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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jeefl6y wrote

What a clickbait title. The contracted rooms sold out, there are still loads of rooms in the area.

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Eisengate t1_jeeggf2 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,524,538)

People attend a convention and do convention stuff? It's not a secret cabal meeting.

Edit: personally, I think the vape con was weirder and raised more questions. Such as: who was the poor bastard who had to clean the ceiling afterwards?

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CL-MotoTech t1_jeeiykq wrote

Replying to HomicidalHushPuppy (#2,526,448)

I agree that it is kind of clickabait, but still, 7600 rooms. That's a lot.

>Within 24 hours, over 7,600 contracted hotel rooms sold out after reservations opened on Feb. 2. VisitPITTSBURGH said it made an extra 1,800 available, expanding blocks and finding more hotels.

For anybody that hasn't been. This event kicks ass. My 7 year old goes crazy for it. Everybody is super nice. It is worth checking out.

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Beebajazz t1_jeejf4w wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,524,538)

The itinerary is on the convention website

But the short of it is things like talent shows, skits, themed hangouts, contests, a parade, and a party.

Its basically a themed 2 day camp.

They aren't confined to the hotel/convention center, so you will see them in various stages of fur throughout the downtown and surrounding areas engaging in normal tourism.

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xuxux t1_jeepet4 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,524,538)

We hang out at panels, buy stuff at the vendor area, maybe go peruse the 18+ art auction. So much weird fetish art, kinda fun to explore it. And then back into the general con to head to another panel, or go hang out at the hotel with friends that we've only met online or at other cons. Pretty standard con stuff.

The hotel parties are either totally tame nerds getting drunk and playing board games or really horny, depends on the crowd.

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FuzzPunkMutt t1_jeepumu wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,524,538)

It depends on where you are. Mostly it's just people in costumes or who really like animal style art hanging out and meeting each other. The parties are loud, the dance is an EDM fueled shakedown where 1000+ people cram into a room and reach critical mass, and most furries love taking over restaurants and tipping well.

There's a lot less sex than the Media likes to show, but "just sorta hanging out with people who share interests and like art" doesn't get the ratings.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeeqb76 wrote

Replying to CL-MotoTech (#2,527,589)

I was a part of the furry fandom for 20 years.

Please, please be careful with your kid. The furry fandom isn't safe no matter how cute and colorful the costumes are. I left the furry fandom far behind after exposing a ring of people cozying up to animal and child abusers for access to "videos"

Not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom attracts A LOT of sexually abusive people. I don't want anyone going through what I did, especially kids.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeeqwzz wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,524,538)

On the surface it's identical to anime and sci fi fandom conventions.

However, I was part of the furry fandom for 20 years. It got me sexually abused and exposed to the absolute worst of sexual fetish culture.

Not every furry is a bad person, but the furry fandom is absolutely home to the most depraved, harmful, boundary violating people I've ever had the displeasure of encountering. I am being literal when I say the furry fandom has cutesy terms for child and animal coded porn. "Cub" and "Feral"

Don't assume a colorful costume has a whimsical, good natured person inside it.

https://twitter.com/ConStaffWatch/status/1399573940054347778?s=20

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AirtimeAficionado t1_jeer2up wrote

Replying to CL-MotoTech (#2,527,589)

That’s a number that’s hard to even comprehend, most hotels have ~200-300 rooms, so they sold out pretty much every hotel downtown from what I can gather. Pittsburgh in general has a shortage of hotels, both in type and in number, hopefully this can be used as an example for justifying more to be built.

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hubbyofhoarder t1_jeer9yx wrote

Awesome. My favorite part of the summer is Anthrocon. I love to walk the streets downtown and take pictures of as many of the attendees as possible.

I try to just be friendly "Hey, you look really great! Would you mind if I take a picture?" The folks I ask always say yes. So fun!

These are some of my favorite pics:

https://imgur.com/a/pbKNeOT

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LockelyFox t1_jeerl42 wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,530,106)

I'm sorry you had a traumatic experience, but you should know we actively expel and remove those kinds of people. It's a huge deal.

On top of that, AC is a family friendly event. The very small amount of Adult themed stuff is behind ropes and curtains and requires an ID to access, or in private hotel rooms where consenting adults do as they wish.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeesvej wrote

I was a part of the furry fandom for 20+ years.

Not every furry is a bad person, not by a long shot, and hating furries out-of-hand without the facts is wrong.

However, the furry fandom itself is dangerously populated with people like this in positions of power and influence https://twitter.com/ConStaffWatch/status/1399573940054347778?s=20

I want to make it very clear: this event is run and organized by people who wear cute costumes to disassociate from their paraphilias. The people who attend this event all have these things in common and it is NOT uncommon in the furry fandom at all.

