Who Are You REALLY?

Another question found on CosPlay.com, asked:

[QUOTE=DarknessSummit] Who are you when ur "not cosplaying"? what kind of person are you, what social group are u, what clothes do u wear, random hobbies, things like that...[/QUOTE]

I am a writer, editor, publisher, artist, doll maker, animal rights activist, costume maker, make-up artist, sale representative, and fashion designer.

I write in the Gothic, Horror, and Science Fiction genres. My works include a horror series, and it's spin-offs. Some of my other writing habits include children's stories, comic books, and the dark retellings of classic folk lore & fairy tales. I am the owner of The Twighlight Manor Press.

I live on a farm, which is the headquarters for The Pidgie Fund, where we take in roosters and feral cats, and other animals in need of a home. I'm currently caring for 70+ roosters and hens, 14 cats, and 1 dog, but the animals here change over time and have in the past included horses, goats, ducks, squirrels, turtles, wild birds, and just about every type of domestic animal you could name.

I also do gardening, both flowers and veggies.

I live on a farm, in the forest, on the beach. I am very in touch with nature. I spend more time with animals and trees than I do with humans. Me and my dog spend hours each week on the beach collecting shells.

In alphabetical order: I like Alan Rickman, Alice Cooper, Alice in Wonderland, anime, birds, candy, Carl Barks, cartoons, cats, C*C*DeVille, Colombo, comic books, CosPlay, Darkwing Duck, David Bowie, Disney, dogs, Don Rosa, Donald Duck, Dr. Who, dvds, eels, Etiole, fashion, Gothic, haunted houses, horror, ice cream, InuYasha, Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp, Kieth Laumer, manga, movies, NegaDuck, peacocks, pigeons, Lord Sesshomaru, Prof. Snape, Retief, roosters, sci-fi, Scrooge McDuck, Sir Roderic, Star Trek, Tom Baker, Twighlight Manor, Uncle Scrooge, video games, Vincent Price, Willy Wonka, writing, X-Files, Xena, Zorro.

When I go out in public, usually it's to one of the five local libraries, where I practically live. I am a complete and total bookworm, and own a private library with a collection of more than 10,000 books and over 7,000 comic books, and still I end up at the public libraries doing research for my writing, mostly because I just love being in a library surrounded by all those books!

I dream about opening my own Gothic fashion shop; Gothic~Lolita~CosPlay Clothen Store, that has yet to be built. Everything is still in the planning stages.

As for what I wear: I change from CosPlay to Glam to Gothic to Lolita to Punk to Renaissance depending on my current mood. I've been one or the other since the early 1980's, and often a mixture of all at once. Most people who see me call me "Goth", but I don't really think I fit in with the overall Goth look, but whatever. I prefer the term historical reenactor myself.

One of the dangers of being a Goth-CosPlay-type person in an area where no one but you is a Goth-CosPlay-type person, is that every time you set a foot outside, people gawk at you and start asking the silliest stupid dang questions. Like:

Are you promoting a play for the local theater?

Are you on the way to a costume party?

Is there a Renaissance Fair nearby?

Are you a circus clown?

OMG! It's a Harry Potter fan!

Are you a witch?

. . .and my personal favorite:

What the hell planet did you drop off of?!?

yea . . .okay . . . whatever.

So what prompts these non-ending string of questions everywhere I go? My cloths.

CosPlay is my life. I have never been to a Con, but that hasn't stopped me from wearing "costumes", though technically these are not costumes as they are my actual street cloths or garb and therefor I do not call them costumes because I do not think of them as costumes. I do not own any "normal" non-costume "street cloths". What you see me wearing as CosPlay type things IS the way I dress when I'm not CosPlaying, because for me, this is not about "playing". My CosPlay can more correctly be termed as "historical reenactment of fantasy costumes".

My clothen style includes velvet, capes, empire gowns, gowns with trains, burnoose, shawls, runas, fishnet hose, striped stockings, combat boots, velvet, top-hats, long dresses, ruffled frilly skirts, cosplay, Gothic, Lolita, Victorian, Edwardian, velvet, frock coats, Alice in Wonderland, vampire fashions, Medieval fashions, crinolines & petticoats, kimono, ethnic costumes, eyelash-fringe fabric, sequins, beads, glitter, lace, cloaks, ruffles, broomstick skirts, stripes, plaid, poet blouses, peasant dresses, fairy tale princess gowns, faerie outfits, wizard-look stuff, big hats, bright colored hats, ballet flats, platforms, anything that Dracula would love to wear, and also stuff like worn by Jem*, The Holograms, and The Misfits.

Whenever I go out in public, my conversations with strangers sounds something like this:

I was dressing like Jem, before Jem was invented.

I love anything made of velvet!

I don't like pants: won't wear them, won't own them.

I the 1980's I wore min-skirts, but as the years have gone by, my dresses and skirts got longer; today my hems sweep the floor and they often have trains. I have one dress that has 7 yards of fabric on the skirt alone, it can be worn with or without hoops.

No, what I'm wearing is not a costume.

Yes, I dress like this every day, all day long, even around the house, when working in the garden, and when shoveling manure out of the barn. Yes I am a farmer. Yes I do dress like this while doing farm work.

No, I don't own any "normal" clothes.

No, I can't tell you where I bought them, because I didn't buy them, I sewed them.

No, I can't tell you where to buy the pattern, I didn't buy a pattern I made the pattern. I've been sewing since I was 6 years old when I made my first doll. I made my first ball-gown at age 12. At age 16 I graduated from a 2 year course in fashion design & merchandising. I've spent most of my life studying fashion history and the art of recreating historical clothen from the Gothic periods (1300 - 1500 & 1850 - 1930), and those are the clothes I thus wear.

No I already told you this is not a costume, these are my regular cloths, I don't care if you think this is a costume, it is not, please stop asking me if it is.

I don't like people who think I'm wearing a costume even after been told that I am not.

Yes, I know this looks like a Willy Wonka costume, yes, Johnny Depp inspired it. Yes, I do wear a top hat everywhere I go. No, I repeat this is not a costume.

Yes, I REALLY am making a historical reproduction of Lord Sesshomaru's costume, and yes, I do intend to wear it daily as part of my street cloths, fluffy tail, battle armor, and all.

No, I'm not crazy, I just hate that Halloween only comes once a year so now I live every day like it was Halloween.

No, THIS . . . IS . . . NOT . . . A . . . COSTUME . . . I already told you, I always dress like this. I've been dressing like this for the last 20 years. Please stop making me repeat myself.

I have had that conversation so many times now it's burned in my brain.

I think the funniest thing is that I am constantly asked for my ID...."You got to be over 18 . . ." yadda, yadda, yadda

Than I whip out my ID... "Is this real? Wait, you're really THAT old? . . .but . . .but . . your cloths.... I thought you were a teenager! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize... it's just that your cloths... I thought..."

Honey, I haven't been a teenager for 20 years! But thank you for thinking I was one, it's not every day some one my age gets mistaken for a teenager... will, with me it is, but for other folks my age . . .

Well, that's me. And as you can tell, I really like to write . . . a lot! LOL!





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