#cats costume tutorial

[miasiegert]

CATS Tied Tail Tutorial

Hi Folks, I know many of you already make these and have tutorials and already make these, but my friend Andre (Mungojerrie/Macavity at Suncoast) asked me how to make a Mungojerrie tail so I thought I'd post my tied-tail tutorial (as opposed to a wrapped tail tutorial) here for convenience. Everyone has their own variations. We also do wrapped tails (for sleeker cats) but mostly tied because we like the way it swishes and cats are all about coming for that booty. NOTE: I'm copying/pasting so this is customized for Mungo and specifically our mohawk Mungo costume shown below. Bonus shoe painting.

For the shoes I painted, his are in the center, bottom, between Cass and Gus--his Macavity are next to his.

TUTORIAL TIME.

What You Need: Different Types/Colors of Yarn including one Acrylic Yarn that’s strong to braid base/core.

Mungo Color Palette: Black, Different Oranges, little Yellow, little Red, OPTIONAL: little bit of White or Gray, can be added later.

WAIST BELT (Option: Get thick cord for around the waist, if nylon burn the end with a lighter so it doesn’t fray). 

Directions: Take Black yarn and wrap it around your waist about three times. You probably will shorten it but can always shorten, not lengthen. Cut 6 strands of yarn, 3 Black, 2 Oranges, 1 either red or yellow), and tie at one end. Separate into three pieces of two strands each and braid normally. You might need to tie the end onto a chair or use your toes to hold it taut. As you braid, periodically check it around your waist to see if you can tie a comfortable knot with extra hanging down. At the bottom, tie another knot. You can let the ends be loose and frayed for aesthetic. You can do this with 9 strands as well.

TIED TAIL DIRECTIONS: 
Step 1: Take a strand of yarn between your toes and stretch your leg out. Use the distance of leg to hip joint as a guide. You can always shorten a tail but can’t make it longer. Stand up and see where it falls from waist down. *Remember braided it will be a little shorter but yarn will add ~3” length. 
Step 2: Take 3 strands of yarn (Black/Orange) and braid normally, checking periodically about length (remember it adds 3”). Tie a thick double knot at the bottom.

Step 3: At the top, fold the tip of the yarn over so it forms a small tail loop. Tie a knot.

Step 4: Wrap yarn around the width of your hand many times then carefully cut one side of it. You should get ~5-6” pieces. Do this for all colors. You will need more than you think, a lot of black and a lot of oranges especially.

Step 5: Take 2-3 strands of yarn, go to the bottom, and just above the knot, tie the yarn in half so both ends dangle down. Single knot should be fine. Continue to do this but change where you tie the knot so there aren’t weird gaps. For stripes, have Big sections of just one color before changing. Mungo is mottled so mostly oranges for the stripes with black, then some reds/yellow mixed in in a few spots for variation. You can optionally have a TINY bit of gray and/or white if you’d like but not necessary.

Step 6: Tie all the way to just above the top knot, then slide the tail loop through. CONGRATS, YOU HAVE A TIED-TAIL and should have extra yarn if you want to make warmers.

[cat-cosplay]

How to "Wash" your cat

[mortemcatabasis]

happy halloweiner 🎃🦇👻

[trilvyrose]

Fursuit tail process ! 💞

Here's how I made my fluffy tail for Peach Fuzz's partial 😺

[hockeybot]

i should be getting ready for the convention but i don't want to put on my contacts and put on make up and wear my stupid little outfit with ONE MILLION pieces that required a video tutorial on how to put on properly eeeeeeeee

[aventurineswife]

Been thinking about Aeon!Reader trying their hardest to act calm and actively engaging in human contact because they’re trying really hard to avoid thinking about having killed Yaoshi because whoops taking down and killing an Aeon was not only actually pretty stressful (*side-eyes that other post about Malenia*) it was also super gory, and even after all the blood was washed off it takes several more showers and wasteful amounts of soap and shampoo before they feel even remotely clean; and even then, they wake up each morning feeling that phantom stickiness of blood on their hands, arms, feet, face…

It’s all they can do to find little things to distract themselves with, like scrolling through silly photos on their phone while rotting (not literally) in bed.

Aeon!Reader trying to embody something beyond mortality but still shackled to very human responses—like trauma, guilt, sensory memory. There's something so raw about the idea of a being who can bend existence and yet still has to sit in a scalding shower at 3AM scrubbing at their arms like Lady Macbeth, whispering, "I chose this. I had to. I had to."

Yaoshi, a being of abundance, twisted though they were—killing them means not just ending a god, but erasing something ancient, tangled, insidious, but ultimately foundational. The blood’s not just red—it’s got lifeforce, roots, blooming tumors. It’s wet with legacy.

Now Aeon!Reader’s out here scrolling through dumb memes and watching cooking tutorials like "Haha yes I am so normal. Look, eggs. Look, cats." Meanwhile, everything smells like copper and rot, and they keep getting flashbacks of viscera and vines bursting like overripe fruit.

And everyone around them is like, “Wow, Reader’s being so approachable lately!” And Reader’s just internally screaming, like "No I’m trying not to dissociate into the void again PLEASE show me another dog in a costume."

Peak “I’m fine :)” energy. Tragic god-core. We love to see it. 🙏

[footballerimaginess]

Fluff Alphabet | Jude Bellingham

Halloween fluff alphabet Jude Bellingham This took me so long, please reblog and comment on it and I will do more fluff alphabets. Hope you like it!! Word Count: 2,300 AUTUMN - Autumn was your favourite time of the year, you loved the cold weather and getting to curl up on the sofa with a good book, a hot chocolate in your hands. With Jude laying beside you as you cuddled up whilst he was watching TV. BLACK CATS - "You know black cats are unlucky if you see them" you told him as you were watching the tv show which had black cats in. "Is it? I thought that was a joke"he laughed. "Well I'm pretty sure it is, unless I made it up" shrugging away. "No it is true, just googled it. It is unlucky, so let's not get us a black cat. I don't fancy being unlucky"

