WikiFur - User contributions [en]

2, The Ranting Gryphon

2009-12-13T05:15:09Z

Negarro Foxpaw:

[[Image:2 and Uncle Kage at FWA 2007.jpg|right|thumb|275px|2 the Ranting Gryphon (left) and [[Uncle Kage]] at [[Furry Weekend Atlanta]] 2007]]
'''Matthew Wayne Davis''', also known as '''2, The Ranting Gryphon''', is a professional comedian who performs mainly at [[science fiction|sci-fi]] and [[furry fandom|furry]] [[conventions]].

2 also performs and records audio 'rants', and hosted an Internet radio show called [[2 Sense]] which ran for 87 mostly-weekly episodes, up to two hours in length, before being discontinued due to time and work constraints on July 2nd, 2005, at the peak of its popularity. [http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/2sense.htm 2 Sense 2.0] debuted on November 12, 2006.

Born in August 1972, 2 has been a performer for most of his life. He began as a [[Wikipedia:Rock and roll|rock]] guitarist in the [[Wikipedia:1980s|1980's]]. He then ventured into the sci-fi and [[fantasy]] fields, doing comedy events at conventions during the [[Wikipedia:1990s|1990's]].

A member of the furry fandom, he has a [[gryphon]] [[fursona]]. His name allegedly came to him in a dream about the creature. He regularly attends [[furry conventions]] and often performs [[Wikipedia:Stand-up comedy|stand up]] there. He has been the [[guest of honor]] at [[Califur 0]], [[Oklacon]] 2004, [[Rocket City FurMeet]] 2005, [[Feral!]] 2006 and [[RBW 2007]]. He is also currently on staff at [[Furry Weekend Atlanta]], [[Rocket City Furmeet]] and was a founding member of [[Furry Connection North]].

2 formerly resided in [[Wikipedia:Arkansas|Arkansas]], [[Wikipedia:United States|USA]], in a social collective of fellow furry fans/artists ("furs"), known as the [[NARFA|North Arkansas Regional Furry Association]] (NARFA). He now lives in [[Wikipedia:Ypsilanti, Michigan|Ypsilanti, Michigan]].

== The rants and music ==
[[Image:2-the-ranting-gryphon.jpg|right|thumb|200px|2's [[fursona]], as drawn by [[Jessie T. Wolf]]]]
2 ranted about many things during the early stages of his website. His rants were between 3-6 minutes long and normally focused on three areas. These areas are [[Wikipedia:religion|religions]] (rants about [[Wikipedia:holy wars|holy wars]], prayer, and [[Wikipedia:Christmas|Christmas]]), political issues (delving into such issues as [[Wikipedia:gay pride|gay pride]], hunting, guns, abortion, and the U. S. military), and the furry fandom itself. Rants on the latter are geared specifically to that community, and thus less accessible to those outside the fandom, and have dealt with [[Further Confusion]], [[Anthrocon]], [[furry artist|fur artists]] and "Muck Talk".

The rants were originally scripted and were released on average once every two months. Their main purpose was for 2 to spread his opinions.
His latest rants have dealt with [[Wikipedia:Intelligent design|intelligent design]], the [[Wikipedia:news media|news media]] and [[wikipedia:Justice|justice]]. He has also released his second outtake reel, and has moved on to producing his rants in video format, which he started posting to YouTube in March 2007.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMbKqtjv2vM 2, The Ranting Gryphon - Do Your Job!], rant uploaded 28 March 2007. Retrieved 9 Aug 2007.</ref> There are over 50+ Rant topics in total.

Before the rants however, 2 created a lot of music. Some of the more popular songs include "Salvation" and "Jaunt". In the 1980s, 2 had originally hoped to become a rock artist, and still aspires to make music professionally.

2's rants were once [http://www.portalofevil.com/single.php?poeurlid=9727 featured] on the [[Portal of Evil]]. He responded by [http://www.werewolves.org/%7Etwo/Rants/2rant-portalofevil.mp3 posting a rant] about [[atrocity tourism]], which was subsequently subjected to a [http://www.crushyiffdestroy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1534 techno remixing] by Nick C, a member of [[Portal of Evil]].

