Nekocon 2025 cosplay plans

Hi everyone~!
And yes, I'm a bit late with this post but trust me, I have a good reason for that. I mean... One does not simply publish a cosplay plan post when said plans change twice an hour or so lol. I had intended to cosplay Dragonair at Nekocon but yeah, the magnets - which would have been used to attach the wings to the wig - never arrived and that meant the death of that plan. Well, can't help it.

But yeah, a plan B was very much needed - and it was actually Shiro Samurai who came up with it, thanks a lot for saving my Nekocon!
So yes, here they are, my Nekocon cosplay plans!

Tanemon from Digimon on Saturday

I mean... I have always liked Digimon too, not just Pokémon, I just hadn't thought about cosplaying from it before! So yes, on Saturday I will wear a Tanemon gijinka; I have been joking about being rather a plant than a human (considering the amount of water I drink on a daily basis) so this kind of fits too xD And, well, Tanemon is a literal ball of cuteness - who am I to say no to that? <3

Espeon from Pokémon on Sunday

Yes, another gijinka it is! On Sunday I will cosplay Espeon from Pokémon. Even though I like Umbreon and Vaporeon more I have to admit that this cutie also has a place in my heart 💜
...and, well, I get to borrow some stuff for this cosplay from Shiro Samurai so yeah, easy af lol. 

So yes, here are my Nekocon cosplay plans!
We will leave for Kuopio tomorrow or actually today oops and I sure do plan on debuting both of these during the weekend! The only "but" is that it's actually going to be very warm and everybody who knows me also knows that I practically melt when it's more than 20 Celsius degrees outside so yeah, let's hope I don't get cremated by the sun or anything lol. 

See you guys at Nekocon!
Oh, and the pics were found on Google.

Until next time.

-Firith

Circle lens review: I.Fairy Moonlite Red

Hello everyone~!
As the title says, it's time to review I.Fairy Moonlite Red - it's bold, it's intense and it's so red that I could've passed as a Volturi if I lived in the Twilight universe. Want to know my whole opinion about this lens? Read further~!
Shiro Samurai kindly took the pics for this review, thank you! ^.^

Important note: I got these lenses from someone who totally lost interest in wearing and reviewing circle lenses. These lenses had a wrong prescription for me and I think that these were close to their expiration date/already expired so I can not grade the comfort. However, I will say a few words about the comfort in general - pretty much my first impression of these. Remember: wearing lenses that are past their expiration date/broken/have the wrong prescription for you is a dangerous thing to do and it can damage your eyes for good so seriously, don't do it. I wore these lenses for half an hour and then threw them away so I had these on only for this review. Thank you.

No sponsors this time either.

The vials of the lenses.

The lenses in their vials.

Base curve: 8,6 mm
Diameter: 15 mm
Water content: 42 %
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

I have to say that I don't remember much about how inserting these went like - it's been quite a while. However I assume that it went pretty well since I.Fairy lenses are quite easy to insert in general. What I do remember is that I checked multiple times if the lens was the right side up or the wrong side up on my finger - as you can see, there's not much difference.

One lens in to show the enlargement.

Okay, to the "enlargement effect is very notable" category we go! That was kind of to be expected tho. I.Fairy lenses - or at least most of them - have a very notable enlargement effect and the I.Fairy Moonlite series doesn't seem to be an exception to that. So yes, if you want huge eyes with a red twist, I seriously do recommend these!

