April 13, 2015

What The Fluff!? Fur dance in the UK – Q&A for The Furclub Survey, from Moco Rabbit.

by Patch O'Furr

Furclubbing: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries.” It’s a New Thing that’s been spreading since the late 2000’s. This kind of dance party is independent from conventions. This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther. It’s more established than events that happen once, house parties or informal meets. Those can be inner-focused, or gather cliquish friends to only seek each other. This brings partnership with venues that aren’t hotels, and new supportive interest in the kind of events they host and promote. It crosses a line to public space. A stranger may walk in off the street to discover their new favorite thing. It encourages new blood, and crosses over to other scenes. It makes subculture thrive.

See the list of parties at The Furclub survey. Any one that gives a Q&A will get a featured article. Moco Rabbit (Weremoco) tells you about this new event:

What the fluff!? (2014- now)

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(Born after the end of the UK’s popular Frantic Eufuria dance, 2010-2014: “The first WTF!? was held on 1 November 2014. The second was held on 7th February 2015. The next will be held in October 2015, with 2 planned per year initially.”)

Founders and promoters: Weremoco, Taelion, Freddypanda.

Event details: Rave/dance party, free to attend, dance floor, fursuit changing area. WTF1 had ~40 attendees.

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April 10, 2015

Exclusive: CollegeHumor is doing Furry Force 3! Writer Adam Conover talks about it.

by Patch O'Furr

Part of the interview series: artists, animators, and more.

How Adam felt about the Ursa nomination.

When he was younger, Adam Conover went to anime conventions dressed like a bad guy from Sailor Moon.

Adam writes jokes about internet culture for CollegeHumor. The comedy website earned high praise this week with 9 Webby award nominations. He told me that winning those would be way less cool than getting an Ursa Major award.

What more could comedians want, than the highest accolades of Furry fandom next to their Webbys?

Furry Force is up for the award now. The CollegeHumor animated short series was written by Adam and Brian Murphy. I think it’s a good-natured laugh riot. If you agree, help them win. Let them know that we like comedy, and funny people who like us too.

The Ursa Majors deadline is April 15 – Vote Furry Force.

CollegeHumor gave me 30 minutes on the phone with him, to help me exclusively reveal some cool news. Back when the original single short video got millions of views, it led to a Part 2. Thanks to continuing response, there’s a third on the way.

Furry Force 3 is expected around June. I can’t wait to see how Adam’s new baby comes out!

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April 9, 2015

Legacy of the Claw, by C. R. Grey – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

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

Legacy of the Claw, by C. R. Grey. Illustrations by Jim Madsen. Map by Kayley LeFaiver.
NYC, Disney•Hyperion, October 2014, hardcover $16.99 (295 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $9.99.

Legacy of the Claw is Book 1 of the Animas series, described by reviewers as like a combination of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. In the Kingdom of Aldermere, all humans are magically bonded to an animal from birth. A human is known by the animal that he is bonded with; Animas Cat, Animas Horse, and so on. People travel with their life-bonded Animas padding, hopping, or flying with them; Longfoot the hare, Dillweed the badger, etc. “Civilized” people – farmers, townsfolk – have domestic or small forest animal companions.

Bailey Walker, 12 years old, has just graduated from his local school and been accepted by Fairmount Academy, the most prestigious institute of higher learning in Aldermere. He is enthusiastic about going there, and scared because he will be traveling alone. Bailey is an orphan, adopted as a foundling baby by the Walker farmers; and although they have been loving foster parents, they could never get Bailey to bond with an Animas. Bailey hopes that the teachers at Fairmount can help him find his Animas, but he is equally scared that not having an Animas will be grounds for expulsion, or will make him a freak and a social outcast during his adolescent years.

Bailey, like Harry Potter, travels to Fairmount on an impressive fantasy train:

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April 8, 2015

Friends help beat cancer, Furry art gallery, Big Weird Cow… Newsdump (4/8/15)

by Patch O'Furr

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag. Tips are always welcome.

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Fandom News

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Furries donate thousands to help Draces beat cancer – He faces $90,000 in medical bills.

