Nerdcon 2014 – Working experience, tentacles and 8-bit Super Mario!

Hi peeps!

I've returned home safely from Nerdcon in Umeå and here follows my report! Let's get started! >8D

Okay, but first one thing – Nerdcon is a fairly new small convention held in Umeå in northern Sweden. This year was the second time Nerdcon was held (previous time 2013) and also the first time I visited. :) Nerdcon took place on 16th August, a Saturday.

Nerdcon entrance.

My journey to Nerdcon went without problems. I traveled by bus together with Hasakitsuki and Jäätynyt Enkeli on Thursday the 15th. Our bus left 10:00 in the morning and we met at our apartment –all three of us– and walked to the closest bus stop. This time we didn't go all the way to the actual bus station because we made sure that the bus we would take would be line 20 and not line 100. For your information line 20 takes approximately 1 hour more because it stops all over the place and that includes next to my apartment; line 100 is an express bus and only stops at specific bus stations along the way to Umeå.

So yeah, the bus came and we boarded it. I slept a fair amount of the journey because I was tired and thus the approximately 380 kilometers journey didn't feel all that neverending. Oh, and if you wonder it took 7,5 hours. :-DD

We jumped off at Umeå's university hospital and there my good friend Hitsu came and picked us up by car. The feeling when she played Whispered's debut CD in the car, fuck yeah samurai metal! She drove us to her apartment in the outskirts of Umeå – aka our sleeping place for the weekend. There we spread our stuff everywhere not really, visited a nearby Coop food store to buy chips and had a gaming night for the remainder of the.. night. 

We played on her Nintendo 64 for the sake of nostalgy (I used to come and play N64 at her place after school 2+ years ago, when she still lived in the same town as me and attended the same school – aah those were some good times) and we started by playing some Super Smash Bros., three of us against the computer on hardest level. Team battles huehuehue. Oh god I was so clumsy playing with a N64 controller. xD We played several matches and had fun!

At one point we were playing the Kirby stage and I got one of those.. things. :'D You knooow, one of those white round ones which you throw and then it gets stuck in place and anyone who touches it bounces in a random direction. So yeah, the computer was Captain Falcon and he had been thrown off the stage and tried to come back and well, when he was approaching the edge (in a way that we would be sure to come back unless someone hit him again) I went and picked the item up and said something around the lines of "oh look, it's one of these fuling's!" (in Swedish of course) and threw it in the computer's direction just for the hell of it and – guess what? It landed on a perfect spot a few centimeters off the stage's left edge and Captain Falcon hit it –while he was in the air– and he bounced on it uncontrollably mega-speed, first against the edge's lower half and then straight down to the depths of death. IT WAS HILARIOUS BECAUSE IT HAPPENED SO FAST AND BECAUSE I THREW IT WITHOUT EVEN HAVING THE INTENTION TO FUCK THINGS UP. XDDD We all laughed our asses off for probably one minute because it was pure gold. Best KO we had that night by far, lolol. Måste älska fulingar. <3

After we had our share of fighting games we turned to play the very first Mario Party, still on Nintendo 64 of course. We played a game of 20 rounds on some sweets & cake stage and had fun, stress and rage. xD Ah, the first Mario Party has awesome mini-games. Pedal Power. </3

Oh! I must mention that we played this one mini-game on which all four players are standing on a big ball on an island and to win you have to push out everyone else. The thing is that I lost fairly quickly on this one and when my character, Wario, was in the water a Blooper (squid-like enemy) came and took him by its tentacles and dragged Wario with it out of the screen. According to my tired and laughs-at-everything brain this move seemed highly suspicious at the moment and thus the "TENTACLES!" was born.
Yeah, the next day whenever we were randomly talking and there was a pause in the chat and well, if the occasion was fitting I'd butt in and say "TENTACLES!". It was beautiful and turned into a running joke over the weekend. <3

After the round of Mario Party my meat body started getting tender and so we slowly rolled off to bed. At least I didn't dream about tentacles...

Saturday (aka the one and only con day!)

I don't remember when the alarms rung on the morning exactly, but I know that even though we had reserved plenty of time for putting on our costumes we still ended up leaving much later than planned. Ah, standard. </3

My cosplay outfit was an Original Character named William Crimshade.