COSTUMES - You and Jude were invited to the local Halloween party, you wanted to have matching costumes with Jude. You decided you would dress up as the characters from IT. "You look amazing, we do make a good team. Look kind of sexy you know" you blushed under your red face paint. "Judeeeee, shhh" you let out a giggle as you walked into the party with all eyes turned to face you. DARKNESS - You hated the darkness, you were always so scared of it especially at night time when you were going to sleep. You always had to have a light on or having a gap in the curtains open so you could have some sort of light coming in which Jude usually disliked. "Jude it's so dark in here, please have a bit of light in here" you sighed as you made Jude turn the lights on. "Are you expecting the monsters to come in at night, I can protect you" Jude wrapped his arms around your waist as you breathed in his aftershave. EYEBALLS - You were in the mood for pranking Jude, you had created some fake eyeballs after finding an amazing tutorial on how you do it. "These eyeballs are disgusting" you grimaced as you put them in his coat pocket. "So ready to go out?" he asked as you slipped your shoes on as he put his hand in his coat pocket. "What the fuck?- no I'm gonna be sick is that slime. AN EYEBALL??! you are for it you know, wipe that smirk off of your face" you laughed as he held the eyeball in his hand. "Oh am I? like my masterpiece I made these and you'll find them all around the house" you teased. "You better not have put one in my shoe" you shrugged. "Have to find out won't ya" you winked. FILM NIGHT - You had so many Halloween films that Jude had yet to see, you had told him that he needed to be educated in films. “If they are scary I’m going” he laughed as you got the popcorn out ready to watch all the spooky films for the evening. "Just wait and see, we have a whole day to watch them" you grinned as you snuggled up and watched film after film. GHOST - Sitting in the house on Halloween night, the house was quiet and alone as Jude was in the opposite room playing FIFA as usual. Whilst you were reading your book, you felt a cold breeze coming in as you shivered, slightly confused as there were no windows open whatsoever. Next thing you know is you felt something touch you, as you screamed and threw the book up in the air Jude ran in the room. "What's going on? are you okay?" he asked you as you shook your head. "There's a ghost here" you shouted as Jude bit his lip and tried to stop himself from laughing. "You are joking I promise" he teased as you rolled your eyes straight at him. HAUNTED HOUSE - Dragging Jude to the local haunted house. "It is freezing in here, hold my hand tightly so you don't get scared or get lost" you laughed as you knew Jude was worried just as much as you were. You held it tightly as you got jumped out yet again by the staff at the haunted house. "Needs to stop doing that" you laughed as you clutched your chest as you were scared. "We aren't coming to this again, my nerves can't take it" you smirked.

INSIDE - The house was now looking all spooky, you had fluffy pumpkins everywhere as well as the ones you carved. The house was looking amazing. "I love the mini ones, they are cute" Jude smiled as you carried on putting the final touches to the decorated house. It was looking absolutely perfect and just how you wanted it.

JACK O'LANTERN - You had finished putting the final touches on the jack o'lanterns, they were looking absolutely perfect now and you had put the small candle tea lights in the pumpkin as they were lighting up. "I love them, you are so creative" you grinned as you put them out the front door as you wanted the children to see them and hope that they would look inviting to the trick or treaters.

KILLER CLOWNS - "We are not putting that clown film on right now, don't expect me to sleep a wink tonight" you screamed out as you hid your face with the pillow as you could hear the theme tune. "NO NO NO" you screamed as Jude touched your arm. "You love the clowns darling, I'll protect you" he tried to flirt with you. "No we aren't doing that as I will not be watching this" you screamed out as he tried to flirt his way out of trouble as he turned the film back over.

LANTERN - The house was pitch black, the worst time for the power to be going off. Luckily you had a lantern from a while back and you decided it would be the best time to use it. "Pass me that, I need to go and see if I can get the lights back on" he asked as you handed it back to him. "Be careful, I don't trust you to do all that shit. You aren't grown up just yet" you smirked. "Good job I can't see that smirk on your face" you rolled your eyes. "And that eye rolling too" he screamed out as he walked away with the lanterns.

MAZE - "No not that way, that way" you pointed forward as Jude stood with his hands on his hips. "No it is that way surely?" he laughed as he pointed in the opposite direction. "We are going to get so angry because we aren't going to get out of this maze if we carry on" you laughed as you wandered around yet again. "Yeah I don't fancy sleeping in the maze because we have murdered each other as we can't find our way out" you teased. "Yeah let's try and get out" you smiled as you headed out, well attempting to get out.

NIGHT - All you could hear was little children screaming as they were running around as they played out in the streets all dressed up. "This is so lovely, like a dream to be here with you and I just can't wait to do that with our little one whenever we go and have one" you smiled as you cuddled him as tight as you could. "I can't either, this sounds so perfect" Jude grinned.

OWL - You were laying in bed, seeing the bright moon as you couldn't get to sleep. All you could hear was a bird, it was playing on your mind and that was all that you could hear. Jude was peacefully sleeping beside you whilst you were wide awake, you huffed as you looked outside and heard the owl making the noise you'd heard all night. "What's up?" Jude whispered as you moved in the bed as you heard the owl making the noise. "I can hear an owl all night and it's super spooky" you mumbled as you tried to rest your head down again.

PUMPKIN PICKING - You had told Jude so many times how you wanted to go to the pumpkin picking patch, he moaned each and every time you mentioned it. You just knew you had to get that annual yearly photo even though you didn't need or want a pumpkin. But it was tradition, to make Jude put his shoes on and listen to him get all muddy for a matter of five minutes. As long as you got a cute photo you put up with his moaning.

QUEEN - "You are the queen of Halloween" you turned around as you saw Jude smiling as you had completed your 30th Halloween makeup look. You had started so many looks, you were just so excited at how this one turned out. "Aww thank you babe" you smiled as he had to pull his phone out as he took a photo of you as you were dressed as queen of hearts. "You are just incredible" he muttered as you took some more videos to upload to social media.

RIP - The amount of films you watched, the more you didn't get scared. But whenever there were gravestones involved, you hated it. You got so scared. "Why do you put these on when you don't even watch them babe" Jude asked as you rolled your eyes without even lifting your eyes off of your phone. "I am, I don't like these scenes you know I hate it" you muttered. "Halloween sometimes is just a little scary and throws me off a bit" you whispered as you gulped loudly. "Oh I am sorry you feel like that. let us put something more cheery on" he mumbled as he paused the film.

SPIDERS - Whenever there was a spider in the house, you tried to get Jude to get them down and out of the house. But Jude didn't like to tell that he absolutely hated spiders as well, hiding his pain as you both ran around the house as the spider was practically tormenting you both in your own home.

TRICK OR TREATING - You and Jude were going out with some of the boys children, Jude was desperate to take them trick and treating. Think he was more excited than they were. “You know those sweets are supposed to be for the children and not you, not sure you can get away with being a child” Jude turned and shrugged. “With my boyish young looks, I’ll always get away with it. Anyway I have to test them out just in case they are poisonous you know” he smirked. “Oh course you do” you laughed as he ran along with the children.

