Matsucon 2024 – I got so scared I dislocated my arm!

 Hello geeks!

Matsucon came and went and I thought it's high time I post a report about my happenings and feelings about the con! This year Matsucon was held on 10-11th August in Pohjankartano's school, Oulu, Finland, like usual. Matsucon has been held in the same location for years so yeah, why change something that works? I went there as a con worker and despite one, err, unfortunate accident, I managed to do what I was supposed to do – namely take care of the green room.

But hey, let's get this summary started!

I couldn't find the official Matsucon poster anywhere
so have the Iltabileet ('afterparty') poster instead.

So just like on the past few cons my travel companion was Firith, once again. But, unlike our usual means of traveling by car or train, this time we had to use the bus to get to Oulu. It was both for economic reasons and also because the train's time tables didn't suit us this time. We left Kemi on Friday because we had booked the hotel for two nights, it's convenient.

I don't really remember when exactly we left for the bus station but it was during the afternoon something. We had booked Onnibus because it's affordable. When the bus arrived we were concerned we would have to pay extra because we had so much luggage but luckily the driver didn't charge us anything because I said I could keep my electronics bag in my lap. In theory this was a good and sound idea, I mean I'd make sure my PS5 and my TV were safe as no one would be throwing suitcases on top of them or handling them roughly in the hold – yet, in practice, this was an absolutely ass decision because my TV is quite heavy (even for being as small as it is) so my legs kept going numb and I had really little space in front of me so I could hear the TV's leg creaking (at least it's one of those adjustable ones that you can tilt slightly but still, nerve-wrecking) whenever the bus turned and it was so much worrying lol. The thing is that just before the trip I had bought a cheap oldish monitor from a thrift store, because it was light to carry, but lo' and behold it didn't work when I tested it and so I had to resort to my trusty TV once again in a pinch. I'm quite mad at the store because I feel like electronics should by default always be tried because no one wants to buy anything that doesn't work, especially if your return policy is literally within the next day or no refunds – or at least that's what the cashier told me at the time of purchase. I have not been back there yet because I have so much anxiety over the whole thing; I absolutely dread confronting people about literally anything face to face, even if I have full rights to do so as I paid for a faulty product. I mean, when I worked at a second-hand store a few years back we had a rule that all electronics had to be tested before they reached the customer and I'm sorry but that should be the norm. It's not too much to ask.

Carrying a fucking TV on my lap in the bus was an experience and a half.

The bus ride was a bit bumpy for other reasons as well. You see, I was wearing pants that had metal chain accessories on my left side and I didn't think much of it when I sat down on the seat.. until I then heard this kind of metallic clinking sounds and realized, to my horror, that my chains had gotten stuck on that heater thingy or whatever that metallic box running across the sides of the bus were! So yeah, I spent almost the whole one hour bus trip trying to forcibly yank myself free from my prison. My hands were all red and sore from the tugging and pulling and I was panicking so much but just had to mask it (nobody wants to have a meltdown in a full bus). I really didn't want to have to break the chains but because it was just one of the three rows that was stuck I was pretty much forced to, if I wanted to keep the other two. Needless to say I had to break a chain link with brute force and I'm saddened by it because yeah, those chains were a gift and I liked using them a lot...

Sokos Hotel Arina room, 'Summer Night' theme.

After that literal strugglebus experience we arrived in Oulu's bus station. Firith called us a taxi because no way in hell were we walking through centrum with that mountain of luggage! It boggles my mind why every con trip always comes with so much baggage, I mean for real, you're literally gone for a weekend and you have like half your apartment with you wtf? xD But anygays, once we got our hotel room we dropped off our stuff and just recovered for a bit before Firith went out alone to meet up with some acquaintances who happened to be in Oulu too (not for Matsucon) while I stayed behind and relaxed. While Firith was gone I was just lying in bed and scrolling through my sketch book, lost in thought. At some point Firith messaged me that he'd be back soon and although I had seen the message just prior I must have been so deeply inside my own mindspace because I didn't hear his approaching footsteps in the corridor at all and, when he opened the door, I got so scared by the sound from the door handle slamming down that I literally dislocated my own fucking arm from the sheer fright recoil! Not even a joke bro, it really happened. The first thing Firith sees is me squirming in pain and cursing perkele between my breaths lol, it hurt like a motherfucker because I had to push the dislocated arm back in place with my other arm or the pain would get more severe for every second and I literally can't move my arm unless I fix it. Yeah I know, this is one of those things that maybe would warrant a 112 call but this has happened to me more than once before (thanks to hypermobility and accidents) and I've always just dealt with it myself because of it being such an automatic reaction. So yeah, my arm was super painful and unstable for the rest of the day but we still headed out to eat at Itsudemo's sushi buffet. It was a bit of a disappointment this year when compared to last year, especially because we had been looking forward to it for so long. :< Sushis were dry-looking on the tray and several came apart when I moved them to my plate, which is kinda a bad thing if the rice doesn't hold together, not to mention that there was next to no refills of empty trays so a lot of the options were unavailable for the whole approximately 45 minutes that we were there. Luckily I managed to snag a few pieces of my favorites immediately when we came but yeah, I would have wanted seconds ngl so it was quite a bummer.

We went back to the hotel room and Firith rescued us some donuts from Arnold's. Honestly, ResQ is such a good app – it lessens food waste from restaurants, cafeterias, hotels etc and you can save food and get great discounts. What's available changes every day because it depends on what's left over so there's always a surprise factor on what you'll find!

I don't think we did anything else noteworthy, just chilled for a while and then we went to bed.

