Finally got a chance to sit down and put (figurative) pen to paper regarding my Anthrocon trip this year!
You can see my Anthrocon photo album here if you missed it, or on Facebook if you prefer grainy compressed images for some reason.
My con video is right here! You should totally watch it, it'll certainly take up less of your time than reading this long-ass thing

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Wednesday was our travel day, so it's not getting its own header, but there were a couple things worth mentioning. I had brought my laptop this year (which I usually leave at home for safety) because I was worried about running out of space on my phone and needing to clear off photos and videos as I took them. I'm glad I did that, because there were no other furries in our area to chat with, so I was able to spend most of the 9-hour train ride playing Mad Max. We arrived and checked into our hotel without fuss, and had time to grab a bite to eat at our favorite restaurant, Winghart's. We also ran into our first fursuiter of the con in the elevator: Mosfet!

THURSDAY

Larchus and I started off the day with a visit to Colony Cat Cafe, a few blocks from the con center. We were able to grab a tasty bite to eat (avocado toast, hummus, and tea) while spending an hour with some absolutely adorable little kittens. It turned out we were the only ones to have booked that time slot, so we had a whole hour to ourselves as we got to know the little cast of fuzzy characters. We reluctantly tore ourselves away from the kittens with a ton of cute photos, a very classy mug, and a promise to return next year. After spending about an hour getting distracted by an expansive four-story comic and media store right next to Colony, we made our way back to the DLCC to pick up our pre-reg badges.
(Colony photos are on my Facebook)

Next stop: the Pittsburgh Zoo! I'd wanted to go last year when the coupon was being offered, but couldn't make it due to con activities; this year I made sure to schedule time for it. It's quite a sizeable zoo with a large variety of wildlife to see! Most of the animals were lazing about or hiding in the shade due to the heat, but we still managed to see nearly all of them. The cheetahs were lying down in the shady grass farthest from the viewing area - those clever lazy boys! That didn't stop me from taking way more blurry and obscured photos of them than I should have. Mika and I took refuge from the heat in the aquarium building, where we saw a ton of ocean life and got to pet manta rays in the touch tank. It was a very special experience for the both of us. I left the zoo with a new cheetah plush to add to my collection, which I named Andiamo after one of the two cheetah boys I saw that day. Unfortunately, our good mood was dampened by an issue with an Uber driver who couldn't find the zoo entrance and canceled on us, but we eventually managed to make it back to the hotel.
(Zoo photos are on my Facebook too)

In spite of the delay, we managed to get me into fursuit and down to the dock just in time for the sunset fursuit cruise. This was something new that Anthrocon was trying out for the first time this year, and what an experience it was! Larchus tends to feel left out whenever I'm in fursuit and she's handling, but she really enjoyed just being with me on the cruise. We explored above and below deck and took a bunch of rather classy photos of me in my formal attire as the sun set over the Allegheny River. I had never been on a moving riverboat cruise before, and the view was spectacular. I also got to chat, dance, and take pictures with a ton of other fursuiters, including Meulin and Commie, Quibbles, Blu and Bravewolf, Nico, and a really cute little kid who was dancing up a storm! After the cruise, Larchus retired to bed while I checked out the rave for a short while.

FRIDAY

There were no morning activities on the schedule for us, so the rat and I had a leisurely breakfast at Joe and Pie's and browsed the eXchange (the DVD/record store on the corner) before getting me into fursuit and heading over to the con. The first panel we attended was the Fursuiters Meet and Greet, which wasn't quite what I had expected. Instead of a group mingle, it was a lecture-style panel with fursuiters being called up by the presenter to speak, but due to time constraints, only a few people actually got to talk. My stamina in fursuit is limited, and spending an hour of precious in-suit time sitting in a chair is a bit of a waste, so I'll be skipping this panel in future. On the plus side, I got to say hi to Ransu!

After that, we browsed the Dealer's Den and Artist Alley for a bit. I don't typically dress up for furry con themes, least of all sports ones, but I figured it'd be as good an opportunity as any to get some more wear out of my TF2 Scout cosplay. (He's a baseball guy, it totally counts.) A bunch of the dealers got a kick out of it, which was good enough for me! I suited for a little while longer, then went back to the hotel so I could return to the Dealer's Den in a less fuzzy state better suited (no pun intended) to exchanging money for goods. After the Dealer's Den closed, we took a walk to Lidia's Italy for dinner. It was quite a swanky place with a price tag to match, but the food was phenomenal, and I found myself wishing I could take the breadsticks with bean and pesto dip back with us. (The waitress misgendered my boyfriend - who is a cis guy and dresses neutral/masc - which was kinda weird, but oh well.)

The final activity of Friday was the Furry Femme Photoshoot hosted by ShujinTribble. It went very well, and the turnout was even bigger than last year! I had hoped to see Rhea there again, but it seemed she wasn't able to make it this year. There's always next time! I got some photos taken with Nessie, and met the lovely Mieze, who mentioned in conversation that her roommate is also a MagpieBones suiter. I have the photos from the shoot on a CD, which reminds me I still need to go through them and post the best ones here.

SATURDAY

The biggest day of the con - fursuit parade day! Last year I had shown up right before the parade started in an attempt to minimize the amount of time I had to spend in fursuit, which backfired splendidly as I ended up in the back of the pack and had to wait nearly 45 minutes in a cramped and stuffy hall for all the other suiters to file out ahead of me before I even began my parade march. I vowed to get there in a more timely manner this year to avoid all that kerfuffle. Unfortunately, it meant I had to break my rule of de-suiting in public and walk from the hotel to Hall A partially suited. A lot of people don't really mind, but it's something that I take very seriously myself, and though it bothered me to have to do it, I would not have been physically able to suit for as long as I did otherwise. We do what we have to for the sake of fursuiting! That said, everything worked out, and I managed to be actually visible in the group photo this time!

