Valkyries: Life and Death

Violent Seduction is currently having her yearly 50% off sale, and it is awesome! These two dresses can be gotten for only 250$L, and I hope you agree they are worth every penny! It's a matching set, and the two dresses share many of the same characteristics - including headwings and backwings, the winged shoes, and the staffs. The "Life" version also has a delightful pearl crown included that I simply fell in love with. You can see "Life" on Deoridhe Starr, and "Death" on Deoridhe Quandry, though now both of me have both dresses since they're sold as a set. The headwings really remind me of Gaia Online, where they are one of the early donation item gifts (before they were monthly collectables!). The heels are pre-alpha, but everything included is modifiable (a real gem when I hit the torsos and needed to accomodate my rather sizable chest!), which means you can easily shrink the invisiprim and add a basic heel alpha. I actually didn't get to that yet on either of the Deoridhes, but it will take a fraction of a moment when I do - I ended up doing something similar on a lot of my pre-alpha shoes that were modify-ok. Besides the chest, the biggest pieces I ended up modifying were the armguards; since I'm short, my arms are correspondingly short and since my fat percentage is much higher, they are correspondingly large, so I ended up enlarging all the arm guards then shrinking the lengths of the three pieces involved and moving them together. Again, since the outfit was modify-ok, this was both possible and reasonably fast.

The hair is from the new Alice Project group gift, in the blond shade (her group gifts offer one of each of the standard hairshades plus some more rainbowlichous colors). On Deoridhe Starr I used the white tips and added some white streaks to make her a bit more angelic. She's also wearing the very sweet group gift skin from Curio, which has very delicate features and a sweetly pink mouth. Both Deoridhes have the same shape, so you can see the effect different skins have; in contrast to Deoridhe Starr, Deoridhe Quandry has wider and more defined, less pouty lips on her De La Soul skin and lipstick. One of the things I like about photographing Deoridhes together is how these skin contrasts can really clearly show up on the same shape. Deoridhe Quandry, as you can see, is using black tips and black streaks in her Alice Project hair - yes, both of them are in the group! Booyah! One added point on the hair - it is mesh, which means the pony tail is rigged to stay behind the shoulder no matter how the head moves, but the hair itself has no movement - which I know is a downside to a lot of people.

At this end of an old year and beginning of a new one, I'm really struck by how much the last year has taught me about high contrasts - about the dark and the light and how they are both evermoving and ever-entertwined. Like twin ouroboroses,they rise and fall with each day, each week, each month, and each year. Within every sour there is a core of sweet, and within every sweet there is a core of sour. The older I get, the more I find my loves and hates evermore tightly bound, my joys ever tempered by sadness and my sadness evertempered by joy. I find this contrast, this reality, to be one which suits me and on the whole leaves me content to stay on the wheel of time, within the bounds of the world with everyone.

May the new year bring you what you want and also what you deserve.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Quandry:
Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Alice Project, Sunye (group gift)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress & Shoes: Violent Seduction, Valkyrie - Death (Promotional Item)
Bloomers: Sn@tch, Bloomers - Black
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Talisman
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet

Starr:
Skin: Curio, Petal - Angel (group gift)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, 09-cup
Hair: Alice Project, Sunye (group gift)
Dress & Shoes: Violent Seduction, Valkyrie - Life
Bloomers: Sn@tch, Bloomers - White

Poses Quandry: aDORKable Poses
Poses Starr: Glitterati

Location: Fehu Isa Heimat der Asatru
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Bright Blue Horizon
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Scarlett

One of the downsides to being an inveterate hunter is the temptation to buy along the way.

I know that's what vendors hope for, but honestly with an inventory the size of mine, each new temptation just adds a little more on top of the pile! In this case, I'd been eyeing this dress for a rather long while when I came across it again during the Falln Angels Winter Hunt... and couldn't resist.

Damn you Az!!!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Lipstick: Mock, Mizu Venetian
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Isis 1
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Jewelry: G Field, Rusty Rose Set
Dress: Falln Angel Creations, Amanda Gown - Red
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Talisman
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: G Field, Lady Rose - Red

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Cape Elim
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Sailor Moon
Water Settings: TOR, Atomist

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

How NOT to Scam in Second Life

I get hit on more often than I get attempted-scammed, and I don't get hit on often, so this gem on Christmas Day blew me out of the water. I've renamed our contestant today Idiot Scammer, but her user name actually did begin with an H (this becomes important later).

[16:38] [Idiot Scammer]: Hey Deo  Really Sorry To ask this but , Can i just lend you 200 l$ please ? Promise i'll give you this Back Very very soon , It's really not in my habits to ask for money  =S
[16:39] Deoridhe Quandry: Who are you, exactly?

At this point I open up my area scanner and find she's about 53 meters away from me in a fashion sim. She's over four years old, so she should know better. The name is not at all familiar.

[16:40] [Idiot Scammer]: I play the IA RP , We met There

Side note - I've been very reclusive in the rp, so I can count the people I've rped with on one hand and I'd remember most of their names - the rest would be familiar through my watching the group chat. This name was not at all familiar, and the Display Name was full of those weird characters that I'm inclined to remember. I then checked her profile, and she's not in any of the roleplaying groups. Also, we don't call it IA RP; the phrasing is definitely off and my scammer senses are tingling.

[16:40] [Idiot Scammer]: Sorry to ask
[16:40] [Idiot Scammer]: Really
[16:41] Deoridhe Quandry: That's odd. You seem to not be in any of the groups. Odd behavior for a roleplayer.
[16:42] [Idiot Scammer]: I hide those groups cause i'm a Fashion Blogger Too , I don't want people to judge me with this

She is, in fact, a fashion blogger - one of the tiny eyes & big frowny mouth set with the characteristic t-rex arms. I won't link, but suffice it to say I would have remembered the look even with as careless as I can be with paying attention to my surroundings. I'd snark on the blog, but since you can't see it that's kind of unfair.

