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

Felicia: The Night of the Basquot, by Chas. P. A. Melville. Illustrated by the author.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, September 2017, trade paperback, $12.00 (257 pages), Kindle $9.99.

“‘So!’ crowed Felicia happily. And then she frowned. ‘So,’’ she repeated, more uncertainly. And then, in puzzlement, ‘So.’ Her ears flicked as she turned to stare at the rising sun. ‘So, what’s a ‘Basquot’ anyway?’” (p. 86)

Felicia cla di Burrows, the vixen renegade sorceress blackballed from the Magic Council, is thirty years old this year. She first appeared as an enigmatic background character when Melville began self-publishing The Champion of Katara comic book, #1 dated August-September 1987. Now she has her first novel.

Spiteful and egocentric, all that was really clear was that Felicia had been horribly mistreated as a child. She began studying sorcery — including forbidden black magic — to gain revenge against those who had destroyed her family. But her heart was not really in being evil, and she kept using her magic to help others while postponing her vendetta against her family’s enemies. As a flawed ‘good guy’ and a colorful, charismatic character, Felicia became the most popular of Melville’s anthro animal cast when he moved to Seattle and became active in the furry community there, and he resumed his comic-book stories for Edd Vick’s MU Press in the 1990s. Felicia’s most dramatic and complex adventure was the 184-page graphic novel Felicia: Melari’s Wish (August 1994). Later in the ’90s, she starred in three lighter stand-alone stories as a sorceress-for-hire without the dark background of her vengeance goal, written by Melville and drawn by Bill Schmickle, in MU’s anthology comic-book ZU.

Melville later brought Felicia back in a series of text novelette booklets, with illustrations every few pages, published by CaféPress. These continued the lighter stories in ZU. Felicia became a professional sorceress-for-hire/detective who got involved with finding and dispelling ancient evils, or preventing their escape to wreak havoc in Katara and its neighboring animal kingdoms of Dogonia, Bruinsland (bears), Scentas (skunks), Rodentia (mice), and others. Melville wrote five of these, from Felicia and the Dreaded Book of Un (February 2004) to Felicia and the Border Collie Patrol (January 2008). One, Felicia and the Tailcutter’s Curse (June 2004), won that year’s Ursa Major Award in the Best Short Fiction category. All five were republished as a single book, The Vixen Sorceress (CreateSpace, December 2008).

Melville began producing a Felicia webcomic, Felicia, Sorceress of Katara, in December 2007, but for the last nine years there have been almost no Felicia text adventures. Now Felicia is back in a 257-page novel.

Felicia: The Night of the Basquot is her origin story, and an introduction to her world (which might be described as Tolkien lite, with funny animals). It begins when Felicia emerges in Katara from a mysterious seven-year disappearance, crackling with magic energy and ready to join the all-powerful Magi Council (a.k.a. the Brotherhood of the Candle) as its newest and youngest sorceress. Instead, she is shocked and infuriated to learn that she has been rejected.

“There was a liquidly pop, and somebody stepped through into the middle of Manwa Katdu’s private office.

Felicia swept her cloak out of the way and marched in, looking furiously about before centering her sights upon the wizard. ‘You!’ she snapped, angrily advancing upon him. She pointed at him, her fist still grasping an official letter. ‘Are you Manwa Katdu? I want to speak to you!’

Manwa [a cat wizard] lowered the still-sparking mace, but kept a tight grip upon it. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded indignantly. ‘How dare you just barge in to my sanctuary this way? Do you have any sense of proper decorum?’ More to the point, he wondered, how did you break through a series of protective spells set in place by a committee of the most powerful Magi?

‘Blow it out of your peaked hat,’ snapped the vixen shaking the letter at him. ‘I want to know what this means!’

[…]

Felicia resumed glaring at him and continued her harangue. ‘How can you possibly dismiss my application so casually? Don’t meet your minimum standards? Why, you’ve no idea what I’m capable of!’

‘That is precisely the point,’ Manwa told her. ‘We don’t know.’ He studied her more carefully. ‘You are Felicia, correct? The old Sorceress’ apprentice? Then you know as well as anyone should how careful the Council is in accepting applicants to its order, even from among its own brotherhood. […]” (pgs. 36-37)

Felicia’s determination to keep how she learned her magic a secret (part of her planned revenge against the powerful wolf nobleman who murdered her family when she was a child) keeps the suspicious Council from accepting her. This world has two gods, or a god and a demon, the good Aln and the evil Murk; and the Magi Council will not admit anyone to its ranks until they are certain that the applicant is not an agent of the Murk. Felicia is obviously powerful enough, but she will not revel her training or the source of her magic.

Before the matter of her rejection by the Council can be resolved, this world undergoes a major attack by the minions of the Murk. The wizards and sorceresses of the Council rush to oppose it, while Felicia is sidetracked by the enemy who killed her family.