When all of us four were done Hitsu drove us to the city and there we parked the red car in a parking hall and headed our geeky noses towards Nerdcon. We walked a short while through the city and people were staring, as per usual. I felt so overdressed in my formal-ish attire lol.

Luckily Hitsu knew exactly where the Nerdcon building was located; no one else of us had any clue whatsoever. Not sure have I ever even been to Umeå city before... We went inside, took the elevator up to the right floor and there we saw the con's info desk/entrance table. I dug up my con volunteer document paper and on my wrist they then proceeded to fasten a fabric con ticket and around my neck I got a volunteer badge. Booyah! Free entrance, feels good man ~

Nerdcon 2014 con ticket.

Nerdcon volunteer badge!

Having the volunteer badge hanging around my neck made me feel important, lol.

We didn't really have much time to check things out before me and Hasakitsuki had to head out on our important mission – find the cafeteria!

But before we left on our cafeteria scouting we quickly checked what the con had to offer –in the name of entertainment– and then we speed-checked the merchandise seller room.

We had a little confusion at first can I walk through the scene? when we tried to find the cafeteria but luckily there was a lot of signs showing the way.

Some of the signs had word puns!

The two of us thought it better to sit and wait next to the cafeteria, because a performance was about to start on the scene (which meant we couldn't access the cafeteria this way during the performance) and we needed to be in place 15 minutes before our work was to begin. There was another way to get to the cafeteria but we didn't know about this one back then.

12:45 we got information from one of the Nerdcon organizers about what we had to know and do at the cafeteria and after that she left us to do our job. I was nervous at first but after a few customers it went away. It felt safe to know that in case there was something an organizer was almost always nearby to help you out. :) I must say that it was a very pleasant first working experience; the atmosphere around was comfy, it wasn't too confusing or stress-inducing and I didn't feel like I couldn't make it through for one reason or another – basically everything went better than expected!

Picture proof that we were working in the cafeteria!

By the way, while working I took off my gloves because it was just easier to work without them. I didn't have them on for most of the day in the end. I ended up having them as a decoration in my chest pocket lol. Oh well. xD

Hrmm, so, what were we selling at the cafeteria then, while we worked? Mostly small sugary stuff like candies, Ramune soda, energy drinks, muffins, pan pizza, "Pocky" (named Lucky Stick), coffee and tea.

Ramune and soda selection!
(the big green melon Ramune sold out first)

Reserve (aka behind the counter) muffins and "Pockys".

One thing though – customers came in waves! Sometimes there would be like 10 minutes without a single person wanting to buy something and then suddenly 5+ people come out of nowhere and you have to make sure to serve them all fast and don't screw up the orders, give back the right amount of cash etc. These "people explosion" waves were stressful. xD *does wave moves with arms*

But yeah, we worked as a pair from 13:00 to 16:00 and it was very enjoyable. I'd gladly come and work at Nerdcon again, it was a perfect first con working experience! The Nerdcon staff was super helpful and kind too, I was treated well and praised for working effectively. :) It felt super nice!

Cafeteria menu/price list.
(it's surprisingly cheap!)

While working I noticed that the thing that sold the most was Ramune, by far. The big bottles sold out first and when I noticed that the final reserves were dwindling away I remembered one thing! As a volunteer I had received a sort of "cash check" of 50 SEK's worth that I could use to buy anything to eat from the cafeteria.

My volunteer cash check. :'D
Nevermind that it says 25; it's worth 50 SEK but someone just got it wrong when they wrote it. xD

Towards the later half of my working time me and Hasakitsuki reserved one of each remaining Ramune soda flavor (the melon one had sold out by then) to ourselves – one big strawberry flavor and two small ones of orange and lemon flavor each. When our working shift came to its end I went and picked the reserved Ramune sodas from the fridge and then our full company headed out to eat in the city, we were pretty dang hungry; I hadn't eaten anything –except for candies– since breakfast!

We mutually agreed to eat at a Chinese restaurant that Hitsu knew served good food and was nearby. Double yes!

Obligatory eating/restaurant pic.

