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June 2020

Newsbytes archive for May 2020

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

Doctor Who and the Secret of Novice Hame hints at a furry Doctor Who?

Your rating: None Average: 3.1 (9 votes)

To help distract quarantined Doctor Who fans, there are Doctor Who: Lockdown! simulcast watch-alongs of popular episodes of the "New" series of the show, featuring creatives behind the scenes Tweeting along, as well as short videos to go along with the watch-along.

With the May 30 watch-a-long of the loose "trilogy" of episodes "The End of the World", "New Earth" and "Gridlock" a sort of illustrated audio ""The Secret of Novice Hame", written by Russell T. Davies, was attached. The titular character and narrator of the story is Novice Hame (played by Anna Hope), who appeared in the "New Earth" and "Gridlock" episodes and is an anthropomorphic cat. She tells the story of her life among the various anthropomorphic animals of the far future planet of New Earth, and is visited by David Tennant's "Tenth" incarnation of the Doctor.

An interesting implication of the short piece is that it opens up the possibility that the Doctor themself might someday become an anthropomorphic animal; Novice Hame notes that there are stories of the Doctor in various forms, including animals.

See Also: Flayrah's 2006 coverage of the the episode "New Earth"

Furries of color take the mask off in times of American unrest over systemic racial biases

Your rating: None Average: 2.5 (31 votes)

Furries of past connected mostly via the internet behind avatars and characters of varying species. In chat rooms they would engage in discussion and role play. However, many folks of color found opportunity through being through a world where interaction was through text and art alone. That if they did not discuss or indicate their race then they could see the world in a whole new way. They could finally escape their skin and put on a new one here.

However, no one can live on the internet alone. A systemically racial bias in justice systems throughout America came to a head, once again, in the death of George Floyd, a black citizen of Minneapolis. The cruelty of this death was of grueling note as video was released of Officer Chauvin knelled down on his neck for many minutes until Mr. Floyd stopped breathing.

Game review: Ratropolis, real-time strategy with deckbuilding

Your rating: None Average: 4 (5 votes)

Ratropolis main screen
Released in November 2019, Cassel GamesRatropolis sets players in the role of the leader of a post-apocalyptic rat society, attempting to rebuild their once-great civilization after scientific experiments caused its collapse. But in order to grow, the new settlement must defend itself - first from mutated rats that caused the apocalypse, then as the settlement grows, from predators. The goal is to survive 30 waves of enemies using cards that provide an array of tactics, and with the leader’s special ability.
 

Do you think that Midwest Fur Fest (MFF) will happen this year?

Yes
15% (17 votes)
No
46% (53 votes)
I won't go to any cons until there's a vaccine/better testing.
39% (44 votes)
Votes: 114

Neopets to get animated series in 2021

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (6 votes)

Reporting from Verve indicates that Neopets will be releasing an animated series in 2021. Neopets is known for its Flash based entertainment that held its own with other such animal care based franchises of the 1990s such as Pokemon, Digimon, or Tamagochi.

The owning company JumpStart, who bought it from Viacom in 2014, hopes to use this as a way to refresh interest in the pet based franchise at a time where they are shifting their Flash based interface before most browsers discontinue support for Flash applications by the end of this year.

Digging up Positivity - Furry charity and good news - May 2020

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Hello and welcome to May’s episode of digging up positivity. This month we have a couple of literal diggers! Online events, animation and our featurette is the guy behind that big event you saw where I was floating in mid-air, playing connect-four with the little ones in the Sophia Childresn Hospital in Rotterdam.

The Fandom Documentary to release on July 3rd

Your rating: None Average: 3.7 (13 votes)

For many furries, the Fourth of July weekend would be a time that many would make their way to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in order to partake in the convention of Anthrocon. Due to the current pandemic, most conventions have been canceled for the year of 2020. For those furries looking to reconnect with their community, though, a full length documentary by Ash Coyote is set to release that weekend.

The furry producer did a series of shorter furry non-fiction for her channel which we reviewed here.

Capital management problems cause closure of Capital City Fur Con

Your rating: None Average: 3.8 (8 votes)

Capital City Fur Con has closed any future gatherings after its premiere in January 2020 due to financial mismanagement. Staffers came forward to discuss the issues caused by the chair’s fiscal malfeasance, and guests have reported that honored guests who were promised compensation were left out in the cold.

The greatest grievance, though, is that it is alleged that the charity they were raising money for, the ALS Association, also were not given their money. ALS has gained infamy in the fandom due to the disease that took the late Tony “DogBomb” Barret, and many conventions over the year have been raising money toward research for a cure since.

More information can be seen on Global Furry Television’s coverage on the below video which is transcribed below.

Four activist furries raise nearly $9,000 for in four hours for charities to assist Black and Indigenous people

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (10 votes)

As conventions have been closed, the charitability of the fandom marches on as Pibble, Chise, Nas, and Wolf (aka Kind7ed) lead a fundraising effort collecting nearly $9,000 for Project Okra and the Navajo Nation. They did this during the stream on Picarto where they played Jackbox games while hanging out and telling stories.

Project Okra is an organization that pays black trans* chefs who provide meals for black trans* individuals who are facing food insecurities, along with other community services. The Navajo have been fundraising to help deal with the impact of the Coronavirus on their people. Each received $4,365 dollars as a result from the stream.