I did something I’ve never done before, I went to a furry convention. Specifically the Biggest Little Fur Con (BLFC) in Reno, Nevada. Why would a LARPer, who doesn’t identify as a furry, go to one of the biggest furry conventions in North America? A wedding of course!
My high school friend Vincent (know as Hawk in the furry community) has been trying to get me to go to BLFC for years, but it’s been difficult to make the trip; he’s been helping run it for years now.. Then he he decided to get married to his partner Pony and they decided to hold the wedding at the convention. I couldn’t not go.
I think it was a big ploy to finally get me to attend the con, it had nothing to do with marrying the love of his life. No, he knew I wouldn’t want to miss one of my best friend’s wedding so he doubled up events so I had to finally see this convention he’s been helping to run for years.
Before helping run furry events Vincent was a big help in running LARP events with me, specifically feasts. For over a decade he was my right hand man. I don’t plan on going into it, but if you’re interested in learning more about Vincent’s time in LARP I did have an interview with him. You can find the video HERE on my YouTube channel.
I went to the con for the full time, Monday to Thursday, and had a pretty fun time. I had driven down with two friends, Dale and Riley. Dale didn’t spend as much time at the con as Riley and I, as he had to spend most of each day working from the Airbnb.
Despite being there every day we only attended one of the panels, “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” a Star Trek panel that focused on one episode and how it was a metaphor for US-USSR relations at the end of the Cold War. I was surprised to see a Star Trek panel at a furry, con but considering Riley and I run a Star Trek podcast, we had to go to that panel. (check out our podcast at www.hightrekpodcast.com). It was a pretty interesting panel but I wasn’t 100 percent sold on the interpretation, but the presenter did a good job presenting his argument.
We spent most of our time just vibing, especially on Wednesday. That’s the day we stayed the latest, not going back to our place till 1am. Riley and I hit up the pool party and got our drink on. They went swimming while I vibed to the music and sipped on my drink. I was enjoying the music and the crowed. The dance floor was popping, although I don’t have a picture of it.
After Riley was done swimming in the pool and chilling in the hot tub we hit up the main dance party before heading back to our rental. The party was banging and the energy was infectious. I’ve been to several cons (running them usually) and this audio and visual set up was by far the best I’ve seen and heard.
The whole experience was very enjoyably and I was happy to have been there to support Vincent at his wedding. I even got a little watery eyed during the ceremony. Before the con I already had some idea of furry culture from talking with Vincent, but experiencing it first hand helped me understand it better. I came away with a new understanding of furry events and a rather interesting observation about the culture. There are a lot of similarities between LARP communities and the furry community, which might be the subject of it’s own blog.
Will I go back? I would most certainly consider it! Does that make me a furry? Na, but Dale Riley and I did spend some time talking about what our fursona would be. I’m not sure what people in the furry community would say about what I decided my fursona would be, but I did make a decision. I would be a werebear gnome.
If I were to get a fur suit it would be a bear suit and I’ d wear LARP garb and of course a gnome hat. When I took off the fur suit, I would still be wearing garb and again, of course a gnome hat. No matter what form I was in, I’d be gnomish!
Pictures
I also wanted to share the pictures I took at the convention. There aren’t to many, but I did enjoy taking the ones I did take. Most of them are from Wednesday, a few from the pool party and a few from the dance party.