The shade of red is very bright; I mean, it can't be mistaken for any other color and it's very vibrant and  bold! I must admit that before inserting these I had mentally prepared for flagging these as "boring" and "flat-colored" but instead I got a very nice surprise - these aren't boring at all even though there's basically just one shade of red. The red part of the lens is also very opaque and doesn't let your own eye color through basically at all even if you have light eyes.
Note: I spoke about the red part of the lens. Design-wise I'd say these - at least in this particular color - would look better in dark eyes. I mean, it's not ugly in light eyes (in my case gray) either, but as you can see the pupil hole is very big and that means your own eye color will be very visible in the center. The design itself is pretty unique or at least I haven't stumbled upon that many other lenses that would be similar to these. So yes, probably not my favorite design - at least not combined with this color - but it's pretty in its own way. Also very unnatural: I wouldn't wear these at work or school. I'd say that these are great for cosplay, costume parties and alternative styles; I mean, unique lenses you can spot a mile away? Yes, please! 💅

To the lens photos that probably tell you more than all of my rambling combined lol!
These photos were taken on a sunny summer afternoon. And yes, these belong to the "house in the south" batch that I've been going through in a few reviews now.
(If I checked correctly, there will be three more reviews with these light conditions - but that doesn't mean I'm anywhere near done with the reviews, nu-uh, nope.)

Bathroom light.

Bad corridor light.

Natural light through the window.

Flash photo.

Room light, shadowy side of the house.

Facing the sun.

Back against the sun.

From the distance.

• The color is 10/10. No joke. It's bright, it's bold and it's just awesome af.
  
  
• The design is 6/10. I don't really like the "pupil hole is so big you could fit the damn Saturn there" design overall, but for these it works better than average. 
  
  
• The opacity is 10/10 - in the colored parts, mind you. The red parts don't let your own eye color through. However, as you can see you can't expect these to have good coverage overall.
  
  
• The naturalness is definitely 0/10. I don't think this really needs any explanations :'D
  
  
• The enlargement is 8/10 - or, well, closer to 8,5 if I gave half points lol. But yes, definitely very enlarging.
  
  

And that's it for now, folks~!
I just realized that my next post is supposed to be a cosplay plan post for Nekocon and I'm still having a cosplay crisis, sos!! Well, I have 10 days to figure that out :'D Also there just might be a WIP post anyway during the autumn - not telling you yet which costume I'm about to sew but let's just say that I sure will need some blue fabric... 👀 Let the summer & autumn part of the con year begin! ❤

Until next time.

-Firith

Circle lens review: MAX Elegance Tri-Tone Brown

G'day everyone!

Let's continue with these - seemingly endless - circle lens reviews, shall we? x) This time I'll review MAX Elegance Tri-Tone Brown which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful brown lenses I've reviewed so far! ❤ Fun fact: I have review pics for multiple brown lenses and it actually took me and my sleep-deprived brain a while to actually identify which one is which lol.
To the review! Pics for this review were taken by Shiro Samurai - thanks a lot! c: 

Important note: I got these lenses from someone who totally lost interest in wearing and reviewing circle lenses. These lenses had a wrong prescription for me and I think that these were close to their expiration date/already expired so I can not grade the comfort. However, I will say a few words about the comfort in general - pretty much my first impression of these. Remember: wearing lenses that are past their expiration date/broken/have the wrong prescription for you is a dangerous thing to do and it can damage your eyes for good so seriously, don't do it. I wore these lenses for half an hour and then threw them away so I had these on only for this review. Thank you.

Nope, there were no sponsors.

The vials of the lenses.

The lenses in their vials.

Base curve: 8,6 mm
Diameter: 15 mm
Water content: 42 %
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

Inserting process went smoothly; there was no scratchiness or irritation whatsoever. The lenses settled quickly to their places and, to be honest, after that I didn't even feel them in my eyes. I'm a bit sad these had expired before I got around reviewing them; had these still been, eh, fresh and had the right prescription for my eyes I definitely would have worn these more than just once!

One lens in to show the enlargement.

These sure do deliver in the enlargement department! Even though these don't look as freaky in my eyes as the gray ones did, these still kind of eat up my eyes lol. These did exceed my expectations, that's for sure!

