Words of Interest

We arrived at Nordic Fuzzcon late on the Wednesday evening, with something of a sour taste in our mouths. What we hadn't realised that we had if we wanted to pick up our con badge after registration had closed, we needed to do this in advance. This was a new thing and I had thought to enter the main con area on the Wednesday evening, no badges were required. This had been the case in previous years, but was not the case this. This meant that by the time we realised we would be frozen out of the con until the Thursday, it was too late, as we hadn't noticed this due to travelling. The trip itself was fine - we took an Uber from Pudsey to Manchester Airport on account of Manchester Piccadilly being closed, resulting in rail replacement bus services. This meant we were at Manchester Airport a good three hours earlier than we needed, so we had a lot of time to kill. Most of this was in The Bridgewater Pub, while the slight delay to our SAS flight meant we were there even longer. Fortunately, it was in the much better Terminal 2 and thus it was a semi-decent place to be. Interestingly, I was stopped at security and had my bag searched as according to the attendant, my snoot set off the alert. That's the first time I've had that happen and I've taken my fursuit head through many airports over the years.

Getting to our hotel was easy enough, although the cancellation of one train over the Oresund Bridge to Malmo meant we had to hang around Copenhagen Airport for the best part of 45 minutes. This saw Wolfie get a bit tetchy, but once on the train, it was smooth sailing and we got to our hotel, The Comfort, at around midnight. We were initially put in a room the size of a postage stamp, with the bed being pushed against the wall so one of us would have to clamber over the other in the middle of the night should they need the toilet. Upon getting to the bar and getting a drink at extortionate Swedish prices, we bumped into Coal, who we hadn't seen for a long time. Procyon popped along a little later and so we ended up having a few nice drinks instead of needing to go over to the main con venue. Indeed, the Comfort acted as an auxiliary overflow venue with panels and events there too. Furthermore, its proximity to Valhalla made it the ideal place to be. Wolfie also managed to speak to the nice lady on the desk and we managed to snag a bigger room, with this proving more than adequate for our needs. We even invited Coal and Procyon back there for an impromptu room party, having grabbed four cans of Brooklyn IPA at the airport in Copenhagen, fearing we wouldn't have much drinking opportunity that evening.

The con itself was much more drinky than I thought it would be, but then I hadn't really planned any sexual or kink-based activities. On Thursday, I headed down to the Padded Social at Valhalla, where I got to chat with loads of friends including Marbles and Foxxy. Indeed it was those two I ended up spending most of the day with, as after sharing a few of the adequate furry-themed lager that had been brewed by the Hyllie Brewery for the con, we ended up going for dinner together. This was at a place called Spoonery in the main town. Marbles had been there the night before and had hit it off with the server, who was a gay guy from Swansea who now lives in Malmo. He was really chatty and friendly, so much so that I didn't mind the twenty-minute wait just to get a table at this small establishment. Indeed, we had to cobble something together where I had a high chair while everyone had a smaller one around a table in the waiting area. Still, it worked. The bibimbap had sadly sold out so I opted for meatballs which were served with potato and cranberry in a brown gravy. This was fantastic and definitely a place to check out next year.

The plan was to visit the After Bark Market after this. This was in Valhalla too, so we made our way over there after dinner. Alas, the queue to get in was quite long and so we grabbed a drink in the Comfort Bar in the hope it would die down. Indeed, the close proximity of our hotel bar to Valhalla made this a viable option and reduced the amount of time we had to stand in the biting cold, with the bitter wind being the worst aspect. The queue had moved on a little so at around 10:30pm we stood in line and got through relatively smoothly. Alas, we were told the dealers' den queue was over an hour in length (and we weren't allowed to join it anyway) while the dance just sounded awful. There seemed to be little else going on there - it was just an opportunity for people to wear gear, but for me, wearing gear is part of foreplay to something else - so we headed back to the Comfort Bar a little dejected. Still, we made the best of it and it was fun socialising, before I went to bed at the quite early time (for me) of around 1am.