In September 2007, the online edition of the German newspaper ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' featured one of 2's video rants and an excerpt of his live performance at [[Eurofurence|Eurofurence 12]] in their ''Internet Video of the Week'' column, comparing his style of comedy with [[Wikipedia:Woody Allen|Woody Allen]] and [[Wikipedia:David Byrne (musician)|David Byrne]].<ref>[http://www.sueddeutsche.de/,ra4m5/kultur/artikel/927/133677/ ''Das Internetvideo der Woche''], Süddeutsche Zeitung, Online Edition 2007-09-20</ref>

2 also appeared in a parody of the Beastie Boys video Sabotage. The video was shot at [[Anthrocon]] 2004.

* ''[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1138904607579338145 Sabotage Tribute]'' (video)

==LSD files==
2 has been making poetic audio files known as the Lucid Sonic Delusions. At present he has released two of them on his official website, with plans to release a whole new series as time goes on.

It is thought that the files were named LSD Files because they give the same euphoric feel as the drug of the same name (though they have nothing to do with drugs). The files are in fact named Lucid Sonic Delusions; this may have been on purpose so that the initials would be LSD, but this has not been confirmed.

The two LSD files released so far are:
* [http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Audio/LSD-Thehole.mp3 The Hole]
* [http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/Audio/LSD-Thebox.mp3 The Box]

==Dear 2==
2 Gryphon is doing a short show (if it can indeed be considered a show) approximately 10 minutes long in which he answers letters sent in by (presumably) past 2 Sense listeners and fans of his website. The show is identical to the Dear 2 segment from 2 Sense with the exception of there being no co-host. This show has no actual release date and is released based on the amount of mail received and time restraints on 2 himself. Dear 2 is expected to end when 2 Sense 2.0 starts.

This new show can be downloaded as an MP3 file from

*[http://www.ranting-gryphon.com Official Website]

==DVDs==
[[Image:TT-largeRantingGryphonDVD.gif|right|thumb|DVD Cover for the second DVD "The Truth"]]
2 the Ranting Gryphon has released four DVDs and a CD since 2002. These are available to buy from 2's official website.

The first DVD, "Rolling A One", is a one hour long comedy show recorded live at Anthrocon in 2002.

The second DVD, "The Truth", is a one hour long comedy show recorded live at Anthrocon in 2003. It includes commentary from 2 and Lord Skandranon on one track, and a separate track consisting of 2, [[Lord Skandranon]], [[Skates]], and [[Krahnos]]. The DVD also includes the infamous "chocolate bunny death" video.

The third DVD, "The Gods Hate Me", is a one hour long comedy show recorded live at Anthrocon in 2004. Among the DVD's special features are a full length MST3K style commentary from 2, the DVD's creator Lord Skandranon and their friend [[Gir Tygrin]] (who in the video refers to himself as random other guy), some random bonus footage, and an explanation of the "beer shot" joke.

Plans for a fourth DVD, "Place Gryphon Here", were scrapped due to technical problems while recording the shows at [[Anthrocon 2005]] and [[Midwest FurFest 2005]]. Instead, an audio CD was released that contains audio from both. It replaces an earlier audio CD that has gone out of print.

A fourth DVD was eventually released, called "Live In Germany". This DVD is a one hour long comedy show recorded live at Eurofurence 12 in 2006.

== Trivia ==
2 is referred to in a [[Jack]] [http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1312 comic short], in which a "ranting talent agent" whose species is a gryphon has a small '#2' written in over his head.
2 is also referenced twice in the online comic [[Loserz]] by [[Erik Schoenek]]<ref>http://bukucomics.com/loserz/index.php?comicID=265
http://bukucomics.com/loserz/index.php?comicID=296</ref>.
Second Life's POG Racing Team has paid tribute to 2 with a race car painted bright pink and featuring 2's catch phrase "NEON-DA PINK-A BITCH SLAP!"

