Backlash cosplay: Hood and wig

      The gentleman's Backlash cosplay is mostly done, barring - of course - the pieces that I need to work on. The character has a "mask" of sorts, that is drawn as just fabric. The gentleman, however, needs to wear glasses, so we had to be a little more inventive. The gentleman found a person online that makes custom masks, and had an option for glasses lenses, resulting in a pretty dang bad-ass looking mask:

      He then ordered a wig, since the character has white hair and that would not go over well at work. 

Bedtime

      Over the years, I have painstakingly established a bedtime routine optimized to get my brain to shut up and go to sleep as expeditiously as possible. It involves taking a shower at a certain time, singing calming songs in said shower, having a filling dessert so I don't wake up hungry at 2am, and controlling the ambient levels of sound, light, and temperature during this process to encourage restfulness. Magnesium supplements are involved on scheduled days, and the gentleman is kind enough to support all this by keeping things quiet when it's dessert time, even if he's staying up later. 

Sketches, again

     This year's been a little odd, for obvious pandemic reasons. When October rolled around, I was bound and determined to do SOMETHING to celebrate it, so I made a couple decoration type things, including these little ghosties that I freehand sketched on some old craft foam:

I taped them to the front door along with some leaves I'd done on fall color foam, and was pretty pleased with the results. I know the gentleman doesn't get into silliness as much as I do, so I asked if he was ok with leaving them there for a bit after Halloween; he said yes and mentioned that he missed my little sketches. I kind of missed doing them too, but time and life drama hasn't been conducive to taking sketch time. I had a bit of down time this morning though, so figured I'd give it a go:

Paranoid or cautious?

      In the past, I've had my fair share of catcalls, harassment, and being followed while out in public. I've learned to deal with it and present myself as not-a-target, to the point where I feel fairly confident walking around on my own, even after dark. The neighborhood we're in now has always felt safe, so as the days grow shorter, I've just kept walking at my usual time, despite it being definitely nighttime. Three events have happened in the last couple months that make me wonder if I'm being paranoid, or justifiable cautious, and if I need to do research on what sort of personal protection items are legal in this area. 

     The first event seems fairly innocuous, and I didn't really pay it much mind at first. I saw another person walking along the sidewalk I'd turned onto, so I popped out into the street to pass them; they were in regular clothes and clearly having a nice stroll and I was in workout gear clearly getting my cardio in. Parking along the curb is very common here, so I didn't really keep an eye on the person as I passed. For safety reasons, I don't have headphones or music playing while I walk, so I clearly heard the "hey, excuse me, are you working out?" when I'd gotten about 6 feet past them. I turned my head and politely answered in the affirmative, and the guy replied something along the lines of, "I thought so, 'cause of your outfit. It's clearly doing your body well, keep it up!" 

Taboo cosplay: Complete

      Original sketch of the Taboo cosplay:

     End results: