Beached White

This post is going to be more than a little event heavy. July has had a slew of events and there's no sign of us slowing down any time soon. Fit for a Princess continues until the end of the month, and it has lovely things for anyone seeking a Happily Ever After like this white gown from Kouse's Sanctum, also available in an amazing array of colors besides. It has a gorgeous, hip-length corset with delicate curls upon it. The sleeves  have pleasant puffs, and the neckline is a lovely square one; I had a little skin-bleeding through some of the ruffles since I'm a scooch fatter than the average avatar, but otherwise the fit is easy and good, and the included invisible layer works well without leaving any gaps. Each side of the skirt is strongly rigged to the legs, which means in poses where one leg is before the other you end up with a sharp angle, but other than that it moves quite well, and the length is such that you can see the peeping of shoes - or in this case bare feet - under the hem. I truly adore it; in fact, I'm considering adding to my considerable Kousely-Collection with a few more colors. I think the length of the corset is my favorite aspect, as I'm particularly fond of that smooth line over the hips with a flair out below. I'm also still wearing the nail shades from Frogstar on my fingers and toes, this time in a blindingly white shade which works beautifully with the rest of my look. I love how muted the colors are in this particular set, but the white itself is glorious.

My hair is a gloriously twisted updo from Ploom which takes full advantage of Ploom's divine ombre shades. I know I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that these really add an incredibly punch to Ploom's styles - and you can see why in the gorgeous swirl where the color goes from a pale blond, through pink and green and ending on an eye-smartingly-bright blue. I love the effect of a relatively usual shade becoming suddenly rich and unusual - and in this case it adds a delicious pop of color to balance out darker shades elsewhere in my look. This particular look is one of several available at the Hair Faire, and well worth braving the lag and avatars to find. It fit perfectly, with delicate tendrils along the sides of the face far enough forward to not interfere with my ears; truly perfection held up with pins. Darker shades also come in with this set of color-changing jewelry from Elemental. This is one of the four cool color shades, a lovely rich purple, and the metals are color changing as well through a dizzying array of options, including several combination metals like a gold-tinted silver scale.

Oh My Gacha offers up another dizzying array, this time of gachas. I was completely floored by a sim full from edge to edge with gacha machines, often several from the same store, each with their own offerings. Naminoke is one of my favorite gachas to play, as the prices tend to be on the low side and the offerings are so adorable. In this case, it's sets of colored flowers to cling to several parts of the body - from growing out of the temples to twining around the wrists to clinging to the ankles. At least three different color sets - two shades of purple and a lovely blue - are available, and often they have additional flourishes like silvery strands from the hair or little creatures lurking among the blossoms. Sadly, I didn't end up with a full set of any color, but I have high hopes of running across these in a yard sale and filling out my collections. Finally, the ribbons around my toes are from BooBubbleGum and I was lucky enough to score the rare, which includes this cute charm above the heel. The ribbons themselves are rigged for the SLink high heels, but the charm is editable so that if it lands too far down your foot you can shift it around to fit smoothly. Since I ended up with the rare, I also ended up with a charming HUD to change the colors - including to this pure white shade. I've been wishing for foot ribbons for a long while, and these cheer me immensely.

Visits from the Depths of the Inventory

I've been trying to sort through my inventory a bit more, and I hit my "petite" folder, which hasn't seen much light in the last year or so. I do still adore the avatar, though, despite being unable to give her my face. I took my pictures at Imagine, the RP Shopping sim associated with de la Soul's store which has a simply lovely setup. On aspect I always love about the petite shape is using it in contrast to much smaller locations - setting myself up on fountains, on desks, even on signs. It's the size contrast which really amuses me - in Second Life things tend to be so over-sized, so being undersized is simply a ton of fun. My default avatar is Fallen Gods, a pretty elven petite with pale skin and shiny purple Wasabi Pills hair. I try as much as possible to mimic my larger size in smaller, and in this age of rigged mesh hair, Wasabi Pills makes the best possible petite hair and Fallen Gods has a lovely, solid, simple skin tone for his petites which simply make me gleeful. Like my larger form, my eyes are always de la Soul in shiny rainbow tones and they fit perfectly in my head.

My outfit I picked up during a lovely sale by Evie's Closet, which thoroughly packed up my inventory with shiny clothes for petites - though I will admit that my all-times-petite alt got the bulk of my purchases. This one is flexi mesh, which works beautifully on a small scale since there is so much less volume than a full sized gown that it falls so smoothly to the bottom in every pose. It comes with the flower crown and beautiful fluffy sleeves, which make me so terribly happy. I added to it some of the incredible petite jewelry by Elemental that I have in my pocket - chunky and large with undeniable style. It's a combination of crescent and full moons, with gold balls as stars. In the past, I've had my old faithful Fancy Fairy wings,  but for this new petite Deoridhe I simply had to add in my favorite wings from Deviance and they worked beautifully. I left them much larger, to keep the contrast between the tiny body and enormous wings, and part of me now sort of wants to see the same contrast on my full sized avatar - it's so much more realistic. I had such fun revisiting my petite history; I'm definitely going to be trying to do this more often as I sort through my voluminous inventory.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Body: Fallen Gods, Petites Pale
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Monique
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes
Jewelry: Elemental, Petite Moonglow
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Dress: Evie's Closes, Tuala

