#like not cosplay but something that is fitting for a nightvale show

[sea-me-now]

just bought tickets to the welcome to night vale live show!!!

can’t wait to subject my father to all of that

[husbandits]

instead of working on any of my other projects, my gift to you all today is headcanons about what halloween costumes the gang would wear

no reader this time!

Dutch insists on hosting the party, with almost no pushback. He wanted to do a themed party at first, but then no one could agree on a theme, so he got a little huffy and let it go. He dresses up like a classic vampire with a huge cape and one of his more playful suits, covering his face in white make-up (which he doesn't seal so by the end of the night it's runny, but he looks pretty good at the start of the party) and with a pair of plastic fangs that make him a little hard to understand the entire night.

Arthur, John, Abigail, and Jack are the first to arrive, before the party actually starts, so they can help dutch set up all the decorations and make sure the food is ready. Arthur is dressed like Frankenstein('s Monster), with surpising detail on his make-up and care to the prosthetics; it also gives him an excuse to 'borrow' one of John's jackets, making himself seem even bigger as it's ill-fitting. He also uses the costume as an excuse to not actually dance, when that starts up.

Abigail and Jack are in matching costumes, with her as a witch, complete with faux spiders hanging from her hat, milky white contacts (that susan makes her take out after a few hours when her eyes start getting dry) and emerald green skin. Jack is dressed as her black cat. Inititally the costume had been purely an outfit, as Abigail didn't want to put any make-up on him, but he'd started begging when she put hers on, and he ends up with a pink little nose and black whiskers. He also picks up the habit of meowing at people

John overheard Abigail talking about her and Jack's outifts and decided he wanted to coordinate his costume as well. Unfortunately he misunderstood just what she was going for, and ends going as Harry Potter. Abigail loves it anyway.

Hosea tends to center his costumes around what Jack's interests in recent years, since he usually takes him out for a second trick-or-treating in his and Dutch's neighborhood, and this year he's been noticing all the superhero trends. Namely he ends up as an unintentionally relevant Captain America, and Arthur and Mary-Beth end up tiptoeing around bringing it up all night.

Charles had been characteristically cagey about his costume, deflecting with a shrug or a 'dunno' whenever anyone asked, but when he comes up dressed like a mummy, he doesn't make a big deal about it, like they knew already. He doesn't do the the classic 'just tp around self' thing, but instead has one of those body-suits with a bandage-pattern on, and elaborate costume jewelry. He also has thick eyeliner, flashy blue robes, and the classic king-tut headdress.

Susan shows up to the party towards the beginning in her normal clothes, heading up to Molly's part of the house after she greets everyone, a large bag in hand. When she comes down, dressed like Maleficent with her hair tucked under the headpiece, and a fake crow on her shoulder. Molly helped her with the make-up, as well as the finishing touches on her costume, but mostly she'd just wanted moral support. Brushes off compliments with a huff, and before the end of the party she's taken off most of the make-up, since she'd been getting hot

Molly doesn't come down to join things until an hour or so after they've started (a little after Susan), but when she does, she's dressed in an elaborately crafted costume as the Creature from the Black Lagoon. She'd locked herself upstairs to perfect the make-up, blasting tutorials and jenna marbles videos to help boost her confidence as she had considered, when she wasn't ready 'on time', just giving up and half-assing it, but when she is finally satisfied with the costume she looks camera-ready

Mary-Beth ends up reusing the cosplay for her self-insert-turned-oc lord of the rings character from the sci-fi convention she last attended. She's a little embarrassed at reusing it, and apologizes at first, even though it's stunning, and everyone else insists, when she mentions that it's reused, that it's very apropriate, and stunning

Someone (Sean) promised to do a two part horse costume with Kieran, but then completely forgot and Kieran ended up coming as the back end, alone. He isn't all that upset about it though, and ends up holding the costume up with a borrowed pair of suspenders, turning it into more of a satyr costume instead

Strauss, not having realized that Dutch had already picked his favorite costume, shows up as a vampire as well. He's more of an 'authetic' vampire instead of Dutch's more stereotypical look, which seems more and more cheesy as the night wears on, especially next to Strauss' and his extra ex. His outfit is close to something his canon counterpart would wear, if frillier, and he also has his fangs glued onto his teeth, as opposed to simple plastic fangs, so he's actually understandable

If you thought Simon would show up as anything but a pirate, you're kidding yourself. He does it every year, but he does a different costume instead of just reusing the same one. This year he's an 18th century quartermaster and his saber is real metal, if blunted. He's a little more jolly than usual but gets somewhat cross if people give him grief for using the same concept yet again

