#symphony of the night cosplay

[askadrianalucardtepes]

"Apologies for my recent absence! I've spent some time at a wonderful event, and as you can see I've truly tried to look my best. I hope you all enjoy this look as much as I have.~"

[OOC] I'm back from a convention, so here's some pics. :D Cosplay is mine! Picture by a wonderful friend of mine!

[confusedkain]

Back at it again with my SotN Dracula cosplay. I was feeling so down the other day but finally being able to play the king himself in Dead by Daylight made all the bad vibes just vanish!

[xemnas178]

I have to share this to you,some chinese castlevania cosplay nearly 20 years ago😇🙏✨✨😭

The most important things to me it's it includes Joachim 😭😭😭😭

[theomancycos]

Symphony of the Night Alucard jacket, made by me.

This is probably one of my favorite projects from the past couple of years. I always love getting the chance to use antique metallic trim and buttons.

[ineedmoretrevorcardcontent]

Which Castlevania character is more attractive? (Video games men edition)

Round 13:

[dontcallmetreffy]

Subjected my dog to my hyperfixation for Halloween… but he doesn’t seem to mind 🦇🍷

[theumbralvampire]

I remember when I first heard this line in the game all those years ago, it stuck with me

[chainsawmascara]

|| v a m p i r e ||

[askadrianalucardtepes]

"It was such a lovely day, perfect for taking a stroll and slaying some monsters. I just love getting to stretch my legs and swing my sword, you know?"

[OOC] Went to a convention last weekend, so it's cosplay sharing time! Enjoy.~

[confusedkain]

Happy 26th Birthday Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!

Lemme just use this as a chance to post my Dracula cosplay! She still needs a little work but I can’t wait to have it all ready for a con this summer!

[umbrenshadowart]

Doodling Scourge The Hedgehog every day till something cool happens, day 10 (I think?)

Last night was the Sonic Symphony!!! I got to wear my Zonic cosplay to it, and I ran into a Scourge cosplayer. Here is an artist’s rendition of our meeting.

(If you know the guy pls tag him or tell me where I can find him)

[ghirahimbo]

got a closet Haley cosplay for the Stardew Valley symphony tomorrow night!! so excited 😊

[bluemoonperegrine]

Ted's on First - Part I

This is the first scene (~1200 words) of the long-awaited Waffle House fic. It's taking me forever to get this thing written, but I'd rather take the time to do it right.

Although this is set in the Bittersweet Symphony universe, you don't have to have read any of it to follow this.

UPDATE: The whole fic is here on ao3.

Rating: Gen Characters: Elsa Bloodstone/Jack Russell, Ted Sallis (Man-Thing), original characters Word Count (eventually): ~3500 Warnings: Canon-typical violence (eventually)

Ava knew the pair was trouble the moment the plate glass door swung open. A gust of humid, marsh-scented air preceded two fit thirty-somethings whose dress better suited a pop culture convention than southern Florida.

“Mornin’,” Ava called over the din of her washing dishes behind the counter and the mess of eggs and hash browns Tom had sizzling on the grill. Between the late hour and their location on the outskirts of the Miami metro area, the two of them could run the Waffle House.

A swarthy, clean-shaven man of Indian descent nodded acknowledgement as his eyes swept across the nearly empty diner. Dried mud spattered his dark boots and the bottom of his black duster. The fact that his long coat was buttoned closed despite the warm night air outside suggested he was packing. All he needed was a pair of sunglasses to cosplay Neo from The Matrix.

Ava glanced at Kendra, who perched on her usual stool at the far end of the counter. The big-boned woman with natural Black hair was watching the new arrivals as well. Kendra nodded, then returned her attention to the door.

Neo stepped aside to make way for his companion: a Black woman with her hair in cornrows. Her garb was similar to Neo’s with the exception of her medium-length leather coat. She also surveyed the nearly empty dining room, skipping over Kendra to linger on the customers sitting at the table on the right side of the door. Those two, an attractive older couple who’d been playing footsie under the table, wore motorcycle safety gear.

“Sit anywhere you’d like,” Ava told Neo and Trinity.

After giving her a cursory smile, the woman headed for the table on the left side of the door. Neo followed. 

Ava dried her hands, pulled her order pad and pen from the pocket of her yellow apron, and strode around the end of the counter toward the older couple. Kendra smiled and said quietly in Creole “I’m watching” as Ava moved past her.

Despite his back being to her, the tanned, forty-something man with salt-and-pepper hair sat up straight as Ava approached. After frowning over his shoulder in Kendra’s direction, the handsome man gave Ava a friendly smile. His companion, a fair-skinned, dark-haired woman who was beautiful even with her brows knit together, continued studying the single-page menu.

Ava prompted, “Need another minute or two?”

“Mi vida?” the man asked his probable wife. Neither wore a wedding band.

