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October 2019

Newsbytes archive for September 2019

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Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)

Contributors this month include 2cross2affliction, BlindWolf8, dronon, earthfurst, GreenReaper, Rakuen Growlithe, and Sonious.

The Good Clown, the Bad Clown, and The Furry Con

Your rating: None Average: 4 (14 votes)

Midwest Furfest has come to learn that being the largest furry convention in the world comes with its follies as news broke of an infamous alt-right provocateur, Milos Yiannopoulos, setting his sights on the gathering. After he went public with this, and word started to spread around, the pressure was on for the convention to make a decision on the matter of this particular would-be attendee.

In a statement released by the convention they said that his presence would not be appropriate for the goal of giving attendees an enjoyable gathering experience.

In return there have been statements by the banned individual that they plan on showing up to the event anyway. With this debacle covered by many outlets outside the fandom such as the Rolling Stone, it has inspired other far right political actors, such as the Proud Boys, to claim they’ll try and be disruptive of the event as well. Convention security has been working with the venues and law enforcement to ensure that precautions are taken. Furs have been informing other attendees to take necessary steps and be aware when attending this December’s gathering.

Furry anime: "Kemono Michi: Rise Up"

Your rating: None Average: 3.6 (9 votes)

Kemono Michi: Rise Up (aka Hataage! Kemono Michi) is new anime series being distributed by Funimation. In fact, it's one of two new anime series that might interest people in furry fandom, the other one being Beastars which will be airing on Netflix very soon!

Based on the manga by Natsume Akatsuki, Kemono Michi definitely doesn't take itself seriously. Shibata Genzo is a pro wrestler who's having the biggest match of his career against his opponent, Macadamian Ogre. Suddenly, mid-fight, Genzo is magically transported to another world, where a princess has ritually summoned him to be the hero to save her kingdom from demon beasts and their demon king.

Thing is, Genzo is a friend to animals, so he's not going to do it. He suplexes the princess, leaves his cloak behind, and escapes the castle (along with his little pet dog).

Brexit causes ConFuzzled to delay registration to November 1

Your rating: None Average: 4 (9 votes)

Leading UK furry convention ConFuzzled has postponed registration for 2020 due to Brexit.

According to convention chairman Rizzorat, "configuration changes to our payment systems" which include switching payment providers necessitated a delay to "reliably implement and test" them. ConFuzzled registration, previously expected to open tomorrow (Friday, October 11), is now to open November 1 at 20:00 GMT/UTC+0 – British Summer Time to have ended October 27.

Organizers apologized to those who may have "made special plans to be available tomorrow evening to ensure you secure your registration", going further to justify and explain the change, which was felt to be "absolutely necessary to ensure your peace of mind" ahead of the event's 13th instance:

Why are we making this decision? As a result of uncertainty surrounding the UKs departure from the European Union, our banking & credit card handling partners have imposed additional conditions that we’re having to work through. Unfortunately, this is resulting in various operational changes, including (but not limited to), switching our payment partners to ensure we can maintain our normal operations.

We’d like to reassure you all that registration will be going ahead on the new date, and that ConFuzzled is not financially impacted by the above changes. Furthermore, we are fully confident that we can continue to welcome those of you who visit ConFuzzled from EU countries. Whilst we expect travel documentation requirements may change, as long as these are satisfied, we see no reason you should be unable to visit ConFuzzled.

Review: 'Rukus'

Your rating: None Average: 3.9 (10 votes)

The 2000s were not an easy time for those who were furry or gay. The mainstream media was still hyper-focused on the sexual aspects of fandom expression in a freak-show style of coverage, instead of the overall complexity of the community. The ability to marry individuals of the same sex was still not federally recognized in the United States and wouldn’t be until the early 2010s. It was in that era that one furry artist named Rukus took their own life at the end of 2008.

Now, just over a decade later, someone who knew this artist on a personal level has finished a documentary covering the life of their lost friend and their interlude with fandom. That director, Brett Hanover, contacted me and gave me the opportunity to view a screening of the film.

The show releases on Vimeo and their own website today and can be viewed there. You can choose to watch before I go over the details and review below. Though the review may help understand some of the nuances of the film.
Rukus

MidAnthro announces scholarship program for furries

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (12 votes)

The Mid-Atlantic Anthropomorphic Association, organizers of annual Maryland events such as Fur the 'More and Fur-b-Que, have launched a $1000 educational scholarship in memory of former staffer Cobalt The Fox, who passed away in October 2017. Their press release follows.

Oh Fiddlesticks! Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra looks to hire fursuit creator for mascot costume

Your rating: None Average: 4 (6 votes)

Fiddstick (original version)A non-furry organization is asking the fandom to have a fursuit creator design a pair of costumes in time for Anthrocon 2020. This will be a commission for their cat mascot "Fiddlesticks". This feline character is used by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in order to inspire children with the beauty of music. They are looking for a pair of suits (copies) that can fit multiple performers. One will be for travel, while the other will be a home body suit. They'd also like to be able to accessorize, such as adding a suit jacket.

Those fursuit creators interested can find more information and apply using this Google Form. So if you are a fursuit designer in search of work, be sure to fill out their application. If you know one, forward them the form to fill out.

Winds of Change brings many good changes over its visual novel predecessor

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (4 votes)

Klace, a pink canine character with colorful locks, and his studio Tall Tail Studios has released a successor to his Ursa Major winning visual novel Major/Minor. Winds of Change is not a sequel, it is a self contained adventure that requires no experience with the former to play and enjoy. There are a few Easter eggs that seem to allude to the older game, but nothing that shapes your ability to comprehend the world before you.

So given that is this game worth your time? In short if you love visual novels and enjoyed Major/Minor you will love this game even more as it is better in every regard. If you despise the genre obviously, you may want to pass.

I would say even if you disliked Major/Minor due to its quality, you should give this one a shot. The difference between the two games are night and day. I’ll be covering mechanics over story in this, mostly to avoid narrative spoilers. There are however a spoiler for Mass Effect 2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Winds of Change.jpg

With Halloween approaching, did you ever dress up as an animal when you were a kid?

Of course! Furry 4 Life
51% (52 votes)
Nah, furriness came later.
49% (49 votes)
Votes: 101

Comic review: "Can I Pet Your Werewolf?"

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (13 votes)

Can I Pet Your Werewolf? is a 160-page comics anthology that came out in 2017, after a successful kickstarter by Kel McDonald. Recently there was a second kickstarter to make a new print run, so I got in on the PDF version, and my hardcopy should be shipping pretty soon.

The project is described as "A light-hearted anthology featuring tales of friendship, family, and romance shared between those who get hairy under a full moon. Just because they have sharp teeth and claws doesn't mean they have to be a monster out for blood."

There are 13 stories, black and white, from mostly women cartoonists of many backgrounds and art styles. They're short popcorn tales, ranging from 8 to 19 pages in length. Not a lot of time for deep world-building, but in each one you're seeing a personal little snippet of a larger setting.