*Screams Into The Void In Excitement*  

BOI

Cosplay Tips: Repair Kits!

Let’s face it, at one point in time you’ve experienced a wardrobe malfunction and needed a quick fix. When you’re at a con, your cosplay is subject to lots of abuse at times! Heat, pushy crowds, drunkeness (lol), food accidents, etc. Stuff happens. So here is one way to be one step ahead!

Bring a repair kit with things you may need to permanently or temporarily fix your cosplay. Here are some ideas on what to bring:

A small sewing kit containing thread that matches each of your costumes and a needle or two.

Safety pins are great to have with you when you aren’t in the hotel room in case something pops that needs to be temporarily held!

A small first aid kit with some form of pain killer, band-aids, and hand sanitizer. (Band-aids come in really handy for blisters on your feet!)

Try to bring extra supplies. Hair nets, bobby pins, clips, things of that sort. Small things are easy to lose! This also goes for pieces of your costume that could potentially fall off, like rhinestones or small pieces of trim. Bring extra and the tools you need to reapply those!

Super glue. Just bring it, you’ll use it. Haha. Or a hot glue gun!

Scissors are handy too

Addition: I forgot to add bring a bleach pen or wipes for your clothes in case you spill food or something! 

These are just a few things that can make a really big difference when something goes awry! Keep this kit in your hotel room or nearby in your car and everything should be a-okay!

Happy cosplaying! 

item: photograph of mary

(poem is “death (births and deaths registration act 1953)” by harold pinter)

How to make a pumpkin head

Since I defs didn’t want to carve a real pumpkin to put on my head and get nasts pumpkin insides all over my hair I decided to paper mache one. Unfortunately there was no good tutorials anywhere so I will share my trial and error knowledge.

First I got some supplies: 1 Punch balloon (they’re rounder and larger they regular balloons), some paper mache stuff in a bag, cardboard, a glue gun, paint, sculpey clay, tape, some news paper and some water and flour mixed together.

I then put at least three - five paper mache layers of newspaper with flour water on the balloon. I also measured my head and left an opening at the bottom. (NOTE: Don’t put tape on the balloon and try to peel it off after you’re done paper macheing, RIP)

After that’s all dry I put glue gunned some cardboard onto it to give it some pumpkin like ridges.

Then I filled the gaps between the cardboard and the newspaper with the paper mache in a bag stuff. Wait for it to dry. (Note: Don’t pop balloon until the paper mache in a bag stuff is dry cause it holds a LOT of water and your paper mache project will sink, RIP) After that I popped the balloon and lightly dampened the top with a sponge and water until it was wet enough to slowly press down into more of a pumpkin shape.

After it’s all dry I taped a stem I made out of card board on the top and put another layer or two of newspaper mache over top.

More drying wait time (you can use your oven on the lowest setting to make it dry faster) then I sanded it down and cut out a face with an exacto blade.

I added a little bit of backing behind the face on the inside with the paper mache in a bag to give it more of a 3D look which wasn’t that noticeable but oh well, it kidna worked… After all that stuffs done I painted it all white otherwise the newsprint would bleed through and make my colours not as bright, I also added some sculpey clay to the brow area to give it some more emotion in which I used an iron to dry it with cause it was too late to put it in the oven with paint all over it (Note: Put clay on before painting).

I sprayed it with a sealer before painting colours on it cause I find acrylics do weird things sometimes. After it was all dry I begin to paint.

I also painted the inside a red and added a kinda head rest thing on the inside since when I pushed the top down it made an uncomfortable point at the top when putting it on your head. Then once it was all dry I sprayed it with some more sealer, added some cool stuff like stitches with some ribbon and blood which I used nail polish for a shiny effect and put in some lights which weren’t very effective when my head was in the pumpkin but that’s okay, it still looked cool.

And that’s that!