Saturday morning was groggy as usual. I'll just accept the fact that I'll never be a morning person lol. But anyways, we went to the hotel breakfast almost immediately after waking up and I broke my tradition by not indulging my mouth with karelian pastries this time – what a foul act of self-betrayal!
After the breakfast refreshment episode it was time to put our costumes on; I rewore Hotaru from Samurai Deeper Kyo while Firith was Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service and yes I know, exactly the same costumes as on Nekocon lolol. We weren't in an explosive hurry to get dressed because even though we both were con workers neither of us had the first morning shifts in our respective jobs so yeah, we didn't die from a stress-fueled heat death of the universe.

Matsucon entrance view.

Photoshoot competition desk near the entrance.

I can't recall what exactly the clock was by the time we arrived but Firith had signed up to be part of the cosplay competition so he had to go through some pre-judging stuff almost immediately by the time we arrived. At some point while we were walking near the cloakroom some recruiters came to ask me if I would like to enter the cosplay competition in my Hotaru cosplay because they needed more contestants (I got the impression that a lot of the originally applied contestants had ghosted due to number 13, Firith's number, being the first to enter the stage) but I kindly declined because I didn't even have my sword with me nor the proper cosplay shoes; I had intentionally left them behind to make the traveling easier. Not to mention I have extreme stage fright and anxiety and I wasn't mentally prepared to compete at all. Still, I find it weirdly flattering that I got asked lol.

Cafeteria view, except it was closed this year.

I had specifically asked for most of my work hours to be slotted into Sunday so that I could explore more freely on Saturday, another reason was because Hotaru is maybe not the most convenient costume to brew coffee etc in due to the long white kimono sleeves. x) An even bigger inconvenience was that of my recently dislocated arm, which had never really stopped being sus and hurting, and which I tried to ignore as much as I could. Yet at some point, during the first half of my shift, I figured there was a first aid room in the con (and it exists for a reason) so I had nothing to lose if I went and asked there if they could help me somehow. I was concerned I would hurt myself accidentally because even the slightest wrong or thoughtless movement made my arm wobbly and like it would luxate. I gotta say though that the people at the first aid station were extremely kind and really went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable – they even sent someone immediately to the pharmacy to fetch kinesiology tape because they didn't have any in stock. ;_;

Me with my sling in the green room while waiting to get taped.

It was kinda wild because apparently my condition did some rounds among the workers because at some point one of the organizers came up to the green room and told me they heard that a worker had an arm issue and came to check the situation and I was internally like "lawd I'm making a scene oh noes" but I appreciate the concern, I really do.
After some waiting the first aid crew came to pick me up and I got my arm and shoulder embellished with some hot pink tape. Very character accurate. It helped to stabilize the arm, slightly lessen that constant dull pain and it increased my trust in using said arm for tasks. Luckily working at the green room is quite relaxed and so I could function the rest of my work shift without accidents; I just had to be a bit more mindful of my movements than your average person.
My shift lasted from 13-16 and once I was free I informed Firith that I really really needed to leave for the hotel asap, that I needed to get my costume off because I was overheating, in pain and also uncomfortable from the poor air quality and circulation indoors. He was busy with the cosplay competition prep but still managed to call me a ride through the Menevä Taxi app, thank you. ;_;

The elevator was for worker use only. It was a godsend for me because
the impact from walking down stairs was enough to hurt my arm.

Once I got back to the hotel I yeeted myself out of my costume and then I just casually died for a while. Well, not literally but I just idled around trying to reanimate myself back into a solid human shape. Eventually Firith also came back and we might have gone on a ResQ shopping spree because Ravintola Puistola just on the opposite side of the street had some delicious bakeries up on the app just before closing time. I also got a yummy rescue sushi mix takeaway box from Sushi Bowl & More Tea that we went to pick up, along with some boba tea to fuel our boba cravings. Not gonna lie, winter melon flavor was godtier deluxe.

Rescued sushi and bubble tea~

The wind did blow us to the nearby foodstore where we might have bought some alcoholic beverages for the night, just to have a good time and unwind. I bought some cherry cocktail that I had never seen before, it was from Spain and in a glass bottle with a metallic twist cap, it was surprisingly good!

Sunday morning is always Sunday morning, filled with an impending sense of doom because you know you have to check out from the hotel and carry all your shit back to the con's cloakroom for storage over the day. My original plan was to cosplay Leon from Resident Evil 4, I even had the costume with me and everything, but we ended up with some miscalculations with time management and by the time we were done with breakfast, showering etc there simply wasn't enough time to put on a costume before we had to leave the room.

We arrived at the con about one hour before it officially opened its doors. Firith had to almost immediately bolt to his work shift so I stayed behind and tried to get our belongings stored somewhere safely. The cloakroom worker wasn't there yet so I had to go ask one of the organizers to help me out. I really did not want to drag all of that stuff all the way up to the green room on the top floor so yeah, the cloakroom was a lot more attractive choice since it was on the main floor.

Dealer's Hall and artisan's tables main floor view.

More artisan's tables.

Upstairs view of the main area.

My workshift didn't start until 14:00 so I had plenty of time to kill and I used this time to go through the sellers, artisan tables and the Artist's Alley on the second floor. I had planned to go listen to the watercolor panel held by Jasu Wonder World but when the time came I realized I wasn't in an attentive nor focused mood and I passed on it to charge my batteries before my work started. It's hard to control the flows and crashes of a neurospicy brain.

One half of Artist's Alley, second floor.

