Ready for TRACOOOOONN~

Lolol so western that Heisuke's gotta wear jeans.
And black-pink nail polish, YEAH.

I finished whatever I still had to do with my costumes last weekend, but I didn't have time to try on Western!Heisuke (Hakuouki) until today. It's an old costume, but I remade the vest and made the second katana last month. Now I'm quite happy with how everything looks... though I still could not find brown boots. I've been looking for 4 months now, aargh! I DID find ones that would be allright, but... not when they cost 60€. So I guess I'm forced to wear black, too-small, PAINFUL boots once again. Unless someone has boots they can borrow on Sunday? Uh uh. ;_;

As for Nai (Karneval)... I, once again, received a white wig that was a bit too thin for my liking. Is it only my bad luck, or is this a problem for others too? Seriously. I'm never going to order a white wig again, grr! (Says someone who has already said that for...3 times...) Anyways, the wig is still okay, so I'm still going as Nai on Saturday.

I'm trying to start packing today already, since I have a Swedish exam after work tomorrow. Keep your thumbs up for me, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to fail, ahhah...haa...

See y'all at Tracon!

Plans

Nai will end up as my Tracon Saturday costume!

TRACON  2012 

SAT: Nai (Karneval)

SUN: Heisuke Toudou (Hakuouki) + Group!

DESUCON FROSTBITE 2013

SAT: Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji)

SUN: Haru (Tsuritama) ?

DESUCON 2013

SAT: Shou Kurusu (Uta no Prince-sama) + Ren Jinguji ?

SUN: SUPER SECRET PLAN (MUHOHA) ?

ROPECON 2013

SAT/SUN: Lanaya The Templar Assassin (Dota 2) ?

TRACON 2013

SAT: Mahiro Atori (Hiiro no Kakera) ?

SUN:

---

Some little plans I made, though we'll see how long they stay like this. Cosplaying with a pair/group is so much more fun, so if I find people to cosplay with me, these plans are more likely to be final, haha~ If anyone's up for Kuroshitsuji/Tsuritama/Uta no Prince-sama/Hiiro no Kakera, give me a shout, please. XD

Anyways. There are two totally new cosplays on the list. The first one is super secret plan, which I am not going to reveal until I know if I can actually pull it out the way I want. The other one is Lanaya from Dota 2. I haven't had the beta invitation for too long, and considering that, I've been playing that game... well, more than I usually play any game. I'd like to cosplay someone from it, but none of the female, human-ish characters look 14 years old like I do with my baby face. Lanaya has half of her face hidden, so it would be fine. xD If my face would allow me, I think I might go for Enchantress. The butt part would be... interesting to make. But my face would ruin it all, bohoo! ;_;

AND WHAT'S UP WITH TRACON? Well, people seemed to like Nai the most, so I'm going as him on Saturday. I'm still not sure what happens with Heisuke. The weather's been quite cold lately, and I don't think I want to be bare feet if it's cold and raining... so I might just take the Western!Heisuke with me. Or something. I still have to think about that, but at least my second katana is starting to look like a katana. I also replaced the handle wrap of my old katana with cheap ito I ordered from China. Now it's the right colour, too~
ANIMECON HAKUOUKI PEOPLE: I decided to be lazy with sharing, SO if you want photos from Animecon, take a memory stick with you to Tracon and you shall get them. Yush.

Motivation, where are you~?

'Kay. I'm not sure what got into me, but even thinking about cosplay makes me go all "BLAARGH" at the moment, probably because all planned photoshoots got cancelled and everything in general just sucks right now. I have no inspiration beyond planning on what I might want to do next year. It's a lot easier to find motivation when you have a pair or a group that will murder you in case you don't finish in time, don't ya think?

Because of this lack of motivation, I am going to move Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji) from Tracon to Desucon Frostbite. I just don't feel motivated enough to make something so time consuming right now, so I guess I'll try to keep my Tracon costumes simple.

Old test shot of Western!Heisuke.

On Sunday, there is going to be a (Western!)Hakuouki group so I'm going there as shota-... err, Heisuke Toudou, the manliest samurai of all time. I will probably wear his first outfit in the morning, and switch to the western version a bit later so that I can move around a bit better and TAKE PHOTOS of others. Really, I've been too much in front of the camera lately, and now I've been photographing like...bugs... and squirrels...

Paparazzi!Heisuke (photo by...? from ValkoinenSamurai's camera? XD)

As for Saturday...


Well. Umm...

Haru (Tsuritama)

I have trouble deciding. I was thinking about Haru from Tsuritama, but that requires some sewing and I would love to have a pair/group. But, I have couple other possibilities too... So what to do, oh noo?

Nai (Karneval)

Nai is such a cute character, and this cosplay is quite old, but I don't have a single photo of it. So, I wouldn't mind wearing this again.

