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Rainfurrest 2013 Journal (Finally)
12 years ago
RF Con Journal:
Scrypto Wolf's con journal:
A little background:
I have been a furry since I was 11 years old, but it took me until I was 25 to have enough time away from school and work to actually attend a con. I finished up graduate school coursework in mid-May of 2013, and that freed me up to explore the bustling furry scene in the nearby San Francisco Bay Area. Special credit to my Bay fur friends for that, esp. Rockwolf and MooglePower. I was disinclined to wait for FC to attend a con after getting involved there, plus I had been prodded to go by Path, a Texan hyena who needs to get an FA account, and thus Rainfurrest was my very first con. My notes for this journal are constructed entirely from smoke breaks that I took with Path throughout the con, which was interesting because apparently the both of us only smoke cigarettes at cons.
It begins:
To be brief, Alaska Airlines was good, and San Jose's airport was mind-blowingly easy to navigate, considering that I'm used to the abject horror that is Los Angeles's alleged airport, LAX. Anyway, I arrived in Seattle and padded my way to where my phone told me to go for the Holiday Inn. Apparently there are two of them, because I got plenty of unexpected exercise by loping two miles to the wrong one. Once I finally got to the correct hotel, I met my roommate Path, who was just as cool in person as he was online. I had not met Path prior to this, but he was one of my first Twitter followers on my furry Twitter account and we'd become about as good Internet friends as can be by then. Also, it helped to have Path, the chairhyena of Texas Furry Fiesta, around to explain how the con works while he spied on RF's operation for the betterment of his own nefarious designs.
So, anyway: We arrived the day before the con started, but naturally took a trip over to the con space to check it out. There I got to meet the awesome con founder, Gene Armstrong, and much of the rest of the RF crew, who were all very interesting folks. I was genuinely impressed at RF's founder's business acumen. We've got some rather smart furries around this fandom.
1st day:
Path and I wandered around the con and talked quite a bit after our arrival, then went over to the con space to look around and witness the con setup. I had never seen anything like a furry convention before, so this was my first exposure to fursuiters intermingling with a lot of boring hyoomins and seeing their reactions. They were just so adorable, and when a few fursuiters that I knew from online recognized my fur name and wanted to give me hugs I was rather emotionally overwhelmed at the off-the-charts cute levels. I definitely did not expect the frequency and intensity of snuggles at the con. As we wandered about the hotel and con space, Path the Helpful Hyena started volunteering, so I helped out too for a little bit. After I carried some printers around, Path's instincts for industrial espionage for TFF's benefit overpowered him, and he left me with a joking admonition to “be good.” Naturally, I assured him that I would and set off on my waggy way to explore the con and try to meet some furs.
And with that assurance, 20 minutes later I was drinking apple moonshine and was on my way to leave con/hotel space to do some dabs (look it up!) with Evil Sibe. What can I say? I just love new laws, and let me tell you furries, I obeyed the shit out of the law that day. Thanks, Washington state voters! Sidenote: I had a good time chilling with Sibe, and that set the tone for meeting tons of furs that I had interacted with on the Interwebs. After our smokery shenanigans, Sibe went to try and pre-reg and I left to take a shower and then meet up with other furs (and eat all the snacks).
It was at this point, in this frame of mind, that I became acquainted with the fact that RF is known for babyfurs. I have nothing against these furs at all, but I was ushered into a series of hotel rooms where a representative range of babyfur activities were going on, and I was rather surprised at the whole sub-subculture, of which I had been faintly aware previously. That said, despite being quite vanilla myself (aside from the whole “I'm a wolf” thing), I am totally non-judgmental of others' kinks because I find them entertaining on an absurdist level. Plus, I like furries to be happy. Still, I steered clear of the babyfur situation as best I could.