I have a huge knack for brown lenses and I highly doubt that a brown lens that I would dislike even exists. However, like I mentioned in the beginning of this review, these are one of my favorites by far. The color actually reminds me a bit of honey, only a few shades darker. These are inevitably brown - that much can be seen from miles away. As the name suggests, there are a few different tones of brown, making the lens look very vibrant. I would also describe the color 'bright' - not sure if a term 'bright brown' is actually a thing but it sure is now lol (or, well, it can also be that the design of these beauties makes your eyes look brighter in general). And, as you can see, the lenses look good even in light-colored - more specifically gray - eyes! ❤

The design, with this color, reminds me of crackling fire, chocolate and phoenixes. As you can see, the pupil hole isn't all that big so it doesn't let your own eye color show that much through. I mean, I don't even know how many shades lighter my eyes are than these lenses, and not much of the actual color is visible - or at least my eyes look notably more brown than gray. The black details in these lenses give them a lot more depth and even some mystic vibes - and I do highly appreciate that the limbal ring is actually quite thin. It suits these better than a thick one. As for the use purposes: I could pick these for alternative outfits and cosplays. However, I wouldn't use these as everyday lenses; these are way too big to look natural.

Lens photos, coming right up!

These pictures were taken during a sunny summer day. No filters, no edits, just re-sized. These ones also belong to the "we took photos of these when I still lived in the south" batch so yeah, the light conditions do differ from the circumstances that could be considered a norm for my reviews.

Bathroom light.

Bad corridor light.

Natural light through the window.

Flash photo.

Roomlight, shadowy side of the house.

Facing the sun.

Back against the sun.

From the distance.

Same lens, different color: Gray

• The color is 10/10. These are what the name promises; multi-toned brown lenses. And the brown shades are very pretty.
  
  
• The design is 7/10. I think it looks better with this color. Still not the most unique out there, but beautiful in its own way.
  
  
• The opacity is 8/10. These look a bit more opaque than the gray ones; the pigmented part of the lens is very clearly brown and doesn't really let your own eye color through. Of course some of your own eye color will be visible through the pupil hole, but that's nothing new under the sun. 
  
  
• The naturalness is 4/10. The color is natural-ish but these are waaayyy too big to be actually natural - not to mention the design isn't exactly the most natural out there.
  
  
• The enlargement is 9/10. These sure do deliver!
  
  

And that's my opinion of MAX Elegance Tri-Tone Brown~!

If my calculations are correct, there are two more reviews to write before I publish my Nekocon cosplay plans! And yes, I do have a planned schedule for these posts lol; I have so much content that it just makes my life easier if I follow one. This will, obviously, ease up at some point (also known as when I have gone through these big batches from lord knows how many years ago) but for now I'm trying to publish quite often! ^-^

Until next time.

-Firith

Circle lens review: Neo Ruby Queen Gray

Hello~!

Let's continue with the circle lens reviews, shall we? These will be the main content of my blog for a while again - I'm trying to write as many as possible before autumn. The backlog is still pretty huge but I'm trying to get rid of it, slowly but surely.
This time Neo Ruby Queen Gray takes the stage - a magical, diamond-like lens! Let's go! 
Oh! Pics for this review were taken by Shiro Samurai, thank you once again! ^.^

These lenses, despite not being a part of the huge batch I'm still going through, were also expired by the time I reviewed them. That means I will only say a few words about the comfort in general; I feel like it wouldn't be fair if I gave these an actual comfort grade based on this experience. 
Remember: wearing lenses that are past their expiration date/broken/have the wrong prescription for you is a dangerous thing to do and it can damage your eyes for good so seriously, don't do it. I wore these lenses for half an hour and then threw them away so I had these on only for this review. Thank you.

Nope, I did not have sponsors this time either.

The vials of the lenses.

The lenses in their vials.

Base curve: 8,6 mm
Diameter: 14,2 mm
Water content: 45 %
Life span: 1 year* (I recommend 6 months)

(* = depends a bit on the source. Some sources say 1 year, some 3 months - it's possible that there are multiple versions of this lens which means both might be correct. If you're not sure, check the vial!)

