[Reed the Flame Shadow cosplay] Arknights convention photos, the texture of the staff in hand is truly faithful to the original

Today's crowd at the convention indeed exceeded expectations. Fortunately, I planned the route in advance and headed straight to the Arknights-only exhibition area. This time I cosplayed Reed the Flame Shadow. Preparations for this styling took over half a month; from costume pattern making to prop modeling, I basically carved out every detail myself.

First, let's talk about the wig treatment. Although long straight blonde hair looks nice, it is extremely prone to frizz and tangles. I got up at 5:00 AM to press it down layer by layer with hair wax and setting spray, trimming the bangs to just cover the eyebrows. The metal horn accessory on the forehead requires dual fixation with bobby pins and transparent fishing line; to prevent it from falling off while walking around the convention, I specifically backcombed the hair roots. The white lily flower at the temple is a real flower. To keep the petals fresh, a thin layer of setting spray was applied outside, matching the green leaf ribbon and overall color tone very well.

In terms of makeup, to fit the character's temperament, I chose a pair of high-saturation bright blue contact lenses. The eye makeup uses red-pink tones for outer-corner blending; different from conventional earthy tones, this technique makes the gaze look deeper under strong light. The base makeup required a clean matte finish, so setting powder was pressed quite thick. After a day at the convention, except for a slight oiliness around the sides of the nose, the overall look held up quite well.

The layering of the costume is the focus. The upper body features a white apron-style design, layered over a brown translucent mesh base, with a glittery gold pentagram attached to the chest and a diamond-shaped three-dimensional accessory added below the neckline. The black ribbons wrapped around the lower body's white skirt hem and the black leather accessories at the waist are parts I'm quite satisfied with; the positions of the straps were adjusted three times to ensure they wouldn't sag down due to gravity when walking while presenting irregular draping layers.

The most energy-consuming part was still the staff in hand. To restore the silver blade and golden geometric gear structure, I used EVA foam combined with lightweight clay for the core, spraying metallic paint on the outer layer. The staff has a certain weight, and holding it up with one hand to pose is quite a test of arm strength. Moreover, the handle is relatively long, so moving around in the crowded venue required constant caution not to poke passersby. After shooting a few sets of actions, I found that the details of hand movements are very important; wearing short black gloves is not only for accuracy, but also covers the veins on the back of the hand when exerting force, making hand gestures look sharper.

The on-site lighting environment was quite complex, especially the harsh overhead lighting. To prevent strange shadows on the face, the photographer found a relatively open side of the booth, utilizing the reflected light from the convention's ceiling as the main light source, and using a small reflector to fill in the shadows under the eyes. Due to the dense background crowds, low-angle and slightly distanced framing were mostly adopted to concentrate the picture's focus on the costume and props.

Wearing this gear is actually very inconvenient for movement, especially holding up the skirt hem when going up and down escalators. Walking around the venue all day made the soles of my feet and shoulders quite sore, but meeting many fellow enthusiasts who recognized the character and exchanging insights on prop-making was great. Looking at the Convention photos now, the prop textures and costume piecing have basically achieved the expected results. Later on, I will continue to adjust details to make the staff's weight distribution a bit handier.