“It’s too soon, a voice in the back of her mind warned. You’re not ready yet! ‘I should have known,’ she growled to herself. ‘From the very beginning, I should have known. When I first saw the tray! Only he would have had access to it and all of the other property stolen from my parents!’ She pulled on the reins, forcing the horse to take a fork that led along a deep stream. Startled night creatures scattered at her approach, chittering as they fled into the high grass. You’re not ready yet! her inner voice reminded her firmly. It’s too soon! This isn’t according to the plan! First, you get established and make a name for yourself! Remember? Then, you slowly, slowly, acquire friends among the powerful, until you have enough to worry him. When it’s time, you move your friends against him. But you need time!

‘I don’t have time!’ she snarled aloud, and snapped the reins again to urge the horse faster. ‘He’s up to something now, and he’s using my parents’ wealth to do it! By Aln! I’ll make him suffer for this!’” (pgs. 126-127)

Felicia: The Night of the Basquot (cover by the author) is a fast-paced mixture of drama and humor, well-blended although occasionally descending into silliness, as when Felicia wins the dubious support of a band of miniature dog warriors…

“‘We’re the Toy Pooch Patrol! We’re the fighters that everyone forgets, but who forget no one. We’re the ones who watch over the overlooked, and guard against the injustices done to the little folk.’” (p. 155)

…or with names like Bill Sneakyshoes. On the whole, though, if you like Disney-fairy-tale-type desperate battles of funny-animal knights against monsters, good versus evil wizards and sorceresses, noble sacrifices and tragic deaths, you will enjoy Felicia: The Night of the Basquot. Melville presents a broader picture of his animal world, and the mood is generally more serious than in his novelettes like Felicia and the Cult of the Rubber Nose with its mime assassins.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Author’s Patreon

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

We now have A new film by Fernanda Frick who did the wonderful When I'm Scared [1]. ...All the feels. [1] https://vimeo.com/78139587
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Griffin Ranger. Volume 2, The Monster Lands, by Roz Gibson. Illustrated by Cara Mitten, Amy Fennell, and Roz Gibson.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, August 2017, trade paperback, $19.95 (557 pages), Kindle $2.99.

Griffin Ranger. Volume 1, Crossline Plains, 369 pages, was published in January 2015.   It ends on a cliffhanger. This book is not so much a sequel as the conclusion of a single 926-page novel. There is a 3-page What Has Gone Before, but you really need to have read Volume 1 and then continue directly with this Volume 2.

To condense what I said about Crossline Plains:

“Griffin Ranger is set in a totally alien alternate universe. The land masses are the same as on our Earth, but the life forms and civilization that have evolved are dominated by birds. (The reader will have fun identifying both geographical features such as the Twin Continents, the Alpha River, the Five Lakes, and the Endless Ocean, and the cities and towns like Defiance, Flatlands City, and Foggy Bay.) Since birds don’t have hands, the main intelligent landbound mammals are the raccoon/lemur-like ‘hanz’ that are their symbiotic partners, and two species of canines: the wild wolfen, and the more domestic herders that have evolved from them. This Earth’s civilization is dominated by the griffins, who are the principal inhabitants of what the reader will recognize as the Americas, Europe, and Asia. But in the last few hundred years the greenies, an aggressive bird species, have erupted from the Emerald Isles (New Zealand) to spread over the world. The griffins of the Northern Continent have allowed the greenies’ partial settlement there under strict supervision, but there are suspicions that the greenies are preparing to take over totally.

“Griffins during their adolescence traditionally go on a continent-wide ‘wander’ of exploration. Harrell, the Griffin Ranger in charge of an area north of Earthquake City, learns that his daughter Aera, who is on a joint wander with four companions, is a week overdue. They went missing near the central Northern Continental agricultural city of Crosstown Plains, populated about equally with griffins and greenies. Harrell is worried, but not enough to abandon his territory to search for the missing youths, until his ex-mate Vaniss, the Ranger in charge of Earthquake City and his organizational superior, assigns him to find them. To aid Harrell, Vaniss gets him two assistants: Kwaperramusc (Kwap), an exotic griffin from the islands north of the Dry Continent (Indonesia and Australia) and the Rangers’ best Investigator, and Tirrsill, an inexperienced but willing young female hanz.

“Harrell, Kwap, and Tirrsill go to Crossline Plains, despite unexpected opposition. The lower-ranking greenies are cooperative, but they don’t know anything. The non-cooperation of the greenie officials is expected; what is more troubling is the unconvincing innocence or open hostility of the local griffins, especially the resident griffin ranger.

“The trio learns that other griffins and their hanz have gone missing near Crossline Plains. Their investigation draws them into a series of violent attacks, attempted murders with a high body count of bystanders, and more. Someone is desperate to keep them from learning anything. What they find could destroy their whole world.”

