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behindinfinity

Jin
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I got this as a question on my Tumblr, and I felt I could share my thoughts here as well because it seems it's something a lot of people can relate to. I hope this comes to helpful to any of you guys reading.

I’m certain there are people who dislike me. Some I come to know through whisperings because I have eyes everyyyyywheeeeere.

However, I don’t feel the need to acknowledge them or do anything about it unless they are causing any real harm, especially to people I care about.


There is a popular quote that I like referencing for this topic, which gets the message across in a charming way:

You can be a juicy, ripe peach and there’s still going to be someone who doesn’t like peaches, so you can either submit to someone’s criticism of you, or you can get on with the business of being your own amazing self who attracts other like-minded people that appreciate you.” — Dita Von Teese

I used to be affected if I found out someone didn’t like me, but I’ve come to learn that people can have very irrational reasons for hating someone.

Sometimes it is simply because your personalities and tastes are not compatible. And that’s fine and normal. 

Other times, they can take a part of you and twist it and build up their own negative perception and convince themselves that they are right to hate you. But it doesn’t mean that what they think about you is true. Their image of you that they force upon themselves could be due to their own insecurities.

Although I sometimes say this jokingly, I find that in certain cases it’s not just simply “Haters gonna hate.” I also dislike it when people jump to the conclusion, “They just hate you because they’re jealous.” While it can be true at times, it’s not the ultimate answer. Let’s be real here. It is not surprising for people to feel a sense of dislike towards someone who is truly being a terrible human being. Did you do something that merits you being considered a terrible human being? If the answer is no, then good.


Here’s what you can do: If someone openly throws some harsh words at you, take a deep breath and try to objectively consider what they have to say. Maybe you can ask yourself things like:

:bulletorange: Are they actually trying to offer constructive criticism but are  lacking in tact and eloquence? If they seem interesting or intelligent enough, try to converse with them to understand. Maybe you’ll learn something new. If they are just bigots or trolls, pity them for a second, don’t dignify them with an answer or any more of your time, and move on. Be the better person.

:bulletorange: Are they pointing out something you may have done wrong that you weren’t aware of? Do you think they are right? If they are, be humble enough to consider that you might have something to improve on. If they’re not, then just don’t mind them. If someone is really set on disliking you, you’re the last person they will allow to change their minds.


These are just general ideas, because it always depends on the context. But in the end, what’s important is that if you truly believe you did nothing wrong, then disregard them and walk away with your head held high. Hopefully you aren’t a sociopath.

You can’t please every single person in the world. And that’s okay. The people whose happiness and opinions should matter the most are your own, and those of the people you care about and care for you. If you focus on being your own fantastic self, you can feel sorry for your haters because they lost the opportunity to get to know the wonderful person you are.

Jin!
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Earlier this year, my friends and I were invited to be overseas guests for HobbyCon in Sabah, Malaysia.


Time flew by very fast, and before we knew it...


Our first day was spent doing a lot of eating, thanks to our guide Alyssa :lol: I will justify it as us fueling up for an action-packed weekend! We tried nasi lemak for the first time (LOVED IT), had some shaved ice desserts after, then a big dinner of clay pot rice, stir-fry noodles with clams, really tasty chicken wings, etc. and THEN we still raided Pick N' Pay for our midnight snacks because we love convenience stores and we wanted to try things we don't have in Manila.

We planned our cosplays ahead with Team Kachang Puteh, the guests from Singapore. Our theme for the first day of HobbyCon was Shingeki no Kyojin!


:iconmerkymerx: Miguel - Eren Jaeger
:iconbehindinfinity: Jin - Mikasa Ackerman
:iconweakman: Dom - Jean Kirschtein
:iconkitska: Kitska - Levi
:icondorkodile: Tessie - Hanji Zoe

By our powers combined, we became TEAM MEGADERP


Here we are being totally OOC with the fabulous jnalye


We at least tried to stay in character for the Cosplay All-Stars March!

We prepared a little skit for our walk. The three of us new recruits started out marching behind Levi and Hanji, and Eren would run ahead of them when we were near the front. Levi disapproves of Eren's lack of discipline and kicks him down.

We heard that the main sponsor was watching up front and thought that Miguel/Eren was kicked down for real. Much to his shock and further confusion, the crowd cheered and snapped a lot of pictures. We are not always in character, but when we are, maybe we are a little too convincing? Whoops! ^^;


Another angle. Look at all the happy sadists in the crowd! Kidding!


There were so many people that the barricades were bending. We had never done anything quite like the All-Stars March so that was pretty cool albeit nerve-wracking!


Our kick reenactment on the news!


After us came the 501st Legion. So cool! Our course they played The Imperial March!


While the crowd took pictures of us, I snuck a quick snapshot of them too


I find Stormtroopers really cute for some reason


The day's most popular pose!


