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Furpocalypse 2025 Wrap-Up + 2026 Con Plans!
Posted a week agoGreetings, Dimension Hoppers! It was not all that long ago that this wolf returned from the Stone Age, but rather than landing back in our time, he found himself in a place altogether much stranger... The Midnight Dimension at Furpocalypse 2025! This anomalous event took place at the Doubletree Hilton in Stamford, CT from October 30th to November 2nd, 2025. Despite the strangeness and mystique that the theme of the con theme gives off, it is a convention that is quite familiar to me. In fact, this is the furry con I have attended the most, with 2025 being my fifth year attending Furpocalypse, and for good reason! This year, I branched out a bit more into doing new things, like hosting not one, but two panels, more than fulfilling a goal of mine set earlier in the year! Outside of this, Furpoc still has no shortage of fun events, hype happenings, and this wolf's friends around every corner! Take my paw, hold on tight, and don't lose your mind, as I recount my trip to Furpocalypse 2025!
My plan for travelling to Furpoc this year was to get to the hotel as early in the morning as possible, check in, and lend a hand where needed to the con staff for setup. I was able to at least leave for the con when I had planned, but wound up arriving over an extra hour over the duration such a trip would normally take me. The reason being the inclement weather. A nor-easter was expected to hit the state all day, and it showed its might in both wind and torrential rain. There were several accidents up and down I-91, and I had to make swaps between the Wilbur-Cross and I-95 in order to get around them all. Thankfully, I did make decent time and was able to check in to my room very early! A number of friends of mine had arrived the day before and were having breakfast in the lobby while I was unpacking. When I finished, I went downstairs to say hello to them and shared my plans for the day. I invited one of my pals, Dax, to go with me to the bus station like I had done the previous year in order to get a bus pass for the weekend. We walked over to the station, unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the ticket office was closed for lunch. Instead I opted to use the kiosk just outside the office, but it only offered local day tickets. I intended to buy a few so that I would have one for each day, but to my surprise, unlike the 10 ride tickets I normally get, these ones were activated immediately, not upon first use! In other words, I had three tickets that were only good for Thursday. Whoops! I gave one to Dax and we walked back to the hotel, chuckling about it (with a bit of facepalming on my part) on the way back. The walk to and from the station only takes about 20 minutes, but it takes another 10 to get into downtown Stamford proper, where all the shops, things to do, and restaurants are, which is why I prefer taking the bus compared to doordashing for food. It certainly is a lot cheaper! (By the way, I updated my route list for the con for 2025, and it is now hosted On the Furpocalypse Con Site!)
After returning to the hotel I offered up my time to help set up what still needed to be done, and I went with a group of volunteers to set up the headless lounge! We spent about an hour setting both lounges up, but time flew by in the blink of an eye, and it was already an hour before registration opened! I got in line with a few friends, and we were able to get through the line fairly painlessly, though I know others did not have the same experience over the weekend due to technical issues behind the scenes with registration, so I am glad I lined up when I did. I had intended to go do some early bucket brigading through the reg line at this time, but the Charity room did not open until the following day. Instead, I made plans to get dinner with my friends Rags, Celsic, Andrew, and Laz. We met in the lobby and I was able to convince them to take the bus with me into downtown. It didn't take too much convincing as the weather had taken a turn for the worse, in both the wind and the rain. We bussed up to downtown, then walked through the flooded streets to the Mecha Noodle Bar (a chain some of you may be familiar with) and had some nice hot soup bowls for dinner, something great for a rainy day, especially after getting soaked by it! We all decided after dinner that we didn't want to wait in the rain for another bus, so we took a taxi back to the hotel instead.
I changed my now-soaked socks for some fresh ones and put Ringgar on for the first time in the evening, first to attend Opening Ceremonies, and then to attend my suit sibling Ripley's Hockey Furs Panel! I will admit, I am not much of a hockey fanatic, but I did happen to bring my Western MA Furs group jersey with me, which is a hockey jersey, and decided to crash the party! It was a comfortably-sized meetup, with folks going in and our over the hour, while the majority of the panel was either talking about or watching the Ranger's game, or ranking the NHL mascots by [REDACTED]. By the end of Ripley's panel it was late at night, and because I was feeling brave, I decided to head to an 'unofficial' dance event hosted by a number of friends of mine, hosted by
Kittybean, Artimio, Jedi, and Lucid, called The Battle of Subway vs. Metro! The premise of the event was that it was a 1v1 Dance event for very, very beginner dancers. I decided to participate, and I danced! Very poorly I might add, but I still did! I didn't go far at all in the contest aspect, but it was nice hanging out with friends regardless! Speaking of friends, the last event I did on Thursday was to go to my pal Mey's panel about advanced photography! Their panel was different from what you might expect from a name of "Furtography 102." While they did discuss some techniques, their focus was primarily about the 'why' you would want to do furry photography. Who they admire as a photographer, why they do so themselves, and I couldn't help but feel how personal this panel was to them. Panels like this are one of my favorites, because it is not only educational and interesting, but because it gives a window into the life and emotions of the presenter. Learning more about the interesting people of this fandom is one of the reasons I love being a furry so very much. At the end of the panel, the clock had long since stuck midnight, so I decided to retire to my bedchamber for the eventful day ahead.
Halloween has descended on Furpocalypse once again, and with it, the busiest day of the convention for this wolf! I woke up in the morning and used what was left of my bus pass from the day before to get some breakfast before making a beeline back to the hotel. I decided to split my breakfast for tomorrow so that I wouldn't have to buy too many additional bus tickets for finding food. I took my time with breakfast as the day didn't truly start until a little before noon that day. My first event for the day was one of my all-time favorites, the annual Fursuit Games! I love doing the fursuit games every year because I find it an interesting challenge to balance doing a team game while also being a silly animal at the same time. Usually, that all comes together into one, very funny, perfect harmony for the audience to watch! I joined the purple team again this year, in keeping with previous years, while the majority of my friends who were in attendance were on the red team! We played a few different relay games: tray balancing, trick-or-treating with plastic balls, charades, and of course, musical chairs. During musical chairs, I was eliminated early because I, very confidently, planted my rear onto a chair that was not, in fact, present. At least I fell on the ground tush-first, but because of my fursuit blind spot, I wasn't expecting to do so, so I was quite surprised! I was OK in the end though, and while our team didn't win this year, we still came third! At the time the games had ended, I had been in fursuit for 3 hours, so I decided to take a break from suiting, and returned to semi-human form to go to another panel. My pal Vought had suggested I attend the panel he helped write for, the VERY popular Change The Game panel! This panel is a furri-fied clone of the Change The Game T.V series, in which the game is different every time. I had never seen Change The Game on T.V before, so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to watch. Turns out, it was a barrel full of chuckles! There were two games during this two-hours long panel, the first involved contestants giving a bunch of answers in the form of one-liners and pick up jokes, and the second game involved contestants needing tickets to answer questions, tickets that they had to earn by doing various challenges from the audience! I even got to participate by throwing a foam football! My throw needed a little work, but it did accidentally make things more hilarious (Sorry Leon!) and I got called out for it on stage. I can absolutely see why this panel is so popular now, despite this only being its second occurrence at Furpoc! It's a nice mix of improv comedy and silly fursuit antics, two things I always get giddy about! If I am able to go to the panel next year, I'd love to do so again!
After several hours of making and having fits of laughter, I had some dinner in the hotel, then returned to my room to get ready to pass out candy for trick or treating! I had tricks and treats this year again, similarly to last year, and regrettably, the treats went significantly faster than last year. I thought I had been prepared, but I wound up being woefully short on candy to give. I almost struggled to get rid of all my candy last year, which is why I thought I was prepared, but instead I got cleaned out within the first 45 minutes. Thankfully, Blush, a good pal of Jedi's, was in the room down the hall, and gave me a large bag of extra Tootsie Rolls they had to pass out. Unfortunately for me, those also all went in about 20 minutes. I was about ready to call it for the night, but I still had more than enough tricks to give out; my never-ending fountain of earplugs! I do hope some folks found that useful, I know my room neighbors also ran into a similar situation with running out of goodies this year! Thanks to my bucket of tricks, I was able to last for the duration of the event. I'll be better prepared with more treats, and tricks, next year too! I didn't have long to tarry at the end of trick or treating though, because immediately afterwards, I had a panel to co-host with my pal Carbon! This panel was all about turning your fursona into a Magic the Gathering Card! For context, Magic the Gathering is a hobby of mine, and one of my favorite things to do with Magic is to make my own, unofficial custom cards! Especially when it comes to making versions of my friends fursonas, and my own! Our panel focused on what makes a Magic card a Magic card, as well as first design tips and a whole section dedicated to designing cards for folks live on the spot! We decided to run a lottery with the audience to choose those who wanted to have their fursonas turned into a Magic card concept! These were all quick and dirty, V0.1 designs, but they were fun to do quickly and by the seat of our pants! Better yet, we packed the room for this panel, with folks even standing to watch! Overall I would say the panel was a GREAT success, and I am very happy to have helped Carbon host something that aligns with both of our interests! After the panel, we chatted for a little bit to give each other feedback about what should be done for the next time we host this, like having some fewer slides and a longer time slot for more audience participation, so we will work on implementing that the next time the con comes around!
After the panel wrapped up, I was still riding high with energy, so I decided to do some late night fursuiting! I also decided to do something a little different from what I normally like to do: I went to a public room party! There was a room party being hosted in the Presidential Suite at the top floor of the hotel for several hours that night, and because it was being held for the con charity, I decided to check it out! The room was absolutely PACKED. It was hard to shuffle around folks, fursuit or not, with how much was there! DJs, beer pong, Nintendo games, and of course, booze! I didn't partake in any food or drink as I was in fursuit, but the vibes, especially at this time of night, were immaculate. Better yet, I ran into a few friends there too!
Gale_Frostbane and 
Strobes were in attendance, as well as some friends of my pal Shyama from way out of town! I didn't know this at the time, but apparently fullsuiting at a large room party is not something people typically do? My guess is because of the food and drinks being around, but it could also be because of the heat, though truth be told, I didn't feel any heat difference up there than what I do normally! The party was great, and I even popped and locked a little bit with Strobes, and bounced around with Shyama's friends to the DJ before I left shortly before the party wrapped up! I went downstairs into the lobby to suit around longer, and also to get a fursuiter badge (I chose #088!) from Con-Ops in the short window I had to do so before they handed out random numbers the following day! I actually lost track of time at this point and wound up suiting for another 2 hours before getting back up to my room late late that night. I took a little bit of time before bed to wash my underarmor for future use, and finally went to bed with the buzzing of fans in my room drying everything out!
Thankfully, despite me being out very late Saturday, my day didn't truly start until a little before noon, so I was able to get a good 7 hours of sleep. I had the other half of my breakfast from yesterday down in the lobby, and suited up around 11AM to get ready for the fursuit parade and photo! The parade didn't start until 1PM, so I took the opportunity to do an hour of bucket brigading for the charity, and an hour of catching up with friends I hadn't had the chance to do so with yet! Once the parade lineup was about to begin, I walked over to find that the line was, in fact, quite significant this year (more on this later!) So much so, in fact that the con staff had to direct us through the registration room to keep the line in the lobby down! Despite the line, the parade was able to proceed on time this year, but with a new route for people to view us from! The route was significantly longer this year, so that, instead of everyone walking down the curving flight of stairs in the lobby, we walked outside around the dealer's den up a small gravel path on the hill, before walking down along the sidewalk and on to the lawn! The temperature outside was perfect for the photo, and while the glare from the sun was a bit annoying, it wasn't enough to dampen my spirit! What was damp, however, was the ground... Despite a dry day yesterday and a dry windy morning, the lawn outside had still not dried out from the nor-easter, and my outdoor feetpaws got fairly muddy. I was able to somewhat clean them with the folex I brought later on, but at that point, I decided not to use them for the rest of the con, as the claws especially didn't fare too well, even after a manual clean. Despite this, I still walked around to be chatty with the folks I saw before heading up to the room to swap for my indoor feetpaws, which I appreciate having SO much more after this incident!
I decided to swap the feetpaws rather than swap out of suit because Dax and I decided we wanted to get some photo room photos taken! I agreed because it had been several cons since I last had a photo room session, and we came up with some nice poses to do together! However, when we arrived at the photo room, we were told there would be an hour wait before our turn was up. As such, Dax and I went to the tail-end of the Exotic Snack panel right next door. We didn't have too many snacks as the time was already wearing thin for the panel slot, so afterwards, we both returned to our respective rooms to chill for an hour before returning to the line. I didn't get out of suit in my room in case I had to run down quickly for our number, but an hour came and went, and we both met back up at the photo room only to have to wait for another hour. It was at this point that I remembered I had written about this experience before in another journal and that I wouldn't be doing Photo Room photos again unless I was very lucky, and this was the reason. Once you are in line, you don't know when your number will be up, so you don't want to get out of fursuit, and at the same time, you don't want to start any other activities. Despite all this, we did get some nice photos together like we had wanted to! The photos were taken by Lingling Fennec, and they did a great job! I noticed that my fur was a little bit disheveled in one of the photos, but that was certainly because I had been in suit for 6 straight hours at that point. Unsurprisingly, after the photo, I took Ringgar off and let him rest while I went uptown to grab dinner for Sunday! Dinner for Saturday night was quite the nice event however, as several friends and I met in the hotel restaurant to have a belated birthday dinner in Dax's honor, as his birthday was just a week before Furpoc! The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the company made it all the worthwhile! (Happy birthday again Dax!)
After dinner, the night was still young, and I wore Ringgar's fullsuit one more time for the night to attend one of my all-time favorite panels from several New England furry conventions: Furry Improv hosted by
heathclaws! I've mentioned this before, but I've fallen in love with doing improv at furry cons for two primary reasons: It gives you an avenue to be goofy, off-the-cuff and make others laugh, and it allows you to do so while being a silly animal person! I attended this event along with my pal Tripp, who actually recently started a job as a middle school theater teacher for improv! We played lots of games, went completely off the rails several times, and I'm fairly certain our laughter could be heard down the hallway! If you haven't been to an improv panel at a furry con yet, especially here in New England, I'd highly encourage you to do so, if not to participate, then to watch a late night comedy show featuring absolutely everyone! Shortly after the panel, I returned to my room to get out of suit after being a dog for another 3 hours, but I decided to stay up longer as I wanted to so some Karaoke! While waiting for my song, Daylight Savings Time ended, and the cheers could be heard through the hotel for an extra hour of party and rave time! (Thanks to the con staff for sticking the extra hour out for all of us!) At some point I realized that my song wasn't going to be played for another couple of hours, so I decided to instead bring my beyblade arena down to the lobby and spin metal tops with random passer-bys and friends! I enjoy sharing one of my little hobbies with others, and it wound up being a big hit, even that late at night! Though later on I found out that a number of my friends went to Karaoke and were able to sing even after I left the Midnight Lounge believing my time would come way too late. Had I known, I would have stayed! I've been trying to do Karaoke at any con since Furpoc last year, but I always arrive too late. I will sing again, I swear it! However, I did want to be in bed not too incredibly late, as I had something quite important to do the following day!
Sunday was the most important day of the con for this wolf! My day started early with breakfast and preparation. Just like at AFC just a little over a month ago, I was given the opportunity to host my Furry Con Smashbooking Panel! I had made a couple of changes to my presentation style and was a little bit more comfortable with what I was presenting since AFC, so I was eager to take my lessons learned and make this the best panel it could be! I was also able to bring my smashbook and a shadowbox with me this time as a live example, as I didn't need to pack them on a plane! I'll be honest, due to the fact that my panel was in nearly the same time slot as the AFC panel was, and the fact that people were up even later due to Daylight Savings time the previous night, I didn't expect many more attendees than I had at AFC. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the ~20 people who attended the panel for the whole duration! I also got some positive feedback from the attendees, both at the time of the panel and later in the day! If you are reading this and you were at my panel, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for taking the time out of your day to attend while I yapped about stickers, tape squares and paper for half an hour! If you did not attend, I apologize, it WILL happen again . My afternoon plans for Sunday were slated to be chock-full of things to do, so I decided to have the dinner I got yesterday fairly early and made my first (and only) trip around the dealer's den, so that I could attend this year's Fursuit Dance Competition in time! One of the major highlights of any furry con, this competition felt especially different for me. Several of the friends I've made and people I've come to know and cherish were competing this year, including Tommy, Typo, Shinu, Heathclaw, Sprynx, and for the first time, Proxy (Mey!) This was also the debut for Proxy, not only as a dancer, but as a fursuit! Cooler yet, Proxy was connected to the hotel wifi, and the lights on their eyes flickered in and our with the beat of their routine, which was something completely unique for a dancer to do! All of the skills shown during this comp, and all of the love shared, made this year's competition one I will always remember more than fondly. Also silently, because I got a little carried away from cheering for everyone and lost a bit of my voice later on on Monday :P.
Once the dance competition had concluded, I decided to suit up one more time for the con and do my last round of bucket brigading before closing ceremonies. However when I arrived at the charity room, the live auction was about to begin in the main events room, so Taylor the Wolf and I decided to team up and do bucket brigading together during the auction! I had actually never been to the live auction at any fur con, so I was surprised to see how simple it actually was to understand! For some reason, I always had this perception that the bidding process was much more complex than just shouting a number, but that was in fact, all there was to it (for the most part!) Better yet, both Taylor and I wound up with a healthy number of bills for Q+! We stayed for the entire live auction, and because closing ceremonies happened immediately afterwards, we decided to stay in the room and continue collecting! While we ran around to keep raising the charity number, Mr. DeWolfe shared some important numbers about this years convention: 950 Fursuiters (in the parade alone), $18,000 raised for charity (bucket brigade additional amounts not known as of writing), and 3,150 attendees for the year, another 300 up from last year! I think the most remarkable number this year is the fact that almost 1/3rd of all attendees had a fursuit or partial! I don't know if there is any other furry con out there with a ratio of suiting attendees and non-suiting attendees as high as this one! The more the furrier, as they say! Better yet, the theme for next year's Furpoc was announced: Rock and Roll Nightmare!! Looks like I'll need to get my screamo skills into shape! I left closing ceremonies with a charge of energy at the exciting announcements, and Taylor and I turned our buckets in together! Despite the con coming to a close, there were still several major events occurring in the evening! First off was something that was undoubtedly the highlight of the con for most: A stand-up comedy show with Gianmarco Soresi, of Game Changer fame! Unfortunately, by the time I came out of Con Ops to turn in the charity bucket, the line for the show was wrapped around the entire lobby and I was not able to see the show. Most of my friends did though, and they told me the he handled a crowd full of rowdy furries well! To this day, I'm still not sure how he came to a furry con, but lo and behold, there he was! I'd like to know how this came to be someday soon! I got out of fursuit after saying goodbye to a handful of folks who were heading out that night, and went to go play Jackbox games for awhile before giving some feedback at the dedicated feedback panel! I walked around more, this time in partial, to say my goodbyes to more folks, before finally attending the last (official) event of the con: The Dead Dog Dance! This is something I like to attend more than the other dances, because of the smaller crowds, and at this point in a con, I'm still (probably) not ready to put the fun of the convention down! However this time, I was asked to do something a little different: bring my beyblades to the dance! I met up with my pal Typo, and we went to town doing beyblade battles, right there in the middle of the Dead Dog, even on the dance floor! In essence, we made a bey cypher! As silly as it sounds, it was the perfect vibe to end the con with: a little bit of whimsy that we all carry with us, and let loose at furry cons just like Furpoc! Once the Dead Dog dances were over, I went back up to my room to start pre-packing for the trip tomorrow, only to find that, apparently, Animal Art Crimes had set up an exhibit, right there in the parking garage, just like last year! It was 2AM at this point, and this little slice of the garage was still a well-attended party, with people watching movies and playing games from projectors, while also doing art together! I hung around for awhile to marvel at the setup, before finally returning to bed for my last night in the Midnight Dimension.
I'll always remember my 5-year anniversary of Furpocalypse as a very special one. Not only because it is my home state con, and one near and dear to me, as well as it being my first time hosting a panel at this con, fulfilling a bucket list item of mine (which I plan on doing more of here in the future!) When I take a step back and look at this year's Furpoc, a number of things float across my mind. I now know a fairly large number of the folks who attend this con, whether they be friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, and beyond, and there are even more folks who now know me. It's quite surreal looking back at my first furry con, Furpocalypse 2019, and how out of place I felt there compared to now! I am truly blessed to know so many of the wonderful people who attend this con, and I am grateful for them, as these people are the ones who truly make the con what it is, and why I hold it so close in my heart. Despite this, I continue to meet new people here, and every time I come to this convention, I feel like I meet someone new and interesting that I didn't know before, or at the very least, people I vibe with!
On top of all of that, this year, I can't help but see myself in a number of the new attendees. I met several people who said that this was their first furry convention as well; people I met in the hall, people at my panels, and people I met in con events. Many of them seemed overwhelmed, but couldn't help but keep smiling through it all, and I can't help but remember that I felt the same way back in 2019. That PCD hit me like a truck, and I couldn't help but cry. Not from sadness, but from joy. It is a complex blend of emotions, but I'd like to think that the cherry on top is knowing that I've found my happy place. If you are reading this, and you are still feeling the melancholy after the con like I am as I write this, my message to you is: It's OK to feel that way. I hope you've found Furpoc to be your happy place! Be elated that it happened, and keep your chin up high; Furpocalypse will be back before you know it. So will I.
Now that the year is coming to a close, I am planning out the conventions I would like to attend in 2026! Next year, I will be returning to a number of conventions I've been to before because I have had such fun at all of them! This is a WIP as of the time of writing, but here is what I have...
- Anthro New England 2026 - January - It's a Western!
- Furcationland 2026 - April - Harbor Howl
- Undecided - Summer con (Anywhere between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Not Anthrocon this year as I have been there twice in a row now)
- Furpocalypse 2026 - Halloween - Rock and Roll Nightmare
- Undecided - Midwest Fur Fest 2026??
Hope to see you there, friends!
Ringgar's Furpocalypse 2025 Photos!If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Thursday, the 30thMy plan for travelling to Furpoc this year was to get to the hotel as early in the morning as possible, check in, and lend a hand where needed to the con staff for setup. I was able to at least leave for the con when I had planned, but wound up arriving over an extra hour over the duration such a trip would normally take me. The reason being the inclement weather. A nor-easter was expected to hit the state all day, and it showed its might in both wind and torrential rain. There were several accidents up and down I-91, and I had to make swaps between the Wilbur-Cross and I-95 in order to get around them all. Thankfully, I did make decent time and was able to check in to my room very early! A number of friends of mine had arrived the day before and were having breakfast in the lobby while I was unpacking. When I finished, I went downstairs to say hello to them and shared my plans for the day. I invited one of my pals, Dax, to go with me to the bus station like I had done the previous year in order to get a bus pass for the weekend. We walked over to the station, unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the ticket office was closed for lunch. Instead I opted to use the kiosk just outside the office, but it only offered local day tickets. I intended to buy a few so that I would have one for each day, but to my surprise, unlike the 10 ride tickets I normally get, these ones were activated immediately, not upon first use! In other words, I had three tickets that were only good for Thursday. Whoops! I gave one to Dax and we walked back to the hotel, chuckling about it (with a bit of facepalming on my part) on the way back. The walk to and from the station only takes about 20 minutes, but it takes another 10 to get into downtown Stamford proper, where all the shops, things to do, and restaurants are, which is why I prefer taking the bus compared to doordashing for food. It certainly is a lot cheaper! (By the way, I updated my route list for the con for 2025, and it is now hosted On the Furpocalypse Con Site!)
After returning to the hotel I offered up my time to help set up what still needed to be done, and I went with a group of volunteers to set up the headless lounge! We spent about an hour setting both lounges up, but time flew by in the blink of an eye, and it was already an hour before registration opened! I got in line with a few friends, and we were able to get through the line fairly painlessly, though I know others did not have the same experience over the weekend due to technical issues behind the scenes with registration, so I am glad I lined up when I did. I had intended to go do some early bucket brigading through the reg line at this time, but the Charity room did not open until the following day. Instead, I made plans to get dinner with my friends Rags, Celsic, Andrew, and Laz. We met in the lobby and I was able to convince them to take the bus with me into downtown. It didn't take too much convincing as the weather had taken a turn for the worse, in both the wind and the rain. We bussed up to downtown, then walked through the flooded streets to the Mecha Noodle Bar (a chain some of you may be familiar with) and had some nice hot soup bowls for dinner, something great for a rainy day, especially after getting soaked by it! We all decided after dinner that we didn't want to wait in the rain for another bus, so we took a taxi back to the hotel instead.
I changed my now-soaked socks for some fresh ones and put Ringgar on for the first time in the evening, first to attend Opening Ceremonies, and then to attend my suit sibling Ripley's Hockey Furs Panel! I will admit, I am not much of a hockey fanatic, but I did happen to bring my Western MA Furs group jersey with me, which is a hockey jersey, and decided to crash the party! It was a comfortably-sized meetup, with folks going in and our over the hour, while the majority of the panel was either talking about or watching the Ranger's game, or ranking the NHL mascots by [REDACTED]. By the end of Ripley's panel it was late at night, and because I was feeling brave, I decided to head to an 'unofficial' dance event hosted by a number of friends of mine, hosted by
Kittybean, Artimio, Jedi, and Lucid, called The Battle of Subway vs. Metro! The premise of the event was that it was a 1v1 Dance event for very, very beginner dancers. I decided to participate, and I danced! Very poorly I might add, but I still did! I didn't go far at all in the contest aspect, but it was nice hanging out with friends regardless! Speaking of friends, the last event I did on Thursday was to go to my pal Mey's panel about advanced photography! Their panel was different from what you might expect from a name of "Furtography 102." While they did discuss some techniques, their focus was primarily about the 'why' you would want to do furry photography. Who they admire as a photographer, why they do so themselves, and I couldn't help but feel how personal this panel was to them. Panels like this are one of my favorites, because it is not only educational and interesting, but because it gives a window into the life and emotions of the presenter. Learning more about the interesting people of this fandom is one of the reasons I love being a furry so very much. At the end of the panel, the clock had long since stuck midnight, so I decided to retire to my bedchamber for the eventful day ahead.Friday, the 31stHalloween has descended on Furpocalypse once again, and with it, the busiest day of the convention for this wolf! I woke up in the morning and used what was left of my bus pass from the day before to get some breakfast before making a beeline back to the hotel. I decided to split my breakfast for tomorrow so that I wouldn't have to buy too many additional bus tickets for finding food. I took my time with breakfast as the day didn't truly start until a little before noon that day. My first event for the day was one of my all-time favorites, the annual Fursuit Games! I love doing the fursuit games every year because I find it an interesting challenge to balance doing a team game while also being a silly animal at the same time. Usually, that all comes together into one, very funny, perfect harmony for the audience to watch! I joined the purple team again this year, in keeping with previous years, while the majority of my friends who were in attendance were on the red team! We played a few different relay games: tray balancing, trick-or-treating with plastic balls, charades, and of course, musical chairs. During musical chairs, I was eliminated early because I, very confidently, planted my rear onto a chair that was not, in fact, present. At least I fell on the ground tush-first, but because of my fursuit blind spot, I wasn't expecting to do so, so I was quite surprised! I was OK in the end though, and while our team didn't win this year, we still came third! At the time the games had ended, I had been in fursuit for 3 hours, so I decided to take a break from suiting, and returned to semi-human form to go to another panel. My pal Vought had suggested I attend the panel he helped write for, the VERY popular Change The Game panel! This panel is a furri-fied clone of the Change The Game T.V series, in which the game is different every time. I had never seen Change The Game on T.V before, so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to watch. Turns out, it was a barrel full of chuckles! There were two games during this two-hours long panel, the first involved contestants giving a bunch of answers in the form of one-liners and pick up jokes, and the second game involved contestants needing tickets to answer questions, tickets that they had to earn by doing various challenges from the audience! I even got to participate by throwing a foam football! My throw needed a little work, but it did accidentally make things more hilarious (Sorry Leon!) and I got called out for it on stage. I can absolutely see why this panel is so popular now, despite this only being its second occurrence at Furpoc! It's a nice mix of improv comedy and silly fursuit antics, two things I always get giddy about! If I am able to go to the panel next year, I'd love to do so again!
After several hours of making and having fits of laughter, I had some dinner in the hotel, then returned to my room to get ready to pass out candy for trick or treating! I had tricks and treats this year again, similarly to last year, and regrettably, the treats went significantly faster than last year. I thought I had been prepared, but I wound up being woefully short on candy to give. I almost struggled to get rid of all my candy last year, which is why I thought I was prepared, but instead I got cleaned out within the first 45 minutes. Thankfully, Blush, a good pal of Jedi's, was in the room down the hall, and gave me a large bag of extra Tootsie Rolls they had to pass out. Unfortunately for me, those also all went in about 20 minutes. I was about ready to call it for the night, but I still had more than enough tricks to give out; my never-ending fountain of earplugs! I do hope some folks found that useful, I know my room neighbors also ran into a similar situation with running out of goodies this year! Thanks to my bucket of tricks, I was able to last for the duration of the event. I'll be better prepared with more treats, and tricks, next year too! I didn't have long to tarry at the end of trick or treating though, because immediately afterwards, I had a panel to co-host with my pal Carbon! This panel was all about turning your fursona into a Magic the Gathering Card! For context, Magic the Gathering is a hobby of mine, and one of my favorite things to do with Magic is to make my own, unofficial custom cards! Especially when it comes to making versions of my friends fursonas, and my own! Our panel focused on what makes a Magic card a Magic card, as well as first design tips and a whole section dedicated to designing cards for folks live on the spot! We decided to run a lottery with the audience to choose those who wanted to have their fursonas turned into a Magic card concept! These were all quick and dirty, V0.1 designs, but they were fun to do quickly and by the seat of our pants! Better yet, we packed the room for this panel, with folks even standing to watch! Overall I would say the panel was a GREAT success, and I am very happy to have helped Carbon host something that aligns with both of our interests! After the panel, we chatted for a little bit to give each other feedback about what should be done for the next time we host this, like having some fewer slides and a longer time slot for more audience participation, so we will work on implementing that the next time the con comes around!
After the panel wrapped up, I was still riding high with energy, so I decided to do some late night fursuiting! I also decided to do something a little different from what I normally like to do: I went to a public room party! There was a room party being hosted in the Presidential Suite at the top floor of the hotel for several hours that night, and because it was being held for the con charity, I decided to check it out! The room was absolutely PACKED. It was hard to shuffle around folks, fursuit or not, with how much was there! DJs, beer pong, Nintendo games, and of course, booze! I didn't partake in any food or drink as I was in fursuit, but the vibes, especially at this time of night, were immaculate. Better yet, I ran into a few friends there too!
Gale_Frostbane and 
Strobes were in attendance, as well as some friends of my pal Shyama from way out of town! I didn't know this at the time, but apparently fullsuiting at a large room party is not something people typically do? My guess is because of the food and drinks being around, but it could also be because of the heat, though truth be told, I didn't feel any heat difference up there than what I do normally! The party was great, and I even popped and locked a little bit with Strobes, and bounced around with Shyama's friends to the DJ before I left shortly before the party wrapped up! I went downstairs into the lobby to suit around longer, and also to get a fursuiter badge (I chose #088!) from Con-Ops in the short window I had to do so before they handed out random numbers the following day! I actually lost track of time at this point and wound up suiting for another 2 hours before getting back up to my room late late that night. I took a little bit of time before bed to wash my underarmor for future use, and finally went to bed with the buzzing of fans in my room drying everything out!Saturday, the 1stThankfully, despite me being out very late Saturday, my day didn't truly start until a little before noon, so I was able to get a good 7 hours of sleep. I had the other half of my breakfast from yesterday down in the lobby, and suited up around 11AM to get ready for the fursuit parade and photo! The parade didn't start until 1PM, so I took the opportunity to do an hour of bucket brigading for the charity, and an hour of catching up with friends I hadn't had the chance to do so with yet! Once the parade lineup was about to begin, I walked over to find that the line was, in fact, quite significant this year (more on this later!) So much so, in fact that the con staff had to direct us through the registration room to keep the line in the lobby down! Despite the line, the parade was able to proceed on time this year, but with a new route for people to view us from! The route was significantly longer this year, so that, instead of everyone walking down the curving flight of stairs in the lobby, we walked outside around the dealer's den up a small gravel path on the hill, before walking down along the sidewalk and on to the lawn! The temperature outside was perfect for the photo, and while the glare from the sun was a bit annoying, it wasn't enough to dampen my spirit! What was damp, however, was the ground... Despite a dry day yesterday and a dry windy morning, the lawn outside had still not dried out from the nor-easter, and my outdoor feetpaws got fairly muddy. I was able to somewhat clean them with the folex I brought later on, but at that point, I decided not to use them for the rest of the con, as the claws especially didn't fare too well, even after a manual clean. Despite this, I still walked around to be chatty with the folks I saw before heading up to the room to swap for my indoor feetpaws, which I appreciate having SO much more after this incident!
I decided to swap the feetpaws rather than swap out of suit because Dax and I decided we wanted to get some photo room photos taken! I agreed because it had been several cons since I last had a photo room session, and we came up with some nice poses to do together! However, when we arrived at the photo room, we were told there would be an hour wait before our turn was up. As such, Dax and I went to the tail-end of the Exotic Snack panel right next door. We didn't have too many snacks as the time was already wearing thin for the panel slot, so afterwards, we both returned to our respective rooms to chill for an hour before returning to the line. I didn't get out of suit in my room in case I had to run down quickly for our number, but an hour came and went, and we both met back up at the photo room only to have to wait for another hour. It was at this point that I remembered I had written about this experience before in another journal and that I wouldn't be doing Photo Room photos again unless I was very lucky, and this was the reason. Once you are in line, you don't know when your number will be up, so you don't want to get out of fursuit, and at the same time, you don't want to start any other activities. Despite all this, we did get some nice photos together like we had wanted to! The photos were taken by Lingling Fennec, and they did a great job! I noticed that my fur was a little bit disheveled in one of the photos, but that was certainly because I had been in suit for 6 straight hours at that point. Unsurprisingly, after the photo, I took Ringgar off and let him rest while I went uptown to grab dinner for Sunday! Dinner for Saturday night was quite the nice event however, as several friends and I met in the hotel restaurant to have a belated birthday dinner in Dax's honor, as his birthday was just a week before Furpoc! The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the company made it all the worthwhile! (Happy birthday again Dax!)
After dinner, the night was still young, and I wore Ringgar's fullsuit one more time for the night to attend one of my all-time favorite panels from several New England furry conventions: Furry Improv hosted by
heathclaws! I've mentioned this before, but I've fallen in love with doing improv at furry cons for two primary reasons: It gives you an avenue to be goofy, off-the-cuff and make others laugh, and it allows you to do so while being a silly animal person! I attended this event along with my pal Tripp, who actually recently started a job as a middle school theater teacher for improv! We played lots of games, went completely off the rails several times, and I'm fairly certain our laughter could be heard down the hallway! If you haven't been to an improv panel at a furry con yet, especially here in New England, I'd highly encourage you to do so, if not to participate, then to watch a late night comedy show featuring absolutely everyone! Shortly after the panel, I returned to my room to get out of suit after being a dog for another 3 hours, but I decided to stay up longer as I wanted to so some Karaoke! While waiting for my song, Daylight Savings Time ended, and the cheers could be heard through the hotel for an extra hour of party and rave time! (Thanks to the con staff for sticking the extra hour out for all of us!) At some point I realized that my song wasn't going to be played for another couple of hours, so I decided to instead bring my beyblade arena down to the lobby and spin metal tops with random passer-bys and friends! I enjoy sharing one of my little hobbies with others, and it wound up being a big hit, even that late at night! Though later on I found out that a number of my friends went to Karaoke and were able to sing even after I left the Midnight Lounge believing my time would come way too late. Had I known, I would have stayed! I've been trying to do Karaoke at any con since Furpoc last year, but I always arrive too late. I will sing again, I swear it! However, I did want to be in bed not too incredibly late, as I had something quite important to do the following day! Sunday, the 2ndSunday was the most important day of the con for this wolf! My day started early with breakfast and preparation. Just like at AFC just a little over a month ago, I was given the opportunity to host my Furry Con Smashbooking Panel! I had made a couple of changes to my presentation style and was a little bit more comfortable with what I was presenting since AFC, so I was eager to take my lessons learned and make this the best panel it could be! I was also able to bring my smashbook and a shadowbox with me this time as a live example, as I didn't need to pack them on a plane! I'll be honest, due to the fact that my panel was in nearly the same time slot as the AFC panel was, and the fact that people were up even later due to Daylight Savings time the previous night, I didn't expect many more attendees than I had at AFC. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the ~20 people who attended the panel for the whole duration! I also got some positive feedback from the attendees, both at the time of the panel and later in the day! If you are reading this and you were at my panel, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for taking the time out of your day to attend while I yapped about stickers, tape squares and paper for half an hour! If you did not attend, I apologize, it WILL happen again . My afternoon plans for Sunday were slated to be chock-full of things to do, so I decided to have the dinner I got yesterday fairly early and made my first (and only) trip around the dealer's den, so that I could attend this year's Fursuit Dance Competition in time! One of the major highlights of any furry con, this competition felt especially different for me. Several of the friends I've made and people I've come to know and cherish were competing this year, including Tommy, Typo, Shinu, Heathclaw, Sprynx, and for the first time, Proxy (Mey!) This was also the debut for Proxy, not only as a dancer, but as a fursuit! Cooler yet, Proxy was connected to the hotel wifi, and the lights on their eyes flickered in and our with the beat of their routine, which was something completely unique for a dancer to do! All of the skills shown during this comp, and all of the love shared, made this year's competition one I will always remember more than fondly. Also silently, because I got a little carried away from cheering for everyone and lost a bit of my voice later on on Monday :P.
Once the dance competition had concluded, I decided to suit up one more time for the con and do my last round of bucket brigading before closing ceremonies. However when I arrived at the charity room, the live auction was about to begin in the main events room, so Taylor the Wolf and I decided to team up and do bucket brigading together during the auction! I had actually never been to the live auction at any fur con, so I was surprised to see how simple it actually was to understand! For some reason, I always had this perception that the bidding process was much more complex than just shouting a number, but that was in fact, all there was to it (for the most part!) Better yet, both Taylor and I wound up with a healthy number of bills for Q+! We stayed for the entire live auction, and because closing ceremonies happened immediately afterwards, we decided to stay in the room and continue collecting! While we ran around to keep raising the charity number, Mr. DeWolfe shared some important numbers about this years convention: 950 Fursuiters (in the parade alone), $18,000 raised for charity (bucket brigade additional amounts not known as of writing), and 3,150 attendees for the year, another 300 up from last year! I think the most remarkable number this year is the fact that almost 1/3rd of all attendees had a fursuit or partial! I don't know if there is any other furry con out there with a ratio of suiting attendees and non-suiting attendees as high as this one! The more the furrier, as they say! Better yet, the theme for next year's Furpoc was announced: Rock and Roll Nightmare!! Looks like I'll need to get my screamo skills into shape! I left closing ceremonies with a charge of energy at the exciting announcements, and Taylor and I turned our buckets in together! Despite the con coming to a close, there were still several major events occurring in the evening! First off was something that was undoubtedly the highlight of the con for most: A stand-up comedy show with Gianmarco Soresi, of Game Changer fame! Unfortunately, by the time I came out of Con Ops to turn in the charity bucket, the line for the show was wrapped around the entire lobby and I was not able to see the show. Most of my friends did though, and they told me the he handled a crowd full of rowdy furries well! To this day, I'm still not sure how he came to a furry con, but lo and behold, there he was! I'd like to know how this came to be someday soon! I got out of fursuit after saying goodbye to a handful of folks who were heading out that night, and went to go play Jackbox games for awhile before giving some feedback at the dedicated feedback panel! I walked around more, this time in partial, to say my goodbyes to more folks, before finally attending the last (official) event of the con: The Dead Dog Dance! This is something I like to attend more than the other dances, because of the smaller crowds, and at this point in a con, I'm still (probably) not ready to put the fun of the convention down! However this time, I was asked to do something a little different: bring my beyblades to the dance! I met up with my pal Typo, and we went to town doing beyblade battles, right there in the middle of the Dead Dog, even on the dance floor! In essence, we made a bey cypher! As silly as it sounds, it was the perfect vibe to end the con with: a little bit of whimsy that we all carry with us, and let loose at furry cons just like Furpoc! Once the Dead Dog dances were over, I went back up to my room to start pre-packing for the trip tomorrow, only to find that, apparently, Animal Art Crimes had set up an exhibit, right there in the parking garage, just like last year! It was 2AM at this point, and this little slice of the garage was still a well-attended party, with people watching movies and playing games from projectors, while also doing art together! I hung around for awhile to marvel at the setup, before finally returning to bed for my last night in the Midnight Dimension.
