The end of May and the approach of June presented something that coincided with the big international furry convention, held in Las Vegas this year. It was also something that generated a lot of hype and interest in conversions, largely because so many "furries" in the US became Animalians fairly quickly once the possibility was there and that Horizon had found that while they couldn't reverse the transformation, they could make sure that the new Animalian wouldn't be infectious, at least for a year without an additional vaccination. Not to mention that as other colonies in the US like Dino City and Dinotopia Aquatica were established, it became a lot easier for people in the US to convert. The only thing that really limited the ability for places like Lyre/Animalia to host these sorts of conventions was when they had the IAC and the facilities best suited for the convention were otherwise in use.
But America was not the only place where there were those that were interested in that kind of thing. Furries were, while they weren't necessarily in great numbers, just about everywhere, and this included areas outside the US. But while colonies were being established in other parts of the world, some of those colonies were not easy to get to. Maelewano and Vilcabamba had issues with a remote location and a different purpose. The shuttling between the Brazilian sister city where the airport was and the small ferries that would run up to Vilcabamba would make those things difficult to work with, and much of Maelewano's purpose was to provide protection for those trying to escape the various armed conflicts that plagued parts of Africa and were further hampered by issues related to available medicines in the region. Mieni and Heiya Island were better suited for tourism, but had limitations in the space available, and with elements of the IAC going on at Mieni, they couldn't work with that.
The other options were in France, Britain, Spain and some of the other colony sites, but they often had private ownership which wasn't going to have such things on their property and didn't necessarily have the space for it, even if it was to be allowed. There were plans for a colony building in Tokyo, which would actually then allow for some of those on Heiya Island to return home, but between Covid and the cost of having to likely take down a building or two, that planned construction project had been going at a snail's pace as they couldn't just kick people living there out of their homes just to make room for others, and Tokyo had limited space to build new spots. All of this then made the Animalian colonies hard to access for things like a international furry convention, not without a lot of other travel arrangements that often limited that.
But Las Vegas, Nevada had had good relations with Animalia and when the convention was set up for the city, that allowed for those that had the money for the flight to Las Vegas to consider things that would tie in for the contests that would be playing into things, which could be a complicated thing. Some had come to the convention to win a chance for funding for conversion, which was offered as part of a prize for the best costume or presentation of that costume. Some had the money to convert, and Horizon had managed to set up a few areas where Judy and Banjo could carry out the conversions as quickly and painlessly as possible, while also having some means of protection in case there was any odd sort of sensation. This ended up having a few of the adjoining rooms in the convention center set up as makeshift conversion rooms, and with instructions for no sex or anything like that as part of the conversion since it was outside of Horizon's normal facilities. Those that did convert first had to match their new Animalian form to their fursona, which often relied heavily on dye jobs and things of that nature.
For many people would have a fursona that was simply an anthropomorphic version of their favorite animal or a specific species and nothing more. But others might have come up with things that were not natural While bright neon greens and purples might be present in some bird species, and some Dinotopians, given the close relationship between Birds and Dinosaurs, they weren't always present in mundane mammals or even other animal groups. This meant that contestants that became Animalians first had to find ways to dye their fur, feathers, or scales, to best match the design for the character and this brought about some figures that might have some understanding of these things and brought people from Lyre/Animalia to judge the competition. They reached out to Thomas Wesley to be a judge, but he had to work and wouldn't have the time off to participate in judging. The prime figure who had come to join the judges was Maggie, as the leucistic American Mink Animalian had some measure of experience with dealing with the presentation side of things.
"We were glad you were able to come," one of the Human judges that was also part of the group that organized the convention said with a rather heavy Swedish accent. "Part of this to make the contest and contestants feel welcome... particularly after... well..."
"To a degree, a lot of this could relate into possible auditions for my school," Maggie answered, "as while Animalians, of all kinds, are a distinct minority of the global population, there is a certain flair and advertising appeal that is there... and that goes beyond the obvious. And while many may choose to apply and work at the Meat Market if they move to Lyre/Animalia... there could well be tasteful modeling that could be done and what various companies may look into for an Animalian representative. For those that have already become Animalians... they may have that confidence to try already. For those looking to win... it could be an opportunity to see what they have and provide some tips privately. It's all something that would work out well for everyone."