At some point slightly before my shift started Firith asked me if I wanted a second bubble tea while we still had the chance. You see, Kemi and Tornio has no place to get boba as far as we know so yeah, if we don't satisfy our boba addictions when we can we have to wait a painfully long time until we can get more boba, usually it means withdrawal symptoms until our next trip to either Oulu or Kuopio (because those are boba-certified for now).
So.. uh, I might have been tasked with walking across centrum to grab us our drugs. I might have done so very willingly, even with the looming threat of getting splashed by rain.

Never stop the madness.

It took me roughly 15 minutes to get to the boba shop and about the same to get back. It would be even quicker if the traffic lights in Oulu weren't permanently set to troll mode – I mean, first they stay red for like forever when there's not a single car in sight and the moment they turn green is when the cars show up. And just to mess with pedestrians even more they only stay green for like 15 seconds or such so I guess good luck if your walking speed doesn't rival Aladdin's flying carpet or something.

Proof my daily intake was more than just boba.

I don't really remember much of my Sunday work shift, it lasted from 14-19 so yeah, basically once it started I was in the green room until the con closed it doors along with one hour for the down-rigging. One thing I do remember is that when I had been at work for about one hour one of my coworkers (whom I had talked with quite a bit the day before when I was cosplaying) exclaimed something like "so where's this [my name] dude?" and I just replied that I've been sitting here all this time and it was kinda funny because it turned out that said coworker hadn't even recognized that I'm the same person because I wasn't in cosplay. xD Oh and yeah, my arm was still hurting but I managed.

Once the con closed I helped with emptying the green room as best as I could. Just like with Kummacon there was a bunch of leftover food, so the workers could grab what they wanted to reduce waste, which is a very nice gesture and bonus if you ask me. Once we had taken down most of the decorations and such I went downstairs to grab our belongings from the cloakroom. It was funny because I met the same organizer there, whom I had asked for help in the morning, and I was told that I was the first person to put in items in the cloakroom on the morning and the last one to take items out after the con. xD

The video game room. Here I worked last year. :3

I feel like I'm running out of things to say, lol. This year's Matsucon seemed to have a bit more hiccups than previous years – one of them being that I learned that Pohjankartano's maintenance or whatnot crew (aka not Matsucon itself) had, for some unknown reason, turned off the air circulation for the Matsucon weekend, probably an error or misunderstanding of some sort but yeah, this explains why the air quality was abnormally poor during the con. I remember several times on Saturday when I walked through the Artist's Alley I was almost knocked out by a suffocating wall of moist con funk combined with deteriorating oxygen levels, it was stifling and I felt sorry for all the artists who had to sit there the whole day. :'( But anyways, Matsucon is a worthwhile experience and it was fun this year too. As long as we have these firesouls bringing us annual cons in the northern half of the country I'm more than willing to show up and show my support in some way or another, be it as a visitor or volunteer~

Thanks for reading!
Shiro Samurai out.

Matsucon 2024 cosplans!

Hello everyone!

I'm still reeling from the wakes of Mericon, but already next weekend I go back into the cannons because it's time for Matsucon and this masochist applied to be part of the work force! It's such a busy month send help. No but really, I prefer volunteering my time at conventions because I get something meaningful to do and it feels good to help. :) This time I'm gonna be over at the green room, unlike last year when you could find me assisting over at the video games!

So, what am I cosplaying then? Well, I still haven't gotten around to going through my cosplays and making a condition check on them but I know that most aren't in wearable condition for one reason or another. But there are still a few that I can bring, thankfully. But hey, look below to find out who, woop woop!

Character: Hotaru (Keikoku)

Series: Samurai Deeper Kyo

Yep, I'm rewearing Hotaru. :'D I have already modified the costume since the last outing at Nekocon, to make it a tiny bit neater and more accurate. I undid the side seams of the white outermost kimono and sewed them back together after cutting off the excess fabric that I had only done a temporary narrowing fix on before Nekocon. I also left the side seams partly open at the hem to make the tucking in the back look more like on the references with the slit – this was a detail I had missed originally and only noticed at the hotel room while dressing for the con like "wait a second.." style. xD
I will wear Hotaru on Saturday, although for transporting difficulties I won't be bringing the sword nor the tengu geta this time because I will be arriving by bus and I need to pack as light as possible. I will wear ordinary geta as replacement shoes indoors.

Character: Leon S. Kennedy

Series: Resident Evil 4

I know, I know. I kinda said already last year that I would finally debut Leon but hey, better now than even more late, right? :') This will be like an early try-out, as in I don't have all the props and stuff done that I want to have for this cosplay – and I'm not entirely sure if I'm missing any minor parts still but anyways, it should be near complete. I will hopefully wear Leon on Sunday but, umm, just a heads up that most of my work hours are slotted into Sunday so I might not be seen much as I will be watching over the green room! There is a slight risk that I might still go casual on Sunday (if my face explodes or something) but I will try to cosplay if at all feasible!

There ya have it folks, see you over at Matsucon!
Shiro Samurai out.

Mericon 2024 – Look captain, the ship is back!

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum trippimehu!

Mericon made waves at Rauma's main library last weekend, more exactly on 3.8.2024. This was the much awaited second iteration of the newly sprouted free-entrance anime convention and, just like on its debut, this year's Mericon held true to its namesake and kept to the maritime heritage theme like the name implies ('meri' means sea/ocean in Finnish) – this is largely a nod to Rauma's long and rich history as a harbor town!

All aboard, let's start the report!

Mericon entrance view, aka the library.

