+ illusion

it was 16 days to christmas
with the slowest steps home ever
alone..

the sun ended its day’s work
igniting the crimson sky as it slowly sets
leaving it behind shrouded by darkness

vehicles and people passing by
as though the time was moving hastily
but had in fact came to a halt

illusion

locked and obscured in silence
watching everything fading into abyss

if this was nothing but an illusion
please pray for it to stay forever

all but only a question asked
‘have you left something behind?’

+ have you forgotten?

unanimously in the forest they walked
rays piercing through the branches
birds chirping and insects singing
together they sat with pure affinity

fog formed ahead after the cloudburst
she peered through with her curious eyes
a large beam formed
across her ever beautiful face

all her belongings she left behind
to explore into another world
no goodbye was bade
they watched her vanished into the endless fog

have you fogotten?

days passed,
they waited..

the sun emerged
the blackbirds brought news of her
following the feathered creatures into the woods
they found her surrounded..

with new acquaintances she made
with happy faces and thoughts
with alluring lights shining like the rainbow
with everything she yearns for

reunited they were
but never the same before
her presence was not felt
for an invisible barrier has been casted upon

an evening was all they had
what thought was happiness that would last
turned into ashes
as they watched the moon set

she left,
once again..

‘her path simply diverged.’ one said
‘it sure did..’ the other said
’should i guide her back?’
‘no, we’ll wait.’

’she’s a friend..’
‘..we must keep’

together they sat in affinity in the forest
with birds chirping and insects crying
with rays piercing through the branches
they waited..

+ motteke!

もう一回！anime festival asia ‘09 was definitely a blast. although i felt the exhibits does not seems as great as last year’s, they have alot of other events to make up for it. the artistes for the ‘i love anisong’ concert featured king of anime songs, ichirou mizuki; macross frontier’s sheryl nome performer, may’n; blogger queen, shoko nagakawa; jam project member, yoshiki fukuyama; popular virtual idol, hatsune miku. there was also the introduction of the moe moe kyun maid cafe which drew the crowds to experience a unique dining experience. 

casshern sins showcase | photo©risuchia

giant domo-kun plushie display | photo©risuchia

black rock shooter miku figure | photo©risuchia

there was also special appearance by k-on! seiyuu, renowned japan cosplayer kaname☆ who cosplayed as simon,  tengen toppa gurren-lagann on day 1 and cloud strife, final fantasy vii: advent children on day 2; as well as japan top blogger, danny choo. what more can an otaku ask for?

kaname☆ as simon from ttgl | photo©psycovirus

danny choo's booth | photo©risuchia

afa, saturday: 

this 2 days event really tires me out for only sleeping 3 hours a day each from rushing the costume out. having exams on the two weeks right before the event does not help at all. anyway, cosplayed as hei from darker than black on the first day which was quite a last minute decision due to the effect of the high’ness i received from watching 流星の双子, season 2 of darker than black. i strongly recommend you to watch it if you haven’t, the story and characters are simply awesome! 

bk-201 | photo©rescend

had some screw ups on the night before on the dagger and mask, i had to re-touchup with clay, re-sand and re-paint them. it was alot of work. plus i had to sew the inner lining of the coat, fix the belt, trim the wig and all. i almost felt like giving up when it was 3am and i wasn’t even done yet. but i guess the effort was worth it seeing how much fun i had while cosplaying as hei; a total different experience. i usually had to get the expression right for photo-taking, but for hei i simply have to put on a dead look on the face. simple as that haha. 

黒の死神 | photo©rescend

afa, sunday: 

the second day was a killer, not enough sleep made me both hyper and mad. i rushed the whole night and in the morning again, and was still rushing when i met up with the guys; a very random d.gray-man group with random people haha~ why bother about a group theme when everyone can just have fun, we thought. we had breakfast at kfc in suntec, started preparing, had some screw ups with props, timing and registration. but we soon put those unhappy thoughts aside and enjoy the event to its best. 

d.gray-man group at afa day 2 | photo©psycovirus

sunday is a not a day for event definitely, it was way too crowded combined with the wall of photographers forming endlessly as soon as a cosplayer strikes a pose. i was quite overwhelmed to be honest. for a certain point of time, i had to say sorry and walk away, i apologised to those who wanted a photo, i just needed a break for my eyes because they became unable to focus from all the camera flashes. 