Anthrocon itself has staff members who in their online lives are openly zoophilic.

I say this with 20 years of experiences, and the therapy it took to get me past the sexual abuse I suffered and the things I saw people engaged in behind closed doors: there are parts of the furry fandom that are so dark and corrupt if more people knew about, there wouldn't BE any furry conventions.

Short version, facts:

Anthrocon is a Pittsburgh mainstay and it's not going anywhere and brings a lot of money to the city. Not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom has some HORRENDOUS sexual abuse and paraphilic obsessions. It is not as cute and safe as it seems.

I only say this because I don't want anyone ever going through what I did. Be careful, not hateful.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeetl6n wrote

Replying to LockelyFox (#2,530,509)

Yes, conventions are sectioned off that way.

And, again, i was in the fandom for 20 years. I know the by-lines and the things furries say when the facts come out.

The furry fandom only pays lip service to "we actively expel those people"

Can you tell me how you've actively done that? And can you also explain to the people here why "cub" and "feral" are two of the most popular porn tags?

Maybe you can tell everyone here what RC Fox did?

again, you're not dealing with an uninformed normie. I went to AC and other conventions for 20+ years.

No hate, but save your "sorry you got hurt, but..." comments. It's all furries can ever say in regards to what goes on in the fandom.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeeuuig wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,531,184)

It's not triggering for me anymore. I don't want anyone going through what I did and informing others while framing it that not all furries are bad people is important to me.

And, again, i'm not painting all furries as bad because that's simply not true.

However, I found that the furries that are most upset by this are usually the ones that "if the shoe fits" applies to.

so you can take a time-out if you're gonna be needlessly rude.

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ScareJessica2Death t1_jeeweae wrote

I'll let the Furries camp in my yard for $50. That includes breakfast.

They have to poop in the woods, tho.

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No-Razzmatazz- t1_jeewn6b wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,531,799)

> I'm glad I didn't ever take you seriously.

You post in r/ABDL and think abuse victims shouldn't be taken seriously. Says a lot about you.

LMAO

YIKES

E: u/FuzzPunkMutt deleting their comments acting like they don't have a weird child fetish. Just a harmless fur fan nothing to see here. Bring your kids to the parade just don't let them get too close.

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SisterCharityAlt t1_jeewt92 wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,531,226)

Dude, furrydom is a sexual fetish.

Anthropomorphic animals are an artform.

I think we forget about that because there is an absolute G-rated aspect to the artform but the furries and cons are essentially adults looking to have a fetish convention. I'm not really sure why you're surprised by the idea that fetishes cross into other weird territory.

That being said, AC is pretty much a chill low-key event that's more G/PG rated stuff but I've had enough friends get into orgies to know what's going on in those 7600 rooms.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeexnxk wrote

Replying to No-Razzmatazz- (#2,531,903)

It happened to me a lot on my way out of the fandom, and from people with unconscionable vices and paraphilias behind closed doors. When I tried to expose it from within the fandom, they labeled me mentally ill on social media. The people I went to for help.

I don't hate furries. I hate what happened to me, what I got exposed to, and the parts of the furry fandom that continue to inflict on others, ESPECIALLY young LGBT people, what happened to me.

Let me put it this way, I wouldn't wish what happened to me on anyone, including the person that just blamed me for my own sexual abuse.

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LockelyFox t1_jef0pr2 wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,531,226)

You're painting things with such a broad brush that at this point I'm not sure if you're trolling or not. It's well known that large cons like AC ban and remove harmful people on the regular, and actively update their terms of visitation to maintain a PG environment. The very first year I went to AC, before I even had a fursona or anything and was just dabbling in the fandom, I literally watched Con Security escort a murrsuiter (for the uninitiated, someone with a suit meant for sexual activities) out and ban them from the con.

Every community, especially ones with millions of members has shitbirds like RC Fox (who wasn't discovered until 2017, and who then was arrested and CW:>!killed himself!<). Pretending things like pedophilia is a unique problem within the furry community is disingenuous at best and actively spreading misinformation at worst. Especially towards a community with such high percentages of folks who are LGBTQIA+.

There's a reason why conservatives continue making up stories about furries in schools "demanding to use litterboxes," and it's because they can't just be outright homophobic anymore in today's society.

You also continue to link to a twitter thread involving a completely separate convention. There are [60+ yearly conventions in North America alone, and over 100 worldwide.] (https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Anthropomorphic_Fandom_Convention_Information_Sheet) I'm not sure why you're conflating events that happened at one con to apply to all the others.

