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Furpocalypse 2023 Wrap-up! (+ MFF 2023!)
2 years ago
Hello again fuzzy folks! I'm back again with another wrap-up post where I detail my activities and experiences at cons I have been to! Today is the Monday after Furpocalypse 2023: Summercamp Slasher, and is the subject of this journal! This Furpocalypse has been a truly special and remarkable experience for me, and a bit of an emotional one as well! I debuted Ringgar's fursuit at this convention, and had a ton of experiences I will cherish. I attended this year by myself, but I'm already planning to head back for next year's convention, but for now, let me break down what I was up to between October 26-29th, 2023!
Starting on Thursday, I decided to travel to the con by driving. This way, I was able to simply pack the totes for Ringgar's fursuit parts, care items, and my suitcase all at once! The fact that the con is located practically in my backyard also factored into that decision. The drive was short, and I arrived shortly before check-in time. After a brief wait in Linecon 2023, I brought everything up to my room and went out hunting in downtown Stamford for food before coming back to the hotel for Linecon part 2: Electric Boogaloo! After the line that was the registration line for both TFF 2023 and Connecticon Saturday 2023, the reg line here felt like a breeze! While I waited, I met one of my fursuit siblings for the first time, Ripley the Red fox! Otherwise known as Alister or @wispydutchie, whom you can find here! Our meeting was brief and fleeting as the line moved along, but we would eventually hang out another day! After registering as a Sponsor this year, I attended a panel about Fandom horror stories, hosted by Sylox! It was lightly attended due to the schedule time, but I shared some of my early furry cringe stories, as well as the Tornadocon experience of TFF 2023, and listened to others. All in all, a panel worth attending and participating in! The day ended with a last-minute grocery run, and a late night snooze.
Friday was the official start of con activities, starting off with a quick Dunkin' breakfast, then heading over to watch opening ceremonies. After the opening, I actually attended a Beyblade battle panel in the Gazebo in the middle of the lobby! I brought some of my own older ones, which were not the greatest, but I was able to reach runner up in an impromptu tournament with a loaner! Following this panel was a bit of a dilemma, as there were three panels I wanted to attend, all back-to-back. I decided to attend the Furry Feud panel, and while I wasn't selected to play from the audience, I still had a great time watching the hilarity and confusion unfold! There was some downtime between then and the start of trick-or-treat, so I decided to suit up as Ringgar and participate in the charity bucket brigade! I'd like to think my coin-maraca skills were sufficient for some donations to the charity of the year, Q+! After an hour of brigading, and a quick de-suit, while hunting for dinner, I ran into yet another fursuit sibling Klein Fox! (@falox214 on Telegram).Ripley, Klein and I decided to meet together for the fursuit photo the following day. After finding dinner, I set up in my room to hand out candy and ear plugs for trick or treaters! The ear plugs idea came about from my friend
afurryjinx, who wasn't at this con, but the idea caused me to take the initiative to put it to action! The intent was to hand them out for the rave, but other commented that it helped a lot with their snoring room mates, so it went over fairly well! I'll definitely be bringing them again next year! The last two activities of the day involved hanging out with Ripley and their friend (@boogiedownfur on insta), and attending a late night panel about black cats.
Saturday was the most eventful day of the con, starting out with an early diner breakfast, a trip to the dealers den, where I was able to commission a badge from one of my favorite artists, Bleatnik (formerly Cyamallo), and another suit up, Klein, Ripley and I met for the fursuit photo was planned. This is where the majority of the photos in the album above were taken! The photo took an extended period to take, but afterwards Klein and I went into town to hang out, learn about each other, and get some boba tea! Once back at the hotel, I ran to my room to partial up for Fursuit kickball. However the panel was cancelled as the weather was unusually hot for the time of year (80 F!) so I decided to attend the very silly, very plaid Flannel Panel instead by Ahanu Hyena! Next up was dinner and the Dance competition, which had many, many fantastic, emotional, theatrical performances by many talented dancers. With dancers like these, its easy to understand why dance comps are such a big thing at conventions! The dance comp winner was crowned, and afterwards I suited to an Improv panel hosted by one of the dance comp contestants,
Heathclaw! I was able to participate in a few improv games, and while my improv is pretty rusty, the room was laughing and having a good time, which is what counted most! This panel in particular was a great one, as with Ringgar I felt a lot braver when it came to participating, even if it was to make a fool of myself! I put on the full suit again after the panel and went to an impromptu wolf meetup at the Gazebo, where I got to meet a handful of other furs, most of whom I had met in cons earlier this year like ANE and Connecticon! We had some photos taken, then I ventured to a very silly, very funny panel hosted by Talcott and Raspberry Lucario, where they did a reading of an incredibly akward creepypasta fan-fiction about Jeff the Killer that somehow managed to get published. As midnight approached that day, I retired to my room to give Ringgar's suit some TLC.
