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Music Video: Despair

Furry.Today - Wed 5 Apr 2017 - 18:29

We got a furry music video by Eric Legnini with Yael Naim ... The style is very Osamu Tezuka.
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Categories: Videos

Word of Mouse, by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein – book review by Fred Patten.

Dogpatch Press - Wed 5 Apr 2017 - 10:54

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

Word of Mouse, by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. Illustrated by Joe Sutphin.
NYC, Little, Brown and Co./Jimmy Patterson Books, December 2016, hardcover $13.99 (284 [+ 6] pages), Kindle $9.99.

(See an animated TV ad for the book.)

This children’s fantasy, recommended for 8- to 12-year-old readers (middle grade/grades 3-7), will be too young for most DP readers. But it’s a quick and enjoyable read for those who liked Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. – the novel by Robert C. O’Brien, rather than the Don Bluth animated movie that turned it into a fairy tale.

James Patterson is a writing machine. He holds the Guinness World Records for the most #1 New York Times best sellers and the first author to sell over 1,000,000 e-books. He has topped Forbes’ list of the highest-paid authors for the last three years. Wikipedia lists 164 books by him, alone and with a co-author. He has written adult mysteries, thrillers, and romance novels, and young adult and juvenile light school-life novels and science-fiction. His adult thrillers featuring Alex Cross, police psychologist, are by himself alone, and most of his others are in collaboration. Chris Grabenstein is a frequent co-author on his children’s novels. Word of Mouse is their first fantasy featuring talking animals.

The narrator is Isaiah, a mouse:

“My story starts on the day I lost my entire family. I’m running as fast as I can behind my big brothers and sisters. Down the hall. Past the mop bucket. Toward the open door.

We’re escaping from a place that’s foul and creepy and 100 percent HORRIBLE!” (p. 1)

Isaiah is the only mouse who escapes without being recaptured. What makes Word of Mouse of interest to furry fans is that it’s quickly apparent that Isaiah and his siblings are experimental lab mice. Isaiah is bright blue, Abe is crimson, Winnie is chartreuse, and all 97 of them are different colors. But this is just Lamina Research Laboratory’s color-coding. What’s inherent in Isaiah and his siblings are that they’re unusually intelligent, can see in color instead of just black and white, and probably have human life spans instead of a mouse’s usual one to two years.

Isaiah, having been raised around scientists (Lamina is a leader in genetic engineering), knows big words that apply to mice like crepuscular and tenebrous, and can read.

“Did you know that the word mouse supposedly came from the Sanskrit word mus, which means thief? Now, I don’t typically think of myself as a thief. I’ve never taken anything that wasn’t freely given to me. I never had to.

But scurrying through Suburbia, a stranger in a strange land, I realize I might not have much of a choice. No Long Coat is going to come along and toss me my daily scoop of crunchy kibble.” (p. 19)

Isaiah has to learn to avoid suburban predators like cats, dogs, and hawks, and to scrounge like normal mice. His adventures turn from juvenile science-fiction into fantasy as he meets a big family of mice (a mouse family is a mischief) and they can all talk together, although Isaiah knows a lot more than they do. Isaiah develops a romance with a pert girl mouse, Mikayla, and finds that her mischief living in the Brophys’ house is much larger than usual because the Brophys are all slobs who leave half-eaten sandwiches and dropped snacks in all the rooms. He saves them from mousetraps.

“Gwindell twitches her snout. ‘Mmmm. This box smells delicious, too!’

‘No!’ I shout. ‘Don’t go in there!’

‘Why not? It smells so peanut buttery.’ She lunges for the brown box, and I dive to block her.

‘It’s a mousetrap!’ I holler, reading what is written on the side of the cardboard mouse coffin. ‘The floor is covered with glue, and they’ve baited it with peanut butter. If you go in, you’ll never come out!’ Gwindell and her brothers examine the box carefully.” (pgs. 72-73)

He also makes friends with the human girl across the street, twelve-year-old Hailey. She can’t hear him when he talks because his voice is both too soft and in the ultrasonic range, but he jumps around on her computer keyboard like thefictional archy the cockroach did on a typewriter.

