Just got back from Edinburgh last Tuesday, and I'm still feeling the post journey blues". Back again means back to a job I hate, back to a distant relationship and blah blah blah. Just have to live with this till summer. Though, when summer comes, who knows what will happen? All I know is that I'll quit my job and move. Where to? No idea. Will I be working or can I go back to uni? Dunno. After my last visit in Scotland my boyfriend and I was talking about this, and the thought of moving back over and try again might be worth a shot. Only this time he'll have a job instead of being a student, and I can be a student instead of looking for a job right away.
Anyone know of a company that can ship my stuff over? I've got a whole apartment to empty if I'm to do this.
Had a fantastic week in Edinburgh. But I'll not go into that now, as there will probably be a jounal entry about that later on. Or not, we'll see. What I do know is that there will be pictures up from the trip, but I need to look through them and sort them out a bit first. Three people together, with a camera each, snapping away constantly. That means lots of pictures!

Picture dump from Halloween ahoy! I've recently upgraded to Photoshop CS4, so I decided to edit some random pics to familiarize myself with it. No major differences, but some small ones. Anyway, I felt like posting the pics somewhere, and this became the chosen place.
Anyway, I spent Halloween with two of my friends. We had big costume plans, but time got ahead of us, so in the end we just had to go closet diving and see what we came up with. Yay for being a cosplayer and thus had some fangs to add to the "costume". ^__^ We started the night at my place, getting ready to go out and having a few drinks. Then we hit the pub and stayed there till closing time. It was an uneventful, but fun night ^_^


To 1up or not to 1up?


Eating a lolly with fangs was haaard!


We scary naow?


We met Totoro!!! I didn't know Totoro smoke though...


We also met the Cookie Monster! But by this time the camera was dying, so we never got the chance to get a pic where the head was in the frame. But you can clearly see that he ate some poor guy! o.O




Been meaning to update this journal for a while now, but I've kept me from it in fear of it turning into a sappy emo post. In other words, I have been pretty far down lately, and still am. Work is really draining me, and there have been days when I've been so exhausted that I've shook like a leaf. Long story short: too much to do, and too few to do it. And thus my life is now reduced to work-sleep-work-sleep pattern from Monday till Friday. Saturday I'm fine and can do things I want to; like updating my dA. Sunday is spent dreading the coming week.

Happy World Mental Health Day people! >.<

Gawd, I can't wait till I leave that job and go back to uni! But first I have to drag myself through this year, and possibly the next one aswell...


Had something happen recently that really made my week! I opened my inbox and found this:

A dedication to me made by , and I love it! She based it one this picture:

It's the first time people have honoured me with anything like this, so it made me really happy! Thank you so much again ~Midnight-Dark-Angel! And you people reading this; be sure to have a look at her gallery!


Due to my future being a bit (very!) uncertain I don't know which cons and events I'll be able to attend. So that part will be updated as time goes.

• Aurora Ebeltoft (revamped outfit) - Steampunk


• Verdandi Engelsgaard - Steampunk


• Temari (2nd outfit) - Naruto


• Temari (4th outfit) - Naruto Shippuuden


• Nyne Cloud - D.Gray-man


• Jasdero - D.Gray-man


• Meladnru - Guild Wars


• Eve - Guild Wars


• Astaroshe Aslan (Empire Uniform)- Trinity Blood


• Astaroshe Aslan (black corset, black coat and black trousers) - Trinity Blood


• Al Azif - Demonbane


• Kain Highwind - Final Fantasy IV


• Nia - DearS


• Serra - Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword


• Olivier Mira Armstrong - Fullmetal Alchemist

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/27464976/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/27464976/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:16:09 PDT

Got a new laptop last week, so I can finally play computer games again. My old PC was like Frankenstein's monster; something my oldest brother had put together from 3 other non-functional PCs. Needless to say it couldn't do much. Running two programs at the same time was hard for the poor, old thing. If changing from one window to another it could spend up to 15 minutes before the new window opened. It's not easy being senile and forget what it was in the middle of doing.. :/ But dear old Frankie Monster is now retired, and will probably only be used for playing music and such in the future. I promise to give it a good and respectul retirement, and let it have a happy time for the remaining part of it's life ^__^

Anyway, new laptop means new possibilities. Photo editing will now be a lot quicker, so expect more to be posted here soonish. Just need to catch up on my gaming first Speaking of which, anyone going to start playing Aion? I'm wondering wether or not to get the game. It's looks great, what keeps me from running to the store is the monthly fees. And I'm trying to save money for moving next year, and possibly going back to uni... Gah! I hate thinking of money! >.< But.. knowing me, I'll probably end up buying it.. Sooo, anyone playing it?

