My friends, I just realized that I mentioned how great Confuror was on my Patreon and in my stream, but it didn't get highlighted here in an FA journal. I wanted to make sure to do so now.

Confuror is a new convention taking place in Guadalajara. Azul, a lovely furry I met at Anthrocon several years ago. He mentioned wanting to take the joy and energy of Anthrocon to his home in Mexico. As someone with few ties to Mexico, and having never visited, I supported him from a distance, and assumed it'd be something I wouldn't ever see.

Fast forward to 2018, he and his friends started Confuror, and later that year he asked Sasha and I if we'd be interested in being Featured Artists. It's basically a Guest of Honor status without being a headliner. We got to practicing our Spanish (we both had virtually no experience whatsoever), planned signage for the convention, started talking about the convention every chance we got. We were initially planning on driving the 20 hours from Santa Fe to Guadalajara, with our full dealer setup, but flying last minute ended up being a much better choice.

Our steward liked my hairpoop and bandana enough to give us 6 little bottles of Vodka. "So this is what Mexico is like," I thought, realizing we received the complementary alcohol not long after crossing the border. Customs was relaxed (compared to some of my bad American experiences, where my appearance normally gets me profiled). and Azul made sure he was able to give us a ride from the airport.

This was the first time in my life the economy was in my favor, when it came to expenses of things like food or transportation. You get a bit of a difference in Berlin, but it's not at all like Mexico. There was this freedom that came with knowing we would have enough money for food, which is an unusual freedom to have during our travels. The downside of this is selling merchandise in an economy that can't support your normal prices. After cutting our prices by 30% we were still far more expensive than most convention patrons could afford. Thankfully, we were told to expect this, so we banked on it being a relational, cultural experience that could possibly be once in a lifetime. It would turn out that we would just barely make our expenses. This was especially helped by the convention being able to cover our hotel room, as a nice last minute surprise!

The decorations for the convention was nice. It took a bit for me to get used to navigating the hotel (my dyscalculia kills my spacial reasoning), but signage was beautiful and clear, and also brimming with personality! I was also impressed by the Dealer's Den layout. I didn't get to give the Artist Alley the attention it deserved, but I walked through it to get to Main Stage and was very happy with that layout, as well.

Sasha and I gave two panels, and for both the A/V crew were some of the best equipped and most professional of any furry convention. All staff and volunteers seemed to be friendlier than the average. In fact, there was an energy in the entire convention space, but I can't tell how much of it is from a very young furry culture experiencing cons for the first time, or just the amicable qualities of pairing Latin American social rhythms with furry. Whatever the case, I felt lucky to experience it in a few ways:

- Signatures / Autographs were a big deal. We drew dozens on the blank pages of the con book.
- People gave, and often! People were so touched that we made it to the con.
- We were invited to a drink and draw, but I just drank! It was a nice, exclusive little dig after giving our first talk.
- They threw a practice wedding ceremony for Sasha and I after Dealer's Den ended. I wore the veil, Sasha wore the top hat, and a hula hoop united us. We then danced until I was very tired.
- One artist said they had been following me for over a decade, stood in as my mom at the wedding, gave me a cloth bag with her art on it, and later bought me Chilaquiles after I was very drunk on the Tequila that staff excitedly poured for me.
-We received multiple t-shirts, candy, prints, toys, and stickers. SO many stickers. Damn, Mexicans love stickers. I love them too now. I'm not coming back to Confuror without loads of stickers to share!
-Got to table across from Jeremy Bernal. After seeing his art since childhood, I can confirm that he's a real human being and not a kind of ethereal furry porn printer. Very nice fella.
-We got to connect with Ed, one of our stream regulars, throughout the con, and all the way to our flight.
-The trans meet-up was so... optimistic. It had a compelling tone to it. Even with my limited Spanish comprehension, I felt grateful to sit in for some of it.
-The two panels Sasha and I gave were received very well. People sad/happy/hopeful/it's-complicated cried at both panels, which is our ideal. And at our main stage talk we had a professional translator, Alph, provided by the convention to ensure our words were as accessible as possible.

This was the first time Confuror was in this particular hotel, and the staff had a lot of last-minute work to do to make sure it was up and running smoothly. They gave so much of their hearts to bring a furry con to Guadalajara, and it shows. You could feel it in every moment. It's with this in mind that I pray all of Mexico's furry conventions grow and sustain a population that deserves such an atmosphere. Confuror, thank you for being amazing. I hope all my favourite American furries get to see what you have in person, and with any luck Sasha and I will see you next year. You charmed your way to the top of my list of favourite furry conventions. <3

Edit: I disabled comments by mistake. Come back soon for unblocked comments, and please forgive me!