Sunday was a slower day as events winded down. After breakfast and some lobby interactions, I suited up to try to partake in the Fursuit Games this year! I was lucky enough to be able to become a part of the purple team! We played games such as smore-stacking relay-races, charades with the audience, and musical chairs! Our team came out second overall, but one of our team mates took the belt for musical chairs! This event was incredibly fun and I wish it could have been longer! After going back to the room and de-suiting, I watched the freestyle dance fight! If you want to hear my thoughts about this event, see the description for the dance comp yesterday! The temps dropped significantly on Sunday, and the rain started coming down, so I ran out for a quick dinner, then ran back to give Ringgar's suit a little care before one last suit up to do some last minute bucket brigading, as is custom for Furpocalypse! I'm happy I was able to volunteer for that this year ^^. Closing Ceremonies took place, where it was announced that Furpoc had 1875 attendees this year, up 241 from last year, over $10000 was raised for Q+, and the theme for next year would be: Astrophobia! Unfortunately, there was no dead dog dance this year like there was last year, and after speaking to the programming director, I was told the reason is because the rentals had to be packed up early. I hope there will be one next year!
Overall this con will go down as an extra special one for me. Furpoc was the very first furry convention I attended in 2019, and not only was this my first year attending it for the entire event, it was also the con I had Ringgar's fursuit. In suit, I felt so much braver, more outgoing, and unafraid to be act a little silly. I interacted with many awesome people from my suit family members, to dancers, to staff, to other attendees, people I had met before, and many others I had not. It easy to see why PCD is a thing when an event such as this comes to an end. However, I do plan on coming again next year, and I want to thank everyone who made Furpocalypse 2023 a treasured memory for me!
In other news, at the current moment, I am planning on attending MFF 2023 in a month to continue my New Year's Resolution! So far, it has been a success! As for cons next year, my primary constraint is the number of vacation days I have to spend. I am considering attending Anthro New England on Saturday again next year, as well as Furcationland, and my first trip to Anthrocon! Furpoc, of course, is also on that list, but I will have to develop my plans further still! Stay tuned!
Furpocalypse 2023 Album*:Note*: This year I did not personally take many photos, as I was in suit or at an activity for the majority of the time. Taking photos while in suit isn't the easiest thing for me as my handpaws are four-fingered and puffy. However, I have included photos taken by friends of my suit siblings, and photos taken by others I have either been sent or found on social media! There will be more posted in the future I am sure, so I have added photo credit where it is due! With that said...
If you see any photos of me on any social media site, please send me a message on any of my socials and let me know! Thank you!Starting on Thursday, I decided to travel to the con by driving. This way, I was able to simply pack the totes for Ringgar's fursuit parts, care items, and my suitcase all at once! The fact that the con is located practically in my backyard also factored into that decision. The drive was short, and I arrived shortly before check-in time. After a brief wait in Linecon 2023, I brought everything up to my room and went out hunting in downtown Stamford for food before coming back to the hotel for Linecon part 2: Electric Boogaloo! After the line that was the registration line for both TFF 2023 and Connecticon Saturday 2023, the reg line here felt like a breeze! While I waited, I met one of my fursuit siblings for the first time, Ripley the Red fox! Otherwise known as Alister or @wispydutchie, whom you can find here! Our meeting was brief and fleeting as the line moved along, but we would eventually hang out another day! After registering as a Sponsor this year, I attended a panel about Fandom horror stories, hosted by Sylox! It was lightly attended due to the schedule time, but I shared some of my early furry cringe stories, as well as the Tornadocon experience of TFF 2023, and listened to others. All in all, a panel worth attending and participating in! The day ended with a last-minute grocery run, and a late night snooze.