I shared a portion with Hasakitsuki to split the cost we're cheap and after I had a short "I DON'T WANT CHICKEN WITH FRIGGIN' VEGGIES WHEN I CAN HAVE CHICKEN WITH BBQ SAUCE DANGNABBIT! 8C" we eventually agreed on ordering the fried chicken – in barbeque sauce. And good lord may I say this was a good choice! The barbeque sauce didn't taste like your usual sauce, it had a hint of lemon taste and it was better. Mmmmh sooooo good, yum. <3

After eating we strolled back to the con and lagged around for a short while. I think Hitsu went to watch some anime in the anime room and the rest of us just checked the merchandise sellers and the acitivity rooms. I took some generic con photos while I walked around!

Oh, and for your information Nerdcon was held in what seemed to be a school building.

Entrance table, aka information desk.

One of the "main" corridors.

Board games selection.

People playing said board games.

Scene area.

Con merchandise...

... and more merchandise.

Video gaming room!

The Dojo you go to for mastering your skills – fighting skills in video games. *badamtssh*
(it happened to be empty when I took the pic)

Because I was working I missed several con displays, performances and activities. I missed the cosplay competition, the lion dance performance, the iaido display as well as the Häst and Seek – both times.
I would have wanted to see the iaido display as well as participate in the Häst and Seek. If you wonder it translates to "horse-and-seek" and its' basically hide-and-seek but with a twist – aka the hiders have to wear horse head masks and the seeker has to make sounds when they move. xD Too bad that by the time I realized there would be a second round of Häst and Seek –that I could have attended– it had ended already. Blargh, I need to keep track of time better. :C

Häst and Seek was here.

But even though I missed all these activities I still got some "behind the scenes" photos, hehehe...

Lion dance perfomance.

Cosplay competition participants waiting for their turn to go on scene.

I also spotted one of the iaido guys while I was still working at the cafeteria and he did some moves for me. Cool!

Iaido guy.

Actually, just when our working time had ended the Cupcake workshop started at the cafeteria. So yeah, when we came back to the cafeteria after the Chinese food –to use up the remaining 10 SEK we had on the cash checks– we saw some decorated cupcakes.

20% cooler cupcakes!

I didn't buy a decorated cupcake (not sure if they were even for sale..?) but I bought a Vulkanmuffins and it was pretty cool.

Volcano muffin.

At some point I went to the gaming room and I saw that OHMAIGAWD THEY HAVE THE ORIGINAL NES!! No one was playing on it but it was on and on the screen was some game I didn't recognize. I stood there for a few seconds and then I saw that on the table next to the NES was a few other games, including the original Super Mario Bros., oh mai. <3

NOSTALGYYYYY!!!!

You see, when I was very very young we had a NES console... but mom was stupid and sold it to our cousins in southern Sweden. 8C Ever since I guess it has been collecting dust at their place and mom regrets selling it because it was one of the few gaming systems she could actually play – not many buttons to press lol. I grew up with the Super Nintendo though (we had one back then and still have it <3) so it's my childhood gaming system, along with the GameBoy Color.

But yeah, I went to ask a guy in the gaming room if he happened to be one of the room staff guys and indeed he was. He changed the game for me (I wasn't sure if I was allowed to do it myself because who knows, a NES could very well be someone's "my precioussssssss") and GAMING TIME, GAMING TIME! ~

Let's go, NES controller!

I swear that feeling when you get to hold a NES controller and the nostalgy flows in your veins, hnng! ;A; <3 Sure that I didn't play much on a NES as a kid but I still played on one a few times when visiting friends etc (one of my old childhood friends had one) and ah, nostalgic. What made it even better was that the controllers were in good condition – no worn buttons, aww yeah!

3.. 2... 1..
Start gaming!

Super Mario Bros. game screenshots!

Good ol' coin blocks and Lakitu stage.

TENTACLES!

Ah, the castles... :')

I remember dying on these platforms so many times. lol

You... I remember you, you tricky bastard! :C

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU--

And well, much gaming later...

IT'S A ME, RAGEO MARIO.

