Monday, February 28, 2011

Color Challenge: Week Seventeen - Electric Lime

Lime week was an absolute blast, and set me catapulting back to a dress I loved the moment I put it on. The Green Caged Dress by Schadenfreude was one of the prizes at Magic of Oz, during one of their earliest hunts.

I adore the hunts at Magic of Oz. Even in the beginning they were unique - hunting for objects for each store all over, with them appearing and disappearing like magic. Now it's easily my favorite place to hunt - not only is it a great deal of fun bouncing about with a basket steadily filling with pretty prizes, but it also allows for fun exploration without the lag which was the bane of the first couple of hunts. Indeed, the only frustrating thing is occasionally having to hunt for the stores!

Palms


The location I ended up at was one that's been in my books for a while - Twomoons Island. It seems to be the new place where MiaSnow is now - though to be honest I didn't look much at the stores. I was more focused on the lovely taunt that was the locked off areas - I ended up posing in front of a couple of them, just because they were so incredibly lovely.

I resisted the urge to cam inside, or press myself up against the red lines and whine like an excluded kitty cat, but it was clear the loveliness of the available build extends beyond into private. I can certainly understand why people want to keep places private, but I must admit an entirely childish desire to explore in those places which no amount of rationality can quite quench.

Forbidden Forest


The land is gorgeous, a swooping and curving landscape with heights and waters both. There are some charming buildings I found near the end, and the views in all directions are amazing. There are even some elusive little islands around the edges, sticking out into the water off the edge of the sim and making it seem more like part of an archipelago, than a single square place. There are also some lovely glowing flowers, which stood out well against the green of the ground without killing the eye with glow.

I lit it all rather green, but wandering around after the final photograph was taken I found it responds well to a variety of coloration and seems to respond particularly well to a bright blue sky. The blue of the sky and water set off the teals and greens of the land in a manner which is simply a delight to the eyes.

( Other pictures can be seen here. )

Credits:

Skin: Nomine, Sylvan Latte - pride 1
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Seelie - Light Lime
Wings: Schadenfreude, Lucent Batwing - Green
Necklace: Magpie, Lime Cubelet Necklace
Dress: Schadenfreude, Green Caged Gown
Bracelets: Begendings, Bracelets - Lime
Shoes: Katat0nik, Ghostfire Boots - Lime

Poses:
1) Endless Dreams, Kawaii Pose 4
2) Olive Juice, ILY

Location: Twomoons Island
Light Settings: [TOR] SCIFI - Green whirl
Water Settings: [TOR] Chivandria clair

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Saturday, February 26, 2011

New Home

When I first came to Second Life, I was one of those leeches that occasionally bloggers post about wishing they could be expelled from the grid. Freebie account - the very phrase which casts terror in the hearts of mortal avatars.

It honestly didn't take me long to shell out the mulah for shiny things. Twenty bucks in Second Life can stretch a lot longer than almost anywhere else, including Gaia Online and Facebook. Pick the right stores and you're looking at a lot of outfits. My main focus was always clothing, though. To purchase land, either on an estate or on the mainland, you have to shell out regular money, and when I started paying for things it was very much ad hoc and in response to how much I thought I had in the bank.

My first home was on the land of a friend I met through philosophy discussions. We all had little sections, and our mismatched builds clashed gloriously with each other. I did some of my first building there - my ball houses, which have never made it out of my inventory. That land went after a while - land is expensive in Second Life - and I moved into the sky over a Sim I used to regularly go to discussions at. Sadly, these days most of the discussions are at 4am, far outside of any time I could join in, but in many ways I had moved on.

Then I was invited for a while to live with some other friends, but as time passed I felt less and less welcome. It became painful to log in there, to look around and see evidence of a person who now couldn't be bothered to say hello to me but could make comments on a blog about me and pretend he was brave enough to say it to my face (and who could then lie to my face about it being about me despite repeating almost verbatim things that were said in that post). I moved out when it hurt too much, and all evidence points to me never being missed so I can't say I much regret it - but I did regret losing the feeling that I had a home and people who cared if I was around.

A few days ago, as an early birthday present to myself, I splurged and finally took a step I'd been considering for a while - becoming a Premium Member and claiming my Linden home for my own. I chose the elfy lands, a cute little cottage with a generous porch and a room I could make into my dressing room. I was given lovely housewarming gifts - a bunny and two horses - and had the fun of not only decorating it as I wished, but knowing this was my space to invite other people into; my home even when people no longer want me around.

