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

Kummacon 2025 cosplay plans!

Heyo~!
It's been a while since I've done one of these posts :'D Usually my cosplay plans change more often than I change my socks (which, thank you for asking, happens on a daily basis) but now there's no time for that anymore so I can safely post this lol. Kummacon is held this upcoming weekend and I'm going to attend it as a volunteer AND panel host, woop woop~ 

The con's theme this year is Aqua so at first I would have liked to make something water-themed. A month or so before the con I suddenly realized that I would not have time or money to make some important pieces of the costume and had to scrap the plans I had back then for now.
I kind of felt like I had accidentally come to a dead end; I didn't want to wear Kiki or Alicia again since the former needs some repairs and the latter I wore to Kummacon last year so yeah, I wanted something different lol. Luckily I didn't have to brainstorm alone and soon Shiro Samurai (who will also accompany me to the con) came up with an idea I just couldn't say no to... 💙

Dragonair from Pokémon

Last year I had some sort of a witchy theme, this year's theme is apparently Pokémon gijinkas... xD 

But yes, this time I will cosplay Dragonair, one of my favorite Pokémons! ^.^ This gijinka will likely experience some heavy modifying in the future (to start with more accurate color scheme and all) but this time I will roll with what I already have.

At Kummacon I will

• work as an info desk volunteer (Sunday)
• work as a cosplay judge (Saturday)
• host a book talk (Sunday)

Third convention of the year, let's go~!!

Until next time (which will be a con summary).

-Firith

Gijinkas I'm likely to make in the future!

The title pretty much tells it all.

I have a shitload of cosplay plans - and these gijinkas are a part of them. I've begun to order stuff for some of these already but I sincerely have no idea when I will debut these. Hopefully in the near future, even though Sannan-san and Yang Jinghua are my priorities right now.

But let's see what this list contains~!

Darkrai from Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai

Yes, I've been planning to re-make this one ever since I made my first gijinka of this character. I was never pleased with it; I made it under a huge stress and, unfortunately, one can clearly see that I wasn't doing my best.
And back then I wasn't even sure what kind of a gijinka I actually wanted to make...
But yes, this is 100 % sure to happen in the future. I've loved Darkrai as a character ever since I saw the movie and I really want to cosplay this character again.

Yveltal from Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

I watched this Pokémon movie not so long ago and when I saw Yveltal I got the "I must make a gijinka of this Pokémon!!" feeling - and yes, this will definitely happen! It might not be my priority number one but still.
I haven't planned the whole costume just yet but I think that I pretty much know what kind of a gijinka I want to make.
Black and red Pokémons ftw.

Qurupeco from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

NOOT NOOT MOTHERFUCKERS.
I pretty much lost my mind when I tried to hunt this one - really, it's not even that hard yet I still managed to spend way too many hours on trying to kill Qurupeco. Such hunter skills, much wow. :I

But yeah, when I got over my hate towards this monster I actually took a closer look at it - and realized that I liked its colors a lot. I've always loved and respected the element called fire too and after a few discussions with my hunter friends I decided to make a Qurupeco gijinka. I've already ordered stuff for this one.
Waiting for those feathers to arrive. :DD
This one will be one of my most expensive costumes by far, I know it already... Bye money, didn't need you anyway.

Kyuubi from Naruto

Because why not?
Naruto was one of the first series I got into when I stepped into the cosplay community. This demon fox has had a special place in my heart ever since. I mean, who wouldn't love an intelligent devil in disguise?

Kyuubi is extremely intelligent and independent character... And quite destructive, too. For some reason these kind of characters attract my attention quite easily.

I've already ordered some fabric for this one too and I've begun to think about the ways to make the tails. I have no idea when I will debut this one though but I hope that I'll manage to do it during 2018 - I have a feeling that making this during this year is highly impossible.

Alduin from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

"Zu'u Alduin, the first born of Akatosh!"

This villain dragon is pure gold. Even though he isn't that much of a challenge to kill (if you time the kill right) and he is one of the stereotype villains, there's still something special about him... And not just the fact that he's a massive dragon.
I'm still going to make Cicero someday but right now I have a feeling that I'll probably make Alduin first.

