2025 Cos-Plans

With 2024 coming to a close, and 2025 just under a week away, it was time to finally write down my goals and plans related to cosplay for 2025. This year is looking to be a much busier year for me in terms of cosplay... assuming I can actually get it all done. It will certainly test my time-management and productivity. Lets start with a few lists, and then dive into the details from there!

COSTUMES

• Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII from Final Fantasy IX

• Chibiusa / Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon

• Terra Branford (as illustrated by Sakizou) from Final Fantasy VI

• Ginko Yurishiro from YuriKuma Arashi

• BONUS: Marcille Donato (wig) from Delicious in Dungeon,

CONVENTIONS

• Anime Los Angeles - Long Beach, CA

• Rose City ComicCon - Portland, OR

• YoumaCon - Detroit, MI

COSPLAY ADJACENT

• Digital Build Books project (continued from 2024)

• Photograph retired/for sale costumes

• Learn Self Portraiture

• Compile and upload my various Cosplay Skits from pre-2020

• List Other items for sale on Etsy (wigs, trims, fabrics, etc)

So, lets get into the nitty-gritty, shall we!

Starting with COSTUMES --

Princess Garnet - Deadline: July This July will be the 25th anniversary of the release of Final Fantasy IX. I have had the white fabric for this costume for at least 8 years now, probably longer, I've actually lost count. The intent to make her has been in the back of my mind so long that at one point she was being reserved for Competition, and NOW her design is one I don't feel is strong enough to stand up to the design expectations in the competition scene these days. But, she's in my stash, and I finally have a perfect excuse to follow through. It was also pointed out to me that she would be a decent fit for competing at Rose City, and since my PERSONAL deadline for is July, the timing is perfect to submit her for Rose City.  Chibiusa / Serenity - Deadline: September I started Serenity as a 'speed build' out of mostly stash and leftovers back in 2023. I am not a speed Builder, so obviously I didn't finish, and it got set aside again. I had to intention for her initially... and then I was struck with a solo idea, and so she has been elevated to a Competition costumes. If she gets accepted to the competition I have in mind, I will also get to check off an item from my Cosplay Bucket List.  

Sakizou Terra - Deadline: October Terra is my Primary build for the year. I am giving myself a full 9 months (Almost) to build it, and plan to start on her in some capacity as soon as I'm back from ALA. With all the details and accessories on her, the goal is to start by working on things like wig, shoes, capes, jewelry, props... there are so many pieces, and knowing me I will need to be able to set it aside periodically and come back to it later, so I don't burn out working on a single project. I've never given myself this long of a build-time, but I think it's necessary. 

Ginko Yurishiro: Deadline: December My last project of the year, which I likely won't even start until October at the earliest (and November is more likely). This one is actually for ALA 2026 with Kymchi Cosplay as Lulu for funsies. This is also from stash materials, and actually my only costume for 2025 that isn't intended to ever be used in a competition setting. ... I am Not Allowed to overthink/overcomplicate her into a competition piece. I'm NOT. This could also change into being Kureha instead of Ginko, if we found a 3rd who would like to be Ginko (I don't personally have a preference.)  Now, about CONVENTIONS -- I know, that was a pretty small list. But, it's for a good reason. A couple years back, I told myself that I would save money for exactly ONE air-travel convention per year, and otherwise stick to local regional conventions. This was decided in conjunction with my decision to aim for an international preliminary every year.

for 2025, my International Prelim of choice will be at YoumaCon in Detroit. I decided this way back in the summer, and the dates for this year will most likely overlap EXACTLY with KumoriCon's dates. That's a first, but it soundly eliminates KumoriCon from my options. Now that I am no longer working for SakuraCon, I would need to completely pay my own way if I still wanted to attend. Between the cost of gas, expensive Seattle Hotel and Parking, Rising badge prices... I realized that I could do that, OR I could pay a comparable cost (no, really) to go to ALA instead. It was a no-brainer for me, especially since there was nothing left to draw me to SakuraCon except friends that, for the most part, I could see in other circumstances. I have already mentioned that I will be unlikely to attend SakuraCon again in the future, and this alternative just gives me more reasons not to.