Sean made a big deal about not doing anything edgy like in years past, and then showed up dressed exactly like Dutch. Hair slicked back and dyed, faux facial hair and beauty mark, he even 'sneaks' into Dutch's wardrobe to borrow one of his hawaiian shirts. He swears its a compliment, but then whenever Dutch's back is turned, he's doing a bad impression, much to the gang's delight

Karen and Tilly have a more subtle matching outfit concept- Karen dressed as a slutty nurse and Tilly as her zombie patient. Tilly's fake wounds aren't as elaborate as she'd initially wanted, but they last much longer than they would have otherwise, and when she acts the part of the costume, limping and tilting her head to the side, she looks very creepy.

Lenny's costume was originally Dorian Grey, but since there isn't actually a lot of physical components to the outfit, and the story is as much abt the portrait as it is the man, he doesn't really get recognized that much. Halfway through the party he gets Arthur to go out to pick a different comstume, and comes back as Dr Frankenstein! Will spend the rest of the night making obligatory 'Frankenstein-Frankenstein's Monster' jokes and goofing off with Arthur

Sadie wasn't exactly... thrilled about the idea of this part of halloween, just because she's not keen on the idea of a revealing costume from the store or putting together something elaborate (and expensive) that she's only going to wear once. As it is, she shows up a little late to the party in an impromptu lumberjack costume (with real axe!) and everyone ends up lowkey drooling over her anyway

Bill's werewolf costume is similarly half-assed, to... less than impressive results. The tears and fake fur glued to his old flannel aren't exactly as well done as they could be, and the cheap plastic fur starts to itch after a bit, but he's recognizable enough, and he ends up having a lot of fun

Josiah has something of a tradition of showing up in elaborate costumes of obscure characters from something he's become interested in, and not having the gang recognize him, much to his frustration. This year he's dressed up as Cecil Baldwin from Welcome to Nightvale, and gets mistaken for Eridan Ampora, 'someone from harry potter', and like three youtubers.

Swanson had been making on and off comments about dressing up as a demon when asked, but at the last minute chickened out and decided to do an angel instead. Unfortunately, the last-minute planning means that there weren't a lot of options available, and he ended up getting more of a sexy costume than he'd wanted. With a pair of white long john's underneath, the 'dress' doesn't come down to his knees and he feels incredibly awkward, but he sticks close to Strauss and Simon and is more relaxed by the end of the night

Javier doesn't initally come in much of a costume, just more elaborate make-up than usual and a little more black than he would otherwise wear, but when he sees everyone else's costumes he heads upstairs to piece something together from Molly's costume collection. When he comes back down as a sexy vampire, shirt pulled open and a trail of costume blood dripping down his chin, using a pair of glue-on fangs she'd gotten for Dutch (that he refused to use). Dutch is utterly exasperated at this point, and goes off to fume with Micah, but everyone else  applauds him for the quick turn-around.

Micah shows up to the party in a full-on fursuit. He gets upset when Arthur doesn't immediately know its him, and then starts complaining about how hot the costume is about half an hour in. He ends up switching with Uncle halfway through the party though, who forgot to get a costume and hanging out in the kitchen listening to Dutch complain, dripping with sweat. Uncle spends the rest of the party half in the fursuit, napping on the couch

[thesophiewhit]

On Writing My First Audio-Drama Podcast

A daring solo adventure with a big love for audio-drama (Welcome to NightVale. What’s the Frequency. The Enoch Saga. Raising the Dead (Again), The Byron Chronicles. Harlem Queen and more!) and absolutely zero idea how to work a proper editing program except for iMovie.

A recipe for disaster, you say? Or is it a daring adventure? 

I decided it was a little bit of both, mixed with a chaotic storm of utter, well, chaos. But, I went with it anyway. 

And what did I learn from producing? (Producing solo. Yes, that includes but is not limited to: writing the 200 pages for a first season, recording different voices like I’m Gollum, finding copyright free music, producing an original song cover even if I’ve never sang before, editing recaps, theme songs, setting up Twitter accounts, Instagram, YouTube channels. Email addresses. Websites. Blog tours.)

And on top of that, still waiting on getting approved by podcasting hosts? (Cries in impatience).

I have a little screensaver on my phone that says: write, finish things, keep writing from fave emo author Neil Gaiman. @neil-gaiman​ (the inside home screen says something about managing anxiety and is super sweet.)

So, I listened to virtual motivator Neil Gaiman and got to writing the audio drama. 

I am an indie producer who’s really new at this, so take my word with a whole lot of NaCl grains, but here goes...