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Imagine
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Precision Blue
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fantasy Faire: Faeries in the Mists

I pretty much only purchase donation items during the Fantasy Faire, and Blackwater Glenn offered me two of what is part of a growing slew of purple clothing to make awesome outfits out of. The two section gown is from Luas (Fantasy Faire Location here), whom I'm not sure I've run into before, and it combines a relatively modest top and bottom with a super shapely midriff revealing style - not my usual style, but I loved the curve along the rib cage and the narrow band of skin in the back. The top section has a ruffled edge and two bands holding it up, which is novel for Second Life where defying gravity is routine. I really liked how natural it felt, and how the ruffle moved as my arms did - very well rigged. The skirt is even simpler, a narrow banded waist and heavy skirts with a slight train, but again they are very well rigged and move well with animations. I particularly liked a couple of the deep ripples in the fabric, which led to an interesting hem line in pictures and offered some variety that ankle length skirts often don't. It ends up being a fun, casual, realistic style that I really liked.

There is nothing realistic about my footwear, however. De La Soul (Fantasy Faire Location here) has broken into new ground with an awesome pair of shoes, SLink compatible, which give us a chance to squish Cthulu beneath our heels - literally. I adore these shoes, form the delacate tentacles curling under the ball of the foot, to the giant nobby octopus head supporting the heel, to the tiny tentacles sliding around my toes, it is a delight from stem to stern. Charlie has also made up a bunch of add on packs of different colors which can be mixed and matched with the included HUD, allowing enormous buckets of customization to match any outfit.

A couple notes form outside the Fantasy Faire, which has not yet completely consumed my soul. My jewelry set of the multiple colors, which really added some sparkle, are from Elemental Jewelry, which also offers a wide variety of petite jewelry in her lovely, chunky style.I particularly like her style because delicate jewelry so often vanishes against the big clothes and hairstyles in Second Life, and her jewelry can stand up to the biggest look. In addition, I have amazing hair from Wasabi Pills which came from an old Arcade Event, but which might still be available at the myriad of yardsales that bloom every month, or a similar style might be found in her Main Store. I love her pull-back styles for their casual elegance, which work well with a variety of styles.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Melissa (The Arcade)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: Bliensen + MaiTai, Pixiedust
Jewelry: Elemental, Moonglow
Dress: Luas, Cenedra (RFL Donation Item)
Shoes: De La Soul, Cthu Shues (RFL Donation Item)

Pose: Glitterati

Location: Fantasy Faire: Mourningvale Thicket
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 31: Velvet Jazz

Velvet Jazz is a gorgeous combination, a pale pink like the underside of the rose, and a dull blue like the sky when the sun is setting. This photoset was preceded with a rather odd occurrence, though; almost always, when I do a photoshoot but I'm not quite satisfied with it - the colors are off, or the tone is wrong - I'll keep going with it anyway, figuring that one learns as much from objecting to ones own work as one does by focusing on it. This time, though, halfway through editing I ended up scrapping the entire first set, reworking my Petite body, and reshooting it with a different windlight. I still feel like I'm getting the hang of shadows, depth of field, and windlight under these conditions, still, and sometimes I just flub it so badly it simply isn't worth it. One other thing that I'm finding is that as I go through old outfits that have been moldering in my "New" folder for ages, is that I'm really beginning to notice the different level of quality these days versus just a year ago. It's like everything keeps stepping up another notch, and I can only hope I somehow manage to keep up. I wonder sometimes if it might be easier if I stuck to a simpler setup and didn't change everything every time, but I have to admit that's part of the challenge for me, always pushing the envelope and trying something different. I'm still struggling to get mood in, though; sometimes I think I manage, but it's so difficult to tell.

I'm showing off a petite in this look because it felt like it was forever since I dusted one off, and Skinthesis had the perfect shade of pink to match the Velvet in Velvet Jazz. The body can be made to glow, can be made to shine, and seemed to serve as a light source as well, like a little tinkerbell; it also comes with several different makeups - I'm showing "ink" here, which is a butterfly over the face in black. The face can also be changed through a few expressions, it comes with eyes and three kinds of hands, and you can make various parts of the body disappear via an included HUD. It also comes with two kinds of ears - I'm spiky and fae here, of course. My hair is from Wasabi Pills and is rigged mesh, so you have to purchase it specifically for petites, and it's simply lovely. The headband is color changeable using a separate HUD in a wide variety of colors, and the braids are beautifully done and move smoothly between poses. My jewelry is a very cute set from Elemental, which is made up of really cute little flowers and leaves and is custom made for petites. Elemental has been superlative in adapting her jewelry for petites and including petite prizes in a lot of the hunts that she does, so she's a lovely place to go for small and big avatars alike. Finally, my gorgeous gown which is the Jazz of Velvet Jazz is one of the petite adaptations of Fellini Couture's large sized dresses. Like a lot of her dresses, it is prim and not mesh, but one advantage to that is the effect I achieved below, as if my legs were peeking out from a sheer layer in the front of the gown to show off my perfect, petite feet.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Body: Skinthesis, Flights - Blooming
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Amandine
Jewelry: Elemental, Fiori
Wings: Deviance, Titania Fairy Wings
Dress: Fellini Couture, Lady Blue

