Dogpatch Press

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

Rise of the Silver Moon, by Kuragari Inuken and K. G. Hobbes. Illustrated by Shiki Z. Shigls.
Las Vegas, NV, Rabbit Valley Books, May 2016, trade paperback $20.00 (177 pages).

This is a Medievalish fantasy adventure with funny-animal warriors and wizards, including “dragonkin”. I’m not sure what the dragonkin are supposed to look like, despite the picture of one on the cover:

“The dragonkin straightened and unfurled his wings briefly, flexing them in the cool night air then folding them against his back. Adjusting his clothes nervously and checking that he was presentable in his reflection from a window he stepped up to the door, and knocked far more quietly than such a large fist would seem to allow.” (pgs. 2-3)

So the dragonkin have large wings plus clothes. How does that work? Are the shirts or tunics backless? If the dragonkin are humanoid, do they sleep on their backs with those wings?

Never mind. For a funny-animal adventure like this, it doesn’t matter.

Khan the dragonkin/dragon is the monk-sensei of a martial-art school. He is determined to climb a cursed mountain for the healing flowers that grow only at its top. The flowers grow at the foot of a stone statue of a humanoid wolf that comes to life when he picks them. After an exhausting fight, Khan throws the wolf off the mountaintop to its death. But when it dies, the wolf’s spirit possesses Khan:

“He felt something bubble up in his chest and rise in his throat, escaping his maw in a loud lupine howl! Khan clapped his hands over his mouth and shivered as he kneeled, feeling extremely weak and shaky. Another howl pierced the now silent night and made the dragon double over retching on his hands and knees.” (p. 19)

Khan returns to his dojo (he uses his dragon wings, which are not powerful enough for flight, to glide down from the mountaintop) apparently unaffected, but when the moon rises he is felled by an excruciating pain. He begins to grow blue fur beneath his scales; a sign that his body is being taken over by Saaros, an evil wolf god:

“‘I’ve known enough of the Wolf Cult to see the signs but I never thought to see them in you, old friend,’ he [Bosbe, a Bernese mountain dog] muttered, picking up the pestle and starting to grind the herbs into a fine powder.

‘Wolf Cult?’ Khan asked, his tone confused. ‘W-what are you talking about? Oh gods, my head!’ he moaned, laying back in the bed [yep, he lies on his wings] as he blinked at the Bernese in confusion.

‘The cult of the Wolf,’ the canine replied with a sarcastic laugh. ‘Worshippers of an ancient spirit, a creature of darkness, evil, and vile. They seek to bring it physically in to the world again and with it an age of chaos and violence!’ Bosbe finished dramatically a slightly maniacal gleam in his eyes as he turned to look at Khan.” (p. 43)

Doom approaches! To forestall Saaros and the evil Wolf Cult, Genru the husky hunter, another of Khan’s friends, and Lhixe the red fox thief must get The Book from the mage’s library before Fjlow, the leader of the six green-robed and grey-hooded wolves, do:

“Fjlow started pacing the room back and forth. Stopping frequently to check the suns progress as it starting to set behind the horizon. ‘He knows,’ he muttered barely above a whisper. The perked sets of ears twitched trying to catch every word.

‘Uhh, who knows what, sir?’ the wolf at the back said.

It was a minute before Fjlow turned again to his group. ‘The husky, Genru. If he asked about the mage library he must have known that the book with all the information is hidden there. But he does not know that we seek it as well. I doubt he even knows about us,’ he glowered at the wolves as if they had failed him. They took a step back. ‘He probably doesn’t know the significance of that book either. Still though, we must acquire it before he does! He has the help of that little sneak Lhixe also.’” (pgs. 66-67)

Much helter-skelter ensues. It all ends on a cliffhanger, with “To be concluded in Book 2 – Reign of the Silver Moon.”

Rise of the Silver Moon (cover by Shiki Z. Shigls) is very much a funny-animal novel, with an otter barmaid, lion guardsmen, an eagle librarian, a raccoon martial-arts student, a sheepdog medic, and more. Shigls’ illustrations include an impressive double-page spread.

But! Rise of the Silver Moon is poorly proofread. The authors don’t believe in much interior punctuation in a sentence. “You know there is a curse upon that peak right?” “‘Quite the sight isn’t it Khan?’ said a soft voice.” “He was exhausted his body did not want to obey anymore […]” “Khan pulled his cloak off his scales glittered in the bright light, showing off his muscles and curves.” “The dragon’s earlier question about the wolf statues purpose was answered as the large brute stalk towards him stepping on the precious flowers in the process.” “Hearing the ragged breathing from the beast as it approached.”

Some of the descriptive passages could have used more dialogue. “A soldier at the gate stopped him and asked where he was going. He replied back he planned to ascend the mountain. The guard gasped and pleaded for him to not do so, as everyone that has tried ended up never being seen again.” (p. 6)

I could go on for the length of the book, but you get the point. If you’d like a funny-animal Magic Quest-type novel, you don’t mind the cliffhanger ending, and you’re willing to plow through the wonky punctuation and grammar, then you’ll enjoy Rise of the Silver Moon.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Rabbit Valley

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

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau, by Justin Reece Swatsworth. Illustrated by the author.
Grampian, PA, Dolphyn Visions, December 2008, trade paperback $34.95 (391 [+ 1] pages), Kindle June 2016 $3.98.

“The universe is a living experiment in the realm of possibility. From the largest stars down to the smallest particles of matter, everything exists because at some point it became possible to exist. In this context, time simply marks the beginning and completion of these possibilities. Everything changes in the universe, yet amazingly it never stops experimenting. As one object reaches the end of its existence, a new one is born … the possibilities are endless.

The only constant in the universe is the experience of curiosity. Curiosity is not only the signature of possibility, it is the beginning of it.” (p. 6) Etc., at great length.

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau is the story of one dolphin’s experiences. To the reader, his background may be of greater interest.

“My family and I decided to swim over to the celebration on this particular occasion. After all we lived on the coastline directly opposite the city, and it was only a short swim to reach the docks. The levitation tram would be packed at this hour and honestly, something just felt more natural about the water. There was noting quite like a warm ocean on a brisk evening!” (p. 9)

“As we both glided through the water, I marveled at the sights taking place below us. Vast green tunnels and tubes could be seen stretching for miles, providing services like power, transportation of goods, and walkways for those who did not feel like traversing the waterways of the city and getting wet. These tubes were particularly busy tonight.” (p. 11)

Mineau is part of a world of anthropomorphized dolphins. He is an adolescent living in a coastal city designed by uplifted dolphins for uplifted dolphins. “Dolphins were shown being given legs and arms to be able to work on land, which allowed them to have increased mobility.” (p. 21) Who uplifted the dolphins? That would be a spoiler.

At an annual semi-religious celebration in the city of Atlantis (which helpfully shows key events of the dolphins’ past in a pageant), Minou is ceremonially chosen to give that year’s blessing. The experience, including a vision of Atlantis in ruins, calls him to the priestly Elders’ attention. This leads to Minou becoming an important part of the dolphins’ religious and political hierarchy.

Everything is described in great detail, which helps to bring the dolphins’ civilization to life:

“The elevator slowed, and then gently leveled off before coming to a final stop. The door opened, and the three Elders stood in front of a gleaming entranceway. Giant pillars stood guard on either side, flowing with some strange luminescent vapor. The pillars seemed to be made of the same material as the cubes each Elder carried as verification of their status. Makara had a slight grin on his face, unusual for such a solemn occasion, for he knew what the two elders were about to witness. The three scanned their Holoform Cubes once more, then walked through the door. The room opened up into a grand semi-circular hall, and had enough seats for all fifty current minor Elders. Up front, on a raised balcony, sat five seats for the High Elders, who were evidently present before anyone else; they sat with expressionless faces, and Makara could not tell if it had to do with the meeting or just their wait. Finally, in the middle of the room, sat the secret for which the Sanctum was created. Encased in a shielded pillar, the Orb sat for all to see, almost completely intact except for one corner where a large crack had formed. Tiny shards lay on the pillow all around the Orb, one of which Makara recognized from the Ceremony. He had recently held it himself.” (p. 32)

The reason for the Elders’ meeting is to discuss Mineau’s vision, and incidents that they know about which support it. Their conclusion is to keep a surreptitious watch upon Mineau. Makara, who turns out to be an important supporting character, has his own opinion. “He felt Mineau may be in more danger than anybody else in the hall realized.” (p. 36)

The Origin Chronicles: Mineau begins with a colorful combination of Mineau’s teenage life alternating with the dolphin Elders’ quiet watch of him, with further details at length of the Elders’ religio-political structure, and of the growing menace to the dolphin civilization. The detail sometimes seems excruciatingly slow, but it leads to scenes of action and violence, including military conflict:

“The battle appeared over, much to the amazement of the Ti’eminar Guard. As the smoke cleared, they surveyed what had just occurred. Outnumbered, outmanned, and outgunned, they had succeeded in averting disaster for the city. The battle was not without losses, however. As the guards began to gather and regroup, most ended up carrying fallen comrades. The mood was solemn; easily half of the guard had been lost. Many dolphins had lost close relatives in the battle; some even carried their family members themselves. Guardsmen expressed every emotion possible, and each took turns expressing the opposite emotions of joy and despair.” (p. 193)

Minou moves from an unaware adolescent to an informed and major shaper of events. Swatsworth provides 22 full-page illustrations, mostly in full color, including the cover. The dolphins’ world (which is shared by intelligent whales) is an exotic one, with sometimes-drastic changes. As the introduction indicates, the universe is a living experiment. Expect the unexpected.

Check out Swatsworth’s website. In addition to his artwork, it includes photographs (taken at Anthrocon?) of several high-quality fursuits that he has made, including one of Mineau.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

When most of us think of Furry writing we think of your standard novels, novellas, short stories, even comics, but one form that doesn’t get the same attention is poetry. Mainly cause there hasn’t been too many opportunities in the fandom to showcase anthropomorphic poems. There are a few exceptions like Heat and the soon to be released anthology Wolf Warrior III which offer collections that mix poems with short stories, but there hasn’t been an anthology dedicated to poetry alone. Until last year when Laura “Munchkin” Govednik released Civilized Beast. Now she’s back again for round two. Civilized Beast 2016 is open for submission.

So where did the idea of doing a poem anthology come from?

The idea for Civilized Beasts started in the Furry Writer’s Guild.  I was surprised to find there were other members and future members who also had a high interest in poetry and hoped to see more of it in the community.  Through various discussions, I realized that a poetry collection about animals for animals could be a great way for people in and out of the furry community to connect.

When it comes to theme, Civilized Beasts does the same thing as Heat by having a generally open theme for everyone to play with.

The theme this year is the same as last year: Animals, be it the outside observation of animals, in the mind of an animal, or the symbolism of an animal.  By leaving the theme so open, it allowed poets a lot of freedom last year, and an incredible variety of poetry was submitted because of it.  It is my hope that poets will be just as inspired this year, so I decided not to limit the theme.

Munchkin is looking for all kinds of poems. Whether they are your traditional rhymes, sonnets, haiku, or free verse. You are free to write what speaks to you. Munchkin wants you to think outside the box. To go wild. There’s even no word count limit to your poems.

For anyone interested, there’s no maximum or minimum line count, though longer poems will be looked at more critically since we only have so many pages to work with. 

The only thing to be aware of is that the poems must be suitable for a general audience.

We’re aiming to keep all the poems rated GA (General Audience) so that people can comfortably share Civilized Beasts with children and adults alike.  Variety is the spice of life, so anything from insects to whales, from the loyal canine curled up at your feet to the wild lion stalking to the Savannah to the weary elephant in the zoo, from the possible thoughts of the mouse near your dust board to the undeniable pull of the wild found within us all, we want to see it.

Munchkin herself has been an active member in the writing community. Having works published in both ROAR Vol. 6 and Will of the Alpha 3. Writing about walking, talking animals since she was a child.

I was writing stories about anthropomorphic characters since around 1994, at the age of ten, though back then I had no idea what the word was for it or that there was an entire community of people also interested in half human, half animal creatures.  They fascinated me though, and was only further fueled by my love for animals.  I became focused on stories that could explain how they came to exist and how their differences from humans would change things for them, and I’m not ashamed to say that I was a huge Animorphs fan.  It wasn’t until 2002 that a friend introduced me to a role playing site for furries, and I felt like I had finally found home.  Funny enough, it took eleven more years before I learned that there was an actual writing niche in the community thanks to the Furry Writer’s Guild, and that feeling of finding home blossomed anew.

As her involvement in the fandom grew, so did her roles.

I’ve been a beta reader over the years, but Civilized Beasts 2015 Edition was my first official editing job.  I seem to have a bad habit of diving into things head first when it comes to the furry community, though I have no regrets.  I’ve had one other editing job since (Fragments of Life’s Heart, through Weasel Press as well, an anthology all about love), and learned there’s a vast difference between editing for a collection of poems and editing for a collection of stories.

Civilized Beasts is a non-paying anthology. Contributors will be given a copy of the book, but all profits of the book will go to the charity, Wildlife Conservation Society.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is a non-for-profit group that works toward not only helping to save endangered wildlife, but also various habitats.  They’ve taken amazing steps in conservation and have played a large role in saving endangered species.  I wanted to stick with the animal theme and donate to a group that was involved worldwide, while also making certain that the money donated would go to the intended cause.  The WCS has an amazing track record with this compared to other groups I looked into, and a couple members of the Furry Writer’s Guild had worked with them before with positive results.

