This all started because my dad said he liked the Stay Putf Marshmallow Man.

Unnecessarily long backstory: I spent Halloween night 2023watching Ghostbusters with my father and my boyfriend, because I hadn't seen it in a while and figured it was fun for the whole family. When the physical manifestation of Gozer showed up, my dad said something about how cool the character design was. I asked him if he'd be willing to dress up as Stay Puft, and he answered, "We'll see", which I should know by now means no but whenever *I* say "We'll see" to someone it usually means "Probably but I don't want to admit it."

Then, Jailbait texted me to say Happy Halloween, and I mentioned that I was watching Ghostbusters, because I know it's one of and possibly his most favorite fandom, and told him that if my dad was going to dress up as Stay Puft, I'd need to get a Ghostbusters suit. He immediately sent me a costume guide, and offered me his old trap and proton pack--perfectly servicable ones from Spirit Halloween that he no longer needed because he upgraded to the HasLab screen accurate versions. He also had an A.L.I.C.E. frame for me, so I was off and running.

I had trouble understanding how the hose connector gets attached to the costume; you're supposed to put one part of the PVC female pipe union inside the leg, and the other part on the outside, and screw it in through the fabric, but the picture he includes is from the movie and shows it sewn on, which threw me off. And I had to cut my gloves shorter than he did, I'm assuming because my arms are shorter. Those are the highlights, but that being said, if anyone has questions about the construction process, feel free to e-mail me. I even took progress pictures. This is the most work I've ever done on a costume, and while part of the reason I made it myself was because I assumed I would save money, even with so many pieces being gifted to me this costume ended up being in the neighborhood of $500. So thank God the other part of the reason was to have fun, and a small amount of bragging rights.

Do you know what the best part is, though? When I posted my first picture of myself in whatever I had worn to work that day wearing my proton pack (UPSIDE DOWN, that's how much of a noob I was) for the first time, my friend Age, who also loves Ghostbusters, mentioned how excited he would be if we got to cosplay together. And so did my friend Drew. And his friend Nando. Jailbait was a given. And so I made a Messenger group chat, and they gave me so much helpful advice and tips and tricks every step of the way. And when I rolled up to the 40th anniversary of Ghostbusters at Hook and Ladder 8...I had a team. Bustin' makes us feel good, but doing it together is the greatest freaking feeling, hands down.