NordicFuzzCon 2013 Report
Time for one of my oh-my-goodness-why-is-it-so-long convention reports, where you get to see how neurotic and insecure and hard to please (and occasionally awesome) I can be as I make my way through some of the various tedious minutia that made up my convention going experience.
To start, I can say that it was a pretty great convention, all in all.
I'm usually not one for exaggerated enthusiasm, spouting words like "awesome" and "epic" right and left, nor phrases like "I love it" or "the best". I usually try to keep my positive remarks down to a minimum. But there are exceptions. Like the movie Drive. Holy caramel, is that a great film! The atmosphere and cinematography in that are amazing, not to mention how they handle the violence: brutal and devastating. A modern masterpiece of cinema. Not to mention the 80s style synthpop soundtrack.
Anyway! It was a pretty great convention. Perhaps the best furry convention I've been to so far, actually. I never really had a dull moment, no stretches of time when I didn't have anything to do nor anyone to talk to, and it seemed like most others were having fun too. People were approachable and inclusive, and the atmosphere (as many pointed out) was really good. One attendee even delayed his flight to stay another day, and told how he had suddenly been asked to join a conversation random strangers were having - which had never happened at other conventions.
I'll be moving through some of my experiences during the convention thematically below. Note that there's a babyfur section at the very bottom, and while it's not very explicit, some might prefer to skip it.
Transportation
The trip to Sweden was off to a rough start. I managed arrive at the station in time for my intended train to Oslo, where I would meet up with some other furs to take the train onwards to Stockholm. But, the train was a short train, and it stopped close to the start of the platform, while I was closer to the end of the platform. And I was full of luggage, and I have a slightly bad knee. I did my best to hurry once I realized there was some distance to cover between me and the train, but I couldn't exactly sprint. My hat also fell off while I was semi-jogging, and I had to pause to pick it up. It took me a few seconds, and when I had made it to the nearest door, being mere centimeters away, it closed... and the train drove off.
I got pretty darn angry (the train driver couldn't not have seen me!), and I had to wait for the next train. This lead to a fair bit of stress and more attempted running, as I had to join up with the other furs I was travelling with and catch the train from Oslo to Sweden, and I also had everyone's tickets! To help me get to the train platform sooner I got one of the other furs to meet me on the platform where my train was to arrive. Except, the platform my train arrived at was a different one than what had been stated on the big board at the station, so the fur who was supposed to help me ended up waiting for me on the wrong platform. More stress, more running, more phone calls.
Stupid train drivers and stupid trains.
Fortunately I made it, but not by a very large margin; only a few minutes.
Six hours later, and we were in Stockholm. Then we used around twenty - thirty minutes finding out where to go next, what train we needed to be on, and what tickets to get for everyone. It's always a hassle trying to sort out a foreign country's public transportation norms and find the right platform. More so when you're full of luggage.
On the train journey from central Stockholm station to the convention area, I ended up forgetting my hat in the train; I'd put it in the baggage department overhead, and then forgot about it when we were getting off. I guess I could've just left my hat back when my hat fell off in Norway, and maybe I would've caught the train and avoided some stress.
There was more stress reaching the train back. The NFC post-convention board meeting (as I'll be addressing below) ended up lasting longer than I had expected, and I had the rest of the furs anxiously waiting for me to finish, wanting to head back as a group. Fortunately we managed to get to Stockholm central station with an okay-ish margin, but there was still a fair bit of stress trying to find the right platform, and buying food beforehand. I ended up buying a sandwich that took longer to prepare than I had expected as well, so I had to do some extra running again. (And the boxed sandwich also came with something resembling couscous on the side, but I hadn't been given any disposable utensils to eat it with. Fortunately one of the furs I was travelling with had a spare disposable plastic knife. Not the best tool for eating with - a fork would've been far easier - but better than nothing. At least it was kind of tasty.)
The train ride home was pleasant enough though, and some time was spent chatting and playing Dixit together on the train, as me and three others were seated at a table.
Oh, and I probably could've ranted on for a paragraph or two about the inane Swedish website where we had to order our Oslo - Stockholm train tickets from. But maybe next time, if they still haven't updated their website by then.
Playing Dixit on the train.
Why is there a kitty on my back?
Swag
For the art show, Theodor had sent me one of his original drawings he did for the conbook (though they ended up being used for the pocket programs instead), with 100% of the profits going to the chosen charity. It came without a frame, so before the convention I put in the resources to find a suitable frame. Which I did! It was a really nice piece, and as I also kind of wanted to win my frame back again (as I joked to my friends) I tried bidding on it. But I didn't win. In the end, it sold for around 800 SEK, which is a bit way above my budget.
There was also a fursuit head initially going for really cheap, which I bid on - but in the end, I lost out on that as well. I'm not exactly a fursuiting enthusiast, and I'm pretty sure I'd make for a pretty poor fursuiter, but it could be fun trying it out sometime, if the investment was sufficiently low and the design was sufficiently appealing.
But I did pick up some other nifty swag. Mostly at Flappy's table, an artist who was also holding a "fleamarket", selling some mangas and figurines. (I presume he had picked them up at flemarkets himself, and was reselling them.) Which was pretty awesome. (Hey, I used the A-word!) I ended up buying some The Lion King and Dogtanian figurines, and a Princess Celestia pony toy. In true fleamarket style, I also did some haggling, and even got a surprise discount for demonstrating a rather lewd position Simba and Nala could be placed in. I thought I'd bought the Zazu figurine he was offering as well, but seems not. Was also slightly tempted by the Blinky Bill figurines, but some of them looked a bit too battered about for me. (I prefer having everything in mint condition, but exceptions can be made - to an extent - for older rarities and novelties, like these.) Kind of regret not buying more, though Hoping he'll be offering something similar next year! I think it's a neat concept, and I haven't seen it done at any other dealers' dens.
Swag.
Other than that, I got three pieces of free art! One was a direct request from me to my Finnish friend hukka, getting him to draw me a rough badge-type piece. I was supposed to draw him one back, but unfortunately never found a good time for it. So I guess I owe him one.
Then I got a surprise mini-badge drawing from Wolftale, of me hugging my fictive Silver plushie (the protagonist from the anime Silver Fang), which she handed to me one of the times I passed by her table. It was really adorable, and totally unexpected.
And finally and equally unexpected, a drawing from Templa. Except, I had to retrieve it myself. She had drawn it at the toy store at the nearby mall, where they had a drawing table for the kids. Emphy tweeted me a picture of her drawing it, and when I later inquired about it, I was told the drawing was probably still there, since no one had brought it along. So I ran over to retrieve it when doing my shopping rounds. (Which I'm sure must've looked odd; a guy dressed in black with sun glasses going into the toy store, going to the drawing table, browsing through the drawings there, taking one, then leaving.) So, it was kind of a gift drawing! Though apparently, if it had been left there, it might've been hung up on the wall of the toy store, which would've been pretty neat as well.
Other than that, also got two souvenirs from Trax's recent travels to the US, Australia, and Hong Kong: a My Little Pony sticker book, and a Magic: the Gathering squirrel card.
Oh, and I also got the children's CD Arne Alligator through hukka, who'd ordered it for me a few months prior.
More swag, including gift art!