The deadline is October 1st and must be submitted to [email protected]. More info about poem requirements can be found here. If you want to see what poems got accepted last year, pick up a copy of Civilized Beasts 2015 for reference. Go forth my Furry friends and let your muse flow. To bring to life a poem that will make the heart grow.

-Matthias

There was a silly post here that mixed politics and the friendly community of furries. I got a little heat from all sides for that. (I wouldn’t have it any other way… whether it’s a controversy or a furry cuddle sandwich, I like being in the middle.) Why do that? Because it’s a group of people just like other people, so they mix it themselves sometimes.  Not my fault for noticing.

It relates to a post by another blogger. Let’s get to his in a minute, but first meet Zachary Byron Helm. He’s a talent I have appreciated since Livejournal, the kind who would be considered some kind of subcultural mogul in a big coastal city.  He has gathered a following of his own from his lair in Colorado. It’s an entirely different subculture, but you might have seen me post about loving punk/goth and industrial music from time to time. (Subcultures are at their best when they mingle and mutate.)

Zach makes up for lack of fluffy tail with outrageous fashion sense. Look at this guy:

• He collects hearses, rebuilds them by hand, and customizes them with no-shit working flamethrowers on top.
• He gathers fellow hearse enthusiasts for an annual event called Hearse Con.
• That’s totally a goth thing to do (goth in Colorado: why not), so he also makes goth-flavored Youtube videos with his own bad-ass auteurial vision under the moniker S.O.R.P. films.
• They’re funny. Goth humor can be as unexpected as seeing mainstream tastemakers act like they just discovered a cool new trend called “furries”. It makes me wistful for when SNL had Sprockets with Dieter.
• Check his Nine Inch Nails parody. I think there’s a micro-genre of those and it’s the best one.

• Zach has a super-ambitious labor-of-love DIY B-movie in the works, called “Death Hearse on Satan’s Titty Highway.” Look at that title. It’s a finely-crafted string of magical power words. The little bits shown so far have stunts with flaming police cars. Is that not bad-ass?
• So, like I said, a bad ass and he blogs like it. (I hope he replies and tells us his favorite or most widely-shared pieces.)

That stuff is a great example of true passion and creativity. I hope this brings him a new follower or two.

Recently, I saw Zach post stuff with some politics in it, about the 2012 movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado. (Zach said he knew people at the theater.)

It caused a problem specific to furries, a chill on activities that are close to our hearts.  Look no further than 2016’s biggest movie, Zootopia.  Many of us wanted to celebrate it in furry form, but theaters aren’t so tolerant about masks or costumes any more. (Previously a topic in “Furries and security worries“.)

Blame the shooter, James Holmes. That jerkwad ruined our fun (on top of everything else.) He was convicted for the murders and thrown in a hole for a few thousand years.  But sadly, that didn’t make it easy again for us to have movie meets and spread hugs in fursuits.

Despite the issue, Zootopia meets DID happen and boy were they popular. My article about furries renting theaters was the most viewed ever on this site.  I didn’t give it a fraction of the effort that some other Furry News gets, and it had thousands of shares on Facebook and quotes in national news.  Back in 2000, Vanity Fair did a hit piece about us on the level of a class jock picking on you every day in high school and then following you home to keep it up for 12 years. They were led to quote Dogpatch Press while positively covering furries and Zootopia. Our enthusiasm won out.

Zach probably doesn’t know about any of this, but he looked at another side.

Several victims of the Aurora shootings sued the theater chain because they said the theater didn’t have sufficient security to prevent a mass killing.

First off, WHAT theater in this country is equipped to stop a mass killing? ANY!? The whole lawsuit hinged on the notion that another victim in this whole tragedy (The theater chain) should have done something to stop a horrible event that no one could have foreseen….

…The one person we can blame isn’t someone we can go after any more than we already have, so people go “Well shit, who can I go after!?” Then someone suggests the theater chain and they see a payday for their suffering.

I’d like to mention the woman who sued McDonald’s for spilling coffee in her lap. It was widely ridiculed as a frivolous lawsuit.  If you take a closer look, it wasn’t (third-degree burns, skin grafts, and two years of recovery after the restaurant was warned about serving molten lava.) She made a statement about corporate practices. Don’t judge so fast!

With the Aurora victims, I doubt they were just looking for a payday. Look at how little money was on the table. It would have been $30,000 each for three worst victims and less than $2,000 each for the rest. I wouldn’t take that for suffering unconsensual noogies. That’s “condolences, have a jumbo bucket of popcorn.”

It’s known that movies are some of the last large gatherings with little to no security. They were looking for a change to corporate policy to stop future shootings. Justified or not, that’s good intentions. But the court couldn’t find the theater liable.

Fine, but… then they piled $700k in cost penalties on the last holdout plaintiffs, who apparently had so much grief that they would be martyrs for a message about corporate responsibility. IANAL, but I believe it should be said that was due to a special quirk of Colorado law.  Usually, sides are supposed to bear their own costs. So good intentions were treated as frivolous in a manner usually reserved for exceptional malicious litigation. Uncool, man.

That’s my small beef with Zach’s opinion. The theater isn’t Mom and Pop’s sandwich shop defending itself from an evil billionaire developer like in the movies. It’s a damn national chain. That’s not a person vs. person dispute. Getting to throw costs back just makes me think, even if nobody was a winner, it seems to award suited executives power to not even have to listen to The People for anything at all.

I sympathize at least with the victims intentions. And I’m a furry who wants less paranoia!  This connects to fandom in the way it involves business vs. culture. With the bigger-dumber blockbuster business, I see a trend towards soullessness, where art and passion is an afterthought.  They could be herding passengers on and off of busses as much as putting butts in theater seats. “Ass the movie” isn’t far off.

Caring Citizens and Fans were the losers of these broad happenings. Corporations and Holmes won that.

In the Furries and security worries articles, one is by Andrew, a furry movie theater employee. He discussed how Holmes used costuming (and how it’s unfair to judge us by his attack and ban all masks).

I’m no Dr. Fureud, but I think Holmes could be an example for Fandom Gone Bad. That genius confused movies with real life and somehow decided to be an actual Batman villain, at everyone elses expense. Unlike some of our own Fandom Problem Children I can’t find anything sympathetic about that.

You can say that the antithesis to Holmes is guys like Zach, and every furry who makes the activities we love possible. I’m not inviting Zach to a cuddle sandwich (it might mess up his mohawk) but I have dreams of wacky-ass mashups like the furries vs. Klingons bowling meets and Goth Day at Disneyland.

That huge preamble serves to make a point. I wanted to mention what convinced theaters to let furries come in costume to Zootopia shows.

Caring about community. We had to find the small, independent, or personally-caring theaters who would overlook things like liability or furryphobia or whatever, and let us come be silly animals anyways.

That’s the antidote to corporate soullessness and empty evil narcissism. It might bring a little of what those plaintiffs could use.

I don’t find it anywhere more strongly than with my furry friends. If you organize a meet, think about how to get support by showing what a great community we have. I don’t know if goths would care, but you can see the appreciation here. (And they have flamethrowers!)

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

The Dragon Tax, by Madison Keller
Portland, OR, Hundeliebe Press, June 2016, trade paperback $9.99 (141 pages), Kindle $2.99.

This lighthearted little book is an expansion of the short story that appeared in the RainFurrest 2015 charity anthology, A Menagerie of Heroes; now out of print. Sybil Dragonsbane, a young professional dragon slayer, is called to the Kingdom of Thima. It has a dragon problem – but not the usual kind:

“‘Actually, we quite like having a dragon on the island,’ the King sat forward, eyes shining. Multiple chins jiggled as he wagged his hard around theatrically. ‘They bring lots of adventurers through the town, adventurers who all pay for a permit to hunt the dragon. They drop gold at local businesses before going off on their hunt. Whether they survive or not, that is not my problem.’” (pgs. 5-6)

None of the previous dragon hunters have survived, and the dragon has amassed quite a pile of gold and gems. Now King Jonathan has decided to tax it. The problem is getting the dragon to pay the tax. That’s why he has summoned Sybil; to offer her the new post of Thima’s dragon tax collector:

“‘My fee is double.’ Sybil placed her hands on her daggers.

‘Double?’ the King roared, surging to his feet. ‘I’m not asking you to kill the thing.’

‘True, what you’re asking is even more dangerous. You’re asking me to leave a dragon alive, a dragon that now will know my scent and my tricks. If that won’t work for you …’” (p. 8)

What happens, about a third of the way through, is unexpected. It is probably supposed to be a major surprise to the reader, but it is impossible to keep from giving away a spoiler and to go on reviewing the final 2/3 of the book. Briefly, Riastel the dragon turns human; Sybil learns that King Jonathan and his wizard Baldwin lied to her and have a more sinister plot, and the dragonhunter and dragon-turned-human team up to save both their lives. Also, Sybil is a young woman and Riastel makes a very handsome and hunky human male. Romance ensues. This is Book One of a series, so the reader will not be surprised to have an ending that leads to further adventures.

The Dragon Tax is Book One of The Dragon Tax Saga. It’s good fun, but it’s very lightweight. From a furry viewpoint, the dragon can talk – that’s it. Some of the rationalizations are not really convincing; for example, the laborious reasoning why Sybil doesn’t quickly kill Riastel when he’s turned into a helpless human in front of her:

“‘Look, it’s just a guess. In the meantime we should get out of here.’ The girl cocked her head, her eyes raking up and down his new form.

‘We?’ Riastel snorted and scooted back again. A sharp rock dug into his rear and he yelped.

‘Yes, we. You won’t last a day without some help.’ She stood and offered her hand to him.

Riastel shivered and flinched back. ‘You have a cloak made of a dead dragon. You’re a dragon hunter. Why would I let you help me?’

‘You think I want to work with a dragon? You’re all killers, but, look at you, I …’ she trailed off and shook her head, hand still extended out to him. ‘Just, I’m offering to help you. If you want to return to your scaly, fire-breathing self, you need my help.’” (p. 43)

I may be disappointed because I read The Dragon Tax in its short-story form in A Menagerie of Heroes. That was only 26 pages; a tightly-written gem. The 141-page novel seems bloated by comparison. Sybil’s refusal to kill the dragon-turned-human there could be justified by her surprise at Riastel’s turning human, and deciding not to do anything final until she’s found out what’s going on. The more that she consciously rationalizes the choice in the novel, the less convincing it seems. The first scene in the short story, of the dragon on the beach, seems weaker when rewritten to appear after the throne room scene. But for those who have not read the short story, the novel is fine.

Keller has done her own cover. It’s good in showing exactly how Sybil Dragonsbane is supposed to look. She might get a different cover that fits the paranormal romance genre, and package the book to play up the growing romance between Sybil and Riastel-as-hunky-human.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

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

Fairytales Written by Rabbits, by Mary A. Parker. Illustrated by Michelle Cannon.
Melbourne, Vic., Australia, Ferox Publishing, September 2015, trade paperback $12.99 (x + 228 pages), Kindle $2.99.

Despite the charming cover by Michelle Cannon, “Fairytales” is a single word everywhere except on this cover.

Its countryside world seems very familiar —

“But first they must catch you.” (p. 1)

With a major difference –

“The dust came in the late evening, many seasons ago.

Flashes of light flowed and danced across the twilight sky. Green, orange and purple streaks twisted among the clouds and stars. The rabbits were frightened at first, fleeing to the familiar darkness of their burrows, away from the unknown.” (pgs. ix-x)

Fairytales Written by Rabbits is both fantasy and science fiction. It begins with the same scenario as Richard Adams’ Watership Down; the peaceful realistic life of a countryside rabbit warren. This is interrupted by an unknown world-changing spectacle similar to that at the beginning of John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids; the sky is full of something strange.

What happened? It’s never explained. But man never comes to the countryside again. And little by little, over generations, the wildlife grows more intelligent.

Heath and his sister Millet are the young rabbit protagonists of Fairytales Written by Rabbits. In the first chapter, while they are foraging for food in the nearby meadow, lightning during a sudden violent thunderstorm (it’s implied that weather conditions have changed drastically since the dust) sets fire to a tall eucalyptus tree near the entrances of their burrow. A black hawk, also grown more intelligent since the dust, uses a burning branch to set backfires driving foraging rabbits away from their warren:

“‘We need to be upwind,’ she [Millet] said, ‘I think we need to get to the other side.’ Heath wasn’t really listening; he was too preoccupied staring at the hawk as it dived towards the warren. The hawk rose on the hot air from the flames again, clutching not a rabbit in its talons, but a glowing stick.

‘What does it want with that?’ Heath wondered out loud. He’d never even heard of such behaviour from a hawk. But the flicker of curiosity quickly turned to a wave of dread as the hawk sailed closer, and dived towards them, burning stick still in its talons.” (p. 10)

The hawk pursues Heath and Millet, possibly because they’re two rabbits close together. They are driven by both the hawk and the spreading grassfire away from their warren, towards a large stone burrow that readers will recognize as an ancient human drainage pipe.

The rabbits are familiar with the thing, but fearful of it. It’s become known as the Great Stonecutter Rabbit’s burrow in the rabbit’s religion that has developed since the dust:

“The legend of the Great Stonecutter Rabbit was born, a giant that dug through rock and hills so that a little water would still flow to the rabbits. It was a gift, and worthy of respect instead of fear.” (p. 5)

Heath and Millet enter the large pipe farther than any rabbit has explored before. They are unexpectedly swept still further by a threatening flood that almost drowns them (readers will recognize a flash flood from the storm) and washes them out the other end, into unfamiliar territory:

“Hopefully there would be some decent grass and a chance to properly recuperate before attempting an overland journey home. But which direction to go? He assumed the stone burrow travelled more or less straight, but the more he thought about it the less certain he became.   They might end up in a completely different direction. They may never see the warren again.

