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Furry Nation: The true story of America’s most misunderstood subculture, by Joe Strike.
Cleis Press, October 2017, paperback $17.95 (288 pages), Kindle $10.99.

Here’s what I wrote for a cover blurb:

Like herding cats, gathering the history of furry fandom has been called impossible.  Furries love impossible things, so this is long overdue.  I’m happy to say it was worth the wait.  Joe Strike puts solid ground under the legs of the Furry Nation – genre, subculture, and yes, even kink – with his experience of watching it grow.  This book is for original 1980’s fans, new ones looking back, and outsiders drawn to the weird coolness of talking animals.  There’s many ways to get into it, but this is a unique view of how furries are breaking out.

Joe’s book isn’t the perfect bible for everyone – but expecting that from one book is unrealistic.  It’s just the kind of book that comes from a devout fan, and that’s why I recommend it.

I’ll summarize some reaction to the news that this book will exist: “It’s gonna suck! Who is Joe Strike?” – I knew who Joe was before I knew he was a furry, from his animation journalism. He does scriptwriting and his own comic too. He brings us a history that can live beyond bit-rot, supported by a firmly established publisher. Cleis has a 36-year history as “the largest independent sexuality publishing company in the United States.” It’s smart to focus on the word independent, which means open-minded support from the first ones to take the chance.

Let me get something out of the way.

You can’t have one bible if there’s a problem of basic definitions.  This one should be standard:  Furry fandom is “1 part genre fandom, 1 part DIY sub/counterculture, and 1 part kink community.” (Equivamp said it and I’ve been loving it ever since.)  In Joe’s Preface, he embraces this trinity with no apologies… perhaps to the shock of those who claim “it’s just fandom, we don’t support the porn”. (I’ll suggest that anything less than the full story is a lie.)

Joe weaves the parts together seamlessly.  There’s smooth logic in the introduction to the concept of anthropomorphism. It mentions earthy mythology, like the god Zeus’s sexual encounter with Leda as a swan.  That isn’t disposable titillation; it’s cultural DNA.  Joe goes on to say that furries aren’t modern overgrown children, they’re rescuing furry from a “dungeon” of low culture to where it’s been banished.  (Sure, some of us like dungeons, but who forged the bars?)

Stigma isn’t just the larger culture’s fault. There’s a fandom complex about it. Why not just admit furry porn is simply hot?  Like junk food, you can say too much makes you sick, but don’t say it isn’t delicious.  That’s a tastefully visible, yet not overdone vibe in the book, mostly in one chapter.

What you won’t notice is some infighting and filtering I heard about behind-the-scenes.  That’s why some notable events from the early days can’t be fully credited. (Who really created Rowrbrazzle?) Cue the herding-cats analogy, and don’t blame Joe – blame stigma.  Inclusion may rub some people the wrong way, so it may not be the furry book some want, but it’s the one we need.

Some chapter by chapter points.

• Furriness.  Trickster animals like Coyote begat Bugs Bunny. “When we draw them or dress up like them, we’re claiming a little of that freedom for ourselves.” (p17).  Some furs “identify with animals on a deeper level, with a growing awareness of a ravaged environment, and a way to distance ourselves from the humans who seem intent on destroying the planet; a sense of kinship with the natural world.” (p19)  And “it’s also just fun to pretend you’re someone—or something—else. For some people it might be a Hollywood celebrity, a rock star, a superhero, a pro athlete or a business tycoon.” (p19) Animals are for uninhibited imagination.
• In on the Ground Floor. Joe found the fandom in 1988.  Here’s why he has such a good perspective – he was a “proto furry” before knowing they existed, and watched things get started. Zines and anime brought fans together at first.  There was an early connection when West Coast/San Diego Comic Con furry parties were brought to science fiction cons in the east.
• Biodiversity. Suiters catch the spotlight, but there’s many more ways to express furriness.  Dr. Kathy Gerbasi of the Anthropomorphic Research Project/Furscience is interviewed.  Anthrozoology inspired her and she was amazed to find a group for it.  Joe talks about the personality of fursonas and how he found his.  “No one is in charge of furry” and it’s not about degree of furriness, but about your unique expression. Joe talks about discomfort with Boomer the Dog and lets Boomer talk about being comfortable as himself.
• Founding Furs. At The Prancing Skiltaire house, Mark Merlino talks about early 1970’s sci-fi fandom with a gentle hippie vibe. Fred Patten talks about discovering anime with Mark, and funny-animal media. “Funny animal” comic books once thrived, went extinct, and came back as Saturday morning cartoons. Underground comix and APA fanzines sprouted up. Reed Waller and Steve Gallaci segue to the 1980’s indie comics boom and its stars like TMNT.
• Furry art – who does it and how.  OK, does this make you want to know more?  I wanted to summarize 14 chapters, but it’s too much, so enjoy the sample.

