Desucon Frostbite 2015 – Excitement zero

Hello all.

So, Desucon Frostbite came and went this past weekend –aka on 13-15th February– and I attended the con. I don't really have so much to say about the event itself, I guess it was nice and all but yeah, for me it ended up in the "paska reissu mutta tulipa tehtyä" category. In other words Frostbite 2015 ended up being the first con for me on which I honestly had no excitement whatsoever – I just didn't enjoy it, which is a shame because when I originally bought the tickets some time back I was eagerly looking forward to it. Oh well, I'll tell more about that later...

This shouldn't turn out to be a very long con summary because I don't have so much to say... I guess.

Let's go then, shall we?

On Thursday night me, Hasakitsuki and Jäätynyt Enkeli left for the train station. As per usual it meant a loooong train journey and way too much luggage, which wasn't fun to drag around because it was heavy and, on top of it all, I ended up not even using half of it. Blörgh. If you wonder how come I'll just say this – my cosplay plans pooped.
The train journey wasn't pleasant and that's simply because I still can't get myself to fall asleep in a train. I was also feeling uneasy during the whole trip and I kept thinking about shitty things; most of all I just wanted to cancel the whole damn con and just stay home but alas, that wasn't possible. I just had no motivation to even attend Frostbite but I didn't want to lose my money either, seeing how the train tickets couldn't be refunded. What killed the con hype even more was that I was still a bit sick – yep, I caught some stomach derp just before the con, which made me very meh about eating anything because I started feeling sick if I ate. Happy day...
Leaving Kemi behind felt really bad too; I kept thinking that my maternal grandpa was in the hospital -he's been there for around a week now- and that he might even pass away during the con because his situation isn't exactly good...

So yeah, my interest for Frostbite was zero at best – more often than not it was below zero. But still I had to go, even though I didn't want to do anything more than just stay home.

Friday

Lahti was reached on Friday morning. I was shit tired and so were the rest of my company.
When we exited the train station I called Moonbeam for directions on how to get to her apartment – yes, we'd sleep over at her place just like during summer Desucon last year. It was a bit hard to make out at first where exactly we were supposed to go (thanks to fog and road reconstruction areas) but as soon as we could see the Mannerheim statue then it was a cakewalk.
We found our way to Moonbeam's and there we all just took a nap. I don't remember how long I slept but I sure do remember that sleeping on a bed felt like the best thing ever after the crappy night in the train.
At some point another person showed up who'd also sleep at Moonbeam's place over the con and so we were five occasionally six plus two cats. Needless to say it was quite crammed.

When there was only a couple of hours left, before the con would open its doors, some of us started to put on cosplays. I hadn't regained my con motivation so I went 'fuck this shit' and decided to go casual – why would I bother to put on a cosplay if I wouldn't even enjoy it? I also had forgotten my shoes for said cosplay anyway, because of the stress packing. So yeah, no cosplay for me but Hasakitsuki and Jäätynyt Enkeli cosplayed nonetheless. I was content with roaming my first con ever in my everyday gear under a secret identity and honestly, it felt like the best choice ever made. Funnily though, if you had asked me two months ago if I would ever go to a con without cosplay –or at least some fancy outfit– the answer would have been a solid 'no'. See what some twists and turns can do...

When we got to the con we saw a sight no one in our company had prepared for – a huge line to get inside.

I'll admit, I've never seen such a line outside for a Finnish con and so it caught me off-guard. Thing is that normally I would have been used to seeing this kind of shit; I mean, in the bigger Swedish cons (former Uppcon and Närcon pre-2014) it was commonplace to stand in line for 4+ hours. It was to be expected. Heck, you were even lucky if you only had to wait 3 hours to get inside. But then again, I've had the impression that in the Swedish con culture standing in line is part of the con experience. *shrugs*
Luckily with Frostbite though was that the line moved really fast and smoothly. When you got inside you traded your ticket paper for a con ticket that was fastened on your wrist. But before you got to do that some security guys at the entrance checked your ID to make sure that no one attending was below 18 years – yep, it was a con with an age restriction.

Oh, and this year the tickets were ihkupinkit.

Inside the con there were.. people. It was noisy and some parts of the building were always more or less crowded. I didn't feel well and I just wanted to go somewhere away from it all; good thing was that just when the con opened a movie would also start – Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled from Paradise. This turned out to be some kind of saving grace even though pre-con I hadn't been so interested in the movie. I went to watch it with Hasakitsuki and yes, the movie was shown at the con and the "movie price" was included in the con ticket; you only had to go get a paper ticket for the movie so that you'd get a seat to sit on, basically. We got good seats even though we were some of the last ones to enter, hehe. About the movie I can say that it was very good, even though as soon as the plot twist passed it was predictable to the end. The anime was really well-made though and a pleasure to watch. :)
After the movie there was a talk-show with the Guest of Honors, aka Gen Urobuchi and Seiji Mizushima.