The old Mario games are just as hard as I remember them – nowadays games are easier to beat. :s But it was so much fun to play retro stuff, ah the memories. <3 It's funny because while playing I remembered most stages and where the hidden item boxes and bonus pipes etc were. :'D

After playing we lagged around for a while and then we slowly decided to leave and calm down for the remainder of the night.

By the way, here's randomly a pic of the Nerdcon program schedule!

Oh, speaking of random – Nerdcon had these small Pokémon figurines placed randomly everywhere. Some were cleverly placed near something of the Pokémon's type. Nice small geeky addition. :'D

Water Pokémon (sort of, Dragonair is not Water type xD) near the sink of the cafeteria!

Pikachu! Bzzzzt!

But yeah, we left Nerdcon when we got laggy and wanted to go back to Hitsu's place and drink some green tea. On Sunday morning we took the bus back home and arrived safely. Nothing to say about the trip really so eh, have a photo of my Ramune soda haul instead! >8D

Here's our Ramune haul! Ou yeah!

Nerdcon was a comfy little con that I'd happily visit again next year – if it doesn't collide with another con that I want to attend, that is. Thumbs up for the Nerdcon staff and thanks for a pleasant con experience!

Shiro Samurai says bye! and goes to sleep...

I started writing this the same day I returned (17th August) and wrote it until 05:20 in the morning (Swedish time), oops.

Next up is Nerdcon 2014!

Hiya!

So barely many days have passed since Oulun Animeseminaari ended and I'm already preparing to head out for my next event! Yeah, this year's August is filled with anime events for me! :'D
But hey, this time I'm off to Umeå in Sweden and I will visit Nerdcon for the first time! Yeah, it's Nerdcon, not Närcon. It's a small one-day con held on 16th August and this time I will try something different – I will work there! ohmaiglerb
I've actually for a while now wanted to try volunteer working at an anime convention to see what the other side of the coin is like and now I got the perfect opportunity! Nerdcon was seeking workers and I took contact through email; everything went smooth and I got the work! So happy!
I must admit though that I'm a wee bit nervous because I don't have much previous working experience – but I'm confident that this will go well! BELIEVE IT!
At least I shouldn't be too lost because I don't have to work a whole weekend with different tasks or something haha.

I should be able to avoid this scenario.. :'DD

I'm very excited and curious about this new convention, as well as working at a con for the first time! Oh, and of course because I got to be a worker I get free entrance to the con, w00p w00p! 8D

So yeah, I will work at the cafeteria together with Hasakitsuki from 13:00 to 16:00, so anyone attending come pay me a visit and buy stuff during this time! ;)

Because we are working we'd rather wear something that is easy to move around in and that would sort of fit with being a cafeteria seller and that's when we got a great idea brewing in our brains! On my part said great idea was to dress up as a butler style Original Character named William Crimshade. So yeah, I'll be a random pretty boy butler at work! :'D

I don't have so much more to say except that I'm very eager to see what Nerdcon is like! Bye!

Oulun Animeseminaari 2014 – Disappointment is the name!

Hello!

Here's my newly baked report from Oulun Animeseminaari 2014 (Oulu's anime seminar), directly from the oven!

So our trip to Oulu started on Thursday 7th August and me and Hasakitsuki packed our stuff as usual and headed out during late afternoon or such. We met with Jäätynyt Enkeli at the bus station. We took the bus to Kemi and of course we spotted the obligatory spurgu (drunk guy) in the bus – you can recognize them by the horrible smell. xD When we got to Kemi we went to a nearby Lidl to buy some provisions and then we sat and waited for our train to Oulu. [shit humor] Meanwhile we waited we ate some yoghurt and stuff and well, we were sitting on a wooden bench and at some cursed moment of history my body suddenly entered "Explosive Surprise Fart"-mode and out of nowhere my ass struck a mighty tone and I got instant feedback from Hasakitsuki and Jäätynyt Enkeli that the bench vibrated because of the sudden outburst of power, oops. It was so bad that it was good. xD [/shit humor]
The train was late but nothing too bad (approx. 20 min) and the train ride took about one hour. Actually our booked seats ended up being taken by a random group of young army guys and well, I don't have balls enough to go tell them to move, "hey yo, you sit on my place! 8C", because one of them was seemingly sleeping (or at least veeery tired) and I have respect for people who do the army anyway. So I just kindly and quietly sat down in a nearby seat.
At Oulu we dragged our suitcases to our awesome gamer aunt's place and there we chilled and watched a thunder storm magically avoid us. I saw a mighty lightning bolt far away that was super clear, thick and lasted for at least one full second, flashing three times. It didn't have many branches though and so it was pretty straight. gay thunder is cooler! :-DD I'm glad the thunder storm avoided us because I'm really scared of lightning, especially if it comes even remotely near. ;_; I can sort of stand it if I can tell that it's far away though.
After the storm was over we popped to bed... and I toasted and spread out everywhere on the bed while sleeping, effectively minimizing Hasakitsuki's bed space, lol.