This idea was not as distressing as he expected it to be. He was a young buck, and would have been expected to move on from the warren eventually anyway.” (p. 35)

It would be a spoiler to give away what Heath and Millet find and what adventures they have, but they are both science-fictional and magical, together and separately. There is mystery and excitement. There is heartbreak and redemption. There is death, both old and new. There are other animals that readers will recognize; notably Stares-at-moon, the longtail. Fans of Watership Down – and who isn’t? – will want to read Fairytales Written by Rabbits.

The author says, “All author royalties earned from the sale of this book will be donated to the Big Ears Animal Sanctuary, Tasmania.”

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

Submitted by Fred Patten

Doglands, by Tim Willocks
NYC, Random House, September 2011, hardcover $16.99 (308 [+1] pages), Kindle $9.99.

This has been published by Random House Children’s Books, but packaged to look like an adult title. Most reviews (non-furry) have compared it to London’s The Call of the Wild crossed with Adams’ Watership Down. The dogs in it talk to each other, which qualifies it for reviewing here.

“Once upon a time in the Doglands, a blue greyhound gave birth to four pups in a prison camp that the dogs called Dedbone’s Hole. The blue greyhound’s name was Keeva and she named her firstborn Furgul, which in dog tongue means ‘the brave.’ Keeva loved Furgul from the moment she saw him, but as she licked his newborn body clean and gave him her milk to drink, her heart was filled with fear. Furgul had been born with a terrible secret. And she knew that when the masters discovered his secret, they would take him away.” (p. 3)

Furgul is born into a puppy farm, specifically a greyhound breeding farm whose purpose is to produce as many greyhounds for dog racing as possible:

“When the pups no longer needed Keeva’s milk, they joined the other hounds in the exercise yard and Furgul got a better look at Dedbone’s Hole. A lot of greyhounds lived here, in a compound surrounded by a high wire fence. Outside the fence he saw a junkyard and some shacks. Inside the compound the greyhounds were locked in crates – one crate each, where each hound lived all alone – which were even smaller than the whelping cage that Furgul lived in. For just one hour a day the hounds were released from the crates to feed and exercise. The masters made sure there was never enough food for all the hounds, and so the hounds had to fight one another, snarling and biting at the filthy troughs of grub to get enough to eat. The older dogs said the masters starved the dogs on purpose to make them compete, so they could find out who was weak and who was strong and who might make a good racer. They did it to teach them that it was stupid to make friends. They did it because they were bullies who thought it was fun to feel so powerful.” (pgs. 4-5)

Furgul learns that his father was named Argal:

“‘Where is he?’ asked Furgul.

Keeva shrugged. ‘Your father is like the wind. He goes wherever he chooses and he does whatever he likes.’

‘Wow,’ said Furgul, ‘he must have a really great master.’

‘Argal doesn’t have a master,’ said Keeva. ‘He’s free.’

Furgul frowned. ‘What does ‘free’ mean?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Keeva. A troubled look came over her face. ‘Argal tried to explain it to me – something to do with what he called the Doglands,’

‘The Doglands?’ Furgul felt the fur on his back stand up on end. The word sang in his blood. ‘What did Argal say?’

‘I wasn’t really listening. I was in love.’

‘Where are the Doglands?’ asked Furgul.

‘I don’t know that either,’ said Keeva. Confusion and pain clouded her eyes. She looked out between the bars of the cage in which all five of them had to lie day and night in their own pee. She gazed out beyond the high wire fence, past the rusting heaps of trash in the yard, to the mountains on the far blue horizon. ‘Maybe the Doglands are somewhere out there.’” (pgs. 8-9)

Furgul’s secret is that Argal wasn’t a bloodhound, so he’s a crossbreed – a mongrel – and when he gets older and it’s obvious to the masters that he’s not a pure bloodhound, he won’t be eligible to race, and he’ll be put down. He has to escape first; to become free to look for the Doglands and his father.

At first, Furgul doesn’t escape as much as he goes through a series of terrifying mishaps that he is fortunate to get through alive. Then he becomes a pet, which is safe but both boring and frustrating. Whatever Furgul wants to do seems to get him a “No!”

“Then there was walking.

You would think that walking was the easiest thing in the world. But no. Walking was a whole new dimension of yelling and rules. First of all Furgul had to wear a collar all the time, which he hated. Then, whenever the dogs went outside, a leash was attached to the collar, so that Furgul had to walk in step beside a Grown-Up. Whenever he stopped to examine an interesting, unusual or delightful smell – like another dog’s pee – the Grown-Ups would tut and mutter and pull him away.” (p. 64)

When Furgul tries to escape from that life, Doglands turns into slapstick comedy. Here Furgul tries to disguise that he’s a loose dog by mixing in with eight other dogs being walked by an improbably oblivious dog walker:

“Furgal slipped into the middle of the pack and slunk along as close to the ground as he could. He blended in like Kinnear [a bulldog] at a squirrel’s birthday party. There was a Pomeranian, a cockapoo, a mini schnauzer, a Jack Russell, a Cavalier King Charles, a Yorkie, a dachshund and a chow. One had a bright pink collar with golden studs and another a leopard-print leash. Some wore ribbons and jewels in their hair. The dachshund wore a little red dress.

The tallest of them was twelve inches shorter than Furgul.

Worst of all, every one of the eight ‘dogs’ was a girl.

They all gaped at Furgul with their tongues hanging out.

‘I’m traveling in disguise,’ whispered Furgul. ‘So just act natural, girls. Don’t attract attention – and, please, keep your voices down.’

He was instantly deafened by a clamor of giggles, squeals and chatter.

‘Who’s this tall drink of water?’

‘Don’t look now, ladies, but he’s a dog. A real one.’

‘You know what they say about a long snout.’

‘Look at those scars!’

‘And those thighs!’

‘I bet he goes like a train.’

‘The cheeky devil isn’t even wearing a collar!’

‘He’s stark naked!’ (pgs. 88-89)

This is followed by the Dog Pound, and the story turns grim with the threat of death again. Then – well, Furgul has lots more adventures. Always going towards the Doglands.

Doglands (cover by Angelo Rinaldi) is very readable, but it’s no Watership Down or The Call of the Wild. The mood swings in the story are too artificial; they destroy any believability. Furgul often uses a simile in his vocabulary to something that he couldn’t know about. Here’s one of the worst:

Finally, Kinnear – who had watched these disasters with amusement – explained it to him. ‘Don’t you get it?’ he said. ‘Rupert is you new name. Your pet name.’

‘Rupert?’ said Furgul, horrified. ‘That’s even worse than Kinnear.   Or Tic and Tac. It sounds like a bear’s name. A bear who wears checkered pants.’” (p. 63)

That’s something that Furgul wouldn’t know about – Doglands covers his life from his birth, and there are no bears in it. It’s also a reference to the English Rupert Bear children’s newspaper feature; he wears yellow checkered pants. Willocks’ inability to refrain from putting jokey in-group references into his novel have made it a clever writing exercise rather than a narrative that you can get lost in, like Watership Down or The Chronicles of Narnia.   But how many furry books are classics? By all means, read and enjoy Doglands.

–Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

(Continuing yesterday’s Part 1.)

Here’s the thing – most of the anger towards Fursonas is because it wasn’t the doc we expected, or to some, what they wanted.

A lot of that comes with the general history of the fandom. How media took our hobby and portrayed it as a pagan cult of sex crazed orgies, by animal-suited maniacs.  From Vanity Fair, CSI, MTV, etc portraying us as a fetish rather then a community of artists, writers, dancers, and more.  The way they just don’t get what we are about is what many members in the fandom have been fighting to overcome for years.

And it’s been more or less a success, even with the press, as the fandom evolved to what it is today.  To how we see each other, what we believe in, and just enjoying the weirdness that we are.  After newly turning that corner, perhaps Fursonas could threaten to bring back all the negative old things they been working to overcome.

But that’s not what Fursona is or ever tries to do.

[DR]: My movie is meant to question what a “negative view” of the fandom is. While furry is definitely an accepting place, I do think that there’s a double standard in this community. People want to be accepted for themselves, but sometimes find it hard to accept things that are outside of their own comfort zone. I see this all the time in communities and I see it all the time in furry. Just look at babyfurs, and how plenty of more “normal” furries don’t want to have anything to do with them.

I love this fandom so much that I want it to be better. I think if we’re going to keep patting ourselves on the back for being so accepting, that means having to ask some difficult questions of ourselves—how much do we accept? What is the price of individual expression in the fandom? What is a “good image” and much is it worth? I still grapple with these questions all the time.

This is something I agree with. Our fandom does have a double standard. I know it because as a gay man I’ve seen how a community that views itself as open minded and accepting of all walks of life is also filled with selfish, shortsighted, rude, or even despicable people. Same with the kink community, with it’s view of itself as open minded and accepting to all walks of life, only to see some sides view other sides as inferior or even taboo.  It’s the very same with the Furry fandom. We’re a community that is open minded and accepting, and guess what I’m going to say next.  We’re also regular flawed humans.  It’s not hard to see a pattern when you’ve seen it repeated many times.

This is what Fursonas talks about, and it’s not what everyone in the fandom wants. Which is why many have seen Furries as the preferred doc, with its more positive view of the fandom over Fursonas criticisms.

But here’s the other thing, Furries wasn’t made for the fandom. Let me ask you a question: if you’ve seen Furries and are a member of the fandom, what do you learn from it?  What information does it provide that hasn’t already been discussed time and again from other members of the fandom?

I love Furries, it’s a good doc, but it already features information I knew by heart. When I saw it with my partner at Califur, he learned more about the fandom from the doc because he’s not apart of it. He knew very little besides what I told him. Furries works best for people on the outside to look into what we’re about while shedding away the tabloid crap. It does a great job of showing how open and creative the fandom is, while talking a bit about the history of why Furries are sometimes looked down upon.

The only problem I have with it is that I feel it’s too short. Especially since the doc brings up so many different areas of the fandom and only gives a small glance on some subject matters.  But some of that can be chalked up to independent filmmaking and what resources Eric’s team had to work with. His team had some of the same issues when looking for subjects to interview.

[ER]: When I began work on my own documentary, this was probably the biggest concern that furries had when I approached them to be in the film. They wanted to know precisely what they were getting into, and they were curious about where the film would end up and how they would be portrayed. Because the media had a precedent of representing furries in a way that was overwhelmingly negative and/or satirical, this was an understandable concern.

I see the film works best to show outsiders what we’re about, but as Eric began showing the film at cons and film festivals, he’s been amazed by the reception for the film from the fandom itself.

[ER]: I’ve been thanked for including a diverse group of furries in the film that represent different aspects of the fandom, particularly when it comes to art and writing.  A few people have told me that they would be comfortable sharing the film with their parents as a means of discussion their own furry identity, and I’m honored the film can initiate that kind of dialogue. I have even seen the film bring a few to tears, and I’ve been told it’s renewed and/or affirmed their drive to participation in the community. After working on the film for so long, I was acutely aware that furries were going to be my toughest, most critical audience. I feel fortunate that the film has been well received, and it’s incredibly rewarding to share the film with a community I care so much about.

That last quote actually makes me want to bring up one more point. The Furry Fandom is pretty much a sandbox fandom. We all have a basic agreement of what we are – people who like walking, talking animals. But that’s just the sand in the box.  The fun is what we can make with that basic concept. How we can make something that can help us figure out who we are, or what we want to be. How to awaken the inner child as the years go by. Or explore adult areas about yourself.

The two docs show that. Furries shows all the avenues the sandbox can offer, while Fursonas points out some of the limiting walls of the sandbox and asks how we can work with them. Which is why Dominic wasn’t surprised to see the initial reaction to the film, but is happy to see what has been coming out of it.

[DR]: Polarizing, haha. Some people love it and some people hate it. Some people hate it without having watched it, which is the only thing that bums me out. I like to think the reaction has been more positive than negative. I think that so many furries start out on the defensive when they watch media on the fandom, because they’re waiting to see how the media is going to get it wrong. And so I wasn’t very optimistic about how the film would go over, because it holds a mirror up to the community and suggests that maybe we need to think about this stuff in a different way. And honestly? I thought that furries would be way too stubborn to want to listen to some asshole filmmaker trying to tell them that maybe they should be nicer to Boomer. But I was pleasantly surprised. The film appears to have opened up a discussion somewhat. I see people having informed, productive arguments about it. That was the best I could hope for—for the film to start a conversation.

Even the two filmmakers have agreed that each film explores different areas of the fandom.

[DR]: I’m a pretty competitive person, I have to admit. I had been working on Fursonas for a little while and then I found out about Ash’s documentary and I was all geared up to hate it, because I’m an asshole and wanted to be THE BEST! When it showed at Morphicon in 2015, I drove from Pittsburgh to Columbus by myself just to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the filmmaking and by its earnest message. I went into it thinking that it would be some kind of PSA, but it really isn’t. It gives you a nice slice of the fandom from his perspective. We had a long discussion about it afterwards. When I showed Fursonas at a limited furry screening in San Francisco, Ash surprised me by showing up unannounced the same way I did to him.  Some people want to label his movie as propaganda and my movie as sensationalism, but I think both movies go much farther than that. Ash and I both adore this community and have dedicated over four years of our lives to exploring it as honestly as we can—just in different ways.