Crossline Plains ended with Harrell, Kwap, and Tirrsill learning that the greenies there and their unexpected alien allies have constructed a dimensional gateway. The trio go through it, Harrell is captured, and Kwap and Tirrsill escape into the alien dimension – our own Earth. The Monster Lands is set almost entirely around what would be Crossline Plains in our Earth, and tells two stories: Harrell’s captivity in the fortified gateway building of the greenies and their human allies, and Kwap and Tirrsill’s desperate struggle to remain free and either rescue Harrell or somehow communicate with their world to summon help. There is a deadline unknown to them: the greenies and their human allies are planning the genocide of all griffins and hanz in their dimension.

One of Gibson’s nice touches in The Monster Lands is that the trio don’t just step into a different world than they are used to. Our Earth is toxic to them. The air is almost unbreathably thin to them, and full of potentially deadly diseases. They don’t know what foods are safe to eat. In addition, Kwap and Tirrsill cannot let themselves be seen by the monster natives, and the villains have sent agents to kill them. The book is 557 pages of almost nonstop suspense. That’s 557 pages almost to the edges of the paper with very narrow margins, too.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“Kwap flew straight up, trying to escape the corona of light that surrounded the monsters’ building. His lungs burned with effort. The air had no substance as if he were flying through a vacuum. Riding on his back, Tirrsill clutched his equipment harness so tightly the straps dug into his breast and stomach, making it even harder to breathe. Behind him, the greenies screeched as they poured out the door. He had a small lead, but there was no way he could outfly them carrying Tirrsill. He had to find somewhere to hide.” (p. 11)

“Silence for a moment, then a voice much closer, echoing in the dwelling. ‘Look at all this blood! Did he get shot?’

‘Not unless the hanz shot him by mistake. None of our people had any weapons,’

‘Maggoty rotten rules! Make sure to gather up every single feather here. We don’t need the locals wondering where they came from.’

‘What about the blood?’

‘Nothing we can do,’ the first greenie spoke louder. ‘Kenkret-Eet! Peep them back! Have them send some more builders here to help us search this area!’” (pgs. 26-27)

“When the monsters returned to clear the food dishes, they were accompanied by the white-tunic alpha and three others wearing white. One of the newcomers had skin that was a very dark brown, with fur on the top of its head that flared out in a circle. Harrell thought the monsters had only two color varieties – pale tan and pink – and he was surprised to see a different color. Beyond the dark skin and odd fur texture, it was the same size and proportion as the others. Maybe the monsters were like herders and had a number of color variants.” (p. 153)

Griffin Ranger. Volume 2, The Monster Lands (cover by Char Reed) was also funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign. Fortunately! Crossline Plains is a great appetite-whetter, and its ending on a cliffhanger is really frustrating. It would have been maddening if this conclusion had not achieved the funding to get published. It’s been a 2½-year wait, but here it is!

In case you need it spelled out, Griffin Ranger. Volume 2, The Monster Lands is most highly recommended.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

[Just back from PAW-Con in Northern California, and STILL getting caught up on stuff from Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con!] Here’s a useful item with a Furry Fandom twist: My Audio Pet is “…a powerful Bluetooth speaker that enables you to listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or shows wherever you are. All My Audio Pets feature: Easy wireless connection to most smartphones, tablets, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices, a built-in mic for convenient hands-free option, and a rechargeable battery allows for portable tunes wherever you go.” Not to mention, they come in several cute animal designs — all with equally cute names like “Owl-capella”. Visit their web site to see all their current designs.

image c. 2017 myaudiopet.com

Cuddle Force unite!

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• EZWolf’s Packing for MFF video
• Humanimals promo video
• MFF exploding brain meme from @xHajii
• Area tricker treater comes out as furry to furries from @ArcCollie
• Minute Earth: Why are bird penises so weird?
• Cockatoos gnaw spare NBN cables on towers
• CJ in Break It Loose Media drift video
• Boof’s video “How My Mom Found Out I Was A Furry”
• Critical Tor flaw leaks users’ real IP address—update now
• CrunchyRoll Hack
• Pottersville Trailer
• Ickgai

News:

• Fur ‘the More staffer Cobalt the Fox passes on after heart attack
• Woman charged with stealing nuns’ renowned cheesecakes
• Man Reports ‘Unexploded WWII Bomb’ That Turns Out To Be Zucchini
• Friendships Keep The Brain Sharp In Old Age
• Police: Man shoots himself in penis while robbing hot dog stand
• How Many Shitloads Are In A Fuckton? Google Has The Answer
• Extinct Giant Frog With Bite Force Of A Lion Munched On Dinosaurs

Emails:

• Alice – “Fan mail form south Australia (wall of text)”
• Cap the Fox – “Issues”
• Balthier – “Getting back into the fandom, have a comment and a question.”
• Math Snep – “Passion and Immersion”

FC-283 Cuddle Force - Cuddle Force unite!

Cuddle Force unite!

