Babyfur Con was not some incredible life altering experience for me. I’m not even sure it was my favorite con I’ve done. (It would be hard to beat the magic of Megaplex 2017 for me) But it did feel like coming home in the best of ways.

I was very nervous right before leaving. Especially about rooming with RileyKit. Sometimes when you meet up with online friends in real life it can take a bit to click. I’ve know Riley almost as long as I’ve been into Babyfur so I felt a lot of pressure to get meeting them right.

Thankfully we clicked right away. When we met both of us squealed and hopped around in the line for hotel check in 😋 We had an absolutely gorgeous room with a massive balcony overlooking the hotel pool.

Really that was the case for all my new online>real life friends I met this weekend. I feel like that’s part of why the con just felt so “normal” for me. It was an effortless transition from online to real life.

Friday

I did not think I would be eating in a highchair this con. But when we went out to an empty patio and saw a bright yellow one… gah. I climbed in half as a joke but it was the perfect size for me. Jade came out and loudly said “Who’s in that highchair? It can’t be Blankit?” It was me. 🙈

My tiny tots yoga class was this morning and I was super scared. I am not an expert at yoga in any fashion but I am familiar with toddler style yoga and thought I could offer a unique take on it.

The classroom was jam packed five minutes before the panel even started. My nerves melted away as soon as I opened with animal freeze tag. Watching a bunch of adults giggle and move around the room like elephants is definitely going to be a memory I treasure forever. Everyone was so well behaved and attentive!

I really desperately wanted to go on the field trip. I won’t say where it was but there were goats and I LOVE GOATS. None of my friends wanted to go so I figured I’d either chill by myself or kind of just move with the group.

Instead, as soon as we left the buses, Lukie found me and asked if I wanted a polar bear buddy for the trip. 🥺 We later bumped into Ry and her husband and make a little kiddo pack. It was really fun running into other attendees. It 100% felt like a school trip. We found a lavender bush full of hummingbirds. They had a “find this animal” wheel to spin. I pet a goat. Fantastic morning.

I don’t remember the rest of Friday???? I definitely went shopping in the Dealer’s Den. I think Itchy and Riley helped me go snack shopping too? At night I went to a dinner with the rest of the con artists. It was a little intimidating listening to the others discuss vending/work. Someone asked if I was vending at all and I guess I responded “Nope!” A little too enthusiastically because everyone laughed. Been there, done that, enjoying not working. 😊 There’s an alternate world where I had a big pretty pastel baby booth but I have no regrets stopping when I did to focus on my family and hobbies.

Saturday

I booked it to stuffy show and tell first thing in the morning. Lukie did such a good job running it. One of the few times I got to enjoy little time sitting on my little spot. Everyone brought such cool friends to show off.

Riley and I got all dressed up for the tea party. I was sad we missed the photos for it, but we were in the first ‘shift’ and photos were at the end. Boo! I enjoyed my scones and it was nice to sit and eat and feel pretty.

On the upside we made it out in time for the inflatable pool party! Seeing all the pool toys out was soooo cool.

We scavenged up some folks for early dinner at a Chinese restaurant across the way and it was SO GOOD. Also wonderful company with a mix of new friend and old.

I sprinted back to the hotel to get to friendship bracelets in time. The staff running the school were so kind to me even though I was running late. This panel did not go as smoothly as the other… I underestimated people’s ability to knot and almost everyone needed a LOT of help. I enjoyed being able to play teacher though. I definitely made a few kiddos squirm hehe.

After the panel wrapped up Riley and I headed back to the room to get ready for the big event. Our not-so-sleepy sleepover party!!

I have struggled at cons in the past because I am not a big drinker/rowdy partier but I also really want to be included. So when I decided I was going to BFC I also decided I wanted to try setting up the kind of soft room party I wanted. One that explored my kind of little space. With bows and crafts and girly movies and snacks.

I was so scared no one would come. Or even worse one person I didn’t know well would come and it would be awkward…. Or people would come and be bored. Well that did not happen. We jam packed the room and had to turn people away 🙈 It was sooooo much fun. I got to play my favorite kid’s game Pretty, Pretty Princess. I made a cootie catcher and played truth or dare. But mostly I just spent time talking with people I deeply admire.

Sunday

Riley and I were up pretty early and went to the nearby BEAR THEMED DINED for Eggs Benedict. Seriously cannot overstate how nice it was rooming with someone on the same wavelength. Normally breakfast at a con is either way too late for my tastes or spent alone at a coffee shop.

The rest of the day was a blur of panels, trying to get photos, shopping the dealers den. I wish I had had more time for panels & playing but I was so busy running into people. A common theme was me going somewhere, looking down at my watch or getting a message notification and going “Aaaarg I have to go!!!”

At some point Lynn messaged me to meet-up for a live demo of her work. We ran into Itchy and Leo in the lobby and they immediately joined us in waiting for her to watch. She works serious magic with Procreate.

Big highlight was the little musical some kiddo’s at the con put on. It was soooo cute. The started a number about finding a place they belonged and I’m pretty sure we all started crying.

We ended the con watching Lion King off our balcony and drawing with friends. It was very last minute so I was once again shocked how many people responded and showed up. I got three adorable new sketches in my special Blankit sketchbook. Especially happy I made Plant draw because they refused to draw in it earlier in the con for money 😏 It was the perfect end to the weekend.

Other bits

🐾 Everyone brought their little guys!!!! I got to meet Snazzy’s Deku and Itchy’s Doppio and more!

🐾 Itchy and Leo were super cute because they were the opposite of how they are online. Itchy is really quiet and Leo is more outgoing in person. Both were incredibly fun to hang with.

🐾 Buffet lunch was served on little school trays and it made me smile every time.

🐾 So many people brought goodies to give out! Including me handing out 3 bootleg merit badges.

🐾 I had a chance to do a few last minute surprise badges and everyone was sooooo excited by them.

🐾 My girly sleepover was at the same time as some of the bigger ones. Kind of a fun vibe watching them from across the balcony in our cozy room.

🐾 Contributing to Harpo’s uppies count 🥺

🐾 Finding out that Spoons’s fursona is based off one of my favorite obscure kid’s movies.

🐾 Being really, really bad at juggling so the teacher came over and gave me a ticket for trying so hard. Corinn tried to help me too. Too toddler for hand-eye coordination.

The haul

It’s already hard enough when there is cute stuff to buy. But there was cute stuff and a lot of it was sold by friends. I was doomed.

Final thoughts

I feel like this con just echoed the lessons I took away from Anthrocon New England earlier this year. You need to build the spaces you want to see in the world. I hope to run another local art meet-up again when I have time. I’m so happy people have been coming and enjoying events I’ve put together.

This con solidified 11 years of community and friendship. When I missed the last Rainfurrest I thought this kind of meeting would never happen. I could have never imagined myself here. I spent a lot of the con missing friends not there too. I think the magic is that this is a community that fights so hard to build spaces for each other. And you could really feel the passion and drive to make sure everyone had the best weekend possible.

It was such a pleasure to get a chance to make art for this convention. I hope to come back next year, but we’ll see what the future holds. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to talk to me and hang out with me. I love you all so much 🐾💕