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Deadpool'sAssCon 2013!
12 years ago
Back from FurFright, and we've had a day to rest and recuperate a little, and now I can find time to sit and crib this entry from my Livejournal write about it all!
Sadly, there was a lot of other stuff going on this year that caused a serious amount of spill-over stress. I'd just got into the country and had a battle with Delta Airlines to get my stuff back;
susi had just finished a big workload and was having issues with his new car; and there were several things that we just didn't get to do because of time constraints, which was quite disappointing. On the other hand, none of those things were anyone's fault, so while it was overall a less unmitigatedly positive time than last year, the con itself was still amazing.
We got an early start and drove up on the Thursday; this was a good choice compared to last year, since even with the extra day, it still wasn't enough time. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state, and we spent most of the drive travelling through it. We were both tired when we got to the hotel, so we checked in and just flopped out on the bed for a while until
davidn and 
kjorteo arrived. When they did, we invited 
bluehusky over, and gave 
iron-k his first surprise of the con - a celebratory cake to mark Industrial Zone's 10th anniversary! Susi had it made the previous day, and printed with the show's logo and a picture of Alex. We got a bunch of stuff up to our room and signed in at con registration, and then we went out for a proper meal at Ruby Tuesdays. That was nice, just something to officially mark the start of the holiday. :)
Friday was spent going round and meeting a few people. We started with the opening ceremony, and I did a little 'suiting. One of the things this con reminded me of was how much I enjoy fursuiting, getting to see people's reactions and getting to just... play with people again. I got a lot of positive reactions, too - people really seemed to like the way my jaw moves when I talk, despite how simple it was to put together. Visited the Dealer's Den and picked up a balaclava for use with my head, since my current one is rather thick and uncomfortable, and the head is a little uncomfortable to wear without anything. I want to go back and do a little more work on it at some point; since it's put together using garden mesh and cable ties, it kind of digs into my ears a bit if I wear it for long periods without any protection. Maybe I could just pad it a bit with something, but I don't know if that would muffle my hearing too much. Guess we'll see.
Friday afternoon we received a
scani! He'd been on the road since about 3am, so he was understandably tired, but it was great to see him again. :) There were cuddles and such, and we welcomed him to the con properly before going to meet up with 
shroompicker and a few others at his room party. I got to meet a bunch of new people - notably, we fell to talking with 
ferrismouse and 
isane, two friends of Shroom's whom I hadn't met before, and we ended up clicking really well. That ended up taking up most of the afternoon, so afterwards, we went to Friendly's for dinner (something went wrong there, in that the food took ages to arrive and was various cold and/or incorrect when it did so. Not sure what happened there).
Saturday was one of the best days of the con for me - the Masquerade! I had thoughts of doing a performance ever since seeing last year's - again, one of the really great things about FurFright is that it's helped bring me out of my shell. I knew I wanted to do something, and the song I ended up writing was about that opening up and gaining (or regaining) self-confidence; it was as much a song to me as from me, and that... somehow made it feel right. David and I went up to the rehearsal in the morning; I, of course, had completely forgotten that I'd needed to sign up in advance until it was far too late, so I just took my CD along on the off-chance and figured I would see what happened. We got to hang out and watch some of the acts while the production crew sorted out sound levels and such. Honestly, they do an outstanding amout of work, given the sheer variety of acts and situations they have to adapt themselves to.
belic was really great, too; it was the first time I met him in person, but he's really genuine and supportive, and every bit the warm-hearted character he is on stage. A bear really suits him for a fursona, strong and honest and caring. :) The first time on stage was... frankly terrifying, and even though I was singing, I couldn't stop the hand holding the mic from shaking. The practice was necessary, though. It was good to see (most of) the other acts, too, since we were backstage while the whole thing was taking place for real. I guess I'll get to see the rest on the DVD next year.
