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Welcome to the September edition of Digging Up Positivity! Currently I am somewhere far far away from my studio, working at my home-con: Eurofurence. And online edition is this very weekend! More info about that later this episode. Also, we will announce the winner of this wonderful T-Shirt and for this month I will give […]

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 31 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.

Once again it’s modern takes on classic fairy tales with the new Far Out Fables series of short graphic novels from Capstone. Take Little Red Hen, Video Star (written by Steve Foxe and illustrated by Otis Frampton) for instance. “Animals in Barnyard Meadows are glued to their phones. But Little Red Hen doesn’t just want to watch internet videos. She wants to make them too! Unfortunately, her friends aren’t eager to put in the hard work of creating an online baking show. When each step of the process reveals the wild side of their quiet town, will Red’s friends realize all the fun they’re missing, and can the hen become a video star?” Other titles in the series include The Three Little Flying Pigs, Puss In Magical Motocross Boots, and The Grasshopper and the Ant at the End of the World. Whew! All of them are available now in trade paperback.

image c. 2021 Capstone

And now for something quite a bit different… A popular and award-winning anime series takes on a classic of European fantasy with Aggretsuko: Down The Rabbit Hole. “When Retsuko attempts to go on vacation with Gori and Washimi, she’s pulled into a terrible world where she’s forced to work for her freedom. Featuring all of the fan favorite characters from the office in twisted versions of themselves, Aggretsuko must navigate the twists and turns of a world gone mad!” Written and illustrated by Patabot, this new hardcover graphic novel from the folks at Oni Press hits the shelves this October.

image c. 2021 Oni Press

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

Moobarkfluff!   Taebyn and Bearly are back again with another fun filled episode.  We discuss the new iPhone, Math, TV, Movies and Rayne Raccoon joins us for a recap of Rose City Comicon.  We spend a LOT of time talking about past episodes too. So join in the fun! Moobarkfluff!

 

https://www.bonfire.com/store/bearly-furcasting/

Support the show

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 S2E22 - Remiss, Math, Jokes and Puns, Rose City Comicon

Oxfurred Comma 2021 isn’t too far away now!
We hope you’re all looking forward to the weekend, as we have some wonderful panels planned – with a schedule likely being announced within the next week. (There is still the possibility of more panels being added, so if you have a good idea for one, get in contact with us urgently!)

Of course, Oxfurred Comma is not all about panels. We have a couple of other things that were put in place last year, and we would like to carry them over for 2021.

Firstly, we have the Flash Fiction Contest.
In conjunction with Thurston Howl Publications, Oxfurred Comma will be running a Flash Fiction Contest with the winner receiving $25.00! All stories that follow our guidelines will also be collected within an e-book, which will be distributed for free download after the competition.

We will be accepting one piece of Flash Fiction per entrant. Our definition of Flash Fiction is a fictional story written in 500 words or less. The title does not count towards the word count. There is no genre the submissions must fall under, though we have a theme of HOPE for this competition. Authors may choose their own interpretation of the theme, and do not need to include any justification or reasoning for how their submission fits in the theme. Our only requirements are that the story is 500 words or less and is non-erotic. We want to keep things PG-13 within reason. We encourage everyone to submit, especially BIPOC, disabled, trans, or any other marginalized authors.

Some of these stories will be read during a special convention panel. Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges.

Please send all submissions to the FWG email, with the words Flash Fiction included in the topic.
The deadline for submissions is Thursday 14th October.

Oxfurred Comma will also be presenting the Oxfurred Comma Inclusivity Award (OCIA). This award will be given to a person that has done work to advance recognition for marginalized peoples and groups within the furry writing community.

Last year, the OCIA was given by the Oxfurred Comma staff. This year, we are going to be taking nominations from the public.
All FWG guild members are eligible to nominate someone for the OCIA, though the nominee is not required to be a member to be eligible.
Please send all nominations to the following form: https://forms.gle/hAFDFhVA6ZvLvhod8
The deadline for nominations is Thursday 14th October.

