Misty Macabre 2020 Blog

Hi everyone! This blog is a long time coming, and I’m beyond excited to share more about my second original character, Misty Macabre. Misty was a concept I began sketching out in 2019 and then was finally introduced to the world in 2020. While I’m sure many of you can relate, 2020 was a year with many challenges and a lot of change. Going into the new year, I had big goals for myself. I think it’s safe to say that many of us did, right? We were all hit with the unexpected slap in the face of the pandemic very early into what felt like a fresh start.

Though challenging, I felt myself begin to change a lot that year. Without getting into too much detail, I’d rather focus on the good that came from using that anxiety in a creative and helpful way. That year, before the pandemic, I knew I wanted a new look for Trixy, but didn’t have anything nailed down quite yet.

In November of 2019, I began to really take my fitness routine more seriously. I wanted to be stronger, and have a healthy outlet to help with my daily anxiety. With the pandemic around the corner, I don’t think I could have picked a more perfect time to begin. I remember exercising in the gym one morning in March of 2020. It was me and another woman who was normally there at the same time. About halfway into our workout, we were approached by staff and told that the gym would be closed for the foreseeable future and that we needed to leave.

Being that I was only a few months into my new routine, instead of accepting that the gym was no longer an option, I went out and bought some equipment to use at home until things went back to normal. On top of my home exercises, I then added running every morning into my routine before I began my workout.

While running (which I hate btw haha), I began to feel the creative thoughts suddenly rush back into my mind. I ran (quite literally) straight home to write them down so I wouldn’t forget. I had an idea for Trixy’s new look, and once I began working towards that, the idea for Misty became more clear.

Let’s fast forward to the summer of 2020. At this point I’m on track for the revamped Trixy, as well as some new artwork and apparel that one of my favorite artists was in the process of designing. So how does Misty fit into the craziness of balancing everything in my personal life and revamping the character that began it all?

As previously stated, 2020 was a big shock for many of us, right? With this shock came extreme budgeting (for me at least). I wanted to create a new character, but didn’t know if it was a realistic goal at this point, being that everything in the world felt so uncertain at the time.

I remember speaking with a friend of mine one morning and expressing how stressed out I was about so many different things going on in my life. We can all relate, I’m sure. I told her that I desperately wanted to bring a new character and concept to life that upcoming season to introduce in October. I felt a bit defeated that day and almost threw in the towel, until my friend said, “you can do this… come on, don’t give up”.

My friend reminding me of my capabilities and pushing me to go for it gave me the motivation I needed to get to work on Misty that afternoon. I gathered everything I needed to make her broom and customize her hat, then got to work! Can we talk for a moment about how hot it was working outside on this broom in the summer? Haha! Hot as hell but totally worth it. For anyone who has ever wondered: yes I made Misty’s broom, yes I still have it, and yes it is very large. Because I’m tall and have long legs, I had to create a broom that wouldn’t look ridiculously small with me flying on it.

I will include some BTS photos of my creative process from 2020 for Bad Witch tier members.

I began putting her costume together with a very similar approach to what I did for Trixy Treats in 2018. As some of you have read, that was a low budget idea with big dreams and I did the best I could at the time with what I had. For Misty, I began with a similar design as Trixy (intentional btw). I believe I’ve mentioned in the past that when I originally created Trixy, I already had Misty and Vanity in mind. With the unexpected success of Trixy, I was unable to go forward with the other two characters until 2020 and 2021.

For Misty, I borrowed Trixy’s old corset from our 2018 and 2019 shoots, used some green stockings that I had in my lingerie drawer for years that I cut into thigh high stockings, and fishnets of course, ha! Lastly, I wanted to add a bit of edge to Misty’s character, so I took an old pair of stockings that I distressed years ago and layered them over her green striped tights. I found the vintage man in the moon earrings on Etsy, made my own broom, customized an old witch hat I owned, wore heels I purchased years prior to that shoot, and went with it!

Once my costume was complete, I hit up a longtime friend of mine and asked her if she had any ideas of where we could do the shoot. My friend was born and raised in the area where the shoot would take place, and also had a passion for abandoned places, so I couldn’t think of a better person to ask! After describing what I was looking for, we landed on Fort Belle Fontaine and we were lucky enough to have my friend join us on set that day.