We have started getting up for breakfast and then going back to bed for a few hours, what with most of the con happening in the afternoon and evening. This was the case here too, particularly once we realised that the final half hour of breakfast was absolutely rammed. Getting there for 6:45am on Friday when there were only two other people there made it more a relaxed affair. The breakfast itself was an adequate selection of hot food (bacon, chicken sausage, scrambled eggs, beans) with some very nice cold cuts. I had pate and crusty bread every day, while it was great to discover this was available from 3:30am should we want it. 

The bed gravity had been strong on the Thursday - I only got up at 3pm needing to register, fearing being locked out of the con again - but I was more spritely on the Friday. This was partly because there were some interesting events going on in our hotel, which meant I didn't have to go out into the cold. The first was a detailed history about French animation, starting with The Tale of the Fox from 1937 and La Bergere et Le Ramoneur from 1953/80 and going through to the present day. The Intermarche wolf of course featured while I learned a great deal about how French animators had influenced Japanese anime and manga. I also discovered a lot of interesting films that I hadn't heard of before, which I will definitely have to check out.

The second panel was an introduction to Ancient Egyptian animal deities, which I thought would be fun as Televassi has been introducing me to these through his excellent erotic stories. This covered a few of the main deities, but of the seven that featured heavily in the talk, quite a few were the more minor ones that I hadn't come across before. Wawepwet was one I had though, again through Televassi, and it was great hearing more about the Opener of the Ways.

In between these two events, I had an hour and a half to kill, so headed over to the Dealers' Den, which was again in Valhalla. Al Song wanted me to pick up a comic on his behalf, but when I went to the vendor, he was away. I hung around for around half an hour for him to return, only to be told that he had sold out of this particular title. He did say it would be available online soon though, so I hope Al wasn't too disappointed. I did pick up an Anubis mousemat for him from Ultra Violet's store, while he also asked me to procure some Bubbs candy, which I managed to do too. Meanwhile, I also picked up a light blue puppy t-shirt with the phrase 'Fragile, Handle With Care' on it. I had seen these at ConFuzzled last year, so was glad to finally be able to pick one up. There were loads of cool stores in the Dealers' Den, with the apparel and fursuits being particularly good, but it was a little sad to see not one furry author nor bookshop represented. There were a few comic books for sale, but I didn't see a single novel or short story collection. I hope this changes next year.

The deities talk ended slightly early, so I headed back upstairs to see Wolfie. On the way, I realised that many of the parties on the fourth floor of the Comfort weren't that accessable as you needed a keycard to use the lifts. I had already tapped someone in earlier in the day, while this time there was man stationed downstairs asking whether anyone needed assistance. Once back to the room, we decided to grab some food, with Wolfie taking me to a fantastic sandwich shop selling a wonderful pork belly sandwich. He had visited the place the day before with Procyon, when I was at Spoonery, and he said it was worth a visit. This was certainly true, although I could have done with the cucumbers which formed the base of the sandwich (they did add some much needed acidity to counter the richness though). The sandwich shop was in the food hall - which had extended opening hours due to the con - and we managed to perch right on the counter and watch the chefs at work. We also grabbed some smashed potato covered in unctuous cheese and a delicious, if expensive, west coast IPA. It was a truly fantastic meal and set us up well for the rest of the evening.

Wolfie disappeared at this point, but I bumped into Blue Otter in the main bar of the Clarion. I had an hour to kill before Grimner and it was great catching up with him. I then joined the queue for the folk metal band's show, but the signposting was odd and I entered the start of it rather than the end. Upon hearing that the show was postponed by an hour, Baloki suggested we go to the Terrace bar to grab a beer while we waited. This is an outside bar and there was currently a snow blizzard going on - while my t-shirt and skirt ensemble wasn't the best clothing for the conditions - so we just sat inside instead. I got to meet quite a few of Baloki's other Manchester friends and soon we were back in the queue for the show. I had actually spoken to Grimner earlier that day - they were doing a meet and greet in the Comfort bar and I saw Trax speaking to them. Once he disappeared, I was kinda left alone with them, so got chatting to them about their influences, what they thought about the furry fandom and why they decided to come back. I also got a photo signed, but only by three of them, not realising they were actually a six-piece (despite having seen them two years ago and despite there being six of them on the card they signed). I get in a panic I guess. Anyway, the show itself was incredible, with a hearty and robust moshpit. At one point, they were all rowing, while I was stood right on its edge quite near the front. I was on my own for most of the gig, with Wolfie going up front too, but it was another overwhelming show. They came out in fursuits, while I shouted 'come back!' when they talked about the Vikings invading England, which I think amused them. The show itself was lively, fun, bouncy and incredible, taking me on quite an emotional journey. It was one of the highlights of the con.