Poses: Long Awkward Pose (closed)

Location: Whispering Wind
Light Settings: Places Imagine
Water Settings: TOR, Hpmod

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 42 - Cosmic

I am so late on Cosmic! I blame my short attention span. I kept meaning to put together and outfit, and remembering halfway through another photoshoot, and then I spent most of Saturday taking shots at Fallen Gods' Fifth Anniversary Party and went to sleep late. So this is a day late! Bad me! I'm hoping to get it in before the Flickr week restarts, though! Sometimes having only three pictures a week can be such a trial. Speaking of the pictures, you may notice that they seem a little contained this week - and that's because I literally took everyone one inside and around a store, using the small decorative touches around Rebel Hope Designs. Tiny fountains, planters, and vases of flowers all became my backdrop, because when one is a petite they are actually rather huge in comparison! That is one of the things I really love about being a petite - how it affects how I view the world and what becomes a beautiful background to some tiny pictures. Full sized it is more difficult to use a store as a playground, but when one comes up to everyone's knees, one really can make a playground out of anywhere!

I also bought this outfit for this color, less because I couldn't find it in larger and more because I really wanted to be a petite again for a while, which necessarily means wearing petite clothing! I had remembered a color similar to Cosmic among the selection at Evie's Closet and went hunting, and found she's converted many of her more fae outfits for petites in all of their colors. The hair, from Secrets, is part of their new petite line and has some wonderful details - like the braiding and ribbons of hair on the ponytail. I love those kinds of details, the small touches which make something unique. The jewelry is off-color, but I liked the blue as a break in the Cosmic monotony, and Elemental also has converted many of her jewelry from full sized to petite, which means a wider variety to draw from when getting gussied up.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Body: Fallen Gods, Pale (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Rainbow (promotional item)
Hair: Secrets, Kristeen (promotional item)
Outfit: Evie's Closet, Damselfly
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Rebel Hope Designs
Light Settings: CB's Rouge 1
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

ICHP: Days of Celebration and Remembrance

I have some real delights for you all today, most of them from events and one named for me! Squee~! I always get a little shiver of pleasure when something awesome shows up with my name on it, and this Dia de los Muertos inspired mask from The Bitten Prim is no exception. With influences also from Pysanka eggs, from Ukraine, it's a bright and shiny take on a night of joy and solemnity ever intertwined. I have it on good authority that more will follow this one, of similarly bright and cheerful hue. The hair is from the Cinema Event from Wasabi Pills, and I really love it. It's a long, sleek, rigged mesh hair with just enough hair-in-the-face to be freaky and/or sexy. Ambivalent and awesome! Also from the Cinema Event is a new mesh dress from Dilly Dolls with the cutest ruffle right under the bodice. As you can see, a few poses stretch the texture along the bottom, but I adore the images on it - so cute! - and the style is fantastic.I felt like it really fit the sparkly, bright, subtly creepy look I was achieving, though there are black-based colors for people who don't want a bright and sunny Halloween. The hat from 22769 is from the L'accessories Event, which offers up a selection of limited edition accessories for people to peruse. I thought this tiny rose hat was the cutest, and it perfectly matched my the lighter purples in my look.

The shoes, from Felicity, have been out for a while but I've been looking for a place and time to show them off, and it looks like that time is now. Again, they naturally caught up colors in my outfit, and I thought the extremely high heel and cut-out design really made me taller and more elegant! Also on the older side is this amazing set of jewelry from Elemental. I love jewelry which harkens to offline-possible designs, and this one with the gems in cages of metal is simply divine. It is color change on touch with three options, which means it's pretty versatile. I'm also still wearing the amazing SLink hands and taking SLink eyelashes (from her closed-eye kit) for a test drive as well. I like their natural, uneven quality, and while the entire eyelash being one mesh item makes it a little difficult to fit, since my eyes are oddly shaped for Second Life, I think I did a pretty good job.

( More picutres here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Mask: The Bitten Prim, Dia de Deoridhe (gift)
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Nikki Mesh Hair (promotional item, Cinema Release)
Hat: 22769, Femme Fascinating Fascinator (L'accessories Event)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Elemental, Splendor (promotional item)
Dress: Dilly Dolls, This is Halloween-ish (promotional item, Cinema Release)
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands (New Release)
Shoes: Felicity, Felicity, Harlow Stilettos - Lilac (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Siren - Isis City
Light Settings: London2026
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 40 - Amaranth

Amaranth was a fun color to find - especially because it's a slightly redder pink than the other hot pinks - which makes it very difficult to find in ones inventory. I ended up going far in the past, to the days of yore when Silent Sparrow still did her limited edition hunts. Not hunts in the sense most people know them - where the prizes were free - hyasynth would put out Limited Edition dresses at their full store price, but she would hide them in different places all over her sim (back when Silent Sparrow had it's own sim). It was a major happening - she would lock us all out and we'd cluster at the side waiting to be able to swoop in and find dresses. Then the selling and trading would start; because they were hidden, you sometimes couldn't find the color you wanted. One of hya's hard and fast rules was no price gouging, though! No matter if it were rarer, you needed to send on an outfit for the same price. One memorable time, a bunch of suits were released and I ended up giving one to all of my closest friends. I had wanted to get a picture of all of us in them, but it never happened.

