Cat by Alice “Huskyteer” Dryden

Ghosts by Searska GreyRaven

What They Serve in Valhalla by David Sklar

Drakopegasus by Jack Adam

Mooncalf by Anna Madden

* * *

As always, if you want to support Zooscape, check out our Patreon.

by Jack Adam

“Her lineage includes destroyers of kingdoms, hoarders of treasures, and yes, a few swallowers of men.”

Our drakopegasus rarely bites. And almost never in anger.

She tries to breathe fire, but struggles when she’s high. Thin air up there.

It’s difficult to always know what she wants, while she seems to understand me just fine. I was always simple, resistant to change, predictable. She, however, is complex, a myriad of feelings, notions as wide as the sea.

Her lineage includes destroyers of kingdoms, hoarders of treasures, and yes, a few swallowers of men.

I don’t know where I came from, and Perseus won’t tell me. I’d like to think heroic steeds. Maybe even Unicorns.

Legends describe her mother as a monstrous beast as big as a ship. Granted, she could stop a ship dead, had she the impetus. She was lovely. Slender features, waving mane, the long split tail.

She would never have eaten the princess.

“Perseus,” I said sternly, “free the damsel, while I deal with this… creature.”

I had never asked him for anything. Until later that day.

“I beg you, friend, tell the king and queen their ‘sea-bitch’ is dead.”

For at sunrise, I stood between her and the humans. Her form crested the waves, and her flowing mane whipped up sea foam against the sun.

“Kali mera, Mistress,” I said, nerves making my wings tremor, hovering just over the water.

“You are not of the sea,” she said.

“No…”

“Nor of land… it would seem.”

Times past, I had known mares, phoenixes, a sphynx, once… only Kētos saw me immediately.

“Your hair tells me you’re not of the ocean,” I said, feigning boldness. “And your tail is not of the land.”

She spread dark wings and lifted out of the sea. Golden stars dripped from her body. She floated without a quake, steady as a thundercloud.

We belong to the air.

* * *

“Let me give you some advice, old friend,” said Perseus one day. “When you find your better half, you don’t know immediately. It takes time, it grows gently, like a tree. But it lasts. The love between my lady and I was forbidden. Forbidden… but inevitable.”

“But you see,” I said, forlorn and laid flat, “I felt fated to her the very moment she spoke. Malaka! Surely I misheard the fates.”

And looking into his eyes I said, “She knew me, Perseus. More than even you ever could.”

“Then it is done,” spoke the Queen, Andromeda. “Go to her, Pegasus. The sea beats the rock senseless, but a wave turns with ease.”

Wise words, and she would know. For in the faces of the fates, she showed no fear, no quiver. She was a wave in the night, dark and naked against immovable rock. Her chains—seaweed. Bonds to be broken. Freedom deferred, though never lost.

And she loved Perseus, and all their days they defied the fates, with every kind word and caress. Every smile, every kiss. Zeus and Hera, envious upon Olympus.

* * *

Our little drakopegasus rarely bites. When she does, it is only in play.

We belong to the air.

She belongs to the stars.

And she reminds me of you.

 

* * *

About the Author

Jack Adam loves to imagine colorful worlds populated by relatable characters. Despite a degree in filmmaking, he often gets distracted by other creative endeavors, ranging from music to doodling. When he isn’t making art with his loving family, he prefers to be outside, where Nature breathes of the Divine, and a hammock swing works wonders for the soul.

by David Sklar

“When the butchers killed Lazarus, they knew something was wrong. I saw in their faces how his squeals pierced their hearts. But not one of them acknowledged how they felt.”

It’s such a nuisance, dying every day. Being eaten every day by the same rough men. You may not know this, but my body is still me, even when it’s meat. So I feel the passage of my roasted flesh through their intestines. The battle sweat isn’t so sexy, once you’ve spent time in a person’s gut. But you get to know a man that way, in a way no one else does. I’ve been in the warriors of Valhalla, every one. I’m in them still, becoming part of them.

It’s a hassle, being resurrected every day. Remembering, even after I have been eaten, what form to take when my nephew waves his hammer over my bones.

It’s not the same every day, you understand. And I must remember, every time, how much to change. A spot here, a bristle there. A slightly different wrinkle on my snout. Knowing what the mortal beast will look like when I’m done. Too much, and someone will notice. Too little, I’ve wasted a day.

The first time I tried this, I took too long. The pig was dead of age before I looked enough like him, and I had to walk myself back until I resembled Sæhrímnir again. After that, I practiced on farms in Midgard for a hundred years, learning how much I could alter before anyone mentioned the change. Some things are worth working for, you know — not many, but some. When I could get it done in half a decade, I tried again.

I stole a piglet from a farm on Sable Island. I named him Lazarus, or maybe Lemenkainen, and I looked into his eye and saw the pig he would grow up to be. Then I shrunk him to a size that would fit in a jar the size of my finger, and I sneaked into Valhalla by the cooks’ entrance, with the pig in my pocket.

