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Meet “Toon Furs” in Part 1: Duino Duck, RomeTwin, and James the Duck. This story features the side of fandom where you can watch NEW cartoons with classic animal characters, and even turn into one! HBO Max has 80 eleven-minute episodes of fresh-but-faithful animation from WarnerMedia. Furries discuss their influence in this 3-part story by Rocky Coyote. (Rocky previously covered fandom in America’s biggest city on his tag here.)

Check it out here.

Looney Tunes gets a reboot: How an iconic cartoon forged a wacky and lovable side of the furry fandom.

Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang found a new home on May 27 as WarnerMedia launches its newest streaming service HBO Max.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is the latest show to marquee the iconic characters that have entertained viewers around the globe for over 80 years. Unlike recent reboots such as The Looney Tunes Show (2011) and Wabbit (2016), HBO’s series will closely resemble the format and art style of the original shorts crafted by the likes of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.

Naturally, the show’s wacky yet lovable characters have had an influence on the furry fandom, but this goes beyond the cartoon’s anthropomorphic nature. Shows like Looney Tunes paved the way for a subculture within the subculture, where furries create their own characters in the ‘toon mold.’ This includes big eyes and exaggerated body proportions, personalities that range from goofy to outright insane, and a penchant for slapstick comedy aided by an endless supply of mallets, dynamite and anvils.

To get a better idea of Looney Tunes’ impact on the furry fandom, Dogpatch Press reached out to a number of self-identified toon furs and let them describe how the series influenced their love of cartoons and helped them find a place within the fandom.

Think about it. There are ZERO downsides to being a toon.

-full of energy
-powered by laughter
-can play ANY instrument
-cute as a button

“But Duino, what about all the bad stuff that hap-“

Bud, if you don’t think having a piano dropped on you would be KINDA fun, you’re wrong.

— Duino D. Duck (@MainMandarin) May 13, 2020

Duino Duck is a writer for the Plotsburg Press and a slapstick aficionado. The self-described cartoon antagonist recalls how Looney Tunes forged his passion for all things animated.

Cartoon Network used to air an hour of Looney Tunes from noon to 1 p.m., and I’d watch them every time I was home sick. All I did on those days was watch TV, and Looney Tunes was a welcome reprieve from the slow-paced Nick Jr. and Playground Disney kids’ shows. I watched them and Tom and Jerry a bunch on the weekends, too. A lot of it blurs together, so I don’t have a thorough knowledge of the library of shorts. But I always remember feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over me as the first orchestral swell hit come noontime.

I loved cartoons growing up, but was raised in a strict and serious household. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be academically successful, so cartoons with this antithetical escape- nonsense, zaniness; freedom, in a way. I wanted to watch them, make them, BE them. It felt like making up for lost time.

There was also a level of intelligence that went into the shorts. I’m not going to call them educated entertainment, but there’s an incredible level of finesse and style involved in pulling that medium off. Making characters who you like, but don’t mind seeing blown up in an abandoned mine shaft. Witty one-liners that perfectly contextualize why this person is getting knocked on the head repeatedly. Mindful violence.

Soup to nuts, I’m a toon. I walk funny, I talk funny, I can’t stop talking about dropping bowling balls on my friends. I fell in love with larger than life comic characters, and I want to be one myself. I’ve been yelling about toons for years now, and most people recognize me as “that slapstick bird” which I take as high praise.

(For the new reboot) cautious optimism feels like the best way to put it! I was apprehensive upon the announcement, but the clips I’ve seen thus far have been entertaining in their own right, and it certainly lets me know there will be some real treats in store. I’m very skeptical of reboots since… well, we all know how many of them go. But there’s clearly a lot of care, talent, and passion thrown into these, and it’s looking like it’ll pay off!

Gwen “RomeTwin” Romer, creator of the “Paper and Plastic” comics, talks about the show’s wit and how the character design influenced her art style.

Though I was born in 1996, I watched Looney Toons as often as it was put in front of me; which was a lot as a kid. My grandparents recorded the shorts on VHS, and my parents were keen on having me watch classic cartoons like Popeye, Under-Dog, Tom & Jerry, etc.

The show was very particular in that while Tom & Jerry also used slapstick humor, Looney Tunes was very witty in its dialogue and visual gags that helped shape an idea of what made cartoons funny for me. Even as a kid I appreciated how clever it was and it never felt patronizing. I feel that the shows I grew up on (though I hold them close to my heart) needed to be loud for the sake of holding my attention, and Looney Tunes never needed to do that.

The show had no influence for my fursona personally. However, Wile E. Coyote and characters inspired by him have had an influence on how I draw my canines! That and Pepe Le Pew. They had the PERFECT snouts.

This is much more faithful than any Looney Tunes project I’ve seen in a long time. I was a kid when Lunatics Unleashed was on the air and even then I didn’t really get it. The Looney Tunes Show on Cartoon Network was fun, but it was trying to be its own thing; whereas this new show attempts to be faithful to a T and I’ve loved what I’ve seen of it so far.

James the Duck discusses how the show developed his affinity for toony mallards.

I watched it quite a bit growing up. I didn’t really get into them until I was around 8, when they had the Looney Tunes New Year’s Day Marathon on New Year’s 2010. Being a child of the 2000’s, you couldn’t really see Looney Tunes unless you were home from school for some reason, or it was summer vacation. During the summer, I’d always watch Tom and Jerry at 1:00, and then Looney Tunes at 2:00 on Cartoon Network.

Looney Tunes did have an influence on my love for cartoons. Personally, I’m more of a Fleischer/Famous Studios type of guy, but Warner Brothers is a close second. My favorite era is from 1935 to 1948. I love the music, and the fluid, detailed animation, as well as the somewhat “adult” humor. Back then, cartoons were made for adults as well as kids, and it really shows.