But while Isaiah has it made, for a mouse, he wants to rescue his own brothers and sisters who have been locked up back in Lamina Lab’s cages. Which he does, with the help of Mikayla and her mischief, and Hailey.

For those who like Disney-style art, there are attractive full-page or half-page illustrations by Joe Sutphin throughout the book.

My only complaint is with the prejudicial depiction of the lab’s research staff (and by implication, all scientists) as cold and unfeeling at best, and as sadists at worst; constantly sneering, sniggering, and smirking. When Dr. Ledbetter finds out that his lab mice have human-level intelligence, his reaction is to threaten to immediately dissect them instead of studying their intelligence:

“‘It’s good to see you again, B-97. My colleagues tell me that you recently demonstrated some rather unusual talents. Ones I did not know I had given you. I can’t wait to open you up and see what’s going on inside that tiny little blue brain of yours.’” (p. 260)

Word of Mouse (jacket design by Tracy Shaw, featuring one of Joe Sutphin’s illustrations) is good fun for furry fans; and, it goes without saying, as gifts for any young nieces or nephews, and for their own children when they have families. There are paperback, Audible, and audio CD versions, too.

– Fred Patten

Like the article? It takes a lot of effort to share these. Please consider supporting Dogpatch Press on Patreon, where you can access exclusive stuff for just $1. Thank you – Patch

 

Categories: News

Hot and Dry and Truly Strange

In-Fur-Nation - Wed 5 Apr 2017 - 01:59

Another one we missed last year, but caught up with this time: Lost Cactus is a full-color on-line comic strip written and illustrated by John Hopkins. Lost Cactus is also, it seems, a top-secret government facility hidden in the desert, where our leaders hide things they don’t want the general public to know about. Things like an irradiated, talking squirrel; a giant anthropomorphic bee; and a small-sized anthropomorphic dinosaur or two. Much silliness ensues when these and other denizens of the Lost Cactus facility interact with the human scientists and military there to run the show — supposedly. Many of the comic strips (and other goodies) have been collected in a new Lost Cactus book, Lost Cactus: The First Treasury. It’s available over at Amazon. You might find out more over at the Lost Cactus web site, but we can neither confirm nor deny that rumor…

image c. 2017 by John Hopkins

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Categories: News

Downward Dog

Furry.Today - Tue 4 Apr 2017 - 18:17

There is a new series on ABC called Downward Dog and it's based off of this short web series. Rather cute. Here is the trailer for the ABC version: https://youtu.be/gE93Fo-xq1A
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Categories: Videos

Moon Bunnies and Cake

In-Fur-Nation - Tue 4 Apr 2017 - 01:54

Not new so much, but we just came across it: The Moon Minis is a series of full-color books for children written and illustrated by Niall Westerfield. The story is based on the folklore (common to many cultures, especially in Asia) that the dark spots on the moon represent a rabbit making and baking moon cakes for the Moon Princess to allow her to live forever. Well here we find an entire community of little rabbits, The Moon Minis, and they have many comical adventures while they go about their baking duties. All of the books (and a collection of short comic strips) are available at the Moon Minis web site.

image c. 2017 by Niall Westerfield

Categories: News

Episode 345 - Squalor

Southpaws - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 17:52
Savrin and Fuzz return from Furry Fiesta, tired but happy. Shiva has the crud, so she isn't around this week. We talk con, talk shop, talk about dudes who can't control their dicks around women, Fuzz's new phone, deep space trucking, and more. Want to help support the show? We have a Patreon! www.patreon.com/knotcast Want to join the fan Telegram chat? https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAD9oiYPn1T5Ythpwxg Episode 345 - Squalor
Categories: Podcasts

TigerTails Radio Season 10 Episode 18

TigerTails Radio - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 16:53
Categories: Podcasts

Double King

Furry.Today - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 16:15

Felix Cosgrove has a new short! "A film about love and regicide."
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Categories: Videos

Guild news, April 2017

Furry Writers' Guild - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 12:43
New members

We had five new members join the FWG in March—welcome to Ellis Aen, Sisco Polaris, Mark Engels, James Stone, and Halfbloodcheetah! If you’d like more information about joining, read our membership guidelines.

