FWA 2026: Day 4 (the final day!)

Unfortunately had to spend the last day on my own, as Oscar's flight left early in the morning, so had to drive to the airport to drop him off, driving back to the con afterwards to spend the last day there instead of just going home afterwards, since I at least wanted to see the closing ceremonies. So after getting back and parking in a nearby parking structure (since I couldn't stay in the hotel room anymore, having checked out right before we went to the airport) I changed and walked back to the Marriott, killing time in the game room by both playing Rock Band and playing some other stuff in there, like they had some pinball tables in there along with an Xbox running Jet Set Radio Future (which was the first time I ever played that game, as Xbox emulation has been awful for a LONG time).

Admittedly afterwards I was a bit lost, but decided to... *gasp*, try being SOCIABLE! So I went to the third floor of the Marriott since that's the one where people just kind of vibe and talk/hang out with each other, and I saw and met some cool people up there while also vibing to stuff like the music that was playing and talking a bit with some people, pretty sure if you can find footage of the last day where they're filming the third floor, you can find me in the background, though I also left for a bit back to the Peachtree center to get some food, though something kinda funny happened when I was washing my hands, there was a group of guys in there who I don't think were furries, one of them said they liked my suit and asked how much it cost. Since my suit came from Spirit Halloween I said it cost $60, but one of the other guys was like "don't those normally cost a few hundred to a thousand bucks?", so I just said "yeah from a proper maker or someone who does them, it'd cost a few hundred to a thousand, I just got my suit from SH and modified it", with them all wandering off talking about how expensive they are, lmao.

Had one last panel at around 4:30 PM for people into transformation, was similar to the panel I attended that was at 11:30, where it was mainly a meet and greet thing, with similar results of me basically just being kinda bored, albeit still interacting with people for a bit before leaving, going to the hall outside and just killing time by both charging my phone and watching some videos before the closing ceremonies took place at 6, heading back to the Marriott at around 5:45 and waiting in line to see the closing ceremonies, which both showed that apparently over 17k people attended which was insane to me, think the last time I was there (again, in 2022) they had about 12k. They also revealed some more stats like raising over a few hundred thousand for an LGBT charity which was pretty cool, plus they showed off the theme for next year, which was Grand Prix.

Afterwards, the con was basically over for me, having seen everything I wanted to see and needing to get back home anyways before it got too dark, so I met up with one last friend who I knew from online, then headed back to my car, changed back into normal clothes, and hit the road, driving an hour and a half back home, stopping at a QuikTrip closer to my home to both top back up on gas and to pick up some food to eat (got a personal pizza and something to drink). Though it was dark by the time I had gotten home, but unloaded everything from my car afterwards, putting up all the stuff I had bought, washing my clothes, and doing the whole nine yards, before I basically collapsed asleep afterwards, worn out from the drive home, so just kinda been at home all day relaxing.

Overall, FWA was fucking awesome and I'm definitely doing it again next year, especially if Oscar manages to come down again, hopefully can get him to stay for the last day too. Hell, I could potentially bring a friend from GA if they're cool with it, since they're someone I've been friends with since 2022 who I know from my old job, basically found out they were a furry through pure chance. I'm planning on helping out with FWA next year too, mainly in regards to bringing my own setup for Rock Band. The worst part of the whole experience is the fact I have to go back to my normal life after it's all over, but hey, at least I don't have any closing shifts at work this week. :P