I'm wearing a new release from Wasabi Pills for FAMEshed - a cute pig tail deal. I ended up tinting the jellyfish just a little to get the richer, redder red; one thing I'm grateful for is that mesh is editable for color. The bangs are actually modifyable too - Wasabi Pills has picked up the trick of combining rigged and unrigged things - but  they fit me out of the box, no modification required. It even fit well around my ears, which blew me away! I added a hat from Forsaken that I think was a hunt prize once upon a time - a cute bone tophat with a little raven inside; just the right amount of macabre to fit a Silent Sparrow gown. Fitting it to my head took some time and attention, since it's thin bones (as befits an avian!), but I think the final effect was worth the effort. My cosmetics are a mix of Mock on the lips in a gorgeous shiny pink, and a barely visible white eyeshadow from Virtual Insanity.

The Jewelry is from Elemental, and is color changing, which makes it so much more valuable in my inventory. Since I can shift between gold and silver, and since lots of colors are included, changing a set to match my overall look in a snap. The one confusion is how Elemental's texture changing menues work; quite a few options remain programmed in, but without anything they are capable of changing - like tinting. It makes it confusing when I'm shifting through menus, though I pretty quickly adapt to just selecting texture change instead of color change. I am also still wearing awesome shoes from G Field, this time recolored to match with hot pink and white. This is honestly why I now just buy fatpacks of G Field's shoes; I know I'll love them, I know the fatpack gives me total versatility; just spend the money and enjoy the shoes! This is especially cost effective when you compare her prices to the prices at other stores; I can get a fatpack of shoes from G Field for what it would cost me to get two to three shoes from a store of comparable quality.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, La Ligne - White
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir - Rubyfruit
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Izumi Mesh Hair (Released at FAMEshed)
Hat: Forsaken, Fate of the Raven Bones
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Silent Sparrow, Selador - candy (limited edition)
Stockings: Silent Sparrow, Starbunny Knitty Socks - candy
Jewelry: Elemental, Athena Earrings
Shoes: G Field, Mesh Wedge Bootie "Beth"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: D-LAB
Light Settings: Las Legunas
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

LEA 13: Flatland

One of the amazing things about Second Life is the extent to which something can be taken from the depths of the brain and made a reality, even if it violates physics and all sense. And then people can come in and place themselves within it, and blow your mind away. Such is the effect of C i c a's LEA display on LEA 13, made entirely out of flat drawings into which one can insert oneself as a fully formed three dimensional object. The effect is... well, you can see for yourself! I particularly enjoyed being full color in a black and white world, but now I'm wishing I had a black and white avatar to pose with too. I may be BACK.

By the way, I have to gush a little about Alice Projects' new infinity hair - which means every hair can be colored by any color in any HUD you get from her store. I ended up getting a HUD of massive awesomeness in a recent hunt which allowed for rainbow hair. You read that right - RAINBOW HAIR. I have been craving rainbow hair in a variety of sizes for a very long time - I may never take her hair off again (unlikely, but still... RAINBOW HAIR you guys!). I think the HUD is now for sale, but I suck at journalism. If it isn't we should all totally IM her CSR asking for it, yo. The jewelry is from Elemental and I got it last week for 60$L. She has another set out this week, and is doing a new four-color color change, which means effectively four times the necklace for 60$L. The Spectrum dress from Indigo Oddities was a lucky chair prize, and that wonderful person does a wonderful thing by putting her lucky chair dresses for sale for 10$L after their luck changes; this is a lot of dress, for very little linden. There's about half a million on her walls right now! Finally, these shoes are totally not a hunt prize, or on sale, but I love them so much! I pretty much buy fatpacks of G Field shoes whenever one comes out because they never disappoint, and this was no exception. In addition, her fatpacks are now HUD driven with the ability to retint multiple sections of the shoe, thus creating new and interesting combinations of colors to match almost everything! Inventory-saving and awesome, all in one package.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Cosmetics: Mock, Taste the Skittles - Rainbow
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: Alice Project, Lola
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Indigo Oddities, Spectrum Shades - Red (Lucky Board Prize, now 10$L)
Jewelry: Elemental, Chloris Set
Shoes: G Field, Mesh Wedge Bootie "Beth"

Poses: D.Luxx Poses

Location: * C i c a *
Light Settings: AnaLutetia - AvatarOpt
Water Settings: TOR, Glaznost

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 29 - Persian Rose

I'm so late on this Color Challenge - I think this is the first time since the challenge began - with a lovely shade of pink called Persian Rose. The windlight - one of Torley's set in the FOG subheading - was central to bringing out the pinks, and I found the contrasting green really fascinating. This isn't the psychedelic pink and green of a watermelon, but rather it's duskier, darker sibling; one imagines a goth watermelon complaining about being told to take out her piercings and slamming the door in her parents' faces. I got two of the pictures taken in time, then was distracted by a flaw in the outfit and a glorious weekend offline, and came back several days late to wrap it up - only to find the Relay for Life sims were gone. I mourn all of the ones I didn't see, but there are only so many hours in the day and I am finding more and more that I simply can't accomplish everything I'd like to. I ended up seeking out the LEA sims instead, on LEA 6, a display which opened on the fifteenth of July and is ending... sometime. I wish the end dates were more explicit; it would make it easier to prioritize; I'm only halfway through photographing another LEA sim and feeling all the weight of the end of the month. I'm also feeling quite sore and tired, but happy, so I suppose things balance out in the end - even my woefully late Color Challenge.