MEGAMIIIIIIII


Jean and Eren getting along for once
Yes Jean, you can be a fanciful unicorn too
Eren is on his invisible bike, copying the monkey at the back


Heichou is enjoying the show


With Belle Annachuu as Xiaoyu, our friend from another dimension apparently


I'm always nom-ing her hair doughnuts

After taking pictures with people at the photo wall (I haven't seen a lot from there and I remember we had a bunch of funny photos because we got a lot of funny requests — please send me our pics if you were one of the people who went up there with us! :D) we headed up to the holding room to rest. And then Alyssa left some extra maid outfits from the maid cafe and then...


Eren is blackmailed into wearing one of them. Here he is doing a gravure pose while the process is documented. For science.


Much kawaii
Wow


Eren is starting to feel it while heichou continues to deny his true feelings


Pimp Daddy Mikasa


I pimped our photo with stickers to make the description more accurate
Mikasa's girls are top dollar yes good
Heichou is like, "Eren, please, you're embarrassing yourself. That headband doesn't go with that coordinate. And put on some blush, your complexion is so dull."


Can you handle this colossal level of moe


Mikasa taking upskirt shots


Hanji joins in. For science.


Heichou wa Maid-sama onstage performance!


That evening we went back to the hotel and prepared our costumes for the next day. The way we arranged our things is kind of in-character I guess. Hahah!


Second day of HobbyCon! We are Free!
:iconkitska: Kitska - Haru
:icondorkodile: Tessie - Rin
:iconmerkymerx: Miguel - Makoto
:iconbehindinfinity: Jin - Nagisa
:iconweakman: Dom - Rei


Annachuu is our special buddy, Jack Frost!
a.k.a. drowned Nitori
He froze our pool


Squeezing more and more people in the photo! Now with Abi!
Also, Belle is getting revenge for me nom-ing her head during the previous day


Sorry but I am going to continue nom-ing Jack Frost like an icy dessert


I snapped this photo of them and ran it through an app...


This is what I looked like while brewing evil things
And everyone was going HEY JIN WHY IS YOUR FACE ALL RED WATER WHAT ARE YOU DOING

I was using the SwapTeleport app and this is what happened:

brb crying


HAHAHAH I'M SO DONE


Group photo with my chubby penguinnnn


Lots of people wanted to kidnap my pinggu


"REI-CHAN! REI-CHAN! PUT THIS ON! Rei-chan, you're a... Rei-ndeer!!"

I also told Haru
"HARU-CHAN! HARU-CHAN! Are you excited because we're going to SABAh?"

The perks of being Nagisa
I can say things like this
I guess we're more alike than I thought


Commemorative purikura for Rei-channnnnnn!


Haru-chan activates yaoi hands for 3-person selfie


Rin-chan does not like to share


Went downstairs to watch The Hikaru Band perform since we noticed they played classics like songs from Rurouni Kenshin and Slam Dunk. When we got there, they played The Beginning by ONE OK ROCK (RuroKen live action theme song) and we FREAKED OUT. So awesome!


Spirit animal butts display


They also played a childhood favorite, Extreme Ghostbusters!
(Secret cosplay want)


And GO GO POWER RANGERSSSSSSS


At this point we couldn't help running up to the front to properly rock out with the band

For their last song they played... GUREN NO YUMIYA
And we were all like


ACCEPT OUR WORSHIP
AND ANIMAL OFFERINGS


Of course, during the appropriate times there was a resounding, unified yell of
"JAEGER!!!!!"


After getting all sweaty from the adrenaline rush of the performance, we went back around the outside of the VIP area


We were asked to pose for pictures, and we got to hang out a bit with people in the crowd


Shingeki no Free!


Heichou gave us a poster!


Blondies and pingguuuu


Tux Team with Tuxedo Mask!!


We made Yuna LOL because I was like OK I'M TIDUS
And then Makoto and Rei are posing like FFX-2 Yuna


We did a discussion and tutorial on cosplay makeup, and how it helps make you look like different people


Showing examples of Miguel's cosplay vs. crossplay. The reactions were priceless!


The setup was very relaxed and comfortable, so we didn't feel as nervous as usual about speaking onstage.


Part of the enthusiastic crowd!


For some reason, Rin-chan and Haru-chan changed into dresses


Jeez, Rinrin stop crying all the time


From our holding room on the second floor, we had a good view of the event hall because the wall was glass. We saw this bride Eren being proposed to by all the heichous.


The glass didn't hide us so people could see us and wave and pose when I held up my phone


They also made hearts at us, d'awww


Tekken Tag Tournament live battle! This was super exciting!


Haru-chan, please contain yourself


Onstage again for the panel! This time we shared the stage with Tessie and Kitska of Kachang Puteh and awesome costume-maker Nex. We discussed some topics with the hosts, and took questions from the audience. It was like a nice, relaxed talk show. We got the chance to address some issues like dealing with low self-confidence, which a lot of people struggle with. From the cheers we got from our answers, I hope the audience took home more optimism! We also talked about what cosplay means to us and how this simple hobby changed our lives, and others in return.