ヨルダンの守り人 | photo©windy

i really like this version of kanda i did. it was something new, plus i really like cape/mantle/flowy clothes. most of the items are diy’ed and the rest are modified from refering to the few scenes in the manga chapters 187/188.  now with chapter 189 out and more costumes details revealed. im glad i got most of them accurate except for the earring haha. will be doing the necessary adjustments and altering to the costumes as needed and get ready for a photoshoot to come~ 

何だテメェは | photo©nicky

ended the event will may’n awesome concert. she sang the top tracks from macross frontier, namely northern cross, lion, iteza gogo kuji don’t be late; and  encore: diamond crevasse. seeing her live was like a dream come true~ and lastly, our humble group got to meet kaname☆as he left the event area. exchanged waves and goodbyes. a memorable event indeed <3

next event upcoming will be eoy held at the national library.. why library? it seems alot of people are having doubts with regards to the location, but the organisers gave their promise on making the event epic. we’ll see in less than a month’s time to go~ eoy also mark a year of cosplay for me, i hope it will be a meaningful one!

+ kanda, sansen

this post titled after my latest deviation; which is titled after an episode of the anime d.gray-man; which made me jump up on my toes the moment he appeared. 神田、参戦 kanda was gone missing for so long in the story. was so happy to see him again, in that gorgeous 2nd uni and flying cloak/hair, and hand grasping tighting onto mugen; ready to fight! this is one of my favourite version of kanda outfit. although the version i did in my recent photoshoot was missing the cloak. but i just had to do it haha.

神田、参戦

the sky wasn’t being nice that day, as it started pouring heavily near the start of the shoot, which was around 4pm or so. some who head out later were even drenched badly.. we shot under the shelter while the rain, clouds and thunderstorm were out there were having fun. as the rain turned to drizzles, we had a shot for a group scene in the rain. i felt rain drops flowed down my nose and it was irritating as i was trying to focus on my expression haha. i sure hope that shoot will turn out well. many thanks to shizu for standing with us in the rain and helping me with adjusting my hair and all too~

二幻刀

thanks everyone for the hard work and effort put into this shoot, and giving me this chance to work with different people whom i have never worked with before. it was an awesome shoot with awesome people and awesome photogs and helpers! i do hope for another photoshoot with you guys again in future~

俺のファーストネームを口にすんじゃねェよ…

photoshoot thread is up here at http://sgcafe.com/showthread.php?t=66407. do check out my deviant page for links to all the other cosplayers page~

+ yokoso japan

- day 01: 16.10.09 -

- day 02: 17.10.09 -

- day 03: 18.10.09 -

- day 04: 19.10.09 -

- day 05: 20.10.09 -

- day 06: 21.10.09 -

- day 07: 22.10.09 -

- day 08: 23.10.09 -

+ 2 years later and 48th

keeping yourself awake for 18hrs wasnt a joke, especially when i had approximately 4hrs sleep a day for the past 2 weeks. but fun always overwrite the tiredness during the event, and will only come to realised how tired you are when you knock out the moment you lie on the bed.

squeezed 2 photoshoots in a day, so i can enjoy my trip without worrying of the cosplay plans to come after i return. most importantly to have a good rest before i start work again.

first shoot took place at an abandoned carpark which was suggested by hexlord. a very suitable location for advent children indeed. the surrounding’s a little run down, as gray and concrety as midgar and there was free wind effects. although a little too much wind for tifa; i had to keep fixing my hair for each take. thanks to the photogs for being patient with me haha~

ready for the next fight

recovering the strength we had 2 years ago

i shall feature some pictures of this very awesome advent children team in this post, as i felt all of them have done a very good job and put in lotsa effort for this shoot. spoilers for those who will be camping on the forums for pics but i cannot resist posting them! good things, must be shared~

are sins ever forgiven?

