I had this journal sitting for a few days, until my PC froze and I lost the draft. So this is a few weeks late because I can't magically recount everything I wrote. It really pissed me off and made me put this off more. I'm not proofreading this, I need to go to bed soon.

TL;DR: (no hyperlinks, I'm x-posting this to 3 sites)

TFS was the first con I got a hotel room and attended all three days. It was moved to June for pride month, but was super quiet in general because the World Cup is happening in the same city. I don't know if that was a good choice, it felt more lively last year despite 5% more attendees. Harmonycon had ~1600 people and there were things happening constantly. But it was a low stakes vacation to trial things. I brought my own drinks but forgot to bring food. Wowww I really really regret this!!

I also brought a lot of toys and books with me to give away. This comes up later.

I've been dealing with physical fatigue that makes me not want to sit at my desk constantly. I thought it was work-related and I'd be fine on vacation, but I took breaks to rest in my room several times. Turns out I have a vitamin B deficiency and have been fine after. I wish I knew that a weekend earlier, because I took multiple breaks to rest in my hotel room almost every day. I missed a room party on Saturday evening because I was laying down and ate dinner when it happened...

Getting a hotel room was quick and painless. I arrived to the hotel 15 minutes earlier than the check-in time I selected on the website, and a room was already available! I decided to drop off my stuff before I pick up my badge during the linecon. Linecon wasn't so bad, I had some interesting conversations including asking some girl and her mom if they were enjoying the linecon. "Is it always like this?" Yes... But I dropped my badge after getting it, so I had to run back....

My mood instability still hit me hard on Friday night. I got physically tired, I wasted $90 on a bougie dinner that didn't fill me up. Literally an okay sushi roll, an absolute ripoff sashimi and then the worst sushi I've ever had. Ugh!!! Then when leaving the restaurant there was a middle aged black couple asking me if I was with "the festivities" downstairs lol. There were a lot of normies at the hotel for FIFA. Had to rest due to fatigue and it was really uncomfortable. I went to Glopossum's business panel, but had to leave early because I was extremely tired. Going to bed was not a good experience because I wasn't feeling well. So Friday appeared to be a bust.

Saturday was a bit better. 2 Advils and a hot shower helped when I woke up in pain. I regret not bringing food, but the buffet next to the bar upstairs is pretty good. $25 for whatever you want and you can take a to-go box. Went to a public transit panel after that, tbh I... don't really remember much else besides the other major things.

I did meet Seventh Element by coincidence during a panel, and we hung out in the dealer's den for a while. First thing I asked was "do you want a capybara plushie?" - because I brought a lot of toys with me and EVERYTHING has to go before I leave. Gave advice on going to the gay district in Dallas, which is carry cash and bring earplugs. Also talked about Harmonycon, and... that I was watching the last Bronycon video a month ago and saw someone sell AI ponies, which aged weird. (To clarify, it was a "look at this technological thing" vendor, not stealing art. Again: 2019.) But apparently the vendor at that booth is really nice and she moved on to work on a digital watch? I forgot the model name, it's not the Apple watch. That was really fun, I always meet at least once mutual in-person at cons and we'll see each other at Harmonycon next year. And I did drop off the capy and got a capybara pin in return >:)

Between then and the trading panel I rested in my room for awhile and got a room service burger because I was too low energy for the cafe. I really regret not bringing food because that shit was $30, including the service fee. I saw my credit card statement after the con and winced. But at least it was really big? I was feeling sad because I had to leave the trading panel. Tbh I'm like... not into many fandoms at all so these things are awkward because I'm not interested in what other people offer lol. But I did trade LPS for a Kacheek and got some pins. I gave away my black Yoshi plushie to someone and just noted everything will be dumped in the family room on Sunday. I did dump it. The mom in the room asked me how I had so much stuff. Well it's all in my suitcase.

Ok anyway I didn't know how Chromecast worked until this weekend, so I stupidly tried to watch TV for awhile??? And holy shit this almost blackpilled me more than when Fox News played in the breakroom at work. Fox News commercials were mostly smoking and gambling. Normie channels like CBS is just medication and glp-1s commercials, and some news story about a baby getting abandoned at the beach. What the hell

Was just depressed in general, but what you do matters more than how you feel. Didn't have fun until halfway through the drag show, which is going to be wild when its on Youtube in a few months. I'm um... in the second row and will show up in it lol. Nightmare blew me a kiss behind the scenes when I was giving money XP
Then the fucking concert, um... I don't even know how to dance but I sweat so much from trying. I legit went back to my hotel room to offload stuff in my bag, get a shot of vodka, and come back to the second. (I was literally liveblogging this to someone in DMs too lol) I took a break to play a Famicom in the game room but I sweat so much I just went to bed and turned the cooler on in my hotel. Then I got randomly hungry at 4am and ate the second half of my burger, then fell back asleep.

Sunday was kind of sad. I checked out of my hotel early, had my luggage held, went to breakfast and took a to-go box full of fruit and treat for my mom. Dropped off the rest of my toys and books in the family room. The interesting thing on Sunday is I predictably got tired... and needed to sit... so I sat at a live sketch panel for a few hours? It was really fun even though I could only draw on my tablet. I should probably upload those sketches.......... So Sunday wasn't really so bad, it's just when people pack up and hang out. I attended the closing ceremony and... kinda went home afterward. It felt weird. It was good to try a small and quiet convention as my first time rooming. But now I'm craving something busier, but I don't want to deal with higher rates than the Hyatt had....... I kind of liked having my privacy when rooming alone.

Misc. anecdotes I either took photos of or tweeted:

Cartman was there again. Last time he said he was on multiple days to "get his money's worth". Now he said his mother is forcing him to go to cons. A moment of silence for this child.
I threw a quarter in the waterfall and a guy who was standing in front of it just looked at me and handed me a cream liqueur shot. It was sealed so I knew it was safe, but extremely random. I love being given free alcohol!!! It's still in the fridge.
One conversation I witnessed on Sunday was an attendee had their very old family member talking to a fursuiter... and the suiter was explaining what a "bimbo fox" was....
One of the drag kings recognized me from TFF and told me they'll be at Sue Ellen's on the 17th. Now I'm trying to fight work to let me be off on that day to go :>
Found the same capybara suiter from last year with a new and improved head, but I didn't get her name or socials :( I never know when it's appropriate to ask...
Also found an abandoned Pokemon at the tables on Saturday night? I just left it there since I'm a hoarder and don't need more toys... lol....

I'm not attending any multi-day cons again this year, I might get a day pass for Fan Expo, but work is being stupid about requesting time off. My credit card needs to recover from all that. I also have no idea what my plans are next year. Health bullshit aside, TFF really pissed me off so I might just get a day pass. I MIGHT travel out of state next summer so a day pass for TFS is a big maybe. I don't know about anything else in Dallas, Sonic Expo disappointed me last year so I don't even know if I'm going again this year.

I will say I'm returning to the Hyatt for Harmonycon 2027... AND I'M BRINGING FOOD.

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