8th August (Friday)

It was time to get up at 09:00 local time and well, I couldn't. Jäätynyt Enkeli and Hasakitsuki seemingly got up no problem but I kept lagging on. At some point Hasakitsuki kept trying to harass me get me up by shoving the horse mask in my head and this annoyed me so I pulled my bedsheet over me. When it was past 10:00 I could finally pull myself up and I had some yoghurt for breakfast.
Earlier yesterday we had called Sairu-chan and asked that we change our cosplay plans, or more like, change on which day we wear what costume. The reason for this was because gamer aunt had said that she had work on Friday (aka this day) but not on Saturday and on Saturday she could show us where this one garden park thing was where we had planned to photoshoot our Hakuouki cosplays. So basically my cosplay plans swapped days and so I was a horse on Friday.
I must say it felt fucking sweet to be able to just put on the planned clothing, put on a headband (so that my hair wouldn't be a bitch when I have the horse mask on) and put on the horse mask and –BOOM– done! Actually, going to an anime event with no makeup on felt pretty dang weird.
Okay, honestly I didn't put the horse mask on before I arrived at the con place. Reason? I didn't want to be run over by a random car because of zero side vision. xD I kept the horse mask inside my bag –for the surprise effect– while we crossed town to get to the library building, where the con was held, but when we got to the con area the only thing I could think was: "Is this supposed to be a con?!". There was barely anyone outside the library – it looked almost dead. There was no lines or groups of weirdly dressed people in front of the building; there was nothing to indicate that an event was being held there. First impression: disappointment. :'C
Luckily it didn't take many minutes before a familiar tall figure approached us – Karri, the werewolf guy. He is so awesome to be around, certainly his company made our presence at the event more fun and worthwhile!

Karri borrowing my horse mask – Gangnam Style!

We went inside to check what there was and well, barely anything there was. There was no merchandise, no Artist's Alley, no rhythm/music game room and well, there was basically not a single shit to keep you entertained; unless either folding origami is your thing, reading borrowed manga in a corner or you'd like to participate in a drawing contest...
It seemed that Animeseminaari was mostly only using the very base floor of the library as "theirs" and the rest was just like the library usually was – nothing geeky whatsoever. In other words there was barely any con feeling at all and well, frankly I never got the feeling that I even was attending an anime event – it just felt like I was at a library and happened to be there when a few other geeks were there too. It didn't even feel like an event of it's own. Needless to say it was a dead bore and you could tell most other people seemed to think along the same lines too; most people were sitting outside in the library's outside grass area and a fair amount were strolling around in the city instead.

Animeseminaari entrance.

Inside. (base floor)

Sure that there was a few panels but the only one I found interesting was one about the way of the sword, samurai culture and how it's represented in the Rurouni Kenshin manga but I didn't end up attending it because there had been a spoiler warning at Animeseminaari's website and well, I've only seen pretty much the original anime and the Tsuiokuhen OVA so far and Rurouni Kenshin is one of the few series I haven't gotten spoiled yet. I also know that the manga goes farther than the anime and that's why I gave up on the panel – because I want to avoid any possible manga spoilers because I plan to read it.

Animeseminaari's program list.

