Oulun Animeseminaari 2014 cosplay plans – Dog & horse!

Hi there!

Oulun Animeseminaari (Oulu's anime seminar) is the next anime event I will be attending! It's held in Kaupunginkirjasto (lit. "city's library") on 8-9 Augusti this year; it's a different building than previous years and seemingly some of the reasons why they changed location is because Valve's building space/size is getting too small for the event and because the rent prices are constantly rising.
I've also read at Animeseminaari's site that because the event is held at a library that there will be quite different rules – and that's for the worse.
I don't know for sure but it seems that all kinds of weapon-like props are banned no matter what in the library's common space. This sucks because it rules out probably 80% of my current cosplays. :C Sure you can take weapon props with you but you will have to leave them in the checkroom and well, what's the point then?
Also the cosplay competition is cancelled because the stage is not suitable and I also read something that the library workers word is law in the building and thus merchandise sellers and artists can't sell their stuff inside; in other words – con merchandise might be at the mercy of the weather because the only place selling tables will be allowed is outside, seemingly. This is not set yet but it's one of the options I've read at Aniki. The other source I've used for gathering this information is Animeseminaari's site. Don't take my word for 100% truth though, I don't know if things will change..

I'm having my hopes going down and feelings turning rather insipid regarding Animeseminaari. The rules seem a bit too strict and damaging for the event, but I'll hold my judgement until I go there. I'm not expecting much right now though (then again, Animeseminaari I never had high expectations for), just a hang-with-friends con. That's the reason I'm going and to spend time at awesome gamer aunt's place. <3

Because of the weapon prop ban and the harsh rules/limits I'm not sure I can even be bothered to put on a proper cosplay for both days. It's a small event and most people just go there to meet friends anyway. I'll just go there to chill and derp, mostly, but I heard from my aunt that there is seemingly some good photoshoot possibilities so I will take with me at least one cosplay that needs more camera love. And well, for Saturday I need something... DERPIER.

Friday

Series: Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan

Character: Ryunosuke Ibuki

I've only worn Ibuki once before so he deserves a second round out! Besides I barely have photos of this cosplay and I should really use my orange contacts while I can still use them (aka they haven't expired yet). I just need to craft that purple amulet thing he has hanging from the blue string around his waist. Oh, and I won't be carrying around the sword because Ibuki doesn't have it very often in the anime he hates samurai and well, because of the ban.

Saturday

Type: Non-cosplay outfit [shits 'n giggles edition]

Clue: IMMAH HOERRRSSSS

This is going to be a non-cosplay outfit, inspired by randomness and a bit of fabulousness.

Oh, and I'll post a preview later, huehuehue ~

Shiro Samurai out!
 Psst, my blog finally got a new look! :'D Feedback appreciated!

[IMPORTANT] Cosplay name change!

Hi all, let's get straight to the point ~

Lately I've been thinking a lot about changing my cosplay name, Valkoinen Samurai. After some thought I feel like it's too long and too complicated to spell/pronounce all the time, especially to people outside Finland. It just ended up getting tiring and more troublesome than wanted when I have to spell it out for people at cons etc. I need something quicker to pronounce, something easier – cosplay nicknames should be easy to remember, for everyone.

Don't get me wrong, I've gotten really used to this name and most people recognize me by it, so it feels really hard to suddenly change it into something else – but that's why I'm not going to do a big change! Sure that I have some other internet names too –like Chigami and Blood_Sword– that I could have used, but I want to stay with the ending 'samurai' because it kind of turned into a trademark thing and I commonly end my nicknames with it nowadays. So well, my brain was trying to come up with a replacement for 'valkoinen' (means 'white' in Finnish) and it quickly hit me that "why not just change the language?" would probably be the best solution. It didn't take long before I had set my mind on 'shiro' –which is the same color in Japanese– and well, that's what my cosplay/blog name will be from now on – Shiro Samurai. This change also applies to my lifestyle and kimono blogs.