[16:42] Deoridhe Quandry: Though that pause DID give you time to check my profile and come up with a more plausible lie to cover the fact you are 53 meters from me.
[16:42] Deoridhe Quandry: Right. What's my character in IA, since you remember me and I don't remember you?
[16:43] [Idiot Scammer]: You're mean !
[16:43] Deoridhe Quandry: You're lying.
[16:44] Deoridhe Quandry: That's a bit MORE mean.
[16:44] Deoridhe Quandry: Especially since you're trying to swindle me out of money by pretending I know you.
[16:44] [Idiot Scammer]: Anyways
[16:44] [Idiot Scammer]: I'm just Lending , You can add me in your contacts
[16:44] [Idiot Scammer]: Wasn't lying about that
[16:45] Deoridhe Quandry: Right. Shoo. Go try to swindle someone else.
[16:45] [Idiot Scammer]: =/

Since she insisted she wasn't lying, I went to check the group for the roleplay she supposedly knew me through - even if you have hidden your group in  your profile, you still show up there. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when their story sounds as rotten as month-old moose meat. Shockingly, she wasn't in the group.

[16:47] Deoridhe Quandry: Wow, FOUR H names in Amras Roleplay and none of them are you!

Oddly, she didn't have anything to say after that. Wonder why.

A few notes about the outfit, because several of the items deserve note. The katat0nik top and skirt are actually separate pieces and include a game card for the new Ozimal's Stamp Collection event. What event you ask me? The Pufflings Present Pursuit, says I. At 100$L and under each, they are a steal to get yourself some stamp cards. Also, don't be worried if your stamp card isn't full; once you've hit the last store, you are set. The skin is a special holiday makeup from De La Soul, available for only 99$L at her store for the holidays! The shoes are a delightful new design from Grim Bros, and the red set were actually in her midnight mania recently and may return soon again. The most awesome thing about them, though, is that the butterflies actually move!! It's like a little bit of Harumagari on my feet! Also, the poses were all Advent gifts from aDORKable poses; she still has a couple of hunts on, even if the Advent season is over, so go! Go! Go!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Beatrice - Barley (Caroling Makeup)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Sachiko Mesh Hair (Promotional Item)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress: katat0nik, Snow Day - Light Blue
Ring: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Grim Bros, Butterfly Love - turquoise

Pose: aDORKable Poses

Location: Old Europe Winter Village
Light Settings: TOR, EUPHORIA Sleep Warm

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

I Can Haz Promoshunz: Anatomy of a Blogpost

With I Can Haz Promoshunz posts, it all begins with the blogger gifts, also known as the Promotional Items. There are a lot of terms for them, and attitudes range from "why should I give you free advertising" to "why should I give you free stuff" to everywhere in between. In my case, I'm grateful for the free gifts (which is why I think of them as gifts) but I am also aware of the unspoken - and sometimes spoken - expectations. In all honesty, even though I'm on the blogger side, I think the store owners have more to lose. They are offering out free items and there are a lot of people who seem to get into blogging so they can accumulate free things. I can't imagine trying to figure out who I can trust and what "trust" should look like when I give away free products. In the area of gifts, there are a few people who give me things where I know there is no expectation - where we have a relationship beyond and outside of our sometimes relationship as Store Owner and Blogger. I still sometimes blog their things, but I don't feel quite the same invisible strings of expectations as I do with Store Owners who I don't know.

I'll also be honest and say that the biggest downside of Blogging is these invisible strings, and my own desires to have Second Life be more about responding to my whims and desires than the demands and expectations of others. I know no relationship can exist without expectations, but sometimes I can find myself running from those expectations. That's part of why I started the I Can Haz Promoshunz series, in fact - to differentiate between the 'you have given me fantastic things and here are the ones I like along with some color commentary on them' and the 'I take pretty pictures and babble a while about whatever's on my mind' posts that are the mainstay of my blog.This post will be a little of each - an amalgam, if you will.

In between my other activities today, I get some gifts from a couple store owners I'm becoming friendly with; one is explicitly a blogger's pack, the other is more ambiguous. I hit the last midnight mania and teleport in a few alts who I think it will suit; I'm fairly confident it will lock without me bringing out the full force of my alt army. "Chores" taken care of, I hop back home to begin to plan out my outfit. Every ICHP post starts in the same folder - my "To Be Blogged" folder. In it I put things which are given to me, or things I have ideas for so that they're set apart. Every couple of months it becomes unruly, and I spend an afternoon opening old boxes, sorting through offerings, organizing and deleting. Things given specifically to me tend to rank a little higher than things which come through the blogger groups I'm in, but I try to do one Fashion in Pixel's post a month (if not a week).

I catch a midnight mania I wanted to hit and I swing by (too late), only to find the Store Owner there to switch out the lucky boards (Pinkmares is a totally generous store!). She turns many of the boards into question marks - briefly unleashing a swarm of clicks as people try to pick up what they hadn't managed to get yet. Even though I have "Do ICHP: Anatomy of a Blogpost Pictures tonight" on my brain, I get totally distracted as I wait to see what the new offerings are, all the while trying hard to not thing of the wave of unopened boxes waiting for me in my inventory. Timely I am not. Finally dragging myself away to lock down a midnight mania, I head for a friend's sim where I can rez objects that take up loads of prims - more than my tiny little house can support. Nothing like friends in high places (literally, in this case; we have islands in the sky).

Back home, I strip down to see if one of the review items (a set of skins and an outfit I'd been eying when the notice came through my inventory) suits me. The face is most critical, since I tend to wear fairly covering clothing, but I like to see the all over in case it will affect both whether I'll wear it and what I will wear it with. For example, I love wearing low-cut in the back things with De La Soul skins because there are little butt dimples and the cutest butt cleavage ever; highlighting the unique and fun aspects of a skin is part of what I enjoy. I rarely show skins because I don't like the change my shape, but Fallen Gods is one of my most likely exceptions, and it proves to be the second addition to my look (the first being my hair, which like I said in my last post I'm not taking off for a while) for the blogpost - as does the included, group gift tattoo. I simply adore the built-in iridescence; it's completely gorgeously tempting. The shadows continue the same theme beautifully while maintaining the illusion of translucence.

I set the included dress aside for another day, though, thinking I'd like to diversify to a different outfit and cover more ground in this blogpost since I do multiple pictures of the same outfit instead of single pictures of multiple outfits. Now the immovable pieces - hair (Wasabi Pills), ears (Illusions), wings (Fancy Fairy) - are all recolored to match the skin - in this case I go for a white shade for the hair and make the ears and wings match the skin tone as closely as I can using a tint. The hardest recolor is the ears; I shift to one of my recolorable ear sets so my usual set don't lose the tone of my usual skin, and select just the ear part so that the jewelry remains unchanged.This really sets the pallet for the rest of my look - I can either aim to match it with shades of white and blue, or I can try to make it "pop" in the current vernacular using orange shades, but whatever comes next will have to work with the base already in place.