Also, winter's here. Argh! I'm so not ready for it! >.< We haven't got snow in the city yet, but the mountain sides are white, and the weather forecast promises snow tomorrow.. I need to move south...

Well, my friend is here. Off to Guild Wars!

Future cosplays:
Due to my future being a bit (very!) uncertain I don't know which cons and events I'll be able to attend. So that part will be updated as time goes.

• Aurora Ebeltoft (revamped outfit) - Steampunk


• Verdandi Engelsgaard - Steampunk


• Temari (2nd outfit) - Naruto


• Temari (4th outfit) - Naruto Shippuuden


• Nyne Cloud - D.Gray-man


• Jasdero - D.Gray-man


• Meladnru - Guild Wars


• Eve - Guild Wars


• Astaroshe Aslan (Empire Uniform)- Trinity Blood


• Astaroshe Aslan (casual) - Trinity Blood


• Al Azif - Demonbane


• Kain Highwind - Final Fantasy IV


• Nia - DearS


• Serra - Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword


• Olivier Mira Armstrong - Fullmetal Alchemist

Clubs:

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/26777065/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/26777065/ Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:28:43 PDT New journal skin beeing one of those things. So yeah, this is basically just a journal to mess about and get used to that.

Life
Life... Blergh... Not happy with it to say the least! I've come to realize that I don't like my current job. It's sooo stressful, and I don't feel that it gives me much in return. Apart from aching shoulders and lots of colds. So yeah, I'm STRONGLY considering going back to uni next year. But I'm not sure yet what to study. Atm I'm thinking of photography, but I need to think some more about that.
Another thing is that I'm getting tired of living in Tromsø. It's a great little city, and I do love it here. But I feel like getting away for a bit and try new things. That and there's few my age (that I know of) who cosplay. My cosplay friends live down south or in the UK. So I really want to live somewhere that will give me the chance to see everyone more often.
As a result of the above I need to save up money, in case I'm moving and going back to studying next summer. So that means I won't be able to attend Fuyucon or Expo in October. Nor the Grand International Cosplay Ball or anything else happening in the UK. I am hoping though that I'll be able to attend Desucon in Oslo instead. There's a sale on plane tickets atm, and my friend can get a discount on hotel rooms. SO here's hoping! ^__^

Future cosplays:
Due to my future being a bit (very!) uncertain (read above) I don't know which cons and events I'll be able to attend. So that part will be updated as time goes.

• Aurora Ebeltoft (revamped outfit) - Steampunk


• Verdandi ??? - Steampunk


• Temari (2nd outfit) - Naruto


• Temari (4th outfit) - Naruto Shippuuden


• Nyne Cloud - D.Gray-man


• Jasdero - D.Gray-man


• Meladnru - Guild Wars


• Eve - Guild Wars


• Astaroshe Aslan (Empire Uniform)- Trinity Blood


• Astaroshe Aslan (casual) - Trinity Blood


• Al Azif - Demonbane


• Kain Highwind - Final Fantasy IV


• Nia - DearS


• Serra - Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword


• Olivier Mira Armstrong - Fullmetal Alchemist

Clubs:

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/25736506/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/25736506/ Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:01:22 PDT Woot! My favourite time of the year is upon us! *dances* Although I haven't noticed much of it yet.. The weather has been quite nice, but there hasn't been any need to worry about getting a heat-stroke yet... The temperatures has been low. There's a rock festival going on in Tromsø atm, according to the news they had a cold 8 degrees C there last night. A bit further north it was snowing! XD So I'm not happy reading about all the heat records being set further south! >.< But oh well, I'll be going south tomorrow. I'll have to spend tomorrow night sleeping at the airport in Oslo, and then I'll be on my way to Glasgow early Monday morning. Can't wait! Atm I'm at my parents' place. I got here last night, so I basically just got here in time to repack my bag and then I'll be off again. But I'm coming back here after having visited *MysteriousFayth. I really wish I had someone with a camera here, aswell as my Steampunk outfit (which is in Scotland still)! My dad's tool/storage shed would be perfect for a shoot of my Aurora Ebeltoft character. Dad has got a lot of old tools and the shed itself looks really fitting for a messy inventor's workplace! XD *MysteriousFayth get up here! Now!

