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I don't do commissions, I don't do trades; requests are right out. Please do not reupload my art elsewhere without my permission, thanks.

Well, now that MFF 2023 is over and me riding the high from the con is done, I might as well type this out. I was delaying on doing this for as long as I could, as I didn't exactly want to suddenly remember the convention and risk PCD, but that ship's pretty much sailed.

This year I roomed with Ringgar, Page and Soul in the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. Note that a lot of the timeline was pieced together from the room chat I'd set up with everyone.

--- Tuesday ---

Tuesday was a mess. I knew I had to hit the bed early because I had to leave no later than 06:15 the next day in order to get there in the time window I wanted to. The problem was, work had literally just switched to 12-hour shifts the day prior, so it was 05:15 when I got home from work. After eating and shower, I was asleep right at 06:00... and slept in a wee bit. (Did I mention that work had just switched me to 12-hour shifts?)

That left me with little time to pack and prepare after I woke up. Hit the shops, got the last stuff I needed (mostly medical supplies - paracetamol, vitamin D, glucose tabs, the like) and went straight into laundry. The problem with the laundry came when I didn't use enough borax in the wash, so I had to re-do one of the big parts of it (specifically, shirts) while also trying to get everything else packed as I could, while at the same time trying to coordinate things.

In the end, however, I did manage to get to bed on time (with 15 minutes to spare), and slept pretty decently with the help of some melatonin.

--- Wednesday ---

Wednesday came around and before I knew it, I was off to the convention without even having enough time to wash my tumbler mug. Traffic to the airport was lighter than I'd expected - TXDoT had finished off a bunch of roadworks that were there for the 2021 convention - and after check-in and the security gates, I was there... well, around about when I expected to be. A touch later, if anything, but well within acceptable parameters.

When it came time to board the flight, it turned out that my seat (which I'd specifically paid for) had gotten changed. Normally, I prefer to fly in the very back row, window seat, port side - on a 737 flown by United, that's usually row 39, seat A. Turns out, they changed aircraft types to a 737 with 36 rows. That's not what fussed me, though - they changed my seat to 25F, which is on the starboard side, right behind the wing flaps. While it meant a smoother landing (due to me being more-or-less directly above the main gear), it also meant that the sun was reflecting off the wing for much of the journey.

However, that was really the low point of the day - everything after that went much more smoothly. I got the shuttle to the Hyatt, went to the check-in desk, and managed to wrangle a room change to accomodations for four instead of three (even if the sofa-bed was designed by Satan himself). Got settled in, grabbed some grub at some point (as I had been running entirely off of a bag of pretzels served aboard the airplane) and met Ringgar and InkBlitz. Took a few photos, went to dinner with Ringgar, and pretty much called it a night.

Travel's exhausting, yo.

--- Thursday ---

Thursday was the day my plus-two would arrive, so bright and early, Ringgar and I went out for brekky at the Macca's up the road. Turns out, they don't do lunch stuff until after 10:30 (and it was still around 09:40 when we got there), so Ringgar and I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot.

Page and Soul arrived not too long after that (and Page turned my spine non-Newtonian). I showed them around (and gave them a crash course on why the Skybridge of Death was so aptly-nicknamed), and afterwards we decided to catch lunch at the food court in the Fashion District.

Immediately after, I decided to brave the lines and get my badge taken care of, done and dusted. The line for pre-reg + super sponsor totalled me about 80 minutes, and about midway through the second line, they started letting the pre-registered attendees go in early.

The food truck was there again this year, so after dinner, we retired to the stateroom, Jink popped 'round and it... kinda devolved into another impromptu photoshoot. And, well, I wanted to figure out the new flash units for my camera a bit better, so I wasn't about to complain!

--- Friday ---

Friday, hoo boy, Friday. Woke up with a smidge of back pain from my spine turning back into a Newtonian object, and out for brekky I ventured! Somewhere. I don't remember where I got brekky from. Knowing me, I probably got a bag of Gardetto's and a drink.

