The Attack on FurFest Convention: An Atmosphere Of Hate

Some disclaimers off the bat; I did not attend Midwest Fur Fest (MFF) and I am not writing this from any firsthand reports. This piece is being written while the Police investigation is ongoing and the story is developing.

As you are may be aware, at MFF there was an incident involving a release of chlorine gas injuring 19 attendees that is being investigated as a deliberate attack.  Wherever that investigation leads, as a furry and a longtime convention volunteer I am worried. Not for my own safety, but for the fandom. Earlier this year, someone posted a terror threat to twitter against Anthrocon, another Furry convention, in Philadelphia. Now, every con gets some level of similar mischief, but this threat came from an account who's profile pic was that of Lemonade Coyote, a much beloved soul who, out of suit, was an EMT dedicated to saving lives until his was tragically lost. This was one of the reasons the FBI took it so seriously. As of this writing, I am not aware of the results of the FBI investigation but the Con went off without incident. As a Furry I am unfortunately accustomed to a certain level of disapproval, but this year, it looks much scarier. Furries have been the punchline of jokes among Science Fiction fandom for decades. Lines like “If you take away the drama, furries will suffocate” or “Trying to understand furry drama is like trying to smell the color blue” abound. However, this is something more. This is the willful targeting of a marginalized population which has a chilling effect on a free association. I have been careful in my conversation to not use the T-Word (despite that hesitance feeling like an internalized message of unworthiness) but when you see the pictures of the attack's aftermath...

When the news first broke I braced myself for one of two possibilities from the media. So far, most of the coverage I have seen has been respectful, except for one glaring example:  Mika running off set on Morning Joe. 

Now, here are my problems with this clip. First off, they are mocking people who had just been attacked in the dead of night! These people deserve compassion, not ridicule. Second, who in the booth decided to rub salt in the wound by cutting to Mika running down the hall? You were running a video package, just keep the loop rolling another 5 seconds and come back with a two shot at the desk. Finally, I wonder what they whispered in her ear that provoked such an extreme reaction and the effect that may have on her further coverage and the perception that will reinforce in the viewing public.

FaceBook, in the 24 hours after the Chicago attack, rang with “If they want to make themselves targets” which sounds to me uncomfortably close to my Uncle saying “If you stay in the closet you won't get bashed.” This may sound like I'm on a civil rights soapbox...because I am. I'm not claiming that furries are a suspect class, but rather that we have the same rights to free association as anyone else, and these incidents are only going to make people more frightened of leaving their own homes, which is likely the point. Thankfully, even in this post Ferguson/Staten Island/Cleveland atmosphere, nobody blinked at cooperating with the Police. In fact as this comment from the article on Raw Story about the event (link) suggests the Police even made an extra effort to cooperate with the attendees:

mercedeslackey • 2 days ago

Be aware that this is all hearsay, but being pretty well plugged into fandom in general, my husband got the following information.


There are suspects being investigated. They were "first timers" who registered with the convention and the hotel using their real names, and vanished immediately after the chlorine powder was discovered.

Used to disorganized conventions, the police were pleasantly surprised to find that the con chairman was waiting for them with the full registration lists which include real names and addresses, and had cleared the hotel to provide the police with the Convention registered hotel guest list. (Attendees of the Convention get a discounted hotel rate, so the hotel had their own list).


Attendees were instructed to cooperate with the police, and did so. The police who wished to "fit in" were provided with ears and tails so they could do so. The police soon began to actively enjoy themselves (as much as could be said of someone investigating a crime scene and a terrorist action) and were seen taking many selfies with costumed attendees.


To the people dismissing this as “those people got scared, nothing to do with me” I counter “We aren't just furries. We're lawyers, teachers, cabbies, firemen, and military personnel.”and any time something like this happens it happens to human beings. Another dismissal I have heard, “So somebody set off a stink bomb. So what?” Here, in a better rebuttal than I would be qualified to give, Skyedancer a retired soldier also comments on the incident on the Raw Story website:


As a Chem Ops Specialist as well as a furry, I don't find this act funny at all. chlorine gas even chlorine powder is lethal. I have friends who were attending that con and when I found out about this I was worried about them. It was used in WWI and WWII to kill enemy soldiers from a distance. it was the first chemical agent used in war. they used mortars to deploy the gas and often caught their own troops in the gas and it killed thousands. if you think this is funny then why don't you go into a room full of this gas and see how funny it is as you're rushed to the ER with extreme difficulty breathing. I hope that the 19 people who went to the hospital will be OK...”

