The Cosplay Sessions: Toastie's Walkthrough (DRAMAtical Murder - Ren)
The Walkthroughs for The Cosplay Sessions won't guide you through any Route of the game.
However, at the other side of the screen, each person's experience counts as an extra Route. As the Masters of said Route, it's up to them to decide how to express and develop themselves within this new passion. Creativity has no limits when it comes to show our enthusiasm for that new thing, and I consider each new passion is only a trigger for us to discover new things about ourselves... to push our limits.
It's a whole new reality. Almost like Rhyme!
With that thought in mind, I find it quite appropriate the fact we'll open this new edition for TCS with this cosplayer. Through her Route, she decided to incarnate a character that couldn't have his own Route in the game until the very end. But here both share the first spot.
This Rhyme field won't serve for battles in this occasion, but a space for us to know, learn and get inspired by Toastie, who didn't hesitate once to make the decision and get under Ren's skin.
Almost like a Drive-by, I wasn't planning to first try finding Ren cosplayers for the sessions. But when I came across Toastie's picture in her Ren cosplay, I didn't question her abilities. For those who are passionate about cosplay, you'll know that feeling of seeing a picture or even in person, a cosplayer who in their combination of costume, attitude, and I'd even say aura... that just makes you enthusiastic about the character they incarnate. They invite you to approach them, maybe take a picture with them, or tempt you to ask them the usual "How did you do it?"
Sadly, I can't really take a picture with this Ren. But I did approach, and I was very well received. This is Toastie, and she shares with you her experiences as a cosplayer, and particularly, as Ren:
B: How did you first learn about Cosplay?
T: I first learned about cosplay through a combination of my dad and the internet actually. Back in 2006-2007 when I was starting to really get into anime and read fanfics, surf the internet for fanart etc etc, I'd stumbled across some cosplays of my favorite characters. My dad used to suggest cosplay to me a lot (since we used to live really close to the San Diego Convention Center, he was kind of familiar with it) along with conventions and how people would dress up as their favorite characters to these events. The idea absolutely fascinated me and before I knew it I spent more and more of my time looking up other people's cosplays from my favorite series more than I did fan art or the other. I absolutely fell in love with the idea and now here I am today.
B: Do you remember your experience with your first Cosplay?
T: I remember almost everything to a tee. My first cosplay was Sango the Demon Slayer's Taijiya outfit and I remember not knowing how to do anything that wasn't hand sewing or glueing pieces of craft foam together. The one thing I do remember most about my first cosplay is that I was a HUGE perfectionist. I wanted every detail to be right and I wanted every little detail to be done that others wouldn't normally do. I also remember dropping a lot of money on supplies because I wanted it to be absolutely perfect. Also, on a more hilarious note; there is one thing for certain that has held true all the way to the present that started with this cosplay: I like to pick things that are kind of out of my skill level (lol).
It might be easier said than done, but if you're on the same page as Toastie and your choice for your first cosplay is quite challenging: do it, by all means. Cosplay is a step by step process.
B: When you decide on a character you want to cosplay, what's the very first step to start making the costume a reality?
T: Lots and lots of research. Research of any kind. Research on what previous cosplayers have used to make the costume a reality, what specific details and techniques look like on the costume itself (pictures of other cosplayers), reference pictures of the character in general that range from fan art to doodles of my own, and research on fabrics. I spent most of my time searching for photo references for Ren in this project mostly because the official art is something that I couldn't really find that easily at the time. I depended most on fan art and pictures of other cosplayers and these proved to be a little challenging since most people kind of shy away from Rhyme Ren as a costume in general due the intricacy.
B: How did you learn about DRAMAtical Murder?
T: I learned about DMMd through my friends here and there towards the end of 2013. I'd seen bits and pieces of it here and there on my Tumblr dashboard and seen a few people I knew cosplay from it. What REALLY pushed me into DMMd was when I was at a local cosplay day we'd organized in November of 2013 and two of my closer friends showed up as Clear and Aoba. I really really liked Aoba's design as a whole before I knew anything about it and when I saw an Aoba cosplayer in person it literally sent me over te edge into the " IT MUST BE DONE" mindset.
B: Was Ren your first cosplay option? Why?
T: Ren was indeed my first cosplay option! As mentioned in the previous question, I'd seen DMMd floating around me for a while and before I actually pursued the series itself I looked up pictures from it and of the characters within it. And that was when I found the glorious being that is Ren in both his glorious poofiness and his spectacular Tron-Sasuke poncho. It was one of those things when you see a character and you just KNOW. You look at them and you KNOW right off the bat that they are going to be your baby and you adopt them into your little collection of bias babies. So, after I played DMMd the more and more I loved Ren and the more and more I REALLY enjoyed his character design (his Rhyme costume to be specific) and that with the constant urges from friends to pursue cosplaying Rhyme!Ren was when I'd met my match and succumbed to the journey that was in fact Rhyme!Ren.