Artist's Alley

After the movie I don't think I did anything noteworthy. The Dealer's Hall wasn't open on Friday and so there was very little to do, except for walking around and trying to spot familiar faces. None of the panels interested me either and well, I certainly didn't feel like sitting down and listening to someone talking about whatever for two hours when my head was going around like a goddamn washing machine.
I did find Karri and some other awesome peeps that brightened my day and we ended up talking a bit and such, he's always so awesome to have around; he makes even a shitty day good.

Karri in all his awesomeness.

We didn't stay at the con especially long because our trio was still tired from the long journey. Resting and loading our batteries for Saturday sounded like a plan.

Saturday

I think we woke up around nine in the morning or something. I lagged a bit while my brain was processing the thought that it was the main con day today. I'm honestly not sure what my feelings were about it but I decided to cosplay this day. According to my cosplay plans I should have cosplayed Saitou from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan but that just.. didn't interest me. I just didn't feel like I could be bothered with the hassle of wearing authentic kimonos so I took my Sunday cosplay for Saturday instead, which meant Souji Okita from PeaceMaker Kurogane. Only problem with this was that 1) I had no basic idea how to do the makeup, because I didn't have time to do a test-run before the con and 2) the contact lenses I was planning on wearing I hadn't tried either and so I had no idea if I would even stand to wear them for the con day or not. I still decided to go with Okita because reasons.

I think we arrived at the con around 11:00 or somewhere around that time. One of the first things we did was to go and check the Dealer's Hall and see if the Japanese candy guy was there. Lolnope, he wasn't. :C

Both the t-shirts that I would have wanted to buy were XL.. OTL

It didn't take too long before Olli called me and asked where I was holding house. I had promised to photoshoot his improved Bean Bandit cosplay and so we met up and had a shoot. It was fun to get to know him better and he kept me company while Jäätynyt Enkeli disappeared somewhere and Hasakitsuki attended a panel. We went into the cafeteria and talked about his cosplays and stuff until we separated at some point, I don't remember when. But I did find Hasakitsuki again, so it was okay.

I found Karri and Jäätynyt Enkeli again and we headed out to the nearby food store to buy something small to eat. We also met ShinigamiUchiha who tagged along with us, friends!
Me and Hasakitsuki ended up buying triangle sandwiches forever con food diet, dessert puddings and a can of Angry Birds Christmas lemonade that was 30% off only because it was a Christmas drink. Our whole group sat down on the bench in the food store and ate our sandwiches, it was comfy.

I have no words... xD

I don't remember if it was before or after the food trip but I photoshooted Jäätynyt Enkeli's cosplay and Hasakitsuki took some photos of my cosplay after that. We didn't try to do a proper photoshoot because I wasn't in the mood and Hasakitsuki was complaining about the cold. It wasn't exactly easy to try and portray a cheerful but battle-spirited character when, all along, I just wanted to run away from everything because I was feeling shit. I kept thinking the whole "what if mom calls me now and tells me that grandpa is gone?" and then I wondered how I would react – how do you even react to something like that? I wouldn't be able to hear those words, not now. It's not anything you want to ever hear; I kept fearing that I'd get the call. I was horribly distressed and just wanted to go home...

Pffrt, at least some proof that I was in cosplay...
Photo by Hasakitsuki.

After the photoshoots we went inside to warm up. I remember that we went to sit somewhere away from the crowdedness (if it isn't a word already then it is now) because I was feeling anxious amidst the hordes of people. At some point I wasn't far from getting some kind of panic attack so yeah... it wasn't pleasant. I don't know but it just felt like there were a lot of people all the time and everywhere and it was really loud too; I just couldn't handle it.
Me and Hasakitsuki tried to escape into a calmer place and after a while we went upstairs to the Dealer's Hall, which, luckily, wasn't as crowded as some other areas. We ended up buying the very last banana flavor Ramune and it helped to get me back into some slight con mood.

Banana Ramune!

The banana drink was surprisingly.. unique. It was good though and I regret not buying a pineapple Ramune while they still had them. While we were drinking our Ramune next to the stairs I spotted this one guy with a Whispered band hoodie walking down the stairs and I just had to strike a chat. Little did I know that talking to this guy would end up being the highlight of the con!

The conversation went something along the lines of this:
Me: That's the best hoodie ever! Love the band!
Guy: Thanks. How long have you been listening to Whispered?
Me: Very long, since the beginning pretty much. I have both CD's, it's one of my favorite bands!
Guy: We're actually recording new songs in the studio! Oh cool, so you were already a fan when we recorded Wrath of Heaven?
Me: *rambling and fanboying on but brain is processing what just happened*

That feeling when I realized that I wasn't talking to an ordinary fan – I WAS TALKING TO ONE OF THE BAND MEMBERS!!!! O___O This can't be?!?

I think I died and flew off my chair a thousand swords times. No way in hell, this is a joke? Riiiiiiiight?

But nope. It wasn't a joke.

Together with Jouni Valjakka from Whispered.

