Welcome to the fourth day of my Furnal Equinox 2023 summary, told through submissions! Over the next week, I'll be doing my usual post-convention summary by sharing a photo a day from my time away, while recounting the events of the day on which the photo was taken, exactly two weeks ago:

I woke to troubling reports about events in the con space from the previous evening, and knew staff would need some additional support today. I will leave it to the official statement put out by the convention to describe the events of the evening, but suffice it to say that nobody was hurt, and all turned out well in the end. To get some energy for the day, Ursus and I headed to the on-site Mizzen restaurant for breakfast, where I demolished some pancakes with bacon on the side. I spent much of the morning wondering the con space, thanking Nightingales and Con Ops staff for their work.

After a very nice light lunch at the hotel restaurant, I went up to Lanakila and Zxarr's room to chat, enjoy their company, and indulge in some of their British chocolate for a short while. I then headed back down to the Dealers' Den to continue with my staffing duties, and to shoot the breeze with dealers. Time seemed to pass rather quickly through the afternoon, as before too long it was time to head for the Closing Ceremony, which Avalanche did a fine job of hosting. I had a sense that the con's attendee numbers had grown quite a bit since last year, but hearing the final number of 3,338 - putting FE just behind Eurofurence in terms of con size - that was rather a special moment. While I'm well aware that many others have been attending FE far longer than I have, it feels really nice to have been attending this fab convention from the first time it hit over 1,000 attendees, and to have seen it over triple in size in those 8 years. And, my dear reader, the fun isn't over yet... :D

After standing around chatting with friends for a while following the end of the ceremony, I went and hung out near Con Ops for a bit, in the hopes of seeking out as many staff as I could to congratulate them on a job well done, and to thank them for a truly fantastic weekend. Lots of hugs for those who wanted them! Then, it was back up to the room for me to delight in Ursus' musical talents for a wee while, before we both headed down to the lobby where a rather large group of folk was waiting for our arrival. That's right - it's time for the Mandarin! ^__^

What, you may well ask, is the Mandarin? Put simply, it is a chain of buffet restaurants like no other I've ever been to. As the name implies, they specialise in food of the Chinese variety, but one can also enjoy Japanese, Italian, English, American and Korean cuisine, in addition to a wide selection of soups, salads, desserts, and drinks. And with those innumerable wonders and delights in mind, Shiro led a group of us - put together of people who'd asked about it beforehand - up to Union Station, through the Toronto underground system, and around construction works to deliver us to the promised restaurant. I just about managed to finish six plates of food, enjoyed thoroughly over a couple of hours of excellent, entertaining, energetic conversation, and washed down with a good old-fashioned Pina Colada. It had been 4 years since I'd been, and every moment of our little excursion was worth the wait.

Back at the hotel, Ursus and I just about made it back to the room, our mass having significantly increased since we descended on the elevators just a few hours before. After finishing most of our packing, we called it a night.

Hope you enjoy!