Rinrin's shark looked happy to be there with us.


Stage selfie with the crowd, hahah! Do you see Jack Frost posing with us?


Smile, everybody!!


After our talk, we ventured outside and got to meet more people


We also grabbed some Oligo chocolate malt drink which we were all kinda obsessed with. Got asked for more pictures while drinking, and then the Iwatobi Photobomb Club attacked!


I pulled the Rasengan app from my phone and derped with Naruto


Time to judge the group cosplay competition, along with the awesome Jna jnalye as X-23!
We saw some really excellent performances, and it inspired us to try doing group skits again!


Our pens for judging were in our spirit colors, heheh


It was the RWBY pair who took home the gold! They were fantastic!!


Trying to channel Nagisa's poses in their winning team photos, hahah


HobbyCon group photo!!


At the end of everything, a special video played onstage, which led to Max's epic proposal to Jna! SO MUCH LOVE


For the afterparty, we derped to Splash Free! as backup dancers while Kachang Puteh sang. We practiced this for a full TWO minutes, hahahah! Watch the video HERE!


LOL, Pedobear lives!

When the event came to a close, we finally got a chance to take pictures with the HobbyCon committee.


We started taking off our contacts to relax more, and then became the Megane Club!


Shariff wanted us to be sexy and fabulous


And then things turned bizarre


Emitting much love and moe beams with Maguro, the head of the Fuwa Fuwa Time maid cafe!

HobbyCon Thoughts

I can't properly condense the entirety of the experience into this journal entry, but we all had a BLAST at HobbyCon, but I think the best part really was just being able to talk and hang out with everyone during the times we weren't onstage.

I can't begin to describe how thankful I am for everyone who took the time to just personally tell us that they appreciate the things we do. We share our photos and writing and artwork online, and while we do hear from people through comments, there's nothing like speaking to someone face to face and seeing the people behind the names. I've lost count of how many times someone told me "I've been following you since [many many years ago]" and it always amazes me that you guys have stuck around all that time. It doesn't always sink in how people from all around the world are able to follow our silly adventures until we actually feel the distance by traveling and meeting these people in a place that is foreign to us. I'm really grateful to everybody for making us feel at home and welcome and for giving us a chance to make you laugh or smile or feel inspired.

It's really heartwarming to think that something that really just started out as a hobby my friends and I do for our own enjoyment has brought so much joy and inspiration to other people, and made them pick themselves up and make themselves and their lives better, all because we decided to share our photos and stories online.

Our sincerest thanks to the HobbyCon team and the sponsors for giving us this chance to experience the wonderful community in Sabah!

Thank you also to everybody who came up to us to talk and hand over letters or presents or hugs! We'll always treasure them and the memories!

We're really happy that HobbyCon was our first international guesting together and we hope this event and the community will continue to thrive and grow! You've given us unforgettable memories and we look forward to visiting again and pulling more of our friends along!

MESTI DATANG YOOOOOOO
SO MUCH LOVE YOOOOOOO

Jin!
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It's time for another outtakes journal post! This one is for our Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) cosplay shoot!

Attack on Titan: We Are The Hunters by behindinfinity
(Click thumbnail to view the full image!)

Shoot credits:
:iconmerkymerx: Miguel - Eren Jaeger
:iconbehindinfinity: Jin - Mikasa Ackerman
:iconneko-panigiri: NyanKat - Armin Arlert
:iconweakman: Dom - Jean Kirschtein
:iconsomemaskedude: Bok - Bertholdt Fubar
:iconellensmere: Alex - Annie Leonhardt
:iconcatherinejannelle: Cat - Christa Renz
:iconreskiy: Resh - Erwin Smith
:iconberamonde: Chase - Hanji Zoe
:iconhana181: Aki - Levi
:icondorkydea: Myk - Nanaba & Mike Zakarius

much of the wig-styling was done by me behindinfinity
a lot of everyone's makeup was by Charmie yaoiangel14 and Alex

:camera: photos by Huzafan
:bulletred: post-processing by behindinfinity

I'm happy to present my friends who had come together to do this group cosplay! It feels surreal to me to have friends who happen to have faces who suit the characters they wanted, and appropriate height differences as well!

This is the biggest group we've attempted! There are actually a total of 15 of us with completed costumes (although not everyone was able to attend this photoshoot) and we have more friends who are going to join.

Unlike other series where the characters aren't in uniform and we could work on our costumes individually, for this one we had to get the same materials (it was sometimes hard to find a kind of fabric that would be enough for all 15 of us) and constantly meet and work together to make our uniforms consistent. In that time we had gotten frustrated (over the impracticality of Isayama's design), lost sleep, fused our fingers with cyanoacrylate, and panicked about getting everything done in time. But we also made each other laugh a lot, learned about each other, and acquired new skills together. I'm really proud of everyone! And I think that this experience gave us a better understanding of our characters, as well as ourselves. :)

The pictures in this journal post are going to get increasingly silly! So let's start!


