We didn't know her real name. She never spoke a word to us. That odd, awful mask must have covered scars, or something. We never saw her without it. Then again, we never saw her outside that nicotine-colored room or that steel-gray hallway. We called her the Interrogator, but even now I wake up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, gasping from imaginary wounds and illusory torture that I'd patched up on 'customers' after she was done working.
They were always passed out when she left the room, with wisps of smoke like dead souls chasing her. She never spoke a word to us, we were beneath her notice, but that smile... A sated half-smile on a half-hidden face, pupil dilated and moving like a predator.
It's been 30 years since we won the war, thanks in part to her work, but that smile still keeps me awake some nights.
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I love this mask. My mother and niece find it creepy as hell, and my sister thought that it was cool when it was half-done. It's made of steel, with 3 copper accent coils and one plastic lens. It hooks over both ears, like sunglasses, but it's rather heavy. I think it looks rather cyborg-ish, or perhaps would you call it biomech?
The lens is from a broken pair of sunglasses, and it's what started the whole thing. I've learned that there are 3d glasses based on one dark lens and one normal lens because the brain processes the signals differently when you do that. Not sure about 3D, but it can be trippy wearing this thing for long periods of time.
The Interrogator worries me. She's cruel, sadistic, not quite true evil by virtue of incredible loyalty and patience, which makes her even worse. Half her face in near-immobile, not quite Bell's Palsy, she smokes like a train and talks with a Scottish accent when she feels the need to speak. She's damn good with a knife, even better with a well-applied flame, and enjoys her job. You do not want to be her customer. And I don't even know the half of it.
Most of my characters resonate with me somehow. She does too, in some strange distant way, which worries me, especially since I can slip into her character when I wear the mask. I think I'm going to have to adjust her to a character I'm more comfortable with.
I've had several people suggest that I make more half-masks to sell, and I might, but they would be quite expensive(at least compared to most of my work), and I'd have to have time to meet with the customer to make a properly fitting mask (or at least a mold of their face including ears). Considering how long this one took to build, I wouldn't take less than $100 for one, and it wouldn't be this same design, each would be different.
Creepy as this is, I do adore this thing. Will be posting a pic or two wearing it tonight, almost in character.
Was not meant to be a Phantom thing, by the way, more of a face-long eyepatch. And I know, photos are iffy. I think my camera has been dropped too many times.
!yoJ
EDIT: You can now find an image of me wearing this [link] <-here.
It's mostly 14ga galvanized steel, with some 18ga galvanized and 26ga steel floral wire for the detailed weaving bit. Not sure on the copper, it's stripped and uncoiled electrical wire but close to 26ga.
I enjoy making masks. This one was last year's, this year I slacked off and just made a necklace, wore my spiral crown and my old prom dress and called myself a Sorceress. I do plan on making more masks, I just hit some road bumps in my functionality this year.
If you make a mask, you should send me a link so that I can advertise your work.
Whoa. That is creepy, but I can see it being a great addition to almost any villain costume:
Cyborg! Pirate Sparkle! Zombie Space! Phantom of the Opera Maybe Mutilated, Maybe Fashion Conscious! Rotary Club Member Who Would Never Burn Down His Entire Neighborhood With A Single Matchbook
!yoJ
If you make a mask, you should send me a link so that I can advertise your work.
!yoJ
!yoJ
!yo)
Cyborg! Pirate
Sparkle! Zombie
Space! Phantom of the Opera
Maybe Mutilated, Maybe Fashion Conscious! Rotary Club Member Who Would Never Burn Down His Entire Neighborhood With A Single Matchbook