Anthrocon
I'm going to try to just cover the highlights of AC this year...
Firefox went over very well! I first brought him out on Thursday evening for the pre-con mixer, when I had some trouble socializing... what with being an awkward person in a room full of awkward people. Behind the mask, it was a lot easier. The suit itself was an ice breaker, and wow other fursuiters are playful - I started playing catch and "keep away" with my beach-ball globe (carefully, I was afraid of knocking something over or getting security mad at me for throwing things around) with random passerby, had it stolen (to the tune of "now the world is miiiine!") and returned a number of times, and was attacked by a giant furry-eating dragon!
I puzzled over a "fan" suit like my Firefox versus a personal suit, but I won't deny it was nice to be "recognized." When people got the joke, all weekend I was hearing cries of "Firefox! Awesome!" or "You're my favorite browser! " I wore it around a few times just for the heck of it, and when not in-suit, I usually wore the tail at least, which got about as much attention.
Thomas was a fantastic spotter for me. I saw a lot of very "hands on" spotters at the convention - fursuiters being led by the paw pretty much everywhere - and I'm not really all that keen on that kind of spotting. Thomas did precisely what I wanted him to do - he'd take my paw to steer me through crowded areas or if I was getting confused, but otherwise he pretty much let me do my own thing, and was always close by so if I needed him I just had to glance around and he was right there. I realized the importance of a spotter a few times there, when I found myself a bit lost or dealing with somewhat "aggressively" playful suiters where he intervened for me. Thank you sweetie. :3
I got to meet DEP! Dragon's Eye Productions is a group of fantastically eccentric but highly lovable people, much as I expected. I somewhat awkwardly began to introduce myself, a little nervous, but once Emerald Flame read my nametag, she exclaimed "SELEY!" and hugged me, which was pretty much the end of any and all awkwardness around these folk. XD
I got to meet Emmie, Gar, Felorin, Farrier, Auora, Pouncer Kitty, Rhyn, Kain Ragnorok, Rei-Jin, Youlanda, Narnia, Cloud Tiger, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting but they all signed my pawtograph book. :3 Emmie signs with a cute green stamp and a sprinkling of "kitterdust" (glitter) - Thomas and Fox both wanted nothing to do with it, they hate glitter. XD
(I should note, not "the" Fox - it was confused a few times at the convention, as sanctimonious, Furcadia's lead programmer, also goes by Fox. Sadly, "the" Fox was not there - I refer to "my" Fox)
Gar is pretty much the big, sweet, friendly, slightly-pervy silly gray kitty I expected him to be. I was particularly excited to meet him, as my associate-in-charge for the Beekins program and the guy I've been calling "Chief" for the past several months of my time as one of their head volunteers. Emmie is adorable and far too sweet, and Felorin looks... a lot like Master Nisenoff! Bushy-bearded talkative and rambling Jew. He had a lot of interesting little stories and spent a lot of time folding little origami dragons or mind-boggling paper puzzles that moved in ways you didn't think should be possible... Kain was delightfully friendly and I think I was treating her like a longtime friend almost instantly, hehe.
It was really an affirmation of why I love Furcadia so much in the first place - it's run by fabulous people that treat everyone they encounter extremely well. There was even an incident with a furry card game being sold there that used the term "furre" - which is technically trademarked by DEP. Rather than causing a fuss over it, Felorin wrote up a little statement that allowed them to use the term, they both signed it, and the card game officially bought the license to use "furre" indefinitely from DEP, for $1.00.
I also got to meet 2 of my favorite artists! It's funny how I can see celebrities and never bat an eye - I don't get "star struck" usually - but meeting my favorite artists, I was so excited I was nervous and a little giddy.