Actually inserting these was pretty easy; no problems at all with that, except for a little scratchiness that is very likely due to these being expired long before I reviewed these. However, something quite annoying happened: my vision got blurred immediately after inserting these! In this case I really don't know if it's because these were already expired or if this lens series just can't co-operate with my eyes - years ago I reviewed a pair of Neo Ruby Queen Blue lenses and I had same issues with them. I'm willing to buy one more pair at some point to see if they're any different.

One lens in to show the enlargement.

The enlargement is pretty much what one could expect from a lens with these measurements. It's definitely there, clearly visible, but it's not massive. 

I love the color! There are multiple different shades of gray (wouldn't say 50 though) which kind of saves the lens. Gray lenses can appear quite... Dull, especially if the wearer's natural eye color is also gray, like mine is. In some lights these even look a bit brown-ish - just a bit though. In most lights the pigmented part of these is inevitably gray. The pupil hole is quite big though so yeah, you can be sure your own eye color will show through.

The design is pretty much my favorite out there. I love lenses that resemble diamonds and these ones are not an exception to that rule. It's not natural by any means though; I probably wouldn't wear these as everyday lenses. However, for alternative looks - such as a traditional goth or even gothic lolita - these could be a very good choice! For cosplay these probably wouldn't be my first pick but I'm not saying these wouldn't go to any character at all. So yes, these could work for that purpose too! ^-^ I also like the fact that the limbal ring of these ones is pretty thin - had it been any thicker these lenses would have look way too unnatural.

Next up: the lens photos! 😚

These pictures were taken during a sunny summer evening. No filters, no edits, just re-sizing. These pics were also taken when I still lived in the south so yeah, the light conditions are still a bit different (and will be in the next few reviews too).

Bathroom light.

Bad corridor light.

Natural light through the window.

Flash photo.

Roomlight, shadowy side of the house.

Facing the sun.

Back against the sun.

From the distance.

Same lens, different color: Blue

• The color is 9/10. I simply love it and the way it blends with my natural eye color! ❤ It's also clearly gray, despite getting a few brown-ish shades in some lights.
  
  
• The design is 10/10. Basically my favorite out there, ngl. 
  
  
• The opacity is 7/10. The pigmented parts have a lot of color, however the pupil hole is quite big and lets your own eye color through quite a bit. If you're looking for something with a very good color coverage, this one is not your pick.
  
  
• The naturalness is 2/10. Even though these aren't the most enlarging ones and the color is natural-ish, I bet nobody has eyes like diamonds by nature. No matter what love poems say.
  
  
• The enlargement is 6/10. The effect is there but it's not "in your face".
  
  

And there it is, my review of Neo Ruby Queen Gray - and my second review from the Neo Ruby Queen series! I will very likely write a third one at some point; I still want to know if I've just had bad luck with the comfort or are these just not suitable for my eyes.
I bet it doesn't surprise anyone at this point that at least a couple of the next updates will be circle lens reviews - and then it'll be time for Nekocon cosplay plans which are still changing almost on a daily basis lol! 👀

Until next time.

-Firith

Dragonair mini photoshoot

Hi! ^.^

As I mentioned in my Kummacon summary, we - meaning Shiro Samurai and I - had decided to take some "at least this shows we had costumes on lol" proof pictures but that kind of escalated to a 2 hour long photoshoot. I also mentioned that I would publish the pics soon so here they are~! I'm so happy how these turned out, especially considering that we had some problems during the photoshoot, such as finding good light conditions because the sunlight was very harsh etc.

I plan to photoshoot Dragonair again at some point (also known as when I actually get the wings attached to my wig so I can do more than just one pose); when that will be, that I don't know yet. I still haven't had a proper photoshoot of Alicia either due to lack of time, oops.

To the pics we go~!