Here's a normal composed group shot. There will be no more of this hereafter.


Relaxed and fun atmosphere during the shoot! The place is so beautiful it feels like a movie set, but my friends and I just happen to be hanging out in it. We were having a bit of a picnic at this point. We can't function without food, as always!


Obligatory "Jean is a horse" jokes even before poor Jean is finished dressing up!

Attack on Titan: I Hope We'll Always Be Together by behindinfinity
One of the first things we shot (properly) was the Shiganshina trio


An alternate portrait of the Shiganshina trio. I wonder what Eren said to merit that reaction?

Attack on Titan: Rise and Shine by behindinfinity
Another photo from this location is this group shot of heichou chasing the new recruits out of the barracks


Levi-heichou inspecting and interrogating the troops.
Can we take a moment to notice Annie's killer glare?
It's like she's saying, "Don't you DARE crack"

More badassery from Annie
Attack on Titan: You Taught Me How To Fight by behindinfinity


The new recruits partake in a little initiation and are forced to try working together to pull the officers' carriage.
Jean, don't laugh at everyone because you're used to horse duties.
Not to worry, Mikasa's got this.

The lighting kind of looks like something from a stage play, huh?


And so this happened
Shingeki no Miserables
The conflict of Javerwin and Jean Kirschtein Valjean
And the love story of Chrisette and Ymirius

I don't know, man. We just can't help these things.


All of the blondes giving a salute to MURICAAAAAAAAA
(Notice the patriotic hand making the flag wave majestically in the non-wind)


Another round of Jean-is-a-horse jokes!


Commander Erwin and Lance Corporal Levi
So dignified and in-character
1% of the time


99% of the time this is what they're like
Danchou making jokes and heichou unable to retain composure
All is right in the world


Commander Handsome
wow
such dashing


Armin and Jean discussing some strategies


Armin and Jean discussing some strategies while about ot be abducted by aliens
Lighting is important, yo

Attack on Titan: Noir by behindinfinity
Lighting made this photo work really well
Erving is a wizard


Levi and Eren
This reminds me of something


Kuroshingeki
That doesn't even make sense
SORRY NOT SORRY
One hell of a soldier


HEHEH SHORT JOKES GO
(Okay 170cm is not my actual height. But that's our actual height difference, it's gotta count for something)


A kindly titan took our picture


Warm and fuzzy trio shot


Small smile from Mikasa because Erennnnnnnnn


Jean bursts in to alert the guys that they're being summoned


Except that he accidentally broke into the female barracks while they were changing


Jean then gets a taste of Mikasa's arm strength

Attack on Eren by behindinfinity
Jean just can't catch a break


Don't push your luck with Mikasa

Jean puts the blame on Eren




hand motions
omg lewd


Nice comeback there Jeannie boy

Okay that dialogue wasn't what these shots were intended for and I just made it up
I'm a terrible person

Another photo comic we put together :pointr: behindinfinity.tumblr.com/post…


Incredibly posed and cheesy fake candid shot to end the photoshoot!

The shoot made us work up an intense hunger! So we ordered a lot of pizzas!


Here's us coming up with more nonsense, even without the costumes


Want to know what we were doing?

We put up a video!

Shingeki no Budget :pointr: vine.co/v/hp36VPrBM3I

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:target: Kono bangumi wa...


We would also like to thank some shops that helped us a lot with our costumes! Hopefully they can make your cosplay lives a little easier as well, hahah!

:bulletred: Studio Boheme
We had our boots custom-made at Studio Boheme. Finding accurate boots was frustrating for us, so we decided to try having them made. Much to our delight, the people at Studio Boheme were actually familiar with Shingeki no Kyojin! They were awesome to work with, and our boots came out excellent! Check them out if you need your own SnK boots, any sort of custom leather things for cosplay, or even apparel for everyday life. I'll put up a detailed review of my SnK boots from them soon! (They take international orders, by the way!)

:bulletred: Den Den Style
Our jackets were made by our friends at Den Den Style! They have the most accurate SnK jackets in structure and color that we've seen anywhere so we had to have our jackets made by them! (Store is on hiatus for now but will be back in January!)

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:target: Charity print sale

As I had written about a while back, my friends and I felt that maybe it was time to finally accept print requests as a means of being a fundraiser after the devastation of parts of our country from Typhoon Haiyan. We had been setting up these elaborate photoshoots recently just for fun and out of our love for the series we cosplay, but an opportunity has presented itself for us to turn them into something more meaningful.

