~ The One-Winged Angel ~: anime

For the Blood is the Life ~ Becoming Ruka Souen (Vampire Knight)

Or rather, "How to Try Hard and Barely Resemble Ruka Souen". That ought to be the title of this post. LOL! Okay, kidding aside, in this post I will show how I prepared for our Vampire Knight cosplay as Ruka Souen.

Photos via Google

Vampire Knight is one of the anime series I watched way back early 2009 (wow, that made me feel kinda old haha...), it's not exactly my favorite but I liked it. I believe both Erika-neechan and Sachie-chan loved the series and really wanted to cosplay (Yuki and Maria, respectively), so we planned to do this one right after our Ao no Exorcist cosplay.

Honestly, I had a bit of an internal debate with myself as to whether I should do another crossplay as Kaname or stick with Ruka. But after some deliberation, I finally decided to go ahead with being a 'girl' this time around, which is pretty okay with me since I won't have to deal with chest-binding and those 'awkward moments'. And I can gawk, squeal, and get all glaze-eyed at cute cosplayers without looking weird and out-of-character. LOL!

Though I'm absolutely nowhere near as pretty as Ruka (or Luca) in this cosplay, there are some characteristics that we both share. I can also be quite haughty, snobbish and bored; but also loyal and determined like her.

Now, prepare to see some scary-looking photos of me as I do my cosplay makeup. No, I'm not kidding. You've been warned. Heheh...

My no-makeup face -- cleansed, toned, and moisturised. As you can see, I've got bad skin... I'm also wearing my favorite Princess Mimi Chocolate lenses. Scary eyes are scary, hoho~

For the face: Lioele Secret Pore Rich Balm, Revlon Colorstay Makeup for Combination/Oily Skin (220 Natural Beige), Maybelline AngelFit Perfect Concealer (01 Light Beige), Fanny Serrano Two-way cake (Duchess)

Lid wash

Crease and outer lid color

Browbone highlight

For shading the top sides of my nose near the eyebrows

For the eyes (first part): In2It Eyebrow Powder (Eyebrowns), ELF 100-piece eyeshadow palette (colors used are shown above -- sorry I'm not good at describing colors, made it a point to stick with neutrals), Fashion21 white eyeliner (for the waterline), Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick (01 Shooting Star -- for the tear duct areas)

For the eyes (second part): K-Palette 1-Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyeliner (Super Black), In2It Waterproof Gel Liner (Very Black -- for tightlining and outer third part of the lower lashline), Avon SuperMagnify Mascara (Black), Fanny Serrano eyelash curler, Saizen false lashes (I super love these!)

For the cheeks and lips: ELF Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder, Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm (Anti-Oxidant Berry), Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick (Skin), Avon Glazewear clear lip gloss

And that's it!

Here's a photo from our makeup/costume 'practice' a week before the con, with Erika-neechan...

And at Cosplay Mania...

Ruka is the new endorser for Pocky??? Eheheh...

If you're curious as to how I'd look with this makeup and my own hair...

Tired of seeing my face now, no? Ahahahaa! I love how big and doll-like the eyes are especially the lashes, but I'm not sure if I can go out with this kind of makeup...

As for my Ruka Souen cosplay, it's clearly not the best and to be honest, I'm just moderately satisfied with it. I actually plan to redo it, particularly with better and more detailed costume. I'm okay with the wig (though I can do with a tad bit lighter one), I just need to improve its styling.

What do you think?

じゃね！

2 comments

by りん

anime

Otaku Alert! Dead Master Nendoroid

こんばんわ！

Eeeep! I finally got it! One of the Nendos I've been lemming for... Dead Master from Black Rock Shooter! After months of searching, I was able to purchase one from Comic Alley. Though I'd much prefer buying figures from Greenhills but I don't have the time (or companion) to go there. Anyhow, I'm glad I got my hands on this!