Character: Dragonair (gijinka)
Series: Pokémon
Cosplayer: yours truly
Photos & edit: Shiro Samurai

I would have loved to take more pictures by this lovely water area but harsh sunlight and water don't go too well together - I'm glad we got this one good pic at that location ;__; 💙

As you can see I couldn't take any other poses because, well, I couldn't move my hands since I was keeping the wings in their place. These pics are great but can't wait for taking more - after all Dragonair is one of my favorites so yes, I want more pics of this costume ^^ 
Oh! The wings and bracelet are made by Shiro Samurai (and some parts of the costume are borrowed from him), thank you so much! 💙 

I may have had a huge cosplay crisis going on just a few days before the con but he solved it by suggesting swapping the Pokémon to another.

Wait, you thought we were done here?
...you're wrong. You're SO wrong.

Bring in... The derps! 😆

"Yours truly, lady Whistledo--- Oops wrong series :I" Seriously, I look like I was a character in Bridgerton and just heard someone spilling the tea xD

Okay so usually I don't like to publish too unflattering pictures of myself but I've been laughing my ass of every time I see this, I look like your local Mama June ffs XD

Okay, now we're ready with this post! xD
If you want to check how I managed behind the camera, go check Shiro Samurai's mini photoshoot post!

After this post back to the circle lens reviews it is - I'm seriously losing hope on sewing anything before Nekocon so yeah, sticking to the content I have a lot send help lol. Oh, and my next con will indeed be Nekocon in July - already looking forward to it! 🐱

Until next time.

-Firith

Kummacon 2025 - When a millennial goes to a con

Hello everybody!
It's time for the 3rd con summary of the year, just like I mentioned a couple of posts ago~ This post is about Kummacon which was held on 17th-18th of May in Oulu. The location was the same as it has been for the past couple of years, namely Oulun kansainvälinen koulu (Oulu's international school). How did it go then? Read further and you will know - though I must mention already at this point that I enjoyed my weekend a lot! ^^ 

The theme of this year was Aqua!

And, as per usual, Shiro Samurai took all the pics, thank you! 💖

We departed for Oulu from Kemi on the 16th of May, also known as the day before the con. Since my car has been acting up I asked Shiro Samurai if his mom could drive him to Kemi's bus station and luckily that was a thumbs up; to be honest it would have been kind of sad if we had missed the bus because of a car malfunction. Usually we also prefer the train but this time it was a bit of a no can do since the schedules didn't fit ours, hence why we took the Onnibus this time - and, well, it was quite a bit cheaper lol. The bus ride took a bit over an hour and I decided to use that time for listening to an audio book (book in question being It by Stephen King). Usually I prefer reading books but sometimes it's more convenient to just listen - I mean, I'm quite sure the other drivers wouldn't approve if I read a book while driving not to mention that would be illegal. In no time we arrived at Oulu and when we stepped out of the bus I happened to notice a taxi nearby. The driver had just left a customer at Oulu's bus station so he could now drive us to our destination, also known as Sokos Hotel Arina. We usually stay there if we have an overnight trip to Oulu because, well, it's convenient and it really is a good hotel.

Once at the hotel we checked in and just hung out for a while before checking the ResQ app - and holy shit, there was bubble tea available! Might have been the quickest transaction in a while :'D Before fetching our bobas we decided to check out the store called Underground which sells alternative fashion, piercing jewelry (and they also do piercings!) and witch stuff. I was a bit too tempted to buy some spell candles but eventually had to choose between them and a T-shirt with a 40 % discount. It took me a while to decide but I chose the T-shirt this time; after all those candles will very likely be there the next time I visit the store but the shirt definitely wouldn't have been. When we - or, well, this time just me - were done with the shopping we noticed that we were quite close to the train station, which also means we were close to Asian Market. Let's just say that I hadn't planned on spending so much money there but I just couldn't say no to mochis lol. After that we went to fetch our bobas and went back to the hotel.

