Opposite of Loquacious

Whatever the opposite of loquacious is, that's me right now. This is some of the remnants from Fit for a Princess, spinning down until the next round in July - Happily Ever After. I have loved so much of what June brought, and I'm really looking forward to July, and perhaps an excuse to gussy up my man-alts a little.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Madeleine (Fit for a Princess)
Hat: TT, Diva's Hat (Fit for a Princess)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips
Lipstick 2: Mock, Lucir LipColor
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZOZ, Urban Silver
Jewelry: Baiastice, Fatima Collar
Clothing: Moon Amore, Cityscape Dress (Fit for a Princess)
Stockings: Hopscotch, Dotted Stockings
Backpack: SL11B Cakestage Goodies
Shoes: MiaMai, Curiosity Pumps

Poses: Elephante Poses (Fit for a Princess)

Location: <a href="http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL11B%20Astound/254/23/32">Cake Stage</a>
Light Settings: TOR, BIG SUN Eats night
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Live Stage on Astonish

The Live Stage has live events only, usually an individual or small group showcasing their talent. It's a completely gorgeous build that does well on a variety of windlights, and the textures are rough and look penciled in - an impressive effect in three dimensions. Aki Shichiroji, the designer, built a sunken stage with an industrial feel; the ramps and steps down have some muted glow and combine with the textures and vents sending steam into the air, the effect is dystopic. The tall pillars backing the build are reminiscent of some of the more interesting skyscrapers that have been built in the last few years, and large tubes move smoothly and mysteriously over the land, their contents unseen.

The stage itself is the most impressive part of the build, though. Standing many ties the size of the avatars which surround it, a masked-faced robot stands with palms outstretched for performers t stand upon. When we came upon the build as a press group, almost everyone focused on those amazing hands, with nails larger than some avatars, and her open, generous palms. The facelessness reinforces the sense of subtle dystopia, though; the robot may be quiescent for the moment, but how long can that last?

In any case, while she remains peaceful, check out the events on hand at the Official Website (live events in Red).

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Location: Live Stage on Astonish
Light Settings:TOR, BIG SUN Slips through walls 5

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Cake Stage

The Cake Stage holds a mixture of live and DJ events, and has been built for a combination of listening and dancing. Since it's on the mid point of two sims, it can hold much larger crowds than any other venue at the Birthday Celebration. It is best viewed on a night setting with Advanced Lighting Model on, if you can manage it. The designer, Loki Eliot, has done previous notable projects for past Birthday events, including the Behemoth which gained a lot of attention last year and had a really fun hunt included. He did astonishing things with light both inside and outside of the futuristic build. It shows up best against a very dark backdrop because everything is made up of moving light, which manages to be impressive both moving and in stills - not an easy feat by any means.

Long bridges lead into the stage area from the surrounding sims, giving it a sprawling sense despite being smaller than some previous Cake Stages, which were on the meeting of four corners instead of two halfs. It has a less staged and more club feel to it, with a large, open dance floor that goes up several meters with mostly unobstructed views. In addition to the floor level for dancing, there are glowing platforms in the air to stand on and a few boxes that can serve as seats stuck to the walls. In between the boxes, one for each sim, there are two long window viewing rooms, complete with glowing seats and "free stuff" coins. Within the coins are a couple of backpacks, one made for breasts (thought smaller breasts than mine by far) and a whole selection of glowsticks which leave particles behind, and are really neat.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Location: Cake Stage on Astound and Enchant
Light Settings: TOR, BIG SUN Eats night

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Stages and Events

Second Life's Eleventh Birthday is starting tomorrow, and I got an early tour (it turns out all you have to do is ask - they take anybody! And they remind you to show up, which was wonderful since I was just flittering around). I decided to do something useful with my time and took some notes so that the Second Lifer on the go can find what she wants to do relatively easily.

The theme is: "The Empires of the Future are the Empires of the Mind."

The official website is here, and it's simply festooned with information and teasers. Of note is that there are four stages for events, and that they are largely themed - which makes it easier to figure out which you're most interested in - however there is a Master Schedule if you just want to try to take it all in. Events go from Sunday, 22 June to Sunday, 29 June and then the sims remain open without events until Sunday, 6 July for a whole two weeks of celebration.

Edited to Add:  For some reason the schedules for the entire event are down, but the schedule for day one Is Here, and presumably more days will be done in the future on the website.

The Main Stage is, as always, the Cake Stage (slurl), built in between two sims in order to allow for larger crowds. The events there vary widely, from music to dancers, and there are numerous places to watch the action from or dance, including flat platforms floating in the air, blocks hung along the walls, and two long rooms along the edges with seats. Or, if you feel like it, you can congregate on the floor and dance.

The Live Stage (slurl) offers up a wide variety of live acts in the palm of your hand... or someone's hand at least. It's on a single sim, so smaller crowds, and gives a really good perspective on the amazing variety of live acts going on in Second Life. If you want to get an overview of that community, hang out here and the acts change on the hour.