My favorites are The Daffy Duckaroo (1942), Nasty Quacks (1945), and Mexican Joyride (1947).

Daffy Duck was my “gateway drug” to my love for birds, especially toon birds. I love the bills and webbed feet. I’ve always secretly wanted to be one and mess around in a surreal universe. When I decided to join the furry fandom, I knew what I wanted to be.

I honestly don’t know much about the new version, but it looks great! I especially love how they seem to have reverted Daffy to his 1940’s “Screwball” personality. I never liked the post-1951 Daffy. They made him so unlikable then, and it hurts to see how that’s the Daffy that everyone knows now. So it’ll be great to see more love for his funny and likeable screwball incarnation! The animation also looks really good. I almost can’t tell it from the 1940s cartoons!

Meet ten Toon Furs in Parts 1-3 of Rocky Coyote’s story.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is among the countless shows, movies and features available for HBO Max subscribers at $14.99 per month. A handful of trailers and episodes, however, can be viewed by anyone on WB Kids’ Youtube channel.

• NY Times: Bugs Bunny Is Back, and So Is the ‘Looney Tunes’ Mayhem
• Vanity Fair: HBOMax’s Modern Looney Tunes Keeps the Spirit of the Classics
• Forbes: HBO Max Brings Back Bugs Bunny And The Looney Tunes Gang In Classic Style

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

CCFC on Wikifur

Contact-starved furries are having a bad year. Only a few conventions opened before COVID-19 made so many cancel and cut off the hug supply. (Quick, send emergency plushies before the furries go rabid for hugging anything that moves! Or set them loose in riot zones and tell them the cops need hugs.)

Capital City Fur Con was among the few that happened successfully, and it was a first-year con… so months later, it’s extra noticeable to see it blow up with a mushroom cloud of absurd drama. At least it makes a show. It also makes a lesson about a fandom full of DIY power. Uncritical nerdy love is good for starting your own art, stories, or even a sexy furry news site — but not just any dummy should start a con.

The dummy of this story is CCFC’s (ex-) chair, Nitro. He may now be hiding out in a luxury yiff bunker, with hopes to be forgotten in the furor about a pandemic/recession/uprising, because he allegedly took thousands of dollars for charity but failed to give it to them. That’s illegal.

I try not to go too deep into the drama of cons. It has to be egregious, and even some with clowns on staff have great volunteers who strive to make others happy. Even when cons don’t go right, they still make happy experiences. (Spoiler: which aren’t included here.)

Of course it’s the law that every con has to have weird stuff, and it’s hard to get the truth about it from all sides, like learning about orgies in private rooms and which ones are really worth getting into. (For example, the failure of Rainfurrest has a popular video from Internet Historian, but we might not verify all the bonkers stuff in it unless the infamous Diaper Guy was an undercover cop with a wire hidden in there.)

You can still watch this helpful summary of the controversy, then CCFC staffer Shadow the Wolf’s recounting of “gross financial mismanagement” by Nitro.

From Shadow the Wolf’s video.

See, it’s special to get inside info about how things went wrong. And there’s more than the outstanding financial stuff. It’s a lot to cover so I’ll just tell a few lowlights from memory. (Imagine you’re hearing from a sincere furry doing their best after a couple of marijuanas.)

• Before the con, I was tipped about controversy with a potential alt-right security staffer who you might not want to trust with securing you or your info.
• Controversy boiled over when the con denounced staff of another con for pointing this out, with an official letter. (When do cons bicker in public?)
• That furry was seen visiting the White House in a used murrsuit. (Look, no shaming, I’d deploy the SPH to disrespect Cheeto Mussolini and Make America Great, but being on his team? I’m not that dirty.)

Hey wanna laugh? #furries #fursuit #murrsuit #politics #MAGA2020 #MAGA #Murrsuit4Trump #keepingitclassy pic.twitter.com/YiwkySi8iI

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) June 7, 2020

• “Popufurs” were spammed to death about being Guests of Honor, until CCFC had 2.7 GOH’s per attendee. (OK, actually 7 for a few hundred attendees.)
• Some weren’t actually announced, and pricey room compensation wasn’t paid (to staff and maybe GOH’s.)
• On the first day of the con AN AVALANCHE OF SHIT got unleashed…
• Furries risked getting shot? That was the fear when a “rich people inauguration ceremony” happened in the hotel, with politicians and armed security giving beady eyes about potential costumed assassins. Con-goers were told to avoid giving them a reason for hunting season. No pup masks OR ELSE!
• Due to this genius scheduling, a bunch of panels were rescheduled to nonsense times without notice and didn’t happen.
• The hotel contract hadn’t been honored with payment on time, and there was a deadline. If not paid NOW the con would get shut as firmly as I’d get kicked out of the White House for peeing on Trump’s rug (or whatever you call that thing on his head — hey can you imagine him doing a pee tape with a furry? Yes, you probably can if you’ve been watching the news, that wouldn’t even get 15 minutes of notice.)
• A con bickering online with another con is one thing, but how often to they BEG other cons for thousands of dollars?
• A staffer was badgered about paying $15 grand in college money (I don’t think the money was actually given though.)

• No Non-Disclosure Agreement HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• For months after the con there were ALL CON MERCH 50% OFF sales (were there any sales accounted for?)
• Finally, when all this came out, the allegations of charity money deception led to a lawyer assessing the potential fraud charges.
• Read his Twitter thread about this Fandom’s Most Wanted Public Animal #1. It’s conveniently blog-formatted for you here.