:::New Steampunk character:::
Speaking of Steampunk. Some Norwegian steampunkers wanted to make a crew, and seeing as I practically never get to see my Flight of the Valkyrie friends, I decided to join them. Which means another character is in the making! She'll be completely different from Aurora, so I'm really excited about getting to know a new steampunk profession. This time my character is a medium/ghost hunter type. Character sketches will be up shortly ^__^ I actually came up with two characters when I started to plan my new character. But seeing as I only need one new atm, the other one will have to wait. Problem is that I have so many ideas for her aswell, so I'll probably end up making her at some point. Just need an excuse to do it XD

:::Ice Age 3:::
I went to see Ice Age 3 this Wednesday. It was brilliant! Though I wish you all could get to hear the norwegian voices. The norwegian voice actors are so much better suited to the characters than the english ones. And this is coming from someone who usually prefer the english voices a lot better than the norwegian ones! ^__^ I want to see it again now! Too bad there are so many other movies in the cinema atm that I want to see, and that I'm kinda broke.... Sid FTW!

:::Clubs:::


]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/25179156/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/25179156/ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:33:55 PDT Happy go lucky!
(That's also the title of a great movie. Go watch it! )

Can a week get any better? For a start last Monday was a national holiday, so I had the day off of work. Which is a great beginning on a week in itself Then I got to know I'll be able to go to Scotland for a couple of weeks this summer after all. I'm too broke to pay the tickets myself because I won't get paid in July, so I didn't think I'd get to see *MysteriousFayth untill October or so. But no, his parents are paying the tickets! o.O Sure, we have to pay them back later, but yey!

The day after I got a new sofa (knowing I had to get this is also part of the reason why I couldn't afford Scotland tickets). My brother came by and had to get the chairs I had borrowed back, beause he has just moved into a new flat. Resulting in me having to sit on the floor for a day. Japanese style FTW! My new sofa is soooo comfy! And my living room looks a lot better with it! Can't wait till I can afford getting the other furniture I've got planned for this room. It still looks a bit empty... Though that means lots of space to work on cosplays!

Anyway, I still had more good news waiting for me! Wednesday I got a letter saying I got the job I had applied for! It's in the same nursery as I work now, but my current position only lasts out July (I'm a stand-in for someone on a sick leave), so that meant I would be without a job come August. But not anymore! I'm so happy! I won't have to worry about saving up for my rents and such anymore *relieved*.

Aaaand Thursday my Mum phoned and said she and Dad will be visiting next weekend. Which is great, as I haven't seen them since the beginning of February ^_^

Now roll on new week!

Cosplays
The past week I've been posting some pics of my Rider and Saria cosplays. I've still to post any pics of my Rip van Winkle cosplay, so that is still to come. And I've got a few left to post from my Saria winter shoot.. I'm just being sloooow Also I'm waiting for the pics from the Shikatema shoot.

I've also made a start on two of my next cosplays. Meladru is still in the planning and research phase, but Astaroshe Asran have her patterns now. So now I'm ready to start cutting the fabrics and start sewing ^_^

Tag! *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24964637/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24964637/ Tue, 26 May 2009 16:23:12 PDT

::usy, Busy, Busy! Pre Expo business:::

Well, I'm going much further back than just the Expo weekend. First of all, I'm sorry for being so behind on everything: replying, commenting and having a look at your stuff. I even have a Saria snow shoot taken during Easter that I haven't had the time to edit and post up yet! The weeks between Easter and up untill now have been insanely busy! And to make things worse I was sick for over half a week around the 15th of may, around then a friend of mine, ~Shae-The-Nightmare, that I hadn't seen for almost a year came to visit Tromsø, so I had to spend some time with her aswell (which was great! Come back soooooooon!!!). And of course there were some extra meetings at work during the afternoon. All things that resulted in cosplay progress being pushed back. To add to the stress the black fabric I needed for my Rider cosplays got very(!) delayed, and I didn't get in untill the day before I left for London. Meaning, I didn't get Rider started untill then, I also had to finish some details on Rip van Winkle, do the dishes, water my plants and other stuff one have to do when living alone and going away for a while. I worked the late shift at work that day, so I didn't get home untill about 5pm either. Resulting in absolutely NO sleep before getting on the plane around 10am Wednesday morning. I'm surprised I even got on the plane as I fell asleep several times while waiting at the gate. Luckily I woke up every time my head fell to the side XD I'm happy I'm amongst those who manage to sleep on planes, so I spent both flights (Tromsø-Oslo and Oslo-Heathrow) sleeping.