Food
True to form, I didn't have a single really good meal during the convention. But as I was on staff I guess it was to be expected, and I didn't get that grumpy about it, as I tend to get during Eurofurence. (Though I'm starting to feel a bit retrospectively grumpy, looking back at all the good food I didn't eat!)
Prior to leaving I'd actually made a list of restaurants in Stockholm I wanted to visit (four, in all), but as the hotel ended up being further from downtown Stockholm than expected, I didn't have time to go to any of them. Which was a shame, as I'd looked forward to getting to visit at least one of them, and I'm not sure when I'll next have a chance to try any of them.
Staff
As I'm close friends with Trax, I've been helping out with the convention in various small ways since its initial inception. Like helping come up with a name, suggesting the ambassadors program, and other minor things here and there. So it didn't come as a big surprise when I was asked to officially join the staff once things started rolling, and I was put in charge of the conbook. (I like to joke that I was, in part, given the position because they didn't know what else they could use me for; I'm not really a people person, I don't have any obvious practical skills, and I can't lift heavy objects that easily due to a slightly bad knee. I am, however, a decent writer and somewhat creative, and could probably be an asset in a few other ways if I were to be officially a part of the staff as opposed to just helping out on a non-staff level. Ergo, I was in charge of the conbook!)
I was also put in charge of the tabletop gaming at the convention. Which basically meant getting tables set up, getting out the games, and stopping by whenever able (if I wasn't there playing a game myself) to see that everything was okay. Plus, I was either in charge of or helping out with seven or so events. Oh, plus, I was the Norwegian ambassador, which basically meant spreading news about the convention to the Norwegian fandom and trying to gently tug at a few Norwegian tails to ask if they'd be interested in joining.
I became surprisingly busy during the actual convention. I frequently had to run off, either helping out attendees, trying to track someone down for someone else, helping out Trax, or do something else. Several friends commented on how busy I seemed. A couple of evenings got to the point where I wasn't sure when or how I'd be able to eat. I also remember one evening, I became somewhat disoriented when it suddenly turned out I had a couple of hours completely to myself, and didn't have anywhere I needed to be.
There aren't many "benefits" to being on staff per se, but one is that you're able to register a bit earlier than the others. Consequently, I managed to get a pretty low registration number this year: 3. Don't think I'll ever manage to get as low a number anywhere again. Plus, you get a red lanyard! When asked by a few others how to either get such a low number or how to get a red lanyard, I jokingly informed them that they would have to kill someone on staff and take their badge and lanyard. Which lead to some amusing / disturbing mental images of furs killing their way to the top, maybe ending up wearing several red lanyards, trying to "absorb" the staff.
My badge. Need to work my way up to #1.
Shortly before the convention, I was also asked if I wanted to join the board of the convention together with Trax, NewEinstein, and Ethan. That's basically where you make the more fundamental decisions, such as deciding on dates, themes, pricing, and various other things. Flattered and happy to help out, I said sure! An impromptu board meeting took place on the day after the convention (which, as mentioned above, caused a bit of additional stress in terms of travelling back home).
During the meeting - with me, Trax, Ethan, NewEinstein, and Pinky who had also recently been invited to join - I did feel a bit like "the odd fox out". Ethan, Trax and NewEinstein had worked closely together on the convention IRL for several months, and had a lot more knowledge about some of the inner workings than me, and Pinky has experience with working for Eurofurence for several years (and, I think, Confuzzled). Between the four, there wasn't really much I felt I could add, and with my natural tendency to sometimes go quiet in certain groups (mostly with people I'm less familiar with) and when there's a lot of talking (I'm usually okay at filling silence, but not very good at cutting through noise), most of my potential points were mentioned by others before I really had the chance to raise them. So in the end, I didn't really contribute much at all.
Will see how it goes as things progress. Hoping I'll be able to actually contribute and be an asset as a board member, rather than just taking up space. I think I still have a lot to learn. But if I feel like I'm not really adding much, I might consider resigning from the board. Maybe nominating someone else, if possible. I do think it's good that there's a Norwegian on the board though, someone who's somewhat familiar with the Norwegian fandom; Norway was the second highest attending country at NordicFuzzCon, after (of course) the Swedes.
Hello!
Events
Fursuit Charades
The Fursuit Charades turned into a bit of a mess. An entertaining mess, mind you! But still a mess.
I'd collaborated on the event with Trax and Ethan, brainstormed around the format, and helped come up with some possible words and phrases that could be acted out. A few things were still a bit unclear, but most of the basics had been nailed down. The fursuiters would be divided into two teams, with around 3 - 5 fursuiters on each team, to represent pirates and vikings, as the convention's theme was pirates vs. vikings. Likewise the audience would be divided into two teams, and they were to shout out whatever words or phrases they thought the fursuiters were acting out, but only for those on their own team (unless they'd want to help the enemy get points). Some words and phrases were "it's raining cats and dogs", "quicksand", "Assassin's Creed", and "rage quitting".
Trax was to be on stage as the host, I was to do the count down and keep score, and Ethan was to prep and keep control of the fursuiters. Sounded simple enough.
Except, there was some occasional confusion as to which fursuiters belonged to which team, so the audience wasn't always sure whether or not they should be shouting out suggestions or not, and we weren't always sure which team should be getting a point. The scoreboards for the two teams were on the opposite ends of the stage, in the form of two flipcharts, which meant having to run / jog from the one to the other. And I had to signal the sound guys when they were to play the countdown music, which was after 30 seconds had passed, so I had to stand close by so they could see me. And I had to pass on messages from Trax to Ethan (who was in the fursuit lounge) about when to change to the next round of phrases. And there were quite a few fursuiters in line close to the sound guys, in a line from the closest door to the fursuit lounge. So there was a fair bit of running and fursuit dodging for me, trying to get from Trax to Ethan to relay messages, while keeping track of time, then having to run back to signal the countdown to the sound guys or write down a point for either team, while trying to not kill any / too many fursuiters or audience members. So I often got confused as to whether it was the viking or the pirate team who had gotten a points, and had to ask Trax - and sometimes he wasn't sure, either!
Sometimes I'd try asking the nearest audience members who'd gotten the point, and when I was absent or slow they'd start shouting out "point, point, point" while pointing at either of the scoreboards. Which was both stressful and amusing, and a few playfully called me "point fox" afterwards. (Might be Trax who started it by referring to me by that name during the actual event.)
So it was pretty messy and stressful. But still fun.
Ultimate Werewolf
A card game I was scheduled to lead, where you play as a group of villagers - except one of the villagers is a werewolf, and each night another player is killed. Then each day the villagers will accuse one another and argue for or against who is or isn't the werewolf, and who they should lynch. It's a pretty simple game, but with a lot of variables you can tweak in small ways to see what works best.
I asked that the villagers named their village at the start of each round. They ended up first calling their village Gay Rainbow, then New Gay Rainbow, then Gay Bar The Third, and finally Anal Destruction (which was appropriately after the werewolves had won the previous round).
I ended up using elevator music during the night time phase of the games. The music had originally been intended for usage during the fursuit charades, but as the audio guys were able to get some music going themselves, I ended up using it here instead, not wanting it to go to waste. Which people seemed to find amusing.
Most of those who joined seemed to enjoy it, and at least a couple have said it was one of their convention highlights and requested a reprise next year. So that's pretty flattering! Though I don't think I necessarily was a super moderator, and I was only a moderator for a couple of the rounds in all.
