Furry Convention No-Nos

It's a chill episode today! This week, the boys share their thoughts and personal experiences on what NOT to do at a furry convention.

Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to give us a download and let us know what you think! You can follow the podcast or either of the hosts at the links below.

Twitter: https://x.com/whatareweinfur
Ryuu: https://x.com/RyuuDerg
Adobe: https://www.youtube.com/@adobetheretriever

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Uh I don't have time to stutter.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Let's see if I can do it in one day.

SPEAKER_05 0:08

Hello everyone, welcome back to the World Wii Infur podcast. My name is Adobe, and this is our podcast where we talk about anything related to the furry fan.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

My friend. Friend.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

My friend. Good friend. Co-host Ryu.

SPEAKER_05 0:25

And I take turns introducing topics each episode. Sometimes it's entirely about the fandom or just not enough about it. But speaking of Ryu, how are we? Hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Hi, buddy. How are we doing today? Excuse me. Sorry. I'm I'm okay. We just got home uh from our trip for the over the weekend. Um we had my grandmother's funeral service, and it was it was beautiful. Um it was sad at the same time, but there was a bunch of happy memories to be shared. Um But we're home now back in back in Texas, and uh I got some homework to do after we finish up here, and then I'm probably gonna go outside, hang out with my plants, and and go to bed. Do your plants have a name? My plants don't have a name. Why? I have we have too many plants.

SPEAKER_05 1:15

They can have names.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

We can't give them a numerical they can be numerical. Just number them.

SPEAKER_05 1:21

Yeah. Bob one, Bob Two, Bob three, Bob Four, Bob Five, Bob six.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

No, um uh you know, I'm I'm sorry about that. I'm not sorry anymore.

SPEAKER_05 1:34

No, I I apologize that uh, you know, I I know you had a a big weekend, but uh I'm happy everything went as well as it could, and then you got to see family, and uh I I appreciate you being here. Uh this is a quieter episode, probably for us, between your long weekend, it being late night, I gotta work in the morning, early morning.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

So I actually have some comedic relief for all the sadness I have listened to you on Telegram. It's a certain photo that Imelda took of me.

SPEAKER_05 1:59

This is gonna be great. I'm so ready. I got two Who is that I'm holding?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

That's Gremel. You look so nice. She looks beautiful. Yes. Does she have a glow up or I'm sorry?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

You can call it a glow-up. She was cremated. If you get it, you get it cremated glow-up because it glows.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Oh my god, I even mean that fire.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Wow. You look so nice.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Thanks, buddy.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

You do too. Well was there at the service. What?

SPEAKER_05 2:54

I was I well, I I wish I could have been. Unfortunately, you don't live close enough for me to uh that often. But maybe end of the year, maybe question mark, possibly. That'd be great. That'd be really cool. Yeah, that'd be sick. It feels weird being this monotone. This like, not monotone, no, like low, low level.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Two dogs in the dragon cave.

SPEAKER_05 3:12

Two dogs. My girlfriend? Yeah, your girlfriend. Yeah, she might become that's still up in the air, but that's uh that's that's the goal. We'll see. We'll see. Oh yeah. Be very fun, very fun. Gotta record some episodes in, get the pepper spray episode in. I mean what?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Yep. We can pepper spray each other. I'm down.

SPEAKER_05 3:28

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

This is the chill episode. I'm feeling the chill vibes. I'm feeling chill.

SPEAKER_05 3:34

I'm comfortable, I'm chill. It's late. Yeah. Very late.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

It is late night. Well, I kind of like the late night recording. I don't vibe.

SPEAKER_05 3:43

I got a really long drive tomorrow morning.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

You drive to Ohio again?

SPEAKER_05 3:47

Yeah, I can't drink caffeine anymore. Like at all.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Why?