Oxfurred Comma and Furry Book Month are right around the corner. We hope to provide a fantastic month to help and uplift furry writing.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

There’s a new hardcover book available from our friends at Magnetic Press. “Letters From Animals is a collection of stories told from the perspective of different animals whose lives are impacted by human society. It’s a graphical adaptation of wildlife conservationist Allain Bourgrain Dubourg’s celebrated book by the same title… Adapted by wildlife comic author Fred Brremaud (Love, Little Tails, etc) this volume is presented in a visually engaging animated style by artist Giovanni Rigano (Illegal, Artemis Fowl)”. Check out the detailed previews over at the publisher’s web site and also at Comic Book Resources.

image c. 2021 Magnetic Press

And here we go again… Yet another interesting-sounding anthropomorphic animated project that sounds like it’s being distributed all over the world — but not here in North America. At very least not yet. From Animation World Network: “French animation production and distribution company Dandelooo has secured several deals for Billy the Cowboy Hamster, a preschool 2D animated series commissioned by France Televisions… Directed by the Swiss illustrator Antoine Rota (Kaeeloo) and Caz Murrell, Billy the Cowboy Hamster targets 4- to 7-year-olds. The series, based on the popular book series by Dutch author and illustrator Catharina Valckx, has sold over one million books in France and is popular in many other countries. The show follows three friends, Billy, Jean-Claude the worm, and Suzie the stone marten as they embark on thrill-seeking adventures… In the series, Billy wants to become a cowboy, but he is only a little boy… well a little hamster really! Growing up in the Wild West and raised on the exciting stories told by his father, he has a burning desire to hit the trail! Donning his cowboy outfit, Billy sees every day as a chance to go on an adventure worthy of the greatest cowboys.” The series is in production now. Here’s hoping we get so see it out our way sometime!

image c. 2021 Dandeloo

 

DISCLAIMER: Some tweet posts below may contain language considered offensive to some viewers. Reader discretion is advised. In the US, an upcoming Oklahoma-based convention named FreeFurAll has been under fire because furries alleged they have political agendas. The response from the furry community was heated. As a result, in a statement released on Sept 15, […]

Singapore convention Little Island Furcon (LIFC) has recently opened registrations for their 2021 virtual event, set to hold on Nov 13. It will be the first convention in Southeast Asia to hold a virtual event. Attendance is free. When Singapore’s COVID-19 condition stabilises, LIFC says delayed tickets for their cancelled 2020 event will automatically shift […]

Chinese convention Once Upon A Fur Con, or OUFC, has made changes to its plans for the second half of 2021. At first, when local COVID-19 cases spiked in August, OUFC cancelled its second event initially comfirmed for mid-October. Then as cases dropped, the convention announced at the end of August an event to be […]

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 30 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.

Papabear,

Do you think it makes a person happier if they just accept something they don't want to accept? Like, a group having a huge flaw such as bias, but the person doesn't want to accept it because they're afraid it'll ruin their perception of the group and make them hate it (because maybe the group saved their life).

Like, maybe this person is in a fandom and they LOVE this fandom. It makes them happy and they have a lot of good memories of it, but like any fandom, it has flaws. Like, maybe the fandom has a toxicity problem, and to this person the thought of the community that makes them happy being one with a toxicity problem is revolting to them and they deny it.

And this person is me. Honestly, it's bugging me right now. I know that the furry fandom is what you make of it, but I feel like I need to be aware of its issues and use that to be a better furry and a better person. I don't think I'm being clear about what I'm trying to ask, and I'm sorry for that.

I just hope you at least get what I'm trying to say.

Maxi

* * *

Dear Maxi,

If you refuse to participate in any kind of group that has problems in it (e.g., drama, jerks, bad people) then you will never ever join any group (including the human race). I hear complaints all the time about the "toxicity" of the furry fandom. I've been in the fandom for many many years, and I have no problem with it and find the vast majority of furries to be great people. You only get sucked into the "toxicity" if you allow yourself to be and if you hang out with bad furs. Like arsenic in a cup of tea, it only takes a drop to make the entire drink deadly. This is what often happens with furry meetup groups. Many of them are great, but some get taken over by awful people who ruin everyone's fun. This can be a big bummer when that local furmeet group is the one close to you. What I tell furries who have this problem is that they should have a bit of chutzpah and organize their own meetup group. Have meets at local parks, bowling alleys, farmers' markets, whatev, and just have fun with it. When you're in charge, you have the power to tell problem-makers to exit the doggie door and don't come back.