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://www.ranting-gryphon.com/ Official Site]
*[http://www.werewolves.org/~two/ 2's old official site]
*[http://2-gryphon.livejournal.com/ 2's Journal] on [[LiveJournal]]
*[http://www.youtube.com/user/2gryphon 2] on [[YouTube]]
*[http://www.furaffinity.net/user/2gryphon 2] on [[Fur Affinity]]

*See [[2 Sense]] for 2 Sense external links

{{Wikipedia|2_the_Ranting_Gryphon}}

[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:DJs]]
[[Category:Gryphon characters]]
[[Category:Califur guests of honor]]
[[Category:Feral! guests of honor]]
[[Category:Rocket City FurMeet guests of honor]]
[[Category:RBW guests of honour]]
[[Category:Oklacon guests of honor]]
[[Category:Rocket City FurMeet staff]]
[[Category:Furry Weekend Atlanta staff]]
[[Category:Michigan]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
{{featured article}}

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Jack (character)

2009-11-18T04:12:44Z

Negarro Foxpaw:

'''Jack''' is the title character of the [[webcomic]] [[Jack]]. He is a wizened green [[rabbit]], wearing a ragged, brown cloak and most often seen carrying a scythe. He is the Sin Wrath and it is also his job to collect the souls of the dead and lead them to their final judgment as the [[Wikipedia:Grim Reaper|Grim Reaper]].
{{Spoiler}}
Jack does not enjoy this duty, but it is apparently part of his punishment for sins committed when he was alive. Little of his past is known, as forgetting his past life is also part of Jack's punishment in Hell. Though he has stated he is blessed to not remember his life, he has sought out the help of the angel [[Farrago]] in restoring his memories. The only Sin who follows the rules, he is also the only Sin on reasonably friendly terms with the angels of Heaven, which changes for better or worse through events that happen throughout the comic.

In Hell, Jack takes care of the child [[Fnar]], who considers Jack as somewhat of an uncle of his.

When Jack was alive he was part of a scientific experiment, part of which involved him meeting a female rabbit called Jill, and having no sexual organs. During this time, Jill was killed as part of the experiment, which made Jack wrathful, saying "'''She''' died, so '''I''' made me God!" although what he did exactly is unknown.

It could be construed that Jack and Jill were collectively the first anthropomorphic animals on earth, as the details of the scientific experiment involving him appear to be that rabbit/hare DNA was injected into an already fertilized human egg cell, which was then grown in a laboratory and resulted in Jack. As he is referred in in the comic as being a Dictator, perhaps it was he who decimated the human race and ushered in the 'furries' (as [[Dr. Kane]] once referred to them.) as the ruling race of Earth. It has also been hinted that [[Dr. Kane]] was one of the human scientists working on the experiment that Jack was the control group for.

As the Sin of Wrath, he is quite quick to anger. However, since the sin is not usually associated with self-interest, he often does this out of more outgoing feelings, such as love. However, after absorbing [[Drip]], his brother sin Lust, into his being, his higher rage has become more common in tense situations.

Jack appears to be the strongest of the sins as shown when he gets really mad, in this state(which the only physical trait different than his normal for being his eyes turning black) he has shown to be able to defeat Drip with ease. Drip hinted that Jack keeps his power down since he tries to suppress his sin(Wrath) while the others sins don't, this could be why the other sins don't appear to have this kind of transformation.

In the current arc all Jack's memory's were restored by Reckonin. It is unknown if Jack is going to ask for redemption.

{{rating-ma-button4}}

[[Category:Jack characters]]
[[Category:Demon characters]]
[[Category:Rabbit characters]]

Farrago

2009-11-18T03:46:15Z

Negarro Foxpaw:

'''Farrago''' is a character in the [[webcomic]] [[Jack]].
She is a "young" angel, portrayed as a female [[Ferret|ferret]] with only bloody stumps for wings early in the story.
{{spoiler}}
Farrago and [[Jack (reaper rabbit)|Jack]] first met in the arc 'Falling Angels', when the two of them tried to prevent an airplane from crashing as the result of the interference of another Sin. Becoming fast friends, Farrago restored some of Jack's memories accidentally with a kiss, sparking his change from a formally apathic attitude to the moody and more questioning character.