SPEAKER_05 3:52

Um, I'm gonna put this in a really proper podcast way. I am having heart problems. So uh caffeine is a no-no right now until I can get things figured out. So uh yeah, long, long Ohio runs are a little daunting for me right now, just because I gotta make sure I'm uh awake at the wheel. The fun stuff. It's okay. My body's falling apart in other ways. You want to hear a little, you want to hear what I would have liked to be a segment, but I don't know if it'll be a segment because I don't know how consistent it'll be. What are you hurting yourself?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Yes. I hurt myself recently too. We can really talk about our injuries again.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

The share hurt stories, interesting injury inquiries.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Injury injust injury interesting injury inquiries. I think we had a ginger for that, but I don't know what episode that was in.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

I don't remember either. God, I gotta go find that now.

SPEAKER_05 4:50

Um, so I wanted to make a I wanted to make a disc golf segment because you have the your reused fishing for reused fishing frenzy. Yes. Um I've talked about disc golf on the show, and that's my favorite sport, and it's the only sport I've really ever gotten into. And um, because my girlfriend uh is a sports person, she's kind of convinced me to get back into it a little bit. However, I don't know if I talked about it on the podcast much, but I fell out of it because I injured myself. I injured a nerve, la la la la la la la la. Very bad pain on my shit and it affected my shoulder muscles, which is muscle, it was just a shoulder I threw with, blah blah blah. Didn't play for years, about three years now. Uh the injury lasts for about a year. It affected like how much weight I could lift and all that stuff. I didn't do physical, uh physical therapy very much as I probably should have, but um, either way, it took about two years fully for it to just be like back to normal. It was a winged scapula for anyone who knows about muscles and bodies and whatever. But anyway, yeah, I was getting back into it, started watching videos again, I got my discs back out, um, and uh I was really excited. So her and I went to go play over the last weekend. I did stretch, I but I was also going to go play.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

I wasn't going to just uh, you know, let me just like throw like just some putters and just you know just like you know, just like whiff around the basket.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

No, I was like, I, you know, I wanted to try. Yeah. And somewhere in there, and I'm pretty sure I knew what kind of throw it was from, I hurt my shoulder. And it was just like a soreness. But now coming to almost a week later after that game, it's like in my joint and it's affecting my muscle in the back part of my shoulder. I currently have a heating pad on right now, and it aches very bad. It hurts a lot. Ouch. I have a theory it could be a shoulder, what was it, in pigment, but I'm not confident on that. But some of the exercises it shows, but like, hey, if you have a shoulder pigment, do this, and you might know. And I was doing that, and it it uh could be that. I don't know. So, yeah, another shoulder injury, and I'm miserable because I won't play disc golf. Now I can't, and and all that. Anyway, what's your injury? That's I have a shoulder injury as well.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

Oh, we're shoulder buddies. My left shoulder, it's it's my left shoulder though.

SPEAKER_05 7:01

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Are you are you is it your right shoulder? Um yeah, my right one. Yeah, yeah. Um, so I for anybody who doesn't know, I recently am uh new to BMX and free like freestyle BMX. So I bought a BMX and I went out to the skate park, and I was practicing some little techniques that I had seen on like YouTube or whatever, and I was like teaching myself how to drop in on the quarter pipe and how to um uh like how to drop a hip or whatever. And after getting comfy dropping in on the quarter pipes, I look I was riding around the park and I noticed the big bowl, and I was like, ooh, that looks like fun. And the the drop in didn't look much different than the quarter pipe that I was practicing on, but oh boy, it was it was more than I thought. And I was like, oh, you know, I can hit that. So I went to go drop into the to the bowl, and I go over the coping, and my legs are straight, and I'm my my the way my body weight is over the bike is I'm like way over the front of the bike and I go over the bars and I'd basically dive headfirst into the bowl and I slam my head on the concrete and then I'd land on my sh on my shoulder like most of my body weight goes into my shoulder as I slam on the concrete. It was it's one of my it's one of my hardest slams, dude. To the to the date. Dude. Oh man. I got a big you want to see my bruise? Sure. I took a picture of it this morning.

