Theme: Ragnarok
Location: Clarion Hotel Malmö Live
Henrieke and I got up early, headed to the airport, and picked up some extra Covid tests before checking in. Our flight was on time, surprisingly we didn't run into any other furries on the plane, even though there were no doubt other furries on the plane, considering how Dutch people are the 3rd largest nationality group at NFC.
Shortly after we landed I learned of Sysable's passing, which hit me pretty hard. He was a pivotal figure in the fandom and I am glad that we got to hang out with him at his house in LA just a year ago.
After arriving, we went to Burger King and waited for Sqrl and Flint to arrive. Once they did, we took the next train to Malmö. Since their hotel was not the main one, we split up there.
We stocked up on snacks at Coop, then made our way to the Clarion, just a 5 minute walk from the station. We checked in, this time getting a room on the 13th floor.
I unpacked our stuff while Henrieke took a nap, then I went ownstairs with my trusty Mavica and took some photos. I met Ace and Jake_R in the bar downstairs. I headed to the registration queue and met Claspo. The line was way too long so I didn't bother getting my badge, I just chatted with Sonny and Dracky a bit, who were waiting for their badges in order to get 15% discount at Max Burger. I also said hi to Birko and Zelus.
Back on the room I had some dinner with Henrieke. Then we went downstairs and met JD, Dante and Skippy.
We chatted with them for a while, and I tried explaining Surströmming to Dante. I also spotted Luno and Hai. We wandered around, saying hi to all the people we knew and then tried our luck at registration. After an hour of standing in line with Skippy keeping us company, it was our turn, sadly it turned out that we forgot to upload badge images and fursuit badges. Henrieke met up with Verdonia and picked up 5 pairs of her socks that she designed for the super sponsors, which turned out fantastic! We also ran into Shorty who was busy as always!
We went back to our room as standing for an hour was exhausting. It turned out Koidel was on the same floor, so I went over to say hi. He and Kazan, who he was rooming with, were just getting ready to suit, so we just chatted for a few minutes. Baseball went downstairs a few minutes later to join the fun. Eventually Baseball found Smokey, Paco and Steel in the fursuit lounge. Steel was busy building elaborate viking costumes and props out of cardboard before the con, and everyone had fun with those!
Baseball then went to play some DDR at the arcade cabinets downstairs and met a nice German guy for whom this was his first con. He remarked he had a blast, despite the con not even having started yet. Baseball also ran into Ekorren and Icky downstairs, then went back to the room after a long wait for the elevator. Unlike in previous years, 4 elevators were available. Previously, the 4th was used exclusively for sky bar access, but since the sky bar was being renovated, we got 33% more elevators! Ekorren and Icky ended up joining Baseball to the room for a bit, and we chatted about the PSVita and pigeons. I took a long and hot shower and we went to bed at 1:00.
We got up at 9:30 and went to breakfast. I met Bagel and Lempi there, they were just about to leave though. They left us their table though, which was appreciated as it was super busy! Pinky, Sniffer and Trax joined us. We talked about charity stuff, Atkelar and speedrunning.
Henrieke went to the room and I hung out with Steel and Paco a bit. I went to luggage dropoff to check out the banner I made for it, but sadly they ended up not using the roll-up banner as a part was missing. I went back to our room to meet up with Henrieke and packed my art things, then we went to Valhalla, the overflow location, which was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. As the convention grew to 3600 people (bigger than the previous Eurofurence), there was simply now enough space in the Clarion, which has fairly limited space for panels and no dedicated Artist Alley space.
We went straight to the Artist Alley, which was a big hall of the whole complex. It turned out the building used to be a slaughterhouse. There was a free spot next to Koidel, so I spread out there and took some commissions. I wasn't sure at first if people would even find me, but in the end there were more people who wanted commissions than I could draw!
Henrieke went to grab some food with Koidel and others, and I stayed there drawing 5 commissions. After a while I went back to the hotel. We wanted to see the opening ceremony on stage, but the line was hopelessly long, so we went to our room instead and invited friends. There was a one-hour delay so we used that hour to play some Jackbox, in the end it was a wise decision not to stand in line!
By the time the opening ceremony started, the others were too hungry and went to grab some food, so I just watched the opening ceremony with Henrieke. We had some cup noodles for dinner, and at 21:20 Skippy came over. We went downstairs and stood in line for the also-delayed pub quiz. I've been really looking forward to this event and assembled an all-star team of nerds with a broad knowledge in hopes of winning this time!
It was fun as always and we did pretty well, making 3rd place! We got a bunch of candy as our prize!
We stuck around a bit in the Taqueria after the event ended, then went to Yotie's room and hung out with Skippy, Mag, Eko, Flint, Icky and Sqrl. Strawb and Tanner also joined later. We went back to our room at 1:00.
We had a quick breakfast, then Henrieke and I hurried to the Artist Alley. We were very lucky and snatched the last available table. I took some more commissions and Henrieke sold some of her new sketchbooks.