Download MP3

Watch Video Link Roundup:

• EZWolf’s Packing for MFF video
• Humanimals promo video
• MFF exploding brain meme from @xHajii
• Area tricker treater comes out as furry to furries from @ArcCollie
• Minute Earth: Why are bird penises so weird?
• Cockatoos gnaw spare NBN cables on towers
• CJ in Break It Loose Media drift video
• Boof’s video “How My Mom Found Out I Was A Furry”
• Critical Tor flaw leaks users’ real IP address—update now
• CrunchyRoll Hack
• Pottersville Trailer
• Ickgai

News:

• Fur ‘the More staffer Cobalt the Fox passes on after heart attack
• Woman charged with stealing nuns’ renowned cheesecakes
• Man Reports ‘Unexploded WWII Bomb’ That Turns Out To Be Zucchini
• Friendships Keep The Brain Sharp In Old Age
• Police: Man shoots himself in penis while robbing hot dog stand
• How Many Shitloads Are In A Fuckton? Google Has The Answer
• Extinct Giant Frog With Bite Force Of A Lion Munched On Dinosaurs

Emails:

• Alice – “Fan mail form south Australia (wall of text)”
• Cap the Fox – “Issues”
• Balthier – “Getting back into the fandom, have a comment and a question.”
• Math Snep – “Passion and Immersion”

FC-283 Cuddle Force - Cuddle Force unite!

Cuddle Force unite!

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• EZWolf’s Packing for MFF video
• Humanimals promo video
• MFF exploding brain meme from @xHajii
• Area tricker treater comes out as furry to furries from @ArcCollie
• Minute Earth: Why are bird penises so weird?
• Cockatoos gnaw spare NBN cables on towers
• CJ in Break It Loose Media drift video
• Boof’s video “How My Mom Found Out I Was A Furry”
• Critical Tor flaw leaks users’ real IP address—update now
• CrunchyRoll Hack
• Pottersville Trailer
• Ickgai

News:

• Fur ‘the More staffer Cobalt the Fox passes on after heart attack
• Woman charged with stealing nuns’ renowned cheesecakes
• Man Reports ‘Unexploded WWII Bomb’ That Turns Out To Be Zucchini
• Friendships Keep The Brain Sharp In Old Age
• Police: Man shoots himself in penis while robbing hot dog stand
• How Many Shitloads Are In A Fuckton? Google Has The Answer
• Extinct Giant Frog With Bite Force Of A Lion Munched On Dinosaurs

Emails:

• Alice – “Fan mail form south Australia (wall of text)”
• Cap the Fox – “Issues”
• Balthier – “Getting back into the fandom, have a comment and a question.”
• Math Snep – “Passion and Immersion”

[Live] Cuddle Force

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

The Fox of Richmond Park, by Kate Dreyer
London, Unbound, July 2017, trade paperback, £11.99 (287 pages), Kindle $1.99.

“If the Animals of Farthing Wood had lived in London and hated each other a little bit more, their story may have been a lot like this one.

‘Get out of the way or get an antler up the arse, yeah? I’m sick of these glorified donkeys.’” (blurb)

Almost all the (British) reviewers have compared this British novel to Colin Dann’s 1979 classic The Animals of Farthing Wood. In it, the woodland community of Farthing Wood is paved over by human developers. The wildlife inhabitants, led by Fox, undertake a dangerous trek to the safety of a distant nature reserve.

The Animals of Farthing Wood is a Young Adult novel. All the animals act together in brotherhood. No one eats anybody.

The Fox of Richmond Park is an Adult novel. Richmond Park is a large wildlife park in London that Wikipedia says is known for its deer. In this talking-animal novel, the deer are the arrogant elite class of the Park’s fauna. When the deer decide they want the lakeside area where several foxes have had their dens for generations, they just tell the foxes to move out. Most accept the order without protest. Vince does not.

“‘Why I should leave,’ Vince snarled as he prowled back and forth in the semi-circle of bare earth that marked the entrance to his den, black ears flat to his head, ‘just because some over-entitled deer want to be near the lake?’

‘It’s not like that. And you can dig a new, bigger den in a day or two. I don/t see what the problem is. Other animals have moved without a fuss.’ Edward tilted his antlers towards the small skulk of foxes several leaps away, who had gathered at the edge of the woodland to wait for the sun to set. ‘And your friends are being very cooperative.’

‘That’s because you’ve told them a load of scat about how great the cemetery is.’ Vince said, the copper fur on his back bristling. He’d had every intention of talking this through civilly with the stag, but his temper had other ideas. Just like last time.” (p. 1)

The other foxes privately agree with Vince, but why bring on an animal war? It’s easier to move. Vince goes on arguing until he says he’d rather leave the park altogether than move to an inferior neighborhood, just because the deer order it.