Hope this helps some people, Enjoy!

would you let him into your town

What we forget about the elements

Fire - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius: Fire is not just limitless energy that gives and gives, these Signs are not the joyous, endlessly outgoing people they are portrayed to be. Fire is also the Element of destruction, hunger and pain. Fire Signs are not just happy go lucky kids, they're hungry for power, they're determined, they're not to be reckoned with.

Earth - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn: Earth is the Element of support and cold strength but without the proper care and attention Earth becomes lifeless, unable to create and maintain the way these Signs are meant to. Earth Signs need interaction, attention, and care the same as all other Elements to stay as strong as they are.

Air - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius: Air is known for its focus on the mental and avoidance of emotion but these are not the mechanical people they are often portrayed as. Air Signs need to interact with others, to speak and communicate about all things, including emotion. Connecting with others is always key to this Element. They are warm and open, not cold or inhuman.

Water - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces: "Emotional" is the word that comes to mind when most think of Water Signs but we often misinterpret "emotional" for "sad" or "weak". Water Signs feel their every emotion: rage, desire, joy - every single one - as if it were a tidal wave. They are in touch with their true selves and there is nothing more powerful than that.

*Remember to check your dominant element*

The Water Signs - The Lure of Addiction

The Water Signs - Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces endorse the zodiac’s resource of intuition, psychic energies and interpersonal connection. Those with many planets around Water tend to have an inbuilt antennae that absorbs the frequencies of the moods around them. This acute receptivity can cause a friction of emotions within these individuals; a volatile merging of their own intense feelings tied with and other people’s worries, desires and emptiness. In astrology, the Water signs symbolize the zodiac’s connection to the collective unconscious, and for this, these individuals carry the weight of the world’s communal emotions on their back. Many Water born can fall into the cycle of substance abuse, only in desperate attempt to self medicate the exhaustion and attenuate such levity of feeling. The cosmic responsibilities of the Water signs are severe, and their duty is to relate to the rest of humanity on an emotional level. For some, the weight is to much to bear, and the lure of addiction too overwhelming to resist.

Cancer is the first of the Water Signs, and symbolizes water at its most basic; tranquil in some areas, turbulent in others. These individuals are osmotic in absorbing their surroundings, and at hostage to the Moon’s changing effects on their mood. As Cancerians often experience intense and volatile affective instability, they often resort to habitual vices and addictive tendencies to respite the harsher moments. Especially during periods of financial and residency hardship, Cancer will feel especially vulnerable, and tend to latch on to any substance that acts to lessen reminders of reality. It is within their nature to find a comfort and safety in ‘safety blankets’, and many Cancerians find it hard to let go of a vice once it has offered relief. Neptune is the God of Waters and rules Cancer in Esoteric Astrology, where the mass sensitivity and mass identification with form and with forms is recognized. Old Commentary suggests ““… one of the major difficulties and great problems of the disciple is his extreme sensitivity to impacts from every side and his rapid ability to respond to contacts coming from "all points of the compass, from every angle of the zodiacal wheel and from that which is within as well as from that which is without, from that which lies above, below, and upon every hand,”“. For Cancer, it is believed a way to neutralize the chaos within, a measure to eschew the lure of addiction, is found through the creation of a haven, a safe haven, in which they can nurture and pour all their energies into giving and receiving love. Their universal powers instil them with a generous capacity for nourishment and charity; and although they respect tradition, Cancerians have the quiet power to transform all that is old into new - it is when they learn to direct the energies of all their emotions into creativity, nurturing and into relieving the shared pain of the masses that the waters remain tranquil.