2011-02-24 Home_002


( More pictures of my home here. )

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Color Challenge: Week Sixteen - Teal

Teal Week brings me back quite a few months, when Rezzables was leaving Second Life and there was a huge, elemental celebration of Black Swan. Ages ago I took pictures at Black Swan - one of my earlier photoshoots - posing with a lot of the art present.

The Melusine dress came from that celebration, a frothy confection invoking the flow and power of the waves. I love the mixes of colors, how green and blue mix with teal and aqua to create something new.

Slice


All of my photography is out at Sims across the grid - sometimes posing in front of things and sometimes trying to insinuate myself inside. One of the interesting things about Second Life is trying to find foregrounds and backgrounds without obscuring the whole picture.

In this case, though, Little Kasipaya forms beautiful, moving backdrops and spots to dance, pose, or romance. I'll admit I remained in just one room for Teal Week, but the sim itself is full of shiny rooms to lose yourself in, images so amazing you end up staring in wonder.

Attitude


( Remaining Pictures here. )

Credits:

Picture 1:
Eyes: Muriel, Diamond
Skin: GP, Petal [Dark] April - Rainbow 2
Hair: Miriel, Artist Hair - beach
Ears: Illusion, Fairy Ears
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle - tinted pinkypeach
Dress: Zaara, Chaya Lotus
Shoes: Multiple Personality Design, Chunky Heel Shoes - Peach
Necklace: Pisa, Pink Moonstone Diamond Necklace
Ring: Little Boy Blue, Endurance Ring
Pose: Sunflower poses, oh!
Location: Black Swan

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Picture 2:
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Sakura
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Red Queen, Dreams ~ Blonde
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle - tinted teal
Necklace: Donna Flora, Alda Necklace - Turquoise
Dress: Evie's Closet, Melusine - Seafoam
Stockings: Pixeldolls, Teal Brocade Socks
Shoes: G Field, Rose Bootie "Kate" - Teal

Pose: Olive Juice, Dangerous Curves Ahead

Location: Little Kasipaya * Plants & Art Labyrinth
Light Settings: AnaLu, Studio6

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Color Challenge: Week Fifteen - Red

Red Week was a lot of fun!

Usually I go for something saturated, or a funky light setup, but with an already saturated red (and a litany of brightly saturated pictures in my history) I decided to go a little minimalist again - the brightness of a red dress against a nearly monochromatic background. I think the color simplicity and design complexity of the Poe exhibit really suits a Blue Blood Dress I totally adore - especially for the heart cut-out on the chest.

Lost

The skin is an awesome Subscribo gift from De La Soul for valentines day.

I might have more to say in the future. Right now it feels like words are piling up behind my lips, but coming out more as a jumble of letters than anything coherent.

( Rest of the pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - JewelRose Valentine
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: DarkerSide, Vintage Red
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle - tinted red
Dress: Blue Blood, Resistence - red
Shoes: G Field, Rose Bootie "Diva" - Red

Pose: ImpEle, Winged - 04

Location: Empyreal Dreams ~ The Art Anthology

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Steampunk Ballerina

Sometimes, when I have a terribly hard week, people can randomly add some sunlight.

A good friend, Seraphim, who I met through Falln's Angels Chat, IMed me very bouncy and excited about her new prizes for her hunts at her store, The Secret Shelf. Ages ago she'd given me dragon silks, which I quite liked but as I don't wear many silks I've not gotten much use out of them.

She totally outdid herself, though. The first prize I put on, Steam Ballet, was an awesome revelation. I had a total blast dressing it up with pearls and shiny wings, then fluttered my butt over to Babbage for a little bit of photography.

No Smoke Without...


I'm really fond of the little gears with the bows in them, and how the skirt has openings in between, like awnings or wireframe. The little bows on the boobs just finish it off, amazingly, too, even if they did keep trying to leap off of my avatar every time I put on a necklace or a pair of wings!

( More pictures here. )

And then, to round out the night.... TWO NEW SKINS!

Sakura Rainbow Addict


De La Soul finally released her Charlie skins. I splurged on Rainbow Addict (inspired by yours truly!) and Sakura. I still have a couple I'm keeping my eyes on when my Linden's replenish, but I think I've spent enough for the moment!