“‘But I’m not your enemy, Vince [Edward says]. This park is a wonderful place where we can all live together in safety, where humans respect us and take care of us. But there are rules. Just follow the rules like everyone else and you can stay. The last thing we want is to drive anyone away. Be serious, Vince. Do you really want to leave this place and live among humans? Dodging their cars, being kept awake by their incessant noise, eating their leftovers out of bins? Especially after what happened to your father.’” (p. 3)

Vince won’t back down. Besides, he’d always wondered where his grandparents had lived before they came to Richmond Park. Now he’s free to find out.

He’s not alone, either. Rita the magpie wants to join him.

“‘Why do you want to come? I don’t even know where I’m going.’

‘I want to travel with you. See London. Have an adventure!’

‘I’m not going on an adventure.   I’m just looking for my grandparents’ old home.’

‘Sounds like an adventure to me. Come on, I’ve spent too many seasons in this place. There’s nothing for me here and I’m getting old… I want to see the city! Fly to new places and taste new food and hear new birds!’” (p. 13)

So Vince and Rita venture from Richmond Park, where they have always led a sheltered, protected life, into the London metropolis. They have to dodge cars, learn how to cross streets with traffic lights, discover the difference between human pedestrians with cell phone cameras who just want to take their pictures and animal welfare officers who want to trap Vince, and more. A running joke is Vince’s frustration to find out what a poodle is.

Their search for Vince’s grandparents’ den takes them from Richmond Park to Hyde Park, Regent’s Park where the London Zoo is, and further afield. They meet many animals like Sid the badger, Oswald the swan, Frank and Roger the geese, Socks the cat (“Official Feline Administrator of the Hammersmith area”), G, Jonny, and Ra-Ra, the rat gourmets of Soho, Arthur the hedgehog, and more. Some are helpful. Some are murderous. There is comedy, suspense, violence, and tragedy. Vince and Rita are gradually joined by others.

There are hints of romantic complications. Vince has left a vixen, Sophie, back in Richmond Park. Sophie has recently mated with another tod, Jake, but she and Vince still have feelings for each other. Vince and Rita meet another vixen, Laurie, an urban fox, on their travels. Will Vince mate with Laurie, or return to Richmond Park for Sophie? How far will Jake go to ensure that Vince does not return to Richmond Park?

There is also the constant plot to kill Vince before he can find his grandparents’ home.

“‘Why bother? [asks Kara the owl] He’s already gone.’

‘His death will be a warning to everyone here [answers Edward]. They need to be reminded that the city is dangerous and that Richmond Park is the best home they’ll ever have. I have little doubt that Vince will fail on his own, but I’m not risking it. I can’t have him sending messages back, encouraging others to flout the rules or leave or … worse. Park Watch would fall apart. I’ve spent seasons making this park what it is and I won’t have that flea-ridden creature ruin it for me.’” (p. 30)

Dreyer refers at one point to Watership Down, but it’s obvious before then that she is familiar with it. However, The Fox of Richmond Park (cover by Mecob) is completely original. It is a top-quality addition to any library of talking-realistic-animal fantasies. No furry fan should miss it.

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Learn more on publisher’s page

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

BIRD!
View Video

Mark Lungo, thanks for chatting. What’s your game about?

Crimestrikers, an RPG supplement set on the futuristic furry word of Creaturia, will be published in November by Spectrum Games as part of their Cartoon Action Hour series. Soon you can enter a new world of fun and adventure, as a colorful team of heroic agents protects Creaturia from the crime syndicate Outrage and other supervillains. Crimestrikers is created and written by Mark Lungo, with game stats by the Spectrum staff and illustrations by various artists (including Cindy Ramey of Ringtail Cafe Press, Derek Van Deusen, Jon Kemerer, Alishka Jolitz, and Rick Yurko). Stay tuned to http://www.spectrum-games.com/ for further announcements.

(Spectrum Games:) “Do you remember those magical days of the 1980s, when Saturday morning and weekday afternoon cartoons offered kids heaping doses of excitement, action, and fun? There were huge sentient robots, paramilitary forces, science fantasy barbarians, and everything in between! Well, guess what? Those days have returned! With Cartoon Action Hour, you can re-live it all… but this time, you’re the star!”

I found your FA, and it looks like you have been into furry for a while. Can we get a little bio?

I’ve been a furry ever since my childhood in the late 60s. The first movie I saw was The Jungle Book, and the first comic I read (a Disney digest) included a Jungle Book story and Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge classic The Prize of Pizarro. When I was nine, The Houndcats came to Saturday morning TV; although most have forgotten this short-lived cartoon, it hooked me on furry action-adventure for life. Since then, my pop culture diet has included Disney and Warner toons, SWAT Kats, Biker Mice from Mars, Captain Simian, and indie comics like Furrlough and Albedo, among others.

Are you into RPG’s in general, or furry RPG’s specifically? Can you tell me about that – your favorites, what style you like, the kind of game mechanics you prefer, etc?