After rehearsal, our group met up with
kwisa and we went out for lunch at a Japanese place, where I had sashimi for the first time. I expected it to be difficult, to eat raw fish, but... with it caught fresh and kept cold, it really isn't, and it has a completely different taste and texture to cooked fish. It's really nice. :) After that, we went out to the fursuit parade; David wore Angel, and it was amazing to see the change in him when he got into 'suit - he was a completely different person, and he took to the much more physical nature of self-expression as though he'd been doing it all his life. He's already announced his intention to get a 'suit himself for next year; I think we're corrupting him. ;)
After getting back, we tried to relax for a bit and rest before the main event. We had to be backstage at six, an hour before the show started - and then I discovered that the balaclava that I'd bought especially for this purpose had gone missing! Going round the Dealer's Den proved fruitless, as everyone had sold out of them, so David was kind enough to take us on an express run to Walmart to see if they had any. As it turns out, they didn't even know what a balaclava was, and the closest translation ('ski-mask') was unavailable, so I just did it without. Still, I owe many thanks to everyone for helping me set up, especially
dainunicorn (I hope I'm getting this right and this is you, massive, massive apologies if this isn't your account!) for all his help on the mic set-up.
And then... it was out on stage. And... I barely remember it. :P It was a little unfamiliar, and there were points where I had to remember to do something other than just stand there; I tried to use the space available on stage, even if it was just walking back and forth, and when things started to go kind of quiet, I tried to gee the audience up and get them to clap along. But people really seemed to like it, and... when we all got back up on stage at the end, they gave me the Bear's Choice award! And... I don't even know what to say. The idea that this... thing I put together, performed in a costume I put together, would be something that people would be touched by enough to give me an award for it is... staggering. It's always a good feeling to have people enjoy the things you create, but I've never received anything like such a positive and public response to something I've done, and this became the most... magical moment of the con, as a result. I think it might have even hidden the quiet "fuck me!" that escaped David as Belic announced it. :P Also, since David also got 2nd place overall, HIGHEST AWARD-TO-ROOM RATIO AT THE CON! GO TEAM #216!
We went on a late-night Wendy's run, and were going to go to the dance, but we were knackered, so I went back to the room and rested up. Then Susi, Scani, David, Kjorteo and
tohri came up, and we ended up playing Cards Against Humanity into the early hours of the morning. (Since Scani and I were in our underwear, I think Tohri might have left with something of the wrong impression of what our room was like; in my defense, I was in bed when everyone came in! :P)
Sunday was a little more low-key than the other days, but honestly, that was probably a good thing. I went down and took some photos of the other fursuiters, and did a little 'suiting myself. We went to
budgiebin's cookery panel, and then her, Tohri, Susi and I went to play Munchkin for a bit. Not having had much to eat (cake and Mountain Dew, Breakfast of Champions), we went for an early lunch at Chipotle and mulled over the idea of doing laser tag. Sadly, we decided we'd left it too late, but we'll try again next year and see what happens. When we got back, we went up to the balcony overlooking the pool and had an artjam session; Kjorteo and I ended up talking over some of the novel he's writing, I did some preliminary sketches for an idea that Mouse wanted to see drawn, and David did a great 'map' of the con hotel, complete with the dimensional portals and nonsensical routes to nowhere. We were going to hang out with 
freya-crescent and 
glitchcrux a little, but there was a phone failure and that didn't end up happening, which was a shame.
We then went down to Closing Ceremonies, which had one of the most heartwarming moments of the con - a marriage proposal on stage. I was tearing up inside my 'suit... the whole thing was utterly adorable. It was amazing.
The end of the con was fun, despite a certain touch of disappointment; I had really wanted to dance in fursuit, but the Dead Dog Party was mostly people eating pizza and playing a game of Keepy-Uppy with balloons. Now, last year, said game of Keepy-Uppy ended when my claws popped the balloon, so I stayed out of it this year for the most part. I ended up dancing a little with a German Shepherd called
kanic, but after he left for a drink, there wasn't much going on. So I got a drink myself, and went up to the improv games that Wag (I'm sorry, man, I can't find your account here for your icon link!) was running, and that was a lot of fun. We played a couple of rounds of World's Worst, and a game called Pavlov, guiding people to do actions purely through clapping when they did 'right' things. It was great fun - it was just disappointing that I didn't get to dance properly when I was all psyched up for it. Next year, this is a must.
So, that was the convention. To Belic, all the con staff, and everyone who made it happen - thank you. It was a fantastic, wonderful time, and despite all the other stresses that were going on, it was a moment of life and freedom and joy in the middle of the chaos. Or at least, it was a chance to enjoy my kind of chaos, and we all need that once in a while, don't we? ;)
D.F.
