To sum up my experince at NFC'14 I can just say this: THE BEST CONVENTION EVER. The overall atmosphere and all the fantastic people made this year's NFC even better than last year's. Last year was just amazing and I didn't even think it could be better than that. The moment I arrived to the convention hotel I felt at home!
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| Gaikotsu Fursuits is about pissed-off creatures.Lei is my 3rd finished head while Gaikotsu is 2nd. |
My journey towards Quality Hotel Winn Haninge in Stockholm started at 5am on Thursday the 27th of February. My plain departed at 11am, and it takes 3,5 hours from my home to get to the airport by train. But there I was on the train at 5am, super excited and not minding the early hour at all! It took only 40 minutes by airplane to get to Stockholm because the winds were on our side. :)
I knew that couple of Russian furs were arriving to Arlanda around the same time, but when I tried to look for their gate, I noticed it was in terminal 5 and I was at terminal 2. I would have had to take a bus to get there so I had to give up on meeting them and headed to Stockholm C by Arlanda Express (it cost 130SEK).
I knew my amazing Swedish friends Lei and Dipped are waiting for me at the station and when I walked in I heard a loud "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII". I knew that was Lei right away and there she was running towards me! xD We hadn't seen each other in almost a year! I think she screamed one more time when I gave her new partial fursuit! ^w^
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| The crazy cat lady a.k.a. Lei and her new partial made by me at the station. |
From Stockholm C we took a local train to Handen where the convention hotel was. When we arrived we registered right away and got our room keys which also worked as convention badges/tickets. Then we hurried to our rooms and went to eat at the very same Chinese restaurant we ate at last year too. When we got back to the hotel Dipped's friend Tinna had arrived too and we started to wait for the opening ceremony.
The theme for this year's NFC was "Steampunk Murder Mystery" and I was happy to see many people having steampunk related clothes and accessories. I put together a complete outfit for the theme and now I'm in love with steampunk! I also loved how the convention staff had taken the theme into account: when we walked out of the opening ceremony, there was a dead body! And indeed, Waldo, was lying outside... We got a notebook with hints and solving the murder mystery began! Unfortunately I was too busy with Dealers Den and security to work on the mystery. :(
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| Noooooo, Waldoooo!!! Waldo was cosplayed by WolfKendo. Photo (c) Nocteumbra |
So yes, I was busy with security, because I decided to volunteer for this amazing event! We had only 8 members in our security team which was not enough in my opinion, but we managed. Huge thanks to our Head of Security Clover for making our schedules work out! And special thanks for those who took more shifts when some of us wanted to join fursuit related programme. You're the best! :) It was really fun to work with all these people even though it was pretty hectic at times (on Saturday I worked 12 hours with only one short break). Luckily Clover gave us permission to have fun even while on duty!
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| Nocteumbra the dark dragon and me in my steampunk outfit. Sadly this is the only picture I have of the whole outfit. I must have been the most convincing security team member with my short skirt and high heels.. |
In the evening I hit the dance floor because a
Finnish furry, Fuffy, was DJ'ing for the first time. I was on duty, but I
actually ended up dancing with my HoS so everything's alright. xD That
night really killed my feet and I had to avoid wearing heels on the next day. My feet were so sore!
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| Some disco art by Lei, me, Max and Dipped. Photo (c) Trax. |
It was amazing to start Friday with the hotel's wonderful breakfast buffet. I ate too much because I just had to try everything from bacon to smoothies and from pancakes to blueberry soup! Much love to restaurant staff <3 And also to the hotel staff, who became furries just for our convention and wore cat ears, tails and painted whiskers on their faces while working. It was really cute and I loved how they were a part of our event!
Friday was kind of exciting for me because it was my first time at Delears Den/Artists Alley in a furry convention. I wasn't very well prepared and concentrated more on taking commissions. I had my old prints and postcards with me and I have to say people didn't buy them that much either. :P But I got 19 commissions during the convention! Most of the commissions were custom pins that I offered, because I had my amazing Super Badge It -toy with me I bought from Minroea. :P
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| I shared my table with the talented MaxHaibane who did that lovely fluffy badge for Dipped. I made small custom pins of people's characters. :) Photo (c) Dipped |
On Friday we also took a fursuit group photo! We walked to a place near a lake and it was really fun! There were so many of us and people had no idea how to react to about 100 mascot suits walking past them. xD I really liked the place where we went, it was perfect for photoshoots!