[ER]: Overall, I have seen furries respond positively to both films. That is not to say I haven’t seen critiques, but that’s to be expected with any work of art, particularly when two films with a similar subject matter are released around the same time (I recall the year when The Prestige and The Illusionist were both released). I don’t really see it as a contest, as both films ultimately have different focuses and serve to illuminate different themes, so if anyone is interested they should probably watch both.

I would say that certain differences in our philosophies as filmmakers is what produced two unique films with unique outlooks on the furry community. It’s difficult for me to be critical of Dominic’s approach because his goals were not my own. In many ways, Furries represents my perspective on the furry fandom at large, and I think it summarizes my feelings in a way that’s more well-rounded than anything I could put to words at this point.

That is the biggest take away I feel we should look at the two. The fact that we even have two docs about Furries released in the same year still blows me away. It’s not really fair to compare the two, since they have completely different purposes. For Fusonas in particular, it raises questions that are not easily answered. As Eric points out about AC…

[ER]: Given that Anthrocon is not only a non-profit organization, but also the largest furry convention in the world, I can understand and appreciate their need for discretion when working with the media.

Considering what Kage and AC have had to work with over the last decade with the media portraying us as a fetish, and being a go-to punching bag for other fandoms.  Even with all that, AC has come out on top, having its biggest year so far with over 7,300 people attending. A 1,000+ increase from last year. It’s not hard to see why things are the way they are. I don’t see Kage as a bad guy. I have never met him, but you don’t have to see much to know how he loves and cares about the fandom.

But what Dominic presents is a question of how far love should go, even with good intentions, when it may have negative effects too. Is it good to have a sandbox with pre-made molds so kids in another box don’t make fun of you?

While Dominic shows his bias as clear as day, there are people in the film who agree with Kage. The subject, Bandit, agrees when he’s watching one of Kage’s lectures about how a good image can take fifteen years to make, but can be destroyed in fifteen seconds. Diezel Raccoon was fired from his job just for telling people what he does on weekends. Kage even tells us in the film himself. When Dominic goes onto one of his Winestreams, he poses a question about Boomer and Chew Fox, and Kage responds with fiery passion how they don’t represent him and his side of the fandom.

To be fair, Dominic shows it as a gotcha moment, but thinking about it shows more or less why Kage does what he does. I know people will point out that I don’t have anything from AC or Kage themselves for this piece. I reached out to them through their AC Media Liaison email, but never got a reply. I would have loved to have their view of the two docs here, but that is neither here or there. Instead, I want to wrap things up with this.

There are many levels of the fandom. I have had the privilege of seeing both the childlike wonder and the adult fun. I saw a ten-year-old girl in a partial fursuit dance her tail off in her first fursuit dance competition and have a blast, and I was part of a talk with an HIV-positive group learning about Furry as an alternative sex avenue. I have great respect for what Uncle Kage has done in the fandom, but I do not always agree with his policies.

I believe we need to be open toward criticism when presented to us. If not to see what other people think of you, then to see if there are areas you need to explore yourself to grow or reexamine. And from some of the reactions to this, I have a little less respect than before.

Fursonas does have its problems. The biggest being how it doesn’t go into detail about the fandom in general. Look at some of the reviews and they’ll say how they were interested in the project, but wished to know more about the fandom and its history. Plus the fact it doesn’t mention what a Fursona is can’t be ignored. Fuzzwolf & Savrin do a more negative review if you want to know more. But after seeing the film, I don’t see it as much of a film about the fandom as it’s a look at individuals in the fandom and the politics inside it.

Of course these are just Dominic’s, Eric’s, and my voices about what’s happened. Now I want to know what you guys think.

If you saw the films, what were your takeaways? Did you like both films or did your levels vary? Where do you see the fandom going? What are your thoughts about this article? I’m open to know and discuss what we see in the fandom. I want to end here with one more quote from Dominic about the need to learn and examine who we are.

[DR]: Something I struggled with when working on this film was how to avoid sensationalizing material that, in and of itself, was sensational? A lot of furries want to think of the fandom as a boring place when you examine it. They’ll try to downplay the strangeness of furry by comparing it to other communities. I think that furries are right on one level because yes, you can draw comparisons between our community and so many others. But I think if you look closely at sports fandom or religion or whatever else, you will begin to find these communities are anything but boring. They’re filled with drama, they contain hierarchies, there are politics, there is sex, and people that are living and dying for this shit every day. I think that the whole world (furry or not) is so fucking nuts and that it would be less honest to omit all sensational material than it would be include it. I look at this fandom and I see a chaotic living community with tons of people trying to exist under the same name. Sometimes it brings people together and sometimes it drives people apart. Maybe I’m way off base, though. Maybe it’s just cartoon fans. What do you think? 

Thanks for your time with this beast of an article. I await your discussions and have a nice day, you crazy fluffer nutters.

-Matthias

(Note from Patch: thanks to the site’s valued long time contributor, Pup Matthias. As site manager, I don’t put a leash on writing, and this came from his self-motivated effort. Therefore, I’ll add a disclaimer that Matthias is sole author, independent from my previous posts and relationships or understandings with others. I had considered doing a followup about poorly-done mainstream Fursonas coverage called “furry is not a cult,” but then decided that enough conversation was already happening.  Uncle Kage, Dominic, Eric Risher and Matthias are all friends to me and all of them are doing great things for this community. If you only get to hear part of the story, let that say the rest. – P)

This has been an incredible year for the Furry Fandom. Zootopia crossed over a billion dollars, fur con attendance continues a healthy rate of growth, more positive news about the fandom has been coming out, and Furry Network has entered the Furry website game. And we’ve got not one, but two documentaries exploring the fandom made by people inside the fandom itself. Yet it’s the last part that has brought on some of the biggest debates in the fandom.

Since the release of the two documentaries, Fursonas and Furries, there has been a lot of praise and criticism towards both, although Fursonas has been getting the more vocal criticism of the two.  Which isn’t surprising.  Fursonas features a lot of topics that depending where you stand, can be seen as exposing an issue most would rather hide, or a sensational attack that continues the negative image of the fandom we’ve been working for years to get over.

The reason?  In the second half of Fursonas, we see director Dominic Rodriguez get pulled over by Anthrocon staff, and he was subsequently banned from Anthrocon for breaking their media policy. The rest of the doc then paints the con chair, Uncle Kage, in a negative light criticizing his practices both with media relations, how Furries should interact (or not) with the media, and the way he “censors” certain figures and topics to make the fandom more acceptable to the mainstream.

Now to make things clear, I like Fursonas. I like that it brings forward issues I believe we should discuss and come to terms with. I think some of the criticism doesn’t come so much from the film itself as that it’s a film the fandom didn’t expect. I’ll go into detail about that later, but this article is not a Fursonas defense piece.  It’s about exploring the topics and reactions that have become clouded with all the drama surrounding the two films. I love that we have two Furry docs that explore two different aspects of the fandom. I’ve even talked to both directors, who wish to express their own thoughts about everything going on. This isn’t trying to end the conversation. It’s to add more and make sure what we debate about is what needs to be debated about.

So let’s first examine the main issue, Dominic Rodriguez being banned from Anthrocon. This bit of information alone has been the deal breaker on whether people should watch the doc. It’s as if because Anthrocon saw fit to ban a film about Furries, then it can’t be worth watching in the first place. When you watch the film, you see the topic of being banned brought up, but also the main reason for them to be banned was because they didn’t agree to a Production Agreement, which would have given some form of creative control over the film to Uncle Kage.

People have debated how much of that statement is true.  When I first started to look more into this story, I knew we needed to see what that contract was. I reached out to Dominic and asked if he could share the document or emails showing what was discussed. Unfortunately he could not give me the exact docs or emails, because as he put it:

[DR]: Information that we release regarding the film has to pass through multiple channels, including entertainment lawyers. I’ve been told that I’m not allowed to share the entire Production Agreement, but I am able to quote relevant details word-for-word, so at least that’s something. …the contents of the emails are between the filmmakers, Uncle Kage, and lawyers.

Here are the applicable word-for-word specifications from the Production Agreement sent by Uncle Kage that Dominic’s team declined.

“While at Anthrocon, Producer agrees: (1) not to film sexually graphic images, (2) not to engage attendees in the topics of sex and sexuality, and (3) not to define Furry Fandom as a sexual community. Producer agrees any discussion of sex and sexuality that comes up within the production will be handled with maturity and put within the proper context. Documentary may, to some degree, discuss the topics of sex and sexuality on subsequent film shoots outside of Anthrocon.”

“Producer understands that Grantor will allow use of Anthrocon footage in Documentary provided that Grantor is allowed to view the final cut of the full-length Documentary film, in its entirety, prior to giving permission. Producer agrees to mail a copy of the final cut on a digital media format (DVD) to Anthrocon’s mailing address in order for Grantor to view.”

“Producer agrees that Grantor is allowed to request any Documentary segments or footage to be edited or otherwise altered, should Grantor have a reason to make this request. Producer understands that this decision is the sole discretion of Grantor. In the event Grantor makes such a request, Grantor shall provide a) a description of the specific footage the Grantor deems unsuitable; b) the time in the film where this material occurs; c) an explanation for why the material is objectionable; and d) a suggestion for how to fix the problem (shorten a shot, use alternate footage, remove the audio, etc).”

“Producer agrees to work with Grantor in order to edit Documentary to the point in which the final production is acceptable to Grantor. When Grantor and Producer have agreed to a final cut of Documentary, Grantor will sign an additional Release Contract which relinquishes said footage from control of Grantor. The Documentary will then be freely used for commercial and entertainment purposes at the discretion of Producer, provided that the final cut of the film remains unaltered after Contract is made. Any advertisements or marketing materials for the film will only contain the footage or imagery that is present on the agreed-upon final cut of Documentary.”

“If a suitable edit of Documentary cannot be fashioned, then Grantor can terminate Anthrocon’s involvement with the film. If Grantor wishes to terminate involvement, then Producer agrees to delete all footage related to Anthrocon or associated subjects from the final cut of Documentary. If Grantor chooses to terminate involvement, Anthrocon will not be mentioned in any manner during the entirety of the completed Documentary, nor on any advertising or marketing materials related to the film. Grantor can choose to terminate involvement with the film at any point up until the final cut is approved by Grantor in the form of a signed Release. Upon signing the final Release, Grantor and Producer have both fulfilled all requirements which are hereby agreed upon.”

Looking at this, it’s not hard to see why Dominic refused to sign the agreement.  The next question: How did it lead to the current state of affairs? Well that’s simple. They broke AC’s media policy. We see in the film itself an AC security member pulling them aside while talking to a fursuiter. But they filmed at AC before, as the project developed from a student thesis film to a fell fledged feature, and never got pulled before. As Dominic explains:

[DR]: There’s no doubt about it: we definitely broke the rules. How we came to break the rules is a little more complicated. We filmed footage for Fursonas during Anthrocon 2012, 2013, and 2014. All three years, I was a registered attendee, as were the couple crewmembers that accompanied me. One thing that’s important to note is that this movie was not always a “real movie” with a production studio and a distribution company and all these things. Originally, it was a crew of five college kids who were looking to make a short film for their senior thesis project.

I had never been to a furry convention before, and I thought it would be fun to register, walk around, talk to furries casually and off-the-record, and film a little b-roll that I could look back at later. This was for research purposes more than anything else. We filmed footage of furries walking around the convention and I showed this to the rest of my crew to see if they saw potential in the project. We all liked the idea and decided that summer that this was going to be our documentary.

I didn’t have to think about Anthrocon for a while after that, because the original 12-minute short film that I made for college actually doesn’t contain any footage from AC. In 2013, we had all graduated and decided that we wanted to expand Fursonas into a feature-length film. That year, we filmed nothing but b-roll at the con. We didn’t do any interviews or get into anyone’s business—we just filmed wide shots of furries walking around.

At this point, I wasn’t familiar with all the specifics of the media policy, but I assumed that it applied to more commercial projects. In my mind, I wasn’t “the press,” and I didn’t have an angle. I was just getting drunk with my filmmaker friends on a Saturday night, filming the furries for this eventual project that would probably go nowhere.

In 2014, we were taking the production more seriously. That’s when we got into trouble. Aside from filming the usual b-roll, we conducted one brief interview with Diezel Racccoon, who we had been following for the past two years. He had agreed to the interview, and we were talking with him and his parents, who were visiting Anthrocon for the first time.

In the middle of the interview, a Dorsai member asked if we had media badges, which we didn’t. He then told us that we were not allowed to be filming people and escorted us to a back room. I asked him why we needed to get media badges when we weren’t “the press,” but just a group of kids who were filming something independent. He said that because we had professional equipment, that was what made us different from other registered furries making their films. I think that when he saw me holding a microphone in front of Diezel’s face, he assumed I was approaching furries that might not want to be interviewed.

In any case, we went to the back room, and I had to show a Fursonas trailer on my phone, so they could see what the project was about. After viewing the trailer, the person that I showed it to (Xydexx Squeakypony) was concerned by Boomer The Dog’s presence, and said that we would have to talk to Uncle Kage about the film. Unfortunately, the chairman was busy, so they released us and we never filmed at Anthrocon again.

