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Here’s the publisher’s notes on the new comic series Squish and Squash: “Squish and Squash are two young cadets trying to make it into the Intergalactic Search and Rescue Squad. In order to become rescuers, they must pass the difficult ‘Save the Gimblemans’ simulation test. It’s not going to be easy, especially with tough Captain Twomey breathing down their necks. Breaking the rules and saving the crew from a burning galactic cruise ship lands our two cadets in trouble. The duo are given one last chance to pass the test or be thrown out of the academy for good. Our adventurous heroes must find new and imaginative ways to earn their patch and become bona-fide rescuers!” For some reason though, they neglected to mention that Squish and Squash are an elephant and a pussycat! Issues of Squish and Squash (by Niall O’Rourke and Mike Hartigan) are available now from Keenspot Entertainment.

image c. 2025 Keenspot Entertainment

When I was young, in grade school, and when I visited my grandma, my uncle lived with her at the time and had an SNES, while I had a Genesis. He always played 3 games when I visited: Super Mario World, Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger. I think this memory is what kicked off my love of RPGs but I remember Chrono Trigger always being the one that always eluded me in trying to find ways to play it. It wasn't until I got my PS1 where I got the chance to play Final Fantasy 4 and Chrono Trigger in the Final Fantasy Chronicles pack. And over 20 years later, I decided to give Chrono Trigger another try to see if It still held up. I picked up the Steam version which is the most accessible version at this time, So let's see if one of the best RPGs of all time still holds up today. 

ASIFA-Hollywood (one of the biggest chapters of the International Animated Film Society) recently announced this years nominees for the best in animated movies, TV series, short films and more, all from the year 2024. Surprising no one probably, Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot lead the pack with 10 nominations — including of course Best Animated Feature, where it joins Inside/Out 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, That Christmas, Ultraman: Rising, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. (Conspicuous in its absence, perhaps: Disney’s Moana 2.) Inside/Out 2 and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl follow behind with seven nominations each. Wild Robot is also up for Best Effects Animation, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Direction (Chris Sanders), Best Music, Best Production Design, two for Best Voice Acting (Lupita Nyong’o as Roz the robot and Kit Connor as Brightbill the goose), and Best Editing. The feline film Flow (from Latvia) is up for Best Independent Feature Film, as well as for Best Writing and Best Direction. (Interesting side note: Flow just recently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature!) All this, and we haven’t even talked about video games or TV shows! Animation World Network has a write-up of the nominees, or visit the official Annie Awards site to find out more. The Annie Awards will be handed out at a gala event at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, February 8th. (And don’t forget: Very soon it’s time to start sending in your nominations for the 2024 Ursa Major Awards!)

image c. 2025 Dreamworks Animation

Ever wanted to shapeshift into a fierce beast and take on enemies as your friend rides on your back and fights with you in an action RPG? Well Coridden is finally giving you that chance! Anshar Publishing, and two-person development team, Aftnareld, have revealed their upcoming co-op, creature-riding Action RPG, Coridden, will be launching for PC on January 29, 2025. Jump in solo or with up to 4 players as you shapeshift between your human form and the beasts you defeat. Upgrade both your human and beast skills as you advance through an action-packed, vibrant world and attempt to uncover the dark secrets that lie within. Wishlist here and check out the new trailer below! More details below the trailer, too.

There’s nothing quite like a game by “The Wild Gentlemen”, a developer who has gained a reputation for fantastic narrative forays into detective work, which also just so happen to feature a wonderful bevy of anthro furry characters as the bedrock of the experiences. They create games in this “World of Wilderness” setting where all the cities and politics are inhabited by furries, which also heavily lean into the animalistic traits and interactions that may happen because of their species. I wish more games with animal characters did this, where we get an insight into the societal landscape that would form with predators, prey, insects, and everything in between having to learn to live with (or forcibly without) each other around. Their newest release, titled “Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!” is a sequel to the 2020 game “Chicken Police: Paint it RED!” in which we follow along with two clucking good detectives, Sonny and Marty. These two chickens are anything but, as they venture into the most dangerous of places around the city of Clawville to find the answers to their most dangerous case yet. You won’t soon forget the story and the way it’s told, and “Into the HIVE!” is one of the best narrative games I’ve played, bar none.

Fellow beast, raise your snouts and notice a change in the gaming landscape. Once dominated primarily by human characters, the gaming ecosystem is booming with projects where the protagonists are quadrupedal animals, anthropomorphic animals, or monsters. We’re surviving in a Rain World, preserving the young of the Endling: Extinction is Forever, in competitions where Friends vs Friends, leading cults like the Cult of the Lamb, leading nations in an Age of Wonders, and reclaiming a kingdom through Tails of Iron. These stories are depicted through simple hand-drawn art, abstract lighting, stop motion, and fully rendered 3D environments. Beast races are making a return, not simply as niche characters, but as epics, expanded upon and featured as the main characters of mythological stories, like in Black Myth: Wukong.

