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Welcome to Issue 11 of Zooscape!

When the world is crushing in all around, what do you do?  How do you survive?  Perhaps, you find an animal to lead the way, or an animal to stay close by your side.  Or maybe, to survive the pain, you turn into an animal yourself.

These stories are profiles of characters surviving in the space between their worst fears and their greatest hopes; characters surviving pain, making choices, and letting themselves discover the animal inside.

* * *

The Sewers of New York by Elinor Caiman Sands

The Tech by James L. Steele

Puss Reboots by Rachel Ayers

Persinette by Elizabeth Walker

Him Without Her and Her Within Him by Aimee Ogden

A List of Historical Places Frequented by a Boy and His Dog by Eleanor R. Wood

Miss Smokey by Diana A. Hart

Palmerino’s Dream by Joana Galbraith

* * *

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

Big changes are happening at Zooscape.  Our mission is to share the wonder of furry fiction with the world and help get furry recognized as the legitimate genre of fiction that it already is.  To that end, we are doing some restructuring, helping to move us toward the goal of becoming a SFWA qualifying market.  This means:

1)  Starting with the December 2021 issue, our pay rates will increase to 8 cents/word for original fiction with no payment cap.  As our September issue is already locked down, every new story we accept from now on will be paid at pro rates.

2)  In order to pay for this increase in rates, we will be going back to our original plan of three issues per year.  We plan to publish on December 15th, April 15th, and August 15th.

3)  Depending on how these changes affect the flow of submissions, we may have to make additional changes to our slush reading schedule.  However, for now, we will wait and see what changes seem most likely to be helpful.

We are once again open to submissions!  And we’d love to see a story from you.

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

Today we have the pleasure of having the award-winning author J. Malan, aka Erdbok / Erdwolf, talking about his new book, Rekindled. We talk about the setting of the book, what to expect from him in the future, and the process of writing in the current climate. You can pre-order his new book from Goal Publications here: https://www.goalpublications.com/store/p142/rekindled-paperback.html Follow him on Twitter here! https://twitter.com/Erdwolf_TVL Find us on Twitter: @South-Afrifur, https://twitter.com/southafrifur, on Tumblr, http://south-afrifur.tumblr.com/, and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/southafrifur Also, for more local news, check out the Zafur forums! http://forum.zafur.co.za/

Ah, welcome to the May edition of digging up positivity. Slowly the world is recovering. All over the world we see events starting up again and I look forward to the moment I can travel again and see my friends abroad. This episode we have several events, both virtual and ‘classic’, raising money for charity, […]

Okay, here’s something that snuck up on on us: Stitch and the Samurai, a new Disney spinoff manga written and illustrated by Hiroto Wada. “While fleeing the Galactic Federation, Stitch’s spaceship malfunctions and he makes an emergency landing… not in Hawaii, but in sengoku-era Japan! Discovered by the brutal warlord Lord Yamato and his clan, Stitch’s incomparable cuteness is no match for the battle-weary samurai, who decides to bring the ‘blue tanuki’ home with him. Will Stitch’s love of chaos turn into a formidable advantage for the samurai’s influence? Or will his cute and fluffy form disarm the noble lord’s stern façade?” In other words, is the noble lord a stupid-head? Find out now at TokyoPop.

image c. 2021 TokyoPop

This week!

Fiesta 2022 hotel! Drugs, they're good! PRIDE DISCOURSE! Vaccines are also good! Fursuit makers making bank.. good! And more bronies coming out as trans, which is good too.

Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/Southpawscast 

IMPORTANT LINKS
The big Pride history thread we reference - https://twitter.com/vaspider/status/1397709284603879428
Vaccines, a measured response by HBomberguy -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BIcAZxFfrc

Less important but still fun links -
Telegram fan chat - https://t.me/joinchat/P2iJg8tyj-KNGaci 

Episode 492 - Pride(TM) - This week!Fiesta 2022 hotel! Drugs, they're good! PRIDE DISCOURSE! Vaccines are also good! Fursuit makers making bank.. good! And more bronies coming out as trans, which is good too.Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/Southpawscas

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

Special guest Cocadope joins us this week and talks with us about his life in the fandom, his artwork, and other things. Taebyn sings us a very interesting song then Taebyn's hubby; Tatsu, tells us about some Japanese word pronunciations, Bearly reads a particularly grim Grimms Fairytail, and we throw some trivia questions at Taebyn.  Join us for a rip roaring good time on this weeks show. Moobarkfluff.