So I'm back to my "To Be Blogged" folder in the clothing subfolder (I organize by type of thing so that I can find what I'm missing). I already have a backlog of boxes to open that I've tossed in here, but I focus on what's already open primarily. I'm tracking what wears well on me - where is there alpha occlusion and how much does it interfere? Does this work with the skin, the hair style, how I'm feeling today? If there is alpha occlusion (which is very common), is it something I can work with or will I be glaring at my legs through multiple layers for the rest of the night (note to designers - if you can put a slightly smaller layer of non-alpha but the same colored prims underneath, that can correct for a lot of the alpha occlusion; sometimes, if I like a dress enough, I even make one myself).

Tonight it's a wave of alpha layer options that leave me peering at the included picture and wondering how they managed to conceal; wishing the alpha was due to a transparency setting, so I could make a second, non-transparent level. After some more searching and some box opening, I finally find it! The first color I try on, blue, is to close to my skin color, but the second color is perfect, and so an outfit from SLC Couture joins the rest. I adore the texture - all those little flowers flowing smoothly over the pieces.

Fitting it is next; I'm a shorter, rounder avatar than most, and fashion tends to be made for the tall and the skinny, so fitting has become a necessary step when going through my inventory. I've become good at it, too; in this case, there's lower levels attached to the legs and an upper level for the skirt which require the most fitting. I take the top level off to fit the legs (temporarily confused since they're resizable through a script, not editing), then fit the top level (which is resizable through editing). Then I tilted the hairflower to fit my hair, which was simple as cake. I've sometimes fit outfits prim-by-prim if it were particularly complicated and worth it, but this is a relatively simple design, which makes things easy.

Likewise, selecting accessories - in this case an amethyst set from Elemental Earth Designs - was really fast I saw amethyst, tried it on, and it fit the overall mood perfectly. I love when outfits begin to come together like this; there's something magical about adding each element and seeing the cohesive and attractive whole. All I have left is selecting a pair of shoes, which most likely won't be seen. I have a whole folder from Duh! waiting to be tried on, and even though the chances of these shoes being seen are near nil, I put them on. Poor Duh! I need to do a shoe-focused shoot sometime soon. At the last minute, I remember the other gift I got earlier in the evening, and take a second look - finding a tiara from Eclectica which will go perfectly with my princess-pretty look. I actually had picked up the dawn version of the tiara, a lucky break for me since this pack includes the noon! And the noon is silver, which fits the coolness of the overall template. Recoloring it was a snap - it recolors on touch, and the purple, in a fit of synchronicity, is almost identical to the purple of my dress and shoes.

So that's the dressing half of my photoshoot! I hope you enjoyed it! Sometime in the future I'll have to share how I find a place to shoot and pose my shots, but I think this post is long enough already~!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Fallen Gods, Ice Crystals (Promotional Item)
Face Tattoo: Fallen Gods, GROM (Promotional Item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Cherry Mesh Hair (Promotional Item)
Crown: Eclectica, Regency Tiara - noon (Promotional Item)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Jewelry: Elemental Earth Design, Kiowa Set - Amethyst (Promotional Item)
Dress: SLC Couture, Lovely Flower - Lilac (Promotional Item)
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Duh!, Mary Janes - Violet (Promotional Item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Dimrill Dale
Light Settings: Places Astryls Wild
Water: TOR, Yung buk

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Lost in the Caves

At some point in the past I got on Wasabi Pill's reviewer list - and I have to admit, almost every time I get a knew hair I'm in heaven. Occasionally she does a style which really isn't my style - sometimes that leads to fun outfits, and sometimes it leads to the depths of my inventory (I have a hard time tossing, since the quality is so high) in wait for some future time when it might be perfect for a new outfit or look. This time, though, it's liek she reached into my brain and pulled out the perfect Deoridhe style of all time. I put it on, intending just to take a look then switch into non-mesh hair so that I don't look like I have a box on my head to most people... and I was lost. It's soft, and bends slightly with me, and is such a striking silhouette that I'll be hard pressed to take it off for a while. This is the sort of style that mesh seems made for - the weight of the hair down at the bottom would pull the hair to stay in place, and so it does. It bends slightly with my body, as you can see in a number of these shots, and is just overall so amazing that... I've said I'm in love, haven't I? I even love the heavy bangs with their air of mystery!

The dress is an old impulse purchase from Tainted, a store I don't normally buy for (and that I couldn't find an landmark for the store), but I have to admit I find the look very striking even in dresses-with-tails are fairly common. The texturing is superb and stands up really well to close shots. The mini skirt has the usual butt-and-crotch flap, and that has the problems attendant in the design, but the stark patterning means that the texture-mixing which often occurs is not a problem at all. What I love most about this outfit, though - something which is not easily captured in pictures - is how it moves. The layers flow smoothly, the flex is enough for movement but not so much that it feels like gravity is gone, and the effect is lush and striking.It's gloveless and fairly simply along the neckline, so I added in some very old gloves from The Black Canary which really fit the formal punk style of the dress. I also added in a couple of necklaces from Eclectica, both very simple but curving designs which I think I got on a 60$L Weekend Deal. The crowning touch was something I love to do with short skirts - I added a pair of stockings with the garters showing (from Vextra Fashion). I know garters are very old school, but I love the look when it's as painless as adding a layer on my clothes.

The location is one recommended in passing by someone on some blog, the reference of I promptly lost. The entire series of sims are part of Calas Galadhon, though I ended up in the caves on Mirromere, and they are absolutely gorgeously striking with panels of teleports regularly placed if you're looking for somewhere specific. I took these pictures along a very short set of caves by the waters, and I can tell you that even in the minutes after finishing I found half a dozen other gorgeous places to explore. I anticipate coming back here often.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Bubble. Electro Pop Eyeshadow 2
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Carmen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Cherry Mesh Hair (Promotional Items)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Jewelry: Eclectica, Victoriana Blue Agate
Dress: Tainted, Seven Deadly Sins - Sloth
Gloves: The Black Canary, Seri Corset Gloves
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Stockings: Vextra Messing, Opaque Stockings
Shoes:

Poses: pda

Location: Mirromere
Light Settings: Places Abracadabra
Water: TOR, Meridian Verde

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Transparent Glow

I fell in love with this dress from katat0nik (I can't lie - I love most of what she does - but this is so sweetly sexy that it took my breath away!) and like the perfect synchronicity, the Alice Project released a new Alice-style mesh hair and put it on massive sale (500$L for all the colors!) for the space of the weekend.

