Pretty Drama

I've been thinking a lot about drama, and rumors, and giving and taking offense in Second Life this week. It seems to keep coming up, on the blogs I read and in discussions with friends and acquaintances. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a rabid drama seeker - I love hearing about, gasping about, and listening to other people's drama. My own, not so much, but I find other people's drama endlessly fascinating. The choices people make, when they speak and when they don't, who they tell and whether those people pass on information or not - all an endless source of entertainment for me.

Another gorgeous source of drama is this sim, Daytime Dreams, a collection of some of the most gorgeous art and effects in second life. There are bits and pieces from bunches of artists, all arranged on a checkerboard with physical (kind of - fall on them or bump into them to see!) boxes and balls making the world an interesting place. Drama was originally a theatrical idea, and less a social one, and there is something of big theater in how Daytime Dreams is organized and presented - open spaces for big scenes, smaller spaces for quiet soliloquies, this is a sim which practically begs for pictures to be taken - especially with the largely monochromatic scheme, which lets you add hues of your own desire to the landscape.




Pose: HelaMiyo, Harajuku 1

The outfit I'm wearing (also dramatic - sense a theme?) is from Rock Me Amadeus, and is a review copy of a sort. The creator, was kind enough to pass a gift card my way, and I wandered the store a while trying to find something that really spoke to me before running across this dress and having to have it! It's actually even more amazing live - darker, more reddish purple in the skirt is actually flexible prims, set up so they sway slightly as you move and give the illusion of a flexible puff skirt. The waistline is also highly modified with a cone-shaped prim (separate from the skirt) which gives a truly unique silhouette. I'm seriously considering going back and picking up the other colors once I come off of my Meero-spending fatigue!

My skin is also a gift from De La Soul - Charlie in the cream tone with the sparkle cosmetics. I love how cream glows in most windlight settings, really setting itself apart, and the dark shadow around the eyes really make my Rainbow Roomee eyes (also from De La Soul) stand out. In some of the closer pictures, you might see the slightly iridescent sparkle which gives this cosmetics set it's name. I love the lips ont his set, too - a pale, shell pink which are feminine and natural without being garish. It comes with and without brown brows, and in cleavage and non-cleavage options.

The jewelry is from the gorgeous China Bead set from Eclectica - a lovely combination of multiple colors. I took the hairpin, which normally goes out the back, and modified it so that it would appear to be holding up my Truth Mariposa hair - which I bought on a whim and have totally never regretted. I'm a recent convert to the Truthcult, but I have to admit I might be a lifetime member. The mouthcage is from DownDownDown and I got it out of the Gatcha at the Albero Gatcha Festival this month. Other options from the same Gatcha are a variety of adorable looking candies; I Gatcha have them all! Wings are my usual, and favorite, Fancy Fairy's Azarelle; Ears are the Illusion ones which I pretty much never take off; shoes are from my favorite shoe store, G Field. I'd say I'm in a rut, but they're all so fantastic it's choice, and not habit, which causes me to always wear them!




Pose: HelaMiyo, Harajuku 5

I may look like a sweet, innocent fairy (*waits for the laughter to die down*), but I've also been neck deep in some massive drama as well. From friendships which ended with a whimper instead of a bang, to being on the listening but not offending side of ripped template drama, to people getting up in my business because I'm not the same religion as they are or I don't look or dress as they think I should be - I'd be lying if I said drama and I aren't on a first name basis. I try not to have it as a frequent houseguest, though; sometimes that's a struggle. I have the peacemaker's flaw of wanting all of my friends to get along, and somethings that's simply not in the cards.

The causes of drama are multitudinous, but one of the most common I personally see is based on an initial insult. This flares up in particular in the more social media aspects of Second Life, both on the grid and in the vast network of blogs, facebook accounts, twitter and plurk streams, and other media which surround Second Life. The insult can take many forms, from the valid, to the offensive, to the seemingly benign, but for it to become drama big enough for outsiders to see, enough people need to take sides and make that publicly known for the drama to spread. Sometimes drama carries on, in the hearts and minds of the people offended - whether valid or not - to flare up or make worse something later; a sort of Stealth Drama.




Pose: HelaMiyo, Gown 4

There are a lot of people who decry drama, claim they are never part of it, brush off those who they say are sources of it, and in general make - lets hear it for irony - drama about not being dramatic. (As a side note, off topic, check out that awesome curve of the bodice above; isn't that amazing? And the texturing on the cheeks, the detail in the mouth cage - completely gorgeous!) One thing I've begun to notice, about myself and others, is what we are most likely to say about ourselves the loudest is what is least obvious or evidence in ourselves. So above I claim to be sweet and innocent when I know I am anything but; others claim to be drama free when it dogs their heels; the last person I knew who lauded how direct he was proceeded to be lyingly passive aggressive; I'm sure you all have seen it in others - but it might be worth it to take a moment and try to see it in yourself.

This dark side of us, called by Jungians like myself "the shadow", is by definition what we cannot see directly in ourselves but instead have to see smeared on the forms of the people around us. The things we dislike most in others are often what we deny most in ourselves; the energy spent pursuing and focusing on others is a blind to keep us from seeing the quiet faults knocking on our back door, asking to come in from the cold.




Pose: HelaMiyo, Looking back 1

Lately I've been trying to give myself a little more grace, to accept that when I shine light on myself I necessarily obscure qualities I don't want to see. What this means about my treatment of others I'm less sure of; to demand of myself perfect grace, compassion, and love towards others - no matter how irritating - is clearly a fast track to being a bitch in denial, hiding my venom behind smiles and pleasantly insulting statements. To engage in cruelty toward others doesn't engage my guilt as much as it possibly should, especially when they're bothering me and hugely irritating! I don't know what changes trying to love myself, flaws and all, will have - but if I can recommend it to a client, it behooves me to give it a try myself.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream CL Sparkle
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hair: Truth, Mariposa - driftwood
Jewelry: Eclectica, China Beads - hatpin, necklace, and bracelet
Mouth Cage: DownDownDown, Sweet Bird Cage
Dress: Rock Me Amadeus, Runway Blue
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slngback Heels - lavender (tinted darker)

Location: Daytime Dreams
Light Settings: purplebluenight

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only