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 S2E5 - Cocadope, Taebyn Words and a Song, A Grimm Fairy tale, Trivia

No North is a brand new web comic that’s just getting started. It’s written and illustrated by the animator Raquel Simoso, also known as Skailla. There’s a preview video over on YouTube, along with several of Skailla’s other projects. No North is Old West adventure, mystery, and magic — with dogs! “Inspired by classic animal fables, traditionally animated movies, and every old west adventure you can imagine, this story came to life with the support of fans from around the world.” Take a look over at the official web site.

image c. 2021 by Raquel Simoso

There’s a few days left to nominate a furry for the 2021 Good Furry Award!

The award recognizes furries who show the best side of the fandom or work to help others. In 2020, The Fandom documentary maker Ash Coyote won, after Tony “Dogbomb” Barrett in 2019. A trophy and $500 goes to the winner, to be announced by Grubbs Grizzly on his “Ask Papabear” website in June. To help you decide, there’s a list of nominees that makes a good read about furry happenings. More than thirty nominees are eligible for your vote now.

Have you seen or heard anything furry in 2021 that might deserve an Ursa Major Award? 

You can suggest it now for the 2021 Recommended Anthropomorphics List! The list is a guide (but not the limit) for who may deserve an award nomination at the end of the year.

Last month all of last year’s Ursa Major Award winners were announced on YouTube.

The winners:

• Best Motion Picture: Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon, Mélusine)
  Runners-up: Sonic the Hedgehog – Soul – Onward – Hayop Ka!
• Best Dramatic Short Work: ZooPhobia – “Bad Luck Jack” (Vivziepop)
  Runners-up: “The Humiliation of Jinjur Maiham” – “Burrow” – “Mystery Skulls Animated” – “Trick Moon”
• Best Dramatic Series: Beastars (U.S. release of the English dub, Season 1)
  Runners-up: Helluva Boss – Aggretsuko – BNA: Brand New Animal – Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
• Best Short Fiction: “What Makes a Witch”, by Linnea Capps (Weasel Press)
  Runners-up: “Summer Strawberries” – “Familiar” – “The Glow” – “Tittilating Trivia”
• Best Other Literary Work: Difursity: Stories by Furries of Color, edited by Weasel (anthology, Bound Tales Press/Thurston Howl)
  Runners-up: Blacksad: The Collected Stories – Tales of Hayven Celestia – Selections of Anthropomorphic Regalements, Vol. 1 – Bush Heroes
• Best Non-Fiction Work: The Fandom: A Furry Documentary, directed by Ash Kreis & Eric Risher
  Runners-up: The Last Bronycon – From Paw To Print – The Best and Worst Anthro Movies – Furries Among Us 3
• Best Novel: The City That Barks and Roars, by J.T. Bird (self-published)
  Runners-up: On The Mark – Entanglement Bound – Disbanded – Spin the Bottle
• Best Graphic Story: Beastars, by Paru Itagaki (manga, English translation, Vol. 4-9)
  Runners-up: Shine – Found – A&H Club – Oren’s Forge
• Best Comic Strip: Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Jan. 1 – Dec. 30)
  Runners-up: Carry On – Freefall – Doc Rat – The Whiteboard
• Best Magazine: Pocari Roo’s videos
  Runners-up: Dogpatch Press – Furry Writers’ Guild – Flayrah – Zooscape
• Best Website: Fur Affinity
  Runners-up: SoFurry – Loona – Furry Life Online – Stolas
• Best Published Illustration: “Cheers” (by Lofi)
  Runners-up: “A Night At The Fair” – “Paintwork” – “Sir Monty, The Good Boy” – “Take Off Your Headset!!”
• Best Game: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (developer and publisher: Nintendo)
  Runners-up: Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Spiritfarer – Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – Them’s Fightin’ Herds
• Best Anthropomorphic Costume (Fursuit): Zigc the Khajiit – maker: Inerri Creatures; owner, wearer: Zigc.
  Runners-up: Toriel – Cassidy Civet – Inutami Luki the Saluki – Xif

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.)

