Twisted Color Challenge: Week 28 - Poppies Sky

Orange and Blue are fantastic complementary colors, and often really fun to pair up, and this set of bright, slightly dusty colors - Poppies Sky - are no different. I'm playing around more with coloring my wings from Deviance, and really enjoying the fact I can tint the veins and webbing separately - the effect is striking and powerful, I think. It's a little difficult to tint, since I wear them moving, but if you set the color n your selections first, then select face, and keep an eye on what the texture shown is, you can pretty quickly and easily tint your way through even with the wings moving. Like on the wings, I did a lot of mixing for this look; the hat and hair from Wasabi Pills hat the orange as a choice, but again I used select face to tint the two buttons - one a fantastic blue, and the other slightly more creme to match the secondary color on this necklace from Glow. I actually picked the necklace up thinking of this challenge, as the orange seemed to match it well and it was a unique, interesting piece of jewelry. One thing I love about Second Life is being able to accumulate a variety of unusual jewelry, and I added pieces from another set - a bracelet and ring - from Eclectica to balance out the orange at my fingertips - a fantastic glittery set from Orc Inc which I was glad to have an excuse to wear again.

My cosmetics are a combination of Elymode for the eyes, with blue lids and gold around the eye, and Mock in a orangy-brown for my lips. I'm unsure if I would have wanted more blue, but I have to admit the all orange around the eyes is a very warm, soft look. My dress is a fantastic release from Rebel Hope in an interesting cut, showing off the arms and legs instead of the breasts and butt, with fantastic texturing to show the ripples and pulls of fabric which Second Life can't duplicate in form. Finally, my shoes are an amazing recent release from SLink and allowed me to mix and match textures so that I could again pair up blue and orange to fantastic effect. They fit over the medium feet SLink releases, so I could match my toes to my nails easily. I spent a long while futzing with shadows and depth of field taking these pictures, and while I'm still a novice, I spent much of it crowing about how much I adored both. I didn't realize how unpolished my pictures looked until I saw them with shadows falling naturally, and the background fuzzing out slightly in response to focus, and it's like rediscovering photography in Second Life all over again.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Candace Creamer
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Lumi 2
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Mesh Eye Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Blue & Gold
Lipstick: Mock, Caramel Lip Jelle
Wings: Deviance, Titania Mesh Fairy Wings
Necklace: Glow, Scarf Style Necklace
Bracelet & Ring: Eclectica, Rococco Cobalt
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Nails: Orc Inc, Glitterslash
Dress: Rebel Hope, Angela
Shoes: SLink, Tri-Color Wedges (worn with her medium feet)

Pose: flowy

Location: nostos deer
Light Settings: Places, Las Legunas
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 25: Royal Maple

I went a lot more muted than the given Royal Maple for this weeks twisted color challenge, but I ended up really liking what I pulled together, and had a lot of fun exploring the Kingdom of Jordan to take some muted, rosy pictures. I don't feel particularly muted, which is one thing that makes these pictures so funny; they are so not a reflection of how I'm feeling lately, and yet I find them very soothing, like a warm bath or sunlight on a windy day. The inspiration for this muted serenity was this really fun dress from Lassitude and Ennui which I never thought I would like - and I am so glad I was wrong about that. It combines a lighter shade of the brown on the top, in a sort of sweet cream, with the blue on the bottom, in an icy soft winter sky blue. I ended up matching the creamy brown color to my hair, from Wasabi Pills - a perennial favorite with an adorable braid. The braid is rigged mesh, but the flyaway bits around the face aren't, which means they move separately.The final bit of cream comes from these amazing wrapped heels from SLink, which go with her medium height feet. I love the threaded design; I remember another shoe tied with ribbon from years ago which I wish now I'd picked up, and this shoe is reminiscent of them, though more edgy. There is at least one other store now making shoes for this foot, and I really hope the affiliate program which has gone so well with her nails will be picked up for her feet, since I love open toes shoes so very much.

Since the skirt of the dress is so much longer, I limited the blue and kept it mostly around my head. First there is the eyeshadow, from Elymode, which actually is a blue/brown combination to go with the overall theme. I used a very pale lip from Mock in order to mute down the natural pink of my skin's lips; much as I love the setup from De La Soul, in this case it seemed too bright. Then I added this incredible new release from Eclectica for the Genre event. It's an Art Deco inspired set, and I really love the clean, simple lines which echo some shoes she made ages ago. I'm probably going to try to pull together an entire twenties style outfit sometime soon, and these are the perfect inspiration for it. Finally my nails, both hands and feet, are tinted with one of Adore & Abhor's amazing nail sets; I considered briefly using contrasting colors, but I ended up liking this icy blue as a subtle reminder of the dual colors making up this twisted challenge.

I've been reworking my social media in the past couple of days, finally giving in and making a Google+ (G+) account. It's silly really, especially since everyone knows me as Deoridhe so I don't expect anyone to know who Deirdre is, but with Google's forced combination of blogger, YouTube, and GMail, where on the latter two I was constantly getting spammed with G+ sign ups such that I accidentally signed up twice, I figured I'd give them what they want and hopefully they'd leave me alone. Bully logic, but in many ways internet corporations are the biggest bullies, and we play in their playgrounds. So far, I'm not sending out any notices on G+ as there seems to be no way to well... just put it out there; all communications seem to be directed, and that feels too much like spam for me - ironic, since I effectively spam my blog on Plurk. I also signed up to Tumblr, mostly so I could reblog things I liked and stop bookmarking them all. I'm planning to use it as a more off-the-cuff saving center for things which grab my attention, rather than a blog per se, but I plan to announce my posts on there assuming it isn't too much of a pain.

