Theme: Toy Town
Location: Clarion Hotel Malmö Live
After 3 years of COVID break, it was finally time again for NFC!
We were a little late with packing, so we threw our stuff into the suitcases frantically and headed to Schiphol airport, only to find out that check in wasn't open yet. We met up with Ekorren at Starbucks after security, then went to the gate. We already met another furry, Aidan, on the plane! Since we wanted to get to the hotel as soon as possible, we had some sandwiches and lasagna on the plane, it was pretty decent. We even had 15 minutes of free WiFi! We landed at 6, took the train and checked in at the hotel.
After dumping our luggage in the room I met Chiros and went to registration with him. I met Tach there, who gave me my badge. I also ran into Gao. Henrieke went to the room to rest a bit, and I met Paco, Koidel and Steel. We gave Koidel a tour of the hotel, showed him the work-in-progress arcade, the fursuit lounge and all the nooks and crannies of the hotel. After a while of searching we even found the granny room.
After that we went to the lobby. I met Yotie, Tanner, StrawBat, and Yamavu. Chiros and Ekorren joined us, and we all went to Coop to look for some Semlor, but they were out of them as it was national Semla day.
I got some princess cake and Polly instead and shared it with Henrieke back in our room. Ekorren and Chiros came by, later also Yotie, Tanner and StrawBat. We played some Split the Room, and some other Jackbox game where you spin a wheel, which turned out to be incredibly boring. We played another round of Job Job to make up for the boring game.
The others went down and I took some time to actually read the conbook. I went down as well and met up with Yotie, Chiros and Ekorren. We talked about plans for Eurofurence and EAST, then I played some House of the Dead with Yotie.
As always, there were lots of arcade machines spread around the con! They even had a full DDR cabinet! I played a round and found out that my stamina isn't what it used to be. After exhausting myself, I went to bed at 2:00.
We got up at 10:30 and I had breakfast with Henrieke. I met Ace at the buffet! We went back to our room and hung out with Paco. I prepared my fursuit so I would be ready for some instant suiting later. Henrieke took a nap, I went downstairs and met Paco in the super sponsor goodies line. I also chatted with Jabberwocky about laserdisc players a bit. There was a table in the lobby with a whole bunch of Austrians, I met Thanderan there, then I went on a quest to get a fursuit badge, which I forgot to order. Mag and Yotie were looking for some cable ties, so we went to ConOps to look for some. I met Davuu there, who was a staff member at ConOps.
After that I hung out in the Artist Lounge for a while with Yotie, Mag, Ekorren, StrawBat and Paco. Yamavu also joined. We watched some Pricemaster and art-jammed.
Since I was getting hungry I went to the room for some instant yakisoba, then I went back to do a trade with Yamavu. Ethan also dropped by! Everyone left at some point, so I went downstairs where I met Chiros. We talked about his new fursuit which he just received. It needed some thumb surgery. I went back to the Artist Lounge and met Makibox and MrLemur, who I did a trade with.
Back in the lobby I met Purple, we chatted a bit. I went to the room at 17:00, then I went to the opening ceremony at 18:00. I got a seat all the way in the back. It sure was an experience, and it's always good to see Mausie and Iris, even when it's from very far away.
The ceremony ended an hour later. I went to grab some food at the food court after. Many restaurants already ran out of food at that point, I guess they didn't count on all the furries. Luckily I still managed to grab a falafel sandwich and fries. Sadly Henrieke wasn't feeling too well, so we ate together in our room.
I went suiting for a bit at 20:30. Baseball roamed around in the lobby for a bit and ran into Floe! What a nice surprise! Baseball also gave DDR a try and didn't do terribly. He also met Chiros. Purple took some photos. After drawing on the graffiti wall, Baseball went back to the room.
We went to the pub quiz since Chiros asked us if we wanted to join. It was organized by my friend - and possibly the biggest nerd I know - KalaallitAmaroq. Our team consisted of Chiros, Dice, Forntand, Henrieke and me. We didn't do too badly, and the questions were pretty fun (and hard!). It helped that I happened to know the release date of the C64. Sadly I got the release date of the first edition of "The C programming language" wrong.
Towards the end Koidel and Ekorren joined. We made second place, missing the first place by only 2 points. The price was a bag of candy, which we all shared. Henrieke took all the gross liquorice, I took the safe-to-eat things. I chatted a bit with Kalaallit when the event was over. It was really fun and I'd definitely join it again next year!
After the quiz I went to the Artist Lounge. I helped Chiros to get into his suit, then I art-jammed with Ekorren, Koidel, Paco and Henrieke. I got a nice drawing by Koidel! When Chiros was done suiting, Henrieke was away for a little bit since she went to our room with him and helped him un-suit, since he didn't have a room at the Clarion.
