Golden State Fur Con 2025
5 months ago
Need to get this journal out of my head before it gets too much later, because Golden State Fur Con two thousand twenty-five was actually a really really awesome event, though on paper and looking at the schedule you'd not really think so.
It was me and
Strega Strega again being room hosts for two other furs that we'd not met before, at the Hilton Los Angeles International Airport on Century Boulevard. Being that we were arriving on Friday and knowing that the parking garage beneath this hotel is claustrophobicly compact I wanted to leave early to ensure that I got a parking spot in the place. Turns out, something must've been really different between last year and this one because the garage remained luxuriously spacious for the entire weekend.
Because I thought we'd get traffic on the freeway heading down by the airport we left early and got there early before the convention even thought about getting started so we just stayed in the lobby for several hours until things got going. Looking at the schedule I noticed that there wasn't really anything of interest going on, as per usual. Its disappointing how few panels I actually want to attend anymore at cons because no one bothers to host anything interesting. In fact the only two panels that I expressed interest in would've been the ones that *I* was host of; the 'Taur Meet and Poker Tournament panels, and those would be held back to back on the same day, Saturday.
In the meantime, I also noticed that supposedly upstairs on the second level there was a room dedicated to the Sponsor Lounge which should've already been open and went up to investigate it. Door was closed but undeterred I pulled it open anyway and...there was nothing but two carpet drying fans blowing opposite each other. Well that's a shame.
But my venturing up to the second floor brought me to the first interaction that would prove extremely memorable, I saw an older gentleman sitting there with a sketchbook, and a whole bundle of art supplies laid before him on the table. An honest to god old school furry from my era of this fandom and oh my god it was such a refreshing welcoming thing to see.
No concern about fucking pronouns.
No concern about being correct about anything.
No care at all about gender specifics.
Just here to draw, be creative, and be absolutely immersed with other enthusiasts of the same interest.
This is what furry means to me, and it really was awesome to just sit down opposite him and just chat.
Guys name is Jim and he isn't so much on FurAffinity but on SoFurry instead as "Radical-Gopher". https://radical-gopher.sofurry.com/ . This was also his first return to furry or any sort of convention in ten years and here he is at Golden State. First words from me were "Oh man, you're in for a drastic culture shock. Furry as you may have known it has changed quite a bit." and so the conversation went from there as I detailed all the things that now new furs seem to prize and pride themselves over.
But as we're discussing all this in the midst of asking what his battle history was with his frigate warship hat he wore and other life experiences, he offers to take my sketchbook and draw something in it, even though he's not ever really drawn a centaur before and that's not necessarily the type of creature he would do pinups of. But, what was drawn on paper was a very lightly four breasted centauress, just four legged, humorously wearing an "Uber" sash across her body; see she's not an Uber Driver, she's an Uber Rider. :)
See, that gentle play on words and sense of humor very much reminds me of how furry used to be and should be.
Meeting this guy was a treat, and he did say it might be his only day there if he didn't really find the vibe of furry to his appeal. Jim, I wish more of furry carried this type of mentality and approach to the fandom instead of where it is now, was such a pleasure to start off my con meeting you.
The rest of the Friday at the con kicked off with the Dealers Den opening and I was able to jump in there and hand out my sketchbooks again to two more artists to get various creatures done, as well as introducing myself to the animal charity of the convention, Wonky Hearts Animal Haven, because I was putting on the poker tournament on Saturday which would hopefully give them a jar of cash donations afterwards as a result. Really the Dealers Room was a nice pleasant mix of different talents and artistic flairs and anytime I can actually hand out a sketchbook, its a good time.
And then I got the second biggest surprise of my con, hearing that somewhere and somehow,
Miafillene Miafillene (but its really Nynaeve) Nynaeve decided to show up to the con. Oh man this was awesome! I remember meeting Nynaeve ages and ages ago at my first furcons ever, and then was even more thrilled when going to the Prancing Skiltaire to find out that he's a native to SoCal, and a multifur being that his default fursona is a two headed anthro wolf. Sadly Nynaeve doesn't get to go to many cons anymore because of financial constraints, time constraints, just not being aware of when the call for dealer applications for a particular con open, or just not being high enough tier to get past the stupid ass selection committees that cons have in place now to select only artists that they want to have enter the event. Its the same story that explains the reason why
Flinters Flinthoof has just disappeared from conventions even though he used to be at every con ever held for years and years.