If I can step forward for a moment, I want to plainly address what I've been dancing around, using words like “free association” and “suspect class”. When brainstorming this piece I kept coming back to the reaction I saw online. And I wonder why are we still this, why are we still a country, a geekdom, a species that finds an attack on it's fellow beings the setup for a punchline? I don't think I'm making more of it than it is. I simply don't know who we are anymore. I know people older than me who will look at this and say, “It was ever thus.” But damn it, that doesn't mean it always must be so! Nineteen people were hurt...physically. How many more were hurt far more deeply? That's the point I want to leave people with; we're all in this together and an injury to one is an injury to all.


MalKontent Blizzard signing off.


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IAAPA Part 1: A Once in a Lifetime Experience that Happens Every Year

Have you ever been to a trade show? I’m sure you have. I go to at least one every year, but I’ll ask you: Does your trade show have a working Ferris Wheel on the show floor? Are there people riding it? Can you survive for the entire week solely on the free food and candy given out by the vendors? Do you get to play the latest video games that haven’t been released to the public? Have you been sold products by people that make used car salesmen seem like rank amateurs? Are your scantily clad booth models unusually knowledgeable about epoxy flooring and personnel management? If you answered yes to all my questions, then you recently spent a week out in Florida with me on the business trip of a lifetime.

I’m in the amusement park industry, which means I go to a very special trade show each year. It’s called IAAPA. That’s the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. I call it “The Show,” like a minor leaguer that’s headed to the majors. My first one was about 5 years ago in Las Vegas. It can’t hold a candle to the Orlando setup. At the Orange County Convention center, there are 950,282 square feet inside with a 40 foot high ceiling and an additional 50,000 square feet outside. They cleared a million just to show off, I expect. If it’s happening or going to happen in the industry, it happened in Orange County, Florida on the second week of November.

Well, there’s as much story in my first two hours of travel to fill an article, so we’ll be going day by day and tale by tale, otherwise this wouldn’t be terribly interesting, would it?

Day 1: Travel

Mornings are retched, bothersome things. I’m not a fan. To catch a flight at 7am you have to get up at 3:30am. That turns your standard morning into something to truly loathe. I slither out of bed at the appropriate time, ooze into the bathroom, hop into the shower, and slowly think about how warm the water is and how soothing morning rituals can be. I, rightly, turn the shower head to cold and properly wake up lest I fall asleep under the delightful pummeling my shower massager delivers. (Are you writing me erotica? -Ed) Once out, I realize the full weight of the head cold that’s been building for the last few days. Thank you darling, that’ll be two DayQuil pills and I’ll call you in the afternoon. I get dressed, kiss the girlfriend goodbye (no longer in fear of her pestilence as I’d already received it), kiss the cat, hand her a handful of treats (the cat, not the girlfriend), walk downstairs, grab my bags and hat, and walk out the door.

Thus our adventure begins. I gave myself a little extra time in the morning, since there are a few light provisions that I have yet to pick up, namely toothpaste. Nobody wants to have extensive business conversations with a man plagued by halitosis. It’s just not done. I step into the 24 hour Safeway and business is just as hopping as you would expect. I scramble to the right isle, grab a TSA appropriate tube of dental cleanser and think I’m on my way but no… No checker. Where are they? There’s two men stocking canned goods, another polishing apples, I can vaguely hear “The Girl From Ipanema” being played in the background on an alto sax but nobody here is willing to sell me this vastly overpriced miniature toothpaste tube? I take my masculinity in hand (not literally) and decide to go and ask directions. Mr. Apple Polisher berates me for not asking (didn’t I just?) and walks to the check stand.  He grabs the microphone of check stand #3 and says; “Check to 1 please, check to 1” then walks back to his apples. I'm left holding both my masculinity and my toothpaste.

Now, I’m a little annoyed and a small amount starving. I can feel the anger burning within me just waiting to be meted out on my next transgressor, like the Emperor’s Force Lightning from Return of the Jedi, but I hold it in. Also, I grab a pack of peanut butter cups because well, hunger and such. One of the men stocking cans turns out to be a woman. Must have been the haircut, my mistake. I silently apologize to nobody in particular and the transaction begins. She grabs my two items, smiles and shoves them towards the laser to get scanned. As she does this we both suddenly notice that there’s a little open space between the conveyer and our high tech friend. I’ve never had to tell anybody to mind the gap while traveling, primarily because I really don’t care if people trip or fall to a horrible death, I actually find it sort of funny. Well, my candy breakfast didn’t mind the gap and fell into the dark abyss beneath the check stand. Thank you, divine spirit. I’ll try to be nicer to people in the future. She offered to find a replacement but I was nearing my coworker’s pickup time and am a terribly punctual person. I paid $1.42 for the toothpaste, the story you’re reading, and a tid-bit of Karma.