:::London:::
:Wednesday:
Arrived in London about 4.30pm Wednesday the 20th, and immediately made my way to the PTI by the Excel building where ~MysteriousFayth was waiting. My god, it was good to be able to put down that heavy suitcase, backpack and Temari's fan! Needless to say I had been struggeling to get on and off the underground and up and down stairs. Why doesn't all the underground stations have escalators?? Anyway, most of the times I came to stairs some nice people helped me carry my suitcase. Yey for nice Londoners! Nothing much happened once I got to the hotel. Me and Fayth just went to Asda to stock up for the weekend, then enjoyed a dinner in the hotel restaurant and relaxed the rest of the night. I needed that! XD

:Thursday:
was spent walking about in London for the most part. Went, among other places, to Goldhawk Road where I had been told I could find some fabric shops. My local one is crap and has almost nothing! *grumble* Anyway, Goldhawk Road was brilliant!! I wish I had access to a place like that more often! It was like a cosplayer's heaven! So many stores over filled with different, cheap, fabrics! I'm SO going back there every time I visit London from now on! XD Didn't have much space in my suitcase, so I couldn't buy much. But I did get the fabrics I need for my Melandru (Guild Wars) cosplay, so can't wait to get started on that now!
Thursday night Fayth and I had tickets for the Lion King musical. I very much understand why it's so popular and had been running for so long! It was brilliant! But then again, I have been a huge fan of the movies ever since they first came Tough, it didn't surpass the Lord of the Rings musical though, as it was amazing! Too bad it had to stop running I wouldn't have minded seeing that for a third time XD

:Friday:
was the day for the Shikatem photoshoot with me as Temari, :devdante-kimachi as Shikamaru and *Kazzle as the photographer. Both amazing people, and I had so much fun hanging out with them!... ]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24585635/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24585635/ Mon, 04 May 2009 14:48:01 PDT

First thing first. I've found an amazing Shikamaru cosplayer and we have ShikaTema photo shoot coming up. People who are not fans of the pairing can just ignore this and skip reading this part. I'm currently restyling my Temari wig (not happy with it yet, I doubt I ever will be. But it already looks way better than it did before). Well, long story short: we want to know your Shikamaru & Temari photo requests! Are there any particular poses you'd like to see? Any scenes from the manga/anime we could try to act out? Are theret any fanart pictures you'd like to see done in real life, please link me to them, and we'll see what we can do Keep in mind that it will only be the two of us cosplaying, so there will be no other Naruto characters present. And we're cosplaying the Shippuuden versions.

In other news: My cosplay plans for Expo are finally set in stone. As some of you know I originally had 4 cosplays planned, but because of having been sick a lot since January I never got the time to make half of them. So unfortunately I only have the time to complete two. On Saturday I will cosplay Rider from Fate/Stay Night (I can't wait! I love that character so much! ). On Sunday I'm going to cosplay as Rip van Winkle from Hellsing (hopefully with a huge musket. I might be able to start working on it this week or the next).

I don't know if I'm ever going to make Amulet Spade from Shugo Chara. As
1: the group is for this May
2: there are a lot of people cosplaying her already
3: she does look a bit young. Though I alway get told I don't look my age, so that *might* not be a problem
4: I've got a bunch of other cosplays on my list.
On the other hand I still like het cute outfit, so I might make it at some point just for the fun of it ^^ Something easy to work on over the summer or something..

As for Astaroshe Aslan, she will be made! I've already got everything I need to make her, inlcuding the wig. So it's just a question of completing her. The current plan is to have her ready for October Expo or Fuyucon. Whichever I will attend

Clubs:


]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24322119/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/24322119/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:57:18 PDT MysteriousFayth there. The past two weeks passed way too fast! Good thing is that at least this time we won't have to wait more than a month to see each other again Then in London for the Expo! And we did get en extra 25 or so minutes together, as it was snowing so badly that the planes couldn't land. So there was a LOT of delays at the airport XD Seriously, when going there we couldn't see more than a few meters in front of the car. It was like driving in a glass of milk >.< It's cleared up though, and now it's bright and sunny again. Hopefully a lot of the snow that came today wil melt away just as quick as it came. I'm tired of winter now! Bring on spring!

