Freed Creations

It’s crazy to believe a whole month ago already I was in Seattle at ! As I mentioned in my lineup post, 2025 marks the 20 year anniversary of my first anime convention ever, SakuraCon 2005, waaay back when it was still in a little hotel conference center. A lot has certainly changed over the years at this con, and it was fun to see some stages of growth along the way. Personally, I would still prefer the convention stay in one building because the 8 minute walk to get to the Summit building was a struggle with so many things back to back! But it is cool to see the ‘little con that could’ still booming.

On Friday I got to wear the same cosplay (well, one of them!) that I wore back in 2005, Anna Kyoyama from Shaman King. There was only one person who recognized my cosplay (a bit of a surprise to me, with the remake released so recently), but he really liked it which added to the good feelings around it. I was so busy I failed to get good photos (for most everything), but I hope to get some of Anna in the near future. Thank you for these pretty photos of my Sakura Kitsune, though! The sun came out just for a little bit.

I had a really wonderful time both in working at the booth (we’ll be at too!) and spending time with my friends local and far flung (congrats again Kictor and Stitch!! I’m soooo excited for you two!). I got to introduce my bestie Vahnel to anime conventions by throwing him into the deep end that is Sak and watching his eyes go kira kira, and ate lots of tasty food (I will dream of the flakiness of The Hart and The Hunter’s biscuits forever). I also learned some fun things at the few panels I did manage to make it to! I still wish I could have attended the ‘Ballgowns for Cheaters’ panel, but was thwarted by the convention center evacuation from the (in)famous Cheesecake Factory fire.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my ramblings! Did you attend Saku ’25? What was your favorite part (or parts!)? I hope to meet more of you (and see lots of you again) at more cons in the future!
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Happy Valentine's Day! Remember that love has many forms, not just romance—if you are single that does NOT mean you aren't loved ♥ Share some hugs today, maybe even with a fuzzy friend!

Featuring pal-entine gal-entines Draculara and Rochelle from last year's Sweet 1600 shoot with , 📷 by Jason Rocheleau. Can you tell it was FREEZING and windy? 🤣
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