Catching up again, here’s a science fiction comic series from Boom! Studios that we missed last year: Man’s Best, written by Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian) and illustrated by Jesse Lonergan. “Homeward Bound on an alien world, Man’s Best follows three emotional support pets living on the Starship Horizon – a spacecraft searching for a new home to house a humanity compromised by bad decisions and corporate greed. But after the ship crashes and the crew is captured, these loyal pets are their owner’s only hope. Outfitted in outrageous tech, these three best friends must traverse a hostile world to rescue their owners–leaving them the only hope for a humanity that might not be worth saving. In a harrowing adventure, the pets are faced with challenges that threaten to destroy their most valuable treasure: Their friendship.” Issues are still available from Boom! and at comic shops [Happy New Year, everyone! Let’s work together to make it good, safe, and prosperous.]

image c. 2025 Boom! Studios

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season whatever you celebrate, and if you don’t celebrate anything, I hope you got a few days off work where you could rest and recharge.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel fiercely hopeful for 2025. We’re heading for a lot of change, but as we all know, transformations can be difficult but ultimately positive. We just have to stay strong, stick together, and protect the most vulnerable among us.

The guild has dropped Twitter/X completely, since that platform no longer feels appropriate for the furry writing community. While our Telegram and Discord are most active, we have moved to Bluesky and it seems like a pretty good place at the moment. If you’re a guild member who has also joined Bluesky, and the guild account hasn’t followed you back, feel free to drop an email or message to let us know your handle. This is also a good time to update your contact information if your email has changed or if there’s anything else we should update in the guild membership records. Don’t forget to update your available works too! There’s a link to the right that you can fill out.

I used to never set new year resolutions (except one in 2011 that I still keep, to floss my teeth every day. Yay healthy teeth and gums!), but these days I like the idea that the new year is a reset button. If I decide to make a change in my life that others will notice–the way I dress, my hairstyle, pronouns used, etc.–people are more likely to accept this change as normal right after the new year. Sometimes the hardest part of being one’s true self is worrying about what others will think. That’s truer today than it has been in my entire lifetime, unfortunately.

So, what are some of your resolutions for 2025? I have plans to change jobs later this year and move to another state to go back to school in fall, which has me really excited (and scared)! Along the way I want to finish the three writing projects I’ve been working on, including the novella I started in October.

As for guild stuff, we have lots coming up! We still don’t have the firm publication date for the Blood & Water anthology, except that it should be verrrrry soon, but we definitely have the Cóyotl Awards coming up! Later this month I’ll post the dates for nominations and voting, along with the link for the pre-nomination phase: the recommended reading list! That’s specifically for 2024 works that are eligible, and it’s a great way to find works that you missed last year.

We also have guild elections coming up in April, but if you’ve been considering stepping up to an officer position, we can really use your help sooner than that. Three officer positions are currently vacant: vice president, treasurer, and Cóyotl Awards Chair. I am acting president but would really like to step down to treasurer instead. While I’m pretty good at the back-end details of updating the website and so forth, I don’t feel I’m the right person to lead the guild. We need someone with vision and enthusiasm who can devote time to the position and not (as a totally random example) neglect social media to sew fursuits to fund her upcoming move and tuition.

Whatever your writing goals for the new year, the Furry Writers’ Guild will be there to support you!

Check out the Kickstarter campaign for a new pro-paying furry/furry-adjacent story market, Plott Hound Magazine!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th, 2024.
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

毛兽播主罗恩 2024 年尾演唱会：与观众一起《咬滚》 一起成为家人

知名Twitch實況主羅恩Roan於12/14在台北NUZONE展演空間進行「重返水晶洞演唱會」與「一起咬滾2」線下台聚活動，吸引約150位粉絲到場參與。活動由Roan以原唱曲《你是我的狗，我要你乖乖坐下》進行開場，並陸續演唱許多歌曲共計12首。

演唱會現場有大型的羅恩立牌。拍攝/藍風 演唱會一開始，由羅恩拿著紀念毛巾出場並演唱《你是我的狗，我要你乖乖坐下》。拍攝/藍風

演唱會中間不僅有安插數個小劇場進行互動，羅恩也在曲目《對你著迷》橋段，到台下與頂級皇家鮭魚贊助者進行互動。

演唱會中途有毛毛竹本嵐與LOBO同框進行訪問的小劇場。拍攝/藍風 羅恩在演唱中到台下進行互動橋段。拍攝/藍風；後製、貼圖授權/羅恩 本次演唱會的頂級皇家鮭魚贊助者們獲得羅恩的原味鮭魚抱枕。拍攝/藍風；後製、貼圖授權/羅恩

