Hey, all! It's been a little while since I wrote a full report on a convention, but I feel the need to outline all of the great stuff that happened at Anthro Northwest this past weekend so that anyone who was on the fence about attending can be convinced not to miss it next year, so here we go! XD

I arrived on Friday morning at about 9:00 so I had time to pick up my badge before opening ceremonies, and lo and behold, my hotel room was all set for me despite check-in not being until 3:00, so that made moving all of my luggage up to my room easy and convenient! There was no line at registration, either, so I had some time to wander around and scout out the space (as Dynamite, who miraculously made it back to Seattle with me after all due to clever carry-on luggage arrangement by yours truly) before the opening ceremonies started. They were very brief, but that didn't mean they didn't pump me up for the rest of the weekend!

I think I chilled in the convention space for a little while after that before the next panel I attended, which was on designing an anthropomorphic character. The panelist introduced us to a neat website called Coolors (https://coolors.co/) that helps you come up with color schemes! I really appreciated this, as a puffin whose brain doesn't understand colors very well (which is why I rarely do traditional art, and when I do, it's with simple Crayola colored pencils -- I've used Copics and Prismacolor pencils before, but I had to downgrade because blending and layering so many color options didn't make sense to my brain). We also got neat ref sheet bases to cut out and paste together to make our own ref sheets in case we had a character idea we wanted to take to the Dealers' Den and get some art commissioned!

After that was a quick lunch, and then it was time to change into Gundahar, because the rest of the day was dancing panels and events that I didn't want to miss! The first was a Dancing in Suit Workshop with the wonderful  wolflumin, who was present continually throughout my convention weekend (as you'll read later), where we took some time to groove in suit, think about the advantages and limitations of our particular costume and share with the rest of the group.

There was a break in dance panels after that, so I used that time to check out the Dealers' Den for some window shopping. Then I had to arrange room access and things with my roommates, so I ended up having to skip most of Rinn's Finding Your Groove panel, aside from a random 10 minutes in the middle, which had me dashing in and out like a crazy iguana. Next was  Hogwash-Husky's "Dance Comp Gone Mental," which was a very helpful and encouraging talk about how even the most confident-looking dancers get jittery about performing in front of people, and how everyone who has ever performed in a dance competition (or wanted to) can conquer those jitters and take that hardest first step out onto the dance floor. It was very well-timed, because the next event in that room was the dance competition preliminaries!! which had my stomach upset for an entire two days beforehand due to nerves. (Hence why I always make sure to sign up for the first slot... minimizing stomach upset time!) But it was over quickly and the prelim judges Rinn and  PhorPhaux gave me helpful tips to work on my performance for the following day. As it turned out, I didn't have much reason to be anxious, since there were 10 no-shows to the preliminaries (including one of my younger friends, who had to drop out due to anxiety, :c ), and the remaining 11 dancers were composed of the peeps who either did show up or signed up to perform at the door. That nervousness sure is no fun, isn't it? I wish I could make it go away by waving a magic wand or absorbing some stage fright like a sponge (since I typically don't get anyway), but I can't so... hopefully next time! ;u;

I was going to attend another dancing panel later in the evening, but I ended up going to sushi with some friends, which was okay because I needed to save my energy for the finals the following day XD

The first panel I wanted to attend wasn't until 11:30,and I'm an early bird who wakes up no later than 7:00 or 7:30 even on my most tired days because my sleeping schedule is hardwired into my brain, so I spent about an hour and a half in the morning finding a relatively empty space to go over my routine in suit, clean it up, and take breathers by talking to friends who happened to pass by. I mostly focused on the 20-second breakdancing section in the middle, because that was the part I flubbed up the most at the preliminaries. Overall I think I probably went over it 20-25 times, and I didn't quit until I followed the rule I learned in orchestra and other activities in junior high school: you can only be confident that you'll do it right later if you can do it correctly now 3 times in a row!

After a quick shower (so I wasn't stinky already!!) I attended  apoxon's AMAZINGLY helpful handpaw design and construction panel. I'm not terrified to make Lobo's hands anymore! XD
Then lunch (a cheeseless pizza and half of a milkshake between my sensitive stomach and inability to eat large quantities) before I headed to the main ballroom for the dance competition pre-meeting. The excitement was real!! I made sure to check out the dance floor, mark my routine, and talk with and encourage all of the other dancers who were there.

There were a good number of first-time performers, and everyone did an amazing job. It was a treat to watch everyone and share the floor with them. Two of my dancers who have been my favorites since my first dance comp back at Rainfurrest 2013,  Rahne and  Zoomba, were also present, and they won hard-earned 2nd and 1st places, respectively, which was awesome to witness! As a result, it was a bit surreal getting 3rd place right behind them. The honorable mentions (Libby the Lynx, Splinter, and Glacier) were also well-deserved. You know me, though -- if I could, I'd give an honorable mention to everyone who performed!

Needless to say, after that I was pretty sore and tired, but it wasn't the end of the day yet. I still had the fursuit parade to attend, which was a job for none other than my fursona, Yu!

By the end of that it really was time to shower and get dinner to be on time for hanging out (as Dynamite) with Rinn for a quick video project and then attending the evening dance! Unfortunately I couldn't stay long (due to aforementioned soreness and tiredness), but I still had fun, of course!

Since I had to check out of the hotel on Sunday, I spent most of the morning packing up the room so that I had everything I needed for the rest of the day (especially since I had to be in suit). I attended  Matrices's Costume Maintenance and Refurbishing panel. On top of the numerous helpful tutorials on her website, it's useful to watch her demonstrate techniques in person to keep your costume looking like new even after a fun outing! (Unless you're me and you destroy it by dancing in it almost constantly XD ) I did unfortunately have to duck out a few minutes early to make it to the pre-meeting to the Pacific Rim Dance Battle.

I decided to sit by the dance floor with my head on until my first dance round because I didn't realize it would be almost an entire hour until I got to take the stage -- I was just about ready to head backstage and de-head. But once again I had fun watching and hanging out with all of the other dancers, who once again all performed phenomenally. It was an honor to win runner-up in my first in-person floor wars against more than 2 opponents, and it was certainly not easy either. The disadvantage to getting farther in the competition is that you have to dance more and with progressively shorter breaks in between - the effects of which you may have seen right after my dance rounds XD After an intense tie-breaker, first place went to  SiberHamster, who displayed excellent attitude and cleanliness even though he was also doubtlessly very, very tired (as his costume expressed).

That was my last big event planned for the day, aside from Closing Ceremonies, which was a heartfelt and very nice wrap-up to what was probably the best convention I've ever attended. (But that didn't mean I skipped out on last-minute shopping at the Dealers' Den and quick hangout sessions with more friends beforehand!)

Of course I was sad the con had to come to a close, but I was so exhausted and sore from all of the dancing I did that I don't think I would have survived another day even if I wanted to.

Extra special thanks to my room- and floor-space sharers (i.e. roommates) Errubin and  Kevlar01 for being chill and friendly and making it an even better convention! 10/10 would recommend.

My overall impression of the convention may not be that reliable since I tend not to be a very critical person, and I'm pretty laid-back/chill/okay with a lot of stuff. But I thought the atmosphere was very nice, friendly, and relaxing, and I am very glad I did not have to miss it in the end. If at all possible (i.e. if senior year exams don't conflict) I will definitely be making the effort to attend again next year!