Anthro Northwest 2018


Taebyn and his plush friends at storytime.
The controversial family-friendly “anthropomorphic arts convention” returned to the Seattle Renaissance Hotel for its second iteration, from November 8th-11th. Once again unable to resist the allure of a downtown Seattle furry event, Jovian, Proggy and I decided to step it up a bit from last year and get a hotel room for a single night.

I left for Seattle on Friday evening, meeting up with Proggy and Jov at the hotel. Our con experience began with some socializing and fursuit watching before Jov borrowed my partial suit and wore him into the con's famous tiny ball pit. Browsing the con space, we were delighted to find there was a table selling all sorts of plush, including Disney and Neopets stuff. That’s the kind of thing I wish was more common at conventions - if you ask me, it should be the norm to resell your official mass-produced cartoon animal merch at furry cons. Anyway, I got a Tramp plush and a Neopets Kadoatie.

After Jov got some glamour shots of our new plush with the photo backdrop that was up for use in the main con space, we were able to join in for a favorite event, Taebyn's Bedtime Stories. Taebyn the pup read us all some tales and handed out a couple souvenirs.


Jovian's new Noil presides over the remains of our hotel bar banquet.
Eventually we had fucked around the hotel enough that it was time for some grub. The original plan was to walk to a BBQ place downtown, but that fell through for reasons that now escape me. Closed early, I guess? In any case, it became clear there was only one practical solution left: the Cheesecake Factory. Jovian and I were delighted at the idea, but I'm not sure how we convinced Proggy the fancy little otter to dine at such a second-rate chain. We enjoyed watching him reluctantly browse the formidable menu.

After all was said and done, and the delicious table bread and Cheesecake Factory “fried cheese” (aka mozzarella sticks) devoured, it was time to head back to Jovian's place for the first night.

We returned to downtown Seattle on Saturday to find an array of fursuiters already mingling outside the hotel. This was the day we had a hotel room of our very own. We celebrated with some snacks and drinks at the hotel bar. I enjoyed a cucumber mojito. We socialized and explored until it was time for the first big event we decided to attend: the ANW film festival. The crowd gathered outside the doors, watching as figures such as Uncle Kage, Taebyn, and Majira Strawberry strolled down a red carpet past the adoring fans. Once seated in the event space, we were treated to an array of fursuit YouTube videos of varying quality, with awards given out to the best and the brightest.


Uncle Kage and Andy, the ANW mascot, confer together on the red carpet.
Later, more and more friends were converging at the hotel, but it seemed only Proggy and I were interested in an upscale downtown dinner. So we set off on our own and hit the Zig Zag Cafe, a low-lit cocktail lounge that would later become a semi-frequent haunt of mine. We enjoyed excellent drinks and a big sexy cheese plate. I even tried a bit of Proggy's octopus and thought it was pretty good. I'm so brave!

We had joked about having a room party, but didn't really put intention into making one happen. Still, friends and acquaintances were gathering in our room to socialize and Jae reported to me that our 'party' was popping off. After dinner, Proggy and I headed back to make sure we didn't miss the action. On the way we made sure to grab multiple copies of The Stranger to bring back to our friends in the room. The cover story surrounding the horrific tale of abusive local muscle-pup master Noodles & Beef had just hit, and everyone was eager to see the guy publicly humiliated on such a level.


My Zig Zag cheese plate.
Donning my partial suit, I joined in the festivities, enjoying an extended period of drinking and chilling with our guests. Jov and I were especially thrilled whenever a fursuit entered the room.

The night was not without some venturing into the main con space. We visited the inflatables panel and the dance. A particular memory that stands out: a large group of us interacting with an incredibly drunk normie woman who was desperately trying to convince the con staff to allow her into the rave, without success.


Barroo as Rio!
I must have partied way too hard, because after finally hitting the hay that night, I awoke from excruciating pain in my legs. Unexplained body pain is nothing new for me, but this was especially bad, and it really didn't seem like I'd done enough dancing or strenuous activity to cause it! Anyway, I recall writhing on the bathroom floor in complete agony at some point and I probably didn't get much sleep.

And so, the next day, exhausted and sore, we cleaned our hotel room and left to enjoy the last few moments of the anthropomorphic arts convention until I headed home in the early evening, knowing the inexplicable leg pain was worth it for a fun weekend in the big city with friends.




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