Further Confusion 2023


The fursuit heads taking over our gate.
Further Confusion 2021 had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Further Confusion 2022 was all set to go, but a serious COVID spike occurred very shortly before the con, causing enough volunteers and attendees to pull out that a cancellation became necessary. At the time, there was some concern this might result in losses that could threaten future FCs from ever happening. But thankfully, Further Confusion 2023 was successfully held January 12-16th.

So much had changed in my life since FC 2020. That following September, I had finally moved from my college town of Olympia to the big city of Seattle. No longer would I need to endure 3-leg bus trips to the airport - now I had easier access to the necessary public transit, plus countless nearby furry friends to split rideshares with. In late 2022, I moved into an all-furry house, and soon acquired my long-desired commissioned fursuit: my new fursona, Ribsy, was brought to life by the incredible Gorehund. I was ready to resume convention-going with new friends, a new suit, and a new zest for life.

Was it the long break that had furries chomping at the bit to attend FC, or had interest in the convention grown for some other reason? Whatever it was, I had my first experience of being unable to grab a main hotel room for the con. I was at my laptop and ready to go, but rooms sold out in seconds. I acted fast and was able to book a convenient Airbnb a very short walk away from the convention center. Not my ideal situation, but my con roommates Kay, Sam, Proggy and I were willing to compromise.


Bandit's airplane selfie.
Thursday, January 12th was like Christmas morning. Sam slept over the night before to join my housemates Kay, Willow and I in catching a Lyft to the airport, and all of us were up bright and early, getting our affairs in order and filling up the living room with our comically large quantity of luggage. Con prep being a whole household-wide event was a fun new experience for me.

The camaraderie continued at SeaTac. It seemed like half the furry population of Seattle had booked our same Southwest flight. A pile of fursuit heads lovingly arranged at our gate kept growing as more friends and acquaintances arrived. Southwest’s lack of assigned seating allowed us to strategize, and we all managed to sit together near the back of the plane. This made for a fun flight where several of us passed notes throughout the aisles, sketching each others’ fursonas.

A flight attendant had caught wind of our exact travel destination after witnessing our fursuit head collection at the gate. Partway through the flight, she announced over the intercom that there were many furries on board today heading to a convention, and asked us to put on our heads. All us fursuiters happily obliged, and fursuit heads were quickly retrieved from overhead bins and underneath seats. The normie passengers seemed entertained, many of them whipping out their phones for pictures. I’ll be surprised if I ever have another flight as memorable as this one en route to a con!


A beautiful drink at Dr. Funk.
Once in San Jose, Sam, Kay and I checked into our Airbnb. It was a slick, modern unit with ample sleeping space, a kitchen, laundry, and a big-screen TV above a nice electric fireplace. The prospect of being able to cook full meals throughout the weekend was exciting, and the walk to the convention center really wasn’t bad. Still, rain was in the forecast all weekend, and making the short trip in fursuit seemed more daunting. Kay and I were luckily invited to store our suits in Willow’s main hotel room, making the prospect of fursuiting that weekend a lot more palatable.

While we were grabbing our badges, Proggy surprised us in line, having finally arrived from Portland. He’d jogged from the airport to the con center. Typical. We all elected to walk to Grocery Outlet, where we ran into multiple friends. Having a full kitchen at our disposal opened up all sorts of new possibilities. My most memorable purchase was a DiGiorno “breakfast croissant” pizza - cinnamon roll flavor.

Once groceries were bought and put away at the Airbnb, Proggy and I departed for the small group outing I’d organized at Dr. Funk, a new Downtown San Jose tiki bar. The place had opened in 2021, but the repeated COVID-related FC cancellations forced me to wait years to try it. I’m a tiki enthusiast, and reputable sources had raved about Dr. Funk’s 1944 Mai Tai.