After reconnecting with Path we ran into the con chair, AlohaWolf, who is a nice doggy with whom I would interact a few times throughout the con, usually amid a thoroughly absurd confluence of circumstances. We introduced ourselves, and I did some more minor volunteering work and witnessed some more babyfur culture around the con, and then I got a text that some friends wanted to “hit the hottub before it became a soupy, furry biohazard.” With that incentive, I padded my merry way up to my room, got my board shorts, and went to the hot tub to unexpectedly join about 4 furries in full rubber dog gear. I greeted them with a cheerful “bark bark” and jumped straight in. I had a delightful conversation with the group, composed mainly of Bay Area furs that I was glad to get some real chill with. Following that, I did laps (yes, doggy paddle was involved) in the pool until I started to die of hypothermia, and then Path came by to share a cigarette. We chatted about what Path learned from RF's con espionage, and then AlohaWolf came by to ask for my professional opinion on specific topics related to the Middle East situation. We spoke for about 45 minutes about my diplomatic/foreign policy training, and then I waved goodbye to my rubber dog friends and excused myself to go pour Guinness down my muzzle and wag for a bit. Path and I got dinner and wandered about some more. Later in the evening I met GroggyFox, a cool Bay Area fur, for the first time and semi-drunkenly smoked (tobacco) from a pipe like the classy canines we are for a while.
Day 2:
The day began comfortably. Path and I elected to get breakfast at the classy-yet-inexpensive 13 Coins down the road with some other furs, at which point I became acquainted with members of the subset of furries that are exceptionally intelligent and skilled scientists and engineers. A sidenote about Seattle's food places, and 13 Coins specifically, is that there is a certain sense of class without overbearing artifice in the service sector there that I found refreshing. 13 Coins is a classy joint, but I felt that if such a place was located in my native California, it would be bullshit-festooned theme restaurant with terrible food and a name like O'Brannigans that bespeaks an owner resembling a genial, red-faced Irishman, yet is actually owned by 8 absentee proctologists. But, I digress.
Having wolfed down a considerable feast, we proceeded to find the line to register. The registration computers were all down, so line con began. I sat on my haunches in line for about half an hour before they finally opened the line for con sponsors, at which point my mistaken registration for a sponsor-level membership became completely worth it. I then proceeded to move with Path to our new room arrangement at the Hilton with our additional roommate, AlphaPak, who is very cool. I lacked a place on the bed, which was smaller than I was led to believe, so I used my wolfy ways to construct a makeshift dog bed that worked well. After we settled in, I padded my way out through the cavalcade of fursuiters and furries of all stripes (and also a lot of furries with live animals, which I thought was odd) to go explore the con space, now populated by all manner of fuzziness.
I loved the con space, and was overwhelmed by the cuteness and by all of the stuff I could buy in the Dealer's Den. I had budgeted extra money to load up on stuff to bring back since this was my first con. I paced myself on buying things and took in the spectacle. I really enjoyed seeing the groups of artists having extended art jams out on tables throughout the hotel and con spaces. I wandered about, running into old friends and new while I poured coffee into my muzzle and drifted over to explore all manner of nerdy activities I never had a chance to explore. I played some Magic: The Gathering with furs who generously donated a deck for my use and taught me to play. I then attended the helpful self-publishing workshop, which had some useful insights for my writing career on which I hope to embark after my graduate studies conclude. Overall, the con was nurturing to me as a musician and artist. I spent some time teaching furs I had just met how to produce music and mix audio out of an altruistic sense of artistic solidarity. This was a prevailing sentiment throughout the con, much to the credit of all furries and the con staff.