The outfit is from Pinkmares, a store I've been meaning to showcase for a while due to her incredibly generosity. A regularly changing midnight mania and four lucky offers are always on in her store, and holidays regularly lead to hunts, additional lucky boards, and other offers. The store is a must join for any Thrifty Goths about, both for the free offers and the outfits for sale. My one complaint - and it is on the nitpicky side - is that the top of this particular gown had a line at the back of the neck which drove me wild until I realized what layer it was on. I photographed around it, but it didn't let me highlight this amazing Hair Faire offering from Discord Designs properly from the back (yes, I really am that picky, no I didn't change my top).  I have several angles to show off this awesome close braid with it's metal fastenings, though, and it is up to Discord Designs' usual high standards. The jewelry is another amazing release from Elemental and matches not at all, which I ended up deciding was fun; I had planned to swing by the store to hunt for something in pink, but the yellow was such a contrast to the rest in a look that really had very little contrast. The curling vines around my eyes are an amazing eye-makeup from White Widow and were, when I picked them up at least, very economical for a really distinctive and theatrical effect. I have a half dozen in the wings, so expect to see more from that store in the future. I thought the combination with my usual secondary eyelashes was very nice as well - vines and flowers are a weakness of mine, I suppose!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: White Widow, Rosees
Lipstick: Mock, Pomegranate Lip Jelle
Hair: Discord Designs, Delrey - Baby Blonde (promotional item)
Jewelry: Elemental, Sunray Set (promotional item)
Dress: PiNkMaReS HoUsE, Beautifully Broken
Shoes: G Field, Strap Shoes "Alex"

Poses: Long, Awkward Pose

Location 1: Relay For Life
Location 2: LEA6 - Lollito Larkham
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Melon Chapterhouse
Water Settings: Atomist 2

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

ICHP: Spray Tan and Sunshine in the Country

As you can see, this is a complete departure from my usual style - but I was so intrigued by the bib-miniskirt and tub top from SLC Couture that I simply had to give it a try. The sizing is a bit off, but it looks kind of loose and fun to me, so I rolled with it. I ended up shrinking a few places so I could wear it without invisilayers, since I was enough off of the base shape that you could see through me in a few places. One thing I really like about mesh is the ability to seem much smaller than your clothing, though; no longer the skin-tight of system layers, fabric can drape over a body and form new shapes which make it much more realistic and fun to take pictures of. In this case, I put the medium bustier top under the large overalls, and it looks like I pieced together an outfit from my dad's clothes and maybe some window curtains! A perfect Country look that needed a country place. The lovely ladies in the Mock Cosmetics Group pointed me to T-Town, which proved to be a fantastic place to match the style of my outfit. I love the rows of lavender and the old town, somewhat broken down buildings; it really got me in the mood of being a country girl with her pet owl (50$L Friday Release by Silent Sparrow - it hoots when you click it!).

The jewelry is from my ongoing favorite, Elemental; I figured it looked like the kind of thing a girl would pull together from brightly colored river rocks, bouncing around the farm with her jewels clinking. The hair is a perfect updo, too, from Secrets Hair. I love the braid across the forehead, and I was able to resize it and work the dangly tufts in front of the ears; it's really a lovely, breezy style. As suits a farmgirl, I went brunette and matched it with a darker-than-usual skin from Dulce Secrets and pale as ice eyes from Mayfly (the area was no script, so I couldn't pose my eyes for best look, but these are an amazing design in brilliant shades). The makeup you see is included with the skin; the shadows are darker than I'm used to, but I think it works well with a tannish-red skin. I liked the texturing of the face, too; much less sweet and innocent than my usual skin - which I thought elevated my farmgirl from naif wild child to a woman flirting with elegance. That same elegance is echoed in the nails (a first for me! I'm still not sure what I think of them overall, but the ones from Moondance were lovely) and these gorgeous heels from Felicity. Clearly, she's on her way to town, since there's no way anyone could do farmwork in stilettos!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Dulce Secrets, Lyric Amaretto (promotional item)
Eyes: Mayfly, Deep Sky Mesh - Monet Dawn (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Secrets, Naive - Mocha (promotional item)
Head-owl: Silent Sparrow, Owl-ee! (50$L Linden Friday)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Jewelry: Elemental, Tropical Earth (promotional item)
Nails: Moondance, Square Extra Short Gothic Lolita (promotional item)
Outfit: SLC Designs, Mesh Bib & Brace Mini Skirt and Bustier Top (promotional item)
Shoes: Felicity, Harlow Shoe (promotional item)

Location: T-Town
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Azure
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

How NOT to Make Friends in Second Life

In a world where demands for cybersex from random newbies happens all too often, it's easy to begin to think that only men are inclined to be rude to complete strangers in public. Heading over to a sale location that opened today, I was startled by the scroll of text of a group of four people nearby, primarily one of them who seemed to both be unable to read nametags, and also seemed unable to stop the flow of excrement from her mouth. This is an excerpt of the maybe ten minutes I was displeased enough to be in the same space as her.

