[Remilia Cosplay] Touhou Project, The Scarlet and White Aristocrat in the Dark Night

This time, I finally shot the Remilia photo set I've been longing for. Before, I always felt the hardest part of restoring this character was her arrogant yet slightly playful aristocratic temperament, so I put a lot of thought into the makeup and wig styling. The light blue wig needed to be combed to achieve a fluffy and layered effect. Coupled with a large area of white ruffles and a deep red ribbon mob cap, it took nearly an hour just to arrange the headpiece. The costume went through several revisions during the tailoring stage. To make the ruffles on the collar fall naturally rather than looking heavy, breathable hard mesh was padded inside; the gradient red ribbons on the cuffs were also hand-sewn, with each one aligned individually for spacing. When I put on the whole outfit and sat in front of the mirror, I was moved by this level of exquisiteness.

The shooting venue was chosen in a classical indoor setting. The background used a large area of ice blue wavy wrinkled fabric, which happened to form a strong visual color contrast with the red tablecloth. In terms of props, we filled a table with a vintage silver multi-headed candlestick, drooping pearl necklaces, glass bottles filled with amber liquid, bright red fruits, and a few crow models—instantly maxing out the dark Gothic style cosplay vibe. This layout not only enriched the details of the frame but also gave the entire scene a sense of narrative. For lighting, blue-purple fill lights were used to simulate the night, and real candles were lit in the candlestick, making the firelight reflecting on my face exceptionally atmospheric. Since the candles were burning, the shooting process had to be tense and efficient because the candle wax would drip, and we had to be careful with those fragile glass bottles and candlesticks; we were practically racing against time.

Standing in front of that gorgeous high-backed chair, the line "Boring, I want to see a sea of blood" popped into my mind. The most satisfying part of cosplaying this kind of slightly dark and fully fleshed-out character is that you can completely immerse yourself in the character without feeling overly artificial; you just need to nail down that calm yet sly posture. To make my gaze look more focused, I could only half-squat/half-blink my eyes in front of the lens and adjust the shadows on my brow bone. Especially when holding that silver little prop, I had to control the angle of my arms and the force of my fingers—not too tight to look stiff, but not too casual to lose presence.

During photo editing, I didn't deliberately smooth out the skin to erase real textures; instead, I preserved the skin texture and light-to-shadow transitions, giving the final photos a sense of realism and immersion. Some people might think that doing a Touhou Project cosplay just means putting on the character's clothes, but actually, the whole workflow of costumes, makeup, props, set design, lighting, and post-processing can influence the emotion expressed by the final frame. Although I prepared for nearly two weeks for this cosplay photoshoot—from trimming the wig to gathering the props, to tweaking the makeup on the day—and spent a lot of energy, the sense of achievement upon seeing the final photos is irreplaceable. I hope the atmosphere conveyed through the lens lets everyone feel the unique charm of this character.