Conclusion

I started with Furry 101 definitions.  It’s so boring to get nothing more than that from mainstream articles.  Furry Nation thankfully has the room to flesh things out with cool trivia and Joe’s own experiences.  He delivers good stories about asking furry questions with Hollywood directors – and getting his first fursuit and how it felt to wear.

Fursuiting brings up a dull complaint: “OMG, a fursuit is on the cover! They hog the spotlight!”  But it doesn’t matter because this isn’t a bible. It could take overlapping books to dryly cover everything.  This fandom is about personal passion, and everyone has a unique story of finding it and why they’re so devoted. What binds them is that feeling of “you too?  I was a furry before I knew they existed!”

Personally, if I was going to ask for more, I wish Joe had covered a few more fandom entrepeneurs who turn their love into a job and more.  The list could include some Hollywood-level furry creator, or the best cottage industry fursuit maker; maybe someone like EZ-Wolf and his cooling tech that’s been adopted by the military.  There could be one or more of the furry specialty publishers.  Then Bad Dragon (the biggest company), and Anthrocon (the biggest con.)  Out of that list we get a chapter on Anthrocon.

For someone else, what’s missing is coverage of fandom publishing.  (OK, I mean our star guest Fred Patten.)  He told me:

I am most distressed to see that there’s virtually nothing about furry writing and book publishing. That’s certainly worth a chapter.  There are two furry literary awards.  Why is the topic omitted?

It’s a worthy topic (and Joe’s in that business).  Now, go to a dealer den at a con – publishing has a presence, but expect only perhaps 2-3 such dealers at a large con.  Look at the size of the Furry Writer’s Guild – it’s a niche inside a niche. Which brings me back to the niche of fursuiting (and why is that on the cover?)

A book may take a week to digest.  That narrows audience a lot.  But a fursuit puts a few grand of show value in a 2 second glance.  Look at a fursuiter group photo from Anthrocon – it’s over $3 million in custom-designed, hand-made furry craft all in one picture.  $3 million. You have to admit there isn’t anything else furry fans do, on their own without mainstream patronage, that approaches that level.  That’s where the juice is in this fandom stuff.

It’s not really about suits or spotlight or money – it’s about that shared sense of “we made this”.  Joe tells it like that. There should be more books to cover other ways to do it, but don’t miss this one.

• Buy Furry Nation on Amazon
• Book promo card:

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Join Tal, Vox and Adoom as they discuss the week, and oh boy what a week it has been. Episode 7 - Sharks shouldn't drive

At Comic Con we came across Marcus L. Lukusa, a martial arts champion and (nowadays) fantasy author from the Democratic Republic of Congo. His first work in his new Kazungul series has the quite-a-mouthful title of Kazungul: Blood Ties – Awakening of the Ancestral Curse. “My name is Raymond. Until recently I was just a normal boy. Well, besides the fact that I grew up wearing a copper bracelet and a malachite collar. When I moved to Johannesburg though, everything changed. I found out that I had a dark side and that I had enemies. Enemies that wanted to destroy me and others like me. I need to find a way to stop them. I need to get control of my dark side.” In so doing, Raymond takes up boxing — which leads to his transformation into Kazungul, a giant winged wolf-like creature. “In a universe filled with war and mystical creatures, Raymond embarks on a journey to discover his true identity and to tame his dark side. During his journey he meets a mermaid, gets tangled up in a love triangle, is taken prisoner, finds his ancestors, and is dragged into the worst war the universe has ever seen: The war of Gog and Magog.” Find out more at Amazon.

image c. 2017 PartridgeAfrica

 

There are a lot of writers within the fandom. By our estimates, something like 40% of furries consider themselves writers of a sort. That can mean a lot of things, of course. It could mean that the writer is someone who spends a lot of time writing stories and novels, or it could mean someone who writes one or two non-fiction articles a year for a website with a random wolf mascot.

Either way, there’s a lot of words out there, which can be attested to by the number of furry and furry-friendly publishing houses that have cropped up. One of those houses is Thurston Howl Publications, with whom I work as an editor. The thing that got me interested in working with THP was its anthology Furries Among Us. The first book was an excellent collection of essays on furry – what made it up, what furries did, who was a furry, and so on.

Howl invited me to participate in the second volume, so I had the chance to write a longer article than I normally do. It involves data and gender, to absolutely no one’s surprise ever.

Well, that second volume just came out! You can find it on Amazon for the wallet-friendly price of $7.99.

In a shameless attempt to boost furry non-fiction within and around the fandom, [a][s] is happy to offer a giveaway! Keep an eye on our twitter for the link – there will be ten copies up for grabs, first come, first serve. Note that the link is only applicable for the continental US – Amazon’s restriction, not ours, alas.