I hid the piglet in the jar underneath the scullery floor where the scraps were thrown out, where he would have a constant source of food. Then I went to the barn and found Sæhrímnir, the pig they serve in Valhalla every day.

I’d brought another jar with me, for I had planned to hide Sæhrímnir beneath the earth, but when I looked into his eyes I saw the piglet he had been, and I listened to the thoughts he chose to share.

Have you come to kill me? he asked.

I shook my head.

They always kill me, said the pig. They kill me every day.

And you want to live? I asked.

I am tired, Sæhrímnir said. I do not fear death. But I’m tired of dying.

So I became a flea behind his ear. And I whispered of the peace beyond the grave.

That’s nonsense, he said. We’re in the choicest nether real estate, and all the humans do all day is fight.

It was no use to lie any more. The power of a lie, you know, is that people want to believe. Without that, it’s no fun. So I said nothing, but waited with him for the slaughter.

I drank just a bit of his blood — I was a flea, after all. And when they skinned him and lowered him into the cauldron I hopped onto the cook’s apron and waited there.

As the warriors at the long table discarded the bones, I slipped into the pile. And, when my nephew swung his hammer over me, I made myself the pig around the bones.

I carried the bones in my belly, and in the night, while they slept, I returned to the kitchen. I split my belly open with the boning knife, and left Sæhrímnir’s bones in the fire pit.

And every day I let them kill and eat me.

In all the time I dwelt there, they never noticed, but for once, when my brother, the all-knowing, with the one all-seeing eye, brought his horse to the barn there for shelter while the stables were being cleaned.

My brother didn’t recognize me — but his horse did.

Mother? said the stallion.

Shh, said I.

He’s good, my boy. He listened. After my brother had left, I asked my foal, Is your uncle treating you well?

He is a good master, Sleipnir said.

A master? I stammered. He’s your grandfather.

He is a man, said Sleipnir. I am a horse.

I looked my son in the eye and said, You’re smarter than your cousin, but I never put a saddle on him.

This is how it is.

From what I could tell, he believed it. No, I told him. This is about me.

About you? he asked.

Your uncle would rather not think of me as a mare — as a female of any species.

Why not? asked the horse.

Because I was born with a dick between my legs.

And now you’re a woman?

No, at this moment I’m a hog. Try to keep up. But when I finish here I might be a woman, or a man, or a sexless amoeba, and your all-knowing, all-seeing uncle has no place in his taxonomy for that.

He’s unhappy because you’re transgender? Sleipnir asked.

Transgender? I scoffed. Honey, I transcend gender.

Oh.

So we good? I asked.

What became of Sæhrímnir?

I let him rest.

You mean… my son began, and then trailed off.

It is what he wanted, I said.

My son did not respond.

So are we good? I asked.

Tell me again about my father, Sleipnir said.

Of course, I told him. Your father was a splendid beast, a magnificent work horse. Now, me, I’ve never had much use for work, but he wore it well. He helped his master build these walls — not the stable walls, but the walls around all of Valhalla. But for payment he wanted the sun and the moon. And Aunt Freyja. So your uncles sent me to throw him off, so he wouldn’t finish. The craftsman was single-minded, and nothing I did could distract him. But your father was a horse of another color. He broke through his harness, at the sight of a beautiful mare in heat. And I fancied him anyway…

And I told Sleipnir stories until he slept. By the end, I’d regrown udders and ovaries — the maternal instinct is strong, and I still see the suckling foal he was, even now that he’s grown. I decided to leave them there until morning, and I almost got found out when the butcher’s assistant came to my stall.

* * *

When at last the pig that I became looked like the pig I’d brought, I crept into the scullery while they slept, and I opened the jar to let Lazarus out. Even fully grown, he was tiny compared to Sæhrímnir. I made him vast enough to feed an army, and I became the flea behind his ear. I’m sorry, I told him. But he was a mortal beast, born to die and be devoured. If he understood me, he did not show it. If he answered me, I did not understand.

* * *

When the butchers killed Lazarus, they knew something was wrong. I saw in their faces how his squeals pierced their hearts. But not one of them acknowledged how they felt.

When the warriors ate the meat, they called for more. And when he was mostly gone, they squabbled over what remained — with words and grabbing hands, and then with swords. When they were done fighting, the victors devoured the scraps, and the losers picked up their severed limbs and heads, and they put themselves together, like they do every day after sparring.

When my nephew waved his hammer over the bones… well, nothing happened. That was the point.

No one noticed, not at first, but him. He swung the hammer once again, but nothing happened still.

When he swung it a third time, lightning crackled throughout the hall. But the bones did not move.

The men began to notice then, and to gather around, and watch. He swung the hammer, but to no avail. And he thundered, and he hurricaned, and it rained within the hall. But the bones did not move.

And the warriors standing by began to wail. One wept. And then another. And one more. Until the longhouse filled with keening, and the rain flowed from the eaves.

My brother came to the hall and demanded they stop. “What is this ruckus?” he bellowed.

“I will never eat that meat again,” said one of the men.

