Blades of Furry is a webcomic by Deya Muniz and Emily Erdos.
The comic is set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, where Battle Skating is a notably popular sports mix of ice skating and martial arts. Rookie Emile is an up-and-coming but insecure competitor who ends up in a match against Radu, the top battle skater out there. During the match, Emile cuts himself, sending Radu, who turns out to be a vampire, into a clumsy frenzy and granting Emile a victory, shooting his popularity and status up.
Radu and Emile start a tentative friendship once Emile agrees to keep Radu's identity as a vampire a secret.
The comic is available for free on WebToon
. The comic is set to be turned into a graphic novel in 2023. The comic went in hiatus on May 2022.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Radu's mother was controlling and pushed him and his brother apart, culminating in her permanently separating them for the sake of Radu's career.Emile: Full offense, I want to punch your mom.
- Cast Full of Gay: The story focuses on a gay couple. Other major characters include the non-binary Mimi and the other gay couple, Sal and Hana.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Radu, by extension of never had had a boyfriend before, doesn't realize the sheer amount of jealousy he'd have when dating Emile, to the point of being jealous of Mimi for, one time, making out with him before he even met Radu and playing up a potential affair for the media (which was made with the purpose of hiding Radu and Emile's relationship).
- Foreshadowing: The first time Emile and Radu talk about vampires, Emile shows the later an article online about the dangers of vampires written by an user called Garlic Acorn. Garlic Acorn turns out to be Sue's pseudonym, and her attempts to prove Radu's identity as a vampire turn out to be central to the plot.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: At one point, Emile asks Hana about skaters dating each other, prompting Hana to drop his phone, where the reader can see he is exchanging heart emojis with someone called Sal. This later turns out to be his boyfriend.
- Genre-Busting: The entire concept of battle skating makes the comic similar to quite a few shounen sports manga (especially with its mix of martial arts), but the bulk of the novel is a fairly comedic queer romance.
- Incompatible Orientation: Sue is in love with Sal, who is gay. According to him, he tried to convince her that it's a fact, but she has taken it as an attempt to reject her. Not that she cared about it.
- Meaningful Name:
- Mimi is easily the most egotistical and confident character in the comic, and constantly boasts their prowess on the ice. Their favorite word may as well be “me”.
- Sue harasses Radu online with the use of a pseudonym.
- Motif:
- In-Universe, Radu has a vampire motif for branding purposes, the merch he sells is vampire/bat themed and his clothes has bat wings to further the comparison.
- In the comic itself, Radu has a cherry motif. He often wears one or another article of clothing with cherry print, his favorite flavor is cherry, and the blood he drinks in juice boxes are disguised as cherry juice. Emile adopts it as well after the two start growing closer.
- Refuge in Audacity: Radu hides the fact that he is a vampire, by partly hiding in plain sight, making a concept of his shows of presenting himself with a vampire/bat motif. This makes people theorizing that he is an actual vampire sound delusional.
- Secret Relationship: Emile/Radu and Hana/Sal. Both are kept secret because of the GBSF against dating between competitors. While Sal has left the field, he keeps his relationship a secret in case he wants to make a comeback.
- Stalker with a Crush: Sue. She stalked Sal during his final year competing, trying to get together with him.