And then I wonder why I'm not losing weight :') Not everything in the pic belonged to me tho :'D

When we had finished our bobas it was time to get moving again. You see, we were selling some of our stuff at Kumma Kirppis (the con's own flea market) this time too and since we were volunteers we had to bring our stuff to the con venue on Friday. Luckily the weather was nice and the walk wasn't that long, approximately 650 meters according to Google Maps. To be honest I hadn't even realized before how close the school really is to our accommodation!
When we arrived at the school one of the main organizers was in the lobby. She promised to take our stuff to the flea market on our behalf which was so nice of her! <3 The con was still being built - there were sellers putting up their booths and such - but we had already informed people that we wouldn't participate in that since we arrived pretty late. So yeah, basically we just did a quick visit to the school and then decided to fetch something to eat. After a while of thinking we decided to walk to a Chinese restaurant which is located near the train station; we have eaten there before so we knew the food would be good well, it wasn't as good as it used to be but still pretty fine. When we had eaten enough we asked for boxes so we could take the leftovers with us - this saved us some money during the weekend.

Back at the hotel I watched the last episode of My Happy Marriage (an anime that is on Netflix) and then I turned on the TV so we could watch some National Geographic programs. I think this is becoming a new hotel tradition :'D But well, the channel is very entertaining so yeah, why not. At some point I took a shower and then decided to go to bed. 
Did I sleep enough?
Definitely not.

When I woke up in the morning I noticed a few things: my head was hurting from the lack of sleep, my back was hurting because I had slept in a funny position and my eyes were so dry they were hurting too. How to know you are a millennial or older: even sleeping can hurt you. I dragged my hurting bones - and other parts of my body too - to the shower before we went to eat some breakfast. Usually I take the shower after the breakfast but this time I figured I could save myself some time if I did it before and ended up being right about that.
I half-forced my breakfast down my throat - I'm usually at least a bit nauseous in the mornings and this time was no different - and then we went back to our room to put on our costumes. I dressed up as Dragonair (gijinka) from Pokémon and Shiro Samurai had decided that nostalgia is the way and cosplayed Jushiro Ukitake from Bleach. Fun fact: this was the first time I saw him cosplay Ukitake even though that's practically his signature cosplay. 
Even though everything went quite smoothly we still ended up being in hurry! Well, nothing new at this point though - we both have more or less time blindness (mine being in a form 'leaving place A at the time I have promised to already be at place B' - this is why my bestie Gure has told me "Okay so if you say you will be at my place around 1 pm I will expect you to show up around 3 pm") so yeah, that was to be expected. We took a taxi to the con venue this time though; I sweat very easily and didn't want to walk to the venue so I wouldn't ruin my make-up before taking the proof photos. Yes, I am actually pretty vain.

Yes, we were tired. No, I didn't have any plans to unalive anyone even though I look like it, the sun was just hurting my eyes.

There were some outdoor activities this year too.

When we arrived at the con it was almost time for Shiro Samurai's first shift. He worked as a generalist volunteer no I just didn't yoink the term from him shhh during the weekend meanwhile I... Had multiple roles lol. On Saturday I worked as a cosplay judge which meant that I would have several hours to roam around before my duties would start so yeah, had to figure out what to do. We had agreed to take some proof photos of our cosplays when Shiro Samurai would have a break - which meant I had an hour or so for exploring the con. Well, I had already spotted where I would visit first after dropping my stuff in the green room...

IT'S A BOOKMOBILE!! *o*

Khm. Yeah.
Everybody who knows me well enough is very aware of the fact that it's almost impossible to keep me away from libraries, bookmobiles etc. if I have chance to visit one. I love being surrounded by books; behind every cover there is a new story, a new adventure, a new journey waiting for you and that's just magical 💕 I've been this way ever since I was a kid and seemingly this is a permanent thing - not complaining though. 
So yes, the first thing I did was checking out the bookmobile Kauno which is one of the two bookmobiles owned by Oulu city library (the other one is called Onneli, very likely named after one of the main characters of the Onneli ja Anneli book series). The staff there was super nice and when I mentioned I also work in a library I got a very detailed tour in the library on wheels - they had some very neat stuff there! I spent there a good 20 minutes and when I was leaving some people boarded the bus and complimented my cosplay! ;__; I suspect they didn't really know what character I was cosplaying (especially since I didn't have the 'head wings' at the time) but the compliments sure felt good! These things combined gave a great start to my con weekend.