[I’m An Asshole]: WAIT U FUCKING BITCH
[I’m An Asshole]: LOL 
[I’m An Asshole]: oo a fairy
[I’m An Asshole]: lick my clit
[I’m An Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: Why you leaving me

I moved closer heading into the store to look, and ignoring her since 1) I don't answer to "fairy" and 2) she seemed like a waste of time. This was quickly verified without me doing anything but looking at clothing nearby.

[I’m An Asshole]: Becauser that fairy bitch made me crash
[I’m An Asshole]: lol joke 
[Friend of an Asshole]: oh the one floatin outside
[I’m An Asshole]: i dont mean it i love her really
[Friend of an Asshole]: jks
[Friend of an Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: no i was joking she was cute
[Friend of an Asshole]: oh god
[Friend of an Asshole]: too much
[Friend of an Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: omg she is there
[I’m An Asshole]: lol
[I’m An Asshole]: Sorry fairy
[I’m An Asshole]: i didnt mean it

And then she walked into me, over and over again, until she and her little friends went away, because when you apologize to someone, apparently it shows how regretful you are by bumping into someone who is ignoring you.

Sometimes silence IS the answer.

A couple quick notes on my ensemble - the outfit is from a sale going on at Silent Sparrow right now of some of her older releases, which as far as I'm concerned stand up over time. The jewelry is a gorgeous set from Elemental, who has some up for 60$L every weekend (though not these this week, her jewelry is always worth a look!). The hair is a recent release from Secrets Hair and is a combination prim-and-mesh hair, which means that while the shoulder pieces are attached, and thus move with you, the updo and extra hairpieces are modifiable. I was able to fit them around my ears with the greatest of ease using "edit linked" and it really saved a gorgeous hairstyle for me!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow MESH (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Kosh, Lost Souls Eyeshadow
Lipstick: Croire, Glittery Gloss
Hair: Secrets, Sultry - Platinum
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses
Dress: Silent Sparrow, Dominion Suite - azure
Shoes: G Field, Square-toe Shoes "Sophie"

Pose: Glitterati

Location: The Mystic Dream
Light Settings: TOR, BIG SUN Impires
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Sprightly Summer in Amras

This is a combo outfit which I thought of almost as soon as I saw the second piece, this awesome top from Apple May Designs. It comes in three colors (cream - shown, pink, and black), and when I picked it up a few days ago it was 25$L, though the price may have gone up since then. The shorts are a special release for Culture Shock by G Field, and I love them to bits (I'm also wearing her shoes)! There is also a limited edition blue, plus the entire fatpack - which I totally splurged on. The large, which I'm wearing, is wide enough to accommodate my round belly, and I love how the ruffles move with my legs. The entire outfit seems loose and springy, which is what I was aiming for - I even like how things aren't an exact fit, so that it looks like real clothing over the surface of my skin. Both items are rigged mesh, which means no resizing, so make sure to try a demo before buying them. I'm a pile of rigged mesh, too, since my hair is rigged mesh from Wasabi Pills. I love the curve of the pony tail over the shoulder - these are some of the reasons I'm becoming increasingly addicted to mesh, even with it's downsides, lie how rigged mesh is only linked to a few skeletal dimensions and not all of my curves.

My ears are also mesh, but not rigged, new from Illusions. It took me a while to fit them; if you do it right, and use the included alpha to remove your ears, they can look absolutely seamless into your skull. There is a mesh shadow which is included, but I ended up moving it into my head and going for the seamless look instead, because I couldn't make it work with the curve of my skull (I have a rounder head than many). The ears are double-layered, meaning the shadows are on separate mesh right above the mesh of the skin tone. This means your choices for skin tone are infinite, and can be put in through the standard Second Life editor, but that the shadows won't ever become muddy. My lipstick is from Mock, one of a fatpack I picked up ages ago and have been steadily using since. You can see I'm smiling in most of these pictures; I ended up modifying my Flugeln Brise and *X*plosion eyelashes for a smile, narrowing them down. It was a pretty quick job, but I think it gets the effect across! I think I love Tomoyuki forever for convincing me to try on lashes. I layer alpha lashes under a set of prim, and it really brings out my eyes. My jewelry is a new release from Elemental which will be on sale for 60$L over the weekend, so hurry by for some amazing pieces!