I don't have time to sit down and write a blog post about this right now, which I normally do to address issues that pop up in the fandom. Instead here's the summary in thread form:

1. Capital City Fur Con, a convention in Harrisburg, PA, folded yesterday. /1

— Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 12, 2020

View this document on Scribd

Great idea from @trippwubb: a form to collect details from anyone owed money by #CapCityFurCon to total up the damage. https://t.co/bI6tzXJkJe

— Con Staff Watch (@ConStaffWatch) June 14, 2020

• CCFC Twitter archive
• CCFC Facebook archive

Capital City? More like Crapital City… if I had a band, that would be the name of it, and the album would be Presidential Furry Pee Tape.

Here’s the part where I give sympathy to everyone who had a good time and put in their hard work, and hope this all gets sorted out!

UPDATE: You wouldn’t think it could get worse. It gets worse.

I absolutely know what a receipt for the Greater Philly Chapter of the ALS Association looks like.

And what their logo looks like.

You do NOT fuck with the charity.

— Boozy “Slightly Used Coffin Reseller” Badger (@BoozyBadger) June 27, 2020

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

Keeping in the realm of graphic novels for young readers, next up we have Baloney and Friends, written and illustrated by award-winning creator Greg Pizzoli. “Meet Baloney! He’s the star of this book, along with his best buddies: Empathetic Peanut the horse, sensible Bizz the bumblebee, and grumpy Krabbit — he’d rather not be here, but what can you do? In this graphic novel for newly independent readers, Baloney and friends step into the spotlight and embody all the charm of childhood in three short tales and three mini-comics that invite readers to join the fun! Giggle with Baloney as he performs some questionable magic, give him a boost when a case of the blues gets him down, cheer him on as he braves the swimming pool, and at the end, learn to draw all the characters with clear step-by-step instructions!” It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2020 Little, Brown Books

Capital City Fur Con, a convention based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania of the United States has recently announced closure. This was followed by a heavy backlash on social media claiming severe fund mismanagement and deception.

This week, furry conventions in Mainland China, Switzerland and Argentina have announced cancellations due to the current pandemic. In a statement, Guangzhou-based furry convention Fuzzy Oasis Party said the furcon could not continue as planned due to some of its core members as well as the invited guests currently being unable to return and come […]

The Sprawl was reviewed with a creator interview a year ago: “my favorite furry webcomic and certainly ranks among my favorite webcomics of all time” — so enjoy a fresh take. Welcome to Roz Gibson, furry artist and animator in Southern California. Roz was guest of honor at Confurence and created the Jack Salem comic character that first appeared in Rowrbrazzle in 1987. Roz is a community access guest and contents are hers. See Roz’s tag for more reviews.

The Sprawl volume 1-3 
Written and Illustrated by Snowdon
Published by Ringtail Café productions

I picked these three volumes up at AnthroCon last year. There are not a whole lot of new furry comics coming out, particularly if you’re looking for something other than porn, slice-of-life or gay interest, so I decided to give this series a try.

The back blurb describes this as “Sci-Fi/Horror meets Dark Fantasy on a dead world. It’s only inhabitants are  the descendants of an ill-fated colonization mission, now huddled together in an ever-growing mega-city known as The Sprawl.” But the story turns out to be closer to Bladerunner meets The Thing, with something from the original Heavy Metal movie thrown in for good measure.

Volume 1 is pretty simple: a survey team is sent to a distant part of the dead planet (referred to as the “South Pole”) to look for another survey team that vanished. You see boobs early on, as the female characters are either topless or wearing really skimpy clothing. The two female surveyors are apparently along solely to hump the guys, which they get to doing as soon as they leave on the mission. When there’s an explosion on the ship and they have to evacuate, the guys are all fully dressed, but the bunny girl bails out wearing nothing but bikini panties. When they arrive on the frozen, snowy surface of the South Pole, someone gives her a jacket that she never bothers to zip up, so she’s wandering around Antarctic cold in panties and an open jacket with her boobs hanging out. I think this is known as ‘pandering to the audience,’ which might have worked if the bunny girl was attractive, but all the characters are squishy lumpy with big Bugs Bunny-type feet.

While I waited for the bunny girl to either die of hypothermia or her bare feet to turn into frozen blocks, the team reaches the prerequisite spooky mysterious abandoned ruins with dead bodies. The previous survey team is dead and one of the characters– without even touching or examining the bodies–declares that they killed each other.

Then they find a mysterious evil glowing orb (a call-back to the original Heavy Metal movie) that is so evil it compels anyone around it to immediately kill each other.  The lone survivor takes the orb back to The Sprawl and sells it to a brilliant but eccentric scientist with a hot daughter (who is, unsurprisingly, more than she seems!)

Now the genre switches to Blade Runner, with a hard-boiled PI investigating the murder of the scientist, the orb and the getting involved with the hot daughter. She’s wearing skimpy clothes, and yes, we do get to see her boobs when she gets out of the shower and walks around naked. The rest of the comic involves a lot of chases and fights in a rainy, depressing city.

Like many other digital comics turned into print, the art is dark and muddy, so it’s often impossible to tell what’s going on. That is compounded (particularly in volume 2) with the action taking place in dark tunnels. And all the pages are on black or dark backgrounds without traditional panel gutters, which makes it even harder to follow the action.  The (male) characters wear so much baggy clothing you can’t tell what species they are, so if you’re looking for visually interesting character design, this is not it. To further complicate matters, most of volume 3 is dreams within dreams, or hallucinations, so by the end of it I honestly had no clue what was going on.

Online the comic is up to volume 5, but this review only covers the 3 printed volumes I purchased last summer. 

If you wanted to read it online it might look better, without the dark printing. The comic isn’t horrible, if you want a story along with the boobies, but it lost me early on with the naked bunny girl wandering around the South Pole.