SPEAKER_05 8:39

If anyone wants to see the bruise, check out the What A We Infer podcast uh Twitter.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Yeah, I'll post it.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

I'll put a spoiler over it. Oh, look at you, you're so sexy. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Wow, that's not a little bit more. Did you break something? No, I don't I don't think so. I mean it's been since That's gnarly. It's been since Wednesday. And then I had a doctor's appointment right afterwards. And uh huh. I was like, hey, I was at a skate park before I came here and I hurt my shoulder. You look at it, and she was like, Yeah. And I was like, okay, and she's like, okay, take your shirt off. I was like, okay, and she said, Oh, yeah, you fucked up your shoulder.

SPEAKER_05 9:25

We're shouldy buddies, shoulder buddies. Yeah, I have nothing to show for mine because mine's like the um, it's something intermuscular, and like uh, I hope it's on a nerve again. I'm gonna just say it's not to lower my anxiety. I'm sure it's not.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Chill episode, you know? Chill episode.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Multi-too chill episode.

SPEAKER_05 9:45

Well, I hope you feel better. And thank you. I hope you feel better as well. I I wish I had something to show for my injury because I just sound like a baby complaining about it, but it is extremely. No, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

No, I I get it, dude. Sprains hurt, dude. It's like whenever you whenever you tweak something in in in your body, and especially in like a joint area, it sucks, dude.

SPEAKER_05 10:05

Yeah, and I don't know how long it's gonna take to heal, and I just don't play disc golf. Like, yeah, it's I just want to keep riding my bike. It just feels right. I don't do a lot of sports. I don't do like I like to exercise, right? But I don't do a lot that just like this is my thing. Podcast is one of those things, but this golf is the other thing, right? And I'd really like to start getting back into that. I want to do tournaments, I want to start doing competitions.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Fuck yeah, dude. But two shoulder injuries. So it's okay. It's okay.

SPEAKER_05 10:34

Uh I'll have a physical therapy update at some point.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

We also we're gonna we're just gonna have to get we're just gonna have to get into it in in little waves. I know. I know you know we're older.

SPEAKER_04 10:45

I'm not old.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

We're old.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

I'm almost 24. That's not that old.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Well, look at us complaining about our shoulders in our 20s.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

My shoulder, my heart, my back, my knees, my poor knees.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Anyway, Ryu, let's start let's uh let's let's steer back in a good direction.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

What are we in for today? Oh boy, I'm so glad you asked. Today, for this chill episode, we're gonna talk about me and Adobe are gonna talk about what not to do at your first furry convention.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

All right. Oh, alright.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

And I know Adobe has a lot more little ideas in his head that are going on in there versus me.

SPEAKER_05 11:39

That's fine. Go ahead and keep going.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

So, I mean, like everybody makes mistakes at their first con. I mean, it's not about shame, it's just about preparation. So learning from us is gonna make this easier for you at your first convention, whether you're preparing for your first convention or you just went to your first convention and you want to hear us criticize you because maybe you were talking about some things that you did and we're calling you out on it. So let's dive in to what not to do.

SPEAKER_05 12:11

I already have three bullet points.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

You already have three bullet points? Okay, I I I have a pretty good one to start off with though. Um shoot for it. Don't over schedule your entire fucking day. Yep. Holy shit. Don't, dude, dude, you're gonna burn yourself out and you're gonna get tired faster than you expected because you're gonna be attending all these panels and you're gonna be racing the clock, running around the convention, running in the people, which is not something that people also like to see around the cons. Nobody likes to see people running in the people because they're oh my god, I'm late for a panel. Oh my god, I'm gonna be late. And then people are getting trampled and whatever. Nobody likes that.