Once Upon A Fuzz
The second card game I was in charge of, where you use your cards to tell a fairy tale. The turnout wasn't super though, probably because it was held fairly late in the evening and in a room a bit to the side of the lobby (whereas Ultimate Werewolf was held in the actual main lobby area). After some difficulties explaining the rules, the game started. We played a few rounds, and again most people playing seemed to be amused. In one of the stories we ended up with a blind, ugly, dumb, possibly necrophiliac lion commandeering a pirate ship, and steering it into NordicFuzzCon.
For this year, I had gotten Norwegian furry artist Catya to contribute ten hand drawn cards revolving around the convention's theme and the furry culture. I'm hoping it can be an annual event, with a different artist adding cards to the game each year.
Cards drawn by Catya.
Magic For Dummies
A panel I was to hold together with fellow Norwegian fur Pilosus, mainly focusing on teaching how to play the game. Alas, it didn't quite turn out that way.
The turn-out was initially underwhelming, but we had a slow trickle of people joining, with mostly people who'd played before. It became obvious that a typical panel format wouldn't really work, so instead we tried dividing people into small groups of players. Which wasn't easy, as more people would slowly turn up, requiring more groups to have to be formed, and eventually a few less experienced folks showed up, people who didn't know how to play and who didn't have their own decks.
It was a bit of a mess, but hopefully still halfway enjoyable. I think planning for more of a "turn up and play casually" format to the event would've worked better.
Furry Music Café
Chama organized the Furry Music Café. The concept was basically to have furs come together, help themselves to free refreshments (tea, coffee, cookies), and for anyone who wanted to perform some music to do so while the other furs relax and listen. And as I'm a struggling quasi-musician desperately trying to increase his near-empty fanbase, I was keen on giving it a shot and perform a bit, too. Unfortunately, with all the preparations for the convention and with all the running around, I was pretty flustered and hadn't really gotten to practice at all by the time I went on stage.
I first performed two simple songs, which went pretty okay-ish, before someone else took over again. A bit later I tried to perform again, but my keyboard wouldn't co-operate and I kept stumbling. (Probably didn't help that I'd then had a second glass of wine; alcohol is great to help loosen you up a bit, but not so great if you need to concentrate.) But, I had fun with it and did my best, and the audience was very friendly and seemed sufficiently amused by my slightly botched second performance.
While Chama ended up standing for the bulk of the performances, there were a few others as well, making for an overall pretty varied, eclectic selection of musicians and performances. The audience was great throughout, as was the atmosphere. It was fun to perform (even if I didn't do super), and it was fun listening to and seeing others perform. No one seemed too full of themselves to laugh and have fun with it.
So a great way to spend a lazy after noon, I thought. It was also pretty fortunate that it happened around the same time as the "snack surprise" they were doing at the convention, when they started selling soft serve ice cream and popcorn for an hour or so. So you could head around the corner, fill up on popcorn or ice cream, and head back to munch while relaxing to the music.
Later on when I bumped into Chama, he heartily thanked me for performing, shaking hands, saying I'd been great; complimenting the way I handled myself on stage, and how different my music was from the others. It felt genuine, and his positive feedback made me feel pretty good. Definitely hoping the event will return next year, and that I might be able to prepare a bit better.
The Brony Panel
It was decided pretty early on that we should have a My Little Pony / brony panel, and with me arguably being the biggest brony on the staff, I was asked to lead it. I wasn't initially sure about the format, and did a fair bit of brainstorming. One idea was to buy some pony birthday decorations, try giving the event a birthday feel, including giving the panel attendees gift bags (which I imagined ideally containing: a blind bag pony, a pony button, and a cupcake or muffin). Then have a lightly moderated discussion about the show, touching on certain topics and trivia (similar to my "legendary" panel on The Lion King at Further North last year), then maybe ending with showing random fan-made clips off of YouTube, or have people nominate and vote for an episode we could watch together in its entirety.
Sadly, it turned out that showing any clips or episodes would've involved potential copyright issues. It would've also been unfair to other panels if the brony panel got a budget for decorations and gifts, so no birthday party theme either. Which rather reduced my options. I could have still done the lightly moderated discussion, but doing that for more than an hour (I the panel had 90 minutes at its disposal), on top of all the preperations I had to do for everything else related to the convention... well, it would've been a lot of extra work.
So instead, I figured we could watch the documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans Of My Little Pony, if we got permission from the creators - which we finally managed to get! Bitchin'! The documentary lasts about 75 minutes (with 10 minutes of credits or so), so would fit snuggly into the time we had at our disposal. My idea was also that we could have a small brony gathering after the film, for those who were interested, so we could also get to do a bit of chatting, get to know each other better, and talk ponies.
There were some delays getting things started, some running around, trying to find a laptop and getting the video transferred and getting the equipment working, and I got rather flustered as there was suddenly a small crowd waiting. (The room ended up getting pretty full, with almost all the available seats getting taken.) But eventually the film started, after maybe a 10 - 15 minute delay... and thankfully, people seemed to enjoy it! While I'd already seen it twice, I must say watching it with a crowd of people was a lot more fun, being able to feel the excitement during certain segments, and hearing people chuckle and laugh at other segments.
But, due to the delays, and due to conflicting events (namely the art show and dealers' den closing, and the fursuit game show starting), the post-documentary meet-up didn't happen. Ah well. Guess we'll see if we do a pony / brony event again next year, and what format it will have.
Cinéma Anthropomorphique
Cinéma Anthropomorphique is a moderately snooty furry film club that me and a couple of furry friends started up in Oslo last December. We try gathering once a month to watch some pre-scheduled furry media while having pizza and cake.
I had this idea to try doing an "international version", having a room party where we watch something furry at a furry convention, and I wanted to give it a try at NordicFuzzCon. There was a bit back and forth regarding when the best time for it would be, but we eventually settled on the last night of the convention - or rather, the night after the convention. There was the Dead Dog Party, but nothing much was really happening downstairs in the lobby other than light mingling and gaming.
There was also a bit back and forth regarding the technicalities, on how to watch it, but we finally figured out a solution and managed to get the media in question playing on the TV. So we eventually gathered in hukka's room. He had a four-person room, but all his three roomies had left so he had the room all to himself! So there was a fair bit of extra space, and it made for an excellent room for film watching.
I had brough a few different things, but we eventually settled on watching Mystery Science Theater 3000: Werewolf.
By my calculations, there were 13 people attending the movie viewing in all. A few left before it was over, and several joined in after it had started. But the turn-out was pretty good, and most people seemed to be laughing and enjoying it, with people occasionally throwing out a few riff lines of their own. So, definitely a success! I'm hoping we can do a repeat performance next year, and try to have it be an annual event: gathering on the final night for Cinéma Anthropomorphique, watching an animal-themed MST3K (or Rifftrax) episode. Just hope we can get a four-person bed room to host it in again next year.
Oh, and for the record: no, this can't be an open, officially scheduled, proper event at the convention. This is due to potential copyright problems. It will have to remain a private, invite only sort of event. But if you're interested in attending next year, just let me know (and remind me during the actual convention), and we'll see!
Behold, our logo!
Miscellaneous
Me and Happy's door sign.
A late night spontaneous group picture with some semi-random people.
Bah! Hømf! Mint condition?