the reunion is coming

my sierra, latest model!

dreams and honour

shoot did not last long as most of us in pvc are already melting to the afternoon sun, especially our dear kadaj. we moved on to have lunch at burger king, where most of us took the chance to take a short nap. we then proceed to our next location for the 2nd shoot; a beautiful, peaceful, windy place with shallow water, another perfect location for the shoot of rhode’s dreamworld.

took athensis and i less than an hour to prepare/transform from tifa into deak. walked out from the changing room and got stared at for our striking red hair haha~ started with some ‘non-wet’ shot and slowly dump ourselves into the ‘pool’. we even splash water on ourselves for 1 of the shot we took haha. it was very cooolddd, but really fun haha. sorry rescend for almost splashing water onto you and your precious, single-eye isn’t helping me much from determining what was around me that time haha.

48th+49th

忘れたか？

this shoot wasnt easy as we have to keep experimenting with the strobes and flashes to get the perfect lighting we need. lotsa thanks to photogs, rescend, psycovirus and risuchia for the awesome job; to helpers kaen and engracia for helping out in the positioning of the flash.

お休み、ラビ

tiring day ended at around 10:30 pm. worn out yet fully satisfied with the outcome of the shoot. more to come~ better i hope.

advent children photoshoot thread on the forums will be uploaded as soon as i can. meanwhile, do visit http://sgcafe.com/showthread.php?t=66042 and have a look at the completed gallery of the「ラ」+「ビ」photoshoot.

+ 闇の吟

なぜか…

いきなり、部屋は暗くなってきた。
少し前だけに、輝いていたんだろ？

一人でこんな暗闇に立っていて、
なんか気持ちが悪いぞ…

「君は…」

誰？！

「最初から、ずっと一人で立っていたんだよ。」

な…なに？
嘘だろ…

「まさか、知っていなかったんだ？」

黙れ！

「お前は最後までも一人だよ。」

止めろ… 止めろって！
僕は一人じゃね…

「ずっとずっと一人で。」

一人…
ですか？

仲間は…
皆？

「まだわからないのか？」
「僕たちは一人だけ存在出来るんだ。」

僕は…

「さようなら、４９番目の私。」

(above images from d.gray-man are copyrighted to its respective owners.)

english translation (credit to athensis):

Why..

In a flash, darkness descends
Is everything not illuminated and clear, just a moment ago?

Standing alone, in the midst of this stygian darkness..
Somehow, I feel.. wrong.

(You…)

Who’s there?

(From the very beginning, you had been always alone.)

W-what?
No.. You lie.

(You mean you never knew?)

Shut up!

(You will always be on your own, from now till the end and beyond.)
(Is that not obvious?)

Stop it, thats enough!
I’m.. not forsaken.

(…always, always be alone..)

But what about my friends? What about everyone?

(You still do not understand, do you?)
(In the first place, there was only space for one of us. Only one can exist.)

I..

(This is goodbye, my 49th me.)

+ espoir

The sun emerges from the mountain
The glaring streak of light
A new life is born?
Perhaps..

Down the path en route the blinding light
Keeps on walking
Euphoria awaits there?
Unknown..

Lustering effulgently
The seven colours of light
Beckoning at me
Guiding the oblivion to eden

Immersed upon the horizon
The path appears endless
Weary feet are weighing me down
Will I ever reach?