So, total splurge and my new folder got no attention, but don't I look awesome?

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Coal & Red 2
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Lipstick: L. Fauna, Red 1
Hair: Alice Project, Wonderland
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress: katat0nik, Blackheart Dress - red
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Alice Project, Faelin Pumps - Vibrant Glossy

Poses: STaTUS

Location: The Looking Glass
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Hong Kong Planet
Water: TOR, Glaznost

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Feathers

I watched the movie Heathers again last night. It's a very darkly comic movie with a high body count, and predated Columbine for quite some time. Its the sort of movie that I doubt could be made today, in a time when teenagers have, in fact, cut a bloody swath through their schools. Two things stood out for me on this watch through.

The first was the ubiquity of rape - the "bad" guys tried (and often succeeded) at raping (in the background of Veronica kneeing a man who tried to rape her, one of the Heathers was unsuccessfully trying to struggle free of the other man), the "good" guy did the same (as well as trying to push her to suicide/murder), and it really went unmarked that to be attractive and female meant being semi-regularly pinned against a flat surface as a much larger male tried to win his sexual assault beanies.

The second was how ineffectual the adults were. I'm on the other side of that divide, now, and I think what stood out the most was how much the teenagers didn't bother trying to say anything - simply showed their disgust and moved on with the business of living (or killing). The combination of fatalism and isolation - that really stood out to me.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Cosmetics: Style By Kira, Violet Fantasy Makeup 1
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Chloe Hair - Golden
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress & Shoes: The Looking Glass, Crystal Feathers
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet

Pose: Adorkable Poses

Location: Pasquale
Light Settings: Default for Sim
Water: Default for Sim

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Ttly Gawthy

One of the reasons I love hunts is because they lure me into trying on things, or even give me things I never knew I wanted. The key tattoo from Montagne Noire is a good example of the latter - I ended up pairing it with a key that really brought home the illusion - and I have to admit I'm totally in love with it. Most of the rest of my outfit is a series of hunt prizes from Lethe from a long-over hunt (I'm always late on these things - I admit it!) that I fell in love with as soon as I put it on! The corset is a combination of prim and texture which works together to make a seamless design. I love the secret finds in my inventory, waiting for me quietly until I have a chance to unearth and enjoy them.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Coal and Purple
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: LaLa Moon, Vamp Rose
Hair Flowers: Lethe, Gathering Memories Headress
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: L Fauna, Black
Dress: Lethe, Gathering Memories Dress
Keyhole: Montagne Noire, Marionette keyhole
Key: Leo-NT, No Strings Hunt
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Lethe, Gathering Memories Shoes

Poses: Olive Juice

Location: Crimarizon
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Brighter
Water: TOR, Glaznost

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

I Can Haz Promoshunz: Winter Wonderland

The winter is a good time to get all bundled up and play with snowmen! Snowballs, warm toast with butter, and fleeing for your life - all of these things make the winter season into the glorious thing it is!

It was hard for me to find an outfit to go with this awesome Brrrrr mesh hair from Wasabi Pills - most of that folder has slinky, even if it's slinky with fur attached. Then I found this awesome dress from artMEfashion (I've been wearing their stuff a lot, I know!) which was frilly and came with these awesome tights and gloves. My upper arms and chest are still pretty bare (Eeee! Frostburn!) but I love the layers of ruffles and the dress actually comes in ankle-length and empire waist versions, still with frost-burny shoulders. The fur isn't the usual explosive, full bright fur on a lot of outfits - it's ruffly and looks like it's very, very soft.

The outfit actually started with the hair (which has been around the fashion feeds a while and is totally charming and comes with the scarf wrapped snugly around your neck) and the Anymore pillow I'm hugging made of TOAST! It's a smiley toast plushy that I simply adore! Then I filled in the boots, which are part of a whole series by Apple May Designs - they come with white or black fur in a bunch of different colors.

The skin is from Dulce Secrets and has a lovely face with subtle artistic cosmetics. The shading is subtle and feminine with the noses shaded to suite a small-nosed girl like me. It comes in a variety of shades, from very pale to quite dark; this is a tan toned skin, which is darker than my usual color. I finished off the whole flirty fur look with a set of poinsettia horns with snowflake accessories from Hal Hina - part of the special event at Petis Pas Village.

All in all, halfway through December I feel very festive - and the boots give me great traction when I'm running away from meese!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Dulce Secrets, Naemi Sangria Bikini (Promotional Item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Brrree Mesh Hair (Promotional Item)
Antlers: Hal Hina, Reindeer - red
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress: artMEfashion, Xmas Dress (Promotional Item)
Plush: Anymore, Plush Toast Pillow (Promotional Item)
Jewelry: G Field, Rusty Rose
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Apple May Designs, Snuggies - Red / Black (Promotional Item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Oh! Studio Mainstore
Light Settings: Places Annamarie

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Ballet and Tophats

I am totally falling in love with the texturing of artMEfashion. This is the third outfit of hers I've put on, and I really like the patchworky, mottled styling of it. Previous skirts had a level of alpha layer mixing which made my teeth itch a little (I'm a sensitive soul), but this one is perfect. I especially like the little ruffles around the waist and I adore my mini tophat! Squee~! New shoes from Alice Project (500$L for a fatpack of 24 - I am in serious love) were highly modifiable enough that I could match the variegated colors of my dress - the heel has several options, and the heel, platform, shoe, and strap are all individually recolorable. It seriously brings out the obsessive matching side of my personality. I added the newest hair from Majika, complete with shiny lights, and finished it off with a set of rose jewelry from G Field for the perfect outfit.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Autumn - rust / golden
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Magika, Safe with Christmas Lights
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Mizu Venetian Red
Dress: artMEfashion, Steampatch Dress - Red
Jewelry: G Field, Rusty Rose
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Alice Project, Faelin Pumps - Vibrant Glossy

Poses: Just A Pose

Location: Kohime Foundation
Light Settings: TOR, DUSK - Siennarel

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Reflections

I've been thinking a bit about identity and the internet - especially in regards to our reputation. I've been Deoridhe for a long time, and have a significant chunk of history behind me - I'm invested enough in the name that I have a bunch of Deoridhe's with different last names because yes, I am that much of a geek. I'm actually pretty comfortable with my reputation - even the less savory bits like the Gaia account made to mock me by one of the resident trolls (a badge of honor from my days as a moderator). I've even had a few of my Second Life conversations reproduced, and by and large I'm comfortable with most of what I say being passed around to different people.