The DJ Stage (slurl) takes us into a World Dominating Mastermind's Mountainous Lair. It's on a single sim, so smaller crowds, and offers up the best disk jockeying Second Life has to offer. If you want to get an overview of that community, hang out here and the acts change on the hour.

The Auditorium (stage-side slurl / green-side slurl) is a smaller, double sided stage offering up a wide variety of events, from fashion shows, to plays, to lectures on Second Life specific topics. to dramatic arts. One one side is a standard proscenium stage with seats in front of it. The other is more of a platform in the round, offering up bench seating.

Second Life's official Eleventh Birthday celebration starts at 10am SLT/PST and the first events start at 12NOON sharp on all four stages.

2014 Fashion for Life: Promenade

Sadly, Fashion for life is gone for the year. I saw it through to the end; or, rather, while writing my last post I lingered on Promenade until suddenly I was bouncing in the air getting "you are banned from this sim" notices. I assume it wasn't personal. Luckily, less than an hour earlier I had managed to catch these last pictures of Promenade and even explore the ship at the heart of the sim. It was really a wonderful and amazing experience, and completely different from the other sims - for despite the common windows, there was no way out into the sim to explore the waters within which more futuristic buildings stood. I think the control room, all glowing red with bright panels of flashing lights, was my favorite part of the whole thing. I have a few things left in my inventory which might make their way fluttering out sometime in the near future, perhaps as part of the Birthday Celebrations beginning tomorrow, but for now memories will have to hold me to the next Fashion Fair.

ZOZ is back, this time with nails and shoes both. You've seen tons of shiny new nails, but these shoes are really something special - set over SLink's high feet, they are of an ankle-yolk design with layers of leather and chain. It's open toed with studs covering the vamp to echo the silver of the chains. I really love how edgy it is; I definitely tend much more toward sweet and frilly, but this offers up shoes for a different kind of Deoridhe. I echoed the silver in my shoes with the silver of my Sabina jewelry, from Krystal. I love the off-centered hang of the chains and the three drops hanging down. It's a novel design, interesting and off center with soft gem textures. Stylish and not at all subtle being the name of the game, I finished my look with this incredible gown from Legal Insanity, complete with cow textures and ruffles along the edges so extreme that from certain angles I was flashing a great deal indeed. I love how revealing it is, and how thick the fabric of the dress seems around those rather extreme plunges; it offers up a delightful contrast that is then mimicked in the stark black and white of the ruffle.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Michelle
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: MiaSnow, Dark 5
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, 13 Lips
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZOZ, Urban Silver (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Jewelry: Krystal, Sabina (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Clothing: Legal Insanity, Evita Gown (Fashion for Life - Perambulate)
Shoes: ZOZ, Synful Heels (Fashion for Life - Promenade)

Pose: Glitterati

Location: Fashion for Life: Promenade
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Moony
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Wander

Wander is filled with balloons, both small rubber ones and enormous ones which can hold the buildings up in the sky. I found the whimsy of it delightful, complete with the sight of a few of the boxes that didn't quite make it to the ground floating away on an errant breeze. The rubber balloon was invented in 1824 by Michael Faraday, while he was experimenting with various gasses. Being semi-permeable to helium, they loose buoyancy relatively quickly. Mylar, a less permeable metallic film, makes significantly longer lasting balloons which have the added bonus of being shiny. Hot air balloons are much older, however, dating back to early China and made of paper with candles or other sources of heat inside of them to offer the buoyancy and they were used for military purposes as well as decoration and events. Hot air balloon rides came to Europe in the 1700s, and they remain one of the more graceful and peaceful manners of transportation.

I'm dressed in Wander-ful clothing this time, which makes me really happy, and some of the last offerings from Donna Flora, which makes me both happy and sad all mixed up together. Donna Flora was the creation of Squinternet Larnia, who became very ill and then died due to cancer about six months ago. The last few years of her life were marked with support and fun raisers from Second Life, including Love Donna Flora. Besides the legacy of friends who loved and honor her still, she left behind a variety of lovely jewelry and clothing, though she was never well enough to take full advantage of advances like mesh and rigging. My dress and my jewelry are both by her - the jewelry put together from textures and designs she had already created and not had the energy to finish, and the gown a collaboration between her and a dear friend, Monica Outlander of Miamai. It's one of her few rigged mesh offerings, a floaty confection of golden stars. I'm glad she and Miamai ended up on a cheerful sim like Wander, though it doesn't make her loss any easier. I matched the dark green of my lovely Donna Flora jewelry with shoes from Bliensen + MaiTai, also available on Wander. These are really fun snub-nosed shoes sold in sets of colors - about six per pack - which offers up some real variety. I especially like the inclusion of odder shades, like this dark green; t hose can be difficult shades to match in an outfit, and the fact the soles and gem clip are also customizable makes the shoes even sweeter.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Ploom, Boomer
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Senzafine, Sirene
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: A:S:S. Dragon Scale
Jewelry: Donna Flora, Julia (Fashion for Life - Wander)
Clothing: Donna Flora, Noemi (Fashion for Life - Wander)
Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai, Bolero (Fashion for Life - Wander)