Babyfur
First day of the convention (or actually, I think it was day zero, the day before the convention officially started), I got a big box moderately full of medium sized diapers! They were donated to me by [redacted], for personal use during the convention and for the babyfur room party I had planned on arranging. They were mostly of the Asian bootleg variety - including one, amusingly, branded as Dr. P - and they didn't all work that super. But still, it was pretty neat, and a much appreciated donation.
Though I actually didn't get to be padded as much as I would've liked during the convention. Often there just wasn't time; I had to run from one place to the next, and when going to my room to use the toilet, to take a breather, or to retrieve something, I didn't have the time to get myself diapered. Getting cleaned up and changed out of a used one would eat up more time later as well. I did wear some sporadically though.
The Dr. P Asian bootleg diaper.
As for the babyfur room party...
Things started a bit awkwardly, with not everyone necessarily knowing one another, and the amusing reggae-style Disney cover song CD I put on in the background maybe didn't help much. But gradually things seemed to improve, people getting more relaxed and chatty, and seeming to have fun interacting or watching others interact. A snuggle pile sort of started up in the bed, for those who were keen on that, and some people donned their sleepers or kigirumis (like myself!). One of the party attendees, DarkFoxDK, got his phone hooked up to the TV in the hotel room, and we ended up watching Shaun The Sheep for a while. (Which was pretty fun, though I'd actually already worked my way through all the episodes earlier this year.)
I was also asked to diaper a couple of folks during the room party. First of which was Happy, who tried to escape during his diaper change. Then Tarquil, who asked me to make the diaper pretty tight, which caused me put in too much strength and as a result tearing off the tabs on one of the sides. Oops.
(And for the record, I'm not that big on changing diapers unless I know the fur in question well, and preferably care for him to some extent, or if I'm in the right mood! Likewise I prefer being changed by people I know well and have some affection towards, but if I'm in the right mood I might be more... flexible.)
A few helped themselves to the Asian bootleg diapers, but by the last day, I still had a pretty full box to deal with. I tried to call [redacted] for help (who suggested I squeeze them all into my bag - but my bag was pretty full already), but fortunately I found another, younger, Swedish babyfur who was able to take the rest with him home. DarkFoxDK had also brought a few (non-Asian, non-bootleg) diapers he donated to the box, which I was rather keen on trying, and I tried to announce to people at the end "take any you want, but please leave these ones". But in the end, someone took them! Argh!
Anyway, I'd say the party was pretty successful! Not perfect, but people seemed to be laughing and enjoying themselves. It was a bit stressful hosting it, especially combined with my other responsibilities, but I was eventually able to settle down and relax and rather enjoyed it as well. Hoping to do it again next year, maybe with more Asian bootleg diapers. Or maybe we could try getting some authentic Swedish IKEA diapers! In which case, there might be some assembly required.
Conclusion
Overall - as stated in the introduction - it was a pretty great convention. I enjoyed myself, and most others seemed to as well. A bit stressful, sure, but never boring! And hopefully it will be even better next year.
To finish off, in case it's of interest, here are the videos from the convention I uploaded to YouTube:
NordicFuzzCon 2013 Clip Show
Fursuit Parade
Dead Dog Party Conga Line
Why is there a kitty on my back?
To start, I can say that it was a pretty great convention, all in all.
I'm usually not one for exaggerated enthusiasm, spouting words like "awesome" and "epic" right and left, nor phrases like "I love it" or "the best". I usually try to keep my positive remarks down to a minimum. But there are exceptions. Like the movie Drive. Holy caramel, is that a great film! The atmosphere and cinematography in that are amazing, not to mention how they handle the violence: brutal and devastating. A modern masterpiece of cinema. Not to mention the 80s style synthpop soundtrack.
Anyway! It was a pretty great convention. Perhaps the best furry convention I've been to so far, actually. I never really had a dull moment, no stretches of time when I didn't have anything to do nor anyone to talk to, and it seemed like most others were having fun too. People were approachable and inclusive, and the atmosphere (as many pointed out) was really good. One attendee even delayed his flight to stay another day, and told how he had suddenly been asked to join a conversation random strangers were having - which had never happened at other conventions.
I'll be moving through some of my experiences during the convention thematically below. Note that there's a babyfur section at the very bottom, and while it's not very explicit, some might prefer to skip it.
Transportation
The trip to Sweden was off to a rough start. I managed arrive at the station in time for my intended train to Oslo, where I would meet up with some other furs to take the train onwards to Stockholm. But, the train was a short train, and it stopped close to the start of the platform, while I was closer to the end of the platform. And I was full of luggage, and I have a slightly bad knee. I did my best to hurry once I realized there was some distance to cover between me and the train, but I couldn't exactly sprint. My hat also fell off while I was semi-jogging, and I had to pause to pick it up. It took me a few seconds, and when I had made it to the nearest door, being mere centimeters away, it closed... and the train drove off.
I got pretty darn angry (the train driver couldn't not have seen me!), and I had to wait for the next train. This lead to a fair bit of stress and more attempted running, as I had to join up with the other furs I was travelling with and catch the train from Oslo to Sweden, and I also had everyone's tickets! To help me get to the train platform sooner I got one of the other furs to meet me on the platform where my train was to arrive. Except, the platform my train arrived at was a different one than what had been stated on the big board at the station, so the fur who was supposed to help me ended up waiting for me on the wrong platform. More stress, more running, more phone calls.
Stupid train drivers and stupid trains.
Fortunately I made it, but not by a very large margin; only a few minutes.
Six hours later, and we were in Stockholm. Then we used around twenty - thirty minutes finding out where to go next, what train we needed to be on, and what tickets to get for everyone. It's always a hassle trying to sort out a foreign country's public transportation norms and find the right platform. More so when you're full of luggage.
On the train journey from central Stockholm station to the convention area, I ended up forgetting my hat in the train; I'd put it in the baggage department overhead, and then forgot about it when we were getting off. I guess I could've just left my hat back when my hat fell off in Norway, and maybe I would've caught the train and avoided some stress.
There was more stress reaching the train back. The NFC post-convention board meeting (as I'll be addressing below) ended up lasting longer than I had expected, and I had the rest of the furs anxiously waiting for me to finish, wanting to head back as a group. Fortunately we managed to get to Stockholm central station with an okay-ish margin, but there was still a fair bit of stress trying to find the right platform, and buying food beforehand. I ended up buying a sandwich that took longer to prepare than I had expected as well, so I had to do some extra running again. (And the boxed sandwich also came with something resembling couscous on the side, but I hadn't been given any disposable utensils to eat it with. Fortunately one of the furs I was travelling with had a spare disposable plastic knife. Not the best tool for eating with - a fork would've been far easier - but better than nothing. At least it was kind of tasty.)
The train ride home was pleasant enough though, and some time was spent chatting and playing Dixit together on the train, as me and three others were seated at a table.
Oh, and I probably could've ranted on for a paragraph or two about the inane Swedish website where we had to order our Oslo - Stockholm train tickets from. But maybe next time, if they still haven't updated their website by then.
Playing Dixit on the train.
Why is there a kitty on my back?
Swag
For the art show, Theodor had sent me one of his original drawings he did for the conbook (though they ended up being used for the pocket programs instead), with 100% of the profits going to the chosen charity. It came without a frame, so before the convention I put in the resources to find a suitable frame. Which I did! It was a really nice piece, and as I also kind of wanted to win my frame back again (as I joked to my friends) I tried bidding on it. But I didn't win. In the end, it sold for around 800 SEK, which is a bit way above my budget.