SPEAKER_05 12:54

Yeah, no, I mean, do you mind if I bounce off that? Sure, go ahead. Yeah, so with cons, there's always so much on a con schedule. Most most cons have a uh publicly accessible, you know, con schedule that you can either download or look at throughout the day. There's always a lot you can do. But yeah, as a first-time con con goer or you know, for someone like us who have been to multiple cons, um, it's very easy to get wrapped up in the the um accessibility with what what uh uh what what's the number? What am I looking for? The the the the mass amount of events that are scheduled on the plans plan list. I think the your biggest priority is just focusing on what your well priorities are. What are the must-go-tos, and you need to keep this number small. You need to make sure it's accessible and within a reasonable amount per day. The thing with that is uh if you're someone who's looking to go to a con, you're all you are gonna be able to go to more down the road. So let yourself enjoy your first experience. Don't overwhelm yourself because if you start so if you start looking at the con schedule and thinking you need to attend 12 to 15 certain like um time-gated things each day, the problem is you're not gonna have a great con experience because you're gonna be so focused on trying to get to these events, trying to coordinate with your friends or whomever you're with, and yeah, trying to you know get food in there and also trying to enjoy the evenings, whether you want to go to the raves or other big events or trying to chill out with friends, and you're gonna end up either just going to events or not be hanging out with your friends or something along those lines. You just gotta mark your priorities. There's gonna be more moments and more times. Whatever happens at a con isn't usually a one-time thing just for that year, just for that con. There's gonna be more opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you plan panels, meetups, dealers' den photos, hanging out, all whatever, and then suddenly you're like, oh fuck, I'm fucking exhausted, and it's only halfway through the day. Gotta leave yourself some room to to breathe because your energy is limited, even though your excitement isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 14:47

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. It cons are a very magical experience, especially if it's your first time. You just need to make sure you're looking out for yourself. If you don't, it the whole thing's gonna fall through. You'll learn from your mistakes, which is you know, it does help. You do learn about any mistakes you're gonna make at a con, but just to try to avoid the biggest ones, something like you know, just having a terrible convention as a whole is probably ideal.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

Um but we've had a few terrible conventions before.

SPEAKER_06 15:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Yeah. Just a little bit.

SPEAKER_05 15:22

But I've learned from them. It happens. Um so I guess on top of your bullet point then, I I also wanted to add when you're looking out for yourself, you need to make sure you're packing accordingly. I I talked about this a little bit in the solo episode that I did a little while back for um, you know, flying versus yeah, car travel. But make sure you're packing your priorities, don't overpack. You're only gonna be there for a few days. Pack the clothes that you're gonna need, the change of clothes you're gonna need to, but please to God, follow the 621 rule. Please do that. Oh Lord. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please do that. Six hours of sleep, two showers a day.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Or is it two meals a day? And one shower a day.

SPEAKER_05 15:58

Two meals a day, then uh two meals a day and one shower a day. Yep. If you follow this rule, it's a very easy rule to follow. That does help you pack because you're trying to take into account of how many showers you're taking, what you're gonna need, how often you're going out. You gotta look after yourself. If you underpack, you're gonna be disgusting. I'm sorry, you're probably a great person, but I'm not gonna talk to you if I can see smell lines coming from your fucking body. You gotta look out for yourself. If you have good hygiene throughout the con and you get enough sleep, at least six hours, you're gonna be able to function throughout, you know, whether you maybe did overschedule or you're over-socializing, whatever that might be, you're gonna have an easier time getting through your day. So pack accordingly. There's a lot of YouTube videos out there um that that are very useful. If you guys have any questions, let us know. We can always forward you guys to good sources uh for packing specifically. Cause that that that is a huge topic, hell yeah, in and out of itself. But just focus on, you know, focus on packing, getting the getting things you need, as well as the 621 rule. The six two one rule. It's a good rule.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

It's very reasonable two one. It's also a good website.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

It's a great website.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Yeah. Don't spend all of your fucking money. Spend all your money? Okay. Don't spend all of your money immediately. You can spend all your money. I don't care. You're a grown adult. You're the one buying your own ticket. But whenever you go into the dealer's den, it's really easy to walk in there and be like, oh my god, I need everything. You know?