Member news

Frances Pauli published The Earth Tigers, the first book in her Star Spiders series, in early March.

Jako Malan’s novel ReWritten is now available for pre-order from Goal Publications.

Rechan’s short story collection Intimate Little Secrets is now available from FurPlanet.

Mary E. Lowd was interviewed by “dark fiction” blog ShadowSpinners, and wrote a guest post for them: “When Furry Fiction Meets Dark Fiction.”

If you’d like to be listed here, please post your sales/publications to the Member News section of the FWG Forum! It’s the primary source for these news bits.

New markets

We’ve updated the markets on the FWG web site, cleaning out closed/defunct markets and adding a few new ones. Check out the additions and ongoing markets:

Also, Thurston Howl maintains a Google Calendar with submission opening and closings for both furry and “furry-friendly” anthologies.

Remember to keep an eye on the Calls for Submissions thread on the forum, as well as other posts on the Publishing and Marketing forum.

Odds and ends

The Tuesday Coffeehouse Chats continue to take place on the FWG Slack channel, while the Thursday chats continue to take place on the shoutbox.

As usual, we’d like to keep recruiting you to the FWG Goodreads group: add things to our members’ bookshelf (see the instructions here on how to do that), start conversations, draw rabbit ears on other authors’ head shots, and so on.

Have a terrific month! Send news, suggestions, feedback, and coyote treats to furwritersguild@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.


Categories: News

The Relics of Thiala, by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus – book review by Fred Patten

Dogpatch Press - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 10:38

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

The Relics of Thiala, by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus.
Seattle, WA, CreateSpace, February 2017, trade paperback $15.99 (190 [+ 10] pages), Kindle $4.99.

Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus, two retirees “in the very heart of Germany” according to their website “The Adventure of Romance”, have already written five other books, four in English and one in German. The two Smilodon Pride novels, Softpaw and Sunchaser, feature werecats, werewolves, and vampires, although they all spend most of the time passing as humans.

Now with the Packmasters space opera series, more obvious furries are featured in an unusual premise.

“Twenty years ago, the evil Packmasters used their genetically engineered bestiae in an attempt to seize control of the galaxy. The Core Worlders wiped them out, scorched their planets and kept the few surviving bestiae as trophies.” (blurb)

Really? The protagonists of The Relics of Thiala are Cat, Ferret, Bear, and Wolf, four rare bestiae — anthropomorphic animals — who had been kept as pampered pets or arena gladiators by the human elite. They are “liberated” by a human girl, Ana, to form a new pack. Ana has become aware that the reality she sees does not match “what everyone knows” about the Packmaster-Core Worlds war. The victors write the history books, and from what Ana can see, the Core World masses (not the rulers) might have been better off if the Packmasters had won. Ana – a mysterious adopted orphan who may be a Packlander child – runs away to steal three bestiae pets and one savage arena warrior to form a new pack, and go in search of what really happened to the Packmasters – and what the Packmasters really were (and Ana is).

“Now their misfit pack must face down the darkness at the heart of Packmaster society before it can poison their bond. The truth will either destroy them or grant them the power to shape their own destiny.” (blurb)

The Relics of Thiala is narrated by Cat, who gives it a very furry perspective.