Path hung out with me some more and I met up with other friends, and the day drew to a close quickly. I had a very pleasant dinner with some Bay Area furs and drank some excellent craft beer, and then wagged my back to con space for an abbreviated Dungeons and Dragons game, something I had never had a chance to do prior to the con. I used a pre-made character, and we beat the hell out of some kobolds while we padded out through an adventure. So, my nerdiness was nurtured quite a bit by the whole experience, and I felt quite at home. I indulged my nerdiness until mid-evening, and then drank beer in a friend's room until an old friend in fursuit gave me the petting of a lifetime, which caused me to fall asleep briefly hugging him. It was extremely adorable. It was raining extremely hard (even by Seattle standards) and I was hungry, so I indulged in a vibe walk to get food while listening to Seattle bands. Soundgarden and Metal Church in the heavy rain was a very cool experience, to say the least. I then went to my room and collapsed in a furry pile on my makeshift dog bed with my tail still on.
Day 3 (Saturday):
There were about 6 furries awake at 7AM, including me, that I saw. I came back later to the room and collected Path to go to the cartoons and cereal event, which I loved. Watching Darkwing Duck and Animaniacs with a crowd of boisterous furs while I chugged coffee and made jokes was emblematic of the evolution of my furriness from childhood to the present day. Then, properly caffeinated, I headed over to the Dealer's Den to load up on everything I wanted to get, including signed copies of FoxAmoore albums and Kyell Gold books. I'm still not sure which of those two wins the title of nicest fox in the fandom.
Later, I got a last-second Tweet from Viro, a friendly Internet collie, to come witness Alflor Aalto host the most underground cultural event in Seattle history: an unadvertised, near-impromptu, yet semi-official reading from one of his books at a furry convention. Well-played, otter! It was an enjoyable reading, despite probability defeating me such that I didn't get a free book.
After that, I was invited to accompany a group of foxes and bears out to a nice locale, protected from the torrential rain and well off con space, to blaze many bowls. This led to some of the best, deepest conversations I had with furs in my life, and I made some really great friends and learned their backstories. I then proceeded to have an art jam of sorts and discuss/play music with the furs in a van while an epic downpour played out around us. One of the hot foxes in that situation mentioned to me that he could use some help with his camera, so I offered to help a fox out, as befits any wolf. I fixed his camera, and he was trying to figure out a way to compensate me. This led to the fox blowjob that became so well-known on Twitter. :) It's too bad that I don't remember his name. I'd like to nominate him for some sort of medal. I walked back to my hotel after that and fell asleep for an hour or so, wagging the whole time I'm sure.
That evening, I was invited to a wine and cheese party at Bucker's room (again, classy) where I got to spend some more quality time with Bay Area friends, while looking forward to the prospect of getting to meet a potential band member that I had only incidentally met through Twitter. That hyena, db_deadbeat on Twitter and FA, and I spent most of that evening there talking and ended up hitting it off over our furriness, philosophy, and music taste. He and I have been going out pretty intensely ever since, so I should thank Rainfurrest and thank furries for that! We're really happy together and the fact that I found a mate through my first furry convention was a highlight among many highlights of RF.
That evening, I adjourned with Bucker Fuskyote, Path, and Guardlion (who rocks!) to have a pizza party. Guardlion and Path put up with Bucker and I nerding out about linguistics for a while and we had a lovely evening. That whole experience crystalized part of why I love hanging out with furries. We're a friendly, nerdy bunch. Also, as a sidenote, the rain that we experienced was shockingly intense. Even the Seattle natives were surprised, although I thought it was cool, since this wolf loves the rain.
Day 4:
Sadly, I lost my notes/journals for this day. All I remember specifically was asking Path what time it was, and he replied “It's 11:00,” to which I replied “4:20? Great!” The remainder of the con was spent similarly to the preceding days, and aside from that I spent the remainder of the con getting contact information from furs, buying things I had my eye on, and navigating the disorganized art show. I wasn't quite sure how to finish this journal, aside from saying that I made tons of new friends and I could not be more pleased about becoming more and more engaged in the furry community. I'll be at FC, TFF, BLFC, and RF in 2014. The next con journal that I do will be done immediately after the con. I got busy for a long time after RF and I lost some of the details I would have liked to include.