And now our store is up! :star: tuxteam.storenvy.com/ :star:

Profits of our print sales will go to Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts by the Philippine Red Cross and rebuilding the affected areas by Architecture for Humanity.

NOTE! :note: Prints are for pre-order for now and will be shipped out next week because my friends and I will be in Sabah, Malaysia for HOBBYCON for several days!

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:target: Thanks for reading!

Don't be afraid to leave comments because I really enjoy reading them! :D

I still have a bunch of shoots I have to share pictures from! Stay tuned!

I am able to update a lot more often on my Facebook page so please feel free to follow me there!

<3
Jin!
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When my friends and I first heard of "that swimming anime" called Free!, this is pretty much what we expected:


Not that there's anything wrong with that hahah, but all we were expecting was to be able to laugh at how exploitable and full of fanservice this show could be because swimming would require everyone to be half-naked. Although it started out that way, the more episodes we watched, the more we realized...

We were wrong. So wrong.

What we got was a heartwarming coming-of-age story with endearing characters and interesting dynamics. It spoke of friendship and learning your self-worth and figuring out what drives you forward.

I'd write more about how I feel about it but it would take up too much time and space over here, so here are a couple of posts that have already done the job well:
1. A detailed literary analysis and trope driven deconstruction of Haruka's progress throughout the story - A long read, but well worth it. Full of spoilers if you haven't seen the anime!
2. Lessons learned in Free! - Short and sweet, and also full of spoilers. Watch first!

As some of you might know, when my friends and I love a series, we feel a great need to cosplay it. So this happened:



Cast:
:iconbehindinfinity: Jin - Haruka "They Made Me Do It" Nanase
:iconmerkymerx: Miguel - Makoto "Guess Where My Other Hand Is" Tachibana
:iconcatherinejannelle: Cat - Nagisa "Totally The Pimp Of This Club" Hazuki
:iconweakman: Dom - Rei "Uncomfortable" Ryugazaki

Photos by:
:iconneko-panigiri: Kat
:iconyaoiangel14: Charmie
:iconhuzafan: Erving
and some were taken by me on my phone

Iwatobi summer uniform shirts from our friends at DenDen Style!

Another thing about my friends is that our shoots are 90% outtakes. And that's what this journal post is for. Hahah!

Some of the crack related to this shoot started days before we had it.
OH NO

A day before the shoot, I was walking around the mall on the way to a meeting and a guy picks me out of a crowd of people to give me this. He said, "You look like the kind of person who suits this." and I'm just like WHAT HARU STOP CONSUMING MY SOUL

On the morning of the shoot, my life turned into textsfromgayswimmers.tumblr.co…

This was a funny photo session before the real shoot, which started with Miguel asking me for permission to change clothes in another room. I was like "Yeah, I'll lead you there." Our fujoshi friends (who happened to be two of the photogs for the day) perked up and were like, "Change? Room? Can we go with you guys? With our cameras?" Hilarity ensued.

Best friends know just what to say
to make things really awkward

Miguel was my headcanon for Makoto since I started watching the anime, so it made me happy when he said that Mako was his favorite. Also that a lot of you have also been commenting on how much he looks like a real-life Makoto. (That's how he acts towards me so I can't help my perception being a little biased, hahah)

It's funny how we weren't even fully dressed yet but when I started working on his wig, we could hear our friends snapping away with their cameras already. Miguel was like, "What a nostalgic feeling, eh?"

Angles are important. Our friends are true fujoshi photographers. Fujographers, even.

When I saw this top shot I was like "WHEN DID WE-" Then after I saw the pictures that followed, I realized it was from the time I was fixing Miguel's wig.

This is what actually happened.
Kat neko-panigiri you have trolled me well done.

Kat and Charmie got "inspired" when we were doing the wig-styling and composed this shot.

I started posting some pictures on my Facebook page (Feel free to follow if you want more instant and frequent updates!) and this thread happened on one of the photos
My friends and their unintentional(?) innuendos o h m y g o d

But see it's really quite innocent
(Also featuring Haru's rare small smile)

I kept breaking out of character and laughing because Miguel's hand was pushing against mine too hard and turning the heart into a lopsided tomato

Makoto tries to teach Haru to use his cellphone more often
(My phone isn't a SoftBank Pantone Slider like Haru's, but the case I use for mine happened to be a similar color to Haru's phone)

"Hear that? I downloaded ocean sounds for you"

"See, it has a camera you can use to take pictures of things you want to remember"

"Haru..! You want a picture of us?"

"You should try smiling for pictures every now and then, but at least you're looking at the camera ^^; Send it to me, okay?"

Haru discovers game apps

This is a real game. I posted about playing it here :pointr: behindinfinity.tumblr.com/post…

"Haru... You stayed up all night playing that dolphin game, didn't you?"

"Sorry to wake you, but we need to get to school"


"Ma... Ma-Makoto...!"

