Anthrocon 2016 has ended, the theme was the Roaring 20's. And like the real 1920's, it has now been consigned to history. But fond memories are in abundance. Oddly, although we technically repealed the 18th Amendment at the start of the Convention, I kept to Prohibition for the duration of the Convention. I guess that makes me a dry even though I voted wet.

This was my first convention of any kind, and by extension my first Anthrocon, so it was somewhat akin to learning to swim by jumping in the deep end (or off the deep end as the case may be).

I arrived to Pittsburgh the evening of Wednesday, the 29th, before the bulk of the attendees to the convention. This made for an easy, laid back entry to the city. I traveled via Greyhound and by sheer fortunate coincidence happened to meet a few fellow travelers who were also attending. Most notably among them  sprech4, and thus we talked the journey away about all manner of topics ranging from the intricacies of Islam and Ramadan (which as of June 29th was actually still ongoing) to artwork focused on transformation. Needless to say, the conversation was all intensely fascinating and it helped pass what would otherwise have been a terribly long and dull ride. I made my own arrangements to stay the night at a local place before heading over to the Westin on Thursday with all my kit in hand.

The first day wasn't terribly exciting, I did a lot of waiting in line (as I rather imprudently decided to register at the convention, rather than doing so quickly and easily online), but when I convened with my roommates, the entire convention was quite joyous.

For the duration of the convention, I stayed with Tegon, Bronzewing, Argent, and Neopuc. Five people (counting myself) in total in a room at the Westin. For the entirety of the convention, we never had anything in the way of arguments, disputes, or even mild cases of annoyance. We all shared rather similar interests but more importantly than that all had very compatible personalities. Everyone was also very laid-back and things always felt nice and casual without being frantic.

There was a lot of good-natured ribbing (and, for my part, puns) going around so it was nice to have a group of people that had a healthy sense of humor, something we all discovered the nights we played Cards Against Humanity and Snake Oil, but more on that later.

We got quite a few excellent meals during the trip. The highlights for me (a devoted lover of all manner of good food) were Thursday's steak dinner that we all went out to get as well as a sumptuous Uzbek meal that I will elaborate on later. It was the first of many gatherings that myself, Neopuc, Tegon, Bronzewing, and Argent would all have together and it went quite swimmingly. I had a New York Strip and was thoroughly satisfied with that along with the abundance of mashed potatoes that we all ordered for sides. All in all, a thoroughly satisfying experience for those of a carnivorous leaning such as me. It does of course make my choice of a Nile Crocodile for a main character quite fitting.

The second of the two greatest meals I had while at the convention had a bit of a smaller group. It was solely myself and  argentvz, after having experienced the joys of Uzbek cuisine both in the United States and in Russia, I learned of a place in Pittsburgh that I was utterly determined to visit. Scheduling conspired against us and nobody in the group save for Argent was available to go. But after some initial confusion regarding bus schedules, we managed to hoof our way to the Mount Washington area to visit Kavsar. There we had a sumptuous feast of Uzbek bread (Non, not to be confused with Naan, which is from the Indian Subcontinent), plov (beef over rice with vegetables), manti (Uzbek steamed dumplings with meat), and samsa (baked pastries stuffed with beef and onion) all accompanied by a refreshing glass of compot, a Russian fruit drink that is extraordinarily tasty and thirst-quenching. The meal was finished with a Russian cherry cake and a pot of black tea.

All in all, Kavsar was my favorite meal of the trip, and made even better by the presence of Argent who I introduced to the joys of Uzbek cuisine. He proved to be very enjoyable company for the duration of the trip, plus in a room where only three out of the five watched Game of Thrones, it was nice to have someone who appreciated my frequent references to it.

After Thursday, the convention started in earnest on Friday. Being new to Anthrocon, I quickly discovered the joys of the Dealer's Den and Artist's Alley. I conducted a fair amount of business that day. I followed up that day with  touchofsnow who despite some logistical problems was ultimately able to get me my very first convention badge featuring my Nile Crocodile, Tarvash which turned out very nicely (I will be uploading the badge later to my gallery). I also was able to commission  kadath who was exceptionally friendly and courteous throughout the entire commission process. He was even willing to slightly rush my commission so that the sketch would be completed so that I would be able to leave in time.

