grocery store, but he won’t divulge any other details about himself or use his real name — and it’s not because he’s ashamed. He says it’s how the media has portrayed the furry fandom as an a animalcostuming-wearing sex group of sorts that keeps him anonymous. He says that’s not what the the majority of the fandom is about. And yeah, sure, he says some furries do like to have sex while dressed up as foxes and wolves. But not all of them. And it’s certainly not exclusive to fursuiters. “There’s no denying things like that go on,” he says. “There’s no denying that at Trekkie conventions there’s going to be Klingon sex.” Ritzgaul says he’s been a furry since 1998, but he’s never assumed a fursona. He’s a human. “I never found a furry side of me,” he says, “but when you really deeply think about it, humans are animals too.” But he’s just as much a part of the fandom as people who wear costumes. When Ritzgaul thinks about his attraction to the furry fandom, he thinks about being an 8-year-old kid watching afternoon cartoons. His still remembers his first crush: a villainGet a taste of all things fantasy, sci-fi ous wolf on the cartoon and escapist at this weekend’s SpoCon TaleSpin. convention at the downtown DoubleWhen he found the tree Hotel, Aug. 15-17. Visit spocon. fandom as a teenager, he org for more details. Later this fall, the said it actually changed new Pac Con Spokane comic convenhim as a person. tion, Oct. 24-26, boasts an impressive “It got me social. It lineup of industry stars, including Stan got me out of the house Lee and William Shatner. more. It got me to discover myself as a person. It helped me,” he says. “It pretty much saved me from boredom. It helped me become more active and discover things, learn things.” Quip, the man who identifies in the fandom as a cat, says with furries he found a group that was more accepting of who he was than anyone else he’d encountered. “That’s the interesting thing about the furry fandom, it’s really an anything-goes sort of community,” Quip says. “Nobody will lambaste you because you listen to this type of music as opposed to another type of music. No one will rib you because you like to watch cartoons.” So it isn’t sexual for these men, but would they prefer to date someone who is a furry, too? Quip answers that with a laugh. “If you know anyone, just…” — and he holds his hand up to his ear like a telephone.
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Come Celebrate “20 Years Together” 20th Annual
E
very summer, far from the city, far from their homes, they travel back in time. For 20 years, the cast of the Northwest Renaissance Festival have made camp on a plot of dusty land in Nine Mile Falls, evoking a time when men were fighters and ladies were damsels. Each weekend, they live here among their fellow time travelers. Each weekend, they forget who they really are. It’s a sentiment you hear from several members of the Renaissance Festival cast — being here is a vacation from themselves, from their problems. Ken Slack, 45, is the fight director at the Festival — essentially, the guy who coaches the other actors how to sword-fight and make it look realistic. He has been with the festival for 20 years — moved here from Boise, in fact, to be a part of it. Slack, who is on disability and suffers from agoraphobia, says the festival has helped him break through those issues he deals with every day. “Anytime I have to leave the house, I have to start preparing for it far in advance, and calm my nerves and almost medicate beforehand in order to be able to get out of the house,” he says. “That’s why [it’s] so good for me — it gets me out of the house.” Fantasy role-playing such as this is something that can actually ...continued on next page
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday | August 16, 2014 Riverfront Park
s for Free Activitie ens e T Toddlers to Main Stage Performances All Day
Education, Career & Health Fairs
Interactive Children’s Center Free K-8 Scho ol Sup (While supplie
s last)
Cultural Villages
nwunity.org
Art Displays
The Region’s Largest Multicultural Celebration Family-oriented and FREE
plies
EVENT SPONSOR United Healthcare AREA SPONSORS Amerigroup, CHAS, Community Health Plan of Washington & Molina Healthcare
AUGUST 14, 2014 INLANDER 23