Scrypto Wolf's con journal:
A little background:
I have been a furry since I was 11 years old, but it took me until I was 25 to have enough time away from school and work to actually attend a con. I finished up graduate school coursework in mid-May of 2013, and that freed me up to explore the bustling furry scene in the nearby San Francisco Bay Area. Special credit to my Bay fur friends for that, esp. Rockwolf and MooglePower. I was disinclined to wait for FC to attend a con after getting involved there, plus I had been prodded to go by Path, a Texan hyena who needs to get an FA account, and thus Rainfurrest was my very first con. My notes for this journal are constructed entirely from smoke breaks that I took with Path throughout the con, which was interesting because apparently the both of us only smoke cigarettes at cons.
It begins:
To be brief, Alaska Airlines was good, and San Jose's airport was mind-blowingly easy to navigate, considering that I'm used to the abject horror that is Los Angeles's alleged airport, LAX. Anyway, I arrived in Seattle and padded my way to where my phone told me to go for the Holiday Inn. Apparently there are two of them, because I got plenty of unexpected exercise by loping two miles to the wrong one. Once I finally got to the correct hotel, I met my roommate Path, who was just as cool in person as he was online. I had not met Path prior to this, but he was one of my first Twitter followers on my furry Twitter account and we'd become about as good Internet friends as can be by then. Also, it helped to have Path, the chairhyena of Texas Furry Fiesta, around to explain how the con works while he spied on RF's operation for the betterment of his own nefarious designs.
So, anyway: We arrived the day before the con started, but naturally took a trip over to the con space to check it out. There I got to meet the awesome con founder, Gene Armstrong, and much of the rest of the RF crew, who were all very interesting folks. I was genuinely impressed at RF's founder's business acumen. We've got some rather smart furries around this fandom.
1st day:
Path and I wandered around the con and talked quite a bit after our arrival, then went over to the con space to look around and witness the con setup. I had never seen anything like a furry convention before, so this was my first exposure to fursuiters intermingling with a lot of boring hyoomins and seeing their reactions. They were just so adorable, and when a few fursuiters that I knew from online recognized my fur name and wanted to give me hugs I was rather emotionally overwhelmed at the off-the-charts cute levels. I definitely did not expect the frequency and intensity of snuggles at the con. As we wandered about the hotel and con space, Path the Helpful Hyena started volunteering, so I helped out too for a little bit. After I carried some printers around, Path's instincts for industrial espionage for TFF's benefit overpowered him, and he left me with a joking admonition to “be good.” Naturally, I assured him that I would and set off on my waggy way to explore the con and try to meet some furs.
And with that assurance, 20 minutes later I was drinking apple moonshine and was on my way to leave con/hotel space to do some dabs (look it up!) with Evil Sibe. What can I say? I just love new laws, and let me tell you furries, I obeyed the shit out of the law that day. Thanks, Washington state voters! Sidenote: I had a good time chilling with Sibe, and that set the tone for meeting tons of furs that I had interacted with on the Interwebs. After our smokery shenanigans, Sibe went to try and pre-reg and I left to take a shower and then meet up with other furs (and eat all the snacks).
It was at this point, in this frame of mind, that I became acquainted with the fact that RF is known for babyfurs. I have nothing against these furs at all, but I was ushered into a series of hotel rooms where a representative range of babyfur activities were going on, and I was rather surprised at the whole sub-subculture, of which I had been faintly aware previously. That said, despite being quite vanilla myself (aside from the whole “I'm a wolf” thing), I am totally non-judgmental of others' kinks because I find them entertaining on an absurdist level. Plus, I like furries to be happy. Still, I steered clear of the babyfur situation as best I could.