The two last weeks passed way too quickly, but at least we got things done. Other things than the usual lazying around, watching TV and just enjoyng finally being able to spend some time together again ^_^ Just yesterday we managed to more or less finish off ~MysteriousFayth's Ikuto cosplay (Shugo Chara!). Just small details left to do now I think.
I've almost finished styling my new and improved Temari (Naruto) wig. It's starting to come along nicely now, but I need more wefts so have to go out shopping before I can do any more on it. I've also almost completed Rip van Winkle (Hellsing), just need to wait for the wig to arrive so I can style it, buy and sew on the buttons on her blazer, make gloves, buy glasses.. and of course make her musket.. That will be a challenge. Though it might be easier than I think, I haven't really looked at it yet, so haven't started planning how to do it
Making a start in Rider's (Fate/Stay Night) clothes today, so hopefully the black parts will be done. Have still to buy pruple fabric. Once that is done all that's left is wait for the wig.

We also did a few photo shoots. We had plans for a Temari shoot as well, but I didn't manage to complete the wig in time But Temari is coming out for a shoot in London in May, so she's not too sad about it XD We did manage to do a photo shoot of my Saria (Legend of Zelda) cosplay and my Amelia Lydia (original character, some might remember the ball gown I used at Amecon and on the Expo "ball" in October?). We found a beautiful photo shoot location just a few minutes walk from where I live. A quite big forest, snow was undisturbed (and not to mention deep! I sunk down to over my knees several times... [link]
Even the weather decided to be on out side a few days. It wasn't quite what I had hoped for, but it could've been worse. At least the temperature was only a few degrees below zero, and there was little or no wind, so I could stay in my cosplays for a while before getting too cold. Though some of the pictures needs editing because my fingers look bright red XD Bright red fingers and winter pale skin doesn't go too well together Though the white dress looks so beautiful against the white snow and trees, so I'm really happy with the pictures, having to go cold a little was worth it! The things one do for cosplay! XD Pictures will be posted over the next few days once I've looked though them and done some editing.

Anyway, I've got so many ideas for photo shoots now! I just need to complete the cosplays and outfits the ideas belong to.. And either wait for when I can visit Fayth or he can come over here again. I really hope I can get to visit him in Scotland soon, as (amongst other reasons of course! XD) my Black Rose cosplay is at his place, and I've got no good pics of her. I worked too hard on her for not having any good pics, and I'm worried she'll be ruined before I get the chance, as she is very fragile and is just stored away on a loft now :S


Clubs:
http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/23951694/ Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:19:15 PDT
Haven’t got much to update with though. Since I started my new job in January I’ve been sick a lot of the time. My immune system was not used to the bacteria in the nursery, so I’ve sick more or less all the time. Luckily not sick enough to be away from work , but all energy have been drained from me. All I’ve done is work - go home and sleep – wake up and have dinner – watch TV for a bit - go to bed and sleep some more. I'm hoping I'm through it all now, as I can't think of anything I haven't suffered from already XD Having been sick so much have also kept me from spending as much time with my friends as I've wanted to, so whenever I've felt like I've had some energy I've tried to catch up with them Like Friday night we spent some hours playing in the snow. I've found this GREAT hill just a few minutes walk from my house that's great for sledging, snowboarding and such Much fun were had Monday we'll go snowboarding And yes, we've got a lot of snow atm! I can't see anything out my windows because my apartment is on the ground floor, and the snow from the road have been moved into a huge pile right in front of my windows.. Nice view eh?  [link] It's also a pain working in the nursery with all this snow. The kids can just walk over the fences and run away. And those fences are tall! Usually. So we’re stuck spending most of the time counting the kids to make sure we’ve got them all.

Needless to say, but because of above mentioned reasons my cosplays have suffered a great deal from this. I originally had 4 cosplays planned for the coming May's Expo. Which normally wouldn't been a problem seeing as I started so early. But my serious lack of energy has kept me from working on them. I've got a few bits and pieces done, but all in all I've come very short on all of them. So I have to change my priorities a bit. At the moment I'm focusing on completing Rider from Fate/Stay Night and Rip van Winkle from Hellsing, as those are the ones I've actually got something done on. Might be able to more or less finish Rip in the next few days. Then I’ll just have to buy a few things like wig, fangs, glasses and gloves. Will also have to make the musket but I'll do that during Easter. I've finished Rider's weapon, and I've got most of the materials needed for her outfit. I ordered the wig yesterday, so just have to wait for it to arrive now. I'm also hoping I can finish Astaroshe Aslan in time for May. And I've started working on her. I've also got more or less everything I need in order to finish her. But she's complicated and has a lot of detailing, so I might not have enough time. Also I don't want her to look rushed.. But fingers crossed!