After the show, I was tempted to go to the Littles Disco. I thought that was over in Valhalla, but it was actually in the main hotel. That would have been more convenient, but I didn't have my gear with me, so in the end, we just grabbed a few drinks and hung out in the Artists' Alley section. The ale we had here was particularly poor, but it was good annoying Notefox with puns while she tried to edit the photos she had taken during the furry opera (which sadly I didn't see) and other events. We hung here for a couple, seeing Grimner enter too, before Wolfie and I headed back to Procyon's room to share some special beers he had brought. It was here where we were reacquainted with his roommate Ethan, who I had first met back to Nordic Fuzzcon 2014, and he enlightened us about a place in Edinburgh that serves vegetarian haggis curry. He was looking to go to bed, so we didn't stay too long, just enough time to share three of the four cans Procyon had brought, before we headed back to the main hotel to grab pizza and bed. I would have preferred to have taken the convenient shuttle bus between the Clarion and Valhalla - which conveniently drops us right outside our hotel too - but the last bus had been and gone by then so we had to walk back in the snowstorm. We bumped into Shiyan on the walk too, so chatted to him a while. We never once did use the bus.

Saturday was due to be my fursuit day but I awoke to the news that the Parade was cancelled. This was disappointing, but the sludge-covered roads would have ruined my new paws. This meant that I didn't get to fursuit for the second con in a row and I am going to have to work out what I can do to incentivise myself to get into suit more. The lack of decent hand and feet paws was a good excuse, but with that now resolved, there really is no excuse at all.

This meant that Saturday was a pretty easy day up until 5:30pm, when I had agreed to meet up with Evi and Namonium for our usual Furry Brew Crew drinks. Brewdog Malmo was the venue and before heading there, I ambled around the con space looking for the con shop (which I was unsuccessful at) and stumbling into the Creators' Corner which was effectively a modestly-sized art show. The works here were all pretty decent, but none jumped out at me. I also chatted to Kitty Sam while standing outside in the bitter wind and sludge, but it was good to catch up and compare notes on the cons we had attended and the cons we are likely to attend. With a little time to kill, I ended up back in the hotel room around 5pm and picked up Wolfie before heading to Brewdog via Pressbyran for a hotdog. We went French style, with the sausage wrapped in a condom of bread, and it was a delicious pre-drinking snack.

We arrived at Brewdog at exactly the same time as Procyon, Evi and Namonium. I had invited a few others, but it was only to be us five for the evening. This made getting dinner later easier, although sadly there was no space in the Hyllie Brewery Taproom. I had wanted to try the fish and chips here - discounted for Nordic Fuzzcon attendees, one of the many offers for furries across the city - but we did end up at a place called Ukrainian Beer Bar where we had lard on brown bread and spicy sausage soup with olives. I would have thought the olives would perhaps make it too salty, but this was not the case. The beer at the Ukrainian Beer Bar was all from Ukraine too, while it had a vibe very similar to Ambrosjia in Bradford before that closed. Indeed, it very much reminded me of the restaurants we visited in Ukraine and I reminisced with the owners about the three trips I had done there. In the urinal, there were also Putin and Trump figurines you could piss on, while the toilet brush had a Putin figurehead too. Above the urinal there was a Carlsberg sign.

This was a great way to end our evening, which began at Brewdog Malmo as I had said. This was surprisingly busy with a strong guest tap list, making it reminiscent of Brewdog of old. It was odd to think, with the company collapsing, that this was probably the last time we'd be there but we went out with a bang with some good beers and company. The barman was particularly friendly and gave me a free pin badge for being an EFP, while it was great chatting properly to Evi and Nanonium again, having only seen them briefly at ConOps prior to the Grimner concert. After our trip here, we decided to go to The Bishops Arms, a British-themed pub chain that's big in western Sweden. The beer list here was even better - with Leeds Pale and Ilkley's Joshua Jane on hand pull too - and while we weighted up getting food here, in the end we went to Hyllie (then the Ukrainian place).