In the gardens at the Rosicrucian.
The bar was practically dead when we arrived, giving us our choice of any one of the beautifully designed booths. We picked a cozy corner one and tried an array of cocktails. The Mai Tai really was great, and so was everything else I sampled. The ambience was wonderful, and Dick Dale was playing. I was happy to know I now had a great new tiki bar to visit on subsequent FC trips. After lots of laughter, conversation, and drinking, the group headed back to the con center, passing a park on the way that must’ve had some sort of Christmas display the previous month. There were some large holiday dioramas, including a detailed nativity scene, parked in the street, and we crossed the road to inspect them. A nearby cop car scooted closer to us, just as we began walking away. That’s right, buddy…nothing to see here.

On Friday morning, poor Proggy awoke feeling under the weather and stayed in bed. The other Airbnb roomies and I soon hopped in a Lyft to visit the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum together. The museum seemed to have changed a good bit since my first visit in 2018, and there were plenty of new things to see. Kay and Sam were just as engaged as I was, and we all left a little more educated. We explored the museum gardens for a bit before heading back.


Yowly, a wonderful classic suit made by Brokken T. Wolf, one of the best to ever do it!
I joined a small group at the con center for a lap through the Dealer’s Den. It was so fun this con to have multiple friends vending in the Den and to be able to say hi to them all as I shopped. I wandered the con space for awhile after, and was overjoyed to see two Brokken T. Wolf fursuits out and about. I couldn’t resist asking for a photo. And pretty soon, it was time for my own fursuiting session. Ribsy was making his convention debut! Sam borrowed Rio’s head and paws, and joined Kay and I in suit. It was a blast to debut Ribsy, though many breaks were needed to recover from the heat. During one fursuit lounge trip, Aeiou (another Gorehund suiter) and Hoal came up to me, interested in seeing the latest Gorehund suit. We all left the lounge to get some photos together - including from Gordi, who conveniently happened to be in the con space with some sort of crazy Instax rig. The fursuiting continued well into the evening from there, with Kay and I running into all kinds of friends and acquaintances. Partying at the Adventureruum and the dance alike eventually left me too tired and sweaty to go on.

I headed up to Willow’s hotel room to de-suit, but the elevator line was crazy long. I ended up becoming sickeningly overheated as I waited ages, even after shamefully needing to remove my head and paws in public. I spent what felt like forever alone in the room, lying down and chugging water to relieve my awful headache. I guess my suiting stamina wasn’t so good after the pandemic. I recovered and returned to the Airbnb eventually.


Posing with Aeiou in the con center.
Saturday morning started off slow. I made bacon and baked the cinnamon roll croissant pizza, leaving it out for all to enjoy at their leisure. I met Jovian at the art show around noon, and enjoyed looking at all the pieces up for auction - but especially Jov and Gwen’s work, and Knox’s fursuit sheathes in the adult section (which were accompanied by a sign with some art I’d made for him). Then we got Starbucks and spent some time with Gwen at her dealer’s table.

I split off to watch the tail end of the fursuit parade and meet Proggy. He accompanied me to Rod O’Riley and Mark Merlino’s panel. The “Two Old Furry Fans” discussed the early years of furry fandom. Their giant skiltaire plush was on display, along with some old conbooks. A binder full of early furry party posters was passed around for the audience to comb through. We owe so much to those two guys, and it was an absolute joy to hear them tell stories and answer questions. I have to admit to feeling a little starstruck seeing them in person - even if they’re just a couple of completely kind and down-to-earth old nerds.


One of Mark and Rod's many furry party posters.
Once the panel ended, we took a quick jaunt up to Knox’s decorated, mood-lit suite to fetch the pair of fursuit underwear he’d made me in exchange for that art show signage. I knew the metallic gold jock was going to look fantastic on Ribsy. Underwear in hand, Proggy and I then made a mad dash for the Lackadaisy trailer premiere. The panel room was packed, and we were lucky to snag some of the last available seats before it became a standing-room-only situation. I’ve been a fan of the Lackadaisy comic since I was a middle schooler, so I knew my younger self would’ve been pretty pissed at me if I missed the chance to attend the world premiere of the animated adaptation’s trailer. The panel began with screenings of some Lackadaisy side-comics that had been voiced over by the cast of the animated short. I remained silent as the room burst into boisterous laughter over and over…and I sadly had to acknowledge that my sense of humor was maybe just not the same as it was when I was 12. Still, I enjoyed seeing the impressive animation in the trailer, and feeling the excitement in that room filled to the brim with Lackadaisy fans.