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/22379063/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/22379063/ Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:36:24 PST
Anyway, as the title promises I'm finally back! I've been without a decent internet connection for ages, so I'll be busy replying to messages, comments, questions and emails for a while now. If you have something I haven't replied to within the next few days (most likely emails), resend it, as it's most likely lost between all the spam.. >.<

Well, this new year certainly gave some new starts for me! I'm currently sitting in my new, quite big (comparing to what I've been used to living in), but rather empty, apartment. So whenever I can afford it I'll have to go shopping for furniture, a fridge and a stove.. And lots more, but those are the most important things right now XD At least the winter in Northern-Norway is good for something, I have a huge deep freezer right outside my window. So at least I can keep things cold/frozen. It's heating them up again that's my current problem
Anyway; new apartment, new furniture, and I'm starting my new job on Monday. Wish me luck!

Oh, and I got a sewing machine for my birthday from my parents, so that means I can start working on my cosplays again pretty soon too! YAY!

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/22090022/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/22090022/ Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:09:03 PST

There's been some changes since the last update. I'm back in Norway now. Staying at my parent's for Christmas. The 2nd or 3rd of January I will go back to Tromsø, which is where I lived before going to Scotland.

I've got both a job and an apartment now. I still don't quite believe that! Mostly because of how it happened. I came to Norway last Sunday (almost a week ago now), spent the Sunday at my brother's place in Oslo, before going further north to my parents the following day. Dumped my luggage there, packed a new, small bag, and early Tuesday morning I was off to Tromsø. Got to spend the day with most of my friends, which was great! On Wednesday I had a job interview. It lasted less than 30 minutes, including the tour of the nursery XD As it turns out, I had already got the job before the interview. So I didn't even have to answer any questions, just sign the contract, yey! Also it turned out that the nursery's secretary's son had an apartment just up the road from the nursery (about a 5 minutes walk) that he wanted to rent out. So the secretary took me up there after the "interview", apartment looked amazing, and I got it! Best part is that it's so close, so I can sleep longer in the nornings So within an hour I had both a job and an apartment! And not to mention it was all within 4 days since I got back to the country Tgough it's all thanks to a great friend of mine that already works there. She had said a thing or three about me, and luckily the manager believed her. Now I'll just have to live up to the expectations *lol*
So yeah, lots of good things, and it is good beeing back here. But I really do wish I could stay back in Scotland. I hate being back in a distant relationship. And it will have to stay like that for at least a year and a half

Anyway, I hope you all will have a Happy Christmas! And I'll see yous in January Happy New Year aswell, if I don't manage to get online again to write a "Happy New Year" update.

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/21760632/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/21760632/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:03:53 PST
This last 5 months have both ups and downs, but definitely more ups! I miss having my own place, my own kitchen and my own bathroom. Going from that to sharing a tiny house with 4 others have been quite the challenge for me! Something poor Greg knows all about XD (Sorry about that ^_^") For those who doesn't know, I've been living with my boyfriend at his parent's place. But I've still enjoyed it, and would do it all again if I could! Living in another country for a while is highly recommended! So interesting and fun to live in a new culture and eat new types of food (though I can understand why the British kitchen isn't famous for being the best one *tease tease* ). I've also had the chance to visit several places I've probably never got to see if I didn't live here.
I've also had the chance to spend quite some time in Edinburgh lately, a lot of that time was spent underground in the Edinburgh Vaults (one of the most haunted places in Europe - maybe the world, according to BBC) and at the graveyards. Ghost Hunts are fun and highly recommended, even if you dont believe in ghosts! We didn't get to experience much paranormal activity, but the stories told by the guides were brilliant, scary, entertaining and very educational at the same time! Me and Greg will spend another night in Edinbugh before I leave, as I'm leaving from Edinburgh. So we'll try out one of the Auld Reekies tours [link] . Previously we've been on the Mercat Tours [link] and a Black Heart tour [link] . Greg wants to join a Vaults Vigil at some point. I don't know if I'm brave enough to sit though a whole night in a haunted place, with all kinds of high tech equipment, waiting for proof of paranormal activity. But I really want to, so I'm trying to find the courage, Wish me luck XD

Good things about going back to Norway is that I'll hopefully find a job pretty soon, and I'll have my own place soon. "My own" meaning "no parents of any kind", seing as I'm hoping I, and will find a place and rent together. Maybe more of our friends will join us aswell! *scenes from "Friends" come to mind* *LOL* I'm going to miss Greg very, very much. I really thought we were over having a distant relationship, but no I'll just have to try to focus on the good sides, and look forward to the next time I get to see him, whenever that will be. And really enjoy myself the two remaining weeks.