Shion (No.6)

And the last one I can think of would be my *cough*closet*cough* cosplay of Shion. SO... Haru, Nai or Shion? ;^; Help on deciding would be greatly appreciated. *rubs head*

Ciel contact lenses

Like I mentioned in my earlier blog, I've had some trouble with dryness of the eyes. Kikucon was really painful, and the lenses made my eyes red and I looked like I had cried, lol. I wore the same EOS New Adult Green lenses on both days at Animecon IX, but this time accompanied with Artelac eye drops I bought from pharmacy. I put on a few drops before putting on the lenses, and they really helped a lot - the lenses did not feel bad at all. The drops I have can also be used while still wearing lenses (I think...? lol), so I guess I'm going to carry them with me at every convention from now on, just in case my eyes decide to get dry in middle of day.

For this little experiment I did not bother to put on any eye drops, but that was fine, because the lenses were super comfortable even without!

I've had these lovely Ciel contact lenses for a good month, but now I finally gave myself a permission to try them on. I ordered them for around $30 from Alice and Rabbit's shop and I got to say, I'm very pleased! They came with some random blue contact lense, but now it is also possible to get a single Ciel lense if you wish. Just like most coloured lenses, they last one year after opening.

How they look up close. You can see a bit of my own colour.

Future cosplay plans

Now that I have couple costumes off of my to-do list, it is time to start thinking what's next.

F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s !

As I didn't get too good photos of Heisuke on Animecon Sunday, I'm hoping to have a photoshoot at some point. I actually know a couple good locations, too, but I need to get meh some company. I also need photos of my Western!Heisuke I made earlier, though it still needs some fixing.

Yesterday we already had a Togainu photoshoot in a better location (abandoned mental hospital building... boo ghosts and shit) and I spammed a couple photos on my DeviantART account. We're also planning to photoshoot Vampire Knight soon, though my Yuuki costume is already two years old and I'm a bit worried how it actually looks now, lol. The only thing I really remember is that the skirt is the shortest I've ever worn...

My Tracon plans for the time being are:

SAT: Ciel Phantomhive - Kuroshitsuji

This must be my dream cosplay #1! I was meaning to make this already for Animecon, but I switched to Heisuke instead. I started making this already back in 2009, but maybe now, three years later, I can actually get it done. This will definitely be the most expensive costume I've made until now, simply because I refuse to buy anything cheap ass looking shit. I'm hoping to get this done by Tracon, but if it seems like I'm running out of time, I'll just move it to Desucon Frostbite. This is the costume I don't want to ruin by making it in a hurry.

SUN: Haru - Tsuritama

Tsuritama is one of the best animes I've watched in a while, and Haru is just lovely~ I already have almost everything I need. I just have to make shoecovers and sew the school uniform jacket, and buy some fabric for the... super stylish pink shirt.

---

Cosplays I'd like to make in the future.

Hope Estheim - Final Fantasy XIII

I wonder if I can ever get this done. I have pretty much all the materials, except the fabric for his pants (I used it for Rin's bag thingys, hahaa!) and motivation.

Mahiro Atori - Hiiro no kakera

A character I can definitely relate to. He's short and looks younger than he is... XD I wouldn't mind making the school uniform - it's pretty simple, but I still like it a lot, and a Hiiro no kakera group would be quite superb... But besides the school uniform, I'd really like to make the... wings... oh gawddd~ ;^;

It's so cool~

 

Nagumo Kaoru - Hakuouki

OH MAA GEEE~ ♥ To be honest I never liked Chizuru, but Kaoru... ohh. His voice is so wicked and the whole character is so URGARHGRABLUR♥ I don't really know why I like him so much, but I DOOOOO, though the moment I was like "omg LOOOOVE", stupid Chikage appeared and... yeh. That episode saddened me greatly. Don't know if I ever get a good chance to cosplay him, but I'd really like to.

Sho Kurusu - Uta no prince-sama

Sho/Shou/Syo (dunno which would be the most correct way to write his name xD) is so cuuuuuute~ Just thought that my Rin wig would be perfect colour for him, too.

Cornet - Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure

This is a cosplay I've wanted to make for, hell... over 6 years! マール王国の人形姫 is the original name of the game, and if you're into J-RPGs at all, check it out on Nintendo DS! The game is from Nippon-Ichi (makers of Disgaea) and the storyline is just super adorable. I would really love to cosplay Cornet, but not alone, because it's a character nobody recognizes and if you're alone, you can't even get interesting looking photos. If anyone taller than me could even consider cosplaying Prince Ferdinand for me, I'd be very happy. xD

PIENI RESSI MOI

Can I just this once say that I hate cosplay?