What followed was a back-and-forth between us and Uncle Kage via email. I had wanted to interview him, but we could not agree on terms. A big source of tension was how Anthrocon was going to be featured in the film—would we be allowed to show footage from Anthrocon? Would we be allowed to even mention Anthrocon? Who does this footage really belong to?

It was 2014 when I realized what an issue this was becoming. I wanted to explore furry in a nuanced way, examining controversies and things like that with humanity. But Anthrocon is so protective of its image (and the image of furries in general) that I knew I would not be able to work with them on this. If they needed to approve the final cut of the film, and they were already getting antsy just by seeing Boomer in his paper fursuit for a few seconds, how could I hope to do anything other than a PSA with their consent?

A lot of people think they’re “busting” me when they point out that we violated the media policy. It’s true—we filmed at the convention and then distributed the film without showing the final cut to the AC Board of Directors. I didn’t set out to break the rules, but I ended up realizing that I needed to break them if I wanted to keep my artistic integrity intact. This film reflects my biased opinion of the fandom. I think that the need to present a “good image” is standing in the way of individual expression. I use filmmaking and furry fandom to express myself, which is more important to me than anything.

We broke the rules, but we didn’t break the law. This is how many documentaries are made. They attempt to tell some kind of truth and they often will have to break rules in order to do this. How could I protest Anthrocon’s media policy in a film while getting the permission of Anthrocon to do so? That would be like Blackfish asking Seaworld for permission. I know, I know—that’s probably a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea.

A lot of people say that it’s unfair that I was banned from Anthrocon, but I disagree. It was perfectly within their rights to ban me. I broke the rules and I got banned for it. I accept that. People can decide for themselves when they watch the movie if I was justified or not. Honestly, all banning me did was create controversy and help promote the movie anyway.

That is true. Remember that rebellious movie filmed at Disneyworld without Disney’s permission, and all the drama that didn’t happen because Disney did jack about it… Do you even remember what the title of that film is? In fact, one case that kept popping into my mind was the incident that happened when Inside Edition filmed Further Confusion.

I asked Dominic if he felt his situation was in any way similar to Inside Edition.

[DR]: The difference between our situation and Inside Edition is that Inside Edition was denied permission and then filmed secretively. Our filming was never secretive. We didn’t realize that we were breaking the rules until it was too late. It was after that, that I started examining Kage’s Furries in the Media panels and realizing what a huge source of tension media relations has become. Getting escorted away at AC was the jolt I needed to push me in the right direction of figuring out what I wanted to say in Fursonas.

Of course, Fursonas wasn’t the only doc filming at AC. Furries was more of less working around the same time frame. It makes one wonder if the two knew about each other’s existence. But as the director of Furries, Eric Risher, states…

[ER]: Yes, but marginally. I never had any direct contact with Dominic until Furries had been completed. I had heard that he was working on a film (I think I might have seen a mention on FA or Twitter), but the only information I had about Fursonas was what had been posted on social media at the time. 

But Furries didn’t get into the same trouble, because they followed AC’s media policy of notifying them in advance what they wanted to do, as required under their Photography and Media Questions in the FAQ section on their website. But Dominic wasn’t aware, as he said; he was not aware of the policy and thought it applied towards more commercial projects. Not to someone who was only trying to make a student thesis film, using the con as b-roll that started to grow over time. Eric went through the same production agreement as Dominic did though.

[ER]: When I approached AC, I sent them a treatment that thoroughly discussed my interests as a filmmaker, including how I intended to incorporate any material filmed at their convention. Our contract with Anthrocon did state that they could make editorial suggestions regarding material filmed specifically at AC, but after reviewing the final cut of the film they chose not to exercise that right and they signed off on the film.

However that wasn’t the same case for Fursonas.

[DR]: What it comes down to is having to send the finished film to the Anthrocon Board of Directors for approval, and how they are able to recommend changes to any material they find objectionable, not limited to the footage at Anthrocon. For instance, if they wanted to take Boomer out of the film, or clarify that he’s “not really a furry,” that’s something they would be able to do. And let’s say I refused to do this—they could insist that all references to Anthrocon (including Uncle Kage), be pulled from the film. The fact is that Anthrocon, Boomer The Dog, Uncle Kage, and everything else are all tangled up in this mess of a situation, and in order to properly explore it, I had to be able to look at all of it, and not feel like I needed to collaborate with Anthrocon in any way.  

I think that if Anthrocon was able to approve the documentary, I would not have been able to explore the tension between community and identity in the fandom—at least, not in the brutally honest way that I had hoped to. I see a real problem in the community right now and I wanted to confront that problem. I don’t think that this is something Anthrocon wants to confront.

If you look back at the agreement from Dominic again, it does say that AC can edit any part of the film, while Eric says it only applied toward AC footage only. Anyone who has watched Fursonas can tell you that it looks at controversial people and topics like Boomer the Dog, Chex Fox, Bad Dragon, and the nature of sex in the fandom.

It was when they saw a few images of Boomer in the trailer while AC pulled Dominic aside, that made them nervous what the film would even be about.  So Dominic’s explanation of the agreement asking for editorial power over the entire film seems more likely.  Not just the AC footage, as Eric said for Furries.

I would not be shocked to learn that if Dominic did agree to AC’s agreement, they would have had to cut out everything featuring Boomer, Chex Fox, Bad Dragon, or sex in general; or make sure to put in many notes about how AC is not connected to them, they don’t represent the fandom at large, or those people aren’t true Furries.  Even though none of that is in direct reference to AC.  Yet the issue is only brought up when it focuses on Uncle Kage, and moreover when it looks at the bigger issues of identity in the fandom that don’t fit how certain people want the fandom to be seen.

Good documentaries aren’t made to do what you expect. But you’ll have to wait till tomorrow as this article just keeps growing.  More words from Eric Risher and Dominic Rodriguez in Part 2.

-Matthias

Submitted by Fred Patten

The 2015 Cóyotl Awards, presented by the Furry Writers’ Guild for four categories of the Best Anthropomorphic Literature of the 2015 calendar year, were recently announced at a presentation ceremony at the Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Denver, Colorado.

The winners and runners-up are:

Best Novel
Winner

• Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen (Tor Books, December 2015)

Runner-Up

• Forest Gods by Ryan Campbell (Sofawolf Press, September 2015)
• The Long Road Home by Rukis (FurPlanet Productions, July 2015)
• Rat’s Reputation by Michael H. Payne (Sofawolf Press)
• Windfall by Tempe O’Kun (FurPlanet Productions, July 2015)

Best Novella
Winner

• Koa of the Drowned Kingdom by Ryan Campbell (FurPlanet Productions, September 2015)

Runner-Up

• Losing My Religion by Kyell Gold (FurPlanet Productions, September 2015)

Best Short Story
Winner

• The Analogue Cat by Alice “Huskyteer” Dryden (in The Furry Future, ed. by Fred Patten; FurPlanet Productions, January 2015)

Runner-Up

• Bullet Tooth Claw by Marshall L. Moseley (in Inhuman Acts, ed. by Ocean Tigrox; FurPlanet Productions, September 2015)
• Muskrat Blues by Ianus J. Wolf (in Inhuman Acts, ed. by Ocean Tigrox; FurPlanet Productions, September 2015)

Best Anthology
Winner

• Inhuman Acts edited by Ocean Tigrox (FurPlanet Productions, September 2015)

Runners-Up

• The Furry Future edited by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions, January 2015)
• ROAR Volume 6 edited by Mary E. Lowd (Bad Dog Books, July 2015)

– Fred Patten

We're back! ‘Furry and Loathing in Denver’ https://t.co/gklbyUV4H1 @FingersMalloy @AsheSchow & I discuss furries, the campaign, UVA and pot.

— TLC (@TracyLConnors) August 17, 2016

On this podcast, host Fingers Malloy talks about his visit to Rocky Mountain Fur Con in Denver. It starts 20 minutes in. Thanks to Kieran for sending this.

It’s a gentle outsiders’ look.  Fingers has a pastime of making fun of politics, but furries are spared overdone mockery. (“They’re not hurting anyone”, he says).  He mentions past negativity and compares it to picking low-hanging fruit.

Enough Already is for pop culture and conservative politics. In fact it shares some serious connections to senators, governors, Fox News, etc.

There isn’t a big overlap with conservatives and furries. We talked on Twitter after the show, and they were curious to know why? I gave a very generic reason of demographics.  There’s no politics about being a talking animal and we come in all stripes.  But young and queer people tend not to be overly enamored with the right-wing or christian fundamentalists. That goes both ways.

Take this example. At World Net Daily (the fringiest of ultraconservative blogs), furries were recently bashed as deviant pedophiles by Phil Elmore, a sad oaf crying for help to detach his head from his colon. It was just ranting about moral decay from someone so repellant that nobody would want to decay him. Furs at Flayrah were not impressed by the ignorance.

Another example: in 2015, furries were mocked in a trollish article by Milo Yiannopoulos, star of the “alt-right” at Breitbart. He’s a Gamergate figurehead.  Milo criticizes identity politics, rampant cultural narcissism, and “imitation identity disorders and theatrical attention-seeking”.  He singles out “transpecies” beliefs as a symptom, mashing together the worst fringes of Tumblr, otherkin and furries.

You might call Milo an alt-right hipster for adopting gamers to cozy up with youth culture. Since he seemed to want cred with nerds, I guessed he would answer my mail. I asked him to be nicer to the misunderstood furries.  He answered:

Of course. I suspect a lot of overlap with the gamers I love so much. Perhaps I should write something.

I think this is different from garden variety out-for-a-buck media sensationalizing. When furries are a pawn for conservative points, I sense fixation on how others should live from fossilized dino-turds like Phil Elmore, and just plain manipulation from slippery players like Milo. (“Just folks” friendliness can also mask apathy about whether others can live at all, but that’s another topic.)

I’m sure the affable hosts of the Enough Already podcast would demur about wanting everyone to be left alone with liberty for all. And I wonder if Milo will be cozier next time he talks about furries – perhaps in his own newly minted fursona (maybe a snake or weasel.) I’ll leave it to you to think about ulterior motives when media comes to our spaces wearing big smiles, but you can keep opinions while taking curiosity and niceness at face value. Thanks are due to the podcast for real effort.

Speaking of Gamergate, they seem to have a problem with misrepresentation by the media. HMMM, SOUNDS FAMILIAR. And they seem to feel that gamers are unfairly vilified. HMMM AGAIN.

If you ask conservative minds about who could be most responsible for furries being punching-bags, like clockwork, expect complaints about Vanity Fair, MTV, CSI, etc. being “liberal media.” (But who’s buying what they sell?)

There are some alt-right and “furries for Trump”.  One furry commented on the Twitter chat about that small section being his friends.

@bubbasjetpack it is possible although not easy, to be friends with people whose politics differ from your own. @PifOtter

— TLC (@TracyLConnors) August 17, 2016

“Agree to disagree” is a nice way to be. And if you can name other places where everyone hugs everyone like when furries meet, I’d love to hear. Maybe the rest of the world should try growing tails.

I have to mention a Twitter comment from host Tracy about acceptance of furries.  She asked if the “muzzies” would open their arms to us?

They sure would. President Obama (America’s #1 muslim and the founder of ISIS) invited furries to come hang out at the White House. Our international conspiracy is everywhere. Beware of trying to fool us or use us – just be nice.

Donald Trump Accuses Obama of Inventing Furries

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) August 16, 2016

Donald Trump's Hair Has It's Own Fursona

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) January 26, 2016

Another Loss For Trump Campaign - Chester Cheetah Endorses Hillary

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) August 16, 2016

pic.twitter.com/AHSGSGR58H

— FURRY FANFICTION (@FURRYFANFIC) July 2, 2015

* (Seriously, there are some muslimfurs and members in places like Iran. I also have an article in drafts about how Furry is growing with new cons in southeast asia, but not so much in Malaysia and Indonesia because Islamic customs forbid showing animals doing human things. But that’s for another time.)

Remember when everyone went nuts about Zootopia’s animators talking to furries, and even nutsier when it came out that they were intentionally marketing to us?  They noticed us!  

But could the conspiracy go even deeper?  Have you heard other furs wondering if we have insiders in the media (even celebrities), or Secret Furry animators making movies we love?

Here’s an interview with one of those animators. For obvious reasons, identifying details are protected.  I can’t reveal where they work, but I can tell you that they have animated characters in some of the biggest movies ever, as well as having a quiet presence on popular furry sites.  If I told you more, it could make your eyes pop out.  Please excuse me for keeping things vague and teasing you about juicy secrets for me to know and you to find out.

(Patch:) What’s your job like, and how do you like it?
(Secret Furry:) I love what I get to do for a living. It’s hard work and long hours at times, but each project brings new challenges and opportunities that keep things fresh, and help me better my skills. For as long as I’ve been at it, I still feel lucky and appreciative to get to do this every day.

Can you share a favorite movie, and a favorite furry artist?
Pinpointing a favorite movie is too hard for me. I’m an action, sci fi, and horror junky. Some films that I love include Die Hard, Aliens, Predator, Starship Troopers, and Hellraiser. I could go on and on, but you could probably see the direction I tend to lean. On the animation side, Aladdin, Lion King, Spirited Away are some of my faves. As for particular artists I can’t say I have a favorite as of yet. There’s so much great work floating around out there in so many varied styles.

Can you tell the coolest or most silly thing you have seen at work?
I can’t get specific here, but occasionally a celebrity will waltz though. I always kind of geek out when that happens. As for the “silly things,” they happen all the time.  It’s part of what makes the job light and fun even when the pressure and deadlines are on.