D.C. Simpson was there, and she's about as cynical as her previous political cartoons would indicate, heh. She was pleasant when we spoke to her, though, and happily agreed to sign my pawtograph book, even doodled a little Millie face in it for me. :D
Jen "Spunky" Seng was truly delightful, when I got past the fanboys to speak to her! I introduced myself as a fan of her work since junior high, almost ten years now. She said how neat it is to meet "old school" fans, and also signed my pawtograph book for me with a Piyo duckie doodle, in pretty silver ink! Thomas and I bought a print from her that we thought would be very cute in our new kitchen. We bought the print right before I left to go suit up for the fursuit parade, and we told "Spunky" that I'd be the one in the full Firefox costume. She told me I had to wave to her.
The fursuit parade was a lot of fun. I questioned whether I should do it or not, but I figured I would hate myself if I didn't. I worried that being around a bunch of people in costume would freak me out, but I was... surprisingly comfortable.
I did get stuck next to some crotchety furries, though, wow. We were in the ballroom lining up, and were told we could take off our heads and relax a while, it would take some time. Later, they told us to put our heads back on, and the guy behind me groaned and said "what the hell for!?" - turns out, for a photo op. We all waved towards the cameras on the stage, they took snapshots of the initial lineup, and we started out.
...which took a while, there were 640 fursuits in the parade! We filed out, and I was towards the back. Nervous, kinda shuffling out for a bit, but we walked out and there were walls of people on either side of us taking pictures and videos. It really didn't take long for me to perk up and start having fun, they even took us out to the trellace for a loop, and we got to wave to all the people on boats below us in the Alleghany river - a lot of them were waving back!
We looped through the dealers room, and I did indeed wave to Spunky. She sorta waved back, then a second later, recognized who I was and her face lit up and she waved and yelped "Oh YOU! HI!" - yeah, it's nerdy, but that made me really happy, an artist I've admired for almost 10 years was that happy to see my fursuit. :D
When we filed by the Furcadia table, I was treated to cheers of "Yay Seley!" from the DEP crew and Thomas - he caught the whole thing on video for me, too! Once again, kinda nerdy, but it made me feel loved. :3
Fox was a bit further down the line. I should say I was following a wolf fursuit that was over 6 feet tall - so Fox had to comment "wow, you really ARE that short!" I flipped him off. He laughed uproariously and I heard him telling his friend how out of character that was for me. I really couldn't come up with a "nicer" rude gesture that only used one hand (the other held the globe) on such short notice. I'm glad that wasn't caught on Thomas' video! XD
We all lined up for a giant group photo in another room, and were once again told we could take our heads off for a break. Once again, I got to hear furries complaining. "I'm dying of heat! My feet hurt! My back is killing me! What do you mean heads on again!? Already!?"
...seriously. I didn't say anything, just scootched over to the side so I was farther away from them. I mean, we were ALL overheating and our feet hurt - isn't that something you just expect when you're dressing head-to-toe in fur and foam? It really irked me to hear people complaining as though they were doing us all a favor by showing up in suit at all, and how dare we not realize just how uncomfortable they are? You did it to yourself, STFU and have fun with it or don't fursuit!
Personally, I didn't even notice how hot I got, I was having FAR too much fun. :3
I only really attended one panel. They had one on "small arms illustration" - drawing characters with firearms. Half of it was really interesting, and half of it was really boring, heh. The interesting parts included demonstrations, photos, and videos talking about gun safety (things characters with guns would know) and little details like grip and stance. They also covered sci-fi weaponry and "designing your own," with tips to make weapons "believable" - including things like trigger guards and reload points, they're practical features that we should make sure are present in the designs if we're going for "believable" weaponry.
On the 4th of July, by the way, I ended up watching the fireworks with Fox and the DEP crew up in their hotel room at the con (which they opened up to guests as a "party" room every night). We got a decent show, not the best we could have seen, but Fox made the point that enjoying the company of people who had traveled all the way from Texas (or further) just to be here at all was more enjoyable than merely watching fireworks.
Outside of the convention there were plenty of other things to enjoy about this trip, heh. I got to spend three nights with Thomas, and falling asleep next to him only to wake up in his arms is a delightful feeling. It's funny how natural it feels - rather than feeling crowded with him there, my own bed felt empty when I got home.