UNEASY - Halloween sometimes made you feel so uneasy, you were slightly nervous about going to this party as you absolutely hated the theme for some reason. "You'll be okay I promise angel, I am here with you" he whispered as he held your hand as tightly as he could as he could sense how you were feeling.

VAMPIRE - "I want to suck your blood" Jude whispered whilst you were making your dinner. "Don't be doing that whilst I have a knife in my hand because you most certainly will be doing that" you clutched your chest dramatically as you dropped the knife. "Rude babe, right shall I make dinner?" you nodded at him as you turned and faced him realising that he had fangs in. "Where do you get these things?" you laughed as he leaned in and kissed you as he tried to bite your lip with his fangs.

WAND - "Where did you get that?" you asked him as he waved his wand at you. "Oh you have always wanted to wave your wand at me" you winked. "You saucy devil you" he teased. "So why do you have that?" you asked him. "When I went to Harry Potter world I bought it, so I am going as a magician when I have our next party" you simply nodded as you just ignored him as you still had no clue he even had that wand.

XYLOPHONE - As you walked through the maze you heard the music being played. "No that is too much" you cringed. "I feel like we are in our own film that is so creepy" you laughed as you held his hand tightly. "That is so strange, I don't like it" you grabbed his hand as you tried your hardest as you made your way out of the maze as fast as you could before you could go and grab some food.

YOU - Your fourth Halloween with Jude, getting to experience one in Birmingham, Dortmund and now in Madrid. You were so lucky that you got to explore with your favourite person, you were just so happy with him. "I love doing this with you" you kissed his cheek as you posted pictures of you in all your Halloween costumes throughout the year. "I do too baby" Jude smirked as you got ready to come for your next party.

ZOMBIE - "Do you believe in zombies?" Jude randomly blurted out as you were driving him to training one morning. "Huh?" you turned to face him as the lights were changed. "Do you?" he asked again. "Not something I really think about on a normal day to day basis to be honest Jude, but i don't think I do" you replied. "Oh right? well I do and I think I'll come back as a zombie" he smirked. "Oh shit, I better say that I believe it now. I don't fancy getting taken away by a zombie" you teased him. "You do come out with some strange shit" you giggled to Jude.

[eleventhhourfactor]

Factor Makes a Poltergust!

Part two

Last time on Factor Makes...

We got into the crafting process behind a homebrewed Poltergust, proudly made by someone with a tenuous grasp of engineering. I talked my way through the conversion of a cat carrier, the crafting of panels to attach, and even got a bit into the vacuum tube and flashlight.

Now, I hope to wrap things up by walking through the last few things: lights and the green goo orb.

Disclaimer

For those of you who didn't catch the first post, this is NOT a tutorial. I'm documenting my process, and if you want to use it as a reference for your own purposes, you are free to do so.

That being said, take precautions, people. Work in a well-ventilated area, lay out something to catch paint and drips of glue and sealant, and do not just stick your hands in stuff. Wear gloves. Goddamn.

With that said, on to the orb.

The Orb

What is the orb? Why is my title green? Which Poltergust are you making, anyway?

To answer those questions:

The orb is what holds (or bears semblance of holding) a certain gooey assistant.

The title is green because Gooigi is green.

I'm mashing up the Poltergust 5000 and the G-00, due to the base being a cat carrier and my skill limits with crafting stuff like this.

I mixed together two paints for the gooey interior: one green, one glow-in-the-dark starry kind of stuff. This was applied inside the orb, as well as to the outside of the inner bulb.

Oh, right, the inner bulb!

With a glass bowl, another foam disc, and some sealant, I made something for the inside of the orb. This is all painted to diffuse the light quite a bit.

Without the paint, it's kinda bright. But once things are painted and stacked up (with this inner disc given some Velcro), it gives off a soft glow goo effect.

For the attached tubes going from the orb to the Poltergust, I cut out some circles and stuck them inside the flap. From there, I cut another EVA foam dowel (painted black beforehand) into 7" inch pieces before gluing them to the foam circles and feeding the other ends into the dome. Don't worry if the circles come loose. They're meant more to keep this from sliding right out.

Now, onto the lights!

The Lights

It's crazy what several puck lights can do. So far they've enabled me to build a comically large flashlight that I push to turn on.

Now, though, we add the last of the decorations.

As mentioned in The Orb, I have a light shining through a glass bowl and some paint layers to give off a green gooey glow. Like I've been doing, I took another foam disc and carved a hole out of it, pressing the light down to get it to fit and to get the glue to take.

I ended up breaking the disc.

Nothing more hot glue couldn't fix, though.

For the circles I glued on way back, I glued some more foam inside the Poltergust to better brace the puck lights. The lights were glued on at two points, leaving a gap for me to stick my finger in to turn them on.

And with that, I give you...

A Poltergust.

Along with my dumbass cat, wondering why I did this to a possession of his.

Annnnd that's all, folks. If you need me, I'm gonna pass out on my couch until the local bar's costume contest comes around. Wish me luck!

(and also, remind me to take a picture with the full getup)

[fibula-rasa]

Cosplaying Salomé (1922): A How-to

Seeing as my cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé is one of the more ambitious projects I’ve done for the blog, it seems fitting to give you all a little BTS and how-to. Because I didn’t fully document my process, this isn’t necessarily as full a tutorial as my Century of Glamour Ghouls series, but you could definitely recreate this yourself (and learn from my mistakes) as this would make a great Halloween costume!

a full-length shot of my cosplay of Nazimova as Salomé

Part one of “CtC: Nazimova as Salomé” goes into more detail on Nazimova & Rambova’s creative choices for the character and her design, but to be brief about it:

Nazimova’s Salomé is heavily informed by young women and girls of the early 1920s, so there is a dynamic conflict created between the baby-fication of young women and pop-culture sexualization of the same group. So, this first look from the film communicates unsophisticated youth with an impetuous edge. The pearled wig is not only a dazzling visual, but also emphasizes Nazimova’s brazen pantomime—amplifying every flitting gesture. It also gives the character a more childlike silhouette, which Nazimova pairs with an immature, sometimes bratty body language.

my gif of Nazimova in Salomé

The rest of the costume is quite simple: a shimmery/sparkly sleeveless, belted tunic and flat shoes. (Contrasted with Rose Dione’s costuming as Heriodas, flowing and heavily adorned.)

Get the Look!

(below the jump!)

What’s below covers the materials and methods I used, but improvements could definitely be made. I would love to see others take this on!

The Wig

My recreation of the wig in natural light

my gif of a closeup of Nazimova in the wig & gif of my cosplay wig in motion

Materials:

Black wig cap

Black yarn

Springs (I used the plastic ones sold as cat toys)

Black thread

Curved sewing needle

Rug Hook (This is a tool I already had on hand. If you have a small enough crochet hook, that might also work!)