Sadly, there was a lot of other stuff going on this year that caused a serious amount of spill-over stress. I'd just got into the country and had a battle with Delta Airlines to get my stuff back;
susi had just finished a big workload and was having issues with his new car; and there were several things that we just didn't get to do because of time constraints, which was quite disappointing. On the other hand, none of those things were anyone's fault, so while it was overall a less unmitigatedly positive time than last year, the con itself was still amazing.We got an early start and drove up on the Thursday; this was a good choice compared to last year, since even with the extra day, it still wasn't enough time. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state, and we spent most of the drive travelling through it. We were both tired when we got to the hotel, so we checked in and just flopped out on the bed for a while until
davidn and 
kjorteo arrived. When they did, we invited 
bluehusky over, and gave 
iron-k his first surprise of the con - a celebratory cake to mark Industrial Zone's 10th anniversary! Susi had it made the previous day, and printed with the show's logo and a picture of Alex. We got a bunch of stuff up to our room and signed in at con registration, and then we went out for a proper meal at Ruby Tuesdays. That was nice, just something to officially mark the start of the holiday. :)Friday was spent going round and meeting a few people. We started with the opening ceremony, and I did a little 'suiting. One of the things this con reminded me of was how much I enjoy fursuiting, getting to see people's reactions and getting to just... play with people again. I got a lot of positive reactions, too - people really seemed to like the way my jaw moves when I talk, despite how simple it was to put together. Visited the Dealer's Den and picked up a balaclava for use with my head, since my current one is rather thick and uncomfortable, and the head is a little uncomfortable to wear without anything. I want to go back and do a little more work on it at some point; since it's put together using garden mesh and cable ties, it kind of digs into my ears a bit if I wear it for long periods without any protection. Maybe I could just pad it a bit with something, but I don't know if that would muffle my hearing too much. Guess we'll see.
Friday afternoon we received a
scani! He'd been on the road since about 3am, so he was understandably tired, but it was great to see him again. :) There were cuddles and such, and we welcomed him to the con properly before going to meet up with 
shroompicker and a few others at his room party. I got to meet a bunch of new people - notably, we fell to talking with 
ferrismouse and 
isane, two friends of Shroom's whom I hadn't met before, and we ended up clicking really well. That ended up taking up most of the afternoon, so afterwards, we went to Friendly's for dinner (something went wrong there, in that the food took ages to arrive and was various cold and/or incorrect when it did so. Not sure what happened there).Saturday was one of the best days of the con for me - the Masquerade! I had thoughts of doing a performance ever since seeing last year's - again, one of the really great things about FurFright is that it's helped bring me out of my shell. I knew I wanted to do something, and the song I ended up writing was about that opening up and gaining (or regaining) self-confidence; it was as much a song to me as from me, and that... somehow made it feel right. David and I went up to the rehearsal in the morning; I, of course, had completely forgotten that I'd needed to sign up in advance until it was far too late, so I just took my CD along on the off-chance and figured I would see what happened. We got to hang out and watch some of the acts while the production crew sorted out sound levels and such. Honestly, they do an outstanding amout of work, given the sheer variety of acts and situations they have to adapt themselves to.