Nearly three years ago we told you about Solo: Survivors of Chaos, the premier graphic novel from award-winning cartoonist Oscar Martin (Tom & Jerry comics). Well this summer, Mr. Martin returns with Solo Volume 2! “Warner Bros Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Oscar Martin, creates a unique dystopian world of chaos, where every day is a fight to survive. In a future ravaged by nuclear wars, the Earth has given birth to an array of new mutated species, which have grown and repopulated the land. But this new world is far from peaceful, and life in it is often short and brutal…” Find out more when Solo Volume 2 hits the shelves this June, in hardcover from Titan Comics.

image c. 2021 Titan Comics

“The Visitors” officially knits together two of Royce Day’s long-running series about fox-like extraterrestrials into a single timeline: The steampunk/alternate world war “Prisoners of War” series and space pirate romance “The Red Vixen Adventures.” There were hints that they were in the same universe previously and names in common, but this was the first book to establish concrete connections. Aside from a framing device in which an RVA-era foxen noble discovers a secret journal written by one of his ancestors, “The Visitors” takes place thirty years after the first “Prisoners of War” story. Rolas Darktail (who shares his descendant’s name) has retired from military service and is now part of the Mother Country’s rocketry program, liaising with the Gerwartians he used to fight. One day, he gets a surprise visit from his former commanding officer, now in the intelligence service, who makes an impossible and nonsensical demand of them. Attempting to suss why the higher-ups in the government are demanding such things, Rolas encounters a group of strange beings whose very existence will change the course of history on Foxen Prime. You can see one of them on the cover. “The Visitors” presents a rather significant tonal shift from the other books in the series, while they touched on pretty dark material as well, there’s no erotic interludes here. Aside from the prologue and epilogue, which are told in third person, “The Visitors” is in first person as it’s supposed to be a journal. Changing up narrative mode is rare and can be hard to pull off, but it works here. Though I would have liked to see a more epistolary format with perhaps more of Rolas’ coded letters to his wife. I couldn’t bring myself to see things from Reggie’s point of view; he just seems irrationally xenophobic in his response to the Visitors, though that might be the point given that he’s turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism for his PTSD and the loss of his wife. His judging them based on some footage of Auschwitz seems a bit hypocritical given that he fought his own species’ equivalent of Nazi Germany, which was reinforced when a character from said country recognized the context of the footage, a reminder to not let it happen again. But as someone who lives in a country with lots of skeletons in the closet that many people pretend never happened, the foxen and human governments’ ultimate decision to cover up the actual events, for 500 years, hit me kind of hard. If you’re an existing fan of Royce’s writing, or just want to check out a good First Contact story from the non-humans’ perspectives, take a look at “The Visitors.”

The Visitors, by Royce Day

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 13 - Jump to 04:38 for the start. 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.

Fox and Burger Podcast #9: LIFC, Singaporean Furs + More Feat Kaiyoki & Hollud. ---- In this episode of the Fox and Burger Podcast, we're going to the Lion City, that's right Singapore! Joining us today are Hollud and Kaiyoki, both SG furs, and both furs who've had a hand at assisting Singapore's first large-scale fur con, Little Island Fur Con. Join us as we delve into the Singapore furry fandom for the first time! ---- Social Media: Fox: https://twitter.com/foxnakh Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner http://www.youtube.com/c/LightningRunner Kaiyoki fb.me/kaiyoki.munschky TG: @Shibaka Discord: Shibaka#6930 Hollud https://www.facebook.com/hollud https://twitter.com/Hollud Telegram: Hollud Discord: Hollud#1426 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlbCgYvVJW2Q2-05U5v9BA Little Island Furcon https://twitter.com/LittleIslandFC Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8Tvtakt6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8oiydDEQP0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPfA7weWQVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_lVSrPB6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiYqhRb_veg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4pGS0zYE4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCeLkBbehus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YIheK4oAm8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luOqVzenp20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRvJQyBVaQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMOQmpH1biw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlB8s9bEl8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRmgUBNzkJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ9KLhDcRJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7xVyUNNHtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjI8oJmyYiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PYdsoeCuEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VULqRSR2EUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=534DNtOswf0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl56QRAcqYI https://twitter.com/LittleIslandFC/status/1223455934703230976?s=20

