Today was quite a special day, because I got to attend a local convention known as Furry Migration, and I had a wonderful time.

The day started off with me arriving at the hotel around 9 AM. I did not know beforehand that registration didn't start until 10 AM, so I ended up waiting around the lobby until then. Fortunately, a few friends I knew were around for me to chat with until registration opened. I had originally made arrangements with a friend named Angus Cormac whose other friend known as Snow Shoe Husky said he could let me borrow his room to store my belongings in; unfortunately, Snow Shoe didn't know of the timing of arrival until today, and that time was at 3 PM, so there was a bit of miscommunication involved. I ended up asking my friend Drake McCloud to see if he and Norm would allow me to borrow their room for the day, and they were okay with that.

After getting registered, I placed my belongings in Drake and Norm's room before heading down to attend a panel called "Zootopia: Was it really that good?" which went in detail about what really worked in that film and what didn't, like the idea that it was more about bias rather than racism (and that it involved a unique theme of preconceived notions of others with animal characters), the idea the film may not have exactly reached the overall message it was going for (even though it was still a really good one), and that it may be considered a "furry" film because of how as social creatures, we humans naturally apply social attributes to animals and can connect with them well in this manner. It was quite a thought-provoking panel.

Then I grabbed some lunch and browsed through the Dealer's Den and Artist Alley before purchasing a couple art prints and heading back up to the hotel room to put on my deer costume. I headed back down to the Main Stage area and waited for the fursuit parade to start. The parade itself went well, and so did the group photo session that preceded afterward.

After I got out of suit, I put on my Nick Wilde police officer cosplay to head downstairs and attend another panel called "Voice Acting With a Pro," which was hosted by the guest of honor known as Malcolm Ray, whom I recognized from the "Nostalgia Critic" web series. He led through a couple of short cold script readings that some audience members participated in as well as holding a couple Q&As. I asked him what his favorite and least favorite Nostalgia Critic episodes were; his favorite was "The Devil" (because it involved a mystery story and that he enjoyed playing The Devil), and his least favorite was "The Princess Diaries 2" (since the weather was rather humid the day he shot the review). He also said one of his favorite shows is Bojack Horseman, which I also enjoy. After the panel was over, I went over to tell him how he and everyone else at Channel Awesome have been such a huge influence on me (as they have changed the way I view movies from a more critical standpoint) and he was quite flattered; I even got a selfie with him.

Later, I met up with Angus Cormac for a quick studio photo session and did some poses together with him (including examining a diamond for clues and me handcuffing him from behind). While wandering the con in my cosplay, I got quite a unanimously positive response from everyone around me and was often asked to have pictures taken with them; in fact, a volunteer worker who claimed she actually worked in security in real life had to do a double take and make sure I wasn't a real cop (I guess I really fooled her with how well my cosplay looked! LOL)

Then I went to change out of my cosplay and into my regular clothes to watch Angus perform in the Dance Competition to provide support and cheer him on; he and everyone else did a fantastic job in their dance routines. Even though Angus didn't place in anything at the competition, he still had fun with it.

Finally, after saying my goodbyes to all my friends, I gathered all my belongings and packed up the car to head home.

Furry Migration was a fantastic experience, as I got to do what I wanted (including meeting Malcolm Ray) and enjoy it with all my friends. What will the convention ever think of next for 2018? :)