I was part of the work force and one of the organizers, just like last year. My traveling companion and partner in crime was Firith and, though the latter doesn't live in Satakunta region anymore, there might or might not have been a big reason for why we arrived a week early and that's because we were rigging the event up.

The day before the con we migrated from Hinnerjoki over to Rauma to make our busy morning a bit less hectic and this meant that we needed an overnight stay that was within our budget. We went yolo and tried the bed & breakfast establishment Haus Anna near the centrum of Rauma, which turned out to be a most fortunate choice indeed! It was so comfy and much nicer than we expected, especially considering how cheap it was if you opted out of the breakfast (it wasn't included in the room price).

Our room in Haus Anna.

Because we're so very proper and responsible adults we went to sleep early and woke up fresh and ready to tackle the challenges and tribulations of the con morning. *insert cicada-filled silence here* ............. Pfffrt, as if, did anyone of you stools really believe that at this point? :'D Of course we stayed up until well past midnight and woke up with at best 5 hours of sleep and an imminent sense of morning dread. Luckily brainfog and le sleep-deprivation vitutus can be cleared with carbonated caffeine – but sadly facially devastating eyebags cannot.
You see, my original plan was to put on my cosplay of the day already at the hotel.. except I really couldn't muster up the energy on said morning. Like at all. Besides, we were a teeny tiny bit short on time. So I ended up taking my makeup and costume stuff with me in a separate bag (ain't no way I'm carrying around my heavy-ass suitcase with a broken wheel any more than needed!) and so we headed for the main library.

Mericon view towards the entrance door.

Cafeteria tables, plus embroidery exhibition, near the entrance.

Because we were workers we arrived at the con before it officially opened the doors. While Firith did some final errands I headed to the changing rooms in the back to put on my cosplay. I didn't have a lot of space to work with so yeah, I ended up spreading my belongings all over the men's locker room like the chaotic goblin that I am. A funny story is that while I was doing my makeup, standing in front of the mirror shirtless, another worker enters the door. I recognized that he's the technician but his knee-jerk reaction probably was something along the lines of "there's someone doing makeup in the changing room so I must be in the wrong one" and he just closed the door confusedly and it took me like half a second to register that "oh yeah, he's a normal dude not used to other dudes caking their faces up" and so I tried to call out to him to come back lol. xD I got told that we'd by all certainty be the only two using said changing room and so I asked if there's any, well, locker, that I could use for the day because it seemed all of them had someone's name on. Well, he said there was this one that I probably could borrow because it was empty and the key was in place...

I am the cleaning crew!? :-DD

Yes, I have a dumb sense of humor. It helped a lot to have somewhere to put all my stuff to keep it organized, especially because throughout the day I ended up with more crap than what I had when I arrived lol. Roskisdyykkaan panttipullot eiku.
Once I finally had my cosplay on, which was the old-school Team Aqua Grunt from Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire (not the remakes!), the clock was almost opening time. I spent the last minutes before the official con start helping Firith's brother Hermanni with setting up the Playstation 4. He volunteered to help with watching over the video game area for the first half of the day, which was very nice of him!

As soon as the doors opened I ran around taking photos for my blog and I must say it was nice and relieving to notice that as soon as the doors were up people starting arriving in droves. The relief comes from the fact that there had been slightly less marketing this year, when compared to last year, and by that I mostly refer to how last year Mericon was featured in local newspapers before its debut, something we couldn't do this time. I mean Firith is practically the promoting face of the event and it's a bit, err, complicated, to give in-person interviews for a local paper if you live and work in the other half of the country lol.

The guest book from last year returned!

As Mericon is held in a library it also means that it's mostly propelled by the goodwill of the library's own workers to function; they serve as the main chunk of the work force and without them Mericon would be impossible to organize so yeah, my heartfelt thanks goes out to Katriina, Aino, Sami and everyone else whose names I don't remember (I'm awful at remembering names and faces, sorry!) for making it possible for Rauma to have its own manga and cosplay event. <3

Manga pockets put on display! Notice the rope~

The Maritime Museum provided decorations to set the mood!

The library had put forward and highlighted relevant books like manga volumes and "how to draw" art books etc to incite visitors to browse and maybe even borrow something interesting to take it home for a read. After all, one of Mericon's purposes is also to invite and inspire children and youth to the wondrous world of literature, imagination and creative writing – libraries are not just boring and dated relics from the past filled with equally boring and ancient books; libraries nowadays have everything from superhero comics and classical literature to new video game releases, movies, handicraft and hobby magazines, board games, music CDs and scores and some even have instruments that you can borrow! Honestly, libraries are awesome and so underappreciated for what they truly provide – aside from the thousands and thousands of available collections, offered for free, libraries are quite literally one of the only remaining public spaces where you are free to exist and browse without any pressure to buy something or gtfo and that, I think, is a treasure we should value in this increasingly consumerism-crazed and profit-obsessed world. So yeah, get out there and make a library card at your local library (it's literally free) and support it by borrowing anything you fancy – it's so much more than just saving your own money by borrowing instead of buying something new every time, it's an eco-aware action and it also safeguards the future value of libraries and, in extension, the future of humankind's education, preservation and literacy.
...
Many big words, very important, such wow.
...
No but really, this is something that I personally think is a very important topic and an urgent societal issue that should be lifted. In fact, the literacy and attention spans etc among today's children and youth are already deteriorating at an alarming pace and whole school systems are in distress over this negative development. I'm so fucking thankful I did my pivotal school years before smart phones even existed and social media and screens took over everyone's lives. Thank the heavens for being a 90s kid lol.

The drawing room. There were contests!

