Members of the Anthropomorphic Research Project have launched a new online survey about fursonas, to answer "questions furries (and psychologists alike) have been asking", covering the relationship between:

[…] furries and their fursonas, including the perceived functions of fursonas, the ways they manifest themselves for different furries, and the extent to which furries see their fursonas as being similar or different from their own personality.

Participants, who must be 18 or over, have the option to enter a draw for a $50 Amazon gift certifiate in return for the 20-30 minute survey. The group is also running reaction time tests at Anthrocon 2013 in the Westin on Friday and Saturday, focused on how furs see:

[…] the complex relationship between human beings and animals on this planet.

The team is still signing participants up for their existing longitudinal survey.

Read more: Past survey results from the Anthropomorphic Research Project

We should have all extended the con by a day given the air traffic!, said one responder to a mailing list message asking if anyone else was having trouble getting home from Pittsburgh.

During the convention, an Asiana Airlines jet crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing two, injuring 181, and delaying many flights.

What's your traveling experience been like for Anthrocon? Did you experience any other issues, such as difficulty with the high traffic in fursuit bins searched by TSA agents, following the Guinness World Record attempt to assemble the most fursuiters in one place?

Eddie Drueding's Arraborough series debuted in 2012 with The Unimaginable Road, featuring a "fully anthropomorphic world bereft of a human populace". With 2013 comes the release of The Darkness, again published by Melange Books, and available in PDF and HTML formats or print-on-demand via Lulu.

Proceeds from 2013 sales will be donated to a local animal charity, The Cat Rescue Network.

Book 1, The Unimaginable Road introduced a strange animal planet and the small group of friends who decided to build a safe haven from the deep-laid intrigues of their modern society.

The Darkness finds them facing their painful pasts and confronting their hostile environment. An expedition exploring the dark, mysterious network of caves finds evidence of horrors past, present, and future; and a seemingly random accident in a nearby city sends a tragic figure on a collision course with the peaceful denizens of Arraborough.

Read more: Fred Patten reviews The Darkness

Warning: “Pile” contains graphic sex. A lot of it.

Scott Beecham, a young U.S. soldier, is killed in action and brought back to life as a bioengineered part-human, part-jackal “dog-man” member of a secret team of government super-animal-men agents.

Las Vegas, NV, Rabbit Valley Comics, May 2013, trade paperback $9.95 (68 pages; preview).

In most stories, that would be just the setup for much action. In Pile, that is the story. This novella is a quiet mood-piece about Scott’s awakening in what he assumes to be his army barracks to discover that he is no longer human:

I was alive! I couldn’t feel much yet, but if I was thinking, it meant I was still here. Everything else was just going to have to follow. Right hand? Yeah, I could do that, too. In fact, I could feel my right hand. There was something in it. Something I could form a fist around and squeeze. I did that, and I felt whatever was between my fingers bend a bit. (p. 3)

I opened my mouth, and I could feel senses slowly filing back into place. I could taste the air. There were chemicals: bleach, ammonia, rubbing alcohol, and something sweet. I could smell them, too, every bit of them. I could also smell the dog-girl who was leaning over me. She smelled like the sharp smell of water on roofing tar that came in my window every morning after it’d rained.
I could even smell a cat somewhere around. Since when did the army barracks have a veterinary ward? (pgs. 4-5)

Pittsburgh's appreciation for Anthrocon was proudly advertised on the active block of shops, restaurants and bars by the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Many had windows and signs marked with "Welcome furries!", cartoon foxes, and Furry-themed specials. Hanlon's, next to Fernando's even served breakfast in souvenir dog bowls. (Yum!)

Occasional identity confusion came from the fursuits and furry names - it's a reason for badges, and nothing to be embarrassed about. This can lead to benignly playful and revealing situations. The latter happened on an airport shuttle.