We got bored and went to troll in the city and also to have lunch. I kept on the horse mask the whole city ride and I got so many smiles, waves and comments that it was purely awesome! 8D There was some dad with his kid who saw me and said loudly to their kid whom he was holding in his ams "Look, there's a horse! It's a walking horse!" and the kid looked surprised/weirded out. Some people even came and touched/patted my horse mask but I didn't know of these, until my company told, me because I couldn't see them. :'D There was this one old-ish woman who came up to me when we were at the market square and asked a lot of things like "is the horse kind?", "does the horse bite?" and then she asked if we were from a "polttarit" party (pre-marriage celebration in Finland when you hold a carneval party, have fun and commonly dress up). When I said we weren't from said party she asked what was going on and I mentioned there was an event held for Japanese pop culture at the library and then she looked surprised and exclaimed "it must have been badly informed because I haven't heard anything and I frequently visit the library". I told her it's open both Friday and Saturday and then at some point she asked if we were Japanese. :-DD lolnope. She seemed almost surprised and said "Oh, you are from here", as if it wasn't obvious; I speak Finnish like a native.. maybe because I am one? OTL She then wondered what my outfit had to do with Japanese culture and I had a hard time explaining that it's because of randomness and con culture. She also asked me if it was the Japanese who had the Shinto belief and I told her yes and then she asked if there's Christian believers there. Why does religion always have to show up? ._. Oh well, she let us go after a while and we headed into the city and found our way to a Hesburger hamburger place where we ate because I had sale coupons. Of course I had to get ketchup and dressing on my left sleeve because I had a white shirt of all the colors I could possibly have worn. -_- Niin perus.
Oh well, after that Sairu-chan called and informed that she had finally arrived at the con library and so we went to meet her. We found her fairly soon and someone of us asked where her Colossal Titan mask was. She pulled it out from her bag, put it on and then I could feel it... THE NEED TO WEAR THE MASK AND BECOME A TITAN TOO.  My outfit totally went from a fabulous horse to a fabulous Colossal Titan, yolo!

Titan wall smash sooooooon...

puskatitaani kimppuun!!

After a while the Titan returned to its owner and I was an amazing horse again. :'( I think I need one of these masks myself too.. waitwat. No, wait. The Titan mask didn't return to Sairu-chan – it found it's way to Karri and took over his head!!

Fierce, isn't he? Badass motherfucker!!

Hasakitsuki also got a piggyback ride from horse!Karri. It was beautiful. One of the highlights of the event.

Around 16:00 something me and Hasakitsuki went to sit outside in the shadows near a bridge do de-toast and drink some lemonade we had bought from Lidl on Thursday.

Lemonade for you, sir!

We sat there for a while and chilled... until we wanted ice cream from the nearby ice cream stand. We bought a cone with two balls of ice cream – mango & melon flavor and white chocolate & strawberry flavor. The mango & melon one was surprisingly awesome mmmh! And Jäätynyt Enkeli tried to call me at least twice –while we were eating our rapidly melting ice cream– and he was so persistent.. "oh for fuck's sake, I don't have time to answer bro! OTL" xD

Our ice cream feat. Hasakitsuki.

When we had finished our ice cream le gamer aunt showed up and said that we could go to the garden park thing already later today instead because seemingly bad weather had been promised for Saturday, aka rain and thunder storm. We considered it but Sairu-chan she can't be bothered.
After this all four of us got so bored of Animeseminaari that we decided to go back to gamer aunt's place and play some Wii U.

Let's go, the video games are calling us ~

On the way there we went into a food store and some bought coffee (not me) and Dr. Pepper lemonade (me). We also bought some Thai candies and a can of jackfruit in syrup from a Thai/Asian market in the Kauppahalli building at the market square.

When we got inside the high house building we took...

... AN ELEVATOR MIRROR SELFIE!

Gamer aunt wasn't home yet but we all played a little Super Mario 3D World and then Sairu-chan had to go. :'( Me, Hasakitsuki and Jäätynyt Enkeli kept playing until we reached the 3rd world in the game and then we got game blörgh and watched "Funny home videos" on TV instead. 

Gaming time!