I still had some time to kill so I decided to go inside - and almost instantly headed for the green room since holy shit it was hot and crowded in the lobby, not to mention the Artists' Alley! 

I mean...

...I said the lobby was crowded.

Since I didn't want to get a damn anxiety attack (I have a panic/anxiety disorder and it gets triggered easily in big crowds) I made my way downstairs and sat in the green room for a while. I actually chatted there with one of the main organizers, the person responsible of the guest of honor and the guest of honor, J.S. Meresmaa! If their name isn't familiar to you, here's some information: J.S. Meresmaa is a writer who was recognized by the big audience in Finland after they wrote the Mifonki series. After that they have written a lot of novels - mainly fantasy novels for young people and young adults - and some short stories for adults. Their works, especially some of their short stories, have been translated to multiple other languages too. 
Quite soon Shiro Samurai entered the green room; it was time to get some pictures taken in the nearby park area. We were supposed to take just proof pictures that we had costumes on but somehow it turned into a photoshoot that lasted for 2 hours :'D At first we took pictures of my costume - which was a bit challenging since the location I wanted to use quickly turned out to be quite bad because of the harsh sunlight - and then it was my time behind the camera. During the photoshoot we also spotted some mandarin ducks, got stuck in a spruce branch and almost broke our knees and other body parts in one way or another. #millennials

Fun fact: I couldn't move my hands because the wings aren't attached to my wig just yet in any way so I had to hold on to them. They were made by Shiro Samurai btw, thanks a lot! 💙

I will publish the other photos in a separate post - in the end we got a few good shots each. Time well spent, even though we missed the guest of honor's panel. Oh well, couldn't be helped. 

After the photoshoot it was time to walk back to the con venue and start/continue working! I waited for the other cosplay judges to appear upstairs and soon enough I spotted Ilona and Yuri. There were a couple of hiccups before the pre-judging could begin; none of us had gotten a list of the characters and contestants but luckily the host, Reetta, had one so I quickly took a photo of the list. Probably a bit needless to say but since we hadn't gotten this information we didn't have the reference pictures either - which pretty much meant that Google became our best friend for approximately 30 minutes. Oh well, all's well that ends well and we got the pre-judging done in time - in fact we were even quicker than we had expected!
We were supposed to pick three winners (placements 1-3) and one honorary mention. Well... Picking them was quite easy but we had to think about the placements for a while. After a while of brainstorming we decided to let the stage performance to be the final judge and let's just say that it indeed did turn some tables in the end! 

After the competition I decided to check the flea market and then wait for Shiro Samurai to be done with his shift so we could walk back to the hotel together. Or, well, at first I was about to call a taxi because walking felt like I was stepping on hot glass shards but in the end we decided to walk - after all the distance wasn't that long.
Once we reached the hotel we took off our cosplays, relaxed for a while and then it was time to fetch some bubble tea and ciders for the evening - you see, it was time for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 final! There was just the right amount of time to do the grocery shopping and warm up our leftover Chinese food in the microwave; the hotel staff was amazing and let us borrow some plates etc. from the restaurant! <3 

Soon enough it was time for the competition to start! 

I mean Tommy Cash is quite a mood, don't you think? :'D #caffeineaddict
I love how unhinged his show was! xD Estonia was actually one of my favorites this year.

Austria's song - which ended up winning the whole contest - was so haunting and beautiful at the same time ;__;

...and then there's Iceland slapping us with tentacles xD

Ich komme - kommst du auch? ;) Yes, I'm a big fan of Erika Vikman and even though this song isn't my favorite by her it's still fucking awesome, such a bitch slap to patriarchal values!