I'm a bit of a spazz, and a lot of a vapid floozy, and I have a temper on me that I can sometimes ward off but which has a tendency to wash over everything. I'm idealistic and cynical by turns, and I have a tendency to get really snarky fast. I'm ok with people knowing that I sometimes have difficulty tracking people over multiple names (evidence of this is all over the recent drama) and that if a fight is over a few months I'm likely to have forgotten about it (except for some major fights, but I can seriously count those on one hand and often they don't actually count as fights). My work leaves me drained - something that picture taking really recovers me from. I sometimes have a tendency to stick my nose in, and I adore adore adore drama - even the ones I'm involved in (with a few notable exceptions).

The recent bruhaha with a former acquaintance being really upset when his thoughts on women became public-ish made me reflect on what I say, when, to whom, and how I would feel about it being reproduced. There are some things I think and say that I don't want to be general knowledge - but I'm generally pretty careful about who I talk to and usually what I don't want shared is the more personal, weird things which lurk in the Deoridhe-interior. My thoughts about other people, well honestly I expect those to become public sooner or later. I hold a few secrets, and I have a few guesses at secrets, and part of my job is being a sort of black hole into which experiences fall and occasionally get regurgitated as far from the form of their original source as they can be.

I'm not perfect, I'm a work in progress. I like to think I'm worthwhile as a friend, but I've had several people walk away shaking the dirt off of their feet. I've also walked away from people, and had to consider my reasons why. Reflecting on what amounts to six months of a slow-speed fight, I can't honestly say I'd do anything differently except hide the names of the women unfairly quoted by my ex-acquaintance. I am unsurprised he's unwilling to stand by his words, but it wasn't fair to them to simply be drive-bye victims of his dismissal.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Elymode, A Little Drama - Frost
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Exile, Lady Versailles - Honey
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Lepore Red
Dress: Hal Hina, Chiffon Dress 03
Jewelry: Little Boy Blue, Clara Yule Jewelry
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Alice Project, Faelin Pumps - Vibrant Iridescent

Poses: Pffiou!

Location: Willowdale Estates
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Catastrophe
Water Settings: TOR, Coral Reef

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Past Events

A short while ago - maybe a month or month and a half - I got IMed by someone throwing a fit over her name being on my blog. This was the first Second Life Convo I'd quoted, and before I started giving people imaginative nicknames, so I'd left all the avatar names as is. I honestly didn't remember her at all, and she was actually insulted by another person in the course of trying to educate me on how vapid and insipid some women are as a fun topic of conversation! You can read it here if you want to be up on the drama.

I tossed her valid request in the 'wish I'd thought of that' column, made the changes, IMed her to say I'd done so, and left his name intact since it honestly seemed like a dead issue. Tonight, I was shown just how wrong I was, and so he has now gotten a nickname as well being able to vent some of his spleen by lecturing me and kicking me from his totally awesome philosophy group! Man am I schooled. You can see what a childish person I am below, since I'm continuing to be childish (and share the drama!) in this post. Fair warning, everyone - if you go into an extended, sexist rant then bring it up five months later after calling me childish... well, truth in advertising and all that.

[18:12] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: You have been ejected from 'Philosophy Group Without An Event For Months' by [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.].
[18:12] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Deo, please don't be a child about minor disagreements. Thanks.
[18:12] Deoridhe Quandry: Minor disagreements?
[18:13] Deoridhe Quandry: I'm not the one defriending over apparently... nothing.
[18:16] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: That's why you were removed from the group, not because of our disagreement.
[18:16] Deoridhe Quandry: What was why?
[18:17] Deoridhe Quandry: Wait, nevermind. Honestly, I don't care. If you want to be an infant, go for it.
[18:18] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Why-- getting friends involved in a minor dispute.
[18:18] Deoridhe Quandry: What friends? What minor dispute?
[18:19] Deoridhe Quandry: As far as I know, you and i haven't spoken for months. I'm not sure who any of our shared friends are.
[18:20] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Who is [Name Redacted]?
[18:20] Deoridhe Quandry: Urm... I don't know?
[18:20] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: They specifically mentioned you.
[18:21] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: And some kind of dispute we had, and apparently me being some kind of a scumbag or something to that effect.
[18:21] Deoridhe Quandry: Um, what?
[18:21] Deoridhe Quandry: Who is this [Name Redacted]? I don't remember that name at all.
[18:21] Deoridhe Quandry: What disagreement?
[18:21] Deoridhe Quandry: I don't even use scumbag as an insult.
[18:22] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Mhmm, interesting.
[18:22] Deoridhe Quandry: Who is this person and how am I supposed to know them?
[18:22] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: They sent me logs of our discussions.
[18:22] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Did you post it on your blog or something?
[18:23] Deoridhe Quandry: If you're also [Childish, Sexist Asshole], yes.
[18:23] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Very mature, Deo.
[18:24] Deoridhe Quandry shrugs. "You made claims about what we said. I quoted the text. Not against the TOS, and I redacted the names of the people you quoted to me as soon as it was requested."
[18:24] Deoridhe Quandry: Have a nice life. ^.^
[18:24] Deoridhe Quandry: http://primdolls.blogspot.com/2011/07/marked-as-spam.html
[18:24] Deoridhe Quandry: There, if you want to complain on my blog again. It's a few months old.
[18:24] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Then why was a particular avatar messaged directly?
[18:24] Deoridhe Quandry: You quoted her.
[18:25] Deoridhe Quandry: I redacted her name as soon as she requested it.
[18:25] Deoridhe Quandry: I'd redact yours too, if you ask nicely.
[18:25] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Why wouldn't have you? It would be common decency.
[18:25] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: I don't really care to complain on your blog, it's more about decency right now.
[18:25] Deoridhe Quandry: Ok, well her name is gone. Has been since she messaged me.
[18:26] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: I don't write people's names into my blogs.
[18:26] Deoridhe Quandry: You can apologize to her for quoting her name if you want to.
[18:26] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: So, she prolly googled her avatar name, came onto your journal, and saw that log.
[18:26] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Real mature, Deo.
[18:27] Deoridhe Quandry: I'm so sorry, Daddy! I won't do it again! Please say I can still have ice cream!
[18:28] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: Mhmm. Redact the names.
[18:28] [Childish, Sexist Asshole Jr.]: ....
[18:29] Deoridhe Quandry: Now, since I'm so immature and awful, I'll save you the trouble of having to deal with me ever again and block you! Bye.