We stuck around in the Artist Lounge much longer than we should have, and Koidel got a bit obsessed with making pet rocks.
We went to bed at 2:40.
We got up and went to breakfast at 10:50 and found out that the breakfast already closed at 11:00 and not at 11:30, which the lady at the check in told us. We still managed to get food luckily and sat with Procy and Eko. We watched the group photo from our table. Yamavu also joined. Yotie found the VHS board game "Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Klingon Challenge". We decided to play a round, but since the supplied DVD player didn't have speakers attached, we went up to the artist alley to play, with the video playing on my surface from YouTube. It was me, StrawBat, Tanner, Henrieke, Yotie and Chiros playing.
Despite our best efforts to get control of the enterprise back from the rogue Klingon warrior Kavok, we failed and the Enterprise D exploded. Luckily we were in a time loop and we could reset the game by rewinding the VHS tape, according to the manual.
When we were done I had some painkillers against an annoying allergy headache, and Shorty came up to give me some video floppys I had sent to his place, as well as Sally, the new "Der kleine ICE" figurine.
Henrieke helped Chiros with fursuit stuff on our room and I went to meet some people in the fursuit lounge, then I took some photos of Chiros outside.
I went up to the Artist Lounge again and sat with Procy, Yamavu and Henrieke at 15:00. Henrieke and I decided to finally check out the Dealers Den, which was still extremely busy. We could barely move in there, and oxygen was limited. I chatted to Mag a bit and Henrieke got some merch from MrLemur.
I went outside a bit earlier and met Koidel in the artist alley, he was doing sketch commissions. Shorty let me know that my fursuit badge was ready to pick up at con registration, so I went there. Ethan was there as well, so we chatted a bit. We made some dinner plans, so Chiros and Procy joined Henrieke and me at the entrance, we waited for the others and then went to Saluhall, the food court across the street. It was Yotie, Mag, Tanner, StrawBat, Chiros, Yamavu, Henrieke and me.
I shared some tasty bolognese pasta with Henrieke, and of course we had to get a Semla finally, a traditional Swedish pastry. It was good! After that we went back to the hotel.
I played some Bubble Bobble with Tanner, who abandoned my mid-game so we never made it to the end.
The Kemono panel was next door, so I met Kiguren and Dice there.
I went back to the Artist Lounge, Yamavu and Henrieke were there. Thabo joined and made people try his insanely spicy chili chocolate. Cami also dropped by!
I went to get Baseball from the room since it was time for "Blind cute fursuit drawing", to which he was invited to by Trax. When Baseball arrived there a few minutes early, it was just him and Trax. Eventually other people showed up, but the panel didn't really get started for a long while due to logistical issues. Thabo, Koidel, Eddie and Paco were there too. Paco looked a lot more like a red panda for some reason. The reason being that his luggage was still stuck in Paris airport. The event took until 22:30, and sadly only 2 blind drawings were made. To be honest, I'm really hoping that fursuit charades will make a comeback next year again!
After that Baseball went to see Henrieke in the Artist Lounge, then he checked out the dance with Paco a bit. He had some fun on the bouncy castle, Chiros also joined.
Then Baseball took a break in the fursuit lounge. I met Purple there and chatted with her a bit. After a break Baseball went back to Henrieke to get some photos taken, then Baseball and Chiros went to our room.
I helped Chiros get into his bat suit, then I took a shower. We dropped by at the room of Kiguren, Dice and Kzarren. Sadly Kiguren wasn't feeling too well. After endlessly waiting for the elevator I took the stairs, and Chiros took one up and down again. I dumped Chiros' things in the fursuit lounge and went back to Henrieke. Yamavu and Paco joined, later Thabo joined too.
We spent the rest of the evening doodling and chatting.
We went to breakfast at 10:30 and met Procyon there. Yotie an Mag sat at the table next to us. After breakfast I helped Henrieke with setting up her table at the Nerd Market, a little market on the third floor of the hotel. Today was the open day, which meant that any non-attendees could explore the convention, and the Nerd Market was a little extra event. Apart from artwork and merchandise, there were also a few video game sellers. I checked out the stalls and found a Japanese release of WebTV for Dreamcast, a chance I couldn't pass up!
After the table was all set up, I decided to try sitting in the artist alley a bit, as there was a free table there. I simply put some sketches from my folder there, made a little sign and got commissioned by a few people!
I was surprised how many people wanted a drawing from me! Yotie and Yamavu joined me as well. Eventually I moved up to the nerd market, as the table next to Henrieke was not occupied.
