[CS] The Last Dance

Seasonal Task 19 for , COSPLAY! Of COURSE I had to do this one!! 

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Of course Aeronwy cosplays. And of course she crossplays! 

In reality, Aeron is highly femme and it's rare to catch her in a pair of trousers. But when she gets to strut her stuff (sometimes literally)? She usually dresses up as male characters. Because female crossplayers attract aaaaalllllll of the ladies! Though she will occasionally wear a pretty dress because she can. She tends to cosplay as white, long-haired men if she can, mostly so she doesn't need to bank on a wig and use her natural hair. But she will dress as chars who require wigs too.

9 times out of then, though, she's dressing as someone from the Takarazuka.

Because Otokoyaku have aaaaalllll of the fangirls.

Aeron herself is a decent enough seamstress, she can make simple things but...most of her costumes require very complex techniques, details and fabric. Such as the one she decided to wear here - it's 90% velvet. Which is a beast enough to wear, but it's also a beast to sew...and get to look nice. The rest of it is leather. No one needs to be told how horrible leather is to sew.

Thankfully, this is where her mother comes in. While Aeron and Ellen have a chilly relationship at best, Aeron will shove fabric and patterns at her, make sad eyes and promise more tea if her mother will make it for her. Ellen is a very well-renowned historical costumer, used by reinactors, TV shows and movies alike (there have been rumors of her working on Dr. Who several times). It's very few and far between, as Aeron usually only has time to go to conventions during the summer...and is crazy enough to strut around in a fully-lined velvet costume. Because we all know she's pretty nuts.

And if she can rope someone into joining her for a couple or group cosplay, the better!

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So some explination.

The Takarazuka, for those of you who don't know, is a troupe of all-female actresses in Japan, based out of Takarazuka (it's a city). They were founded in 1913 and now a days typically put on westernized musicals. They are basically like reverse Kabuki, only instead of doing Japanese-styled plays it's Western. Several of their shows ARE actually Western musicals they translated and put on. The actresses are divided into two groups: Musumeyaku and Otokoyaku, who play female and male roles (respectively). Sometimes Otokoyaku play female roles, though. And this group is divided into 5 troupes, each with their own large set of actresses and dancers, and each of these 5 troupes have "Top Stars," AKA they get the lead roles (mostly) in the shows.

And BOY do they have a lot of fangirls. Not boys, FANGIRLS. And they CATER LIKE HELL TO THEM. Basically, if you're a chick and haven't questioned your sexuality before, you will after watching them. 

So this show Aeron is cosplaying from is called Elisabeth, or fully: Elisabeth das Musical. It's a German musical based upon the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who was married to Emperor Franz Joseph. Their family is kinda-sorta the reason why WWI happened...Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a nephew, I think, of Franz Joseph and the only heir. Franz Joseph was still alive when WWI started but I think he died like a year or so later. IDK. But Elisabeth was never happy as the Empress and the basic premise of the musical, besides being her life story (which is tragic), is that she "dies" as a young girl and the lord of death, Der Todd, falls in love with her. He wants the love of the living her so he won't kill her, so he gives her life back. And spends the entire musical stalking her so she'll A) Fall in love with him and B) RUINS HER LIFE so that she will turn to him anyway. It's kinda a creepy gross premise but I CANT HELP BUT TO LOVE IT. 

The Takarazuka have put on several versions of this show, from 1996 up to 2016 (not consecutively though). I wouldnt be surprised if they keep 'em coming, haha. Each version has their own set of actresses and different hair/costumes for Der Todd, and sometimes Elisabeth. The version I chose is 2005, where the Der Todd is played by MY QUEEN, AYAKI NAO

Short story: I was originally going to put her in an entirely different costume when I saw the task. She was going to wear Elisabeth's costume from this scene. But then...my girlfriend was like "MAKE HER DER TODD INSTEAD SINCE SHE IS SUPER GAY AND HAS SUPER LEGS." well not like that exactly but you get the idea I thought this was BRILLIANT also less detail work yey and rolled with making her Der Todd instead. I AM GLAD I DID. Way less detailing and yaknow, she can use her natural hair! She just needed to put some black extensions in.

Also, finding actual good quality photobook pictures of ANY 'Zuka online is hard. So have some shitty screencaps I took of this outfit: sta.sh/01180p80y5jk (the actual stage recording; also featuring Elisabeth and the dress I could've put Aeron into) and sta.sh/0107hlr2b7zk (from a gala concert)

I also tried to model the background for those professional photobooths people have at cons. Because, lets face it: Aeron is vain enough to totally get her picture done professionally. 

Also, bask in the glory that is: Aeron wearing EYE MAKEUP    and COLORING HER EYEBROWS AND LASHES   and NOT WEARING STILLETOS  

Very happy with this! Dusted off my cel style because good LORD I did not want to use my actual style for all of those damn streaks. REALLY love her face in this one! 

Pose reference by , though I did change the position of her legs.

Draping cloth stock by