Since he doesn't want to complain on my blog, the only time his name will show up is when he comments (which he did on the first post in this chain of shame)! Whew, I'm sure shown.

Me, me, and me

Sometimes, I just feel beside myself.

( Shared hair, Exile; Shared dress katat0nik; shared eyes De La Soul. )

Chairs!

I'm not an art critic.

Which is to say, sometimes I can analyze, say, the effects different things might have in art, but when it comes to those gasps, those moments of ooh and ahh, or even just quantifying why I like Rembrandt's Lucretia better than, like, anything else in the whole world (that and Michelangelo's Pieta).

I gasped at some of the confluences of light and shape in this art piece, though. I think you might, too. Some of the fun is all the hidden sitting places - sit on random things and see what happens!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Sachiko - Mesh
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick:
Dress: Evldva, Lotus - Gilded Royal
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet

Poses: Alchemy Immortalis

Location: Shadowfield
Light Settings: TOR, EUPHORIA Smokey Blue

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Winter Chill

Sometimes I have fun just shaking my inventory and seeing what falls out - like this dress from Silent Sparrow that I bought... sometime! And fitted, and oohed over, which disappeared into he depths of my "teal" folder unphotographed. Somehow, I find the joy in plumbing the depths and emerging with treasures almost as enjoyable as lurking through pictures and picking out the ones I want!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flufeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Hair: Exile, Dragonfly - honey
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Micare LipGlimmer - Hypoxia
Jewelry: Primalot, Paradise Bird
Dress: Silent Sparrow, Moonchild - Wintermoon Suite
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: G Field, Bow Strap Shoes - teal

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Shadowfield
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Wuxia
Water Settings: Pond

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

I Can Haz Promoshunz: Beach Comber

I wasn't quite ready to give up summer yet - as you can see from my selections of bright, colorful, and warm weather clothing. One of the nice things about Second Life is that even when it's icy outside, you can find a bright and sunny place and live out dreams of a deserted island in summer. At Retropolis, I found myself on a storm-driven ship nearly swallowed by giant tentacles, but that horrific image was quickly replaced with blue seas and warm golden sands (click on the genie to escape the storm!).

I've crammed a lot onto one little avatar, so I'm just going to start from the top and move down. The hat is a special creation from De La Soul that I have on good authority will be released as a group gift in December. The texture is an explosion of rainbow, and the band and feathers are both color changing! It is, aptly enough, named The Deo. You'd think I tortured Charlie until he made me rainbows, or something. Hee hee hee. The hair is a fantastic release from Me., and comes in a wide variety of colors with a base color and highlights. I paired a slightly darker blond with a lighter one, to reflect the sunkissed nature of my avatar! The skin is from Perception, which is a new-to-me store! It has a very interesting philosophy about skins - seasons based with Summer being this rosy tanned one I'm wearing now - and cosmetics - based on time of day, they allow a variety of styles for different levels of makeup, from simple designs meant for daytime wear to the full eyecolor of this evening look. The lipstick is on the skin, and the eyecolors come separately, which allows for a lot of mix and match.

I added some piercings to celebrate this very different, tanned look I built - from Acide!, which does some amazing designs. Each section of the piercing comes with it's own shadow. On the one hand, this adds a real verisimilitude. On the other hand, this made fitting them to my face took a while! I had to edit and rotate several of the shadows to lie appropriately on the curves of my face. I added a gorgeous little butterfly from Je taime to my collarbone instead of a necklace, and I really like the effect with the rest of my loose, relaxed look. The dress from Paris Metro really fit the mood perfectly, too - it's lose, and flowy, with a tail style skirt which would hang in the hair for several seconds, allowing for some really fun picture opportunities. The prim parts are modify-ok, which made fitting the sleeves to my shorter arms a snap; you just have to edit single prims if your arms are shorter and/or wider than the usual. I finished the whole look off with a pair of shoes I bought ages ago from SHOEnique. I got them literally because they were rainbow, and then this outfit showed me why I had kept them in my inventory - they look made for this!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Perception, Sara - Summer (Promotional Item)
Cosmetics: Perception, Evening Set 1b (Promotional Item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Piercings: Acide!, Mel - Rouge (Promotional Item)
Hair: Me., Jacqui (Promotional Item)
Hat: De La Soul, Defora Basic - The Deo (Promotional Item)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Butterfly: Je taime, Sculpted an animated butterfly (Promotional Item)
Dress: Paris Metro, Artist Series - Betty Tureaud Gown (Promotional Item)
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: SHOEnique, Flower Power Hippy Wedges

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Retropolis
Light Settings: Paulina, Fairy Blue
Water Settings: Pond

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

katat0nik Twins

katat0nik is in the process of kicking my butt with her releases - so often, and so fantastic! I still have a dolly avatar pairing in the wings, but when I saw she did rainbows! Rainbows! My absolute favorite rainbows! Well, something in me snapped and I promptly outfitted both mes with different shades of her fantastic release. Deoridhe Quandry, my main, is in the black version, and Deoridhe Starr, my original abandoned avatar, is in the pink version. Both of the dresses, an additional purple version, the shoes, and a rainbow tattoo are all for sale at katat0nik. There's also a new cupcake dress which will probably take a while for me to do pictures because! katat0nik! She is kicking my butt with releases!

In honor of the dress, I tried to twin Deoridhe Quandry and Deoridhe Starr as much as possible while still reflecting some originality between them. Both of them are wearing sale-release hairs from Exile; Exile is in the process of removing some of it's older content, so there's three walls of hair that, despite being older, are still pretty fantastic. I decided that Deoridhe Starr is the human, paler version of Deoridhe Quandry, so she got all of the light blondes and Quandry got all of the dark blondes! Well, by all I mean eight hairs - but at 50$L a color set it still only set me back 400$L on each avatar. The stockings were part of a buy one, get one to share special from Vextra Fashion, which means future twinning will be much easier due to shared stockings! The shoes are also identical, the rainbow shoes from katat0nik which are clearly going to be a favorite of mine!

