"I wanna see mountains again, mountains Gandalf!"

This might be almost three weeks late, but considering how important my experiences in Iceland have been to my creativity...I felt it was important to share with you what happened on that beautiful island. Not only did it give me wonderful memories but it was also a revival.

About a year ago, Midgard 2018 was announced. It was going to be Iceland’s first all-inclusive convention. When I heard about it I couldn’t help but to be get interested, I have for a long time wanted to see Iceland, and also it would be a once in a life time experience to attend a the first convention in a country that has until now only had smaller nerd-related events. I finally decided when a good friend of mine also wanted to go AND I got a place to stay in Reykjavik: Midgard 2018 would be the first con in a long time I would go to as an attendee!

Leaving Scandinavia and arriving in this colder, but so beautiful, country was amazing: Reykjavik was beautiful, the country side was Skyrim and Middle Earth rolled into one, the hot springs were wonderful….and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what the country has to offer! Two days filled with sightseeing and photoshoots even made me forget that there was a convention…ironically, since it was just for that convention we decided to go!

Two dorks, climbing a mountain!

The first day of Midgard, we simply relaxed and looked around at the con: it was small, but organized! For a first con they sure had several interesting guest and artists, amongst them was Brian Muir: a sculptor that has worked with the Star Wars franschise, creating Darth Vaders costume (from Ralph McQuarrie’s design). We walked around, looking at what the artists had to offer and even attended one of the lectures. Then we finished the day early, decided to take it easy and get ready for tomorrow: then it was time to cosplay!

We even got goodie bags!

The final-day of Midgard we went with our cosplays: Fabian went with his Pettsson and Findus cosplay, I went with Avatar Kyoshi. And here…I’m going to be honest: I was nervous, maybe even scared, when I started on my make-up. There are several reasons to that: it was long ago since I last wore this costume so I felt rusty putting on the make-up. Even if I like this costume I couldn’t help but to look at all the small details I wasn’t happy with. Nowadays I’m more used to working and not cosplaying at conventions but of course….I was joining the cosplay competition. Signing up for it was actually not my idea, one of the organizers just suggested it since it would be more fun if more cosplayers joined. I was hesitant as this cosplay wasn’t really competition material, but I gave in when they said “it’s just for fun”. Now the day had come. Putting it on first made me uneasy.However: it all changed when I got it all on.

Walking around the con felt great, it felt so nice to take on the role of an amazing character and be in the middle of geeky environment. Then came everyone that wanted to take pictures and looked in awe….it had been too long since someone complimented me for a costume at a con. Everytime I couldn’t help but to crack a smile and compliment back in SOME way! Then came the competition. Just going back-stage to see everyone’s amazing cosplays was fun, to talk and to get excited and nervous together made it better…then I got out on the stage.

4 years had passed since I competed with a cosplay, 2 of those years I had a cosplay depression and just wasn’t happy with what I created. Sure, the depression ended when I learned to appreciate cosplay as art, and also when I learned what killed my love for making cosplays: but now finally…I was on stage again. Walking out, people were cheering and I struck two poses. I felt excitement and was so happy to be up there, I’ve missed the stage so much and even if the stage was far from Sweden: I felt at home. But it wasn’t enough for me, I decided to get closer to the audience and started to wave my hands, telling them to cheer for me more. “Louder” I thought, “louder, it’s been TOO long!”. And they cheered higher. I struck two more poses, and then got off….feeling like a thousand splendid suns.

Afterwards more people came up and gave me compliments, telling me I should win or that I was their favorite. I was smiling like an idiot. After 15 minutes, they announced the winners: I didn’t even place. People told me it was not right, but I didn’t care.

Since, I did actually win. I got to get up on stage and get people to smile. I was proven wrong: my costume was actually competition material, since I had fun.

Afterwards we had to get back to get some sleep, we had to take an early flight the next day. I had trouble sleeping since I was so excited…it didn’t get easier when Fabian (who was a judge for the competition) told me that Brian Muir sat next to him as a fellow judge. Apparently he gave me a 9 out of 10. I was stunned…one of the creators of Darth Vader’s costume liked my cosplay and stage presence? And I was so hard on myself before the competition. It’s incredible how one can think so low on oneself, when other look and just smile at you.

On an early bus back to the airport, filled with people either half or completely asleep…while I was looking out the window, I was thinking about what this unexpected journey has given me. With a warm feeling in my heart, a tear going down my cheek…I smiled.

One day, I will return

We had this photoshoot in the beginning of 2015, so it was REALLY cold when we took outdoor photos. But yet we lived to tell the tale, and get some great photos as well. Nana is one of my favorite series, it got it down with great characters, lovely story and wonderful art style. Gothenburg is far from Tokyo, but we still felt that it would do fine for a setting. I choose to cosplay as Takumi since I at least physically fit him well: tall and long black hair. 

Photos taken by Peter Berglund

In 2014, I got an offer to work as a butler at Banzaicon...but they told me the dresscode was yukatas or kimonos. Therefore I decided to make a kimono, so I could have some sewing practice and make a kimono with a special design not found in store. Luckily enough, I finished the kimono just in time for the cherry blossom blooming at Järntorget in Gothenburg so me and my friend decided to go for a photo shoot.

I'm really happy with the results

A friend of mine had gathered a cosplay group for Närcon 2013, the theme was "musicals". And by then I just recently saw Rocky Horror Picture Show and I fell in LOVE with the movie! So I decided to join as Doctor Frank N Furter, since he was my favorite character. Still love this cosplay, since it's incredibily fun to be in character as Frank.

Photos by Artano Photography

Ever since I attended conventions, I really wanted to try making my own costumes but never took the time to learn since I thought I couldn't do it right. But in the spring of 2013, I decided to give it a shot and the result was a uniform worn by the caroleans: the elite soldiers of Sweden in the early 18th century. Not by any means perfect, but still proud of what I accomplished on my first try.