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Mythos - Cream Neon Blush (top picture); Charlie Skins in lower two pictures
Lips: Skinthesis, Tatt Layer Lips - Liquid Heat - Deoridhe
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling)
Hair: Miriel, Artist Hair - Raven
Wings: Refined Wild, Toxic Clockwork
Necklace: DMZ, Pink Double Pearl Strand
Dress: Secret Shelf, Steam Ballet
Shoes: G Field, Rose Bootie "Diva" - Black and Silver

Pose: Olive Juice, All Wrapped Up (top picture); AO (bottom pictures)

Location: Port District of Babbage
Light Settings: Funky Funky Funky
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Newbie Resources: Second Life Dictionary

Joining Second Life means learning a whole vocabulary which has built up over time to explain things in a new world. Here are a few useful terms for your edification.

AO: Animation Over-rider. It's something either part of a browser or in an object you wear which makes your avatar move in a way different from the default moves.

Alt: Alternate accounts in Second Lie (and elsewhere).  

Avatar: The form your account takes in Second Life. The basic avatars are humanoid, but many stores sell avatars in other shapes, form mundane animals to fantastical beasts.
Flowery Chipmunk 2011-02-09_001 Of Wolves and Demons Honeyblood Portrait

Bling: A specific script, usually put in jewelry, which causes flashes of white to show up around an item. Bling has a certain amount of controversy, often critiqued as being crass or unattractive.
Blinging Poster_001

Building: Taking shapes, called prims (short for primitives) and combining them to make things.
Art Museum 2010-11-14_003 Jabberwocky Hunt_028

Chat: Communicating with other people through text, either in the immediate surrounding or through long distance or group communication.

Child Avatars: Small avatars shaped to look like children. Short avatars are sometimes mistaken for these. Child Avatars may be banned from set Mature and Adult sims due to fears of their being exposed or included in sexual things. Some child avatars get families or speak in their own language of a kind which imitates lisps and primitive English grammar.
2010-10-24_003 2010-10-24_002

Click, Click On: Put the cursor on an object and click the mouse like you are clicking on a web link to open it (also called touch).

Emote: Communicate something in text as if you are doing it, for example: type '/me dances.' to shares [Your Username] dances.

Face Light: A thing of evil. A light source placed in front of someone's face to light it up. Before windlight (see below) faces were often dim, and so people would add a face light to light themselves up. These were often too bright, lighting up to a radius of ten meters around a person. Post-windlight, sometimes facelights can truly wash out the area around them. Face lights remain a source of controversy.
Facelights Wash You Out Facelights Wash Me Out Too

Flexi: Flexible. It's a setting you can set on an item which will make it bend.
2010-11-19_002 2010-11-12_010


Gesture: A pre-set series of scripts, text, sounds, and animations that are started by a trigger word. There are some inherent to Second Life's programming, or you can purchase them.

Glow: A setting on prims which makes them appear to (shocking) glow.
2010-10-22 Fangbangers_008 Jabberwocky Hunt_021

Group: Something you join which allows for chat, distribution of notecards, sharing of land, land-rights, titles over your name, and other perks. You have up to 42 group slots in Second Life. You may be charged Linden to join a group.

Home: A point where you get sent back to when killed (only possible on some grids) and where you can return too easily. You can set them in certain sims.

Hovertext: Text which hovers over an object, initially caused by a script. It remains even after the script is removed, so the script has to be reset to not have any text before removing it.

Inventory: Items you own; can include anything created in Second Life, including things which seem counter-intuitive like houses and pets.

Lucky Chair/Board: A chair or board you can find which shows a number or letter of the alphabet. When the first letter/number of your name shows up, you click it or sit on it and you win the item.
R U B F U N OMG Blue Blood Owes Us!

Main: Main account in Second Life (and elsewhere).

Mesh: A different way of uploading content which is more in line with content in other video games. Mesh can be in a rezzed (see below) object or worn. When worn, there is a setting called "rigged" which connects the size and shape of the mesh object to the skeleton of your avatar. This has been used to make much larger and much smaller avatars, as well as more realistic styles of clothing. These are made in an outside program, like blender.
A Moment's Rest Bloody Dance The World May End, But I Have Awesome Boots Talk to the Hand Candid 

Midnight Mania: Midnight Manias are a sales and traffic driver for retail stores, whereby if the customers can get a number of people to click a board in a day, then everyone gets something for free.