AUDIO-DRAMA PODCAST TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO’S STILL LEARNING THE ROPES

1. It is a non-universally acknowledged fact that a podcast episode goes for 20 minutes- 1 hour. My episodes hit the 20 minute mark. 9 Episodes = approximately 180+ minutes of footage. 

2. In script speak, a single page of a script runs for approximately 2 minutes of edited dialogue (leaving room for adding SFX and music). One episode for me (20 minutes), meant writing 10 pages of a very non-formatted script. (But it worked for me. What works for me might not work for you, vice-versa)

3. Music makes a podcast sound professional. I used FreeMusicArchive for a lot of my music. When I needed to produce an OG song for my season finale, I went with “House of New Orleans” and made it sound, you know, ghostly. It’s a horror podcast, it fit my theme

3.5. SFX also make your podcast sound so good. Yes, laugh at my for iMovie editing, but the SFX are free for use (iMovie encourages this). Aside from good dialogue, sound design really helps you build your world. (Outside of music, of course). Think of it like watching a movie. That sound of someone creeping along wooden floors in a horror movie, the background noise of traffic on a busy NYC street, even knocking on a door. These elements bring your audio-drama to life. I favored SoundBible and FreeSounds.

4. Speaking of themes! Pick a genre for your audio-drama. You can mix genres too, within general reason (this is for marketing purposes, you understand. And social media loves to limit how many characters you get to type. Twitter, I’m looking atcha). Comedic drama. Horror mystery. Romantic necromancy, whatever. Just find a branding theme and stay there. This will help you build a podcasting family! For example, I have a horror/paranormal podcast family. We’re tight knit. Lots of goth clothing.

5. Reach out to other podcasting peoples. You’re family, not dueling rivals. When I was starting out (heck, I’m still a pod-baby), I asked so many questions. I tweeted out into the void with my #PodernFamily #AudioDrama hashtags and asked about marketing yourself, sound design, podcast hosting etc.

6. Speaking of which, you’re going to need a HOST before you get your Podcast released onto iTunes, Google Play etc. I used Anchor, but I know others who used SoundCloud etc etc.

7. The host might automatically publish your show onto podcast providers (iTunes/Google Play etc), or you might need to manually submit your RSS feed. You can find it from your podcast host (Anchor you access settings, I believe), but this RSS is your ticket to distributing said podcast TO THE WORLD.

8. Set up a Ko-Fi or Patreon so you can have a lil nudge into buying equipment/funding your art. (Mine is https://www.ko-fi.com/sophiefae , what’s up? *winks*)

9. Make things. You’re the number one marketer on your team. Make trailers. Make graphics. Make a kickass cover for your audio-drama so people want to click on that badass-looking icon. I find this fun, some people might find this irritating. I’m just living my best life with PhotoShop even if I have no idea what I’m doing. What’s up?) 

10. Learn how to do sound design. Okay, I’ll admit, I’ve been using iMovie up until now because I’m a coward. But a very lovely podcasting community helped me learn how to use Audacity. We’re getting there, fellow new-programs-are-scary-and-have-demons learners. We’re getting there.

Edit together bloopers/ a highlight reel/ a behind-the-scenes interview, or a little season trailer to play before your episodes so people can just dive right into your drama of the audio.

My trailer for Grimm and Glitter, by the way: (sup *winks*)

Have any other tips for budding podcasters or audio drama makers? Leave them below! 

Social media for Grimm and Glitter Podcast if anybody’s curious...

Twitter: @GrimmGlitter @Fae_Sophie (like cheeky horror movie GIFs, me too)

Instagram @FirstAmongFae (fun if you’re into goth cosplay)

YouTube: Sophie Fae (trailers and episodes)

Website if you wanna listen to an audio-drama about goth and prep girlfriends battling demons together in a small beach town: 

https://firstamongfae.wixsite.com/grimm/grimm-glitter

Meet Grimm & Glitter- two superpowered teens who fight evil in an isolated beach town. Just don't look behind the red door...

In the middle of butt-nowhere called “Calamity Beach”, 16-year old Grim and 17-year old Glitter find a hole in the abandoned amusement park just outside the town. The tunnel leads to a locked red door that not even light can get through.  Things would all be fine and dandy (no questions asked) except for the strange noises seeping out of it.

That, and ever since going down there, Grim and Glitter suddenly gain mysterious powers. Grim can’t stop hearing people’s thoughts, and Glitter can see the ghosts of the dead.  

Can these two teenagers discover the secrets lying beneath Calamity Beach? Or will time run out before the summer ends?