There was also a fursuit head initially going for really cheap, which I bid on - but in the end, I lost out on that as well. I'm not exactly a fursuiting enthusiast, and I'm pretty sure I'd make for a pretty poor fursuiter, but it could be fun trying it out sometime, if the investment was sufficiently low and the design was sufficiently appealing.
But I did pick up some other nifty swag. Mostly at Flappy's table, an artist who was also holding a "fleamarket", selling some mangas and figurines. (I presume he had picked them up at flemarkets himself, and was reselling them.) Which was pretty awesome. (Hey, I used the A-word!) I ended up buying some The Lion King and Dogtanian figurines, and a Princess Celestia pony toy. In true fleamarket style, I also did some haggling, and even got a surprise discount for demonstrating a rather lewd position Simba and Nala could be placed in. I thought I'd bought the Zazu figurine he was offering as well, but seems not. Was also slightly tempted by the Blinky Bill figurines, but some of them looked a bit too battered about for me. (I prefer having everything in mint condition, but exceptions can be made - to an extent - for older rarities and novelties, like these.) Kind of regret not buying more, though Hoping he'll be offering something similar next year! I think it's a neat concept, and I haven't seen it done at any other dealers' dens.
Swag.
Other than that, I got three pieces of free art! One was a direct request from me to my Finnish friend hukka, getting him to draw me a rough badge-type piece. I was supposed to draw him one back, but unfortunately never found a good time for it. So I guess I owe him one.
Then I got a surprise mini-badge drawing from Wolftale, of me hugging my fictive Silver plushie (the protagonist from the anime Silver Fang), which she handed to me one of the times I passed by her table. It was really adorable, and totally unexpected.
And finally and equally unexpected, a drawing from Templa. Except, I had to retrieve it myself. She had drawn it at the toy store at the nearby mall, where they had a drawing table for the kids. Emphy tweeted me a picture of her drawing it, and when I later inquired about it, I was told the drawing was probably still there, since no one had brought it along. So I ran over to retrieve it when doing my shopping rounds. (Which I'm sure must've looked odd; a guy dressed in black with sun glasses going into the toy store, going to the drawing table, browsing through the drawings there, taking one, then leaving.) So, it was kind of a gift drawing! Though apparently, if it had been left there, it might've been hung up on the wall of the toy store, which would've been pretty neat as well.
Other than that, also got two souvenirs from Trax's recent travels to the US, Australia, and Hong Kong: a My Little Pony sticker book, and a Magic: the Gathering squirrel card.
Oh, and I also got the children's CD Arne Alligator through hukka, who'd ordered it for me a few months prior.
More swag, including gift art!
Food
True to form, I didn't have a single really good meal during the convention. But as I was on staff I guess it was to be expected, and I didn't get that grumpy about it, as I tend to get during Eurofurence. (Though I'm starting to feel a bit retrospectively grumpy, looking back at all the good food I didn't eat!)
Prior to leaving I'd actually made a list of restaurants in Stockholm I wanted to visit (four, in all), but as the hotel ended up being further from downtown Stockholm than expected, I didn't have time to go to any of them. Which was a shame, as I'd looked forward to getting to visit at least one of them, and I'm not sure when I'll next have a chance to try any of them.
Staff
As I'm close friends with Trax, I've been helping out with the convention in various small ways since its initial inception. Like helping come up with a name, suggesting the ambassadors program, and other minor things here and there. So it didn't come as a big surprise when I was asked to officially join the staff once things started rolling, and I was put in charge of the conbook. (I like to joke that I was, in part, given the position because they didn't know what else they could use me for; I'm not really a people person, I don't have any obvious practical skills, and I can't lift heavy objects that easily due to a slightly bad knee. I am, however, a decent writer and somewhat creative, and could probably be an asset in a few other ways if I were to be officially a part of the staff as opposed to just helping out on a non-staff level. Ergo, I was in charge of the conbook!)
I was also put in charge of the tabletop gaming at the convention. Which basically meant getting tables set up, getting out the games, and stopping by whenever able (if I wasn't there playing a game myself) to see that everything was okay. Plus, I was either in charge of or helping out with seven or so events. Oh, plus, I was the Norwegian ambassador, which basically meant spreading news about the convention to the Norwegian fandom and trying to gently tug at a few Norwegian tails to ask if they'd be interested in joining.
I became surprisingly busy during the actual convention. I frequently had to run off, either helping out attendees, trying to track someone down for someone else, helping out Trax, or do something else. Several friends commented on how busy I seemed. A couple of evenings got to the point where I wasn't sure when or how I'd be able to eat. I also remember one evening, I became somewhat disoriented when it suddenly turned out I had a couple of hours completely to myself, and didn't have anywhere I needed to be.
There aren't many "benefits" to being on staff per se, but one is that you're able to register a bit earlier than the others. Consequently, I managed to get a pretty low registration number this year: 3. Don't think I'll ever manage to get as low a number anywhere again. Plus, you get a red lanyard! When asked by a few others how to either get such a low number or how to get a red lanyard, I jokingly informed them that they would have to kill someone on staff and take their badge and lanyard. Which lead to some amusing / disturbing mental images of furs killing their way to the top, maybe ending up wearing several red lanyards, trying to "absorb" the staff.
My badge. Need to work my way up to #1.
Shortly before the convention, I was also asked if I wanted to join the board of the convention together with Trax, NewEinstein, and Ethan. That's basically where you make the more fundamental decisions, such as deciding on dates, themes, pricing, and various other things. Flattered and happy to help out, I said sure! An impromptu board meeting took place on the day after the convention (which, as mentioned above, caused a bit of additional stress in terms of travelling back home).
During the meeting - with me, Trax, Ethan, NewEinstein, and Pinky who had also recently been invited to join - I did feel a bit like "the odd fox out". Ethan, Trax and NewEinstein had worked closely together on the convention IRL for several months, and had a lot more knowledge about some of the inner workings than me, and Pinky has experience with working for Eurofurence for several years (and, I think, Confuzzled). Between the four, there wasn't really much I felt I could add, and with my natural tendency to sometimes go quiet in certain groups (mostly with people I'm less familiar with) and when there's a lot of talking (I'm usually okay at filling silence, but not very good at cutting through noise), most of my potential points were mentioned by others before I really had the chance to raise them. So in the end, I didn't really contribute much at all.
Will see how it goes as things progress. Hoping I'll be able to actually contribute and be an asset as a board member, rather than just taking up space. I think I still have a lot to learn. But if I feel like I'm not really adding much, I might consider resigning from the board. Maybe nominating someone else, if possible. I do think it's good that there's a Norwegian on the board though, someone who's somewhat familiar with the Norwegian fandom; Norway was the second highest attending country at NordicFuzzCon, after (of course) the Swedes.
Hello!
Events
Fursuit Charades
The Fursuit Charades turned into a bit of a mess. An entertaining mess, mind you! But still a mess.