After reconnecting with Path we ran into the con chair, AlohaWolf, who is a nice doggy with whom I would interact a few times throughout the con, usually amid a thoroughly absurd confluence of circumstances. We introduced ourselves, and I did some more minor volunteering work and witnessed some more babyfur culture around the con, and then I got a text that some friends wanted to “hit the hottub before it became a soupy, furry biohazard.” With that incentive, I padded my merry way up to my room, got my board shorts, and went to the hot tub to unexpectedly join about 4 furries in full rubber dog gear. I greeted them with a cheerful “bark bark” and jumped straight in. I had a delightful conversation with the group, composed mainly of Bay Area furs that I was glad to get some real chill with. Following that, I did laps (yes, doggy paddle was involved) in the pool until I started to die of hypothermia, and then Path came by to share a cigarette. We chatted about what Path learned from RF's con espionage, and then AlohaWolf came by to ask for my professional opinion on specific topics related to the Middle East situation. We spoke for about 45 minutes about my diplomatic/foreign policy training, and then I waved goodbye to my rubber dog friends and excused myself to go pour Guinness down my muzzle and wag for a bit. Path and I got dinner and wandered about some more. Later in the evening I met GroggyFox, a cool Bay Area fur, for the first time and semi-drunkenly smoked (tobacco) from a pipe like the classy canines we are for a while.
Day 2:
The day began comfortably. Path and I elected to get breakfast at the classy-yet-inexpensive 13 Coins down the road with some other furs, at which point I became acquainted with members of the subset of furries that are exceptionally intelligent and skilled scientists and engineers. A sidenote about Seattle's food places, and 13 Coins specifically, is that there is a certain sense of class without overbearing artifice in the service sector there that I found refreshing. 13 Coins is a classy joint, but I felt that if such a place was located in my native California, it would be bullshit-festooned theme restaurant with terrible food and a name like O'Brannigans that bespeaks an owner resembling a genial, red-faced Irishman, yet is actually owned by 8 absentee proctologists. But, I digress.
Having wolfed down a considerable feast, we proceeded to find the line to register. The registration computers were all down, so line con began. I sat on my haunches in line for about half an hour before they finally opened the line for con sponsors, at which point my mistaken registration for a sponsor-level membership became completely worth it. I then proceeded to move with Path to our new room arrangement at the Hilton with our additional roommate, AlphaPak, who is very cool. I lacked a place on the bed, which was smaller than I was led to believe, so I used my wolfy ways to construct a makeshift dog bed that worked well. After we settled in, I padded my way out through the cavalcade of fursuiters and furries of all stripes (and also a lot of furries with live animals, which I thought was odd) to go explore the con space, now populated by all manner of fuzziness.
I loved the con space, and was overwhelmed by the cuteness and by all of the stuff I could buy in the Dealer's Den. I had budgeted extra money to load up on stuff to bring back since this was my first con. I paced myself on buying things and took in the spectacle. I really enjoyed seeing the groups of artists having extended art jams out on tables throughout the hotel and con spaces. I wandered about, running into old friends and new while I poured coffee into my muzzle and drifted over to explore all manner of nerdy activities I never had a chance to explore. I played some Magic: The Gathering with furs who generously donated a deck for my use and taught me to play. I then attended the helpful self-publishing workshop, which had some useful insights for my writing career on which I hope to embark after my graduate studies conclude. Overall, the con was nurturing to me as a musician and artist. I spent some time teaching furs I had just met how to produce music and mix audio out of an altruistic sense of artistic solidarity. This was a prevailing sentiment throughout the con, much to the credit of all furries and the con staff.
Path hung out with me some more and I met up with other friends, and the day drew to a close quickly. I had a very pleasant dinner with some Bay Area furs and drank some excellent craft beer, and then wagged my back to con space for an abbreviated Dungeons and Dragons game, something I had never had a chance to do prior to the con. I used a pre-made character, and we beat the hell out of some kobolds while we padded out through an adventure. So, my nerdiness was nurtured quite a bit by the whole experience, and I felt quite at home. I indulged my nerdiness until mid-evening, and then drank beer in a friend's room until an old friend in fursuit gave me the petting of a lifetime, which caused me to fall asleep briefly hugging him. It was extremely adorable. It was raining extremely hard (even by Seattle standards) and I was hungry, so I indulged in a vibe walk to get food while listening to Seattle bands. Soundgarden and Metal Church in the heavy rain was a very cool experience, to say the least. I then went to my room and collapsed in a furry pile on my makeshift dog bed with my tail still on.