Can you tell the coolest or most silly thing you have seen in furry fandom?
I love walking around the open areas of cons, and just people/furry watch. There is always something funny going on, be it a furry on the ground covered in doughnuts, or furs doing fun a creative and spontaneous mini skits to entertain. At this years BLFC there was a guy walking around with a giant die, handing out prizes. Two thumbs up for that!

How did you get into furry stuff?
I don’t remember exactly the point at which I got swept up into the fandom. It’s odd because the costume characters at Disney Land always terrified me as a kid. I also remember really enjoying anthropomorphic art back when the internet was slower then dirt. I loved shows like TMNT, and Gargoyles. Brooklyn was my fav.  Out of everything I believe that cartoons and art were probably the gateway drugs.  Also, Halloween was and still is my favorite holiday. I use to love to dress up as monsters and buy all kinds of masks. Getting to be something else was so freeing and fun.

Did you get into it before taking a professional path?
I was into it in when I was in college, but had other interests that dominated more time. However I didn’t fully embrace it until around 3 years ago. Now I have a suit under commission, and draw furry art more then non-furry.

What does furry fandom mean to you?
It’s a fun and creative community, with a unique and varied fan base that is welcoming and tolerant. It’s also so great to be part of the social outlet the fandom provides.

Do you do a lot of furry stuff in person?
I’ve gone to a few particular cons 2-3 times over the past 3 years as well as a local dance event regularly. I’ve also gotten to meet a lot of great people and gone to a few meet ups and parties.

How much do you keep closeted or “in the kennel” about furry?
Though I wish I wasn’t, I’m extremely “in the kennel” about my furriness. My family doesn’t know, and my co workers don’t know. I actually feel as though it would be detrimental if some of my interests became known. This causes me to live a double life which is exhausting. 2 sets of friends, social sites, etc.

Is it just a hobby, or more complicated with other identity?
I identify with my character for sure, and have a lot of emotional investment in him. But I don’t think that’s necessarily the “real” me. It’s more of “another” me. I also have a pup persona as well.

How hard is it to keep it to yourself, whether practically or emotionally?
I think it would be harder if I didn’t have a partner or furry friends I could share my interests with. Thankfully I have both.

How many people do you let in on all the details?
I have told a few of my furry friends about more specific details, but it’s after I have known them for a while and feel like I can trust them. The first time I told someone it was hard but there was also a small element of relief. Having people you can trust is an emotionally healthy thing to have, and getting that within the fandom is awesome.

Are you strictly a pro at work, or is there any blurring of the boundaries – like have you animated characters that felt furry?
Well I keep things professional at all times at work, and while there are things that lean towards the furry direction, I have never personally worked with anything that was 100% furry.

How do you feel about NSFW dirty furry stuff?
Totally fine with it. Some of the art I draw, as well as some of the art that got me into the fandom in the first place is absolutely NSFW. However, I tend to feel my fursona is much more of a fun loving innocent character. My in person debauchery tends to be committed when i’m in pup mode, but not all the time.

Does being a Secret Furry make anything different about the dirty stuff?
I don’t get more excited about the dirty stuff because it’s a secret. I just like it, though I don’t know exactly why.

Do you know of other Secret Furries, colleagues or not?
Nope. As far as I know I’m an army of one. If there are, I’m sure they keep it under wraps for the same reasons.

From Secret Furry for this article.

What would happen if you couldn’t keep furry stuff separate from work?
I feel like it would for sure change the dynamic of the way people interact with me, and quite possibly hurt my longterm career. I don’t know that for sure but I just get the feeling. What wold probably be even worse would be if my pup stuff got outed. It’s seems to be seen by the public as a fringe and “crazy” thing to be into.

Have you seen others affected by being private or open? What happened?
Not personally, but I see quite a few jokes made that are about furries. I kind of just chuckle along

Were you aware of stigma about this in the past, and do you think it’s changed?
I feel like it’s always existed, be it though jokes my friends would make, or internet memes, or media coverage. It’s kind of made it even more difficult to imagine ever telling anyone outside the fandom.

Years ago, a talented furry was fired from a high profile mascot job they loved, because they were seen in the background of a TV show about Fur Con. They called it a “morals” issue. What would you say, if you could say anything to anyone involved?
I don’t know any of the personal details about this, or anything about the person who was fired, but it certainly sounds like an ignorant decision. I’d probably ask them to reconsider and try to explain that it’s fantastic hobby with many aspects positive and creative branches.  It can even be a therapeutic way for those that battle social anxiety, to get out and have fun. I’d ask if the person fired had been seen at Comic Con dressed as Rocket Raccoon alongside Star Lord, would he/she still be fired? People seem to connect the furry community directly to sexual behavior, and while some of that does exist, it’s not the majority, and besides, a person’s sexual interests – (as long as it’s not breaking any rules/laws, or harming anyone) – is their business.  Ultimately this just seems discriminatory.

Do you have anything to say to people who wonder about Secret Furries?
Like anyone who keeps a secret like this; part of the reason we’re closeted is because of a fear of social rejection. It’s a fear that’s justified by jokes, social media, and obsessively misguided journalism. It’s a hobby like any other and poses just as much of a threat as them. It’s different and can be visually arresting, but the people involved are kind, amazing people. Keep that in mind next time you put a joke in the cannon.

Have any advice for furry artists?
About furry art, no. I’m horrible. (Not true – Patch) For artists that are furries, I’d say there aren’t many artist jobs out there that cater strictly to the furry stuff. If that’s your only interest you may find getting a job difficult. Always strive to do what you love, but realize you have to develop skills that people are looking for, and you’re better off casting the widest net. I apologize for the vagueness but I could probably give more direct and tailored advice to artists in my profession.

Any other thoughts about furry fandom?
Keep being, fuzzy, fun, and adorable!

Any other thoughts about animation and movies?
I would love to see the industry offer more of a varied range of films across genres and ratings. The American market directly connects animated films to family films. There have been a few outliers here and there; most recently “South Park” and “Sausage Party,” but these types of movies are far and few between. There just doesn’t seem to be the market for that kind of stuff like there is in places like Japan. Come on people. Let’s make it happen!

Thanks to Secret Furry for sharing. The international conspiracy is real! 

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

Legacy: Dawn, by Rukis. Illustrated by the author.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, June 2016, hardcover $29.95 (383 pages), trade paperback $19.95.

This is a mature content book.  Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region.

Legacy: Dawn is a standalone novel by Rukis, set in her world of Red Lantern (Sofawolf Press, March 2012) and Heretic (FurPlanet Productions, January 2013). Like the others, it takes place in a brutal semi-Renaissance anthropomorphic world.

Legacy: Dawn is narrated by Kadar, a low-caste jackal in a rigid stratified society ruled by a hyena aristocracy:

“I was born in a small village near the Hyronses river, to a family of laborers working in the brick kilns. My family, as many generations back as the walls of my home and the scrawlings of previous dead relatives could trace back, have always been laborers on the clay flats, working the brick kilns. We have little choice. There is no elevation from the labor caste. If you are born a laborer, and you live long enough to have children of your own, they too will be laborers. That’s simply how it is. How it has always been. How it will always be.

At least, that’s what I was raised to believe.” (p. 7)

Kadar only describes his childhood for the first four pages. After that he is an adult indentured servant, which is not practically different than a slave:

“He [Kadar’s guard] doesn’t hesitate to bring that up. ‘Your contract requires that you work,’ the hyena sniffs, ‘you can’t very well do that if you’re on the run. We’re legally obliged by our employers to keep you sedate and dutifully paying off your debt. By any means. Any injuries you sustain during an escape attempt are your cross to bear during the workday. The harvest doesn’t stop just because you went and got yourself damaged.’” (pgs. 11-12)

Kadar’s society is a multispecies one. With him in the lowest-caste indentured servants’ quarters – well-guarded, so it’s really a prison – are lions, weasels, warthogs, tigers, squirrels, cheetahs, meerkats, rats, ferrets, dholes and painted dogs — and a hyena. The hyenas are the top caste, so it’s very unusual to see one among the indentured servants.

The meeting and evolving relationship between Kadar the jackal and Ahsin the hyena; plus Lochan the aardwolf guard, Raja the cheetah (another indentured servant), and a few others is the story of Legacy: Dawn. Intermixed within this are many brief snippets of this world’s culture and history. For example, Kadar’s nation in this world is Mataa:

“In Mataa most canines were in unfortunate circumstances, not quite at the bottom since we could be fierce and hardy, but certainly very few were ever afforded the chances that a hyena, or even a lion, might have. Even the tigers fair better on the whole. Of course, they were enormous and tended toward isolated families, so really it was more a case of people not wanting to bother them. I’d never been really close with a tiger. Jackals and tigers rarely mixed.” (p. 77)

Mataa’s “indentured servants” used to be slaves until Mataa lost a war and the victor required that all slaves be freed. Mataa just instituted indentured servitude and went on with the practice. It’s a minor detail, but it helps to make the Red Lantern world a rich and varied one.

A very important detail is the shifting relationship between Kadar and Ahsin. They’re both indentured servants, the lowest of the low, but Kadar is only a jackal while Ahsin is a hyena. Indentured servant or not, that counts for something. At the same time, Kadar has a naturally dominant personality while Ahsin is submissive:

“‘I can’t be like Raja. Or you,’ he [Ahsin] says, knitting his hands in front of him, nervously. ‘I’m just not like that.’

‘Like what?’ I prickle.

‘There are those who command, and those who listen,’ he says in words that don’t sound like they were ever his own. ‘I am one who listens. I am meant to be kept, not a keeper.’

‘No one is meant to be kept,’ I say, pushing the words out with all the emphasis I can. His eyes widen somewhat at my change in tone, but he doesn’t look scared. Instead he’s staring at me even more intensely now, enrapt. His paws are still wringing at one another near his waist, tail tucked, but at least now I have his full attention. He waits expectantly for me to continue.” (pgs. 52-53)

The characters’ species traits can be important:

“‘It’s what’s right,’ the older hyena says again, and I hear Ahsan’s paws on the cobbled walkway, stepping backwards. I know the sound of his footsteps by now. That scent of fear is strong in the air, and the mix of smells I’m getting off the older hyena are disturbing. He has bad teeth, I can tell that much right away. Also, he drank recently, and there’s the definite reek of arousal mixed in there. We’re in a very isolated area of the yard, but still, surely he wouldn’t attempt anything in public like this?” (p. 92)

“I twist my ears as we move, mostly hearing the horses in the stalls beyond, stirring in their sleep or moving about, still awake. I can hear what are definitely paws moving about in the hay, but judging by the lightness of their footsteps it’s probably a servant, some kind of smaller species, tending to the animals.” (p. 231)

Legacy: Dawn is about Kadar’s and Ahsin’s struggle for the freedom to be together, in a society where both are treated as property that can be casually separated. It is also about Kadar’s confused instinct to be a dominant personality in a society where he is of low caste, and those of higher caste do not hesitate to punish those below them who get “uppity”.

Legacy: Dawn is an adventure novel with explicit violence and adult eroticism throughout it, from sadistic beatings to consensual lovemaking to savage rape:

“He brings the blade up just underneath her chin in a snapping motion, sinking the whole of it to the hilt up through her throat. The blade is barely half a foot long and thin, but her throat isn’t armored, and all that escapes her mouth in the seconds following is a surprised gurgle.

The male guard hasn’t even seen it yet. He’s about to though, and I know I have to do something. [spoiler] released the hilt of the dagger, leaving it in her, and he’s going for his sword, but all that guard has to do is send up a warning cry and we’ve blown it right out of the gate.” (p. 228)

The mature content advisory is deserved. There are seven interior paintings by Rukis, in black-&-white in this book but in full color on FurAffinity.

Legacy: Dawn should not be missed, if you have a strong stomach. Or if you want to know what 17th– and 18th-century slavery was like. Warning: Be prepared for a major surprise in the last chapter!

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Furplanet
• Check out Red Lantern’s Website

This is different, yet it’s familiar. Say one day you are walking down the street doing your business when someone catches your eye. They look human. They have the eyes, nose, lips, skin, but that’s not what grabbed your attention. It was the ears for they are not human, but of an animal. Your first though is of a cat. Then you look down to notice a tail. You want to know more about this person. What they are, why they are like this, and maybe, just maybe, you want to explore more. That is what Tarl “Voice” Hoch presents to use with his new erotic neko anthology, Purrfect Tails, and they are OPEN FOR SUBMISSION!

So first thing first to those who don’t know, what on earth is even a neko?

A neko is a character who is either male or female with feline characteristics on a human body, generally a pair of ears, and in many cases, a tail. Unlike a furry character, they generally look human or extremely close to it rather than being a sort of half breed between a cat and a human. They generally still act like cats, or have cat-like tendencies, but also function as normal people as well.

A good place to learn more about Nekos is here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CatGirl

Edited by Tarl “Voice” Hoch, best known for doing horror anthologies, he got to become an editor cause as he puts it he fell into it.

I had been noticing that there was a distinct lack of horror books/anthologies in the fandom and made a tweet about it. Next thing I knew, I was getting all of these favorites and replies to it and Fuzz said FurPlanet were interested in it. So I wrote up a proposal and call for submissions and that was that. I learned a lot of lessons from that first anthology, had some good and bad experiences, but in the end it helped me to grow as a writer.

Already, Tarl has produced many works both within and outside the fandom.

