Ryker's Blog

The Anthrocon 2026 Post

A few weeks late for the post, but another Anthrocon in the books! I had a wonderful time overall, and it was a great reminder of why this fandom is so incredible. Wanted to take a moment to give massive thanks to all my friends who made it such a wonderful experience, all the con staff and volunteers who make the con possible at all, and you for taking the time to read my silly little thoughts.

Events

I tended to stick to the larger events this time around, but had a really nice time!

The Jazz Big Band was incredible, and absolutely worth the wait to get in. I had a few friends performing, and just had a massive grin on my face the entire time. I'm such a fan of music events and so glad I got to see this one, always makes me want to try picking up an instrument. Perhaps I will!

In a similar vein, the orchestra performance was fabulous. A very nice mix of Stravinsky, Super Mario Galaxy, opera, and some other pieces I didn't recognize but still really enjoyed. I love watching people be good at things, and especially shoutout to the people playing their instruments in fursuit, that's gotta be so hard.

Floor Wars has been one of the main highlights of every Anthrocon I've been to, and they pulled out all the stops this time. The D20 for "random" music was fantastic, and particularly the cursed music; I've never seen a room light up that much when "Cotton-Eyed Joe" played before. If you haven't done so yet I strongly encourage you watch the recording, the dancers, the hosts, and AV really stepped it up this year.

The Fursuit Dance Competition was also incredible as always, the dancers did such an amazing job. This event and Floor Wars always make me feel so energized and wondering what it would be like to learn to dance, something I have not followed through on, but again perhaps some day! The Floor Guy subplot was also incredible, but I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers. Once again, strongly recommend watching the recording if you haven't seen it.

Furry Logic put on a great escape room this year, would also strongly encourage checking that out if you ever see that a con! I went in with several puzzle hunt friends who were definitely over- qualified for this, and apparently we set the record time, not that I had much to do with that LOL. Really fun all the same, looking forward to doing Twisted Tails' at Furrydelphia!

Capitalism

The Dealer's Den was dangerous as always this year, definitely did my fair share of Partaking In Capitalism. Figured I'd show off the haul!

The definite highlight was this beautiful sign by CoyoticTrouble, which I still have to figure out how to hang up. I really love the idea of taking some generic piece of home decor and making it personal and furry, and hope I can find more similarly delightful pieces in the future!

A picture of the sign on my counter, it consists of three panels with a cartoony fox enjoying nature. The top panel has the fox looking up to a partly cloudy sky, the second has them walking through a field of tall grass and yellow flowers, and the third has them sleeping in a bed of colorful flowers with the text 'WORRIES ARE FEW'

Beyond that, I picked up three beautiful prints from Blind Coyote, a booth I always have minimal self control at. Those are Eclipse of the Crystals, Bleeding Colors, and See You Next Time, Space Cowboy. I am rapidly approaching the point of not having enough wall space for all of these, and I couldn't be happier.

I also picked up two books from the Fur Planet booth, Out of Position by Kyell Gold and Rafts by Utunu. I've been excited to pick up Rafts ever since I read Far Flung last year, and have since started it, it's very cute so far! Out of Position is one of the "furry classics" in my mind so figured I should learn my history and read it. It was good! Perhaps I'll write a more detailed post about the various furry books I've read, I've definitely been enjoying it!

I also picked up the Fox and Bird Hoodie from YKSOBA, which is a design I've been eyeing for a while, and then a few other miscellaneous items. All in all a good haul!

Food

As a former Pittsburgh local, I thought it might be nice to share some of my favorite places to eat around the con center.

Introspection

Going to cons and seeing so many people doing so many cool things, be it artists in the dealers den, dancers in the competitions, fursuiters who really bring their characters to life, anyone running panels, or anyone else doing their thing to make the con unique and special, always makes me simultaneously incredibly happy and inspired to be part of such an incredible community and also somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that in a space so full of creativity... I haven't felt like I've had much to offer.

I've identified myself as a furry for over 10 years now, but I've never really stuck with any particular creative hobby that feels like my own or that I can share with the community. I don't think there's anything wrong with this, per se, but it does feel personally like there's something missing that I'm hoping I can find. It's part of why I started this blog in the first place, and part of why I've made an effort to make logic puzzles, or my short-lived stints at drawing and CTM mapmaking. I definitely find my writing style to be somewhat flat or matter-of-fact currently, but the hope is that by doing more of it I can find more of my own voice. And who knows, perhaps I can make something more out of these puzzles! Or pick up something completely new!

And I don't mean to be too hard on myself either. I've made so many wonderful friends through this community that have made my life so much better, and I hope (and believe!) that I've made their lives even a little bit better in return. If nothing else I certainly hope to keep that up, so thank you once again to every single friend who have made this con (and my life in general these past few years) so wonderful!

Closing

In any case, I think those are enough thoughts for now, it's already taken me 3 weeks to write this post as is x3. Take care, thanks again for reading, and I'll see you around next time! I have a few ideas for future blog posts I'm pretty excited about, so keep an eye out for those!