Our Fearless Leader

Rinoa from Talking Teacups of Doom Cosplay.  Icon by Ciphir.

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Ok, I need some clarification here, and with your background, I think you might be able to solve my confusion. So, is it seNpai, or seMpai?

I’m probably the worst person to ask this to, because I’ll give you the answer that you don’t want to hear: it’s neither and both at the same time.

So, Linguistics lesson!

The phrase in question is: 先輩、or せんぱい。Romanized, you would have se-n-pa-i, according to most teachers of the language.

This is where language teaching fails miserably.

Do you see that ん?  The “n” letter in there?  That’s not really an n sound.  That’s what’s called a moraic nasal, which basically means that it’s a nasal sound that takes up a syllable on its own (note, this is NOT a precise definition, but if you want to know more, look into syllable vs. mora).  Just to confuse you further, it’s not even produced in the same place as an n sound.  It’s a uvular nasal (note, that this is disputed by scholars as to what the base sound actually is, but that’s irrelevant for this discussion).  

What should you take away from the last paragraph?  ん =/= n.  They’re not the same thing.  To English speakers, who don’t have uvular sounds in their inventory, it sounds like an “n”, so that’s what it’s taught as, and because there’s no letter in the English alphabet that can represent it, it becomes “n”.

So, that should be it, right?  It should be “senpai”?

It’s not that simple.  See, when you hear a native speaker saying it, what do they say?  “Sempai”.  Seriously, I’m not joking.  Go listen to someone native saying it.  No one says “senpai”.  It’s “sempai”.  

This is because of assimilation (place assimilation, for those of you fellow Linguists).  You make a “p” sound with your lips (voiceless bilabial stop), and so in order to exert the least amount of work when you speak, you move the nasal to the lips (bilabial nasal, or “m”).  

Assimilation is pretty common in languages.  Want an example?  In English, we have the prefix “in-”, which means “not”.  So, to say that something is not possible, we get:

in- + possible –> impossible

Almost the same change, different language.  

So, final verdict?  I will always write it as “sempai”.  For one, we don’t write “inpossible”.  Secondly, sticking to romanization rules is kind of asinine for various reasons when it comes to phonemes which don’t exist in the target language (which I will illustrate if it gets asked, but I’ll refrain from my rant for now), and thirdly, it makes it easier to learn the proper pronunciation.  That being said, you’re not wrong if you write “senpai”.  

tl;dr?  Write it whichever way you want and tell the people who are trying to reinforce their prescriptive English to shove off.

[naliya]

I understand how european bloggers are frustrated with americans and us centrism but isn't saying that "racism in europe is different than the usa" ignoring the similarities? for example italians face discrimination in europe, italians faced discrimination in the usa, black people face discriminiation in usa and in europe, also middle eastern people face discrimination is europe and the usa. Like romani people face discrimination in the usa as well. like there are large similarities.

Hi anon.

Okay, when Europeans say that racism works differently in Europe, they aren’t saying that racism against black people, middle eastern people or romani people don’t exist and we are not ignoring those similarities - literally no sane European will ever try to argue that, and I certainly will be the last to do so, I have never done that in any of my posts about this issue, I am never going to start and I follow no Europeans who do.

Where Europeans get frustrated is when you have US bloggers insisting that their definition of racism (which is mostly about colourism and comes from their history) can be applied everywhere the same. When Americans insist that you cannot be racist against white people because racism is power plus prejudice (or whatever have you) and white people are always in power and therefore cannot be discriminated against.. well this is where you lose Europeans. Because “whiteness” in Europe simply does not operate the same way; to put it in simple words, insisting that white people always held power and were never oppressed erases a huge part of European history, erases the sufferings of many people/countries and of course we aren’t okay with that - nobody would.

I have mentioned the Polish being denied the right to exist many times as well as the Greek’s genocide at the hands of the Turks. I could also mention the Albanian massacres, the oppression of the Irish by the British, the prejudices against Slavic people or the many invasion of Finland by Russia, and those are only examples. Racism in Europe simply isn’t only about colour, it’s also about ethnicity (and classism, really), many people who would be seen as simply “white” in the US, would not in Europe and would face and have faced many discriminations for being the “wrong kind of white” so to speak.

No one in Europe will deny that black people.. etc… will face racism here, but we are uncomfortable with the way Americans will keep pushing on us the idea that white people have always held power and that therefore you cannot be prejudiced against them, simply because Europe’s history do not go in that sense and we witness racism between many European ethnicities all the time. We have a problem with Americans trying to push their constructs and definition of what racism is on us - a definition that comes from their particular history of slavery and segregation - and insist that if we disagree then it must be because we’re racist ourselves.