After chilling in the con space, it was time for the usual trip to the liquor store. I got King Cobra and orange juice for brass monkeys, and Progs kindly balled out on some nice Hennessey. We had a quick drink back at the Bnb, hung out with friends at the con center, and then got ready for the Night Market. The line for the Market was LONG, but the wait wasn’t all bad. Sam entertained us by playing The Bad Guys on their iPad. We ran into Steedius and Silent Ravyn, and hung out in line together. And then, at long last, we got in. The Night Market was given a larger space this year, but it was still utterly packed. We didn’t spend too much time browsing the vendors and running into friends before Kay and I felt the itch to get into fursuit. We headed up to Willow’s room to suit up, where everyone staying there was also busy getting ready for the Market.


Ready for the Night Market!
We headed back in suit and danced the night away. Many friends were run into throughout the evening. The fursuit lounge was always bustling and ended up being a great place to socialize, too. By the time we decided to move on to the party floor, it was already shutting down for the night. Oh well…I was pretty sleepy, anyway. I had to resist Proggy’s desire to keep partying, and headed off to bed.

Sunday morning was another slow start. I took advantage of our in-unit laundry and washed all my clothes - heading home from a convention with freshly washed laundry is definitely a rare treat. Next, it was off to Dealer’s with Proggy, where I picked up a badge I’d commissioned. My onion ring craving then took me to Jack in the Box, while the otter preferred to pick up a couple slices at Pizza My Heart. We returned to the con center with our respective lunches and people-watched.

Next on the docket was the Gorehund fursuit photoshoot. I suited up and walked my Balto plush around the con center on his leash for a bit before heading over. It was a small, intimate shoot, as only Krazed Hyena and Aeiou ended up able to make it. But Sassafrass got some great pictures of us in a hotel lobby and out on the town, despite the rain. Hoal helped out with carrying Balto, and making sure none of us fell into any puddles. Somehow, I ripped one of my dewclaws out during all this, and it was hanging onto my paw by a thread. Gwen and Jovian saved the day. I headed right up to their room and made use of Gwen’s sewing kit. More fursuiting and chillage then ensued until the evening’s Taco Bell Cantina meetup.


Us Gorehund fursuiters, photographed by Sass.
The large group I’d organized, and then some, met up in the Marriott lobby, and we walked to T-Bell together. I think we were about 20 furries strong by the time we settled in to eat and sip our alcoholic freezes. It was a ball, and a highlight was getting to meet Motoryote for the first time.

Back at the Airbnb, I figured I should give ‘getting a little drunk’ the ol’ college try. It’s funny to look back at my older con reports and read about my times getting completely sloshed. By this FC, I had realized the further I got from my early 20’s, the less appealing and easy getting drunk had become. These days, sleepiness and sickness set in faster than wastedness, and it usually just ain’t worth it. Nonetheless, I whipped up a brass monkey and tried to down some before grabbing my Rio partial suit and heading over to Smoopa’s Adventureruum set. Friends and I danced and partied together until the party floor’s close, then made our way to a smaller, chiller party I had been invited to in the Hilton. We closed out the night there - chilling with friends, dancing to the DJ set, and being photographed in fursuit on a hotel bed. It was very late, and very rainy, when I finally trekked back to the Airbnb, dodging puddles with my big suitcase containing Ribsy.


Ribsy taking Balto on a walk.
The next day, at the airport, there were once again a huge number of friends to hang out with. We arrived in time for a group visit to the recently-opened SJC Trader Vic’s location. The airport surroundings certainly don’t make for an immersive tiki atmosphere, but I still was glad for the chance to try the iconic chain’s cocktails. The Mai Tai really was one of the best I’ve ever had. Once everyone was on the plane, more sketch swapping happened, with all of us sitting together again.

Back home, I soon realized that post-con depression had pretty much become a thing of the past. My new life in Seattle was sort of like being at a furry convention all the time!




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