It was even better when Jim and Nynaeve met and were chilling out at a table in one of the panel rooms drawing. Really this felt like how furry cons should be.
Saturday rolls around and I could collect some of my sketchbooks from the day before if I wanted to, but the afternoon was entirely spent on hosting my respective panels and setting them up. Because the 'Taur Meet and Poker Tournament occurred back to back from one another it meant that I could pack in all my stuff for both panels and set them up simultaneously. And how did they go?
Well the 'Taur Meet went about as well as you could expect. I have no clue why 'Taurs seem to be such an obscure subject at cons anymore, or species specific meet panels seem to just not happen anymore. To me these are the best places to get a common element or theme together into one room and see the interesting things people come up with.
All told, I had a table of myself and about five or six others to discuss things with 'taur forms being our common bond. Most of them that were there were of the 'Taur-curious persuasion so they had no 'taur characters yet, but were sure interested as to how it worked. About as well as you can hope for it to go honestly.
Poker Tournament on the other hand? Massive success; this went fantastic! Not only because
Tabbicus Tabbicus the poker playing cat was in attendance for his first go at Golden State Fur Con and he's the guy that's largely responsible for making me love the poker tournaments at cons and has allowed me to host my own events, but the tournament doubled in size over the prior year.
Before last year there were only twelve players in, but this year, twenty-two players were on the roster. We were running three tables this go around and I even had dedicated dealers for each one.
Future me at this con is really happy that past me decided to pick up and pack my little cheap-o portable projector on the off chance that I'd need it, because oh man, I sure did need it because the room didn't come equipped with a projector or screen of its own and yet I was prepared for it.
And who was it that won the tournament? Shouldn't be any surprise for it, but it was Tabbicus!
Poker Tournament raised four hundred-sixty for the con charity but because by the time the tournament ended it meant that Dealers Den was closed and so delivering the cash would have to wait until tomorrow.
Saturday night me and Nynaeve were chilling out in the meet and greet room where my events had occurred hours prior and the event that had just ended was something to do with Sparkledogs. I'm not entirely sure what a Sparkledog is, but it must be something for unrestrained uncontrolled chaos because that seemed to be what the tail end of the panel was with five really wild and scatterbrained kids in there; my guess would've been just around their mid-teens, because their guardian parent was seated in the room with them as they ran rampant.
Its clear these girls have a creative streak in them, one was particularly proud of a strange sort of obsession with drawing sharks hovering over landscapes while they were being ridden by pigeon birds. Odd, but okay, we all have our things, and I couldn't deny that she knew what she was doing even if it wasn't something I understood. It was when another different girl asked Nynaeve for an art trade of their character, and upon getting it completed then asked for a modification to include the trans-masculine scars on the characters chest, which he did.
This sparked the one girl with the land shark interest to say something that she wants to get a surgery, I honestly don't recall if she was specific as to "top" or "bottom". That really kind of put me into a bit of a silence because, god damn, these girls aren't that old and they're having this concept burned into their thoughts as its something fashionable to do!? I'm sorry no, that just strikes me as fucking wrong. These kids' brains are moving at two hundred miles an hour from one stray thought to the next with zero concept of the actual repercussions of effects afterwards that'll fuck up their lives forever and seem to just be latched onto it because "oh that's what people do now and its normal".
I think what started to cement this group was a little off kilter was yet another one of the girls that was quite decked out in a chain harness mentioned something about already being on anti-depressants and some other drug that she could say the name of, to me it was alphabet soup.
Wow, that really disheartens me about the potential future of what the furry fandom has to look forward to. Fuck me man I miss when this fandom wasn't this way, or that's how Saturday had to end.
Sunday it was pretty much the con winding down. There was one panel that I was curious about being for Hooved Furs though it seemed moreso focused on fursuiters of hooved animals, be it giraffes, cows, horses, goats, deer and the like. But that was kind of it.
Jim and Nynaeve both stuck through the entirety of the event, and after a bit it was just waiting around for the final numbers and any announcements pertaining to the next years event.
Numbers wise, the con attendance remained relatively static, one thousand nine hundred forty-two; a marginal increase of about twenty attendees, which is good, you like to see that for a local event that its keeping steady from year to year.
There was however no notice about the cons future year; and there's a bit of speculation that the hotel may be closing a time for renovations, or perhaps they're seeking a different place? Really don't quote me on that, I don't run the con so I can't say what is going on in the background.