None of these are connected to my main email account; in fact I've been taking steps to divorce as much as I can from that account, so that I have things nicely compartmentalized and organized. It's harder than you would think; I tend to use dedicated web browsers for certain facets of my identity because none of the companies I interact with on the internet are at all interested in allowing for easy compartmentalization, despite the danger of having financial information, legal information, and what videos I like to watch all cross-indexed, especially since they're at vastly different scales of sensitive and private. I don't particularly care who knows Labyrinth is my favorite movie, but I'll be damned if my income is on the internet somewhere. I think the profound lack of respect for the reality that we all have differing levels of information we're comfortable with people having, and that compartmentalizing is actually a healthy and good thing to do, is part of my annoyance with how the internet is currently trying to work, so please - even on G+ where it can't be front and center - call me Deoridhe. That's who I am.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Candace Creamer
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Lori
Eyes: Nomine, Stained Eyes
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Brown & Sky
Eyelashes: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Lipstick: Mock, Opal Lpcolor Chalky
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Silver Wheel, Candy Slices
Hands: SLink, Enhanced Mesh Hands
Nails: Adore & Abhor, Shimmer Fades
Jewelry: Eclectica, Rhapsody (in Blue)
Dress: Lassitude & Ennui Patience
Feet: SLink, Medium Feet
Shoes: SLink, Lulu

Pose: Adorkable

Location: Kingdom of Jordan
Light Settings: Nacon's Dawn
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 18 - Pine’s Dawn

How do we know we're right?

I've been thinking about that a lot today, in response to a new podcast I'm listening too, called Hardcore History. His most recent release - clocking in at over four hours - was about the Münster Rebellion, which was when a bunch of radical, communistic Anabaptist, fresh in the throes of the Reformation, took over the town of Münster and tries to create the kingdom of god on earth. A lot of their ideals seem very familiar to us today; equality for all people, sharing goods freely, voting for our own representatives in the government. Their intentions - the written ones - were good by modern standards, if somewhat terrifying by historical ones; equality is a very new concept, communistic sharing of goods is recognized but not valued by many people, and most people viewed with horror the idea of all people being equal, as each were born to a caste and the rulers should rule while the ruled should be ruled.

Münster went down in much the way other cults have gone down, like Jonestown or the Branch Davidians. Often, the roots of them are good, if fatalistic; eschatological obsession seems to be their greatest initial flaw. Peace, love, freedom, equality - all of these things are generally acknowledged to be positive, good things. Somehow, these groups form around these men, shifts come to the group and the men, and then it ends in fire and death; I feel a strong desire to understand these fatal flaws, to know why so many good intentions, so much of a desire to be right, leads to such darkness and evil. How do we know we're right? How can we recognize when we're wrong?

I'm dressed up to match the MadPea Incan hunt this time, for the Pine's Dawn twisted color challenge. The pale color comes from my skin, a favorite from De La Soul, and my hair, a fantastic new release from Exile. The skin I've already gushed about; have I mentioned my love recently? Check out the butt on it; absolutely fantastic, and with the faintest hint of dimples. The hair is lovely and floofy, over the top enough to stand up to this fantastic dress release from Rue, which is now a collaboration between my favorite Ruina and Themis Enzo, late of Favole. The gown! The colors! The fit! My desire to squee and wriggle goes on and on! There are tons of colors available, though sadly my pocketbook - recently deflated from Fantasy Faire - was only big enough for two dresses. Woe, oh woe is me. I was able to find a color match for the greens in this fantastic set of nails from Orc Inc, which has quickly become one of my favorite nail shops. I was lured there by rainbow glitter, but the sparkles have kept me loyal and poor. I matched up the twisted colors in eyeshadow, from Elymode, and lips from Adore & Abhor. They're both staples of my inventory, go to cosmetics for my more complicated looks. Finally, my toes are covered - and made - by Felicity, in a color recently released at Steals and Deals. An up close picture is here, and you can see the delicacy of the design and the variety of textures.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Candace (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow (promotional item)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, brown and gold
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Lips Grass
Hair: Exile, Fire to the Rain
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Rue, Threads/Midnight Caress
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Nails: Orc Inc, Glitterslash
Shoes: Felicity, Nadine (Steals & Deals, promotional)

Poses: !bang

Location: MadPea Incan Treasure Hunt Sim
Light Settings: Places Abracadabra3
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL DisneyBound – Week Seven: Kuzco

Week seven of my quick, quick, catch up Disneybound challenge is Kuzco, the "Incan" emperor from The Emperors New Groove. He spends a lot of time as a llama, but I decided for something a lot less hairy for this look, drawing inspiration from French and Japanese cultural fashions for something imperial, and ended up with less a casual look and more a really striking, High Fashion look that would get me stared at on the street. I ended up really loving it, though - it's so impressive and over the top. I found this amazing sim named Luminarios Divide to take pictures in, which had a dreamy, haunted Japanese-style garden. One thing I think about with strongly culturally significant items, like the head-dress which is appropriate for a Japanese Oiran, is cultural appropriation - the taking, redefining, and in some cases gross lack of understanding about aspects of other cultures.

