Of costumes and hooves

Good Godoka, why do I have to be a senior and have mental issues at the same time? I'm so glad there exists a support network of friends (especially one who KNOWS WHO HE IS *cough muscovite cough*) to keep my spirits up. And meds. Those exist too. Which reminds me. *excuses self for a moment because it's pill time which yes I normally put off till this late in the day because swallowing pills is not in fact a piece of cake for me*

I want cake now. I shall make myself chocolate milk instead.

But anyway! Happy Halloween! I hope it was fantastic and witchy for all of you. I dressed as Luna from My Little Pony, with her cutie mark drawn on my shoulder in makeup. Then I watched the Japanese movie Wild Zero with my friends, and that movie defies all explanation but I highly recommend it. So, SO epic.

 And a bonus outfit with my pretty crimson corset.

Also, Sheepie has a hat now. Hats are cool.

Other highlights of October: I got another corset top, which was on clearance, and started work on my first commission (a cloak for a friend). Pictures will be forthcoming.

And now, I will be using November, AKA NaNoWriMo, to write a readable draft of a book I've been working on for quite a while. It's the first of several concerning Lorcan and Taralyn, if you've heard me mention them on here. Also the one that begins with a vision/dream that inspired Taralyn to write that song under my profile pic and ALSO inspired the title of this blog. It was a pretty fantastic dream.

Of lace and space

Oh my Godoka, I am so tired. That could be because I just walked home with three bags of groceries, but this summer in general has been a wearing one. So obviously, it's pic spam time.

I turned 22 last month!

My friends threw me a cupcake and cookie making party. :3

Also I've finally made some progress in my wares for Etsy.

(wrist cuffs)

(headpieces)

(chokers, and one more headpiece)

 

I made a friend who's a boss at doing hair. Also I sold her the first of my wares! Which she is wearing here. Along with the results of her hairboss skills.

She also tried on the first corsage I made, for my own wardrobe.

Later that night we went to a goth club and I took an outfit snap. 

A few weeks ago (on an unrelated note), I had an attack of ZOMG CUTE in my university's bookstore. I'll show you why.

It's a roly poly fluffy manatee! You're welcome, Sweet Lolitas.

And now some Doctor spam. I was a wee bit excited about the new season of Doctor Who, and Eleven had me firmly in his squee-inducing clutches. Uh, more than usual. So I sketched him. (Yes, in the middle of Japanese class. I have to stay awake somehow.)

And THEN the ballroom studio at which my mom and sisters take dancing lessons (I would love to join them, but it's an hour away from my university, so maybe later) had an open house, and the theme was the greatest object of my nerdly adoration: space. So obviously, I had to go as the Doctor. And this involved pulling Eight's wardrobe practically out of my closet, since he is rather steampunk-romantigothy-ish. Also I made a TARDIS. Out of a tissue box. 

 

And Sheepie (consult previous post) was my companion. ^u^

Of sheep and black lace

I made a skirt for Sheepie (my cute stuffed sheepie), who is also known as Annabelle Lee, so she could have something gothy to wear to Das Bunker. I finished crocheting it in the dark in a moving car on the way there! It was exciting. o.O And this is now the background of my phone.

 

I want to post more often. But this Japanese class is being quite difficult, so be content with sheepie (at Das Bunker) for now. :) 

Of seeing famed frills in person o.O

Recently I went with my Japanese study group to Japanese style karaoke (and finally got to sing Ascendead Master something by Versailles!). But the point of this post, interesting as that outing was, is that afterwards we visited a lolita boutique that opened in Little Tokyo, on that very day, actually.

Pic spam! (I just typed smap. Maybe I'm a little distracted. I'll admit I was thinking about how one could make a magical girl transformation sequence involving the words "pic spam!" so...)

^That's my friend Joy in the black and white dress.

And that's Jamie of the previously mentioned lolita tea meetup, holding her amazing purchase aloft. 

I sneakily snuck this shot of them. >.> Plus, lovely mirror bonus! (That should definitely be a brand name.)

One of the few gothic things they had at the time. They had more when I went back though, which was nice to see. You know, I'm going to have to implement my dream of selling my crafty stuffs to all the lovely gothic lolitas. Fairytale Boutique has inspired me! *determined face* 

This amazingly dressed person is part of a band, Midnight Shinigami. I told her I love naming things with Midnight in the title too. I guess that totally shocks all of you.