But seriously, if you like metal (you must 8C) and haven't heard of them yet – go listen to their songs, hear how epic they are, buy their CDs and support them! They are freakin' awesome! \m/

After this awesome encounter we headed back downstairs to go and check what they had to offer in the gaming room. As to be expected it was all crammed in there and all game consoles were taken. I did see two people playing Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in the corner and hnng, I wish I had a NN3DS and the game! ;_; Buhuu still playing Freedom Unite on PSP #oldschool

We stayed a while in the con's main area and watched some people dance to the beat of some cute upbeat songs. Moonbeam and the others were watching the dance too but me, Jäätynyt Enkeli and Hasakitsuki were starting to get really tired along the way. Ever since the Dealer's Hall had closed we had gotten bored of the con and both of us just wanted to go to Moonbeam's apartment and sleep. The bed was honestly so much more tempting than staying at the con...

We did get a ride back and oh boy did it feel good to take off the cosplay for the day. But before I took off the cosplay I tried to get one of Moonbeam's cats, Luna, to come close but nope, she didn't want to. :c
You see, Luna is a black cat and well, Okita in PeaceMaker Kurogane (along with some other portrayals of Okita) has something to do with a black cat because well, historical myths...

Meow....

Sunday

The last con day – what a relief. Soon I can get back home.
Moonbeam woke us up around nine again and I immediately decided that I wouldn't cosplay today either. I just wasn't in the mood; I'd rather just photoshoot my friends and check for some cool cosplayers at the con instead of having to worry about all the extra worries you worry about while you're in cosplay lol. Oh well, I still borrowed Moonbeam's cat ears so that I wouldn't look completely "normal" either.
When we got to the con we headed for the Dealer's Hall again and there we spotted FankiKitsune talking with another Jack Frost cosplayer. I stopped just next to him to see if he'd react/recognize us but seemingly he was so busy talking that he didn't notice us lololol.
In the Dealer's Hall we saw Ichi, whose table Hasakitsuki had been eyeing all weekend. We took a look and of course Hasakitsuki ended up buying stuff – including a hairclip pair of black wings for me. They were really cool and I want to use them for some outfits coordinations in the future!

Ramune graveyard.

After some time a wild Itachi appeared – it was ShinigamiUchiha, whom I had promised to photoshoot outside. We went outside, froze our fingers off and took some photos. :'D
Back inside I found Hitsuwa, who was cosplaying as Aang. We struck a chat and I actually even laughed – incredible! Hitsuwa is such a fun guy, I really wish we would get to talk more often. Ah, the Närcon 2013 memories.. -w-

I don't remember when but at some point me and Hasakitsuki got hungry and we wanted some warm food. First we went to the nearby food store –together with Jäätynyt Enkeli and ShinigamiUchiha– but we didn't really find anything that was tempting enough to eat no triangle sandwiches again please. Thing is that just next to the food store is Kotipizza. Yep, the place where you buy your obligatory Desu-pizza. I went inside to check if there was an over 9000 meters long line inside but nope, it was almost empty! Hoolabalaa, what is this?? Normally this particular Kotipizza is crammed full of congoers but nopenope, there were only some people eating at the tables but no line. Suddenly the decision was so easy to make – let's eat pizza.

Desu-pizza. You can't avoid it.

Filled with pizza we went back to the con. FankiKitsune has messaged me and asked where I was and so I barely had time to warm up inside before I had to go outside to photoshoot his Jack Frost cosplay. Not like I minded though, it was surprisingly fun save for rolling in the snow because camera angles and we even had some funny moments with the throwing of the green blanket back and forth as a feet-warmer. In the end my fingers were all red and I didn't even feel the cold anymore but I'm not too sure if I should feel happy about that or not...
Oh and one thing, before we headed for the photoshoot location FankiKitsune and I walked to the parking lot. There was a car parked that was selling sushi – it was his classmates. I don't know but I found that the whole thing looked funny, selling sushi from the car's trunk. Not suspicious business at all, no no.. But the sushi was good!

le sushi car.

At the con I spent the last moments hanging around with FankiKitsune and Hasakitsuki; the two even went to play those dance rhythm game thingies while I was watching over our stuff.
After the con ended I bid Karri farewell because I happened to pass him by just when we were about to leave; after that I went with my original company and Moonbeam to the food store to buy provisions for the train trip back. Ugh, I certainly wasn't looking forward to the train but it went okay in the end, save for that the train was still weirdly filled even when we reached Kemi... Dafuq everyone's going to Kemijärvi?

Oh and before I end this post I want to mention that for the first time in years I actually bought something from the Artist's Alley, success! Normally I just don't find anything that makes me go like "I need that. Now." but this time it was a different story. I think the last time I bought something was on Tracon 2012...
I don't remember who was selling the awesome derpy Arceus necklace but the keychain is from Biffe.

My Artist's Alley purchases.

All in all Frostbite ended up being one of my shittiest con experiences so far. It's not the con's fault though because the con itself was all good, nothing really to complain about. It's all just that I was left with a pretty foul taste in my mouth because I simply wasn't in the right mood; I also had too many things spinning in my head and thus ruining the experience. It happened to be that the con had to fall between all these unlucky events...

I still want to give a big thank you to all my friends who kept me company and saved this experience from being utter crap, you know who you are. It really means a lot.

And in the end, as per usual, I put together a quick and poopy photo collection video of all the cosplayers/cool people I photographed during the con. If you see yourself in the video and want the pic just send me a mail.

Bye bye for now.