Return of the DawnI'll always remember my 5-year anniversary of Furpocalypse as a very special one. Not only because it is my home state con, and one near and dear to me, as well as it being my first time hosting a panel at this con, fulfilling a bucket list item of mine (which I plan on doing more of here in the future!) When I take a step back and look at this year's Furpoc, a number of things float across my mind. I now know a fairly large number of the folks who attend this con, whether they be friends, friends of friends, acquaintances, and beyond, and there are even more folks who now know me. It's quite surreal looking back at my first furry con, Furpocalypse 2019, and how out of place I felt there compared to now! I am truly blessed to know so many of the wonderful people who attend this con, and I am grateful for them, as these people are the ones who truly make the con what it is, and why I hold it so close in my heart. Despite this, I continue to meet new people here, and every time I come to this convention, I feel like I meet someone new and interesting that I didn't know before, or at the very least, people I vibe with!
On top of all of that, this year, I can't help but see myself in a number of the new attendees. I met several people who said that this was their first furry convention as well; people I met in the hall, people at my panels, and people I met in con events. Many of them seemed overwhelmed, but couldn't help but keep smiling through it all, and I can't help but remember that I felt the same way back in 2019. That PCD hit me like a truck, and I couldn't help but cry. Not from sadness, but from joy. It is a complex blend of emotions, but I'd like to think that the cherry on top is knowing that I've found my happy place. If you are reading this, and you are still feeling the melancholy after the con like I am as I write this, my message to you is: It's OK to feel that way. I hope you've found Furpoc to be your happy place! Be elated that it happened, and keep your chin up high; Furpocalypse will be back before you know it. So will I.
Thank you to all of the con staff, volunteers, and attendees who make this con a highlight of my year, every single year! Thanks to you, this convention will forever be one that I hold near and dear! I hope I was able bring a little circular happiness, laughter, and fluff to your time at the convention as well! Finally, thank you for reading!In the meantime...Now that the year is coming to a close, I am planning out the conventions I would like to attend in 2026! Next year, I will be returning to a number of conventions I've been to before because I have had such fun at all of them! This is a WIP as of the time of writing, but here is what I have...
- Anthro New England 2026 - January - It's a Western!
- Furcationland 2026 - April - Harbor Howl
- Undecided - Summer con (Anywhere between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Not Anthrocon this year as I have been there twice in a row now)
- Furpocalypse 2026 - Halloween - Rock and Roll Nightmare
- Undecided - Midwest Fur Fest 2026??
Hope to see you there, friends!
Another Furry Con 2025 Wrap-up!
Posted 2 months agoHello citizens of Bedrock! This wolf has returned from the Stone Age, taking a trip far back in time (and all the way across the country) for Another Furry Con 2025! This con was certainly an adventure, and this wolf was able to create the very first circle (citation needed.) The con took place during September 19th-21st, 2025 in Ontario, California. This area is quite out of my element, being hot, dry, open, and not exactly walkable, but the beauty of the area is absolutely breathtaking! As for the con itself, this was a rather important one for me, with several first-time happenings, surprises, and connections, all in the span of one weekend! I certainly felt the California love while I was there, and I’d love to share that with you, too, as I recall my trip to Another Furry Con 2025!
Thursday was the lengthiest day of my trip, and it was almost entirely dedicated to travel. I arrived at the airport around 3AM and had a flight down to Baltimore Washington International before connecting to the flight to Ontario International. Thankfully, I wasn’t solo during the longest portion of the trip, as my pal (and roommate for the con)
afurryjinx were on the same flight together! Though the flight over was rather uneventful, it was nice being able to talk to someone I know and plan ahead while we took the trek over. The good news about crossing three time zones is that we, technically, made really good time, getting there around mid-day. Though upon arriving at the hotel, our room wasn't ready just yet. We left our bags at the hotel and decided to have an early dinner while we waited. While looking for place to eat, this is where I came to a stark realization about Ontario: there are several things within driving distance of the hotel, but very few things within walking distance. Most restaurants in the area were at least a mile walk away, and could only be reached by travelling along the freeway. There were a number of restaurants in the immediate area around the hotel of course, but the majority of these were fast-food chains. We took an Uber to and from an area at the nearby mall for a sit-down dinner at a BJ’s, then headed back to the hotel to check into our room. In a way, this reminded me of the food situation at MFF, where the majority of the non-fast-food places to eat were at least several blocks away from the hotel, but here you weren't able to walk there at all. Not that you would want to, most of these would be an hour away at least!
By the time we were settled into our room at the Doubletree, after getting some snacks for the room, we decided to get ready for registration. AFC does their pre-registration a little bit differently from other conventions. Since the convention itself takes place at the Ontario Convention Center, which was not open to us yet, pre-registration had to occur at the main hotel, that being the Doubletree. We lined up at a good time for pre-registration, and were one of the first ones to get our badges! Beyond pre-registration, there was one more day zero event of the con for Thursday: a pool party in the Doubletree courtyard! I got dressed for the pool and headed down to the party, where I met up with one of the few folks from New England who I knew would be there ahead of time, KittyBean! We chatted for only the briefest of times before I received word that folks from my fursuit family had just arrived as well! I went to the reg line to meet 
Moregenta, and we made plans to go to get Ramen with my fursuit artists, Zenith and Orion, as well as their friends Sami and Morgenta’s friends! I changed out of my pool attire before we headed out down the road together to (Insert Location Here). We had a good meal and chat together, then decided to get dessert at L'Moon, where I got to try Thai Tea soft serve for the first time! This wolf loves his boba, but this was a vastly different experience from what I could get back home, and it was sweet as could be! Our group all chatted for awhile together, then went our separate ways for the evening to get ready for the first day of the convention tomorrow!
Friday was the first official day of the convention, and we started it off with a bang! Jinx and I had some breakfast before getting into fursuit for the first time this weekend, and walked to the con center for the first panel of the weekend, Furry Improv! This is a panel I’ve done at just about every single New England furry con I have been to, and I love being able to participate and have a lot of fun, while making a little bit of a fool of myself in the process! We played a lot of improv games that I’m familiar with back home, such as ‘World’s Worst,’ ‘Room Party,’ and ‘Press Conference,’ but with one unique bonus game! In this panel, the host does a ‘Magic Minute,’ where he has two fursuiters come up to the front of the stage to be charity bucket brigadiers, and collect money from the audience to go towards the charity of the year, Pomona Valley Pride! There were two catches, however: You had to collect the money under one or two random challenges, and the audience could throw anything into the bucket, not just money! The suiter with the most money raised would be the winner! The host let the audience decide how many challenges we had to do, and of course, the audience opted for the maximum amount of challenges to make us suffer, but at least it was for a good cause! I was selected to play, and my challenges were to sing everything I said, and to remain completely still in a random pose, which was, of course, a little bit of a damper on the whole ‘collecting’ aspect. The host also wanted me to sing songs from Frozen, because, well, that is exactly what I was. Unfortunately for me, I have never seen Frozen so I had to ad-lib the entire thing! Thankfully, the audience took pity on me and my singing ‘skills’ and I was able to win with $100 raised! My prize? All the junk in the bucket that wasn't money. This included such great prizes as: expired gift cards, partially opened candy, stickers, and the best item, a membership card to a local bowling alley that was explicitly for bowling shoes. I can't think of a better way to sum up a furry improv panel than this random assortment of items! Plus, since the con didn't have an open charity bucket brigade, at least I was able to do something like it while I was there!
After the improv panel, Jinx and I walked back to the hotel to get out of suit and to go find dinner! We decided to head to the sacred ground of California that was In-N-Out to have some burgers for an early dinner. It didn't blow my socks off, but I think the reason people rave about it is the atmosphere and the simple menu, but don't quote a New England resident on that! We walked from the In-N-Out right back to the con center for a panel called ‘A Look Inside- Introspective’. When reading the description of the panel, I didn't quite know what to expect. I thought it was a panel for discussing heavy personal topics, and while there was some of that, it was actually a fairly light-hearted panel, and was treated mostly like a game! The host would draw from a deck of questions that range from superficial to deep personal questions, and a specific person from the audience would answer, followed up by some folks in the whole audience! I was pleasantly surprised about this panel, and I really enjoyed it!
Following this panel, I took a trip to the Dealer’s Den to say hello to Zenith, Orion, and Sami, as well as to grab goodies for scrapbooking! I only spent around half an hour in the dealers den, but that was enough to walk through the entire den and stop to browse! I then went back to the hotel to get into suit again for an important event: Monster’s DJ set in the outdoor pavilion at the con center! Monster is a Starcane fursuit family member, and was Zenith and Orion’s first commissioner as a team! He has been in the adopted family longer than most of us, and I was excited to see him in person for the first time! He always comes off as a person with no shortage of party energy, and that definitely showed in his DJ set! Zen, Orion, and my family member Waffle all showed up to his set to dance around, take photos together, and vibe! I did get quite winded towards the end, mostly due to the humid weather and my ice best having melted at that point, but for a wolf like me who doesn't generally do dances or raves, Monster knew how to get this canine grooving! I met Monster very briefly after his set, though I was exhausted at that point, so I had to saunter back to the hotel to take my fursuit off. Jinx was back at the hotel at that point, so we spent a few hours together in the hotel room before I made one last walk back to the con center to see what was going on in the evening. I walked around (in a partial) just to see what else was in the con center, and attended a late night, lo-fi pool toy party in one of the panel rooms for awhile! This room had a nice chill vibe for the evening and was absolutely full of giant pool toys, balloons, and other fun beach toys! After hanging out in the party room, which was great for coming down from a sensory overload, I went back to the hotel room to retire for the night, and to get ready for an early day tomorrow!
Shout-out to Bob and Tom’s Gently Used Crematorium!
Saturday was the busiest day of the convention, and it started early! Jinx and I got up early to have some breakfast at a Denny’s nearby (something I hadn't done in years, believe it or not,) then dashed back to the hotel to get into fursuit. The reason being that the very first event of the day was the con fursuit photo and parade! We got into line for the photo, and waited intensely for it to be taken. At the time of writing, the (not full-res) photo of the fursuiters had been posted, and it looks like you can just see the tops of Jinx and I’s heads, with our ears sticking out. I was even standing on my tip-toes! Oh well! The parade itself actually took place entirely inside the con center! This was a bit different from the past few conventions I’d gone to, where at least a portion of the parade was outside! Considering this was the hottest day of the weekend, and that the con center wasn't really near any residential areas for non-con attendees to watch, I’d say that was actually for the best! Plus, I didn't need my ice vest at all! I walked and waved up and down the parade route before coming to a stop in the headless lounge, where I got meet Tommy again and one of his West Coast friends, Rico! Jinx also met one of his Heads & Tails fursuit family members as well! After the parade, I walked around for awhile, debating whether or not I wanted to get out of my fursuit, but decided to keep Ringgar on while Jinx and I attended a panel about an hour later for protecting your Online Privacy, hosted by DEFCON Furs! They gave us some good tip about password strength and using physical means as a means of login protection, as well as considering what exactly we want to protect and how much we need! After the panel, Jinx and I went back to the hotel room to have some dinner in our room together. We hung out for awhile longer until the evening, when I returned to the con center, first as a human to say hello to my pal Breakfast!, then as a circular wolf to attend a Starcane Arts fursuit family photoshoot! As always, this is one of the highlights, and favorite parts of the con for me, whenever we can swing it! The best part about this shoot is that I got to meet so many of my friends and family members whom I had only known from online at this point, considering most of them are on the complete opposite side of the country to me! We also had a new family member, Nutmeg, who had just bought one of the partials Starcane made at the con join us as well! We had a great time chatting and goofing off together before heading out own ways for the evening. Some of us had made plans to head to an outdoor lights exhibit, the Imaginarium, after the photoshoot, but those plans had to be cancelled. I hope to be able to go there the next time I visit California! Instead, I walked around in fursuit for a little while longer, then attended a panel mirroring the Price is Right, but with cursed and strange items (which was hilarious!) After that, Jinx headed back to the room to chase some of those elusive Z’s for the night, but not before peering at my favorite planet, Saturn, through a telescope that This person had set up just outside the con center!
The 21st of September, 2025, will certainly be one to remember for me! This day of the con was especially important for me, as I was about to do something totally new to me: Host a panel for the first time! Jinx and I got some breakfast at a nearby diner chain called Spires before getting ready for my panel, which was at Noon that Sunday. The topic of my panel was about something I’ve grown to love doing for the past couple years: scrapbooking and smashbooking for furry cons! In addition to doing these journals, I had been putting together scrapbook and smashbook pages, as well as shadow boxes, to hold all of the stickers, lanyards, pins, flyers, and other con loot I’ve collected at furry cons! Partially because I am sentimental, but also because I think it is a nice thing to remember who I met and what I did at a convention, both inside the con and in the area the con is in! The point of my panel was to show others how fun (and easy!) making a page of your own can be! I was nervous, excited, anxious, thrilled, and had a whole bunch of butterflies in my stomach on the walk over to the con center. Despite the low attendance of the panel, being a grand total of seven people, I did get a big thumbs up from the handful that attended! While having more attendees would have been nice, the time the panel was at was something that I couldn't help, and ultimately, I did what I had hoped to do: ‘Beta Test' this panel and get feedback for when I host this at cons back home in the near future, and share one of my hobbies and passions with everyone, while being (hopefully) entertaining for everyone who attended! I understand that the concept of scrapbooking can sound pretty boring on the surface, so my goal is to make sure people actually enjoy talking about and watching me yap about paper and glue dots!
After my panel, I brought my setup back to the hotel room and got into suit to go meet Yukon, AKA YukonBarksALot! He is a friend of one of our Starcane family members, Burumun, and was photography staff for the con this year! However, before I met with Yukon, I was surprised by someone I haven’t heard from in a long time: a canine named Clover! Clover is someone who I had met in a larger /r/furry chat when I first joined Telegram after jumping the Skype ship. It had been years since I had spoken to him, and I never expected to meet him in person! I was absolutely shocked to see him, let alone the fact that he remembered me, but he absolutely made my day with one heck of a surprise! He handed me a sketch he drew of a reindeer Ringgar during the holiday season one year, and I audibly gasped at seeing it IRL! It seems that Sundays at furry cons have been full of surprises for me lately, and I hope that keeps up (with good surprises, preferably :P!)
Before the con, Yukon and I had agreed to have some photos of the circle wolf be taken, and we were able to do so on the stairs of the con center, closest to the outdoor pavilion! The weather was a bit cloudier today, meaning the lighting was a like a natural soft-white diffuser, and in the end, Yukon took some absolutely tremendous photos of the circle wolf that we were both happy with! (Thank you again!!) Just after our photo session, we walked to closing ceremonies for the con, where we got to see everybody’s favorite announcements: The amount of money raised for Pomona Valley Pride, the attendance numbers, and the announcement of next year’s theme! AFC had a grand total of 5642 attendees, up almost 2100 attendees from last year, and the theme for the following year would be a Arcade Fighter theme (They said a really long name here, I forget what this was off the top of my head :P). Not only that, but the convention going forward would operate under a new name: Anthro SoCal! Here’s hoping they do a 2000’s tech based theme in the future so that the con acronym could be ASCII! What I find particularly remarkable about this convention, is that this was only the second year of the con’s existence, and it has already broken into one of the top 10 most attended furry cons of all time! That’s California at work! After the closing ceremonies, I walked around in suit for the briefest of times before going back to the hotel together with Jinx to take off our fursuits and to plan on dinner. We went to a nearby cantina called Mariscos together, along with Moregenta, and had some nice Mexican and seafood dinners together! The three of us agreed to meet back up at the con center to cap off the last day of the con, and I donned Ringgar one last time to dance at the dead dog dances for some time, then go to the Karaoke with Tommy! The dance was great, and I got to say my goodbyes to some of the folks I had met at the con before ending the con with a group sing of that Earth Wind and Fire classic that everyone remembers on this day of the year! After that, the con center had closed, and I went back to the hotel room for a good night’s wolf rest.
Another Furry Con was certainly not just another Furry Con for me. Truth be told, it felt like a throwback to some of the very first cons I ever attended, which I suppose is appropriate considering how back-in-time the theme of the con was! I was in a brand new place, with very, very few people I knew in attendance. I felt a little lost at times, not sure what to do or who to see. However, through the whole weekend, I felt a strong urge to be very sociable, just as strong as I did when I attended my first couple of furry cons after COVID! I don't know if the folks I met at the con will remember me, especially considering going to the West Coast isn't something I 've never done before until now, and I am OK with that! What is important to me is that I connected with several folks in person for the first time, that I had only previously known online, met my adopted family from the West Coast, brought some East Coast love with me to share, and to make people laugh and smile. Best of all, I did all of this in my most favorite way: by being a goofy circular animal! From an attendee’s perspective, there are a few things I would do differently knowing what I know now: I’d plan ahead a way to get around outside of the immediate area of the hotel and con center, and take some extra time to go visit the areas around the con, like Joshua Tree National Park or Palm Springs! I can say with certainty that I’ve enjoyed my brief time in Ontario, and I would absolutely love to come back for another Anthro SoCal!
P.S, my next convention will be Furpocalypse 2025! This wolf hopes to see you there, in the Midnight Dimension!
If you have, or see, any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Ringgar's AFC 2025 Photo Album!Thursday, September 18thThursday was the lengthiest day of my trip, and it was almost entirely dedicated to travel. I arrived at the airport around 3AM and had a flight down to Baltimore Washington International before connecting to the flight to Ontario International. Thankfully, I wasn’t solo during the longest portion of the trip, as my pal (and roommate for the con)
afurryjinx were on the same flight together! Though the flight over was rather uneventful, it was nice being able to talk to someone I know and plan ahead while we took the trek over. The good news about crossing three time zones is that we, technically, made really good time, getting there around mid-day. Though upon arriving at the hotel, our room wasn't ready just yet. We left our bags at the hotel and decided to have an early dinner while we waited. While looking for place to eat, this is where I came to a stark realization about Ontario: there are several things within driving distance of the hotel, but very few things within walking distance. Most restaurants in the area were at least a mile walk away, and could only be reached by travelling along the freeway. There were a number of restaurants in the immediate area around the hotel of course, but the majority of these were fast-food chains. We took an Uber to and from an area at the nearby mall for a sit-down dinner at a BJ’s, then headed back to the hotel to check into our room. In a way, this reminded me of the food situation at MFF, where the majority of the non-fast-food places to eat were at least several blocks away from the hotel, but here you weren't able to walk there at all. Not that you would want to, most of these would be an hour away at least! By the time we were settled into our room at the Doubletree, after getting some snacks for the room, we decided to get ready for registration. AFC does their pre-registration a little bit differently from other conventions. Since the convention itself takes place at the Ontario Convention Center, which was not open to us yet, pre-registration had to occur at the main hotel, that being the Doubletree. We lined up at a good time for pre-registration, and were one of the first ones to get our badges! Beyond pre-registration, there was one more day zero event of the con for Thursday: a pool party in the Doubletree courtyard! I got dressed for the pool and headed down to the party, where I met up with one of the few folks from New England who I knew would be there ahead of time,
KittyBean! We chatted for only the briefest of times before I received word that folks from my fursuit family had just arrived as well! I went to the reg line to meet 
Moregenta, and we made plans to go to get Ramen with my fursuit artists, Zenith and Orion, as well as their friends Sami and Morgenta’s friends! I changed out of my pool attire before we headed out down the road together to (Insert Location Here). We had a good meal and chat together, then decided to get dessert at L'Moon, where I got to try Thai Tea soft serve for the first time! This wolf loves his boba, but this was a vastly different experience from what I could get back home, and it was sweet as could be! Our group all chatted for awhile together, then went our separate ways for the evening to get ready for the first day of the convention tomorrow! Friday, the 19thFriday was the first official day of the convention, and we started it off with a bang! Jinx and I had some breakfast before getting into fursuit for the first time this weekend, and walked to the con center for the first panel of the weekend, Furry Improv! This is a panel I’ve done at just about every single New England furry con I have been to, and I love being able to participate and have a lot of fun, while making a little bit of a fool of myself in the process! We played a lot of improv games that I’m familiar with back home, such as ‘World’s Worst,’ ‘Room Party,’ and ‘Press Conference,’ but with one unique bonus game! In this panel, the host does a ‘Magic Minute,’ where he has two fursuiters come up to the front of the stage to be charity bucket brigadiers, and collect money from the audience to go towards the charity of the year, Pomona Valley Pride! There were two catches, however: You had to collect the money under one or two random challenges, and the audience could throw anything into the bucket, not just money! The suiter with the most money raised would be the winner! The host let the audience decide how many challenges we had to do, and of course, the audience opted for the maximum amount of challenges to make us suffer, but at least it was for a good cause! I was selected to play, and my challenges were to sing everything I said, and to remain completely still in a random pose, which was, of course, a little bit of a damper on the whole ‘collecting’ aspect. The host also wanted me to sing songs from Frozen, because, well, that is exactly what I was. Unfortunately for me, I have never seen Frozen so I had to ad-lib the entire thing! Thankfully, the audience took pity on me and my singing ‘skills’ and I was able to win with $100 raised! My prize? All the junk in the bucket that wasn't money. This included such great prizes as: expired gift cards, partially opened candy, stickers, and the best item, a membership card to a local bowling alley that was explicitly for bowling shoes. I can't think of a better way to sum up a furry improv panel than this random assortment of items! Plus, since the con didn't have an open charity bucket brigade, at least I was able to do something like it while I was there!
After the improv panel, Jinx and I walked back to the hotel to get out of suit and to go find dinner! We decided to head to the sacred ground of California that was In-N-Out to have some burgers for an early dinner. It didn't blow my socks off, but I think the reason people rave about it is the atmosphere and the simple menu, but don't quote a New England resident on that! We walked from the In-N-Out right back to the con center for a panel called ‘A Look Inside- Introspective’. When reading the description of the panel, I didn't quite know what to expect. I thought it was a panel for discussing heavy personal topics, and while there was some of that, it was actually a fairly light-hearted panel, and was treated mostly like a game! The host would draw from a deck of questions that range from superficial to deep personal questions, and a specific person from the audience would answer, followed up by some folks in the whole audience! I was pleasantly surprised about this panel, and I really enjoyed it!
Following this panel, I took a trip to the Dealer’s Den to say hello to Zenith, Orion, and Sami, as well as to grab goodies for scrapbooking! I only spent around half an hour in the dealers den, but that was enough to walk through the entire den and stop to browse! I then went back to the hotel to get into suit again for an important event: Monster’s DJ set in the outdoor pavilion at the con center! Monster is a Starcane fursuit family member, and was Zenith and Orion’s first commissioner as a team! He has been in the adopted family longer than most of us, and I was excited to see him in person for the first time! He always comes off as a person with no shortage of party energy, and that definitely showed in his DJ set! Zen, Orion, and my family member Waffle all showed up to his set to dance around, take photos together, and vibe! I did get quite winded towards the end, mostly due to the humid weather and my ice best having melted at that point, but for a wolf like me who doesn't generally do dances or raves, Monster knew how to get this canine grooving! I met Monster very briefly after his set, though I was exhausted at that point, so I had to saunter back to the hotel to take my fursuit off. Jinx was back at the hotel at that point, so we spent a few hours together in the hotel room before I made one last walk back to the con center to see what was going on in the evening. I walked around (in a partial) just to see what else was in the con center, and attended a late night, lo-fi pool toy party in one of the panel rooms for awhile! This room had a nice chill vibe for the evening and was absolutely full of giant pool toys, balloons, and other fun beach toys! After hanging out in the party room, which was great for coming down from a sensory overload, I went back to the hotel room to retire for the night, and to get ready for an early day tomorrow!
Shout-out to Bob and Tom’s Gently Used Crematorium!
Saturday, the 20thSaturday was the busiest day of the convention, and it started early! Jinx and I got up early to have some breakfast at a Denny’s nearby (something I hadn't done in years, believe it or not,) then dashed back to the hotel to get into fursuit. The reason being that the very first event of the day was the con fursuit photo and parade! We got into line for the photo, and waited intensely for it to be taken. At the time of writing, the (not full-res) photo of the fursuiters had been posted, and it looks like you can just see the tops of Jinx and I’s heads, with our ears sticking out. I was even standing on my tip-toes! Oh well! The parade itself actually took place entirely inside the con center! This was a bit different from the past few conventions I’d gone to, where at least a portion of the parade was outside! Considering this was the hottest day of the weekend, and that the con center wasn't really near any residential areas for non-con attendees to watch, I’d say that was actually for the best! Plus, I didn't need my ice vest at all! I walked and waved up and down the parade route before coming to a stop in the headless lounge, where I got meet Tommy again and one of his West Coast friends, Rico! Jinx also met one of his Heads & Tails fursuit family members as well! After the parade, I walked around for awhile, debating whether or not I wanted to get out of my fursuit, but decided to keep Ringgar on while Jinx and I attended a panel about an hour later for protecting your Online Privacy, hosted by DEFCON Furs! They gave us some good tip about password strength and using physical means as a means of login protection, as well as considering what exactly we want to protect and how much we need! After the panel, Jinx and I went back to the hotel room to have some dinner in our room together. We hung out for awhile longer until the evening, when I returned to the con center, first as a human to say hello to my pal Breakfast!, then as a circular wolf to attend a Starcane Arts fursuit family photoshoot! As always, this is one of the highlights, and favorite parts of the con for me, whenever we can swing it! The best part about this shoot is that I got to meet so many of my friends and family members whom I had only known from online at this point, considering most of them are on the complete opposite side of the country to me! We also had a new family member, Nutmeg, who had just bought one of the partials Starcane made at the con join us as well! We had a great time chatting and goofing off together before heading out own ways for the evening. Some of us had made plans to head to an outdoor lights exhibit, the Imaginarium, after the photoshoot, but those plans had to be cancelled. I hope to be able to go there the next time I visit California! Instead, I walked around in fursuit for a little while longer, then attended a panel mirroring the Price is Right, but with cursed and strange items (which was hilarious!) After that, Jinx headed back to the room to chase some of those elusive Z’s for the night, but not before peering at my favorite planet, Saturn, through a telescope that This person had set up just outside the con center!
Sunday, the 21stThe 21st of September, 2025, will certainly be one to remember for me! This day of the con was especially important for me, as I was about to do something totally new to me: Host a panel for the first time! Jinx and I got some breakfast at a nearby diner chain called Spires before getting ready for my panel, which was at Noon that Sunday. The topic of my panel was about something I’ve grown to love doing for the past couple years: scrapbooking and smashbooking for furry cons! In addition to doing these journals, I had been putting together scrapbook and smashbook pages, as well as shadow boxes, to hold all of the stickers, lanyards, pins, flyers, and other con loot I’ve collected at furry cons! Partially because I am sentimental, but also because I think it is a nice thing to remember who I met and what I did at a convention, both inside the con and in the area the con is in! The point of my panel was to show others how fun (and easy!) making a page of your own can be! I was nervous, excited, anxious, thrilled, and had a whole bunch of butterflies in my stomach on the walk over to the con center. Despite the low attendance of the panel, being a grand total of seven people, I did get a big thumbs up from the handful that attended! While having more attendees would have been nice, the time the panel was at was something that I couldn't help, and ultimately, I did what I had hoped to do: ‘Beta Test' this panel and get feedback for when I host this at cons back home in the near future, and share one of my hobbies and passions with everyone, while being (hopefully) entertaining for everyone who attended! I understand that the concept of scrapbooking can sound pretty boring on the surface, so my goal is to make sure people actually enjoy talking about and watching me yap about paper and glue dots!
After my panel, I brought my setup back to the hotel room and got into suit to go meet Yukon, AKA YukonBarksALot! He is a friend of one of our Starcane family members, Burumun, and was photography staff for the con this year! However, before I met with Yukon, I was surprised by someone I haven’t heard from in a long time: a canine named Clover! Clover is someone who I had met in a larger /r/furry chat when I first joined Telegram after jumping the Skype ship. It had been years since I had spoken to him, and I never expected to meet him in person! I was absolutely shocked to see him, let alone the fact that he remembered me, but he absolutely made my day with one heck of a surprise! He handed me a sketch he drew of a reindeer Ringgar during the holiday season one year, and I audibly gasped at seeing it IRL! It seems that Sundays at furry cons have been full of surprises for me lately, and I hope that keeps up (with good surprises, preferably :P!)
Before the con, Yukon and I had agreed to have some photos of the circle wolf be taken, and we were able to do so on the stairs of the con center, closest to the outdoor pavilion! The weather was a bit cloudier today, meaning the lighting was a like a natural soft-white diffuser, and in the end, Yukon took some absolutely tremendous photos of the circle wolf that we were both happy with! (Thank you again!!) Just after our photo session, we walked to closing ceremonies for the con, where we got to see everybody’s favorite announcements: The amount of money raised for Pomona Valley Pride, the attendance numbers, and the announcement of next year’s theme! AFC had a grand total of 5642 attendees, up almost 2100 attendees from last year, and the theme for the following year would be a Arcade Fighter theme (They said a really long name here, I forget what this was off the top of my head :P). Not only that, but the convention going forward would operate under a new name: Anthro SoCal! Here’s hoping they do a 2000’s tech based theme in the future so that the con acronym could be ASCII! What I find particularly remarkable about this convention, is that this was only the second year of the con’s existence, and it has already broken into one of the top 10 most attended furry cons of all time! That’s California at work! After the closing ceremonies, I walked around in suit for the briefest of times before going back to the hotel together with Jinx to take off our fursuits and to plan on dinner. We went to a nearby cantina called Mariscos together, along with Moregenta, and had some nice Mexican and seafood dinners together! The three of us agreed to meet back up at the con center to cap off the last day of the con, and I donned Ringgar one last time to dance at the dead dog dances for some time, then go to the Karaoke with Tommy! The dance was great, and I got to say my goodbyes to some of the folks I had met at the con before ending the con with a group sing of that Earth Wind and Fire classic that everyone remembers on this day of the year! After that, the con center had closed, and I went back to the hotel room for a good night’s wolf rest.
Returning to the Present!Another Furry Con was certainly not just another Furry Con for me. Truth be told, it felt like a throwback to some of the very first cons I ever attended, which I suppose is appropriate considering how back-in-time the theme of the con was! I was in a brand new place, with very, very few people I knew in attendance. I felt a little lost at times, not sure what to do or who to see. However, through the whole weekend, I felt a strong urge to be very sociable, just as strong as I did when I attended my first couple of furry cons after COVID! I don't know if the folks I met at the con will remember me, especially considering going to the West Coast isn't something I 've never done before until now, and I am OK with that! What is important to me is that I connected with several folks in person for the first time, that I had only previously known online, met my adopted family from the West Coast, brought some East Coast love with me to share, and to make people laugh and smile. Best of all, I did all of this in my most favorite way: by being a goofy circular animal! From an attendee’s perspective, there are a few things I would do differently knowing what I know now: I’d plan ahead a way to get around outside of the immediate area of the hotel and con center, and take some extra time to go visit the areas around the con, like Joshua Tree National Park or Palm Springs! I can say with certainty that I’ve enjoyed my brief time in Ontario, and I would absolutely love to come back for another Anthro SoCal!
Thank you so, so much to all of the staff and volunteers who made this con such a nostalgic and exciting experience, as well as allowing me to host my very first panel! Thank you to everyone I met for making my first time on the West Coast a warm and welcoming one! Finally, thank you for reading!P.S, my next convention will be Furpocalypse 2025! This wolf hopes to see you there, in the Midnight Dimension!
Anthrocon 2025 Wrap-Up!
Posted 4 months agoHello folks of a furry persuasion! As I had previously posted, I recently made the expedition back to the undersea city of Pittsburgh, PA to attend Anthrocon 2025: Deep Sea Adventures! While the city itself may not have been underwater, the humidity through the duration of the con certainly gave the theme it's authenticity! The con was held from July 3rd-6th this year over the 4th of July holiday weekend! Last year's Anthrocon was my very first AC, and the experience far exceeded my expectations! This year, I had the opportunity to try some things I was not able to do the previous year, and meet many other folks for the first time in person! Overall, this year AC was primarily a social con rather than an event-oriented convention, which is as much of the charm of the convention as the city transforming for it, and the MASSIVE amount of events that occur at the con each year! The heat and humidity did not dampen this wolf's spirit for convention excitement this year, and now I'd like to share with you the activities and happenings of my trip to Anthrocon 2025!
Similarly to last year, I decided to make the trip down to the con just after midnight on Wednesday morning. I took the same route afurryjinx and I did together last year, and while I made the trip down solo, he was my roommate once again for the year! The drive is a long one from where I live, but I actually enjoyed taking the trip down that early in the morning. There is little to no traffic, you get to watch the sun rise in the rear view mirror, and the feeling of long-distance driving at night on an open road is something I grew to appreciate after doing the same for other conventions the year before! This year I was also properly prepared with a fresh playlist so I wouldn't have to fiddle with trying to find an FM radio station in between Philly and Pitt that wasn't playing the good ol' 24/7 static marathon! I actually stopped at the same rest stop Jinx and I had been to on the way down the year prior, which wasn't intentional, but I found it interesting that it has happened twice! (And will likely happen again!) I made good time, arriving a couple of hours earlier than I expected, and was able to grab a spot in a nearby parking garage for the weekend! Normally I wouldn't marvel at this much, but with AC sprawling out across the entirety of the south side of Downtown Pittsburgh, I was thrilled to be able to find parking at all. The saved time gave me the time to tussle with my card company over the phone while trying to check in to the Kimpton Monaco, where we stayed for the year! After that snafu, I still had plenty of time before Jinx arrived, so I decided to walk across to the North Shore to view one of the things I wasn't able to see last year: The Andy Warhol Museum! He is of course known primarily for his Pop Art, but what surprised me the most about him was his journey into film and his use of different media, such as diamond dust on canvas! Have to love the museums in Pittsburgh for always showing me something I never knew before! After viewing the museum, I walked back to Market Square to see what was new in the area since I had been there last year. To my surprise, the entire center area of the square had been ripped up for reconstruction! The surrounding businesses were still open, but there was now a giant fenced in area, where previously there had been a large gathering space for folks to congregate! Last year, there were even musicians from the convention playing in the square! I wonder what the square will look like once the construction is done. Perhaps they will turn it into a Market Circle!
After retracing my steps from Wednesday last year, I returned to the hotel to unpack my suit and awaited Jinx's arrival. Once had had arrived and we had the opportunity to unpack, we decided to get dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Commoner. The food was good, but the menu was limited (except for the bar, of course,) and the prices were eye-popping. My recommendation to anyone reading this is to keep this locale in your back pocket if you would like to spend a pleasant evening after the con, but I wouldn't go there on a daily basis, it was certainly not the most budget friendly venue. Jinx and I settled into the room and waited for his partners, Cotton and Kota, to arrive as our final roommates for the con. Before bed, I also went down to the waterfront and saw the first of many of my Starcane Arts family members, (Firra), as well as another friend of theirs who makes fursuits! I caught up with them for awhile as took in the (very) early vibes at the waterfront before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest.
Thursday was registration pick-up day! Jinx and I woke up together in the morning and we decided to grab breakfast at a coffee shop I had passed by the day before in Market Square, the Nicholas Coffee & Tea Co.! This location is primarily an outlet for specialty coffee and tea rather than a bistro or restaurant, but they did offer rotating daily flavor varieties of both coffee and tea! We took some wonderful sips to go and walked over to the convention center two hours before registration opened. The line was, as you would expect, incredibly packed, and was even more so very shortly after we arrived. The con had made improvements to reg by now utilizing the entirety of the DLCC first floor space for lines, and by closing off the roads underneath the DLCC as a place for people to line up without having to stand in the sun! Things were going smoothly enough, so much so that they opened registration an hour early! They began registering sponsors and attendees in tandem, but a problem very quickly presented itself: The line for regular attendees was sufficiently long and prepped for, but the line for sponsors and supersponsors had grown far too long far too fast. It was extending out into the street and the sun, much like the regular attendee line did last year. As a result, the con decided to stop the regular attendee line and register all of the supersponsors and sponsors first. I understand why this had to happen of course, but it was very frustating, as by the time they cut off the regular attendee line, Jinx and I were at the very front. We had to wait tantalizingly close to being registered for a little over an hour at that point. I would have liked to have been a sponsor this year, but by the time I went to register back in early February, all levels of sponsor had sold out, likely due to the introduction of the attendance cap this year. At least our roommates were able to be registered before us! After registering, I walked around the convention center to see who was present, and I was able to find one of my New England local pals, Lucid, Carbon the Snep, and another Starcane family member, whom I met for the first time, Sheeb! I would run into all of them several more times during the course of the con in passing, as well! I walked around the con center briefly, and then decided to head back to the hotel to have an early dinner so I could be ready for the events I was attending later that afternoon!
I went to have some nice middle-eastern food with another Starcane family member, Sithirie, who I would also run into at several more points during the con! I returned to the hotel and entered full wolf mode for the first time this weekend, then took the shuttle to the con center to attend the opening ceremonies that afternoon! I have to give props to the AV team, they did an exceptional job the with the main stage setup this year! During the opening ceremonies, I also ran into another family member, Setrahn and his wife Lyric! After some brief exchanging of hellos and good-to-see-yous, I wandered down to the waterfront, where I awaited the arrival of one of the things I was not able to do the previous year, the sightseeing cruise! Along the way I ran into Hannu, Kittybean, Blush, Jedi, and other friends while we were in line for the cruise! The weather was hot, and I was sweating like, well, the canine I am, but thankfully the cruise had water and places for us to sit. I took a brief moment to recharge and headed up to top deck to socialize with many other fantastic folks, such as the aforementioned line-con attendees, several con staffers and photographers, awesome folks like 
NexusFolf (who was also staff this year!) and their husband Strobes, and many, many other cruise-goers! This was one of my favorite parts about the con this year, not only because it is a nice guided tour along the river, and it fit with the con theme, but primarily because it gives you the opportunity to socialize in a more 1-on-1 setting, away from the hustle and bustle of the convention, which I appreciated greatly. It was a nice reprieve from the overwhelming excitement of the con to come!
After getting my sea-legs and returning to land, I had been in suit for around 4 hours at that point, so I decided to return to the hotel. I had a bit of a headache due to a lack of a good breakfast that morning, so I decided to head back to the con center in partial to see if anyone else I recognized was there, but I only stayed briefly before deciding to grab some dessert at the Milkshake Factory, then return to the room for the night around midnight and retire for the next day!
Ahhh, America! The 4th of July had come at last, and in Pittsburgh, that meant a day of fun, fireworks, and Anthrocon activities! I found some breakfast at a nearby bistro, trying to make an effort to have a better breakfast than just tea in the morning before heading back to the hotel room to suit up and head to the con center! Last year I had the opportunity to attend Gale's Fursuiting 101 panel, and it was an absolute riot. I loved getting to take part along with the audience, and I did just the same this year! I got a little lost before the panel after realizing it was moved from the DLCC to the Westin this year, which was certainly a much more appropriate location for the event, as the Allegheny ballroom had an actual stage for the participants! For those who are not familiar with the panel, this panel is not focused on the basics of fursuiting, but rather, is an improv-lite show to demonstrate how to best pose, act, and walk in fursuit! The goal is to encourage people to get the most out of their experience with a fursuit by showing them how to bring the character to life! Of course, when you put a bunch of fursuiters in a room to act silly together, things will, naturally, progress in a very silly and un-serious manner! This panel was one of the highlights of my con experience last year, was was one of the things I was most looking forward to this year! It was a blast, and I highly recommend attending!
After attending the panel, I walked over to the Dealer's Den to meet some very important people for the first time: My Fursuit Makers, Zenith and Orion! I also ran into Klein and Dandy, two other Starcane Arts suiters who were there at the same time! I found Zenith first, and gave them the absolute biggest circle wolf hug I could, one I had been saving just for them! I gave one to Orion next, and I did get a bit emotional. I had been wanting to return the art to the artists ever since Ringgar came home in 2023, and I owe so much to them for bringing my fursona to the real world, so that I could be who he was, realized. Zenith and Orion had been accepted to vend at Anthrocon this year, which came to be after I had registered for the con. I was hoping to see them at AFC for the first time in September, but I could not be more thankful than to see them both for the first time this weekend! Becoming Ringgar in the real world opened up whole new worlds of fun, excitement, and ways to spread joy to others that I am eternally grateful for! After chatting with Zen, Orion, Hannu, Dandy, and Klein for awhile (and discreetly placing my frog, more on this later,) I decided to move on and get out of suit, as I had my cooling vest on and it had melted by that point. I returned to the hotel, de-suited, and then returned to the con center, where I had intended to say hello to Zenith and Orion in person, but instead I ran into Setrahn and Lyric! Along with Set's friend Ithanias, the three of us decided to grab dinner before the Starcane family photoshoot later on that evening at Condado tacos, which was just around the corner of the DLCC! I had avoided this location the year before, believing it would always be too busy to enter a reasonable time, but we were able to find a table in a decent amount of time and had a nice dinner together! After dinner, I went back to don Ringgar once more to the convention center to attend the largest gathering of Starcane Arts fursuiters to date! We had around 20 suiters there, easily eclipsing the number of suiters in one place we had before at MFF 2023 and AC 2024! This was a truly special moment for me, as it was a gathering of so many fantastic individuals whom I had met at various cons before, and others I had only met for the first time! To me, this was the most important thing I did at the convention. This found family means so much to me, and I can't thank Zen and Orion enough for bringing us all together!!
