[Eyja Cosplay] Arknights: Bringing You Back to That Summer's Poolside Memories

Shooting this set of Arknights Swimsuit cosplay featuring Eyja was actually something from early summer a few years ago. At the time, a friend happened to suggest producing a set of works by the water. After scouting locations, preparing props, and repeated discussions, we ultimately settled on shooting this theme titled 'Eyja Saves the World,' which led to the red-and-white gingham swimsuit series everyone sees now.

As a player who frequently goes on a Summer location shoot, I highly love these refreshing sessions that pack distinct element settings. To restore the nimbleness and playfulness the character brings to mind as much as possible, I actually agonized over the outfit pairings for a long time. For the hairstyle, I selected a light beige-grey long straight wig; this lighter hair color looks exceptionally soft under the harsh outdoor light by the pool. The white curled horns at the crown were custom handmade; to balance overall three-dimensional presence with wearing comfort, the internal skeleton utilized lightweight foam material, so it wouldn't easily collapse even when continuously moving around outdoors. The roots of the horns were matched with small pink flower accessories, serving as a bit of clever design to break up the pure white styling and concentrate the visual focus heavily on the head. That light brown plush tail behind me adopted a design with built-in shapeable soft iron wire; the varying curves you see in it were all manually adjusted bit by bit on set.

The core of the outfit is the red-and-white gingham off-shoulder swimsuit, coupled with a semi-sheer white organza blouse. The organza is lightweight with ruffle details, generating a highly elegant layered effect when hitting the water or catching the wind, adding a dash of ethereal magic and dreaminess to the originally ordinary swimwear. The dark brown magic wand held in my hand was crafted referencing the style of twisted old tree roots; although its texture appears rugged, it's actually exceptionally lightweight. Holding it perfectly balances the weight of the upper body, forming an intense visual contrast with the bright blue color blocks of the pool.

Since it was shot at an outdoor open-air pool, there was no extra fill-light equipment on set, relying entirely on natural daylight throughout. To capture that clean, transparent, high-key atmosphere, the photographer made many trade-offs with the camera parameters. The entire shooting process was actually quite grueling; the tiles along the pool's edge were rather slippery, requiring me to constantly maintain a relaxed expression and a lightweight body posture, heavily testing core control. For instance, the postures kneeling by the poolside in Figure 2 and Figure 4—because the tiles were quite hard, my knees turned a bit red after kneeling for too long, but I endured it all to candidly capture the nimble moments of splashing water.

The shot inside the pool water in Figure 5 is one I personally find highly expressive. When you expose only the body parts above the chest, the light and shadow refracted by the water surface hit the skin, generating a soft and delicate texture. Coupled with my relaxed vibe lightly resting against the pool's edge, it naturally exudes a sort of sexiness tied to summer attributes. Personally, I feel this sexiness isn't about deliberately stacking exposure levels, but about displaying physical softness in a naturally relaxed state. The tightness of the red-and-white gingham contrasts with the looseness of the white veil; added with the embellishment of water elements, this serves as the finest visual expression of this piece for a Beast girl portrait.

By the time we wrapped up the shoot, the sky had already grown somewhat dim. Although the process was exhausting, and moving around by the pool with the large tail and headpieces was rather inconvenient, we all felt it was entirely worth it once the final prints came out. During post-processing, we didn't over-apply filters, mainly turning up the color brightness, enhancing the saturation of the water surface, while slightly darkening the cluttered background plants and buildings. Particularly in Figure 3, we utilized a white archway to bypass the external AC units on the back wall, ensuring the cleanliness of the frame.

Looking back at this set of old prints now, I can still feel that sensation of early summer water vapor hitting my face, where scorching heat and refreshing coolness coexisted. To me, the meaning of cosplay is bringing the spirit of virtual characters into real-world light and shadow, using the lens to freeze the moment that best fits one's own understanding. This set of aquatic memories from 'Eyja Saves the World' has thus been preserved within these few photos.