General view of the con. Info desk to the right.

Notice the massively improved photo booth to the left!

My core task this year (aside from being the graphic artist) was to be one of the three cosplay competition judges. I got roped into this post quite late as a fill-in for the last empty slot. The original plan was that Firith would have done the photography part of the contestants and I would have done the costume judging part together with Springdeer – basically the opposite of our roles when compared to last year. But on the morning of the con we changed this setup last minute so that I would be the photographer again and he would do the judging, there were a few personal reasons as to why but in the end we were both grateful that we swapped because we avoided some potential difficulty bumps. One of them being that my SLR camera (which was the only one we had to use for this task) acted up a few times suddenly it's getting old I guess and just stopped responding randomly and yeah, because I'm the owner of said camera (aka the one most used to handling it) I managed to get it to work every time.

The judging part started 11:40 and I made my way to sit just next to the photo booth, aka the turquoise fabric curtain in the youth sector. I saw no humanly sized chair nearby enough so I just succumbed to sitting on that very tiny children's chair just across the photo spot lmao. At least the approaching cosplay contestants would make the connection that I'm the photographer guy and not some random who just happened to be resting there lol.

While I was sitting there on standby, waiting for the contestants to come over, I had a few interactions with other congoers. There was this guy who told me in English that he had walked past me several times, feeling like I looked familiar somehow but he didn't stop to talk to me.. that is until he noticed the Team Aqua symbol on my bandana and went like "wait a moment, I recognize that symbol" and then he came up to me and asked if I'm dressed as a Team Aqua Grunt. This guy was the first stranger out of two to initiate a conversation with me based on my cosplay, and I haven't had this kind of interaction in years so it was quite something for me. The guy was visibly excited when I pulled out my Great Ball prop from my camera bag (one of those TCG tins) once he asked for a selfie together, it was so precious! We ended up talking about the mainline series and all kinds of stuff and I found out that he's actually from Germany and was supposed to visit his friend or something but it fell through and he ended up randomly going to Mericon instead – quite a wild story!
Firith was already very surprised when the guest book snitched to us that someone had come all the way from Lappeenranta so yeah, when I told that I met this one bloke who came from Germany he dropped all his jaws on the floor. xD

Team Aqua Grunt waiting for contestants!
(I had the gloves but didn't wear them most of the time)

Unlike last year all cosplay contestants who had signed up for the competition (this was done in advance online, as is customary to these kinds of events) actually showed up. Mericon had nine contestants in total, which I feel is a very healthy amount for a small and still new convention!
Mericon is marketing its cosplay competition as a very low-threshold event aimed at first-timers or beginners to gain valuable stage and feedback experience for future competitions – this is also why Mericon is one of the few conventions that allows people to compete in store-bought costumes, as long as it has been modified or altered in some way; for example if you've cut and styled the wig yourself or made the props then it would count as eligible even if the fabric parts of the costume aren't self-made. So yeah, a very relaxed competition it is.

After I had photographed all the cosplay competition contestants (and a couple other congoers who wanted their picture taken) I did a quick stroll through the Artist's Alley and then it was time to gather together with the other judges in the backroom and ponder the winners. We were uniform in our decision and there were no difficulties with reaching an agreement, it was smooth sailing!
A few minutes after that it was time to start the award ceremony where the judges declared the winners and handed out the prizes.

The winners of the costume contest~

After that my main responsibilities for the day were done and I was free to mingle around the con a bit more leisurely. I was quite hungry at this point and I also wanted to yeet myself out of my costume, not because it was in any way uncomfortable to wear but because I wanted to take the colored contacts out. So yeah, I disappeared for a moment back into the locker room. I decided to keep the wig and makeup on because I know that if I remove my makeup or my wig then my face and hair will look like shite for hours before it normalizes lol.

Cafe Käpälä had specially made Mericon treats for sale!

I was tempted to buy a blue cheesecake but I am extremely tight on money right now so I cried internally and headed back to the break room to chug a Megaforce energy drink instead, pärr pärr.
I think it was at this moment that a very weird discussion took place behind closed doors – I don't remember how exactly it started but I think me, Firith, Gure and Selja had just finished our coffee break and were about to stand up but I might have exclaimed something about how I'm so tired that I can't get my ass up from the chair. This regrettable proclamation of human inconveniences propelled my brain juices into Overdrive Thinking™ mode and I said something profoundly deep yet equally confusing – "imagine if your butt could just separate from the rest of your body and gain self-awareness while it rises up from the chair". This illogical grain of disturbing ponder, which had now been perversely released from its shackled confines, prompted us all to consider –at least in our developed minds– if your ass casually floating above your head would lead to an existential crisis and, if it did, whether those newly enlightened butts of wisdom would transcend into a religious awakening of their own – a cult of levitating human yet human-free, intelligent, self-sufficient, superior butts. Firith was quick to voice his stance on the matter by exclaiming "uskon vakaasti lentävään irtoperseeseen" before he exited the room.

Don't ask.

Upstairs were the organization booths.

Which meant Rauma Pride...

... and Hopeanuoli-fanit.

I just remembered another slightly amusing anecdote from the con. When I was still in cosplay during the first hour of the con I went behind the info desk to talk with the library workers about something and as soon as I opened my mouth one of the ladies looked very surprised and then proceeded to say something along the lines of "Oh it's you! Your costume/makeup is so good that I didn't even recognize you until I heard your voice!" – I guess that's a compliment for a cosplayer, right? xD We are the master chameleons after all.