Farrago is kind and trusting. She often visits Hell and confers with Jack, a relationship her superior angel [[Central]] initially disapproved of. Unlike the other angels, at the beginning of the comic, Farrago appears with only bloody stumps for wings, having lost them to [[Drip Rat|Drip]]. Farrago is also on good terms with [[Fnar]], sharing a sisterly relationship with the child.

Not much is known about Farrago's life before she died, but what is known is that she was in "Her Majesty's Royal Armed Infantry in the days before guns and ammunition."

Out of all the angels that Jack confers with, Farrago is the one Jack is closest to, and the nature of their relationship at times is called into question to be more romantic than platonic. Indeed, Farrago kisses Jack lightly for good luck when they are trying to save the character of Virgil and later on in the story arc he returns the gesture more passionately. In doing so, Farrago's wings are restored and Farrago is so happy she hugs Jack for his gift.
 Farrago and Jack work together throughout the comic to help lost souls, in the particular case of Virgil, Jack asks Farrago for help and she reluctantly does, even going against the other angels to do so.
 Before that, the two of them worked together to allow Lucas to communicate with his son Artisan and tell him he had to let go of his anger. Lucas later commented the two made a good team.
 However, on Fnar's last day, Fnar was hurt by Drip, and thus Jack blames heaven for allowing Fnar to stay in Hell. It is then Farrago reveals that it was she who asked for Fnar to stay with Jack in Hell because Fnar was bringing out a gentler side to Jack's character. Jack enraged by this information blames Farrago for Fnar's hurt and tries to choke her, stopped only by Fnar. Farrago is shocked and terrified by Jack. She says that she always thought the angels were wrong about Jack, and even though Fnar asks her to forgive Jack, Farrago says it will take a long time because Jack has hurt her deep inside.
 Since then Farrago and Jack have not spoken, and whilst they have been apart Jatter has told Jack that Farrago's wing feathers seem to be falling out, possibly as a result of the bad feeling between her and Jack.
 For his part, Jack regrets what he has done, missing Farrago and brings back Joann from the dead because he says she reminded him of Farrago.
Recently Central revealed that Farrago's wings had fallen off.
{{rating-ma-button4}}

[[Category:Jack characters]]
[[Category:Angel characters]]
[[Category:Ferret characters]]

Jack (webcomic)

2009-11-18T03:43:02Z

Negarro Foxpaw: /* Cameos */

{{Infobox webcomic
| title = Jack
| image =
| author = David Hopkins
| url = http://www.pholph.com/
| status = Unknown
| began = March 1st, 2001
| ended = Ongoing
| genre = [[Horror]]
Drama

[[Action]]
| rating = [[Image:Censor_NC17_button.png]][[Category:Rated_NC17]]
}}

:''For the article on the title character of this webcomic, see [[Jack (character)]].''

'''''Jack''''' is a [[webcomic]] created by [[David Hopkins]] which debuted on March 1st, 2001. It has an overall storyline based around Hell, sin, and redemption, woven into individual story arcs, each concerning a subset of the characters in the comic.

[[Image:Jack-DaveHopkins.jpg|right|frame|Jack hovering over Tet and Trixi]]
== Plot and theme ==
''Jack'''s initial arc involved a child named ''Fnar'', who was little more than an unborn fetus whose life was ended in its first few months. This arc also introduced the primary [[character]] for which the [[comic]] was named: [[Jack (character)|Jack]]. This character is portrayed as a rather ragged green [[rabbit]] in rags, wielding a scythe much akin to the various incarnations of the [[Wikipedia:Death (personification)|Grim Reaper]].

The comic centers around decidedly mature themes in one form or another, most notably in the visual artistic form. It also prominently features Hell, as demonstrated by the third strip in the debut arc which allowed Fnar to meet his mother, restrained to a cave wall with the rock actually encompassing her right leg and holding her arms as if it were eating her. The mature themes of the comic are made quite plain at that time, as the woman bore a stab wound under her left ribs near the stomach and also had her throat slashed. The blood from these wounds is still dripping in the scenes, and Fnar himself looked grisly as he was "aged" by Jack in stages to the age of a preteen boy.