Baubles (maybe: pearlescent paint for the baubles)

Craft glue (I don’t own a hot glue gun, but that would have been better!)

Optional: black bangs/fringe track

The Process

Note: my finished product is scaled up a bit from the wig used in the film largely because I was also working with a mix of items gifted to me from my wishlist and things I already had around the house. The springs were 1 inch in diameter as were the baubles. If you are buying everything new, you might want to try and track down .5-.75 inch materials!

Thankfully, about 10 years ago, the original wig was recovered in a trunk in Georgia, so I had a modern photo to reference for how the wig was constructed. [You can see it here!]

Some of the materials I used to create the wig

I started by wrapping the black yarn around the springs, which I had stretched out slightly. Once a spring was fully covered, I cut the yarn with roughly 3 inches extra length to fasten the spring to the wig cap.

After I had a significant amount of covered springs—I did it in waves of ~20—I used the rug hook to pull the extra yarn through the mesh of the wig cap. Then, I knotted the yarn tightly and pulled the extra yarn back to the topside of the cap using the rug hook, crossed it over the opposite side of the spring and back through the cap to knot it again on the underside of the cap. This way the spring is fastened at two opposite points of its circumference.

Once a wave of springs were loosely attached to the cap, I went in with a curved needle and black thread to sew the springs more tightly in place. This also gave the whole headpiece more stability. (This is important because the baubles will weigh the springs down a little!) I repeated this process in waves until I ran out of materials (and thankfully the cap was covered).

detail shot of the springs, the arrow is indicating the support stitching I added to the backside of each spring

At this point, my springs were a little droopy, so I reinforced them with a little bit of thread from the base to the end. This also allowed me to fine tune where each spring would sit in relation to its surrounding springs to get an even spread.

All the loose yarn inside the wig cap I roughly french braided together so it would sit flat and also add a little extra stability. It’s not a pretty sight, but it’s surprisingly comfortable!

The glass baubles I had on hand were not pearlescent, but multi-colored, so I had to paint them before gluing them to the springs. If you’re buying new, you can try and pick out the finish, size, and material you want.

That’s basically that. I adjusted two of the springs so that their baubles wouldn’t clatter into one another too much, but the wig is finished!

unfiltered cameraphone photo of the cosplay & final edit of the cosplay

I’m fairly certain that in the film Nazimova is wearing fake bangs under the pearl wig, but I just cut my own bangs bluntly and ran some gel mixed with black eyeshadow through them with a spoolie. (I don’t have any special feelings for my hair, so I tend to just cut/trim it whenever I cosplay. I understand this is unusual! You all don’t need to remind me! Thanks!)

my gif of a closeup of Nazimova as Salomé

——— ——— ———

The Tunic

my gif of Nazimova as Salomé & my cosplay recreating the moment above

For the tunic, I chose red sequined velvet. I don’t know what the screen-used fabric was though it certainly wasn’t this! I chose this fabric as it was affordable and I thought it might give off a similar effect in the finished photos. In a happy accident, I think the sequins give off a scaled-up look that matches the wig.

I don’t think the screen costume was black, but something that photographs dark on 1920s black-and-white film stock. That’s why I chose red, though I think a deep purple would also have worked.

Since I’ve followed The Closet Historian’s 1920s One-Hour Dress Tutorial twice before, that method was my baseline for making the Salomé tunic.

Using my hip measurement as the primary guide and adding .5 inch of allowance, I folded the fabric in half and cut it into a long rectangle—the fold being where I would cut the neckline. After I cut the neckline in, I put it on and pinned and tucked the shoulders, bust, and bottom hem to where it would sit right. My body is not rectangular, so the bust/shoulders had to be brought in a bit. Very professional, I know.

Then I sewed the edges of the whole rectangle and the neckline. I only attached the front to the back on one side, from bottom hem to hip, as that appears to be how the tunic was sewn in the film. (When I wear this out as a costume, I will likely sew up both sides!)

my cosplay with the belt featured over my left hip

I used scrap fabric to sew together the belt and some velcro (repurposed from an old ribbon) and fastened it to a plastic ring (repurposed from the last new scarf I bought). I then hung some beaded necklaces that I already owned to finish it (tho it wouldn’t be a great expense to buy some cheap strings of faux pearls if you want it to look closer to what’s on screen).

The slippers weren’t a match for the film, but I already owned them and thought they fit the vibe. What Nazimova seems to be wearing in the film are some simple light/white satin-ish flats.

——— ——— ———

The Makeup

unfiltered cosplay cameraphone photo & finished cosplay photo

Since this is such a high-contrast look, I personally opted not to use contouring for this cosplay. Also, I didn’t use any kind of blush because if you are photographing in black-and-white or for B&W editing, blush and warm colors register darker than they look in color.

For the base, I mixed a lighter pigment into my foundation to achieve a mask-like quality and set it with the lightest powder I own. (I think if you are “Portland Tan” like me, you could legit use white face paint for this and it would look pretty cool!)

my gif of a closeup of Nazimova as Salomé

For the brows, Nazimova’s are rounded but elongated, so I drew mine in a slightly rounder shape than they naturally grow.

For the eyeshadow, I used the old garage-door strategy with a purple-y taupe shadow from my lashline to the browbone with a small gap between the end of that shade and the brow. As it’s done in the movie, the shadow covers the inner corner all the way out to the end of the liner wing and all the way up to the browbone.

For the eyeliner, Nazimova’s eyes are fully rimmed in black, but with a flatter shape along the bottom. I drew a line straight back from the lowest point of my lower lid, drew a line down from my upper lid to that first line, then filled in the triangle made at the outer corner. I used black eyeshadow with a wet brush to both fill in my eyebrows and draw on the eyeliner. I also tightlined my eyes, though if your eyes aren’t quite as round you might want to skip the tightline! I finished it off with a plain black mascara, false lashes are not really a necessity for this look.

For the lips, I covered the outside edges of my lips with my base makeup to get Nazimova’s pout. Then I used a dark pink lipstick and a lip brush to paint on the pouty shape (that Nazimova was born with) making sure to overemphasize the top lip. (I didn’t overline my top lip, because that looks a bit extreme on my face, but it might suit you really well!) I then went in with a slightly darker shade of lipstick at the center of my lips to further emphasize the pout.

