[Xishi Cosplay] Honor of Kings Bai Yutang Headcanon: A Cool Vacation Girl in the Subway Station

Taking advantage of the canyon's brief closure, I brought along this summer vacation style Xishi cosplay with the Bai Yutang headcanon to bring the character from the game into a real-life subway station. This outfit abandons the traditional ancient style clothing settings in Honor of Kings, using modern gauze and mint blue tones to shape a refreshing vacation atmosphere closer to everyday relaxation.

Let's talk about the details of this summer outfit first. The outer white lace-edged shawl is semi-translucent, giving the hot summer some room to breathe. The inner layer is an overlapping ice-blue skirt hem that layers clearly and flows lightly when walking. The most suitable item for the summer vacation theme is this off-white straw hat; the wide-brim design not only shades from the sun, but the light blue ribbons tied into bows on both sides of the brim lift the head's visual center upward, appearing both tall and giving an agile, playful feeling. A light blue water-drop necklace is paired around the neck, completely echoing the color scheme of the skirt. On the feet, these white lace mid-calf socks paired with platform shoes decorated with bows cleverly elongate the leg lines and add a touch of cosplay attributes to the overall outfit.

Regarding the choice of location, instead of going to a conventional park or seaside, I specially came to the Line 18 subway station. The station space is very open, with a large area of black metal grid on the ceiling arranged with alternating warm and cold strip lights. The gray polished porcelain tiles on the floor act like a mirror, reflecting the color tones of the environment. This space with a strong modern industrial feel happens to form a visual contrast with the soft and bright colors on the character, highlighting the character's cool elegance and sweetness even more. Shooting in a public space like a subway station is quite challenging, but fortunately, we chose the right time slot when the foot traffic was low, allowing us to find a relatively clean composition perspective and fully focus on expressing facial expressions and body language.

This time, the photos ended up presenting two versions. One version preserves the original transparent environment of the subway station, emphasizing a clean and refreshing light-and-shadow atmosphere. The other version overlays rich creative hand-drawn doodles on top of the original photos. I used crystal-clear bubbles, melting ice cubes, cold drinks with straws, a sugar water bowl filled with white jade rice balls, lotuses and lotus leaves in summer water ripples, as well as scattered hearts and stars to wrap the screen into a three-dimensional cool dreamland. These doodles didn't steal the spotlight but blended seamlessly with the blue tone of the skirt hem, further strengthening the character's girlish sense and heat-relieving attribute.

When interpreting the character of Xishi, I didn't intentionally pose for the classical dignity of traditional characters but chose a highly relaxed posture to showcase her headcanon state. Holding the wide-brimmed hat with both hands or slightly lifting the skirt hem naturally shifts the center of gravity. Because Xishi in Honor of Kings inherently possesses the approachability of a girl next door, this Bai Yutang headcanon magnifies this approachability in a modern life-like way. When she escapes from the canyon and comes to a modern subway station, she gives off the feeling of a sweet and pure girl enjoying a cool holiday.

When you are truly placed in such a steel jungle filled with a modern atmosphere, wearing a lightweight skirt feels like crossing the fourth wall. Whether it's the unpolished light and shadow record of the subway station or the creative expression attached with dreamy bubble stickers, every effort is made to restore that unique comfort of summer. Every time a cosplay shoot is completed, it's a re-shaping of the character's understanding. Using a traditional-shattering casual vacation image to interpret it this time also brought me a highly unique shooting experience.