I’ve never been a gamer, although I own a few sourcebooks because I enjoy the characters and stories. So why is Crimestrikers an RPG? I showed the idea to my friend Cynthia Celeste Miller of Spectrum Games, who I knew from her company’s Cartoon Action Hour franchise (a series of original games inspired by toy-based 80s cartoons like He-Man and Transformers). I just wanted Cynthia’s opinion, but to my surprise and delight, she liked Crimestrikers so much that she wanted to publish it! I’m leaving the game stats and mechanics to the Spectrum team – they’re the experts.

Do you know much about the history of furry RPG’s? Some of them played a part in making furry fandom a thing. Are you into that, or just more of a general gamer who happens to be a furry?

See above. However, Crimestrikers includes a few suggestions I wrote for fans playing the game. For example, one of the episode seeds is “10 Minutes to Showtime!”, in which the heroes must find a bomb that’s set to destroy a drive-in theater in ten minutes. I wrote that players can create the proper atmosphere by serving snacks and soda while playing the kinds of ads that drive-ins run during intermissions, while the bomb can be simulated by a hidden timer that the players have to find before it goes off.

Diana Mastron by Jerberjer. See much more in the Crimestrikers tag on Deviantart.

What led you to make your own, and what’s the process been like?

I’ve been having ideas for shows and characters for a long time; also, whenever I watched or read something, even if I liked it, I’d always think “If I had written it, I’d change this and this and this.” However, Crimestrikers is the first of my concepts that really came together. I basically took everything I like (furries, action/adventure, sci-fi, even a dash of rock & roll) and put it all in one series. The process has been a lot of fun, although I overwrote so much that I had to edit some items to avoid exceeding Spectrum’s word count, including the deletion of some character bios. If anyone wants to see this material (and some new ideas I’ve come up with since completing the manuscript), be sure to buy Crimestrikers so maybe there can be a Volume 2!

Any comments about the publisher?

Spectrum has been very good to work with. Cynthia and her team have been very supportive, and aside from the word count thing they haven’t asked me to make any major changes. They also let their authors retain ownership of the properties they create, which anyone who has an idea that fits in with their product lines should consider.

Any hopes for the game?

I hope it’s successful, of course. I also think Crimestrikers has the potential to become a multimedia franchise that could include animated series, video games, comic books, action figures, you name it. Sure, it’s a long shot, but getting it published was a long shot, too. People who have seen Crimestrikers enjoy it, and one of my friends is already writing fanfic for it–seriously! I think it has a lot of potential.

Thanks Mark! It would be great to hear comments from any reader who is into furry RPG’s.

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

So, The Concentrics Show (Apparently a geek themed culture show) a few years ago did a short piece on Furry Weekend Atlanta that apparently aired on Comcast / Xfinity. Trigger Warning: "Who Let The Dogs Out."
View Video

I must again apologies for a very short breathed post this month, but I’m still in a cast and my one good arm is tired. Prep your butt for another quick and dirty list.

For any videos, click on the little ‘K’…

… Right here… to go to the campaign page.

v

v

GAMES

MINIATURES

 

COMICS

 

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

Magnificats: Return of the Demon Wind, by Gwyn Dolyn. Illustrated, map by the author.
La Jolla, CA, Plowshare Media, January 2017, trade paperback, $15.95 ([11 +] 239 [+ 9] pages), Kindle $3.95.

Magnificats is an unusual mixture of Young Adult fantasy and several specialized ethnic vocabularies, beginning with both faerie mythology and commonplace Irishisms; not to mention Big Words that aren’t in most Young Adult novels. 13-year-old redhaired Aoife “Apple” Standish, taunted as Red Apple Stand by her classmates in today’s Dublin, is blown by a sheegee wind to where a Magnificat is watching.

“Meanwhile, just down the street and past the cheese shop where her brother worked, Tak, the lanky old cat who lived under the ancient parish church on Apple’s route to school, sensed something awry in the autumn air. This sheegee was a concern. Sniffing, he tickled the air with his whiskers, then remarked, ‘Hmm. Interesting autumn wind; deliberate, with a stench of malice.’

While Tak was indeed a cat, he was not your everyday, meowing, rodent-chasing, scratching-up-the-furniture sort of cat. He was the leader (to be exact, Littern) of a clandestine order of numinous nine-life cats, known far and wide in creature kingdoms as Magnificats – keepers of sacred knowledge and masters of the winds.” (pgs. 1-2)

