Today, Dengbao and I completed our Kal'tsit cosplay and Mon3tr cosplay from Arknights at the HyperGryph Carnival venue; after a full day, our physical stamina was heavily drained, but our spirits remained soaring. To catch the early morning opening, we crawled out of bed past 6:00 AM to do our makeup. The wigs were restyled and set beforehand—especially Kal'tsit's white long hair, where the roots and strand direction were blow-dried meticulously, followed by generous styling spray to preserve volume at the crown. For eye makeup, to match Kal'tsit's cool, detached demeanor, I specifically selected highly pigmented green colored contacts, blended deep emerald tones at the outer corners of the eyes, applied dense lower lashes, and layered on blush to make my complexion appear more translucent on camera.
Dengbao's Mon3tr cosplay was genuinely true to the character: a black wig streaked with fluorescent-green highlights, crowned with custom resin horns that carried substantial weight—wearing them for hours definitely made the neck ache. As we strolled through the hall, our neon-green accents and iconic character traits prompted many fellow fans to recognize us. With everyone queuing up for joint photos, the two of us did our best to accommodate various posing requests. Gripping the stethoscope prop in hand, I maintained a solemn expression while Dengbao backed me up beside me; though we were giggling behind the scenes, we snapped into character the instant we stood before the lens in this Anime cosplay.
Speaking of which, the two of us actually shared a bed last night—mainly because we arrived near the convention center a day early, squeezing into a hotel room together to catch a little more sleep this morning. But we ended up chatting about today's shoot until midnight, so we were running purely on willpower today! Costume tailoring was also quite a test: the choker and harness straps on my outfit had their tension readjusted multiple times to sit comfortably against the skin, otherwise any movement would pinch red marks. While Dengbao's black leather suit looked extraordinarily cool, sweltering inside the hall all day meant it was soaked in sweat upon taking it off.
HyperGryph arranged this carnival with immense care, and the atmosphere across the venue was phenomenal. We encountered numerous talented cosplayers and photographers today, helping one another with fill lights and adjusting garments. During our rest break, we stopped by the Creator Support Project booths and admired tons of exquisite fan merchandise. Even though the venue was packed and temperatures ran high, everyone's heartfelt passion for Arknights was palpable.
Finally back at our stay, washing off makeup and showering felt like coming back to life. We took plenty of convention photos and selfies today; while retouched shots from the photographers will take a few days, I'm sharing these phone snaps first for everyone to see. For this Kal'tsit and Mon3tr duo, we poured deep care into styling and props, striving to express the authentic spirit of the characters. Over the next few days, I'll continue organizing and editing photos, and we plan to explore the expo again tomorrow. Resting up for tonight, and back to work at the carnival tomorrow!