Now for the differences!

Quandry is wearing a skin from Apple May Designs, Kat, and I really like the delicate cosmetics on the base. It comes with a wide variety of eyebrows and some cleavage variations - yay! I'm wearing the Pale tone, but there are other darker ones of course. I also highlighted her rainbowness with a Rainbow Key from Souzou Eien. I bought it on massive sale, because I just happened to see the notice on the day of the sale, but it's still available for a shiny 100$L, so even off uber sale it's still a bargain!

Starr is wearing cute accessories from a Honey Kitty gatcha which I was able to pass to her. The bracelet is an adorable mixture of bright, colorful shapes and the ribbon, and part of why I had some to pass was I kept playing the gatcha to get them all! The hair ribbon matches the bow and I think it really sets off the rest of the outfit. I also bought my darling a set of Flugeln Brise's lashes - 09 instead of the 05 that Quandry usually wears.

Switching over to the new release of Firestorm brought it's own excitement to this picture series. I actually had to take the first picture twice because my water settings didn't work! Ugly teal, no response from Windlight, and it turned out even my Windlight appearance was wrong with the recommended version. There's a second version of Firestorm with older graphics somethings, though, and installing that cleanly fixed my problem - so if you're noticing graphics issues, try installing the other version!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Deoridhe Quandry:

Skin: Apple May Designs, Kat - Pale Nitro 3 (Promotional Item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 05
Hair: Exile, Gossip Girl - sand
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress: katat0nik, Triple Dip Dress - black
Key: Souzou Eien, Rainbow Key
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Stockings: Vextra Fashion, Opaque Stockings - white
Shoes: katat0nik, Kita Mary Janes - Candy Rainbow
Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Deoridhe Starr:

Skin: Cupcakes, Charm - Snow
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 09
Hair: Exile, Gossip Girl - Ash
Hair Ribbon: Honey Kitty, Cutie Ribbon - Pink
Dress: katat0nik, Triple Dip Dress - pink
Bracelet: Honey Kitty, Cutie Ribbon Bracelet - Vanilla
Stockings: Vextra Fashion, Opaque Stockings - white
Shoes: katat0nik, Kita Mary Janes - Candy Rainbow
Poses: Glitterati

Location: INK Flagship Shop
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY - Sad purple
Water Settings: Pond

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fine Fae in Fur

Sometimes, I'm really grateful for friends of friends. A dear friend bought me this mesh avatar of a kitty from Blue Galaxian, and I spent the day rubbing against people's ankles and nibbling ears! Like my doll mesh avatar, the clothing choices are limited, but it's definitely an awesome avatar and it is tintable (I tinted the undies, for example). I heard down the grapevine that clothing to fit it will be released soon, but I kind of had fun wandering around in these cute undies. The hair, from D!va, is a lucky board prize and is fantastically lovely. I had to increase it 30%, but then it fit perfectly!

I think this is my shortest credits ever!

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Avatar: Blue Galaxian, Female Feline - Ghost
Hair: D!va, Eriko - Ruby
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Undies: Blue Galaxian, Female Knickers and Tanktop

Poses: Glitterati

Location: The Wilderness
Light Settings: Places Pathfinder
Water Settings: Pond

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

A Brief Rant Inspired by Netflix

I love comedy shows. Adore them - especially standup.

I have one thing which kills an act for me - every time. I've reached the point where if I'm watching a show and this shows up, I stop it and mark it in some way so I know "don't watch again."

Generalizations about women.

Comedians and other assholes who do this - news flash! We're half the fucking population. No, we don't ALL try to trick you into being rude. No, we don't ALL set traps for you. We don't ALL shop for shoes for hours, or wear only pink, or nag you into cleaning. Some of us hate cleaning, even. We don't all hate porn, or hate sex, or set you up to fail. If you have a problem with your significant other because she's mean to you, TAKE IT THE FUCK UP WITH HER.

Leave the rest of HALF THE FUCKING PLANET aloooooooooooooo~ne.

[/end service announcement]

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Brrree Mesh Hair (Promotional Item)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Dress: artMefashion, Steampatch Gown Green
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Duh!, Snow Booties - Brown (Promotional Item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Treptower Park
Light Settings: TOR, DUSK Vision of Something
Water Settings: Pond

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Brick House

I often feel guilty for not being more involved in political things, social movements. Some days even tracking the news becomes too much for me, and I end up singing along with GlaDOS.

It's hard to know what the balance needs to be. How much soothing helps me pull myself together for the next day - how much knitting up the raveled edge of care do I need before I'm ready to handle the weight of the day; the dance of delusions and discombobulation; the balance between being a quasi-agent of the state and serving the needs of those at the corners of society.

I still sometimes feel guilty for sitting and taking pretty pictures, though.

And I don't know why or if I should.

And I'm not sure I'd believe anyone who told me one way or another.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Bubble, Electro Pop Eyeshadow 2
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Lipstick: L.Fauna, Lipstick Red3
Hair: Tribal Secrets, Helena - Platinum
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Jewelry: Donna Flora, Amalia
Dress: Dilly Dolls, Astrid - Brown
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Dilly Dolls, Judy - Cherry Heels

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Villefranche sur Mer
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY - Cheery Cyan

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Peacock in the Aviary

One of the fantastic things about Second Life is how theatrical the clothing can become - how unreal and non-normal. I was instantly struck by this new dress from Inga Wind - enough to overlook the alpha issues which are inherent in an outfit like this. At the wrong angle, this looks like mush, but at the right angle it's absolute magic. I adore the colors, too; I was tempted by the golden peacock, but the natural colors are so striking that I couldn't resist. When I found the albino peacock at Tropical Paradise Designs, it seemed too perfect to resist. My long, slick black legs come courtesy of SLink and are mesh - so for more than half the grid you'll look legless with a ball attached to one thigh. The peacock necklace from TERHO rounded it out, and I was able to match the coloring of the peacock with the shiny Wasabi Pills hair on my head - a newer release. I was also able to match the colors on my Eclectica gloves as well - the feathers version this time instead of the roses I was rocking before. There are pearls as well - have I mentioned lately I adore these gloves?