I spent the remainder of the evening/night on internet and stayed up a bit longer than I maybe should have. When I finally went to sleep I tickled sleeping Hasakitsuki's feet to annoy her to have her wake up because I was concerned about how we should do on Saturday. We knew that for Saturday it was promised rain and thunder and we thought it might be pointless to even go to the event –in more elaborate costumes– if it starts raining. Our aunt had also said that if we decide to go there on the morning we should head back before the thunder storm comes and after that she'd make food for us. We then pondered a while and came to a decision that maybe we won't even attend Animeseminaari on Saturday – it's not like there was anything to do and the event would end already around 14:30.
After our plan talk and some other shit I eventually fell asleep.

9th August (Saturday)

Me and Hasakitsuki woke up 09:00 and after my laptop was planted next to my face I woke up and checked the weather forecast.

Perkele.

This sight made it seem even more pointless to even put on a cosplay to begin with, not even mentioning going to Animeseminaari.
It would probably take us 1-2 hours to put on our outfits and by then rain would be about to start. We wouldn't have much time at Animeseminaari before lightning would start roaring –likely– and then we would have to head back before it comes over us. It didn't make it any better that the forecast site I checked had a warning for Oulu about rain and violent thunder storms for today. Not going out if that's the case.. Seemingly the remainder of the day would be rain as well... bleagh!
I called Sairu-chan, who was sleeping, and she said no one in her group planned to go to Animeseminaari and so my company decided to stay at gamer aunt's place and spend our time playing Wii and Wii U instead. Time better spent.
Actually the rain and thunder started several hours later than what the forecast said but it still came and we spent pretty much the whole day playing video games, but before we started gaming we headed out to buy Dr. Pepper again and Ranch chips. I can feel an addiction to Dr. Pepper is about to start.. We also went to the market square and bought fabulous lollipops and some cool stuff again from the Thai/Asian market in Kauppahalli, namely four bags of green curry paste.
Oh, and it rained the remainder of the day so we couldn't go and photoshoot my Ibuki cosplay at the garden park. I'm a bit bleh about it but no can do.. it's not like it wasn't fun to game and rage on Super Mario 3D World instead. xD Gay pipes, cheese doodle throwers and köttmul/köttklubban. <3

So, what do I have to say about Animeseminaari?

– Let me demonstrate:

Aika paska. Heppakin kuoli hetkeksi.

It was plain bad. There was nothing to do, nothing to see and it felt like there were less people than previous years.. and someone tell me what's the point of having a two-day event when the second day is ridiculously short and has pretty much nothing to offer? Sure that I had very low expectations when I left for the event but I must say that this takes the price – it was so downright boring that I don't even feel any kind of regret for not attending on Saturday.
The whole Animeseminaari was so insipid and –without lying– the most boring con experience I've had so far. The only thing being a saving grace was my company and the awesome guy known as Karri. I really hope Animeseminaari will be better the next time it's held because otherwise I would consider skipping it; I really don't want to be so negative about more "local" *cough100kmawaycough* events but... bleh. It just was really disappointing this year, especially when compared to previous years. :'( Oh well...

Bonus pic!

I can be a scary fire horse too, rawr!

Shiro Samurai rolls out of here.

Cernit clay – Good old friend, long time no see!

Hello!

I had decided to make Ibuki's little decoration amulet thingy to make the cosplay more complete before Oulun animeseminaari. Because I'm very short on time I decided to roll with something I knew how to use and that ended being nothing less than your commonly found cernit polymer clay! It's seemingly more properly called polymer clay in English but everyone in Finland and Sweden call it "cernit clay" so that's what I will call it in this post.
As a kid there was a period when I made a lot of own small Pokémon figurines out of cernit clay and I remember it being rather easy to use. Cernit clay is an oven-baked modeling clay with a porcelain finish that comes in a lot of different colors and variations (glittery, semi-transparent etc). I remembered from my childhood days –aka the last time I used cernit clay– that every time we baked the clay, to have it harden, it would always turn darker than the original color and this is why I picked a lighter purple than what was accurate. Also the store I bought my cernit clay from only had a light purple clay and a very dark purple one and well, the dark one was way too dark.