I'd collaborated on the event with Trax and Ethan, brainstormed around the format, and helped come up with some possible words and phrases that could be acted out. A few things were still a bit unclear, but most of the basics had been nailed down. The fursuiters would be divided into two teams, with around 3 - 5 fursuiters on each team, to represent pirates and vikings, as the convention's theme was pirates vs. vikings. Likewise the audience would be divided into two teams, and they were to shout out whatever words or phrases they thought the fursuiters were acting out, but only for those on their own team (unless they'd want to help the enemy get points). Some words and phrases were "it's raining cats and dogs", "quicksand", "Assassin's Creed", and "rage quitting".
Trax was to be on stage as the host, I was to do the count down and keep score, and Ethan was to prep and keep control of the fursuiters. Sounded simple enough.
Except, there was some occasional confusion as to which fursuiters belonged to which team, so the audience wasn't always sure whether or not they should be shouting out suggestions or not, and we weren't always sure which team should be getting a point. The scoreboards for the two teams were on the opposite ends of the stage, in the form of two flipcharts, which meant having to run / jog from the one to the other. And I had to signal the sound guys when they were to play the countdown music, which was after 30 seconds had passed, so I had to stand close by so they could see me. And I had to pass on messages from Trax to Ethan (who was in the fursuit lounge) about when to change to the next round of phrases. And there were quite a few fursuiters in line close to the sound guys, in a line from the closest door to the fursuit lounge. So there was a fair bit of running and fursuit dodging for me, trying to get from Trax to Ethan to relay messages, while keeping track of time, then having to run back to signal the countdown to the sound guys or write down a point for either team, while trying to not kill any / too many fursuiters or audience members. So I often got confused as to whether it was the viking or the pirate team who had gotten a points, and had to ask Trax - and sometimes he wasn't sure, either!
Sometimes I'd try asking the nearest audience members who'd gotten the point, and when I was absent or slow they'd start shouting out "point, point, point" while pointing at either of the scoreboards. Which was both stressful and amusing, and a few playfully called me "point fox" afterwards. (Might be Trax who started it by referring to me by that name during the actual event.)
So it was pretty messy and stressful. But still fun.
Ultimate Werewolf
A card game I was scheduled to lead, where you play as a group of villagers - except one of the villagers is a werewolf, and each night another player is killed. Then each day the villagers will accuse one another and argue for or against who is or isn't the werewolf, and who they should lynch. It's a pretty simple game, but with a lot of variables you can tweak in small ways to see what works best.
I asked that the villagers named their village at the start of each round. They ended up first calling their village Gay Rainbow, then New Gay Rainbow, then Gay Bar The Third, and finally Anal Destruction (which was appropriately after the werewolves had won the previous round).
I ended up using elevator music during the night time phase of the games. The music had originally been intended for usage during the fursuit charades, but as the audio guys were able to get some music going themselves, I ended up using it here instead, not wanting it to go to waste. Which people seemed to find amusing.
Most of those who joined seemed to enjoy it, and at least a couple have said it was one of their convention highlights and requested a reprise next year. So that's pretty flattering! Though I don't think I necessarily was a super moderator, and I was only a moderator for a couple of the rounds in all.
Once Upon A Fuzz
The second card game I was in charge of, where you use your cards to tell a fairy tale. The turnout wasn't super though, probably because it was held fairly late in the evening and in a room a bit to the side of the lobby (whereas Ultimate Werewolf was held in the actual main lobby area). After some difficulties explaining the rules, the game started. We played a few rounds, and again most people playing seemed to be amused. In one of the stories we ended up with a blind, ugly, dumb, possibly necrophiliac lion commandeering a pirate ship, and steering it into NordicFuzzCon.
For this year, I had gotten Norwegian furry artist Catya to contribute ten hand drawn cards revolving around the convention's theme and the furry culture. I'm hoping it can be an annual event, with a different artist adding cards to the game each year.
Cards drawn by Catya.
Magic For Dummies
A panel I was to hold together with fellow Norwegian fur Pilosus, mainly focusing on teaching how to play the game. Alas, it didn't quite turn out that way.
The turn-out was initially underwhelming, but we had a slow trickle of people joining, with mostly people who'd played before. It became obvious that a typical panel format wouldn't really work, so instead we tried dividing people into small groups of players. Which wasn't easy, as more people would slowly turn up, requiring more groups to have to be formed, and eventually a few less experienced folks showed up, people who didn't know how to play and who didn't have their own decks.
It was a bit of a mess, but hopefully still halfway enjoyable. I think planning for more of a "turn up and play casually" format to the event would've worked better.
Furry Music Café
Chama organized the Furry Music Café. The concept was basically to have furs come together, help themselves to free refreshments (tea, coffee, cookies), and for anyone who wanted to perform some music to do so while the other furs relax and listen. And as I'm a struggling quasi-musician desperately trying to increase his near-empty fanbase, I was keen on giving it a shot and perform a bit, too. Unfortunately, with all the preparations for the convention and with all the running around, I was pretty flustered and hadn't really gotten to practice at all by the time I went on stage.
I first performed two simple songs, which went pretty okay-ish, before someone else took over again. A bit later I tried to perform again, but my keyboard wouldn't co-operate and I kept stumbling. (Probably didn't help that I'd then had a second glass of wine; alcohol is great to help loosen you up a bit, but not so great if you need to concentrate.) But, I had fun with it and did my best, and the audience was very friendly and seemed sufficiently amused by my slightly botched second performance.
While Chama ended up standing for the bulk of the performances, there were a few others as well, making for an overall pretty varied, eclectic selection of musicians and performances. The audience was great throughout, as was the atmosphere. It was fun to perform (even if I didn't do super), and it was fun listening to and seeing others perform. No one seemed too full of themselves to laugh and have fun with it.
So a great way to spend a lazy after noon, I thought. It was also pretty fortunate that it happened around the same time as the "snack surprise" they were doing at the convention, when they started selling soft serve ice cream and popcorn for an hour or so. So you could head around the corner, fill up on popcorn or ice cream, and head back to munch while relaxing to the music.
Later on when I bumped into Chama, he heartily thanked me for performing, shaking hands, saying I'd been great; complimenting the way I handled myself on stage, and how different my music was from the others. It felt genuine, and his positive feedback made me feel pretty good. Definitely hoping the event will return next year, and that I might be able to prepare a bit better.
The Brony Panel
It was decided pretty early on that we should have a My Little Pony / brony panel, and with me arguably being the biggest brony on the staff, I was asked to lead it. I wasn't initially sure about the format, and did a fair bit of brainstorming. One idea was to buy some pony birthday decorations, try giving the event a birthday feel, including giving the panel attendees gift bags (which I imagined ideally containing: a blind bag pony, a pony button, and a cupcake or muffin). Then have a lightly moderated discussion about the show, touching on certain topics and trivia (similar to my "legendary" panel on The Lion King at Further North last year), then maybe ending with showing random fan-made clips off of YouTube, or have people nominate and vote for an episode we could watch together in its entirety.
Sadly, it turned out that showing any clips or episodes would've involved potential copyright issues. It would've also been unfair to other panels if the brony panel got a budget for decorations and gifts, so no birthday party theme either. Which rather reduced my options. I could have still done the lightly moderated discussion, but doing that for more than an hour (I the panel had 90 minutes at its disposal), on top of all the preperations I had to do for everything else related to the convention... well, it would've been a lot of extra work.