The parade itself went splendidly. Everything moved a lot quicker and more smoothly - whether that was due to the adjustments made by Anthrocon staff or just the fact that there were fewer participants (or both). This was the first year that a fursuit meet and greet with the public was being offered after the parade, which I forewent in order to ensure I got a fursuiter badge. (That was probably for the best, as I heard there was a mix-up with the room or time slot that resulted in a small turnout.)

After picking up my fursuiter badge, it was time for the Instagram meet. Last year, this was an informal photoshoot that took place in front of Hall A, but there were so many participants that they got a room for it this year! Unfortunately, probably due to the fact that it was the first year on the official AC schedule, the panelists were not given a room of the size they requested. The room was packed to capacity 15 minutes after the panel started, and more people were still pouring in. The panelists weren't able to start due to the fact that the room was rapidly becoming a fire hazard, so we all just sat around while they tried frantically to locate an unoccupied room large enough to fit everyone. Some people entertained themselves by making a giant pyramid of fursuit heads. It was nearly 40 minutes into the hour-long timeslot before a suitable room was found and all the fursuiters moved upstairs, which left no real time to do much speaking, so everyone took a ten-minute break and then we all just gathered for the group photo. I was reaching my personal fursuiting maximum, so I did unfortunately have to take my head off once again for a few minutes before the picture.

That said and done, Mika and I returned to the hotel room to de-suit and get cleaned up, followed by an absolutely delightful dinner at Emporio's Meatball Joint. Sadly, they no longer carry the flavored Italian sodas that they did in 2016, but I had some cheesy bread and the Angry Birds bowl (chicken meatballs on mac and cheese), which was to die for. After getting me back into suit, we went down to the waterfront where SeikoLiz was doing a light wand photoshoot. I was really excited to try it as I don't have any Cool Photos(tm) of my fursuit, and they came out awesome! We hung around by the river a little while longer and took some pictures in front of the Rachel Carson bridge all lit up in rainbows. We capped off the night by popping into the rave to get some fursuit footage.

SUNDAY

The final day of the con is usually less activity-driven for us, and when we do most of our shopping. True to form, we arose late and headed to the Dealer's Den and Artist Alley for a final sweep so I could pick up some gifts and purchases for myself. Following that, I got into suit with just enough time to catch the tail end of the Feline Friendly Furry Fiasco (I always have to check that to make sure I have all the words in the right order. :P) No sooner had I entered the room than I was being ushered up to the front by Mizuhiro Neko! Despite being totally unprepared for public speaking (this is why I don't host panels, guys), I talked about cheetahs for a little and did my best to cat around a bit. I sat down and asked Mika if she had been recording my speech... which is when we realized my phone was left back at the hotel room. Welp.

Prior to this year, I had never actually met another MagpieBones fursuiter before, let alone seen a professional group photo of MagpieBones suits. Despite me having never organized a con gathering of any kind before, I had taken the initiative to put together a little meetup at AC so we could get photos together. (The world's largest furry con would be the best place to try to find others, after all.) Immediately after the FFFF, I ran over to say hi to everyone and get a head count while Mika retrieved my phone from the room. Unfortunately, Sebastian was also dealing and needed to get back to his table before the photos were taken, but I was able to get pictures with Wyoon, Derecho, Deamfinder, Baldric, and Fuzzydice (Mieze's roommate)! I also got to talk to Calico Firethorn, who is just the sweetest. A couple of us stuck around to get some outdoor photos courtesy of Abrahm.

By that time, the rat and I were feeling rather peckish, so we went out for dinner. On the way, though, I just had to stop at Starbucks and try one of the famed Furryccinos that they were offering as an Anthrocon special. It tasted like berry and possibly coconut, and looked super cute! I haven't had their unicorn frap that was all the rage earlier this year, but I imagine the ingredients were similar. For dinner, we tried Condado's, the taco restaurant that took the place of Tonic right across from the Westin. One of my fondest Anthrocon memories is of seeing fursuiters and plain-clothes people just hanging out, drinking and laughing together outside of Tonic, so I'll miss it for that, but Condado's is a fine replacement in my opinion. The mural inside looks pretty cool too!

By this time, Anthrocon proper had wrapped up, so without any other furry stuff to do, we went for a swim in the hotel pool. It was quite relaxing, and the pool itself is pretty nice. It wasn't very supervised when we went, so maybe I can get some fursuit pictures in there next year... I shouldn't push my luck, though. Swimming worked us up an appetite yet again, but all our go-to eateries were closed, we made the trek to Market Square for sandwiches at Primantis. (I don't particularly prefer their food, but everyone else seems to love it.)

Returning to the hotel, we passed two people in cars who were giving rides around the city to fursuiters. One was pulling into the front of the Westin and picking them up by the carload! Maybe I'll get to catch a ride next year. We started to head back to our room, but stopped when we heard the sound of music. Someone was playing Beatles songs on the piano on the second floor, and a bunch of people had gathered around to sing along and dance. It was such a sweet moment that I feel captures the cameraderie and overall feeling of Anthrocon pretty well.

Well, if you've read this whole thing, I certainly commend you! AC is always the highlight of my year, and I'm already looking forward to the next one.