“You are warriors!” my brother shouted. “Not sheltered schoolgirls! Are you so weak that you weep for a slaughtered pig?”

“We swear, we chose better than this, Allfather,” Toothgrinder the Valkyrie told him.

“They were heroes when we brought them to this hall,” Shieldscraper added, throwing a flagon of mead at the back of a warrior’s head. “Shape up, Ulfric.”

In the form of a sparrow I flew to my brother, and stopped before his face and retook my own shape.

“Loki!” my nephew thundered. “You did this!”

“Of course,” said I, smiling over my shoulder — though I was stiff from having been a pig so long.

And my brother, the all-knowing, asked me, “Why?”

“Look at the warriors of Valhalla,” I answered him, gesturing with one hand to encompass those who had gathered there. “You thought to build an unbeatable army, to train them for thousands of years. And you know your shieldmaidens chose them well. But on your training fields, you banished death. And you provided for their every need. So when they strike each other down, they do not see the pleading eyes of a life snuffed out too soon, but a comrade who will repay them the blow the next day. They might as well be playing a video game.”

“What is a video game?” my brother asked.

“You are out of touch,” I told him, and I turned to walk out of the hall.

My nephew flung his hammer at my head, but I knew he would, so I stood ten feet to the left of where he saw me — his hammer, which always struck true, smashed a hole through the Long Hall’s wall, and I only felt the lightning singe my beard.

I approached the door, but the Valkyrie Shieldscraper barred my way.

“Why did you do this?” she asked me.

“I already answered that,” I told her.

“No,” said Toothgrinder. “You didn’t.”

“But—” I protested.

“The truth,” Shieldscraper demanded.

“I like the world,” I told the Valkyries. “I don’t want it to end.”

“And?” Toothgrinder asked me.

I started to answer, but Shieldscraper gave me that look, the way she does.

“It’s about your nephew, isn’t it?” Toothgrinder said.

“Of course,” I said. “It’s all about him. Everything’s always about him. ‘Why can’t you be like Thor?’ people always ask. Like a brute who thinks a big hammer is the solution to every problem, and people think he’s great and I’m dirt. He even has his own comic book in Midgard.”

“I do?” my nephew asked.

“What’s a comic book?” asked my brother.

“And him,” I said, cutting the air with my hand in my brother’s direction. “I brought him his nephew. I told him, ‘Here is Sleipnir, flesh of my flesh.’ And he gazed on my son admiringly and said, ‘He’ll make a fine steed.’ Who does that?” My fists clenched at my side. “Who the fuck does that, bro?” I shouted at him.

My all-knowing brother had no words.

I stepped out of the deluge in the hall, to the dry outside, and the Valkyries did not bar my way, not any more.

Sleipnir stood there, tied, not far from the hole in the wall. “You should not be tethered,” I told him, and the reins obeyed my words and unlashed from the post. But he stood there, obedient to my father. Where are you going? he asked. Not an accusation, though he had a right. He wanted to know.

I said, “Perhaps I’ll be a woman for a while, and work in an office. They do that now. And they don’t have to tie their hair in front like a beard to fool my brother.”

He cocked his head. Really?

“I don’t know,” I said. I laughed. It’s weird, not knowing — having a moment’s leisure not to have a scheme. “I love this world,” I told him. “All that absurdity. The chaos and all those who live in it. But our family would be content to let it burn.” I really do like this world, you understand, whatever other reasons I have for what I do.

He stood there, impassive.

“You could come with me,” I told him.

He shook his head — not the wild way horses do, but a slow side to side like a man.

“You are the son of a god,” I told him. “You can do anything you want. Don’t waste your time preparing for a war no one can win.”

He gave me a home, Sleipnir answered. Something you couldn’t do.

“He made you a slave,” I said.

He is a good master, Sleipnir replied.

“You don’t need a master!” I told him. “You’re my son! You should bow to no one.”

How’s that working for you? he asked.

I raised my hand without thinking, and he flinched like an animal would. When I stayed my hand he turned to face me again, to look me in the eye. There is war in you too, he told me.

“Come with me,” I implored him.

I’d rather stay here.

I turned and walked away, down the bridge of the Northern Lights. Although the storm was only in the hall, my cheeks were wet. I felt stupid, weeping then, for my boy, who had a home and a life he chose, when I had not shed a tear for Lazarus, or for Sæhrímnir — or for everyone who stands to die if the men of Valhalla regain their taste for havoc. I cried for none of them, but I wept for him.

 

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About the Author

David Sklar lives in New Jersey with 2 kids, 2 cats, and 1 spouse, in a house that has been remade repeatedly for almost a century on its stone foundation on the side of a hill. His published works include fiction in Nightmare and Strange Horizons, poetry in Ladybug and Stone Telling, and humor in Knights of The Dinner Table and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. The guest in the author photo is Beanie, who passed in October of 2021 after a very good and loving life. You can find more about David at davidsklar.blue, and his cartoon Poetry Crisis Line at poetrycrisis.org