So instead, I figured we could watch the documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans Of My Little Pony, if we got permission from the creators - which we finally managed to get! Bitchin'! The documentary lasts about 75 minutes (with 10 minutes of credits or so), so would fit snuggly into the time we had at our disposal. My idea was also that we could have a small brony gathering after the film, for those who were interested, so we could also get to do a bit of chatting, get to know each other better, and talk ponies.
There were some delays getting things started, some running around, trying to find a laptop and getting the video transferred and getting the equipment working, and I got rather flustered as there was suddenly a small crowd waiting. (The room ended up getting pretty full, with almost all the available seats getting taken.) But eventually the film started, after maybe a 10 - 15 minute delay... and thankfully, people seemed to enjoy it! While I'd already seen it twice, I must say watching it with a crowd of people was a lot more fun, being able to feel the excitement during certain segments, and hearing people chuckle and laugh at other segments.
But, due to the delays, and due to conflicting events (namely the art show and dealers' den closing, and the fursuit game show starting), the post-documentary meet-up didn't happen. Ah well. Guess we'll see if we do a pony / brony event again next year, and what format it will have.
Cinéma Anthropomorphique
Cinéma Anthropomorphique is a moderately snooty furry film club that me and a couple of furry friends started up in Oslo last December. We try gathering once a month to watch some pre-scheduled furry media while having pizza and cake.
I had this idea to try doing an "international version", having a room party where we watch something furry at a furry convention, and I wanted to give it a try at NordicFuzzCon. There was a bit back and forth regarding when the best time for it would be, but we eventually settled on the last night of the convention - or rather, the night after the convention. There was the Dead Dog Party, but nothing much was really happening downstairs in the lobby other than light mingling and gaming.
There was also a bit back and forth regarding the technicalities, on how to watch it, but we finally figured out a solution and managed to get the media in question playing on the TV. So we eventually gathered in hukka's room. He had a four-person room, but all his three roomies had left so he had the room all to himself! So there was a fair bit of extra space, and it made for an excellent room for film watching.
I had brough a few different things, but we eventually settled on watching Mystery Science Theater 3000: Werewolf.
By my calculations, there were 13 people attending the movie viewing in all. A few left before it was over, and several joined in after it had started. But the turn-out was pretty good, and most people seemed to be laughing and enjoying it, with people occasionally throwing out a few riff lines of their own. So, definitely a success! I'm hoping we can do a repeat performance next year, and try to have it be an annual event: gathering on the final night for Cinéma Anthropomorphique, watching an animal-themed MST3K (or Rifftrax) episode. Just hope we can get a four-person bed room to host it in again next year.
Oh, and for the record: no, this can't be an open, officially scheduled, proper event at the convention. This is due to potential copyright problems. It will have to remain a private, invite only sort of event. But if you're interested in attending next year, just let me know (and remind me during the actual convention), and we'll see!
Behold, our logo!
Miscellaneous
- Didn't get to spend too much time which Trax at the convention, which was a shame. But it was to be expected, since we were both on staff and busy running around. (In fact, I joked about it when we first met for the weekend, saying I probably wouldn't see him again before the convention was over. And he joked about me maybe not being old enough to enter the convention, when he was checking my ID when I was registering. Harrumph.) Guess the next time we will meet will be at Eurofurence. But he's also on staff there, and when not doing staff-type stuff will probably be busy fursuiting and meeting new people. So not sure if we'll get to spend much time together there, either. But perhaps sometime this winter / Christmas, if we do the annual julemarked thing again, as I'm hoping we will. But we'll see.
- My room mate at the convention was Happy, a younger Swedish babyfur and husky. I'd stumbled over his profile on FA a few months prior and asked if he was Scandinavian, as his profile somewhat implied. As there aren't all that many Scandinavia babyfurs, let alone ones who seem to want to be active in the community, I got in touch to chat a bit, as well as asking him if he'd be interested in joining NordicFuzzCon (as I was still on the prowl for more attendees). One thing lead to another, and we ended up rooming together.
Turned out he sort of knew who I was already; he'd seen some of my writings on Radix's babyfur blog back in the day, and I had been one of the first babyfurs he'd been kind of aware of. So he had a few amusing and flattering "fanboy moments", including wanting me to sign his diaper at the convention. (Which, unfortunately, didn't happen. We got distracted and time ran away from us.)
After the closing ceremonies at the feedback session, he also thanked me in public for having made him aware of- and having brought him to the convention. Which was rather touching.
Me and Happy's door sign.
- At the feedback session after the closing ceremonies, I did my best to listen to all the questions, praise, complains, and suggestions that came in. Nothing was really related to any of my departments, but I still paid attention to everything. But then when I actually let my mind drift for just a minute or two during one of the questions, of course something about the conbook finally comes up! Just my luck. So I'm a bit bewildered as attention is very briefly directed to me, but the question is quickly and easily handled by someone else. That was pretty embarrassing, but I hope no one really noticed.
The request from the attendee was just that information about the different lanyard colours be stated somewhere, and the question was then whether or not that information was already available in the conbook. To which the answer was: partially. It's stated that red lanyards are staff, and black lanyards are security. It's not stated what green (residential attendees) and blue (non-residential attendees) lanyards are.
- Going into the elevator me and Happy bumped into the two furs who apparently had the room next to us, who commented that we'd partially kept them awake with the music we'd been playing at a small spontaneous room party we'd had the night before. Oops! Fortunately they didn't seem to be mad about it, but playfully commented that "Cubs shouldn't be up partying all night, they should go to bed."
- One of the evenings, DarkFoxDK brought out a jellybean tasting game to the lobby, and asked me to join. Basically you spin the wheel to see what colour of jellybean you'll have to eat. But each colour has two different flavours: one is a standard jellybean taste, one is something gruesome. So, for example, the colour pink could either be strawberry, or it could be rotten eggs. I managed to get some pretty safe ones, until I finally got a bad one: a jellybean that could either taste like peach or vomit, and it turned out to be vomit.
Initially it wasn't too bad, but as I chewed it got increasingly worse. So I headed to the bathroom to spit it out and have some water, and I ended up actually throwing up. Rather ironic, since the flavour was vomit. I had to rush back a couple of more times to throw up more. I hadn't expected that a bad tasting jellybean could manage to have such a strong effect!
As far as I know, there's no rule for how to win the game. I guess you either win by playing the longest, enduring as many rounds and jellybeans as possible, or by not playing at all.
- I hardly remember turning up to be on the official group picture, but I apparently managed to get my tush in there somehow, together with a few Norwegian furs. So it was a fun surprise when it was posted online and I saw that, indeed, I had made it there on time. I also did my own random group picture late during one of the evenings, with some random and some less random furs who were in the near vicinity. Should've tried doing a group picture with all the Norwegians too, but I didn't get the idea for that until I was already home.
A late night spontaneous group picture with some semi-random people.
- A group of people did a Magic: the Gathering draft tournament, and I was invited to join! Unfortunately it would've eaten up around two hours and ended up conflicting with some of my staff duties, so though I definitely wanted to, I wasn't really able to. Still really neat that people took the initiative to organize this amongst themselves, and were inviting other Magic players to join.
- Breakfast is always a drag at furry conventions. Usually too sleep-deprived and tired from the night before to really be super social, and unless you're able to eat with someone you're already pretty familiar and comfortable with (ie. someone you can casually chat to without much effort, and even be quiet with without it feeling awkward), it can feel somewhat... strained. But by dinner time you're usually more awake and more ready to be social again and meet new people!