Ekorren, Sqrl, Procy and other friends all dropped by. We also got a visit by Roland, a very enthusiastic cartoon artist who also likes kangaroos! For lunch I fetched us some hot dogs at the Valhalla bar, then I went to the Blue Boat at 14:30 to sit at a Dealers table with Koidel, doing 2 more commissions.
I went back to the Artist Alley at 16:45 and helped Henrieke pack up. We got some pizza at the central station and picked up some snacks (holy crap, groceries are brutally expensive!). We also picked up some dinner for Skippy, who was quarantined on the room due to feeling sick. Back at the hotel, I delivered food and a COVID test to Skippy, then I went suiting. Henrieke followed soon after. Baseball said hi to Koidel, who was sketching in the Artist Lounge, then he joined Paco and Steel at Doodles for Donations and drew some stuff for charity.
Sadly we just missed Kéké, who was also there doing drawings for donations. Baseball went back to the room at 20:15. Henrieke went to the Artist Lounge and I joined a bit later. Henrieke, Kéké, Flacko and others were there. I did a trade with Flint and Flacko.
Chiros and Cami dropped by. Baseball also came down a while later and checked out the dance. He met Neop at the dance!
We went to bed at 1:30.
We had breakfast at 10:00 with Mag. Skippy dropped by, he was feeling better. Sadly I got a giant allergy headache this morning. I helped Henrieke set up her stuff for the Nerd Market, an independent event that takes place in the Clarion during the "open house", where anyone can check out the convention for free! It's always a fun time and many locals come by to see what all the fuzz is about!
I helped Henrieke sell a bit, there were quite a lot of people. Kazan came by and we talked a bit. I wasn't feeling too well so I went to the room to take some painkillers and drink a Red Bull to keep me going. I went back and brought some food for Henrieke and helped her with selling a bit. Joakim Hedvig and Ted Johansson came by. Ted stayed for a while, chatting with Henrieke. I started feeling very faint at one point, so I asked Ekorren to take over and I went to the room. After taking a nap, I felt fine again luckily. I went back and Ted was still there. He did a trade with Henrieke, and Henrieke was nice enough to ask Ted to draw his part of the trade in my sketchbook, so I got a really nice sketch by him! Kalidos and Verbrand, a Dutch furry I met at the Vienna furdance last year, came by. I also bought a GameBoy Pocket at the market!
I found out that Kiguren was at the con, so I went to meet her in the fursuit lounge. I also met Dice on the way. Then it was time for me and Chiros to suit up for the Bat panel. Both Chiros and Baseball said hi to Henrieke before going to the panel. Baseball took a detour and entertained some kids who were there for the open house event. The Bat panel was nice, though it was exhausting to listen to it while suiting. In the end we did a group photo! It was also great seeing Neop's fantastic bat suit there!
After getting out of suit I went to see Henrieke and ran into Ted, who was just leaving. Yotie was helping her pack. I went back to the room at 19:10, Chiros came by, then we went down to meet Mag ant Yotie and went to grab dinner at Max. Procy also joined us.
Back at the hotel we went straight to the Artist Lounge. Paco and Steel also came along. Icky, Flint and Eko were already there. We art-jammed, Kéké also joined later. Smokey came by and did some crayon doodles. Cami also appeared and I made a sketch of him.
I brought our jackets to the room and picked up Henrieke's sketchbook, but decided it was time for some suiting. So Baseball went down. Sadly the line for the dance was endless, so no chance there. Baseball played a round of DDR instead, and went to the room soon after. I left the suit in the fursuit lounge and went back to the art jam. I traded with Paco and Neop came, we chatted for a while. Henrieke showed Hupie comics to Steel and Paco.
Koidel also appeared at 0:40 and we traded. Trax also came by later. We went to bed at 2:30.
We got up at 10, I didn't sleep too well, the AC in this hotel is so bad, every morning I feel like I'm a raisin. I went to breakfast with Henrieke, it was very full but we managed to find a seat with Procy. We went back to our room and Koidel came by for a bit. I suited up and went to Koidel's room, where he and Kazan were suiting up. We went down to the fursuit group photo together. Sadly it took very long to get it started, but after 50 minutes of waiting it finally happened. While waiting Baseball met Hai and FlintGlomcat, and got a photo together with Neop and Chiros.
Once the parade started, Baseball walked together with Smokey right behind Mausie. There were a bunch of locals who watched the parade, which took a route to the city hall and back.
After the parade ended, Smokey dragged Baseball past everyone to get right to the elevators, so they wouldn't have to queue for a really long time. It worked, and they were up on the 13th floor in no time.
On the room I found out Henrieke tested positive for Covid, and after taking a test, I was positive too. Neither of us had symptoms. Luckily I had tests and very good FFP2 masks with me. Ethan was nice enough to pick up some Vitamin D, masks and tests for our other friends for us from a pharmacy. I went and got us some waffles from the hotel bar, which turned out to be a mistake. The dough tasted.. bad. Would not recommend. Sadly there weren't any snack options in the hotel, apart from the dinner buffet and late night hot dogs, for which it was too early.