Here are some photos from my Irena Dubrovna/Cat People cosplay tutorial that illustrate the difference tightlining makes and what lip re-shaping looks like before blending and adding lipstick:

Irena process photo showing the effect of tightlining & unblended lip re-shaping

If you’re only accustomed to 2020s makeup, keep in mind that this is a 1920s makeup look. If it looks too blended, too sharp, too smooth, it’s just not going to look authentic. (Which is perfectly fine if you’re not going for authenticity but rather a 2020s reimagining!)

——— ——— ———

Bonus: The “Backdrop”

This isn’t necessarily useful for putting together a Halloween costume, but I thought it might be a fun curiosity to share how I made my “backdrops.” Basically, I wanted a black background as the film’s terrace set has a void-like quality, so I roughly brushed black paint over black 12x9in construction paper.

natural light photos of my drawings of the gate, the moon, and the black backdrop

Using the same size construction paper, I drew the decorative metal fencing from the film with colored pencils on yellow paper and used a black felt tip marker to fill in the gaps. Likewise, I drew out the clouds and moon on construction paper in yellow, blue, and purple—as I knew how those colors would register in B&W—and cut them out. I then attached them to clear plastic to photograph them with directional lighting similar to what I used for the cosplays.

I cleaned up the drawings digitally and then composited the elements with my cosplay photos.

cosplay photos composited with the moon, the gate, and the black "backdrop"

Conclusion

Thank you all for reading, following along, and supporting my work! If you decide to use this guide or any of my previous how-tos this Halloween, please share. I’ve loved seeing your Asta Nielsen Hamlets over the past few years!

Stay Tuned for Postscript to Cosplay the Classics: Salomé and Orientalism! For now, check out Part One: The Importance of Being Peter and Part Two: Artists United?

——— ——— ———

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

——— ——— ———

Other Costume/Cosplay How-Tos:

Theda Bara | Pola Negri in The Wildcat (1921) | Asta Nielsen in Hamlet (1921) | Musidora in Les Vampires (1915) | Conrad Veidt in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) | Gloria Holden in Dracula’s Daughter (1936) | Simone Simon in Cat People (1942) | Vampira in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) | Yvonne Monlaur in Brides of Dracula (1960) | Daria Nicolodi in Deep Red (1975) | Amanda Bearse in Fright Night (1985) | Fairuza Balk in The Craft (1996) | Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941) | Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973)

[karereiko]

Moriarty Xmas everyone! Dark Santas are in town!

I'm so glad that somehow I managed to finish it on time. Last weeks were awful for me, so many live problems with my cats health and work and that I was so exhausted, yet I really wanted to draw those Dark Santa Moriarty brothers because I had this idea for few months by now. And that joke with Sherly in my head born while drawing it, I'm glad I could draw it too and it didn't stay only an idea (like I had idea for some flirty sherliam after story to that Halloween art but had no time to draw it). I went with some chibi style drawing because I really wanted to do it quick, it suppose to be more sketchy style but I yet can draw nice looking sketch only picture.

Anyway back to additional info about pictures.

Moriarty Santa brothers, I wanted to make them dark Santas so I went with black in place of white fur. I also thought about Albert and Louis costumes be whole in their colors first, but I settled with only elements being in Albert's green and Louis blue for them and I think this looks very good in the end. I had to put wine with cookie for Albert, he leaves milk for his brothers. And each of brothers have holy that also has 3 brothers colors to show their bond.

Mini comic add:

Sherly has 1/3 chance to pull Liam Santa, he even put Math book to rise his chances. Let's wish him to pull William, not Louis.

For next you probably see here is finished felted Miss Hudson, and felting tutorial. After watching Morimu op3 commentary I got silly Sherliam idea, I don't know how it will end, but I really wanna to draw it... I just wish for more time T_T....

[sdmsims]

curious, you know others/similar mods/meshes to “pokepets” or have a tutorial to making the meshes? Hope this isn’t a bothering question, I love the mod so much but respect your retirement!

HMMM i know there’s another person who does them but im not sure if they’re active anymore, and iirc they only did vaporeon and non-pkmn costumes(and i can’t for the life of me remember their url)

tutorial wise i don’t think there’s anything out there, but

180000000000110A is the excludepartsflag that hides the base body for cats and dogs

0000000000000138 is the equivalent for horses

if you follow the full body outfit procedure and use those EPF, it’ll hide the base body under the outfit ^^

[miasiegert]

Casa Manana friend opening night review (AND some me-comments)

This is the best review of CATS ever. So many shows, this is my favorite. I have been laughing nonstop.

I haven’t seen the show!

But I wanted to point out that Korie Lee Blossey is a national treasure. This is his first show since Genie when he was injured, and he’s looking GREAT—but mostly the kindness. “The Moments of Happiness” is my favorite song by far. This year, I’m blessed to have two extraordinary actors (Korie Lee Blossey and Will Mann (Hadestown/Oklahoma)) play him. I mentioned that I will absolutely cry because I always do, but I might cry a little extra with healing tears.

And Korie, bless him, SANG “Moments of Happiness” for me.

I cried. Hard. Those were healing tears. I am grateful.

Jackson Dunlap is an incredibly talented actor and HE MADE THE CHOO CHOO canon! Macavity’s villain origin story was that train!

And now for just some clarification (and a request for kindness towards the theatre and ourselves). There was a little more than I thought...

-We only found out today that we were credited for costume design, hair & wig design, and make up design. We had no clue. We thought it was a rental. We had absolutely no input for the cowboy attire. We don't know which song pieces, if any, will be used. It was very kind of the theatre to laud our work but I feel for whoever pulled those pieces and hope people recognize that because we would never want to take credit away from someone.

-We did NOT make that Grizzabella wig. We sent a different one.

-There was some miscommunication with wig styling that we noticed. Although it wasn't our job (to our knowledge... again we thought we were just doing a rental), we reached out last night and I did a speed run tutorial on how to restyle a wig, intentionally using a very damaged wig. You all are welcome to watch, it's on Instagram. Easy peasy--especially if you'd like to ever purchase or adopt one of our to-be-retired wigs and practice.

So... here comes my ask. It's a big one...

*I am humbly requesting kindness and patience from the fandom since I know some people have thoughts on wigs. I am NOT asking for fake reviews, to be clear. Just kindness in one area I'll explain.

Miscommunication happens, things in general happen. Most of the wigs had a great start for today, and through the run they will get better and better. Misto was given tied ears but you know what? Go for it. Why not? Deut has rolled ears but you know what? Go for it.

If there are promo pics/video with wigs that look like they need some love, please understand that they were shipped unstyled deliberately because of the amount of damage that happens in shipping--if we sprayed PERFECTLY for a production like that, it'd cause the designer way more work which we didn't want to do--AND we weren't sure if they were wearing cowboy hats, which would need a very different styling.