SPEAKER_06 17:25

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Set a fucking budget before you go. Otherwise, you're gonna regret it halfway through the weekend whenever you see something you really want. Cause artist alley, dealer's den, it's not always the same throughout the entire weekend, I believe.

SPEAKER_05 17:40

There's always some like different um I think artist alley is what uh it that that changes.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Is it artist alley that changes?

SPEAKER_05 17:47

Yes. I believe the dealer's den stays the same as for those vendors. I think artist alley could be different for cons, but I think artist alley swaps throughout the gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:55

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Yeah. So set a budget before you go. Grab them business cards.

SPEAKER_05 18:01

If if you find artists you like, you find a dealer that you really enjoy and it's not in your budget at that time, just grab a business card. I do that a lot and I have a I have a small handful of uh business cards. I have a I have a little stack too. Yeah, and it's out so perfect to just be like, oh yeah, I remember I like this dealer for this. And then I just go back on, look at the website, and I go from there. And if I want to follow up with them at a at a future con that they're gonna be attending that I'm gonna go to, then do that. Hell yeah. Yeah, budgeting yourself is very, very highly recommended.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Don't spend, don't spend your access money on alcohol either. I don't recommend that either.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Have money saved for alcohol, for food, for dealers den. Have like you shit, put cash in separate envelopes.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

Yes, honestly, uh if you're rooming with people that you trust and you're not rooming with eight different people that all don't have a shower and the room's a mess.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Not talking from experience.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

If your room smells like a fucking sauna, and your room smells like a sauna, we're not hanging out with you.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

Oh, we're gonna hang out with them?

SPEAKER_02 19:05

We are?

SPEAKER_04 19:06

We can. You know who we could, you know who we could hang out with.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Who?

SPEAKER_01 19:11

So we got a fan mail in for this week from Nove. Uh Ryu, do you want to take it away? We got a fan mail?

SPEAKER_02 19:19

I didn't even get a Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_04 19:20

We talked, we talked about this. We just never we haven't read this one off yet.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Oh yes. Hey, recent listen here from Straight from the Muzzle. And I gotta say, y'all are great. I love the content synergy. Just please stop chewing and burping into the mic. No. Your fidelity is great, which makes it unusually unsettling. I would listen to all your episodes if it weren't for that, but it honestly might just be a me thing. Keep doing y'all's good work, and I hope y'all's viewership goes up. From Nove. Thanks, Nove. I will not stop burping into the mic. This is kinda like our thing here, I guess. Gross, okay? So this is gonna be something you're gonna have to deal with, hopefully. But no, thanks for the fan mail. I really really appreciate you tuning in. Shut up and straight from the muscles as well. They're good podcasts.

SPEAKER_05 20:19

Yeah, they're absolutely amazing. No, but yeah, thank you so much for writing in. Um, so you can blame all that on me. I'm the one that edits these podcasts, and I we do appreciate some of the feedback. Unfortunately, for we might stay in because we've gotten a lot of laughs in that as well. So I understand that that's not for everyone. Um we don't forgive the mic, but I take three for my can I do that too much. But for the chewing and stuff, that's actually I I appreciate you letting me know that sometimes that kind of stuff does get by me. Uh, I do a lot of rush edits typically seems very busy, so I just try to edit as good as I can, which is usually done like the day before, and then but thank you very much for tuning in, and hopefully you can find some episodes that are along your liking. But anyway, we really appreciate you. And uh I will take your feedback into consideration, I promise. With the burping. Thank you, Novak.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

I can't promise a burping. Uh anyway. Oh, that was a smooth fan map.