“I had been the pampered pet of of a rich Core senator as long as I could think back. I was a prized possession, cared for in every possible way. There were servants who brushed my fur, servants who fed me and servants who walked me in the gardens so I didn’t turn from chubby to fat. Everything was arranged so I was exactly what my owner expected from a perfectly tame calico tomcat. My markings were rather irregular, large patches of brown and orange stripes on a white coat of fur, the only symmetric part was my tail with its beautiful dark brown and golden rings. But he thought that made me special. He didn’t keep me to display me in competitions, after all. I was his ultimate luxury item – utterly useless and terribly expensive.” (p. 32)

“Ferret stopped in front of one of the heavy steel doors lining the tunnel. Like the rest of us, he was wrapped in a voluminous cloak, concealing that he was a bestia, too. Still he had drawn some puzzled frowns, being mistaken for a human child due to his size. But nobody bothered to intervene – this was Darkside, after all. Nobody bothered, ever. Ferret fiddled with the lock only briefly before he stepped aside and allowed Bear to help him pull the door open.” (p. 11)

“After years of searching, we weren’t much closer to hard facts about the Packmasters, their beastiae and the war than we had been when we had started. Every avenue of research we had tried had turned out to be a dead end.” (p. 39)

“Furred as we were, none of us really needed the robes, but Ana insisted the same way she insisted we had proper clothes. ‘You are not animals. You are just as much entitled to have clothes to protect yourselves and make yourselves pretty as anyone else,’ she had said when she had bought me my first set of clothing. At first, it had felt strange to wear something over my fur, but it did make it much easier to blend in. And I liked being pretty.” (p. 44)

“Since my cooking skills were not suited for anything complicated, I opted for safe and simple. Couldn’t go wrong with grilled steaks when there were four people at the table who had been genetically engineered from carnivorous animal species.” (p. 49)

Cat is the first bestia in Ana’s pack. After years of sneaking about the Core Worlds, living in the shadows while adding Ferret, Bear, and Wolf, the pack is ready to begin its hunt. They steal a crime lord’s gaudy space yacht (whore-house scarlet) – small and automated so the five of them can fly it – and take off for Thiala. “Finally out here on the Fringe, we had uncovered the location of one of the old Packmaster worlds where they had conducted their research and created their bestiae. It’s [sic.] existence had been erased from all official records. There was a good chance we would find nothing but a scorched wasteland, but we hoped that there was a reason, that planet was kept secret. Maybe we would find traces of the Packmasters from before the war, or even records or hints that some had survived somewhere.” (p. 39)

I could pick nits with the story. (1) Walking about in public draped under a voluminous cloak, with a hood completely hiding your face, to go unnoticed may have a respectable ancestry – see the Mafia chieftan Luigi Vampa in The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas – but just try it in real life and see how “unnoticed” you really are. (And not just one, but a group of cloaked figures.) (2) To quote Wikipedia, “calicoes are nearly always female”.

But this is space opera, not hard science s-f. This review covers the first 50 pages of the 190-page novel (cover by Darbaras, a.k.a. Dávid László Tóth). What will Cat, Ferret, Bear, Wolf, and Ana find on Thiala and the sleazy Vandal space station? Since this is space opera, expect mucho dramatic action and weapons fire.

The Relics of Thiala comes to a satisfactory conclusion, but this series is just starting. Packmasters #2, Raid on Sullin, is due in autumn 2017.

– Fred Patten

Categories: News

Cat Fight — On A Planetary Scale!

In-Fur-Nation - Mon 3 Apr 2017 - 01:59

Battlecats is a new fantasy-adventure comic book series written by Mark London and illustrated in vibrant full color by Andy King and Julian Gonzalez. According to the publisher, Mad Cave, “In a land where chaos is embraced and war is the ultimate desire, order must be enforced. Enter the Battlecats. The most seasoned warriors in the land, fearless, determined, devout, this elite group travels the realm of Valderia fulfilling the King’s mandates and displaying heroism worthy of the God they worship. The Battlecats are about to embark on their most perilous quest, all while unraveling the origins of a holy war.” Shades of He-Man and, yes, Thundercats — in a good way. There’s a trailer up on YouTube. As you can see there, Mad Cave not only have several issues of the comic out but also t-shirts, posters, and even a soundtrack CD are available now.