Of tea with lolitas

A few weeks ago, I finally attended a Lolita meetup at a teahouse! It was such fun, and quite worth the wait. (For one reason or another I hadn't been able to until now... You know how it is...)

I have finally figured out how to send pictures from my phone to my email, too, so expect some pic spam for the next couple of posts.

First, meetup pic spam time!

 My friend and fellow Japanese student (and translator!--which is what I aspire to be, though more on the interpreting side), Jamie, organized the meetup.

 

Also, I can finally show you my dress! (Click for larger, I think.)

(If any of those pictured wish to have their names added or photo removed, please let me know!)

I'll return with a couple of visits to a new Lolita boutique that has opened in Little Tokyo (return with pic spam of that, I mean).

Of fun questions and tidbits about me

While browsing blogs, I ran across one of those challenge/meme things, and I rather liked two of the question sets (Amy's and Phoenix's, from Stripy Tights and Dark Delights and The Cemetery Dreamer, respectively), so I'm just mooching off of their question ideas, haha. It's all for you, my dear Ballroom guests, so I hope you'll enjoy reading. (Well, actually it's because I thought it seemed fun, but we can just pretend.)

So, these questions are from Amy, who I believe started the challenge. (I could be mistaken.)

1. Who is your biggest inspiration?
Kamijo from the band Versailles (who narrowly wins over Jillian Venters). Drama, romanticisim, idealism and an amazing voice all in one! My inner bishounen (what, you didn't know I had one?) is basically Kamijo with a blacker wardrobe. Which leads us to:

2. Describe your style in ten words or less.

Ethereal, monochrome, detailed, darkly dripping decadence, romantic, Faerie, black roses

3.What was your worst ever style disaster?
Well, up until the end of my first year of college (!) I was wearing a ponytail, t-shirt & jeans/some other boring type of pants and CROCS. To be fair, they helped with my feet which had developed plantar fascitis (= the soles get really sore) at that point. I was totally a goth inside, I just hadn't decided to "come out" yet.

4. Where in the world would you most like to visit?
Tokyo. And Ireland. Oddly enough, one of my goth protagonists (in my series in progress) is from Ireland, and the other one just moved to Tokyo.

5. Have you ever been in love?
Please. I've been in love with fictional and real people. Sometimes both at once.

6. What are you currently coveting?
I want a pair of decent boots! Lace up and tall, or maybe platform. Or those adorable yet fierce goth loli boots. *broods over lack of favorite footwear*

7. What is your funniest childhood memory?
I'm told that when my parents and I were in the backyard one time, I was heard to say (to no-one in particular) "Go round front!" As in, I went round to the front yard. My dad said, "Well at least we never have to wonder what her plans are."


Despite being more secretive now, I still think out loud a lot. Some things are too important not to be said! Listeners are optional (and sometimes not preferable, actually). Anyway, I'm an extrovert (totally ENFP yeah!) and both my parents are introverts, which seems to have generated a lot of amusement before they (sort of) got used to me.

8. What is your guiltiest musical pleasure?
Well. Hmm. I sorta like Lady GaGa. One of my best friends loves her, so that's my excuse. ;)

9. What is your favourite way to unwind?


Documentaries about SPACE!! Seriously. I'm such an astronomy nerd...


10. What was your most recent embarrassing moment?
It's more like, when have I recently overcome my sometimes debilitating anxiety about this kind of thing? Which, I suppose, would have been last night when I was talking with a friend, about...*stuff.*


11. What is your favourite movie?









Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away, I'd have to say. I love epic fantasy-based live action movies too though, and have recently expanded my love of fantasy to include sci-fi (preferably both at once! Space is too wondrous not to be a valid setting for fantasy... with or without science).

Okay, now for the questions posed by Phoenix at The Cemetery Dreamer!

1. If you could be any fictional/historical character, who would you be? 
Ooh, that's hard. Probably my character Umeko, because I really admire her inner strength. She's a gothic lolita with the type of sure calm idealism that lets her take the world (or Faerie) by storm, and also her symbol is black roses, the same as me.  :)


2. What is your favorite animal and why?
Ravens maybe. And bats.
...I think the reasons are obvious. But besides those, I love cats, and I always liked dolphins as a kid. There's something mystical about the ocean.

Oh! That reminds me, I also had a childhood fondness for snakes (they feel so awesome to pet!) which has been finally...uh, affirmed or vindicated or something, because my goth big brother has a sweet little python. She's adorable!


3. If you could time travel, what would you do?
Travel with The Doctor, naturally! Most definitely the Ninth Doctor. I love him.

