The Faire, play-by-play

Okay, I know I haven't talked about building the tail or wings; I'll detail those later. We finished those literally in a day, so I haven't had time to process the various media. Also, the camera cable recently turned up missing, so no pics from the faire just yet. These will all likely come in one big dump.

For opening at 10:00, we got up at 7:00. I started putting on my prosthetic, while Mom showered and such. Over about 45 minutes or so, we got my makeup on, then we loaded up and left at about 9:16. Waxahachie is an even hour away, so we made it into the parking lot almost right after they opened. On the drive up, all I had on was the costume clothing sans tunic and cowl, and the makeup. Even before I stepped out of the car, a family parked next to us and asked to get a good look at my face. They were all impressed, so I considered that a good sign. I hadn't even gotten started yet :) .

So I donned (read: "had put on me") my wings and tail, which were held on by suspenders. We covered that with my tunic, which has two slits in it to accommodate my wings. From there, we added my green belt and a leather pouch (an old craft from my first summer camp, finally reclaimed from the recesses of my bed), and lastly my cowl. It had been finished, with the horns poked through, and a final leather strap added. The strap even had an old raccoon's pelvis (another scout souvenir), a broken section of chain maille, and an elk antler tip dangling from it. Lastly, I had a smokey quartz necklace, made with a rather large crystal (from Alaska) wrapped in wire and hung from a leather scrap.

I was waving at little kids even as we walked from the parking lot.

When we got in the door, first thing I did was get my picture taken with Sholo the Nubian, a really big guy with tough-looking armor. One of the program vendors said I had one of the best costumes he'd seen. (score!) I had fun bantering with some of the vendors and other people who called to me, occasionally shaking off an invitation to come to their booth (since I spent all I intended to spend just getting to the faire in the first place)

We soon ran into a guy with a partial costume like mine. ( a "partial" costume, I learned in my browse for instructions, is one with only head, gloves, and tail/wings - leaving the wearer to wear their own clothes to fill in the gaps. A "full" costume is exactly what is says on the tin.) Difference between us being, this guy had a very nice fox head. Okay, no hesitation, we're getting a picture with him.

A little ways down, in the corner by the food courts, there was another costumer, who had recently purchased a very nice fox mask from a shoppe across the way. I think that was the first time somebody actually wanted a picture *with* me, not *of* me. We did a loop on some of the left-hand section of the faire, then stopped in to see Dr. Kaboom's first show. That was when the weather turned sour. The shade screen did nothing to hold back the rain. Most of my costume was vinyl, so I didn't have to worry about it, but my face - not so much. Water-based makeup obviously wouldn't hold up. I ended up under the pavilion in front of a fish-and-chips booth while Mom fed me fried veggies. I could probably have fed myself, had had more time beforehand to refine my aim. Poor Dr. Kaboom's audience dissolved like a sugar cube in hot tea as soon as the rain started.

It was at this point that the flaw in my adhesive application became obvious: Pros-aide is resistant to most water-based attacks, but sustained suction caused by drinking and eating loosened the adhesive on my lips. This didn't mess up the outward appearance of the prosthetic, but it did make me uncomfortable. When the adhesive is set, it feels like a natural extension of your face. When it loosens, it rubs and flops about. We tried a few times to patch the adhesive, but with my breath only adding to the increased humidity in my face, it wouldn't cure enough to get a hold. Ultimately, I just gave up on trying to fix my lips, because they were too hard to reach. As an interesting twist, they cured and adhered perfectly at a random moment a few hours later. The adhesive holding the flaps of my gloves also failed during the rain, but I had long sleeves that hid that.

We tagged along behind the parade for a brief bit, along with a woman who had gotten a picture with me before. At this point, I was having to walked a bit hunched over to keep my tail out of the mud, especially on the downhill portions. Then we broke off to see the rest of the faire.

I obviously didn't go in to the glass blower's shop; with a four-foot tail and wings going to either side, there was no way I was going to go into a shop full of expensive breakables. I did go into the shop where the fox-girl earlier had gotten her mask. There I had a nice chat with a couple of wizard and sorceress. Crossing the bridge to the other side, we browsed that part, looking at places like the swordsmith's, the bronze-fountain-maker-dude's, etc. The highlight of that side was running into a faerie, who gave a very good silent reaction. She had just finished playing a tune on her double flute for some other people when I went up to her for a picture. She jumped back in nervous surprise, furtively reached inside her bag and pulled out a shiny. I, being mesmerized by it, slowly approached and picked it up, and she seemed happy. That was possibly the most fun encounter I had all faire.

The women at the StarDrake stationery shop had me pose in front of me and asked a lot of questions about my costume. Noobler the tinker gnome was similarly curious. A man at the contact juggler's tent also liked it. I got the most attention from kids, though. I had several come up to me and get hugs, and a whole bunch had their pictures taken. More to come on that in the media dump.

After we'd gone all the way around the faire, I had Dad put my wings, tail, and gloves in the car so I'd have enough mobility to go in the shops. This time I actually got to go into the glass blower's, the chain mailer's, the leathercraft shops, and the juggler's tent. I ended up buying the juggler's DVD on impulse, since I'd been interested in it from when I bought Dralion on DVD many moons back (and had since forgotten about it). It was handy going back there when I actually had all 10 fingers in play!

While Dad browsed the glassblower's again, I saw three full-costumed dragons as they were leaving. Unfortunately, they were already partially (or fully) undressed, and pretty much just wanted to leave. I wish I'd run into them earlier, before they had finished their run.

In all, great day. I loved getting my pictures with the less inquisitive kids and, yes, getting hugs from them. The adults were great too, but the kids generally made for a more fun time. Generally, the whole experience was a blast, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.