RainFurrest 2014


The convention theme was "cyberpunk."
6 years had passed since RainFurrest 2008, my last con. I had fallen out of furry a bit during high school. It just didn't seem worth it to try and attend cons when I had nobody to go with, and when I was too young to go by myself but too old to want to drag my parents along. I still made furry art and cared about the community, but I didn't make fursuits or keep up very well with what was going on in the fandom.

In 2014, I was starting college. I had a longtime friend in my new city, Hazel, who loved conventions and costumes and had expressed enthusiasm at the idea of going to a furry con. I'm not sure what inspired me, but I was feeling the pull to dive back into furry. I saw RF was coming up, now held at the Seattle Airport Hilton. I realized I was a legal adult now and could attend without parental supervision. So I was like, fuck it, let's go. Hazel was totally on board. I started hacking away at my old Zest Wolf fursuit head, using leftover black and gray faux furs I still had laying around to make an all-new character for the con. I began catching up on things I'd missed in furry, like who the popufurs were now, who the big new fursuit makers were, what new conventions had sprung up.


Maymayboy98 takes a breather at the Taco Bell near the con.
I met a deer furry at my school, Brandy, who was also down to go. And so my RF 2014 group was assembled. We didn't get a hotel, we just decided we'd drive to my parents' place to sleep after the con each night.

At this time in life, I was really into collecting one of my most beloved childhood toys, the Furby. So my favorite Furby, Maymayboy98, accompanied us to the con. He starred in most of my photos from the event, and proved to be a great wingman in getting fursuiters to interact with us.


Maymayboy98 meets a celebrity: Telephone the angel dragon.
Regrettably, I didn't wind up writing any sort of reflection afterwards, so my memory of RF’14 is foggy as hell. What I do remember vividly is the feeling of being in a furry con environment after so long, and being surrounded by fursuits again. A bunch of that joy and excitement from my days as an overenthusiastic kid furry came rushing back. I was sold all over again, baby.

Fursuit dance competitions hadn't really become “a thing” until after I'd stopped paying close attention to furry, so I was excited to go to the RF'14 dance comp. Hazel and I got great seats and were pretty entertained.


A passerby is happy to meet Maymay.
Our weekend also involved a life drawing session, an impromptu game of Cards Against Humanity (lol) with some random furries in the lobby area, some art jamming, a Denny's visit or two, a trip to a craft store to make a pair of bunny ears for Hazel, several Dealer’s Den shopping sessions, and a lot of people-watching. I participated in the fursuit parade in the partial suit I made for the con, but my other attempts to fursuit did Not last long...it had been way too long since I'd experienced that level of heat and sweating, and I couldn't take it!

Overall...we may not have made new friends, or been introduced to the world of room parties, or experienced any of the alleged debauchery that RainFurrest became known for. But nonetheless, RF'14 was a solid introduction back into furcons, and a fun beginning to a new era that would slowly see me become completely re-immersed in the fandom. ‘A good time was had by all.'


Maymayboy98 enjoys a "to be or not to be" moment with a sabertooth.

RainFurrest 2014 Links


Me marching in the fursuit parade as Abel.
Photo by Randorn Canis on Flickr.
Rainfurrest 2014 Fursuit Parade - uploaded by Corezy. The fursuit parade heads through a main hallway. Link leads to the timestamp where I appear in my partial fursuit glory.

Rainfurrest 2014 Fursuit Parade - uploaded by Yu Puffin. The fursuit parade as seen from outside the con center. Link leads to...you know the rest.

Rainfurrest 2014 Fursuit Parade - uploaded by Raikoh067. Another hallway view of the parade. Exciting bonus: Hazel and Brandy are visible chilling in the background

Con Report: Rainfurrest 2014 - Detailed report by Kiriska, an artist who sold in the art show and Dealer's Den that year.

Rainfurrest 2014: Cyberpunk. - Con report by shatterstripes, the artist Guest of Honor for RF'14.

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