– Roz Gibson

• The Sprawl Physical Copies available at Ringtail Cafe Productions
• Snowdon’s Patreon
• Snowdon’s Ko-fi
• Vote for The Sprawl on TopWeb Comics

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

From time to time, Dogpatch Press commissions new banner art — check out a gallery from past months. Past artists have come from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, the Philippines, England, Quebec, North Carolina, California, and Texas. Get in touch if you want pay and a feature article. Today it’s for Roku Doggo.

Hi Roku, love your banner art! Especially the way you made it a funny action moment.

Thank you so much.

Where are you from and how much furry activity do you do?

I’m from Texas, and the only furry activity I do is, well drawing furries and I do it almost every day.

What’s your favorite part about being a furry artist?

My favorite part will have to be the interactions I have with my followers. It makes my day just to see them happy about any of the work I make.

Can you link your social media profiles?

• Twitter: @thefuzzy_husky
• Instagram: @thefuzzy_husky
• Furaffinity: thefuzzyhusky

You do a lot of big round furs… Texas is a big place too. Does the place you live make it into your art in any way?

Hehe yep! It definitely is big, but the place I live in doesn’t really make it in to my artwork. I mainly do all my work on the characters and I don’t really focus on the setting that much.

HAPPY PRIDE!
Each and everyone of you are valid and deserve love!
Be proud of who you are and live life to its fullest potential!
It’s rainbows all around pic.twitter.com/KYxCQjNXeN

— GAY PUP (@Thefuzzy_husky) June 1, 2020

Is there anything furry you like about where you live, like cons you go to, or even the animals? I love wildlife, there’s a lot in my neighborhood… Deers nest up the hill, skunks under the house, possums and raccoons in the trees, and wild turkeys hang out on the roof.

I haven’t gone to any cons yet, but the desert bunnies, coyotes and roadrunners are fun to look at when they roam about.

The art you did for the site has charm and action and it looks like talent that could go into longer comics. You have some comics in your galleries — are those all commissioned, or do you do any ongoing story?

I’ve only done one comic as a commission and that was my most recent one, but the other comics I do are short comics and they don’t have an ongoing story. And I do have plans for other comics, but I don’t know if I’ll actually go forward with them because it’s not the first time I wanted to work on a comic and do nothing for it.

Have any good stories about doing art or getting into furry? Like an oddball commission, or things you have run into in the fandom?

Well I can tell you the story about getting into furry. I remember watching the movie Brother Bear, and then having the urge to draw the bear characters from the movie. I looked up images of them online. It led me to DeviantArt where I found all these cool drawings, which were furry, but I didn’t realize it at the time. Then I told myself, “Hey! I want to draw that!” and that’s really how it started.

How are you holding up with the Covid-19 quarantine?

It’s been a bit tough — transitioning to online classes from college has messed up my schedule and with it my time to draw.

Want to talk about future plans with your studies? And how about with furry?

Well I’m pursuing studies in the geology field, two years in to college, and I’m hoping to continue strong for another two years. With furry, I just hope I get to enjoy it as much as I do and hopefully get the opportunity to attend cons in the future.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

… though you could be forgiven for thinking so.  Fox & Rabbit is a new graphic novel for young readers — the first foray into comic storytelling for children’s book author Beth Ferry. “Easygoing Fox and anxious Rabbit seem like total opposites. But, somehow, they make the perfect pair! Whether searching for hidden treasure or planting a garden in their own backyard, Fox and Rabbit find everyday magic at every turn. On this first adventure, the pair will discover some new favorite things like sunsets, dandelions, and cotton candy. And they’ll face new fears like heights, swimming, and (poisonous!) frogs. Thankfully, there’s nothing Fox and Rabbit can’t do together!” Illustrated by Gergely Dudas, it’s available now in hardcover from Abrams Books.

image c. 2020 Abrams Books

If you’ve ever wanted to know what a mystery novel set in a world with anthropomorphic animals looks like, THE CITY OF BARKS AND ROARS is a great example. J. T. Bird writes about a crime-filled world that has developed long after the fall of humans, yet their civilizations are quite similar. Animals use the traits they’ve been given before their evolution to contribute to this world, a world that some believe to be better than that of Man. On the surface, however, most creatures seem to fall in line without a care of what was before...but not everyone.Trouble arises in Noah’s Kingdom when Frank Penguin--lead detective of the city’s police department--loses his partner, Lucas Panda. Detective Chico Monkey from West Bay is called in to find the missing panda. From then on this story reads as your typical noir-style mystery story, complete with witty banter, crime bosses, and rainy weather. Frank and Chico scour the city in hopes of finding clues to track down the kidnapper. One clue leads to another, the two start getting used to each other, and, with some help, the duo finds a hidden truth they didn’t know they were looking for.The first thing I want to mention before going into the critical part of this review is the description for the book. Mainly, the part that says “...peppered with plenty of humor.” I bring this up mainly as a point of understanding why this story was written the way it was written. Frankly, I was laughing AT the story way more than I was laughing WITH the story, and I think that’s because it was written in such a way that the narrator was like an annoying friend of mine who happened to witness this whole thing play out and decided to recount it to me.While the story’s plot was solid, the writing was not. I struggled to get through the story because the narrator kept telling me what I could imagine on my own. Most of the time, these were either character details or scene details. Here’s an example: “You can tell from his crisply ironed light blue uniform, and rigorously buffed shoes that he takes his role very seriously.” I feel that the need for second person--i.e. the ‘you’--here is completely unnecessary, and it distracts from the scene because it pulls me out of the story and back to reality. I also felt that a lot of intense scenes were made less intense because the dialogue was trying to do what simple descriptions would do better. That, or they were just so absurd that I couldn’t take the story seriously. One example of this comes later on in the book when Chico is chasing after one of the criminals. (Warning: a bit of a spoiler) Chico is chasing a hog through a swamp. The hog trips and falls into a sort of quicksand? But it’s mud? And as the hog is sinking Chico just sits there saying, “And this little piggy went wee wee wee...all the way home.” I just couldn’t take them seriously.Another small thing I want to mention is the editing. There are a litany of grammar and punctuation mistakes, at least in the Kindle version I received. A few typos here and there as well. It could use another look-over.This book would appeal to those who are interested in furry literature. Bird does a good job at giving different animals different roles in the society he writes about, so it’s an interesting look into the furry world. Children may enjoy the silliness of it, but I hesitate to say that it’s for children because there are darker themes involved. Curious teens and young adults shouldn’t have too much trouble with it though.

