Way back in early college, I had a gothy girl friend, a mouse named Marillia. Not a girlfriend, mind you, just a friend who was a girl. And a goth. Very goth. She wore little but black – black tops, black dresses, black skirts. Of varying lengths and styles, sometimes with red or white or purple accents, but always primarily black. It was all usually topped off with well-applied makup and often accentuated with leather collars or cuffs. In black, of course.

Some nights we'd help each other study – we met thanks to having no less than three classes in common. Or we'd play video games against each other. Or we might, well, gossip, sort of, about our schoolmates. I'd tell her some insider info about the other guys in my dorm – who and what they were interested in, mostly – and it'd help her know whether it was worth trying to date this boy or that one, and sometimes even help get her actually get a date. And she'd return the favor, giing me insider info on the girls in her dorm, though it never really seemed to help me very much.

I think it might have been that that led me to tell her that I was contemplating changing my look. You know, from casual but generic to one of the various types that college students gravitate towards. And since I was with her, I naturally said something along the lines of, "Maybe I should try being a goth. I wonder if I could pull off the look."

Marillia had looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why don't we find out?"

I tried to protest when she started pulling things from her underwear drawer, but she shook her head. "If we're going to do this, let's do it right. I'm not about to half-ass it." I knew that tone of voice. She wasn't about to let me off the hook until I went along.

It was weird putting on panties. Weirder putting on the bra. But what really felt odd was the strappy... thing. To me it had looked simply like a bundle of straps, but Marillia had coaxed me into it, guiding my leg through this loop, arms through that other one, working it around my wings. Cinch here, buckle there, and suddenly I was encased into this... harness.

"Okay, get on the bed. I want to work on your fur a bit."

"What's wrong with my fur?"

"It's too brown!" Marillia said, making it sound obvious. "If you're going goth it needs to be darker. Now get into the middle of the bed while I get the stuff I need. Don't just sit on the edge, I'm going to need to do your back, too."

"You weren't kidding when you said you weren't going halfway," I joked.

"Nope!"

Sitting smack in the middle of the bed wasn't easy. I wound up kneeling, hands on my knees, as my friend returned. She nodded approvingly, then sprayed my fur all over with what looked like a can of spray paint. She concentrated on my lower arms, shoulders, the sides of my face, and my back between the wings, but everywhere got at least a little. Thankfully, as a hybrid I really only had to worry about letting her spray my upper half. She had to move the straps out of the way frequently, though and muttered to herself about doing it in the proper order next time. That raised an eyebrow from me, I must say, but I didn't say anything. Then, using a moist towel, she rubbed the dye into my fur until it looked, if not natural, then at least not unnatural.

"Not bad," she finally declared. "Now for the finishing touches." And she reached for her claw polish.

It didn't take long for her to paint my nails a deep, glossy black. Practice, I suppose. "Close your eyes," was all the warning I got before she started working on my face. I felt a brush on my eyelids, a soft pencil around the outer corners of my eyes. "Needs something... oh of course!" Marillia said. "Keep your eyes closed a moment, need to get something." I didn't protest. I'd gone this deep, I thought. Might as well see how it all turns out.

As I waited, I heard her rummage around in a box of some sort. A few moments later I felt something wrap around my neck. I opened my eyes in surprise as she buckled the collar closed behind my neck.

"There we go!" she said happily. She gestured at the long mirror mounted on her closet door. "Take a look."

I looked. "Wow. That's.... different." She'd added eyeshadow and mascara to my eyes, giving them a smokey, delicate impression. Complete with the bra and all those straps I looked... well, darn cute, really. With a bit of padding in the chest it'd be hard to tell I was a guy.

"I have to say, you do look good as a goth."

"As a goth girl," I complained, rubbing the collar. "This isn't really the look I had in mind when I mentioned going goth."

"Keep your nails away from that," the mouse chided me. "The polish is still a bit fragile. And it's not like I had the clothes available here to make you a goth guy, you know."

"I suppose." I shifted off the bed. One last glance in the mirror, then I asked, "So, mind helping me out of this? I don't think I can reach all the buckles." And some of the straps were on top of the underwear, making it impossible to remove until the harness was gone.

"Help you out of it all? What, are you kidding me?" Marillia exclaimed. "This is just the underwear! We're just getting started."

"You know, it's getting kind of late," I said quickly, hoping to head that idea off. "I really ought to head out soon."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Aw, don't worry. You can stay the night."

"What! I could get in real trouble for that!"

"Nah. The RA on this floor never pays much attention to anything that's not rubbed in her face. And," she added, a mischievous glint in her eye, "if you leave, I definitely won't help you out of all that. Enjoy asking the guys in your dorm for help."

That would be... awkward. But short of using scissors it was my only option to get out of this without her help. "Fine," I sighed, trying not to whine. "I'll try the rest on."

Marillia practically squealed in glee. "Great! Time for you to be my gothy girl friend!"

"And you'll help me out of this stuff in the morning?"

"Promise!"

It was a long, long night. Good thing it was a Friday.

---

Story by Xodiac
1133 words

There's a surprising amount to say about this pic. To start off, the art was done by  divinetofu, and she was great to work with. She actually did two versions of this pic, the original one with my normal coloration, and a recolored version with my fur dyed dark and gothy makeup applied. More to the point, she didn't ask for extra money for the second version, since it was just a recolor, with no extra drawing necessary. So, thanks!

Unfortunately, neither quite looked right, to me. But I didn't want to bother her with another recolor. Thankfully,  runningtoaster, an artist whose streams I frequent, offered to give it a shot, and combined the two. This is the result, and it's perfect. So, thanks to you, too!

The next issue was figuring out why I'm dressed like this. I like to add at least the hint of a story to my pics, after all, some context for what's happening and how this came to pass. But while Xodiac frequently finds himself in drag he doesn't usually like it. He certainly isn't prone to volunteering for it. And yet, judging by his expression he's not entirely unhappy about the situation. So, what's going on, here?

After a bit, I thought maybe he asked his prankster-prone sister to help him with a new look while in high school. Unfortunately, as I was preparing to upload it with that explanation, it occurred to me that this wouldn't explain why the bedroom is gothy. I don't think Rille ever went through a goth phase, and Xodiac wouldn't have remade his room before he remade himself. More importantly, this would make Xodiac underaged. And while this pic isn't really pornographic, it still was brushing uncomfortably close to it to have him be still in high school. So I changed Xodiac's sister to Marillia, and had it take place sometime in college.

The story I wrote to accompany this started as just an extended description, but it just kept getting longer and longer. I guess I had some words in me that wanted to get out, huh? The ending leaves an opening for plenty more as a continuation, though, which is kinda nice. Pics of Xodiac in various gothy outfits, easily. But what happens if that RA decides to take notice of a boy there? Or he finds he has to return back to his own dorm before he can change out of the clothes Marillia gives him? Hmmmm! Lots of possibilites. Some of them may well find their way onto FA, someday.

And if you read all that, congratulations. You get an internet cookie.