We split up after this, with everyone but me heading to the Clarion and I heading back to the hotel room. I wanted to check out live furry metal band Wildpact in Valhalla and after having a short snooze, I bounced over there at around 11:10pm. I was about ten minutes late, but they were playing a metal version of the Pokemon theme tune so I was sold quite quickly. They did a lot of covers, albeit slimmed down versions of them, and their musicianship was fantastic. There were a few awkward moments, but it was a fun hour and a half set, with Fonz doing the whole thing in his bunny suit and Pepper Coyote as a partial coyote on drums. Aerials by System of a Down and Sonne by Rammstein, were the two highlights for me. The whole theatre was pretty much packed, and it is great to see metal is finally getting some recognition in the furry fandom. Nordic Fuzzcon is very much the music con and their diversity was great in this regard.

Jev had asked whether I wanted to join him and Kitty Sam for drinks in the Clarion, so after the concert, I headed over there. I was going to go to the inflatable panel on my way out of Valhalla, but the animals were all flat on the floor and looking sorry for themselves. Therefore, I skipped through the slush and headed to the main bar, which was very rowdy. I found my friends near the bar, grabbed a drink, and chatted to them for a while. I also managed to catch up with Pinky too, before ending the night having a heavier chat with Procyon over a few beers. I was sat in front of a giant LED screen board that burnt my retinas, but it was a good chat nonetheless.

I am now halfway through a seven-hour train journey back to Berlin via Copenhagen and Hamburg. It's running smoothly enough right now, although it was an absolute free-for-all in the Danish capital. There are loads of furries on this train with luggage and a last-minute platform change from 5 to 7 meant we all had to traipse up an escalator to go back down another one. I feared there would be no space for our bags, but we got lucky. The 25-minute delay shouldn't affect our connection to Spandau either.

Despite the issues, particularly regarding communication (the NFC app kept adding random events that weren't there before, while it wasn't until halfway through the con that I realised I had to toggle the Explicit section on the mobile website to see the NSFW events in the app), it was another great con. I didn't get to do half of the things I wanted though, largely due to timetable clashes, and I probably drank way too much. Indeed, it's been three weeks of heavy drinking what with Scotiacon, visiting family and hanging around with friends on the Tuesday before NFC too, that my guts are in a right state. I have also been concerned about my weight, so the next few months, I'm not going to buy any alcohol or snacks for the house and reduce my consumption outside it. If I can get slimmer for SinFur in early May, I think it would help with my body dysmorphia and self-confidence issues. I did enjoy the unicorns in the circus tents that were littered about all venues, but otherwise the theme was quite muted. The blip game was always fun, even if I only blipped about eight times. NFC in particular has loads of side challenges and other things going on that I'm sure I missed out on something, but then I barely had any time to fit anything else in.

Whether we go back next year or not, I'm unsure. Fortunately, there is a three-week, rather than a two-week, gap between Scotiacon and Nordic Fuzzcon next year that will help. Also, we must arrive earlier than we did this time around, probably on the Tuesday. I'm happy to miss Dead Dog, but it's clear there are loads of cool things happening prior to the con starting and I'd like to do some of them (the Hyllie Brewery tour being one of them). It's still a lot of money though and the cold weather makes wearing skirts that much harder. I spent more time in jeans than at any con over the last few years and that does suck a bit. Still, the events are unique, there's always loads to do and maybe I can do things like the Maid Cafe again next time. That was fun but I didn't do it this year so I could do the Parade instead, so it was sad it was cancelled. Indeed, doing the Parade would be fun as I've never done it in Malmo yet. So, lots to consider, but it's definitely on the list of possibilities. I guess we'll know nearer the time.