After brekky, though, I went up to Volunteer Ops and donned the brown vest. Walked down to the rego line and helped sort the lines into slightly smaller lines - the bull-pen system they had this year really worked wonders. According to some attendees, the line at the time I'd been working them was only about a half-hour.

Unfortunately for me, I wound up staying and helping longer than I'd planned to, so I had to quickly get the vest turned in, get my hours logged, and figure out where Ink was hosting his panel this year. I managed to catch the tail end of it. (It was about fursuiter health, which is something I need to learn more of, especially if I plan to have a full 'suit of Piper at some point.) And, something I'd been looking forward to for months, I got to experience the "Non-Newtonian Sports Drink", Gatorlyte. It was a bit thicker than I was expecting, and I could definitely taste the salt in there - but I did finish it, in about a minute, much to Ink's bewilderment.

"Andreas, you are... weird."
"Ayop."

After that, I decided to try my luck at the Artist's Alley. Despite the line going around the corner, then down the hall, almost all the way to the next corner, it only took maybe fifteen minutes - surprisingly. I scoped out a couple of artists to commission a badge from, and got payment on one made, but the other artist had too much of a queue for the day. A quick trip to the Dealer's Den followed, but I didn't get a chance to do much there, because the Dutch Angel Dragon meet-up was about to start.

The DAD meetup is one I absolutely, positively wanted to go to, come Hell or high water, and I was able to make it (if only a couple of minutes late). I was ready to get a lot of photos, and give my new flash units a proper shakedown. The latter half of that plan didn't come to fruition, however, as a few photos in, I noticed one of the fursuiters had a tag on their chest that stated they were epileptic. I tried my best to be extremely conservative with the flash after that.

Once the photos were taken and the meetup was done, I went to the Ventanas via one of the two working lifts. If you haven't been to the HRO, the Ventanas is the sky bar - except it rotates. And if you haven't been to Midwest FurFest, one of the perks of being a Shiny Sponsor is you get a free buffet-style dinner up there, with an open bar. I ate - enough to satisfy me, at least - and then went up to the bar for a couple of Cuba Libres.

Now, if anyone doesn't know what a Cuba Libre is, it's a cocktail, served in a highball glass, that's 5 parts rum to 12 parts cola, with a lime wedge or lime juice to cut out a bit of the bite of the alcohol. Well, they had the "five parts rum" part... but they were using a whisky glass and reduced the amount of cola to fit the drink to the glassware. I had two (my limit is two), and then got some water after I cut myself off. Waiting for the lift back down, I found out just how strong they'd mixed it, so I shot a message to the group chat that I needed a handler and went down for a smoke.

And while I was sobering up, Page was getting themselves plastered on the Bacardí and mixer I'd brought. It was certainly interesting, the two of us being plastered at the same time (briefly).

--- Saturday ---

Saturday is the blurriest day for me. I remember getting the Sponsor brunch (and them not having hash browns [!!!]), and after then I went to the Artist's Alley and got a badge started from the artist I was trying to the previous day. After that, I went to the Dealer's Den, where Page and I perused for a bit. After that, we went back to the food court.

At some point after that, I went to the Artist's Alley with Page to pick up the badge I had done...

...I've always said that every year, there seems to always be one big stressful event that happens at the convention, and... for some reason, standing in the line a second time triggered an anxiety attack. (It probably didn't help that I'd had a headache from what I know now is caffeine withdrawal.) I had bought a small sergal plushie from the Dealer's Den earlier that day, and I remember holding it tight to my chest while waiting in the line to get in. I got the badge, Page got a sticker by giving the artist one of their badges, and we returned to the stateroom. I refilled my e-cigarette, I remember getting a shower and coming back to the room after a smoke, and then I crashed and crashed hard.

One good thing did come that day - while I was returning to the stateroom after having had my anxiety attack, I got a message from Firestoem, asking if I'd be willing to do a photoshoot. My first gig as an amateur photographer!

