Pokali @MFF

Rise and shine, cheepers and peepers

Day 1 of #MFF2025 awaits!

*Approaches your direction rapidly*

My badges for the con!

My badges mixed with my Smitty cosplay head and plush dino bird child.

And now here I am, rather wiped out from volunteering, but I may rally back for the dance.

Anywho, here's how to find me at MFF25! Either by badges, with my new child, or as the occasional night-time Smitty.

(That is, unless, I make a decision on a suit head I may pursue tomorrow?... 🤔)

My new bird-dino l-child experiences the joys of cinema.

At last, then it was finally time. For something I had been awaiting for months.

Zootopia 2. At MFF, with a crowd of friend and furs.

A brought my new child.

No spoilers and no notes. 10/10 movie

Signs for all the con characters for the Villainous Vacation. Including an ice powered reindeer, a waterbender otter, a moss dog, a mad scientist chipmunk, and a murderous goose.

Goose with a knife Fear him

An enormous art banner of the other guy on the beach with tons of geese. Was a hassle to put up but worth it!

Spent the majority of today Gophering with the signage crew. Continued to be wowed by the art.

A mourning dove curled up on the windowsill outside the Hyatt skytunnel, near the heater for warmth. In a bird loaf and sleepy.

Mourning dove my beloved.

Another good birb greeted me on the Skywalk on my way to volunteering.

Got the same comments when MFF22 was my first con. But don't fret, you'll have a blast!

Day 0 of MFF begins. Rise and chirp. 🐦💪

A lil cartoon goose plots their master plan of destruction

Banner art for the convention, featuring a triumphant chipmunk girl villain holding a giant wrench. Surrounded by more goose minions.

Ended my day with volunteer hours setting up the convention. Y'all aren't ready for how dastardly cute the decorations are.

That's a wrap for Day -1!

The plush dino bird looking out the subway window at the snowy streets below. I named them Ally.

Subway ride back home. Teaching my child the wonders of the world.

A plush Archaeopteryx My new child

Before we left, we traveled through the gift shop. Thinking I would get nothing, I turned to one last corner and found them.

My new child.

SUE!!!! The most complete t Rex fossil in existence

SUE!!!!! 🦖 ✨️

Display for the exhibit on the earliest known bird, the Chicago Archaeopteryx.

Its.... a slab of tiny white stone with the fossilized remains stuck in it. Was expecting the full fossil and something bigger - still really cool though!

I MET (the tiny fossilized remains in stone of) THE FIRST EVER BIRD!!!

Giant brontosaur skeleton - at the tippy top wearing an Santa hat

Dino santa

Pterodactyl santa

More Dino Santa

🦕🎄🎅

Ancient giant bird the diatryma, fossilized skeleton

Life size drawings of two giant ancient flightless birds. The diatryma, a nutcracker bird. And a giant penguin.

Info on the andalgalornis, aka terror bird, ancient giant predator. Fossil of its skull

A drawing of a terror bird wearing a red t shirt that just says "NO"

Need a terror bird wearing a "No" sticker STAT

Okay so the featured exhibit was really really cool. Throughout it there was this storybook art-style. And it opened with a short film followed by a somber series of videos about the direct aftermath of the mass extinction meteor that killed the dinos. Here's just one of them - on birds, of course.

Actual ancient Egyptian bird sculpture, of Horus in full falcon mode with a silly lil lotus hat

Stel of Horus, again in falcon form with his favorite funky hat

Horus at last becomes partially a man, and is now sitting on a throne. Still silly hat in tow. Bronze statue.

A derpy bird burial urn. A burn.

Ancient Egypt birds

A blue bird of paradise taxidermy. It is hanging upside down on its perch

🤪 🙃

Sideview of one display case of taxidermy birds. Dozens of them.

More birds.

More birds. Eagles and their next, to be exact. Parent is flying in with a fresh rabbit for the babies.

So. Many. Birds.

I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR HOW MANY BIRDS THIS MUSEUM HAS

Seriously, this exhibit alone was like 20-30 cases. I entered bird-vana.

A snow-covered park art sculpture in the foreground, of many many abstract, metal, disembodied legs. The Chicago cityscape in the background.

Pigeons. New friends.

More cityscape.

Entrance to the Field Museum. A huge display banner of a meteor crashing for the exhibit "After the age of Dinosaurs"

Brief yet scenic walk, and huzzah, Field Museum!

🚇 ❄️ 🏙

A directuonal sign in the middle of a snow bank with two options Park & Ride Kiss & Ride

Who wants to join me at the Kiss & Ride? 💋👉👈

Typical road hellscape of Rosemont. Pavement land. Enormous multi-lane roads, terrible pedestrian sidewalks and signage.

After breakfast, it was time for a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago! But to do so, @mattythemouse.bsky.social and I would have to face our greatest challenge yet.

American car-centric, anti-pedestrian infrastructure

A bird. He lives in the hotel. He sustains my life energy.

Woke up just a couple hours ago for some breakfast and was greeted by my favorite MFF celebrity.

Hello Embassy hotel bird my beloved ♥️ 😭🐦

A golden lattice reindeer statue has been beheaded. Lying in the snow, mournfully.

REINDEER NO

An ominous giant Santa made of Christmas lights peers down on the unsuspecting citizens of Rosemont

He sees you when you're sleeping 👀

He knows when you're awake 😨

Actual irl Pretty patty burger sliders

An abomination of a rainbow sprinkled milkshake with an entire slice of rainbow cake on top.

Arrive at the Embassy Suites and was reunited with my dear friend @mattythemouse.bsky.social 💖

Who then insisted we eat at a place called the Sugar Factory and we got these abominations.

My yearly tradition has come to be listening to my Spotify wrapped on the drive to MFF to reminisce over the past year. But wrapped is not out yet so I made my own Playlist.

It was like 25% Magdalena Bay as they had a chokehold on my brain this year. Also a good deal of Lady Gaga and Deltarune.

I bowl of fully loaded chili with some kettle chips on a school lunch themed plate.

The view from the counter at Hot Lunch. The bar littered with memorabilia from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. Two tvs are running at once, playing Caddy Shack and The Phantom Menace

Started my journey out from home for some hot lunch at a place called... Hot Lunch! One of my favorite dive bars in Madison.

Made it there safe last evening!

I'm gonna try something new and do a live photo-journal-Bsky-thingy of my #MFF25 adventures. Currently on a long subway ride into Chicago, so the perfect opportunity. Here we go!