[Toyosatomimi no Miko Cosplay] Summer, Botanical Gardens, and Memories of Mosquito-Bitten Legs

These photos are from over ten years ago; back then, doing Cosplay really didn't have as many intricate standards as today. There weren't high-quality, budget-friendly, exquisite makeup and styling options like now. Wigs were basically raw base wigs that we trimmed casually before daring to put on our heads, and costumes were made by tailors who just looked at reference images and made rough estimates—it was all about \"roughly resembling it and making do.\"

The ecosystem back then was quite interesting, too. Releasing photoshoots was mostly done on Weibo, with occasional posts on Tieba. Buying and selling second-hand cosplay outfits meant squatting in Tieba transaction threads; a convention ticket costing 25 RMB could get us excited for a long time, and hiring a makeup artist was ridiculously cheap. What I miss most is our physical stamina back then—shooting outdoors in midwinter wearing miniskirts and tank tops, shivering violently while toughing it out for half a day, or waking up at 3 or 4 AM to do makeup and struggle with wigs just to catch the early morning convention entry. We didn't feel tired at all; our minds were completely fueled by passion for two-dimensional culture.

Looking at this set of photos, the location was Chengdu Botanical Garden. It was sweltering in the summer, and because we chose forest paths and grassy bushes, mosquitoes were literally flying around like bombers. When I got home after the shoot, my family looked at my legs in shock and asked why I came home wearing \"pork belly stockings.\" Indeed, I remember it vividly—my left and right legs were bitten 41 and 38 times respectively, densely covered in red spots. Looking at these photos now, I feel as if I can still recall that itchy sensation.

However, having practiced Cosplay for so many years, growing older has its benefits. Economically, things are much more comfortable now; buying gear, booking photographers, and finding high-spec studio shoots (Cosplay photography) are all much freer, so I don't have to skimp on myself just to save a few dozen RMB like in the old days. More importantly, the friends who played with me back then are still around. Just like the duo photo in this set, me and \"Er Shen Zi\" in the picture—the close friend who cosplayed Mononobe no Futo from Touhou Shinreibyō ~ Ten Desires. alongside me in this Toyosatomimi no Miko cosplay set—still have a fantastic relationship today and often get together for cosplay. This bond extending from the two-dimensional realm into real life is truly the most precious gift Cosplay has given me.

Looking back at these Old photo memories again, even though current camera equipment and post-processing technology overwhelmingly surpass those of that era, that sincere state—a bit clumsy yet giving it all—is something very hard to retrieve today. This is probably what people call \"nostalgia.\"