Overall a lovely weekend, and I'm sure I'll have more to say later since so much happened, but I think I've droned on long enough by now. :D
Firefox went over very well! I first brought him out on Thursday evening for the pre-con mixer, when I had some trouble socializing... what with being an awkward person in a room full of awkward people. Behind the mask, it was a lot easier. The suit itself was an ice breaker, and wow other fursuiters are playful - I started playing catch and "keep away" with my beach-ball globe (carefully, I was afraid of knocking something over or getting security mad at me for throwing things around) with random passerby, had it stolen (to the tune of "now the world is miiiine!") and returned a number of times, and was attacked by a giant furry-eating dragon!
I puzzled over a "fan" suit like my Firefox versus a personal suit, but I won't deny it was nice to be "recognized." When people got the joke, all weekend I was hearing cries of "Firefox! Awesome!" or "You're my favorite browser! " I wore it around a few times just for the heck of it, and when not in-suit, I usually wore the tail at least, which got about as much attention.
Thomas was a fantastic spotter for me. I saw a lot of very "hands on" spotters at the convention - fursuiters being led by the paw pretty much everywhere - and I'm not really all that keen on that kind of spotting. Thomas did precisely what I wanted him to do - he'd take my paw to steer me through crowded areas or if I was getting confused, but otherwise he pretty much let me do my own thing, and was always close by so if I needed him I just had to glance around and he was right there. I realized the importance of a spotter a few times there, when I found myself a bit lost or dealing with somewhat "aggressively" playful suiters where he intervened for me. Thank you sweetie. :3
I got to meet DEP! Dragon's Eye Productions is a group of fantastically eccentric but highly lovable people, much as I expected. I somewhat awkwardly began to introduce myself, a little nervous, but once Emerald Flame read my nametag, she exclaimed "SELEY!" and hugged me, which was pretty much the end of any and all awkwardness around these folk. XD
I got to meet Emmie, Gar, Felorin, Farrier, Auora, Pouncer Kitty, Rhyn, Kain Ragnorok, Rei-Jin, Youlanda, Narnia, Cloud Tiger, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting but they all signed my pawtograph book. :3 Emmie signs with a cute green stamp and a sprinkling of "kitterdust" (glitter) - Thomas and Fox both wanted nothing to do with it, they hate glitter. XD
(I should note, not "the" Fox - it was confused a few times at the convention, as sanctimonious, Furcadia's lead programmer, also goes by Fox. Sadly, "the" Fox was not there - I refer to "my" Fox)
Gar is pretty much the big, sweet, friendly, slightly-pervy silly gray kitty I expected him to be. I was particularly excited to meet him, as my associate-in-charge for the Beekins program and the guy I've been calling "Chief" for the past several months of my time as one of their head volunteers. Emmie is adorable and far too sweet, and Felorin looks... a lot like Master Nisenoff! Bushy-bearded talkative and rambling Jew. He had a lot of interesting little stories and spent a lot of time folding little origami dragons or mind-boggling paper puzzles that moved in ways you didn't think should be possible... Kain was delightfully friendly and I think I was treating her like a longtime friend almost instantly, hehe.
It was really an affirmation of why I love Furcadia so much in the first place - it's run by fabulous people that treat everyone they encounter extremely well. There was even an incident with a furry card game being sold there that used the term "furre" - which is technically trademarked by DEP. Rather than causing a fuss over it, Felorin wrote up a little statement that allowed them to use the term, they both signed it, and the card game officially bought the license to use "furre" indefinitely from DEP, for $1.00.
I also got to meet 2 of my favorite artists! It's funny how I can see celebrities and never bat an eye - I don't get "star struck" usually - but meeting my favorite artists, I was so excited I was nervous and a little giddy.
D.C. Simpson was there, and she's about as cynical as her previous political cartoons would indicate, heh. She was pleasant when we spoke to her, though, and happily agreed to sign my pawtograph book, even doodled a little Millie face in it for me. :D
Jen "Spunky" Seng was truly delightful, when I got past the fanboys to speak to her! I introduced myself as a fan of her work since junior high, almost ten years now. She said how neat it is to meet "old school" fans, and also signed my pawtograph book for me with a Piyo duckie doodle, in pretty silver ink! Thomas and I bought a print from her that we thought would be very cute in our new kitchen. We bought the print right before I left to go suit up for the fursuit parade, and we told "Spunky" that I'd be the one in the full Firefox costume. She told me I had to wave to her.