I don't remember much after that, but I did hang out near the escalators for a bit and photographed some fursuiters as they came up, and then I went to the rave. The rave was nice, but I had to leave after about half an hour - the DJ was playing sustained bass, and that doesn't play well with my brain.

--- Sunday ---

Oh, boy, Sunday Sunday. Woke up a smidge late, took a smoke, and then decided on a whim to treat Page and Soul to a continental breakfast. That was the first real caffeine I'd had all con, and as soon as I had some of the scalding-hot Earl Grey that they'd had, it immediately started to go away. Or maybe that was because I scalded the tar out of myself because I didn't put cold water in to offset the heat. Either or.

I hung around for a bit and then went to the MFF board meeting. I'll refrain from saying much about it (as the secretary specifically asked folks not to), but I did have a couple of points I was able to offer from the perspective of an attendee, and they were appreciative that I was able to give them that.

Page wanted to go to the Dealer's Den again, so up we went again. I got myself a bunch of Certified [x] badges, and Page got a bunch of stuff for themself, too.

A bit of an intermission followed, and after that I decided to break out the camera and attend the SpiritPanda meetup. I got a good few photos, and then I got the news that the person behind SpiritPanda had to go home due to medical issues. Still, it was absolutely nice what the fursuiters were doing for her (which I'm intentionally leaving vague), and I got to get a good few photos out of it, as well. After that, Soul met up with me while I was handling for Firestoem, and eventually 'Stoem and I parted so I could get some food and she could get ready for the meetup I was the photographer for later.

I got to the place about 45 minutes early - not because I wanted to survey the area and find good angles, but because I wanted to get a LOT of nicotine in my system. Boy HOWDY I was both excited and nervous about this. Regardless, the shoot went off without a hitch - even better than the Dutch Angel Dragon meetup, since I was able to use the flash - and between test shots and actual proofs, my camera went off 173 times.

--- Monday ---

The bittersweet day. Ringgar had left before I was awake, and Page and Soul left about an hour before I did. I cleaned up the room as best as I could, inventoried everything (everything present and accounted for, though I did find a bottle of shampoo that got left behind by someone), and... went out to the airport. Got in early, got accosted by some wannabe pickpocket right after I had gone through security. (Somewhere between checking out and getting home, my badge and some stickers became unaccounted for. Still can't find 'em, but I don't think that was their doing. I had my eyes on the bins the entire time.)

Nonetheless, the flight back had another seating change, but this one wasn't so bad. I got seat 32A, which is close enough for me. Finally ticked a film off The List (been meaning to watch Anchorman for a long time), and right after the film ended, we were on final for Houston.

...Which, I could have planned better. If you've ever driven in a large metropolis during rush hour, you know what I mean. We de-planed around 17:10, and I got to my car around 17:45, 17:50.

--- Overview ---

Initially, MFF this year was a continuous source of stress before the convention. We initially got a king-size bed (rather than two doubles, like I'd hoped), and it was just stress on top of stress trying to get it sorted out before the date. Everything this year was pretty much down to the wire. There were a couple of exasperated phone calls made to the Hyatt to try and book a double instead of a king, which turned into run-around.

But at the end of it? I'm glad I went. I'm glad I finally got to meet Page, Soul, Ringgar, Bladewolf, and Napier for the first time. I'm glad I got to see Ink, Stoem, and Tango again after two years. I'm glad Stoem found me trustworthy enough to ask me to do a photography gig for them, and I'm glad I got to meet the person behind SpiritPanda and introduce myself. It was a good convention, all things considered.

Will I be back? I'm not sure. The stress down to the wire didn't help a lot of the planning. Midwest FurFest is the largest in the world, and it shattered attendance records this year... which definitely showed. But, they seem to be learning from it all, and they're definitely making an effort to reduce the problems that a con of that size has. At this stage, I couldn't say one way or the other with certainty.

But, whenever or wherever I end up for my next convention, I'll definitely remember the faces and names of those who made this con what it was for me.