"If you don't get up for school RIGHT NOW I'm going to make you smile!"
Makoto is bad at making threats, you guys

This is Charmie's concept of a "see you next water time..." end card

We were trying to do a joke dakimakura photo but I was like HELP, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOOK SEDUCTIVE

Rei-chan metamorphosing into a beautiful butterfly while surrounded by dorks

Erving was trying to teach me to do dynamic selfies and this is what happened
Can we take a moment to notice that Rei's glasses are doing the anime glare
(We had to get a sub for Nagisa as he was still dressing up. Thug life pimp kawaii shota penguin is pretty accurate IMHO)

"Let's try doing something different", they said
Haru rode the bike into a pool

Iwatobi Swim Club joint meeting with the Fujography Club

"Trust me, Rei-chan!! I've only gotten arrested on a bike like, three times!"

Rei took 5 minutes to read up on how to ride a bike and thankfully the police didn't need to get involved
Thug Seme Nagisa lives for another water time

Iwatobi Swim Club commemorative photo after breaking into a water storage facility for Haru's birthday. Haru's friends have to put up with a lot.

Captain Dolphin drink for Vice-Captain Dolphin

Putting the gay in Gatorade jk

Don't think we forgot about Rin because we didn't

At our local konbini, where the cashier guys have become immune to our shenanigans

Dinner time!
Mackerel for Haru. This is not brand new information. 
It's easy to tell when Rei is enjoying his food. The sparkles give it away.

Nagisa teaches Haru about Instagram.
(It's full of pictures of mackerel. If you are surprised then you are doing it wrong.)

Went to a bubble tea place for some sweets after dinner.
Rei with his green apple soda, which was the same color as his quadruple strapped neon green backpack. Also photobombed by Rei's biggest fangirl.

The real reason we went here was so that we could be...
BEHIND INFINITEA
ba-dum-tss

And now for some previews of future shoots

I attended a convention last month in which I was tremendously spoiled by shops with Free! merchandise

Hatah Hatah gave me this awesome Iwatobi Swim Club shirt (Iwatobi-chan Secret Version!) and also this Iwatobi-chan hat!

That is Haru's game face don't laugh

And then Cotton Candy Shirts gave me and my friends the shirts they were wearing in the Splash Free ED! We'll definitely be doing those versions now!

Free! may have ended and we'll have to make our own "water time" for now, but I'm really thankful for that anime and the people who watched it and drowned in the tsunami of Free!lings and emoceans with me. I know the series hit me hard because I have bonds that made me identify so much with the characters. What swimming is for them, cosplay is to us. It's something that brought us together and we continue to share because it's something we enjoy with each other. Even though cosplay is by nature something fun and silly, it's able to inspire and cause a lot of emotions, it leads to us meeting friends we will come to treasure, it gives us chances to learn things about ourselves, and sometimes our bonds are tested but with the right people it ultimately brings you closer together no matter what. :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese:

To end this on a funnier note, I was laughing so much at people on Facebook shipping me and Miguel as Haru and Makoto and calling it their cosplay OTP. It got me imagining us saying Makoto and Haru's lines like

"Cosplay is meaningless without you!"

"That was how I remembered how it felt to cosplay the same series together... It made me... just as happy!!"

HAHAHA I am so done 。゚(TヮT)゚。

Okay no I'm not

Here I am trying to get over the Free! finale, and I look outside and see that the sky is perfectly...
Ever Blue

Now I'm done

Jinjin-chan-san OUT
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Group cosplay, forever alone style! Yeah, that's all me.
In this post, I'll get into how I did each one!


Intro, and some bad old pictures

For those of you who have the patience to read for some extra info!

When I started cosplaying, I didn't think makeup was such a major part of it. I was so hesitant to even put eyeliner because I'd think, "This character is a guy, I shouldn't look like I'm wearing makeup!" And I guess I was silly enough to think I looked enough like the characters I chose without doing anything to my face? :lol:

I can't find more pictures of my really old cosplays (which is just as well, hahah) from the time I didn't want to use makeup apart from these:

I cosplayed as Haku from Naruto. I don't remember wearing any makeup for this. It doesn't show too well on these pictures but I saw some others where the natural redness of my lips made it look like I was wearing lipstick even if I wasn't. I felt it made me look more feminine than I should. Haku is still a guy after all, but it wasn't too bad because he's supposed to look like a trap. Still, I made a mental note then to do something about it when cosplaying manlier characters.

When I did Light Yagami from Death Note, I learned to use concealer and foundation powder to even out my skintone. I also used a skin-colored lipstick to neutralize the reddish color of my lips. I didn't really want to use eyeliner around this time. :laughing:

Death Note: Sunday Morning by behindinfinity

I think it was cosplaying Naruto that really got me to take makeup more seriously because he looks really different from how I naturally look. I had to wear a blond wig for the first time, so I didn't feel right with my black eyebrows. He has big eyes with a very pronounced shape so I had to try simulating that with eyeliner. And of course, the characteristic whisker markings on his face.