Again, I am sorry you had a traumatic experience with someone in the fandom and you're choosing to lash out at the fandom instead of that person. I'm also a victim of sexual coercion, by someone decidedly not in the fandom, but I'm not choosing to take that out on all the superfans of Lady Gaga, as that was her "thing."

I hope that you find a constructive way to heal from your trauma and pain. No one deserves to be sexually mistreated, and I sincerely wish you the best in your recovery. But please stop painting such a wide brush over a massive fandom.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jef1hnr wrote

Replying to pacbyeo (#2,533,408)

Thank you for your kindness. It's okay though, I know how it goes and it's still important for me to inform others so they can make their own decisions.

I was an insecure gay kid that thought the furry fandom was the only place for me because weird/geek/lack of confidence...turns out that's what abusers are looking for. My abuser got away long ago, but after I left the fandom, one of the people I tried to warn others of went to jail for distributing videos of animals on children to popular furry circles in the Denver/Seattle.

I did heal thankfully. Good therapy, good family and friends, and determination. I know who I am now without a proxy identity. Leaving the parasocial social media sphere of it all did wonders for my mental health too.

And just to put a fine point on it, I don't hate furries and furry hate out-of-hand is wrong. I think people should be able to know the facts about what really goes on so they can come to a decision on their own. For me, that was "not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom itself is lousy with sexual abuse and out of control paraphilic fetishism.

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No-Razzmatazz- t1_jef2hot wrote

Replying to LockelyFox (#2,530,509)

> we actively expel and remove those kinds of people. It's a huge deal.

Do you "actively expel" ageplay and diaper fetishists, or is that just harmless fun? Nothing to do with kids right? Asking for a friend.

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pacbyeo t1_jef36dc wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,533,969)

I'm happy to hear things are better. It's good to come forward with what happened regardless of what people say. Especially for men. I feel like they don't often talk about SA. I didn't even know what anthrocon was so I'm not the target audience for the message but I did learn something.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jef3c2u wrote

Replying to LockelyFox (#2,533,693)

The constructive way of healing from my pain has been informing others of the dangers of the furry fandom. How you feel about that is your business, because you're in defense mode. You know damn well how people would react if they saw the deep down dirt that goes on, and your discomfort with that is what fuels your response here.

None of this has anything to do with conservatives who ALSO have horrible vices, beliefs and behavior, and whataboutism is always a dodge for people who are uncomfortable with addressing behavior in their own tribes. Conservatives didn't make up the litterbox hoax, 4chan trolls did and everyone ate it up. We both know the litterbox thing wasn't true.

And yes, that is a separate con. The behavior in it isn't rare though. These sort of people are involved in LOTS of conventions and institutions, you know it, and you feel the need to play it down.

This isn't lashing out, that's just how you need to frame it for yourself. And lady gaga fans don't have forums like e621 where they post porn traced from pictures of children.

This is just you on tribalism.

Again, I don't hate you and I don't want to cause you harm or distress. I don't hate furries and not all furries are bad people, but the "wide brush" I'm painting with is dipped in facts.

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MolaMolaMedia t1_jef3q0o wrote

Moved into Pittsburgh just after this event last year, what is it actually like if you're just in downtown but not going to the convention? Miserable to get around and super crowded or do they mostly keep to the hotels and convention center?

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Corny_Toot t1_jef4r5w wrote

Replying to MolaMolaMedia (#2,534,760)

> mostly keep to the hotels and convention center

It's pretty much this + restaurants in the area. So the cultural district and the strip will probably be pretty busy. The parade is the only thing that seems to cause any congestion in my experience.

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checkpoint_hero t1_jef4up2 wrote

Replying to pacbyeo (#2,534,304)

It's not like I've seen a single comment outright attacking them. Some downvotes and people disagreeing with points and providing sourced information and their own personal experiences.

Again, downvotes are not attacking.

−4

FuzzPunkMutt t1_jef5diy wrote

Replying to MolaMolaMedia (#2,534,760)

It's no different than any other time that things get a little crowded. The biggest thing to be aware of is that on the Saturday they will close down a section of Penn Ave near the center, so you do have to go around during that time.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jef6zsj wrote

Replying to not-evileye12 (#2,535,469)

I appreciate that, thank you.

Thing is, I get why they do it and I think I got past being mad about it. Tribalism feelings are powerful and hard to break out of. Besides, it's easier to get your real point across to more people when you don't get heated about it. I sure used to.

It's NOT all furries, not by a longshot. It's just that the fandom itself is attractive to...well...the people you saw in that twitter thread. That stuff goes both unchecked and passively ignored by normal furries, and the problems get worse.