When it comes to the entire fandom and the criticism it has received, there are two things to say about that: The first is that media are finally starting to understand that furry is not a bad thing and, in fact, can do a lot of good. We give to charities, and furcons boost local economies, and no, it is not a big orgy and a sex cult. Sheesh. The bad attention that continues has to do with the fact that today's news (at least in the U.S., but other countries too) is all about sensationalism to gain viewers. Of the tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of furries out there, I've seen maybe 4 or 5 stories that were legitimate horrible crimes committed by furries or that involved furries in some way. That's actually a lot less than the general population, but when a "journalist" notes that a furry was involved, everyone suddenly gasps and says, "Furries are evil!"

You say you love the fandom. Great! If you are enjoying the fandom, then continue to do so, and don't worry about a few bad eggs. But, if it really does bother you that much, then do something about it by being a GOOD furry and setting an example to the world that furries are pawsome!

Hugs,
Papabear

A friend pointed this out to us — and just in time too, as it just hit the shelves! It’s Campaigns & Companions, a new hard-cover book by Andi Ewington,  Rhianna Pratchett, and Alex De Campi, with illustrations by Calum Alexander Watt. “If there are two things all geeks love, it’s roleplaying games, and their pets. So why not fuse the two? It’s time to grab your dice, dust off that character sheet, and let your cat or dog (or guinea pig, or iguana, or budgie) accompany you on an epic adventure! It’ll be great! … unless you have pets like these.” Distributed by Simon & Schuster, it’s available everywhere now.

image c. 2021 Rebellion Publishing

We've been at this a while. Still haven't shut up.

Thanks for sticking around.

LINKS
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Southpawscast 
Fan Chat - https://t.me/joinchat/9tfGxsToz_BkODYx

Episode 500 - Never Shut Up - We've been at this a while. Still haven't shut up.Thanks for sticking around. LINKSPatreon - https://www.patreon.com/Southpawscast Fan Chat - https://t.me/joinchat/9tfGxsToz_BkODYx

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

Without any warning Bearly and Taebyn seem to have just one long joke this entire episode!  Bearly recites his original poem, Taebyn is transformed, we learn if a toad wears a swimsuit, what is Bearly's favorite joke? What is the physics of Aluminum foil? We have a wonderful time this week so tune in and bark along! Moobarkfluff!

BFFT Merch:
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Support the show

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 S2E21 - Words, Old folks, Transfurmation Station, Puns and a Poem

Fans of Muppets and Really Good TV: Rejoice! There’s a new book out called Fraggle Rock: The Ultimate Visual History, edited by Noel Murray and Jody Revenson. “It’s been over thirty-five years since the irrepressible Fraggles first hit the screen in the beloved children’s television hit Fraggle Rock. Created by the legendary Jim Henson, along with Michael K. Frith, Jerry Juhl, Duncan Kenworthy, and Jocelyn Stevenson, Fraggle Rock remains a favorite of fans to this day. This delightful volume tells the incredible story of the bighearted show that helped instill open-minded values in a whole generation of viewers. Fraggle Rock: The Ultimate Visual History follows the show’s creation, from early concepts to the incredible puppetry that brought the unforgettable characters, such as Gobo, Red, and Mokey, to life. Exclusive interviews with Stevenson, Frith, Kenworthy, and several other major contributors reveal fascinating, exclusive insights that take the reader further into Jim Henson’s world than ever before.” It’s available later this month, in hardcover from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2021 Simon & Schuster

Last week on Twitter, we asked you to recommend some of the best furry fiction that you’ve recently read. We’ve compiled these recommendations into one place, complete with links and information on how to buy these great books. We hope that you can find your next favourite in this list.

Note: In some circumstances, books were recommended that were later parts of a series. In these cases, we have linked to book 1.