It feels a lot less heavy to pronounce; it flows better and is pleasant to say, mmmm yes! <3 At least according to me, hehe. The meaning is still the same so it doesn't feel like a dramatical change that will take long getting used to.. and I hope my readers feel the same and that it won't be too confusing!

Oh, and one last thing! I'm of course fine with people still calling me Valkoinen Samurai, it's basically the same name anyway. :'D Also I won't go back and edit my name on all earlier blog posts and you don't have to do it either if you've mentioned me in your blog.

Sayonara and thanks for your understanding!

– Shiro Samurai out

150 followers giveaway!

... more like, "160 followers giveaway!" OTL

HOOYAH ~
This blog has reached a whopping 150+ followers!
THANK YOU! <3

I know it's late but let's pretend it's not and I'm already on this writing moment at 161 readers (thanks! <3) but I honestly haven't had time to focus on this giveaway earlier because of the ongoing con summer season. Sorry. ;_; But now I have time to breathe out so here it comes, enjoy!

First off, I'm very surprised and happy about so many people having interest in my cosplay life! o_o Even in my wildest dreams I didn't see this popularity coming! If I'm completely honest I have to admit that originally back when I started this blog I planned to mostly have it as a personal notebook kind of thing, you know, just to keep track of my cosplay life for my own amusement. I wasn't counting on any outside interest except for maybe a few really close friends; I wasn't even expecting to ever reach 20 readers! So guess if I'm completely and utterly mindblown by all of you? I am, really. ;A; How did this happen? Mistä näitä lukijoita oikein tulee? :-DD
All of you motivate me to keep writing this blog and so much more that I can't even explain with words! Thanks to cosplay –and all wonderful people I've met along the road– I've leveled up a lot as a person and I'm very grateful for that! <3 I wouldn't have got this far without all you awesome peeps out there! As a sort of 'thank you' I have a celebration giveaway on the plate! ~

But first there's a few rules that I have to clarify.

PLEASE READ!
~*~ Rules ~*~

• You must be a follower of this blog to participate. After all, this is a 'thank you' type of giveaway to all of you who contributed to number 150 and beyond! :D

• You must live in either Sweden or Finland to participate. Sorry!

• Comment on this post to get an entry to the giveaway and have a chance to win! You must write your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you are one of the lucky winners! Only one entry per person.

• The winners will be drawn randomly from all the entries and contacted. The prizes will either be handed out by me personally at an anime convention we both will attend or shipped out to you. I will pay the shipping cost.

 I would be very happy if you told me in the entry comment what you like about this blog and if there's something you want to see more of or if you have improvement suggestions (except that I should change the outlook/banner of this blog, I know xD) etc. Feedback most welcome!

Seems easy enough right? Yep, so let's get on with the giveaway prizes!

*drumroll*

 •••••

2nd picture without flash, 3rd picture with flash.

First prize! EOS Dolly Eye Violet circle lenses + lens case!

These are of course authentic, unworn and still in their original sealed bottles. Diameter effect is 15.0 mm according to the bottle, site says 14.2 mm. These are plano lenses (0.00 prescription).

•••••

Second prize! A short purpleish-pink cosplay wig!
Brand new and never used! I don't know if it's heat resistant or not but the original site claims that it is; be careful if you decide to try heat styling it.

•••••

Third prize! Pokémon Jirachi – The Movie: Wishmaker (2004)

Sparingly used, works well. The disc holder of the case has one piece missing but it still holds the disc in place. The cover is the Swedish release but the movie has dubs in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish.

 •••••

That's the prizes for this time, I hope they tickle your fancy!

Remember, if you only want to compete for some of the prizes –not all of them– then write which ones you are interested in on your entry comment. Example: "I only want to compete for prizes 1 & 3."

Giveaway ends on 1st September.

Best of luck, everyone! :D

Feel free to spread the word! ~