I have a horror anthology published by FurPlanet titled Abandoned Places and I am currently working on a science fiction/horror anthology which will also be published by FurPlanet. I also wrote the story for an 18+ comic which was illustrated and printed by KomicKrazi and only available by sending me a request or at Fur-Eh! in Edmonton. Other than those, I am published in a number of anthologies inside and outside of the furry fandom, a list of which can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5759304.Tarl_Voice_Hoch

But that still leaves us with the question, why is Tarl interested in making an erotic anthology around nekoes?

About two years ago I wrote a story for the Transformation Anthology centered on a girl who was slowly turning into a nekogirl. The story dealt with her exploring the new sensations, new personality quirks, and the fact that a Tom seemed to be stalking her. Since writing that story, which had a strong erotic content, it’s been sitting in my mind pecking away at my inspiration until I needed to do something with it.

It was during the reading of the stories for my upcoming science fiction/horror anthology that I decided to stop pussyfooting around the idea of self-publishing something and decided that an erotic anthology would be perfect for my first attempt. The two ideas came together and this anthology was born!

Tarl is looking for all kinds of erotic stories to put together in the anthology. No matter the genre.

Beyond the erotic element needing to be centered around the neko character, I am looking for pretty much anything. I do have a preference to stories that end positively, as this is an erotic anthology and most people don’t want to finish a story feeling depressed. That is not to say I won’t accept darker pieces, but they won’t get as much consideration as others.

Other than that, I am looking for a variety of genres. With anthologies like this, where the theme is centered on a character type rather than a situation or setting, the writer has a lot more room to spread their creative wings. I want to see people bring things like steampunk, weird westerns, summer romance, kung-fu, you name it, I want to see what they can do. If you are curious if it will work in the anthology, feel free to email me at [email protected] and ask me. I will gladly let you know if it will work or not, and even possibly go as far as to help you develop the idea. (though that won’t guarantee acceptance)

Of course there are some things to avoid when submitting your story to Tarl.

As with any erotic anthology, there are always a few rules people need to follow. For this anthology, I don’t want racism, sexism or there to be any discrimination presented in a positive light. I also (for obvious reasons) don’t want there to be anything involving characters under 18 or incest. Rape, torture, dubious consent or forced seduction are also out. Snuff, Necrophilia, golden showers, scat and most extreme fetishes are also a no go. Lastly, bestiality is out. The neko characters must have a human level intelligence and be able to make their own decisions. 

But there are probably some who might say that neko doesn’t even count as furry or at least could only be considered as diet furry with half the calories. Or that neko is more anime then furry, but Tarl points out how much overlap there is between furries and neko.

Many people within the fandom have come into it through the anime route. In fact a lot of fursuit makers sell ears and tails at anime conventions for the people who want to be neko characters. Characters with animal ears appear in a number of animes, as do anthropomorphic characters. (Such as Happy in FairyTale for example) For myself, it was AnnaPuma and UniPuma, a pair of nekogirl androids from Dominion Tank Police, that first introduced me to neko characters. From them, it was only a single step to find the furry fandom which I have been ever since.

It’s also something different from your average furry anthology, as the characters themselves aren’t really full on anthropomorphic felines, but rather closer to anime characters. This is refreshing in a fandom where felines are done quite often and nothing new is generally done with them when it comes to erotic anthologies. Place the book on the same table as a number of current furry anthologies, and it will stand out because it is different, and the human eye is drawn to things that are different.

There are also those readers who aren’t comfortable with the idea of sexualized anthropomorphic beings.  Despite being part of the furry fandom, they may still view the erotic content as too akin to bestiality and shy away. This anthology gives them another avenue to explore, as the characters themselves will be only a tiny step away from humans.

Now on to the requirements.

I am looking for stories between 3-10k, though I am willing to take longer. Shorter stories will be considered, but they have a smaller chance of being accepted. I am also looking for original, unpublished stories as well.

The deadline is November 1st. The book will be self-published by Tarl himself with a planned release for both print and e-book around May. Accepted works will be paid ½ cent per word. For more info visit the link. https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/13364393-call-for-submissions—erotic-anthology

Fluff up your tails and ears to bring you erotic adventures to life.

-Matthias

Submitted by Fred Patten

Song of the Summer King, by Jess E. Owen. Map.
Whitefish, MT, Five Elements Press, July 2012, hardcover $30.00 ([viii +] 246 [+2] pages), paperback $12.99, Kindle $4.99.

“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.” (blurb)

The beginning of the first volume of Owen’s The Summer King Chronicles tetralogy is reminiscent of Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. “Fresh morning air lifted clouds and gulls above the glimmering sea, and drew one young gryfon early from his den. Too early, just before sunrise when forbidden darkness still blanketed the islands.” (p. 1)

Shard, a young gryphon, has sneaked out from his cave on Sun Isle early to get some additional flying practice. It’s not for the pure glory of flying, though. Shard is a native of the Silver Isles, conquered a generation ago by the gryfon Sverin the Red King and his Aesir.

“‘The king comes,’ said the older gryfon. Halvden [the son of one of Sverin’s advisors] blinked and spun as they all perked ears toward the king’s rocks. The king glided in from his morning flight, massive wings flaring, stirring the grass as he landed on the top of his rocks.

The largest of the pride, Sverin-son-of-Per looked every bit a king. He wore gold, crusted with emerald and sparkling catseye, around his neck, and golden bands clamped to his forelegs just above the spread of black talons. Tokens from Sverin’s grandfather’s war with dragons in the farthest arctic lands across the sea. The dawn outlined his copper flanks, throwing sheen across the scarlet feathers of his shoulders and the deep crimson of his face.” (p. 7)

Sverin’s Aesir gryfons are larger than the Silver Isles’ native Vanir. The conquest resulted in the deaths of many Vanir warriors, and the mating of their Vanir gryfesses to Aesir males. Shard is the last pure-blood Vanir. The gryfons of the Silver Isles who have reached maturity are scheduled to perform in an aerial initiation hunt under Sverin’s watchful eye. Shard, as the last of the smaller Vanir, would normally never be allowed to join the Red King’s pride, but he was raised as a playmate, a wingbrother, of Kjorn, Sverin’s son. Still, the hunt is rigorous and nothing can be taken for granted, which is why Shard snuck out before dawn for some forbidden nighttime flying practice.

Shard – his full name is Rashard — does well, and is honored by Sverin. The Silver Isles consist of the largest Sun Isle, the next largest Star Isle, and four minor isles. The gryfons have traditionally all lived upon Sun Isle, and have only flown to Star Isle, inhabited by wolves and game animals, for hunting. Now the Red King decrees that the gryfons are to colonize all the other isles, Star Isle first, and that Shard is to lead the colonists consisting mostly of the younger generation; his closest peers. The wolves are to make way for the gryfons; if they object, they are to be killed.

Shard, who has never known anything but the Aesir’s rule, is proud and determined to prove himself worthy. He has some opposition from some of the Aesir who think the leadership of the colonists should have gone to one of them, and ignore him.

“Without thinking, Shard broke from the hunters and spun into a dive toward Hallr.

‘Stop!’

Hallr slowed, checked by the unexpected command. He saw Shard, snapped his beak and turned back to the fleeing wolf who crossed toward the trees.

‘Hallr! Leave it!’

But instead, Hallr called for his son. Halvden turned immediately and streaked toward the trees to fence the wolf in.

Shard screamed in eagle’s fury and closed his wings to plummet hard to the earth. He slammed into the ground between Hallr, Halvden and the wolf, and flashed his wings wide.

I said stop!’   The word bellowed as a lion’s roar.” (p. 116)

More troubling is that the wolves turn out to be as intelligent as the gryfons, and they object fiercely to being relegated to extinction on their own island. Shard, who is ordered not to talk with them, learns that many of the customs that he grew up with, thinking that they are traditional gryfon customs such as not flying after dark, are Aesir customs only. The Vanir and the wolves were friends, with the Vanir happy to leave Star Isle to the wolves. Shard comes to question the Aesir’s dominance, leading to the cliffhanger ending of Song of the Summer King (cover by Jennifer Miller) and three sequels: Skyfire, May 2014; A Shard of Sun, September 2015; and By the Silver Wind, forthcoming.

Song of the Summer King ends with another gryfon telling Shard, ‘You may have lost your place in Sverin’s pride […] But now it’s time to find your place in the the [sic.] world.’” (p. 244) It won an honorable mention in the 2013 Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards, and was the winner of the 2013 Global E-book award for Fantasy. For the reader of furry literature, it offers well-developed four-legged talking animals like gryfons, wolves, and in the later volumes dragons and wyrms, plus some talking birds, rather than the usual anthropomorphized animals.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Visit Jess’s Website
• Check out the Kickstarter that made the book possible

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

Dream Jumper. Book One, Nightmare Escape, by Greg Grunberg & Lucas Turnbloom.
NYC, Scholastic Press/Graphix, July 2016, hardcover $24.99 (203 [+1] pages), trade paperback $12.99, Kindle $7.99.

In this adventure fantasy recommended for grades 5 to 8, middle school student Ben Maxwell is failing because he keeps falling asleep in classes from exhaustion. He has nightmares every night about monsters chasing him and his school friends. But his friends also have nightmares, and Ben is in them. A rabbit named Lewis tells Ben that he is really a Dream Jumper, with the power to enter others’ nightmares that are sent by the hulking monster Erebus, the lackey of Phobetor, the Nightmare Lord. Lewis teaches Ben how to fight Erebus and his nox minions that thrive off people’s fears.

But it’s all more complicated than that. As Ben’s mother insists that he be tested at a Sleep Clinic for his “disorders”, and Ben demands that Lewis in the Dream World tell him more about what is going on, details emerge that are more science-fictional than fantastic, such as the government’s top-secret Office for Dream Warfare. Just who are Phobetor and Erebus? Who are Lewis and his friends, who are clearly more than just cute furry and feathery talking animals? Will Ben’s classmates from Taft Middle School play a more important part than needing saving from their nightmares? Stay tuned for Book 2.

Fantasy and s-f stories about a separate waking world and a dream world, with a protagonist who is able to travel between the two, go back to at least the 1940s. Two 1940s examples, both for adults, are the novel Slaves of Sleep by L. Ron Hubbard and the short story “Dreams Are Sacred” by Peter Phillips. By making their Dream World more fantastic, with friendly Dream Jumper talking animals like Lewis the rabbit and Mrs. Geomy the gopher, author Grunberg and illustrator Turnbloom have produced a comic-book-format novel that can help preadolescents to discover the worlds of furry literature.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

The More You Know is a new video podcast hosted by Victor Dimitroff. Season 1 Episode 4: Media in the Furry Fandom talks to guests Pup Matthias (David) from Dogpatch Press and Makyo from [Adjective][Species]. While Victor is still in the beginnings of building his channel, I see a lot of promise in his approach to finding guests and planning notes for good conversation of interest to furries. Take a look.

This is about media by furries, not outsiders.  Specifically the kind that covers what’s going on within the subculture.  There’s much more than you would realize just from talking to friends.  That’s why it’s so fun to start and run your own channel.

Victor comments about how Dogpatch Press seems to find endless stories to fill our regular posting schedule. So how do we find them all?

For the answer, watch Victor’s Q&A and then read our site(s).  You see, it’s a bit of a secret recipe.  But the foundation of everything everyone does in this fandom is about participation and loving what we do. That’s not really a secret at all.

With all the stories out there about furries deserving to be known, and all the dislike for the trashy kind in the mainstream, I take it as an informal mission to Be The Media. I am furry fandom, and so can you!  (Ha).  Check our About pages for how to share your story tips or guest posts. We want you.

Thanks very much to Victor, Makyo, and Pup Matthias.  Everyone had in depth chat the whole time.  I wish I could have been present to give more details about the site founding, mission, and investigating stories (I’ll be there in the future.)

It’s a watershed year for furry stuff, and it’s going to be fun to look back in 2017.  Hope you look forward to many great stories to come.

More from The More You Know:

• Episode 1: The Tech Trio (using Google Hangouts on Air.)
• Episode 2: Zootopia (with guests November and Kristofur.)
• Episode 3: About the Host.

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

Les Ailes du Singe. T.1, Wakanda, by Étienne Willem.
Geneva, Switzerland, Éditions Paquet, May 2016, hardbound €14,00 (48 pages).

This is another fine entry in Lex Nakashima’s & my project to bring American furry fans the best of new French-language animalière bandes dessinées. We covered Étienne Willem’s previous four-volume L’Épée d’Ardenois, set about the 13th century with knights in armor. Les Ailes du Singe, The Wings of the Monkey, is considerably different. It’s set in New York in 1933, with knights of the skies.

It’s March 1933, in the depths of the Depression. Tens of thousands of people are out of work, eating in soup kitchens and living in Hoovervilles. Harry Faulkner (monkey), a top pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille during World War I, and the owner of his own barnstorming and movie stunt-flying Jenny biplane during the ‘20s, has fallen on hard times; but he’s not so desperate that he’ll take a job as a common mechanic. He complains to his girlfriend, Betty Laverne (deer), a newspaper reporter for the Herald, and to his own mechanic, Lumpy (pig), that he wants a job that will let him fly.

Meanwhile, the mayor of New York (rabbit) is gambling on jump-starting a return to prosperity – and advancing his own political career – by sponsoring a fleet of high-profile dirigibles (which the mayor secretly owns a share of) powered by synthetic helium, that will replace the railroads in crossing America in comfort and speed. The first of them, the Navy dirigible Wakanda, is about to cast off from the Empire State Building on its posh maiden voyage to California. The flight is covered by Betty.