image c. 2017 Mad Cave

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Categories: News

The Best of FWIW – S5E13 – First Impressions, Much? (w/new content!) - Due to a family emergency, we're running a best of release this week - BUT it has new content! Smokescale has recorded new Space News for you this release, so you can hear about the la

Fur What It's Worth - Sun 2 Apr 2017 - 22:18
Due to a family emergency, we're running a best of release this week - BUT it has new content! Smokescale has recorded new Space News for you this release, so you can hear about the latest from outer space. Here is the episode description from the original release: Roo and Tugs are joined by Marci McAdam via the internet as they discuss the world of badges. What do badges mean to many? What kind of impressions do they leave on others? What should be on a badge? What shouldn’t be on a badge? What are the rules of etiquette for badge commissioning?

Check the original show notes here.



Patreon Love

The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!

Uber Supporters

Fido



Premium Supporters – None :c

Bride of Pinbot Supporters

Docos (Picture coming soon!)
Bowler Hat Supporters

Oaken 

Rifka 

Deluxe Supporter

Lokimut

Plus Tier Supporters

Skylos
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McRib Tier Supporters

Snares
Bassblitzed
Ilya / EpicRive
Fido
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Want to be on this list? Donate on our Patreon page! THANK YOU to our supporters once again!

Next episode: Porn and the fandom. It’s ubiquitous. It’s arguably a part of the furry fandom’s DNA. It incites more reaction than most anything else with furries. What’s your connection to furry porn? We'll let you know what was sent in, next episode! The Best of FWIW – S5E13 – First Impressions, Much? (w/new content!) - Due to a family emergency, we're running a best of release this week - BUT it has new content! Smokescale has recorded new Space News for you this release, so you can hear about the la
Categories: Podcasts

Sometimes You Can Combine Varied Interests into One Career Pursuit

Ask Papabear - Sun 2 Apr 2017 - 19:37
Dear Papabear,

Long time reader of your column and I've benefited from a lot of the insights found in your work. So, thank you for all that you do for people around the world!

To start off with, I am a college student. I take full-time classes, work an on-campus job, run an exec position of a club, and participate in two other clubs. After that, I have all of my friends and personal projects. You can already see that I keep myself very busy and run on very little sleep.

But my sleeping pattern isn't what I chose to write to you about. I give so much of myself to everything I do, I've never been known to do anything half-way. The reason is that I love everything that I do, and I have yet to find anything that I haven't found interest in or excelled at naturally.

Want an actor, artist, digital designer, costumer, film editor, special effect artist? I'm you're guy. Need a handyman, carpenter, cement layer, minor electrician? I'm also that guy.

I love the critical thinking of mathematics, the mystery of chemistry, the factoids and reasoning behind historical events, and the endless storytelling possibilities of writing. That was long-winded, but I truly do so much and I'm always hearing from family:
"Oh! But you have so much potential." "You're too smart to be in theatre." "You have such a mind for math." And the endless, "You should do" this and "you should do" that.

Currently I'm studying to become a theatre costume tech major, and a dance and Japanese double minor. I made my mind up about that a long time ago. But hearing my family criticize that, or even all the sour looks when I mention going into theatre, really makes me feel hollow about my one solid decision.

I take it well. I explain all that I know: that the job field for a technician has a lot less competition than acting. That "one can always find a job as a technician," as I have heard many times from my friends and coworkers.

I guess my real issue isn't in coping with my family, or how to communicate with them about MY decision. The issue is how to cope with potential. If life is full of possibilities, and everyone is to find their niche in life, what happens to the people that could fit anywhere? I could do anything and be anything and be happy. But I would be missing out on everything else to dedicate my life to just a few of the things I care about.

This must sound like a weird problem to have. I'm sorry if this is confusing. I have always lived my life without restricting myself by saying "I can't do something." Instead, I always found something I liked about what I was doing and found drive in that.