Oiran are rooted in the Edo period (1600–1868), the word becoming a general term for courtesan in the mid-1700s. They were restricted to walled districts by the Tokugawa Shogunate and only allowed out to visit dying relatives and for cherry blossom viewing. Japanese women also ended up being kidnapped or bought by Portuguese traders and their crews; the impression that Japan is more sexual, and the racists stereotypes of Japanese (and Asian) women as submissive and obedient likely has it's roots here. How much do I, a non-Japanese woman, play into these stereotypes when I wear artifacts of a foreign culture? It's difficult to say, and so while I am drawn to these symbols of complicated cultures and rarefied society, I also try to keep in mind the historical and modern implications inherent in them.

This gorgeous hair, complete with the enormous combs which indicate a wealthy Oiran, is from Tukinowaguma - an amazing hair store with a wide variety of well made, unique hairstyles. Whenever I want something that blows me away. When I saw Kuzco's hair, I knew right away I would have to go to Tukinowaguma in order to hope to match the glory of his sunburst-style crown. I added a chain bindi, a new release from Souzou Eien and a perfect fit for my brow; I love how simple and spare it is against the opulence of the rest of my look. My eyeshadow is a slightly naturalistic shadow from Elymode, in shades of red and gold to match the overall color theme, and I paired dark red lips from Heartsick wish a single stripe from La Petite Morte to loosely echo the distinctive red lower lip of the Oiran. Heartsick is currently having a sale to try to raise money for the creator to get a new computer - hers died a horrific death. Finally, the distinctive bright turquoise earrings he wears are more demurely represented by a pair of ring earrings from Earthstones.

My collar is from Rosal, and is my favorite of her many different corset styles - the Unmei - which is loosely based on the Obi, brocade fabric, and silky ties. She recently released gloves and ballet style boots to match, each with the distinctive band of brocade and stylish bow. I paired it with this simply amazing gown from Violent Seduction, based on the styles of 17th Century court gowns in France, with it's low-cute, square-necked top and the heavy, velvet overskirt and corset. My only wish from this outfit is that I could wear the corset part separately; I would love to pair it with a variety of tops and bottoms to enjoy it across the grid. The skirt is rigged to the legs, which means sometimes it's movement is a little odd, but overall it means that it remains puffed out no matter where one goes or how one moves. Finally, my boots are from G Field and come in two parts, so I was able to get the gold and black style of Kuzco's sandals. The top part are actually originally white, but since all of her shoes are modify-ok I was able to tint them to match the gold of the rest of my look.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Candace (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow (promotional item)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Autumn red/gold
Lipstick: Heartsick, Morticia
Lipline: La Petite Morte, Red Stripe Lip
Hair: Tukinowaguma, Tokie
Bindi: Souzou Eien, Precious Bindi Gold/Red
Earrings: EarthStones, Bali Hoop Earrings
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Collar: Rosal, Unmei
Corset/Skirt: Violent Seduction, Versailles Dress (promotional item)
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Nails: Orc Inc, Glitterslash
Shoes: G Field, Open Boots "Vilda"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Luminarios Divide
Light Settings: CB's Rouge 4
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 15 - Boysenberry Field

Boysenberry Fields is a warm, snuggly set of colors - a brownish gray and a warm purplish pink - and I was feeling particularly warm and snuggly, and so ended up snuggling into this gorgeous beary hoodie from Violent Seduction in a rich shade of purple. It has these wonderful, but pockets - maybe on a future time I'll attempt to fill them with something appropriate, like candy or frogs. I crowned it in Wild Things style with this adorable new crown from Dilly Dolls - who also supplied my cute short skirt and a pair of heels I tinted to match the overall look. I loved the style when similar crowns in gray and white were released for FreeStyle, and these are just darling and come in white and black with dark and light versions of the colors. My Dilly Dolls fuscia was match with this awesome fuscia lipstick from Adore & Abhor, while I echoed the paler pink in my beary Violent Seduction ears is echoed in a simple eyeshadow from Elymode. I like pulling individual shades out of a look to reflect in cosmetics; I think it's a subtle way to pull together a look without getting too "matchy." My hair was by far the hardest part of this look - I went through two stores before finally settling on this short hairstyle from Wasabi Pills, and am considering making a new section of my hair organization "fits under hood".