SPEAKER_05 21:11

Oh, look that wasn't a smooth fan map. Proud, I'm so proud. All right. I have a big point, and this is kind of this is um a lot of self uh this is a lot of personal experience. Um, and I just want to label this section, this bullet point as people do not own you during your time at a convention. Absolutely. It is a great time to go meet up with those Discord friends, those friends you've known for years, those friends you haven't seen in such a long time, right? And sometimes those groups can be very, very big, and you want to try to see everyone, and you kind of have to schedule that out. I mean, honestly, I might talk about over socialization later in the episode as well. But as you go through the convention, and as I've mentioned, you got to make sure you're focusing on what your wants and needs are, your events that you want to go to, your your time that you need to head back to the hotel room. Do not feel Forced that you have to attend an event you don't want to go to because a couple of your friends are going and they are making you feel bad because you can't go or don't want to go. A lot of it, and this is a big one that I don't see a lot of people talk about is the babysitting that sometimes you're forced into. A lot of these cons, people are going to be drinking a lot or gonna be doing just a lot. Whether it's overexerting themselves, it could be the drinking or some unfortunately sometimes drugs as well. But drugs. Don't put yourself in a situation that you're not comfortable being in. If people are drinking heavily, it's not your vibe. You can feel free to go away because you don't need to be forced to be a babysitter. You can always help out, as in you know, alerting con ops if something like that is needed to that extent. Don't let people make you feel bad. And it could be not intentionally by them. They're not trying to make you do it, but depending on the situation, just don't feel bad for making sure you're looking out for yourself first. You should be your own priority. Help out where you can. If you see a first seater that's exhausted or struggling from heat exhaustion, call someone over or do what you can maybe in the moment. But like I said, enjoy your con. Enjoy the time with your friends. Just don't feel like you have to be everyone's babysitter or that you have to abide by what everyone else wants you to do. Likely you're gonna go with a lot of friends who have their own scheduling because they've been to this con three, four, or five times. You can follow that schedule if it helps, but make sure you're still doing what you want to do.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, don't be afraid to take breaks. A lot of people think taking a break means that you're gonna miss out, but pushing through overwhelming stuff doesn't make the con any better. It kind of makes it worse. So because cons can be pretty overwhelming. So step away when you need to. You'll enjoy everything more when you come back.

SPEAKER_05 23:32

Yes, you will. It will be there. It is usually cons are usually for about three-ish days, Thursdays through Sundays, um, depending on those half days, Sundays, and Thursdays. But it's a great time. You're a lot, you gotta take breaks because when you're stressed out and you're really anxious and you're hanging out with a group of friends, and you're, you know, that that stress and anxiety is starting to come out, they can kind of feel it, and then you feel it, they feel it, and then that stresses you out. So it's okay too.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

And then you're like, Do you want to go smoke a cigarette? And everybody's like, Yeah, let's go smoke a cigarette, and we go to the parking garage and smoke a cigarette, and we're all happy again.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

You're right. Next tip have a cigarette.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Have a cigarette. A con cigarette isn't gonna hurt anybody. Uh con cigarette never hurt nobody.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

Or a zen. If it's in your vibe, go for a zen. Or a big just get some nick in your just get some nick in the system. It's alright.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Nicotine. I'm addicted to nicotine.

SPEAKER_05 24:32

I'm not. I like it socially.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

Let's see. What is another what's another thing to to not do? Don't touch people's fursuits without permission.

SPEAKER_06 24:42

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

That's a big one. Fursuits are expensive, they're delicate, and there's someone's personal space or personal belongings. Always ask before touching, please. Even for hugs. Ask for hugs first.

SPEAKER_05 24:56

Absolutely. If you're looking at a fursuitor, a lot of times on their badge or their lanyard that they have around their neck, a lot of times they have uh signals or indicators on that lanyard itself that might say, feel free to hug. Please don't touch, limited vision, uh, gets overwhelmed. Sometimes that that's been a very common thing, especially over the past handful of years. It's been a very popularized way of signaling others that just see them at a glance. Pay attention to that kind of signs too, because that'll give you an idea of, you know, hey, is this a fursuit you want to go walk up to and get a picture with? Sometimes if they have something on on there right then and there, that's gonna help. But respect the handlers too. Their handlers are there with them. Make sure you're being polite people's fursuits, but handlers will tell you sometimes like, hey, nope, we gotta go to the headless lounge. And you have to respect that. Sometimes you're overwhelmed or overheated. Just respect the fursuits, man. That shit is 20 pounds of carpet, sometimes at very hot conventions, and you can only do so much.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

So this sir.