The woman frowned harder at the menu. “Nearly,” she replied with a light British accent. “You go ahead.���

“Okay.” After glancing over his wife’s shoulder at Neo and Trinity sitting their table ten feet away, he turned to Ava and smiled. “The cheeseburger platter, please—”

Ava jotted it down. “Lettuce, tomato, pickle?” 

“Yes, please,” he said with a Latino accent. “And a cup of coffee. It’s late, you know?”

The man’s smile had grown bigger somehow. Ava felt herself returning it as she admired his green irises and how the corners of his eyes crinkled—

The British woman pointedly cleared her throat. “I’m ready to order.”

“Right!” Ava blurted. She felt her face heat up as she met the woman’s displeased countenance. Her husband chuckled, as did Kendra from her spot at the end of the counter. “What can…”

The Latino was looking over his shoulder again as if he’d heard Kendra. The notion was ridiculous, as was how something dark had seemed to move under the table. The couple was probably playing footsie. 

After taking a breath to compose herself, Ava addressed the British woman. “What can I get you?”

“The steak hash brown bowl,” the woman said frostily, “with jalapeños—”

 “Ahht!” the man mock scolded.

The woman heaved a sigh and leveled an impatient look on her husband. “Jack, I am not using that silly lingo.”

Jack’s face fell. “But you have to! It’s a rule.” He grinned at Ava. “Right?”

Ava gulped, wishing her customers were the usual ones who came in after the bars closed. Drunks she could handle. These two were weird and she still had to deal with Neo and Trinity. “Uh…”

The woman handed the menu to Ava as she shook her head at her husband. “You can,” she said, trying to withhold a grin. “You know what I like.”

Her husband’s smile became more of a leer, which made Ava blush and the woman chuckle. “Go on, and stop torturing the poor girl.”

Jack turned back to Ava with a polite smile. “She’ll have hers scattered, chunked, diced, peppered, and capped.” He grinned at his wife, who rolled her eyes as the corners of her mouth tugged up.

“And to drink?” Ava asked them both because she had no idea who’d reply at this point.

“Tea?” Jack asked his wife.

The woman gave Ava a skeptical look. “Is it orange pekoe?”

Ava yearned for drunk patrons who only wanted coffee. “I guess? It’s Lipton’s.”

“Coffee,” the woman sighed, “black.” She looked fondly at her husband. “Bring lots of cream for him.”

“Yes, please,” Jack said. In a stage whisper he added, “Don’t mind her. She’s hangry.”

“I am not hangry!” The woman’s mouth snapped shut. She blushed as her husband chuckled.

Ava willed herself to not react and risk provoking the not-hangry British woman. “Back in a minute with coffee,” she said and retreated, catching Kendra’s eye as she walked past. Her friend followed her behind the counter as she called the order to Tom, a ruddy white man who looked older than his fifty years.

Grateful for the clanks of metal utensils on the grill, Ava murmured to Kendra in Creole, “He can hear you.”

Kendra looked his way. “Seems that way,” she said quietly. “He doesn’t see me, though.”

Ava put two mugs on the counter and poured coffee, leaving room for cream in one of them. “Untrained?”

“Maybe,” Kendra replied. She didn’t seem concerned. “Jack seems harmless. But he is keeping an eye on the other two. His wife is too. She’s using the reflection in the window.”

Ava took longer than necessary putting coffee creamer cups in a bowl for the Latino. “This really isn’t a good night for things to get interesting.”

“It’ll be fine,” Kendra said, laying one hand on Ava’s shoulder. The touch had no weight, only a gentle coldness. “Don’t you worry.”

Ava nodded, grateful for her grandmother’s presence. 

As she picked up the mugs with one hand and the bowl of creamer in the other, she looked at Neo and Trinity at their table on the far side of the counter. With only stars and headlights from I-75 traffic lighting the night sky, the floor-to-ceiling window behind the customers acted as a mirror. Kendra, who looked about thirty, wasn’t there, of course, but Ava’s reflection was. They both were tall, but Ava lankier. Her black hair was in a multitude of thin braids, the bunch of them gathered at the nape of her neck with an elastic hair band. Her black T-shirt, pants, and yellow apron and visor were nothing to write home about. College tuition and bills had to get paid somehow.

Trinity and Neo must have felt her eyes on them. They glanced at her simultaneously.

“Coffee?” Ava asked.

“Yeah,” Neo said with a neutral American accent. “That’d be good.” Trinity nodded agreement.

Ava returned it as she headed for her other customers. “Coming right up.”

--------------------------

For anyone who's read "Past Is Prologue," Kendra is the same Kendra in that fic. 😊

Also, I was lazy in the Bittersweet Symphony fics and made Elsa American. She's British here because it's more accessible for anyone who hasn't read that series, and easier to differentiate her from other female characters when writing from Ava's POV.

[like-a-masquerade]

Coord Breakdown: July 1st, 2023

Now that I've got a dedicated lolita blog, I'll be posting and discussing some of my coords, starting with a few from the past. This one's one of my personal favorites, and very meaningful to me.