Day 3 (Saturday):
There were about 6 furries awake at 7AM, including me, that I saw. I came back later to the room and collected Path to go to the cartoons and cereal event, which I loved. Watching Darkwing Duck and Animaniacs with a crowd of boisterous furs while I chugged coffee and made jokes was emblematic of the evolution of my furriness from childhood to the present day. Then, properly caffeinated, I headed over to the Dealer's Den to load up on everything I wanted to get, including signed copies of FoxAmoore albums and Kyell Gold books. I'm still not sure which of those two wins the title of nicest fox in the fandom.
Later, I got a last-second Tweet from Viro, a friendly Internet collie, to come witness Alflor Aalto host the most underground cultural event in Seattle history: an unadvertised, near-impromptu, yet semi-official reading from one of his books at a furry convention. Well-played, otter! It was an enjoyable reading, despite probability defeating me such that I didn't get a free book.
After that, I was invited to accompany a group of foxes and bears out to a nice locale, protected from the torrential rain and well off con space, to blaze many bowls. This led to some of the best, deepest conversations I had with furs in my life, and I made some really great friends and learned their backstories. I then proceeded to have an art jam of sorts and discuss/play music with the furs in a van while an epic downpour played out around us. One of the hot foxes in that situation mentioned to me that he could use some help with his camera, so I offered to help a fox out, as befits any wolf. I fixed his camera, and he was trying to figure out a way to compensate me. This led to the fox blowjob that became so well-known on Twitter. :) It's too bad that I don't remember his name. I'd like to nominate him for some sort of medal. I walked back to my hotel after that and fell asleep for an hour or so, wagging the whole time I'm sure.
That evening, I was invited to a wine and cheese party at Bucker's room (again, classy) where I got to spend some more quality time with Bay Area friends, while looking forward to the prospect of getting to meet a potential band member that I had only incidentally met through Twitter. That hyena, db_deadbeat on Twitter and FA, and I spent most of that evening there talking and ended up hitting it off over our furriness, philosophy, and music taste. He and I have been going out pretty intensely ever since, so I should thank Rainfurrest and thank furries for that! We're really happy together and the fact that I found a mate through my first furry convention was a highlight among many highlights of RF.
That evening, I adjourned with Bucker Fuskyote, Path, and Guardlion (who rocks!) to have a pizza party. Guardlion and Path put up with Bucker and I nerding out about linguistics for a while and we had a lovely evening. That whole experience crystalized part of why I love hanging out with furries. We're a friendly, nerdy bunch. Also, as a sidenote, the rain that we experienced was shockingly intense. Even the Seattle natives were surprised, although I thought it was cool, since this wolf loves the rain.
Day 4:
Sadly, I lost my notes/journals for this day. All I remember specifically was asking Path what time it was, and he replied “It's 11:00,” to which I replied “4:20? Great!” The remainder of the con was spent similarly to the preceding days, and aside from that I spent the remainder of the con getting contact information from furs, buying things I had my eye on, and navigating the disorganized art show. I wasn't quite sure how to finish this journal, aside from saying that I made tons of new friends and I could not be more pleased about becoming more and more engaged in the furry community. I'll be at FC, TFF, BLFC, and RF in 2014. The next con journal that I do will be done immediately after the con. I got busy for a long time after RF and I lost some of the details I would have liked to include.
deadbeat_hyena
~deadbeathyena
wow this is p gay
Therion87
~therion87
OP
NO YOU'RE GAY. :)