If I can't find BASIC, WHITE, COTTON FABRIC on Wednesday = Lonely!Heisuke will move to Tracon.
If I fail to find the fabric mentioned above, I am going to look for BASIC, BLACK, COTTON FABRIC.
If I can't find that either, I can't switch to Western!Heisuke on Animecon Sunday.
If I can't switch to Western!Heisuke, I am going to cosplay Heisuke naked. Wrapped in shinsengumi haori. FFUUUUU---

Okay so yeah, I'm waaaay behind my schedule. Couldn't get much work done last week. It was just too hot in my room, ughh. I can get Rin done, yes, but Heisuke is having some great difficulties with fabric dye, among some other things, and I don't feel too motivated anymore. *sigh* But remaking his western outfit should be no biggie, though I still don't have brown boots and second hand stores are closed for the summer, lol. Fuck me. xD

Regular at the post office !

The tracking code showed that my geta shoes arrived in Finland over a week ago, but I didn't get them until today, grr! I wonder what they think of me at the post office, showing up there almost daily to pick up some strange stuff from China...
 Anyway, I was looking forward to these quite a bit, mostly because I was worried they might be completely wrong size or something. When wearing a geta, I think traditionally your heel should go over the edge at the back of the shoe? Mine clearly doesn't even go near the edge, but whatever.

And oh god, why, yes. They have paw printing on them, but Heisuke Toudou (Hakuouki) is a dog lover, obviously.

I totally cosplayed this, too. xD Pardon my derpyness, but Dazu looks amazing in this particular photo. Unfortunately Dazu is not my dog, he belongs to my friend Taru and her family! ♥













I also finally have all the contact lenses that I have ordered! I hope I can wear them all, though. My eyes have been dry lately, and wearing lenses is somewhat painful... I bought eye drops that might help me with the problem, but I still have to try them.

These will be for Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji), mufufu...
I'm going to review them after Animecon!

EOS New adult violet lenses for my Haru (Tsuritama) cosplay.
Bought these when they were -50%
at Honeycolor.

EOS New adult red lenses for... err, I don't know exactly.
Hopefully will photoshoot my Nai (Karneval) and Shion (No.6).
I bought them because they were -50%
as well. xD

I've had these EOS New adult green lenses for a couple months already.
 I'll be using these for both Rin (Togainu no chi) and Heisuke (Hakuouki)...

I'm still waiting for wigs for both Rin and Heisuke, and because I had some spare money on my Paypal account, I ordered some more stuff. Fake eye lashes and eye shadow palette! c: As for actual cosplay progress... Well, still been gathering materials, mostly. But please, go ahead, have a shoe!

Rin WIP - Shoe cover

IT'S C H R I S T M A S ... almost

Okay, I think I could actually start using this blogger thingy. I had planned to, but I somewhat forgot, lol. I like to stalk... read other people's cosplay blogs, so I thought I should make one of my own as well. I'm going to skip super boring self-introduction wall of text, and get right to the business.

There are ~3 weeks left until Animecon and for me, it's pretty much like... Christmas in middle of summer. Hoho. I've ordered a lot of stuff for my cosplays, and now I'm eagerly waiting for them to get home to me~ The first package arrived just yesterday, yay!





I'll need these for Rin (Togainu No Chi). Not exactly sure how many Rin had, but I have 13 belt buckles now. Should be enough!





 I also ordered a new wig for Rin, because the old one was... just a tiny bit too dark for my liking:

Derpyderp.

Ugh! The new one is from eBay, cosplaywig seller... I hope the picture matchs the actual product now, because the color looked really good for Rin~

I've also ordered a wig for Heisuke Toudou (Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan). Or actually, two wigs... I don't really trust the wig would be thick enough to be pulled up in a ponytail, so I ordered two wigs just in case, and even if one wig is enough for Heisuke, I'll probably still find use for the other one. I just hope the color is allright, though it doesn't really matter that much, as long as it's BROWN. I think Heisuke's hair is a bit lighter in some game screenshots while it's quite dark in the anime. So dark brown or a bit lighter brown, I'm perfectly cool with either.

I'm also expecting to receive a pair of geta shoes! They will be for Heisuke too. There's some kind of a Hakuouki group on Animecon Sunday, and I heard there's a Chizuru cosplayer as well. She's a bit taller than me, while Heisuke should actually be like 5-10cm? taller than she is. So ahem... my getas will give me extra 6 centimeters, haha. Though, I should try to remember to bring some other shoes as well in case it seems like my feet face their early departure from this world too soon...

And what else? Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji) contact lenses should be on their way! I won't be needing them until Tracon though, so I'm not really in a hurry to get them, but I think they should be in Finland quite soon anyways!

Yesterday, we had a trip to Estonia with a couple friends. It was nice, but quite tiring and if we weren't waiting for something, we were running in a hurry. How annoying... Anyways, I got some fabric for my costumes. The lighter blue I'm probably using for Heisuke's haori while the darker is for Haru's (Tsuritama) school uniform which will be worn at Tracon too. The gray one is for Ciel, and it's... just PERFECT (regardless how dark and shitty it looks in the photo xD)! And perfect is Heisuke's greenish-yellow fabric as well! Many have made their costumes like... bright yellow, but it's... not yellow. No, no, no. It's greenish-yellow, and I think mine's pretty damn close, haha~