Back from BLFC! I actually got back last night, but then I slept pretty much from 9pm to 2pm today, and then napped twice more after that.. I was really tired! Though that was in part because I took my anti-anxiety tranquilizers on the way home yesterday. I'm pretty sparing with them but I was getting chest pain and stuff from being anxious, so I figured I should probably apply them as needed.

Anyway, the con was a blast! I went to two panels, both by :linkstigmata: and their partner Sasha. The first one was on queer art in the fandom and was super fascinating and I enjoyed it a lot. The second one was on keeping your art fresh and between the fact that a lot of it didn't seem to apply to me (there was a lot of focus on 'don't do art just for money' and 'don't draw things that aren't your personal interests for commissioners' and stuff) and that it was blisteringly hot in the room, I ended up bailing early.

I met up with my friend Sierra, who I'd never met in person before, and we had dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday in between her working her ass off as con staff (thank you Sierra! and all staff!) and just had a blast. I'm hoping she'll be in my neighborhood soon so we can spend more time together! I also saw :linkNerts:, :linkGideon:, :linkthe-chu:, and :linkNero64: in the Dealer's Den!

I bought a cool keychain from someone whose name I didn't get (their banner was on the base of the table and people were standing in front of it), a sticker from :linkthe-chu:, and a t-shirt from :linkLuna-Starbright:. Which I am currently wearing and it smells nice. :D I forgot all my nice badges (so, all of them period) and unfortunately by the time I was looking for one in the Den everyone was full. I'm pretty distinctive looking though so hopefully everyone who was hoping to meet me, found me. I had also wanted to buy a shirt from Hyena Agenda and one from :linkgorehund: but both were sold out of my size sadly. The Hyena Agenda one I'll buy online when they restock, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the gorehund one because it seems like they were only buying them for pre-orders and con sales :C

On top of all that, I had a blast socializing with random people in the bar and outside while smoking (and having a few drinks - I don't go crazy, but I like a fancy bartender-made drink now and then).

:linkCassioBunny: played slots a bit and I hung out with her and watched, she had a big win on the Walking Dead machine! She put it back into the machine to keep playing since she just treats them like relaxing video games and not gambling. So she got to play for a long time! At one point she was one click away from getting a $10,000 win (which she definitely would have cashed out, haha), but missed it and selected a much smaller jackpot instead. It seems like they've fiddled with the settings on her favorite game, as it was giving interactive bonus rounds way less often than previous years, which sucked, but the Walking Dead game is new for the list of favorites I think. Unfortunately she didn't get much of a con due to depression and chronic pain flaring up badly, so she mostly hung out in the room and played video games. She did make it downstairs to hang out with people a little though, I was happy for that. She was just really low on social spoons. I think she had an okay time regardless, though.

In the context of hanging out in bars, I had a weird interaction with a normie. Some guys were sitting next to me talking loudly and one of them had a really thick Australian accent, so I looked around like 'hey, where's the Aussie?' He caught my eye and said 'CAN I HELP YOU.' in a really angry, fight-start-y sort of way, and stared at me aggressively. I calmly (and a bit disgustedly) said 'naw dude, I'm fine', and then the furry on the other side of me noticed my tiny lighter, pulled out his normal-sized one of the same color, and said 'YOU CALL THAT A LIGHAH? THIS IS A LIGHTAH' in a really overwrought fake Australian accent. Mr pissy-pants Aussie got really pissed and stomped off :D And then I had a nice conversation with my new friend about fancy lighters and Warhammer and why blue jays are the worst corvids. I wish I'd gotten his furry name, we introduced with Real People Names and I didn't catch his badge (even though he dramatically threw it down in front of me when I asked if he was a crow (he was a raven)). XD The downside of making friends at the bar or the smoke pit is that it can be hard to find your new friends again later! I really need to start carrying business cards again.

I also ate a lot of good food and had some nice drinks as I mentioned! And I didn't smoke as much as I usually do! It got worse towards the end but I didn't even go through all the packs I brought, when normally I run out on day 2 (you'd think I'd take a hint and bring more packs, but noooo).

I was really irritated to see evidence of people smoking in the hotel hallways. You guys, we're supposed to be MORE polite and considerate than the vapers! Breaking hotel rules like that is what gets cons kicked out of hotels. If you can't stand leaving the room party long enough to head to the casino, bar, or outside to smoke, maybe you should consider either a) hanging out with people who have object permanence and won't forget who you are if you leave for five minutes b) caring less about drinking booze every second you're awake or c) cutting down on smoking. I feel like people act out MORE at GSR BECAUSE they can smoke indoors, so they just figure that means they can smoke EVERYWHERE. Casino and bar only guys! No hallways! Or go outside, it's good for you! And vapers, it's all been said before, but cutting a sick cloud in the elevator with a bunch of people who didn't consent to inhaling your strongly scented thick vapor isn't cool. Vaping follows all the same laws as smoking now, dudes. No vaping except in designated areas, for serious!

Overall I had a lot of fun, a better time than I expected to have, and BLFC justified its spot as one of my two favorite cons (heck, maybe my most favorite! Apples and oranges though. The other one is MFF and I work that con and I like it for work reasons and for having a different group of people I get to hang out with). I'm already excited for next year! Sorry to anyone I missed, and hope to see some of you lot at MFF!