Tampere Kuplii 2018 - Save the poor dog!

It's been 84 years since I last updated this blog.
Or at least it feels like it.
And this blog post is SOOOOOOO late. For some reason I didn't even want to see a computer after a school day during spring so... Yeah. And my crahstop didn't even work properly.

But yeah, on 24th of March I visited Tampere Kuplii and attended its cosplay competition too! At first I considered taking part to the convention on Sunday too but in the end my fiancé (who wanted to tag along) and I decided that we wouldn't do that.
For me Tampere Kuplii has become a festival I only want to attend on Saturday since that's the main day for cosplaying.

But, anyway.
We started our trip to Tampere on Friday. It was quite hectic, leaving itself I mean - we were just chilling like "okay, we have a lot of time" and all of sudden many people contacted us like "Could you please bring some stuff with you when you leave?". Yeah, not as chill as we thought it would be...
Anyway we managed to catch our train. The trip went well (except both of us being a little nauseous since we hadn't slept too well - the week before convention both of us worked during the night) and soon we reached our destination! TheOneAndOriginal contacted me during the train trip and confirmed that we were going to spend a little bit of time with her and her friends during the evening.

We slept in the Torni hotel - if you've ever visited Tampere, it's the enormous building right next to the railway station. It wasn't very cheap but well, we could literally see Tampere-Talo when we looked out of the room's window so yeah, talk about staying near to the convention place. :D

The evening went quite well, just relaxing, eating and meeting TheOneAndOriginal and her company. She had also promised to help me during the competition since I cosplayed Avalon and couldn't see literally almost anything - I had covered my face since Avalon's face doesn't show. Usually I've worn a wig with that cosplay but, since I was competing, it was out of question.

And, because I hadn't competed in a long time, guess if I was nervous in the Saturday morning?

...Yup.

I decided to not to put my costume on in the hotel; the streets were full of snow and water (thank you Finnish spring!) and since Avalon's robe is so long that I always step on its hem... The costume would have been ruined during that 300 meter walk so I decided to put on my costume at Tampere-Talo.

When we arrived there I rushed to the dressing room and begun to put on my costume. After that it was time to get photographed!

Photos & edit: Santtu Pajukanta

As you can see, I didn't see anything...
It's been quite a long time since the convention so I don't actually remember that much of it and I'm sorry about it. The whole morning also went in some kind of a blur - I couldn't walk properly, the costume was too hot and I just didn't feel good. And, since this was my fiancés's first convention he has ever attended so I felt kind of guilty that I didn't spend that much time with him...
But soon it was time to go to the stage!

(c) Santtu Pajukanta

As I guessed, I didn't place but it wasn't even a wonder - there were so many brilliant costumes! <3 When I went to get my feedback from the judges (and take my cosplay off) I was told that my costume wasn't that bad and I should keep on competing - for example some materials were quite a bit off etc., but overall my costume was good.
Certainly brought me some motivation to keep on competing - and I will, I just won't attend that many contests than I did a few years ago.

After the contest I went to find my fiancé and texted Henzz that I would go to change my costume. You see, we've been role playing for a while and decided to do a pair cosplay, me as Jeremy and Henzz as Verna.
Sadly there are no photos, even though we took a bunch of selfies but crashing SD card happened. :I At least we had so much fun~!
Oh, and the title of this post... When we were walking around Ankkalampi, we saw a fire truck and fire fighters there. For a while we were like "wtf is happening here" but then it occurred to us; you see, the pond was frozen. There are small stairs at one side of the pond, and from under those stairs we heard a dog barking. I'm still not sure how the dog got there but everybody was clapping when the fire fighters finally got the dog out of there! :')

After that we went to check the Dealer's Hall... And I got a frickin' heart attack because of my fiancé! xD You see, he had told me that he'd stay at the hotel but all of a sudden he was behind me when I turned around! When I checked my phone he had tried to contact me about the Lugia raid which had been going on there but, well, I hadn't noticed. ^^"
And, of course, I had to spend some money on stuff...

The raven necklace by SirRoi, the steampunk earrings by Purple Octopus Jewellery.