The donor page shows many furries pitching $100 or more each. The current total is around half of a $10,000 goal. On FurAffinity, Draces posted:

I want to thank everyone, especially my friends here that set up the donation page for me. I was asked if it would be okay for them to set up a page to collect donations for me. I told them if they want to they could but I really don’t expect to get much. Wow, was I surprised at how wrong I was. I can’t thank everyone enough for the amount of shares the page has gotten and how much was raised in such a short time… I want to hug each and everyone of you.

Furry art show reception, 4/4/15 in Santa Ana, CA.

From Sy Sable, supreme leader of long running furry house The Prancing Skiltaire:

This will be our 3rd year displaying a collection of art from local furry artists at the Avantgarden Gallery. This Saturday (4-4-15) is the reception, during the monthly Art Walk in Santa Ana, CA, 7-10 PM.

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April 8, 2015

“Wild Things” will fluff your fur with a second fetish party in San Francisco.

by Patch O'Furr

Wild Things 2: at San Francisco’s Citadel club – April 12, 2015

Artists and dealers are invited to show and sell your wares.
Info: (Ask me – patch.ofurr at gmail.)

(Art: Boiler)

Spring brings the birds and bees… and a surprise almost too hot to bear! The uncaged, unleashed Wild Things party is back. A special group of furries are partnered with a BDSM dungeon to top their daring experiment from November.

The first party was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. It beat all expectations… (and some naughty dogs who deserved spankings too). The announcement here broke traffic records. It was this blog’s top article of 2014. The party went so well, they had to hold back from promoting it.

With a short few days left, the surprise is here…

Get pre-sale tickets:

Wild Things 2: Spring Fever

It’s an open invite, Furry/petplay sex party. It’s “a special evening play session with dirty art, lights and music, fun and games.” It’s a “unique, gutsy, sexy, creative, WTF happening for consenting adult friends”. Yes, it’s really everything that giggling rumor-spreaders fear… and fearless freedom-lovers dream about.

DON’T FREAK OUT… Sex is just one sub-interest in the creative subculture of Furry. It’s a wide umbrella covering “everything from Disney to Dirty.” The “topic everyone loves to hate” doesn’t define it. But it’s valuable to push limits and grow freedom of expression. Sex is just an optional ingredient for some grown-ups who want it. Do you want it? Come get it.

There’s accommodation for shy people. The roomy club has space for dancing or cuddling, with fur and fluff. Other chill space is set aside for no-touch socializing and party snacks. Smoothies and snacks are included with admission. (There’s no alcohol due to licensing of this kind of club.)

This is meant to be an art and performing event, with creative animal costumes and play… not like a dirty movie where people sit around looking bored. You won’t find anything like this anywhere else. If you’ve seen “murrsuits”, they’re here. Costumes are heavily encouraged.

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April 7, 2015

French Anthropomorphic Animal Animated Features, Part 3 – by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

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

Series: French Anthropomorphic Animal Animated Features, Part 1 and Part 2. There will be four parts.

Continuing from where we left off …

Les As de la Jungle – Operation Banquise, directed by David Alaux and Éric Tosti. 58 minutes. December 31, 2011.

When a band of walruses terrorizes the South Pole, stealing the penguins’ eggs, the penguin brother and sister Ping (Tommy) and Pong travel to the jungle where “the Great Tiger Warrior” lives, to ask him to rescue them. The Great Tiger Warrior is Maurice, a penguin raised and striped like a tiger who believes he is one. Maurice agrees, and summons the rest of the Jungle Aces (the Jungle Bunch): Miguel the poetic tap-dancing gorilla, Fred the singing warthog, Gilbert the tiny paranoid tarsier (the brains of the team), Al & Bob, the two frogs of unknown talents, and last but by no means least, Junior the little tiger fish, Maurice’s adopted son (he travels with Maurice in a fishbowl) and kung-fu expert. On their way to Antarctica, they meet and add Batricia, a bat, to the Aces. Each fights the walruses with his or her own specialty, until the grand finale free-for-all. A children’s feature, for the 6+ age group.