After our meetup, Zenith and Orion discovered the purpose behind the frogs, a coded message (masterminded by Morgenta and Ripley,) which spelled out a phrase that many kids who grew up in the early 00's would know! It was a great prank, and one that every Starcane member who was attending was in on! I had intended to go back to the hotel and de-suit, but I realized just before getting on the shuttle, that the 4th of July fireworks were about to begin! I trekked in suit back up to the third floor balcony to watch in the crowd with several dozens of other people, and my Starcane family member Ripley! I quite liked the variety of fireworks Pennsylvania has on display during the 4th of July, there is no other state in the U.S who does them quite like they do! At the time the fireworks ended, I was hot, exhausted, and it was late, so I went back to the hotel to give Ringgar some TLC and launder my underarmor so I would have enough clean sets to use for the rest of the con! I'd like to thank Sami, one of my Starcane family members and close friend to Zen and Orion, for being patient with me as I searched for quarters to use their laundry machines at the Drury so late at night! At this point, it was almost 2AM, so I was well past due for bedtime to be ready for more fun to come!
After the excitement from the day prior, I decided to sleep in a little bit for Saturday morning, but not for long! Today was the big day for the Fursuit Parade! I grabbed breakfast and got into suit to head to the con center about an hour before the lineup started. That hour went by in what felt like a flash, as I, along with (Requiem) entered the lineup early together! I didn't realize at the time that the lineup duration was two hours long, which I did realize after waiting around in the DLCC second floor for a little while, so I spent the time chatting up some of the folks around me in line. The parade operated on a first-in, first-out basis for those who entered the line, so despite the wait time, it was still significantly shorter than it was in the parade last year! Due to some changes the con had made regarding limiting the number of participants (due to heat issues in the lineup from last year, which I DEFINETLY felt,) the overall parade duration went from an hour and a half to just 40 minutes! Walking through the parade was smoother too this year, as there were no technical breakdowns in the line! Walking through the parade only takes about 6-7 minutes, and half of that is actually inside the con center. The parade route goes outside to the streets below the con center, wraps around to the other street, and then back inside to the con center first floor. Due to the majority of the route being in the shade, while the weather was still hot and humid, I was able to walk the route without any issues and a lot of energy this year! Side note though, I was wearing my cooling vest, and I have seen some videos of me walking down the route. One thing I like to do for parades in suit is to try to swing my arms and bounce back and forth as I walk down the road, which I simply like to call my 'bounce walk!' Due to my vest though, I did notice my movements were somewhat stifled, so I appeared stiffer than I anticipated. I think this is something I will have to get used to with the vest on, as it looks completely different to when I do it with the vest off.
Due to the aforementioned vest, I didn't stay long in the cooling stop at the end of the route and decided to head right back to the hotel to take off my vest, as it was now completely melted and somewhat of an insulator. I would have liked to have headed directly back to the block party afterwards to socialize, but I just couldn't hack it. Instead, while Ringgar was drying out in my room, I went to The Warren for dinner, one of my favorite spots from my first trip to the city last year! After a brief meal I went back to the hotel to suit up again and headed down to the block party! The block party is the best opportunity for fursuiters and furries to interact with the citizens of the city, and I took full advantage by acting like the silly, upbeat wolf Ringgar is with the general public while I was there! However, at that time the sun was still out, and the humidity had not gone down between then and the parade, so I feel like I spent half of my time there in the outdoor headless lounges that were on site. These lounges are simply trailers with fans, seats, and an AC unit inside. They did a decent job at cooling down the temperature inside, but the humidity was piercing through the trailers, so the actual cooling capacity of these lounges was somewhat mitigated. I spent a little over an hour at the block party, and after deciding I needed to be cooling down inside with no humidity, I went inside the Westin to sit and watch the tail end of the Anthrocon Tonight talent show, and then went across the skybridge to the DLCC to watch the final rounds of the Floor Wars crew battles! Shout out to all the acts in the talent show, and the crews in the Floor Wars, I had the pleasure to witness two axis of incredible skill and talent in one awesome night!
After the events concluded, I headed back to the hotel to get out of suit, sat awhile with Jinx, and then partialed to the Renaissance to meet up with Mango, who was hosting a room party for our Starcane Arts family! After sharing some really good vibes and some spicy water, I headed down with Mango to the DLCC waterfront to hang out for the rest of the night. I went my own way inside the DLCC to cool off after some time as the humidity had not diminished despite the sun being down, and after walking around for awhile and running into Lucid once more, I decided to set up one of my hobbies outside the rave, my Beyblade X stadium! I had brought it with me to the room party, and I took it with me to the waterfront and DLCC as well that night, as I had intended to show my friends how to play, and most importantly, to have fun with others with my silly little hobby! It was around 1AM at this point, and while I was able to play with several passer-bys in the con center, it was at this time that something very interesting happened. Next to me, (Soong-Dae) was playing their dice game with the public! This dice game is one of the things they are known for doing at conventions: They bring a large dice for you to roll, and depending on what you land on, you can either expect a mystery prize, or, punishment (which is being smacked with a giant paper fan)! Most of these prizes are VERY silly, with things such as tags or medals for very odd things, or fortunes (or misfortunes!) While I was blading, I was called over to play his game! To my surprise, I was the winner of the grand prize! This prize was a stamped piece of paper that was redeemable for a free Hyena Agenda shirt! I was absolutely thrilled and it was a great way to end off the day! Shortly after this, the con center was closing for the night, and I took my stadium and prize back to the hotel to rest up for one more day of fun!
The final day of con activities had arrived, and the day started early for me! The Anthrocon Fursuit games was starting early that morning, so I had some breakfast in my hotel room, and suited up shortly after waking up and getting ready for the day! I headed on down to the con center to sign up for the Fursuit games and was able to get a spot in no problem! This year the Fursuit Games once again overlapped with the dance competition, and while I wish I could have been able to do both, I knew the dance competition would at least be recorded for viewing later, while the Fursuit Games traditionally are not. I don't have any regrets about doing the fursuit games, as this is easily one of the most fun things for me to do at any furry convention, and this was no exception! A big thank you to
Sharky1964 for hosting the games this year again, and to everyone on my team, the Purple team, who helped bring us to a good result this year! I do quite like the way Anthrocon's Fursuit games does teams, by having smaller team sizes and more teams in general, it feels like the games just breeze by, and you are never too far from participating in the fun, while also scaling nicely for more suiters to participate! I hope next year the scheduling is adjusted to not have the event overlap with the dance competition, so more people don't have to make the tough choice of going between the two! After the games, I headed down to the Dealer's Den. At this point in the con, I had not had the chance to browse the den at all beyond going to greet my fursuit makers! The den was closing in just three hours, so I headed down to the Hyena Agenda booth first to redeem my prize from Soong-Dae the night before! Soong-Dae was standing at the booth right next door, so I greeted him and thanked him for the prize! I walked around to the booth to redeem my voucher, and the vendor at the booth took it to verify its authenticity! It was at this moment that I realized, I had forgotten to read the fine print on the voucher. The voucher did say I was entitled to a shirt, but it also said I was entitled to a bonus prize as well! The prize was revealed upon opening the voucher, and it was... PUNISHMENT. I did something between a howl and a laugh, because I was strung along so hard until this point and was COMPLETELY oblivious. While I got smacked by a giant paper fan, Soong-Dae was having a laugh at my expense at the next booth over. This whole interaction absolutely made my day! I was still in fursuit at that point, so I didn't mind others chuckling at me at my expense (not that I would mind out of suit, either!) It was a perfect con, and my naivety was true to form for Ringgar as a character! I did still get a shirt for my troubles!
After receiving my shirt and saying goodbye to my fursuit makers, I went up to put Ringgar's head in a coin locker so I could shop around the den without having to hold my fursuit head the whole time. On the way, I was stopped by a friend of another Starcane family member, Yukon! He was kind enough to take some photos of me on the third floor balcony while I wore my new shirt! From the preview, I was very happy with how those photos came out, and I believe Yukon was as well! Now I can at least say I was dressed for the theme of the con at one point during the event! After meeting them, I did my rounds around the dealer's den before getting out of suit at the hotel for a brief while just to relax, then brought my head and tail back to the con center to watch the closing ceremonies! The closing ceremonies always has a lot of eyes on it, and people in the audience, as they await the wrap-up and final numbers around the con! This year, the con was able to raise a tremendous $87,000 for the charity this year, Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue, and had 18,357 attendees! Extrapolating from what the con had previously shared about remaining weekend passes available, that would place the attendance cap (of which an exact number was kept hidden,) at around 18,500-19K attendees! This makes Anthrocon once again, the largest furry convention on Earth, beating the record previously set by Furry Weekend Atlanta in May of this year by about 600! I'm especially impressed by the charity numbers, which continues to show that Anthrocon is a mecca for charitable furries, being not that far off from the $100k that was raised last year! I also continue to marvel at just how big this convention has become, and just how much the con is able to do despite these massive numbers of attendees! After closing ceremonies, I met up with a new Starcane member who joined the group during the convention, Nite, and we had some vietnamese at a restaurant on the Strip on Penn Ave.! We took an Uber back to the hotel, and I decided to use my last pair of underarmor to suit up one more time before the con was over! I met up once more with Sith, Ripley, and Mango while we vibed on the waterfront for some time before heading into the con center to check out the Dead Dog dances! We didn't stay long in the rave however, as the con center was closing for good shortly after we arrived, so after saying my goodbyes to everyone I was able to run into on the way back, I got out of fursuit for the final time at the con, and retired for the night.
I was simply blown away with my first trip to Anthrocon last year, and I can confidently say that this year was just as exceptional. Anthrocon is an important staple of the furry community, and has been for 26 years! While I've only been able to experience that twice now, it doesn't take much to see what makes Anthrocon so special to so many people, myself included! Last year I had said that Anthrocon is a convention that you simply won't be able to experience fully in one year, and I still believe this to be true! In fact, now that I have returned once more, I would say it takes a few years to truly experience the convention in its entirety, especially with new panels and events that are sure to come each year, on top of staples like the competitions, parade, block party and cruises! In terms of new things, I am glad I was able to board the cruise for the first time this year, visit the Andy Warhol museum, watch the fireworks outside, and watch the talent show! For those planning on going for the first time in the future, my advice from my first year still holds true: Go with friends, don't overplan, and take the time to experience the city itself! I only have two regrets for the convention this year: One being that I wasn't able to participate in the bucket brigade for charity, mostly due to the fact that the charity booth where this took place was closed after the Dealer's Den hours, and I either had plans or was trekking to or from the con center each day. The other is that I had to return to my day job after all was said and done :P.
I was incredibly fortunate to have been able to meet many of my adopted Starcane family for the first time, and even more beyond the first! These are people I hold very dear to me, and I am blessed to be able to know! I can't thank Zenith and Orion enough for bringing us all together, as good friends to one another! I hope that, to my Starcane family, and everyone whom I met but didn't mention by name in this journal (and there are a LOT of you) at the convention, I was able to bring you some circle wolf joy and positivity as well! My goal for this convention and every convention I go to is to not only have fun for myself, but to share that joy with others as well! I sure hope I achieved that this year!
The last thing I'd like to leave you with is a little personal. At the time of writing, outside of my activities as a furry, things have been rough in my life, and 95% of that is due to the situation at my workplace. Without getting into too much detail, I have been incredibly stressed, and I didn't realize just how much I needed to be at a furry con until I was there. Thank you Anthrocon, and everyone who was a part of it, for giving me the brief reprieve I needed. It will be some time before things get better, but I am grateful to have places like this to put all of that aside and be both myself, and Ringgar for awhile!
If you have, or see, any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Ringgar's Anthrocon 2025 Photo Reel!Wednesday, July 2ndSimilarly to last year, I decided to make the trip down to the con just after midnight on Wednesday morning. I took the same route
afurryjinx and I did together last year, and while I made the trip down solo, he was my roommate once again for the year! The drive is a long one from where I live, but I actually enjoyed taking the trip down that early in the morning. There is little to no traffic, you get to watch the sun rise in the rear view mirror, and the feeling of long-distance driving at night on an open road is something I grew to appreciate after doing the same for other conventions the year before! This year I was also properly prepared with a fresh playlist so I wouldn't have to fiddle with trying to find an FM radio station in between Philly and Pitt that wasn't playing the good ol' 24/7 static marathon! I actually stopped at the same rest stop Jinx and I had been to on the way down the year prior, which wasn't intentional, but I found it interesting that it has happened twice! (And will likely happen again!) I made good time, arriving a couple of hours earlier than I expected, and was able to grab a spot in a nearby parking garage for the weekend! Normally I wouldn't marvel at this much, but with AC sprawling out across the entirety of the south side of Downtown Pittsburgh, I was thrilled to be able to find parking at all. The saved time gave me the time to tussle with my card company over the phone while trying to check in to the Kimpton Monaco, where we stayed for the year! After that snafu, I still had plenty of time before Jinx arrived, so I decided to walk across to the North Shore to view one of the things I wasn't able to see last year: The Andy Warhol Museum! He is of course known primarily for his Pop Art, but what surprised me the most about him was his journey into film and his use of different media, such as diamond dust on canvas! Have to love the museums in Pittsburgh for always showing me something I never knew before! After viewing the museum, I walked back to Market Square to see what was new in the area since I had been there last year. To my surprise, the entire center area of the square had been ripped up for reconstruction! The surrounding businesses were still open, but there was now a giant fenced in area, where previously there had been a large gathering space for folks to congregate! Last year, there were even musicians from the convention playing in the square! I wonder what the square will look like once the construction is done. Perhaps they will turn it into a Market Circle!After retracing my steps from Wednesday last year, I returned to the hotel to unpack my suit and awaited Jinx's arrival. Once had had arrived and we had the opportunity to unpack, we decided to get dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Commoner. The food was good, but the menu was limited (except for the bar, of course,) and the prices were eye-popping. My recommendation to anyone reading this is to keep this locale in your back pocket if you would like to spend a pleasant evening after the con, but I wouldn't go there on a daily basis, it was certainly not the most budget friendly venue. Jinx and I settled into the room and waited for his partners, Cotton and Kota, to arrive as our final roommates for the con. Before bed, I also went down to the waterfront and saw the first of many of my Starcane Arts family members, (Firra), as well as another friend of theirs who makes fursuits! I caught up with them for awhile as took in the (very) early vibes at the waterfront before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest.
Thursday, July 3rdThursday was registration pick-up day! Jinx and I woke up together in the morning and we decided to grab breakfast at a coffee shop I had passed by the day before in Market Square, the Nicholas Coffee & Tea Co.! This location is primarily an outlet for specialty coffee and tea rather than a bistro or restaurant, but they did offer rotating daily flavor varieties of both coffee and tea! We took some wonderful sips to go and walked over to the convention center two hours before registration opened. The line was, as you would expect, incredibly packed, and was even more so very shortly after we arrived. The con had made improvements to reg by now utilizing the entirety of the DLCC first floor space for lines, and by closing off the roads underneath the DLCC as a place for people to line up without having to stand in the sun! Things were going smoothly enough, so much so that they opened registration an hour early! They began registering sponsors and attendees in tandem, but a problem very quickly presented itself: The line for regular attendees was sufficiently long and prepped for, but the line for sponsors and supersponsors had grown far too long far too fast. It was extending out into the street and the sun, much like the regular attendee line did last year. As a result, the con decided to stop the regular attendee line and register all of the supersponsors and sponsors first. I understand why this had to happen of course, but it was very frustating, as by the time they cut off the regular attendee line, Jinx and I were at the very front. We had to wait tantalizingly close to being registered for a little over an hour at that point. I would have liked to have been a sponsor this year, but by the time I went to register back in early February, all levels of sponsor had sold out, likely due to the introduction of the attendance cap this year. At least our roommates were able to be registered before us! After registering, I walked around the convention center to see who was present, and I was able to find one of my New England local pals, Lucid, Carbon the Snep, and another Starcane family member, whom I met for the first time, Sheeb! I would run into all of them several more times during the course of the con in passing, as well! I walked around the con center briefly, and then decided to head back to the hotel to have an early dinner so I could be ready for the events I was attending later that afternoon!
I went to have some nice middle-eastern food with another Starcane family member, Sithirie, who I would also run into at several more points during the con! I returned to the hotel and entered full wolf mode for the first time this weekend, then took the shuttle to the con center to attend the opening ceremonies that afternoon! I have to give props to the AV team, they did an exceptional job the with the main stage setup this year! During the opening ceremonies, I also ran into another family member, Setrahn and his wife Lyric! After some brief exchanging of hellos and good-to-see-yous, I wandered down to the waterfront, where I awaited the arrival of one of the things I was not able to do the previous year, the sightseeing cruise! Along the way I ran into Hannu,
Kittybean, Blush, Jedi, and other friends while we were in line for the cruise! The weather was hot, and I was sweating like, well, the canine I am, but thankfully the cruise had water and places for us to sit. I took a brief moment to recharge and headed up to top deck to socialize with many other fantastic folks, such as the aforementioned line-con attendees, several con staffers and photographers, awesome folks like 
NexusFolf (who was also staff this year!) and their husband Strobes, and many, many other cruise-goers! This was one of my favorite parts about the con this year, not only because it is a nice guided tour along the river, and it fit with the con theme, but primarily because it gives you the opportunity to socialize in a more 1-on-1 setting, away from the hustle and bustle of the convention, which I appreciated greatly. It was a nice reprieve from the overwhelming excitement of the con to come!After getting my sea-legs and returning to land, I had been in suit for around 4 hours at that point, so I decided to return to the hotel. I had a bit of a headache due to a lack of a good breakfast that morning, so I decided to head back to the con center in partial to see if anyone else I recognized was there, but I only stayed briefly before deciding to grab some dessert at the Milkshake Factory, then return to the room for the night around midnight and retire for the next day!
Friday, July 4thAhhh, America! The 4th of July had come at last, and in Pittsburgh, that meant a day of fun, fireworks, and Anthrocon activities! I found some breakfast at a nearby bistro, trying to make an effort to have a better breakfast than just tea in the morning before heading back to the hotel room to suit up and head to the con center! Last year I had the opportunity to attend Gale's Fursuiting 101 panel, and it was an absolute riot. I loved getting to take part along with the audience, and I did just the same this year! I got a little lost before the panel after realizing it was moved from the DLCC to the Westin this year, which was certainly a much more appropriate location for the event, as the Allegheny ballroom had an actual stage for the participants! For those who are not familiar with the panel, this panel is not focused on the basics of fursuiting, but rather, is an improv-lite show to demonstrate how to best pose, act, and walk in fursuit! The goal is to encourage people to get the most out of their experience with a fursuit by showing them how to bring the character to life! Of course, when you put a bunch of fursuiters in a room to act silly together, things will, naturally, progress in a very silly and un-serious manner! This panel was one of the highlights of my con experience last year, was was one of the things I was most looking forward to this year! It was a blast, and I highly recommend attending!
After attending the panel, I walked over to the Dealer's Den to meet some very important people for the first time: My Fursuit Makers, Zenith and Orion! I also ran into Klein and Dandy, two other Starcane Arts suiters who were there at the same time! I found Zenith first, and gave them the absolute biggest circle wolf hug I could, one I had been saving just for them! I gave one to Orion next, and I did get a bit emotional. I had been wanting to return the art to the artists ever since Ringgar came home in 2023, and I owe so much to them for bringing my fursona to the real world, so that I could be who he was, realized. Zenith and Orion had been accepted to vend at Anthrocon this year, which came to be after I had registered for the con. I was hoping to see them at AFC for the first time in September, but I could not be more thankful than to see them both for the first time this weekend! Becoming Ringgar in the real world opened up whole new worlds of fun, excitement, and ways to spread joy to others that I am eternally grateful for! After chatting with Zen, Orion, Hannu, Dandy, and Klein for awhile (and discreetly placing my frog, more on this later,) I decided to move on and get out of suit, as I had my cooling vest on and it had melted by that point. I returned to the hotel, de-suited, and then returned to the con center, where I had intended to say hello to Zenith and Orion in person, but instead I ran into Setrahn and Lyric! Along with Set's friend Ithanias, the three of us decided to grab dinner before the Starcane family photoshoot later on that evening at Condado tacos, which was just around the corner of the DLCC! I had avoided this location the year before, believing it would always be too busy to enter a reasonable time, but we were able to find a table in a decent amount of time and had a nice dinner together! After dinner, I went back to don Ringgar once more to the convention center to attend the largest gathering of Starcane Arts fursuiters to date! We had around 20 suiters there, easily eclipsing the number of suiters in one place we had before at MFF 2023 and AC 2024! This was a truly special moment for me, as it was a gathering of so many fantastic individuals whom I had met at various cons before, and others I had only met for the first time! To me, this was the most important thing I did at the convention. This found family means so much to me, and I can't thank Zen and Orion enough for bringing us all together!!
After our meetup, Zenith and Orion discovered the purpose behind the frogs, a coded message (masterminded by Morgenta and Ripley,) which spelled out a phrase that many kids who grew up in the early 00's would know! It was a great prank, and one that every Starcane member who was attending was in on! I had intended to go back to the hotel and de-suit, but I realized just before getting on the shuttle, that the 4th of July fireworks were about to begin! I trekked in suit back up to the third floor balcony to watch in the crowd with several dozens of other people, and my Starcane family member Ripley! I quite liked the variety of fireworks Pennsylvania has on display during the 4th of July, there is no other state in the U.S who does them quite like they do! At the time the fireworks ended, I was hot, exhausted, and it was late, so I went back to the hotel to give Ringgar some TLC and launder my underarmor so I would have enough clean sets to use for the rest of the con! I'd like to thank Sami, one of my Starcane family members and close friend to Zen and Orion, for being patient with me as I searched for quarters to use their laundry machines at the Drury so late at night! At this point, it was almost 2AM, so I was well past due for bedtime to be ready for more fun to come!
Saturday, July 5thAfter the excitement from the day prior, I decided to sleep in a little bit for Saturday morning, but not for long! Today was the big day for the Fursuit Parade! I grabbed breakfast and got into suit to head to the con center about an hour before the lineup started. That hour went by in what felt like a flash, as I, along with (Requiem) entered the lineup early together! I didn't realize at the time that the lineup duration was two hours long, which I did realize after waiting around in the DLCC second floor for a little while, so I spent the time chatting up some of the folks around me in line. The parade operated on a first-in, first-out basis for those who entered the line, so despite the wait time, it was still significantly shorter than it was in the parade last year! Due to some changes the con had made regarding limiting the number of participants (due to heat issues in the lineup from last year, which I DEFINETLY felt,) the overall parade duration went from an hour and a half to just 40 minutes! Walking through the parade was smoother too this year, as there were no technical breakdowns in the line! Walking through the parade only takes about 6-7 minutes, and half of that is actually inside the con center. The parade route goes outside to the streets below the con center, wraps around to the other street, and then back inside to the con center first floor. Due to the majority of the route being in the shade, while the weather was still hot and humid, I was able to walk the route without any issues and a lot of energy this year! Side note though, I was wearing my cooling vest, and I have seen some videos of me walking down the route. One thing I like to do for parades in suit is to try to swing my arms and bounce back and forth as I walk down the road, which I simply like to call my 'bounce walk!' Due to my vest though, I did notice my movements were somewhat stifled, so I appeared stiffer than I anticipated. I think this is something I will have to get used to with the vest on, as it looks completely different to when I do it with the vest off.
Due to the aforementioned vest, I didn't stay long in the cooling stop at the end of the route and decided to head right back to the hotel to take off my vest, as it was now completely melted and somewhat of an insulator. I would have liked to have headed directly back to the block party afterwards to socialize, but I just couldn't hack it. Instead, while Ringgar was drying out in my room, I went to The Warren for dinner, one of my favorite spots from my first trip to the city last year! After a brief meal I went back to the hotel to suit up again and headed down to the block party! The block party is the best opportunity for fursuiters and furries to interact with the citizens of the city, and I took full advantage by acting like the silly, upbeat wolf Ringgar is with the general public while I was there! However, at that time the sun was still out, and the humidity had not gone down between then and the parade, so I feel like I spent half of my time there in the outdoor headless lounges that were on site. These lounges are simply trailers with fans, seats, and an AC unit inside. They did a decent job at cooling down the temperature inside, but the humidity was piercing through the trailers, so the actual cooling capacity of these lounges was somewhat mitigated. I spent a little over an hour at the block party, and after deciding I needed to be cooling down inside with no humidity, I went inside the Westin to sit and watch the tail end of the Anthrocon Tonight talent show, and then went across the skybridge to the DLCC to watch the final rounds of the Floor Wars crew battles! Shout out to all the acts in the talent show, and the crews in the Floor Wars, I had the pleasure to witness two axis of incredible skill and talent in one awesome night!
After the events concluded, I headed back to the hotel to get out of suit, sat awhile with Jinx, and then partialed to the Renaissance to meet up with Mango, who was hosting a room party for our Starcane Arts family! After sharing some really good vibes and some spicy water, I headed down with Mango to the DLCC waterfront to hang out for the rest of the night. I went my own way inside the DLCC to cool off after some time as the humidity had not diminished despite the sun being down, and after walking around for awhile and running into Lucid once more, I decided to set up one of my hobbies outside the rave, my Beyblade X stadium! I had brought it with me to the room party, and I took it with me to the waterfront and DLCC as well that night, as I had intended to show my friends how to play, and most importantly, to have fun with others with my silly little hobby! It was around 1AM at this point, and while I was able to play with several passer-bys in the con center, it was at this time that something very interesting happened. Next to me, (Soong-Dae) was playing their dice game with the public! This dice game is one of the things they are known for doing at conventions: They bring a large dice for you to roll, and depending on what you land on, you can either expect a mystery prize, or, punishment (which is being smacked with a giant paper fan)! Most of these prizes are VERY silly, with things such as tags or medals for very odd things, or fortunes (or misfortunes!) While I was blading, I was called over to play his game! To my surprise, I was the winner of the grand prize! This prize was a stamped piece of paper that was redeemable for a free Hyena Agenda shirt! I was absolutely thrilled and it was a great way to end off the day! Shortly after this, the con center was closing for the night, and I took my stadium and prize back to the hotel to rest up for one more day of fun!
Sunday, July 6thThe final day of con activities had arrived, and the day started early for me! The Anthrocon Fursuit games was starting early that morning, so I had some breakfast in my hotel room, and suited up shortly after waking up and getting ready for the day! I headed on down to the con center to sign up for the Fursuit games and was able to get a spot in no problem! This year the Fursuit Games once again overlapped with the dance competition, and while I wish I could have been able to do both, I knew the dance competition would at least be recorded for viewing later, while the Fursuit Games traditionally are not. I don't have any regrets about doing the fursuit games, as this is easily one of the most fun things for me to do at any furry convention, and this was no exception! A big thank you to
Sharky1964 for hosting the games this year again, and to everyone on my team, the Purple team, who helped bring us to a good result this year! I do quite like the way Anthrocon's Fursuit games does teams, by having smaller team sizes and more teams in general, it feels like the games just breeze by, and you are never too far from participating in the fun, while also scaling nicely for more suiters to participate! I hope next year the scheduling is adjusted to not have the event overlap with the dance competition, so more people don't have to make the tough choice of going between the two! After the games, I headed down to the Dealer's Den. At this point in the con, I had not had the chance to browse the den at all beyond going to greet my fursuit makers! The den was closing in just three hours, so I headed down to the Hyena Agenda booth first to redeem my prize from Soong-Dae the night before! Soong-Dae was standing at the booth right next door, so I greeted him and thanked him for the prize! I walked around to the booth to redeem my voucher, and the vendor at the booth took it to verify its authenticity! It was at this moment that I realized, I had forgotten to read the fine print on the voucher. The voucher did say I was entitled to a shirt, but it also said I was entitled to a bonus prize as well! The prize was revealed upon opening the voucher, and it was... PUNISHMENT. I did something between a howl and a laugh, because I was strung along so hard until this point and was COMPLETELY oblivious. While I got smacked by a giant paper fan, Soong-Dae was having a laugh at my expense at the next booth over. This whole interaction absolutely made my day! I was still in fursuit at that point, so I didn't mind others chuckling at me at my expense (not that I would mind out of suit, either!) It was a perfect con, and my naivety was true to form for Ringgar as a character! I did still get a shirt for my troubles! After receiving my shirt and saying goodbye to my fursuit makers, I went up to put Ringgar's head in a coin locker so I could shop around the den without having to hold my fursuit head the whole time. On the way, I was stopped by a friend of another Starcane family member, Yukon! He was kind enough to take some photos of me on the third floor balcony while I wore my new shirt! From the preview, I was very happy with how those photos came out, and I believe Yukon was as well! Now I can at least say I was dressed for the theme of the con at one point during the event! After meeting them, I did my rounds around the dealer's den before getting out of suit at the hotel for a brief while just to relax, then brought my head and tail back to the con center to watch the closing ceremonies! The closing ceremonies always has a lot of eyes on it, and people in the audience, as they await the wrap-up and final numbers around the con! This year, the con was able to raise a tremendous $87,000 for the charity this year, Nose 2 Tail Cat Rescue, and had 18,357 attendees! Extrapolating from what the con had previously shared about remaining weekend passes available, that would place the attendance cap (of which an exact number was kept hidden,) at around 18,500-19K attendees! This makes Anthrocon once again, the largest furry convention on Earth, beating the record previously set by Furry Weekend Atlanta in May of this year by about 600! I'm especially impressed by the charity numbers, which continues to show that Anthrocon is a mecca for charitable furries, being not that far off from the $100k that was raised last year! I also continue to marvel at just how big this convention has become, and just how much the con is able to do despite these massive numbers of attendees! After closing ceremonies, I met up with a new Starcane member who joined the group during the convention, Nite, and we had some vietnamese at a restaurant on the Strip on Penn Ave.! We took an Uber back to the hotel, and I decided to use my last pair of underarmor to suit up one more time before the con was over! I met up once more with Sith, Ripley, and Mango while we vibed on the waterfront for some time before heading into the con center to check out the Dead Dog dances! We didn't stay long in the rave however, as the con center was closing for good shortly after we arrived, so after saying my goodbyes to everyone I was able to run into on the way back, I got out of fursuit for the final time at the con, and retired for the night.
The Deep Sea's Journey's End!! I was simply blown away with my first trip to Anthrocon last year, and I can confidently say that this year was just as exceptional. Anthrocon is an important staple of the furry community, and has been for 26 years! While I've only been able to experience that twice now, it doesn't take much to see what makes Anthrocon so special to so many people, myself included! Last year I had said that Anthrocon is a convention that you simply won't be able to experience fully in one year, and I still believe this to be true! In fact, now that I have returned once more, I would say it takes a few years to truly experience the convention in its entirety, especially with new panels and events that are sure to come each year, on top of staples like the competitions, parade, block party and cruises! In terms of new things, I am glad I was able to board the cruise for the first time this year, visit the Andy Warhol museum, watch the fireworks outside, and watch the talent show! For those planning on going for the first time in the future, my advice from my first year still holds true: Go with friends, don't overplan, and take the time to experience the city itself! I only have two regrets for the convention this year: One being that I wasn't able to participate in the bucket brigade for charity, mostly due to the fact that the charity booth where this took place was closed after the Dealer's Den hours, and I either had plans or was trekking to or from the con center each day. The other is that I had to return to my day job after all was said and done :P.
I was incredibly fortunate to have been able to meet many of my adopted Starcane family for the first time, and even more beyond the first! These are people I hold very dear to me, and I am blessed to be able to know! I can't thank Zenith and Orion enough for bringing us all together, as good friends to one another! I hope that, to my Starcane family, and everyone whom I met but didn't mention by name in this journal (and there are a LOT of you) at the convention, I was able to bring you some circle wolf joy and positivity as well! My goal for this convention and every convention I go to is to not only have fun for myself, but to share that joy with others as well! I sure hope I achieved that this year!
The last thing I'd like to leave you with is a little personal. At the time of writing, outside of my activities as a furry, things have been rough in my life, and 95% of that is due to the situation at my workplace. Without getting into too much detail, I have been incredibly stressed, and I didn't realize just how much I needed to be at a furry con until I was there. Thank you Anthrocon, and everyone who was a part of it, for giving me the brief reprieve I needed. It will be some time before things get better, but I am grateful to have places like this to put all of that aside and be both myself, and Ringgar for awhile!
Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers who make this legendary convention possible! This undersea expedition has concluded, but only until next year! I forsee myself coming back to Anthrocon within the next couple years, if not next year! Finally, thank you for reading!My next convention will be Another Furry Con 2025 in Ontario, CA, this wolf's first time on the west coast! I hope to see you there!I am Heading to Anthrocon 2025!
Posted 4 months agoHey all! Last minute journal update. I just realized that I never went back and updated (here) that I would be at Anthrocon again this year. My original plan was to go to Megaplex instead, but the timing between that and AFC didn't work out very well, so back in February I decided I would be heading to Anthrocon again this year!
I will be rooming with afurryjinx and friends this year!
My remaining cons for the year will be at Another Furry Con in Ontario, CA and Furpocalypse in Stamford, CT!
Hope to see you all at Anthrocon!
I will be rooming with
afurryjinx and friends this year! My remaining cons for the year will be at Another Furry Con in Ontario, CA and Furpocalypse in Stamford, CT!
Hope to see you all at Anthrocon!
Anthro New England 2025 Wrap-Up!
Posted 10 months agoGood evening suspects! It's just a couple days after the conclusion of Anthro New England 2025, my first con of the year, and my first time attending this convention for the entire duration! This year the con was held from the 16th to the 19th of January, conveniently placed before the Martin Luther King Junior holiday the following Monday. The theme of the convention's 10th anniversary year was "A Staggering Case!" The con mascot, Copley the Deer, has been missing since last ANE! He has been seen sporadically since then, with sightings at Furpoc and other American conventions, but all of the New England sleuths put their heads, paws, and hooves together to track this disappearing deer down! I have been attending Anthro New England since 2023, just near the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have fond memories of this convention, as it was one of the first cons I attended out of the pandemic, resolving to make up for lost time in conventions I would have started attending in 2020 had the world not changed. In addition, it is one of the conventions where I really hit it off with a number of my current furry friends, all done within the span of a single day. In 2023 and 2024 I attended only for a Saturday, but this year I believed it was time for me to finally go for the full ANE experience, and I am fortunate I did! Allow me to share with you why I found ANE 2025 to be, simply, a good time!
Anthro New England, in contrast to all of the conventions I attended in 2024, has traditionally been a 3 day convention (There are only dances on Thursday), and this year was no different. Despite this, I decided to arrive at the Westin early Thursday morning in order to secure a parking spot at the hotel. I was lucky enough to have one of the last spots available, and I arrived at the hotel just after 9AM. A prior convention was wrapping up at the hotel, but there were already a token amount of furries down in the lobby, checking in as I was. My other reason for wishing to arrive so early was so I could spend the day exploring the city! I have been to Boston many times in the past, but never long enough to actually visit the landmarks of the historic city. Prior to arriving, I had made a list of landmarks that were either suggested by other for me to visit or ones I had some interest in. After a very expedient check-in and unpack in my hotel room, I set off for the first landmark I decided to visit: Faneuil Hall! I took the city bus from the hotel to cross over from the Seaport district to the North End where several landmarks were. It was like I was back in Hartford taking the public transport again, so I felt right at home. On the walk to the hall I also stopped to take a photo of the Old State House, which seemed a little out of place with all of the taller skyscrapers and buildings surrounding such a small landmark. It was interesting and beautiful, nonetheless! I arrived at Faneuil Hall and walked inside. Truth be told, there wasn't much inside to see. It was mostly a handful of Bostonian gift shops and a museum in the lower floor for the Underground Railroad. The upper floor museum, regrettably, was closed for the season. There was, however, a large mural of the Freedom Trail on the wall. At this point, I hadn't decided what other landmarks I wanted to see in Boston, but the Freedom trail did give a nice path to follow for several of them! I decided I would walk the trail for the day, and make my last tourist trek be the M.I.T Museum. I stopped at Quincy Market immediately across from Faneuil Hall for lunch. Quincy Market is essentially a large food court, similar to that of what you might find in a strip mall or at the Big E, surrounded by kiosk vendors, and an actual strip mall surrounding the building. There is also a meeting house on the upper floor, which was also closed for the season. After some lunch I started my trek along the freedom trail, with my first stop being the Paul Revere house. The tour of the house itself was actually very small, only consisting of a few rooms, but the guides had some interesting factoids to share about the Puritan lifestyle in Boston at the time. Following the red brick road (literally, the Freedom Trail is marked with a line of red bricks in the sidewalk,) lead me to the Old North Church. The church was closed for the season, but from my experience standing next to the building, there is no doubt in my mind how the early revolutionaries were able to see the lanterns in the steeple of the church. It. Is. MASSIVE. The photo I took in the album had to be taken from several yards away just to be able to fit the entire church into frame! My next step on the trail was at Copp's Hill Burial Ground, but this is one landmark I didn't explore much beyond taking a photo.
I crossed the bridge from the North End into Charlestown to visit one of the landmarks I absolutely wanted to see, trail or not: The U.S.S Constitution! Sadly, tours of the ship itself were closed for the season (noticing a trend?) but the ship itself was on full display from the dock! The Museum was open however, and it had some interesting exhibits! For something as exciting as a maritime legend, it's no surprise to me that the Museum was kid-centric, but what did surprise me is that it was 100% attendee funded, with no set ticket price! There were some interactive exhibits for the adults to enjoy, as well! Satisfied with my visit, I travelled to the last landmark on the trail I wanted to visit: the Bunker Hill monument. It was clearly visible as soon as you entered Charlestown, so it wasn't hard to find! There wasn't much of a museum to see there beyond a dedication building and park ranger station, but this was one monument that was NOT closed for the season! After thinking for what was likely an insufficient amount of time, I decided to walk up the monument, all 294 steps. I reached the top successfully, but my legs were very much jelly on the walk back down, especially after all the walking along the trail I had done previously. I took a moment to breathe, and consider what I had seen along the walk. The most surprising thing about the trail to me, is that, especially around Charlestown and the bay-facing portion of the North End, there was a significant amount of townhouses so close to both the trail and the landmarks. You could in fact, walk the Freedom Trail from home to work and back if you happened to live there! It was mostly townhouses, condos, and multi-story units, but it is wild to me that people live so close to significant parts of history. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I ever travelled to Europe! The least surprising thing about the trail: I was the only one walking it in this cold weather! After this trip, I took the (in?)famous MBTA subway, which I had never been on before, to the last part of the trail I missed: The Boston Commons! I walked around the entirety of the commons and public garden looking for the mural of Robert Shaw, only to find it was in front of the State Capitol building the whole time. At least the commons was nice! It felt a lot like Central Park, unsurprisingly. I took the T again to my last trip spot for the day: the M.I.T Museum in Cambridge. The Museum itself is a collection of projects of former M.I.T staff and students, mostly a showcase of what the accomplishments and contributions they have made to scientific research and how, including artistic pieces with scientific tie-ins! The exhibit I found the most interesting is the one on Holography and its modern-day applications by Stephen Benton! I took the T back to the hotel, and had some time to find dinner nearby before getting in line for registration around 6PM. I was able to get out of the registration room early enough to get in fursuit for the first time and do a little bucket brigading for the charities of the year, Queer Scouts and Wings of the Dawn! After an hour of successfullyextorting collecting donations from the attendees, I was invited to a room party at the Omni hotel across from the main hotel by my friends Rags and Celsic! We spent the night with a little merriment, along with Artimio, Kittybean, and Kinso we (unofficially) kicked off the convention right, with laughter and friendship! I went to bed around 1AM after we finished our party, to get ready for the official day 1 of ANE!
One thing that always happens to me at conventions is getting the jitters just before waking up in the hotel. Sometimes I wake myself up earlier than I intend and have to force myself to sleep in to get my six hours. This is how my Friday started (as well as every day, truth be told,) But they tend to fade in the first hour after I get up and get moving. I had planned Friday to be my busy day in terms of meets and panels, so I started the day by partialling to opening ceremonies. Normally I would be in fullsuit for the ceremony, but I simply wasn't ready. The issue? I felt VERY sore from my hike and monument climb yesterday. This would affect me the whole weekend as well, so I wasn't able to fullsuit as much as I normally like to. Regardless, getting to see the opening ceremonies of this con in person, along with a CT local friend, V3rdant, for the first time helped clear up my morning jitters in a jiffy! Immediately after the ceremony, however, I had to run to my first panel of the day: the Western MA Furmeet, hosted by Rowan, Axel, and Maru! This was a (very) brief panel for the Western MA furs, of which I am a member, to introduce ourselves to other local furries and hopefully invite them to future meets! We spent the majority of the time going around the room introducing ourselves, starting with me because I am not actually from Massachusetts, but close enough that I may as well be. I did cheer for the three people in the room who were from CT, though!