Welcome to another Furry Writers’ Guild spotlight for Pride Month! We’ve been so excited to share the viewpoints and stories of several of our guild members this month. Today we have an interview Hugo Jackson! Their pronouns are he/him or they/them. They are a non-binary author and has written three books so far in The Resonance Tetrology. But why say more when they can tell you about themself? Let’s get right to the interview!

FWG: Tell the guild and our readers a bit about yourself.

Hugo: Well, in furry circles I’m Archantael, a big and fluffy/scaly pangolin-fox hybrid, but in writing I go my professional name Hugo Jackson where I’m distinctly more fleshy. I’m 34, and probably the most distinct thing about me (from the point of view of me living in the US, anyway) is that I grew up in Britain, so my accent is British even though I’ve been here for over eight years now. I have been a published author since 2010 but have been an avid writer and slave to my overactive imagination since I was very very young. It’s been a great journey being able to embrace that, and it’s something I’m grateful for daily, not least of all because it brought me to the furry community and all of its amazing, sincere, colourful creatures and members.

FWG: What is your favourite work that you have written?

Hugo: Well, Legacy (my first novel) will always be the biggest milestone for me, not least of all because it’s the one I usually throw at people when I conjure up the bravery to actually sell my books to people, but Ruin’s Dawn, which is the third in the fantasy series, I feel had a real step up in my writing style and strength of voice, so that’s what I’m most proud of currently. It’s also the one I’ve been able to incorporate more of my personal views and experiences in the community, and myself, into, which makes it more personal through its unfolding.

FWG: What do you think makes a good story?

Hugo: I think anything sincere, written in your authentic voice, will make a good story. Obviously form and structure play a big part in making it readable and exciting in terms of pacing and suspense, but the best stories are the ones told without fear of condemnation for their sense of self-expression. Being bullied when I was younger, for a considerable amount of time, it became very easy for me to think ideas of fantasy or sci-fi were too much, and now I’m railing against that in my own work and in what I see in others’ stories. Make those superpowers and have your characters love whomever they feel most at ease with. Make a story completely yours, and you’re already well on the way to something good.

FWG: How long have you been in the guild, and what changes have you seen with regards to how writing is handled since joining?

Hugo: I think I joined back in 2013, just after Legacy was picked up by Inspired Quill. The membership requirements were fairly stringent back then, but given how much the self-publishing, indie, and Patreon markets have exploded in that time, the criteria for becoming a member have loosened a fair bit, and the availability for prospective writers to join via Telegram or Discord has made it more accessible for more people too. Writing and imagination aren’t things to be rationed to the elite- everyone deserves a fair chance at expressing themselves and achieving an ambition for the worlds that have grown within them, and I’ve loved seeing more people join in and take the chance to talk openly to other members about anything writing related, from story concepts to the actual publication process.

FWG: You are nonbinary correct? Can you explain what that means to you to the folks reading this interview?

Hugo: To me, being nonbinary is a multi-faceted identity. I mean, any identity is, gender or not, but particularly to me is the idea of breaking the barriers between gender conformity and expression. The idea that actually, we have always been more than we’re told we are, and that we can take hold of something more unique than we were promised.

Being nonbinary means so much to me because it describes the emotional parts of me I had trouble reconciling, the way I didn’t fit in when I was younger, the ways I wanted to embrace my identity and creativity when I was younger but wasn’t able to, especially where bullying led to self-consciousness or anxiety that made me hold myself back from so much of it until I met the furry community and I discovered more than I ever knew I didn’t know about what I could be.

FWG: You’re also pansexual! What does being pansexual mean to you?

Hugo: Essentially, and I know this varies from person to person, to me it’s the idea that anyone is attractive, no matter their gender. Some people claim this means you don’t acknowledge gender but to me it’s the exact opposite- I am aware of and embrace all identities I have the opportunity to meet and I can love and find them attractive all the same. The only things that will turn me off someone are aspects like bigotry, ignorance, hate, or mean-spirited nastiness. The TL;DR of it is, if you’re kind, you’re beautiful.

FWG: What does Pride mean to you?

Hugo: Oh wow, it’s so all-encompassing. It’s a celebration, an affirmation, a chance to connect with both a history and a future of gender identity and sexuality, the chance to try and come together to fight against oppressive conditioned behaviours from both outside and within ourselves and learn to love each other and ourselves more wholly, even if just a bit at a time. It’s a chance to find out who to protect, who to love, who to support and empower, and find those same things in others for ourselves.

FWG: Was there a bit of a journey or story to you uncovering your identity? If so, would you be comfortable sharing with us?

Hugo: I feel kind of boring, it was a fairly slow process for me. I had… well, I suppose there were many tell-tale signs as I was growing up and a few distinct experiences that should, had I been given the knowledge at the time, have told me that I was more than just ‘a straight boy’. Times when I embraced roleplaying a girl more readily than a male character, or when I had no issue whatsoever in my first stage role in high school wearing a big pink poofy dress. Or just… many other moments like that, getting a massive crush in a big way on a guy in my acting class (because holy crap he was beautiful). It wasn’t until after I found and really engaged with the furry community that the seeds of my identity began to propagate much more quickly, seeing the freedom of others’ self-expression, people who had fought for years to be who they are now, and finding kindredness and inspiration in them. They have inspired me in so many ways, and it’s something I’ll be eternally grateful for.