Dolyn peppers her novel with obscure words, Irish at first and later Egyptian, then others. “The strange sight of a girl caught in a whirlwind caused car screeching, men’s caubeens flying, and children diving for cover under their mums’ waving skirts.” (p. 4) Wikipedia defines a caubeen as an Irish peasant beret. “Gwyllion” is another Celtic magical word used a lot in just the first chapter – strangely, Wikipedia says it’s from Welsh mythology, not Irish. (It’s all Celtic.) Some other Irishisms in Chapter 1 that aren’t mythology-based are hooligan, shamrock, shenanigan, Finn-McCool, and gobsmacked. But when Apple goes to Egypt with other students on an archaeological dig, the vocabulary switches to Egyptian. “‘Hey App,’ Dan’s voice echoed across the flat sand, ‘we’re going to wrap this up. The winds are getting bad; looks like a haboob coming.’” (p. 29) You’ll learn more about cultures, winds, and mythologies (especially Irish) than you wanted to know:

“She [Apple] crumpled up the joyce her mum got at the airport exchange so she could have spending money for the layover in London, since the Brits did not accept the Euro.” (p. 17) [The Irish Republic today has adopted the Euro as currency, while the U.K. has kept the pound sterling.]

Tak is an ancient Magnificat, a world traveler on his ninth and last life:

“She [Miw, Tak’s mother] named Tak after the six-winged Ethiopean saint, Takle Haymanot, not China’s Taklimakan Desert, as was often speculated. His well-traveled nine lives made that assumption logical. Miw secretly hoped that the name might bring him wings, as his littermates sported. It did not. Yet a wingless Magnificat earning Littern status was a testament to Tak’s prowess.” (p. 9)

Tak hopes to relax and take his final life easy, under an old church in Dublin. He is disconcerted to see some obvious malicious magic being used against an apparently-normal 13-year-old girl. He dispels the sheegee wind (which has grown into a gwyllion tornado), but he can’t help wondering who the girl is that it was used against. Meanwhile, his magic cancellation of the wind has given Apple a glimpse “beyond the veil”:

“Sandwiched right between where she dipped one knee and looked up at the crucifix, Apple spotted a translucent gold cat atop the courtyard wall. Her glance rested on a sparkling cross that dangled from his jeweled collar. It was an Egyptian ankh, reflecting brightly in the afternoon sun. Apple and Tak locked eyes and a chill ran through both of them, from head to toe. ‘Why on earth would a transparent cat be wearin’ a key o’ life?’ Apple wondered under her breath.” (p. 6)

To give away a major spoiler right now, the main villain turns out to be Ephippas, the Arabian wind demon. Yes, Ephippas is genuine; I Googled him and he’s in the Bible, the Old Testament. What is an Arabian pre-Islamic wind demon doing in Ireland? Read Magnificats to find out.

Besides specialized words, Dolyn is adept with accents. There is Apple’s and others’ Irish accents:

“‘Oi’ll be t’ankin’ Spitface for her swinging-flap invention for a month o’ Sundies,’ Thom gloried.” (p. 6) [Spitface was Sir Isaac Newton’s pet cat. He invented the pet door for her. It’s on the Internet.]

There are incidental characters from Jamaica and Canada:

“Rasta’s face lit up as he tossed his head back in a gruff laugh, causing his white teeth to sparkle like pearls against his coffee-toned skin in the bright morning light. ‘This book tells about dah romance of all romances, Queen Saba and the wisest king in all dah land, Solomon. His great-great-and-fifty-greats-more was dah last emperor of Ethiopia. It is because of him that ol’ Rasta joined this expedition. That wise king hid his treasure with Queen Saba, a golden chest covered in angels, and I aim to find it.’” (pgs. 23-24)

“She [Apple] was petrified that the young woman would notice what it was, but instead, Rhonda politely handed the partially unwrapped stone back to her, and said, ‘Here you go. You’d better keep that pack zipped-up around here, eh?’” (p. 30)

Another character, Ms. Coleman in Phoenix, Arizona, is clearly a Southern African-American:

“‘Since I had no chil’ins of my own, Kryssy, I aim to teach you all I know about cat med’cin’. Danged if I am gonna let my Bibi’s secrets leave this world with me.’” (p. 77)

Cats are not the only animals anthropomorphized:

“Trailing Magnificats snagged the fractured aurora’s medicinal light particles to take to Magnificat Stubbs in Alaxsxaq, where the feline mayor was recovering from a vicious dog attack. Polaris’ wind brought early winter to a swaggering wolf pack, treading single file across the rocky tundra below, and they howled in protest. ‘We have not prepared our dens yet.’ The sudden frost over the steep hillsides angered bears for the same reason. Polaris [the polar bear wind of the north] was unmoved. His cold wind pressed southward over Turtle Island’s elk-filled, brown grass prairies, to the red-earthed Land of the Sun, where condors with eleven-foot wingspans made passage over the aqua waters of the regal Grand Canyon. Finally, Polaris settled at the top of the aspen and pine covered San Francisco Peaks, the seat of Moosa [a Maine Coon cat Magnificat], Clouder over the 56 nations of the Americas. The sudden wind caused the white underside of the aspen leaves to dance like butterflies.” (pgs. 63-64) [“Alaxsxaq” is the Aleut word from which the English “Alaska” is derived.]