I met a good few people at the Dealer's Den and Artist's Alley on that day, most notably  nommz and  kurrikage, and had brief but entirely pleasant interactions with both of them.

I attended part of the Macro/Micro Meet that day and had the pleasure of briefly meeting  geemo who greatly honored me with his fondness for all the various commissions I have gotten over the years. I also met  aerys who was quite affable and with whom I immediately hit it off. It is always nice to meet someone so genuinely warm and friendly.

That night was a fairly discreet affair where the lot of us retired back to the room for some recuperation but also a few games of Cards Against Humanity, which I had never played before. It was an incredibly fun and entertaining group. Everyone was into it and every one of us in the room had at least one hilarious moment. The funny phrases generated during our game ranged from the ridiculous to the outright vulgar but every one was utterly hilarious. My highlight of the evening was filling in a statement about how Bernie Sanders would bring "Bernie Sanders' Sexy Tickles" to the White House.  neopuc was far and away the grand champion of the game. And between the two of us, it seemed as if we were the best at keeping a straight face while reading off utterly absurd or vulgar phrase combinations that inherently result from Cards Against Humanity.

On Saturday, that was the day of the fursuit parade, though as I did not have a fursuit nor was I part of the improvised crew assembled by  dsc85 from among our ranks to film it, I did not attend most of it. I spent most of the convention that day in the Dealer's Den, finalizing some commission details and also talking to some really cool artists including (once again)  sprech4,  ransom, and I even bought a really nice lanyard for my badge that was patterned with the Ravenclaw pattern (as I always figured I would be either a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin). My badge turned out really nicely and I received many compliments on it during the convention, including from my roommates, all of whom are trusted authorities on all things large and reptilian.

That day I also had the great pleasure of meeting  sonicfox with whom I have gotten some very good commissions in the past and whose characters, commissions, and writing I have always greatly enjoyed. Being as we were both fairly busy, I did not get anywhere near enough time to chat with SF as I would have preferred, but we had a jolly old time talking about the joys of Overwatch and a shared fondness for pummeling our foes on opposing teams as Reinhardt: a massive Germanic warrior encased in plate armour.

On Saturday night, we played Snake Oil, which results in all manner of even more bizarre phrase combinations put together to make a product which you then try to sell to someone with a certain occupation.  argentvz successfully sold me a "Silence Rock" (thus named because it was a big rock I could use to silence those who annoyed me) and I in turn was able to sell him a "mistake excuse" which he could use to quite literally get away with murder, which is always convenient for disposing of inconvenient relations. Tegon sold me a Tarantino-esque revenge film that at my explicit request included not one, but two separate scenes involving someone being comedically shot over and over again as in Django. I convinced Neopuc, who assumed the role of a gangster, of the value of a government-imposed Wig Tax that would allow him to control the illegal wig trade and thus build a vast and hirsute criminal empire.

That night was the last with our full group.  geldazane left early on Sunday morning and that left the rest of us with only a brief window left for both the convention and interaction with each other. I very, very briefly met  appledectomy (who I managed to sneak up near before I alerted him of my presence via Telegram). I picked up my piece from  kadath (who very graciously finished mine in a hurry as I had to leave very promptly), and hurried off.

I was able to get one last lunch with the group (and an exquisite coffee milkshake with malt powder) before we all said our farewells. For Argent, of course, I could not resist a parting inspired from Game of Thrones, thus I said my farewell with a warm wish of "May the Lord of Light guard your path", for it is R'hllor who brings back the dawn.

I wish to express my sincerest and most fundamental thanks to all of my roommates along with all of the wonderful people I met at the convention. I also wish to thank  dsc85 in particular for graciously bringing me in on a shared room. He was under no obligation to do so, and he took something of a risk as we all do when we invite a complete stranger to share a living space. Thus it is he who made my presence at Anthrocon possible to start with, so all of the good experiences I had there ultimately stem from Tegon, to whom I express my utmost gratitude.