These wigs are top notch, have HEAVY endurance, and I'm sure they'll show more with the run as it goes on but we WILL show work at The Fulton, I promise, so you can see what happens. The Fulton pics with make up are with unstyled, out-of-the-box wigs so that's a PERFECT example of what happens in shipping, and what happens in just 5-15 minutes of styling. :)

And seriously, yes, I absolutely KNOW what some people think about wigs so this is a lot to ask for with trust and kindness. These actors are so incredibly talented, and production worked very, very, very hard at this. Absolutely have your opinions of the show--I want to be clear I am NOT asking for fake reviews, goodness no! I'm just asking for wigs to consider a little kindness and patience. Already, it was night and day with some of the wigs and I promise they will get BETTER and BETTER.

-You can see @cryptidvoidwritings's Rumpleteazer warmers... but there's no picture yet of MACAVITY! And a... surprise! When there are, we can share more. My friend came in clutch so hard, and I have been so, so, so very grateful. We are going to work together still, and I'm hoping she's game to design a few chorus cats with me. :)

So TL;DR, if you are in Texas (I know the state's huge), this is an AMAZING cast... so stacked. And my friend WOULD say if she didn't care for it. I love this review so much, genuinely. I love to laugh. I love enthusiasm. I love the love for it.

If you see Casa Manana, or The Fulton, and you have it in you to write up anything with your thoughts of the show, I'd love to see them!

Thank you for your incredible support. It means a ton!

And again the ton of designer things... you can look at my recent posts from this week, past month. I didn't know until today, because of social media!

[komodocomics]

My furry masterlist sorry

Pretty much all of these contain something animal or furry related

Name (special stuff to mention) √= I've looked at it

Links + text version of list (very long)

I GET ISSUES WITH TUMBLR IF I ADD MORE LINKS SO SORRY UR ON UR OWN NOW

Cmyk coloredcreature √ runaway workshop √ waggery costumes √ citymutt √ fuzzbutt fursuits √ schneepardicreations.com √ blacksticky √ casual Friday fursuits (no more commissions:( ) deep space dogs √ foxfire fantasy √ freak of nature studios √ freckled cat creations (kigurumis)√ kabber creations √ kigurumiagetsu √ kitscove √ mugiwara's creative corner √ missmonster √ murkymarten √ pawaii fursuits √ skyehighstudios √ the phoenix nest √ wearcat creations √ whizmi creations (really like the yellow dog suit) √ wolf factory √ anyabozartist.com (art dolls not fursuit) √ neffertity √ battitudestudio.com √ beautyofthebass √ bigsnootsuits √ bodozo.com √ colorful creatures (bases) √ cosmellcosplay √ curl works(kigurumi ) √ drowsyseal √ verityscamander (etsy furry badge) √ lobitoworks (etsy various) √ chasingtailsworkshop (etsy tails) √ gatorwave (fur color picker) √ koshka fursuits √ bazteki.com √ (art) F-class merch √ (neon lights) creep cat √ (plushies) fursona pins √ (pins + accessories) howl out √ (clothing + accessories) weasel gear √ (clothing) midnight makers (new maker) √ wolfberrycrafts (statues and action figures) √ midnightstudiosfx (horror masks) √ Pumpkinpulp (horror advise against looking at ones marked horror if u can't handle) √ chaosfx (horror) √ Immortal masks (horror and tons of masks) √ Made fur you (may have drama but couldn't find proof) √ multicolorbark √ neonslushie (fursuit info not a maker but has accessories) √ sleepy stag suits √ spiritpanda costumes (adoptables) √ star fursuits √ Twilight knights cosplay (adopts,accessories and a fur line @canfur.ca at website) √ twinky arts (good lizard maker) √ vaporwag studios √ wormsandbones.com (art dolls) √ Freakhound studios (wolf plushies and fursuits) √ Clockworkcreature √ Melissa mendelson art √ Mixedcandy √ becominggodzilla (fan thing with how tos for Godzilla costumes) √ planetary dog toys (only action figure pieces) √ sketchbuck (cool ref image style) √ maiafischerwalter.com (artdolls) √ cults3d (3d printing website Has furry bases) √ bark's bog (plushies no comms) √ Homemadehorrors (artdolls) √ Wormandbones (artdolls) √

If anyone makes a reblog of the rest of the links thank you

[deadmomjokes]

I figured if anyone would know, it'd be the Tumblr Hivemind, so let me yeet this into the void:

Anyone got costuming and/or makeup guides for "Cats," as in the stage musical? Specifically, are there guides for how one might go about turning a 4-year-old who is obsessed with said musical into one of said Cats for Halloween?

The bean wants to be a Jellicle Cat. Specifically Skimbleshanks, "the ballerina kitty" (victoria, I think? the all-white one), or Mr. Mistoffelees, she hasn't decided yet. Regardless, I need makeup tutorials and leads on where I would find plushy tails, leg warmers, and bodysuits in sizes suitable for a child the size of a thin 6 year old.

The kid-sized cat costumes I'm finding premade are not Jellicle enough for her, apparently. She doesn't want a fluffy headband and a tutu, she wants faux-fur and full face makeup.

And thus, I need SO MUCH HELP.

Are there patterns out there I could buy? Are there secret websites that sell these things in kid sizes? Makeup tutorials? Anything??

Help me, Cats People, you're my only hope. (I know you're out there.)

[pancake-breakfast]

I'm a little over a week in game time into Date Everything.

Current Status:

Day: 9

Characters Unlocked: 20

Characters Friended: 3

Characters Romanced: 1 (It was kind of an accident? IDK, it's working out ok for me.)

Characters Hated: 0

My initial thoughts below the break...

You can play this game as fully ace. One of the tutorial characters has a whole little speech about the importance of non-sexual intimacy. You can play the whole game as ace.

I appreciate that the game has a content warning system. I also appreciate that it allows you to easily turn it on or off at will.

The character designs are great. Just... like... look at this bed lady!

She's got at least three pillows to her body (yes, I'm counting her massive boobs), plus a wooden headboard and the slats under the mattress, all worked into her costume.

Look at this guy who is a time capsule from the '80s!

He has lite bright on his jacket! His bracelets include scrunchies and rubix cubes! His hair is cassette tape!

The pacing for the game is a bit... odd. You can wake up like five characters a day, but with 100 characters in the base game, that means it's gonna take you like 20 in-game days just to get everyone awake, and that's if that's all you're doing. That's without progressing their relationships and/or doing other quests that come up. I know I couldn't possibly remember all the characters if I just went straight through them. I'd forget the ones I met at the beginning. Though I should also note that some interactions will actually introduce you to more than one character at a time.