As much as I would like to check out ECCC Someday, I would prefer to do so while participating in something with the Crown prelim... and since I have nothing to submit for this year, I will probably be passing on that as well this time. (If I'm not successful with Terra at her intended competition this year, I will likely submit her to Crown for 2026) Since many of the Smaller Events in the PNW have Issues and I don't want to support them, that basically leaves FanExpo (which doesn't interest me for it's lack of a cosplay contest) and my final choice for the year: Rose City Comic Con.

I went to RCCC one year (2017), and have wanted to go back for some time, but it's been poorly timed relative to other commitments. This year, I have a costume plan that wasn't Intended for competition, but I could definitely enter her there. It just seemed like a good match to fill out my schedule. All of this said, I'm hoping that I'll be able to attend some smaller gatherings in the PNW throughout the year, and possibly take some trips up to Seattle for non-convention related adventures (visiting friends, photoshoots, etc) 

When it comes to the Cosplay Adjacent list, most of this is carry-over from 2024.

I have slowly chipped away at the build books of old projects, but that means that I have a LOT of them in some state of progress, but very few Actually Finished. the Older projects are faster to put together as I have less photos, so the booklets are sparse. Costumes from about 2011 onward, I have a lot more progress photos, and a lot more to write about, so they require more work. I'd like to say "I'll do a couple per month" and while that would get me finished by the end of the year, it might also be unrealistic. So instead, I'm just going to do as many as I can, when I can, and see how far I get.

I never got around to learning to do self portraits, because in the whole process of moving, I still have not set up my Photo Space. I'm hoping I can change that sometime this year, but my spare room is currently being used as a combination of storage and transition space for things I need to sell but don't want to store in the garage, and periodically becoming a mess as I do things like photograph wigs. which brings me to the last point.

Photographing and listing things to sell. I did manage to get 3 of my costumes listed on Etsy before the end of 2024, but I have a whole new batch of things to photograph for sale now. I feel like this is something I can/should get done before trying to take photos of myself. As for compiling and uploading my old performance works... this is something I started during the CosPerformer instagram collab, but I just haven't finished it. I just want to be able to have copies of my own, that I don't have to worry about being lost to time. 

So, how do I plan to tackle all of it?

Since most of my planned events/deadlines all happen within the span of about 4 months, that means that the first half of the year I will need to be building for ALL of the projects at once. I am still in the middle of the changes from switching up my diet and exercise routine, and since I won't be wearing any of these new things until July at the soonest, I don't want to be making anything so far ahead of time that it could end up needing major alteration for fit by the time I have to wear it. That means that I'll be doing things in a sort of non-linear order.

My focus for the first 6 months of the year will be on pieces that don't require 'fitting', for all my costume plans (and there's plenty of that to keep me busy -- shoes, props, armor bits, at least 3 wigs, etc) with a secondary focus on "Fit-Flexible" pieces. Garnet's deadline is June 30th, and all of Garnet's gown will be made Fit-Flexible, with the bodice being a separate/lace-up piece, and the underskirts having draw-strings built into the waist in case they need to be taking a bit smaller. I'm sacrificing some design accuracies for these choices, but I'm ok with it. Sadly, this is the only costume in my lineup for the year that I can definitely make in Flexible Fit style. I've really thought it over and none of the methods I could think of really work on Terra or Serenity. I'm hoping by July and August I will have enough of the non-fit pieces done and can begin the foundational sewing work for Serenity and Terra; Serenity's Deadline is September, and Terra's final completion deadline is the end of October. I already started a lot of Serenity back in 2023, so I have a head-start on her. If I get accepted into a certain competition, I will be spending some of October (if Terra is Done Enough), and all of November and December working on the extras needed for that competition piece, as well as Yurikuma. Admittedly, Yurikuma will have to be my Last priority. 

It all sounds... like a lot when I lay it out like that but I'm hoping those first 6 months will be very productive, since I will not be crunching for SakuraCon in Spring (or needing recovery time after it). Realistically, all of these projects are in my wheel-House -- there's nothing Construction Wise that I have BIG doubts or concerns about. The most concerning are just things I haven't done Before, like the cupped bodice on Terra's dress, her Elizabethan standing collar, and having to hand-sew embellishments onto a pair of tights. Garnet is a number of things I've made many times before, and Serenity is a simple build that is all about the embellishments. There's an Aspect of Serenity I'm a BIT scared of if she's accepted into the competition I'm planning, but I will continue to research and cross that bridge when I get to it.

Oh... did I mention that I'm turning 40 this year? Here's hoping it's a good one!