There's a guy living in the semi-detached next to ours who is learning to play the guitar. He does this regularly, usually every night, and we've tried to accommodate him. Not being in the UK most of the time, I'm very happy for him to learn a hobby, particularly as he has suffered from mental health issues in the past. He has certainly gotten better while we have been away. The problem is that when we're back, we get very little respite from it, and it has somewhat overtaken my life over the last few days. I know we need to approach this with him at some point, but I fear that when we move back, this will be the established pattern. I'm sure he'll be reasonable - he probably doesn't know we're back and we have never complained before - but I hope it'll all work out. This is the sort of thing I worry about though as my house doesn't really feel like a home with this noise going on in the background.

I've been back home since Thursday, having travelled down from my mother's place. I had fish and chips followed by a selection of British cheeses in The Spotted Dog before my train, with there being not enough crackers to accommodate the three exquisite slabs of local fromage. I still don't know why they skimp on the cheap things. The trip to my mother's place was fine, except she lives in the middle of nowhere so there's not much to do at the best of times, not least when it has been non-stop raining for two weeks. We just stayed in and I worked, which was largely the plan anyway. It was good seeing them, even if my step-father has become increasingly curmudgeonly of late.

Being back in my own home was great and this weekend I made the most of it. I had initially planned to visit someone in Birmingham, but they preferred to go to the football instead. This was equally gutting and a relief, not least because the trains were going to cost over £100 and there were rail replacement bus services. Add to this the con crud I picked up at Scotiacon and staying back in Pudsey made sense. This also meant that I got to spend a lot of time in the house, which is why I've been noticing the issues with Jimi Hendrix next door. There aren't many places you can go at this time of year, although at least yesterday was a nice sunny day.

I took advantage of the sun to go for a walk, taking some clothes to a charity bank along the way. Alas, the one I usually use near the rock climbing centre was no longer there, and Google proved to be absolutely useless. The top two links were clearly dodgy spam sites and that was after it kept suggesting places in Salford, some 60 miles away. The next link was the local recycling centre where you can only deposit clothes, not shoes. In short, Google was absolutely useless, a perfect example of the enshittification of that service. In the end, I decided to go to ASDA and see if there were options in the car park. I needed groceries anyway and I was in luck - three bins, one for the Salvation Army, one for the Tickled Pink cancer campaign and one for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. I gave Wolfie's Minions pyjamas (along with other stuff) to the air ambulance people.

Walking around Pudsey was quite pleasant. There are a load of hobby shops these days and some nice cafes too. It has definitely gentrified and I suspect this is because working from home has become a much bigger thing. Later in the day, we got some fishie chippies from the Weatherby Whaler and these were every bit as delicious as they always are. They are certainly worth coming back too. While I was waiting for my food, I was alerted to the fact that Brewdog is being put up for sale. The glee from some furs was incredibly disheartening, almost as if they were celebrating the potential decimination of a number of retail jobs, and I had to mute references on social media. I did know this was likely - the company has been in dire straits for a while and although it's a shadow of its former self, and the former owner is less than to be desired - it's still sad that an icon of the craft brewing scene in the UK is likely done. With the shuttering of the German online store earlier this month, this makes the ability to get decently priced craft beer in Berlin much harder, but then we've resolved to really lose weight in the Spring so maybe that's for the best. I've known my shares in Brewdog have been worthless for some time and that I should have cashed out in 2017 when venture capital got involved, but it is what it is. I saved more in discounts than what I paid for the shares over the last 15 years, it's just sad that an integral part of what was my community in my early adult years is likely to cease to be. Of course, the Leeds bar closed down earlier in the year, so I'd drawn a line under it then anyway.

Today we headed into Bradford to check out the Turner Prize exhibition. This was in Cartwright Hall as part of Bradford's 2025 City of Culture celebrations. As soon as I realised this was happening, I booked tickets. We were originally slated to go two weeks ago, but when I had to shift the order of this trip around, I cancelled and rebooked. We took a taxi down to Cartwright Hall, one of those imposing 19th-century manors that was built with industrialists money. We were about half an hour early but that didn't seem to matter and soon we were ushered in. The first of the four exhibits we went to see was Zadie Xa. Here, we had to wear special slippers on our shoes, or foot condoms as I called them. This was my favourite exhibition as it was based on seashells and alternate worlds. The floor was coated in reflective gold tiling and there were seashells dangling from the ceiling, some with apocalptic environmental messages and others with wave sounds. There were pictures with dolphins and dancing skeletons while in the centre there was a 3D model of a shell made out of little trinkets suspended from the roof. There was lots of colour here too, including a perlescent surface underneat the suspended shell.