And hey, look at that design - it's going to offer me so much new challenges! <3

(By the way, I still can't get over the fact that Alduin's dragon brother Paarthurnax and Super Mario have the same voice actor...)


There they are, some gijinka plans! :)
I really don't know when I will debut these ones but let's just say that I don't have that many plans for 2018 yet (except for re-making Ayame and making Ritsu but yeah)... x)

See you soon~!

-Firith

Ensimmäinen gijinkani, Darkrai./My first gijinka, Darkrai.

Koska en ole tullut hommanneeksi Sylvariin lisää kangasta vielä toistaiseksi, aloin miettiä projektia, johon saisin sisällytettyä ainakin sen suhteellisen suuren määrän mustaa jämäkangasta ja mielellään pitkän, hopeisen peruukkini, jonka ostin Icy-cossiani varten.
Idea Darkraihin lähti siitä, kun keskustelin erään henkilön kanssa Pokémoneista ylipäänsä sekä eritoten juuri elokuvista. Darkrai on ollut aiemminkin mietinnässä, mutta olen työntänyt sen mielessäni taka-alalle. Tämänhetkinen projekti saattaa tarkoittaa joitakin pieniä muutoksia cosplay-suunnitelmissani, mutta no, saanpahan tuon kankaan pois tuosta pyörimästä.
Suunnitelmana oli tehdä asuun tuo takin ja liivin yhdistelmä, hihakkeet sekä säärystimet. Loput osat kehittäisin jostakin. Hahmo on lisäksi Bulbapedian mukaan sukupuoleton, joten päätin tehdä miespuolisen version.

I haven't had the time or money to buy more fabric for my Sylvar costume so a few days ago I started to think about a new project. There were a couple of criteria: I should be able to use a great amount of black fabric which has been in the corner of my room for ages and I should also be able to use the silver-colored wig I bought for my Icy cosplay.
Why Darkrai? Well, I was talking about Pokémon and the movies with one person and that conversation started this project. I've thought about cosplaying Darkrai earlier but for some reason I have never done it before. This project may also mean that some of my cosplay plans for next year may be cancelled but at least I don't have to stare at that black fabric pile in the corner of my room anymore.
My plan: I would make the combination of a cloak and a vest, the arm things (I still don't know the right translation) and the gaiters. The other parts of the costume should be found from my clothing closet. According to Bulbapedia Darkrai doesn't have a clear gender so I decided to make a male Darkrai.

Peruukki/The wig

Peruukilla on pituutta noin metri, ja Darkraihin se sopii sävynsä puolesta täydellisesti. Darkrain tukkalaite olisi semihaastava väkerrettävä, joten mitä oletettavimmin pidän peruukin ihan vain tuollaisena. Mokoma on lisäksi niin ohut, että pitäisi lisäkuituja jostakin vääntää, mutta menkööt noin. 

Jonkin käsittelyn tämä yksilö tosin vaatii ennen varsinaisesti päivänvaloon tuomista, tuo on varsinainen takkupesäke ja äärimmäisen ärsyttävä huoltaa. 

The wig is about 100 centimeters long and the shade of silver is perfect for Darkrai. It would be pretty challenging to make a wig Darkrai actually requires so I guess that I'll just roll with this wig. There aren't a lot of fibers either and at the moment I'm too lazy to order another wig for extra fibers so I think that that wig is good enough.

But at least it needs a proper brushing...

Takki/The coat

Takin mallia mietin pitkään. Oli selvää, että halusin helmasta rikkonaisen ja kauluksen pitäisi olla punainen, mutta kaikki muu olikin sitten vähän auki. Kaksi pääasiallista kysymystäni olivat takin pituus ja se, tekisinkö siihen hihat. 

Lopulta päätin, että takki olisi edestä lyhyempi kuin takaa, enkä tekisi siihen hihoja. Sen sijaan päädyin hiha-asioissa vähän toisenlaiseen ratkaisuun, kuten myöhemmin näette. Kaulus on perus pystykaulus.