(Those are for my upcoming steampunk photoshoot - I still don't know when it will take place but anyway.)

Quite soon after that it was time to say goodbye to Henzz and go back to the hotel, pack some stuff and go to eat something - gosh, I had been waiting for food for the whole day so guess if I was hungry :D
After that we watched Titanic. I know, it sounds like a cliche but it just happens to be one of my all time favourite movies. And the story behind the movie, the actual tale of the ship, it frightens and interests me at the same time, it has always done that.
And during that evening I decided to cosplay Rose DeWitt Bukater next year... :D

Well, when Sunday came it was time to pack rest of the stuff and run to the railway station - the damn elevators of the hotel were always busy and we waited for one for almost 20 minutes, damn it! D:< Fortunately we didn't miss our train.

So, it has been almost half a year since I attended a convention and I have to say that this break has done wonderful things to my passion for cosplay  - I'm actually excited about this hobby again. :') I was supposed to attend Tracon but well, didn't happen for personal economical reasons. Thanks water pipe for breaking during the summer. :I

But yeah, my next convention will be Eura's Manga Day later in September! <3 After that I don't know - I have some plans for Desucon Frostbite but to be honest, Tampere Kuplii sounds like more fun and not spending that much money.
We will see.

Until next time,
Firith.

Euran Mangapäivä 2018!

A short tl;dr in English at the end of this post. Main post only in Finnish this time.

Ja kyllä.
Euran Mangapäivä saapuu keskuuteemme myös tänä vuonna!

Mitä eroavaisuuksia on tämän ja edeltävän kerran välillä?

• Viime kerralla tapahtuma järjestettiin keväällä. Myöhemmin todettiin vuodenajan olleen enemmän kuin hieman väärä, joten tällä kertaa tapahtuma on siirretty syksylle kauneimpaan ruska-aikaan. Täytyy vain toivoa, ettei sataisi - sitten taas se ei olisi Mangapäivälle mitään uutta.

• Tapahtuma järjestettiin keväällä 2017 kirjaston aukioloaikojen piirissä, eli klo 10-14. Tulos: häsläämistä, hämmentymistä ja kiirettä. Päivä oli liian tiukassa nipussa, eikä tapahtumakävijöillä ollut oikein aikaa tutustua toisiinsa tai kirjaston materiaaleihin. Viimeisestä viisastuneina tapahtumaa päätettiin pidentää, eli tulevat ajat ovat 10-16. Lauantaipäivästä edelleen puhutaan. 

•  Koulutukseni puitteissa suunnittelin tapahtumalle oman logon. Enkä enää ikinä piirrä mangatyylisiä silmiä vektorigrafiikalla. Enhän mä niitä muutenkaan osaa piirtää ni Illustratorilla sitte, pff.

Semmonen puolen tunnin täräys.

• Flyereissa ja printatuissa mainoksissa ei tällä kertaa ole ohjelmaa, vaan teen erikseen ohjelmakartan. Homma selkenee huomattavasti, menee paljon kauniimpaan nippuun. 

• Videopelit ovat saapuneet ohjelmistoomme kahden konsolin voimin. 

• Minua lukuun ottamatta tuomarit ovat menneet vaihtoon, ja toimin itse myös valokuvaajana sekä luennoitsijana.

Piirustuspaja

Kyllä, piirustuspaja on tänäkin vuonna ohjelmistossamme! Pajan vetäjänä toimii edellisvuodesta tuttu Titta "Gure" Merinen. Piirustuspajan yhteydessä pidetään tänäkin vuonna piirustuskisa.

KISAN SÄÄNNÖT: 

• Tässä kisassa kisataan sarjoissa: 7-11-vuotiaat, 12-15-vuotiaat sekä yli 15-vuotiaat. Kerrothan/pyydäthän huoltajaasi kertomaan ikäsi ilmoittautumisen yhteydessä! Kisaan ilmoittaudutaan pajan pitäjälle, ei siis sähköpostilla. Huom! Sarjan toteutumiseen vaaditaan väh. 4 osallistujaa. Jos tämä ei toteudu, sarjoja liitetään toisiinsa tilanteen mukaan. Kisaajan ikä ja taso huomioidaan tuomaroinnissa.
  