“‘Your tail is still pretty quick for an old blue whale,’ Polaris joked tiredly as he eased into his turn.

Blue [the blue whale wind of the south] did a double midair flip to show him she still had that (and more) in her, accidentally sending a surging sea wave towards Oceania. ‘Oops’’ she giggled, in hopes the icebergs she sent rolling would go unnoticed. In the past, Blue had swept away entire populations of animals and [humans] with her ‘innocent’ wakes.” (p. 86)

But Magnificats keeps returning to Dublin, and either Apple or Tak:

“There was some evidence that she [Apple] was not dreaming at all. Like the time several huge cats with pheasant wings flew in and out of her room through a window sealed shut with paint from previous tenants. The next morning, Apple found the window wide open and in good working order. Another time, she swam in a blue lake with a bright orange cat wearing goggles, flippers, and a rubber swim cap, and awoke soaking wet with a fish in her bed. The most outlandish dream, by far, involved seven cats sitting at the foot of her bed, building a campfire, and fanning it with raven’s wings. ‘Apple, there’s a fire! We are getting out!’ her mom yelled. She had smelled the smoke and called Fire Services. Apple decided not to tell her about the dream, especially after the neighbors had to stand in the cold in their pajamas for three hours while firefighters cleared the flats.” (p. 41)

This review barely mentions a major character, Krystal Kay Kenner.

Magnificats (cover by the author) eventually brings into the adventure the winds of the other directions such as Thunderbird of the west, and more Magnificats besides Tak (“‘Good Lord and all, how many of you are there?’ April asked, exasperated to see yet another talking Magnificat.” [p. 198]; and they have Politics). Tak turns out to be a shapeshifter who can morph into a Bastet half-human form (he loses his fur, though). There is more than enough in the novel to make it a worthwhile, exotic adventure for furry fans.

It’s educational, too.

“Of Pogeyan lineage, originally from the Indian tribal regions, Alkina was a Mystifier – able to engender a mist-like covering through his skin, allowing his fur to change like a chameleon. He could project images out on his fur, like a television screen, to trick the eye. This skill ingratiated him to the Jawoyn [human] tribe of the north, who divided into groups by 10 different skin types. They placed high importance on markings. He could disappear in the shadow of a golden wattle flower as easily as he could blend in with the blue sky.” (p. 87) [Guess which ethnic group is referred to in this paragraph.]

– Fred Patten

• Buy on Amazon
• Blog: About the book
• More on publisher’s page

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon.  You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, or get Con*Tact Caffeine Soap as a reward.  They’re a popular furry business seen in dealer dens. Be an extra-perky patron – or just order direct from Con*Tact.

Hello Everyone!

We open this week's episode with a discussion on stoicism. On the show we've often discussed the tenants of stoicism in a general sense, however we recently found an article that we thought would be a great introduction for people who want to learn more about this school of thought. We talk about our lives and how we've grown from being more stoic in our approach to the hardships of life.

Our main topic is on porn and masturbation. One of the common pitfalls that relationships can encounter is the usage of porn or of self-stimulation without your mate(s) being around or being aware. We talk about when to discuss porn usage, how to discuss it, and why porn and masturbation may not, in itself, be the villain it is often made out to be.

We close out the show with a question on finding romantic love. Our questioner wants a relationship but he can't find one using the apps he has. Is he looking for love in all the wrong places, or is he perhaps wrong in how he is approaching it. 

For more information, including a list of topics, see our Show Notes for this episode.

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 092 Porn and Self-pleasure in a Relationship - Is stoicism being a Vulcan? Is porn destructive to a relationship? Can you find love on Grindr? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

The cast is back and have plenty to talk about! Episode 14 - Sharkaclysm

The cast get together again for another night of discussion and laughs Episode 13 - Shark loves you

Join the cast tonight for another episode of UnFurled! Episode 12 - Shark is a disaster!

Hey Guys, This is Kaar's segment that was recorded but the episode didn't get recorded that week. So enjoy! Please send any email for Kaar to us@unfurled.net Kaar Segment - Solo 01 - Hey Guys, This is Kaar's segment that was recorded but the episode didn't get recorded that week. So enjoy! Please send any email for Kaar to us@unfurled.net

… or so it would seem. More strangeness we found at the L.A. Comic Con. This time in the form of Reacharound Books. These folks specialize in cute illustrated picture books for kids… that are not. How so?  Well two of the books from their first set (called “Season One”) should be of special note to furry fans: Brenda’s Beaver Needs a Barber and Spank the Monkey Lends a Hand. See where this is going? The funny thing is all of their books are perfectly innocent on the surface — not a single dirty word or picture in any of them. Welcome to the world of double entendre! The books are written by “Bimisi Tayanita” and illustrated by “Sumguyen Bangladesh” — names may have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. So check out their web page, buy the books, and let your children wonder what the heck you’re laughing your head off about.

Image c. 2017 Reacharound Books

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