Oh and yeah, my plans to photoshoot my cosplay in Rauma obviously fell through because I changed out of costume a bit prematurely. I just didn't want to stress about it too much because we still had a lot to do for the remainder of the day like packing for the road trip back home on Sunday morning (photoshooting before the end of the con wasn't an option due to our responsibilities) and yeah, I figured I could always just photoshoot some other day when there's less going on. I would have liked to photoshoot Team Aqua Grunt near the canal but another thing that made it difficult was the encroaching appearance of a thunderstorm and I'm terribly afraid of lightning. So yeah, proper photos of this costume will have to wait a bit longer still. 10 years wasn't enough already rip.

Mericon had more signs this year to make navigation even easier.

One of the last things I did before Mericon was over for this time was going through the Artist's Alley together with Firith. I did do a solo run earlier during the day when I got stuck talking with JeMiChi for a good many minutes when we both realized that we had a surprising amount of interests and experiences in common, including sailing on tall ships and being a book author (well, mine's still in progress but still). :D I bought one of her absolutely adorable whale and calf prints too. ;_;

Entrance to Artist's Alley.

Never saw someone selling paintings before! Artist: riikkusga

And the wonderful JeMiChi and her works!

I could probably ramble on a bit more about the convention but I feel like I've said most of the things that I wanted to say at this point and well, I've been drafting this post for like 6 hours straight when we count in the photo editing so yeah, needless to say my head is getting very spongy lol. But anyways, I left Mericon feeling satisfied with the labor of our work and I hope the visitors, artists, dancers and everyone else also enjoyed their time at the event! <3
At the time of writing it hasn't been announced yet if Mericon will be hosted a third time, but I recommend keeping an eye out on their social media channels (like Instagram) to stay on top of any news and information, including the feedback survey which will be made available later!

Thank you everyone who visited, keep sailing towards new shores and adventures~
Shiro Samurai out.

Mericon 2024 cosplans!

Hello nerds and bookworms!

I've barely had time to settle since the blast that was Nekocon but soon I'll be on the road again towards Rauma and the return of Mericon! The first ever Mericon was a success against all odds last year so of course I'll be there to help keep it afloat this year too! Yes, I'll be part of the work force just like last time and, to be more exact, I might have been asked to fill in as one of the cosplay competition judges. I'm quite nervous about this role but hopefully it'll go well since Mericon's cosplay competition is a relaxed entry-level event aimed at first-timers. 

Last year some might remember that I wore a pirate-themed outfit to match the naval vibes of the con, but this time I plan to wear an actual cosplay. Seeing how I'm one of the cosplay judges I want to be in a character costume idk it feels more proper lol. My issue is that I don't have a lot of costumes currently that are in wearable condition so my pool to draw from is very limited. But then I thought that why not, I could rewear that one old costume... or could I? It's far from perfect (I'm ashamed of some parts but fuck it, it's 10 years old so I can cut myself some slack lol) but it's easy to wear, quick to put on the con morning will be stressful and comfortable.

Character: Team Aqua Grunt

Series: Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire 

Not one of my best cosplays by a long shot but whatevs, it fits the con's theme close enough (I mean the design looks kinda pirate-y) and well, it's Team Aqua. Hopefully I can get a photoshoot of this costume before or after the con because this is also one of my many costumes that I quite literally have no photos of. :'D Oh and yeah, because the grunts are just, well, grunts, I will wear a random wig and lenses with it to make it 20% cooler. Besides, in the anime they have varying hairstyles and such so yeah, it's fine lol. 

That's it for this public announcement, see you at Mericon soon!

Hotaru of the Shiseiten – Samurai Deeper Kyo cosplay photoshoot!

Hello there! 

As I mentioned over at my Nekocon summary, I had a proper photoshoot for my Hotaru (also known as Keikoku) cosplay from Samurai Deeper Kyo while in Kuopio! I've wanted to get this costume photographed for so long since it's one of my favorite mangas and Hotaru is a character that I feel suits me. I'm really happy with how these turned out and I can't thank my photographer enough for being so patient with me. ;_;

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Hotaru)

Photographer: Firith

Photo editor: Shiro Samurai

 

This costume is entirely made by me, the tengu geta and sword included. I wear the shoes only for photos because, while they're made of solid wood and carry my body weight no problem (I've tested this and yes, standing is possible), they are tall and require an exceptionally good sense of balance –and even ground– to walk in. As much as I love cosplay accuracy I'm not going to risk breaking a leg for it, I'm not that hardcore. xD

Keen-eyed observers might also have noticed that I changed my watermark on these photos and yes, this is my new stamp that I will be using from now on in this blog! I've wanted to update my watermark for a long time but just haven't had the energy to do it before. There will be a transition period where most new content will have the new watermark but some might still have the old one – this mainly concerns circle lens reviews and some unfinished and obviously still unpublished cosplay WIPs that I have lying around.

I do plan to cosplay other characters from Samurai Deeper Kyo in the future, maybe already next year I might have bought some fabric on sale recently *cough* but I won't promise anything just yet! What I can promise though is that Hotaru will be seen in another con before the end of this year. ;) I might or might not try to get together a second photoshoot also~

Thanks for viewing~
Have a great summer wherever you are, stay safe and hydrated!

Nekocon 2024 – I heard you like boba tea

Hello all colorful geeks!

I'm back home from last weekend's trip to the delightful Kuopio where I attended my second Nekocon, woop! This year's Nekocon was held on 13-14th July in Kuopio's Music Centre, just like the year before. I went there together with Firith and I think it's high time I get this con report on the road!

Nekocon side view of main entrance.