I don't want anyone going thru what I did.

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MolaMolaMedia t1_jef8gg9 wrote

Replying to Avocado_Amnesia (#2,535,934)

Hey I'll take it! Not exactly a community I'm interested in joining myself, but I god knows how much money I got during rougher days back in college doing commissions for fursonas. Not even NSFW stuff, they just pay good money in general, those folks paid my rent a couple of times. Maybe I should hand out business cards lol

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Avocado_Amnesia t1_jef9qi5 wrote

Replying to MolaMolaMedia (#2,536,289)

That is 100% my experience as well. Worked restaurant/bar jobs down there and the anthrocon crowd was consistently among the very best tipping and most polite of any guests we would have throughout the year. They are also just a lot of fun out on the street and very approachable.

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ancrm114d t1_jefctyk wrote

Replying to CL-MotoTech (#2,527,589)

If 7600 rooms sold out in 24 hours I think it's a safe bet that the other 1800 will.

I'm pulling this out of thin air but let's assume 1.5 people per room. That adds up to 14,100 right off the bat. Not including non contract rooms or if the people per room is higher.

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TSOD t1_jefdeit wrote

Replying to wayiswho (#2,534,121)

That's what happens at most conventions though. I've had friends hook up with more people at the 1/2 anime conventions they go to a year than the rest of the year.

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ChefGuru t1_jefe144 wrote

Replying to HomicidalHushPuppy (#2,526,448)

It's not a clickbait title. It didn't say that every hotel room in the city sold out, it only said that the convention rooms sold out. Unless you're a moron, you know that an event with an official hotel reserves a block of rooms specifically for that event for their attendees.

−1

SairenjiNyu t1_jefek29 wrote

(This happens basically at every convention. Usually within minutes and its a bummer)

0

bp1976 t1_jefhre4 wrote

I am a part time rideshare driver and I can't wait for this!!! I love driving the furries around, such great people and fun vibes!!!

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Merusk t1_jeflp1q wrote

Wife and I were discussing this story this morning. At first I thought "Meh, no surprise it's a convention for a niche audience, they sell out quickly."

No, no. It's almost 8,000 rooms that sold out. There are a total of 24,000 hotel rooms in the Greater Pittsburgh area, according to a Trib story referencing "Smith Travel" as its source.

That means about 1/3 of ALL hotel rooms in Pittsburgh were sold out in less than 24 hours. That's crazy.

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Merusk t1_jefmf0e wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,530,952)

I don't know what social media trend caused the turnaround, but I recall nothing but hate and derision for furries by the general internet in the past because of everything you just listed.

At some point it's become "you're just hateful because you're disturbed by their fetish."

My sincere hope you're healing and in a better place now.

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Rook22Ti t1_jefo0kb wrote

I'll never understand why they wait until it's really hot here to put on furry costumes but I just love having them.

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VendaGoat t1_jefq2fh wrote

Replying to Merusk (#2,540,338)

Don't quote me, but I remember reading articles that the full economic impact of this one convention is in the millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars for the city.

It's a heavily attended convention.

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LeoTheBirb t1_jefwwk2 wrote

Replying to checkpoint_hero (#2,535,122)

Ugh, this user has a history. They used to troll on a furry discussion sub before getting banned for harassing the other users. This was after doing it for months.

They quite literally tracked down one of the users, somehow found an account they had on a weird porn website, and decided to post it on Reddit as a “gotcha”. I called them out for literally stalking someone and they DMd me a wall of text before blocking me.

Weirdest encounter I’ve ever had on this site.

They have a tendency to spam the same thing over and over and over.

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-Zipp- t1_jefxhup wrote

Thank god i live here then

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LockelyFox t1_jeg2rub wrote

Replying to ThatFabulousBastard (#2,544,938)

I'm asexual but didn't have the vocabulary to understand that at the time, granted most of us didn't back then. They tried to "fix" me even though I didn't want it, along with other deep psychological abuse.

They're not in my life and I've worked through the trauma, though they've attempted to apologize and reconnect several times over the years. I just block them and move on.

They know what they did was wrong and can live with their shame and my lack of forgiveness. It must eat away at them but I could not care any less.

Thanks for the mention, I hope you can find healing as well.

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Vivid-Ice4175 t1_jegmtqr wrote

working in a restaurant downtown during anthrocon i can say that the attendees were by far my favorites of any conventions. they were always nice, smiling, tipped well, and generally had a great happy vibe. they are doing what they love with people who share common interests. I'm going to be attending this year. furries rule!

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