Fantasy Faire: Sea of Mer

I began in the Sea of Mer because it was what was farthest from my usual, and yet I love water and mermaids - I just rarely am one - though after watching Designing Worlds I may end up buying the RFL Sakura Mer set that Saffia modeled; it was even more gorgeous than I expected.



On the surface are glorious sea themed items looking as they often do over the surface - slightly dry and still; quiet, with a faint gleam where the water touches them with life. I immediately fell in love with the giant shells; the enormous clam here is dressed up with some glowing flowers, for example. My one slight whine is I desperately wished I could sit inside. I really wish more builders would include poses for those of us who want to incorporate ourselves into the landscape - I would have loved to be able to curl up inside the shell, for example.



Even on the surface, there are plants redolent of undersea - for example these gorgeous trees which are for sale as part of Relay for Life. Their shape is reminiscent of jellyfish, the long fronds like delicate seaweed hanging down, and I found myself transfixed for quite some time watching them. They made me wish for land - I have a quite small Linden house that doesn't allow for landscaping, but in my dream of dreams I become rich, have a sim, and can decorate it with amazing things like this tree.



I also quite loved the hints of ruins mixed in with tall-standing towers - the latter much harder to photograph. In this case, a tower tumbled into the water, showing more clearly the shell-pattern in the textures. The quality is that of fossils, where the shell itself is gone but the shape of it remains indelibly in stone, enduringly beautiful.



Even on the surface, water was an integral part of most of the stores - in some cases leading one to wade blissfully through glowing flowers, thigh-deep in warm water. The Trap skin I'm wearing, Koi, was an old purchase - one of the first skins I ever bought - and is my standard low-lag outfit when I go to high lag places. It's not terribly modest, but I found the water-themed patterns and the mix of colors really suited the sim.



Below the surface is like another world - a magical watery grove of beauty with a few stores speckled here and there like jewels. Most of the plants are absolutely gorgeous, using glow to good effect - that is, enough to be vibrant, not so much that the texturing is obscured. I love the hint of pink along the side, setting off the rich greens perfectly.

I want it, like a wanting thing that wants.



In the center of the sim is an open garden area (the plant above was tucked in between two stores) and off to one side of it was a charming lotus garden. I fell in love with these flowers and stood staring at them for quite some time. The colors vary a lot, and each flower has a glow in it that reminds one that gods have sat upon those flowers.



I ended up buying my first outfit when I hit underwater - a gorgeous dress by Rose Princess. I knew Rose Princess from old - she does a lovely Flowery Fairy style - but hadn't bought much. I was tempted by this gorgeous Pansy Dress, and simply couldn't resist spiking my arc up and earning the enmity of everyone around me. I love how it moves under water, the sleeves flowing gently as I move. The golds and yellows in it are brought out by the golden grasses under the surface, too, making what was happenstance seem like style and careful planning.



Also under the waves, appropriately, are living things floating along serenely. I was particularly struck by the glowing, giant jellyfish - though I took care to avoid their tentacles! Lovely but dangerous, the jellyfish are an apt symbol for the sea. In my religion, Ran and Aegir rule the untamed depths of the sea, the sea which pulls those within it's auspices under and keeps them safe. Aegir is a great brewer, and the foam on the sea is remnants from his brewing great vats of ale for the sailors who Ran pulled under to marry to her daughters. I specify untamed sea because Njord is the great fisherman of the gods, bringing it's bounty to all wights. Ran and Aegir, in contrast, may not be friends to humankind - they are appeased, placated, perhaps loved but always at great risk.



Like these clams, who are as likely to have you for dinner than not, a degree of care and respect seems to be demanded by the sea. Swim lightly in these realms, for they are places where those larger than any human rule, and we are tiny in the face of it. A knowledge of one's place seems, to me, to be a critical thing to continue in the world. I don't mean in terms of looking down on oneself, as the phrase is so often used and meant, but rather an awareness of your environment which is realistic. This is, of course, an ironic thing to say when one is walking blissfully through a digital land made to look like the sea.



Even these created worlds, though, have their own internal sense, rules, and appropriateness. Trees from another sim would be jarringly out of place - indeed, it's that jar that is so often complained of on the mainland, where everyone's dreams, skill, and sense of taste press up against each other riotously. Differing awarenesses of one's environment, and differing abilities to respond to it, often results in insults and conflict. In contrast, you have places like this sim - where the core land was created by artists responding to each other, with strong, appropriate sense of both environment and appropriateness, and a high level of skill to communicate their intentions.



( All Fantasy Faire pictures can be seen here, more being added regularly. )

Credits:

Location: Sea of Mer
Light Settings: Default
Water Settings: [TOR] Subtleties

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only