FWG: How do you think being nonbinary and pansexual has inspired or affected your stories? Have you written nonbinary or pansexual characters into your works?

Hugo: It has, if for no other reason than I want to represent something I don’t see in much media but I feel should desperately be shown more authentically. I see far more scope for a greater range of characters to interact with each other in different ways, and love more authentically. I wish I had known more about myself and the world even sooner, that I could have introduced more LGBTQIA+ characters into my Resonance books from the very beginning. As it is, I have a nonbinary character in Ruin’s Dawn, and a few characters in the series overall who I now know definitively are pansexual, and many other sexualities besides. Being as my books are young adult fiction, adult relationships don’t come into it that much, but sexuality and gender identity are still relevant to teenagers, so having nonbinary representation is super important.

FWG: Do you have favourite queer authors and has their literature affected your writing in the fandom?

Hugo: I actually read criminally little for being a novelist, I mostly devour graphic novels. Having said that, almost all of the graphic novels I read are by queer authors and artists- Noelle Stevenson, Rebecca Sugar, Molly Ostertag. Any queer author writing genuine rep and creating fantastical worlds is going to light the fires of my imagination, and encourage me to go even further in my own work.

FWG: If you could convince everyone to read a single book, what would it be?

Goodness, the one that comes to mind most for me (aside from knowing I’d love everyone to read mine someday), would be The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis. It’s a younger teens book, but has incredible suspense, magic-wielding mice and demon cats in the sewers of London, so I feel there’s not much to go wrong with that.

FWG: Any last words for our readers and guild members?

Hugo: Your voice is unique in all the world. Don’t lose the chance to use it for good, for yourself or those around you, whether in fiction or in reality.

We would like to thank Hugo once more for participating in this interview! You can keep up with them by following them on Twitter and checking out their blog. Their books are available through Inspired Quill and the first chapter of Legacy, Book One, is available for free at https://www.inspired-quill.com/product/legacy If you want to hear them read that and a few other things, they also have a YouTube channel.

We hope you all enjoyed reading, be sure to stay tuned for another Pride Month spotlight next week!

And more bears — this time in a very different setting. Space Bear is a wide-format full-color graphic novel from Boom! Studios, written and illustrated by Ethan Young (Major Lazer). “Pilgrim Finch is an adventurous astronaut bear who explores the cosmos with a mission to bring samples of life back to his home planet. But when he crash lands on a new planet full of surprises and danger around every corner, Pilgrim will be forced to question his orders and learn that there’s only one mission that matters – compassion to all living creatures no matter the stakes!” The book is available in hardcover later this month — and check out the preview pages over at Comics Beat as well.

image c. 2020 Kaboom!

Kodi is a new full-color graphic novel written and illustrated by Jared Cullum — an artist known for his lush watercolor paintings. “Katya and her Meema are spending another summer at their cottage in Alaska, when a chance accident leaves Katya face-to-face with the biggest creature she’s ever seen… an enormous kodiak bear with a gentle heart and a knack for fishing. But when Katya must suddenly return home to Seattle, the two are torn apart, leaving Kodi to do whatever it takes to reunite with his fragile human friend. It’s a wild journey packed with breathtaking views, brave new companions, and adventure around every turn.” Kodi Volume 1 is available later this month from Top Shelf.

image c. 2020 Top Shelf

Lots of catch-up from recent events and a huge roundup. We tried turning off the noise gates for this episode, which means all the mics in the room were on no matter who was talking. Does that make things better or worse? Let us know what you think.

FurCast is sponsored by Twin Tail Creations. Use coupon codes REDWOLF or BLUEFOX to save 15% on silicone products during checkout. Free FurCast Themed Colorations are also available which can be applied as a color choice to your toy purchase.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• Jib’s amazing animation covering systematic racism
• #UnderneathTheFursona
• Furrydelphia Canceled
• Golden State Fur Con Canceled
• Beastars basically
• Beastars Season 2 delayed due to COVID-19
• Some podcasts apps getting removed in China for not censoring enough
  • Pocket Casts Related Tweet
• RedRookShep & Bishop will not be police dog fursuiters anymore
  • Photo of them previously
• Vox: How tigers get coronavirus but not your dog
• Cassidy showed up in the Eurovision Celebration video
  • Cassidy’s Twitter
• Trump asks supreme court to make it legal to ban gay adoption
• Telegram updated with a better editor
• Zen made a VRChat version of Joshua
• Soatok wrote a blog post to help furries find tech jobs
• Introspective Furry Anime Are Having A Moment
• Colorado Springs Indie Article about furries
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse game
  • IGN Article
• Ratchet and Clank character designers knew what they were starting
  • Tweet 1
  • Tweet 2
  • Tweet 3
• Claims that Capital City Fur Con is embezzling money
  • Tweet 1
  • Tweet 2
  • Shadow The Wolf’s Video
• Virtual Feralcon
• TheOdd1sOut mentions going to a furry con
• 1500 Indie Game Charity Bundle

News:

• Petition Calls For Statue Of GWAR’s Oderus Urungus To Replace Robert E. Lee
• Pepsi Armed Robbery
• Man Emerges from 75 Day Retreat asking if he Missed anything
• NYC Recommends Glory Holes for Sexual Contact

[Live] Zoom Boom Room

MOOBARKFLUFF! Click here to send us a comment or message about the show!

