Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Tag: furries

May 4, 2017

Call for help with the Fullerton Murder story; and The Furry Code Of Silence.

by Patch O'Furr

Furry reached new heights in 2016. Disney came to our party.  There was a low point of a chemical attack on Midwest FurFest that turned into a high quality Vice News story.  Notice the title, “CSI Fur Fest” – I’d like to think it was chosen to make up for the other CSI, who did us a disservice. But this time “the media” earned a nomination for a 2016 Ursa Major award.

It was cool that Vice did that story. The media was on our side.  That’s the theme of this post.

In 2017, there was the unreal experience of Furry Nazis grabbing the wheel for a minute and making us swerve into no-man’s land.  Maybe we’re getting back on track, but don’t relax.  Those headlines were rough, but rougher ones are coming.

Look at California, where you might say Furry Fandom really got started. In SoCal, the Skiltaire House is where you can hang out with the founders of the first convention and have a friendly night of fursuiting or watching animation.  That’s where Jennifer Yost was known as a mom to others, including her daughter Daydreamer Fox. They went together.

One day in the fall of 2016, Daydreamer went missing. The Skiltaire put out an alert. I shared it and got contact from a reporter. Then Daydreamer was found. It wasn’t a missing person alert any more. The Yost parents and a family friend were dead and two other kids were orphaned.

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May 3, 2017

Call for artists! Fur Con teams up with Artsplosion in San Jose, CA on May 13.

by Patch O'Furr

Ellegy Q. Betea, event mascot by Grey White

May 13, 2017

The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center
938 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126
Art show 1 to 5 PM
Masquerade 5 to 7 PM
Dance 7 to 9 PM ($10 suggested donation)

Calling all Bay Area Queer Artists! • Musicians • Zinesters • Independent game devs • Painters • Crafters • Illustrators • Digital Artists • Photographers •

Come join us for the seventh #Artsplosion. Hurry, Signups close May 9th! Sign up here, and find out more here.  The Artsplosion is a bi-monthly local arts and crafts exhibition intended to serve the Bay Area Queer arts community.

Fan art by Yamavu

Hello Dogpatch Press,

I was asked to tell you about my upcoming art event that’s furry focused. It’s called #Artsplosion, this is the 7th event, and this time we’re collaborating with San Jose Further Confusion (FurCon).

It’s going to be an art show, costume masquerade, and evening dance! It’s free to attend (though we have a $10 suggested donation at the door for the dance), and free to show work at (though we ask 20% of sales go back to the center as a donation).

So join us on May 13th, starting at 1 PM. We have a great community center in San Jose, easy to get to from public transportation and lots of parking, so I’d love it if everyone came and checked it out!

More information can be found here, or follow the #artsplosion hashtag.

Thank you,
Danger “Dana” Kipnis (organizer)

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May 3, 2017

Wild Things: Cinco De Mayo – furry fetish party in San Francisco, May 5.

by Patch O'Furr

Friday, May 05, 2017.  8PM – 1AM.

SF Citadel, 181 Eddy St., San Francisco.  

Cost: $25. Dress code: Animal-themed, fetish, creative, etc.

Visit the Fetlife event page for info. Many volunteer positions available.

WILD THINGS is an 18+ party for furries, petplayers, pups, primals, littles, and everyone who accepts them, but the furry community is the heart of it.  The first event was in 2014 (see WILD THINGS tag.)  In 2016 it became quarterly by support of the SF Citadel club.

For March’s Mardi Gras event, organizer Mark explained:

Wild Things wants to be inclusive to anyone who is new, making them feel welcome, unpressured, and free to learn and explore at their own pace, if they wish.  We advocate tolerance and respect for others, so people can live and let live, and let adults be adults however they choose to do so… come without judgements and see for yourselves.

What’s happening this time?  Perhaps sexy party games and pinatas, human/furry pinata suspensions, wrestling/Lucha masks… all that and a taco bar! Previous features continue:

– Music by DJ’s AuralIncarnation (Bent) and Gretchen Weeners (Death Guild, House of Nox)
– Suspensions by Naturalturn (Naughty Knotty)
– Vacuum bed & waxplay demos by Spottacus
– Petplay, puppyplay, and furry demos
– Fursuit gear demos
– The cuddle zone
– Petplay / puppyplay romp!

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May 2, 2017

April summary for Rune’s Furry Blog – monthly guest feature.

by Rune AngelDragon

Rune’s Furry Blog showcases “people within the Furry Community…their characters, life, thoughts, and beliefs”. It also covers furry issues and media, with a sprinkle of personal blogging for the character Rune the Angel Dragon.  It’s the kind of furry stuff I like to support.  It came to attention by covering #FemaleFursuiterMonth. Fursuiter profiles are a cool thing I wanted more of.  She joins other syndicated guests like Andre Kon (What’s Yiffin’?) and Arrkay (Culturally F’d) to share her month of writing. Welcome Rune! – Patch

So here we are…entering May. It seems that 2017 has been just zooming by, and so many amazing things have been happening in the Furry Fandom! It’s what I like to refer to as “convention season”! A lot of the more popular Furry conventions are already taking place or happen shortly at the beginning of summer.