Curious about this character? Here's some nifty info from Wiki:

"Dead Master is an antagonist character who appears in the OVA, the TV anime and the Innocent Soul manga. Similar to a Gothic Lolita costume, Dead Master's clothing consists of a black dress and a black bolero; her dress extends down to her thighs and is accented with a white ribbon attached to her waist. She also wears a pair of leggings and a pair of black pumps. She wears a pair of black gauntlets on each hand. She has two black horns made of black vertebrae. She uses three weapons in her battle with Black Rock Shooter. Her primary weapon is her "Dead Scythe", which has multiple short scythes under the main scythe blade and a vertebra-like feature at the end of the handle. Her secondary weapons are her chains which serve as her mid-range weapons whilst Her third weapons are her large two "Dead Skulls" which serve as her partners in both her long-range and close-range combat.

In the OVA, Dead Master is a form of jealousy that possesses Yomi when she becomes jealous of Yuu's friendship with Mato. She is defeated when Black Rock Shooter, fused with Mato, hugs her, banishing her from Yomi's body. In the TV anime, Dead Master is Yomi's darken persona, who sports glasses and a wedding veil. Initially a captive of Chariot and then Black Gold Saw, her true power awakens when Yomi's jealousy and loneliness reaches its peak. Dead Master is inevitably killed by Black Rock Shooter, just as Mato had merged with her, causing Yomi to forget about Mato and Mato to break down, leading to the awakening of Insane Black Rock Shooter. However, she is revived after Yomi manages to regain her memories of Mato. In the Innocent Soul manga, Dead Master is a Black Shooter sent to free stagnate souls. Having died in a car crash in her former life, Dead was told by Ram that if she ate enough souls, she would be able to come back to life and reunite with her fiancée. When she learns this was a lie, she breaks down and becomes a stagnated soul herself who is forced to be killed by Rock."

(source: Black Rock Shooter characters)

I like her hairstyle and outfit (except for the horns), and her scythe is just outright badass... Though she's not exactly my favorite out of the bunch... As for this Nendo, she's really cute, ain't she? Styling each pose is a pain in the neck, but it feels pretty rewarding every time I snap a photo of it.

Anyway, here you go. Spamming you with shots of Dead Master's different faces and poses.

My BRS girls are almost complete! Now, where to get Strength... Oh yeah, and I need another BRS Nendo 'cause my old one broke. Fuuuu...

P.S. Changed my watermark to a more artsy-fartsy, flowy, girly one. Also added the Japanese characters for "One-Winged Angel". Yeah, sometimes I'm just fickle-minded like that. So far, I like this one the most.

じゃね！

No comments

by りん

anime

Otaku Alert! Black Rock Shooter (Inspired) Jacket

こんにちわ!

Just a quick (sort of) post to show one of my favorite pieces of clothing right now. This is my Black Rock Shooter-inspired jacket from Comic Alley.

まったく, when I first saw a photo of this from their Facebook page, I was all like "Kyaaa! Gotta have that! \(>_<)/" (I think I mentioned this in one of my older posts...)

Since I can NEVER cosplay as BRS, I just settled for something like this. Kyaaa! I am too shy to wear her costume in public. Okay fine, I know it won't suit me (fuuu...).

And in any case if I do cosplay as BRS, it'll look like she has gone depressed and started pigging out or something.

Or I can be her 'chubby' version, ohoho~ Whatever...

Anyway, I'm glad the style is quite simple and the way it mimics the titular character's long coat. I love the single stripe on each arm and the large white star at the back, very unmistakably BRS. I like the fact that I can wear it in the office or outside without being overly obvious about being, well, otaku. Oh yeah! I'll still wear it with pride! (^o^)/

The fabric is quite nice, it's actually thick, soft, and warm. Perfect for cold office environment. Sewing job is pretty okay, except for the stitching on the large star which is kinda sloppy but forgivable. And they could have done something better about the zipper but since it does the job, I really can't complain. For Php1450, I'd say it's worth it.

BTW, I got this in a small size. The medium ones were out of stock at the time but the SA asked me to still try this and claimed that there is no significant difference. And what do you know... Turned out he's right!