Scorpio is the second of the Water signs, and with Pluto, the zodiac’s Death Tarot Card as its ruler, Scorpio pulls us to the darkest depths of the ocean, where our darkest and murkiest secrets lay bare. The rhetoric around Scorpio follows the theme - secrets, harsh realities, the hidden, the confronting; and these natives are often subject to intense mood swings, stretches of self isolation, and  a periodic overpowering melancholy. There is a perception in Scorpio that borders on psychic, and their overpowering emotions can lead to the use of substance to attenuate the madness. There is an innate intense jealousy present in Scorpio, and an inborn sense of suspicion and paranoia; this can lead them to use alcohol or drugs to curb their impulsivity and calm their possible thoughts of violence. As a Fixed Sign, the energies surrounding Scorpio find it extremely difficult to let to go of comfort measures, and it is unlikely these individuals will easily admit they have a problem with addiction. Scorpio can drag themselves from the midst of the ocean’s floor, by endorsing their powers of regeneration, and  engaging in their cosmic duty, assisting others along the transformation process. This is why they are living now in a crisis,  often being torn between two contradictory tendencies: the past and death on one hand, and the future and life on the other. During life a part of themselves will die in order to let another part be born. Scorpio represent the death of the ego, and for this, they must be willing to die a million times over. Those who resist the temptation of destructive addiction, are promised the zodiac’s greatest package of soul transformative treasures.

Pisces, as the final sign of the zodiac, and the evolution of the Water signs carries the particles of the 11 signs before him. Saturated by the forces of humanity’s collective unconscious and mentored by the illusionary Neptune, Pisceans are highly vulnerable to the lure of addiction, especially of the liquid form. The watery energies are sensitive, and Pisceans are highly receptive of the emotions of their surroundings. These individuals feel easily exhausted, and experience random intense feelings of anxiety, joy or gloom; involuntarily soaking up the emotions of all the people they contact. Pisceans tend  to feel a terminal unstable sense of self, legacy of their mutable quality, which can lead them to turn to substance to find stability and individuality. Their ruler, Neptune, is the zodiac’s magician, who favours the trick of illusion; she is known for her deceptive pull into the world of substance, where the boundaries of reality and imagination dissolve before us. Pisceans can be overwhelmed with the harshness and expectation of realism and feel relief in the mystical world of drug and alcohol use. Pisces home is the 12th House, and this is where our unconscious waters are under guard; it is said the Pisces is forced to merge meaning with matter, to evaporate the division between the material and the dream and build boundaries between himself and others - or he will drown in the 12th House’s unconscious waters; through substance abuse or psychosis. 

How the Signs Process Negative Emotions

Air Signs: they feel emotions very strongly, but they tend to internalize them and they feel obligated to handle them on their own without burden others. Whenever something goes wrong, they push all of their problems into a corner and try very hard to act like they're okay. That is, until everything comes crashing down on them and causes them to have a breakdown, feel everything at once, and start to self-destruct. When they're breaking down, they can still hide it and only someone close to them would realize. They also tend to overthink their emotions and try to intellectuize them, often disappointed when scenarios or people don't live up to how they imagined them in their head.

Water Signs: their emotions are all-consuming and they are naturally more expressive with them than the other elements, and are more prone to express their feelings-- good or bad. They have small breakdowns more often but can recover quickly after confiding in others and getting advice, they learn to handle their emotions (but not prevent them). They also feel better by helping others, as they are very in tune to the emotions of those around them. Sometimes they tend to feel as though they don't even deserve to be upset, since others have much worse situations.

Fire Signs: they don't want to be sad, and then their sadness turns into anger at the sheer fact that someone or something caused them pain. they take their anger out on other people, when really they're just sad. But they're outbursts are short lived and they don't tend to hold grudges, since they're feelings and actions are impulsive and spur of the moment. They crave a carefree environment and don't stand for feeling vulnerable.

Earth Signs: they don't like to feel anything but grounded and safe, and thinking about difficult emotions causes them anxiety. They are naturally guarded and often detach from their emotions and try to channel them into something productive, even when things are starting to fall apart. Taking the blame doesn't come naturally to them at first, and their initial reaction in a crisis may be passive aggression and blaming others. They will only let themselves feel if they realize their apathy has really hurt themselves or someone else.

*use the dominant element in your chart*