2012 Color Challenge: Week 52 - Amazon

I'm late for the last installment of the 52 Color Challenge - the holidays were amazingly fun, of the sort of fun which didn't inspire me to sit on a computer and take pictures - and so I am horribly tardy! Boo me! Amazon is a really fun color, though, and I ended up being inspired by a new release from Wishbox for the final challenge of the final end of the Color Challenge. A few more options have popped up or a replacement, but I'm not sure how many I'll try to do; I try to minimize my stressors, and leave this blog a fun place, but I also really enjoy inspirations to delve into the depths of my inventory and pull out new, fun, and beautiful things. We'll see how the balance ends up finding itself in twenty thirteen. At least I'm starting out in a gorgeous, lacy gown by Wishbox, inspired by the best in Gothic Lolita style - I adore the lacy sleeves. My one complaint, if it can even be called that, is that the sleeves don't bend with my arms; I've been very spoilt by rigged mesh, and it amazes me to realize how briefly it has been used for clothing in Second Life. I paired it with a lovely, simply style from Alice Project - another of her Advent releases. I like how the subtle green and red in the hair catches the green of the dress, and each little bow and ribbon of lace makes me squee.

Going from vacation back to work has been a trying affair; most evenings I find myself incredibly sleepy, and not really much of the energy or temper for photography or exploration. That being said, it's clear the grid itself is surging with secretive new releases - both in terms of releases from a variety of stores, and in terms of changes ot the programming of the grid to try to make it more stable. Stability and speed of loading have long been problems in Second Life, and I have to admit I'm thrilled to hear that they're being addressed, even if the doomsayers are all over saying Second Life is dead and dying. Sim are going away - these pictures are taken among the cottages of Alchemy Immortalis as a sort of swan song to the design and beauty. The store is remaining, but the sims around it are going away - in one way or another. They're a gorgeous combination of rich textures, so take a change to swing through while you can.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, Twisted - Grass
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, Mesh Eyelashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Mizu - Russian Red
Hair: Alice Project, Hyori (Advent Gift)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Wishbox, Coquette - Green
Boots: G Field, Strap Shoes "Alex" suede

Posse: Glitterati

Location: Alchemy Immortalis and Surrounding Sims
Light Settings: Natural High
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace

One of the biggest difficulties with taking pictures "in the wild" so to speak, is the sheer number of builds that far outstripe the size of an avatar. Finding angles where both I and the surroundings can be seen is no easy feat - and one very promising place was left in my rearview mirror because I simply couldn't easily insinuate myself into any pictures of any of the things - they were all too far apart! Add in the difficulties of standing half a meter above sculpties, and it's enough to make a photographer pull her hair out! One of the joys of taking pictures in the wild is the unpredictability - and I suppose this is just of a piece with it all; when you step outside of your own space, you can no longer control everything but things can also become so much more rich - at that edge where you and I meet.

( I was somehow missing my eyelids, which is a very frustrating thing. Big, ugly, bug-eyed Deoridhe. I've reinstalled the latest firestorm - twice - managing to pick up a make-everything-pink glitch, and my eyes are still missing both lids. Have this picture of my butt; the only way there's going to be any grace tonight is if I finally just snap this picture and call it a night - so here I am in my "changing room". Enjoy!  )

Credits:


Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Eyelashes 1: Sauce, Sidewinder Lashes
Eyelashes : *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Green & Sky
Eyeliner: Boom, Midas Touch
Lipstick: Mock, Micare Lipglimmer - Hypoxia
Hair: Truth, Kalia - driftwood (with flower)
Jewelry: Eclectica, Nouveau Rose - moss
Lingerie: Dilly Dolls, Renna's Weeklys (promotional item)
Ring 1: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring
Ring 2: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger Talisman
Stockings: G Field, Button Socks - green
Boots: Dilly Dolls, Bastian Boots