Mini-mania: Like a midnight mania but not time dependent, where a much lower number of people need to click (usually 5-10 range) to get a chance at winning the item, one person per round.

Permissions:  The rights a user has with an object. All prims (see below) you make are full permission to yourself, and have auto-set permissions to anyone you hand them too. The permissions are: copy, modify (mod), transfer (trans). Most creators make something either copy or transfer, not both; modify permissions are much more idiosyncratic. Full Perm means you have full permission to copy, modify, or transfer something. Permissions are also what you are allowed to do on a sim, like create things or run scripts.

Petites: A form of mesh (see above) avatar that is about 1/3 the size of a standard avatar. A couple of other specifically smaller avatars have been made, like Minikins.
Suddenly Shy Attitude Bathe

Prims: Primitives - a single item or shape. Used to build things.
Shapes

RP: Role Playing. Where you dress up your avatar and act out roleplaying, often in a sim partly or wholly dedicated to the roleplaying universe, complete with buildings and stores. Sub-terms- IC (In Character), OOC (Out Of Character).

Script: A program which causes things to happen. It has it's own programming language and more information can be found here.
Get a Clue Art Museum 2010-11-14_001

Sculpty: A primitive in a non-basic shape. Sculpted prims, or sculpties are usually made in an external program, like Blender.
Blue! Rainbow Fangbangers_003

Tinies: Small avatars, often animal shapes and much, much smaller than the usual avatar. Tinies can have their own culture and gathering places.
2010-10-30_005 Flowery Chipmunk OMG, So Cute!!

Rez: 1) To appear in the world as an avatar (most people have a "rez date" which is the date of their account creation); 2) To cause something to appear in your environment by dragging it from your inventory onto the ground of a place with building permissions; 3) The process of the things around you moving from a gray, unsculpted form to the final, textured form.

Sim: Short for Simulator, it indicates the land you're standing on. Sims can be linked up to each other to make larger land.

Windlight: A lighting system for Second Life which allows a person to modify most of the aspects of their surrounding in terms of lighting and the appearance of the sky and water.
Windlight: Sunset Windlight: Noon Windlight: Sunrise Windlight: Midnight

Color Challenge: Week Fourteen - Black

Black Week, for the 52 Color Challenge was a lot of fun, and features a dress by Nomine that I've owned, and meant to photograph, for months.

Spring Cherry Blossom

I love it because it's high contrast between the front and the back. The front, as you can see above, is very covering - from neck to ankle to wrist, it's curve-hugging but decorous, with subdued highlights that always make me think of old velvet. I've accented it with a variety of bondage-inspired accessories - a posture collar from Favole, Ankle cuffs from Linc, wrist cuffs from somewhere in the depths of my inventory. I'm particularly fond of posture collars, and their close cousins corsets (though obviously I didn't add a corset to this outfit, though that might be an awesome look in the future).

So, from the front, slightly kinky but more tease then reveal.

And from the back...

Lady of the Lake

From neck to ankle, Nomine's Black Liner Run is completely bare, held together only by lacing.

Not quite so decorous anymore; and less tease - more full reveal!

I love the high contrast of that - the startlement of bare skin against solid fabric and the realization that nothing can be worn under that dress without being revealed embarrassingly from behind. The startled reactions of people who knew me who saw me in this dress were everything I could have ever desired.

Noodles

The sim itself is barbee, which I heard about from Juana’s Fashiologue on the Second Life Weblog Shopping Cart Disco. It seemed a perfect match for black - being entirely in black and white as an old Japanese town set right above the water with, startlingly, it's own giraffe and trees which have peacock feathers as leaves.

It is a sim where the fantastical meets the relatively mundane seemlessly, combining high contrast in simplicity and style. I encourage you to explore there, find the little hidden places I missed, maybe take your own pictures.

(Rest of the pictures here.)

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Mythos - Cream Neon Blush
Lips: Skinthesis, Tatt Layer Lips - Liquid Heat - Deoridhe
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (rose gold)
Hair: Sirena, Hayden - Jet Black
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle - tinted black
Collar: Favole, Sabbath - Unlocked
Bracelets: Wrist straps
Anklets: Linc, Ruffled Cuffs Black
Dress: Nomine, Black Liner Run
Shoes: G Field, Robbon Slingback Shoes - Black

Location: barbee
Light Settings: Ghost
Water Settings: Murky

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only