*Finally sits down with drooped ears and his PC on his lap* Whew =.=' was wondering if i'd ever be able to get to this with all the rush around.

To put things simply, MFF has by far been the best con I've ever had the joy of attending. I've never come across such a vast group of individuals whom were so open and friendly to one another, and able to have an all around good time. On top of that, I don't think I could have asked for a better group of people to spend some time with and help me loosen up a bit XD(I'll name names later).

No doubt I picked one heck of a con to be my first fur con ever ^^...and it's because of that I found myself a tad overwhelmed at first..in a good way XP. Before then, I've never been to any real kind of social gathering in which you can just go around and meet people. The whole concept of just walking up to a ton of people I've never met before and becoming insta-friends was foreign to me. That said, the first day and a half consisted of me more or less just slinking around. However as the days progressed I was able to meet and talk to plenty of new and awesome people I really hope I get to see again in the future. Come the next con I attend, I know i'll be able to take more advantage of my time.

Speaking of upcoming cons, I definitely, DEFINITELY plan on attending AC 2013 after having such a good time at MFF. Seeing all the fursuiters and all the fun they were having has me eager to get myself a partial in time for it ^_^.

And last but not least, the awesome people of MFF! Had a great time riding into Chicago with  NekoHaiku,  Kenson, and  coolsilver. There was never a dull moment along the trip what with a cheetah bouncing around in the back : P.

Amoung the people I met, a big shout-out to  kitblufox,  cindersparks, Reon, and  DaxterDot to just name afew. It was fun hanging out with all of you, not to mention enjoying my first deep-dish style pizza with ya X3. And lastly, a big thanks to  exedus,  digibear, and  coolsilver for being awesome roommates.

Till next time, everyone! ^^ *tailwag*

Whew, finally got a break from all that school work. Now then for my first journal entry what better to cover than my first ever dive into the furry community? :3

Courtesy TL;DR version XP: Was a closet furry for a long time. Kings Island was my first furry-community thing. Was in a slight way a life-changing experience for me. The people were awesome. Looking forward to more cons and meets.

And what an amazing dive it was.

As reflected in my profile info, I've been something of a closet fur for years. It all started for me in an old IRC Role play chat-room back around when I was 15, in which each character was Sonic based. At that time, I established a strong connection with my character (who was a hedgehog around that time XD) and the anthropomorphic traits he embodied. Eventually this led me into discovering furry artwork and other media that more or less grounded my interests. However, shortly after the RP ended and people went their separate ways, the group I stuck around were anything but furries with most of them having a negative outlook towards them. Furthermore any friends I had outside the net at the time didn't even know what a furry was. Thus, being my shy and timid self at the time, I stuck with my usual group of friends and never brought myself to try and join a fur community before now.

I attribute some of this skepticism towards the community stemming from the influence of my friends and others around me. Case in point, I was rather nervous when I finally made the decision to head to the Kings Island Meet. Boy what a misplaced emotion that was! To this day I've never come across a group as open, friendly, accepting, and nice as those who I met that day. In a ways it left me awestruck, as I suddenly found myself with people in which I could truly be myself. The only problem was, I've never had the chance to be able to be completely open with anyone, let alone a group I just met. Despite that, It wasn't difficult at all to be able to enjoy the rides and festivities with the group...though my mind was still trying to process everything. In the end, the eye-opener and relief I received from the meet was something I've yearned for for a long time.

Without going into too much detail (This is already getting pretty long XD) for the last 3 years I've felt as if there was a gap in my life that left me unsatisfied with the day to day. This feeling has hit me the hardest since arriving in this small college town one year ago. Here i'm surrounded by many close-minded individuals and drug addicts with not a sign of anything to do within a 2 hour drive. Realizing that I had 3 more years to put up with such an area, I began to grow a strong distaste for this area and state in comparison to other places I've been that were much more culture friendly. In a way, going to the meet was a spontaneous decision spawned from hopes of finding something different and overall unease I've had for staying here so long.

Ultimately, I wish I would have done something like this a long, long time ago. I find myself now with a new-found feeling of resolve and appreciation for where I am. Not only do I have an opportunity to delve into my own furriness, but also a group of people whom I can be with from time to time to just enjoy ourselves and life. I no longer dread the next 3 years knowing that I'll have fantastic people to turn to through the next couple of years.

Thanks to for organizing the meet and to everyone else I met there that made the whole thing so enjoyable.  ishta  Fatalfox400 and  Kenson to just name afew :P. I look forward to meeting you all again in the future.