Pose: Studio Sidhe, Artsy 2

Location: Spring Azure
Light Settings: AnaLutetia - AvatarOpt - whiter

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only 

Color Challenge: Week Fifty-one - Cream

Cream was actually easy for me - I have loads of it in my inventory - but the hard part was figuring out what to pair it with and how to accessorize. I ended up with blue highlights; my favorite bits have to be the necklace and bracelet, which I impulse-bought from Axiom in a different color and now am rapidly accumulating all the available colors. If only there were more colors! I adore the curve around the neck - it fits better than almost every necklace I've worn; it's definitely Little Boy Blue level of quality. The rings are two I've been wearing for a while - from Alchemy Immortalis and Earthstones. One is a Nesting ring; it's scripted to hold images in it of people you love. I'd had plans for the pictures in there, but as of now it's empty, waiting for a special someone. In a way, it's a promise to myself. The other is a tri-rose ring that was the first time I spent money on jewelry; I loved the colors, the symbolism of three roses, the purity of three.

The hair is from one of my newest, favorite hair stores - the .b sidebrand of Analog Dog - and is one of the dual hair designs that hit the grid a few months back. The shoulder pieces are separate from the hair, which allows them to remain in place even when the head moves. This is a glory for picture taking; often long hair really limits the poses in play and with dual-piece hair it widens the opportunities a lot. The flower bits are from a new-to-me store called BP; they're free gifts in the foyer of the store - look for little stacks of boxes. The dress is from Hal Hina and I own it in every color. It's a gorgeous little floof of a dress, all froth and flowers, and really seemed to fit the rest of the theme.

I love the ephemeral quality of the roses now at World's End - how they seem to mingle and intermix with each other. It's easy to get lost within them, to sink in, and amazingly they only somewhat seem to interfere with my wings - in a way which makes it seem like I'm always rising up out of the bushes - born out of them like a flower that then floats on the waves toward the horizon.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5A
Eyeliner: cheLLe, Cleo Called Black
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Coal & Blue 2
Lipstick: L.Fauna, Neutral 3
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Hair: .b, Tangled - Cornsilk
Flower Effects: BP, Inner Tree & New Spring 3
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Hal Hina, Flower Mini Dress - Cream
Gloves, MRS, Cream Mesh Gloves
Jewelry: Axiom, Transmigration of Souls
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Stockings: Vetra Messing, Sheer Stockings
Shoes: G Field, Flower Pumps "Eve" - cream

Pose: Glitterati

Location: World's End
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Cranche

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Dreams Come Alive

Through the Lens of Dreams is a new sim put out by Madcow Cosmos and Lorin Tone, much in the style of Peaster's Castle - a rounded, organic curve to everything which is quite unique in my experience. The other thing, which quickly becomes apparent, is that the entire sim exists in a frozen flash of the fourth dimension - that is, as you move around the sim, you follow the various paths of different things which transform over time and yet exist simultaneously.

The images are at once sublime and thought-provoking - everything from walnuts which become ships to war between two races who part ways at the corner. From the ridiculous, to the charming, to the sobering - I found around every corner a moment of delight. There seem to be new things under every level and around every curve - even flying up into the sky there were new things seemingly created for delight alone. It's an incredibly complex build, and I am not exaggerating when I say pictures, any pictures, any number of pictures do not do it justice. Only by wandering around and watching how things shift into other things, see the sly little hints of humor, will you fully be able to appreciate what they've created.

( The outfit is an oldie but goodie from Blue Blood; normally I don't go for shorts outfits, but the curve of the short bottoms on this are absolutely delightfully charming. )

( More pictures here. )

Credits:


,Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Cole & Magenta
Lipstick: Mock, Micare LipGlimmer - Flirtatious Kobi
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Hair: Majika, Noise
Wreath: Evie's Closet, Wreath of Flowers
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Outfit: Blue Blood, Amelia - pink
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Stockings: Violent Seduction, Lingerie Masquarade
Shoes: G Field, Strap Shoes "Alex" - berry

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Through the Lens of Dreams
Light Settings: Places Cromac
Water Settings: TOR Pretty Placid

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Forty-five - Bronze

Bronze week was a lot of fun! I had the great luck of being sent information about a new roleplaying sim, Wonder Lost, before I took my pictures and being able to discover it was perfect for taking pictures in the shades of bronze! The water is actually tea, and apparently it's tinted all of the trees and buildings, too! In sharp contrast to the week before last, this is a very bronzy look from stem to stern, and largely due to the sim coloring itself, not anything I added to it or any windlight I used.

