Furry Migration Day 0-0.5
Hello from sunny Minneapolis, Minnesota!! While the weather forecasts look a bit spooky for the coming days, I'm having a really wonderful time walking around and enjoying the sunshine. Hopefully the predicted storms miss us!
The drive was pretty painless and smooth, aside from some absolutely crazy drivers that wove between lanes like their pants were on fire AND their wives were actively in labor or something. Y'all, SLOW DOWNNNN it is okay to drive the speed limit, I promise!! If you're late, then leave your home earlier next time! I chose to drive the rental car, and I am so happy I was in relatively good spirits, because it's a pretty new model of car and it frustrated the living heck outta me. I just wanted the cruise control, but it didn't...have...a dedicated button to turn it on?? The manual showed one, but it had a little tiny blurb that said "if your model has it" which....why would you put that in the manual for that exact car if it does not have that feature? Sure, it might take a bit more editing, but that just seems a bit lazy on the manufacturer's end? Eventually I figured it out, it was some weird "smart" pilot assist feature with a blue button that looked like it was supposed to be either a hands-free way to use certain functions of the car, or a way to turn on the car's psychic waves abilities. At one point, the cruise control decided to throw a fit and errored out with big yellow warnings that said "radar interference" for some reason. We were just driving through a small town, and it only happened once. Starting to think that vehicle just might be cursed? But after that, it was smooth sailing, we chatted up a storm, put on Sugar Ray and some other chill jams, and just cruised.
We rolled in pretty early, so we had a lot of free time on our hands. We helped our pal Tapioca (Malmseyy) bring all their luggage inside, and lemme tell ya, the parking situation was crazyyy!! But I'm glad we were able to park relatively easily. I do really want to go out and explore a few shops while I'm here (Daiso, Umei, maybe a dispensary?) so hopefully those spots remain for us to return relatively painlessly...
I keep seeing SO MANY cool fursuits and people! Everyone's outfits are amazing. Notably, I saw a Protogen head that was actually lit up with LEDs and animated when the wearer talked, a two-tailed Vaporeon (I think they were an OC because they had some other features which I also loved), and so many more they made my head swim. I wish I could have greeted everyone that walked past whose outfits and suits I Loved, I just didn't have the spoons to! Sorry all!
We took a break after getting everything set up in our hotel room, and went to visit Tapi to bring them their snacks they brought with.
-Tapi invited us to go out with them and their friends to a liquor store which sells THC beverages. I've never had one, so I went and grabbed a few just to try them out. My roomie would have come, but he had a headache so he stayed in the hotel room to rest. They were a bit heavy to carry as it was a few blocks to walk, but I managed just fine. I kinda forgot to shift the weight of the drinks (apparently liquids get heavy!) for easier carrying, but I managed just fine after moving it around and just opting to carry them with both hands.
After that, I walked around a bit more, played a little bit of Pokemon Go, and just took in the sights. There was a panel I was kind of interested in, a Cuddle Party Consent panel for a room party just for furries that want to cuddle and explore their boundaries and limits with cuddling. I can't say it doesn't intrigue me, especially since I've learned more about myself, and I'm generally more of a cuddly person than I thought I was previously. I like to have that emotional connection with people if I do, but I thought it might help learn more about myself.
It was super late (for me) when it ran and I did have a headache brewing, but I went to it and stayed til the end. The consent panel was pretty well done! I understood all of it, and I really liked how it was run. It focused on consent between the CALLER and ACTOR. They use a traffic light system as well as very particular language for asking for consent, expressing it, and what everything means with nuance. Just because something is GREEN now, doesn't mean it won't change later. Consent can be revoked at any time. Which is TRUE and so cool of them to assert! If someone says YELLOW, it means proceed cautiously and make sure to check in as well. If someone says RED, you are to stop what you're doing and check in because you crossed a boundary and that is uncomfortable for them. (They also emphasized accountability and everyone's comfort, so if you hear a RED anywhere, get an ear or an eye on whoever said it to make sure everyone's comfy. I loved that!) If someone repeatedly throws a RED and does not heed your asks to stop, you will say HALT forcefully and it basically throws the whole party to a, well, screeching halt. We will stop everything and have a discussion about it. And of course, people can be made to leave if they're acting up or not respecting boundaries and consent. Overall, I didn't know what to think of it when I went in, but I'm really glad I learned about it! I don't entirely know if I'll have the energy to attend the room party (since it's really late at night), but I want to try. There are a lot of things I want to try and see here! I'm so excited!
After the consent panel, I grabbed some egg scramble bowls for my roomie and I since we only had a sandwich for lunch and it was like 10PM by the time I got back. That shower I took was AMAZINGGGG (but the hotel conditioner made my hair feel all gross, so I used some of the stuff we brought and it was 10x better imho my opinion). I slept pretty fitfully and it took 2 doses of sleeping meds to knock me out since my roomie was pretty restless and jerked around in his sleep. Hopefully tonight is a way better night for me!
This morning I woke up with a headache, we were going to go out to coffee with Tapi but they ended up going out at 7 and couldn't let us know, so we got a late breakfast in the hotel dining area which wasn't bad (minus the coffee that was about as bitter as I am with that dang car lol!). I really liked the french toast and hashbrowns I got too!
I've been leaving stickers around hoping that people will say hi and maybe be friends with me, but I know I need to approach them anyway. I'll work on doing that after things really kick off. Maybe during some panels? I've been trying to push my roomie out of his comfort zone and get him to talk to people and maybe make a friend or two, but he's pretty socially anxious which I get, but he's gotta learn somehow!!
Opening ceremonies is very soon and I want to make it there, so I'm going to wrap up this entry and hopefully write up what happened during the day when I'm back for the evening. I gotta hunt down the artist that made my badge (howdylake) and drop off a banana for Tapi since they're working so hard. So much to do! Wish me luck!!
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