Except that the Wakanda is taken over by gunmen led by Lydia, a sultry leopardess who poses as an entertainer. They have replaced the champagne for the festivities with mustard gas that they threaten to explode if stopped, not only destroying the Wakanda but also killing the people in the city below them.

A guest temporarily escapes and manages to send a message before he is recaptured. The Navy sends a man to get Colonel Fischer (pelican), who is attending the premiere of King Kong. Harry, in the audience near him, overhears the emergency and runs for his old Jenny. It is in hopeless condition, but Lumpy has made friends with an immigrant German doctor-professor (goat) who has invented an experimental aircraft. Harry and Lumpy take off for the Wakanda, which Harry gets aboard and meets up with Betty.

The last 25 pages of the 46-page album is Harry’s & Betty’s adventurous recapture of the Wakanda from the gunmen, and Harry’s ditching it in the Hudson River to save New York. But they have discovered several things during their adventure. The Wakanda was not a limp-framed dirigible but a fixed-frame zeppelin. It was not filled with non-flammable “synthetic” helium but with Z-03, a new gas invented by Howard Hughes (Doberman) who won’t say what it does except that it’s highly flammable. The gunmen who seized the Wakanda are said to be terrorists, but they are more clearly pirates who planned to divert its flight to Brazil, and then …? What is Howard Hughes’ connection to them? And what had the old goat inventor been doing in Germany before he came to America? There are plenty of loose threads to lead to the next four (or however many) volumes.

Les Ailes du Singe (The Wings of the Monkey) is for readers who like 1930s-style pulp action-adventure with a funny-animal cast. Willem has evidently researched the period. The 1933 clothing looks authentic. The date of early March 1933 was when King Kong premiered. The fat mayor of New York is fictitious, tailored to Willem’s plot, and the character of eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes is closer to the legends about him than to the reality. Les Ailes du Singe is a pulp thriller that authors like L. Ron Hubbard, Frederick C. Davis, and Lester Dent used to churn out during the 1930s, and that the Indiana Jones movies have been keeping alive. It looks like Étienne Willem has another winner here – with anthro animals.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on BDGest
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Paquet

Ahmar Wolf’s profile pic

I have an impression that “Furry News” sources are limited to a very select handful of ones with general focus (Flayrah, Adjective Species, or Dogpatch Press). There’s also a few specialized ones (Furstarter, Gaming Furever, Furry.today for videos, or some literary ones with inconsistent presence.)

Furry Times only recently came across my radar.  It was by direct outreach from Ahmar Wolf (the founder who may work with a contributor from time to time).  It escaped my notice because I had never seen it linked on social media, and it didn’t easily come up in searches for general furry topics. But it’s been steadily active since 2009.

There’s good content at Furry Times, and the furry world needs more of this.  Briefly, I’ll say that finding it takes a lot of wading through random and non-furry filler that could benefit from much more focused curation.  I’ll give a little critique about that after a few good examples you should see.

• My Interview with Fred Patten – by Ahmar Wolf and Greyflank
• Furries You Should Know: Kiba Wolf
• Anthro (magazine) and Quention Long
• Furries you should know: Kevin Hile 

If the blog was focused on stuff with this approach, it could be a real contender for another furry news source beyond just a personal blog.  If that doesn’t matter and it’s just a place to put personal thoughts, OK – but if the original content is meant to be seen, it could use focus.

Let’s look at why this blog may be underexposed.  (Views are one thing, engagement and recognizable presence are another.)

It’s not obvious what the blog is for.  The “about” says almost nothing.  The title implies news.  The content has multiple personalities – between timely furry information and videos, social media memes best for Facebook, copies of non-furry clickbait, and art/comics.

There’s a huge amount of filler.  Even more complicated, it’s mixed with porn art/erotic stories.  Now, furries and porn have a special relationship of duality and personal expression.  Unlike many other topics/communities, I think that this mix could work well if done carefully.  Let’s set the “gray area” of unauthorized sharing aside, and say that at least carefully curating the porn is a Must.  Give people a reason to see it here, rather than going to a porn-specific blog.  I think that unpredictable sharing of adult stuff can fight against attracting regular viewers interested in informative content (especially if they read at work), or presenting Furry as it’s own legitimate thing (whether the reader is in or out of the fandom.)

I see many posts with comments off.  Others have very little if any engagement, a good sign of need for improvement with curation.  I would go as far as to say that the amount of posting should discard about 85% of what’s there and consolidate some of the rest with a little added commentary.

The original or timely furry “newsworthy” content seems not to pay enough attention to “new and informative” or at least Voice.  Often it’s only mildly interesting stuff you could see anywhere, without consistent timeliness, category, or original information/opinions about it.  Random videos and comics without date or credit could at least have a reason for why they’re worth your time.

It’s well known that formal copyright is rarely respected by casual blogs using “internet rules”. I won’t lecture about etiquette. But at the very least, try to consistently credit and link creators and artists, or share it to them directly so they know.  For reposting entire pieces, try instead to use an excerpt with link to the original.  Doing anything else splits the content between legit and pirate. If it’s meant to share pirate content, take care.  Celebrating older stuff that isn’t maintained elsewhere is different from maybe competing directly with creators.

The layout isn’t very appealing for reading long-form stories.  It’s kinda cramped in width without much image layout among the words, and it’s lacking bolding etc. to break up the text.  It is interesting to see some categories in the links in the side (add a News section?) and especially the “downloads” page.

The very best thing here is when Ahmar comment on the Downloads page: “I have a passion for old furry publications, enough so I decided to make them available for free download.”  A focus on that passion could make an extremely interesting curated blog. (I’ll avoid discussing etiquette, and just say that sharing old stuff could be especially welcome if there are some original thoughts or links to more info, every time it’s shared.)

There’s potential here.  The above interview articles show it.  A lot of trimming is in order to bring it out.  Try commenting to Ahmar and see if it helps to aim his work towards what you might want to see.  Hearing from readers can be very important to bring out the best.

It seems like Ahmar Wolf really likes running Furry Times. If these suggestions don’t suit, instead of just changing the blog, consider splitting it into several.  Having ones for furry news, adult art, and personal stuff could bring more enjoyment for everyone.

Good day Fluffer Nutters. Around Anthrocon, we did an article highlighting all 25 books being released by Furplanet, but there were and are still more Furry books being released that we didn’t cover from the many other publishers and self-publishers. This list covers the rest that I can find. If you know any that I missed, feel free to mention them in the comments. Hope you enjoy your next furry obsession.

SOFAWOLF PRESS

Franko, Fables of the Last Earth by Cristobal Jofre and Angel Bernier (General Hardcover $39.95/ Softcover $19.95)

Franko, Fables of the Last Earth is a collection of six comic stories about Franko, a precocious lion living on the Atacama Desert of Chile with his friend Shin, thousands of years in Earth’s future. Theirs is a vibrant world of animal characters, where humans are long gone, along with much of their technology. Life on this desert, the driest in the world, is difficult, but also full of adventures and mysteries. In each fable, Franko and Shin encounter challenges and riddles that they must solve, and in the process they learn a bit more about themselves, and others. Not every fable ends with an obvious lesson, but each one is thought-provoking and full of surprises.

Franko was originally published in Chile in its native Spanish by Amapola Editores, Ltda. as Franko, Fábulas de la Última Tierra. We at Sofawolf Press fell in love with Franko, his friends, and his gorgeously-illustrated world, and so in 2016 we ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing of an English translation of this collection.

The fables included in this volume are:

• The Fable of Mana and the Treasure
• Chapter Title Page by Hax
• The Fable of Cobrafrog, the Merchant
• Chapter Title Page by Ekara
• The Fable of Megaboss
• Chapter Title Page by Martin Caceres (inks) and Ekara (color)
• The Fable of the Host of Midnight
• Chapter Title Page by Arashi Takemoto
• The Fable of the Slave Master
• Chapter Title Page by Seyorrol
• The Fable of Behemo, the Hermit
• Chapter Title Page by Rodrigo Lopez

Due to the success of meeting one of our Kickstarter campaign’s stretch goals, the collection includes three additional black and white comics:

• Box
• The Second Rain
• Florid Desert

This book is suitable for readers from age 7 to 700.

HEAT VOL. 13 Edited by Dark End and Black Teagan (Mature $14.95)

It’s time for (un)lucky number thirteen! In this auspicious issue of Heat, Volume #13, we offer another exciting selection of prose, poetry, and pictures, with an exciting dash of classic Americana.

In Skyleaper (by Slip-Wolf, illustrated by Kalahari), Lannar tries to ease the pain of her recently deceased love by throwing herself into her work: preparing for the first manned flight to the moon. But for wolves, the moon has always held spiritual and religious significance, and the journey might tear the world — and Lannar herself — apart.

Anubis (a poem by Televassi, illustrated by Simul) has long been a favorite of the fandom, and here we again see why as a devotee pens this prayer to the Egyptian god.

In Wolftown Detroit, you can find it all: werewolves, ghosts, vampires, berserkers. But when private investigator Jae Kim visits Wolftown and finds his former boyfriend, he discovers that his client isn’t the only one with Unfinished Business (by Kyell Gold, illustrated by Silverclaw).

In the comic Mile High Club, TaniDaReal invites you to join a pair of pent-up flyers joining the namesake club.

Life on the high seas can separate you from your family for a very long time, so when your lover is a Sailor Dog (a poem by Beagle.in.Red, illustrated by Lundi), you need to make those times together count.

Amadi is a tribal Zebra working in the big city, trying to understand and respect the strange city concept of privacy. But he and his neighbor are forced to deal with each other on more intimate terms thanks to a Hole in the Wall (by Kandrel, illustrated by Oouna).

With All Faults (a poem by Tempe O’Kun, illustrated by Merystic) is a quick glimpse into the love lives of two bibliophiles.

In Lunch Date (a comic by BlackTeagan), two lovers meet for a midday tryst of “eating out.”

In Glam, Slam, Thank You Sir (by Robin, illustrated by Mahrkale), we meet Fizz, keyboardist for the chart-topping rock sensation Corgi Orgi. While touring through Paris, he saves a feline fan from a band of thugs, but there’s more to this kitten than meets the eye and Fizz’s heart might be on the line.

Some parts of America are so empty you can travel for miles without seeing another soul, so why not take advantage of some of the privacy that affords while you’re out on the Open Road (a comic by Tsaiwolf)?

Sterling is too square a guy to be in such a hip coffeehouse. Then he meets a wild woman intent on loosening him up and who won’t take no for an answer. Before long, he will be at his Wit’s End (by Watts Martin, illustrated by TheTiedTigress).

This year’s Afterglow Husky is provided by Jeniak, and the wrap-around cover features art from Edge, inspired by Glam, Slam,Thank You Sir.

Heat is intended for an adult audience only and contains explicit sexual material of Male/Male, Female/Female and Male/Female nature. It is not for sale to persons under the age of 18.

THURSTON HOWL PUBLICATIONS

Wotan the Wolf Pup VOL. 1: Wotan Learns Respect by C.R. Benson and Scott Ford (General $10.99)

Wotan the wolf pup gets lost in the woods near his home. Follow him as he tries to find his way with the help of the most unlikely friend!

WEASEL PRESS

Fragments of Life’s Heart VOL. 1 (General $19.95)

They say Love is the oldest story on Earth, but we don’t have to tell it the same way every time. How many ways are there to explore our feelings that we may have never even considered? Countless fragments of different worlds, all held together by the greatest force of all.

Join us as we explore the many different forms of love—family love, forbidden love, love that embraces what society always taught was wrong. Seasoned veterans and brand new talents bring you seventeen anthropomorphic stories with all different forms of sexuality and relationships, in a journey across genres, worlds, and time.

Love can bloom, thrive, and end. Love can heal, mesh, and blend. We’re all Fragments trying to stick together.

 

 

Knotted: A BDSM Anthology (Mature $15.95)

Get entangled with darker worlds. Some of our desires are unconventional, maybe even taboo. A lot of folks out there just want a simple fuck, but others may want to indulge in something wilder. Knotted is a collection of eight anthropomorphic tales that explore this savage side. There are no baby steps here, readers are shoved into various worlds where the characters run off with what they want most. From losing control to getting restless in your search, some appetites are too addicting to let go. Stories featured:

01. Okami to Shika by Corgi.W
02. Pony She Wrote by Franklin Leo
03. A Moment of Darkness by NightEyes DaySpring
04. Due by Slip-Wolf
05. Family Ties by Hooves
06. Submit by Arian Mabe
07. Resolutions by Khaz
08. The Meat Market by Kits Koriohn

SELF-PUBLISHED

Marking Territory – Freelance Familiars Book Two by Daniel Potter (General $3.99)

Power corrupts. Can Thomas resist the lure?

Thomas may be the first magical cougar to go freelance, but he still has a lot to learn about selecting clients. Guilty over the injuries suffered by his friend and client O’Meara, Thomas resolves to collect enough magical essence to get her healed. Teaming up with an under-appreciated cabal of technomagi, Thomas finds himself battling encroaching mages, vicious spirits, and the forces of the multiverse itself to gather the energy mysteriously popping up all over Grantsville.

Will the promise of absolute power corrupt the people and town he cares for, or will Thomas overcome his own obsession in time to save the people most in danger?

Marking Territory continues Thomas’ adventures in the second installment of Freelance Familiars. If you like the Dresden Files, you’ll love this darkly humorous urban fantasy with an animal twist.

Buy this exciting four-pawed adventure today!

-Matthias