So I used half of the clay for Ibuki's amulet and when I was done shaping it into a good enough form I used the leftovers of the half (still have the other half unused) and made random horns out of it. I will use them for a future Original Character cosplay. By the way, if anyone wonders I made the hole into the clay (before baking it of course) with a wooden circular ice cream stick – yeah, it's the one on the photo. xD When I had made the hole and had the clay around the stick it looked like purple kebab. lol
I must say that when you first take the cernit clay out of the package and start shaping it it's a bit hard and clumsy but it quickly softens when you work it. Finger prints and other pressure marks leave traces veeeery easily that can be annoying to get rid off. I also noticed that because I was rolling the clay against a wooden table –to get it to soften– that even the smallest of dirt got stuck into the clay – small hair strands, dust etc. Also if you roll the clay against paper make sure it has no prints on it because these will trace themselves into the clay as well. Yeah, both of these I tell from personal experience.

I put my shaped cernit clay pieces into the oven for 30 minutes in approximately 110 °C. Good thing that the oven in the common kitchen works on a timer (when you put it on you press a button on the wall which starts a 30 min timer) so I didn't have to put on an alarm and/or sit and stare at my clay pieces while they get grilled.

Into the fire!

30 minutes later I came to pick my dearies up and I noticed that indeed they had turned nigga darker. :'D This was actually a good thing because now my light purple clay was closer to the color I wanted!

Color comparison of unbaked and baked cernit clay – there's quite the difference!

I took out my Ibuki amulet and checked if I could still fit my ribbon rope thing through it and oh yes I could! I checked on a reference and tried making a close enough knotting system thingy and it worked out pretty well; now to just tie it to the blue waist string each time I wear Ibuki so that I get it on the right place!

Ryunosuke Ibuki reference.

Finished (almost) Ibuki amulet thing.

I'm now ready for Animeseminaari, see you there!

IMMAH HOERRRSSSS preview & Partykungen review!

 Hello!

Okay, remember that surprise horse-related non-cosplay outfit that I will rock at Oulun Animeseminaari? Well, I kind of said that I'd do some sort of photoshoot preview earlier, so now I will spoil the surprise reveal it for you! FOR YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU ~

 Teaser pic!

You see, I ordered something from a Swedish online store called Partykungen. My order was shipped out fast and arrived a few days later; if you prefer it more detailed I ordered on 12th July and it arrived on 15th. This was an order within Sweden though, but they do offer shipment to Finland and Denmark as well! For some weird reason Norway is left out.

My ordered items arrived in a handy plastic bag.. bag. I assume if you order something more fragile you will also receive a more sturdy looking package. I didn't have anything that would break easily in mine; actually my stuff is basically unbreakable lol. The bag handles were appreciated because I was biking back home with this thing so it made the home ride nice and problem-free. Oh, and the service and all that jazz was fine with the site, I had no problems.

My order came in like this. I'm happy.

So, what was in the bag you wonder? 

– Well, remember the horse head pic on the cosplay plans post? It was a huge clue.

...
......
*epic drumroll*
TA-DAAH!! ~

Model: Shiro Samurai
Photographer: Hasakitsuki

I NEED YOU.

Can I help?

Come with me and we shall rule the world together...

WE CAN DO IT!

I CAN SEE A CARROT IN THE FAR HORIZON.

I know karate, kung fu and many other Chinese words!

HOO-YAH!

I'm fabulous and I know it.

I must say that the horse mask is quite hot/sweaty to wear (especially in warm weather) because it's rubber. My breathing also gets a bit restricted because of the limited air holes in the mask (nostrils and open mouth) and you don't see very well; I recommend you take it off if you need to walk up/down stairs, uneven surfaces and such or that you have someone to guide you. You have no side vision at all so at least personally I think it's better to have someone help you around in crowded places and such so that you don't bump into people all the time. Except for the vision and slight breathing limits it's a nice mask to wear, definitely lots of fun and laugh inducing! The quality is nice and it fits me well, even though seemingly I have a pretty big head.

Oh, and I must mention that when we went to photoshoot there was an older couple I assume outside who saw us when they looked up and at least the man cracked up heartily when I stroke some fabulous poses. xD

 But yeah, that's how I'll look at Animeseminaari one of the days! See you there!

...

......

.........

You thought that was all? Hell no! :-DD

BO-BO-BO-BONUS GIF!!

 (also known as: I can't dance to save my life, but at least I tried)

Fab horse dance!

Now I'm outta here!

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!