• Piirustukset laitetaan näytteille, paitsi jos erikseen kielletään - kerrothan siis, saako teostasi laittaa näytille.
  
• OMA NIMI PAPERIIN!
  
• Teema: piirrä Halloween-teemaisesti pelottava manga-hahmo/hahmo/asu! Teokset tulee piirtää A4-kokoiselle paperille.
  
• Kisaan voi osallistua vain yhdellä teoksella/henkilö - muuten saa kyllä piirtää!
  
• Mielikuvitus liikkeelle!

Cosplay-kisa

Tässä kisassa tuomareina toimivat kirjastolta Heli Koski, sekä edellisvuoden tapaan minä, Val "Firith" Pullinen.

• Voi osallistua niin aasialaisella kuin länsimaalaisellakin piirretty-, peli- yms. hahmolla. Oma design ei sallittu (tätä varten on design-piirustuskilpailu). Ilmoittautumisen yhteydessä kerro hahmon nimi, lähdeteos ja oma nimesi/nimimerkkisi.
  
• Puvun ei tarvitse olla itsetehty, kekseliäisyys kunniaan!
  
• ÄLÄ OTA ITSEÄSI ISOMPIA TAI (TURHAN) REALISTISIA PROPPEJA (esim. asereplicat ja pesäpallomailat tulee jättää kotiin)!! Propilla tarkoitetaan siis asuun kuuluvia "lisukkeita", useimmiten aseet, taikasauvat yms.
  
• Kisa on yksilökisa, eli parin kanssa valitettavasti ei voi astella lavalle. Omalla vuorollaan voi halutessaan kertoa parilla lauseella siitä, miksi halusi pukeutua juuri valitsemakseen hahmoksi, sekä tehdään pari hahmouskollista poseerausta.
  
• Kyseessä on koko perheen tapahtuma; asu on vapaa, mutta pakollinen - eikä ole myöskään suotavaa tulla paikalle puolialasti.
  
• Kisaajan tulee ilmoittaa itsensä läsnäolleeksi paikalla olevalle tuomarille (eli minulle tai Helille) tapahtumaan saapuessaan, ja tällöin hän saa myös vuoronumeronsa. Cosplay-kisassa sarjat eivät päde, vaan yhteensä 10 osallistujaa otetaan mukaan (alaikäraja on kuitenkin 7 vuotta). Huom! Kisaajan tulee ilmoittautua läsnäolevaksi VIIM. 13.00 tuomarille. Kisaajista otetaan valokuvat sitä mukaa, kun he ilmoittautuvat paikalle.
  
• Palkintojenjako tapahtuu klo 15.00, ei siis kannata poistua paikalta kovin kauas!

Eli samoilla säännöillä pitkälti mennään kuin viime vuonnakin! Miten niin fontista näkee copypasten...

Nyt vain rohkeasti osallistumaan joko vain itsessään tapahtumaan, tai jopa kisaamaan - ja kisoista puheen ollen, voi olla että palkintoihin on tullut jopa hieman parannuksia... ;) 

Tervetuloa mukaan! <3

And now in English.

Euran Mangapäivä (Eura's Manga Day) comes back this year! Since the last Manga Day back in 2017 was kind of a success, we decided to give it another try. So, this year's Manga Day is held 22nd of September at Eura's main library. There are drawing workshop, drawing contest, cosplay contest, video games, an info panel of cosplay, manga to read... So much stuff to explore! 

If you want to participate in the drawing contest, it happens during the day in the library. If you want to enter the cosplay contest, you need to e-mail your character's name, the character source and your name/nickname to kirjasto@eura.fi before the actual event day. Please keep in mind that this is a whole family event, so please, don't enter with a half-naked character. And don't take too realistic props/props that are bigger than you. For example gun replicas and baseball bats are forbidden.

The whole event is free - welcome! <3

Firith

Cosplay competing - a way to success?

Not always.