- During the convention I got to meet some folks I'd only spoken to before online, I got to spend some time with some people I rarely get to see, got to hang out more with the Norwegian furs, and made some new acquaintances! Definitely one of the highlights. My Finnish friend hukka and me also had a slightly emotional moment late one of the evenings, when he talked about our friendship. I think he's the fur I've known the longest, who hasn't passed away and whom I'm still in touch with (though we have fallen a bit in and out of touch through the years). I think I've known him since I was around 14 years old; I'm now 28.
A random bit of trivia: back in the day, a kind fur said he was planning on paying for me to go to Anthrocon, and have hukka join as my guardian since I'd be too young to fly on my own. Unfortunately, and I guess predictably, that never happened. So I still dream of going to the US one day, attending a furry convention there, and hopefully meeting a few American furry friends.
- One of the evenings, I was informed about an error with the dates in the conbook. A pretty big error, which no one had noticed before (and didn't seem like many attendees had noticed it, either). That made me feel really, really bad. That, combined with some minor personal drama, made it hard to enjoy the rest of that evening, as well as getting any proper sleep. But I eventually did manage to get some sleep, and I felt better in the morning.
- There was some additional stress during the convention with me trying to pay for my Eurofurence ticket while there, and having problems getting into my bank account online. I had planned on rooming with a friend at Eurofurence this year, but he hadn't initially made it into the main hotel, while I had. But, people sell off their tickets all the time, so if we remained vigilant, we could be able to snatch up one of said tickets. But if he wasn't able to find a ticket, we'd both book into the overflow hotel and stay there instead. But then, right before leaving for NFC, we manage to find him a ticket! Which meant I also had to pay for my ticket in full before the deadline (which was that weekend), or risk losing my spot. In the end I gave up on trying to pay and instead I sent them an e-mail briefly explaining the situation.
- I definitely set a new record this convention for the amount of times I was lifted off the ground by people.
- There was a large, black wall where people were free to draw using coloured chalk. I draw a dapper, grumpy fox on it, and had him say "Bah!" Later people added my other catchphrases, "Hømf!" and "Mint condition?"
Bah! Hømf! Mint condition?
- Often when I was trying to do something in the lobby, like playing a game or writing an e-mail or having a conversation, a fursuiter would come up to stick its claw tips (gently) in my ears or rub my scalp. Mostly the same few fursuiters, who are people I know IRL. Amusing, but a bit distracting when you're trying to access your online bank account.
- It as also kind of amusing walking into a room party and have a few people playfully go "Oh shit, staff is here!"
- A few debts which were supposed to be paid during the convention, ended up going unpaid.
Firstly, Trax still owes me a kiss! Or, I owe him a kiss. Or we owe each other a kiss. Whoever's receiving and whoever's giving, there needs to be kissing. (Backstory: DarkFoxDK pushed me and Trax together under a mistletoe at a Christmas market last year, and asked us to look up. We laughed, and no kissing took place. Later, I was told it's actually bad luck to not kiss under a mistletoe! So, we need to kiss to get rid of that bad luck.)
Secondly, I had a bet with Kanda online, which I lost. The loser would then have to be spanked ten times. One idea was to have someone at the convention carry it out, and possibly stream it for Kanda to watch. It was also joked that it could be done during the opening ceremonies or somesuch.
Thirdly, I was supposed to spank Happy for Kanda, as punishment for some virtual misbehaving.
- The adult card game Cards Against Humanity was pretty popular during the convention, which was another game brought by DarkFoxDK. It had an officially scheduled slot, but it seemed like there were almost always people playing, many people playing for several hours and laughing out loud. I joined whenever I was able, but didn't get to play as much as some. For those who know how it works, I remember one of the best ones were something like: "Dear Sir or Madam, We regret to inform you that the office of [Necrophilia] has rejected your request for [Free Samples]."
- I also got two new babyfur button designs printed up in time for the convention: viking cubs and keep calm and crinkle on. They were on sale, together with my babyfur buttons from last year, at the dealers' den through Ziggy Wolf's table. I sold pretty okay; about three complete sets, plus a handful or so on top of that.
Babyfur
First day of the convention (or actually, I think it was day zero, the day before the convention officially started), I got a big box moderately full of medium sized diapers! They were donated to me by [redacted], for personal use during the convention and for the babyfur room party I had planned on arranging. They were mostly of the Asian bootleg variety - including one, amusingly, branded as Dr. P - and they didn't all work that super. But still, it was pretty neat, and a much appreciated donation.
Though I actually didn't get to be padded as much as I would've liked during the convention. Often there just wasn't time; I had to run from one place to the next, and when going to my room to use the toilet, to take a breather, or to retrieve something, I didn't have the time to get myself diapered. Getting cleaned up and changed out of a used one would eat up more time later as well. I did wear some sporadically though.
The Dr. P Asian bootleg diaper.
As for the babyfur room party...
Things started a bit awkwardly, with not everyone necessarily knowing one another, and the amusing reggae-style Disney cover song CD I put on in the background maybe didn't help much. But gradually things seemed to improve, people getting more relaxed and chatty, and seeming to have fun interacting or watching others interact. A snuggle pile sort of started up in the bed, for those who were keen on that, and some people donned their sleepers or kigirumis (like myself!). One of the party attendees, DarkFoxDK, got his phone hooked up to the TV in the hotel room, and we ended up watching Shaun The Sheep for a while. (Which was pretty fun, though I'd actually already worked my way through all the episodes earlier this year.)
I was also asked to diaper a couple of folks during the room party. First of which was Happy, who tried to escape during his diaper change. Then Tarquil, who asked me to make the diaper pretty tight, which caused me put in too much strength and as a result tearing off the tabs on one of the sides. Oops.
(And for the record, I'm not that big on changing diapers unless I know the fur in question well, and preferably care for him to some extent, or if I'm in the right mood! Likewise I prefer being changed by people I know well and have some affection towards, but if I'm in the right mood I might be more... flexible.)
A few helped themselves to the Asian bootleg diapers, but by the last day, I still had a pretty full box to deal with. I tried to call [redacted] for help (who suggested I squeeze them all into my bag - but my bag was pretty full already), but fortunately I found another, younger, Swedish babyfur who was able to take the rest with him home. DarkFoxDK had also brought a few (non-Asian, non-bootleg) diapers he donated to the box, which I was rather keen on trying, and I tried to announce to people at the end "take any you want, but please leave these ones". But in the end, someone took them! Argh!
Anyway, I'd say the party was pretty successful! Not perfect, but people seemed to be laughing and enjoying themselves. It was a bit stressful hosting it, especially combined with my other responsibilities, but I was eventually able to settle down and relax and rather enjoyed it as well. Hoping to do it again next year, maybe with more Asian bootleg diapers. Or maybe we could try getting some authentic Swedish IKEA diapers! In which case, there might be some assembly required.
Conclusion
Overall - as stated in the introduction - it was a pretty great convention. I enjoyed myself, and most others seemed to as well. A bit stressful, sure, but never boring! And hopefully it will be even better next year.
To finish off, in case it's of interest, here are the videos from the convention I uploaded to YouTube:
NordicFuzzCon 2013 Clip Show
Fursuit Parade
Dead Dog Party Conga Line
Why is there a kitty on my back?