And that was it. Golden State Fur Con done for this year.
On paper looking at the schedule it didn't seem like it would be a great time but the social aspects, Dealers Room interactions and actually hosting panels at it more than made up for it.
Honestly going forward I wonder if I should attach my name to more species specific meet up events besides just the 'taur meet. What about transformation? What about multifur? What about hybrids? I like all those things even though my characters aren't necessarily of those, I just enjoy seeing the creativity on display fitting of a theme and at least if those events are posted to the schedule it'd encourage more people to show up to them, and maybe take the ball and host it themselves at a future event. Something for future me to think about and start bringing back some life to cons.
In two weeks after Golden State Fur Con would be Las Vegas Fur Con.
--Mozdoc
It was me and

Because I thought we'd get traffic on the freeway heading down by the airport we left early and got there early before the convention even thought about getting started so we just stayed in the lobby for several hours until things got going. Looking at the schedule I noticed that there wasn't really anything of interest going on, as per usual. Its disappointing how few panels I actually want to attend anymore at cons because no one bothers to host anything interesting. In fact the only two panels that I expressed interest in would've been the ones that *I* was host of; the 'Taur Meet and Poker Tournament panels, and those would be held back to back on the same day, Saturday.
In the meantime, I also noticed that supposedly upstairs on the second level there was a room dedicated to the Sponsor Lounge which should've already been open and went up to investigate it. Door was closed but undeterred I pulled it open anyway and...there was nothing but two carpet drying fans blowing opposite each other. Well that's a shame.
But my venturing up to the second floor brought me to the first interaction that would prove extremely memorable, I saw an older gentleman sitting there with a sketchbook, and a whole bundle of art supplies laid before him on the table. An honest to god old school furry from my era of this fandom and oh my god it was such a refreshing welcoming thing to see.
No concern about fucking pronouns.
No concern about being correct about anything.
No care at all about gender specifics.
Just here to draw, be creative, and be absolutely immersed with other enthusiasts of the same interest.
This is what furry means to me, and it really was awesome to just sit down opposite him and just chat.
Guys name is Jim and he isn't so much on FurAffinity but on SoFurry instead as "Radical-Gopher". https://radical-gopher.sofurry.com/ . This was also his first return to furry or any sort of convention in ten years and here he is at Golden State. First words from me were "Oh man, you're in for a drastic culture shock. Furry as you may have known it has changed quite a bit." and so the conversation went from there as I detailed all the things that now new furs seem to prize and pride themselves over.
But as we're discussing all this in the midst of asking what his battle history was with his frigate warship hat he wore and other life experiences, he offers to take my sketchbook and draw something in it, even though he's not ever really drawn a centaur before and that's not necessarily the type of creature he would do pinups of. But, what was drawn on paper was a very lightly four breasted centauress, just four legged, humorously wearing an "Uber" sash across her body; see she's not an Uber Driver, she's an Uber Rider. :)
See, that gentle play on words and sense of humor very much reminds me of how furry used to be and should be.
Meeting this guy was a treat, and he did say it might be his only day there if he didn't really find the vibe of furry to his appeal. Jim, I wish more of furry carried this type of mentality and approach to the fandom instead of where it is now, was such a pleasure to start off my con meeting you.
The rest of the Friday at the con kicked off with the Dealers Den opening and I was able to jump in there and hand out my sketchbooks again to two more artists to get various creatures done, as well as introducing myself to the animal charity of the convention, Wonky Hearts Animal Haven, because I was putting on the poker tournament on Saturday which would hopefully give them a jar of cash donations afterwards as a result. Really the Dealers Room was a nice pleasant mix of different talents and artistic flairs and anytime I can actually hand out a sketchbook, its a good time.
And then I got the second biggest surprise of my con, hearing that somewhere and somehow,


It was even better when Jim and Nynaeve met and were chilling out at a table in one of the panel rooms drawing. Really this felt like how furry cons should be.
Saturday rolls around and I could collect some of my sketchbooks from the day before if I wanted to, but the afternoon was entirely spent on hosting my respective panels and setting them up. Because the 'Taur Meet and Poker Tournament occurred back to back from one another it meant that I could pack in all my stuff for both panels and set them up simultaneously. And how did they go?