Once the panel concluded, I had to run up to the room to get into full suit for the Fursuit Games! The fursuit games are traditionally held on Friday at ANE as opposed to Sunday at most cons, as there is a similar panel, Fursuit Recess, that is held on Sunday for any and all fursuiters to participate in! From what I was told by my friend Kinso, in previous years, there was a sign-up prior to the event, but this year seemed to be an exception. Instead of a sign-up, the host had the potential participants split up into four groups, and the host randomly picked one to not participate. The majority of my friends who were there were unfortunately in the corner that was chosen, and I could tell that it was real feel-bad moment for them. I know if I had been picked, that would have thrown a wrench into my panel plans, so I felt bad for them as well. In addition, the number of participants still had to be cut down, so we had to play Ninja with the remaining groups to see who could still play. I was lucky enough to make it though, and the games began shortly after. I've never been able to participate in the ANE version of the games, but I would describe these ones as particularly aggressive. We played games of 'sled' pulling, field hockey, tug-of-war, 'snowball' fights, and of course, musical chairs! My team, the green team, walked away with a second place finish, and I had fun, but I'm not quite certain how comfortable I felt about how this panel was run. I'm going to reserve my thoughts from this journal, but I'll be providing feedback to the con. If you want me to elaborate separately, feel free to ask!
I was dog-tired after the games, but after a quick break in the headless lounge, I was ready to go again. Shortly after, I met up with several members of my attending Starcane Arts family up in the Mezzanine for a group get-together and photo(s)! Most of the folks who attended I have seen previously, like Setrahn, Axel, Aoi, and Ripley, but we had some new faces tag long too! I've mentioned before how meeting my adopted family is always one of the highlights of my con, and that trend continued today! We spent most of the time being very silly with one another, and despite it not being visible from inside my suit, my joy was bursting at the seams! Our meeting was brief, but sweet and fun! I went up to my room after to unsuit and had to run back out to meet Ripley and the others at the South Street Diner! Us Starcane folks and several other friends went there as we had previously planned to celebrate Ripley's birthday, which occurred very close to the convention! One good meal later (and a brief stream of the Dragon's Dojo event), we headed back to the hotel. I was still a little exhausted from the games, so rather than head back down immediately to socialize, I decided to stay in the room for an hour to decompress and take care of my suit. Ringgar's body and feetpaws weren't 100% dry yet from the spray down I gave them after the Starcane Meet, so I decided to attend the last panels of the night in partial: A powerpoint panel, which has the absolute craziest vibes and strangest energy out of any panel in the convention I had been to yet, and heathclaws improv panel! This was Heath's 10th year of running the panel, having done so since the very first Anthro New England, and by the end of a night full of laughs, wit, and quips, he said this was his best one yet. I don't disagree! In fact, for those of you who read this, if you have the opportunity to attend this panel, which also happens at Furcationland and Furpocalypse, I strongly suggest you do, if not to participate, then to laugh at the most unexpected twists and turns! The panel concluded at 1:30AM, and my energy reserves were completely depleted. I hit the hay for another day of fun!
Saturday and Sunday had much less going on in terms of panels for this wolf, but there was certainly no shortage of action! I slept in a little and quelled my morning jitters with a walk to find breakfast at Cafe Nero, then walked back to the hotel. I then suited up, along with my cooling vest, in preparation for the Fursuit Photo and Parade! This took up a large chunk of the afternoon, but I had the opportunity to meet up with many of my friends in suit as we waited for things to start! The room was very, very crowded, but I was able to hang out with Genesis Hellhound and
Tofutheferce before the parade happened, and met up with Lucid Shuck and Geo Dragon during the parade! I was able to get a decent spot in the photo (as far as I know, it hasn't been posted at the time of writing,) but I was less fortunate in the parade. I still had a good time, but the rain that was expected to fall couple hours later occurred during the tail end of the parade, where I was, resulting in an unfortunately wet dog. Thankfully we survived, but I had to take off my suit shortly after due to the weather. This worked out OK though, as I was able to take my first (and only as it turned out this year) trip to the dealer's den, and to grab dinner just in time to watch the Dance Competition! The competition was positively electric, ecstatic, and above all: Green! Atsu Fox took home the gold as the last performing entrant, which I remarked on as being incredible to do so even after every other incredible act had shown what they were made of! I also remarked that, if I were a judge, I would honestly consider just saying that everyone wins, because all the performers were THAT entertaining! After the competition, I returned to my room as I had the itch to fursuit once more, now that Ringgar was sufficiently dry, and went down to socialize and do some more bucket brigading! Quick note: Bucket brigading is one of my favorite ways to contribute to a convention. I do this at every convention I am able to do so, as it allows me to do one of my favorite things to do in suit: character expression, and all for a good cause! I spent a couple of hours brigading and, with a bucket that was weighed down with coins, turned it in before heading to Karaoke. Karaoke is something I tried for the first time at Furpocalypse last year. I did OK, but it wasn't exactly the song I wanted to sing. The song I wanted to sing this time around was "Why Can't You Be" by Third Eye Blind, one of my favorite bands. However, it was clear I arrived in the Karaoke line a little too late. In addition, my song was longer than a typical song, so I didn't want to ruin it for the other people in line behind me, so I left the line and got out of suit. I wasn't ready to head to bed yet though, so I went back down to watch my friend Rags perform his song as one of the last songs in the queue. By then the clock struck 2AM, so it was well and truly time to crawl into bed for one more day of convention fun!
Sunday was decidedly a wind-down day from the convention, and I woke up without (as much) jitters as I normally get. That's not to say there wasn't fun to be had, though! I wore my partial for the first panel of the day, a Beyblade free play panel hosted by a local tournament goer and one of the safety staff this year! Beyblade is a hobby I got into in the middle of the year last year, and honestly, I've been having a blast! The panel, however, was just too short. I hope next year we can push the time out a little longer! At this time, I had originally planned on participating in a tournament that would have occurred, but it had to be cancelled at the host wasn't able to make it to the convention. I followed up this panel with another one about partial fashion for fursuiting. I wanted to attend this panel as I was curious about what ideas would be nice for an outfit for when I am not able to fullsuit! The panel hosts gave me a decent blueprint (and one hella cute drawing) of Ringgar in a steampunk, H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" style outfit that was particularly dapper! While this doesn't explicitly fit Ringgar as a character, such a style was previously suggested to me by a few friends, and I figured it would be very interesting to try at the very least! After the panel, I went to get an early dinner so that I wouldn't have to worry about finding it in the snow that was expected to fall in the evening! Upon returning to the hotel, I donned all of Ringgar to attend a panel that I had been curious about since 2023, but was never around to experience: Kaiju Clash! This panel is a mainstay panel for the convention, and a popular Sunday event! I went down to join the line, unaware that there were slots you needed to sign up for in order to participate. I only found this out after a friend and someone who was staffing this year, Benji, told me when he saw me in line while he was looking for a partner. I'll remember that for next year! Thankfully I was able to participate with him, and I was able to understand why this panel was so popular. Getting to stomp around a giant city while play-fighting with a friend is such a goofy, silly concept that brings such a euphoria I couldn't even describe. Alas, I was slain in battle (but I lived!) after an epic battle with a giant dog. Soon after, I spent some time socializing with friends, followed by grabbing a donation bucket for one last bucket brigade during closing ceremonies! Us bucket brigadiers raised some more moolah for the two charities (which is being totaled as of writing), and closing ceremonies was an exciting time for everyone in attendance. The case had been solved: Copley the deer has been found! Where was he this whole time? He got lost in San Jose California, attending Further Confusion, which happened the exact same weekend! Why was he there? It wasn't a malicous kidnapping at all! As it turns out, it was related to the theme of next year's convention, A Western! The convention had some very impressive numbers to present to wrap up the con as well: 5761 attendees, 2275 fursuiters with 969 in the parade, and $40k for the two charities! What is particularly surprising to me is the ratio of fursuiters to attendees, about 40%! I'm not sure what they considered to be a 'fursuiter,' but this ratio of suiters to nonsuiters is something I haven't heard of at any other convention. Something to consider going forward! In any case, after turning in my last bucket, I unsuited from Ringgar and did some pre-packing for the trip home. I wasn't ready to head to bed yet though, and I spent the rest of the evening partial suiting while socializing, attending the Dead Dog Dance, which was my first opportunity to attend the dances all con, and enjoying the falling snow! A great way to spend one more night at a furry convention!
My first full ANE experience was one I'll cherish. Overall, I think the best part of the convention was the vibe I received from the other attendees this year. It felt like a constant droning of positivity, which I particularly appreciate! ANE does some things differently from other conventions, some of which surprised me, but it was also evident that they were making changes in how things like panels, safety, and conduct were run from previous years. I think these things will be ironed out with just a little more time, and I have a high degree of confidence that, after the refresh it had this year, will continue to get better at the years go on. I can always count on ANE to be a place for me to see a lot of familiar faces, meet and vibe with new ones, and all of us having the time of our lives!
I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who took the time to keep the con on track and chugging along (whoops, that's last year's theme!) I also want to thank everyone who I had the opportunity to meet, new friends and old friends, who make cons what they are for me, and others: a time to celebrate being a part of one of the best communities on planet Earth!
(Ringgar's ANE 2025 Photo Album!)If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Thursday, the 16thAnthro New England, in contrast to all of the conventions I attended in 2024, has traditionally been a 3 day convention (There are only dances on Thursday), and this year was no different. Despite this, I decided to arrive at the Westin early Thursday morning in order to secure a parking spot at the hotel. I was lucky enough to have one of the last spots available, and I arrived at the hotel just after 9AM. A prior convention was wrapping up at the hotel, but there were already a token amount of furries down in the lobby, checking in as I was. My other reason for wishing to arrive so early was so I could spend the day exploring the city! I have been to Boston many times in the past, but never long enough to actually visit the landmarks of the historic city. Prior to arriving, I had made a list of landmarks that were either suggested by other for me to visit or ones I had some interest in. After a very expedient check-in and unpack in my hotel room, I set off for the first landmark I decided to visit: Faneuil Hall! I took the city bus from the hotel to cross over from the Seaport district to the North End where several landmarks were. It was like I was back in Hartford taking the public transport again, so I felt right at home. On the walk to the hall I also stopped to take a photo of the Old State House, which seemed a little out of place with all of the taller skyscrapers and buildings surrounding such a small landmark. It was interesting and beautiful, nonetheless! I arrived at Faneuil Hall and walked inside. Truth be told, there wasn't much inside to see. It was mostly a handful of Bostonian gift shops and a museum in the lower floor for the Underground Railroad. The upper floor museum, regrettably, was closed for the season. There was, however, a large mural of the Freedom Trail on the wall. At this point, I hadn't decided what other landmarks I wanted to see in Boston, but the Freedom trail did give a nice path to follow for several of them! I decided I would walk the trail for the day, and make my last tourist trek be the M.I.T Museum. I stopped at Quincy Market immediately across from Faneuil Hall for lunch. Quincy Market is essentially a large food court, similar to that of what you might find in a strip mall or at the Big E, surrounded by kiosk vendors, and an actual strip mall surrounding the building. There is also a meeting house on the upper floor, which was also closed for the season. After some lunch I started my trek along the freedom trail, with my first stop being the Paul Revere house. The tour of the house itself was actually very small, only consisting of a few rooms, but the guides had some interesting factoids to share about the Puritan lifestyle in Boston at the time. Following the red brick road (literally, the Freedom Trail is marked with a line of red bricks in the sidewalk,) lead me to the Old North Church. The church was closed for the season, but from my experience standing next to the building, there is no doubt in my mind how the early revolutionaries were able to see the lanterns in the steeple of the church. It. Is. MASSIVE. The photo I took in the album had to be taken from several yards away just to be able to fit the entire church into frame! My next step on the trail was at Copp's Hill Burial Ground, but this is one landmark I didn't explore much beyond taking a photo.
I crossed the bridge from the North End into Charlestown to visit one of the landmarks I absolutely wanted to see, trail or not: The U.S.S Constitution! Sadly, tours of the ship itself were closed for the season (noticing a trend?) but the ship itself was on full display from the dock! The Museum was open however, and it had some interesting exhibits! For something as exciting as a maritime legend, it's no surprise to me that the Museum was kid-centric, but what did surprise me is that it was 100% attendee funded, with no set ticket price! There were some interactive exhibits for the adults to enjoy, as well! Satisfied with my visit, I travelled to the last landmark on the trail I wanted to visit: the Bunker Hill monument. It was clearly visible as soon as you entered Charlestown, so it wasn't hard to find! There wasn't much of a museum to see there beyond a dedication building and park ranger station, but this was one monument that was NOT closed for the season! After thinking for what was likely an insufficient amount of time, I decided to walk up the monument, all 294 steps. I reached the top successfully, but my legs were very much jelly on the walk back down, especially after all the walking along the trail I had done previously. I took a moment to breathe, and consider what I had seen along the walk. The most surprising thing about the trail to me, is that, especially around Charlestown and the bay-facing portion of the North End, there was a significant amount of townhouses so close to both the trail and the landmarks. You could in fact, walk the Freedom Trail from home to work and back if you happened to live there! It was mostly townhouses, condos, and multi-story units, but it is wild to me that people live so close to significant parts of history. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I ever travelled to Europe! The least surprising thing about the trail: I was the only one walking it in this cold weather! After this trip, I took the (in?)famous MBTA subway, which I had never been on before, to the last part of the trail I missed: The Boston Commons! I walked around the entirety of the commons and public garden looking for the mural of Robert Shaw, only to find it was in front of the State Capitol building the whole time. At least the commons was nice! It felt a lot like Central Park, unsurprisingly. I took the T again to my last trip spot for the day: the M.I.T Museum in Cambridge. The Museum itself is a collection of projects of former M.I.T staff and students, mostly a showcase of what the accomplishments and contributions they have made to scientific research and how, including artistic pieces with scientific tie-ins! The exhibit I found the most interesting is the one on Holography and its modern-day applications by Stephen Benton! I took the T back to the hotel, and had some time to find dinner nearby before getting in line for registration around 6PM. I was able to get out of the registration room early enough to get in fursuit for the first time and do a little bucket brigading for the charities of the year, Queer Scouts and Wings of the Dawn! After an hour of successfully
Kittybean, and Kinso we (unofficially) kicked off the convention right, with laughter and friendship! I went to bed around 1AM after we finished our party, to get ready for the official day 1 of ANE!Friday, the 17thOne thing that always happens to me at conventions is getting the jitters just before waking up in the hotel. Sometimes I wake myself up earlier than I intend and have to force myself to sleep in to get my six hours. This is how my Friday started (as well as every day, truth be told,) But they tend to fade in the first hour after I get up and get moving. I had planned Friday to be my busy day in terms of meets and panels, so I started the day by partialling to opening ceremonies. Normally I would be in fullsuit for the ceremony, but I simply wasn't ready. The issue? I felt VERY sore from my hike and monument climb yesterday. This would affect me the whole weekend as well, so I wasn't able to fullsuit as much as I normally like to. Regardless, getting to see the opening ceremonies of this con in person, along with a CT local friend, V3rdant, for the first time helped clear up my morning jitters in a jiffy! Immediately after the ceremony, however, I had to run to my first panel of the day: the Western MA Furmeet, hosted by Rowan, Axel, and Maru! This was a (very) brief panel for the Western MA furs, of which I am a member, to introduce ourselves to other local furries and hopefully invite them to future meets! We spent the majority of the time going around the room introducing ourselves, starting with me because I am not actually from Massachusetts, but close enough that I may as well be. I did cheer for the three people in the room who were from CT, though!
Once the panel concluded, I had to run up to the room to get into full suit for the Fursuit Games! The fursuit games are traditionally held on Friday at ANE as opposed to Sunday at most cons, as there is a similar panel, Fursuit Recess, that is held on Sunday for any and all fursuiters to participate in! From what I was told by my friend Kinso, in previous years, there was a sign-up prior to the event, but this year seemed to be an exception. Instead of a sign-up, the host had the potential participants split up into four groups, and the host randomly picked one to not participate. The majority of my friends who were there were unfortunately in the corner that was chosen, and I could tell that it was real feel-bad moment for them. I know if I had been picked, that would have thrown a wrench into my panel plans, so I felt bad for them as well. In addition, the number of participants still had to be cut down, so we had to play Ninja with the remaining groups to see who could still play. I was lucky enough to make it though, and the games began shortly after. I've never been able to participate in the ANE version of the games, but I would describe these ones as particularly aggressive. We played games of 'sled' pulling, field hockey, tug-of-war, 'snowball' fights, and of course, musical chairs! My team, the green team, walked away with a second place finish, and I had fun, but I'm not quite certain how comfortable I felt about how this panel was run. I'm going to reserve my thoughts from this journal, but I'll be providing feedback to the con. If you want me to elaborate separately, feel free to ask!
I was dog-tired after the games, but after a quick break in the headless lounge, I was ready to go again. Shortly after, I met up with several members of my attending Starcane Arts family up in the Mezzanine for a group get-together and photo(s)! Most of the folks who attended I have seen previously, like Setrahn, Axel, Aoi, and Ripley, but we had some new faces tag long too! I've mentioned before how meeting my adopted family is always one of the highlights of my con, and that trend continued today! We spent most of the time being very silly with one another, and despite it not being visible from inside my suit, my joy was bursting at the seams! Our meeting was brief, but sweet and fun! I went up to my room after to unsuit and had to run back out to meet Ripley and the others at the South Street Diner! Us Starcane folks and several other friends went there as we had previously planned to celebrate Ripley's birthday, which occurred very close to the convention! One good meal later (and a brief stream of the Dragon's Dojo event), we headed back to the hotel. I was still a little exhausted from the games, so rather than head back down immediately to socialize, I decided to stay in the room for an hour to decompress and take care of my suit. Ringgar's body and feetpaws weren't 100% dry yet from the spray down I gave them after the Starcane Meet, so I decided to attend the last panels of the night in partial: A powerpoint panel, which has the absolute craziest vibes and strangest energy out of any panel in the convention I had been to yet, and
heathclaws improv panel! This was Heath's 10th year of running the panel, having done so since the very first Anthro New England, and by the end of a night full of laughs, wit, and quips, he said this was his best one yet. I don't disagree! In fact, for those of you who read this, if you have the opportunity to attend this panel, which also happens at Furcationland and Furpocalypse, I strongly suggest you do, if not to participate, then to laugh at the most unexpected twists and turns! The panel concluded at 1:30AM, and my energy reserves were completely depleted. I hit the hay for another day of fun!Saturday, the 18thSaturday and Sunday had much less going on in terms of panels for this wolf, but there was certainly no shortage of action! I slept in a little and quelled my morning jitters with a walk to find breakfast at Cafe Nero, then walked back to the hotel. I then suited up, along with my cooling vest, in preparation for the Fursuit Photo and Parade! This took up a large chunk of the afternoon, but I had the opportunity to meet up with many of my friends in suit as we waited for things to start! The room was very, very crowded, but I was able to hang out with Genesis Hellhound and
Tofutheferce before the parade happened, and met up with Lucid Shuck and Geo Dragon during the parade! I was able to get a decent spot in the photo (as far as I know, it hasn't been posted at the time of writing,) but I was less fortunate in the parade. I still had a good time, but the rain that was expected to fall couple hours later occurred during the tail end of the parade, where I was, resulting in an unfortunately wet dog. Thankfully we survived, but I had to take off my suit shortly after due to the weather. This worked out OK though, as I was able to take my first (and only as it turned out this year) trip to the dealer's den, and to grab dinner just in time to watch the Dance Competition! The competition was positively electric, ecstatic, and above all: Green! Atsu Fox took home the gold as the last performing entrant, which I remarked on as being incredible to do so even after every other incredible act had shown what they were made of! I also remarked that, if I were a judge, I would honestly consider just saying that everyone wins, because all the performers were THAT entertaining! After the competition, I returned to my room as I had the itch to fursuit once more, now that Ringgar was sufficiently dry, and went down to socialize and do some more bucket brigading! Quick note: Bucket brigading is one of my favorite ways to contribute to a convention. I do this at every convention I am able to do so, as it allows me to do one of my favorite things to do in suit: character expression, and all for a good cause! I spent a couple of hours brigading and, with a bucket that was weighed down with coins, turned it in before heading to Karaoke. Karaoke is something I tried for the first time at Furpocalypse last year. I did OK, but it wasn't exactly the song I wanted to sing. The song I wanted to sing this time around was "Why Can't You Be" by Third Eye Blind, one of my favorite bands. However, it was clear I arrived in the Karaoke line a little too late. In addition, my song was longer than a typical song, so I didn't want to ruin it for the other people in line behind me, so I left the line and got out of suit. I wasn't ready to head to bed yet though, so I went back down to watch my friend Rags perform his song as one of the last songs in the queue. By then the clock struck 2AM, so it was well and truly time to crawl into bed for one more day of convention fun!Sunday, the 19thSunday was decidedly a wind-down day from the convention, and I woke up without (as much) jitters as I normally get. That's not to say there wasn't fun to be had, though! I wore my partial for the first panel of the day, a Beyblade free play panel hosted by a local tournament goer and one of the safety staff this year! Beyblade is a hobby I got into in the middle of the year last year, and honestly, I've been having a blast! The panel, however, was just too short. I hope next year we can push the time out a little longer! At this time, I had originally planned on participating in a tournament that would have occurred, but it had to be cancelled at the host wasn't able to make it to the convention. I followed up this panel with another one about partial fashion for fursuiting. I wanted to attend this panel as I was curious about what ideas would be nice for an outfit for when I am not able to fullsuit! The panel hosts gave me a decent blueprint (and one hella cute drawing) of Ringgar in a steampunk, H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" style outfit that was particularly dapper! While this doesn't explicitly fit Ringgar as a character, such a style was previously suggested to me by a few friends, and I figured it would be very interesting to try at the very least! After the panel, I went to get an early dinner so that I wouldn't have to worry about finding it in the snow that was expected to fall in the evening! Upon returning to the hotel, I donned all of Ringgar to attend a panel that I had been curious about since 2023, but was never around to experience: Kaiju Clash! This panel is a mainstay panel for the convention, and a popular Sunday event! I went down to join the line, unaware that there were slots you needed to sign up for in order to participate. I only found this out after a friend and someone who was staffing this year, Benji, told me when he saw me in line while he was looking for a partner. I'll remember that for next year! Thankfully I was able to participate with him, and I was able to understand why this panel was so popular. Getting to stomp around a giant city while play-fighting with a friend is such a goofy, silly concept that brings such a euphoria I couldn't even describe. Alas, I was slain in battle (but I lived!) after an epic battle with a giant dog. Soon after, I spent some time socializing with friends, followed by grabbing a donation bucket for one last bucket brigade during closing ceremonies! Us bucket brigadiers raised some more moolah for the two charities (which is being totaled as of writing), and closing ceremonies was an exciting time for everyone in attendance. The case had been solved: Copley the deer has been found! Where was he this whole time? He got lost in San Jose California, attending Further Confusion, which happened the exact same weekend! Why was he there? It wasn't a malicous kidnapping at all! As it turns out, it was related to the theme of next year's convention, A Western! The convention had some very impressive numbers to present to wrap up the con as well: 5761 attendees, 2275 fursuiters with 969 in the parade, and $40k for the two charities! What is particularly surprising to me is the ratio of fursuiters to attendees, about 40%! I'm not sure what they considered to be a 'fursuiter,' but this ratio of suiters to nonsuiters is something I haven't heard of at any other convention. Something to consider going forward! In any case, after turning in my last bucket, I unsuited from Ringgar and did some pre-packing for the trip home. I wasn't ready to head to bed yet though, and I spent the rest of the evening partial suiting while socializing, attending the Dead Dog Dance, which was my first opportunity to attend the dances all con, and enjoying the falling snow! A great way to spend one more night at a furry convention!
Closing the CaseMy first full ANE experience was one I'll cherish. Overall, I think the best part of the convention was the vibe I received from the other attendees this year. It felt like a constant droning of positivity, which I particularly appreciate! ANE does some things differently from other conventions, some of which surprised me, but it was also evident that they were making changes in how things like panels, safety, and conduct were run from previous years. I think these things will be ironed out with just a little more time, and I have a high degree of confidence that, after the refresh it had this year, will continue to get better at the years go on. I can always count on ANE to be a place for me to see a lot of familiar faces, meet and vibe with new ones, and all of us having the time of our lives!
I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who took the time to keep the con on track and chugging along (whoops, that's last year's theme!) I also want to thank everyone who I had the opportunity to meet, new friends and old friends, who make cons what they are for me, and others: a time to celebrate being a part of one of the best communities on planet Earth!
P.S, my current plans for my next convention are up in the air at the time of writing due to the announcement of the date of Another Furry Convention, which is earlier than I had expected it to be this year. My current plans involve going to AFC in Ontario, California in September and Furpoc in Stamford on Halloween as always, but I will have to reconsider my Megaplex plan due to how close it is to AFC now. I will keep you updated when I figure out what other con(s) I can attend this year are and when!Furpocalypse 2024 Wrap-Up! + 2025 Con Plans!
Posted a year agoGood evening my fluffy friends! As I write this, it is currently the end of the day on Sunday at Furpocalypse, and the Dead Dog Dances have just wrapped up! The theme for Furpocalypse this year was "Astrophobia," and the con was held from Oct 31st to Nov 4th! This year, Furpocalypse has undergone a number of big changes. For starters, it is now a fully-fleged four day convention, and in addition, it was held at a new hotel, the Hilton on Fairfield Avenue in Stamford, CT! The new hotel isn't all that far from the Armon where the con was held previously, but the change was needed as the convention grew by leaps and bounds post-covid. That still stands true as well, even in the new hotel, but more on this later! Lastly, the previous chairman of the convention, Silverwolf, has stepped back, and a new chairman has taken his position: Mr. DeWolfe! Despite all these changes, the one thing that hasn't changed is how much I enjoy attending my home state convention! Why is that you wonder? Allow me to share my con wrap-up with you!
(Ringgar's Furpoc 2024 Photo Album!)
In previous years, the convention did unofficially start on Thursday, as registration opened late in the evening. With Thursday now bring a full con day, events and panels started in the morning, and registration opened in the early afternoon. I had arrived early on Thursday, unpacked, and decided to volunteer by helping to set up the PC gaming room before registration opened. That took just enough time for me to join the reg line, but I decided to partial as Ringgar before joining the line. That's something generally don't do as it is a lot of just waiting around in suit, but I was able to join the line in a good spot. Registration took me just over an hour, and I took my partial off to take a trek into Downtown Stamford. Last year at the Armon, I looked into the bus routes that travel from the convention and into downtown, as most of the food options were at least a 20 minute walk away. The same is doubly true at the new hotel location. Before the convention, I compiled another list of routes that travel near the hotel! I don't know if anyone else used this as there was a notable amount of Door Dashers going to and from the hotel, but I shared this list with the convention group chat and with the staff! It's a small thing, but one I was proud of! I walked to the transport center in Downtown to grab my ticket for the weekend, had dinner in Downtown, then bussed back to the hotel. By the time I got back to the hotel, opening ceremonies was to begin shortly, so I donned Ringgar once again to attend opening ceremonies, but left a little early to set up handing out candy for trick or treat! I brought Hi-chews and earplugs to hand out again this year, as well as the custom Ringgar MTG card I had printed for those who wanted them! I realized midway through trick or treating, there were a number of trick or treaters who were skipping my room, likely because my room door was around a corner, and fursuiters would have a hard time seeing the door hanger. For the last 30 minutes, I held my door open to ensure people would see they could trick or treat here, and I was lucky enough to have EXACTLY enough candy to hand out, while handing out the last pieces at the very last minute of the event. (I also traded some with
VeggieGator, who was just a few doors down from me!) Once the trick or treat event was done, I wandered the con in fullsuit to see who was around! The rest of the late evening was uneventful, but I did notice that someone had placed a bunch of earplugs at the door to the Thursday rave. I'd like to think the idea I had with earplugs last year and caught on with someone else, which I'm happy to see!
Friday was full of fun events to partake in! After the usual breakfast fare, I started the day by suiting up to participate in the Fursuit Games! Getting the chance to be silly in fursuit is one of my things to do as Ringgar, and the Fursuit Games are great event to do so! I try to go to this event every convention I go to, and the new ballroom was a great fit for the event! The best part about the event was one of the games was a ring toss! It was done specifically for me, of course xP. I was on the Blue team this year (which we named the Green Team, trying to channel the color's previous Fursuit Games' track record), but we came in third. Next year, we'll get those green bandanas! I had a brief interlude to clean Ringgar off, then put him on in partial form to attend Furry Feud! Better yet, I was able to participate this year for the first time! Our team didn't win, but I was over the moon for being able to participate at all. I had attended this event at a number of other New England cons, always hoping to play, and it seems my dream came true! I hope to do this again next year! After the event, I let Ringgar rest and headed out for dinner again, deciding to walk this time. I happened to meet (Sven Fennec) on the walk there! We had dinner together at a burger joint nearby (after walking around trying to find an open one), and had a good time together! The boardwalk the restaurant was located on was in a nice commercial district, which is something I'll keep in mind when looking for photo spots next year! After I came back to the hotel, I fullsuited for about 4 hours to meet up with friends and go to furry Improv, once again hosted by
Heathclaw, which is always a laugh-out-loud funny panel! That event took place in a second, smaller ballroom which was the perfect size for a comedy improv event! The last thing I did for the day was attend a late night broadcasts panel, where we watched an old CRT TV with a collection of old episodes and videos of odd things from the 90s' and beyond! At that point, it was about 2AM, so I called it a night afterwards.
Saturday was mostly a social day, but the highlight of the day was, of course, the fursuit parade! Before this though, I suited up a little early to go to the photo room (also run by Sven!) and have some photos taken of Ringgar. I suited around the hotel and did some bucket brigading for charity before getting in line for the Fursuit Parade and photos! My suit sibling (Ripley) and I had some photos taken together while we waited for the parade to start. I also took some selfies with friends! The parade route was very short, but it terminated outside on the (very large) lawn of the hotel! Thankfully there was a breeze to keep the Indian summer heat down. After the photo, I goofed off on the lawn and in the hotel for a little while before going to a panel about obscure MLP fan content, having a barrel full of laughs, then de-suiting to watch the Freestyle Competition! During the competition, however, Ripley told me they had seen one of our other suit siblings! We left during the event to see if we could find them, and we found it was my suit sibling (Koda!) We spoke for a little bit, and found out it was Koda's first east coast convention! We made plans to meet up the following day for a family photo session, then I returned to watch the rest of the freestyle competition. It never fails to amaze me just what people can do to make a move! I went out for dinner after the event, then came back to the hotel to suit up one more time for the day to do some late night bucket brigading, which was a big success! Once I turned in my bucket, I stopped by the Karaoke in the secondary ballroom. There was a very long queue for karaoke, so much so that I didn't get to sing until past Daylight Savings Time! But I was able to sing the song I wanted in the end! By then it was 2AM, so I capped off the day and retired to my room.
Last but not least, Sunday had a lot of activity! In the morning, I met up with some fellow wolf fursuiters for a group photoshoot out on the lawn, which I followed up with doing one last (official) bucket brigade, and finally meeting Koda and Ripley for some fursuit family photos! I love how great and diverse our Starcane community is, and I really enjoyed getting to talk with Koda & Ripley. We had planned our meet to be just at the start of the dance competition, so I quickly de-suited and ran back down to watch the dancers pull off some incredible routines! (Typo's) in particular blew me away, as they had most of the other contestants come on stage briefly to help him with his routine! They had told me previously that their routine would be wild, but I was still blown away! At the conclusion of the dance competition, I had dinner inside the hotel, and fullsuited one last time just before closing ceremonies to say my goodbyes to friends who were leaving early, as well as do one last bucket brigade during closing! Closing was a little bit of a rollercoaster as we all anticipated the finally numbers of attendees and charity donations!
Furpocalypse 2024 had a total of 2845 attendees, 825 fursuits, and raised ~$17.1k for charity! For reference, that is a growth of about 1000 attendees from last year! Mr. DeWolfe had expressed during closing that they like this current size for the convention and wishes to maintain that going forward for as long as possible. I'm unsure if that will happen, but either way, I'm still optimistic about the future of Furpocalypse! The theme for next year's convention will be the 'The Midnight Dimension', which is a riff off of Twilight Zone themes! After closing, I started packing up what I could and gave Ringgar's fullsuit a rest. The last thing I did was attend the Dead Dog dance and let loose a little bit at the rave, as well as jump in to an impromptu dance cipher! I'm not much of a dancer myself, but I just wanted to have some fun for the last event of the convention. The Dead Dog also took place in the smaller ballroom, which meant it was quite crowded, but I feel that is fairly appropriate for a last hurrah rave. This now where we find me writing this journal!
Furpoc will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons. It is the first furry convention I ever attended, the first full con weekend I ever attended, the con where I debuted Ringgar's fursuit, and it is my home state convention. Though Furpocalypse isn't anywhere near as big as some other conventions, I prefer ones just like this, where it is more likely I can meet my friends frequently (unless your schedules are just complete misses with others, which happens sometimes :P.) Furpoc may have a new look, a new chairman, and a new location, but the charm that is a furry's Halloween con has never faded! I will absolutely be returning next year, and I wish that the next Furpoc was already here! Until then, however...
I am planning on what conventions I would like to attend for next year. I've already decided to return to Furpoc, but I will also be attending ANE for the full duration of the con next year! As for other conventions, I would like to go to ones in areas I have not been to yet. I am currently thinking about doing somewhere on the West Coast and somewhere in the South Eastern parts of the U.S. In particular, if I can, I would like to go to Another Furry Con and Megaplex, despite their close proximity to each other and Furpoc in terms of dates. Nothing is set in stone beyond ANE and Furpoc yet, though!
(Ringgar's Furpoc 2024 Photo Album!)
If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!In previous years, the convention did unofficially start on Thursday, as registration opened late in the evening. With Thursday now bring a full con day, events and panels started in the morning, and registration opened in the early afternoon. I had arrived early on Thursday, unpacked, and decided to volunteer by helping to set up the PC gaming room before registration opened. That took just enough time for me to join the reg line, but I decided to partial as Ringgar before joining the line. That's something generally don't do as it is a lot of just waiting around in suit, but I was able to join the line in a good spot. Registration took me just over an hour, and I took my partial off to take a trek into Downtown Stamford. Last year at the Armon, I looked into the bus routes that travel from the convention and into downtown, as most of the food options were at least a 20 minute walk away. The same is doubly true at the new hotel location. Before the convention, I compiled another list of routes that travel near the hotel! I don't know if anyone else used this as there was a notable amount of Door Dashers going to and from the hotel, but I shared this list with the convention group chat and with the staff! It's a small thing, but one I was proud of! I walked to the transport center in Downtown to grab my ticket for the weekend, had dinner in Downtown, then bussed back to the hotel. By the time I got back to the hotel, opening ceremonies was to begin shortly, so I donned Ringgar once again to attend opening ceremonies, but left a little early to set up handing out candy for trick or treat! I brought Hi-chews and earplugs to hand out again this year, as well as the custom Ringgar MTG card I had printed for those who wanted them! I realized midway through trick or treating, there were a number of trick or treaters who were skipping my room, likely because my room door was around a corner, and fursuiters would have a hard time seeing the door hanger. For the last 30 minutes, I held my door open to ensure people would see they could trick or treat here, and I was lucky enough to have EXACTLY enough candy to hand out, while handing out the last pieces at the very last minute of the event. (I also traded some with
VeggieGator, who was just a few doors down from me!) Once the trick or treat event was done, I wandered the con in fullsuit to see who was around! The rest of the late evening was uneventful, but I did notice that someone had placed a bunch of earplugs at the door to the Thursday rave. I'd like to think the idea I had with earplugs last year and caught on with someone else, which I'm happy to see! Friday was full of fun events to partake in! After the usual breakfast fare, I started the day by suiting up to participate in the Fursuit Games! Getting the chance to be silly in fursuit is one of my things to do as Ringgar, and the Fursuit Games are great event to do so! I try to go to this event every convention I go to, and the new ballroom was a great fit for the event! The best part about the event was one of the games was a ring toss! It was done specifically for me, of course xP. I was on the Blue team this year (which we named the Green Team, trying to channel the color's previous Fursuit Games' track record), but we came in third. Next year, we'll get those green bandanas! I had a brief interlude to clean Ringgar off, then put him on in partial form to attend Furry Feud! Better yet, I was able to participate this year for the first time! Our team didn't win, but I was over the moon for being able to participate at all. I had attended this event at a number of other New England cons, always hoping to play, and it seems my dream came true! I hope to do this again next year! After the event, I let Ringgar rest and headed out for dinner again, deciding to walk this time. I happened to meet (Sven Fennec) on the walk there! We had dinner together at a burger joint nearby (after walking around trying to find an open one), and had a good time together! The boardwalk the restaurant was located on was in a nice commercial district, which is something I'll keep in mind when looking for photo spots next year! After I came back to the hotel, I fullsuited for about 4 hours to meet up with friends and go to furry Improv, once again hosted by
Heathclaw, which is always a laugh-out-loud funny panel! That event took place in a second, smaller ballroom which was the perfect size for a comedy improv event! The last thing I did for the day was attend a late night broadcasts panel, where we watched an old CRT TV with a collection of old episodes and videos of odd things from the 90s' and beyond! At that point, it was about 2AM, so I called it a night afterwards.Saturday was mostly a social day, but the highlight of the day was, of course, the fursuit parade! Before this though, I suited up a little early to go to the photo room (also run by Sven!) and have some photos taken of Ringgar. I suited around the hotel and did some bucket brigading for charity before getting in line for the Fursuit Parade and photos! My suit sibling (Ripley) and I had some photos taken together while we waited for the parade to start. I also took some selfies with friends! The parade route was very short, but it terminated outside on the (very large) lawn of the hotel! Thankfully there was a breeze to keep the Indian summer heat down. After the photo, I goofed off on the lawn and in the hotel for a little while before going to a panel about obscure MLP fan content, having a barrel full of laughs, then de-suiting to watch the Freestyle Competition! During the competition, however, Ripley told me they had seen one of our other suit siblings! We left during the event to see if we could find them, and we found it was my suit sibling (Koda!) We spoke for a little bit, and found out it was Koda's first east coast convention! We made plans to meet up the following day for a family photo session, then I returned to watch the rest of the freestyle competition. It never fails to amaze me just what people can do to make a move! I went out for dinner after the event, then came back to the hotel to suit up one more time for the day to do some late night bucket brigading, which was a big success! Once I turned in my bucket, I stopped by the Karaoke in the secondary ballroom. There was a very long queue for karaoke, so much so that I didn't get to sing until past Daylight Savings Time! But I was able to sing the song I wanted in the end! By then it was 2AM, so I capped off the day and retired to my room.
Last but not least, Sunday had a lot of activity! In the morning, I met up with some fellow wolf fursuiters for a group photoshoot out on the lawn, which I followed up with doing one last (official) bucket brigade, and finally meeting Koda and Ripley for some fursuit family photos! I love how great and diverse our Starcane community is, and I really enjoyed getting to talk with Koda & Ripley. We had planned our meet to be just at the start of the dance competition, so I quickly de-suited and ran back down to watch the dancers pull off some incredible routines! (Typo's) in particular blew me away, as they had most of the other contestants come on stage briefly to help him with his routine! They had told me previously that their routine would be wild, but I was still blown away! At the conclusion of the dance competition, I had dinner inside the hotel, and fullsuited one last time just before closing ceremonies to say my goodbyes to friends who were leaving early, as well as do one last bucket brigade during closing! Closing was a little bit of a rollercoaster as we all anticipated the finally numbers of attendees and charity donations!
Furpocalypse 2024 had a total of 2845 attendees, 825 fursuits, and raised ~$17.1k for charity! For reference, that is a growth of about 1000 attendees from last year! Mr. DeWolfe had expressed during closing that they like this current size for the convention and wishes to maintain that going forward for as long as possible. I'm unsure if that will happen, but either way, I'm still optimistic about the future of Furpocalypse! The theme for next year's convention will be the 'The Midnight Dimension', which is a riff off of Twilight Zone themes! After closing, I started packing up what I could and gave Ringgar's fullsuit a rest. The last thing I did was attend the Dead Dog dance and let loose a little bit at the rave, as well as jump in to an impromptu dance cipher! I'm not much of a dancer myself, but I just wanted to have some fun for the last event of the convention. The Dead Dog also took place in the smaller ballroom, which meant it was quite crowded, but I feel that is fairly appropriate for a last hurrah rave. This now where we find me writing this journal!
Spaceflight TerminationFurpoc will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons. It is the first furry convention I ever attended, the first full con weekend I ever attended, the con where I debuted Ringgar's fursuit, and it is my home state convention. Though Furpocalypse isn't anywhere near as big as some other conventions, I prefer ones just like this, where it is more likely I can meet my friends frequently (unless your schedules are just complete misses with others, which happens sometimes :P.) Furpoc may have a new look, a new chairman, and a new location, but the charm that is a furry's Halloween con has never faded! I will absolutely be returning next year, and I wish that the next Furpoc was already here! Until then, however...
I am planning on what conventions I would like to attend for next year. I've already decided to return to Furpoc, but I will also be attending ANE for the full duration of the con next year! As for other conventions, I would like to go to ones in areas I have not been to yet. I am currently thinking about doing somewhere on the West Coast and somewhere in the South Eastern parts of the U.S. In particular, if I can, I would like to go to Another Furry Con and Megaplex, despite their close proximity to each other and Furpoc in terms of dates. Nothing is set in stone beyond ANE and Furpoc yet, though!