Takki on vuorittamaton, ja tarkoituksella myös hieman epäsiistin näköinen syystä että Darkrai = painajainen. Painajaiset eivät ole kauniita. Siispä myöskään versioni Darkraista ei tavallaan ole kovinkaan siisti. Perus langanpätkät sun muut tietenkin siistin pois, mutta se idea, mikä ei Conchitan asun yläosassa toiminut, toimii Darkrain takissa.
Takki on myös edestä avonainen.

It took me a long while to decide what kind of a coat I wanted to make for Darkrai. It was obvious that I wanted to make the hem look 'broken' and the collar should be red, otherwise I had no idea what kind of a coat I should make. The two main issues were the length of the coat and the question "To make or not to make the sleeves?"
In the end I decided that the coat should be shorter at the front side and longer at the back side. I also decided not to make the sleeves. The collar is quite simple - I can't actually explain that in English but you'll see the photoshoot pics soon! 
The coat has no lining and it doesn't look that neat because Darkrai = a nightmare. Nightmares aren't neat or beautiful. That's why the jacket is like it is. Of course there won't be any extra threads or anything like that showing, that's a thing I can promise. 
One can't close the jacket at all; I decided to make things easier for me this time.

Didididididididi Batmaaaaan! ...yeah, this just reminds me about a bat.

Ratkaisu hihaongelmaan/The solution for the sleeve problem

Niin, en tosiaan lähtenyt hihoja väkertämään. Sen sijaan päädyin hihakkeisiin, jota peittävät käteni likipitäen täysin. Osa olkavarresta olisi periaatteessa näkyvissä, mutta paita peittää senkin pienen osan. 

Olen suhteellisen tyytyväinen näihin yksilöihin. Ei muuta sanottavaa näistä, olivat helppo projekti tehtäväksi. Ainoana ongelmana tässä ehkä oli tuon kankaan liukas pinta, mutta ainakin nämä pysyvät suhteellisen hyvin paikallaan.

Yup, I decided not to make the sleeves. Instead of them I decided to make those... Things that are almost sleeves but don't actually attach with the shirt/dress/coat - there is no word for them in English. Those things cover up my arms almost completely. A part of my arm could be seen in theory but the shirt will cover that little part too.
I'm pretty pleased with these things. I have nothing else to say about these since they were pretty easy to make. The only problem might have been the slippery fabric but these don't slide down my arm so... Yeah. 

Semmotteet!

Meikki/The make-up

Toisin kuin referenssikuvassa sanotaan, päätin olla maskeeraamatta kasvojani tummiksi. Tämä ei johdu siitä, että näkisin sen rasistisena tai muutakaan vastaavaa, suurimpana ongelmana on vain rahanpuute - minulla ei tosiaan ole tällä hetkellä varaa käyttää rahojani kasvomaaleihin, pohjustusaineisiin sun muihin vastaaviin.

Sen sijaan päädyin vähän samaan ratkaisuun kuin Halloween-meikissäni; hahmoon sopien loin hieman painajaismaista tunnelmaa kasvoilleni. En siitä sitten tiedä, miten hyvin onnistuin (taidan näyttää lähinnä turpiini saaneelta), mutta myöhemmin ehtii sentään parannella.

Even though Darkrai has a dark face in the reference pic I decided not to paint my face black. No, it's not about the ethnic reasons or anything, I just don't have the money to buy the equipment needed for painting my whole face.
I decided to do Darkrai's make-up like I did my Halloween make-up; I tried to make myself look like a nightmare. I didn't succeed that well (I guess that I look like someone beat me up) but I have always time for improvising.

Peruukkiakin tässä leikelty jo, vaan ei aseteltu. Ja jostain syystä alan uskoa, että perusilmeeni on aika äärimmäisen vihainen, nimimerkki 'tällä tavalla katson ihmisiä muutenkin'.

Yukiconissa nähdään! Darkrain säärystimiä en vielä tehnyt ajan loppuessa kesken, mutta teen ne myöhemmin tänä vuonna.

(Btw, I have considered beginning to write these blog posts only in English. I know that I don't write it that fluently, but I know that there are some people abroad who also read my blog and translating things from one language to another can be tiring. As you can see I got a bit lazy translating the sentences under the pictures - well, I didn't translate them at all... But yes, I might just start to write these completely in English.)