I'm wearing a lot of things labeled bronze, though - which kind of amuses me since they don't all match! The eyes are De La Soul's RooMee eyes in Bronze, rather than my usual rainbow, and offer a lighter counterpoint to the bronze hair by Honey Hair (closed) which was a freebie I picked up somewhere (don't ask me where, I don't remember!). The lipstick is a bronze stain from Mock, which is starting to be one of my guilty cosmetic pleasure stores. It layers beautifully with my skin, and the eye cosmetics from Adam n Eve just finish off the look by giving me sooty goodness to support my Flugeln Brise lashes (Tomoyuki and Chelle totally converted me; I am now one of those gray-flapper-eyed people when partially rezzed!). The necklace from Earthstones isn't bronze, but the shadings of brown match the other actually bronze things I'm wearing, so I think it gets a pass.


This is the end of the Mad Hatter's Table in Wonder Lost, and as you can see it's more than tea and crumpets; dark fantasy demands more alcoholic libations! And apparently faeries!

The dress is from Celestial Studios, which I also think is closed, but I loved how they used the system skirt layered under the top skirt to create a distinctive style. I'm fairly certain I got this during a closing sale, as I own every color, and I'm very glad I splurged! The shoes are from my near-constant, G Field, and are a fantastic set of wedges I picked up a while ago. Do I have to mention how addicted I am to her shoes? I didn't think so; my flickr is evidence enough! I'm also wearing two rings which I love - one a picture holding ring from Alchemy Immortalis that is still waiting pictures to put in it. Once I had a circle of friends I had planed to input, but when that exploded rather messily and hurtfully I set aside the thought of quite such a thing along with the ring. I've taken to wearing it now, though, which perhaps is a sign that - a year later - I'm ready to move on. The other ring is literally the first piece of jewelry I was willing to spend serious money on, also from Earthstones. It's a set of different color roses and I simply love it. I'd intended to wear it instead of the nestling ring, but when I saw they were on different hands I couldn't resist upping my arc some more.


Relationships in Second Life are a funny thing. I've tended to focus on friendships, at least in part because every guy who has show interest in me has either later turned out not to be a guy, or rather clearly was interested in fitting me into their Girlfriend In Second Life slot instead of interested in getting to know me (I actually had one guy tell me explicitly that he had a girlfriend offline, and now he had to have one in Second Life or he'd be miserable!). I've definitely been burned a couple of times, and it's given my the cynicism which is the only thing that could lead to my How Not to Pick up a Chick in Second Life series. I have gotten into a few In Character relationships, though the first one led to the person almost immediately ignoring me in favor of hitting on another guy, and the second... well, lets just say threesomes are fun when you're the only girl, and leave it at that. I deeply value the friendships I have with people, and they're the glue that keeps my Second Life together even when I'm jettisoning across the grid snapping wile pictures, but I'm doubtful of ever getting a romantic relationship inside of Second Life unless some very different guy shows up.


( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Kei - Cream
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee Eyes - Bronze
Eyeshadow: Adam n Eve, Corsage
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 05
Blush: Mock, Dark Tan
Lipstick: Mock., Brazen Bronze Lip Stain
Ears: Illusion, Mystic Ear
Hair: Honey Hair, Bowtie Bella - Antique Bronze
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace: Earthstones, Mahika Set - Autumn
Dress: Celestial Studio, Nena Dress - Bronze
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: G Field, Knot Wedge Sandal - bronze

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Wonder Lost
Light Settings: Foggy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only