B: Have you cosplayed other characters before? What does it take for you to decide what characters you want to cosplay?
T: Yes, I have cosplayed other characters before; I've been cosplaying for 8 years now. When I pick characters to cosplay it usually ends up being my favorite character from the series and if it isn't my favorite character it's one I just get a really good vibe from. When I say good vibe I mean like passionate emotions and the thought of me personifying this character in real life just makes me absolutely ecstatic. The case is usually a combination of both my favorite character and the really joyous feeling I get in my stomach when I think about cosplaying that character but sometimes there are characters that aren't my favorite but I am still very passonate it about such as Eren Jaeger.
Eight years is quite a lot of time! In a few words, Toastie's instincts are what help her choose the characters she wants to cosplay. Here are two contrasting examples: Eren Jaeger from Shingeki no Kyojin (left), Natsuki Shinomiya from Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love 2000%. In Eren's case Toastie makes use of her youthful features to bring life to a young but fierce hero, while the same features help her achieve a more innocent look as Natsuki. With practice you can achieve versatility that will expand your options when you're choosing a character.
B: What habits and qualities do you share with Ren?
T: *spoilers ahead* I don't really share a whole lot of qualities with Ren aside from the fact that I have a lot of restraint about things. Ren himself is restraint and shows this through his reason based personality. I personally have a lot of restraint but in a kind of different way? I guess? Mostly when it comes to buying things and being unsure about them in some form or fashion. I even have some form of restraint when it comes to cosplays.
Not always you have to share hearts with the character of your choice. But if something in it calls you, and some aspects of your personality click with the character, make use of them as much as possible. Attitude is also part of the cosplay. A part that you don't have to pay for or hand make it!
B: Is there anything you do to enter character when you're going to wear the cosplay?
T: No not really, haha. I try to get into character but that usually ends up pretty horrendously and if me getting into character happens by some sort of grace of God, it's usually by accident. It's something that I do struggle with and something that I am working on improving but in general, no I don't really do anything to enter character. I generally only try to slate and put myself into that mindset whenever I have a photoshoot but as far as success goes, that usually doesn't end up being too successful. OTL
TIP: if acting like the character isn't your thing either, try to study the iconic poses they make. That won't fail you when it comes to making photographic memories of your cosplay. Here Toastie looks ready for a Rhyme battle.
B: How do you feel about the reactions from people to your cosplay, be it in conventions or online?
T: People's reactions to my cosplay make me the happiest person on this Earth. It means the world to me to have people tell me their opinions on my costume (even if they're constructive criticism) because it lets me know that they enjoy my work as much as I do. I love being able to know that I share my passion in this hobby with other people. It is absolutely flattering to know that people enjoy my work and it means the world to me to be able to get "noticed by senpai" by anyone and everyone who speaks to me. x3 And I literally say "noticed by senpai" because that's what it feels like to me whenever someone comes up to me and asks me for a picture, talks to me about my costume to the side of a con, or asks me things through tumblr. It means the absolute world to me.
B: Which has been the weirdest experience you can remember related to this cosplay?
T: This one...
B: Once you decided Ren is the one, what were your first thoughts about achieving the make up look that would bring you closer to him?
T: Well, my first initial thought was how do you get someone who has a rounded face with super girly features to appear manly. And Honestly, that's my original thought with all of my crossplays. I knew for sure I'd have to do some pretty heavy countouring and that wasn't an issue because I've had to do something similar for my Eren Jaeger make up.
B: What features of this character did you pay attention to the most to recreate them on your on face?
T: My biggest concern was actually the eyes and the eye make up because Rhyme!Ren is still rather animalistic and inhuman so, I really wanted to portray that to the utmost of my abilities. I personally have almond shaped eyes that are slightly more rounded and kind of wide so with that in mind, I really wanted to do something that would make my eyes look longer. (This is just kind of a decision I'd made based off of the observation of in most anime art styles men are given elongated eyes and women have wider ones) I experimented with eye make up a lot; like, I did at minimum 2 make up tests a week to try to figure it out but after many trials I was able to combine both the animalistic kind of quality with the elongation that I wanted into my make up. (This will be easier to see than explain).
Going from this to this is the challenge. (source)
B: How long does it take you to achieve the look?
T: This mostly depends on how smoothly my process is going because on some days my make up game is super weak but then on other days my make up game is so on point I could shed tears of joy. If its not going to well it generally takes longer because I have to restart or am struggling with fixing something. Generally if everything goes the way I want it to it can take about an hour at most. This is mostly because gluing and covering my eyebrows takes the longest in general due to waiting for the glue to dry on multiple occasions and so on and so forth.