演唱會的最後，羅恩以原創歌曲《來自異鄉的旅人阿》跟當下才公開的曲目《宇宙中的你和我》，在台下觀眾揮舞的粉紅與藍配色的燈光棒下感性演出。羅恩在受訪時表示，《來自異鄉的旅人阿》這首是寫給自己的歌，也是一首想送給大家的歌，認為「想家」像一顆種子會越長越大，不論是在外地旅遊或是工作追求夢想時遇到挫折，都會讓這個情緒變得更加的深厚。而《宇宙中的你和我》這首則是經歷過思鄉這個低潮後所得出的答案，羅恩說:「我們彼此早就成為了彼此的家人，我們一起生活的地方，也早就成為了我們的家。」

羅恩與樂團二足步行一同演唱曲目《宇宙中的你和我》。拍攝/藍風 活動現場有販售紀念毛巾、貼紙與T-Shirt，羊咩在受訪時表示將規劃通販。拍攝/藍風；後製、貼圖授權/羅恩

演唱會結束後羅恩則進行「一起咬滾2」台聚活動，除了備有餐點讓參加者品嘗外，也邀請到二足步行樂團帶來數首歌曲演出，以及觀眾上台演唱與抽獎活動環節等，讓整場活動有個完美落幕。

本次二足步行樂團演出的曲目以獸無限2024的歌單之外，再加入一首《踊り子》為本次活動的演出。拍攝/藍風 參加者烏咪上台演唱歌曲《藍眼睛》。拍攝/藍風

活動主辦人羊咩在受訪時表示，這次重返水晶洞活動籌備了半年，感謝所有朋友的幫忙與大家支持，能完成活動讓他有非常深刻的感動與感受，也希望節目能讓參加者有一樣的感動，讓大家一起成為家人。至於是否會有下一場活動，也表示今年活動剛結束因此尚未開始規劃下一場，但承諾在體力與財力都允許的狀況下，會努力舉辦下一場活動。

Where did this come from? Well, Canada, actually. We just got lucky and came across it! Northern Tails is a new puppet series from the Yukon that’s coming soon to YouTube. The makers describe it as “… a wildlife ‘mocumentary’ web series that is serious (and seriously silly) about nature. With a cast of spirited puppets, engaging storylines and snackable science, each 12-minute episode explores how animals in the boreal forest interact with each other, their environment, humans and the wider world. It’s original ‘edutainment’ that makes us see how we can all be better neighbours.” Did you know that the boreal forest is larger in square miles than the Amazon? We didn’t either…! Find out more at their web site, or head on over to their YouTube Channel.

image c. 2024 Little Brown Bird Entertainment

The staff here at Gaming Furever work all year long playing tons of games, and unsurprisingly, not all of them are filled with fluffy creatures and upright-walking animal people! Who'd have thought! We asked each of our staff members for their personal choices, without genre restriction, as it relates to the same categories as The Furry Game Awards 2024 we gave out this month, with an additional category for their "Extra" pick, without regards to what year the game was released, but they really found themselves playing a lot more of this year. We hope you enjoy taking a look through each of our own favorites for the year. We've got a wonderful group of writers here at GF, and can't wait to see what next year holds in the world of gaming and here at Gaming Furever! If you're interested in joining us on staff, we're still looking for more awesome people to join us in this journey.

Here are our Gaming Furever Staff Choice Award 2024 Winners:

Another one of those interesting mangas with a very interesting, very long name: A Cat From Our World and the Forgotten Witch, written and illustrated by Hiro Kashiwaba. “In her youth, Jeanne was a powerful witch who vanquished the evil Demon King and saved the world—but over time, the people she rescued have forgotten her. Now she is a lonely old woman living in a secluded forest…until she accidentally summons a cat from Earth to her home! The former city kitty is now gigantic and must acclimate to this new world. Can a cat from another world soothe the loneliness of the forgotten witch?” Several issues are available now (in English) from Seven Seas Entertainment.

image c. 2024 Seven Seas Entertainment

Welcome to The Furry Game Awards 2024, presented by Gaming Furever! Every year, we'll come together as a staff and decide on our most beloved, most played, and most exceptional games from the past year of new gaming experiences. 2024 was filled to the brim with so many games featuring anthropomorphic characters and animals. It was hard to choose just one winner for all of these categories, and the separation between the nominees and ultimately the winner was miniscule. All of the games on these lists are highly recommended by our staff, and we can't wait to continue enjoying them! So, without further ado, here are our Furry Game Awards Winners for the year 2024!