My next convention will be Anthro New England in January 2025!I can't thank all the staff and volunteers enough for all the work that is put in to make this convention possible! This circle wolf appreciates everyone's hard work! Finally, thank you for reading as well!Anthrocon 2024 Wrap-Up!
Posted a year agoHello friends and fluffs! I have just returned home from Anthrocon 2024, where I stayed in Pittsburgh from July 3rd to the 7th! Anthrocon is (as of writing, the, more on this later!) Largest furry convention in the world, and has a legendary status amongst conventions. History was made there this year, and I am so grateful to have been there to be a part of it! Not only that, but this is my very first Anthrocon, and is a convention I had always wanted to go to for years, even very early on into my foray into furry! After attending Midwest Fur Fest last year, I believed I had some understanding as to what I was getting in to when attending such a massive convention, but my expectations were exceptionally exceeded! While convention events are primarily contained to the David Lawrence Convention Center and adjoining Westin Hotel, the truth is that the spirit of the convention extends well across Downtown Pittsburgh! With that said, allow me to share with you the activities of this circular wolf, along with my friend and roommate for the convention, afurryjinx, that occurred at such a sprawling event!
Before we begin, I spent most of my time at the convention in suit! As such, I do not have many of my own photos to share, so I am on the hunt for photos of Ringgar taken by others! If you have or know of any photos or video of Ringgar floating around, I would appreciate seeing it! In addition, most of the interactions I had with friends at the convention, unlike previous ones, were very brief and primarily in passing, due to the large (and especially expansive) style of this convention. If you met me and I haven't mentioned your name here, I apologize. Do feel free to send me a message on one of the socials linked on my home page if you and I did meet though!
We decided to take the trip down to Pittsburgh by car, waking up just past midnight on Wednesday morning and hitting the road around 2 A.M. The drive down was actually very smooth at this time of night, with traffic only picking up in volume when we were already 7 hours into the trip, just an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh! We were able to watch the sun rise in the rear view mirror as we drove down, and despite the length of the drive, it was an enjoyable one! If I wasn't on the highway, I would have liked to have taken a photo of that sunrise! We arrived in the city around noon, and after a little stress in city driving, made it to the hotel. We were able to secure a room at the Doubletree for this convention, which I'm happy to report was overall a smooth and unproblematic stay! We unpacked in the room, and made a plan to explore the city while waiting for our third room mate, Zephyr Cyenta! Shuttles were not running on Wednesday, so we walked over to the convention center to try to see the layout. We weren't allowed inside of course, but we were able to inspect the surrounding streets, and of course, the waterfront! We walked west down the waterfront, and crossed over to the waterfront on the northern side of the Ohio river. From there, we walked up along the waterfront, passing PNC Park where the Pirates play, the Andy Warhol Museum, several memorials and dedications (seen in the album I've linked above!) and eventually winding up at the Carnegie Science Center. The Science Center was hosting an event that explored the science and process behind creating a Pixar film, which we attended, also seeing a couple of fursuiters already there at the exhibit! I particularly appreciated seeing how each step in the process of animating was followed. I'm not an animator, and while I know (some) of these steps, it was nice to see how they fit together in the overall process! After visiting the exhibit, we walked back to the waterfront on the southern half of the river, into Point Park, and then into Market Square on the way back to the hotel. I was particularly impressed by Market Square, as it was essentially an all-encompassing food destination for downtown, with every kind of cuisine you could ask for packed into one and a half blocks! After reaching the hotel again, we went to grab Zephyr once he arrived, and made plans to head to Pizza Parma for dinner. This pizza join was completely in to the convention, converting themselves to "Furryland" for the whole duration of the con, including a new menu, decor, and staff uniform! I believe this restaurant is the best example of how the city essentially transforms to welcome furries at Anthrocon. As I mentioned before, Anthrocon extends in spirit beyond the convention center, and it is largely in part due to the residents and businesses becoming welcoming to furry clientele, as Anthrocon brings a substantial amount of customers to town! After dinner the three of us returned to the hotel, where we went swimming in the hotel pool after some time before retiring from a very long, yet very eventful Day 0!
Day 1 of the convention opens with Jinx and I grabing bagels for Breakfast and heading down to the con center for registration. An hour and a half before registration opened, the line for preregistration already extended down the street and wrapped well around the convention center. Thankfully, we were early enough earlier in the year to grab a sponsor badge, so our wait time was cut down significantly. Registration was one of the pain points I heard about frequently at the convention, and with the weather outside reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, it is easy to understand why. Now that we were able to go into the con center, Jinx and I walked around each of the floors to get a better understanding as to the layout of the con center, since this was the first time ever being here for us both. Once we were comfortable with the layout, we took the shuttle back to the hotel, put on our fursuits, and went back to the con center for a little bit of early fursuiting! Unsurprisingly, there were not many people in the con center yet as most were in registration, so we only stayed briefly before heading back to the hotel again to unsuit and grab our MTG decks. We then went to the Westin to play Magic The Gathering together, and after playing for a few hours, decided to grab dinner at a bar in Market Square called Whisky B's. Unfortunately, I had missed all of the panels I had planned on attending during the duration of playing Magic and grabbing dinner, including opening ceremonies, but I accepted that I couldn't do everything at once like I have at other conventions before (though I still wish I could!) We returned to the hotel, where we were greeted with the arrival of a friend at our room,
Tenact! Tenn is someone I met by random luck at Furpocalypse 2022, and it was (almost) random luck that brought us together again! Because Thursday was the 4th, the three of us planned to go to Point Park to watch the fireworks go off amongst the populace, but there was one slight issue: torrential rain, that started the moment we were going to walk out the door of the hotel. Instead, the three of us watched the fireworks from the T.V set in our hotel room, which was a decent enough replacement. I was already in fursuit at the time, so I am glad we decided to wait out the rain, which fell for only around 40 minutes. Once the rain concluded, I suited up to travel to the con center again, with Jinx following to handle for me. At this time of night, the waterfront became very populated, and boileroom sets were a common sound near the shuttle drop-off under the con center. I was able to act around like a goofy wolf like usual, but I was primarily focused on getting acclimated to navigating the con center in suit (and in the heat especially.) I did get to see one of my fursuit family members as well, who was staff at the convention this year: Sitherie! Though the sun had gone down, the humidity ramped up due to the rain, and I did not feel well because of it. I decided to retire for the night around 10, though if the weather had cooperated, I would have stayed longer!
Our story for Friday starts around 9, where Jinx and Tenn and I decided to meet at a local Waffle joint called Waffles, Incaffinated for breakfast (which was very crowded, and for good reason, the food was great!) I had planned to attend a couple of panels that occurred during the middle of the day: Public Fursuiting Etiquette hosted by @Astra_Fur, and Fursuiting 101 hosted by Nexus_Folf! For the etiquette panel, I had hoped to learn some planning tips for going to public places to fursuit, and this panel delivered on exactly that. If Astra decides to host this panel again, I would recommend other fursuit owners attend! They broke down advice for public suiting as well as how to handle difficult situations in suit in public! Gale's Fursuit 101 panel focused on acting in fursuit! This is a panel that Gale has done for many years and has quite a history of going off the rails at several points, and this time was no exception. While I wasn't invited to be an example fursuiter for the audience, I did get the opportunity to perform for the crowd there as well, acting like a pirate by turning my goggles into a makeshift eyepatch! Beyond the crazy antics, this panel was genuinely helpful in helping me realize just how much more fun and memorable dynamic poses can be when having my photo taken in suit, something I'll try to put into practice in the future! This was my first opportunity to attend this panel, as Gale been able to do this at other conventions I had also been to previously, so I am very grateful to have been able to attend. If the opportunity arises again, I would love to be an example suiter for the audience, because if there is one thing I love more than anything in suiting, is making people smile! After these two panels concluded, I had a bit of energy left in me to walk around the dealers den (which, if you intend to purchase something, is as awkward in suit as you might expect) before returning to the hotel to meet up with Jinx again for dinner. We went to a local bar called The Warren for dinner, which both of our picks for favorite dinner location that we went to during the con! (We've only just scratched the surface when it comes to food destinations in Pitt of course, but we only had so many days for dinner!) Their menu features drinks, tavern food, and surprisingly, sushi! I'm confident this is a bar I will return to when I next get to visit Pittsburgh. To close out the day, I suited up one more time to head back to the convention center. Here, I sauntered up to the rooftop for a Starcane Arts fursuit family meetup with all of my other fursuit family members who were attending the convention this year! Four of these folks, Hannu the Vernid, Axel the Husky, & Ripley & Dandy the fox, I had met at other conventions before, but this was my first time meeting other family members, such as Felix the Purple Fox, Laurence the DeerFox, and B4d the Kaiju, I had never met in person up until this point! Internally, I was thrilled to meet them, but the heat and humidity from standing outside on the roof in full suit was stifling to my outward excitement. I did cry a little when I saw them all. This adopted family is nothing less than a blessing to be a part of, and I'm thankful to get to know so many people from different walks of life, all connected by a (very fuzzy) thread. After we took our photos, Hannu, Laurence, Axel and I went to the headless lounge to cool off together, and Hannu and I walked around the waterfront together afterwards as well (Where I also met Tenn again, heh). Once it turned around 11PM, I decided to head back to the hotel to give Ringgar some TLC and to conclude Day 2!
Saturday was an oddball of a day. It started out with a tremendous string of bad luck. Jinx and I searched the nearby area for breakfast, walking to 3 separate locations only to find that they were either closed for the holiday weekend or overbooked. When we resolved to get breakfast at the hotel restaurant, it had just turned 10:30, which means the hotel restaurant was closed to shift over to lunch. Defeated, we just had yogurt and granola for breakfast, after which we decided to suit up to head to the con center for the Fursuit Parade! Before the convention, I had decided to procure a cooling vest in preparation for (what I thought would be mostly outdoor) events such as this, so I decided to give it a first real test run during the parade. This was the intent, anyway, but fortune was still not on our side. From walking into Hall C at the con center for line up to leaving it to enter the parade took about an hour and a half. By this point, I was hurting a little bit from standing or sitting in suit in one spot almost the entire time, and not only that, but the cooling vest I intended to test had melted during that duration. At least it kept me cool in the lineup, I suppose! The parade itself only lasted around 10 minutes, and the time we spent outdoors was very brief. Despite this, I did my best to strut my stuff (energy level permitting at that point) and put smiles on the faces of all the onlookers! I think I gave around 70 high fives in that parade, and most importantly to me, a hug to a small child who asked for one. Despite everything, I still think it was absolutely worth it (though I'll plan to arrive earlier for large conventions like this to, hopefully, cut down on the line wait in the future!) I had intended to attend the block party immediately afterwards, but my energy was drained from all the waiting in full suit at that point, so instead Jinx and I travelled back to the hotel, where I donned a poodling partial to head back to the con center for the block party on Penn. Ave. for a brief duration before heading to a place called the Yard in Market Square for dinner. The one thing I can say about the Yard is to prepare for a significant amount of cheese to be added to your diet. That is all :P. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, where after resting briefly I full suited again to return to the last couple hours of the block party. Once the block party concluded, I moved back inside to goof around in suit and attend the dances that night, before returning to the hotel late to get ready for the last day of the con!
On Sunday morning, it felt like the con had gone past in the blink of an eye. I wasn't ready to let it go just yet, and I resolved to make it a fun one! Jinx and I had breakfast in the hotel room because I wished to attend the Fursuit Games that Sunday, which was held earlier at 11 AM! Once I was in full suit and at the con center, I had made it just in time to join the orange team. There were enough participants for 10 teams of 8 fursuiters, and 3 games for each team to play: Connect 4, Ring Toss (!!!) and Cornhole! Our team didn't win (mostly due to our lackluster ring toss performance, hahaha!) But I still had fun! One thing that did puzzle me however is that the Fursuit Games were being held at almost the same time the Dance Competition was. This really cut down on the audience for the games, which had an especially noticeable difference compared to the Fursuit Games I had been in at other conventions. There was plenty of space for participants, but the seats for spectators were mostly empty. I intend to give some feedback about that when the time comes! After the games, I had time to head to the Dealer's Den one more time, and to go back to the same room the games were played to attend Sylox's Fursuit 101 panel! Unlike Gale's panel, this panel focuses more on the basics of acquiring, wearing, and safety in a fursuit, which also had a lot of audience input! This was mostly information I had learned from my own fursuit experiences in the past year, but the panel was well attended, and I am grateful that Sylox put together a place for open discussion on fursuit basics! I returned to the hotel after this, but only briefly to rest and take care of my suit, before Jinx and I went to the closing ceremonies. I went to the ceremonies in partial while Jinx went in full suit! Closing ceremonies to me, was one of the most notable parts of the convention, not only for the wrap up, announcements, and numbers, but because I got to be a part of furry history. To be more specific, in the span of about 15 minutes, the attendees of the con raised over $9,000 for the charity this year, Gray Paws Sanctuary, to cap off the total charity donation to be over $100,000, which was the very first three figure charity number raised solely by attendees! To top all of that off, Anthrocon also broke the (at the time of writing) record for largest furry con attendance at 17,639 attendees, and had 3371 fursuiters (which also explains why the parade was so long!) When these numbers were announced, especially watching the charity goal being raised live, I teared up a bit. Anthrocon has a legendary status among furry conventions, and this is even more evidence of being just that, which I am eternally thankful to have been a part of. After closing, Jinx and I went to the Terminal, a strip of businesses and restaurants on Penn Avenue NE of the con center, which is a direction we hadn't gone yet this con, and had dinner at a brewery called Aslin Beer Co. Once we finished dinner, we returned to the room to suit up together one last time at the convention center, took photos off the balcony on the second floor of the con center, and walked around to say our goodbyes to friends (and some hellos to strangers!) before returning to the hotel around midnight. The drive back home Monday was not as smooth or pleasant as the drive down, considering we were driving in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather, but that was unavoidable, so there isn't much to say about it!
My first Anthrocon was incredible in so many ways, and occasionally zany as well! Watching a city district change for furries is an experience you can't find anywhere else on Earth! To say Anthrocon is a big deal for the furry community, and for me personally, is an understatement. I was there for five days, and I barely scratched the surface of what Anthrocon has to offer. A couple of things I have learned from my experience there is that Anthrocon is a convention that really requires trips for multiple years to truly understand and experience the scope of it all. Its size can be both a blessing and a curse, being big enough to find something to do at every corner, but also being so big that it is hard to find friends naturally. Due to the spread out nature of the several hotels, if you want to meet someone, the best way to do that is to plan a place and time to meet ahead of time. It is entirely possible that you may know a friend is going, but never wind up seeing them, as happened to a couple of folks I know who were attending. I also recommend planning for activities outside the convention in advance. One of the highlights of AC for many folks is the ferry trip, which I wasn't able to secure tickets for this year. The next time I go, I absolutely will though! When it comes to the convention itself however, it is OK to go in either with light plans or no plan at all, because when it comes to large conventions such as this, plans and timing can change on the fly. If you do have a plan in place, make sure you build in time for the shuttles, because you WILL NOT want to walk around in the July heat for long, unless you are fewer than a couple blocks away from the con center. These are just a handful of the things I learned, and I hope they will be useful to you as well!
afurryjinx, that occurred at such a sprawling event! Before we begin, I spent most of my time at the convention in suit! As such, I do not have many of my own photos to share, so I am on the hunt for photos of Ringgar taken by others! If you have or know of any photos or video of Ringgar floating around, I would appreciate seeing it! In addition, most of the interactions I had with friends at the convention, unlike previous ones, were very brief and primarily in passing, due to the large (and especially expansive) style of this convention. If you met me and I haven't mentioned your name here, I apologize. Do feel free to send me a message on one of the socials linked on my home page if you and I did meet though!
If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Ringgar's Anthrocon 2024 Photo Reel!We decided to take the trip down to Pittsburgh by car, waking up just past midnight on Wednesday morning and hitting the road around 2 A.M. The drive down was actually very smooth at this time of night, with traffic only picking up in volume when we were already 7 hours into the trip, just an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh! We were able to watch the sun rise in the rear view mirror as we drove down, and despite the length of the drive, it was an enjoyable one! If I wasn't on the highway, I would have liked to have taken a photo of that sunrise! We arrived in the city around noon, and after a little stress in city driving, made it to the hotel. We were able to secure a room at the Doubletree for this convention, which I'm happy to report was overall a smooth and unproblematic stay! We unpacked in the room, and made a plan to explore the city while waiting for our third room mate, Zephyr Cyenta! Shuttles were not running on Wednesday, so we walked over to the convention center to try to see the layout. We weren't allowed inside of course, but we were able to inspect the surrounding streets, and of course, the waterfront! We walked west down the waterfront, and crossed over to the waterfront on the northern side of the Ohio river. From there, we walked up along the waterfront, passing PNC Park where the Pirates play, the Andy Warhol Museum, several memorials and dedications (seen in the album I've linked above!) and eventually winding up at the Carnegie Science Center. The Science Center was hosting an event that explored the science and process behind creating a Pixar film, which we attended, also seeing a couple of fursuiters already there at the exhibit! I particularly appreciated seeing how each step in the process of animating was followed. I'm not an animator, and while I know (some) of these steps, it was nice to see how they fit together in the overall process! After visiting the exhibit, we walked back to the waterfront on the southern half of the river, into Point Park, and then into Market Square on the way back to the hotel. I was particularly impressed by Market Square, as it was essentially an all-encompassing food destination for downtown, with every kind of cuisine you could ask for packed into one and a half blocks! After reaching the hotel again, we went to grab Zephyr once he arrived, and made plans to head to Pizza Parma for dinner. This pizza join was completely in to the convention, converting themselves to "Furryland" for the whole duration of the con, including a new menu, decor, and staff uniform! I believe this restaurant is the best example of how the city essentially transforms to welcome furries at Anthrocon. As I mentioned before, Anthrocon extends in spirit beyond the convention center, and it is largely in part due to the residents and businesses becoming welcoming to furry clientele, as Anthrocon brings a substantial amount of customers to town! After dinner the three of us returned to the hotel, where we went swimming in the hotel pool after some time before retiring from a very long, yet very eventful Day 0!
Day 1 of the convention opens with Jinx and I grabing bagels for Breakfast and heading down to the con center for registration. An hour and a half before registration opened, the line for preregistration already extended down the street and wrapped well around the convention center. Thankfully, we were early enough earlier in the year to grab a sponsor badge, so our wait time was cut down significantly. Registration was one of the pain points I heard about frequently at the convention, and with the weather outside reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, it is easy to understand why. Now that we were able to go into the con center, Jinx and I walked around each of the floors to get a better understanding as to the layout of the con center, since this was the first time ever being here for us both. Once we were comfortable with the layout, we took the shuttle back to the hotel, put on our fursuits, and went back to the con center for a little bit of early fursuiting! Unsurprisingly, there were not many people in the con center yet as most were in registration, so we only stayed briefly before heading back to the hotel again to unsuit and grab our MTG decks. We then went to the Westin to play Magic The Gathering together, and after playing for a few hours, decided to grab dinner at a bar in Market Square called Whisky B's. Unfortunately, I had missed all of the panels I had planned on attending during the duration of playing Magic and grabbing dinner, including opening ceremonies, but I accepted that I couldn't do everything at once like I have at other conventions before (though I still wish I could!) We returned to the hotel, where we were greeted with the arrival of a friend at our room,
Tenact! Tenn is someone I met by random luck at Furpocalypse 2022, and it was (almost) random luck that brought us together again! Because Thursday was the 4th, the three of us planned to go to Point Park to watch the fireworks go off amongst the populace, but there was one slight issue: torrential rain, that started the moment we were going to walk out the door of the hotel. Instead, the three of us watched the fireworks from the T.V set in our hotel room, which was a decent enough replacement. I was already in fursuit at the time, so I am glad we decided to wait out the rain, which fell for only around 40 minutes. Once the rain concluded, I suited up to travel to the con center again, with Jinx following to handle for me. At this time of night, the waterfront became very populated, and boileroom sets were a common sound near the shuttle drop-off under the con center. I was able to act around like a goofy wolf like usual, but I was primarily focused on getting acclimated to navigating the con center in suit (and in the heat especially.) I did get to see one of my fursuit family members as well, who was staff at the convention this year: Sitherie! Though the sun had gone down, the humidity ramped up due to the rain, and I did not feel well because of it. I decided to retire for the night around 10, though if the weather had cooperated, I would have stayed longer!Our story for Friday starts around 9, where Jinx and Tenn and I decided to meet at a local Waffle joint called Waffles, Incaffinated for breakfast (which was very crowded, and for good reason, the food was great!) I had planned to attend a couple of panels that occurred during the middle of the day: Public Fursuiting Etiquette hosted by @Astra_Fur, and Fursuiting 101 hosted by
Nexus_Folf! For the etiquette panel, I had hoped to learn some planning tips for going to public places to fursuit, and this panel delivered on exactly that. If Astra decides to host this panel again, I would recommend other fursuit owners attend! They broke down advice for public suiting as well as how to handle difficult situations in suit in public! Gale's Fursuit 101 panel focused on acting in fursuit! This is a panel that Gale has done for many years and has quite a history of going off the rails at several points, and this time was no exception. While I wasn't invited to be an example fursuiter for the audience, I did get the opportunity to perform for the crowd there as well, acting like a pirate by turning my goggles into a makeshift eyepatch! Beyond the crazy antics, this panel was genuinely helpful in helping me realize just how much more fun and memorable dynamic poses can be when having my photo taken in suit, something I'll try to put into practice in the future! This was my first opportunity to attend this panel, as Gale been able to do this at other conventions I had also been to previously, so I am very grateful to have been able to attend. If the opportunity arises again, I would love to be an example suiter for the audience, because if there is one thing I love more than anything in suiting, is making people smile! After these two panels concluded, I had a bit of energy left in me to walk around the dealers den (which, if you intend to purchase something, is as awkward in suit as you might expect) before returning to the hotel to meet up with Jinx again for dinner. We went to a local bar called The Warren for dinner, which both of our picks for favorite dinner location that we went to during the con! (We've only just scratched the surface when it comes to food destinations in Pitt of course, but we only had so many days for dinner!) Their menu features drinks, tavern food, and surprisingly, sushi! I'm confident this is a bar I will return to when I next get to visit Pittsburgh. To close out the day, I suited up one more time to head back to the convention center. Here, I sauntered up to the rooftop for a Starcane Arts fursuit family meetup with all of my other fursuit family members who were attending the convention this year! Four of these folks, Hannu the Vernid, Axel the Husky, & Ripley & Dandy the fox, I had met at other conventions before, but this was my first time meeting other family members, such as Felix the Purple Fox, Laurence the DeerFox, and B4d the Kaiju, I had never met in person up until this point! Internally, I was thrilled to meet them, but the heat and humidity from standing outside on the roof in full suit was stifling to my outward excitement. I did cry a little when I saw them all. This adopted family is nothing less than a blessing to be a part of, and I'm thankful to get to know so many people from different walks of life, all connected by a (very fuzzy) thread. After we took our photos, Hannu, Laurence, Axel and I went to the headless lounge to cool off together, and Hannu and I walked around the waterfront together afterwards as well (Where I also met Tenn again, heh). Once it turned around 11PM, I decided to head back to the hotel to give Ringgar some TLC and to conclude Day 2!Saturday was an oddball of a day. It started out with a tremendous string of bad luck. Jinx and I searched the nearby area for breakfast, walking to 3 separate locations only to find that they were either closed for the holiday weekend or overbooked. When we resolved to get breakfast at the hotel restaurant, it had just turned 10:30, which means the hotel restaurant was closed to shift over to lunch. Defeated, we just had yogurt and granola for breakfast, after which we decided to suit up to head to the con center for the Fursuit Parade! Before the convention, I had decided to procure a cooling vest in preparation for (what I thought would be mostly outdoor) events such as this, so I decided to give it a first real test run during the parade. This was the intent, anyway, but fortune was still not on our side. From walking into Hall C at the con center for line up to leaving it to enter the parade took about an hour and a half. By this point, I was hurting a little bit from standing or sitting in suit in one spot almost the entire time, and not only that, but the cooling vest I intended to test had melted during that duration. At least it kept me cool in the lineup, I suppose! The parade itself only lasted around 10 minutes, and the time we spent outdoors was very brief. Despite this, I did my best to strut my stuff (energy level permitting at that point) and put smiles on the faces of all the onlookers! I think I gave around 70 high fives in that parade, and most importantly to me, a hug to a small child who asked for one. Despite everything, I still think it was absolutely worth it (though I'll plan to arrive earlier for large conventions like this to, hopefully, cut down on the line wait in the future!) I had intended to attend the block party immediately afterwards, but my energy was drained from all the waiting in full suit at that point, so instead Jinx and I travelled back to the hotel, where I donned a poodling partial to head back to the con center for the block party on Penn. Ave. for a brief duration before heading to a place called the Yard in Market Square for dinner. The one thing I can say about the Yard is to prepare for a significant amount of cheese to be added to your diet. That is all :P. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, where after resting briefly I full suited again to return to the last couple hours of the block party. Once the block party concluded, I moved back inside to goof around in suit and attend the dances that night, before returning to the hotel late to get ready for the last day of the con!
On Sunday morning, it felt like the con had gone past in the blink of an eye. I wasn't ready to let it go just yet, and I resolved to make it a fun one! Jinx and I had breakfast in the hotel room because I wished to attend the Fursuit Games that Sunday, which was held earlier at 11 AM! Once I was in full suit and at the con center, I had made it just in time to join the orange team. There were enough participants for 10 teams of 8 fursuiters, and 3 games for each team to play: Connect 4, Ring Toss (!!!) and Cornhole! Our team didn't win (mostly due to our lackluster ring toss performance, hahaha!) But I still had fun! One thing that did puzzle me however is that the Fursuit Games were being held at almost the same time the Dance Competition was. This really cut down on the audience for the games, which had an especially noticeable difference compared to the Fursuit Games I had been in at other conventions. There was plenty of space for participants, but the seats for spectators were mostly empty. I intend to give some feedback about that when the time comes! After the games, I had time to head to the Dealer's Den one more time, and to go back to the same room the games were played to attend Sylox's Fursuit 101 panel! Unlike Gale's panel, this panel focuses more on the basics of acquiring, wearing, and safety in a fursuit, which also had a lot of audience input! This was mostly information I had learned from my own fursuit experiences in the past year, but the panel was well attended, and I am grateful that Sylox put together a place for open discussion on fursuit basics! I returned to the hotel after this, but only briefly to rest and take care of my suit, before Jinx and I went to the closing ceremonies. I went to the ceremonies in partial while Jinx went in full suit! Closing ceremonies to me, was one of the most notable parts of the convention, not only for the wrap up, announcements, and numbers, but because I got to be a part of furry history. To be more specific, in the span of about 15 minutes, the attendees of the con raised over $9,000 for the charity this year, Gray Paws Sanctuary, to cap off the total charity donation to be over $100,000, which was the very first three figure charity number raised solely by attendees! To top all of that off, Anthrocon also broke the (at the time of writing) record for largest furry con attendance at 17,639 attendees, and had 3371 fursuiters (which also explains why the parade was so long!) When these numbers were announced, especially watching the charity goal being raised live, I teared up a bit. Anthrocon has a legendary status among furry conventions, and this is even more evidence of being just that, which I am eternally thankful to have been a part of. After closing, Jinx and I went to the Terminal, a strip of businesses and restaurants on Penn Avenue NE of the con center, which is a direction we hadn't gone yet this con, and had dinner at a brewery called Aslin Beer Co. Once we finished dinner, we returned to the room to suit up together one last time at the convention center, took photos off the balcony on the second floor of the con center, and walked around to say our goodbyes to friends (and some hellos to strangers!) before returning to the hotel around midnight. The drive back home Monday was not as smooth or pleasant as the drive down, considering we were driving in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather, but that was unavoidable, so there isn't much to say about it!
Exiting the Anthrocoaster! My first Anthrocon was incredible in so many ways, and occasionally zany as well! Watching a city district change for furries is an experience you can't find anywhere else on Earth! To say Anthrocon is a big deal for the furry community, and for me personally, is an understatement. I was there for five days, and I barely scratched the surface of what Anthrocon has to offer. A couple of things I have learned from my experience there is that Anthrocon is a convention that really requires trips for multiple years to truly understand and experience the scope of it all. Its size can be both a blessing and a curse, being big enough to find something to do at every corner, but also being so big that it is hard to find friends naturally. Due to the spread out nature of the several hotels, if you want to meet someone, the best way to do that is to plan a place and time to meet ahead of time. It is entirely possible that you may know a friend is going, but never wind up seeing them, as happened to a couple of folks I know who were attending. I also recommend planning for activities outside the convention in advance. One of the highlights of AC for many folks is the ferry trip, which I wasn't able to secure tickets for this year. The next time I go, I absolutely will though! When it comes to the convention itself however, it is OK to go in either with light plans or no plan at all, because when it comes to large conventions such as this, plans and timing can change on the fly. If you do have a plan in place, make sure you build in time for the shuttles, because you WILL NOT want to walk around in the July heat for long, unless you are fewer than a couple blocks away from the con center. These are just a handful of the things I learned, and I hope they will be useful to you as well!
Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers who make this legendary convention possible! Thank you to all the friends I saw there that made this first AC special to me! The amusement park has wrapped up for the season, but I will bet that another Anthrocon will be in my future, with even more fun in store! Finally, thank you for reading!My next major furry convention will be Furpocalypse 2024! I hope to see you there!Furcationland 2024 Wrap-Up!
Posted a year agoHey there furry pals! At the time of writing, it is currently the end of the day on Sunday at Furcationland 2024, which was held from April 11th-14th! This is the second year of Furcationland's existence as a furry con, and despite being smaller compared to other cons, there was never a shortage of things to do and people to interact with! Smaller cons like these are great for socializing with friends, hanging out together, and giving yourself a chance to try something new! So, allow me to describe just what this wolf was up to in the lobster land of Portland, Maine!
As before, if I miss anyone's socials, please link them to me down below and I'll be sure to add it in! Also, just like with all cons I've been to, I'm looking out for photos of me at the convention!
I arrived in Portland around noon on Thursday. I had been spending the rest of the week prior in Kennebunkport with family, so I had already been in Maine for some time now! It's been 6 years since I was last up in Vacationland, so FCL wound up being the perfect opportunity for me to both make the trip up again to visit family, and to explore another new place I had not yet been to: Portland! I've never gone further North in Maine than Kennebunk, so despite how close I'd been to it in the past, it was still all new, untreaded ground for me. I arrived at the Holiday Inn a few hours before check in, and the staff were kind enough to check me in early. I brought my things to the room, but rather than unpack, I decided to go down to the lobby and volunteer to help the con staff and volunteers to set things up! I set up banners, carried things up out of the U-Hauls, and helped Sven Fennec set up their photo room backdrop! After helping out where I could, I started my first trek around Portland to find dinner. My first impression of the city is just how walkable everything is (surrounding the Holiday Inn, at least.) When it came to both food and shopping, I was never more than a 15 minute walk away from just about anything I could ever want. This wound up being an even bigger plus than I could have imagined later on, as the time saved afforded me the opportunities to go do more con-related things than I would have been able to at other cons! After finding a bite to eat, I headed back to the con, stood in line for registration (I was a sponsor this year!) and spent some more time volunteering, this time setting up the main stage, until it was time for the very first event of the con: The con pre-party at Arcadia. Arcadia is both an arcade and a bar, and the event filled the house to the brim! Music was provided by con DJs, and I got to chat with several folks who had recognized me from either New England con group chats, or other socials. I think I played my best round of Ski Ball yet at the arcade as well! After the party, I went back to the hotel to retire from Day 0. The weather that day was wet and windy, but it couldn't dampen the excitement of the con, which hadn't even started yet!
Friday was a panel-centric day for me, which worked out very well as the weather continued to be inclement until the evening. Despite the weather, I decided to head out for breakfast and was lucky with a short break in the rain. I got back to the hotel just in time to watch opening ceremonies, then I brought out Ringgar to suit up and have con photos taken at the Photo Room! This was actually the first time I'd ever been to the Photo Room at any convention, so I was thrilled to be able to have some high quality photos taken and made into prints for con scrapbooking once I got home! I remained in suit to attend the Impossible Fursuit Charades panel on the main stage, hosted by Improver, Dancer, Gamer, and Cat: Heathclaws! As the panel name implies, these were not straightforward, one word charades. These were multi-worded, often phrases or sentences that were incredibly difficult to mime out one word at a time! The audience was only able to guess 3 prompts out of 8 correctly, to give you an idea of the difficulty curve. Despite the difficulty, it was fun to be silly on stage trying to frantically act out each phrase in suit! There were teams for this panel, but the stakes were low, the vibes were goofy, and everyone enjoyed themselves! After charades, I got out of suit and bore the weather to find dinner, I returned to the Grand ballroom to watch the Brasshouse Jazz Cafe, organized by Tommy,, perform their tails off to keep the vibes smooth, but the energy high! Once the band took their bows, I swiftly returned to suiting so that I could participate in the Fursuit Games! I joined the blue team at the games (no purple team unfortunately), and we wound up tying the the red team for 2 won games each! If you want to watch the entirety of the games, you can see it here! Following the games, I checked in on the gaming room, where Talcott the Otter, fan of all things so bad they are good, was playing (or more accurately, suffering,) through the infamous Phillips CDi Zelda game, The Faces of Evil, using a fighting game joystick, while in fursuit. I'm fairly certain nothing can phase him after that! I returned to my room for a few hours to take care of my suit, and for the last panel of the day, I brought my own Beyblade X tops to the history of beyblade panel hosted by Geki! Their panel at Furpocalypse last year (along with the tournament that took place at MFF) caused me to gain interest in this old toy line again, so much so that I own a stadium and several beyblades that haven't even been brought to America yet! Adult decisions, people! I retired for the day after all of the fierce top-clashing action at the panel, getting rested for day 2!
Saturday was lighter on panels but not light on fun! What a better way to start out the day than with a little dessert for breakfast? Well, I didn't have that LITERALLY, but I did attend a panel where we made our own s'mores fursuit props! I gained some knowledge on different stitching techniques, which will hopefully help me out in the future if I ever need to do repairs on Ringgar. Time seemed to fly by for the next couple of hours, because before I knew it, it was time for the group photo and parade! I hurried down to the main stage in suit, making it with plenty of time to spare and socialize with other friends while we waited for the photo to be taken! I'll be honest: waiting for the photo to be taken, while the camera was very high up, trying to look at the lens while my fursuit head's gravity dragged my head in the opposite direction, was an excercise in pain tolerance. Thankfully, I was able to move again once the parade started! The parade route didn't stray far from the hotel, but one day the hope is for the parade to go through downtown Portland, which I can't wait for! Speaking of downtown Portland, immediately after the parade came an event that was new this year to the con, but a very exciting one to be a part of: The Monument Square Menagire! Us fursuiters took over Monument Square and essentially had a mini block party right there out in the public, with everyone else watching! I spent the time hanging out with friends, waving at passing cars, having my photo taken with children and adults alike, and trying my best to be approachable and friendly to the public. Public suiting is a hard thing to organize, so I give massive, massive credit to the programming & entertainment departments at the con for putting this all together! The weather even cooperated just in time for the event! Personally, public suiting is one of the types of things I cherish most while wearing Ringgar. Being the oddity that makes people smile is all I could ever ask for! Unfortunately, after getting back to the hotel, and with 4+ straight hours of fursuiting, with an extended walk to and from the square, my body was not happy with how I far I pushed myself (even if my mind was :P.) I hung up Ringgar after giving him some TLC, and decided to go watch the dance competition with a lower amount of energy while my body recovered. The dance comp was, as always, a fantastic hype-generator and a showcase of some of the best dancers in the fandom! Once the winners were crowned, I returned to the room for dinner and to rest up more before my (almost) last panel of the day: Improv, also hosted by Heathclaw! I was a bit braver this time over the last time I did this panel at Furpocalypse last year, and while I didn't get any uproars, I didn't mind just getting the chance to be a little silly in suit! I spoke with Heathclaw after the panel to congratulate him on his dance competition performance, and he encouraged me to attend the freestyle dance competition the following day. More on that in a bit! For now, while the night was still young, I ended the day attending Karaoke at the hotel bar. I didn't get the chance to sing the song I wanted, but I'll save it for another con! instead, I joined in on the whole room singing to Hey, Jude. What a killer way to end the day!
On Sunday morning, I couldn't help but keep thinking about what Heathclaw had told me about the freestyle competition the previous day. Ever since Ringgar's suit came home, I'd thought about trying my hand a little bit of dancing for fun, but I had no moves, no experience, and a hell of a lot of nervousness. Unfortunately, I'm also the type of person who can never say no. So, in the early afternoon, I went to the freestyle competition. The format was an open-ring cypher for anyone to join without signups, so that was my saving grace here. I wasn't the only first-timer, either, as my pal Rags the Dragon was also trying it for the first time, among other attendees. I was hesitant to jump in at first, but I mustered up enough courage to jump in when I thought the time was right. Once I hit that dance floor, I let the music take me where it would. I had a couple of things I tried for moves: shuffling, air walking, tutting, but I knew I wanted to do something with a little more pizzazz. Something like pretending to stab myself in the neck and turning my fursuit head 180 degrees! I know it doesn't really fit Ringgar, but once I started moving, my nerves completely faded, and I simply did what I thought I could do! I didn't get picked to compete in the follow-up bracket, but that didn't matter to me. I did it: dancing for the first time in suit, and I'm happy to exclaim that I did! I spoke with some of the other dancers after the event, and they were surprised with me. I'd like to think I subverted some expectations, but even if I didn't, I know I subverted my own. After dancing, I decided to pass the time by bucket brigading for the con charity: Short Folks for Hope! This doubled as a good opportunity for me to practice the continuous movements in suit I've been trying, even while standing still, in order to look more interactive and approachable! (If you want to see some samples I clipped , check it out here!. I wound up with (what I can only tell since my bucket began to break) my best totals for bucket brigading yet, which tells me I must be doing something right! I'm already looking forward to bucket brigading at the next con I go to! I de-suited after all that bucket banging, and partialed to attend the closing ceremonies. Closing is a very common point for PCD to begin to set in, and for me, it was no different here. After all I'd done this weekend, I wished (and I still wish) there was more time in the day to do even more! I had forgone some panels this con I wanted to go to, either because I needed to eat or because they overlapped with each other, so I wish I could rewind the clock to get the chance to do them. At least there is always next year! Speaking of next year, the theme for Furcationland next year is going to be a Town Fair! I ended the day by going to the dead dog dances in suit, taking a brief detour to hang out with this really cool blue german shepherd you may know, and then letting out all the remaining dancing and bouncing I had for the weekend. Now, I'm laying back in the room, writing this wrap-up, and tommorow, I'll head back to the hum-drum day to day.
I was fortunate enough to win free registration for this con back in October last year after Furpocalypse. I couldn't be happier that I seized the opportunity to visit the city of Portland and this convention. Ever since I walked into the front door of the hotel, I never stopped having fun at the con, not once. I can't thank the staffers, volunteers, and the venue enough for coming together to create one of the best furry con experiences I have had yet. This con may not have had as many firsts as other cons I had been to last year, (though there were still a good number!) I can't help but feel a bit sad knowing I'll be walking out that hotel door tomorrow morning. But, that simply means I can't wait for the next convention opportunity I'll be going to: Anthrocon 2024, my very first Anthrocon!
Furcationland 2024 will go down as one of the most fun conventions I have been to yet, and I will most certainly be coming back in the near future! If you have any questions about my time at the con, feel free to ask! Until my next con report, friends, I love you all!
As before, if I miss anyone's socials, please link them to me down below and I'll be sure to add it in! Also, just like with all cons I've been to, I'm looking out for photos of me at the convention!
If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you! Ringgar's Furcationland 2024 Album: coming soon!I arrived in Portland around noon on Thursday. I had been spending the rest of the week prior in Kennebunkport with family, so I had already been in Maine for some time now! It's been 6 years since I was last up in Vacationland, so FCL wound up being the perfect opportunity for me to both make the trip up again to visit family, and to explore another new place I had not yet been to: Portland! I've never gone further North in Maine than Kennebunk, so despite how close I'd been to it in the past, it was still all new, untreaded ground for me. I arrived at the Holiday Inn a few hours before check in, and the staff were kind enough to check me in early. I brought my things to the room, but rather than unpack, I decided to go down to the lobby and volunteer to help the con staff and volunteers to set things up! I set up banners, carried things up out of the U-Hauls, and helped Sven Fennec set up their photo room backdrop! After helping out where I could, I started my first trek around Portland to find dinner. My first impression of the city is just how walkable everything is (surrounding the Holiday Inn, at least.) When it came to both food and shopping, I was never more than a 15 minute walk away from just about anything I could ever want. This wound up being an even bigger plus than I could have imagined later on, as the time saved afforded me the opportunities to go do more con-related things than I would have been able to at other cons! After finding a bite to eat, I headed back to the con, stood in line for registration (I was a sponsor this year!) and spent some more time volunteering, this time setting up the main stage, until it was time for the very first event of the con: The con pre-party at Arcadia. Arcadia is both an arcade and a bar, and the event filled the house to the brim! Music was provided by con DJs, and I got to chat with several folks who had recognized me from either New England con group chats, or other socials. I think I played my best round of Ski Ball yet at the arcade as well! After the party, I went back to the hotel to retire from Day 0. The weather that day was wet and windy, but it couldn't dampen the excitement of the con, which hadn't even started yet!
