Good memories! And RIP Petty. Wish I'd got to know him more.
I think I actually got more attention as I gained some weight back. How I feel about that attention is complex, but I've made some genuine friends as a result and feel more comfortable about my body than I ever did before. I'd still like to lose weight again, but I'm not going into hiding meanwhile.
If you go to cons as a heavier person, you'll see a lot of conventionally attractive people you might feel inadequate around, but you'll also see a lot of people like yourself. You're also likely to encounter people who find your body type more attractive than those conventional hotties.
Just before I got into the fandom, I dropped 150lbs which took my from "very obese" to "just overweight". Over the years, I've gained most of it back. I used to be extremely self-conscious about my body, and I still have some issues around that, but I've also found a lot of acceptance from furries.
Here are some favorites! <3 1 - Aboard the Lady Washington, photo by @yaltawuff.bsky.social@dawg-pa.ws@wedgethecat.bsky.social
Scenario: You have to drive to Reno in October but your car popped its heater core. You don't have the mechanical skills to rip out your entire dashboard to get at it, but you do have an electronics lab in your living room... Wuff's got some tinkering to do.
Don't worry. This one only goes to April of 1985 and kicks you off somewhere in Ukrainian SSR. Not like anything impactful was gonna happen around there in a year or so.
Not too sure what caused the camera software to render this slow-mo video the way it did, but it looks pretty cool so I'm posting it.