Disbanded – Frances Pauli (Goal Publications).
Winner: Leo Awards (2020).
Finalist: Ursa Major Awards; Coyotl Awards (2020)

Come forth, for you are special.

Sookahr the architect is just one of many snakes within Serpentia, an underground society where snakes and their rodent companions have lived in peace for as long as anyone can remember. Their destinies are preordained at birth, when they are fit with skymetal bands to enhance the telekinetic powers that aid them everyday.
Given an opportunity unheard of for a snake of his caste, Sookahr and Kwirk, his mouse aid, venture to a recently-destroyed outpost at the far edges of Serpentia, hoping to redesign the structure and prove his skill as an architect. But something watches from the jungle, and whatever attacked the outpost is poised to strike again. Will Sookahr’s drive to rise above his station get his team killed? Or will he respond to the call he’s heard since birth, and be the hero who can save them all?

Purchase in print.
Purchase in ebook.

The Pride of Chanur – C.J. Cherryh
Finalist: Hugo Awards (1983)

No one at Meetpoint Station had ever seen a creature like the Outsider. Naked-hided, blunt toothed and blunt-fingered, Tully was the sole surviving member of his company of humans―a communicative, spacefaring species hitherto unknown―and he was a prisoner of his discoverers and captors―the sadistic, treacherous kif―until his escape onto the hani ship, The Pride of Chanur.
Little did he know when he threw himself upon the mercy of The Pride and her crew that he put the entire hani species in jeopardy and imperiled the peace of the Compact itself…for the information this fugitive held could be the ruin or glory of any of the species at Meetpoint Station.

Purchase in ebook.
Purchase in audiobook.

God of Clay – Ryan Campbell (Sofawolf Press)
Winner: Coyotl Awards (2013)

Driven to the borders of an unfamiliar forest by an ever-expanding drought, two rival brothers find their fortunes and that of their tribe entwined in a long-forgotten conflict between the old gods of the world. Clay’s fervent belief in devotion to the gods does nothing to prepare him for their true natures, while Laughing Dog’s self-assured insistence that his destiny is his own leads him on a very different journey. As battle lines are drawn, each brother must decide where his allegiance truly lies — a decision that will change each of them forever.
Meanwhile, Doto, the son of the sullen and wrathful forest god Kwaee sets out to capture a member of the brothers’ tribe and bring them back to his father for interrogation, believing the humans to be in league with the insatiable fire god Ogya. In the process, he begins to doubt the stories he has always heard from his father about the original conflict, and the mysterious places in the heart of the forest that he was forbidden to ever visit.

Purchase in print.
Purchase in ebook.

Traitors, Thieves, and Liars – Rick Griffin
Finalist: Leo Awards (2019)

Centuries ago, we lost our world. Planetary Acquisitions keeps us alive solely to maintain their vast fleet of gate ships in an endless quest to find them new worlds to settle—or to conquer. Years flutter by like a tree shedding its spring petals, and so we desperately cling to this chunk of dirt-and-machine we call home.And all those centuries since, we’ve been looking for a way out, risky as it might be. Are we fools?Traitors, Thieves and Liars is the first book in a trilogy retelling the events of Ten Thousand Miles Up in a grand epic.The geroo have been trapped in slavery for centuries, searching for useful planets for their krakun masters. And then one day, pirates contact Captain Ateri with an opportunity that may prove too good to be true.Includes the short story Whatever Happened To Commissioner Sarsuk? Which details the downfall of the former commissioner of the fleet.

Purchase in ebook.
Purchase in audiobook.

Entanglement Bound – Mary E. Lowd (Aethon Books)
Winner: Leo Awards (2020)
Finalist: Ursa Major Awards (2020)

Clarity’s home is her spaceship. Living on the move. Planet to planet.
When money trouble forces Clarity and her traveling companion, Irohann, to take on passengers, Irohann worries his secret identity will be revealed. He’s a canine alien on the run from an empire of sentient plants, and their queen has a personal vendetta against him.
But Clarity believes his fears are unfounded and the Doraspians gave up on him long ago.
Heartsick at the idea of losing their ship, Clarity accepts an offer that’s clearly too good to be true, and they find themselves swept up in the crazy schemes of a rogue AI in a stolen robot body and her haphazardly assembled team of disparate aliens, including a hive-minded swarm, a giant insect, a rabbit-like alien, and a living spaceship who loves bunnies. Together the team must break into an abandoned science station, mangled by an entangled particle trying to destroy the universe.
When disaster strikes, Clarity steps up to pull the team together, but it may come at the cost of the very home and friendship she was trying to save.