Friday was a panel-centric day for me, which worked out very well as the weather continued to be inclement until the evening. Despite the weather, I decided to head out for breakfast and was lucky with a short break in the rain. I got back to the hotel just in time to watch opening ceremonies, then I brought out Ringgar to suit up and have con photos taken at the Photo Room! This was actually the first time I'd ever been to the Photo Room at any convention, so I was thrilled to be able to have some high quality photos taken and made into prints for con scrapbooking once I got home! I remained in suit to attend the Impossible Fursuit Charades panel on the main stage, hosted by Improver, Dancer, Gamer, and Cat:
Heathclaws! As the panel name implies, these were not straightforward, one word charades. These were multi-worded, often phrases or sentences that were incredibly difficult to mime out one word at a time! The audience was only able to guess 3 prompts out of 8 correctly, to give you an idea of the difficulty curve. Despite the difficulty, it was fun to be silly on stage trying to frantically act out each phrase in suit! There were teams for this panel, but the stakes were low, the vibes were goofy, and everyone enjoyed themselves! After charades, I got out of suit and bore the weather to find dinner, I returned to the Grand ballroom to watch the Brasshouse Jazz Cafe, organized by Tommy,, perform their tails off to keep the vibes smooth, but the energy high! Once the band took their bows, I swiftly returned to suiting so that I could participate in the Fursuit Games! I joined the blue team at the games (no purple team unfortunately), and we wound up tying the the red team for 2 won games each! If you want to watch the entirety of the games, you can see it here! Following the games, I checked in on the gaming room, where Talcott the Otter, fan of all things so bad they are good, was playing (or more accurately, suffering,) through the infamous Phillips CDi Zelda game, The Faces of Evil, using a fighting game joystick, while in fursuit. I'm fairly certain nothing can phase him after that! I returned to my room for a few hours to take care of my suit, and for the last panel of the day, I brought my own Beyblade X tops to the history of beyblade panel hosted by Geki! Their panel at Furpocalypse last year (along with the tournament that took place at MFF) caused me to gain interest in this old toy line again, so much so that I own a stadium and several beyblades that haven't even been brought to America yet! Adult decisions, people! I retired for the day after all of the fierce top-clashing action at the panel, getting rested for day 2!Saturday was lighter on panels but not light on fun! What a better way to start out the day than with a little dessert for breakfast? Well, I didn't have that LITERALLY, but I did attend a panel where we made our own s'mores fursuit props! I gained some knowledge on different stitching techniques, which will hopefully help me out in the future if I ever need to do repairs on Ringgar. Time seemed to fly by for the next couple of hours, because before I knew it, it was time for the group photo and parade! I hurried down to the main stage in suit, making it with plenty of time to spare and socialize with other friends while we waited for the photo to be taken! I'll be honest: waiting for the photo to be taken, while the camera was very high up, trying to look at the lens while my fursuit head's gravity dragged my head in the opposite direction, was an excercise in pain tolerance. Thankfully, I was able to move again once the parade started! The parade route didn't stray far from the hotel, but one day the hope is for the parade to go through downtown Portland, which I can't wait for! Speaking of downtown Portland, immediately after the parade came an event that was new this year to the con, but a very exciting one to be a part of: The Monument Square Menagire! Us fursuiters took over Monument Square and essentially had a mini block party right there out in the public, with everyone else watching! I spent the time hanging out with friends, waving at passing cars, having my photo taken with children and adults alike, and trying my best to be approachable and friendly to the public. Public suiting is a hard thing to organize, so I give massive, massive credit to the programming & entertainment departments at the con for putting this all together! The weather even cooperated just in time for the event! Personally, public suiting is one of the types of things I cherish most while wearing Ringgar. Being the oddity that makes people smile is all I could ever ask for! Unfortunately, after getting back to the hotel, and with 4+ straight hours of fursuiting, with an extended walk to and from the square, my body was not happy with how I far I pushed myself (even if my mind was :P.) I hung up Ringgar after giving him some TLC, and decided to go watch the dance competition with a lower amount of energy while my body recovered. The dance comp was, as always, a fantastic hype-generator and a showcase of some of the best dancers in the fandom! Once the winners were crowned, I returned to the room for dinner and to rest up more before my (almost) last panel of the day: Improv, also hosted by Heathclaw! I was a bit braver this time over the last time I did this panel at Furpocalypse last year, and while I didn't get any uproars, I didn't mind just getting the chance to be a little silly in suit! I spoke with Heathclaw after the panel to congratulate him on his dance competition performance, and he encouraged me to attend the freestyle dance competition the following day. More on that in a bit! For now, while the night was still young, I ended the day attending Karaoke at the hotel bar. I didn't get the chance to sing the song I wanted, but I'll save it for another con! instead, I joined in on the whole room singing to Hey, Jude. What a killer way to end the day!
On Sunday morning, I couldn't help but keep thinking about what Heathclaw had told me about the freestyle competition the previous day. Ever since Ringgar's suit came home, I'd thought about trying my hand a little bit of dancing for fun, but I had no moves, no experience, and a hell of a lot of nervousness. Unfortunately, I'm also the type of person who can never say no. So, in the early afternoon, I went to the freestyle competition. The format was an open-ring cypher for anyone to join without signups, so that was my saving grace here. I wasn't the only first-timer, either, as my pal Rags the Dragon was also trying it for the first time, among other attendees. I was hesitant to jump in at first, but I mustered up enough courage to jump in when I thought the time was right. Once I hit that dance floor, I let the music take me where it would. I had a couple of things I tried for moves: shuffling, air walking, tutting, but I knew I wanted to do something with a little more pizzazz. Something like pretending to stab myself in the neck and turning my fursuit head 180 degrees! I know it doesn't really fit Ringgar, but once I started moving, my nerves completely faded, and I simply did what I thought I could do! I didn't get picked to compete in the follow-up bracket, but that didn't matter to me. I did it: dancing for the first time in suit, and I'm happy to exclaim that I did! I spoke with some of the other dancers after the event, and they were surprised with me. I'd like to think I subverted some expectations, but even if I didn't, I know I subverted my own. After dancing, I decided to pass the time by bucket brigading for the con charity: Short Folks for Hope! This doubled as a good opportunity for me to practice the continuous movements in suit I've been trying, even while standing still, in order to look more interactive and approachable! (If you want to see some samples I clipped , check it out here!. I wound up with (what I can only tell since my bucket began to break) my best totals for bucket brigading yet, which tells me I must be doing something right! I'm already looking forward to bucket brigading at the next con I go to! I de-suited after all that bucket banging, and partialed to attend the closing ceremonies. Closing is a very common point for PCD to begin to set in, and for me, it was no different here. After all I'd done this weekend, I wished (and I still wish) there was more time in the day to do even more! I had forgone some panels this con I wanted to go to, either because I needed to eat or because they overlapped with each other, so I wish I could rewind the clock to get the chance to do them. At least there is always next year! Speaking of next year, the theme for Furcationland next year is going to be a Town Fair! I ended the day by going to the dead dog dances in suit, taking a brief detour to hang out with this really cool blue german shepherd you may know, and then letting out all the remaining dancing and bouncing I had for the weekend. Now, I'm laying back in the room, writing this wrap-up, and tommorow, I'll head back to the hum-drum day to day.
Fireside Finale!I was fortunate enough to win free registration for this con back in October last year after Furpocalypse. I couldn't be happier that I seized the opportunity to visit the city of Portland and this convention. Ever since I walked into the front door of the hotel, I never stopped having fun at the con, not once. I can't thank the staffers, volunteers, and the venue enough for coming together to create one of the best furry con experiences I have had yet. This con may not have had as many firsts as other cons I had been to last year, (though there were still a good number!) I can't help but feel a bit sad knowing I'll be walking out that hotel door tomorrow morning. But, that simply means I can't wait for the next convention opportunity I'll be going to: Anthrocon 2024, my very first Anthrocon!
Furcationland 2024 will go down as one of the most fun conventions I have been to yet, and I will most certainly be coming back in the near future! If you have any questions about my time at the con, feel free to ask! Until my next con report, friends, I love you all!
Midwest Fur Fest 2023 Wrap-up! (+ Next Year Con Plans!)
Posted 2 years agoHowdy once again my fluffy friends! As I am writing this journal, I am on the way home from my very first Midwest FurFest. Getting to experience the biggest furry con of all time (so far!) Was something that is hard to describe, because it is better experienced in person. There was activity through both the hotel and convention center 24/7, like one big, 4 day, nonstop party, and much partying was certainly had! On top of all the fun, this convention was a sentimental one for me as well. I had the opportunity to not only meet and interact with folks I have never met before, but also meet several people I have known, both briefly and for a long duration, for the first time in person! So many in fact, I’d need to use all my paw beans to count them all! So, with all this said, let's dive into what I did at MFF 2023 from Nov. 29th to Dec 4th!
Before we get started though, due to the sheer amount of people I met for the first time here, I will try to update this journal with links to their relevant socials as I find them! Furthermore, since it is still so early after the con, all I have in terms of photos at the current moment are the handful of photos I have taken personally, and are linked below!. I am on the lookout for photos of me or photos with me in them though, so:
Wednesday was my flight travel day, and all things considered, was relatively uneventful. Crossing time zones is always an odd feeling, so it made what was an hour flight feel like 20 minutes afterwards! I arrived early in the evening to Rosemont, so much of the time spent today was getting things in line at our hotel. One of my roommates (and the first to arrive) was a truly special one though: my friend
EvilJackCarver! AKA Andreas Spitzer! They are a person I have known for almost as long as I have been a furry, and is someone I connected with very early into my fandom journey! This was my first time meeting him in person, and our meet did tug on my heart strings a bit, as this meeting has been a long time coming for the both of us. After we settled into our room at the main hotel, the Hyatt O'Hare, we decided to walk about and grab dinner at Bub’s BBQ in the entertainment district. It wasn't half bad for the price, sans the ‘texas toast', which wasn't toasted at all and may as well have been a slice of Wonderbread :P. Since Andreas had been to MFF several times before, on the way back to the hotel, we dipped into the convention center, where he showed me where everything typically takes place. This was also my first time walking through the infamous skybridge that connects the Hyatt and Hilton to the con center. From what I understood about it from hearing about it from others, I was under the impression that it was a short, high traffic, and uncomfortable experience. The latter two descriptions turned out to be accurate, but the first was not. The walk from the Hyatt to the con center via the skybridge was sizable, and the temperature fluctuated from chilly to hot to humid, depending on what leg of the skybridge you were in. Now I understand why the skybridge is so frequently mentioned and joked about. However, considering the alternative would be walking in 20°F weather in the rain, it's both a blessing and a curse to have. Despite it being only Wednesday, fursuiters were out and about in the lobby, along with all the con staff getting things prepped for the unofficial start tomorrow! Later on that evening I got to meet some more folks I’ve known but never met in person until now: K-Stan, Emile the Goat, and Chewy, all from /r/furry and the associated Telegram chat! The four of us chatted for a while about our plans for the convention, where we have been and what we have been up to, then wrapped up Wednesday watching Ace Ventura on the TV and retiring shortly afterwards.
On Thursday morning the two of us went out to grab breakfast before coming back to the hotel, where we decided to do an impromptu photoshoot of Ringgar in the lobby! We shared a handful of ideas for poses I could do, and just had a great time with me goofing around and being the silly circle wolf I love to be! During this photoshoot I also had the opportunity to take photos with the quadsuit colloquially named ‘Spookyjack.' It was quite the odd meeting, but I was able to have some photos taken with it in suit! After interacting a bit with the newest hotel arrivals in fursuit, we headed back up to the room, where Andreas met up with his friend Inkblitz! Inkblitz would be hosting a panel on Friday I would attend, but more on this later! Shortly afterwards, our other roommates for the con, Page and Soul, both friends of Andreas, came by to get settled into the hotel. The four of us would head on over to the Fashion Outlet to find an early dinner, where I also met my long-time friend who had recently arrived, afurryjinx! We sat and had lunch (and later boba) together before heading back to our respective hotels. Jinx and I met up once again at the convention center to get in line early for registration, as we both thought it would be a good idea to do so at the largest furry con ever. While waiting in line for registration to open, I was carousing the social gauntlet on my phone, when to my surprise, I found three of the folks I was hoping to meet, standing 5 feet away from us in line! I shouted out to my suit sibling, Sneafra, and their friends Gerbo and Mezcal, AKA Kaiden! The three of them were just as high energy as I had come to know them for, and all of us were excited and surprised to see each other so close in passing! Needless to say, I was thrilled to meet them ^^! As the reg line moved onward, I also got to see an older /r/furry & Telegram chat member, Riley Winters! He was holding up a sign that was plastered with stickers, and was collecting more in line. The reg line moved surprisingly quickly from this point on, only taking about an hour and a half in total from start to finish. Granted, since I did enter the line early, I’m certain this doesn’t ring true for everyone that night. Once we finished Linecon 2023 (part. 4 for this year for me), Jinx came by our hotel room with his fursuit, where Andreas did another impromptu photoshoot with the two of us! Jinx and I walked down around the lobby to interact with the folks who were still arriving alongside other fursuiters, and we ran into Sneaf and Gerbo in suit! After some quick and silly candid camera, we desuited and I walked back down to the lobby to meet even more people I’ve known for some time: DeltaAkhlut, Grape Collie, and IonRoux! The three of them are also frequent members of the /r/furry Telegram chat! I also ran into another one of my fursuit siblings, JBurg, AKA Mango, who I found partialing in the lobby by random chance! I had no idea they were there, and was super excited to see one more fursuit family member there to hang out with! After meeting up and being given stickers from each of them, Delta, Ion, Grape and I headed to a room party with K-Stan and her roommates, where I also got to meet Rumble! We hung out listening to music and chatting for a while, and after a while, I retired for the night with my three roommates.
Friday was the busiest day of the convention for me, as several panels I wanted to go to were all happening back-to-back from one another. Unfortunately this means I had to be choosy about which panels I wanted to attend, but I understand you can't catch them all :P. The day started out with breakfast at the mall food court again, followed by a trip to watch opening ceremonies, and my first panel of the day: Health in Fursuiting, which was the panel hosted by Inkblitz! There I learned some valuable tips about how to keep yourself healthy before, during, and after fursuiting, like the best means of hydration, active stretching, listening to your body, etc. If they decide to attend and do this panel again next year, I’d recommend it to you all to watch! Shortly after this panel concluded, I walked back to the Hyatt to attend something I did back at Furpoc a month ago: a Beyblade Tournament! Truth be told though, another panel I wanted to attend cut into the middle of this one, so I just attended to play with my own beyblades for fun! I did stick around long enough to support my friend Sneafra though, who did participate and ended up placing 5th in the tournament overall! The other panel I attended in the middle of the tourney was a panel for MegaMan Battle Network PvP basics. This is a game series I adored as a kid with my old game boy, and it was nice to finally learn a bit about playing versus against others with the new Legacy Collection! I now had a bit of a break in between panels, so while I watched some of the Floor Wars (from outside the stage as the room was full), I talked with my friend Jinx and we decided to meet up with his boyfriend, Cotton, for some dinner at the Bill Murray Caddyshack restaurant in Cotton’s hotel. I won't lie: this restaurant creeped me out a little with Bill Murray’s face plastered all over the walls. At least the food was decent. After dinner I ran back to the hotel room to try to get into suit for the Fursuit Games, and while I made my way over there, I found I was just a little too late to participate. Fortunately, this year there were two sets of Fursuit Games, one on Friday and one on Sunday! I resolved to catch the Sunday Fursuit games and, as I was already in fursuit, decided to spend the rest of the evening going around, meeting new people, interacting with other fursuiters, and just having a good time!
I didn't have as many panel plans for Saturday as I did on Friday, but that doesn't mean it was any less busy! I grabbed breakfast in the hotel in order to stay close by so I could suit up in time for an early morning panel named “If I fits, I sits!” If any of you have seen a cat with a box, you know where this is going. All it was is a big room full of cardboard boxes for fursuiters to play around with, sit in, build with, and knock down! There was a sort of reverse-Jenga like game going on at one end of the room, while I and another couple of suiters decided to essentially make one of the arches of London Bridge out of boxes! And, just like the song goes, eventually it all fell down :P. After the panel ended I walked back up to the room to give Ringgar’s suit some TLC to prepare for one of the biggest, most important highlights of the weekend: the Starcane Arts fursuit family photoshoot! The time quickly flew by and I suited up once again to head down and meet all of the family members who were there: Sneafra, Axel, Hannu, Dandy, Firra, and Rocket! Gerbo was also there as our photographer for the shoot! Getting to know my adopted family, talking with them, acting silly with them, and taking photos together was very heartwarming and dear to me. I know my family couldn't tell in suit, but I did wind up welling up a bit (with tears of joy) while meeting all of them. They are a great group of people whom I never would have been able to meet otherwise, and getting to see all of them, for the first time in person, was a little overwhelming for me, but in the best of ways possible. During our little meet, I also got to meet even more people I know from /r/furry who passed by: Laminar Fox,
Fenimore, and Mosh Fox! In addition, Fenimore told me that Mack (Otherwise known as Frankie), another older /r/furry member, was in the dealer's den helping to vend! I stopped by to surprise him and his friend, and we chatted for a while as well! After my visit with him, I walked down to see the Flow arts meetup, as I was hoping to learn how to hula -hoop in fursuit. Unfortunately the event host was a little last-minute prepared, and didn't have any to practice with, so instead I talked with some of the attendees there for a while, then walked back to the hotel after a 3 hour suiting marathon. There was another panel I wanted to attend soon too, but after being tired out from all of the suiting I just did, I felt getting dinner was a more appropriate thing to do at the time. I headed out to find some dinner at the Ashburn Tavern, which is one of the surrounding hotel’s restaurants. While eating, I found myself surrounded by attendees of the other, smaller brand convention that was occuring at the same time in the con center. I heard them speak about furries in passing, with one older lady remarking that ‘those costumes scare me!’, which gave me a good chuckle. I stopped back at the room to unwind a little bit and rest my legs from all the walking I had done that day, then headed out one more time to see a panel hosted by Doc Wildlife which was formerly known as ‘Drunken Zoology.’ It was a very silly panel featuring them and their ‘class’ of friends, palling around while being heckled by the audience! Chaos ensues, exit stage left! My last activity of the night was one more suiting trip to try to head to the rave, but the ballroom was overflowing with attendees, so instead I spent the time in suit visiting the arcade and meeting other folks in the lobby! By the end of this, midnight had come, and so I had to return to my room for the night, lest I become a pumpkin :P.
Sunday was the last hurrah for the con, and in the morning I was already feeling the melancholy. I had already seen so, so many people for the first time, gotten to know them a little bit better, and had three very busy days of convention fun. How was I going to top all of this? With a trip to the Fursuit Games! Both Jinx and I went down to the con center at noon to participate, and we made it in time to join the purple team! Upon arriving I also ran into quite the coincidence; my purple team teammate from Furpocalypse, Geo AKA Alter Ego was also there! The three of us decided to join the purple team as an homage to the games I participated in just a month ago! The games played were very similar to that of the team building games you would play back in middle school or high school: Things like backwards sprinting, catching balls with your head (Thanks for bearing the cone of catching, Geo!), three-legged races, getting a hula-hoop across an entire chain of fursuiters, and more! The audience even got to participate as well! And, in the end, our team was victorious! The Sunday champions, Team Hot Cocoa! A big thanks to all my teammates who helped to make that victory possible! After working up a sweat, Jinx and I headed back to the Hyatt, where we made a quick detour to the Furality portal room to visit another Starcane Family Member who was watching us from VR! After saying hello, Jinx and I de-suited and decided to grab some dinner rather than watch the dance comp this year. We went out for some deep dish pizza, made it back in time to watch the tail end of closing ceremonies, and hung out in the room to wind down. After waiting for a little while, I suited up in Ringgar one more time for the night, went dancing my tail off at the Dead Dog, then walked around the lobby to take more photos, say my goodbyes to the folks I met, and retired for the night to get ready for my trip home today.
Midwest Fur Fest 2023 is going to be a con I’ll never forget. It was a con of many, many firsts for me, most of those being seeing people I’ve known for years for the first time in person, and also being my first time at this con and in Rosemont at all! Not only that, but this con now stands as the single largest furry con of all time, with 15,547 attendees, up ~2000 from last year, and more impressively, raised $185,758 for charity! It's things like these that make me so proud to be a furry. While the PCD is definitely here in force as I’m already missing everyone I met there, I know for certain that this con will be one I’ll always remember fondly. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be there again next year! In the meantime, some parting housekeeping things for you all right now:
Before we get started though, due to the sheer amount of people I met for the first time here, I will try to update this journal with links to their relevant socials as I find them! Furthermore, since it is still so early after the con, all I have in terms of photos at the current moment are the handful of photos I have taken personally, and are linked below!. I am on the lookout for photos of me or photos with me in them though, so:
If you have or see any photos of me or with me in them on any social media site or Furtrack, please send me a message and let me know! Thank you!Ringgar's MFF 2023 Photo Reel!Wednesday was my flight travel day, and all things considered, was relatively uneventful. Crossing time zones is always an odd feeling, so it made what was an hour flight feel like 20 minutes afterwards! I arrived early in the evening to Rosemont, so much of the time spent today was getting things in line at our hotel. One of my roommates (and the first to arrive) was a truly special one though: my friend
EvilJackCarver! AKA Andreas Spitzer! They are a person I have known for almost as long as I have been a furry, and is someone I connected with very early into my fandom journey! This was my first time meeting him in person, and our meet did tug on my heart strings a bit, as this meeting has been a long time coming for the both of us. After we settled into our room at the main hotel, the Hyatt O'Hare, we decided to walk about and grab dinner at Bub’s BBQ in the entertainment district. It wasn't half bad for the price, sans the ‘texas toast', which wasn't toasted at all and may as well have been a slice of Wonderbread :P. Since Andreas had been to MFF several times before, on the way back to the hotel, we dipped into the convention center, where he showed me where everything typically takes place. This was also my first time walking through the infamous skybridge that connects the Hyatt and Hilton to the con center. From what I understood about it from hearing about it from others, I was under the impression that it was a short, high traffic, and uncomfortable experience. The latter two descriptions turned out to be accurate, but the first was not. The walk from the Hyatt to the con center via the skybridge was sizable, and the temperature fluctuated from chilly to hot to humid, depending on what leg of the skybridge you were in. Now I understand why the skybridge is so frequently mentioned and joked about. However, considering the alternative would be walking in 20°F weather in the rain, it's both a blessing and a curse to have. Despite it being only Wednesday, fursuiters were out and about in the lobby, along with all the con staff getting things prepped for the unofficial start tomorrow! Later on that evening I got to meet some more folks I’ve known but never met in person until now: K-Stan, Emile the Goat, and Chewy, all from /r/furry and the associated Telegram chat! The four of us chatted for a while about our plans for the convention, where we have been and what we have been up to, then wrapped up Wednesday watching Ace Ventura on the TV and retiring shortly afterwards.On Thursday morning the two of us went out to grab breakfast before coming back to the hotel, where we decided to do an impromptu photoshoot of Ringgar in the lobby! We shared a handful of ideas for poses I could do, and just had a great time with me goofing around and being the silly circle wolf I love to be! During this photoshoot I also had the opportunity to take photos with the quadsuit colloquially named ‘Spookyjack.' It was quite the odd meeting, but I was able to have some photos taken with it in suit! After interacting a bit with the newest hotel arrivals in fursuit, we headed back up to the room, where Andreas met up with his friend Inkblitz! Inkblitz would be hosting a panel on Friday I would attend, but more on this later! Shortly afterwards, our other roommates for the con, Page and Soul, both friends of Andreas, came by to get settled into the hotel. The four of us would head on over to the Fashion Outlet to find an early dinner, where I also met my long-time friend who had recently arrived,
afurryjinx! We sat and had lunch (and later boba) together before heading back to our respective hotels. Jinx and I met up once again at the convention center to get in line early for registration, as we both thought it would be a good idea to do so at the largest furry con ever. While waiting in line for registration to open, I was carousing the social gauntlet on my phone, when to my surprise, I found three of the folks I was hoping to meet, standing 5 feet away from us in line! I shouted out to my suit sibling, Sneafra, and their friends Gerbo and Mezcal, AKA Kaiden! The three of them were just as high energy as I had come to know them for, and all of us were excited and surprised to see each other so close in passing! Needless to say, I was thrilled to meet them ^^! As the reg line moved onward, I also got to see an older /r/furry & Telegram chat member, Riley Winters! He was holding up a sign that was plastered with stickers, and was collecting more in line. The reg line moved surprisingly quickly from this point on, only taking about an hour and a half in total from start to finish. Granted, since I did enter the line early, I’m certain this doesn’t ring true for everyone that night. Once we finished Linecon 2023 (part. 4 for this year for me), Jinx came by our hotel room with his fursuit, where Andreas did another impromptu photoshoot with the two of us! Jinx and I walked down around the lobby to interact with the folks who were still arriving alongside other fursuiters, and we ran into Sneaf and Gerbo in suit! After some quick and silly candid camera, we desuited and I walked back down to the lobby to meet even more people I’ve known for some time: DeltaAkhlut, Grape Collie, and IonRoux! The three of them are also frequent members of the /r/furry Telegram chat! I also ran into another one of my fursuit siblings, JBurg, AKA Mango, who I found partialing in the lobby by random chance! I had no idea they were there, and was super excited to see one more fursuit family member there to hang out with! After meeting up and being given stickers from each of them, Delta, Ion, Grape and I headed to a room party with K-Stan and her roommates, where I also got to meet Rumble! We hung out listening to music and chatting for a while, and after a while, I retired for the night with my three roommates. Friday was the busiest day of the convention for me, as several panels I wanted to go to were all happening back-to-back from one another. Unfortunately this means I had to be choosy about which panels I wanted to attend, but I understand you can't catch them all :P. The day started out with breakfast at the mall food court again, followed by a trip to watch opening ceremonies, and my first panel of the day: Health in Fursuiting, which was the panel hosted by Inkblitz! There I learned some valuable tips about how to keep yourself healthy before, during, and after fursuiting, like the best means of hydration, active stretching, listening to your body, etc. If they decide to attend and do this panel again next year, I’d recommend it to you all to watch! Shortly after this panel concluded, I walked back to the Hyatt to attend something I did back at Furpoc a month ago: a Beyblade Tournament! Truth be told though, another panel I wanted to attend cut into the middle of this one, so I just attended to play with my own beyblades for fun! I did stick around long enough to support my friend Sneafra though, who did participate and ended up placing 5th in the tournament overall! The other panel I attended in the middle of the tourney was a panel for MegaMan Battle Network PvP basics. This is a game series I adored as a kid with my old game boy, and it was nice to finally learn a bit about playing versus against others with the new Legacy Collection! I now had a bit of a break in between panels, so while I watched some of the Floor Wars (from outside the stage as the room was full), I talked with my friend Jinx and we decided to meet up with his boyfriend, Cotton, for some dinner at the Bill Murray Caddyshack restaurant in Cotton’s hotel. I won't lie: this restaurant creeped me out a little with Bill Murray’s face plastered all over the walls. At least the food was decent. After dinner I ran back to the hotel room to try to get into suit for the Fursuit Games, and while I made my way over there, I found I was just a little too late to participate. Fortunately, this year there were two sets of Fursuit Games, one on Friday and one on Sunday! I resolved to catch the Sunday Fursuit games and, as I was already in fursuit, decided to spend the rest of the evening going around, meeting new people, interacting with other fursuiters, and just having a good time!
I didn't have as many panel plans for Saturday as I did on Friday, but that doesn't mean it was any less busy! I grabbed breakfast in the hotel in order to stay close by so I could suit up in time for an early morning panel named “If I fits, I sits!” If any of you have seen a cat with a box, you know where this is going. All it was is a big room full of cardboard boxes for fursuiters to play around with, sit in, build with, and knock down! There was a sort of reverse-Jenga like game going on at one end of the room, while I and another couple of suiters decided to essentially make one of the arches of London Bridge out of boxes! And, just like the song goes, eventually it all fell down :P. After the panel ended I walked back up to the room to give Ringgar’s suit some TLC to prepare for one of the biggest, most important highlights of the weekend: the Starcane Arts fursuit family photoshoot! The time quickly flew by and I suited up once again to head down and meet all of the family members who were there: Sneafra, Axel, Hannu, Dandy, Firra, and Rocket! Gerbo was also there as our photographer for the shoot! Getting to know my adopted family, talking with them, acting silly with them, and taking photos together was very heartwarming and dear to me. I know my family couldn't tell in suit, but I did wind up welling up a bit (with tears of joy) while meeting all of them. They are a great group of people whom I never would have been able to meet otherwise, and getting to see all of them, for the first time in person, was a little overwhelming for me, but in the best of ways possible. During our little meet, I also got to meet even more people I know from /r/furry who passed by: Laminar Fox,
Fenimore, and Mosh Fox! In addition, Fenimore told me that Mack (Otherwise known as Frankie), another older /r/furry member, was in the dealer's den helping to vend! I stopped by to surprise him and his friend, and we chatted for a while as well! After my visit with him, I walked down to see the Flow arts meetup, as I was hoping to learn how to hula -hoop in fursuit. Unfortunately the event host was a little last-minute prepared, and didn't have any to practice with, so instead I talked with some of the attendees there for a while, then walked back to the hotel after a 3 hour suiting marathon. There was another panel I wanted to attend soon too, but after being tired out from all of the suiting I just did, I felt getting dinner was a more appropriate thing to do at the time. I headed out to find some dinner at the Ashburn Tavern, which is one of the surrounding hotel’s restaurants. While eating, I found myself surrounded by attendees of the other, smaller brand convention that was occuring at the same time in the con center. I heard them speak about furries in passing, with one older lady remarking that ‘those costumes scare me!’, which gave me a good chuckle. I stopped back at the room to unwind a little bit and rest my legs from all the walking I had done that day, then headed out one more time to see a panel hosted by Doc Wildlife which was formerly known as ‘Drunken Zoology.’ It was a very silly panel featuring them and their ‘class’ of friends, palling around while being heckled by the audience! Chaos ensues, exit stage left! My last activity of the night was one more suiting trip to try to head to the rave, but the ballroom was overflowing with attendees, so instead I spent the time in suit visiting the arcade and meeting other folks in the lobby! By the end of this, midnight had come, and so I had to return to my room for the night, lest I become a pumpkin :P. Sunday was the last hurrah for the con, and in the morning I was already feeling the melancholy. I had already seen so, so many people for the first time, gotten to know them a little bit better, and had three very busy days of convention fun. How was I going to top all of this? With a trip to the Fursuit Games! Both Jinx and I went down to the con center at noon to participate, and we made it in time to join the purple team! Upon arriving I also ran into quite the coincidence; my purple team teammate from Furpocalypse, Geo AKA Alter Ego was also there! The three of us decided to join the purple team as an homage to the games I participated in just a month ago! The games played were very similar to that of the team building games you would play back in middle school or high school: Things like backwards sprinting, catching balls with your head (Thanks for bearing the cone of catching, Geo!), three-legged races, getting a hula-hoop across an entire chain of fursuiters, and more! The audience even got to participate as well! And, in the end, our team was victorious! The Sunday champions, Team Hot Cocoa! A big thanks to all my teammates who helped to make that victory possible! After working up a sweat, Jinx and I headed back to the Hyatt, where we made a quick detour to the Furality portal room to visit another Starcane Family Member who was watching us from VR! After saying hello, Jinx and I de-suited and decided to grab some dinner rather than watch the dance comp this year. We went out for some deep dish pizza, made it back in time to watch the tail end of closing ceremonies, and hung out in the room to wind down. After waiting for a little while, I suited up in Ringgar one more time for the night, went dancing my tail off at the Dead Dog, then walked around the lobby to take more photos, say my goodbyes to the folks I met, and retired for the night to get ready for my trip home today.
Snowdrift Summary!Midwest Fur Fest 2023 is going to be a con I’ll never forget. It was a con of many, many firsts for me, most of those being seeing people I’ve known for years for the first time in person, and also being my first time at this con and in Rosemont at all! Not only that, but this con now stands as the single largest furry con of all time, with 15,547 attendees, up ~2000 from last year, and more impressively, raised $185,758 for charity! It's things like these that make me so proud to be a furry. While the PCD is definitely here in force as I’m already missing everyone I met there, I know for certain that this con will be one I’ll always remember fondly. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be there again next year! In the meantime, some parting housekeeping things for you all right now:
My current plans for conventions next year, 2024, are Anthro New England (Saturday), Furcationland, Anthrocon, and Furpocalypse, with FCL and AC being firsts for me! I plan on going to one more con beyond these as well, but I am currently unsure which as of yet. If you have any suggestions, I'm open to hear them!
Thank you to everyone who made my first MFF, and 2023, a very special one for me! Staff, attendees, friends, family, you have my love, and my warmest thanks. Here’s to even more circular mischief and fun in 2024!!Furpocalypse 2023 Wrap-up! (+ MFF 2023!)
Posted 2 years agoHello again fuzzy folks! I'm back again with another wrap-up post where I detail my activities and experiences at cons I have been to! Today is the Monday after Furpocalypse 2023: Summercamp Slasher, and is the subject of this journal! This Furpocalypse has been a truly special and remarkable experience for me, and a bit of an emotional one as well! I debuted Ringgar's fursuit at this convention, and had a ton of experiences I will cherish. I attended this year by myself, but I'm already planning to head back for next year's convention, but for now, let me break down what I was up to between October 26-29th, 2023!
Starting on Thursday, I decided to travel to the con by driving. This way, I was able to simply pack the totes for Ringgar's fursuit parts, care items, and my suitcase all at once! The fact that the con is located practically in my backyard also factored into that decision. The drive was short, and I arrived shortly before check-in time. After a brief wait in Linecon 2023, I brought everything up to my room and went out hunting in downtown Stamford for food before coming back to the hotel for Linecon part 2: Electric Boogaloo! After the line that was the registration line for both TFF 2023 and Connecticon Saturday 2023, the reg line here felt like a breeze! While I waited, I met one of my fursuit siblings for the first time, Ripley the Red fox! Otherwise known as Alister or @wispydutchie, whom you can find here! Our meeting was brief and fleeting as the line moved along, but we would eventually hang out another day! After registering as a Sponsor this year, I attended a panel about Fandom horror stories, hosted by Sylox! It was lightly attended due to the schedule time, but I shared some of my early furry cringe stories, as well as the Tornadocon experience of TFF 2023, and listened to others. All in all, a panel worth attending and participating in! The day ended with a last-minute grocery run, and a late night snooze.
Friday was the official start of con activities, starting off with a quick Dunkin' breakfast, then heading over to watch opening ceremonies. After the opening, I actually attended a Beyblade battle panel in the Gazebo in the middle of the lobby! I brought some of my own older ones, which were not the greatest, but I was able to reach runner up in an impromptu tournament with a loaner! Following this panel was a bit of a dilemma, as there were three panels I wanted to attend, all back-to-back. I decided to attend the Furry Feud panel, and while I wasn't selected to play from the audience, I still had a great time watching the hilarity and confusion unfold! There was some downtime between then and the start of trick-or-treat, so I decided to suit up as Ringgar and participate in the charity bucket brigade! I'd like to think my coin-maraca skills were sufficient for some donations to the charity of the year, Q+! After an hour of brigading, and a quick de-suit, while hunting for dinner, I ran into yet another fursuit sibling Klein Fox! (@falox214 on Telegram).Ripley, Klein and I decided to meet together for the fursuit photo the following day. After finding dinner, I set up in my room to hand out candy and ear plugs for trick or treaters! The ear plugs idea came about from my friend afurryjinx, who wasn't at this con, but the idea caused me to take the initiative to put it to action! The intent was to hand them out for the rave, but other commented that it helped a lot with their snoring room mates, so it went over fairly well! I'll definitely be bringing them again next year! The last two activities of the day involved hanging out with Ripley and their friend (@boogiedownfur on insta), and attending a late night panel about black cats.
Saturday was the most eventful day of the con, starting out with an early diner breakfast, a trip to the dealers den, where I was able to commission a badge from one of my favorite artists, Bleatnik (formerly Cyamallo), and another suit up, Klein, Ripley and I met for the fursuit photo was planned. This is where the majority of the photos in the album above were taken! The photo took an extended period to take, but afterwards Klein and I went into town to hang out, learn about each other, and get some boba tea! Once back at the hotel, I ran to my room to partial up for Fursuit kickball. However the panel was cancelled as the weather was unusually hot for the time of year (80 F!) so I decided to attend the very silly, very plaid Flannel Panel instead by Ahanu Hyena! Next up was dinner and the Dance competition, which had many, many fantastic, emotional, theatrical performances by many talented dancers. With dancers like these, its easy to understand why dance comps are such a big thing at conventions! The dance comp winner was crowned, and afterwards I suited to an Improv panel hosted by one of the dance comp contestants, Heathclaw! I was able to participate in a few improv games, and while my improv is pretty rusty, the room was laughing and having a good time, which is what counted most! This panel in particular was a great one, as with Ringgar I felt a lot braver when it came to participating, even if it was to make a fool of myself! I put on the full suit again after the panel and went to an impromptu wolf meetup at the Gazebo, where I got to meet a handful of other furs, most of whom I had met in cons earlier this year like ANE and Connecticon! We had some photos taken, then I ventured to a very silly, very funny panel hosted by Talcott and Raspberry Lucario, where they did a reading of an incredibly akward creepypasta fan-fiction about Jeff the Killer that somehow managed to get published. As midnight approached that day, I retired to my room to give Ringgar's suit some TLC.
Sunday was a slower day as events winded down. After breakfast and some lobby interactions, I suited up to try to partake in the Fursuit Games this year! I was lucky enough to be able to become a part of the purple team! We played games such as smore-stacking relay-races, charades with the audience, and musical chairs! Our team came out second overall, but one of our team mates took the belt for musical chairs! This event was incredibly fun and I wish it could have been longer! After going back to the room and de-suiting, I watched the freestyle dance fight! If you want to hear my thoughts about this event, see the description for the dance comp yesterday! The temps dropped significantly on Sunday, and the rain started coming down, so I ran out for a quick dinner, then ran back to give Ringgar's suit a little care before one last suit up to do some last minute bucket brigading, as is custom for Furpocalypse! I'm happy I was able to volunteer for that this year ^^. Closing Ceremonies took place, where it was announced that Furpoc had 1875 attendees this year, up 241 from last year, over $10000 was raised for Q+, and the theme for next year would be: Astrophobia! Unfortunately, there was no dead dog dance this year like there was last year, and after speaking to the programming director, I was told the reason is because the rentals had to be packed up early. I hope there will be one next year!
Overall this con will go down as an extra special one for me. Furpoc was the very first furry convention I attended in 2019, and not only was this my first year attending it for the entire event, it was also the con I had Ringgar's fursuit. In suit, I felt so much braver, more outgoing, and unafraid to be act a little silly. I interacted with many awesome people from my suit family members, to dancers, to staff, to other attendees, people I had met before, and many others I had not. It easy to see why PCD is a thing when an event such as this comes to an end. However, I do plan on coming again next year, and I want to thank everyone who made Furpocalypse 2023 a treasured memory for me!
In other news, at the current moment, I am planning on attending MFF 2023 in a month to continue my New Year's Resolution! So far, it has been a success! As for cons next year, my primary constraint is the number of vacation days I have to spend. I am considering attending Anthro New England on Saturday again next year, as well as Furcationland, and my first trip to Anthrocon! Furpoc, of course, is also on that list, but I will have to develop my plans further still! Stay tuned!
Furpocalypse 2023 Album*:Note*: This year I did not personally take many photos, as I was in suit or at an activity for the majority of the time. Taking photos while in suit isn't the easiest thing for me as my handpaws are four-fingered and puffy. However, I have included photos taken by friends of my suit siblings, and photos taken by others I have either been sent or found on social media! There will be more posted in the future I am sure, so I have added photo credit where it is due! With that said...
If you see any photos of me on any social media site, please send me a message on any of my socials and let me know! Thank you!Starting on Thursday, I decided to travel to the con by driving. This way, I was able to simply pack the totes for Ringgar's fursuit parts, care items, and my suitcase all at once! The fact that the con is located practically in my backyard also factored into that decision. The drive was short, and I arrived shortly before check-in time. After a brief wait in Linecon 2023, I brought everything up to my room and went out hunting in downtown Stamford for food before coming back to the hotel for Linecon part 2: Electric Boogaloo! After the line that was the registration line for both TFF 2023 and Connecticon Saturday 2023, the reg line here felt like a breeze! While I waited, I met one of my fursuit siblings for the first time, Ripley the Red fox! Otherwise known as Alister or @wispydutchie, whom you can find here! Our meeting was brief and fleeting as the line moved along, but we would eventually hang out another day! After registering as a Sponsor this year, I attended a panel about Fandom horror stories, hosted by Sylox! It was lightly attended due to the schedule time, but I shared some of my early furry cringe stories, as well as the Tornadocon experience of TFF 2023, and listened to others. All in all, a panel worth attending and participating in! The day ended with a last-minute grocery run, and a late night snooze.
