"Cowboy Sweetheart" was an evolving portfolio collection that began in November 2023 and was featured as a Thesis show in March of 2025. The entire concept began with a spontaneously thrown-together Halloween cowgirl costume before an ongoing game of Dungeons & Dragons. I started the game when I was desperate to become a Dungeon Master, the one who writes and narrates the game for the players. What began as a simple, single evening one-shot adventure evolved into an expansive narrative about “PBJ”, a 21st-century twenty-something cowgirl who, upon discovering her uncontrollable bardic magic, is suddenly transported and trapped 150 years in the past in a magical fantasy version of the American Wild West with no way home. Over time, she transforms from a hopeful wanderer into a legendary performer, an infamous outlaw, and the hardest fiddler to find. Through a series of costly mistakes, her journey intertwines with a cast of morally complex characters. She becomes entangled with the infamous outlaw Jesse James, a charismatic yet volatile figure who serves as an overarching antagonist, pursuing his own twisted vision of legendary immortality. The supporting cast of James' crew, ranging from an anxious rat wizard to an undead matador, further complicates the moral landscape, ensuring that no character is entirely a hero or villain. But at the heart of the story is PBJ’s desperate attempt to find a way home while her friends try to find her before rest of the West gets to her first.