It depends on the character too, I think. I generally use more eyeliner and try to go for a really even complexion for anime characters to emulate the look of the 2D art without taking it too literally. But for movie/book cosplay, I take a different approach.

Take my Harry Potter cosplay, for instance. I kind of mixed the book descriptions for Harry with Daniel Radcliffe's depiction of him in the movies:

I skipped using concealer because Dan has pronounced eyebags, which works for Harry's character (being constantly troubled and tormented and trying to save the world and all). I also gave special attention to the eyebrows and tried to shape mine like Dan's. I often get asked about how I do my eyebrows.

I use a brush with stiff, angled bristles. I take whatever pigment I have on hand, such as eyebrow pencils or powdered eyeshadows in different colors, then use this to draw on my over my real eyebrows. This kind of brush makes it easy to control the shape and apply the pigment in a way that the edges aren't sharp so it looks more natural.

So that's probably a long enough intro for this post! Hahah! Bottom line: Makeup is cool because it helps you change the way you look. And that's part of what's fun about cosplay — Being able to transform yourself from the way you usually look.


I'm realizing now that I don't have a lot of "normal" photos but here's one of me with no makeup and no contact lenses, for the sake of comparison. (I'm nearsighted so those are my prescription glasses)


Free! Cosplay Challenge

One day I thought it'd be a fun exercise on flexibility to cosplay different characters from the same series, all by myself. It would be an amusing way to illustrate how angles, expressions and makeup can help one person depict different characters. Using only the wigs and clothes I have at home, I decided to try cosplaying the main characters of the anime, Free!

Haruka Nanase

His eyes are narrower and angle upwards more than the other characters.
His face is usually indifferent.

Here is myself as Haru

This is how I did the eye makeup, which is a little different from my usual style. Eyeliner makes such a big impact on giving your eyes a different shape.

I also chose a vibrant blue lens because Haruka has bright blue eyes that contrast with his dark hair. The lenses I used are the Ocean Blue Cosplay Lenses from Alice and Rabbit's Shop, where I get most of my lenses. :)

Here's a clearer shot of the lenses, and also a look at my eyes when they're lined differently.

I based the clothes I wore on one of Haruka's casual outfits. I'll be basing my Makoto look (coming up next) on this outfit here too.

Makoto Tachibana

Although his height is intimidating, he always has a kind look on his face. He has the classic "tareme" / droopy puppy dog eyes that indicate a gentle person.

Here's my take on Makoto. I didn't have a kitten like the one he's seen with but I do have a puppy.

I usually downplay my eye creases for cosplay, but this time I added some shading on top to emphasize them. I also drew my eyeliner downwards to mimic Makoto's eye shape.

The eyebrows were kind of an extra challenge for me since Makoto has really kind-looking eyebrows that curve upwards towards the center, while mine naturally angle downwards (which usually lead people to think I look mean). I kind of imagined Mako to have thick eyebrows so I rolled with that. I draw them extra thick on the top part near the center to fight against the downward curve of my real eyebrows. Then for the photos, I raised them up (like the way you would when you're surprised, hahah) to give a kinder facial expression. This also helped make my eye crease more visible.

The lenses I used are Emerald Green Cosplay Lenses. It's a nice leaf green shade that fits with Makoto's eyes.


Most other lenses that are opaque enough to show on my dark eyes are in a blue-green shade, like this one:

The pattern of this also looks like it would be better suited for a more intense and aggressive character. I don't know if most people would think I'm crazy for taking that into account, but I do like to consider the pattern when choosing contact lenses for a character.

I was looking for blue-green lenses for Eren Jaeger (from Attack on Titan) and this one had a good color but I don't think the flower pattern suits him all that much. Don't you agree? :lol:


Nagisa Hazuki

Resident shota, LOL. He's the smallest and youngest-looking of the bunch. Energetic sparkly personality.

This was very difficult for me. It's hard to be shota, bro. I struggled. And I kind of want to punch myself for making these faces. Doing this hurt me a little. Ahahahah! The way Nagisa acts is just really a stretch from how I actually am.

I made my cheeks look rounder with the way I smiled. I describe it as pushing my face meats up by giving a tight smile. This also made my upper lip look thinner, which I guess kind of works for Nagisa. I don't know if this will work for everyone, but the point is to observe how certain facial expressions affect the shape of your face, and use them to your advantage when you can. :D

I made the eyeliner rounder and softer at the outer edges. I used a pencil liner for the outer corners so I smudged it a bit for that softer look. I also put some highlighting pigments around the eyes for extra sparkly wide-eyed youthful uguu shota join-the-swim-club-or-I'll-cry feels. My descriptions are so technical and pro.