Around my neck, I tucked this really awesome scarf from Miel which was thankfully editable enough to make it fit; much as I love mesh, several of the looks I've done over the past few months would have been a lot harder if all of my inventory was mesh. That being said, my SLink hands fit perfectly under the Violent Seduction hoodie arms, and I even got to have the little thumbs through the holes which always makes me giggle when I see them. Wriggle and be free, little thumbs! Wriggle and be free! The mesh skirt from Dilly Dolls is also rigged mesh and yet, using a couple sizes smaller than my usual, I was able to fit it and make a really polished, yet adorable look. The stockings are from G Field, and I actually tinted them slightly antiqued to match the brownish-gray of my Miel scarf. Those slightly tinted toes got tucked into majorly tinted shoes, also from Dilly Dolls, so that I was co-ordinated from crown to toes.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Brown & Pink
Lipsticks: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips Fuscia
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Princess Mesh (promotional item)
Crown: Dilly Dolls, Hearty Crown
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hoodie: Violent Seduction, Ferale Hoodie
Scarf: Miel, Fringe Scarf - leafy
Skirt: Dilly Dolls, Kasset Black
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Tights: G Field, Print Tights
Shoes: Dilly Dolls, Saula Dark Heels

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Split Screen: The Scribbled Cliffs
Light Settings: Phototools - Dream Book 02
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 7 - Truffle Valley

Truffle Valley really seemed more like chocolate and banana to me - but this dress is actually called chocolate and vanilla! An impulse purchase from Yulicie at an event - I forget which - it came with a bunch of other colors all in dessert shades. I really like the sprinkles on the skirt and the warm chocolaty goodness, and the dress itself is well made if a little sharp around the shoulders.  The style is simple and sweet, and the texturing is simple but solid. It really was perfect for this challenge, though! I paired it with chocolate tinted jewelry from Purple Moon Creation's, a heavy jeweled set with earrings and ring in addition to the collar-style necklace. I usually wear Purple Moon Creation's clothing, but I think this jewelry set is really well done and attractive. More solemn and fancy than the dress might call for, but I thought it dressed it up very nicely. The other ring I added to keep up the banana front - the cutest macaron ring from Sugar (which is re-opening in March). I have a bunch of these and they're a fun way to add some of my favorite foods to my ensemble without standing around with my mouth open!

I'm wearing hair from D!va - a gorgeous bun style with daisies included. It doesn't quite go well over my ears, but I used a few daisies from Nushru that blended in beautifully. One issue with having these enormous Illusions ears is that sometimes hairstyles I really like don't fit well. I probably should give in and buy them on my main alt, who rocks with her human ears. The cosmetics I ended up are really a tangle. The eyes are from Elymode, one of her earliest releases in chocolate and gold; she has fantastic dual tone eyeshadows which are a welcome staple. The lips are layered - underneath is a chocolatey Mock shade, then a brush of banana on top thanks to a stain from a new-to-me store called Delusions which I think really rounded out my look. The real end to the whole kit, though, are these awesome shoes from KS Creations which remain some of my favorite thigh high boots in world. I love how I can alter the texture and then tint it further to match perfectly.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Brown & Gold
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick 1: Mock, Sahne Bitter Chocolate
Lipstick 2: Delusions, Candy Stain - banana
Hair: D!va, Mayumi3
Hair Ornaments: Nushru, Oh Daisy
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Purple Moon, Cycle dans la Chocolaterie
Ring: Sugar, Mesh Macaron Ring
Dress: Yulicie, Vellant Retro Dress - Vanila Chocolate
Boots: KS Creations, Feline Boot - Leather

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Split Screen: Yooma Mayo - Yes, Giovanni
Light Settings: In Situ
Water Settings: In Situ

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Vengeance in Oil

I both love and hate the MadPea Hunts. I love them because they are expansive stories, covering a lot of ground, with intriguing stories and amazing settings which invite photography and immersion. I really hate how people hide things, how small the hunt items are, and the sometimes backlash in the group chat against helping people hunt. I'm a big believer in things remaining fun and not taking too much time (too much usually defined as over an hour). It's not that I want things handed to me, but I have a somewhat stressful job and I find struggling with laggy sims and trying to find tiny objects half hidden under other objects to also be frustrating. That's at least in part why I've mostly stopped doing hunts - but MadPea remains my main exception; I do it every time, and try to get it done early so that I can blog the prizes (yes, there is a Room 326 Post coming), but I also like to include little additional hints in the places I really struggled and I absolutely adore helping people find things. Yes, maybe people should think through things a second time before asking for help, but also hunts are supposed to be fun, not something to shame people about or make them feel bad, so I will always default to helping people and being thrilled when they finally get to those final creepy rooms which solve the mystery of Room 326 in the Silent Peacock Hotel.

I had originally thought to take pictures of these recent releases from Dilly Dolls. The dress is now available in light colors, and their creator made some changes to the dark; now you can wear it with and without the shrug and boobie-options (see my old blogpost here), and it's fixed so that it blessedly no longer bugs out your eyes so I'm not blindfolded for the pictures! I really love the little details on it - the ruffles on the hips, the curve of the rear end, and the contrast between itty bitty dress and big stompy boots which regularly appeals to me. I paired it with a gorgeous jewelry set from Eclectica, with chandelier danglies and shiny gems. The hair is no longer available, though - I cruelly taunt you with one of the Advent Prizes from Alice Project, but to salve your pains I do assure you the style is available in her store. I finished the stompy fairy look with very simple cosmetics - a gold and coal eyeshadow from Elymode and a simple neutral lip from Mock. The images are form the End Game of Madpea's hunt, which I'm not linking too, but I did link to the beginning of the hunt if you want to check it out.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Coal and Gold
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, MeshEyelashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Toast
Hair: Alice Project, Seohyun (Advent Gift)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Dilly Dolls, Kitty Light (Yellow)
Jewelry: Eclectica, White Opulence
Boots: Dilly Dolls, Kitty Stompers Light (Yellow)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Endgame for the MadPea Hunt
Light Settings: In Situ