Our journey towards Kuopio started already on Friday morning. Me and Firith had decided to drive down but due to me being a derp and misremembering the timer of my dishwasher we ended up getting a bit delayed – it wasn't too bad though, like an hour or so behind schedule. Anyways, before we could start driving we had an urgent problem called no gasoline. And by that I mean the car tank was so empty that it was a game of chance if we even had enough to get to the nearest gas station – needless to say we were clenching our butts in nervosity for every successful kilometer rolled forward! We made it, somehow, and could officially start our journey down to Kuopio.

We drove down one of the smaller roads and aside from some tractor-induced road rage the trip went well. Our dining stop was at the lovely rustic Matin ja Liisan Asema at Lapinlahti, easily recognized by the preserved 1938's Tv1 steam locomotive outside. Honestly recommend this place, really pleasant!

Once we arrived at Kuopio it was evening, I think the clock was about 18 local time? I can't really remember, but what I do remember is that we had enough time to speed over to the con location to go claim our con tickets (and Sallukka's tickets as well since they would have arrived too late otherwise) in advance before it closed! This saves us from having to stand in line on Saturday morning to exchange tickets so it's definitely a quality of life thing to grab them the day before!

As soon as we got the tickets we continued to our chosen place to stay the weekend, namely the trusty and familiar Rauhalahti Spa Hotel, just like last year. I swear it's half the reason we went to Nekocon lmao.
This time we didn't get the Donald Duck room number but we got a room on the top floor, aka the fourth floor. What came as a surprise was that unlike last time we had a balcony!

Cosplayer hotel room means it's immediate chaos.

This was sooo nice to have! You could air out your costumes after the day.

 

The hotel room was really comfy and pleasant and, unlike last year, this time our mini bar actually kept our drinks cold, yay! :'D Yes we brought with us a bunch of energy drinks, a couple ciders and a 6-pack of beer lol. Raikasta ja ravitsevaa olutta~
Thanks to it being the weekend the spa was still open with a couple hours left and so we jumped into the pool to relax after the long drive. Honestly the super warm pool is like the best thing ever, you could literally just melt away there for hours.

Saturday morning came. We had decided the night before to not take overly much stress from being at the con early because we both were really tired and wanted to have a chance at a decent night's sleep. I think we woke up around 8:30 or something like that and after lagging around in bed for a while we walked over to have some breakfast. Fun thing is that we stumbled upon some familiar faces from Kummacon at the breakfast buffet! I had my obligatory Karelian pastries and after we were done it was time to head back to the room and put our costumes on. Or at least try to, as soon as morning brain lag had dissipated enough.

My cosplay for the day was Hotaru from Samurai Deeper Kyo, a costume I've only worn once before many years ago and lacked any proper photo proof of. I don't remember exactly how long it took for me to change into cosplay but it was an episode and a half to get everything on smoothly! Hotaru looks like a simple costume to wear but holy moly the amount of fabric I have to stuff under the shorts and secure in place to keep all the layers from shifting to kingdom come! I'm so thankful Firith was there to help me dress, it would have been so difficult to do the kimono tucking in the back etc without any assistance. ;_; Firith cosplayed the titular character from the Ghibli movie Kiki's Delivery Service, by the way.
It took us somewhere between 2-3 hours to get ready but it would have taken even longer if I hadn't caught my creeping panic attack in time onneksi olin ottanut rauhoittavia mukaan... 

The clock was around 12:30 when we started driving towards the con and it was a beautiful sunny summer day. One of the first things we did was to take a quick tour with the camera and snap the general con photos and after that we headed straight to photoshoot our costumes because the bushes near Kuopio's Music Centre are very nice for cosplay photos! 

I'm happy I did check some character references this time around because last time when I cosplayed Hotaru I completely missed to do the kanji he has on his neck, oops!

Hotaru! You can also see the Nekocon ticket~
(photo by Firith)

 

Hotaru was a decently heat-friendly cosplay, only the midsection was a bit toast with all the layers piling up. I had all the props and parts of this cosplay with me but I wore replacement shoes around the con (stupid Pikachu flipflops gave me an awful toe blister and I don't even know how xD) and left the sword in the car after the photoshoot because it would have been cumbersome to carry around while shopping. I'm not even sure if anyone recognized my cosplay because I had zero interactions with other congoers but, then again, Samurai Deeper Kyo isn't exactly a well-known manga and was never published in Finland, so it went exactly as I assumed it would haha. Anyways, we got some really awesome photos afhsdadsgh that I will post separately! [edit: link here]

When we were done snapping photos we left the camera back in the car and then we hurried over to the Lumit building where Firith's friend had a table at the Artist's Alley. The Lumit building was part of Nekocon and also hosted at least the video game room as well.

Walking next to Lumit.

Lumit was very easy to recognize because there were always cosplayers and colorful people sitting just outside it. There even was someone dressed in a huge red inflatable Among Us costume. xD

Entrance view of Lumit.

The video game room was popular!

I would have initially wanted to watch the "Valitut Lapset: Superlataus" Digimon stage play but decided in the end not to because I knew I wouldn't be able to sit almost 3 hours alone without having difficulties (Firith wasn't interested enough, mainly due to the length, and Sallukka and Don had their own activities). Besides, it started already 12:15 and you needed to get seat tickets starting at 10:30 and we weren't even at the con at that time so it wouldn't have worked out anyway.

Artist's Alley.

More Artist's Alley~

It was quite crowded at the Artist's Alley on Saturday and we both quickly agreed on that it was a bit too much. The air quality wasn't the best with so many people crowded in a small area and it was quite anxiety-inducing. Not to mention sweaty. So yeah, we hurried outside after a quick glance through all the tables.