The fursuit parade was a lot of fun. I questioned whether I should do it or not, but I figured I would hate myself if I didn't. I worried that being around a bunch of people in costume would freak me out, but I was... surprisingly comfortable.
I did get stuck next to some crotchety furries, though, wow. We were in the ballroom lining up, and were told we could take off our heads and relax a while, it would take some time. Later, they told us to put our heads back on, and the guy behind me groaned and said "what the hell for!?" - turns out, for a photo op. We all waved towards the cameras on the stage, they took snapshots of the initial lineup, and we started out.
...which took a while, there were 640 fursuits in the parade! We filed out, and I was towards the back. Nervous, kinda shuffling out for a bit, but we walked out and there were walls of people on either side of us taking pictures and videos. It really didn't take long for me to perk up and start having fun, they even took us out to the trellace for a loop, and we got to wave to all the people on boats below us in the Alleghany river - a lot of them were waving back!
We looped through the dealers room, and I did indeed wave to Spunky. She sorta waved back, then a second later, recognized who I was and her face lit up and she waved and yelped "Oh YOU! HI!" - yeah, it's nerdy, but that made me really happy, an artist I've admired for almost 10 years was that happy to see my fursuit. :D
When we filed by the Furcadia table, I was treated to cheers of "Yay Seley!" from the DEP crew and Thomas - he caught the whole thing on video for me, too! Once again, kinda nerdy, but it made me feel loved. :3
Fox was a bit further down the line. I should say I was following a wolf fursuit that was over 6 feet tall - so Fox had to comment "wow, you really ARE that short!" I flipped him off. He laughed uproariously and I heard him telling his friend how out of character that was for me. I really couldn't come up with a "nicer" rude gesture that only used one hand (the other held the globe) on such short notice. I'm glad that wasn't caught on Thomas' video! XD
We all lined up for a giant group photo in another room, and were once again told we could take our heads off for a break. Once again, I got to hear furries complaining. "I'm dying of heat! My feet hurt! My back is killing me! What do you mean heads on again!? Already!?"
...seriously. I didn't say anything, just scootched over to the side so I was farther away from them. I mean, we were ALL overheating and our feet hurt - isn't that something you just expect when you're dressing head-to-toe in fur and foam? It really irked me to hear people complaining as though they were doing us all a favor by showing up in suit at all, and how dare we not realize just how uncomfortable they are? You did it to yourself, STFU and have fun with it or don't fursuit!
Personally, I didn't even notice how hot I got, I was having FAR too much fun. :3
I only really attended one panel. They had one on "small arms illustration" - drawing characters with firearms. Half of it was really interesting, and half of it was really boring, heh. The interesting parts included demonstrations, photos, and videos talking about gun safety (things characters with guns would know) and little details like grip and stance. They also covered sci-fi weaponry and "designing your own," with tips to make weapons "believable" - including things like trigger guards and reload points, they're practical features that we should make sure are present in the designs if we're going for "believable" weaponry.
On the 4th of July, by the way, I ended up watching the fireworks with Fox and the DEP crew up in their hotel room at the con (which they opened up to guests as a "party" room every night). We got a decent show, not the best we could have seen, but Fox made the point that enjoying the company of people who had traveled all the way from Texas (or further) just to be here at all was more enjoyable than merely watching fireworks.
Outside of the convention there were plenty of other things to enjoy about this trip, heh. I got to spend three nights with Thomas, and falling asleep next to him only to wake up in his arms is a delightful feeling. It's funny how natural it feels - rather than feeling crowded with him there, my own bed felt empty when I got home.
Overall a lovely weekend, and I'm sure I'll have more to say later since so much happened, but I think I've droned on long enough by now. :D