Welcome to guest Joe Strike, journalist and author of Furry Nation, the furry fandom history book. (- Patch)

It’s not the first time Jimmy Kimmel has exploited Furry for a cheap laugh or two. (Furs with long memories or prone to Wikifur browsing might remember Kimmel/The Man Show’s 2003 ConFurence controversy.)

— but Kimmel (or his writers’) anti-furry bias has resurfaced with vengeance, judging from a couple of recent throwaway Jimmy Kimmel Show gags. On May 5th Kimmel referenced the ongoing NaziFur controversy in the most trivializing/assholey manner possible:

“Twitter has a feature now that will double-check with you before you post a mean or offensive comment… some people even want to get on the list [of comments or language that should be confirmed before posting].

He then posted a screen capture of a news story comment reading “Can we get “NaziFur” added to the toxicity list? It’s used by furrys [sic] who want to demonize other furrys who they can hate and it causes them irreparable reputational harm.”

Kimmel’s “clever” comeback (perhaps inspired by that memorable Entourage episode – ):

“That’s right, it causes ‘harm’ to the reputations of those of us who like to get a handy in a squirrel costume every once in a while.”

Yes, because nothing says “funny” like comparing fascism to masturbation.

Gag can be viewed here; comment author posted as a nazifur and was banned from Furaffinity.

It’s not the first time Kimmel (or his writers) have thrown in a gratuitous “all furries do is fursuit fucking” either. On April 15th Kimmel Show ran a sketch featuring a Mark “My Pillow” Lindell look-alike broadcasting from inside his laundry room, “Lindell’s” rant is interrupted when his “fiancée” starts pounding on the door:

“Rosalinda’s gonna kill me, she’s gotta wash my rabbit costume – I got a little hot mustard on the spot where you put your dinger through.”

I have to admit visualizing Mike Lindell in a murrsuit, his “dinger” dangling in plain sight is not completely lacking in humor or disgust, or perhaps a combination of the two—and the “hot mustard” reference adds a whole new level of kink to the situation. Still, Kimmel’s Furry=fursuit sex fixation is getting kinda old, doncha think?

– Joe Strike

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 creator of Bird & Squirrel and Gabby & Gator is back with a new graphic novel for young readers — with a sense of adventure! “The Super-Secret Spy Service’s mission is to keep the world safe from maniacal villains. And Agent 9 is one of its best operatives. Although Nine always manages to complete the mission, there is occasionally some collateral damage (like the priceless Pigasso painting that was destroyed while foiling an art heist). So Agent 9 is now on probation. But when bumbling supervillain King Crab manages to overtake S4 headquarters, there is no one else to turn to. Nine — along with a robotic partner named FiN — is all that stands between King Crab and his diabolical plans to melt the polar ice caps and build a massive water park.” Agent 9 Volume 1: Flood-A-Geddon by James Burks is available now from Penguin. Appropriate!

image c. 2021 Penguin Random House

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

We are joined by Science Fiction Author KD Edwards. He talks to us about his Book Trilogy, the Tarot Sequence, and reveals what his fursona would be if he were furry.  Figs are discussed. Why? Who knows.  But we have a great time once again and bring you all the fluffs to your world.  Moobarkfluff.

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 S2E4 - KD Edwards, Five Minute Furs, Figs, A little bit of Math and Really Bad Jokes

Renegade Games and Oni Press present Aggretsuko: Work/Rage Balance, a new card game based on the popular and award-winning anime series. “Aggretsuko is a fast-playing card game for 3-6 players, where each player takes the role of a mild-mannered office worker trying to get through their work each day. If a worker becomes frustrated, they can RAGE to let out their inner heavy-metal rock star. RAGING will provide some much-needed relief from the daily grind, but it may have consequences later on.” Interestingly, the game is illustrated by Brenda Hickey, well-known for her work on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic series. Board Game Geek have a review of the new game.

image c. 2021 Renegade Games

How does a senior furry stay relevant in the furry fandom?