There is something alluring about how easy it is to look fantastic in Second Life - without the dust, grime, laundry, and mess of the offline world. There's no need to cook, no need to clean, dust never accumulates, and looking gorgeous is a matter of attaching a folder.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5-A
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Kimmy Hair - Golden (promotional item)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Necklace: TERHO, peaCOCKED Necklace
Dress: Inga Wind, Pavonine
Gloves: Eclectica, Little Black Pillbox Hat & Gloves - Feathers (Vintage Faire - promotional item)
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: SLink, Tall Leather Boots

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Tropical Paradise Designs
Light Settings: Midday

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Vintage Roses

Like a lot of people, I ended up taking a gander over at the Vintage Faire - not only for a view at some new things, but also as a chance to scout out stores and look for new names to add to my (admittedly long) list of stores to keep track of. I ended up spending more than I expected - but I always do! A couple of old favorites hit the top of the list; Eclectica is a longstanding favorite of mine, and ever since she sent out the pictures of the gloves and hat I have felt a deep longing for these gloves. I thought one pair might be enough (she has three styles) but I think I may be forced to go back for more. The roses have texture change, but like all of Eclectica's stuff (love it!) it's modify ok!

The dress is another old favorite - Icing. I have to admit, I dithered a bit on buying it (I have a lot of short black dresses with flowers on them), but the flutters at the side really change the silhouette a lot, making it more interesting than a lot of small black dresses, and I've a total weakness for an altered silhouette. The flowers cling to a number of places, which makes the dress itself work with a lot of poses. I echoed the color in my lipstick (I think it was a free gift) from Pixelated Designs - which is a new-to-me store.

The shoes were an awesome match to the hot pink from Dilly Dolls; they're not a style I usually buy, but I have to admit having tried them out I was really impressed. The skin on the feet have texturing on them, which can match it up nicely to the skin on your... well, skin. Fitting them was the usual annoyance, but I don't think I managed too badly! There's a little bit of a "rim" but at a distance you'd never see it. The texturing HUD includes safe spots for colors, so if you move between a few standard skintones, you can save them and easily revert whenever you want to. There are also some default colors - and I'm pretty sure they'll match up with Dilly Dolls's skin perfectly.You can also set custom toenail colors, though I have to admit I didn't play around with all of the HUD options - they were multitudinous.

The necklace finished off the look, and was to reinforce the paler pinks in my new favorite hat and gloves. It's an old necklace; I'm not sure when I got it, but it's one of the few things in my inventory from Bliensen + MaiTai and I really like it. I'm a total fan of the double strand, and while these aren't pearls, they look like a fancy sort of glass adornment. The hair is from Alice Project (store currently closed), another new-to-me store, and they're mesh - which means to most of the grid you're bald. To those who can see, though, they look completely awesome (and as you can see in several of my additional pictures, it curls with your body in an awesome way). There are these adorable curls at the top of the head, and the bottoms also have awesome curls, and I'm completely in love with it. The bangs are separate and come with one of the two hairstyles I picked up; I can't remember which. Fantastic effect, though.

I ended up going for pictures at the new RMK Gothic Mall. There's been a lot of buzz recently about Second Life malls being doomed by the marketplace; one thing I love about Second Life malls is how often they becomes beacons for beauty, places where the styles of the stores expand out into the landscape to make shopping a much more enjoyable thing.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5-A
Lipstick: Pixelated Designs, Audrey Semi Gloss (Vintage Faire Freebie)
Hair: Alice Project, Bonnie - Blonde (Vintage Faire)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace: Bliensen + MaiTai, Sakura Double
Dress: Icing, Orchid Delight (Vintage Faire)
Gloves: Eclectica, Little Black Pillbox Hat & Gloves - Roses (Vintage Faire)
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Dilly Dolls, Beatrix Heels (Promotional Item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: RMK Gothic
Light Settings: Midday

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

How NOT to pick up a Man in Second Life

I got sent this by a fan of my "How NOT to..." series; the commentary at the end is so not mine. In fact, I have to admit I find this level of creepy somewhat unnerving; thankfully I've only had one person IM me with comments while I'm inside my house, and the new parcel settings can offer some privacy - but not when the parcel is largely set apart by being in the sky, rather than on a separate plot of it's own (something that many creators do).

Seriously, people; give people some privacy when they're at home on their own ground.

Perver: Beautiful house.
Homeowner's reaction - *blink blink and goes to nearby avatars to find that Perver is 54 meters away. Cams. He is flying below the house platform.*
Homeowner: Thank you
Perver: Did you build it?
Homeowner: modded it from two different builds
Perver: Nice.
Perver: So you RP, correct?
Homeowner: on occasion, yes. but not on this avi
Perver: Ah.
Homeowner: This is my buisness account primarily.
Perver: I see...A rather dashing business man I must add.
Homeowner's Reaction - *Blink... Blink... squidges and fumbles for... some kind of.. response.*
Homeowner: man.. woman, I tend to flip depending on what  make. XD but thanks?
Perver: Lol

*And then the Perver sticks around.. silent for about 30 minutes.. unmoving... while the Homeowner cannot just help but keep staring back... waiting for things to either get creepier.. or him to leave. Which he does. *

Ladies.. Gentlemen... generally speaking this is a breach of Common Sense Rule #1 on the internet. If you would not do this in RL, do not do it online. This is tantamount to climbing a tree across the street and using binoculars to look through someone's windows, then calling them to tell them they have a nice house and they look hot.
Real life, had this happened would have resulted in the cops being called and the Perver's ass going to jail. SL.. luckily we have things like estate bans and security orbs. (He was just outside of the range this Homeowner uses.)

Now... Homeowner would not mind this as much had his house not been over 1000 meters in the air! Had it been on ground level... that is another matter though could have still done without the creepy stalker hitting on.

REALLY, people.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Xplosion, Prim Lashes
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Bold Coal & Purple
Tattoo: Eternal Darkness, Harlequin Tears
Lipstick: Skinthesis, Liquid Heat - In Denial
Hair: Magika, Ren - blond
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Cipher, Lamia Dress - purple
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Cipher, Lamia Boots

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Haruno
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI - Metal Gear Solid

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only