But okay, to elaborate properly (sort of) I think the highlights around the eyes helped a lot because it downplays the shadows on my face. If shadows make features look more sunken, then theoretically, highlights should do the opposite.

Nagisa's eyes are in a complicated sort of magenta shade. I compromised by using my Crystal Max Red Lenses. Although they are technically red, the shade is dark and the larger-than-usual size of these lenses gives the glowing crescent effect on the bottom of my irises. The halo effect comes out pink, so they worked okay for Nagisa. 

To explain the halo effect:

The coloring on the Crystal Max Red is semi-transparent, so it lets the white part show through a bit at the bottom. This is also why the lens diameter is important. I think the average diameter for irises are about 14mm. The lenses I used for Haruka and Makoto are 14.2mm, so they're only slightly enlarging. These ones are 14.8mm in diameter.


Rei Ryugazaki

He has somewhat rectangular-shaped eyes and is easily disgruntled, hahah. He normally has a serious look about him (which doesn't reflect what he's actually like).

Apart from the eyeliner style, I didn't have to change much for Rei, so this section will be relatively short.

Here's an outline of the eyeliner shape. I extended it past the normal length of my eyes. It feels a little weird at first but it looks fine from a moderate distance.

It's kind of like what I did on the upper left photo:
(And here are other examples as well of how I line my eyes for different cosplays)

The lenses I used are Crystal Max Violet. They have a nice lavender shade that fits with Rei's eye color. Again, my eyes are very dark brown (which looks black when not in direct sunlight) and they show up well on me.


Lastly, Rin Matsuoka

I usually end up cosplaying the protagonist, so I was excited and anxious to attempt Rin, who is completely different from characters I'm used to portraying.

Jin as Rin. Hahah! It looks like I have Rin's school uniform, but that's actually the top I used for my Ulquiorra cosplay!

If you're wondering about the teeth: Those are my natural teeth. They're pretty strangely shaped (but I like them) and I'm just not used to smiling with them, but I decided to show them off this time because it's character-appropriate!


See? They are pointier along the sides so I angled my face so they'd be more visible.

Look at all those scribbles! I did some crazy things to change the look of my eyes. I drew my eyeliner extra thick to cover up my natural crease, then I drew on a fake crease which to me looked more like Rin's. I also added some shading between the crease and my eyebrows to make it appear more realistic. You have to pay special attention to how they look at certain angles and expressions though, especially if you are posing for photos. Notice how in the left photo on the two pictures of me as Rin, the eye creases look a lot smaller than on the right where I raised my eyebrows a bit and shot from a lower angle.

Half my eyebrows here are drawn on, because I wanted them to angle upwards to look extra mean. I used Kryolan eyebrow wax to flatten half my eyebrows then piled concealer on top to hide them. Then I drew on the other half with a cream pigment from my Ben Nye wheel, using an angular eyebrow brush.


The lenses I used for Rin were the limited edition red prescription lenses from A&R. I chose these instead of the red ones I used for Nagisa because it's a brighter red, which is like Rin's eye color. The diameter is also smaller, so it gives my eyes more of a mean look compared to Nagisa's big sparkly eyes.


Closing notes

Now, I've never been properly trained in makeup or anything like that, so this is all just coming from someone who learned to use makeup by thinking of them as drawing materials. (Eyeliners are like ink brushes or colored pencils, eyeshadow is like chalk pastel, lip pigments are paints, etc.) It is questionable if my methods are correct, but I just wanted to share how I go about things and I thought it could serve as a guideline for you guys to think of how to manage it for yourselves. :)

These techniques will also work differently for people with different eye or face shapes so it's best for you to experiment on your own face or with your friends. It's fun!

The amount of makeup you use, and how you want to interpret features on anime characters is entirely up to you. Everyone's got different preferences. Like some people find drawing the eye crease weird, but it works for some people. But it's all really up to you! :D You just have to try things and find a look that you feel comfortable with. And don't judge yourself until you've got your wig and everything on and have finished the entire look, because I certainly felt like a fool in the middle of doing some of these. By that I mean Rin

It was a fun challenge to take on, and I hope to try it with other series!


Other places to follow my updates
I don't often get to post here lately because I use my gallery here mainly for proper shoot photos and we'll be doing that later in the year so it's pretty quiet here right now. My friends and I are still working on our new costumes! If you want to follow our progress, cosplay previews, or random shenanigans, I suggest you follow me on Facebook where my snapshots usually end up! It's a lot easier to update there from my phone too so I get to update regularly. :D

:facebook:
On Wednesdays I do live tweets of my reactions when a new Naruto manga chapter is released
On Thursdays I do live tweets of new episodes of Free!

:bulletblue: Art blog! :pointr: jinjoson.com
:bulletblue: Tumblr :pointr: behindinfinity.tumblr.com
:bulletblue: Instagram: @jinjoson

:iconbehindinfinity::iconthanksplz:


Links

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