Wow.

What a weekend.

So many good times were had, so many memories to hold on to.

First things first, getting into my fursuit at a convention for the first time ever and seeing peoples faces light up bright with a smile was such a good feeling it gives me chills just thinking about it. To boil it down, this was the best memory for me of FWA. If you took my photo, gave me a hug, commented on my suit, or hell just a wave or a nod - any of these things - you fucking made my con and I love you for that. All of you. My heartfelt thanks to donthugcacti for making my character come to life so I could share him with everyone. I love my suit and it means the world to me when just the way I act in it brings a smile to someone's face.

The feels man.

One of the best moments of the con was Friday night when I was ready and waiting in the nearby headless lounge for my good friend takum to start up his DJ set. This was such a huge moment for me. I was feeling so good that I was present for almost the entire set, in suit, moving to the music like a fool. I'd say it was pretty close to a religious experience. Time slowed down. I didn't want it to end. I only took one break, didn't even take the head off for the entire hour that he played. I spent approximately half of that hour on the stage.

There is a video of 25 seconds of that half hour here.

Earlier the same day I got to experience the Vortex Bar and Grill with a bunch of my friends. scionix32, cyrilwolf, djkaiza, and daxley among others. The real moment came when patthecat ordered a BIG ASS TACO (Yeah, that's what it's called on the menu) and is surprised at it's size when it arrives. He takes one bite (ONE!!!), before putting it down and asking for a to-go box. Hilarious.

Saturday I turned into a derp. I had no idea floor wars was going on until I tweeted asking where the hell everyone was. Oops. I missed half of it, and I hear it was a good half. I have some catching up to do. Still, it was fantastic, what I got to see of it.

Saturday night at the dance competition I suited up and happened to get a front row seat of the action. Little did I know that this seat would lead to one of the most memorable moments of the whole convention (not that that dance comp would have been bad without it). It's media's turn to dance, exactly half way through the competition. This guy, if you've never seen him dance, is really, really good. Arguably one of the best dancers in the fandom, but his style is one not seen often nowadays and is very under-appreciated. Well, as it turns out, he needed a little crowd participation in his set. Half way through his dance he ups and decides to do a slide and thrust his crotch right into my fuzzy face. He also plowed right into neo-reveng's (Bemani-Tiger's) camera as he was filming. Funny, and awesome stuff.

The video by Bemani-Tiger that includes the camera being crashed into is here. A different angle is here.

Sunday, the last true day of the con, proved to be an EPIC, EPIC finale to such an overall amazing con. I happened to make it outside just as a bunch of fursuiters were going to make their way around town and have some fun. Rather Dashing, Ebony Shep, Enic Shep, Comet, Dusty Fotter, Arc Husky, Daylo Deer, The Other Blitz Shep, ATL Wolf, Dune, I'm probably missing someone so among others, and myself all walked over to a nearby park. On the way there plenty of people from around the city wanted to say hi, take a picture, or get a high five from us. Plenty of fursuit antics abound too. I'm sure there will be many, many pictures and video of this taking place. We planked. We had a group photo. We had jump photos. We even Tebowed. This was my first time with a group of suiters just goofing off and having fun. What an amazing time.

Later that day I decided to go to dinner with the guys (roommates, kryphosdrgn) while still in fursuit. I forgot my wallet, which leads me to owing some money to a friend at the table, by my goodness was it a good decision to keep my suit on. It was at the Hard Rock Cafe just across the street. I did as much as I could there with the suit still on, like ordering my food and drinking water from my glass (turns out it's a bit of a learning curve with regular straws). After eating I went around the restaurant chatting and hugging people both from the con and just everyday Atlanta citizens. FWA Staff as well as Bad Dragon were there. A group of people from Brazil was there too, and turns out, two of them just got engaged. I decided to make their night, so I went to their table, gave them all hugs and got a bunch of pictures with them.

The next day, I had to go home. My weekend was over and I had to drive seven hours back to Orlando.

I cried into a hamburger from Farm Burger.

I teared up a little writing this journal.

I'm not even going to complain about the hotel. That shit is insignificant compared to the good I experienced while there.

I only mentioned very specific names in this journal, but many, many more people affected me in positive ways this past weekend. If you interacted with me at ALL, then you know who you are and I fucking love all of you.

I only wish it was longer. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you again. Except that guy who spilled his drink on my suit, even though I was actively trying for that not to happen.

Oh, and one last thing - I've already found myself in the FWA Harlem Shake video.

<3
Izzy