Les As de la Jungle – Operation Banquise (The Jungle Aces – Operation Ice), also titled Les As de la Jungle – le Film, was an original CGI feature following David Alaux & Éric Tosti’s Toulouse-based TAT Productions’ Les As de la Jungle TV series of October 23 – November 4, 2011; 26 1½-minute episodes. It was shown as a TV movie on New Year’s Eve 2012, and released theatrically on April 10, 2013. Les As de la Jungle has been popular enough to return as Les As de la Jungle – A la Rescousse (The Jungle Bunch – To the Rescue) in 11-minute TV episodes from December 29, 2013. The movie has been sold as a theatrical or DVD feature to over 150 countries. In the U.S., the feature is a DVD as The Jungle Bunch: The Movie, with John Lithgow voicing Maurice. The movie won the Procirep French TV producers’ award in the animation category; the Audience Awards at the 7^th Animpact Max (November 28 – December 2) in Seoul, South Korea and the LUCAS International Children’s Film Festival in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany; and the 2013 Kidscreen Award in New York; and was nominated for a 2014 Emmy.

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April 6, 2015

Vermont town selectively bans fursuiters: Prejudice complaint and update.

by Patch O'Furr

Public fursuiting with the Vermont Furs.

The Vermont Furs have an active online presence including Facebook and Twitter. I see many positive events such as BBQ’s, bowling, camping, and a walk to benefit Cystic Fibrosis patients. They look like a fantastic group- the kind that makes me love everything about furries. But their activities are being harmed by treatment they feel is unfair.

Fursuiters kicked out of Mardi Gras event in Burlington, Vermont – but not others dressed in masks.

Why were they being singled out, the furries wanted to know, when the streets were teeming with other strangely dressed revelers?

“It’s just different,” was the response, Owens said.

A thoughtful and well-written article in the independent alt-weekly Seven Days recently covered the February 28 incident, and following talks with the city. The given reason was a lack of performer permits – (to be clear, none of them were busking or asking for money) – and child safety concerns.

For evidence, there was mention of a bad incident with a costumed “Elmo” Sesame Street character in New York’s Times Square. I googled the incident as suggested, but it didn’t mention children- only a panhandling offense. At the Seven Days article, I commented that it was quite a stretch to pick one sensationalized headline from hundreds of miles away, for a “think of the children” argument about people who weren’t hurting anybody.

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April 4, 2015

Furcadia had amazing funding success, so they’re throwing a party for you today.

by Patch O'Furr

Wikipedia says that Furcadia holds “The Guinness World Records title for the longest continuously running social MMORPG.” (That’s all the research you get, because I have to post this with mere minutes of preparation! Whee!)

Furcadia’s founder Dr. Cat (AKA Felorin) tells me:

“We hit our $250K funding goal to finish up our 32 bit client, and we’re throwing a HUGE celebration of it this Saturday (April 4)! The team will be live-streaming all day as well as doing stuff in-game, and we’ll be showing off some of the 32 bit editors and artwork we’ve been making, and more.”

More about this news is on their journal.

Their funding appeal achieved it’s highest level, offering stuff like “a full 32-bit client for Windows, new layout & user interface, Redo ALL of the default patch art in full 32-bit,” – new places to explore and more:

$250,000 – Super Super Awesome Bonus Level

Getting this level of funding would be like a dream come true for us at DEP, Catnip and the whole community. We will all celebrate our accomplishments together!

I said to Dr. Cat: “2400 backers means $100 average, that sounds like a healthy amount each… I’m guessing it’s unexpected and awesome to hit the highest level. Why now? How is it budgeted? Any local connection for this story?”

He said:

“Our core team lives and works in Alamo, California. (I actually commute to San Francisco for a day job at another game company currently.) That’s Emerald Flame, our Executive Producer & Head Designer and Community Director (along with a lot of other hats), Game Designer Gar, and company founder, President, Programmer, Game Designer Dr. Cat. We manage a team of folks all over the country & the world, all of whom we met originally in Furcadia (that’s where I found Emerald & Gar too!) We have a team member in Southern California too, Ninja – as well as people in Canada, Germany, and England.