Well the 'Taur Meet went about as well as you could expect. I have no clue why 'Taurs seem to be such an obscure subject at cons anymore, or species specific meet panels seem to just not happen anymore. To me these are the best places to get a common element or theme together into one room and see the interesting things people come up with.
All told, I had a table of myself and about five or six others to discuss things with 'taur forms being our common bond. Most of them that were there were of the 'Taur-curious persuasion so they had no 'taur characters yet, but were sure interested as to how it worked. About as well as you can hope for it to go honestly.
Poker Tournament on the other hand? Massive success; this went fantastic! Not only because

Before last year there were only twelve players in, but this year, twenty-two players were on the roster. We were running three tables this go around and I even had dedicated dealers for each one.
Future me at this con is really happy that past me decided to pick up and pack my little cheap-o portable projector on the off chance that I'd need it, because oh man, I sure did need it because the room didn't come equipped with a projector or screen of its own and yet I was prepared for it.
And who was it that won the tournament? Shouldn't be any surprise for it, but it was Tabbicus!
Poker Tournament raised four hundred-sixty for the con charity but because by the time the tournament ended it meant that Dealers Den was closed and so delivering the cash would have to wait until tomorrow.
Saturday night me and Nynaeve were chilling out in the meet and greet room where my events had occurred hours prior and the event that had just ended was something to do with Sparkledogs. I'm not entirely sure what a Sparkledog is, but it must be something for unrestrained uncontrolled chaos because that seemed to be what the tail end of the panel was with five really wild and scatterbrained kids in there; my guess would've been just around their mid-teens, because their guardian parent was seated in the room with them as they ran rampant.
Its clear these girls have a creative streak in them, one was particularly proud of a strange sort of obsession with drawing sharks hovering over landscapes while they were being ridden by pigeon birds. Odd, but okay, we all have our things, and I couldn't deny that she knew what she was doing even if it wasn't something I understood. It was when another different girl asked Nynaeve for an art trade of their character, and upon getting it completed then asked for a modification to include the trans-masculine scars on the characters chest, which he did.
This sparked the one girl with the land shark interest to say something that she wants to get a surgery, I honestly don't recall if she was specific as to "top" or "bottom". That really kind of put me into a bit of a silence because, god damn, these girls aren't that old and they're having this concept burned into their thoughts as its something fashionable to do!? I'm sorry no, that just strikes me as fucking wrong. These kids' brains are moving at two hundred miles an hour from one stray thought to the next with zero concept of the actual repercussions of effects afterwards that'll fuck up their lives forever and seem to just be latched onto it because "oh that's what people do now and its normal".
I think what started to cement this group was a little off kilter was yet another one of the girls that was quite decked out in a chain harness mentioned something about already being on anti-depressants and some other drug that she could say the name of, to me it was alphabet soup.
Wow, that really disheartens me about the potential future of what the furry fandom has to look forward to. Fuck me man I miss when this fandom wasn't this way, or that's how Saturday had to end.
Sunday it was pretty much the con winding down. There was one panel that I was curious about being for Hooved Furs though it seemed moreso focused on fursuiters of hooved animals, be it giraffes, cows, horses, goats, deer and the like. But that was kind of it.
Jim and Nynaeve both stuck through the entirety of the event, and after a bit it was just waiting around for the final numbers and any announcements pertaining to the next years event.
Numbers wise, the con attendance remained relatively static, one thousand nine hundred forty-two; a marginal increase of about twenty attendees, which is good, you like to see that for a local event that its keeping steady from year to year.
There was however no notice about the cons future year; and there's a bit of speculation that the hotel may be closing a time for renovations, or perhaps they're seeking a different place? Really don't quote me on that, I don't run the con so I can't say what is going on in the background.
And that was it. Golden State Fur Con done for this year.
On paper looking at the schedule it didn't seem like it would be a great time but the social aspects, Dealers Room interactions and actually hosting panels at it more than made up for it.
Honestly going forward I wonder if I should attach my name to more species specific meet up events besides just the 'taur meet. What about transformation? What about multifur? What about hybrids? I like all those things even though my characters aren't necessarily of those, I just enjoy seeing the creativity on display fitting of a theme and at least if those events are posted to the schedule it'd encourage more people to show up to them, and maybe take the ball and host it themselves at a future event. Something for future me to think about and start bringing back some life to cons.
In two weeks after Golden State Fur Con would be Las Vegas Fur Con.
--Mozdoc