Purchase in ebook.
Purchase in audiobook.

Eyrie – K. Vale Nagle

A bloody massacre. A looming civil war. Can two opposed gryphons work together to save their kind? Zeph thrills at the wind in his wings and the hunt for wild parrot. As a simple forest gryphon, he never thought much about his sophisticated city-dwelling cousins living in the lofty eyrie at the edge of the woods. But his carefree life turns upside down when he comes across a young city gryphon stunned by her discovery of a field littered with slaughtered animals. Kia always has her beak in a book. But when her best friend goes missing, she flies down to the woodland and gets tangled up with a wild country gryphon and a shocking conspiracy. With food in short supply and war on the horizon, Kia must choose between forsaking her own or allowing Zeph’s people to be wiped off the map. Forced to overcome their prejudice and misconceptions, the unlikely pair races against time to prevent an apocalypse. Can Zeph and Kia unite their species before a fiery conflict destroys them all? Eyrie is the first book in the high-flying Gryphon Insurrection epic fantasy series. If you like mythical creatures, graphic battles, and moral dilemmas, then you’ll love K. Vale Nagle’s darkly compassionate tale. Buy Eyrie to soar into action today!

Purchase in ebook.

Song of the Summer King – Jess E. Owen
Winner: Global Ebook Award for Fantasy (2013)
Winner: Ursa Major Award (2013) – for Skyfire, book 2.

Shard is a gryfon in danger. He and other young males of the Silver Isles are old enough to fly, hunt, and fight–old enough to be threats to their ruler, the red gryfon king. In the midst of the dangerous initiation hunt, Shard takes the unexpected advice of a strange she-wolf who seeks him out, and hints that Shard’s past isn’t all that it seems. To learn his past, Shard must abandon the future he wants and make allies of those the gryfons call enemies. When the gryfon king declares open war on the wolves, it throws Shard’s past and uncertain future into the turmoil between. Now with battle lines drawn, Shard must decide whether to fight beside his king . . .or against him.

Purchase as print or ebook.
Purchase in audiobook.

Shadow Cast – R.A. Meenan

All Matt ever wanted was to become a Golden Guardian, like his father before him. With decades of experience in battle and his powerful wind magic, Matt excels in every task given to him. Well, almost everything – Matt struggles to follow orders. But sometimes following the Guardian Oath means violating those orders when it’s important. However, Matt isn’t a Guardian yet – and he may never be if the Master Guardian has a say in it.
Izzy Gildspine, Matt’s partner, is also bidding for Guardianship, but she understands the Master Guardian’s worries. After all, how could Izzy be a proper Guardian anyway? Her healing powers can’t hold a candle to Matt’s wind powers. It didn’t matter how good she might be in battle – Making her a Guardian would just be a disgrace to the position if she didn’t have elemental magic.
But when their world is invaded, Matt and Izzy have one last chance to prove they deserve the Guardianship. Only their enemy is not what he seems…
Now they have a choice to make – save themselves, their home, and their final chance at Guardianship, or risk it all for the life of an enemy.

Purchase in ebook.

There are obviously so many more books we can recommend. We encourage readers to let us know which furry books they have enjoyed recently. We want to see that enthusiasm shared across our platforms, so if there are any other authors you want to see on lists like these, do let us know!

For now, we hope you support some of these authors and give their books a look. Leave reviews or ratings if possible. Happy reading!

Little Island Fur Con announces online event Starting from Singapore, Little Island Fur Con, or LIFC, has scheduled a virtual event Nov 18. The event, called LIFC Online, is set to break regional records again. This is because it will be Southeast Asia’s very first, and Asia’s third furry convention to do so. LIFC Online […]

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 29 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.