Our core team is still paid from Furcadia’s revenues, the Kickstarter & followup fundraiser money has gone entirely to pay a mixed group of a little fulltime staff with a lot of part-timers, commissioned pieces of art, and some volunteers to stretch the money as far as possible. We built Furcadia initially with two people and $50,000 back in the mid 90s, where most MMORPGs took at least a couple million to make, even then. We have a lot of experience getting the most out of a small budget – most game companies would take millions of dollars to do the amount of development work we are squeezing out of $250K. If we didn’t have a lot of people highly passionate about this game & willing to work at a modest rate (and also hugely talented), we couldn’t do what we do.”

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April 4, 2015

The Godson’s Triumph, by M. C. A. Hogarth – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

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

The Godson’s Triumph, by M. C. A. Hogarth. Illustrations; map by the author.
St. Paul, MN, Sofawolf Press, June 2014, trade paperback $17.95 (viii + 227 pages), Kindle $5.99.

Besides being the sequel to Flight of the Godkin Griffin (reviewed on Flayrah on 14 June 2012), this is The Godkindred Saga, Book 2. Collect ‘em all; they are very good reading.

Flight of the Godkin Griffin introduced Mistress Commander Angharad Godkin, a middle-aged griffin (but totally unlike traditional griffins) and her furry world. Angharad is a military commander in the army of her semi-divine sovereign, the Godson, ruler of the greatest (but unofficial) empire this world has ever known. She is also distantly related to the Godson. She expects to retire after a grueling career of conquest. Instead, she is appointed as the new provincial governor of recently-conquered Shraeven. To quote from my review:

“In just the first two pages, Hogarth establishes that this is another world (with three moons), that Angharad can fly (her wings were injured in the battle for Glendallia; also, “A warm breeze presages spring and sweeps my fine hair off my shoulders, tickling my wings.” – Angharad wears a backless blouse with breeches), that the creatures of this world can interbreed and do not look like each other, and that the royal court is REALLY anxious for the politically inexperienced Angharad to take command of the large province of Shraeven (until recently an independent kingdom) as soon as possible. She is promised all the additional troops she wants, a new support staff, an almost unlimited expense account – but she, personally, has to be the new Governor. Angharad suspects that the “newly pacified province” is in fact a hellhole, and that she is expected to fail – but who wants her, personally, to be a scapegoat?”

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April 3, 2015

Publishing for Furries; a Look at Mainstream Writing For and About Furries, by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

This is a companion piece to Fred’s overview of The History of Furry Publishing. See Part One: Beginnings – and Part Two: Current Publishers.

This looks beyond publishing by-fans/for-fans, to books you might find in stores. There are very few because fans make a tiny market for a mainstream publisher. I’ve often said that I think it’s worth ambitiously hoping for a “Furry Bible” coffee table book (like a Taschen book) worth selling in stores one day.

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

Publishing for Furries; a Look at Mainstream Writing For and About Furries.

Okay, we’ve covered the specialty furry publishing companies. What furry books have there been from the non-furry publishers?

Most of them are either s-f & fantasy novels about talking animals, or how-to-draw books. You can probably find the former in the Literature or Science Fiction/Fantasy sections of bookstores, and the latter in the Animation or Art sections.

LITERATURE. The s-f & fantasy selection at bookstores is constantly changing. You can usually find such classics as: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll (1865 and 1871); The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (1908); Animal Farm, by George Orwell (1945); and Watership Down, by Richard Adams (1972), in Classics or Literature.

There have been so many s-f novels over the years that I won’t try to list them all. One that many furry fans have cited as particularly inspiring them is The Pride of Chanur, by C. J. Cherryh (1981). It and its sequels have been reprinted many times, and are likely to be easily available. A more Young Adult fantasy, usually in Children’s Books, is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien (1971), which will probably always be in print because it won the Newbery Medal.

The only non-furry anthology of furry short stories is Furry!: The World’s Best Anthropomorphic Fiction!, edited by Fred Patten (2006), still in print despite belief in furry fandom that it is out of print today.

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