I drive towards our pre-arranged meeting place, a coffee shop that will be open for business in twenty minutes. I pick up my coworker and leave for the airport. What, you thought we’d actually be getting coffee? We’ve no time for that.

Bag check was the usual mess. There’s a woman pointing everybody towards the touch screens while we all bunch up at the people behind the counter. There’s an old man shuffling back and forth at a speed easily outpaced by a drunken snail. It’s the slowest game of Pong I’d ever seen.

“Where do I go, again?” “Right over here, sir.” “What do I do?” “Just touch the screen.” “Then what do I do?” “They’ll call your name.” “But I’ve been here for ten minutes.” “Yes sir, just follow the menu on the screen.” “I don’t think this one is working.”

I’m stopping there. This went on for a while, and I didn’t see the whole thing since I actually followed the instructions, my name was called, and I checked my bag.

We get to the security line, and I prep myself for new travel tradition of surrendering your civil rights. I keep quiet to prevent from being hauled of as an instigator, First Amendment. There’s the video that tells you what you can’t bring: Fireworks, Knitting Needles, Bottled Water, Firearms. There goes the Second. I remove my shoes and prep for the X-ray, Fourth Amendment. Do I have anything illegal? Did I leave my bags in the possession of another? Fifth Amendment. Perhaps they’d like me to house some Marines and we could go for a clean sweep of the first five? Knock the others out before lunch, maybe?

I get the all clear which means no prostate exam. I’m thankful because I was hoping to hold out on that till I was at least 40. As I step out one of the guards leans over and grabs my left calf. I look at him, a little confused he gives me a sort of ‘Carry on’ look and I go gather my things. Do I look like a terrorist?

I tend to get a little airsick nowadays but, otherwise, the flights went well. We had Brunch in Denver and headed to our final destination after a short layover.

After a mere thirteen hours from start to finish, we arrive in beautiful Orlando, Florida. It was a roasting 58 degrees and with a humidity of only 95%. You could hardly feel the chill… I’ll stop with the sarcasm for now.

Now, when your boss calls and asks you what your plans are, at this point you think: Collapse? He wanted to have a nice dinner and by nice, he means expensive. Not that that was his initial plan but that’s just how things seem to turn out. And when somebody says pricey, this foodie jumps. We ended up at the Capital Grill, known for steaks as well as other delicious things. I’ll give you a quick breakdown: Me: Seared Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna over Gingered Rice with delightful dipping sauces, Compatriot: Gorgonzola dabbed over Medium Well Filet Mignon, Boss Man: Porterhouse served perfectly rare. Our sides were the Brussel Sprouts with Pork Belly (My recipe is actually better, I’ll give it to you sometime) and some rather delightful Lobster Mac and Cheese. This is a good way to end a day. Belly full and body tired, I went to bed happy.

Next time, we'll talk about the actual convention.

The Lopez is an Amusement Park Industry Professional, Artist, Gamer, LARP GM, Member of the Gamer Geekus gaming troupe, and occasional guest star on the Ace of Geeks podcast. You can find Gamer Geekus atwww.Facebook.com/Gamergeekus or email him directly at retheon@gmail.com.

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Gaming Convention How-To: Theming Your Game by Justin Rhodes

Gaming conventions are ultimate meccas of nerdery, replete with so many wonderful distractions and remarkable pastimes. Previously, I wrote about making a memorable con-game and one of the nuggets of wisdom included theming your game. How can you do that? Here are some ideas:

We went to HawaiiCon!

It was a delightfully warm and humid day at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.  Birds were chirping, mongooses were causing mischief, and I was absolutely ecstatic to not be the only person walking around in a Star Trek Commander t-shirt.

Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) and I on Friday 9/12

Phil Plait, who works for Slate magazine now, had worked on building the Hubble Telescope back in the day.

HawaiiCon is a brand new convention which focuses on science and sci-fi.  There were a mix of both lectures from scientists and sci-fi panels starring some of your favorite celebrities.  The convention also managed to organize expeditions outside of the hotel - helicopter tours and scuba dives, for example, which enabled guests to experience the island while still being able to hang out with fellow nerdy con-goers.  There were lots of opportunities for meet-and-greets with celebrities, both for photo ops and on the excursions as well.

