A cat-eared maid holding a musket is the perfect pronoun for contrast. The cool night lighting paired with the red and blue light effects of the weapons makes the overall temperament look very cold and detached. The most frustrating part during the shoot was that long rifle; if the range of motion was slightly too large, it would clash with various props. Because this setting carries a bit of an armed maid flavor, when choosing the costume, I specially picked a long maid dress with a rather Victorian style. The white front apron coupled with the richly layered skirt hem gives the lower hem a very natural flow when walking. The paired black high heels and sheer white stockings are also key to creating this sense of elegance mixed with a hint of assassination sleekness.
For this set of night photos, a lot of communication went into the lighting setup. Since the background was a stretch of dark modern buildings, direct lighting with a regular flash would look exceptionally harsh, so the photographer used a bluish-white side-backlight to outline the silhouette, creating a beautiful halo around the edges of the fluffy cat ears and tail. This long rifle reflected beautifully at night, and paired with the LED lightsword in hand, the intense blue and white light formed a visual leading line in the dark-toned frame. Shooting this set was actually much more grueling than expected. Although the maid dress looks exquisite, the layers of ruffles combined with the weight bearing of the cat tail made my waist a bit sore after standing for a long time. Especially when wielding that rifle, if the angle wasn't right, the barrel would plunge straight into the folds of the skirt hem, instantly making the frame look very bulky. During the shoot, I intentionally made the movements a bit larger, using the inertia of the flaring skirt to complement the natural swaying of the cat tail, which allowed us to snap those relatively extended and graceful moments in the final photos.
Regarding the makeup and hairstyle, with the silver-gray wig and the texture of the eye makeup, we tried our best to lean toward a cool and detached direction. Because the character design is a combination of a maid and an assassin musketeer, that slightly aloof gaze suits the red, white, and black costume combination much better than a simple, sweet smile. The environment for this night shoot was a real urban outdoor setting; the floor tiles on the ground had slight textured reflections, which, paired with the blue bokeh in the lens, made the overall atmosphere that of a classical maid warrior in a modern city. This collision of modern and vintage elements actually turned out quite effective. Whether it was the wood grain details of the musket prop or the bright LED lines of the lightsword, they all became great visual memory points for this photo set.
The hand postures for holding the gun and gripping the sword were also meticulous: they shouldn't be too forceful to look rigid, nor too loose to look weak; they needed to snap exactly onto the props' center of gravity so that the photos would look effortless. Even during post-processing tweaks, besides basic color correction, it was mostly about cleaning up tiny gaps in the skirt folds caused by over-vigorous movements, trying to keep the attire as clean and neat as possible. Securing the wig and cat ears is also a science; to prevent them from shifting positions when tossing my head, I used quite a few small black bobby pins to secure them. Although it hurt a bit when taking them off, for the sake of the final photo effects, all this hard work was quite worth it. Holding this red long rifle in hand felt very substantial, and paired with the white skirt hem, it provided a strong visual impact, which fit the sleek atmosphere I wanted. The ruffles, red bow tie, and black hairbands of the maid outfit—these small detail embellishments—also preserved the character's inherent gentle undertone. Shooting a cool-toned piece at night makes the feeling of interwoven light exceptionally magical; when that blue glowing sword swept through the darkness, it felt as if it were truly being wielded in the night wind, leaving behind beautiful trailing light effects.