There's also some sort of overarching narrative, as often comes up with these kinds of games. Something about you working for an evil Amazon-esque corporation and mmmmmaybe having past trauma that keeps you from wanting to leave the house? Not sure. I don't think I'm nearly far enough into the game to say for certain.

I don't think I've ever seen this high a percentage of interactable characters in a game who were black. This may say something about me. It definitely says something about the game industry. I've spotted a couple Hispanics and Asians around, too, but as previously noted, I'm not very far into the game.

I love that the characters all have their own agendas and preferences. Like, yeah, it's a dating game, so even the most stoic and/or antagonistic can be convinced to join you on the road to Pound Town (or... actually the game makes it more complicated than that, but I won't get into details here), but they have their preferences. Some would rather just have a good friend, or get closer to/be reunited with the (literal) object of their affection, and it seems like at least one is really looking for a good hatefuck. (I haven't actually unlocked him yet, so I could be wrong here.)

I also love that they're all different levels of openness. Some characters meet you and are like, "Yeah! We're friends now!" Others take a long time to figure out.

For the concerned, I'll note that thus far, not a single character seems concerned about being "your one and only," but I should also note I haven't exactly been hitting the romance angle hard, so maybe I just haven't come across it.

They weren't kidding when they said puns abound. Just... FYI.

I am absolutely trying to unlock all the cozy object characters first.

Look at this blanket boy. He even has a cat.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Seven

I adjust the cat ears on my head for the fourth time, despite only being there for ten minutes. They’re a bit slap-dash, the construction isn’t great, because I made them by following a YouTube tutorial on my laptop the night before the party with bleary eyes and a bit of a tension headache. Izzy let me borrow her glue gun so that I could attach triangles of white foam to black and curl the ears around an old plastic hair band I had that I had lying under my bed, but I’ve been finding myself pulling glue strings off it constantly.

“You look nice.” She assures me now, dressed as a pirate. “Very cute.”

I feel too cute for Halloween. Everyone else is dressed either scary or funny, while all I’ve done is paint whiskers on my face, the result being that I’m neither, I’m just lazy. The tight pleather skirt and corset that I never gave back to Marnie after I borrowed it two years ago makes me feel naked and self conscious, too uncovered, too done up, like a little girl play-acting like an adult. Nobody else is even wearing high heels, not even Claire, who’s in a witch costume from Dealz, and I feel ridiculous in mine. It’s only Shane’s house anyway, Shane’s friends, who I don’t know, and are certainly not bothered about the fact that I can balance in five inch heeled boots that come all the way up to my thighs and have me paranoid that my mother will somehow appear and ask me to change. 

Shane is dressed as Darth Vader, helmet under his arm, because when he’s wearing it he’s not able to eat or drink anything. Someone already got a video of themselves trying to shove Doritos through the tiny mouth slits to no avail, and now there’s crumbs all over the floor that nobody will take responsibility for. Every time he walks into a room, be it the kitchen or the living room, somebody chants “Shane-oooooo” and then all the boys make these weird animalistic sounds with the grace and decorum of gorillas at the zoo. He just grins like he’s used to it. 

“Eviiiiiieeee.” He musses up my hair as he saunters by, as if to subtly remind me that while I might have made an attempt to be sexy tonight, I’m still perpetually twelve in his eyes. He’s also been drinking, and Shane, on account of the rules of the football team, is not allowed to drink. We’ve all been warned that if his coach finds out he’ll be in trouble, hence why nobody is allowed to take a picture of him with a beer in his hand. I’ve seen the scene play out about three times already. The flash of a digital camera and then him, waving his hand around. “Nah, man, delete, delete.”

I think it’s been three years since I’ve seen him this way, and while he’s the merry kind of drunk, I can’t help but wonder if all of this has anything to do with the argument I accidentally overheard between him and Claire earlier this evening. I haven’t asked her about it, as she will deny it, but as I watch her from across the room, her body seems wound tight, tension emanating from her like an aura. Even as she’s laughing with the guy in a cow costume, I can tell her heart isn’t in it. I know her fake laugh from her real one, when she really wants to be somewhere and when she’d rather be at home snuggled in blankets and watching Say Yes to the Dress. 

I wander into the kitchen and take a moderately warm beer out of a box. The fridge is full up with lunchboxes of chicken and rice meals and eight litres of milk, a carton for each of the four guys who lives here and refuses to split one with anybody else. I go into the living room but vacate soon after I come in, as some lad with a big square UCD head has cleared the room by trying to show everyone how he can rap the song from the end credits of Men in Black without looking up the words.

Michelle and Simon are just arriving, and are unloading a shopping bag full of mixers onto the cluttered counter when I return. They wave me over when I wander in. “Are you drinking Galahad?” Simon says in a voice caught between outrage and disgust. I stare down at my hand. I suppose I am. 

“It’s all that was going for free.” I admit. “I didn’t bring any of my own drink.” I’m too cheap. And trying not to drink, clearly unsuccessfully.

“You like that shit?”

“Um.” I crack it open for an experimental sip. “Not really, no. It’s not the best.” 

“Oh, have some of ours then” Michelle says brightly. She lightly grabs my forearm and pulls me closer to them, out of the path of another man in another obstructing helmet who cannot see where he is going. I realise, as she’s rummaging in her giant handbag that there’s actually something quite disarming and pleasant about her. I never thought she seemed particularly friendly before, there’s something tough and no-nonsense about her, but now for the very first time she seems rather sweet. 

She yanks out a bottle of El Jimador Tequila and my palms prickle at the sight of it. I didn’t really intend on diving right into spirits tonight, but something about the way that droplets of condensation are clinging to the outside of the cold glass bottle while the can of Galahad warms even further in my hand makes my mouth feel twice as dry. 

“You alright with tequila?” She asks, reaching around for a few plastic cups stacked on the counter. 

I shrug. “I’ve no issue with tequila.”

“Grand.” Michelle unscrews it and starts pouring glugs into a cup. “I know someone who vomits at just the smell of it, which is why I asked.”

“Great image to have while you’re serving it up to me.” I comment, and she laughs. “Sorry, yeah, I just can’t really think about tequila without thinking about that.” I help her by reaching for a nearby bottle of orange juice. It’s what Marnie and I would always mix it with when there was nothing more sophisticated to be found. As I pour it into the cup, Simon gets distracted by someone nearby and strikes up his own conversation, and I take advantage of my moment alone with Michelle. 