Anyway, my own place means I can go back to working on my cosplays again. Which is needed as I've got some pretty challenging cosplays coming up next year. One is secret atm, as I don't know when it's for and I'll be a part of a group, but I think it's the one I'm looking most forward to doing atm. I just hope I can pull it off, as it will be nothing like anything I've made before.. :S Another challenging one will be Astaroshe Aslan from Trinity Blood, which hopefully will be finished for the May Expo. But I don't want to rush it and end up with a bad cosplay as a result, so it's not a promise that it will be done by May. Got some easier cosplays listed up aswell, just to I can relax working on some easier tasks in between.


Upcoming cosplays:
May Expo:

Amulet... ]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/21368647/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/21368647/ Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:59:59 PST
It's already been almost two weeks since the Expo, but I've been busy with... sleeping and being lazy in general. It's amazing how little energy one get from having nothing to do..

As for the Expo, it was a blast! I had such a great weekend! It's been too long sice I last had been at an Expo, so it's been missed. I can't even begin to compare this Expo and the last ones I've been to (apart from JapanEx in 2007, it would be the Oct Expo in 2006 o.O)So much has changed in such a short time. Now it's a LOT bigger, a LOT more people and a lot less Sci Fi and Horror dealers, which is both a good and a bad thing: it's going to be missed because it was easy to find birthday and Christmas presents for my brothers there. A good thing because it leaves more space for anime-related stalls ^_^ Another thing that has changed is the cosplayers. The skill level is so impressively much higher than it was just a few years back! I'll have to start working a lot harder to be able to keep up with everyone ^_^'

Anyway, can't write much about the Friday, as me and Greg didn't get to the hotel untill midnight, so our Friday was spent packing and getting there. When we got to the hotel we just checked in, fixed some props that had been damaged due to being squashed in the bag and then we went to bed.

Saturday we got up early, hurried to Asda to get some food for the weekend. Apparently not many cosplayers visit Asda, as my green Saria wig got a lot of attention XD Went back to the hotel and got ready for the Expo. I cosplayed Saria, and Greg cosplayed a Poe, both from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The day was spent mostly walking about looking at the stalls, posing for pictures and making a new world record XD ("the largest gathering of people dressed up as video game characters") The record is now 377 people

Even though me and Greg got there quite early we still didn't manage to get tickets for the Msquerade, so when that started we went back to the hotel to relax a bit before getting ready for the so called 'Ball'.
Don't get me wrong, I had a great time at the 'Ball'! Met people I haven't seen in a long time and I really enjoyed it. But calling that event a 'Ball' was just complete fail. The music played was not fitting for a ball (though, I don't think SOMA was as bad as people say they were. They won't be a favourite of mine! But I do think people have gone a bit overboard when it comes to all the hate comments against them!). The dinner we were supposed to get to tiny to be called anything else than an appetizer. That coming from me, who generally don't eat much, says a lot. It was also served when 's band were playing. So I missed out on about half of their gig >.< I am so happy I decided to just reuse my ball dress from the Amecon ball, as I think I would've been quite upset if I had spent any money on a new ball gown! After the ball me and Greg went with :sjbonnar:, and friends to their hotel room for drinks and laughs ^_^ I guess I owe them some alchomehol now, will make up for it the next time XD

Sunday was.. awesome! Greg cosplayed as L from Death Note, and I dressed up as Aurora Ebeltoft, an original character from 's novel "The Flight of the Valkyrie". The crew consisted of as Bjorn "Swiss" Hauptmann, as Lieutenant Carles Christophe Davenport, as Count Louis de Theudubert, http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/21120361/ Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:57:53 PDT
Can't wait for this weekend! Will be good seeing people again, and meeting new people! And even if I had to make my entire Steampuk outfit by hand, it still turned out surprisingly well. ^_^ Though, I am sure something will fall apart. My money is on the gun holser.. :S I just hope it will last till the Masquerade is finished..