But not only that – the Furry fandom is always buzzing with something new. So, this April Summary exists just to fill you in on what you might have missed on this ever-expanding group. Not to mention it’s a chance for myself as a blogger to share with you some posts from my own blog – because I am sure there is something that might just catch your fancy. Let the April Summary get underway!

The Furry Nerdcore band known as “Run, Definitely Run!” decided that it was DISBANDING After Texas Furry Fiesta (Dallas Convention 2017).

The post was made by lead-singer Omnom on April 7th, 2017. He posted on his facebook HERE that their visions for the band were just too different, and, while they would have one last performance, they would not be playing at BLFC as scheduled. There was not much else to be said. It was made pretty clear and people were heartbroken. Fans were trying to see if maybe this was just a late April-Fools joke, but, band members came in and told them that it was indeed true…

Theories of what might have happened at TFF started to circulate, and, for awhile, people were even blaming the Con. While most things have been cleared up in one way or another, people seemed to have now settled on the idea that the band continuing was just not meant to be. We can only wish the bandmates the best in all their future endeavors.
But, the group is still close friends with each other…and that should be one of the most important things.

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May 1, 2017

How do you say “furry” in other languages? by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

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

My January 2016 call for information about furry conventions for my Furry Fandom Conventions book, announced on Dogpatch Press, contained a comment from Anonymouse that I didn’t address at the time.  He said:

“Russians needs to translate “furry” into their own language. For the last 20 or so years they have not been translating anything, and simply adopting more english words, writing them in Cyrillic letters. If this keeps happening, the Russian language will disappear in 50 years. Mark my words.”

Why do the Russians need to translate “furry” into Russian?  I may be prejudiced because I’m in an English-speaking country, and we take pride in the English language containing so many foreign words.  We call them “loan words”, but there is no sign that we’ll ever give them back.

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April 28, 2017

Spirit Hunters Book 4: Shadow of the Oni, by Paul Kidd – review by Fred Patten

by Patch O'Furr

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

Spirit Hunters. Book 4: Shadow of the Oni, by Paul Kidd . Illustrated.
Morrisville, NC, Lulu.com/Perth, Western Australia, Kitsune Press, February 2017, trade paperback $22.31 (310 pages), Kindle $6.99.

Paul Kidd began his Spirit Hunters novels with Book 1: The Way of the Fox in September 2014. He has followed it up with Book 2: The Open Road in May 2016, and Book 3: Tails High in September 2016. Now here is Book 4: Shadow of the Oni. Like the last two books, this has a cover by R. H. Potter and interior art by Voracious Fescue.

The Spirit Hunters series is set in the Sacred Isles, a fantasy world of traditional Japanese mythology roughly in the Heian era, about 900 or 1000 A.D., with all the yōkai (supernatural spirits) of that world: obake, kappa, oni, tengu, and so on. The Spirit Hunters are four freelance ghostbusters who wander throughout this realm, slaying or otherwise exorcising the evil yōkai: Lady Kitsune nō Sura, a fox woman, and her companion Tsunetomo Tonbo, a huge human samurai, who hope to be paid for their services; Asodo Kuno, a young low-ranking human samurai who has joined them to gain a reputation and higher status; and Nezumi nō Chiri, a shy rat-spirit who Sura has invited to join them. Chiri’s two familiars, Daitanishi the air elemental and Bifuuko the rock elemental, accompany them.

Sura and Chiri, and any other animal-people who the quartet meet, are what make these books worth reading by furry fans. They can shift among three forms: human except for animal ears and tail; anthropomorphic, looking human but with an animal head, full fur or feathers, and tail; and fully animal but still able to talk.

While the first three books are basically light adventures, Book 4 is the darkest yet. It begins with “Twelfth Encounter: Shackles of Honour”, which opens with thirteen straight pages of grim battle, slaughter, blood, and death. A decade later, the four Spirit Hunters take refuge from a rainstorm in a long-abandoned shrine:

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April 28, 2017

The end of Rocky Mountain Fur Con didn’t cure the problem that caused it.

by Patch O'Furr

Article series: 1) Original story about RMFC – 2) A false rumor – 3) Interview with the Chair.

There’s a tumor in the community. It killed Rocky Mountain Fur Con. Look no further than the “Furry Raiders” and their leader “Foxler”, who calls himself “The Hitler of Furry Fandom“.  They hide behind a false front of acceptance, using regular people to help them play innocent while lying about themselves and their beliefs.

There’s a lot of denial about what’s going on.  Recently, that includes a confession that Foxler paid to join a real neo-nazi group, wants to wear a swastika, and threatened RMFC itself. Not-nazis don’t do that. That’s the long and short of it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s sincere or a game. It makes them either neo-nazis or two-faced liars about it. Either way is indefensible and incompatible with a creative fandom. (Keep in mind how historical nazis were toxic to art).