In Europe you can be racist against white people (including non white people against white people btw - looking at Turkey again), and this is where we are frustrated with Americans trying to force their definition of racism as solely being about white people discriminating against non-white, and with the way they are ignoring that power is fluid and will be held by different people depending of where and when you are. Europe’s different history and social background will mean that those issues will have different dynamics attached to them and won’t operate or be dealt with the same and we wish this was acknowledged instead of dismissed just to try to make us fit in their neat little American centred “social justice” bow.

[talkingteacupsofdoom]

New photo from our photoshoot at the University of Oregon last week!  Special thanks to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art for allowing us to shoot in the courtyard! “Therefore, I am sure that …. my coronation is not a symbol of a power and a splendor that are gone, but a declaration of our hopes for the future, and for the years I may … be given to reign and serve you as your queen.” – Queen Elizabeth II  Cardverse!Hungary (Queen of Clubs) :: Pookie Photography and Editing :: Rinoa Assistants :: Kotachan & Lindsey Rose

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

It’s been a bit since I did some actual photography, so I took @komatsuayumu and Pookie out last week to shoot some stuff.  This is the first one from that set.  They were two fantastic models, and I really couldn’t have wanted anything more.

[ardawigs]

SALE ALERT! All our Silky Wigs and Silky Accessories are now 30% off! We’ve even added some new styles to Silky including our Claudia and Long clips! Shop our Silky Wigs here!: https://arda-wigs.com/shop/arda-silky/

[cosplaytipsandtricks]

Arda’s having a pretty decent sale, everyone! I have no opinion on their Silky line, as I’ve yet to purcahse one. Unfortunately the one style I want is unavailable in the color I need, so I cannot get one just yet. But I”m hearing great things about these wigs! 

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Reblogging because 30% is pretty decent for Arda, and also, who doesn’t want wigs on sale?

[talkingteacupsofdoom]

Trying out new editing stuff on the KuronekoCon photos.  Whoops.  ;D “These days you rarely meet people so earnest, so sweetly innocent.”

Kuragehime / Princess Jellyfish Kuranosuke :: Queenie Photographer :: @it-wasapleasureto-burn Editing :: Rinoa

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

New photo from the KuroNekoCon shoot!  I tried something really new with this shoot, because the pictures are kind of grainy due to the heavy smoke that was present during it, but I think I like how it turned out.  

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Are you guys ever going to redo your Pokemon Trainers? I really loved that cosplay!

I’d love to!  There’s some updating I’d like to do on Mei/Rosa, but I think we should reshoot them.  What do you think, @thequeenofthepirates?  ;D

[thequeenofthepirates]

waterdemon28 Guess what I got done Friday afternoon??? ヾ(o✪‿✪o)ｼ ~｡ﾟ✶ฺ

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

It’s doooooooooone!  ;D

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Are you done with your diss?

Yes, thank you!  <3  I’ll be back to answering asks + other stuff in a few days; I’m sick right now (as in, got-to-go-for-a-hospital-visit-two-days-ago sick, not stay-in-bed-and-watch-movies-with-ice-cream sick), but once I get back on my feet, I’ll try to clear out some of my inbox again.  c:

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Hiiiiiiii Rin! I know this is kind of a weird question, but I'm a bit scared to ask the cosplayer, and you edited the photos, but do you know where the Kuranosuke in your most recent photo got her lenses?

Ah, anon, don’t be scared of thequeenofthepirates.  She’s nicer than I am, promise.  :D

That being said, they aren’t circle lenses at all, though I’m super flattered you think so.  <3  (Or is that not a compliment because you could tell they were artificial and not natural?  I’m going to hope it’s because they were purple and they don’t look ridiculously obvious …)  

Both Tsukimi and Kuranosuke’s eye colors are edited in!  Tsukimi’s brown eyes were just a paintbrush with low opacity, since they’re too far away for anything but the color to be obvious.  

Kuranosuke’s were a little different.  They were meant to be a centerpiece, so they had to be pretty detailed.  Here’s what they look like up close (I believe this is about 300% magnification?):

The base color is the dark purple you see around the edges.  then I added in a lighter purple closer to the iris.  The iris itself is actually a very dark indigo, in order to look more natural than black, and then the white light?  Just a very light purple.  By keeping the color scheme uniform, it creates a fairly cohesive-looking eye.  Oh, also, the dark purple + light purple in the color is smudged together with a very small brush.  Not sure it did anything other than sort of blurred the lines between the two colors.  

I know that the cosplay world is super into circle lenses, but if you can’t wear them, no worries!  Photo editing is your friend!

Thanks for the ask!

[talkingteacupsofdoom]

A new edit from KuroNekoCon!