I managed to still get into the Dealers Den right before it closed. It wasn't really possible earlier as there was always a very long line to get in.
We watched Furovision on our hotel TVs, which was a nice event. I went downstairs and picked up another pair of the socks she designed, then met Mag, Levi and Icky. Eko and Flint were leaving as I arrived. I spent a while chatting with Mag and a guy from Austria while I was doodling on my reMarkable. Then I went back to the room to get a test for Mag. Mag suggested that he could suit as Baseball, so we did that. First, I followed Baseball to the macro panel where I took some fun photos of Baseball and Chiros. Yotie was also there.
Then we went to the inflatables panel. Sadly no Sea Dragons, but the banner I made was on display!
I chatted a bit with BotchFrivarg there. Then we went to the lobby, then up to the room again. Mag and I went to the breakfast area. Caffrey, Yotie and Skippy were there. The Belgians were sitting on another table and I ended up doing a trade with Kiguren. I had a quick hot dog, then went back to the room and hung out with Koidel, Dante and JD on Koidel's room for a bit. I went back to our room and we went to bed at 1:30.
I had breakfast with Mag today, Henrieke stayed in the room. I brought her a plate up to the room. Mag joined to our room for a bit. I went down again and met Koidel, Paco and a few other people at the breakfast buffet. We went to the Artist Lounge after. I chatted a bit with Koidel. Icky, Flint, Eko, Sqrl and Levi were there too. Flint was nice enough to draw something for Henrieke. After a while I went up to the room to watch the closing ceremony with Henrieke. Skippy also joined us and we watched the closing ceremony together (It was directed by Chiros). Mag also joined later.
Skippy, Ethan and I went to Max to get some burgers. Ethan stayed, Skippy and I brought the food back to our room and had it there while watching surreal furry student films on the TV. I went to the lobby with Mag at 18:00 to stand in line at Kéké's table to get a charity sketch. Sadly after almost an hour there were still 3 people in front of us, but Baseball's slot was at 19:00, so I had to bail. Luckily Kéké and the person behind us in line was fine with Mag taking my sketchbook. Baseball arrived a few minutes late and did 7 charity doodles at 200SEK each!
Baseball did a quick round in the lobby and then went back to the room again. Sadly Henrieke wasn't feeling too well. I went down again to meet people. I met Mag, Flint and Icky as they were watching concert-goers reacting to fursuiters. (There was a concert going on in the big concert hall, and to get there people had to walk through the convention space). I chatted with Dante, JD and Mag for a bit, then went upstairs and ran into Koidel, who was trading with NikRaccoon. Kazan, Paco and Steel also joined, but they quickly left to grab food. I used the time to pack our things on the room, then went back downstairs and met Icky, Flint and Ekorren in the Artist Lounge. I chatted with Icky about oldskool DnB. Paco also came down and tried to convince me to come to Confurur, a convention in Guadalajara, Mexico. I did a collab with Paco, then went up to the room at 0:30. After packing a bit more and steaming, we went to bed at 1:30.
We got up at 9:30 and I had breakfast with Mag and Koidel. We already brought down our luggage, which was smart. I brought some food to Henrieke, we checked the room one last time and took the last few things. The elevators were packed, but I managed to stuff Henrieke in one, like a Japanese train at rush hour, and took the stairs myself.
We went to the train station, took the 23-minute long ride to the Airport, checked in and walked around a bit.
Henrieke and I had some lunch at La Place, keeping some distance from the others to make sure to not give anyone Covid. Of course we wore FFP2 masks at all times.
The flight was short, and we said bye at the airport train station. Mag, Henrieke and I went to our place, ordered a pizza and chilled for the rest of the evening.
Henrieke stayed in bed today, I went to the city with Mag to check out record stores. Mag found some nice records, and I got a "Schnappi" CD!
We also went to the Game Over? store near the central station. The last time I was there I remarked that it would be cool if they had some Japanese Jazz fusion records. And they listened! This time, they had plenty of Casiopea, The Square, Masayoshi Takanaka, Mariya Tekeuchi and other City pop records! Maybe I should have asked for Laserdiscs! I ended up picking up one The Square record.
Mag showed me "An evening with Tim Heidecker", and later we met up with Icky, Flint and Ekorren at the Dam in Amsterdam. We went to another record store, but there was a novelty sock store across the street, which was irresistible to me and Flint. I found some cute pigeon socks there for Henrieke! After that we went to Starbucks and art-jammed a bit there.
Then we went back to our house, ordered some Surinam food and watched the NFC fursuit parade and other stuff on our TV.
It was a great con! I think the only downside is that because it was way too many people for the hotel, things were very cramped at times. Most events had a long line to get in, so I just skipped them. Hanging out with friends in the Artist Lounge was just as nice as always though. Looking forward to next year!