Friday was the official start of con activities, starting off with a quick Dunkin' breakfast, then heading over to watch opening ceremonies. After the opening, I actually attended a Beyblade battle panel in the Gazebo in the middle of the lobby! I brought some of my own older ones, which were not the greatest, but I was able to reach runner up in an impromptu tournament with a loaner! Following this panel was a bit of a dilemma, as there were three panels I wanted to attend, all back-to-back. I decided to attend the Furry Feud panel, and while I wasn't selected to play from the audience, I still had a great time watching the hilarity and confusion unfold! There was some downtime between then and the start of trick-or-treat, so I decided to suit up as Ringgar and participate in the charity bucket brigade! I'd like to think my coin-maraca skills were sufficient for some donations to the charity of the year, Q+! After an hour of brigading, and a quick de-suit, while hunting for dinner, I ran into yet another fursuit sibling Klein Fox! (@falox214 on Telegram).Ripley, Klein and I decided to meet together for the fursuit photo the following day. After finding dinner, I set up in my room to hand out candy and ear plugs for trick or treaters! The ear plugs idea came about from my friend
afurryjinx, who wasn't at this con, but the idea caused me to take the initiative to put it to action! The intent was to hand them out for the rave, but other commented that it helped a lot with their snoring room mates, so it went over fairly well! I'll definitely be bringing them again next year! The last two activities of the day involved hanging out with Ripley and their friend (@boogiedownfur on insta), and attending a late night panel about black cats. Saturday was the most eventful day of the con, starting out with an early diner breakfast, a trip to the dealers den, where I was able to commission a badge from one of my favorite artists, Bleatnik (formerly Cyamallo), and another suit up, Klein, Ripley and I met for the fursuit photo was planned. This is where the majority of the photos in the album above were taken! The photo took an extended period to take, but afterwards Klein and I went into town to hang out, learn about each other, and get some boba tea! Once back at the hotel, I ran to my room to partial up for Fursuit kickball. However the panel was cancelled as the weather was unusually hot for the time of year (80 F!) so I decided to attend the very silly, very plaid Flannel Panel instead by Ahanu Hyena! Next up was dinner and the Dance competition, which had many, many fantastic, emotional, theatrical performances by many talented dancers. With dancers like these, its easy to understand why dance comps are such a big thing at conventions! The dance comp winner was crowned, and afterwards I suited to an Improv panel hosted by one of the dance comp contestants,
Heathclaw! I was able to participate in a few improv games, and while my improv is pretty rusty, the room was laughing and having a good time, which is what counted most! This panel in particular was a great one, as with Ringgar I felt a lot braver when it came to participating, even if it was to make a fool of myself! I put on the full suit again after the panel and went to an impromptu wolf meetup at the Gazebo, where I got to meet a handful of other furs, most of whom I had met in cons earlier this year like ANE and Connecticon! We had some photos taken, then I ventured to a very silly, very funny panel hosted by Talcott and Raspberry Lucario, where they did a reading of an incredibly akward creepypasta fan-fiction about Jeff the Killer that somehow managed to get published. As midnight approached that day, I retired to my room to give Ringgar's suit some TLC. Sunday was a slower day as events winded down. After breakfast and some lobby interactions, I suited up to try to partake in the Fursuit Games this year! I was lucky enough to be able to become a part of the purple team! We played games such as smore-stacking relay-races, charades with the audience, and musical chairs! Our team came out second overall, but one of our team mates took the belt for musical chairs! This event was incredibly fun and I wish it could have been longer! After going back to the room and de-suiting, I watched the freestyle dance fight! If you want to hear my thoughts about this event, see the description for the dance comp yesterday! The temps dropped significantly on Sunday, and the rain started coming down, so I ran out for a quick dinner, then ran back to give Ringgar's suit a little care before one last suit up to do some last minute bucket brigading, as is custom for Furpocalypse! I'm happy I was able to volunteer for that this year ^^. Closing Ceremonies took place, where it was announced that Furpoc had 1875 attendees this year, up 241 from last year, over $10000 was raised for Q+, and the theme for next year would be: Astrophobia! Unfortunately, there was no dead dog dance this year like there was last year, and after speaking to the programming director, I was told the reason is because the rentals had to be packed up early. I hope there will be one next year!
Slasher Summary!Overall this con will go down as an extra special one for me. Furpoc was the very first furry convention I attended in 2019, and not only was this my first year attending it for the entire event, it was also the con I had Ringgar's fursuit. In suit, I felt so much braver, more outgoing, and unafraid to be act a little silly. I interacted with many awesome people from my suit family members, to dancers, to staff, to other attendees, people I had met before, and many others I had not. It easy to see why PCD is a thing when an event such as this comes to an end. However, I do plan on coming again next year, and I want to thank everyone who made Furpocalypse 2023 a treasured memory for me!
In other news, at the current moment, I am planning on attending MFF 2023 in a month to continue my New Year's Resolution! So far, it has been a success! As for cons next year, my primary constraint is the number of vacation days I have to spend. I am considering attending Anthro New England on Saturday again next year, as well as Furcationland, and my first trip to Anthrocon! Furpoc, of course, is also on that list, but I will have to develop my plans further still! Stay tuned!
New Twitter Page!
Posted 2 years agoHello all! Just a quick update to notify y'all that I made a twitter page for Ringgar! https://twitter.com/RinggarTheWolf
Dunno how much longer Twitter will be around truth be told, but I decided its about time I got connected to another portion of the furry community. I also made it for a more specific reason, but that will be brought to light later! Might as well enjoy the ride until then!
Dunno how much longer Twitter will be around truth be told, but I decided its about time I got connected to another portion of the furry community. I also made it for a more specific reason, but that will be brought to light later! Might as well enjoy the ride until then!
Texas Furry Fiesta 2023 Wrap-up!
Posted 2 years agoGood afternoon fluffy fellas! Texas Furry Fiesta 2023 has come and gone for the year, and, even a week later, I still wish I was there! This convention ended up being not only a terrific experience, but an important one for myself as well, both as a furry and as an individual. TFF 2023 was a convention of firsts for me, and just like I have done for previous conventions I have attended, I wanted to make a wrap-up post as to why! Before I jump in, I've created a couple of albums of photos I had taken over the course of the convention. Please note that all of the photos in the album were taken with my phone camera, so I apologize if the quality is low. I've gathered the best photos I had taken (primarily of fursuiters, I know, big shock!) into these albums, so while they are large, they are not exhaustive. If you recognize any of the fursuiters in either of the albums, please let me know so that I can link their information appropriately!
Beginning with the first first of my trip, simply travelling to Dallas was a new experience for me! This was (almost) my first time travelling via airline, which was a bit of a mixed bag of experiences. Where I live at home, planes taking off and landing is something that I've simply grown accustomed to and have taken for granted for many, many years. It isn't until you actually travel from an airport for the first time that it becomes clear just how many people make flying a part of their regular routine, or how many people travel in and out of an airport at any given moment! The most exciting part about flying is absolutely the take-off and landing, where you can see, hear, and feel a huge metal fuselage becoming airborne turn from fiction to fact. The least exciting part of how I chose to get to and from TFF? The 4-hour layovers at LaGuardia Int. When travelling to a convention, with all the excitement and anticipation of the fun to be had stirring in your body, layovers become a furious game of hurry up and wait. That isn't even mentioning airport food prices... yikes!
I arrived at DFW airport on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of my friends and room mates for the convention, afurryjinx and Cotton, the Otter. It had been a few years since I had last seen Jinx in person, and Cotton is someone I had never seen in person up until the convention! After gathering our things from the airport, we trekked to downtown Dallas via the public rail line. It was already evening by the time we reached the Sheraton, checked in, and unpacked. We settled into our rooms, and scoped out the convention space while setup was ongoing. After having dinner at the Hotel restaurant, late at night, we decided to hit the pool an hour before it closed. Perhaps not the smartest idea on our parts, as it was only around 40 deg. Fahrenheit (or 4 deg. C). We didn't stay in the water long, for icy-clear reasons.
Moving on to Thursday, our registration period wasn't open until 8PM, so we had a whole day to ourselves. The three of us decided to grab (a very expensive!!) breakfast at the hotel breakfast bar, grabbed some items at a local corner store to keep in the hotel room, then decided to head out to the Dallas World Aquarium. The line for the aquarium wrapped around the building multiple times, but thankfully moved relatively quickly. The venue was PACKED full of spring break travelers, students, and families. A continuous line of people flowed through the aquarium like a river, and while it was a bit chaotic, we managed to see all the exhibits (especially the giant sea otter for Cotton!) We also saw a fursuiter interacting with people and children at the Aquarium, whom I was able to get a picture of later on! After walking back to the Hotel, we awaited for supper time to roll around, and decided to go to a Pho bar nearby. This was my first time having Pho as well, and it was delicious! Our timing, however, left something to be desired. As we at down to eat, a large thunderstorm passed directly overhead downtown Dallas, drenching the streets with sheets of heavy rain. The rain only barely let up by the time we were finished eating, but we meant to meet a family member of Jinx's at a cocktail lounge nearby soon. Despite the downpour, we decided to book it to the bar, proceeding to get completely soaked in the process. Our clothes dried off while we got wet at the bar, and by the time we left, the storm had passed. My socks, however, were basically water shoes the whole walk back to the hotel. Looking back, I should have ordered a Pina Colada. Despite the convention festivities kicking off that night, the rest of the evening was rather uneventful for myself, because I decided to participate in Registration Linecon 2023. The line closed once it reached about 3 hours in length, which is also how long it took me to receive my badge. By that time, all of the 10PM panels I wanted to see had finished for the night, but I did at least get the chance to meet
FAUXHAMMER in person for the first time! He was, ironically, a staff member for registration that night as well :P.
Moving on to Friday, events began formally after opening ceremonies (which I stopped in for briefly,) and I had plans for the day I wished to fulfill! First and foremost among them, were to meet the two Starcane Arts fursuiters who were at the convention in person for the first time! I got to meet the adorable and friendly Grant, and the mischief-marking Rigel! We spent a couple of hours hanging out around the hotel together, and taking an impromptu photoshoot together in the hotel and in the park right across from the hotel. You can see the results of our labor in the second imgur album I linked above! After spending some time together, Grant and I headed to a panel about taking better #FursuitFriday photos with just your phone! I learned a number of new techniques specific to fursuit photo-taking, which I then was able to employ using Grant as a photo subject! After the panel I meet back up with Jinx and Cotton, and we made the executive decision to head to a local Irish Pub for dinner, as it was St. Patrick's Day! Unsurprisingly, the bar we walked to was overflowing with patrons. Thankfully we had time to wait, as a couple of Jinx's family members wished to meet us there. Finding a seat for all of us was a bit tricky, but we all managed to sit down and have a good pub dinner together. After escaping the commotion and walking back to the hotel, I went to attend an interesting panel of Demonology and its history throughout the ages. Spoiler alert: demons have been a lot of different things at many different points in time, but there have always been some very strange depictions of them! The day concluded with a brief trip to the dance in the evening before retiring for the night!
Saturday at TFF dawns, and Cotton, Jinx and I already have our plans for the day set. Jinx and I spend the morning and early afternoon getting tea, followed by a Magic: The Gathering Commander Cube on the Tabletop gaming floor, which was a lot of fun! We both got to take turns being the boogeymen of the table, quite exciting! Afterwards, I went to attend a panel on fursuit cleaning and care hosted by Aurora Bloom, who was one of the Guests of Honor for this year! (She mentioned that she would post the presentation from her panel somewhere, but I haven't found where yet.) Immediately following this panel, the three of us met up again to take the train to the next town over. We were invited to dinner with even more of Jinx's family members, where we spent most of our evening. Essentially, we went from one large, loud party to a smaller, homier one. Getting to meet Jinx's family was a real treat, too! By the time we arrived at the hotel again, it was around 11 at night. Jinx and I had to hit up one more panel for the night before bed: an appropriately timed bedtime story sharing panel, just like the ones you used to have in Pre-K! Except these bedtime stories were a lot more PG in nature, featuring titles such as "All my Friends are Dead," "Oh, the Meetings you'll go!" and "Go the F**K to Sleep." We were certainly tired from all the laughing we did afterwards!
Sunday was the last day for the con, and it still had a lot of life in it! On Sunday morning Jinx and I went to a Fursuit handling 101 panel. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as the panel host wound up getting sick and couldn't show! Bummer, but con crud happens! Jinx and I spent the next couple hours playing Jumpstart for MTG, which chained nicely into the timing for the dance comp to start! The main event hall was so full of audience members that there had to be a crowd watching the monitors outside (which is where I wound up watching from, thanks AV!) Dance comps are always a highlight of cons for me, and while I have no experience with dance myself, watching all of the incredible choreography from story-telling dances to hyper-energetic flips and twirls, makes me want to give it a try myself someday! I'd love to be the kind of dancer that puts everyone who watches in a good mood, or better yet, gets people to dance along! I want to give a big shout-out to a couple performances in specific too: Luv Fursuitdancing (Who has a channel here! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy.....vuigrL0OJEw9jQ), who was initially struck with stage fright, but gathered the courage to come out on stage and absolutely SLAY. That was a well deserved medal! The other performance I wanted to mention was the couples performance (whom I cant remember the names of right now, sorry, but their photo is in my album, and their dance is here: https://youtu.be/l878u-5aWZQ?t=5057) that had me choking up on happy tears because of how sweet it was. Great going to the both of you <3. As the dance comp came to a close, lots of folks got in their last chance to say their goodbyes, as Sunday is a common departure day. However, I got my chance to say that, and hello, to a long-time friend and artist whom I admire,
GarbyLion! We spoke all about the con and more for a good amount of time, with several hugs in between! For context, Garby is the artist who created the badge I have worn to the past few conventions I had been to, along with other pieces I've either received or commissioned. The badge was made several years ago, and her art style has changed significantly since then, but its still such a special gift to me <3 (Thanks again Fizzy, I hope to meet you again real soon!) The funny thing about our meeting is, we actually might have met a lot sooner! She was also at the Irish Pub on Friday with her friends, around the same time we were! Finally, after watching a bit of closing ceremonies, us three roomies went out to find some BBQ for dinner, and I gave us the update on closing ceremonies as we headed out. I was especially shocked to find that TFF is now the 3rd largest fur con by attendance, at a record 7300 people! It honestly didn't feel like even 1000 people were in the con space at any given time (except during Linecon 2023!) hearing numbers like that can really mess with your perception of a headcount! After some excellent brisket (and pie to boot!) We all headed back to the hotel, where the last thing we did together was attend the Dead Dog Dances for awhile before heading to bed. On Monday, my flight was due, so I said my goodbyes to Jinx and Cotton, and headed for home.
Overall, I was in Dallas for 5 days, and for the entirety of TFF 2023. This convention had a lot of firsts for me, from my first time flying to my first time being at a furry con for the entire duration, and overnight, to trying new food, and meeting several friends for the first time in person! Not only that, but this officially marks the furthest I've been from home. My New Years resolution for 2023 was to try to travel more outside of New England, and I couldn't be happier to have started the year by attending TFF 2023 and fulfilling that resolution! I am always going to treasure this experience, and the people I met on my trip here. I'd like to extend, a big, BIG thank you (and a hug!) to Jinx, Cotton, Grant, Rigel, Faux, and Garby, whom I couldn't have been happier to meet, and to finally be able to put a faces to the names of folks I wanted to get to know. You guys really helped make TFF 2023 that much more special to me!
As for the rest of the year, I still need to think about where I want to go as far as other cons. There are a ton out there, and while I wish I could attend them all, I only have so many vacation days to spare to do so, especially for ones that need a flight to catch! For now, I know I plan on going to Furpocalypse 2023 in October, and for the whole duration as well! I will let you guys know where else I plan on going as far as fur cons go for this year as things develop! In the meantime, if anyone wants to story swap about TFF 2023 or talk about other cons in the near future, feel free to reach out to me!
Misc List of places and restaurants I went to in Dallas, for future reference:
- Dallas World Aquarium
- The Berni Bean Coffee Company (Upscale Coffee & Tea)
- Sapa House (Vietnamese)
- The Pecan Lodge
- The Crafty Irishman Public House
- The Mitchell (Cocktail Lounge)
- Emporium Pies
Ringgar's TFF 2023 album: https://imgur.com/a/MsjhmQ5Starcane Arts TFF 2023 album, assembled by Ringgar, feat. Grant and Rigel: https://imgur.com/a/IXjPn16Beginning with the first first of my trip, simply travelling to Dallas was a new experience for me! This was (almost) my first time travelling via airline, which was a bit of a mixed bag of experiences. Where I live at home, planes taking off and landing is something that I've simply grown accustomed to and have taken for granted for many, many years. It isn't until you actually travel from an airport for the first time that it becomes clear just how many people make flying a part of their regular routine, or how many people travel in and out of an airport at any given moment! The most exciting part about flying is absolutely the take-off and landing, where you can see, hear, and feel a huge metal fuselage becoming airborne turn from fiction to fact. The least exciting part of how I chose to get to and from TFF? The 4-hour layovers at LaGuardia Int. When travelling to a convention, with all the excitement and anticipation of the fun to be had stirring in your body, layovers become a furious game of hurry up and wait. That isn't even mentioning airport food prices... yikes!
I arrived at DFW airport on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of my friends and room mates for the convention,
afurryjinx and Cotton, the Otter. It had been a few years since I had last seen Jinx in person, and Cotton is someone I had never seen in person up until the convention! After gathering our things from the airport, we trekked to downtown Dallas via the public rail line. It was already evening by the time we reached the Sheraton, checked in, and unpacked. We settled into our rooms, and scoped out the convention space while setup was ongoing. After having dinner at the Hotel restaurant, late at night, we decided to hit the pool an hour before it closed. Perhaps not the smartest idea on our parts, as it was only around 40 deg. Fahrenheit (or 4 deg. C). We didn't stay in the water long, for icy-clear reasons. Moving on to Thursday, our registration period wasn't open until 8PM, so we had a whole day to ourselves. The three of us decided to grab (a very expensive!!) breakfast at the hotel breakfast bar, grabbed some items at a local corner store to keep in the hotel room, then decided to head out to the Dallas World Aquarium. The line for the aquarium wrapped around the building multiple times, but thankfully moved relatively quickly. The venue was PACKED full of spring break travelers, students, and families. A continuous line of people flowed through the aquarium like a river, and while it was a bit chaotic, we managed to see all the exhibits (especially the giant sea otter for Cotton!) We also saw a fursuiter interacting with people and children at the Aquarium, whom I was able to get a picture of later on! After walking back to the Hotel, we awaited for supper time to roll around, and decided to go to a Pho bar nearby. This was my first time having Pho as well, and it was delicious! Our timing, however, left something to be desired. As we at down to eat, a large thunderstorm passed directly overhead downtown Dallas, drenching the streets with sheets of heavy rain. The rain only barely let up by the time we were finished eating, but we meant to meet a family member of Jinx's at a cocktail lounge nearby soon. Despite the downpour, we decided to book it to the bar, proceeding to get completely soaked in the process. Our clothes dried off while we got wet at the bar, and by the time we left, the storm had passed. My socks, however, were basically water shoes the whole walk back to the hotel. Looking back, I should have ordered a Pina Colada. Despite the convention festivities kicking off that night, the rest of the evening was rather uneventful for myself, because I decided to participate in Registration Linecon 2023. The line closed once it reached about 3 hours in length, which is also how long it took me to receive my badge. By that time, all of the 10PM panels I wanted to see had finished for the night, but I did at least get the chance to meet
FAUXHAMMER in person for the first time! He was, ironically, a staff member for registration that night as well :P.Moving on to Friday, events began formally after opening ceremonies (which I stopped in for briefly,) and I had plans for the day I wished to fulfill! First and foremost among them, were to meet the two Starcane Arts fursuiters who were at the convention in person for the first time! I got to meet the adorable and friendly Grant, and the mischief-marking Rigel! We spent a couple of hours hanging out around the hotel together, and taking an impromptu photoshoot together in the hotel and in the park right across from the hotel. You can see the results of our labor in the second imgur album I linked above! After spending some time together, Grant and I headed to a panel about taking better #FursuitFriday photos with just your phone! I learned a number of new techniques specific to fursuit photo-taking, which I then was able to employ using Grant as a photo subject! After the panel I meet back up with Jinx and Cotton, and we made the executive decision to head to a local Irish Pub for dinner, as it was St. Patrick's Day! Unsurprisingly, the bar we walked to was overflowing with patrons. Thankfully we had time to wait, as a couple of Jinx's family members wished to meet us there. Finding a seat for all of us was a bit tricky, but we all managed to sit down and have a good pub dinner together. After escaping the commotion and walking back to the hotel, I went to attend an interesting panel of Demonology and its history throughout the ages. Spoiler alert: demons have been a lot of different things at many different points in time, but there have always been some very strange depictions of them! The day concluded with a brief trip to the dance in the evening before retiring for the night!
Saturday at TFF dawns, and Cotton, Jinx and I already have our plans for the day set. Jinx and I spend the morning and early afternoon getting tea, followed by a Magic: The Gathering Commander Cube on the Tabletop gaming floor, which was a lot of fun! We both got to take turns being the boogeymen of the table, quite exciting! Afterwards, I went to attend a panel on fursuit cleaning and care hosted by Aurora Bloom, who was one of the Guests of Honor for this year! (She mentioned that she would post the presentation from her panel somewhere, but I haven't found where yet.) Immediately following this panel, the three of us met up again to take the train to the next town over. We were invited to dinner with even more of Jinx's family members, where we spent most of our evening. Essentially, we went from one large, loud party to a smaller, homier one. Getting to meet Jinx's family was a real treat, too! By the time we arrived at the hotel again, it was around 11 at night. Jinx and I had to hit up one more panel for the night before bed: an appropriately timed bedtime story sharing panel, just like the ones you used to have in Pre-K! Except these bedtime stories were a lot more PG in nature, featuring titles such as "All my Friends are Dead," "Oh, the Meetings you'll go!" and "Go the F**K to Sleep." We were certainly tired from all the laughing we did afterwards!
Sunday was the last day for the con, and it still had a lot of life in it! On Sunday morning Jinx and I went to a Fursuit handling 101 panel. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as the panel host wound up getting sick and couldn't show! Bummer, but con crud happens! Jinx and I spent the next couple hours playing Jumpstart for MTG, which chained nicely into the timing for the dance comp to start! The main event hall was so full of audience members that there had to be a crowd watching the monitors outside (which is where I wound up watching from, thanks AV!) Dance comps are always a highlight of cons for me, and while I have no experience with dance myself, watching all of the incredible choreography from story-telling dances to hyper-energetic flips and twirls, makes me want to give it a try myself someday! I'd love to be the kind of dancer that puts everyone who watches in a good mood, or better yet, gets people to dance along! I want to give a big shout-out to a couple performances in specific too: Luv Fursuitdancing (Who has a channel here! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy.....vuigrL0OJEw9jQ), who was initially struck with stage fright, but gathered the courage to come out on stage and absolutely SLAY. That was a well deserved medal! The other performance I wanted to mention was the couples performance (whom I cant remember the names of right now, sorry, but their photo is in my album, and their dance is here: https://youtu.be/l878u-5aWZQ?t=5057) that had me choking up on happy tears because of how sweet it was. Great going to the both of you <3. As the dance comp came to a close, lots of folks got in their last chance to say their goodbyes, as Sunday is a common departure day. However, I got my chance to say that, and hello, to a long-time friend and artist whom I admire,
GarbyLion! We spoke all about the con and more for a good amount of time, with several hugs in between! For context, Garby is the artist who created the badge I have worn to the past few conventions I had been to, along with other pieces I've either received or commissioned. The badge was made several years ago, and her art style has changed significantly since then, but its still such a special gift to me <3 (Thanks again Fizzy, I hope to meet you again real soon!) The funny thing about our meeting is, we actually might have met a lot sooner! She was also at the Irish Pub on Friday with her friends, around the same time we were! Finally, after watching a bit of closing ceremonies, us three roomies went out to find some BBQ for dinner, and I gave us the update on closing ceremonies as we headed out. I was especially shocked to find that TFF is now the 3rd largest fur con by attendance, at a record 7300 people! It honestly didn't feel like even 1000 people were in the con space at any given time (except during Linecon 2023!) hearing numbers like that can really mess with your perception of a headcount! After some excellent brisket (and pie to boot!) We all headed back to the hotel, where the last thing we did together was attend the Dead Dog Dances for awhile before heading to bed. On Monday, my flight was due, so I said my goodbyes to Jinx and Cotton, and headed for home.Attack of the Summary!Overall, I was in Dallas for 5 days, and for the entirety of TFF 2023. This convention had a lot of firsts for me, from my first time flying to my first time being at a furry con for the entire duration, and overnight, to trying new food, and meeting several friends for the first time in person! Not only that, but this officially marks the furthest I've been from home. My New Years resolution for 2023 was to try to travel more outside of New England, and I couldn't be happier to have started the year by attending TFF 2023 and fulfilling that resolution! I am always going to treasure this experience, and the people I met on my trip here. I'd like to extend, a big, BIG thank you (and a hug!) to Jinx, Cotton, Grant, Rigel, Faux, and Garby, whom I couldn't have been happier to meet, and to finally be able to put a faces to the names of folks I wanted to get to know. You guys really helped make TFF 2023 that much more special to me!
As for the rest of the year, I still need to think about where I want to go as far as other cons. There are a ton out there, and while I wish I could attend them all, I only have so many vacation days to spare to do so, especially for ones that need a flight to catch! For now, I know I plan on going to Furpocalypse 2023 in October, and for the whole duration as well! I will let you guys know where else I plan on going as far as fur cons go for this year as things develop! In the meantime, if anyone wants to story swap about TFF 2023 or talk about other cons in the near future, feel free to reach out to me!
Misc List of places and restaurants I went to in Dallas, for future reference:
- Dallas World Aquarium
- The Berni Bean Coffee Company (Upscale Coffee & Tea)
- Sapa House (Vietnamese)
- The Pecan Lodge
- The Crafty Irishman Public House
- The Mitchell (Cocktail Lounge)
- Emporium Pies
I will be heading to TFF 2023!
Posted 2 years agoHello folks! I wanted to make a quick journal to let you guys know that I will be at Texas Furry Fiesta for the first time ever this year! I will be there for the whole con as well!
This is going to be a lot of firsts for me! First time flying in a very long time, first time to Texas ever, first time staying overnight for a con, and more!
If you want to find me and meet up with me, I encourage you to reach out to me on Telegram (@Ringgar) and let me know! I'm so excited to meet you all there!
This is going to be a lot of firsts for me! First time flying in a very long time, first time to Texas ever, first time staying overnight for a con, and more!
If you want to find me and meet up with me, I encourage you to reach out to me on Telegram (@Ringgar) and let me know! I'm so excited to meet you all there!
I will be at Anthro New England 2023!
Posted 3 years agoHello folks! Just a quick update journal to let you know that I will be at Anthro New England 2023 this Saturday! If you will be there, feel free to reach out to me on Telegram and we can meet up!
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Looking for a Fursuit + Old Reddit Posts News!
Posted 3 years agoHello folks, and happy holidays! I have a rather short journal today because I just wanted to share a quick update on things that have been going on.
First and foremost, I've decided that I want to commission a full fursuit of Ringgar! I believe I am finally within the means to do so, and it's something I've always wanted to do. The whole fursuit commission process is totally new to me, so I am a bit intimidated. As of the time of writing, I am currently trying to do research on different fursuit creators out there. Who is available, where they are, what their style is, etc. I plan on having a digitrade fullsuit of Ringgar made. I'm open to any fursuit commissioning advice or maker referrals if anyone has any to share!
In other news, I recently went through my old reddit posts and deleted a bunch of them, including several posts from /r/furry. Reddit is where I started out as a furry 8 years ago, becoming a member of that community, and while I had my ups and downs there, I am still present within that community, though not as much as I was in the early days. I have left a note to self (or anyone else who comes across it) about what I deleted and why I deleted them here ---> https://www.reddit.com/user/Infamou....._posts_recent/
Last but not least, in regards to my job, I recently became fully employed at my current company after 3 years since I started my career. Previously, I worked for them as a contractor. As a full employee, I have better job security, which is the biggest thing for me. I don't know what the future holds for my career, whether I will stay there or look at Electrical Engineering positions at another company, but I am happy with this development regardless!
As for plans for the year ahead, I am hoping to be able to attend more conventions, and generally go out more. Be a little more adventurous; be more like Ringgar! I am hoping to make new, local friends as well, people whom I can hang out with in the real world. Big bonus points if said person happens to be a furry!
First and foremost, I've decided that I want to commission a full fursuit of Ringgar! I believe I am finally within the means to do so, and it's something I've always wanted to do. The whole fursuit commission process is totally new to me, so I am a bit intimidated. As of the time of writing, I am currently trying to do research on different fursuit creators out there. Who is available, where they are, what their style is, etc. I plan on having a digitrade fullsuit of Ringgar made. I'm open to any fursuit commissioning advice or maker referrals if anyone has any to share!
In other news, I recently went through my old reddit posts and deleted a bunch of them, including several posts from /r/furry. Reddit is where I started out as a furry 8 years ago, becoming a member of that community, and while I had my ups and downs there, I am still present within that community, though not as much as I was in the early days. I have left a note to self (or anyone else who comes across it) about what I deleted and why I deleted them here ---> https://www.reddit.com/user/Infamou....._posts_recent/
Last but not least, in regards to my job, I recently became fully employed at my current company after 3 years since I started my career. Previously, I worked for them as a contractor. As a full employee, I have better job security, which is the biggest thing for me. I don't know what the future holds for my career, whether I will stay there or look at Electrical Engineering positions at another company, but I am happy with this development regardless!
As for plans for the year ahead, I am hoping to be able to attend more conventions, and generally go out more. Be a little more adventurous; be more like Ringgar! I am hoping to make new, local friends as well, people whom I can hang out with in the real world. Big bonus points if said person happens to be a furry!
Anywho, thank you all for taking the time to read this, it means a lot to me. If you want to talk, hit me up at any of the socials linked on my FA page here. Happy Holidays, friends!Furpocalypse 2022 Saturday Report!
Posted 3 years agoHello folks! I have returned from my day at Furpocalypse 2022, at the Armon Hotel in Stamford, CT. This was my second furcon ever! I was there for Saturday only, as I was driving there from home, by myself, and it was a long drive, and I had to work on Friday. I attended the con wearing a light blue jacket, a badge with my fursona, and a knitted red a blue scarf. If you saw me there, please comment below! In addition, see the (all non-selfie) photos I took here, and comment if you see yourself in them: https://imgur.com/a/HPyhaaZ
So, what did I wind up doing yesterday? TL;DR: I had the grandest of times! My only regret was that there was not enough time in the day to do everything I wanted to do.
I got to the hotel for registration opening, then after a short recon session, I watched the preliminary dance off for the Freestyle Dance Fight, which was new to Furpocalypse this year, but is very similar to Floor Wars at other conventions. Dance comps always excite and amaze me, and this was no exception, especially with the incredible amount of sass that flies around in a 1v1 format! After this, I attended a panel on juggling basics, hosted by IronGut. I tried my best at juggling for about an hour, and almost got the hang of it! Almost :P. Still, this interactive panel was very fun! Afterwards, I quickly browsed the dealer's den, as it was almost time for the parade! I made sure to say hello to Cyamallo, who is a Guest of Honor for the convention this year! Sadly I didn't have the time to go back and catch up due to later events, but I'm glad I got to say hello anyway!
On to the parade. It appears that there was a severe underestimation as to the amount of fursuiters who were there that year, as there was a large line to the main event hall where fursuiters were gathering for the parade that stretched all the way to the front door of the hotel. Unfortunately I wound up standing on the wrong side of the parade, with the line blocking my view of most of the procession, so while I was able to take some photos of the tail end of the parade, I wasn't able to record a video this year. If anyone has a video of the whole parade I can view, please let me know, I would love to see it! After the parade, I attended a panel where snacks from different cultures were being served! While the celery soda and coconut and pine candies were all interesting, the primary reason I went was to meet a mutual friend, Tenact! It was a happy coincidence that he was attending this year, and I am so happy to have met him in person! He is a very pleasant person indeed! We made our introductions and spoke for an hour or two, then after the panel, I went to play a Magic The Gathering draft in the tabletop room. While I had fun there, I think I made a mistake attending, as the draft wound up taking way longer than I anticipated to do all the rounds. I was there for three hours, and as a result, I missed the Car Show, which was also new to Furpocalypse this year! If anyone has any photos of the car show they would like to share, I would much appreciate it so I can see what awesome rods I missed! I also wound up missing about half of the dance competition, but I did run down to the main event hall to witness the other half and the winner of the year being crowned, Cutter! Awesome moves by everyone, and it was a very enjoyable event!
Now the evening had approached, and after having some Chinese that wound up giving me food poisoning... I was just in time to watch the Masqurade. The Masqurade is one of the highlight events of Furpoc, and is essentially a combination talent show and costume contest. I have to give a big shout out to all of the performers, there wasn't a single performance this year that I wasn't absolutely blown away by! At the conclusion of the Masqurade, I spent some time out in the lobby meeting and greeting a number of people and fursuiters, introducing myself, and hopefully making a few new acquaintances! I also said my goodbyes to Tenn before moving on to the last thing I would do there for the day, attending a Weird MLP fan content Panel hosted by Guest of Honor DeadlyComics! It was an incredibly funny panel and I laughed so hard my throat got sore! This was the last panel of the day, now almost midnight, and as I walked out the door, I turned around, said goodbye to the Armon, and left, getting home early in the morning.
Overall, I loved my time there, if only there was more time for me to do it all! Sadly, this isn't easy when you attend solo, and only for one day, but the time I did have was a grand time nonetheless! Assuming Furpocalypse is still in Connecticut next year, I would be stoked to attend again, and hopefully for the full duration of the convention! Shout out to all the hard working volunteers, staff, and panelists who made this convention amazing! See you all next Halloween!
Feel free to ask me anything else about the convention!
Quick update: Congrats to everyone at Furpocalypse 2022 for reaching the $10K charity donation goal!!
So, what did I wind up doing yesterday? TL;DR: I had the grandest of times! My only regret was that there was not enough time in the day to do everything I wanted to do.
I got to the hotel for registration opening, then after a short recon session, I watched the preliminary dance off for the Freestyle Dance Fight, which was new to Furpocalypse this year, but is very similar to Floor Wars at other conventions. Dance comps always excite and amaze me, and this was no exception, especially with the incredible amount of sass that flies around in a 1v1 format! After this, I attended a panel on juggling basics, hosted by IronGut. I tried my best at juggling for about an hour, and almost got the hang of it! Almost :P. Still, this interactive panel was very fun! Afterwards, I quickly browsed the dealer's den, as it was almost time for the parade! I made sure to say hello to Cyamallo, who is a Guest of Honor for the convention this year! Sadly I didn't have the time to go back and catch up due to later events, but I'm glad I got to say hello anyway!
On to the parade. It appears that there was a severe underestimation as to the amount of fursuiters who were there that year, as there was a large line to the main event hall where fursuiters were gathering for the parade that stretched all the way to the front door of the hotel. Unfortunately I wound up standing on the wrong side of the parade, with the line blocking my view of most of the procession, so while I was able to take some photos of the tail end of the parade, I wasn't able to record a video this year. If anyone has a video of the whole parade I can view, please let me know, I would love to see it! After the parade, I attended a panel where snacks from different cultures were being served! While the celery soda and coconut and pine candies were all interesting, the primary reason I went was to meet a mutual friend,
Tenact! It was a happy coincidence that he was attending this year, and I am so happy to have met him in person! He is a very pleasant person indeed! We made our introductions and spoke for an hour or two, then after the panel, I went to play a Magic The Gathering draft in the tabletop room. While I had fun there, I think I made a mistake attending, as the draft wound up taking way longer than I anticipated to do all the rounds. I was there for three hours, and as a result, I missed the Car Show, which was also new to Furpocalypse this year! If anyone has any photos of the car show they would like to share, I would much appreciate it so I can see what awesome rods I missed! I also wound up missing about half of the dance competition, but I did run down to the main event hall to witness the other half and the winner of the year being crowned, Cutter! Awesome moves by everyone, and it was a very enjoyable event!Now the evening had approached, and after having some Chinese that wound up giving me food poisoning... I was just in time to watch the Masqurade. The Masqurade is one of the highlight events of Furpoc, and is essentially a combination talent show and costume contest. I have to give a big shout out to all of the performers, there wasn't a single performance this year that I wasn't absolutely blown away by! At the conclusion of the Masqurade, I spent some time out in the lobby meeting and greeting a number of people and fursuiters, introducing myself, and hopefully making a few new acquaintances! I also said my goodbyes to Tenn before moving on to the last thing I would do there for the day, attending a Weird MLP fan content Panel hosted by Guest of Honor DeadlyComics! It was an incredibly funny panel and I laughed so hard my throat got sore! This was the last panel of the day, now almost midnight, and as I walked out the door, I turned around, said goodbye to the Armon, and left, getting home early in the morning.
Overall, I loved my time there, if only there was more time for me to do it all! Sadly, this isn't easy when you attend solo, and only for one day, but the time I did have was a grand time nonetheless! Assuming Furpocalypse is still in Connecticut next year, I would be stoked to attend again, and hopefully for the full duration of the convention! Shout out to all the hard working volunteers, staff, and panelists who made this convention amazing! See you all next Halloween!
Feel free to ask me anything else about the convention!
Quick update: Congrats to everyone at Furpocalypse 2022 for reaching the $10K charity donation goal!!
I will be at Furpocalypse this Weekend!
Posted 3 years agoHi all! This is just a quick notification for those of you who this may apply to, but I will be at Furpocalypse this weekend! Since I live in CT, rather than having a hotel room, I will be driving down there and attending on Saturday. I hope to see some of you there!
Today is my birthday!
Posted 3 years agoHey friends! Been a long time since I last posted a journal, but seeing as it's a special occasion I feel it's about time I did.
I'm late in posting this, but today is my 25th birthday! 25 glorious circles around the sun! That's a good number! I haven't done anything special for my birthday this year though, as it falling in the middle of the week is a bit awkward for planning, so I celebrated with my family over the weekend instead.
So what's happening between the last time I posted and now? One big thing, actually: I needed to get a cholecystectomy. I was experiencing bad pain due to gallstones (which likely developed over a long time, especially in college), and due to the number of them I had, they had to be removed. I'm healed now, but going through this was an ordeal to say the least. I'm glad it is behind me.
Otherwise, I have been the same as before. Im still not sure just what I want to do with myself now, my career, my life path, etc.
In other news, I am hoping to head to Furpocalypse 2022 in October this year! I don't know if I will be there for only a day as it is within driving distance, or if I will find a way to stay for the weekend, but my aim is to go back this year!
So there you have it, the latest update in the somewhat exciting life of a magic circle wolf. Big thanks to you, my friends, for sticking with me so long. A furry for 8 years now, and still going! Take care now <3
I'm late in posting this, but today is my 25th birthday! 25 glorious circles around the sun! That's a good number! I haven't done anything special for my birthday this year though, as it falling in the middle of the week is a bit awkward for planning, so I celebrated with my family over the weekend instead.
So what's happening between the last time I posted and now? One big thing, actually: I needed to get a cholecystectomy. I was experiencing bad pain due to gallstones (which likely developed over a long time, especially in college), and due to the number of them I had, they had to be removed. I'm healed now, but going through this was an ordeal to say the least. I'm glad it is behind me.
Otherwise, I have been the same as before. Im still not sure just what I want to do with myself now, my career, my life path, etc.
In other news, I am hoping to head to Furpocalypse 2022 in October this year! I don't know if I will be there for only a day as it is within driving distance, or if I will find a way to stay for the weekend, but my aim is to go back this year!
So there you have it, the latest update in the somewhat exciting life of a magic circle wolf. Big thanks to you, my friends, for sticking with me so long. A furry for 8 years now, and still going! Take care now <3
Today is my birthday!
Posted 4 years agoZdravstvuyte friends! Today is my birthday! I am now 24!
I should probably give y'all an update as to how things are going for me right now. Truth be told though, not a lot has changed since my last journal almost a year ago, although the world around us has changed much, life seems to go a lot slower lately.
We just survived TS Henri without any issues, so I am thanking my lucky stars (circles) for that!
Anywho, I was hoping to go to Furpocalypse again this year, but unfortunately it has been cancelled for the second year in a row. A shame, but I can wait! Maybe once I am braver, and the state of America a bit safer, I'll travel to fur cons further away from me!
This journal is pretty short, but I figured I should say something rather than leave y'all in the dark another year (apologies!) If you want to talk with me, I am always available on Telegram. Check out my contact info on my profile, too.
Much love to you all, friends!
I should probably give y'all an update as to how things are going for me right now. Truth be told though, not a lot has changed since my last journal almost a year ago, although the world around us has changed much, life seems to go a lot slower lately.
We just survived TS Henri without any issues, so I am thanking my lucky stars (circles) for that!
Anywho, I was hoping to go to Furpocalypse again this year, but unfortunately it has been cancelled for the second year in a row. A shame, but I can wait! Maybe once I am braver, and the state of America a bit safer, I'll travel to fur cons further away from me!