“It’s sad, but there are lots of people in society who judge others by their appearance.  Those people are enemies.  Therefore, put on your armor!”

Kuragehime / Princess Jellyfish Kuranosuke :: Queenie Tsukimi :: ruuzulapis Photographer :: it-wasapleasureto-burn Edits :: Rinoa

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

I’m being so slow with these edits, but I actually like this one.  xD

[retiredconsumer]

Ken's Cosplay & Convention Photography Tip #4: Directing The Shoot

You are walking around a convention and stop someone for a photo. The normal routine is that they give you a quick pose and they give you a quick photo. Starting out I thought a whole shoot works like that. I could not be anymore wrong.

For this tutorial I will be going over how you can provide direction to your photo shoots. This is actually a huge topic and I might make separate articles in the future to go more in depth on some aspects of this. For now I will just provide a basic over view.

Reeling back to an earlier tip, the first few photos during a shoot may be something straight on. This is fine and is sometimes all the cosplayer really wants. Although as a photographer during a shoot you should really challenge yourself to provide more. Being a cosplay photographer can become a way for you to become a visual story teller.

When setting up a shoot with somebody, I like to ask questions about their character. What do they do? What is their personality like? If somebody is with them, what is the relationship like between the characters.

I also like to ask if they can provide reference photos of the character. This sometimes gives me a blue print to work with.

If you are lucky they will have a prop. Ask questions about how the character uses it. If it’s a weapon, ask for a demonstration to show how the character attacks. Do they have any magic qualities to them? Try to have a photo that showcases the prop.

When you watch a movie, the characters normally don’t look directly at the camera. This is done to help build the illusion of a story to an audience. I apply this concept to a lot of my photos. It gives a sense that there is more beyond the frame or something is about to unfold. Having people interact with each other is also a huge plus.

Try to keep in the context of the character and source. Doing a few funny or out of character photos are fine, but don’t let it overshadow the shoot. Personally, I am not a fan of… lets just say for example Mario trying to look sexy. It’s funny, but it is something that can’t be taken seriously.

Even if you are working with a costume that could be perceived as sexy, try not to make that the focus by constantly giving suggestive poses or ideas. The only exception of course is if that is what suits the character.

Ask the cosplayer if they have any ideas and poses of their own. Assist them so it can look good for the camera.

A lot of my work is spontaneous. For some shoots I don’t always plan. Fortunately as you become more experienced you get an idea if what works and what does not. Also just think about logically. Say, somebody is from a fighting game.. have them fight. If they are from a sports show….

The most difficult part can be to get the cosplayer emotionally invested in the shoot. Try to get the cosplayer in the mood by telling a story or a joke. Try to get them comfortable and bring life into the character. Remember that emotion comes from the eyes and not so much the mouth.

Remember that as a cosplayer photographer you have two big priorities. The first is to make the cosplayer look as good as possible with the resources at hand. Secondly, finding ways to show off the costume in a way that is faithful to the source. This means just don’t stick to the front, but have shots of the back and sides.

In conclusion everybody is going to work with you differently. There will be people who will prefer to direct themselves the whole time and you’re just there to capture it. Then there are people who want to be directed 100% of the time. I think I recall a time starting out where I did a spontaneous 5 minute shoot with somebody and asked “What does your character do?”, to which they had no answer to and I later found out they passive aggressively took it out on me for even asking.

Just remember this is a collaboration and everybody needs to be cordial for it to turn out well. You need to be serious about taking good photos, the cosplayer needs to be serious about getting them and if you follow some of my advice you might wind up with a few serious good photos.

Thanks for checking this out. If you like it let me know. I am also on facebook under Ken AD Photography or my new Ken Austin Photography for non cosplay stuff.

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Askbox is closing so that I can finish up my dissertation!  It’s finally that time, guys!  I’m crying and just want to drown in a bottle of wine, thanksforasking.

Wish me luck!

[dangerous-ladies]

Just curious, but was Arda's Jeannie used for Jenn's Robin cosplay? c: If so what were your thoughts on it? I'm hearing a lot of mixed reviews on the wig (and ponytail style wigs in general), just curious what you have to say about it!

It is!

I’ll be honest: while the Jeannie (and Jasmine) are the best ponytail wigs on the market (that aren’t like movie quality lace fronts anyway) and are eons ahead of the clip-on-a-short-wig look, I still think they are in need of a lot of improvement. I kind of hate them in a “you inconvenience me so damn much” way even if they are the top of the market currently. I’m sort of actively avoiding ponytailed wigs in the future until it can be sorted out haha.