And let me tell you: it was awesome.

I don't want to delve too much into the convention, because my number one and I already talked about it in our HawaiiCon podcast, which you can listen to here.  (For future reference, it's episode 119 - and you can also download it on iTunes!)

This post is mostly for photo-dumping.  There were a lot of cosplayers at this convention, which was wonderful!  But unfortunately, we were only there for a day, so we missed out on a lot of awesome cosplays.  

I think it's also worth noting that Ace of Geeks just recently got an instagram account, so this week we'll work to resize these photos and post them there as well.  Please leave a comment below or send us an email if you'd like to add your name/handle to the image description, or if you would like copies of the full-sized images.

Battlestar Galactica

Assassins Creed

Arthur Dent, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Ellie, The Last of Us

Shepard, Mass Effect

Gnar, League of Legends

Blossom (left) Powerpuff Girls

11th Doctor (right), Doctor Who

Maleficent, Maleficent

Miku Hatsune, Vocaloid

Penny, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Spartans and Vader

Troopers!

Zelda & Link, Legend of Zelda

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Cosplay Shennanigans: Creating Brother Warth, Forgetting Arnim Zola, and Red Tornado to the Rescue! By John Garcia

I’ve been cosplaying for a couple of years, and it has gotten to the point that making and focusing on 1-2 new costumes per year had racked up quite a number of costumes. I used to plan it so that Anime Expo was the focal point of my “Cosplay Year,” but since the mid 2000s, I started going to San Diego Comic Con, and it has become the focal point instead.  Anime Expo became a “Trial Run” for whatever big project of a costume I’m working on.  

It's gonna be one of those years I never forget... Get it?  Because I'm am elephant, and apparently have to explain my really obvious jokes :-) (This is why we pay him peanuts. -Ed)

The 2014 “Cosplay Year” to me is not that different.  Usually, it consists of 1-2 new costumes, 1-2 comfortable costumes for shopping days, and whatever days are left filled by older/ previous years’ costumes.

Creating Sansa - A Cosplay Chronicle by Megan Marie Fox

Sansa Stark - Reference Image

For the past four years I have made a new costume to wear each year San Diego Comic-Con. My obsession with Game of Thrones hit a peak last year, and so I dressed as Catlyn Stark, as presented by Michelle Fairley in the series. The costume went over well, but a lot of the feed back I was receiving was that I looked a lot like Sansa. So this year I decided to go for it.

With Sansa’s extensive four-season wardrobe to browse through, I decided on a dress from season 3. There were several factors that informed my choice, one of which was that I have never done any embroidery. I knew teaching myself another skill was not in the cards for completing my project on time. Another factor was the fabric. The motifs used on the show are distinct and finding a good look-a-like will either cost you time, money, or both.

Spurred on by the annual 50% off remnant sale at Britex, I started scouring for a purple upholstery fabric with a reverse towards the end of April. I spent about two hours digging through the remnants to find something that would fit the look. The total sale was $63. I came home with two things I thought might work. First, I grabbed 4 ¾ yards purple upholstery fabric that had a barely visible pattern. The second purchase was a flowery brown and gold print that I mostly bought for its reverse. I bought 7 yards of it, came home and realized it wasn’t what I wanted. It looked too “Lannister”, yucky! (The Lannisters are yucky but Sansa's ok?! - Ed)

Body Shaming IS Bullying. Period. by Raven

I'm fairly new to cosplay - I've been to only four cons so far.  I've done costumes for both Denver cons, and the Wizard World San Antonio Comic Con. Because my self image isn't the greatest, I've been really nervous about doing cosplay for conventions - and my experiences in the past haven't helped with that.

When I did costumes for the first Denver con that I went to, I did a Lady Joker on the first day, and my Crow costume on the second day. I got a lot of positive comments - James O'Barr (the creator of The Crow) had nice things to say about my Crow costume, too, when I went to pick up some art I had  commissioned from him. But I also heard some negative things - like, "Is that a cross-gender Crow? Isn't she a little out of shape for that? What would Brandon Lee say?" and "What would O'Barr say?" I wanted to yell at them, "Hey! I'm right here!" And I knew what Mr. O'Barr would say, since he had already said it to my face.  I tried to stop listening, but I couldn't stop my heart from buying into that crap and it ruined my con  experience.