Maggie decided not to mention on a supposed incident where a couple of English tourists ended up driving up to Lyre/Animalia and parked on some lot or area of the Brown farm and ended up finding that the farm's owner had dug a sort of trap behind their cars when confronted on it. Some of that made no sense, as none of the related competitions was being held remotely close to Lyre/Animalia and let alone the Brown farm. Neither did IAC events go on there, largely to make sure no damage came to the apple trees there.
"We were hoping to get another Animalian... find one who might have familiarity with the furry community," the other judge spoke, "but... it seemed strange that we didn't come across any online boasting or things like that."
"Some may have converted but didn't want to brag about it," Maggie commented, "particularly while many look on Animalia with some degree of calm fascination... that isn't quite the same as what often has happened with the furry community. Partially for an Animalian IS part animal and has some of the proportions that aren't always common among Humans that there won't be the sort of... thinking it is "weird." Thus, creating a very different look."
“Do you mind those that haven’t become Animalians?” the other judge asked.
“Not really… it’s different, but I don’t mind,” Maggie commented, “shoot, much of the community has likely gained some attention from advertisers using cartoon animals to sell goods… and how anthropomorphized animals play a fairly big role in various cartoons. So, it’s different, but not necessarily all that surprising. And Animalia is more than happy to welcome guests and new friends. And if some of the contestants that are Human put on a good show… I’d be more than happy to give an offer to my school should they wish to progress further. As the talent agencies out there will often look to style and poise, things that aren’t controlled by species.”
The judge seemed to smile at that, and they eventually took their seats to go through the contest for those with the standard contest. There would be winners from those who simply had a costume, which would be ranked by the creativity of the design and how well certain features worked, with prizes that would range from gift cards to Horizon actually paying for the person's conversion if that was what they wished. Those who had already become Animalians as part of the convention would win gift cards, mostly to Amazon, as they couldn't be sure what businesses would be available in their countries of origin, or simple cash prizes that would service the rewards. Some of it was complicated, but it was well designed to work.
"That's all quite good," the other judge spoke, "and you remember that all scores are to be based on a set ranking system from one to ten, with ten being the best in various areas?"
"And that the scores are then averaged together, yes," Maggie nodded as they settled in at a long wooden desk that was before a bit of a stage, "yes, I'm familiar with the concept. In some ways... it's not too different from how various models have been judged on their ability."
The other judge nodded. They waited for a few moments before a third judge joined them, and turned out to be Andrew Weary, who had applied for the judge's seat as part of a business investment. There was also something where he thought he might provide something that would impress Sylvia, as the two of them had continued to date after she had managed to prove that he hadn't tried to kill his own father... He was welcomed and Maggie shook his hand before she sat down. From there they gave the call that they were ready and the standard contest was to begin.
The three then followed through covering contest and looking through those competing in various ways. Maggie was heavily impressed by the lengths that many of the efforts made by those creating costumes and were still Human. A couple of the female contestants had managed give their costumes actual "breasts," and Maggie found that both impressive and likely costly. One male had even managed to something similar in modeling fake muscles that might even be borderline impossible for even an Animalian. That was still impressive. It set up where a Swiss woman won the female's costume contest with a Saint Bernard costume that was done to be like a nurse and with the small whisky keg hanging at her neck. A Kenyan man won the male costume contest with one that actually looked like a it was Deinotherium dressed up in commando gear with plastic being used for the downward facing tusks from the lower jaw.
The contest for those that had the ability to pay for conversion prior to the contest, or at the convention was a bit different. Those who had the simple anthropomorphic animal had very accurate scores, but that was where the lack of "imagination" could come back to hurt them. One woman who'd become a Tiger Animalian found that the stripe pattern she had didn't match the stripe pattern drawn, and thus couldn't quite match the design on a technicality. That one had also shown where the costs that went into fur dyes was also complicated and potentially costly. The male who won was a Norwegian who became a Reindeer Animalian, but had dyed his fur so that he looked like someone had turned the Norwegian flag into an anthropomorphic Reindeer. The woman who won had become a Philippine Eagle Animalian, but had her tail feathers and the main flight feathers dyed various neon and bright colors from green to orange to yellow and so on.
All three of the judges took turns passing out the assorted prizes to those that won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the respective categories and saw things as going fairly well. Things were accepted well and Maggie felt that round went fairly well. How the mythical one would likely be very different.