This week we hear the continuing story of math paradoxes and we spend some time with Blue Hasia!  Join us for some 'Pawsome' fun!

Support the show

Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting #7 - Tails, Blue Hasia and Paradoxes

This week Fuzz and Savrin are joined by Hashna and Tempest, two tough gals who have been down on the streets of Seattle this last week. We discuss what it's like in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, Tempest shares her quite harrowing personal account of police brutality, are educated on pepper spray and tear gas mitigation, and what this could mean in the long term. This is a long episode, so buckle up! LINKS Progressives Everywhere Bail Fund -  https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bailfunds 

Northwest Community Bail Fund -  https://www.nwcombailfund.org/  

Community Bail Fund of North Texas -  http://communitybailfundofntx.org/ 

Telegram fan chat - https://t.me/joinchat/CGL2Zj9oiYOXkOOhQ-MT9g 

Episode 466 - CHAZ Act 1 - This week Fuzz and Savrin are joined by Hashna and Tempest, two tough gals who have been down on the streets of Seattle this last week. We discuss what it's like in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, Tempest shares her quite harr

Back in the day Marvel Comics started up a special imprint called Star Comics, intended for younger readers. One of the premier titles on that line was a Richie Rich-style funny animal comic called The Secret Life of Top Dog. Well now, Marvel have collected 14 issues of Top Dog together in one paperback, Star Comics: Top Dog — The Complete Collection, Volume 1. “Discover the secret life of Top Dog, the world’s smartest, funniest – and talking-est – dog! That’s right, Top Dog can talk…but don’t tell anyone! One of the biggest names in Marvel’s 1980s Star Comics imprint, Top Dog and his best pal, Joey Jordan, shared hair-raising and hilarious adventures together – and now you can relive them all! When Mervin Megabucks, the richest, meanest kid in town, discovers what Top Dog is capable of, he sets out to dog-nap him! Our clever canine is accused of being a foreign spy and put behind bars – but what is the truth about Top Dog’s past, and what will that mean for his and Joey’s future?” Take note: According to Amazon, publication has been held up until this fall.

image c. 2020 Marvel Comics

Dr. Peter Venkman : This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor : What do you mean, “biblical”?

Dr. Raymond Stantz : What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.

Dr. Peter Venkman : Exactly.

Dr. Raymond Stantz : Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!

Dr. Egon Spengler : Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…

Winston Zeddemore : The dead rising from the grave!

Dr. Peter Venkman : Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Mayor : All right, all right! I get the point!

– Ghostbusters (1984)

Can you feel it? The Covid-19 pandemic makes it dangerous to give hugs (the furry handshake.) A new Great Depression might be on the way with millions unemployed. People are rising for justice while cities burn.

Uncle Hugo’s burned. It was a book store in Minneapolis, the oldest independent science fiction book store in the USA. One of the furry fandom’s original members worked there since it opened in 1974. Ken Fletcher was co-founder of Vootie, the voice of “The Funny Animal Liberation Front”, which helped to launch the furry fandom. He’s out of work for now (and might do a Q&A with me soon).

Directly south of the store, nine blocks down Chicago Street, was where the fire got a reason to start. On the corner at East 38th, Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Viral video of the incident showed bystanders begging for help while other police stood in the way. It spurred national outrage against a white-on-black power flex. Soon, nothing could hold back the wrath of half a city rising against injustice, and burning a police station and more.

Oldest Independent Science Fiction Bookstore in the US Burned Down in Minneapolis Riots https://t.co/b2p8CCanBY

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) June 9, 2020

Here’s what’s known about the book store loss. (Thanks for tip from Billy D Bunny.) Ken Fletcher wrote:

Saturday, 30 May, about 3 am, an arsonist (probably) went down a half-block on an arterial street setting a row of small businesses afire. The bookstore was one of them. At that time (so I have heard) there was no police presence, and it took about an hour (?) for the fire department to show up (a lot of business fires in part of the city that night). Rumor has it that there is a posted video of a masked white-guy setting the bookstore on fire. Many of the small businesses looted or burned were black or Asian-owned. Actual motivations unknown.

Quick points:

• It’s not all “rioting” — Minnesota officials believed that white supremacists were using these events for sabotage in hopes to start a race war.
• When police stop attacking and just retreat, peaceful protest organizing makes a whole other topic about where the violence comes from.
• It’s bigger than a death; it’s about police trained to kill and consuming the lion’s share of public funding, while school and social services get crumbs.
• This led to Minneapolis government pledges for change that generations of electoral politics couldn’t get for downtrodden minorities.
• Defunding police (and refunding education and social services) is now a national topic.
• It’s not just black/white, it’s rich/poor; Rioting won America’s independence too.

Here’s a crowdfund for Uncle Hugo’s. Don Blyly, the owner, is posting official news here and here.

Uncle Edgar's Mystery Bookstore and Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis had been burned to the ground during the riots. I honestly don't have the words… pic.twitter.com/XhLTA52Lxz

— David Housewright (@DHousewright) May 31, 2020

Vootie co-founder Reed Waller: “No matter who lights the fuse, we know who the real bad guys are.” — 2007 panel from Omaha the Cat Dancer. (Waller was a Minneapolis native while creating Omaha, a key comic for furry art and free expression that helped start the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.)

The scale of events puts fandom in perspective. Furries couldn’t save Uncle Hugo’s. They’re not immune to Covid-19. Furry art won’t fix the economy or end racism alone. It isn’t like a cartoon where they simply beat the bad guy. It would be nice to escape into fantasy and live all the time like a weekend convention, but those are closed for now. Furries are just people with a hobby and a subculture, not a culture, more like a bubble floating on the wave of life. It’s OK to say hobbies matter less than lives.