The work of Rene Matic was next, which was far more political. This focused on right-wing populism and identity, with a heavy black and transgender theme. Violence and political hypocrisy was also explored, symbolised by the 'No Place' and 'For Violence' flag in the centre of the room. Over the speakers there were speeches and the peels of bells from Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin's Zoologischer Garten. Living with vulnerability was a core theme too and this made sense when we watched her five-minute introduction video in the main foyer. Each of the four artists had these and we watched them at the end, adding a great deal more context to the instillations we had seen. It was also great seeing two original LS Lowry paintings upstairs too - I didn't realise Cartwright Hall had these masterpieces.

Mohammed Sami's work upstairs focused on memory and conflict, which perhaps wasn't too surprising considering he's originally from Baghdad. This collection of seven paintings was particularly fascinating. Without clear narratives, it was up to the viewer to discern what they meant and Wolfie and I spent quite a while debating what we saw. If good art challenges perspectives and focuses the mind, then this was certainly it.

Finally, we went to see the work of the winnter Nnena Kalu. She has learning disabilities and is supported by a charity down in London. I didn't really get this collection, if I were being honest, with the large-scale hanging sculptures difficult to disentangle. These are made from repurposed fabric, rope, tape, cling film, paper and VHS tape, and are certainly varied and colourful. On the wall, there were paintings of swirling overlapping lines that formed powerful vortexes. As I say, I didn't really connect this one, but then art is subjective.

We left Cartwright Hall shortly after 5pm and caught a bus into town. Taneli was going to meet us, but we're both a little ill and we decided to just wait until our planned meet-up on Tuesday. We didn't have to pay as the driver just waved us on and soon we were on the northern fringes of the city centre. We got off here and decided to go to The Record Cafe, a former haunt when we went out drinking in Bradford pre-pandemic. This seems to have gotten homelier over time and the pineapple milkshake IPA we had was exquisite. It was SpaceShake from Makemake, a brewery I'd never heard of before, and the drink was so good we decided to stay for a second. This was a Sijhuan pepper stout called Glacier by an Estonian brewery called Puhaste. This wasn't quite as good as SpaceShake, but it was certainly up there. We also grabbed some fried corn and left the bar very happy.

Our next stop was Boar & Fable, a place we hadn't visited that often. This was another warm and homely place, where we got to try Vocation's Bread and Butter Pudding White Stout and a double coffee stout called Imperial Affogato. Sadly, The Sparrow has closed down, as has Dime Bar, leaving this end of the city feeling a little less lively than it had previously been. This was nothing compared to the city centre though, which was bascially dead, particularly by Kirkgate Market. Everything has been sucked into The Broadway. Still, there have been big changes in Bradford, with new road layouts and a new indoor market development that was sadly shutting when we were strolling by. Our aim was to go for a curry and thus we needed to get cash out of a machine. We then headed over to the Kashmir, noticing that the scaffolding around the old Odeon cinema has finally been taken down. The curry itself was rough and ready, the restaurant a dive, yet the food exquisite. We were given a poppadom each without asking, and this was accompanied  by ubiquituous yoghurt sauce which just kept coming. We grabbed some onion bhajis, which at £1.60 a portion were exceptional value, and we both had rogan josh, Wolfie meat and chicken for me. This was Wolfie's recommendation and he was not wrong. The spice level was just right and the delicate mix of flavours were unlike any of the curries in Germany. The curries in the UK are one of the things I really miss and eating these with chipatis rather than rice definitely made sense.

We had planned to go to Sunbridge Wells after this, but we were so full after the curry, we just got a taxi home. I needed to sleep, but Eric Clapton next door was still going. This was frustrating, but I stuck in some earplugs and had a short nap. Aside from the guitaring, it has been a pretty perfect weekend. It's been a great day today, yesterday we had fish and chips, while I also got to do a lot of reading too. All in all then, I'm pretty satisfied. It's just a shame it's work again tomorrow.