have wings will fly

A span of wings I need
To breeze me across the path

It’s time
That light shimmering ever brilliantly

Ville d’espoir

+ gold saucer -advent’s edition-

we went through time, 9 years later and reappeared as the advent children at games convention asia last sunday. everyone agreed it was much more fun cosplaying as the advent children version compared to crisis core. perhaps it’s of more actions and less emo? crisis core was a pretty sad story, with a sad ending of course. i guess we are all happy people who loves happy endings~

the advent children

we took only an hour to prepare this time round, fast enough compared to the amount of time we took for crisis core preparations; it was like 3 times faster! and there’s something i would like to quote from our dear cloud’s journal “It was the first event where i had the least costume malfunction ^^Y.” haha, this sure is something all cosplayers look forward to, no costume pieces falling apart, no cracking of clay-made props, no spikey turned flat wig, etc. although i had some issue with my shoes, because how tifa wear it is almost impossible, unless it’s sealed dead by the sides or held together with a base below. i did stitch the sides on but the thread came out after too much action poses. resorted to safety pins, but they weren’t safety at all haha.

tifa lockhart - zangan's disciple

we hanged around on the upper floor of the event away from the crowd, therefore there dont seems to have much photos of us take by the other カメコ. much thanks to ris for hanging out with us and for these awesome photos i’m posting here~ met yukihoshi as roxas and a yuna whom i didnt catch her name. we randomly had the idea to take a square enix company staff photo and weaponry photo haha. it was totally random indeed but fun~

square enix 'staff photo'

square enix 'weaponry photo'

we headed down to ‘gold saucer’ shortly after. yes gold saucer! the idea strucked me when i asked cloud to pose a photo with me at the ufo catcher machine. haha. it’s a game convention afterall, so we made use of the game arcade to take a few shots of the advent children having a day’s off at the gold saucer~ our moogle even had a go on the dance dance revolution machine! (which i shall not post the pic here because he didn’t have his head on haha!)

cloud: i've already spent 500GP on this tifa..

cloud: this is way too easy..

we had so much fun that it was already late and we did not know.. everyone wished that the day did not pass so fast! but fret not, we have our photoshoot to come, really soon. the advent story shall continue then~ on a last note: happy birthday allan!

vina (who hasn’t make appearance for awhile now..): check out zack and cloud’s deviantart gallery at: http://qwerterfor.deviantart.com/ and http://u-bai-bai.deviantart.com/. their gallery are pretty much empty for now.. but i will be chasing them to upload, so fear not, you should be able to see a galore of pictures up there soon~ *evil grin*

halloween is near..

+ kinki: sangenshiki

finally got to experiment on a version of kanda cosplay which is not frequently done by cosplayers. i was feeling half hearted too, on whether this will be a success or a failure. to most d.gray-man fans out there, this is considered the kanda epic version, therefore the result be either epic or fail.. many thanks to my friends who sacrificed with me under the hot sun and risking the high tide. result probably wasnt totally epic because i’m a female afterall and it’s difficult to go totally topless.. but i felt satisfied enough after looking at the pics, because everyone on set put in lotsa efforts, you have my thanks my dear friends!

ノアは不死か…

trekked our way to punggol beach after much trouble, as the main area was block and we had to walk down a pile of rocks and along a long tiny stretch of sand during extremely high tide to reach the exact spot for the shoot. sun was glaring, tide was high, ants were parading around our bags, flies were attacking, sand give way easy and make you slip and injure yourself. however the location is really beautiful, and fits extremely well for this version we were shooting. it wasn’t an easy shoot at all, but we managed our way through it.

六幻、耐えられるか

二幻刀！

the sun setted really fast, we were covered in darkness in no time, with only mild lights reaching us from a distance. we had major problem setting up props and all and thus resorted to using our psp/mobile screens as our source of light. night shoot went well despite the blindness we were encountering. we shot till over 9pm and shifted out of the sandy area for a last scene at the carpark nearby. we had a little problem here as well because it was extremely dark, so it was a lot of trial and error. my bad because i spent too much time working on the costume and props that i did not scout the location before hand.

終わりだ…

俺は…俺はまだ…

ended the shoot finally at 10pm and went for lunch..? we didn’t had anything but water since noon.. we were totally worn out. thanks to all who made this shoot possible. it was a success i say because the teamwork itself was awesome. thanks!

full gallery of the images/story of this photoshoot can be found here: http://sgcafe.com/showthread.php?t=65474 or from my deviantart gallery. do have a look^^