I swear to god, Finns have never been learning Swedish as enthusiastically as they have during this spring thanks to KAJ :'D #eisaapeittää

Bringing back the dab! Baby Lasagna & Käärijä, the winners of hearts 💙💚

I'm so happy that Austria won - honestly, the performance and song were amazing!

It took us a while to fall asleep after the contest but, eventually, we managed - me a couple of hours before Shiro Samurai though. Which is also why I can't understand why I was the one tired during Sunday :'D 

On Sunday neither of us cosplayed; we would have to sit on a train later that day and move a mountain of stuff from place A to place B so we kind of couldn't be bothered lol. In the morning we woke up, had some breakfast, packed our stuff and left for Kummacon. Both of us were working on Sunday too, Shiro Samurai still as a generalist volunteer and I at the info desk in the lobby. I also hosted a book talk about classic books, such as Jane Austen's Sense and sensibility and John Wyndham's The day of the triffids. But yes, first it was time for work!

I don't have that much to say about working at the info desk - except that it was very chill and I enjoyed it a lot. Actually I enjoyed it so much that I could easily apply for it again! The people working with me were nice and even though I can't remember everything I sure can say that we had some peak humor and neat conversations~!

My first shift lasted for two hours after which it was time for the book talk! I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the fact that I didn't manage to read seven books as I had intended to - I ran out of time and had to roll with six. In pages that means approximately 1630 pages which, in the end, isn't really that much lol (especially considering that some books alone have that many pages). But well, I had to roll with what I had.

I actually had a handful of listeners - it's always nice to see people who like books and want to get new reading tips! ^^ 

The book on the screen is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

After the book talk I had a break during which I ate a bit and checked out the Artists' Alley and the Artisans' Alley for the last time with Shiro Samurai (who was working but walking around was kind of part of his job you know). Ended up buying some stuff but not really that much. I'm still on a "sell these things your teenage self thought you absolutely NEED to have and which you never even looked at after buying them" mission and don't really want any extra stuff lying around my apartment right now ^^" Well, I mainly bought stickers this time to decorate my next year's calendar with when the time comes!

This could be found at the Artists' Alley. It's pretty sad that a sign like this is even needed...

The Artisans' Alley was very popular! These pictures were taken during Saturday though; it wasn't quite as crammed on Sunday.

There were also other activities, such as...

...a very neat Lego display...

...the gaming room...

...and anime karaoke!

Sadly I didn't have time to participate in most of the activities but at least I managed to check out the Lego display - it was awesome! I noticed that there was no escape room this year though; maybe there weren't enough volunteers or something for that? And I don't mean this as a sting; hosting escape rooms isn't exactly just a walk in the park. Just noticed it was absent this year lol.

After some walking around it was time for me to return to my work station for one more hour!

Part of the lobby during Sunday. There were still plenty of visitors!

Our last hour at the con went smoothly and when that was over we grabbed our unsold flea market items there were quite many and other stuff and called a taxi to take us to the railway station. No way we would walk there with the amount of stuff we had!
The train ride to Kemi went smoothly and once we got there Shiro Samurai's mom was waiting for us at the train station; she had kindly promised to take me home too so I wouldn't have to walk or take one more taxi, thank you! 💓

Honestly, I feel like this summary is kind of all over the place :'D

But yeah, I truly enjoyed this year's Kummacon a lot - hopefully I can attend it next year too! And yes, my millennial bones still ache lol. 

The next post I'll publish will be the Dragonair photoshoot~ 💙

After that... Eh... Back to circle lens reviews it is lol. I will attend Nekocon in July but I have seriously no idea if I manage to make a new cosplay before that, also known as can't really promise any WIP posts either (as if I wrote those that often these days anyway).

Until next ti--- Wait!!

Even the small Toripolliisi was rooting for Erika Vikman! #erikavision2025

Well, now I've said everything I was supposed to say in this post :'D

Until next time.

-Firith