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| Photo (c) The official cameraman of NFC :D |
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| Me, Feligris and Lei. Gaikotsu and Lei fursuits are done by me! |
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| Me and my "sister" Rimawolf walking back to the hotel from the photoshoot. We met at a furmeet in 2013, right after the first NFC. Everyone wondered why we look so alike. We decided we must be sisters! Gaikotsu fullsuit is done by me and Rima's bodysuit is also my creation. :) |
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| Me and Lei at the photoshoot. Photo (c) Kamuniak |
After the photoshoot I didn't really have time to go and join the Fursuit Zoo, because my shift in security was about to start and the Dealer's Den was still open. So I went to shower quickly (you don't even want to know how sweaty I get in a fursuit even if it was only 0 degrees celsius outside), put on my radio and went to do my duties after having a fantastic lunch at the close-by sushi restaurant. The sushi group gathered again like last year! >:3
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| Sushi is always a good idea! I cut out everyone else expect Lei and me because I didn't know if they want their faces in my blog.. :'D Photo (c) Dipped |
I actually missed some of the amazing programmes because I was on duty, but I went to see Fursuiters' Got Talent and it was really amazing to see how amazing talents we have in our community! Pilosus did a great job playing his trumpet while wearing a fursuit, that's quite the challenge, maybe I should try playing the guitar while wearing a fursuit? :D And I have to say I just loved the winners' date show. The gargoyle and the demon were wonderful. *worships Zuki and Lord Pazuzu*
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| Lei, me and Dipped at the elevator. Photo (obviously) (c) Dipped |
I also joined the Banner Brawl and it was the very first time for me. So what is Banner Brawl? There are two teams of artists (female and male teams) and both of them get a big blank canvas. At first both of the teams get 2 minutes to draw a described landscape and after that each artist gets 2 minutes to draw anything from the words they hear in turns. I was really really nervous and even though I usually don't forget languages, I had a lot of problems to understand what the given words were. And I have no idea what the Swedish chef from the Muppets looks like... :( Anyway it was a lot of fun and actually it was decided to be a tie between the two teams! Our canvas was one big mess though while theirs was really well put together... Oh well! :D
I fursuited a little in the evening when my shift ended, danced and sang karaoke! I'm a horrible singer and very shy about my singing voice, but even I managed to sing because people were so amazingly supportive and friendly <3 Even though people sang their own songs at first and others just listened, in the end we all sang together and it was really fun! :D
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| Gaikotsu truly loved dancing in the karaoke! I was too lazy to put on my fullsuit or change my clothing in any other way, so we had a wolfie with a skirt.. xD Photos (c) Kamuniak |
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| "Proof
that furries are the nicest people, slow song on the karaoke, so that
ment slow dancing, but so no one felt left out everyone danced in a
group!" Picture & quote (c) Kotte, who was singing. :) |
Saturday was the last full day of the convention. I had more time at the Dealer's Den and got more commissions and talked with several people. :3 I also got to know few of them quite well which was really fun. ^^ I wish I had been able to take part in Fursuit Games, but I was on my shift and (no surprise) we were not allowed to fursuit while on duty.
The whole day was mostly about talking and getting to know people better, and I really liked it. I've really liked both NFC conventions because you can start talking with ANYONE and people always answer you friendly and start talking back. I've never got to know so many new people in such a short time and I feel really good about it. I hope to keep in contact with all of them and I hope to see everyone again next year! ^w^
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| Amazing furries <3 Photo (c) Dipped |
In the evening I went to see Art & Charity Auction. I had offered 3 commission vouchers for the Charity lottery and now those 3 commissions are the first things to finish on my to-do list. In this convention, the 271 attendees donated 57.408 SEK to charity! All of the money goes to Djurens Ö, a wildlife rescue organisations! So no, it's not just about dressing up as animals and having fun, it's also about doing good things and bringing smiles to the faces of people. <3
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| One of the commission vouchers, won by Forax Silver. |
After my shift ended around 1am I hurried to my room, put on my fursuit and enjoyed the last moments of NFC as Gaikotsu. I even ordered one drink while fursuiting (I don't usually drink, but I couldn't resist... the drink was named Pink Pussy after all). I was happy they had these extra long straws so it's easier to drink with a long snout. :D And one of the bartenders was really cute: he was just about to give me a yellow straw, but then he looked at my black, red & white looks and gave me a red one instead! <3
I actually got a random hug from a local girl who passed by the hotel
while I was cooling down outside the hotel. She just passed me, then
turned around on her heels, run back to me and gave me the tightest hug
ever! It was so cute! x3 Unfortunately all of her makeup stuck to my
beautiful white fur... :P
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| Me and my wonderful long red straw. Photo (c) Lord Pazuzu a.k.a. Godzuki |
This year too I had to leave very early which was extremely sad. My plain departed at 10am and becaues it was quite far from the hotel, I had to leave at 7am. I didn't sleep the whole night because there's no use for 2 hours of sleep, so I silently backed, bid farewell to Lei and sneaked out of our room around 5am. Then I spent the last couple of hours with the few furries that were still awake. Thanks Tarquil for the nice talk when I was about to leave, it was really nice so I didn't have to leave without saying proper good-bye to anyone. :)
I was really sad to leave and actually started crying the moment I stepped out of the hotel. I couldn't stop crying until I reached the railway station.. The convention was so much fun and I really can't wait for next year, the new hotel and new theme! I'm looking forward to volunteering again and I will re-make my fursuit for the next convention too. See you soon, everyone!! :3