JSK: Handmade

Blouse: Offbrand

Waist cincher: Handmade

Headbow: Handmade

Veil: Fanplusfriend

Choker: Handmade (sort of)

Necklace: Offbrand indie

Bracelets: Offbrand

Socks: Offbrand

Boots: Offbrand

Full breakdown under the cut.

This coord is a big milestone for me. It's my first handmade JSK (not counting a failed attempt from years earlier), and my first time using my own custom fabric!

I designed the fabric in the summer of 2022, and had it printed via Spoonflower. It's themed around Castlevania, a favorite game series of mine (and one that has quite the interesting history with lolita! Did you know Mana composed a ringtone to promote Harmony of Dissonance that is now lost media?). Each of the stained glass windows depicts one of the subweapons used throughout the games (plus wall chicken), which are also repeated as a motif inside the stripes. If you look closely, you can also see the modern and retro Castlevania logo incorporated into the surrounding glass. Beneath the windows are gravestone-like blocks, each with the name of a game's protagonists and the year the game takes place. At the hem is a quote that has been attributed to a number of people, including Winston Churchill, but is notably said by Alucard and Richter at the end of Symphony of the Night. Finally, above the border print is a pair of wall-mounted candles, which can be found throughout Castlevania and destroyed to gain ammo or other upgrades. According to IGA, these candles contain the restless spirits of Dracula's victims, who drop upgrades as thanks for freeing them from the castle.

Here are some closeups, one of which is in the black colorway! I've got four different colorways available on Spoonflower, each inspired by a different character (Richter, Alucard, Juste, and Maria). You can find them here. The fabric I chose for my JSK is poly crepe de chine.

But enough fabric talk. Have at you!

The cut of the JSK is based on Bodyline's Skull in Wonderland JSK, which I've owned for years now; It's simple and fits me well, so I figured using it as a template would be the most effective way to make a good JSK for myself without too much hassle. Making clothes based on existing garments you own is a tried-and-true method in fashion design and home sewing.

I actually debuted the JSK about a month earlier while on vacation, with a different coord:

However, I couldn't help feeling that it was a bit lackluster. After much thought and advice from friends, I decided to spruce things up and give it another try at the then-upcoming renfaire.

This time I used one of my summer blouses, an offbrand peasant top I got at Rainbow forever ago- I think the brand is Ambiance? I also bought a set of bracelets (also from Rainbow, and they've now become a staple of my wardrobe), and a pair of black lace-topped OTKs in place of the plain black tights I'd worn before. For the rest of the jewelry, I wore a glittery purple bat necklace I'd bought from a renfaire vendor years ago (I wish I knew the name!! If anyone recognizes it please let me know!), and a scrap of black lace with a small safety pin through the back as a choker.

Finally, the remaining accessories. I made a wired headbow out of leftover fabric from the dress, with a beaded chain in front. I wore this over a veil from Fanplusfriend. As for the waist cincher, I made it out of stretch pleather and lace, along with black fabric to tie in the back. I used gold acrylic paint to add a nice patina to the leather, and hand-painted our pal Simon Belmont in a coordinating color scheme. My parents said it looks like a wrestling belt, lol.

Regarding the boots, I know damn well that the renfaire grounds are muddy and uneven, so I wore a pair of riding boots I originally bought for a Joseph Joestar cosplay way back in the day. Sometimes you gotta sacrifice a little bit for practicality's sake.

All in all, I'm very proud of how this coord came out. It was really amazing seeing something I designed come to life, and working hard to make it truly beautiful. I hope this inspires other folks to try their hand at designing and making lolita!

[dagneyrobertson]

Back in Chicago last night to see Lord of the Rings, The Musical (THE F-ING MUSICAL!!!🤓) at The Shakespeare Repertory on Navy Pier. I am blessed to have a college friend who has season tickets for most theaters, opera and symphony. Can I just say, it was ambitious to cover all the material in one go. But they did hit the main plot points. My very most favorite part was the enormous spider puppet. It freaked me out. (Have I mentioned I was a puppeteer with my church youth group in high school?🤓🤓) The lighting was prize worthy as well.

But the star, the scene stealer, the whole shebang? It was Gollum, of course. The makeup and prosthetic spine went hard. But the raw physicality of the role? I was stunned by how well he skittered and cavorted about the stage and tri-level set. I suspect when that actor gets frisked by the TSA (oh, he's kinda creepy looking, I'm pretty sure he gets frisked) they feel nothing but rock hard muscle, everywhere.

Solid performance, a few high points, diverse musical choices, plot packed in like a tin of sardines. Fun show. Mediocre cosplay game from crowd. 7/10

-Dagney

[uncouthseaslug]

Finally debuted my Alucard cosplay at ALA… I wanted to have the coat too but ran out of time :( one of these days I’ll do the FULL Symphony of the Night outfit but today is not that day.

Next up for the weekend is Apollo Justice and Reno FFVII :D