SPEAKER_05 25:47

And if you see salamander, bully him.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

No, give me a hug.

SPEAKER_05 25:52

Start that salamanderization. All right.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

That me up. No, no, we will not take any salamanderization in this podcast.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

So another one that is more con dependent, but falls under this is vlogging and video recording. So granted, yes, in a general public space, you are allowed to actually video record, but some cons do have specific rules or requests asking for people who aren't part of press or you know aren't verified verified to record the convention itself to just respect what the cons asks and limitations are. One, so you just don't you just avoid any trouble or concerns you could get in get in with con security. But number two, it's also a form of respect. Some people in the furry community choose not to be on camera for a plethora of reasons. It could just be a simple request just based off of uh, you know, hey, this person uh has a really high-up government job. And if they're seen um on you know, socially around and and this goes through, they could lose their job. There's a lot of concerns, but a lot of cons actually have some kind of rule or I don't want to say a certificate, it's not a certification, but certain people are allowed to record at a con.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

And you just need to respect that. I think the con is its own private space, like it's not is it public property or is it private property?

SPEAKER_05 27:06

That's where I'm a little fuzzy. I know that I've listened to I think it was Vancouver. Is that too from Straight for the Muzzle? Their episode's actually super, super great. Highly recommend checking that episode out. They uh were reviewing uh a couple people, a couple of higher-ups at Vancouver, Vancouver, Vancouver, and they were going over how recording is very limited depending on um the at the con, because some people just can't be on the camera. It can't be, you know, although it might be a I don't know if it's public or private space, I've got to be completely honest with you, but it's just what the con has in place, and there's a reason. It's not there just to, you know, be bossy or to be a certain way. If there's a rule in the rule book, there's a reason it's there. And oftentimes video recordings, stuff like that are in there for a reason. So I just don't put that out there because we've been having a lot of issues with um trolls and community people coming out.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

There's a rule for a reason that you know that that reminded me of um a time I went hiking with some friends on this one trail called the Backbone Trail in Kasachi National Park. And uh there was a sign at the trailhead that said no paragliding, and there's just a bunch of pine trees and no mountains around. I don't know why someone would wanted to go try paragliding in Louisiana, but they put a sign up for it and told people not to do it, so somebody must have done it.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Yeah, you know, one person did it with the one.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

No one fucking person. Do you have any more bullet points?

SPEAKER_05 28:35

I have another one. Yeah, so what's another one? Literally bouncing off my last one. Is I highly, highly, highly recommend looking at a con's website or any flyers that they give you uh prior to actually being at the con or enjoying the con in its full entirety. Uh, just getting familiar with what the con has in place. Although you can assume a lot of things. Some cons again have specific rule sets or specific things about certain areas or events, whatever it might be. Just review it. A lot of people put a lot of really hard work into conventions as a whole. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes and looking at the websites or any flyers that they put out, just familiarizing yourself with the space. Uh, it could be the map layout, again, it could be the rules, um, any of that stuff. Just take a quick peek at it. It'll save you a lot of time. It might, it'll answer a lot of your guys' questions that you guys are gonna have. It's not something I personally utilize enough, but I also go to the same few cons. When I start going outside of my uh comfort zone and go to different cons, I'm gonna start utilizing that because there's a website.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Cons have a website, it's not just to look pretty and be like, oh my god, I'm on the manor, the front page, the TFF website. No.