My family means well, but all of the constant what-ifs that come from looking into other paths just bring me down. How should I go about reconciling with my family? And settling this gnawing feeling in my gut about everything I might miss out on in life?

I know I'm still young. But I thought I would ask your opinion on the matter.

Sincerely,

​Rillee Satranack (North Carolina, age 20)

* * *

Dear Rillee,

The first thing to get out of the way is your concern about your family's opinion. I don't have to tell you that this is your life and your career, so the choice that matters is yours, not theirs. If they are a good family (and I'm sure they are) they aren't going to hate you because you choose some job they don't agree with. Agreed? So put that out of your head right now.

With that aside, you're left with the issue of what to do when you have a dozen interests and enjoy them all? Looking at your list of avocations, I can't help but think that, yeah, all of them pertain to the movie industry. I mean, seriously: storytelling is obvious, and so are costumer, film editor, acting, special effects....

But the other stuff all can pertain to moviemaking, as well. Carpentry, cement laying, electrician work are all relevant to set design. Chemistry is relevant to special effects (mathematics, as well). History is relevant to good storytelling.

I'm not sure what a "theatre costume tech major" is, but I would suggest you study moviemaking. You don't say what university you go to, but according to this article, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts ranks fourteenth among the best U.S. schools to major in film studies.

I'd suggest changing majors to film studies and go for it. You sound like a natural, and you could combine all your interests into one!

Good luck,
Papabear

Toys That Educate and Inspire

In-Fur-Nation - Sun 2 Apr 2017 - 01:59

[We thought about creating an April Fool’s Day joke, but to be honest we could never top r/zootopia over at reddit.com! Anyway, we’re fresh back from WonderCon in Anaheim… Ye Ed-Otter] Here’s an American toy manufacturer called Safari Ltd. “From mind blowing dragons to enchanting mermaids, our authentic educational toys and action figures spark imagination and speak to the innate curiosity in all of us. Regardless of what you are looking for, Safari Ltd® wants to provide you with the best figurines in the industry and a comprehensive learning tool to share with the world.” To that end they make not only dragons and fantasy creatures (both funny and serious) but lots of real-life animals as well. And all of them are available on line.

image c. 2017 Safari Ltd

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Categories: News

Her Dad Wants to Fursuit, but She's Worried about His Back Problems

Ask Papabear - Sat 1 Apr 2017 - 11:29
Dear Papabear,

My dad and I want to go to a convention this summer. and I think its awesome that he likes furries and wants to go fursuiting. but he has back problems. and I am afraid that he will be hurt from some one "run hug"ing him. I am not sure if I should ask him to maybe not wear a suit or how I could help him avoid all of it. I would like some advice.

Lola (age 16)

* * *

Hi, Lola,

I think that's wonderful! :-)  Okay, we don't want to keep Dad from having fun, do we?  The best solution is to make sure your dad, when he is in fursuit, has a handler. A handler is someone who accompanies a fursuiter and doesn't wear a fursuit themselves. They assist fursuiters by being extra eyes and ears. This is especially important when the fursuiter is inexperienced (or has physical problems), and because when you wear a fursuit your vision and hearing can be restricted. Handlers have several jobs to do, including:

1. Making sure the fursuiter doesn't trip on anything
2. Keeping away people who might pounce on the fursuiter or cause damage to the fursuit or wearer.
3. Helping the fursuiter drink liquids (often with a drink that has a long straw) or getting them safely to the "headless lounge," which is a place for fursuiters to temporarily take off some of the costume and cool off.
4. Noting when people might want to take a photo with the fursuiter and helping to arrange the shot.
5. Generally helping the fursuiter get around, get on elevators, return to the hotel room, etc.

So, get your dad a handler, or, if you can't find someone, take turns fursuiting and then you can watch over him and vice versa.

You're lucky to have such a great dad! Have fun!

Papabear