While you’re at it, check out Thurston Howl Publications on the web and on twitter.

Tokidoki is a boutique toy and design company we encountered at Comic Con. Their web site describes them very well: “Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, tokidoki was founded in 2003 by designer Simone Legno and his partners Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold. An innovative line of apparel, handbags, cosmetics, accessories and more, tokidoki has built a worldwide following with its larger-than-life characters and designs. The brand’s cult status has fueled high-profile collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld, LeSportsac, Onitsuka Tiger, Marvel, New Era, Hello Kitty, Fujitsu, Levi’s, Smashbox cosmetics, Xbox, T-mobile, Fornarina, Skullcandy and Medicom Toy.” Whew! Those “larger than life characters” include unicorns, cute cows, and other chibi human and funny animal creations. Turns out they’re available at a large number of well-known retail stores worldwide too.

image c. 2017 tokidoki

Ok, This is how I think it turned out for Laika ... it's my new head canon.
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Hello Everyone!

On this week's show we open with a serious discussion on forgiveness in the fandom. After the events in Charlottesville, we talk about the radical, racist elements in the fandom. It's no secret that we at Feral Attraction stand with those who stand against bigotry, racism, and hateful elements within the fandom (and at large), however the question of how to forgive people who were misguided participants in these groups has come up. How do we forgive those who, through misguided judgement or a perverse search for acceptance, found themselves on the wrong side of history?

We shift to a less serious main topic on Furry Sex and Yiff! While slightly academic, we talk about why we have sex. The secret answer is that we aren't entirely certain. We go over some theories and then launch into a discussion on what the future of sex looks like and why we, as furries, might actually be blazing the trail when it comes to the integration of technology and emotional intimacy. We also discuss how real-life, meatspace sex can be different for furries as opposed to mundane individuals and couples.

We close out the show with a question on small penis shame. For men who have a smaller unit how do they move past shame when their mate (or perhaps a metamour) might have a smaller penis. We talk about why penis size or girth is not important and how to accept 'yes' as an answer.

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

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 082 Furry Sex! Yiff! - How do you forgive those who hate? What is the future of sex? What makes yiff different than sex? Is a big penis important? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

We got this over at Animation Scoop: “Warner Archives has announced today the September 19th release for Porky Pig 101 – a unique 5-disc DVD set that collects 99 black-and-white Looney Tunes (and two Technicolor Merrie Melodies) starring Warner Bros. first cartoon superstar. The set includes cartoons dating from 1935 (with Porky’s first appearance in Friz Freleng’s I Haven’t Got A Hat) through 1943 (in Frank Tashlin’s Porky Pig’s Feat), presented in original release order. There is audio commentary on key cartoons from animation historians Greg Ford, Michael Barrier, Jerry Beck, and Mark Kausler, among others.” All these years, and still no pants…

image c. 2017 Warner Archives

Ok, it's getting impressive what furs can pull off with video these days. Also where they get to fursuit.
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Evan Dahm in an artist who has illustrated and published recent editions of classics like The Wizard of Oz and Moby Dick. In the meantime he keeps himself busy with a series of on-line comics and graphic novels. Among the most extensive is a fantasy comic called Vattu. According to him: “Vattu is a story following a member of a nomadic tribe caught in the midst of a massive clash of cultures. It was started in July 2010 and is updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.” Visit his web site to see more, including an extensive character guide to Vattu — There are lots of non-human characters of various species.

image c. 2017 by Evan Dahm

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I think I know of a therapist that can handle situations like this.
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Howwwwwwdy!

This year, August 25-27, Furry Migration will be taking place in Minneapolis, MN! The guests of honor include voice actor and comedian Malcom Ray, artist Talenshi, and *drumroll* The Furry Writers’ Guild! The Guild’s mission is to support, inform, elevate, and promote quality anthropomorphic fiction and its creators.

I’m posting this here for two and one third reasons.

The Guild is simply an excellent resource for writers of all sorts. Although their focus is primarily on fiction and ours is primarily on non-fiction, there is some crossover. Writing skills from one transfer from one to the other – [a][s] prides itself on creative non-fiction, which often includes the building up of characters and the worlds in which they live. World and character building are important in both fiction and creative non-fiction as a matter of course; just that in non-fiction, the characters and the world are real.