''Jack'''s plot bounces around quite often, but it remains true to the Hell theme for the most part. On occasion, strips are published which pertain to real world events, like the ''Angry Brian'' story arc which depicted events similar to those of the horrific [[Wikipedia:Columbine High School massacre|Columbine High School Massacre]]. Other features of the comic include the appearance of real places like the former [[Wikipedia:World Trade Center|World Trade Center]] that was destroyed in the infamous and very tragically devastating terrorist attacks of [[Wikipedia:September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]]. It should be noted that the ''Angry Brian'' story arc sparked heavy feedback from the readers and was what earned the comic a large reader base.

Similarly, ''Jack'' features Heaven (as you might expect) as well as angels. These two forces do not fight each other much in the comic; in fact, for the most part they appear to work together without any major problems, although this may be due to the focus on Jack, the most amenable of [[Wikipedia:Seven deadly sins|Sins]]. Some arcs do take place in the mortal world, in which both sides occasionally find themselves, usually revolving around Jack's job as Grim Reaper.

In all, the comic can be morbid, but it has its tender moments and optimistic highlights. Not all the characters of the comic are doomed to Hell for eternity. They all have a chance to eventually live on Earth again in new forms as a test to see if they have "learned" from their previous life's mistakes. If so, they are admitted to heaven. If not, they are condemned once more to the bowels of Hell.

'''Did you know?''' [[Amber Williams|Mab]] of [[Mab's Land]] and [[DMFA]] has drawn a series of [[wikipedia:chibi|chibi]]fied versions of the characters of ''Jack''. These are displayed in [http://www.pholph.com/chibi.htm Mab's Chibi Hell].

==Cameos==

There have been many cameos on ''Jack'', including appearances from Pink, Skye Bluedeer, [[SueDeer]], [[Amber Williams|Mab]], [[Gene Catlow]] & Cotton, [[Vinci & Arty]], [[Silverblue]] and [[Trixi]] & [[Ryan Dewalt|Tet]].
* The comic recently featured what may have been a [http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1217 cameo appearance] of [[Uncle Kage]] in the ''Joann and Jeremy'' arc. Depicted as he has usually described the meaning of the name, a roach, he features in the arc as a guest speaker at a wedding in his labcoat delivering a speech about God and love while taking one or two breaks during the speech to sip wine out of a martini glass. He later [http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1221 wanders in the crowd], being approached and called by name by the groom and thanked for the speech, to which Kage said "Why thank you m'boy. By the way, I certainly hope you remembered what I said, because I sure don't." This could be due to being drunk when he gave the speech, though. In the same strip, the characters [[Vinci & Arty]] can be seen dancing together in the first panel.
* [[2, the Ranting Gryphon]] is referred to in a Jack [http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1312 comic short], in which a "ranting talent agent" whose species is a gryphon has a small '#2' written in over his head.
* The [[Funday Pawpet Show]] is referred to in ''[http://www.pholph.com/strip.php?id=5&sid=1393 Those That Run]''.
* Jack [http://www.doemain.com/index.cgi/2004-08-30 appeared] on ''[[A Doemain of Our Own]]'' as one of the potential explanations for the disappearance of Eric from the plotline

== See also ==

* [[:Category:Jack characters|List of ''Jack'' characters]]
* ''[http://www.pholph.com/ Jack]''
* [http://www.pholph.com/forum/ ''Jack'' Forums]
* [irc://irc.anthrochat.net/Jack ''Jack'' IRC Chat]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'' at [[Wikipedia]]
* [http://jack.furries.ru/ Jack, in Russian]
* [http://webcomicoverlook.com/2009/09/17/the-webcomic-overlook-96-jack/ Review of Jack]

[[Category:Comics]]
[[Category:Mature comics]][[Category:2001 births]]

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