For a little context, I had never had a friend on set before. It’s always just Brendan, which I prefer because I’m in the zone and don’t want any distractions. Well, this friend was someone I hadn’t seen in years, and because I admire her as a model, photographer, and artist, I felt she would be the perfect person to join us. She would understand that the project is important and possibly offer some creative input (which she did).

We drove to Brendan’s hometown of St. Louis, on September 4th and arrived pretty late that evening. Once we were settled in, we got some sleep. After just a few hours of rest, I woke up and began getting ready. I did my makeup, hair, got dressed, and was ready to roll! As for the broom? It was placed in the center of our rental SUV. We didn’t take our car for this shoot because of the broom. Believe it or not, the broom just barely fit, with the back of it flush against the trunk, and the front wedged right between Brendan and I in the front of the car. She’s a big girl, and I love her for that lol.

We began driving to the location and were going to meet my friend there. Because this is a massive trail with abandoned ruins, it’s a bit difficult to say, “hey meet me here at this specific spot” after you had already been walking around for quite some time. We dropped her a pin of our location and got to work. Going into this shoot, I had a few shots in mind that I wanted to capture. One being the “Bad Witch” photo of me holding the pumpkin bucket, and two being one of me flying on my broom, titled “Take Flight".

The first shot we nailed was the “Bad Witch” photo. I intentionally wanted it to be on brand with the photo "Trick of Treat" that began it all. I envisioned something fun for Halloween and even remember cackling while saying, “I wonder if anyone will ask if there’s actually candy in this bucket”. After becoming multiple viral memes based on this question, I think it’s safe to say that yes, someone was wondering.

Believe it or not, getting the perfect angle while turning around in a corset and not appearing to be in physical pain isn’t as easy as it looks. A photo that looks natural could have easily been someone holding a pose for 30 minutes to an hour and can be uncomfortable. Once we nailed this shot, we moved on to the next one on the list, which was "Take Flight".

If I thought pose number one was uncomfortable, that was just a warmup (literally). I’m sure you’re wondering how the photo ‘Take Flight’ came to life, and today you’ll find out exactly how! Throughout the past 3 years I have received many questions about this pose. Am I jumping in the shot, is it photoshop? How the hell am I doing that? To answer your question, I am balancing on a stool while riding my broom.

This is where my friend comes in for the help haha! I really wanted my pumpkin bucket in most of the photos for this shoot, and “Take Flight” was no exception. Let me just tell you, balancing your left butt cheek on a stool while holding a bucket, and floating the rest of your body in a position that looks like you’re levitating is not easy to do; stool or not. Can we just take a moment to be grateful for the fact that I finally started taking fitness so seriously about 10 months prior to our shoot? Halle-fuckin-lujah! Without the strength of my core and left butt cheek, this photo would not have seen the light of day.

This shot, as you can imagine, wasn’t the easiest to create. The stool absolutely helped me stay above ground and give the illusion that I was flying, but making it look natural in my body language and facial expression was the real challenge. This is where my friend, Mandee, comes in to help haha!

During this part of the shoot which was well over an hour, I became frustrated a time or two and tossed my friendly pumpkin bucket into the woods. Mandee would then go get it and help guide me into a position that looked legit. After many laughs, and many many attempts, we got the shot!

Though this shoot was low budget, I’m really proud of the work we created. Just like Trixy, I didn’t have the means to invest a lot into this character. What I did have at the time, I had already invested in the new updated version of Trixy and could only afford to make the one idea as elaborate as I planned.

Misty to me represents perseverance (and many other personal things that I will share at another time). She proved that even though I felt like giving up every day that year, I didn’t. I went forward with what I had and I made it work. You don’t need the fanciest or best of things to make your dreams happen, you just have to keep going even when it seems hopeless, and you’ve had the door slammed in your face repeatedly. Keep going!

Misty Macabre made her debut on October 1st of 2020. The photos went viral overnight and my prints had sold out by the following morning. Later that next day, fans already began to cosplay Misty and recreate her photos and costume. Fan art was being sent to me, and eventually I received a tattoo someone had of my “Bad Witch” photo. The feeling was, and still is, very surreal. None of this has even began to feel real to me. The opportunity to share these stories with all of you today feels like such an honor.

Thank you for your continued love and support. It has meant the world to me and has helped me through many dark and challenging times. I love you all and hope you have enjoyed hearing about Misty.

Much love!
Angelica