Scenes From the Texas Furry Fiesta

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday March 26 to Sunday March 28, the Texas Furry Fiesta took place in Second Life, and a few other places online. Much like with the Gen Con last year, the decision to make the event virtual was because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

The TFF however would have a smaller designated area in the virtual world than Gen Con last year. The location was in the Crimson sim, the lower area next to the beach with the sounds of waves coming ashore.

There was a freebie "store" with a small selection of free avatars. They were quite dated, but better than nothing. I didn't see any Wingless avatars, but was later told they weren't put up as there was only so much room. 

Clicking on a crystal would teleport one up to the upper level, a beach park area. The main feature was a two story building with a flat roof. 

There wasn't much on the first floor, though there was a request to donate to charity.

The second floor had a small dance floor.

The top floor had some seating and a "Cards Against Humanity" game.

Near the building were a couple other games, and a screen people could watch one of the streamed channels.

There was also a display for pages of the website.

A few people were dropping by early to check things out.

The event also had places in VR Chat and Minecraft. I checked out the latter.

There was a hotel made of bricks, where players appeared. 

With the inside detailed. There were also water elevators one could flow up in.

Outside the hotel, there were various plots, where people with permission could build something.

Taking a look after the con was over, build they did.

Friday March 26 was the official start of the 'con. Much of it was on Discord with streamed channels. But there was activity in Second Life. I ran into Shelby Allen, one of the TFF staff.

Shelby explained things were going smoothly, and showed me around a little. There were a few others around, including some whom hadn't been around in a while.

There was one thing I hadn't seen in a while. There was a group of Yinglet avatars around, the largest since the release party in Montecito Bay.

When I mentioned this to one of them, she smiled, "Obviously, you haven't been looking in zhe right places."

Later that night, the "Cards Against Humanity" (or furanity?) proved to be a hit. 

And some fun conversations.

Saturday March 27, I saw something I hadn't seen in almost 12 years. This was one of the limited edition Lost Furest kitty avatars sold with all proceeds going to the Relay for Life. While I had gotten the Hope Kitty, I forget which one this was. 

There was more activity at the top of the building.

Someone showed up in a petite avatar, looking small.

And someone changed to a six-inch Lomtech from Lomgren Smalls, at six inches, looking smaller.

While it might not have been a real-life convention, there was plenty to do. Besides VR Chat and Minecraft, some were playing video games over Twitch. And on some Discord channels there were discussions and music playing.  I listened to a few minutes of those, but not a lot. This was partially due to the instant messages I was getting, and partially because with my experience with cons, I've found it best to relax and not worry about doing too much.

On Sunday came a message from HR Fluffenstuff over Discord, "Thank you for joining us for TFF's 2021 Virtual Con the discord Server will be taken down on 04-02-2021.  We will be looking at rebuilding it properly with the feedback we got from our attendees. Our social media team will announce when and where it will be hosted when we are able. 

"Thank you again for joining us and we hope to see you at the 2022 Live con!"

One friend of mine who attended commented the experience was so involving, he ended up getting post-con blues. Others on Discord posted they liked it as well, "(I) really enjoyed what I have seen of TFF and got to connect with people I would never be able to talk to." "I have enjoyed this Virtual convention experience very much. Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who worked so hard to make this happen.  It is normally next to impossible for me to get time off work to travel, so Virtual is the only way I have been able to experience any type of furry convention in a long, long time.  I hope that you will be able to consider having a virtual presence going forward. Not just for me, but for others who have difficulty traveling, including those who have disabilities, or who are otherwise home-bound."

What happens next year is still to be determined. But hopefully there will be some kind of presence by the Texas Furry Fiesta in Second Life next year, either their own area or cooperating with one or more furry areas.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Scenes From The Smash Party

Saturday September 12 had a few events. One was the "Smash Party" by the Titmouse animation studio.

Expect the unexpected at the Titmouse Smash Party ... Anything can (and probably will) happen at this virtual world gathering where participants are invited to smash, bash and crash one of the hottest parties of the year held by independent award-winning animation production company Titmouse

The SURL given out for the event was in "Smash Portal A." Heading there, there were a few people guiding those interested along. Among them ironically enough was Squeaky Mole. Leave it to Linden Lab to assign a mouse for a "Titmouse" event.

We were to go through a screen/portal to go to the party.

Or rather, one of the parties. There were a LOT of sims Linden Lab had set up for party areas in case the event attracted a ton of interest. I ended up in number 23.

Going through, I ended up in a building.

 Looking around, there were a few things in the building.

This was probably a display of an animator at work.

I continued to look around, stepping outside. And there was the cage in the distance.

 There were a few food trucks one could pick up a snack.

This was probably the Titmouse mascot Mr. Chirps.

The sense of humor showed, though not sure if this really came from the studio of was someone being funny.

The entrance, and exit, of the cage.

Those entering were given a weapon at random.

Sometimes it was a battleaxe, sometimes a baseball bat, sometimes a sledgehammer, sometimes a squeaky hammer. There was also one spikey thing I couldn't identify.

And once in, people were free to swing away. Toilets would shatter as water went up in a geyser.

Computer screens and televisions would implode, then shatter. Stacks of red solo cups would go all over the place.

Pinatas would shatter into candy and heads. Pallets would break apart. Vases would crack into many pieces.

 In real life, items would have to be replaced after every session.

But here, the destroyed pieces would vanish after about a minute, and the item would respawn. Amd the carnage would continue.

At times, the place would get thick with dust in the air.

 Person after person wrecked scenes of therapeutic destruction.

Yours truly never swung a hammer, prefering to document what went on.

The Smash Party would go on for a few hours, but I was around only for one half hour of it. Perhaps Titmouse will hold another one here next year.

Bixyl Shuftan