I took 2 more commissions there. After a while, I packed up and went to the room and got Baseball. There were a lot of kids in the hotel, and Baseball had a lot of fun with them, building stuff out of big blocks.
After that Baseball went to the arcade and played Pop'n'Music with Yotie a bit. Then he went to check out the Nerd Market and ran into Pinky along the way. Back in the lobby he met Koidel, Paco and Steel. They drew on coasters together and hung out on the couch for a bit. Baseball went back to the room, and I went to MAX Burger with Procyon, Toxicoow and Doveux.
In the meantime Henrieke packed up and Ekorren was nice enough to help her. I sat with Tanner and StrawBat at MAX and chatted about Star Trek, Stargate and Malta. Yotie and Mag were there as well. I met Birko there and said hi. Before we left at 19:20, I picked up a burger and fries for Henrieke and delivered it to our room. I went to Yotie's room while Henrieke rested and hung out with Yotie, Tanner, Mag and StrawBat. Caffrey also joined later.
Since we couldn't stop thinking about the Klingon Challenge, we decided to play another round of it. We went downstairs, fetched the game and found a somewhat quiet corner on the fourth floor. This time things went better, we played as fast as we could and foiled Captain Kavok's plan of plunging the Federation into a war with the Klingon empire.
After that it was time for more art-jam. Henrieke and I met Paco and Koidel in the artist alley. We art-jammed and I did a trade with Koidel. After that we decided to draw collabs, where one person would draw a pose and the other person would finish the drawing. Yamavu, Flacko and Chiros also joined and we filled loads of pages with collabs. Eko and Flacko left after a while.
Before going to bed, I checked out the dance with Paco and Koidel. They played Eurodance, and the floor was packed! We spent some time blipping at the clip box, a box where you could touch your NFC-enabled NFC badge in return for pointless rewards. I also ran into Floe and found out that they were a huge Star Trek nerd!
Paco and Koidel joined us to our room and Henrieke gave Paco an original drawing she made for the Art & Biro book. After chatting about Bamse for a bit, we said good night and went to bed at 3:30.
We had breakfast at 10:30, then I quickly went to the room to get Baseball in time for the group photo at 11:45. It was both freezing and windy outside, so even with a layer of fur it was way too cold outside. Baseball met Yotie and Tanner there. Koidel impressed people with skateboard tricks.
After getting back into the warm hotel, Baseball had some fun in the lobby with the inflatable sitting balls. Chiropica was also there! Later Baseball drew on the graffiti wall with Koidel and played some Bubble Bobble with Steel. After that it was time to stop, so Baseball went back to the room and I got out of suit.
I went downstairs and met Chiros and Neop. We went to the artist alley and met Eko there. Neop and I made some bat rocks, and I drew a commission for Chiros in his sketchbook.
OkamiKamiSama, a friend of Mog, came by and we chatted a bit. Then I went back to finishing Chiros' commission and delivered it to him in the maid cafe.
I wandered around in the lobby until about 15:00, then sat together with Yotie, Tanner, StrawBat, Yamavu, Caffrey, DomTheSkunk and Xil.
Since it went so well yesterday, I decided to sit in the artist alley a bit again. I took a commission for Neio. Henrieke also set up her table and sold some stuff.
I went inside the Dealers Den a bit and chatted with Mag, then I went to 7-11 to pick up a Red Bull and some candy. I also peeked into the smol party on the party boat for a few minutes. It was brutally cold outside so I was running to be in the cold as short as possible. Back at the artist alley, we packed up the things, put them in the room and got our jackets, then Henrieke and I went to MAX Burger with Yamy and Eko.
We had a nice burger meal, then went back to our hotel room with Ekorren. We listened to some good music (Max don't have sex with your ex, Holiday Rap), then I went back to the Artist Lounge. I ran into Purple on the way and we spent some time blipping our badges at a blip box. Back at the Artist Lounge there were lots of artists jamming.
I met Mekki and did an instant trade with him. Henrieke, Flacko and Caffrey were also there. I sat with Tanner, StrawBat, Mag and Yotie. We art jammed a while, and from our table we could see the inflatables panel slowly taking shape.
Baseball always enjoys the cute pool toys, so I got him from the room and he went there with Yotie, Mag, Tanner and StrawBat. Steel was there too, Trax as well. Both the blue and the pink Sea Dragon were there!
After having some fun at the panel, Baseball went to the Artist Lounge and did sketches for all our friends, then he said bye and went back to the room.
I went back to the Artist Lounge and chatted a bit with Shorty who was looking a lot more like a giant blue fruit bat than usual. Fendracus was also there as a bat, he built both of the bat suits. I sat together for a while with Henrieke, Ekorren, Mag, Chiros, Procyon, Meoxie, StrawBat, Yotie, Tanner and Caffrey.