So sorry, but we just had to steal that phrase from the publisher — couldn’t top it! “Meet the Bins family, a trio of raccoons in the risky business of dumpster diving for all their needs. With Dusty’s brains, ReRe’s muscle, and Scraps’s gadgets (please don’t tell him he’s almost definitely an opossum), the Binses are determined to leave no garbage bin unturned in their pursuit of the tastiest, most delicious trash they can find. When the family discovers a new upscale grocery store that’s throwing away their perfectly good food at the end of each day, the Binses hatch a heist so daring it’ll have them rolling in garbage all winter long. But a critter-despising CEO, Jeff Beans, and the high-tech defense system he’s installed means liberating that trash is going to take all the skills the Racc Pack have … and maybe some help from a cat burglar with a mysterious past.” Published by Simon & Schuster, The Racc Pack graphic novel is by Stephanie Cooke (My Little Pony: Camp Bighoof), with art by Whitney Gardner.

image c. 2024 Simon & Schuster

The Duck Detective is back! When spookiness strikes a luxury campsite, the one and only Duck Detective is summoned to quack the case. Inspect evidence, make de-duck-tions, and solve this no-murder mystery! Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is a new stand-alone game in the acclaimed Duck Detective series from Happy Broccoli. Get ready to interview suspects, inspect evidence, and deduce the truth.

This campsite might have ghosts, but the real thing haunting Eugene McQuacklin is his failed marriage and bread addiction. Can he escape the shadows of his past?

Features:

• A 2-3 hour long cozy mystery game!

• A stand-alone sequel to the acclaimed ‘Duck Detective: The Secret Salami!‘

• Interview suspects, fill in the blanks and crack the case!

• Fully voice-acted cast of suspiciously secretive characters!

• Dive into a murky pond of delinquency and dredge up the truth!

• Throw bread to the fine beak of lady justice!

Apartment D Films is an independent stop-motion animation studio who made a name for themselves creating unique (and wonderfully weird) commercials for Mattel toys. Now, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, they’re ready to launch their first original full-length series, Ruff Ruff Danger Dogs. “In the series, Earth has been locked in an unending struggle against Galactic Evil for a century. When the planet’s mightiest heroes sacrifice themselves to buy the world one more fighting day, humanity must seek out the five ‘goodest’ beings on the planet – The Ruff Ruff Danger Dogs! Can these once-abandoned pets learn how to pilot mecha and unlock their true potential when they’re still getting housebroken?” Animation World Network has an extensive interview with the creators, and preview videos. The series premiers this month on YouTube.

image c. 2024 Apartment D Films

Developed by Gamkat and published by No More Robots, Piece by Piece is a new game where you relax and play as a little fox who runs a repair shop; fixing, building, painting and reselling all sorts of curious items from a model cat all the way to binoculars. Enthrall yourself in the townsfolks stories, battle them in a game of 'Bear, Fish, Bee' and grow plants to create pigments for paint to decorate your newly fixed items. I love the little ways you can customize the items and shop you have with paints, and the fluffy and cute cast of characters that inhabit this lovely little world so far! Check out the announcement trailer below and wishlist the game on Steam!

The trailer was revealed as part of the Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards 2024 Presentation

You can never have enough capybaras. At least that's our opinion! Luckily, the developers at Kitten Cup Studio have the same opinion, and they just announced (and revealed a trailer) for their new upcoming game, Capy Castaway. In Capy Castaway, "Embark on a whimsical adventure with a capybara pup and a clever crow as they set off to find their way home! Sniff, dig, and explore a vibrant world brimming with wonder, challenges, and heartwarming friendships at every turn." The pairing of Capy and Crow looks to be a creativity-filled duo that encourages the player to explore with childlike wonder the possibilities around them. Plus it's by the same developers of "Pekoe" AND features the composer who did the music in "A Short Hike"?! We can't wait to see more! 

The trailer was revealed as part of the Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards 2024 Presentation

Another comic book that slipped beneath our radar, but at last we can tell you all about Howie the Hellhound from Scout Comics. “Satan’s favorite pet, a Hellhound named Howie, escapes the pits of Hell and settles down with a human owner, Louise, in New York City. But when Hell’s forces rise to take back what’s theirs, the pair must find a way to come out the other side and earn the fresh start at life that they both crave. Howie the Hellhound is a supernatural dramedy filled to the brim with heart, danger, and laughs, along with a sprinkling of fire and brimstone!” And likely the kitchen sink! Written by Jared Prestwidge, Howie is illustrated by Simon Robins and Carlos Trigo.

image c. 2024 Scout Comics