A nice collaboration Nekocon had this year was that there was this one boba tea (aka bubble tea) stand near the town square that had a deal so that if you bought a drink from them in costume you got a 20% discount. One needs to know at this point that I haven't had proper boba tea in about 9 long years. I had forgotten how delicious it could be. And because we were hot and thirsty no not like that you perv we decided to go and make use of this opportunity!

Taro milk tea with matcha swirl, heavenly!

It was soooo good! Like oh my goodness it was so refreshing and perfectly sweet and I just wanted it to last forever. ;_; I miiiight have reignited an old addiction send help. No but really, it was totally money worth, 5/5 stars no drama.

After the trip to the town square (and being subjected to puzzled normies along the way lol) we returned back to the main building of Nekocon and plowed through the Dealer's Hall and just took in the con atmosphere. Nekocon overall has this pleasant feeling, it's welcoming and the general location is inviting and very central with both greenery and the town square just outside so yeah, you're close to almost everything. Except our hotel is a few minutes car ride away. :'D

Nekocon entrance/cloakroom view.

We didn't stay the full duration at the con during Saturday, mainly because it was a very warm day and we were both still a bit tired. As much as I enjoy cosplaying I can't help but notice that I'm getting old lol, I don't have the same tenacity to withstand discomfort that I used to have. Remember when everyone used to say "cosplay ilman tuskaa on teeskentelyä" and how we'd just power through all the pain to prolong that magic con feeling? Ei helevetti, those days are long gone. If I feel discomfort nowadays then I go back to the hotel early, I'm absolutely listening to my body's needs nowadays. #millenialinsights

Besides, we wanted to take some more photos of my cosplay outside the hotel before my makeup was all messed up from the heat so yeah, that was another reason why we left a bit early. And it was the right decision because we found a really good photoshoot spot that we had completely overlooked last year!
After the second photoshoot was wrapped up we both really just wanted to jump into the spa and then have some beer and chips in the room after. I mean if you book a spa hotel you kinda maybe want to set aside some time to actually use the spa, right? :D It was really fun to just hang out and chill and play on the PS5 I had brought along for the trip (and a TV to play on) for the rest of the night. It was a great day~

Oh and I ate a delicious veggie pizza at the hotel's restaurant!

Then came Sunday. I had trouble falling asleep and so my eyebags had eyebags when I got up. It wasn't beautiful I tell you. I considered skipping doing any makeup for my alt fashion plans at first but luckily my face kinda recovered after breakfast and idling around long enough to properly wake up. Chugging an energy drink might have sped up the process. We packed all our belongings but still somehow ended up stressing to get done on time since we also had to return the room keys. I swear time blindness and estimation of time is one of my biggest weaknesses! It felt very wistful to check out from the hotel because we had so much fun and it was over way too quickly. Next year's Nekocon can't come any sooner!

Anyway, we drove to Nekocon and today we had reserved more time to actually check out the con more properly; it's just a lot easier to explore when you don't have to worry about messing up your costume. We took our time to check out the Dealer's Hall on the main floor and the artisan's tables upstairs while just vibing and soaking up the good feels. Firith also ran into some old acquaintances while I just awkward potatoed around because I don't know how to enter the chat naturally with people I don't know who are already in a conversation.

Dealer's Hall view...

... and more Dealer's Hall.

Staple sellers Manga Cafe provided the snacks.

Sunday was definitely a calmer day than Saturday, it was easier to move around and there weren't as big clusters of people around. I wanted to go watch the "Digimonien avara luonto" program but I honestly ended up forgetting what time it was because I didn't carry the con's info booklet on me with all the schedules and stuff. Oh well, no can do but I got to say it seemed like an unique concept that I haven't seen done before and that's why it piqued my interest in the first place.

Nekocon info desk next to the stairs.

One thing I did notice was that the overall layout of what was located where seemed very similar to last year's Nekocon and honestly, why change something that works? The only clearly different or improved change I noticed was that the video games area in Lumit had been expanded from being in the corner to having that big room (was it a gymnastic hall?) for themselves, which was great.

Artisan's area upstairs.

Promotional booths of other conventions, also upstairs.

A few merchandise sellers were upstairs as well.

At some point me and Firith just looked at each other and I swear our brain jellies did some sick telepathy moves because we both just went like "should we go for more boba?". Yes, we should. We should fuel this addiction while we still can.
While walking there was some older middle-aged man, clearly not a Nekocon visitor, who walked slightly in front of us and he kept staring at me and doing double-takes to the point it was like fucking penta-takes lol. It was really rude and uncomfortable tbh, I mean one shouldn't stare that obnoxiously at others regardless of how differently from the norm they're dressed – have at least some semblance of manners at your age, please... -.-

Taro milk tea with tapioca bubbles, yum~

I think after the boba tea (yes, I really like taro flavor) we did a final shopping round and then we agreed in unison that it was high time to leave because we had a long and exhausting road trip back home ahead of us.

It's legit hard to describe how fun and rewarding Nekocon was for us both, it might not sound like a lot happened but we honestly had a blast and this will probably go down as one of my favorite cons this year. We've both been in some tough and dark places lately so this trip was a much needed break from everything stressful that's been going on in life. Honestly I'm looking forward to next year's iteration already, Nekocon and Rauhalahti spa combo gives me life. <3

Oh and before I forget, here's my loot haul!

Thanks for reading, my next con will be Mericon's return in Rauma! See you there~
Shiro Samurai out.