SPEAKER_05 29:39

I mean, cool, congrats, but like, hey, someone put a lot of hard work into that. Just look around and just familiarize familiarize yourself with it. It'll answer a lot of questions you already have. Questions. Cash one.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Your questions will be answered. I think one more final point. We can always come back to this in another later episode as well and uh talk about what else or like what to do in a con versus what not to do. But don't compare don't compare your God bless you, don't compare yourself to others. That's a that's a big one for me. Oh my god, how'd I miss that? Yeah, people have different levels of experience and comparison creates stress. Uh you might see some amazing, cool fursuits, really confident people or like big friend groups, and start thinking that you don't belong. But I mean everybody starts somewhere, you know? Including them. So think about it this way like comparing yourself to others will ruin the experience faster than anything else, I think. Because like I didn't have a fursuit or I didn't really I only knew Adobe, like and his other friends, and I didn't have any like local friends, so I felt like I was just I was all sad whenever I left Anthrocon for the first time because I didn't have anybody to go home and talk to about that kind of stuff with, and it it was it was that was sad.

SPEAKER_05 31:12

Post con depression hit the hardest that year, man. I mean I balled my eyes out when that con ended. Dude, I remember that, man. That was rough. But I yeah, on top of Ryu's point, you know, it it's very easy to compare yourself to anyone in any setting, no matter what it might be. But it happens a lot in the furry fandom, especially because of the popularization of again fursuits and this idea of oh, if I look flashier, I'm gonna be better, be higher up in whatever status or or notice you're looking for. Um, and although that that realm of the furry fandom can be fun, but it's that shouldn't be your priority nor anything that overtakes anything else you're looking for. You're gonna find those friends that are close to you, and you will you you will be able to make friends at a con as well if you attend um and go around to certain areas and just try to spark up some conversation.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

But oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:01

Enjoy the time you have with people, focus on your con your convention, your experience. Things will trickle in naturally whenever you're relaxed, whenever you're happy and enjoying the moment. If you're not present at the con, you can't expect things to I don't want to say if you're not present, you can't expect anything to happen. But how do I wear this? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

Well, I mean, that's true. I don't wanna be rude. You gotta be present. If you're not if you're not there, nothing's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_05 32:28

If you're living in the past, you're dwelling on past experiences, you're not gonna be able to enjoy the con that's currently happening. If you're living in the future and excited about oh, all this expensive first that I'll be able to get, or oh, all this popularity of friends I'm gonna have, you're just gonna be disappointed when that time doesn't come. So enjoy the time that you have and enjoy the people you're around there. Then and it'll be a con you'll remember always.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Life's better when you enjoy what you got, not what you want.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Oh, I gotta live by that. I heard they're a little bit better. I want a lot of things too, it's okay. Ryu, I miss you. I miss you so much. No, no, Yana, you can't.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

I miss you. I miss you too.

SPEAKER_05 33:09

We want to end it out here.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Yeah, I think it's time for CP times.

SPEAKER_05 33:13

I think it is time for CP times. But anyway, guys, thank you guys all so much for tuning in this week. It was a chill episode, it was a short one, had a lot of things going on, but I appreciate you guys all tuning in. Appreciate the flow of everyone coming in as well and all the kind words you guys have all been saying. If you guys have any suggestions, any comments, any concerns, whatever it might be, we do have a link down below for the fan mail. The link is down below on all podcasts and platforms. But if you are on YouTube, you might not see that link down below. If you don't, feel free to just type in the comment section like the fan mail like that. It can be anything you guys want. Apparently, we also found out you can post fan mail on the website and make it in your post. Right there on the website for you. Woo!

SPEAKER_02 33:48

It's just commenters here where can I find you? Make it find every year on Twitter. Make it find well.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

I really don't like it.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

I like you little I ate all your leftovers.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

I all your leftovers.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

This is my first day to get over there. It's been pretty neat.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:29

But anyway, I'm dumb blobberin', he's dumb yapping. I'm a cool guy. He's a no, I'm just kidding, I'm a dumb dog.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

I'm a dumb dirk. We'll see you guys in the next one.

SPEAKER_05 34:41

Bye bye. Good night. Oh, yeah, good night. Or good morning, I guess. Enjoy your morning and lunch.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Have a good day of work.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Good mlah.