As you know, I've been in the cosplay scene since 2012. The first time I competed was in 2013, and after that I've competed every now and then.
But I've never succeeded.

To be honest, I haven't been bitter about it. The best ones win and there's no arguing that. But, of course, I've been trying to think of the reasons why I haven't placed. Not a single time. Let's take a look at my cosplay competition history.

Animecon 2012, Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto Shippuden. © Tapio Matikainen.

This was the first time I ever competed. Back then I was so proud of my costume and character reliability. This was my second self-made costume so it could've been worse. I competed in the "Beginners" category.
But now, when I look at this costume I have a feeling that I placed 5th - and there were five contestants in the same category so... Yeah. Some details are missing, and let's be honest - the costume isn't very well made.
I could've done better.

Note number one: don't rush or your work will probably look like this - especially if you're a beginner.

Tracon 2013, Ayame Sohma from Fruits Basket. © Konsta Väänänen.

Once again I competed in the "Beginners" category. This time I was really, really proud of my costume - and I still am, even though it's on the "must repair/re-make this" list. Cosplaying Ayame felt more natural than cosplaying Sasuke - you know, I got more into the character.

So, the cosplay was good and on the stage I really felt like Ayame. Did I place?

No.

The reason: my costume wasn't detailed enough. Even though the category was for the beginner contestants the other cosplayers had more detailed costumes. I had kept it too simply.

Note number two: more details - and don't be afraid to make them.

Tampere Kuplii 2014, Itachi Uchiha from Naruto. © taikaraita.

So.
Itachi.
One of my "if I don't have anything else, this one comes with me" cosplays.

I competed with a pair who cosplayed Sasuke Uchiha. I know my own mistakes - mainly the problems were my sewing technic and, once again, the rush (...look at that headband, I've re-made it though...). Those are the mistakes I know I made - and my pair back then wasn't bad at all. I guess that there were just some small failures which made a great problem when combined together.

Note number three: if you have a pair cosplay coming up, try to make your costumes in the same place at the same time - we didn't have a possibility to do that.

Tracon 2014, Grell Sutcliff from Kuroshitsuji. © Tytti Levänen.

The first - and last, by far - performance competition!
In this competition the judges only judged the performance. It was a bonus if you were recognized as the character you were cosplaying and the costume had to be self-made.

Well, me and my pair began practicing our performance...
...in Sunday morning.
And the competition was on Sunday!

I don't have much to say about this.

Note number four: PRACTICING IS IMPORTANT.

Yukicon 2015, Francis Bonnefoy from Hetalia: Axis Powers. © lokki

I still hate this costume.
I really do.
Once again I competed with a pair... But, as you can see, my costume was just one big failure. I stressed too much about making it and that's the result.

Excuse me while I dig a hole in the ground and hide in it.

Note number five: a little stress is usually for good, but if you stress too much... It's no good.

Tampere Kuplii 2015, Alex Cloudmill from Starshine Legacy. © Santtu Pajukanta.

Oh, Alex... Haven't been able to wear this costume in a while since I've gained so much weight (trying to lose it, not going to make any new cosplay costumes before I manage to do that) and I've lost half of this costume so... Yeah.

But I was proud of this costume. Had I had a right-coloured wig and used better materials for the shirts I would've been one of the finalists.
I will re-make this one. And try to compete with it again. Alex is love, Alex is life.

Note number six: pay attention on colors and materials - look at the reference pictures and "bring the character to life". Think about your character's story and life, is the character poor or rich, where the character lives etc...

Matsucon 2017, Gilbert Beilschmidt from Hetalia: Axis Powers. © Maaria Tuisku.

My poses were too static - that's what I was told by the judges.
The costume was new, that was my first time wearing it.
I really didn't know how to move around in it.

I shoul've worn it at least one time before so I would've known how difficult the costume was to wear, really. My own mistake.
I had had quite a long pause in competing (well, I competed in Skecon 2016 with Ayame but I don't count it, I've been speaking about Finnish competitions in this post anyway) so I was a bit afraid to go to the stage. And, unfortunately, it was easy to see.

