first time at a furmeet

went to my first ever furmeet yesterday, a friend i met over 4chan invited me. located at a bowling alley near where i live, it's an event that happens quarter-yearly where fursuiters and other people in the furry fandom gather to socialize and go bowling. when we arrived, the first thing that hit me after entering the doors was a pretty overwhelming smell of body odor. it's probably pretty hard to keep fursuits smelling fresh but also, i'm sure a lot of the attendee's weren't wearing deodorant.

i stayed glued to my friend the entire time. i'm a pretty asocial person, so talking to a bunch of strangers all at once drains my battery like crazy. i was mostly there for the spectacle anyways. seeing all the fursuits though, there was some pretty incredible artistry on display. lots of creative designs that were extremely detailed and expertly made. it really cemented in my mind that i want to get (at least) a partial fursuit when i have the means.

after everyone congregated and talked amongst themselves for a while, all the suiters squeezed into one spot to get a group photo taken. after that, it was time for bowling. the hilarity of watching a bunch of people in animal costumes bowling cannot be understated. they can barely see out of the costumes, they trip over their own feet, well, paws, running up to the lane, and nobody was scoring very well. the people not wearing fursuits definitely had the advantage.

after wandering and people watching for a while longer, my friend and i left, to go to a local bar that acted as an unofficial after-party for this meetup. the bar is furry themed, it has tons of furry related stickers plastered on the walls, as well as mixed drinks named after original characters, who are neatly drawn on the menu. this bar is weirdly close to where i live. i could easily walk there if i wanted to.

i had a very fruity and smokey tasting ale, as well as pretzel served on an overly-fancy wooden platter. the platter was accompanied by a tiny fork, which is used to spear pieces of prezel and dunk them into the cheese. a very dressed-up dish for something that's considered pub food. after that we left to get tacos at taco bell, because the friend i was with had not eaten all day and it was approaching 6pm already.

all things considered, it was a really fun and interesting excursion. i'd definitely do something similar again but- god, today was i drained. i woke up feeling like i had been run over by a freight train. just like with exercise, i should probably warm up my social muscles so i don't overexert myself, especially since i'm generally very reclusive.