This journal is pretty short, but I figured I should say something rather than leave y'all in the dark another year (apologies!) If you want to talk with me, I am always available on Telegram. Check out my contact info on my profile, too.
Much love to you all, friends!
Where have I been?!? + Happy Spooktober!!
Posted 5 years agoHey friends, it's been about a year since I made my last journal on here, so I figure it's about time to give you all a much-overdo update on what my life has been like in the past year.
Truthfully, the most eventful things that have happened to me this year haven't happened to me, but the world we live in instead. I don't think I need to explain that Coronavirus has changed the way we live in a massive scale since March, and it looks like we will continue to live this way for a while. I'm grateful that the virus has not had a significant impact on my life, though I know many of my friends (such as the one reading this journal!) Fare differently. The good news is that this won't last forever, and life will return to the way we know it, although with some minor changes I am sure. As for major things that have happened to me specifically in the past year...
I finally have a job in my field of study. I am now a contractor for Westinghouse Nuclear, and I started this job at the beginning of this year. It took me three tries to find an Electrical Engineering job, and the third one was the charm! Truthfully, I haven't done a ton of the kind of engineering I went to study for. No, because this is the nuclear industry, a lot of what I do is using my engineering background to create and update official documents and drawings for nuclear power plant systems. Specifically for the group I work for, that is in safety systems. I don't do a whole lot of mathematical calculations or wiring diagrams and electrical theory and the like, but a lot of that is due to the nature of the industry I joined. The nuclear industry is, as you can imagine, highly regulated internationally, and as such, there is even MORE paperwork and documentation to be done than in another industry involving Electrical Engineering. I feel I will get to the point where what I do is much more like being in college on a day to day basis, but I haven't even been there for a year yet, so that is still a long time in coming, I feel. I am, however, happy with the job I do. I have a good group of coworkers who work to ensure everyone is on the same page for the tasks we do, which is invaluable to me as a fresh-out-of-college engineer. The main issue I have right now is job security. I am not a full employee, as I am a part of their contractor network, meaning that, especially in a chaotic economy such as this, they could cut any or all of their contractors if need be at any time, but that does not seem likely to happen from what I have seen.
Speaking of which, I have been working from home since March, meaning I have a lot more time to talk with friends like you guys if you want, but of course, I cannot guarantee I'll answer back immediately as work still takes precedence. I do actually enjoy working from home, and a lot of my coworkers have echoed that sentiment now that we all do that (unless we have lab work to do of course.)
Another thing I have been thinking about recently is going back to get my Masters degree. I know the sooner you do it, the easier it is as you retain more information outside of what you do on the job on a day to day basis (which in my case thus far is not a whole lot of what I practiced in college,) however, due to obvious circumstances, I'm holding off on deciding to do that for now, so not much thought has gone into that just yet.
Other than that, not much else has gone on in my life, as I can imagine it has for many other people personally, despite the chaotic world outside of our personal bubbles. For the majority of this year I've gone through the motions for most days, and at this point, I am happy for now. I'm sure I'll be eager to yearn for more and new things eventually, but having it only been a year since my graduation and less than a year since I started my career, I am happy with some normalcy for once. In other news, I wish I could have gone to Furpocalypse again this year and make it my second furry con experience, but that has to be put on hold for now, like many other cons, unfortunately. But again, this won't be forever! Keep your chins up everyone, and a smile on your faces!
Truthfully, the most eventful things that have happened to me this year haven't happened to me, but the world we live in instead. I don't think I need to explain that Coronavirus has changed the way we live in a massive scale since March, and it looks like we will continue to live this way for a while. I'm grateful that the virus has not had a significant impact on my life, though I know many of my friends (such as the one reading this journal!) Fare differently. The good news is that this won't last forever, and life will return to the way we know it, although with some minor changes I am sure. As for major things that have happened to me specifically in the past year...
I finally have a job in my field of study. I am now a contractor for Westinghouse Nuclear, and I started this job at the beginning of this year. It took me three tries to find an Electrical Engineering job, and the third one was the charm! Truthfully, I haven't done a ton of the kind of engineering I went to study for. No, because this is the nuclear industry, a lot of what I do is using my engineering background to create and update official documents and drawings for nuclear power plant systems. Specifically for the group I work for, that is in safety systems. I don't do a whole lot of mathematical calculations or wiring diagrams and electrical theory and the like, but a lot of that is due to the nature of the industry I joined. The nuclear industry is, as you can imagine, highly regulated internationally, and as such, there is even MORE paperwork and documentation to be done than in another industry involving Electrical Engineering. I feel I will get to the point where what I do is much more like being in college on a day to day basis, but I haven't even been there for a year yet, so that is still a long time in coming, I feel. I am, however, happy with the job I do. I have a good group of coworkers who work to ensure everyone is on the same page for the tasks we do, which is invaluable to me as a fresh-out-of-college engineer. The main issue I have right now is job security. I am not a full employee, as I am a part of their contractor network, meaning that, especially in a chaotic economy such as this, they could cut any or all of their contractors if need be at any time, but that does not seem likely to happen from what I have seen.
Speaking of which, I have been working from home since March, meaning I have a lot more time to talk with friends like you guys if you want, but of course, I cannot guarantee I'll answer back immediately as work still takes precedence. I do actually enjoy working from home, and a lot of my coworkers have echoed that sentiment now that we all do that (unless we have lab work to do of course.)
Another thing I have been thinking about recently is going back to get my Masters degree. I know the sooner you do it, the easier it is as you retain more information outside of what you do on the job on a day to day basis (which in my case thus far is not a whole lot of what I practiced in college,) however, due to obvious circumstances, I'm holding off on deciding to do that for now, so not much thought has gone into that just yet.
Other than that, not much else has gone on in my life, as I can imagine it has for many other people personally, despite the chaotic world outside of our personal bubbles. For the majority of this year I've gone through the motions for most days, and at this point, I am happy for now. I'm sure I'll be eager to yearn for more and new things eventually, but having it only been a year since my graduation and less than a year since I started my career, I am happy with some normalcy for once. In other news, I wish I could have gone to Furpocalypse again this year and make it my second furry con experience, but that has to be put on hold for now, like many other cons, unfortunately. But again, this won't be forever! Keep your chins up everyone, and a smile on your faces!
This wolf loves you all! Feel free to say hi!My first furcon experience at Furpocalypse 2019 + Photos!
Posted 6 years agoHey everyone! I am back from the day I spent at the convention and, in short, I wish I was there for longer! Alas, it was not meant to be! This, however, is a very important milestone for me as a furry. It's been five years since I first joined the fandom, and up until now, attending a convention seemed to be a pipe dream. Being in college hampered my attempts to come to the previous Furpocalypse cons, but now that I had some measure of freedom, I was able to attend, and boy, was it worth it! So, let me take a moment to summarize what my experience was like.
I walked in about 8:50 in the morning to go join the registration line. I stood in line quietly, waiting to get my badge and go do something. Unfortunately, the badge printers were down upon opening, so I had to wait about an hour longer than it normally would have taken. Standing there in line, I didn't talk to anyone, just stood, and waited. Needless to say, nervousness was very much getting the better of me. I thought to myself: This the the biggest concentration of furries I've ever been in. There are actual fursuiters here, and I'm here by myself! What am I going to do? (Note: despite being a furry for so long, up until today, I had never seen a fursuiter IRL. This was a big leap forward for me.)
After getting my badge, I walked around the Red Lion to see where everything would be taking place. It was the early morning, so there was little activity inside each of the rooms for panels, the dealers den, the main stage, and so on and so forth. I waited outside the dealer's den for them to open so I could see what was what, and upon entering, I saw a colorful array of flags, fursuits, art, and so much more! It was hard for me to look in one place at a time! Despite all this, what I was really there for was to see a good friend of mine,
Cyamallo. Up until then, I had only talked with him on Telegram, but after learning that he would be attending the convention, I catapulted at the chance to attend this year to meet him! He was doing sketches of people's fursonas on the back of old library cards, provided to him by a friend of his. He was busily sketching away on one when I went to meet him, so we only talked briefly. Seeing someone I knew did help to ease my nerves a bit. I was still really sheepish and nervous to interact with anyone I didn't know, though. (Note: As much as I like talking to folks, I am TERRIBLE at small talk.)
After meeting Scotch, I walked on over to the tabletop gaming room to see what it was all about. A few people had already started a session of DnD and various other roleplaying games on the tables. I sat down, looked at my phone, and tried my best to calm myself. I was shaking a little bit. Part of it was butterflies, part anxiety, and part fear. I had a bad mix of emotions in me at that point. Then, something very unexpected happened. I saw an old furry acquaintance of mine from the days of when I was just first becoming a furry, Thaddeus. We both had something in common: Magic The Gathering. He sat with me and we talked for awhile, and he gave me some really good advice: "Remember, you don't have to do absolutely everything here. You're here for a good cause, and to have fun! Take it at your own pace, and don't overwhelm yourself." As we played a couple games of EDH, I mulled over his advice, I felt he was right! After finishing, with less nervousness than before, I set out to the con floor to finally go meet some people.
It was around noon at that point, so fursuiters were beginning to line up for the parade. I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and wander into the main stage area, where everyone was gathered in waiting I was simply taken aback at how many fluffs and fuzzies were there. I didn't know any of them, and I wasn't sure about who to talk to! I wanted to get some photos (which I most certainly did) and to meet new people, so after spending a few minutes inside the main stage, I mustered up enough courage to go and talk with a fursuiter. The fursuiter in question whom I talked with, was none other than Zeni, the Lynx (who goes by ZeniLynx on telegram.)
I told him that I really liked his fursuit (which I most certainly did!) And that I wanted a hug and a photo. This was important to me, as he was the very first fursuiter I had ever interacted with. Let me say, hugging someone in a suit, is a feeling I had never felt up until now. It was like being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, but with much more love and emotion. A mutual feeling of friendship and a common bond as members of the furry community. All of that wrapped into one, simple motion. I'm pretty sure I blushed.
After that, I walked outside the main stage so others could get in for the parade, which was about to start shortly. I found a spot to record it on my phone, and watched the incoming line of fuzzies waltz on by. Seeing all of these suiters, all with different outfits, personalities, and means of expressing it, made me really happy. It reminded me of my own fursona, how outgoing and sociable he is, and the parade reflected those characteristics in a myriad of colorful tails and scales. During the parade, I saw someone whom I also knew,
valdorfox. I was so excited to see him in the (flesh? Fur?) For the first time, as he was also one of the earliest furries I had known from my days of starting out as a new fur. And yes, he was as tall as he is in his photos! Seeing him turned a lot of my anxiety into joy, as I was able to point and say "Hey! I know this fox!" I had a hunch that he would be there, and I am so thankful he was.
I followed the tail (no pun intended) of the parade outside the hotel, and ran up the the top of the parking garage, where people were gathering to take photos of all the suiters. I managed to get a photo of the vast majority of the suiters in the parade, unfortunately, my phone cut off some of the suiters at the edge. Still, after photos were taken, I walked on down to meet Valdor, and take a photo with him! It made me really happy to interact with a fellow local fur!
After eating lunch, I set about looking for things to do and more people to meet. I met Thaddeus again, who gave me some advice on how to interact with suiters. I used that advice and stepped further outside of my comfort zone to try to meet many more suiters and people. I gave a lot of hugs, took a bundle of photos and selfies, and was really beginning to finally enjoy myself!
I then attended the dance competition around 3:30. The main floor was packed, and the stage lit up bright. I had to sit on the far end of a row, so I didn't get a very good view of the suiters dancing, but I was able to watch the livestreamed video on the side! One by one, as suiters came up to dance and be judged, they exerted such energy, motion, and emotion in their moves that I was simply blown away. What blew me away even more is that people would do these dances in a DIGITRADE fullsuit, which are the hardest kinds to move in! To do this, and to show so much personality in the suits they wore even after they finished their routine, made me ecstatic. It was like magic to me, and I definitely enjoyed watching everyone compete. Easily one of the highlights of the con.
After the dance competition, I walked around some more, gathered more photos and selfies, and attended an improv comedy panel after watching the fursuiter band they had on the main stage, "We are One." (I listened to them via livestream and not in the stage, because it was exceptionally loud there. Both the band, and the panel were fantastic. Before the dealers den closed, I got a photo of me and Cyamallo and said my goodbyes to him, which was easy on the outside to do, hard on the inside. He was everything I thought he would be, and more! I was surprised to learn that this was his first convention too! Learning that helped ease my anxiety as well.
After that, I waited in line to see the final event I would attend that night, the Masquerade, which was essentially the convention talent show. In the showbthere comedians, singers, dancers, and a heartfelt tribute to a New England furry who we lost this year named Winter (rest his soul.) I was surprised to see my aforementioned buddy valdorfox perform a sing-a-long of the folk song Lukey's Boat on the piano! I was told he does this every year, and he blew me away with his piano prowess! I couldn't have been happier to see him play and participate. Another highlight of the Masquerade, was the winner, a fursuiter named Damien, who had some stage fright at first, but after getting some encouragement from the crowd, stepped up the to mic and bellowed out her song. I was very proud of her courage and skill!
After the event, I captured a few more photos of folks and fursuiters, and reluctantly headed home. But boy, I wish I didn't have to. I went in to Furpocalypse unsure and anxious of what to do and how to meet people, and in the end, I wound up with one of the best experiences of my life. Furpocalypse was awesome, and I wish I could have attended for all three days of the con.
I do have a few regrets, though. One is that I didn't really have any way of letting people identify me as Ringgar unless I introduced myself to them. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a badge with my fursona's picture on it, as I did not have one. Nor did I bring any furry gear that resembled Ringgar's likeness, as I also do not own one. The only thing I had was a wool scarf that is similar to the one Ringgar wears, but of course, a scarf is a pretty anonymous accessory that could be found on anyone's fursona. I had hoped people would call me out if they say me and say "OMG! I know this furry!" But that did not happen. The best means of being identified as a furry is of course, having a fursuit, but as a recent grad with student loans, my dream of having a fursuit of Ringgar is a little out of reach. Going to the con made me want one even more, though! For now, however, I think I will look at possibly getting a T-Shirt with art of Ringgar on one side, and my social media handles on the back (I'm Ringgar on FA, Ringgar#5421 on Discord, and Ringgar on Telegram!) However, I would love to hear everyone's opinion on non-fursuit ways I can stand out be recognized amongst the mass of people at the con so I could make even more friends.. Tell me your ideas!
My second regret is that I did not really interact much with other people and fursuiters as much as I would have liked to. My anxiety and sheepishness going into the con certainly did not help with that either. My hope was that I could acquire more social media handles of the various people I had met, but I only had a handful in the end. What I really wanted to do was to make new friends; people I could talk and connect with regularly, and expand my portfolio of friends from all walks of life, or better yet, hang out with them and get to know them better! Sadly, most of my interactions with suiters were limited to getting a photo together and giving a hug. I might have been able to interact with people and suiters for longer durations and possibly hang out with them if I had been able to stay for all three days of the convention, but work got in the way of those plans.
In the end, I will always cherish the people who I met, and the folks who helped to make my very first convention great for me. I walked in a nervous wreck, but I walked out longing to stay for more fun and friendship. For those of you who met me, thank you for taking the time to talk with me, and I will always cherish the time I spent with you. I will definitely be attending Furpocalypse next year, hopefully for all three days at their new location, and I will absolutely be looking at attending other cons in New England soon! Thank you again everyone, and thank you so much Furpocalypse!!
TL;DR I walked into the con a nervous wreck, and walked out wanting to stay for more fun! I met lots of people, interacted with fursuiters for the first time ever, and saw so much talent and personality that I would like to share with everyone else in the same way! I do have some regrets, namely not interacting with people and suiters more, and not having a good way to be recognized. I am looking for good non-fursuit ways to be recognized though, so please share your ideas!!
Last but not least, the photo album of my day at the con!! (Minus the selfies I took with suiters, sorry!) Feast your eyes, fuzzies, and if you know any of the suiters or people in these photos, please share any social media they have in the comments! Thank you! https://m.imgur.com/a/ryxlnyP
Important Edit: I had been suffering from some post-con depression the Sunday and Monday after the con since I made this. I had a whole mix of emotions inside of me then. Joy, sadness, regret, and more. I think most of it stemmed from not being as recognized and the short interactions I had with most people and suiters at the con. I had gone in wanting to make more friends so that I could expand upon the variety of friends from all walks of life I have, and so that I could learn about their lives so I can be a more empathetic person. It is, after all, what I like to say: "Your heart is only as big as you let it be." That is a personal saying that I made (probably not original, but oh well :P.) And something that I like to preach to others. I was feeling down because I felt like I didn't live up to that at the con, and that I didn't let enough new people into my life. I felt like I was being hypocritical, and that people would realize that and wouldn't like me because of it. I just wanted to love, and be loved; to look up to people and be looked upon. As such, I was pretty upset.
I had a talk with one of my good friends Monday night, where I gushed to him all of these feelings I was keeping bottled up. After some gushing, tears, and choked up feelings, he helped remind me of something that, as I think about it now, I think I had talked about with him and other friends of mine when I had feelings like this before at another time. He reminded me that, it is good to have a lot of friends, but having too many can burn you out. As much as I would love to love everyone and talk with all of my friends on a daily basis, there are friends I have that I do that with, and others I do not. And that's okay. it's okay to have friends you chat and connect with more than others. It's also okay to have friends you don't talk to often, but still call friends.
It's true, your heart is as big as you let it be, but you shouldn't let it get too big, lest you leave no room for yourself. When I mention this, I do or course mean that it is good to open your heart to let more friends into your life, but I also mean that I would like for people to open their hearts to people of all walks of life, so that we might learn about them, and who they are, and in turn become a more empathetic and understanding kind of person. This is one of the good things I saw about the fandom when I first joined five years ago, how people were understanding of one another, despite their differences, and wouldn't hesitate to make a new friend. It's one of the good things about the fandom I saw and incorporated into my fursona, Ringgar. I don't want to be the only one who loves and is loved, I want others to be too, so that we can create a kinder, happier fandom and world. And when other people are happy, being the emotional mirror I am, I am happy. That is why It is my hope touch the lives of the people I meet, and help them be happier.
At the same time though, as I follow this mindset, I find myself needing to be reeled back in every so often, like after my first furcon last weekend. It would be great to be a close friend who talks with and check up on all of his friends on a daily basis, but I am only one wolf, and I can only spread myself so far. I can open my heart wide and try to let a large amount of people in, but in doing so, I wouldn't leave any of it left for myself. I need to be reminded at times that I cannot do that, but it is also okay not to. It is also not hypocritical to have friends that I don't talk to very often. I do still care for their happiness and well-being of course, as a friend does, but I can't do it for everyone all the time. I will have friends that I talk to more often than others, and that is okay, because in the end, I still care for them all, even if it isn't totally equal, and I will be there for them when they need me, or just someone to talk to or confide in, even if I don't talk with them very much.
As such, those short interactions of photos and hugs I had at the con, while not long ones where I would hopefully hang out with such people and gain a new good friend, are perfectly fine. I shouldn't try to become friends with everyone I meet, just at least be friendly. And while I can let my heart be large and seek to have a lot of friends, I shouldn't worry about keeping track of every single one. It is my hope, however, that I will touch the lives of those I am friends with, and that they will so, in turn, let their hearts be big as well, so while I may not be able to touch the lives of everyone, which there is nothing wrong with, I can do so indirectly, with the help of my friends, by letting my heart be big for them, and their hearts will be big for others. In doing so, I hope to spread positivity, empathy, and acceptance inside the furry fandom, and beyond. And when I see so others who are happy, I will be too. So the next time I head to a convention, I'll try not to fret if I don't get to talk to a whole lot of people after the con and make connections. Just a handful, or maybe one or two is fine.
So, with all of that said, thanks to all my current pals. And, as always...
I walked in about 8:50 in the morning to go join the registration line. I stood in line quietly, waiting to get my badge and go do something. Unfortunately, the badge printers were down upon opening, so I had to wait about an hour longer than it normally would have taken. Standing there in line, I didn't talk to anyone, just stood, and waited. Needless to say, nervousness was very much getting the better of me. I thought to myself: This the the biggest concentration of furries I've ever been in. There are actual fursuiters here, and I'm here by myself! What am I going to do? (Note: despite being a furry for so long, up until today, I had never seen a fursuiter IRL. This was a big leap forward for me.)
After getting my badge, I walked around the Red Lion to see where everything would be taking place. It was the early morning, so there was little activity inside each of the rooms for panels, the dealers den, the main stage, and so on and so forth. I waited outside the dealer's den for them to open so I could see what was what, and upon entering, I saw a colorful array of flags, fursuits, art, and so much more! It was hard for me to look in one place at a time! Despite all this, what I was really there for was to see a good friend of mine,
Cyamallo. Up until then, I had only talked with him on Telegram, but after learning that he would be attending the convention, I catapulted at the chance to attend this year to meet him! He was doing sketches of people's fursonas on the back of old library cards, provided to him by a friend of his. He was busily sketching away on one when I went to meet him, so we only talked briefly. Seeing someone I knew did help to ease my nerves a bit. I was still really sheepish and nervous to interact with anyone I didn't know, though. (Note: As much as I like talking to folks, I am TERRIBLE at small talk.)After meeting Scotch, I walked on over to the tabletop gaming room to see what it was all about. A few people had already started a session of DnD and various other roleplaying games on the tables. I sat down, looked at my phone, and tried my best to calm myself. I was shaking a little bit. Part of it was butterflies, part anxiety, and part fear. I had a bad mix of emotions in me at that point. Then, something very unexpected happened. I saw an old furry acquaintance of mine from the days of when I was just first becoming a furry, Thaddeus. We both had something in common: Magic The Gathering. He sat with me and we talked for awhile, and he gave me some really good advice: "Remember, you don't have to do absolutely everything here. You're here for a good cause, and to have fun! Take it at your own pace, and don't overwhelm yourself." As we played a couple games of EDH, I mulled over his advice, I felt he was right! After finishing, with less nervousness than before, I set out to the con floor to finally go meet some people.
It was around noon at that point, so fursuiters were beginning to line up for the parade. I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and wander into the main stage area, where everyone was gathered in waiting I was simply taken aback at how many fluffs and fuzzies were there. I didn't know any of them, and I wasn't sure about who to talk to! I wanted to get some photos (which I most certainly did) and to meet new people, so after spending a few minutes inside the main stage, I mustered up enough courage to go and talk with a fursuiter. The fursuiter in question whom I talked with, was none other than Zeni, the Lynx (who goes by ZeniLynx on telegram.)
I told him that I really liked his fursuit (which I most certainly did!) And that I wanted a hug and a photo. This was important to me, as he was the very first fursuiter I had ever interacted with. Let me say, hugging someone in a suit, is a feeling I had never felt up until now. It was like being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, but with much more love and emotion. A mutual feeling of friendship and a common bond as members of the furry community. All of that wrapped into one, simple motion. I'm pretty sure I blushed.
After that, I walked outside the main stage so others could get in for the parade, which was about to start shortly. I found a spot to record it on my phone, and watched the incoming line of fuzzies waltz on by. Seeing all of these suiters, all with different outfits, personalities, and means of expressing it, made me really happy. It reminded me of my own fursona, how outgoing and sociable he is, and the parade reflected those characteristics in a myriad of colorful tails and scales. During the parade, I saw someone whom I also knew,
valdorfox. I was so excited to see him in the (flesh? Fur?) For the first time, as he was also one of the earliest furries I had known from my days of starting out as a new fur. And yes, he was as tall as he is in his photos! Seeing him turned a lot of my anxiety into joy, as I was able to point and say "Hey! I know this fox!" I had a hunch that he would be there, and I am so thankful he was.I followed the tail (no pun intended) of the parade outside the hotel, and ran up the the top of the parking garage, where people were gathering to take photos of all the suiters. I managed to get a photo of the vast majority of the suiters in the parade, unfortunately, my phone cut off some of the suiters at the edge. Still, after photos were taken, I walked on down to meet Valdor, and take a photo with him! It made me really happy to interact with a fellow local fur!
After eating lunch, I set about looking for things to do and more people to meet. I met Thaddeus again, who gave me some advice on how to interact with suiters. I used that advice and stepped further outside of my comfort zone to try to meet many more suiters and people. I gave a lot of hugs, took a bundle of photos and selfies, and was really beginning to finally enjoy myself!
I then attended the dance competition around 3:30. The main floor was packed, and the stage lit up bright. I had to sit on the far end of a row, so I didn't get a very good view of the suiters dancing, but I was able to watch the livestreamed video on the side! One by one, as suiters came up to dance and be judged, they exerted such energy, motion, and emotion in their moves that I was simply blown away. What blew me away even more is that people would do these dances in a DIGITRADE fullsuit, which are the hardest kinds to move in! To do this, and to show so much personality in the suits they wore even after they finished their routine, made me ecstatic. It was like magic to me, and I definitely enjoyed watching everyone compete. Easily one of the highlights of the con.
After the dance competition, I walked around some more, gathered more photos and selfies, and attended an improv comedy panel after watching the fursuiter band they had on the main stage, "We are One." (I listened to them via livestream and not in the stage, because it was exceptionally loud there. Both the band, and the panel were fantastic. Before the dealers den closed, I got a photo of me and
Cyamallo and said my goodbyes to him, which was easy on the outside to do, hard on the inside. He was everything I thought he would be, and more! I was surprised to learn that this was his first convention too! Learning that helped ease my anxiety as well.After that, I waited in line to see the final event I would attend that night, the Masquerade, which was essentially the convention talent show. In the showbthere comedians, singers, dancers, and a heartfelt tribute to a New England furry who we lost this year named Winter (rest his soul.) I was surprised to see my aforementioned buddy
valdorfox perform a sing-a-long of the folk song Lukey's Boat on the piano! I was told he does this every year, and he blew me away with his piano prowess! I couldn't have been happier to see him play and participate. Another highlight of the Masquerade, was the winner, a fursuiter named Damien, who had some stage fright at first, but after getting some encouragement from the crowd, stepped up the to mic and bellowed out her song. I was very proud of her courage and skill!After the event, I captured a few more photos of folks and fursuiters, and reluctantly headed home. But boy, I wish I didn't have to. I went in to Furpocalypse unsure and anxious of what to do and how to meet people, and in the end, I wound up with one of the best experiences of my life. Furpocalypse was awesome, and I wish I could have attended for all three days of the con.
I do have a few regrets, though. One is that I didn't really have any way of letting people identify me as Ringgar unless I introduced myself to them. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a badge with my fursona's picture on it, as I did not have one. Nor did I bring any furry gear that resembled Ringgar's likeness, as I also do not own one. The only thing I had was a wool scarf that is similar to the one Ringgar wears, but of course, a scarf is a pretty anonymous accessory that could be found on anyone's fursona. I had hoped people would call me out if they say me and say "OMG! I know this furry!" But that did not happen. The best means of being identified as a furry is of course, having a fursuit, but as a recent grad with student loans, my dream of having a fursuit of Ringgar is a little out of reach. Going to the con made me want one even more, though! For now, however, I think I will look at possibly getting a T-Shirt with art of Ringgar on one side, and my social media handles on the back (I'm Ringgar on FA, Ringgar#5421 on Discord, and Ringgar on Telegram!) However, I would love to hear everyone's opinion on non-fursuit ways I can stand out be recognized amongst the mass of people at the con so I could make even more friends.. Tell me your ideas!
My second regret is that I did not really interact much with other people and fursuiters as much as I would have liked to. My anxiety and sheepishness going into the con certainly did not help with that either. My hope was that I could acquire more social media handles of the various people I had met, but I only had a handful in the end. What I really wanted to do was to make new friends; people I could talk and connect with regularly, and expand my portfolio of friends from all walks of life, or better yet, hang out with them and get to know them better! Sadly, most of my interactions with suiters were limited to getting a photo together and giving a hug. I might have been able to interact with people and suiters for longer durations and possibly hang out with them if I had been able to stay for all three days of the convention, but work got in the way of those plans.
In the end, I will always cherish the people who I met, and the folks who helped to make my very first convention great for me. I walked in a nervous wreck, but I walked out longing to stay for more fun and friendship. For those of you who met me, thank you for taking the time to talk with me, and I will always cherish the time I spent with you. I will definitely be attending Furpocalypse next year, hopefully for all three days at their new location, and I will absolutely be looking at attending other cons in New England soon! Thank you again everyone, and thank you so much Furpocalypse!!
TL;DR I walked into the con a nervous wreck, and walked out wanting to stay for more fun! I met lots of people, interacted with fursuiters for the first time ever, and saw so much talent and personality that I would like to share with everyone else in the same way! I do have some regrets, namely not interacting with people and suiters more, and not having a good way to be recognized. I am looking for good non-fursuit ways to be recognized though, so please share your ideas!!
Last but not least, the photo album of my day at the con!! (Minus the selfies I took with suiters, sorry!) Feast your eyes, fuzzies, and if you know any of the suiters or people in these photos, please share any social media they have in the comments! Thank you! https://m.imgur.com/a/ryxlnyP
Important Edit: I had been suffering from some post-con depression the Sunday and Monday after the con since I made this. I had a whole mix of emotions inside of me then. Joy, sadness, regret, and more. I think most of it stemmed from not being as recognized and the short interactions I had with most people and suiters at the con. I had gone in wanting to make more friends so that I could expand upon the variety of friends from all walks of life I have, and so that I could learn about their lives so I can be a more empathetic person. It is, after all, what I like to say: "Your heart is only as big as you let it be." That is a personal saying that I made (probably not original, but oh well :P.) And something that I like to preach to others. I was feeling down because I felt like I didn't live up to that at the con, and that I didn't let enough new people into my life. I felt like I was being hypocritical, and that people would realize that and wouldn't like me because of it. I just wanted to love, and be loved; to look up to people and be looked upon. As such, I was pretty upset.
I had a talk with one of my good friends Monday night, where I gushed to him all of these feelings I was keeping bottled up. After some gushing, tears, and choked up feelings, he helped remind me of something that, as I think about it now, I think I had talked about with him and other friends of mine when I had feelings like this before at another time. He reminded me that, it is good to have a lot of friends, but having too many can burn you out. As much as I would love to love everyone and talk with all of my friends on a daily basis, there are friends I have that I do that with, and others I do not. And that's okay. it's okay to have friends you chat and connect with more than others. It's also okay to have friends you don't talk to often, but still call friends.
It's true, your heart is as big as you let it be, but you shouldn't let it get too big, lest you leave no room for yourself. When I mention this, I do or course mean that it is good to open your heart to let more friends into your life, but I also mean that I would like for people to open their hearts to people of all walks of life, so that we might learn about them, and who they are, and in turn become a more empathetic and understanding kind of person. This is one of the good things I saw about the fandom when I first joined five years ago, how people were understanding of one another, despite their differences, and wouldn't hesitate to make a new friend. It's one of the good things about the fandom I saw and incorporated into my fursona, Ringgar. I don't want to be the only one who loves and is loved, I want others to be too, so that we can create a kinder, happier fandom and world. And when other people are happy, being the emotional mirror I am, I am happy. That is why It is my hope touch the lives of the people I meet, and help them be happier.
At the same time though, as I follow this mindset, I find myself needing to be reeled back in every so often, like after my first furcon last weekend. It would be great to be a close friend who talks with and check up on all of his friends on a daily basis, but I am only one wolf, and I can only spread myself so far. I can open my heart wide and try to let a large amount of people in, but in doing so, I wouldn't leave any of it left for myself. I need to be reminded at times that I cannot do that, but it is also okay not to. It is also not hypocritical to have friends that I don't talk to very often. I do still care for their happiness and well-being of course, as a friend does, but I can't do it for everyone all the time. I will have friends that I talk to more often than others, and that is okay, because in the end, I still care for them all, even if it isn't totally equal, and I will be there for them when they need me, or just someone to talk to or confide in, even if I don't talk with them very much.
As such, those short interactions of photos and hugs I had at the con, while not long ones where I would hopefully hang out with such people and gain a new good friend, are perfectly fine. I shouldn't try to become friends with everyone I meet, just at least be friendly. And while I can let my heart be large and seek to have a lot of friends, I shouldn't worry about keeping track of every single one. It is my hope, however, that I will touch the lives of those I am friends with, and that they will so, in turn, let their hearts be big as well, so while I may not be able to touch the lives of everyone, which there is nothing wrong with, I can do so indirectly, with the help of my friends, by letting my heart be big for them, and their hearts will be big for others. In doing so, I hope to spread positivity, empathy, and acceptance inside the furry fandom, and beyond. And when I see so others who are happy, I will be too. So the next time I head to a convention, I'll try not to fret if I don't get to talk to a whole lot of people after the con and make connections. Just a handful, or maybe one or two is fine.
So, with all of that said, thanks to all my current pals. And, as always...
I'm heading to Furpocalypse!!
Posted 6 years agoI'm so excited guys! And nervous too! I'll finally be attending my first furry convention this Saturday, October 26th at Furpocalypse in Cromwell, CT! I've never been to a fur con before, nor have I ever seen a fursuiter in real life, so I hope this is going to be a fantastic time! Beans crossed!
I don't exactly have a plan for what to do, since I have no idea what to expect, I hope it will be fun though!
Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of furry swag to bring with me, no fursuiter anyway (as much as I would like one!), So if you see anyone wearing the scarf seen below, that's me! Don't be shy, say hello!
Scarf in question: https://imgur.com/a/6eaTw26
I look forward to seeing some of my buddies there!! I love you all!
(Also, any tips for a first-time con goer would be most appreciated!)
I don't exactly have a plan for what to do, since I have no idea what to expect, I hope it will be fun though!
Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of furry swag to bring with me, no fursuiter anyway (as much as I would like one!), So if you see anyone wearing the scarf seen below, that's me! Don't be shy, say hello!
Scarf in question: https://imgur.com/a/6eaTw26
I look forward to seeing some of my buddies there!! I love you all!
(Also, any tips for a first-time con goer would be most appreciated!)
Happy Spooktober!
Posted 6 years agoHappy October friends! I found out today's Inktober plot of the day is "Ring!" That's cause for a circle wolf celebration!
*Celebrates in circles*
*Celebrates in circles*
Today is my Birthday!
Posted 6 years agoHold on to your hats, tails, and other extremities, because today this ringed wolf turns 22! Okay, well, maybe don't hold on just yet, because it's time for a little reflection.
It's been almost five years since I first became a furry. Five. Years. (It will be completely five years in November, when Ringgar was first brought to life, so to speak.) In that time, my life has undergone some radical changes, so let's take a recap, shall we?
I graduated high school with a certificate in the Electrical trade, though I knew I wasn't quite cut out for it. Instead, I sought to take what I had learned and go more in-depth, becoming a professional rather than just a journeyman. In the Fall of 2015, I enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering program at the University of Hartford. Going in to the program, I knew that despite my major-relevant background from high school, I would be at a disadvantage due to the lack of time spent on academics at my school. You know, calculus, critical-thinking based physics, etc. Those things just weren't offered where I came from, so I knew I was going to have to play some degree of catch up. I wasn't too worried, however, considering I graduated in the top fifth percentile of the entire student body at my high school. Book-learning and an inquisitive mind were the strengths I had that gave me an interest in science and mathematics, and helped me excel at them where I came from. How hard could it actually be?
About a month in, I had my answer. It was really hard for me. Suddenly I went from a 3.8 GPA from HS down to almost under a 3.0. A 3.0 isn't bad of course, except for the fact that the scholarship I received to attend the college was contingent upon maintaining at least that average. Needless to say, I was in some major distress. I lost that inquisitive drive I had as I struggled to comprehend the mass of basic calculus, physics, and electronic analysis theory I needed to utilize for future courses. To make matters worse, I tend to be a paranoid and competitive person, so I often compared myself to my classmates, only to find I was no where near the level of understanding they had, which only discouraged me more. Tests and quizzes made me sweat. I could never take my mind off of if I truly understood what I was doing, or what was considered truly good for my assignments. Not being rich enough to live on campus or afford my own car limited my access to help and tutors, which only made matters worse.
In all honesty, even though my grades improved each semester after my first, the anxiety and immense pressure I put on myself to get things done, whether I understood them or not, would be an issue for me through my entire college experience. To this day, even after graduating, I still wonder If I truly understood all that I learned, or just how much I really needed to know. However, now that I am graduated, it feels a lot better to have that (expensive as f**k) piece of paper to prove that I overcame these challenges rather than succumb to them.
And I could not have done so without your support. My fuzzy friends, you are my rock; my anchor. You all helped keep grounded even as I felt my life was spiraling out of control. Through silly antics and socialization, you helped remind me that life is not all about getting that college degree and finding a career, and that even if those don't go as well as you had hoped, there are still plenty of things in life to be happy about. At the same time, you continued to push me towards success on this long and arduous road. For that, I would like to say: Thank you to each and every one of you! You couldn't possibly imagine how much of a benefit it was for me to have such good friends like you to help me through it all. Without you, I would have quit a long time ago.
Today, now that I am 22, graduated, and finally have my own vehicle, I am now in the process of searching for a place to begin my career as an electrical engineer. This has proven to be easier said than done this far, but no where near the stress levels of a senior project (Especially one that lights on fire!!) I am sure in time I will find a position for myself to begin my career.
So, in short, on my 22nd birthday, I'd like to make a toast to all of you. My furry friends, new, old, and in-between. You rock. This magic wolf loves every one of you.
It's been almost five years since I first became a furry. Five. Years. (It will be completely five years in November, when Ringgar was first brought to life, so to speak.) In that time, my life has undergone some radical changes, so let's take a recap, shall we?
I graduated high school with a certificate in the Electrical trade, though I knew I wasn't quite cut out for it. Instead, I sought to take what I had learned and go more in-depth, becoming a professional rather than just a journeyman. In the Fall of 2015, I enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering program at the University of Hartford. Going in to the program, I knew that despite my major-relevant background from high school, I would be at a disadvantage due to the lack of time spent on academics at my school. You know, calculus, critical-thinking based physics, etc. Those things just weren't offered where I came from, so I knew I was going to have to play some degree of catch up. I wasn't too worried, however, considering I graduated in the top fifth percentile of the entire student body at my high school. Book-learning and an inquisitive mind were the strengths I had that gave me an interest in science and mathematics, and helped me excel at them where I came from. How hard could it actually be?
About a month in, I had my answer. It was really hard for me. Suddenly I went from a 3.8 GPA from HS down to almost under a 3.0. A 3.0 isn't bad of course, except for the fact that the scholarship I received to attend the college was contingent upon maintaining at least that average. Needless to say, I was in some major distress. I lost that inquisitive drive I had as I struggled to comprehend the mass of basic calculus, physics, and electronic analysis theory I needed to utilize for future courses. To make matters worse, I tend to be a paranoid and competitive person, so I often compared myself to my classmates, only to find I was no where near the level of understanding they had, which only discouraged me more. Tests and quizzes made me sweat. I could never take my mind off of if I truly understood what I was doing, or what was considered truly good for my assignments. Not being rich enough to live on campus or afford my own car limited my access to help and tutors, which only made matters worse.
In all honesty, even though my grades improved each semester after my first, the anxiety and immense pressure I put on myself to get things done, whether I understood them or not, would be an issue for me through my entire college experience. To this day, even after graduating, I still wonder If I truly understood all that I learned, or just how much I really needed to know. However, now that I am graduated, it feels a lot better to have that (expensive as f**k) piece of paper to prove that I overcame these challenges rather than succumb to them.
And I could not have done so without your support. My fuzzy friends, you are my rock; my anchor. You all helped keep grounded even as I felt my life was spiraling out of control. Through silly antics and socialization, you helped remind me that life is not all about getting that college degree and finding a career, and that even if those don't go as well as you had hoped, there are still plenty of things in life to be happy about. At the same time, you continued to push me towards success on this long and arduous road. For that, I would like to say: Thank you to each and every one of you! You couldn't possibly imagine how much of a benefit it was for me to have such good friends like you to help me through it all. Without you, I would have quit a long time ago.
Today, now that I am 22, graduated, and finally have my own vehicle, I am now in the process of searching for a place to begin my career as an electrical engineer. This has proven to be easier said than done this far, but no where near the stress levels of a senior project (Especially one that lights on fire!!) I am sure in time I will find a position for myself to begin my career.
So, in short, on my 22nd birthday, I'd like to make a toast to all of you. My furry friends, new, old, and in-between. You rock. This magic wolf loves every one of you.
Birthday Inbound!
Posted 6 years agoHey all, it's been awhile since I last posted a journal, so I figured I'd clean off the dust and make a new one to say my Birthday is this coming Friday, the 23rd of August! Also, several of you guys have asked me about my schedule going forward. I am still in the process of looking for a job related to the major I graduated with (which is a full time job in and of itself), but otherwise I am spending the majority of my summer working at my current banking institution, just as before. The only difference is, I do not have a set schedule on a week to week basis anymore. The one constant I do have though is that I am typically working from 7AM to 4:30PM EST most days of the week. I get time off of course, but the days I have alternate from week to week.
Anywho, this is just a short little journal for now, will probably do a bigger and better life update in my next one!
Anywho, this is just a short little journal for now, will probably do a bigger and better life update in my next one!