Dineegla (age 67)

* * *

[Note: I personally know Dineegla, as some of my comments below may demonstrate.]
Dear Dineegla:

Great question :) My first gut reaction is that you don't need to stay "relevant." The furry fandom should be something fun and rewarding in itself without worrying about whether others see you as relevant or not. Mirriam-Webster defines relevant as "having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand." So, what you are asking is, basically, how do I keep up with the younger furs and stay in their line of vision.

If you wish to make an impact on the modern fandom, there are two main paths you could take: one is to get super involved in the administration of a furcon or furmeet. People who have been leaders in the world of cons and meets make huge contributions to keeping the fandom alive and vital; the other is to increase your presence in the media. More and more, furries who are getting noticed are those who run podcasts or have YouTube programs. I know you and your husband tried that virtual gym once (not sure if you still have that), but that is to a very specific taste. You need to do something with broader appeal if you wish to get a bigger audience.

There other ways to be relevant, though, if you are very creative. One is to be a popular fursuiter and/or musician like Telegram or Foxes and Peppers, but I have a feeling that is not up your alley. Same with such things as inventing and creating new video or board games, cartoons, feature films, graphic novels, or comic strips. But if you are so inclined toward any of those, that would certainly hold possibilities in making you a name in the fandom.

If you wish to become more relevant, in summary, the answer is to increase your involvement in fandom activities.

Hugs,
Papabear

My fellow Guild members:

I’ll get right down to it — I, Linnea Capps, will be stepping down as president of the Furry Writers’ Guild.

The Guild finds itself at a crossroads. We have launched many new initiatives over the past year, and have been planning even more, working toward formal incorporation as a 501(c)(3) non-profit (alongside new membership benefits). This would require more involvement not only from Guild members but a massive investment of my own time and energy as president.

Unfortunately, I was recently diagnosed with a clinical case of burn-out. I’ll be okay with time to rest, but it has become clear I cannot continue to sacrifice my health this way. I am sorry to everyone this will disappoint, but I hope you’ll understand.

Our amazing staff (as well as many former presidents) have stepped up when needed to ensure that the Guild could continue to function. Unfortunately, with a lack of volunteer help and no other candidates for president, it is uncertain that there will be an enduring foundation for the Guild to expand its operations. It is thus infeasible to continue with these initiatives until such a foundation can be established.

With this in mind, let’s discuss what this means for the Guild going forward.

In accordance with the by-laws, we have gone through each current officer to accede to the presidency, with all declining the role. This leaves the Guild with no president and the by-laws lacking a way to deal with this situation. We have made our best effort to pass on the torch as fairly as possible. As such, beginning today, May 21st, 2021, the Furry Writers Guild will begin a special vote for an election of a president and vice president.

For a period of two weeks from May 21st, 2021 to June 4th, 2021 any Guild member may declare themself as a candidate for these positions. Candidates should announce their candidacies via the forums in the Guild Election section.

In the event that a new president is not elected, the remaining officers will form an interim committee with the intent to sustain our current services while constructing a plan for the Guild’s next steps. I will be staying on until after whatever transition takes place and am here to answer questions.

Before I close, I want to say one last thing — anyone considering running for president needs to understand the undertaking they are signing up for. Please reach out to me or other previous presidents to get an idea of what this entails. The end of our two-week period will be on June 4th, 2021. We’ll update everyone with any voting details as necessary then.

Sincerely, 

Linnea “LiteralGrill” Capps

President of the Furry Writers Guild

Guardians: Downfall is a furry military scifi novel set in the year 2776. In a time of galactic warfare, we join the story on the bridge of the UGSM Serenity, where Captain Fischer is about to launch his Goliath warship to the frontier for testing. We quickly meet a few members of the crew, learn a bit about the world and the tech, and then the ship enters a wormhole and is on its way.