4. Which band/musician do you most want to see live?
Versailles! *Oh, Kamijo-sama...*

5. What body mods do you have/want to get?
None so far (except earlobes) but I'd love to get an eyebrow piercing sometime, and maybe an upper ear piercing. If I got a tattoo it might be some sort of wings on my shoulderblades (probably raven wings, or butterfly or moth), incorporated with black roses and my beloved thorny vines.

6. If you had to pick one outfit from your wardrobe to describe your style best, what would it be?
That's easy--the dress I just finished! Yes yes, I shall post pictures of it at my earliest opportunity. My Black Rose Faerie dress. ^-^

7. What is your dream job?
Being a Japanese interpreter for Lolita fashion models and Visual Kei musicians and other such wonderfully alternative people. I want to help them break the language barrier with their fans.

8. What is the best holiday you've ever been on?
This is hard, since I travel so much but only to visit family, not really to take a holiday in the usual sense. Well, this past winter I got held up in Phoenix due to a snowstorm, and had a chance to spend the day visiting the Grand Canyon and Lowell's Observatory. It was fantastic.

9. What's the worst haircut you've ever had?
I don't cut my hair that often. Hmm well I did cut my hair once as a kid. It didn't turn out too bad though, amazingly.

10. If you won the lottery, what would you spend the money on?
Crafting supplies, boots, travel, and plenty of savings.

11.  What is your favorite quote?

I don't have one in particular, but there's this:

Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie
So blend the turrets and shadows there
That all seem pendulous in air
While from a proud tower in the town
Death looks gigantically down.

Poe, of course. About a city I'd love to visit. Alas, it's fictional.

Of spiderwebs and scythes

Er, yes, it has been a while hasn't it? *checks calender* Oh look, Bats Day! I can't go due to lack of monies of my own, but hopefully one day I will join you in infiltrating Disneyland! Have fun, all who are going (including you, my goth big brother).

I admit a lot has been happening (most of it good) but my main reason for not posting is I keep forgetting to take pictures of my finished dress! I've worn it a couple times now--the most recent (and second) time was to Das Bunker on May the Fourth, for their Star Wars themed night. If any of you were there, by the way, do comment and say hello!

Next, I need a spider-web themed dress. Have I mentioned my character Fennore, the princess of my spider-fae? Yeah. Tis fun making stuff inspired by my fictional peeples. All the fae clans are represented by a different color of rose, and Fennore grows the black roses of her clan in her garden, beneath her tower room. Ah, so dreamy...


I've been working on a bunch of sketches (which I'll digitally color) of various people in my books for a tarot-inspired deck. It's my created world's version of the tarot, referred to as Oracle cards. (There's a person called the Oracle, so they're named after her.)

I'll post a couple of the linearts here, for now. They are, respectively, the immortal king who gave up his life to save his world, and his revered and shadowy mentor, goddess of Mystery, night and death.

 

By the way, she's the one in my avatar photo. She definitely has a perkygoth side as well as her Epic Doom side. And she's very kind. 

 

Of Getting Dresses Almost Done (like a boss!)

I meant to post this earlier, but ah well. Tis time for an update on my wonderfully and insanely complicated dress. (Yay!) I've done a lot with the bodice and sleeves since last time, you see.

The pictures are nothing special, but here it is, hanging in the doorway.

I'm so excited for this dress. Since taking these pictures, I've added a bunch of loopy loops for the lacing up sections and so far one black rose to the neckline.

For the nerds among you, I went to a LARP tonight called Starship Valkyrie, where I was head of...Engineering! So loli, right? Fixing ALL the THINGS when stuff breaks like crazy during battles is strangely appealing. Anyway, have a good midnight, all of you. *glances at clock, which says 3:30am* ...Give or take a few hours...

Of a blog considered lovely, with many thanks ^-^

I've been nominated for a blog ward! Oops, make that blog *award. I could have just gone back and fixed that typo, but I was reluctant to lose the connotations of "ward," since if there were one for dark mad delightful bloggers, I would certainly be in it. Admit it, dears, you know I would.

Anyway~

List seven things about yourself and then tag 15 other bloggers.


Also, before I forget, I was nominated by akumaxkami of Les Fleurs Noires and by Miss Eva of Early Autopsy and White Scissors

So, things about me? Hmmm.

1. I love embroidery the way some people love knitting or crochet or other kinds of crafting. It's "my" craft. I think what I love is that you can create worlds with embroidery, like with drawing. And it's a very rich-feeling way to make a "print"!

