Surreal Kins
| Surreal Kins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author(s) | Atmanryu |
| Website | |
| Update schedule | Irregular |
| Launch date | July 15, 2002 |
| End Date | 2007 (last updated) |
| Genre | ? |
| Rating(s) |  |
Surreal Kins is a webcomic by Atmanryu. It was launched on July 15, 2002 on Keenspace and was last updated in 2007.
Contents
Plot[edit]
Based in Kingston, Georgia at a fictional school named Kingston State University, the comic centers primarily around the adventures and dealings of the 5 main characters, four of whom are otherkin of various sorts. It also delves into the furry fandom, therianthropy and related subjects.
Background[edit]
Leo Branford bought his current residence in February 2001, and had originally planned to set up a home-based ISP/webserver for the county, but needed a financial sponsor for his project; the sponsor was Abraham Delano, whom he met at a local furry convention in Kingston. Delano was the head of convention operations, and was busy with that job while Leo was waiting for the meeting with him. Leo then browsed through the brochures on the convention, only to bump into Sly for the first time; needless to say, Leo was utterly flabbergasted at the "animatronics" of Sly's "costume" (which was Sly's actual body). Sly was en route to perform a dance routine (at the time, he was a newcomer at the school looking for a residence off campus, and had headed to the convention since it was near the university), but was distraught when he lost the talent contest (apparently, he didn't incorporate striptease).
The two were then met by Amaru, who was the only attendee besides Leo who voiced a favorable view of Sly's dance routine; Amaru then helped defend the two when 42, the Nagging Rootser (a send-up on 2, The Ranting Gryphon) brought along a group of fans to harass Sly for not performing striptease in his routine. The three then enjoyed most of the subsequent course of the convention, only to face 42 again, who brought along a much more formidable attendee to beat up the three; 42's henchman was then soundly rapped by Dante, who was at the convention to investigate whether a pedophiliac serial killer named Bise Burton (under the bearded guise of Abraham Delano) was running the convention as a ruse to commit acts of sexual violence and rape against furries.
Sly and Leo are called during lunch by a convention staff member to Delano's office, where Leo had originally intended to explain his ISP/webserver idea to Delano in hopes of financial support; however, after Leo had explained his idea to Delano, his notes were ripped into pieces by Delano, who then showed Leo a video of child rape and murder. Disgusted, Leo rushed out of the office to find Sly, but then found Sly tied to a post in a room, surrounded by associates of Delano. Delano then explained his intention to obtain a real furry (in this case, Sly) to sell to scientists as a specimen of research or rent out to the highest bidder as a sex toy by using Leo to guide Sly to Delano's clutches. Sly responds by kicking his captors in their faces, soon making it to the elevator (to which Leo had long ago ran) with Delano and armed henchmen following close behind. The elevator soon opens with Amaru and a vengeful Dante, in his werewolf form, who then lunges against the antagonists; this is the first meeting between Burton and Dante since Burton had evaded capture some five years ago.
Dante is soon vanquished, a 911 call is made, and DVDs of the snuff and child pornography films are shown to the attending public, resulting in Burton's immediate arrest and the dispersal of many attendees from the furry fandom. After the incident, Sly convinces Leo to rent out the rooms in his house for extra income, and Amaru becomes an informal supervisor to Leo's webhost/ISP business (named DHR NET), and Dante arrives two weeks later to ask about a rented residence; all three become his tenants by the beginning of the story.
Characters[edit]
Main characters[edit]
Leonard "Leo" Branford[edit]
- Species: Human
Leo is a human and a professional software developer (and tech support guy) who has a knowledge of most programming languages from ABC to Z. However, he has a neurotic personality and spends most of his time in front of a computer display, whether it's for work or play.
Leo's father is a werewolf, as is his sister Crystal, while he and his mother are not; his father divorced from his mother when Leo was 12, and his father gained custody of his sister, separating him from his sister until when Leo was 25.
Crystal Branford[edit]
- Species: Werewolf
Crystal is Leo's sister. She also inherited the werewolf attributes from her genealogy. She moved in with her brother not long after the comic begins.
When she is taken to the university by Sly for the first time, she is taken aback when two of Sly's human friends (Jamal and Nicole) make it known that they already know that Sly's a "real furry", Crystal is a werewolf and that two of Sly's fellow residents are otherkin.
Sylvester "Sly" Hartwell[edit]
Sly, a humanoid fox, is characterized by the author as a "furry" and has not been shown in the comic in a human form. He is aged 21 in the comic, and is originally from Alabama, where he resided in a relatively isolated rural environment with his father. He moved to Atlanta in his teens to attend Kingston State in order to find the career of his choice. He met Leo, Amaru and Dante at a local furry convention, and soon became a roommate at Leo's residence.
He's also a talented dancer, and has a significant amount of concern for his dress. His most prized possession is a modified 1999 Suzuki Katana 750 (A gift for his 17th Birthday), which he drives at every opportunity, and loves fast things such as cars and sports. He currently serves as the university's mascot (as "Robin the Fox"), usually coming to the school without any obvious cover apart from his normal clothes.
Dante Blackthorne[edit]
- Species/race: Werewolf
Dante is a muscular former bounty hunter from Canada who currently works as supervisor at Garland Suppliers, Inc. He has a generally forceful attitude to most people, even to his fellow residents to a lesser degree.
He barely remembers his life prior to his teen years (or his family), and only recalls his tutelage under a retired bounty hunter only known as Blood Hound, who, upon realizing his werewolf genealogy, taught him in the ways of bounty hunting. By age 19, he was skilled enough to take down Blood Hound by brute force, and was sent to Germany for further training until he returned to Canada at the age of 25; from then until his early 30's, he successfully captured over 400 suspects, most of whom were child abusers.
He then grew tired of the profession and left for the United States to pursue other interests.
Amaru Tokugawa[edit]
- Species/race: Fire Elemental Dragon (Warrior Breed)
Amaru is a were-dragon with a large, muscular build. He practices his aerobics routine by battling holographic monsters, as shown in the first chapter.
According to the author, he is at least 600 years old, but retains the appearance of someone aged 25.