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April 27, 2017

Foxhunt!, by Rich Hanes – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

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

Foxhunt!, by Rich Hanes. [2nd edition]
Everett, WA, Arkham Bridge Publishing, January 2014, trade paperback $19.95 (337 pages), Kindle $6.99.

This is the 2nd edition. The first edition was published by Arkham Bridge Publishing in June 2009 with the same cover illustration by Minna Sundberg. I don’t know how the two editions may differ.

This is furry space opera, the first novel in the Wildstar Universe of genetically-engineered human-like animals. (According to Amazon, Hanes only has one other Wildstar Universe work so far, and it’s just a 15-page short story, “Duel of Honor: The Way of the Wolf Warrior”, published in April 2015. Hanes has asked for comments on his works-in-progress on the Furry Writers’ Group forum, although he is not a member.)

The interstellar peoples of the galaxy are all modified Earth mammals based upon dogs, foxes, raccoons, wolves, and more, although humans do exist. And the animals don’t like each other. Interstellar warfare is strictly regulated through a Mercenary Command, and restricted to small mercenary companies rather than large national armies. Captain Sebastian Valentino, a humanoid fox, is the leader of the Star Rangers, the most successful mercenary company in the galaxy; 300+ mostly canids such as his Senior Lieutenant Corey Delzano, a jackal, and Junior Lieutenant Patricia Darling, a painted dog. The Star Rangers usually are hired by the government of Valentino’s own Star Alliance, and their target is usually the Alliance’s traditional rival, the Canis Dominion.

All this is background that the reader will pick up in the first thirty or forty pages. The story is that Captain Sebastian Valentino is having an extremely bad day. Or bad week. Or bad months. First, his Assistant Captain and best friend Adrian Miller is killed in a botched raid that Sebastian blames himself for. Second, Adrian’s extremely formal Rite of Passage (funeral) is also botched, which Sebastian (who is having a brief nervous breakdown) also blames himself for. Sebastian’s new Assistant Captain, Corey Delzano, talks him out of it, incidentally giving the reader a smooth background course in Volpa history, language, and religion.

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April 26, 2017

Artdecade paid me $5 to post about him, and you should do it too.

by Patch O'Furr

Somehow I found nice clean art on Artdecade’s FA gallery.

Artdecade is a furry artist who has strong words about bigots, nazis, RMFC, etc. Read what he thinks about the con’s demise and recent happenings in fandom. Or just enjoy his naughty art (NSFW!) He linked to Dogpatch Press, and it’s a nice compliment to get noticed by a furry titan who has drawn 10,000 dicks. He says:

i feel genuine sympathy for ppl that got involved with the furry raiders who were just looking for a local group of furs to hang out with. i don’t think all folks in that group are bad people by a long shot. the creators lied to people about themselves and their beliefs and used others that joined them to make themselves look like just an innocent group of fun havers. i urge members of the raiders that are upset with these people to start your own groups, free of nazi and bigotry influence.

please remember, it was not the people that called out the bigots that got the con closed, nor was it anyone’s intent to close the convention at any point. THEY shut down the con due to mismanagement and then blamed others for it. and now others are picking up the pieces they abandoned! local CO furs, check it out! https://www.denfur.co

Who got blamed for closing the convention? (From Reddit:)

I wonder which con this Dogpatch guy will try to kill next.

Kill the messenger before he strikes again!  Actually, ignore that noise and listen to smart furs who just want to be informed. It’s part of being a community. That includes dealers, artists and local Colorado furs who didn’t deserve to lose their con for the reasons that Artdecade said.

An independent voice can share critical stories others won’t.  A good way to make it possible is cold, hard cash. You can also do this for your local PBS station, but there’s a little difference if you support Dogpatch Press on Patreon.

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April 25, 2017

Sorin, Chair of Rocky Mountain Fur Con, discusses demise of the con.

by Patch O'Furr

Sorin joins me for an interview as a devoted representative of RMFC, even after the con’s sad, surprising end.  It was a happening that Dogpatch.press had some part in, even if issues were brewing long before and carried forward on their own.  That makes it extra gracious of Sorin to be open and professional about talking.  Questions were prepared to build a formal article, then sent in live chat.  Sorin fielded them on the fly, with power to review before publication to keep his side as intended.  You will see probing opinions from one side, then the other side to make a dialogue.  (-Patch)

Hi Sorin. We’re only talking because of sad circumstances – maybe we can improve that. Can you introduce yourself briefly? What are you like besides having been chair of RMFC?

I’ve been part of the furry fandom since 1996, and have been attending conventions since 1998 starting with Confurence and Anthrocon, later Further Confusion and Rainfurrest. I’ve been a part of Rocky Mountain Fur Con since its inception, first as the Vice-Chair and later stepping into the Chairman position when the previous chair stepped down. I’m a social person and like the furry community for its openness and acceptance.

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