belic was really great, too; it was the first time I met him in person, but he's really genuine and supportive, and every bit the warm-hearted character he is on stage. A bear really suits him for a fursona, strong and honest and caring. :) The first time on stage was... frankly terrifying, and even though I was singing, I couldn't stop the hand holding the mic from shaking. The practice was necessary, though. It was good to see (most of) the other acts, too, since we were backstage while the whole thing was taking place for real. I guess I'll get to see the rest on the DVD next year.After rehearsal, our group met up with
kwisa and we went out for lunch at a Japanese place, where I had sashimi for the first time. I expected it to be difficult, to eat raw fish, but... with it caught fresh and kept cold, it really isn't, and it has a completely different taste and texture to cooked fish. It's really nice. :) After that, we went out to the fursuit parade; David wore Angel, and it was amazing to see the change in him when he got into 'suit - he was a completely different person, and he took to the much more physical nature of self-expression as though he'd been doing it all his life. He's already announced his intention to get a 'suit himself for next year; I think we're corrupting him. ;)After getting back, we tried to relax for a bit and rest before the main event. We had to be backstage at six, an hour before the show started - and then I discovered that the balaclava that I'd bought especially for this purpose had gone missing! Going round the Dealer's Den proved fruitless, as everyone had sold out of them, so David was kind enough to take us on an express run to Walmart to see if they had any. As it turns out, they didn't even know what a balaclava was, and the closest translation ('ski-mask') was unavailable, so I just did it without. Still, I owe many thanks to everyone for helping me set up, especially
dainunicorn (I hope I'm getting this right and this is you, massive, massive apologies if this isn't your account!) for all his help on the mic set-up.And then... it was out on stage. And... I barely remember it. :P It was a little unfamiliar, and there were points where I had to remember to do something other than just stand there; I tried to use the space available on stage, even if it was just walking back and forth, and when things started to go kind of quiet, I tried to gee the audience up and get them to clap along. But people really seemed to like it, and... when we all got back up on stage at the end, they gave me the Bear's Choice award! And... I don't even know what to say. The idea that this... thing I put together, performed in a costume I put together, would be something that people would be touched by enough to give me an award for it is... staggering. It's always a good feeling to have people enjoy the things you create, but I've never received anything like such a positive and public response to something I've done, and this became the most... magical moment of the con, as a result. I think it might have even hidden the quiet "fuck me!" that escaped David as Belic announced it. :P Also, since David also got 2nd place overall, HIGHEST AWARD-TO-ROOM RATIO AT THE CON! GO TEAM #216!
We went on a late-night Wendy's run, and were going to go to the dance, but we were knackered, so I went back to the room and rested up. Then Susi, Scani, David, Kjorteo and
tohri came up, and we ended up playing Cards Against Humanity into the early hours of the morning. (Since Scani and I were in our underwear, I think Tohri might have left with something of the wrong impression of what our room was like; in my defense, I was in bed when everyone came in! :P)Sunday was a little more low-key than the other days, but honestly, that was probably a good thing. I went down and took some photos of the other fursuiters, and did a little 'suiting myself. We went to
budgiebin's cookery panel, and then her, Tohri, Susi and I went to play Munchkin for a bit. Not having had much to eat (cake and Mountain Dew, Breakfast of Champions), we went for an early lunch at Chipotle and mulled over the idea of doing laser tag. Sadly, we decided we'd left it too late, but we'll try again next year and see what happens. When we got back, we went up to the balcony overlooking the pool and had an artjam session; Kjorteo and I ended up talking over some of the novel he's writing, I did some preliminary sketches for an idea that Mouse wanted to see drawn, and David did a great 'map' of the con hotel, complete with the dimensional portals and nonsensical routes to nowhere. We were going to hang out with 
freya-crescent and 
glitchcrux a little, but there was a phone failure and that didn't end up happening, which was a shame.We then went down to Closing Ceremonies, which had one of the most heartwarming moments of the con - a marriage proposal on stage. I was tearing up inside my 'suit... the whole thing was utterly adorable. It was amazing.
The end of the con was fun, despite a certain touch of disappointment; I had really wanted to dance in fursuit, but the Dead Dog Party was mostly people eating pizza and playing a game of Keepy-Uppy with balloons. Now, last year, said game of Keepy-Uppy ended when my claws popped the balloon, so I stayed out of it this year for the most part. I ended up dancing a little with a German Shepherd called
kanic, but after he left for a drink, there wasn't much going on. So I got a drink myself, and went up to the improv games that Wag (I'm sorry, man, I can't find your account here for your icon link!) was running, and that was a lot of fun. We played a couple of rounds of World's Worst, and a game called Pavlov, guiding people to do actions purely through clapping when they did 'right' things. It was great fun - it was just disappointing that I didn't get to dance properly when I was all psyched up for it. Next year, this is a must.So, that was the convention. To Belic, all the con staff, and everyone who made it happen - thank you. It was a fantastic, wonderful time, and despite all the other stresses that were going on, it was a moment of life and freedom and joy in the middle of the chaos. Or at least, it was a chance to enjoy my kind of chaos, and we all need that once in a while, don't we? ;)
D.F.