Note number seven: practice your poses and wear the costume while doing that - and move around in it!


So, summa summarum.

I've come to this conclusion: I haven't been as careful as I should've been. I've also been afraid to make any details (they're still a problem for me) and I've had problems with choosing the right materials. Years have gone by since I begun cosplaying and, of course, I've developed my skills. Sadly, when I think about the other cosplayers, I know I should be able to make complicated armors etc. if I ever wanted to succeed in competitions.

I'm not going to give up on competing though. I'll participate in Tampere Kuplii 2018's cosplay competition - not going to tell the character yet but let's just say that it's not a new costume. It's a costume and a character I know very well by far.

Let's see how it goes.

Yours,

Firith. 

Cosplay year 2017

I just noticed that I've completely forgotten the birthday of this blog. Well, going to publish my "birthday blog post" later - I still haven't edited all of the pics for it.

But.
Cosplay year 2017.

This year I concentrated more on photoshoots than conventions. Despite it I managed to host my first convention, Euran Mangapäivä II. And yes, it still feels surreal.
I made three new costumes, borrowed a few and photoshooted a couple of old cosplays. x)

I won't make a cosplay compilation pic because I'm lazy and studying InDesign at school right now, oops but continue reading, please - I will list all of the cosplays from this year.

My favourite cosplay this year

Avalon from StarStable Online. Photo © Picair.

Avalon - definitely my favourit one from year 2017. I spent a lot of time sewing and painting the robe and I'm very pleased with the result.

I actually would've wanted to compete with this costume but sadly my version isn't the most original one. In the game itself Avalon's face, hair and hands can't be seen. This is how I pretty much imagined him to look like.
I debuted this costume in Yukicon and wore it again when I modeled for my classmates.

The only contest cosplay this year

Teutonic Knights!Prussia from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Photo © Shiro Samurai.

Oh Prussia, Prussia...

I don't really like this cosplay that much. So many mistakes, I failed the make-up when I was in a hurry, I should've cut the wig... -__-"
But, well, I've made worse cosplays too. *looks at Conchita Wurst from 2015*

I borrowed the costume for Shiro Samurai at NärCon Sommar 2017. I've only worn this costume once and it was at Matsucon in March.

For a Swedish convention

Lord Cob from Tales from Earthsea. Pic © Shiro Samurai. edit by me.

 Yeah, lord Cob... I just wanted to make something simple for NärCon because making a huge costume wasn't even an option (lack of space) and I was too tired to make something difficult (I was working for the whole summer in a factory) so I made this genderfuck beautiful sorcerer from Tales from Earthsea.

Mainly making this was just a joke between me and Shiro Samurai but well, I like this character a lot anyways.

Costume is made by me. My uncle helped me to make the staff. Going to wear Cob for another photoshoot, hopefully in the near future! And probably for some conventions too, not sure yet. 

 

So, those are the costumes I made myself... Then the borrowed ones! x)

Just for photoshoot

Japan from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Photo © Shiro Samurai.

Yep, we photoshooted Japan again in 2017, in March (if I remember correctly). Costume was borrowed from Shiro Samurai. 

For Euran Mangapäivä

Sasuke Uchiha (own design). Photo © Shiro Samurai.

I borrowed this costume from Shiro Samurai, except for the kusanagi which I made myself back in 2013 (...it's almost five years old...). Because Shiro Samurai had wanted to wear his kimono!Itachi costume I decided to be the lil' bro for him. 
And I didn't have any costumes I could've worn... Ayame was my first choice but the jacket is in very bad condition and I'll repair it this year. I want to cosplay the awesome snek again! <3

(Believe it or not, Sasuke and Japan have the same wig.)


I also cosplayed mafia!Francis Bonnefoy in NärCon. I have a pic of him but, well, guess do I have the photo in this PC... Nope, it's in my crashtop laptop. -__-"

At Tracon I didn't cosplay anything - the lecture I was supposed to keep with one of my friends had to be cancelled and my grandfather died just a day before Tracon so... Yeah, I didn't have the hype to make that lecture myself and I'm very sorry about that.
I didn't have a ticket so I just hung around in the yard and gave photoshoots for the few of my friends. I'm going to publish some of those pics at some point - I still haven't had time to edit all of them and I'm very, very sorry about it too! D:

I know that I haven't been very active with blogging these days but well, personal things. Nothing bad but something that takes time - and money - a lot.