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Advent Gifts

The Advent season is a time of cheer in Second Life, particularly in the hands of generous creators! I have mixed feelings about Advent simply because I'm a forgetful fae and having to do something every day is pretty much designed to trip me up! So far I'm doing pretty well, though; almost everything I'm wearing is an Advent prize I've gotten over the past eight days, though all muddled up and needless to say not available anymore. The dress is from Falln Angel Creations, and is one of the many free things available at the store; there's an advent tree along with additional lucky prizes under the tree nearby and a free gift every time you enter the store as well! The glasses and horns are fun gifts from 22769, one of the more confusingly named stores, but definitely a generous creator. I'm particularly fond of the horns, with their flickering candles giving off light. The cosmetics on my eyes are from Elymode, and there are also outfits in the offing - a picture above the Advent prizes shows ranges of prizes to tempt you. The amazing hair with red and green highlights are from Alice Project, and she's releasing a new hair a day with the special coloring, which is really fun! Finally, the necklace and ring are from Ginza, and I really have loved a lot of the other jewelry releases already, so I'm looking forward to blessings in the days to come.

SL Blogger Support has a sweet list of Advent Prizes, some of which don't start until the twelve days before Christmas. I don't know o anyone who is actually together enough to show off all of the prizes every day, but personally I identify the stores I really like the products of and then swing around them every day! Other stores I've been going to include Adorkable Poses, Swayland, Hopscotch, and Dark Moon Creations - all of them have really awesome prizes. I meant to use some of the poses, but I utterly forgot until after the pictures were taken (remember what I said about forgetful?). I'm having fun hunting out wintery sims and posing in inappropriate clothing all over them, though! A lot of places have decorated, though I always wonder if it's completely weird for people on the southern half of the planet, where it's summer right now.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Glasses: 22769, X-Mas Glasses - fir green (Advent Prize)
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Holiday Liner and Shadow - gold (Advent Prize)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: L. Fauna, Red 1
Lipgloss: Mock, Mizu Venetian Red
Hair: Alice Project, Hyori Christmas (Advent Prize)
Horns: 22769, X-Mas Aries Horns (Advent Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Necklace: Ginza, Dove necklace (Advent Prize)
Ring: Ginza, Bird ring (Advent Prize)
Dress: Falln Angel Creations, Amrita Gown (Advent Prize)
Shoes: G Field, Slingback Shoes

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Incendia Outdoors
Light Settings: Paulina, Fairy Dark Blue
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

This is Not what you Think it Is

It is always amazing to be able to insinuate oneself into other peoples' visions - something which is most easily done in a virtual world where that art can be expanded bigger than an avatar. Gracie Kendal's Ce n'est pas une peinture at Linden Endowment for the Arts Sim 15 is an example of this with more brilliance than most - she literally transported her offline art into digital format and then bent and curved it, making it move all over an entire sim. You can fly through it, but I have to admit I found that distinctly overwhelming; Kendal's offline art is brightly colored and modern in style, and experiencing it all mixing and mingling in three dimensions was too much for me to try to capture in two - though I highly recommend you go for a flight. I found it much manageable where art meets water - or rather where art meets its own reflection.

I loved the combination of the clarity of these reflections, my own form, and my reflection was a lot of fun - I think it hints at the three dimensions without making them overwhelming.Adding in light sources from windlight and you could gain some amazing effects - like the spotlight above which I found by accident then struggled to immortalize in a picture. The blown out effect of any light source is something I find particularly pleasing, and to be able to bring it into Second Life always gives me little shivers of joy. Now and then I was also able to find ways to take advantage of the effect when the objects hit their own reflections - they were layered forward and back in three dimensions, so like a kaleidoscope where the objects hit the mirror at different places for different effects, the art simply seems to burst off of the screen.

I had originally thought to put myself together in shades of black, something simple and severe to stand out from the riotous shades, but then I couldn't get into the sim! Fearing the worst, I ended up contacting the illustrious artist and it turned out there had been a technical snafu; by then I had put back on my blush outfit from the recent Single Frame Story. Surprisingly, I really liked the effect against the colors - the slightly more neutral blush shades sometimes seem to fade into the background, other times to stand out distinctly, and with one windlight I tried I actually almost vanished into a peach and blush dream world.

The outfit is made up of combinations of many items, based on the Rosal corset and boots which I have absolutely fallen in love with. They are tintable and have several textures besides, making them hugely adaptable. The shirt is a very old purchase from G Field which I paired with a recent purchase from G Field in the form of her mesh shorts. I topped it off with a braid from elikatira which I fell in love with ages ago but only put on now. I crowned that with a gorgeous new group gift from World's End Garden to celebrate the newest remake of that amazing sim, a lovely band of flowers or around the brow. All in all, although it was a difficult look to accomplish, I was enormously pleased with the result!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Solstice - Moon
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Guardsman Red
Hair: elikatira, Wherever - Blonde 10
Coronet: Worlds End Garden, Le jardin de la fille hair wreath (group gift)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: League, Pearls & Lace
Shirt: G Field, Floral Halter Top - peach
Corset: Rosal, Unmei Mesh Corset
Shorts: G Field, Frill Shorts - salmon
Boots: Rosal, Unmei Thigh Platform Boots