Friday was the official start of con activities, starting off with a quick Dunkin' breakfast, then heading over to watch opening ceremonies. After the opening, I actually attended a Beyblade battle panel in the Gazebo in the middle of the lobby! I brought some of my own older ones, which were not the greatest, but I was able to reach runner up in an impromptu tournament with a loaner! Following this panel was a bit of a dilemma, as there were three panels I wanted to attend, all back-to-back. I decided to attend the Furry Feud panel, and while I wasn't selected to play from the audience, I still had a great time watching the hilarity and confusion unfold! There was some downtime between then and the start of trick-or-treat, so I decided to suit up as Ringgar and participate in the charity bucket brigade! I'd like to think my coin-maraca skills were sufficient for some donations to the charity of the year, Q+! After an hour of brigading, and a quick de-suit, while hunting for dinner, I ran into yet another fursuit sibling Klein Fox! (@falox214 on Telegram).Ripley, Klein and I decided to meet together for the fursuit photo the following day. After finding dinner, I set up in my room to hand out candy and ear plugs for trick or treaters! The ear plugs idea came about from my friend
afurryjinx, who wasn't at this con, but the idea caused me to take the initiative to put it to action! The intent was to hand them out for the rave, but other commented that it helped a lot with their snoring room mates, so it went over fairly well! I'll definitely be bringing them again next year! The last two activities of the day involved hanging out with Ripley and their friend (@boogiedownfur on insta), and attending a late night panel about black cats. Saturday was the most eventful day of the con, starting out with an early diner breakfast, a trip to the dealers den, where I was able to commission a badge from one of my favorite artists, Bleatnik (formerly Cyamallo), and another suit up, Klein, Ripley and I met for the fursuit photo was planned. This is where the majority of the photos in the album above were taken! The photo took an extended period to take, but afterwards Klein and I went into town to hang out, learn about each other, and get some boba tea! Once back at the hotel, I ran to my room to partial up for Fursuit kickball. However the panel was cancelled as the weather was unusually hot for the time of year (80 F!) so I decided to attend the very silly, very plaid Flannel Panel instead by Ahanu Hyena! Next up was dinner and the Dance competition, which had many, many fantastic, emotional, theatrical performances by many talented dancers. With dancers like these, its easy to understand why dance comps are such a big thing at conventions! The dance comp winner was crowned, and afterwards I suited to an Improv panel hosted by one of the dance comp contestants,
Heathclaw! I was able to participate in a few improv games, and while my improv is pretty rusty, the room was laughing and having a good time, which is what counted most! This panel in particular was a great one, as with Ringgar I felt a lot braver when it came to participating, even if it was to make a fool of myself! I put on the full suit again after the panel and went to an impromptu wolf meetup at the Gazebo, where I got to meet a handful of other furs, most of whom I had met in cons earlier this year like ANE and Connecticon! We had some photos taken, then I ventured to a very silly, very funny panel hosted by Talcott and Raspberry Lucario, where they did a reading of an incredibly akward creepypasta fan-fiction about Jeff the Killer that somehow managed to get published. As midnight approached that day, I retired to my room to give Ringgar's suit some TLC. Sunday was a slower day as events winded down. After breakfast and some lobby interactions, I suited up to try to partake in the Fursuit Games this year! I was lucky enough to be able to become a part of the purple team! We played games such as smore-stacking relay-races, charades with the audience, and musical chairs! Our team came out second overall, but one of our team mates took the belt for musical chairs! This event was incredibly fun and I wish it could have been longer! After going back to the room and de-suiting, I watched the freestyle dance fight! If you want to hear my thoughts about this event, see the description for the dance comp yesterday! The temps dropped significantly on Sunday, and the rain started coming down, so I ran out for a quick dinner, then ran back to give Ringgar's suit a little care before one last suit up to do some last minute bucket brigading, as is custom for Furpocalypse! I'm happy I was able to volunteer for that this year ^^. Closing Ceremonies took place, where it was announced that Furpoc had 1875 attendees this year, up 241 from last year, over $10000 was raised for Q+, and the theme for next year would be: Astrophobia! Unfortunately, there was no dead dog dance this year like there was last year, and after speaking to the programming director, I was told the reason is because the rentals had to be packed up early. I hope there will be one next year!
Slasher Summary!Overall this con will go down as an extra special one for me. Furpoc was the very first furry convention I attended in 2019, and not only was this my first year attending it for the entire event, it was also the con I had Ringgar's fursuit. In suit, I felt so much braver, more outgoing, and unafraid to be act a little silly. I interacted with many awesome people from my suit family members, to dancers, to staff, to other attendees, people I had met before, and many others I had not. It easy to see why PCD is a thing when an event such as this comes to an end. However, I do plan on coming again next year, and I want to thank everyone who made Furpocalypse 2023 a treasured memory for me!
In other news, at the current moment, I am planning on attending MFF 2023 in a month to continue my New Year's Resolution! So far, it has been a success! As for cons next year, my primary constraint is the number of vacation days I have to spend. I am considering attending Anthro New England on Saturday again next year, as well as Furcationland, and my first trip to Anthrocon! Furpoc, of course, is also on that list, but I will have to develop my plans further still! Stay tuned!