“Hey, sorry if it’s awkward, but I was talking to Jude the other day…”

She nods, still looking at the cup.��

“…and he was wondering if he could have your new number. He said you’ve changed phones or something? He didn’t say why or anything, I just told him I’d get it for you.”

Her eyes flit to mine. “Oh yeah, no worries. You have your phone handy?”

“Uh, yep.” I wrestle it out of the tight waistband of my skirt, embarrassed by the imprint on my skin on the screen. She taps in her details, then I offer his number to her, and transfer the details from one phone to the other. The middle man, just here to facilitate whatever weirdness this is without any insight into why. 

“He didn’t say anything to you about Jen, did he?” She asks, a tinge of vulnerability behind her words, and I blink. “Um, no, he didn’t. Not really.”

“Alright cool.”

“Should he have?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing, like, I was just wondering. She hasn’t replied to my messages in a few days. I thought maybe he might have heard from her.”

“Isn’t she coming tonight?”

“I doubt it. She was invited, but she didn’t respond to the invitation, as far as I know.”

“Oh. Well, Jude didn’t mention that he heard from her, but I have a feeling he hasn’t. I didn’t think they were talking at all.”

“Yeah, well, they’re not not talking. She’s just a bit off the grid at the moment. He said something to Pamela once that pissed her off, but honestly, I can’t really keep up with everything that’s been said or not said…” She fiddles with the torn collar of her zombie school girl costume. “I just hoped that since she’s not replying to me she might have replied to him.”

“Well you can ask him yourself now.” I say with a smile that I hope says please don’t involve me, which prompts her to smile back. A wide, even smile that calls to mind a photo I saw in the depths of her facebook profile before where she was wearing braces. I wonder if Jude’s dad was her orthodontist. They’ve made her look very pretty, but even with crooked teeth I think she’d still be. As if somebody like Jude Turner would have ever settled for anything less than the prettiest girl at his school. As if he’d ever have to. 

She looks down at her phone, staring at his number in her contacts. “Yeah I’ll text him tomorrow, or he’ll text me, I suppose. Whichever. It’s honestly a bit weird to see his number in my phone again, but…” her eyes flick to mine. “What’s the story with you two anyway? Jen said you liked each other, or you’re together or something?”

I bark out a laugh, surprised. “No, well, I fancied him once, and he didn’t like me back. That’s all, nothing really happened.” 

She frowns. “Oh right? Because I-”

“Well, okay, that’s a lie. We kissed once.” I blurt out. “Twice, actually, but it was like, I heard he kisses all of his female friends so it’s a bit classic, you know? I know it didn’t mean anything.” I bury my nose into my cup and take anxious sips from it. I probably shouldn’t have said that. She probably doesn’t need to know it, but her face softens into a smile. “Right. I know how he is. He can get a bit swept away.”

“Right, because you were together… how long?” I say, even though I already know the answer. I’ll have to do this dance, regardless of how stupid and awkward it makes me feel so that I won’t have to admit that I scoured her Facebook page with the kind of intensiveness that could only be rivalled by a full time private investigator. 

“Eleven months. We broke up when he got into that Berlin school, he just didn’t want to do long distance with me, so,” She shrugs, pouring herself a drink. “It didn’t feel great but I got it. I get it. You either have the personality for it or you don’t. Maybe I could have done it, but he couldn’t.” She exhales a laugh. “He definitely couldn’t. He needs too much contact with people. I think he’s a bit ‘out of sight, out of mind’.”

“Still, mustn’t have been easy.”

“No. I liked him a lot. It just felt really hard to understand why we broke up at the time, like there was nothing wrong with our relationship and it felt like he was just chucking it out and that pissed me off for ages.”

“I get it, like if he was your first-”

“Oh, no.” She interrupts. “We weren’t each other’s first anything. He was just my friend who became my boyfriend and then all we ended up doing was making things weird for Jen when we split up. The whole thing was a stupid idea, honestly. I was just young and I was…” She trails off in search of the right word. “Enticed by him.”

“He’s enticing.” I agree, and she nods.  “He is. He’s always had that specific american brand of charisma, we all used to make fun of his accent and stuff when we were younger, I mean, to the point that he tried to disguise it, but actually it was one of the things that made him interesting. You know?”

“I do.”

“And if it means anything to you at this point, I mean, I don’t know how much you even care, Jen told me that he fancied you once.”

“Hm?”

“Ages ago.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Like, years probably. I forced it out of her when we were hanging out, I dunno why, like, I suppose I was feeling self destructive or something, I asked her if she knew about any other girls and she’s so bad at keeping things in, I knew she’d eventually just tell me, and she said that he liked this girl he met on the beach.”

“Oh.” I say with deliberate neutrality, “Well, it was so long ago, I suppose it hardly matters now.”

“Bit late, yeah?” She says with a laugh. “But I think it’s nice to know those kinds of things. It’s good for the ego. I was mad jealous, by the way.”

“You were?”

“Yes of course! I looked up your Facebook page and everything.”

“Oh God” I shield my face. “The state of my Facebook page back then. I bet that made you feel better about yourself.”

“No! I was raging, you were so pretty.” I roll my eyes but she insists. “There was this one picture I remember fuming over, where you were standing by the edge of a swimming pool, and I just thought ‘for God sake, her legs.’”

I stare down at my legs now, poking out of the bottom of this pleather skirt, and they look perfectly average to me. Paler than average, maybe, but that’s about the extent of their uniqueness. “My legs?”

“Yeah obviously. They’re perfect. I almost cried looking at you, like, knowing that he’d never want me again when he’d already wanted someone like you. Then we ran into you that time at that horrible cocktail bar and I had to pretend not to recognise you, I was so scared that you’d somehow figure out what I’d been doing.”

“God, Michelle, that’s so crazy. I did the same thing as you. When I found out who you were I stalked your Facebook for hours.”

“You didn’t!”

“I swear to God.”

“What did you think?”

I tell her, and we laugh about how silly we were, and how much cleverer we are now, and all the things that used to fill our heads and ruin our days, and it’s the most strangely healing thing to know that I wasn’t the only crazy girl, and even she, the sharp, intimidating person I pictured, was unravelling on the inside just like me. 

When I finish my drink she pours me another, and I find myself warming to her utterly. She’s funny, she’s honest, she’s charming, which only makes me feel worse about the horrible, envious thoughts I had about her years ago. Eventually Simon rejoins our conversation, so we pivot to other things, like art and film. The party swirls around us and the music gets louder, and eventually, by the time Macklemore’s Thrift Shop is on its fourth rotation and my cup has been filled and emptied twice more I excuse myself and head out to the front steps for some fresh air.

Beginning // Prev // Next