I've been thinking a lot about who we support and are friends with recently, both in the context of blogging and outside of that. I have a lot of dear friends, and a lot of creators I like, and sometimes those two groups collide. Sometimes also, designers can believe that I don't really like their work, I'm showing it because we're friends. Speaking with a dear friend recently, he claimed my addiction to one of his creations was as a result of bias; it took some work to convince him that yes, I liked him, but no liking is enough for me to wear things I don't like! On the other hand, some of the stuff I love is created by people who my friends don't always like, and I've had to wrestle with the issues of whether one should pass money to people who behave badly, or if the bar is set way too low for avoiding or boycotting people because everything in Second Life feels so immediate and critical (even though it really isn't). It's easy to have strong emotional reactions to people and things in a walled garden like Second Life, where there is no real effective power for anyone on the grid except for Lindens, and the Lindens are virtually absent. These sorts of oddly closed systems, where social influence is the only means of gaining influence (and by extension power) lead to some predictable results which aren't always showing people in their best lights. Maybe if we all extend a little compassion and understanding, things might ease a little.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow MESH (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Blush
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Shiki Mesh Hair (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses (promotional item, 60$L weekend deal)
Undies: katat0nik, Gift Wrapped
Top: Apple May Designs, Hazel Mesh Top - Cream
Skirt: G Field, Mesh Shorts - yellow
Heels: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - mustard

Poses: Adorkable

Location: Isle of Amras
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Oyster Bay
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Crying to take Pictures

This photoshoot has been a royal pain to take. After several days of effortless pictures - which resulted in a slew of blogposts - this one completely hung me out to dry. There's a mesh body glitch where your eyeballs become enlarged, covering up the area around them and looking very strange - I had that in all these pictures, hence no closeup. It was so incredibly frustrating! I finally just took these pictures and called it a day. Luckily, even if I don't look my best, the stuff I'm wearing is unparalleled in cool.

These awesome boots are a new release from Vanilla C. Designs; they're mesh and completely awesome - down to details like the zipper up the back. The heel is tall but well formed into the sole of the shoe, and I love how the boots are slightly but not extremely pointed. I have fairly fat calves and was able to fit into the S/M set, but as always with mesh - try the demos first! My outfit is a gorgeous dress from Fallen Angel Creations. It's a tabard style robe with long, swoopy sleeves also tabard cut, and comes in a huge variety of colors. I couldn't resist it in teal, even with a plunging neckline that makes me blush! I put some stockings from PixelDolls underneath, which matched the color perfectly, but it can also be worn bare for an even more revealing look.

My hair is a very fun updo from Tribal Soul Designs, complete with a long flexy ponytail. Since there's a significant prim part to the hair, it stays up and poofy more effectively than flexi alone, and I was easily able to modify it around my new and shiny, yet space-taking-up ears. I love the little wisps in front of the ears! Details like that really make an updo look. The jewelry is a repeat from Elemental, this time with the matching bracelets. Don't those look amazing? There is also a matching hairpiece. I ran out to pick up this in teal after showing it off in blue - and I think I own several more colors. I have more to show off from her, but it'll take my shape cooperating! I finished off the look with this awesome lip shade released from A. E. Meth from the special ice cream event last month at Motif.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

 Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow MESH (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Heterochromia eShadow for Blue and Green
Lipstick: A. E. Meth, Matte Lip Tints - Slushie
Hair: Tribal Soul, Kahl - Platinum
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Elemental, Audrey Set - Teal
Outfit: Falln Angel Creations, Tittli Dress - Black Aqua
Stockings: PixelDolls, Leggings Teal Lace Webbing
Heels: VC Designs, M-001 Black Leather Boots - mesh (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Neva River
Light Settings: TOR, SUNSET Blue Inspiration
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Punk Fae In winter

I've been really spacy and easily distracted recently, and it's made it hard to get things done. That being said, I've actually gotten a decent amount done if I put things in perspective - I just feel often as if there is some secondary processing going on in the back of my head. Today, listening to a very funny comedy piece on a family and their animals, and I ended up half laughing, half crying - I almost had to pull over to cry on the side of the road, and I still have no idea what might make me sob. My front yard is mostly weed-pulled, and I need to pry up the stones and start planting things - maybe get some mulch. Dishes are mostly done, but the house needs to be cleaned, vacuumed, and mopped. It feels like everything is in flux, and hidden forces within me are rising up to do... something. Definitely time to dress up in neat clothing and take pictures - right?

The hair, wings, and eyes are all part of a hunt at The Stringer Mausoleum while the store is being re-created. Each prize candle is 5$L, and the prizes are well worth it - as you can see. The outfit is a shrunk down version of the Archer Tunic from De La Soul; if you buy the fatpack, it comes with an awesome color changing HUD - which means a much smaller footprint in your inventory! The jewelry is from Elemental - an amazing pink and green set designed specifically for petites, and the skin is one of the many releases from Skinthesis with a lovely tan color and a special butterfly mask on the face. I'm once more wearing amazing boots from KaiAna, this time tinted to match the tunic; I used the light gray version of the boots to make sure the shadows were in place, and I think it turned out really well. There is starting to be some real variety with styles available for petites - not only natural sorts of things, but also punk and modern styles.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Body: Skinthesis, Flights 5 Pack - Dawn (promotional item)
Eyes: The Stringer Mausoleum, Witching Hour Eyes - S.E. Spring Glory (5$L Hunt Prize)
Hair: The Stringer Mausoleum, Summon Winter - L.E. Bleeds10 (5$L Hunt Prize)
Wings: The Stringer Mausoleum, Bealtainn Wings - S.E. Spring Glory (5$L Hunt Prize)
Outfit: De La Soul, Archer Tunic - Brown (promotional item)
Jewelry: Elemental, Petite Black Velvet Necklace - Rhodochrosite/Beads
Boots: KaiAna, Vinyl Boots