Also: Apologises to those of you who I owe emails and replies to. I haven't forgot! As you can see I've been pretty busy lately. Will try to get it done today ^_^


Cosplays for the weekend:
~ Saturday: Saria - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
~ Ball: Original character (look out for me in a big, white Victorian style dress)
~ Sunday: Aurora Ebeltoft - Original Steampunk character from sjbonnar's "Flight of the Valkyrie"

]]> *mtani http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/20894064/ http://mtani.deviantart.com/journal/20894064/ Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:20:10 PDT 1. Post the rules
2. Answer each question truthfully
3. Tag 3-5 people at the end

+++

1. What was your first cosplay? (Think hard on this)
My first "proper" cosplay was San from Mononoke Hime and Temari from Naruto's first outfit. They were made at the same time for the London Expo October 2005. But for Halloween in 2004 I made a Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 cosplay. I don't really count this as it was bad looking (made in a day or so XD), and it was worn only for a night with friends. I'll probably remake it someday as I like Shampoo XD

2. Did someone get you into cosplay? Or on your own?
I managed that on my own XD I've always been interested in costumes, and when I got into manga and anime and saw the fantastic costume designs... Well, there was no turning back.. I went to my first London Expo SOLELY because there was supposed to be cosplays there XD

3. What is your favourite cosplay?
My Shippuuden Temari. Atm she is the only cosplay I'm really happy with. After having spent a long time working on her AFTER having used her at a con, I'm no finally happy with her and can't find anything that needs to be improved.. ^_^'

4. Which is your least favourite?
Hmm... I think that will have to be Temari's 1st outfit. The white one.. I just never managed to get it right.. >.<

5. At conventions, do people compliment you on your cosplays? (Unless you're a closet cosplayer you can skip this one)
Yeah, I get compliments, and they really make my day! Makes me soooo happy

6. How many have you done?
Hmm... *wonders what to include* Ok, skipping other costumes I've done and only counting the ones I've done recent years: a hobbit - Lord of the Rings, San - Mononoke Hime, Temari 1st outfit - Naruto, Temari 3rd outfit - Shippuuden Naruto, Amane Misa - Death Note, Nanasawa Kimiko - MegaTokyo, Saria - Legend of Zelda, Black Rose - .Hack//, Amelia Lydia II - Original character, Aurora Ebeltoft (almost complete) - Original Steampunk character in a story by . I don't *really* count the two last ones as cosplays, but oh well That makes a grand total of... 10.. I feel I need to work harder XD

7. What are the top 5 on your list of "Want to Cosplay"?
Oh wow.. Hard question as I haven't really found many dream cosplays yet.. But from the top of my head:
1. Rutela the Zora Queen - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (if that fails: Ruto from Ocarina of Time )
2. Midna, imp form - Twilight Princess
3. Astaroshe Aslan, artbook version - Trinity Blood (my next big project)
4. one of the female characters from Fire Emblem. But there are so many pretty character designs, so I haven't really made up my mind as to who yet...
5. Midna, human form - Twilight Princess
Boo! I want a longer list! There are so many I want to cosplay! XD

8. What female cosplay do you want to do most?
Queen Rutela. I have never seen her cosplayed before. And she's so pretty!

9. What male cosplay do you want to do most?
Hmm.. For some reason I haven't thought of any crossplays yet, simply because there have always been so many female characters catching my attention.... Oh! LIES! I just remembered I REALLY want to cosplay the male versions of the Black Mages and Thieves in Final Fantasy - Crystal Chronicles games ^_^

10. What do you prefer to do, make or buy your costumes?
I make them. Even my first costume was home made XD I just love the process of making a costume, you learn so much!And I have to admit; when people compliment me for a cotume I've made myself.. That makes me proud

11. Your most memorable experience? What makes it so memorable?
Hmm... Oh! At an October Expo in 2006, I was wearing my Temari 1st version cosplay when this girl who couldn't speak approached me. I can't use sign language, but she made it pretty clear she wanted a picture of me. Just as she had taken it her mom or guardian person came and told her to get next to me so we could be together in the picture. When I gave her my fan so she could pose with it on the picture she actually got so happy she got tears in her eyes! o.O When they left her mum told me that Temari was her favourite character of all time, and she had been stalking me for a while, but been too shy to ask for a picture ^_^ It felt so good having been a part of making someone so ha... ]]> *mtani