Toastie's Suggested Products
1. Glue Stick
2. COVERGIRL foundation
3. e.l.f foundation
4. e.l.f stick foundation
5. Concealer Brush
6. Liquid liner (brush tip)
7. Liquid liner (felt tip)
8. Eyeshadow palette
9. Too Faced Eyeshadow primer
10. Eyeliner (highlighting purpose)
You'll probably notice I use a lot of Elf products. I use them because they work REALLY well for my skin and skin color and they're pretty cheap and dependable. On top of that because my family does a lot of group oders online from them we get a lot of cool free stuff so yeah~ lol
TUTORIAL TIMEWith the infinity of versions for one same character, you can pick so many techniques that might help your features get closer to the desired look. You can adjust a suggested technique to your preferences or shapes to some part of your face, or just pick one or two suggestions and go with the flow for the rest.
Perhaps you'll find something like that in Toastie's Tutorial. Here, you'll get to see her chosen routine towards the final look!
Before & After 
Strong Points in Toastie's Routine:Because of her natural features, her Ren version is more youthful than usual. However, that's not a bad point. Her transformation process shows us how your starting point might not be so close to the original character, yet it's not necessary to pull a thousand tricks from your sleeve. A little touch here, some lines there, and you look like a different person!
These are the parts of her Routine I consider were truly important:
-Gradual contouring:
Contouring is something you want to build up, not apply as one layer. It's always best to start with a light shade and add more until you're happy with the results. Toastie's little nose looked sharper and longer, as well as her cheekbones looked more prominent.
-Enlongated shadow:
Not only eyeliner helps you achieve a defined eye shape, shadow too! So if you want to accentuate a longer eye shape even more, enlongating the eyeshadow as a background for the eyeliner will help a lot. The attention will be brought to those longer lines achieved with both shadow and liner, as a result, making your eyes appear longer.
And that's it! Toastie makes a simple routine work really well. Although the facial marks are still a mystery to me lol I wonder how she manages to draw them so quickly and with a nice result. Lots of practice, I bet!
But beyond her make up, Toastie also takes part in the whole costume making process. From head to toe, she brought Ren to the flesh with her own hands.
COSPLAY ANATOMY
1. Easiest part to work on:
The poncho was the easiest to work on me personally because it was nothing but sewing and appliqueing things onto other things.
2. Most difficult part to work on:
That would be a tie between the gems for the poncho and the boot covers. The gems were hard for me because I didn't know HOW to get them to look the way I wanted with the alotted materials that others had used in future cosplays. Most people used plastic Christmas bulbs and painted them or used plastic balls. This was troublesome for me because they didn't range in sizes OTL. BUT I found a tutorial for making gems and used that. Which leads me to my next journey: clear ressin casting and fosshape. Then there was the bootcovers. This was hard for me because I'd never made any before and I legitimately sewed the boot covers to the actual shoe by hand. So you can imagine just how long that actually took.
Ressin casting. If you are wondering what the clear fixtures that the Ressin is in: they are plastic Christmas bulbs coated with vaselene so the ressin did not stick. There were a total of 17 gems.
3. Most expensive piece:
Everything was equally expensive and was no more than like $40 I don't think. However, if I hadn't gotten my fabric on sale the fabric would have easily been the most expensive thing since I needed so much of it.
4. Cheapest piece:
The jeans.
5. Favorite part of the costume:
The poncho of course! I like wearing it because it makes me feel swooshie and its flowey and rather cool considering how many layers it is.
6. First item to work on:
The black undercloak was the first thing I worked on
7. Last item to finish:
The hat/ bandana thing because I didn't think it would be a big deal even if I didn't have the hat as it was a small detail of the costume.
B: Seeing Toastie has done her very best during this Route, this last question is directed to you, Mr.Ren: Could you please share some encouragement words for the people who'd like to cosplay this character or just any other character they want?
R: Do not fret. It is evident that this task appears rather hard however, allowing ample time for troubleshooting problems and searching for information will bring you to your desired conclusion. It is in my hopes that you will acknowledge the set of information I have provided here for you. The pleasure is mine to assist you in your journey.
With those inspiring words from Ren and this beautiful picture with the nice company of an extremely pretty Aoba (cosplayed by Faecakes Cosplay), we end this session.
I'll leave the contact links for you to reach Toastie through her social media. Support her work as she continues to grow as a cosplayer. Not to mention she's a truly nice, friendly person and will be glad to answer your doubts!
Expect the next session. There's still plenty of characters for us to know.
Find Toastie:
Toastie's pictures in her Rhyme!Ren cosplay were taken by:
Animated Ren pixels by:
BlueTrashBin's:
1 comments
Toastie. I like her name! Her Ren indeed looks younger and more playful, but i think she took amazing care of all features and details, bringing into life a very nicely shaped Ren. She really does remind me of a dog and for this character, of course, that is a good thing. I'm surprised at how much work she put into the costume, but no wonder it came out so well huh?. I love her words as Ren, really do seem like something he would say. Also i like how her makeup routine doesnt take 10 hours, yet she manages to come up with such a good look. Amazing skills. Amazing cosplay! And your questions were all very fun and allow us to know way more of the cosplayer and the cosplay. Love it
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