Right before we went to bed Paco came by too. We still chatted a bit and went to bed at 2:30.
We went to breakfast at 10:30, but didn't find any of our friends so we ate by ourselves. Henrieke arranged things with Ted and Joakim. I went to the lobby and ran into Mausie and Iris who were on the way to the closing ceremony. I chatted a bit with Sniffer. Sadly Bubble Bobble was already gone, too bad! Procy and Doveux were sitting at a table, so I chatted a bit with them, then I got spots for Henrieke and myself in front of the giant LED screen in the lobby, where the closing ceremony was streamed. While we watched, Henrieke drew giftart of Capucchino for Cosmicartoons, who was sitting behind us.
After that we went to the lottery booth. I bought 10 tickets and won a raccoon pin. Henrieke went to the room to help Chiros suit up, I went to the fursuit lounge and met Yotie and Tanner. Then I went to the Artist Lounge and met Cosmicartoons. I did a trade with Mag and Cosmicartoons and got some amazing art from them! Henrieke joined later, also Mag and Caffrey. Henrieke showed some of her Looney Tunes work to Caffrey. Yamavu showed up and was nice enough to bring an extra Semla for us, yummy!
I chatted with Procy for a while, then I went down to see whether the doodles for charity event already started since I was eager to fill my sketchbook and give money to charity. Sadly it wasn't going yet. I ran into Botch Frivarg and we chatted about cameras a bit, he had his 80 megapixel medium format camera with him. I went back to the Artist Lounge until Ted arrived at the hotel at 17:00. We met at the hotel entrance, where he was looking at all the costumes. Henrieke, Ted and I went up to our room and Henrieke nerded out about Donald Duck and Bamse with Ted.
I put on Baseball since he had a slot at the doodles for charity event at 18:00. Baseball dashed down the stairs to make it in time and drew a couple of sketches for 200SEK each. Procy also got one, and Mag showed up to say good-bye.
After the event, Baseball went to the room again, where Hedvig and Joakim already joined. We chatted about Bamse, and Henrieke made a sketch for Ted.
I went down again to see Koidel at the doodles for charity table. I also saw that Paco was having a coffee in the lobby, so I joined him and we chatted for a few minutes until Ted, Joakim, Hedvig and Henrieke came down. Ted had to leave already, and Henrieke, Joakim, Hedvig and I went to TGI Friday's nearby. We had some tasty spareribs while Henrieke tried her best to explain what NFC is all about to them. Hopefully they will be invited as guests sometime! After dinner, we parted ways and Henrieke and I went back to the hotel. We went to Yotie's room to have a Jackbox party. We played Split the Room, Blather round and Trivia Murder Party 2. It became quite busy at some point, it was me, Henrieke, Yotie, Ekorren, Tanner, StrawBat, Procyon, Paco, Koidel, Richard Wolf VI, DomTheSkunk and Chiros!
At one point a couple people left and we played one more round of Blather Round with Richard Wolf, Henrieke, Chiros, Yamavu and Procy while Yotie was already starting to pack. Henrieke and I went to the lobby at 1:30 where we still hung out for a few minutes with Ekorren and Chiros.
Henrieke and Ekorren played some Pokémon Go, and I chatted a bit with KalaallitAmaroq and Intet. They tried my reMarkable 2 and both liked it! We went upstairs at 2:00 and tried our best at packing as much as possible before going to bed. It was a mistake to only book 15kg of checked luggage.
We got up at 8:30, went to have a quick breakfast while trying to wake up.
We packed our last things, and managed to at least get 2 pieces of luggage down in the elevator. In the lobby we ran into Yamavu and said bye to him, then we headed to the Malmö central station.
Ekorren joined us halfway, and we all took the train to the airport.
We took the 10:14 train the the airport, went through security and took a peek in the Lego store.
After that we had a nice but very expensive coffee at Espresso House, sketched a bit and talked about Känguru Comics.
We lost track of time though and we had to suddenly hurry to the gate, which turned out to be all the way on the other end of the airport. Luckily boarding was delayed so we were there a few minutes before boarding started. We had nice exit row seats and I used the flight to type half of this report. We arrived, our luggage luckily did as well. We had some sandwiches at the airport, went home and flopped on the couch.
I missed NFC so much! It's my favorite con, and seeing so many friends again was fantastic! Everyone was in a great mood, the hotel staff was super into it, and Baseball had a lot of fun roaming around! Henrieke's table was a success as well, and sitting in the artist alley was also a fun experience! I wish I had spent more time in the arcade, but there's always next year.
Thank you to all organizers of NFC, and see you next year!