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Ce n'est pas une peinture
Light Settings: Various
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 35 - Feldgrau

This has been a sad week for me, and a busy month. I've been overwhelmed at work, and just when I thought the breaking-point was near there was a death, so I'm still reeling. Feldgrau was an oddly appropriate color, being roughly the color of concrete on a rainy day, and I ended up fulfilling it on the last day of the Vintage Faire, having spectacularly managed to not go to the sims at all before the last four hours. I have an enormous backlog of inventory, too, and I'm seriously considering hiding under a bush and never coming out! It's funny how too much of a thing - even a wonderful thing like clothing in Second Life - can leave one completely at a loss! Loss has really been a theme lately for me, loss of spirit, loss of mind, loss of people. This last week has been about going underground for me, retreating from interaction in order to regroup and renew. The heat reminds me of the concrete, the rain of the storms around the gulf, the darkness of those moments when one is left alone facing eternity.

This dress from Orquidea has been on my wishlist for a while, and when I saw how perfect it was for the color Feldgrau I couldn't resist. It's a beautifully put together dress - the texture all but seamless into the prims (one sculpted, the other flexy) which make up the skirt. The detailing of the top is perfect, looking layered and rich yet still with the bronze, gray, and brown that characterize Steampunk. I paired it with this gorgeous jewelry set from Primalot that thankfully had a brown in its enormous variety of textures that matched the general theme perfectly. I've had this set in my inventory for a while, sequestered away in my new folder under jewelry, and hunted it out when I sorted through some of what waits for me. It's moments like that, when the perfect item simply tumbles out, that I am both saddened and grateful for my enormous backlog of items.

What really got me started on this look, though, were these awesome stockings from Adore & Abhor - a gorgeous set of satiny stockings with a peacock detail that I simply couldn't resist. As soon as I saw them I knew I needed to pair them with something so I could take naughty upshots, and I think I pulled that off well. The shoes were a find from Censored, a new-to-me store I found wandering aimlessly through the faire; I thought they added a nice retro touch to an outfit which would scandalize anyone in the Victorian Era. The hair from Exile is a recent release, another of his rigged mesh glories, and I paired two of my favorite cosmetic stores over my perennial De La Soul skin - Elymode and Mock hit it out of the park again (I wear Mock's toast lip a lot when I go neutral; funny how that works! I try other lips, I swear, but toast is almost always the perfect neutral shade!). In the end, I ended up really liking this neutral look - despite browns and neutrals not really being on my list of happy things! I'll have to follow this up with something far too bright, though, or I'll lose my rep for over-the-top cheer!

( 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: Elymode, Brown and Gold
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Toast
Hair: Exile, Into Dust - Hollywood
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Jewelry: Primalot, Fairy Dust
Dress: Orquidea, Steampunk Doll
Stockings: Adore & Abhor, Gloria Tights
Shoes: Censored, Retro Pumps - black/beige

Poses: Adorkable Poses

Location: Cupcake
Light Settings: Places Annamaria
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

I Can Haz Promotions: Anatomy of a Blogpost - Advertising

I realized that, in the tail end of the last Anatomy of a Blogpost post, I left off with taking that shot. The final piece of a Blogpost is advertising - and also the most boring part of it, frankly. First of all, I had joined a wide number of feeds. I don't get a lot of traffic from them, but joining is What Is Done. There's a section on my blog which lists all the feeds I've applied to, and I believe I'm on all but one. Secondly, I send out a notecard to the designers that I reference in the text. I credit everything I wear, but I only send a notice to the creators when I talk about their items in the text of my post (though in one embarrassing case, I referenced them in the text but failed to have a picture clearly showing their product - awkward!). Some of this is self-protective; in the case of my usual items I wear, I'd be contacting those poor designers every couple of days. Some of it is because it doesn't seem fair to claim I'm promoting someone without spending the time to note what I like about their creations.I'm going to give you the text I use; feel free to swipe it if you're stuck for a semi-professional manner to alert creators to your blogpost.

I just wanted to let you know that I featured your store on my blog in the post address below.

[blog address]

Thanks so much for your beautiful creations! Please keep up the wonderful work.

Sincerely,

Deoridhe Quandry

With designers who are personal friends, though, I just IM them with the address and some smart-ass remark.They like me anyway. Thirdly, I add the address of my blogpost to the description of each picture in the set I took, even if they aren't in the blogpost, before adding the pictures to as many groups as I can. I have found groups by looking at the lists of other people, and I try very hard to stick to the rules of each group. Over time, I've gotten a bit of a following on flickr, but I'm still small potatoes compared to a lot of fashion blogs. I'd love to be more popular - but you can't exactly force it!