The Guild will be represented by several Guild members, myself as president, vice prez Chipotle, AKA Watts Martin:

Watts Martin, the 2016–17 FWG president, has been involved in furry fandom for over a quarter of a century. Watts’s published works include appearances in Heat, The Furry Future, Inhuman Acts, and Gods With Fur, as well as the “Cupcake” novella Indigo Rain, the short story collection Why Coyotes Howl, and in 2017, the science fiction novel Kismet. In the early days of the fandom, Watts was known for editing/publishing the magazine Mythagoras, which saw early works by Paul Kidd, M.C.A. Hogarth, and Nebula nominee Lawrence M. Schoen, as well as an original furry story by Hugo winner Lawrence Watt-Evans. Watts has been the writing track lead for Further Confusion for the past four years and was the writing guest of honor at the very first Anthrocon.

Seriously, check out Kismet. It’s a fantastic work of science fiction with some, to paraphrase another reviewer, next level McGuffining. It’s available from FurPlanet, Argyll Productions, Bad Dog Books, Amazon, and doubtless others.

We, as a Guild and as members, will be hosting several panels. See here for a list.

Secondly, I’ll be there at the con, primarily wearing my Guild hat, but also sharing some of our usual [a][s] panels:

• Healthy Relationships in Furry – Friday at 9PM
• The Love – Sex – Fur Guide to Safer Sex – Friday at 10:30PM
• Gender and Furry – Saturday at 7:30PM
• Exploring the Fandom Through data – Sunday at 3PM

I’m looking forward to yapping about gender, data, love, sex, and fur.

Oh, and the one-third of a reason is that, along with being an editor here, I’m president of the Guild, and it’s my duty and joy to promote both the Guild and the Guild’s activities such as the con where I’m able.

Plus, I can.

Because I’m dictatorpresident there and dictatoreditor here.

Anyway! Come say hi! We’ll have our panels, of course, but please do come to learn more about the guild. It truly is a fantastic resource for all writers. The Guild forums and Guild chat resources (there’s a snoutbox on the forums, a Slack team, and a Telegram chat) are open to all, members and non-members, readers and writers.

Wooo-oo! Now this is how you reboot a series. If you haven't caught the pilot for this show I highly recommend it. While I normally tend to post short-from stuff, if you have the time here is the full 40 minute pilot as well: https://youtu.be/gP0Neif7Y4E Note: Cape Suzette and Spoonerville are mentioned! Does this mean Tale Spin and Goofy Movie reboot? I swear that looks like Roxanne at 13:00 in.
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Ever wondered if you should attend a writing retreat? What happens there? What will I achieve by attending? Welcome to a part one of a two part special where we try to answer those questions and more!

Ocean flew off to RAWR 2017 and recorded two podcasts while there. It’s the night before everything starts, everyone has arrived for the week long retreat and Ocean sits down to discuss the busy time ahead with the other attendees: Buni, NightEyes, Ryft, Otter and TJ. They talk about why they’re here and what they’re looking forward to gaining from this retreat.

Currently applications are open for RAWR 2017
If you are interested in RAWR, find out more and apply at: http://www.rawr.community/
Or follow them on twitter at: @RAWRWorkshop

Find the other attendees at:
Buni
@TJMinde 
@Ryft_Sarri
NightEyes
@runningotter

Stay tuned for next episode when we meet back up at the end of the retreat to talk about how it went and our experiences.

Ep 75 – Pre-RAWR - Ever wondered if you should attend a writing retreat? What happens there? What will I achieve by attending? Welcome to a part one of a two part special where we try to answer those questions and more! Ocean flew off to RAWR 2017 and recorded two podcas...

Wayward Raven is the name of a small press comic book publisher founded by Mark C. Frankel. More recently though, the company has branched out and published a new picture book for young readers. It’s called Percy, written by Mark and illustrated by Elke Reva Sudin. “Percy is a sirrush. Just what is a sirrush? In truth, even Percy himself doesn’t know, but he is determined to find out. Join the noble Percy as he goes on a quest across many lands and encounters interesting characters as he attempts to find others like himself.” Something to do with the gates of ancient Babylon. Read it, you’ll understand.

image c. 2017 Wayward Raven

www.thedraggetshow.com Patreons will get episodes first right after recording. Just a buck gets you early access and a downloadable mp3 file! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow ALSO, we're not just on SoundCloud, you can also subscribe to this on most podcast services like iTunes! Ep 173 - Ifc2017 LIVE! - www.thedraggetshow.com Patreons will get episode…

We did another firecast stream on Youtube, but if you prefer the audio, here is that. The youtube vid is here: https://youtu.be/pGBMo-fKeXQ www.thedraggetshow.com Patreons will get episodes first right after recording. Just a buck gets you early access and a downloadable mp3 file! www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow ALSO, we're not just on SoundCloud, you can also subscribe to this on most podcast services like iTunes! Ep. 172 - Firecast! - We did another firecast stream on Youtube, but if…

I kissed a wolf and I liked it! Thanks to Ethan Staghorn for this tip.
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