But I'll be back in business sooner than you think - and I promise that! <3

Sincerely yours,

Firith.

Avalon photoshoot vol.2... At school!? (2/?)

You can read the first one here.

Yes, it's time for another Avalon picture spam! I haven't made anything for my future cosplays so... Yeah, let's just roll with these. The weather hasn't been good enough for making circle lens reviews either and I'm very sorry about that; whenever the sun is shining I've been sitting at school cursing at my computer so... No can do.

But here are the next pics of my Avalon photoshoot - once again, taken by my awesome classmates! <3

NOTE: I know that this version is a lot like a certain fan art. I would've worn different lenses but, for my great sorrow, all my other pairs of lenses had dried up (except the ones I got from my friend but I can't wear them for many hours) and I wanted to wear lenses with the make-up I had decided to do, so... Yeah. :/

Let's roll!

Photos & photo edit: Jukka Haapasalo

Photos & photo edit: Annika Malinen

Photos & photo edit: Jenina Alajärvi 

And one sneak peek!

Photos & photo edit: Photographer Lisbet Joelsson

I hope that you like these because I surely do! <3
And the best thing is that I still have pictures to post~!! So stay tuned! <3

-Firith

Avalon photoshoot vol.2... At school!? (1/?)

Oh yes.

During the autumn we had a photoshoot session at school - I modeled and my classmates practised photographing & advicing the model.
This is going to be a long photospam but I hope that you'd check the pictures since my classmates truly deserve that. They're very talented in both photographing and photo editing. I truly enjoyed working with them. <3

The costume I wore was Avalon since the campus area provides perfect backgrounds for this character.

NOTE: I know that this version is a lot like a certain fan art. I would've worn different lenses but, for my great sorrow, all my other pairs of lenses had dried up (except the ones I got from my friend but I can't wear them for many hours) and I wanted to wear lenses with the make-up I had decided to do, so... Yeah. :/

But let's go on with this post!! <3

First the pictures by Picair! <3
Pictures: Picair
Photo edit: Picair 

 Photos & photo edit: Kaisa Hyvärinen

And the last picture to the photo spam!

Photos & edits: Jaakko Pöntinen

There are so many pics that I really can't put all of them in just one post... :'D Had I done that this post would've been a bit too long - but this only means that there are other photospams coming up! Stay tuned~!

-Firith 

A (hopefully) short break.

Hello!

I guess that you've noticed that I've been quite silent here. I have a few reasons for that:

1) During the summer I was working - that's why I didn't have time or energy to update this blog.

2) My computer broke and when I finally got it back from my uncle (who kindly fixed it) I noticed that this thing had updated Windows 10 by itself. The picture editing program is HIDEOUS. I really need to do something for this quickly.

3) After many long years I'm finally a student again!! Not in any of the universities, mind you - almost got into the university of Oulu but in the end I didn't manage to do that. At first I was quite pissed since I had been waiting for moving to the north but since the plan A didn't work I decided to go for plan B. The result: nowadays I study at Eurajoen kristillinen opisto (The Christian School of Eurajoki, though it doesn't have that much to do with religion these days, it's just the name) to become a web designer!
(And I'm quite happy that I didn't move to the north - some very nice and happy things have happened during my silence here.)

So, most of my time is spent at school nowadays. That's why I haven't updated this blog after... The NärCon cosplay plans... Ooops.

I'm not likely to write a summary of NärCon - there's not much to say since it was the most hectic and stressful con I've attended by far. But I promise to post a picture spam when I have time! :)
I also have some new photoshoot pictures of Avalon and there are a couple of lens reviews I should publish at some point.

But, anyway, I'll be back~! <3

(And I have some cosplay plans for 2018 so I'll write WIP posts too~!)

See you, hopefully soon! <3

-Firith