This look really came together, even though the shoes I started with ended up by the wayside (you'll see them in a later post). I am slowly becoming addicted to Paris Metro's dresses. Sometimes there are serious alpha occlusion issues, but in the case of this dress those effects simply add to the style, making them seem even more fluttery and featherlike. I love the shade of blue, too, and the lovely gloves which came with the dress. I ended up tugging the hair out of my inventory - it's an old release from Tribal Soul and is an awesome, over-the-top design for your best styling cocktail look. I love the piling on top, and since the hair is modify-ok, I could easily move the few strands cutting through my hair into a better place. I capped it off with a hairflower from Rose Princess, which is sadly a store which is no more; I picked it up in their closing sale, and I'm really glad since the flower and feather combination is very unique and striking. My cosmetics come from my two favorite cosmetics stores; Elymode's eyes are among my favorite, and though Mock does do eyes, I'm really fondest of her lips - which are well made, unique, and come in a huge variety of shades to match any outfit. I joined Mock's group recently, and I have to say her group gifts are frequent and well worth the group slot and joining fee. Elymode is another pay-to-join group with wonderful group fits and the occasional chance to get an entire release as a gift! I received a set recently, though I haven't had a chance to blog them yet.

The stockings are a transplant from Sn@tch, who always do glorious accessories (and clothes!) and add just the right amount of darkness to the bottom. I capped them off with adorable flat Mary Jane shoes from Duh! (available in a wide variety of colors, and a perfect traditional style of shoe for your Lolita wear in particular). What made me giggle was that as I was taking these pictures, another set of promotional items from Duh were entering my inbox! Sometimes I swear designers know when I'm thinking about them! I added in a truly original set of stone necklaces from Elemental, which I wore a turquoise set from recently, and I really like the styling of it as well as the slight shininess which makes them look like polished stone. The final striking piece to this look are the wings, which are a double feathered set from Favole. If I wasn't so attached to my Fancy Fairy wings, I'd be wearing Favole all the time; not only are they interestingly made and often quite unique, but they look amazing from any angle, which is really a lot of fun.I love how they react to light in particular - like in the picture below, each feather simply seems to catch the light.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow (mesh)
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Solstice - midnight blue
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, LipGlimmer - Burning Sands
Glasses: Air, Cresta
Hair: Tribal Soul, Rehab - Platinum (promotional item)
Hair Accessory: Rose Princess, B-Feather Chain Cross - blue
Jewelry: Elemental, Liquit Logic Cabochon Set (promotional item)
Wings: Favole, Wrath (promotional item)
Dress: Paris Metro, Feather Leather Blue (promotional item)
Stockings: Sn@tch, Ribbed Tights
Shoes: Duh!, Mary Jane - blue (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Metamorphoses
Light Settings: TOR EUPHORIA smoky blue

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only 

Edited to add on 3/29/2012: For anyone drawn here by Paris Metro's kind advertizement of me as "bad mouth", you may also wax lyrical on my lack of journalistic integrity in this post. You can also check out old examples of said lack of journalistic integrity on all my posts featuring Paris Metro, where my praise of the clothing is a clear indication of what a poor judge of fashion I am and how little respect I have for creators in Second Life.

Momentary Kajira

I'm not a big Gor fan; to be honest, though I am fond of a few people into Gor, I find the world itself deeply disturbing. I am a huge fan of silks, though, and my friend at Sublime Shroud Creations has been bitten by the silk making bug - my inventory is reaping the rewards. This is his first set, and they constitute one of the only times I've ever flown about the grid with my boobs hanging out; not something I'll necessarily make a practice of, but the silks themselves are gorgeous - just be careful where you wear them! They come with male and female chest pieces in addition to the rest, making them fully unisex. They are sized for male avatars, though, so be aware you might need to resize a few things if you're a woman! I mostly moved things around and found they fit very well, but I am on the plump side. The silks are full of flowing movement, though - I became really fond of the calf-flutters which moved as I flew about finding new places to take pictures. The cape of silks down the back also moves gorgeously, both in dace and travel. This is the first of a bunch of new releases from SSK, though, and as a breakout silks set completely blew me away.

I ended up pairing the silks with a new skin design from De La Soul. Intent on gradually skinning the entire alphabet (that sounded a little wrong...) Chelle is following up her Aestali set with a new, more defined Beatrice skin and it's matching Beaux design for males Much more defined than Aestali, I've found Beatrix in Barley to be sublime for photoshoots because of the crisp shadows on the face. I'm wearing the Dragon 2012 skin, which has been released as a hunt gift, but the cosmetics on the face as part of the skin are obscured by a combination of eyes from Elymode and lips from Mock to a fantastic effect. I'd actually been set up to take pictures in my Aestali rig, which is my usual skin, when Chelle passed me this Hunt skin, and when I saw how it made the lips seem even richer, and the wonderful effect of the purple around the eyes, I knew I had to keep the cosmetics even though it partly hides the fantastic scale texturing around the eyes and the delicate eyeliner that are part of the skin.

The jewelry is also from De La Soul, a collar and set of bangles - the latter of which are wonderful for hiding ankle and wrist seams if you take advantage of existing mesh and prim hand and feet attachments. I did pull out my SLink feet again, though it took a while to match the new skintone (Barley is slightly darker and much greyer than my usual peachy-rose Aestali skin) the feet still add significantly to bare footed me wandering around the grid. I'm still eyeing and considering her mesh version, which have the advantage of moving and flexing with poses, but for now my flat-footed prim feet will have to do! The final surprise of the look is my sudden brunette phase, inspired by a hunt prize hair from Favole - who I more know for their delightful shoes and wings and collars. It's a swept updo, and I really enjoyed the spray of flowers in the back.