But this isn’t an occasion just to mourn or wish about going back in time by turning off the news. There’s plenty of support happening inside fandom. Personally I would rather be out in a local community, so I haven’t been doing much furry news but have been supporting protests.

One of those protests synched with Bike Party, on the East side of the San Francisco Bay. Bike Party is a regular street takeover for hundreds of cyclists with rolling sound systems. It really is a moving party on the road with no police or permits — more free and harder to shut down than an underground warehouse party. It’s friendly enough to bring families too, and usually avoids messages. This time they rode for Black Lives Matter. On short notice it brought some of the biggest attendance ever (I heard guesses of 5-10,000.) It showed the power of subculture to bring people together peacefully. From 1960’s civil rights protesting to now, music and art has tied to movements like this.

Rolling pic.twitter.com/JuPCcuLC5g

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) June 8, 2020

Meanwhile there’s serious conflict of protesters and journalists being brutalized and police acting outside of the law. How can you do anything about it?

On the small fandom level, there’s outsized power in DIY ethic. Doing It Yourself means not needing official permission — to organize for charity, create support art, or spread the word about people’s needs.

• There’s a hashtag #UnderneathTheFursona started by @Renegade_roo to support POC creators.
• For virtual event organizing, The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund posted a Virtual Event Safety info page.
• Here’s a benefit for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund:

This bundle includes many MANY very furry games including the acclaimed Night in the Woods: https://t.co/s5FidGs8yj

— Culturally F'd! (@CulturallyFd) June 9, 2020

To stay informed, here’s a news thread about debunking current hoaxes. And here’s a question that could make a discussion about progress:

January 2018….

I still remember. I simply could not fucking believe what I was reading. And not a single other soul in the chat seemed to care at all.

I decided to just stay quiet. I didn't want to cause a fuss. I was weak and easily intimidated.

I should have spoken up…. pic.twitter.com/MKNPbDMBkH

— Schmozy yaps: BEE ELL EMM (@Schmozy) June 8, 2020

So what do you think, how would you tackle big problems like this in your own way?

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

Today we have a packed panel of furs, all discussing with us the current events surrounding the BLM movement, as well as their experiences with the subject. Follow Witchiebunny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/witchiebunny And Jakebe: https://twitter.com/jakebe And Kayfey: https://twitter.com/kayfey And Teddy: https://twitter.com/TeddyWynton Find us on Twitter: @South-Afrifur, https://twitter.com/southafrifur, on Tumblr, http://south-afrifur.tumblr.com/, and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/southafrifur Also, for more local news, check out the Zafur forums! http://forum.zafur.co.za/

同為繪師的當事人-傻瑟(https://www.plurk.com/arthurinu)

近日（6月9日）獸繪師─傻瑟，在著名社交軟體「噗浪」的偷偷說上，發起「逆點圖」；沒想到著名繪師竟一一親自現身贈圖，讓在場的獸友們直呼羨慕。

繪師 : 鈦22 (https://www.plurk.com/titanium7331)

「噗浪」的偷偷說功能，由於其獨特的匿名性；因此衍生出許多獨特的次文化。那何謂「逆點圖」呢？不同於一般繪圈的「點圖」，「逆點圖」則是由繪師主動來繪製委託人的圖，而非由委託人指定繪師來繪製。又因為噗浪偷偷說的匿名性，所以委託者可說是「抽獎」般獲得不同風格的成品圖。

而實際發起「逆點圖」也很簡單，發文者（噗主）於貼文頂端放上自己角色的設定（大多使用偷偷說系統），財力允許的人通常會依個人喜好程度回贈若干枚噗浪獨有的貨幣「噗幣」作為謝禮。

噗幣示意圖(https://www.plurk.com/coin)

至於這一次的「逆點圖」，傻瑟於噗浪上表示，自己對於下方的贈圖全部都喜歡，選不出來要多給誰噗幣，所以給全部有參與的繪師噗幣。

傻瑟事後則向獸時報表示:「大家的圖我都好喜歡，所以很難取捨。」

繪師 : HIKARU(光姐) (https://www.plurk.com/neohikaru)

「我主要也是忽然很想看看別人筆下的自己到底是長甚麼樣；結果每個人畫的都很有特色，不管完稿程度如何，都覺得被畫得很讚；能夠有這麼多人願意參與逆點圖，我怎麼分得出高低（哭顏），所以全部都雙手奉上噗幣。」

「能夠看到這麼多不同的自己出現，真的非常高興！之後開逆點圖要三思，我都會忍不住想給噗幣」

傻瑟

繪師 : 蒼海 (https://www.plurk.com/kemono73137)

另外，繪師骨凱也有參與這一次的「逆點圖」；但不是在匿名串那邊放上，而是另外開一串噗文放上去。
對此，今天下午傻瑟也藉吃飯空檔繪製骨凱穿著史蒂芬款吊嘎的圖回贈。

繪師 : 骨凱 (https://www.plurk.com/love_dog_529)

當事人-傻瑟 給骨凱的贈圖(https://www.plurk.com/arthurinu)

本文圖片非經同意，請勿轉載

繪師 : 歐藤 (https://www.plurk.com/kiwi960727)

繪師 : Ricker (https://www.plurk.com/rickerwei)

繪師 : 銀月( https://www.plurk.com/silvermoon0419)

繪師 : 山蓮 (https://www.plurk.com/whes95s4807 )

繪師 : 達瓦兒 (https://www.plurk.com/dasoowolf)

繪師 : 阿賜 (https://www.plurk.com/a8765438)

匿名串：https://www.plurk.com/p/nv3kl1
骨凱贈圖：https://www.plurk.com/p/nv52kk　
傻瑟回贈：https://www.plurk.com/p/nv61f5　

獸時報FB：https://www.facebook.com/fur.times.official/