Poses: Glitterati

Location: The Companion
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Das Fog
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Modern Art

I love the power and simplicity of artistic builds, like this one at La Pieta. Build out of blocks, esheresque, the most charming thing about the build is the juxtaposition of directions - what is down is to the side, or upside down.It also is simply lovely in design: water is done smoothly and flawlessly; plants look beautiful no matter what direction you aim the camera, and the boxes are simple cubes but textured enough to not look blank. I used a soft windlight with indirect light, and just enjoyed what was there. On my mind was a recent set of hostile posts about what is art - non Second Life related directly, but art in Second Life is an interesting thing. Arguably, any well built, well textured build in Second Life could be considered art - but there are also artists within Second Life who have battles of various kinds about art, who is an artist, and who deserves the limited resources of free art space. Second Life isn't just "Your Imagination," it's also "Your Pocketbook," as much as the rest of the world - and that always seems to lead to conflict between people. I don't have any sort of solution, but I'm glad artists are in Second Life to make things for me to enjoy, even though I know it's not ever about me.

My hair is a gorgeously textures mesh updo from Wasabi Pills. While this is mesh, it isn't rigged, so you can resize it to fit your head; I know because I did that! I tucked a set of cherry blossoms from Fluffernutterz in my hair, at I'm wearing a gorgeous set of brilliant pink jewelry from Elemental. I love the delicate chain design with the inverted hearts over the gems, and I'm always a fan of double-strand necklaces. I accentuated my gorgeous De La Soul skin and eyes with cosmetics from Mock. The eyes were a group gift, and are absolutely amazing. I love the sparkle around the edges, which really makes them seem realistic. I think the delicacy of both match the style of my clothes and hair - both of which are a departure from my usual frilly style.

My one concession to frills are these fun shoes from Felicity; with both flowers and straps, how could I resist? I tucked them in under the huge cuffs of these Poised pants - which are also highwaisted and beautifully textured. I love the lacing detailing on the front of the pants, and how they layer over the top. Usually, a pale pink and brown color are more classy and upscale than my style, but I really had a lot of fun putting the look together. I could almost walk into an office and take over, couldn't I?

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow MESH (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Mystic Fairy Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Morrocan Indifference Eyeshadow (group gift)
Lipstick: Mock, Opal Lipcolor - Hopbush
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Annette Mesh Hair (promotional item)
Hair Flower: Fluffernutterz, Cherry Blossom Hair Piece
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Elemental, Bewitched Blossoms 2 - Pink (promotional item)
Shirt: Poised, Dreams Pants - Coffee (promotional item)
Pants: Poised, Dreams Shirt - Romance (promotional item)
Shoes: Felicity, Gianna Stilettos (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: La Pieta
Light Settings: Places Paris2
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Fantasy Faire: The Tides

One of my decisions when I started blogging was that for "my" assigned storees I would try to do a second photoshoot on the sim their store was one; Skinthesis is located on The Tides, which is a gorgeous sim set on platforms above the ocean, styled in a very Greco-Roman manner (all pillars and statues and marble). These pictures only hint at the total majesty, complete with long falls of water under the buildings and fascinating, complicated figures hiding underneath the platforms. There was also an amazing Giant Avatar which hung out within the platforms like a Titan come to Earth - I'm a petite in these pictures, but she dwarfs even a normal sized avatar. I didn't get as close to some of the high up delicacy as I wanted - only seeing it toward the end - but if I have time I may swing back to take some more pictures; everything is so complicated and beautiful, I wish it could stay.

I'm having a lot of fun in my petite avatar; this is another RFL release, this time with a purple Luna mask instead of the rainbow. Sadly I didn't get the matching wings until after these pictures were taken, but you'll see some of Skinthesis' Luna wings soon, I promise! The hair is another from Wasabi Pills from the Petite collection; I also got my paws on a new script for resizing which corrects for narrow bits of hair which might keep you from fitting the hair to a petite, here on the marketplace for only 5$L. For those of us increasingly obsessed with our petites, this adds a valuable resource for tweaking down hair and clothing to match. My necklace is from Elemental again - part of her petite jewelry line - and the dress is an RFL donation item from Solange which I completely fell in love with, which comes with the arm jewelry (I picked up a cyan dress, too, but I likely won't have time to show it before the end of the faire). One advantage to petite clothing is that everything fits out of the box; one disadvantage is that there is no modifications in the shape for us to individualize our forms. My Deoridhe usually has wider hips, matching larger belly and butt, and a larger bust; I wish I could replicate it in a petite, but right now that isn't possible.

Unfortunately, the Faire is only open for a very limited time - so hurry and check out the gorgeous views before they all disappear back into the inventories of their creators. Pictures don't do the full majesty justice, but you can find a lot more in the Fantasy Faire Flickr group, where I also submit all of my pictures.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Body: Skinthesis, Petite Mesh AV - Obsidian Dualities Elementals (promotional item, Fantasy Faire Donation)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Small Eyes
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Monique Petite Mesh
Jewelry: Elemental, Petite Black Velvet Necklace - Peridot (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Iridescent
Silks: Solange, Petite Innocence HH - Green

Poses: Glitterati

Location: The Tides sponsored by Fallen Gods
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only