Some points: The size of them is great for those of us with big heads, but people with smaller heads or less hair find them atrocious to take in. They are awful heavy — especially Jasmine. I’ve sewn no fewer than 8 wig clips into each because the little combs they come with are useless.

And while the Jeannie is much easier to maintain, the Jasmine’s length means that damn ponytail will be destroyed in no time. If you try to brush it out, you’ll likely end up fucking up the ponytail and having to reset it, which is often a two-person job AND tedious, as the ponytails have lots of little short bits inside that will be annoying to get back into position. The Jeannie, however, does suffer more from the clip-in look… The short top ponytail over the long clip-in looks weirdly tiered, and I’m itching to cut that damn clip in even shorter because I hate the stacked look and the bottom seems so piddly and thin.

On top of that, Arda’s fibers are thick. This is wonderful for styling and shorter wigs but it means long wigs tangle like no tomorrow. It’s a nightmare. I doubt I’d ever get another long Arda in that fibre unlessssssss the costume was made in a silk or something, because silk discourages tangling. Arda is releasing a different fiber called “silky” or something soonish which will be worlds better for long styles, but we will see if the Jeannie and Jasmine are released in it.

Aaa and I hate the colour I have. It’s too saturated but the Jeannie doesn’t come in the paler colour I wanted, which isn’t exactly right either but ahhhhhhhh. I find less saturated unnatural colours (like Olivia’s baby pink Jasmine) look a lot better/more convincing than the garish ones. The hairline is too obvious on the garish ones.

Overall, I think Jeannie is best for natural/lighter colours, with the understanding that they are annoying to maintain.

- Jenn

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

wonderlemur

I don’t know what we talked about exactly for wigs, but I know I’ve been pushing Arda and Epic, so this might be useful info for Mako.

[ruuzulapis]

Woke up a little late and had to get to con to help a friend with their costume judging so no time for make up. Look at those bags! I am so sleep deprived. Went home after and did my makeup and i look hella. Levy from fairy tail today. So proud of the dress and the wig.

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

Things on ur cosplay list?

Do you have three days?  And an unlimited amount of time?  >____>;;

2016 lineup is shaping up to look something like this:- Michiru Kaiou (Sailor Moon)

- More Better Battle Lover Scarlet (Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE!)

- Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4: Dancing All Night)

- Diana (Sailor Moon)

- I might try to finish Luna this year; depends on what we’re doing for group cosplay … (Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward)

- Plus, a secret with thequeenofthepirates. ;D  Actually, two secrets, since either one might happen … 

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

I saw you watched the Hakumyus-are you a Hakuoki fan too?! Who's your fav boy?

Yes!  <3  I started with Hakuouki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom on the PS3 and kinda stuck with it.  

Okita’s (Souji) my favorite little piece of shit ever.  Apparently I love it when a guy tells me he’s going to kill me.  =_____=;;  

Actually, if you want me to be honest, my favorite guy is Yamazaki.  Guy doesn’t get enough credit.  

(mild spoilers below)

After a second playthrough, I’m a lot more fond of Hijikata (Toshizo) as well, possibly because the first time I played it, he was my first route, and I missed one of the early “love spots,” so when it came to the final battle between him and Kazama, they both just died and then I died somehow (knowing Chizuru, it was freaking codependence, because the girl doesn’t have a useful bone in her body), and I sat there staring at the screen going, “WTF?!  WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?” And then had to do the entire route over again because it was in the first section that I’d missed it.  So I had this massive hatred for Hijikata for a while, but then I replayed his route recently, and he’s so cute to Ootori, who I love, so he regained quite a bit of favor there.

Harada (Sano) also gets bonus points for figuring out that we bought the game to try to bone historical-but-fictional samurai, and filling that need.  ;]

That being said, I’m not a Toudou (Heisuke) fan.  Possibly because he was the guy I got the point for rather than Hijikata on my first playthrough, but also, he looks like a monkey and his voice is so annoying!  He’s sweet, but … sorry bro, when you’re surrounded by gorgeous guys … 

Saitou (Hajime) is just okay.  I found his route a bit boring, but his Hakumyu is so cute and totally made me ship Saitou/Okita, bc boyfriends who fight together stay together.  <3

And Kazama (Chikage) is Kazama.  His route is really disappointing, in my opinion.  It’s just really boring, especially after finishing Hijikata’s.

Totally want a Sannan (Keisuke?  Does anyone actually call him Keisuke?) route though.  Mmmmmm, hot guys in glasses.  ;D

Rock on, fellow Hakuouki fan!

(I will never get enough of this picture; you can bury me with it.)

[talkingteacuprin-chan-blog]

I cannot be the only one who starts working on things only to have a good song come on, drop everything, and start dancing right at the computer.