2. I have a stuffed sheep named Annabelle Lee after Poe's poem, but she's usually known as Sheepie. Oddly enough I only got her recently--this past summer in fact. Sort of like how I didn't have an imaginary friend until college. (I credit Prince Ozai of the Fire Nation with the survival of my shy freshman self. He just started following me around campus in the young-biker-form I'd dreamed up for my modern AU fanwritings. Eventually some of his ferocity or at least lack of fear rubbed off.)

3. One of my favorite poems is The City in the Sea by Poe. Some of my favorite lines are "light from out the lurid sea / streams up the turrets silently ... Up shadowy long forgotten bowers / of sculptured ivy and stone flowers" and "So blend the turrets and shadows there / that all seem pendulous in air / while from a proud tower in the town / Death looks gigantically down." Seriously, I want to GO there! It sounds weird and lovely. Well the next best thing is having my characters go there, which I have done. That city became the inspiration for an important place in my current novel-in-progress.

4. I was recently given my first proper kiss. I can't elaborate very much, but I'm sure you'll agree that sentence really speaks for itself.

5. I hope to make and sell clothing and accessories, many of which will draw inspiration from my characters (like maybe Fennore, the spider-fae princess who grows black roses in her garden, or Rivarwe Doom-Raven, a perkygoth goddess who embodies Mystery and Shadow).

6. I have memorized the words to both the opening and closing songs of the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Don't get me wrong, there are things about the darkness of this series that I hate, but at times I really love the atmosphere, and it has influenced my own magical girl characters a lot. With much less bashing of optimism and idealism, of course.

7. The first other goth I met is like an older brother to me, which is neat because I'm the oldest of five girls (no boys). He took me to a goth club for the first time. And is just generally one of those impossibly amazing people. <3

So, that's it for the 'about me' section of this award...I don't know who's already been tagged, so if you've been tagged, only do this again if you want to.

Princessly Living
Oh Velveteena
The Elegant Wardrobe
Make Lovely
Pink Milk Tea
Her Curious Elegance
Sophistique Noir
The Dark Victorian
Stripy Tights and Dark Delights

That's not fifteen but I've run out of steam (though not awesome blogs to post, as there are so many out there! Even some that I've just discovered through browsing in the last five minutes).
So, may your night be lovely and mysterious, my Ballroom guests.

Of being well met by moonlight

I had forgotten that my polyvore automatically updates to Blogger, but even so I hope some of you enjoyed the recent deluge of polyvore sets. I wanted to try the same lolita + zodiac idea that Aly employed on her blog Miss Lumpy, except that I was going for a more gothic aesthetic (as I'm sure you gathered). I'm better at creating art sets than the strictly fashion ones, so they aren't literally lolita, but I'm quite proud of them, even so.

Other recent news...I went to Fresno to visit my prince, last weekend. I will try to obtain a picture or two from our date at a goth club event. It turns out I'm better at dancing than I thought, which is rather helpful in confidence-building (aka it provides yet more evidence that I should not be as painfully shy as I am, which I am trying very hard to overcome).

Yesterday I attached another(!) ruffle to the skirt of my dress, but didn't manage to get a picture quite yet. Will do so, soon. That reminds me! I also need to photograph my recent for-Etsy crafting. Let's just say I suspect my trademark will be (ribbon-made and all other sorts of) roses. But you knew that. And chandeliers, of course.

On Sundays I have a Japanese study group that meets at Starbucks, and yesterday I happened to meet a lovely gothic lolita (making three of us in all in that group, plus another one who wasn't dressed in goth loli that day) with whom I am now planning to revolutionize our local community. Translation: we need tea meetups every week. Also, we think there should be more gothic (in addition to sweet loli) vendors at various events, and accordingly will combine our crafting powers. Watch for more news on the subject! Seriously, it was like one of those wonderful chance encounters I would write for my characters--except it happened to me, in real life! Remarkable, no?

Capricorn Gothic

Capricorn Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring shoulder handbags

Taurus Gothic

Taurus Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring dark dresses

Libra Gothic

Libra Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring goth jewelry

Aquarius Gothic

Aquarius Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring gothic earrings

Piscean Gothic

Piscean Gothic by duskrosedreaming on polyvore.com

Cancerian Gothic

Cancerian Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring vintage umbrellas

Scorpio Gothic

Scorpio Gothic by duskrosedreaming featuring goth jewelry