Guardians throws us right into its high-tech, military-style scifi and detailed world build without too much data dumping. The writing is relatively clean and sharp, and the premise is very cool. We quickly meet some engaging, furry characters, learn that they use mechs, and get the initial setup for the story to come. The foundation for the world is pretty cool. Who wouldn’t love furries in mechas?

The characters seem like the sort a reader can easily bond with, and the dialogue is natural and entertaining. Unfortunately, the potentially cool story behind Guardians: Downfall is virtually inaccessible to all but the most determined reader. It is a shame that the story was not edited or formatted properly, but in its current shape, it is all but impossible to wade through.

The entire novel is center justified, with sporadic use of paragraph breaks so that the dialogue and the exposition are all one big block with occasional carriage returns that seem to be an afterthought rather than intentional. The punctuation use is sporadic, and the reader has to sort their way between comma splices, run on sentences, and single lines of the book with only one or two words on them interspersed with huge blocks of unbroken text.

It is almost tragic that a story with obvious potential has been lost in a tangle of formatting and editorial errors, as given a little time and organization, I think it might have been a good read. I couldn’t get very far into it, and believe me, I tried. I felt sad that a story so big, which had taken so much time to be written had not been given the same care to package it into a professional, legible format.

As far as I can tell, the story itself is worth a read, and the only complaints I had about it were a general lack of setting and description which left the reader feeling a little ungrounded. It’s quite possible, however, that the grounding in setting comes later, and I just didn’t have the stamina to get that far.

For a stalwart reader who has excellent vision and doesn’t care about putting in a lot of extra effort to access a story’s content, Guardians: Downfall might be an excellent read. I wish I could tell you for certain.

How do I explain to my children that I'm a furry? Got two of them and want to stop them from getting bullied for having a dad who dresses like a kangaroo.

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Furiend,

Apparently, your children already know you dress as a kangaroo, so how does explaining you're a furry change that? Since your kids' schoolmates already know, too, then adding that you are a furry will not stop the bullying. Indeed, it could make it more severe.

First of all, if your kids are being bullied, make sure the school administrators know. I hope it is not violent bullying that causes physical harm, but even psychological bullying is cruel and damaging. Either way, bullying should not be tolerated in any way.

The schoolyard functions much like a wolf pack. There are alpha wolves and there are omega wolves. The wolves at the bottom get picked on by the top wolves to maintain a social hierarchy. Such hierarchies exist in both the animal kingdom and human society. If your children were not being picked on for having a dad who dresses as a kangaroo, odds are they would get picked on for something else because I'm guessing they aren't jocks or on the top of the social cliques.

You are, therefore, asking the wrong question. The solution is not so much about telling them you're a furry (although it is related; see below); the solution is to teach your children how to stick up for themselves. Schools are not just places to learn math and English; they are places where children learn to navigate difficult social and relationship situations.

You need to teach your children assertiveness, and step one is to be a model of assertiveness to them. Actually, your not telling them you are a furry is a bad lesson to them, so you are correct that you should tell them. By telling them you are a furry and what it means to you, you are demonstrating that you are not ashamed to be yourself. Next, you should explain that they should not be ashamed of who they are. Furthermore, tell them that it is not their job to defend their father. Next time a bully gets in their faces about their kangaroo dad, tell them they should invite those bullies to your house, dress up as a kangaroo, and entertain them for a while. Ask your guests if they have ever pretended to be someone or something they are not, and encourage them to join in on a game of imaginative play. During the imaginative play, you can act out scenarios in which you or one of your kids bullies the bully, but use it as a lesson, such as, "When Mary calls you a fat ass, how do you feel about that? How do you think it made her feel when you called her that?"

There are many strategies in dealing with bullies. The three main ones are to be assertive and confident (not defensive), don't be afraid (most bullies are cowards), and ignore/show no reaction to their bullying. Bullies, like online trolls, thrive on knowing they have somehow hurt you. If you show them their words don't affect you in the least, the bully withers and slinks away.

This page offers more instructions and strategies to help you and your kids: https://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/safety/helping-bullied-child.

Hope this helps!

Papabear