I ended up taking pictures in an Adult Gor sim called Ironhall, to be respectful of the fact that whenever I moved my nipples were flashed to everyone, and unlike the last Gor sim I took pictures in, this time I didn't get an IM telling me faeries don't belong in Gor. I think the "observer" tag helped with that, but the place I had been didn't have an observer tag! It's an absolutely gorgeous sim, so I encourage you to take a look even if Gor is not your cup of tea, as it isn't mine. You might want to wear more clothing, though!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

 Skin: De La Soul, Beatrice - Barley 2012 Dragon (Promotional item)
Eyeshadow: Elymode, A Little Drama
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Hair: Favole, Nuit
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Micare Lipglimmer - Flirtatious Kobi
Jewelry: De La Soul, Glaive Set - Copper
Silks: Sublime Shroud Kreations, Xithanen Sunset Silks
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Talisman
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Feet: Slink, Jolie Pied - Flat bare

Poses: Olive Juice

Location: Ironhall
Light Settings: Places District8
Water Settings: Glassy

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 Fourty-nine - Wenge

Wenge honestly makes me think of the word whinge - best defined as the word used by upper class Brits to make their whining sound somehow categorically different from the whining of everyone else. In honor of this thoroughly fascinating word, permit me a moment to whinge - despite my neither being upper class nor British.

The gorgeous headpiece I'm wearing almost wasn't. I remembered seeing it, or something like it, on one of the fashion feeds as a deal, but I hadn't picked it up for several reasons, including that I don't often wear skulls. When I was putting together this outfit, I felt the desperate need for a small skull with some kind of black thing behind it; I remembered the skull as vaguely bird-like. I went to the first place for searching for things in Second Life - the marketplace - and was frustrated by the fact you can't search within subcategories.

After six 96-item pages of accessories and about five searches with additional keywords to try to narrow the field, I started asking in groups - one fashion-oriented and the other goth-oriented. No dice. I went back through about two months worth of discount reviews. No dice. Finally, I did a broad search through a search engine, found a mention of this on one of the blogs along with it being a 1$L deal at some event. It even included the store name - Ripe. Yahtzee! Plugged Ripe into inner-SL search (I prefer to purchase in sim if I can, so the Linden-tax isn't applied). Three places popped up - teleported to each.... no ...dice? Went back to the blog post - the person had included the creator name! Yahtzee! Opened up the profile, looked in picks... no dice. Looked in classifieds. No dice. Checked webpage.... and it led me back to the marketplace.

WTF, Second Life?

On a more pleasant note, I'm decked out in clothing from one of my favorite people, jewelry from the second, and a skin from the third, which makes me a very happy Deoridhe. The dress is from Falln Angel Creations and it was one of my dresses in my "photograph before sorting" folder - that lives in my inventory and accumulates clothes. I've been trying to go there first when I'm looking for things to wear because, well, it would be nice if things in there got sorted! The jewelry is from Little Boy Blue, and was part of a massive Linden-drop into his random vendors last Halloween. If we're lucky (unlucky?) he'll put them out again and I'll be even poorer this year! As it is, I managed to accumulate most of the Sugar Skull set, and I adore it so much! It reminded me of these awesome set of horns from Rue, that were from a Sugar Skull Hunt a couple years back - I'm delighted to have a chance to wear them again. The skin is my usual lovely one from De La Soul, and this time I tinted my Illusions ears to match a bit more closely.

The eyeliner is my usual Adam n Eve Hepsut, and I've paired it with one of Elymode's hunt specials - autumn eyeshadow. I'm really enjoying her fades of color for eyeshadow, especially since I can often match them up to my outfit or mood. The lipstick from L.Fauna is another new favorite. I was drawn to it when I saw it at the 50 Linden Friday special, but I'm definitely planning to go back for some more lipstick. The colors are sublime, and the match to my lip line is perfect, even though it's a completely different maker. Finally, I have to take a moment for a word about the new hair from Calico Ingmann Creations. I love the curves and style of it (there's also a version with longer hair) and I had a ball playing with the streak colors - I made the streak white then manually recolored the hair to match my Sugar Skull Accessories.

I ended up back on Immersiva, which has to be one of my favorite regular haunts. Ms. Oh brought the skeletons and dandilions she had at Anna's Many Murders and festoon them across a mountainous scene with some bones thrown in to make things interesting. The black box with it's changing, glowing interior has also reprised here from another show, and the tower from Daughter of Gears is still in place to climb up. My only wish might be for some ways to sit on top of the different dandelions - but then I always like to insinuate myself into the drama created by other people.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee - Rainbow
Eye Shadow: Elymode, Autumn Leaf Mix
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Lipstick: L.Fauna, Red 3
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Horns: Ruin, Horned S.E. Sugar Skull Shaman - Ivory
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Genevieve 1
Hair Skull: Ripe, Elegant Raven Skull Hat - black
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace 2: Little Boy Blue, Sugar Skull Set
Dress: Falln Angel Creations, Fellice Dress - brown
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Skully Pumps - black

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Immersiva
Light Settings: London 2026
Water Settings: TOR, Eyeballin'

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only