Pose: Don't Freak Out

Location: Fashion for Life: Wander
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Flyer (moded)
Water Settings: Blackwater

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Parade

Parade is a lovely sim, full of elegant and tall-standing stones, with bicycles and tricycles all over the place. The earliest example of a tricycle was a three wheeled wheelchair build in the 1600s by a disabled German watchmaker, who drove it with cranks. It wasn't until the 1800s that the rotary chain driven tricycles were invented and developed in tandem with a variety of two wheeled vehicles, some of which used pedals connected to the front wheel, while more of them used the same chain drives as the tricycles. Further innovations ushered in a Golden Era of cycling toward the end of the 1800s, and bicycles and horse buggies remained the primary modes of transportation until the advent of the automobile. In fact, bicycles may be credited with the initial spread of graded roads, as the cycles worked so much better on them.

I'm wearing a gorgeous dress from Bite & Claw which was one of many gacha prizes available with the store on Parade, and I even managed to land one of the rares. All of the sizes are included, which was a blessing, and I adore the style. The ruching around the ankles is completely delightful, and the way it falls against the skin is interesting and evocative - especially with the textures layered over the movement of the skirt. I could wish for a more interesting bodice line, but it's a simple tube top and textured beautifully with an empire waistline. The touches I like the most are the dragonflies lurking along the edges, though - an adorable touch which really made me smile. I'm wearing my ZoZ nails again, those lovely souvenir prize ones which you have only one more day to get. And finally, I'm back in my awesome Sweet Thing (from Meander - oh so long ago, now) shoes again - once more the ability to tint the bands and shoes separately came into play, and these awesome pink and yellow shoes match the shades of my Bite & Claw gown beautifully.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Shimmer, Vintage Cloche Hat (Art Hats)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Pink Fuel, Metallic Lipsticks
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Floral Solids (Fashion for Life - Souvenir Prize)
Necklace: Eclectica, Perenelle Gothic
Clothing: Bite & Claw, Anna Dress (Fashion for Life - Gacha)
Shoes: Sweet Thing, Solid Angel Pumps (Fashion for Life - Meander)

Pose: !bang

Location: Fashion for Life: Parade
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Maldives
Water Settings: Phototools, Ship Light

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Trek

Trek is an airport, and a glorious one at that where we get to walk and fly all over the runways and byways. I'm particularly fond of the enormous diagonal road cutting through the sim - it just makes me giggle. It's a little harder to navigate since there are crosses and recrosses, but the variety of vehicles and planes is simply charming. The longest continuous running airport was in College Park Maryland, founded in 1909 by Wilber Wright, but it's a small airport quite unlike the enormous one which inspires Trek. The initial airports were quite rudimentary, and they didn't start to become more sophisticated until after World War II, when planes had become more advanced and more integrated into society. In the Trek Airport, I particularly liked all of the fun accoutrements of the trade, with rolling stairs and carts for the luggage, with each store place looking like a gorgeous little hanger or tucked into an enormous, glassed terminal. There are also adorable little figures here and there - a teddy bear scaring away geese, for example. My one complaint is that the terminals were set to full bright, which made picture taking a bit of a challenge; when photographing in the wild, full bright things can cause no end of trouble, as they aren't affected by changing light at all. This can be used for good effect - a subtle way of making something seem like it's glowing without overusing glow - but it's often overused and can be a trial in both landscaping and dress.

My dress, from new to me store Ghee and purchased on Trek, is amazing and takes full advantage of things which can only be done in Second Life. In addition to glow, it has a lovely color changing effect - both in the flickering lights above the dress and imbued into the fabric itself. The shoes also have a glittering, glimmering effect on them, though less of the color shifting. I have no idea how it is done, but I adore it, I want more, and I'm full prepared to indulge in some store stalking in the hopes that more rainbow offerings will be in my future. The shoes are involved, platform confections which fit over SLink feet, and their design is every bit as complex as the dress - with layers of glittering lights shifting all over them. They would work well with other shiny club dresses, but they are really in their element with this dress - the short hemline is balanced by the longer train, and all of it is so glittery and sparkly I don't want to take it off. My only other Fashion for Life accessory is my nails, this time not a purchase from ZoZ but rather one of the prizes from their Souvenirs Hunt. This is a fun little accompaniment to the full events, though it isn't free.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Alice Project, Bells II (Group Gift)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Damned, Rainbow
Lipstick: Skinthesis, Deoridhe
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Floral Solids (Fashion for Life - Souvenir Prize)
Jewelry: Ganked, Easy Jewelry Set
Clothing & Shoes: Ghee, Gown of a Different Color (Fashion for Life - Trek)

Pose: Striking Poses

Location: Fashion for Life: Trek
Light Settings: Phototools, Lo Light 04
Water Settings: Phototools, Ship Light

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Journey

Journey is a city sim, a modern city without plantlife or softness. It reminds me strongly of images of London I've seen from the 1800s, all tall roofs with grates and narrow windows, with old cars abandoned here and there and the odd bent crate or pile of crates adding texture. I particularly love the textures of the streets and walls - all hard stone and crisp shadows interspersed with the odd blast of color in a window or painted onto a car. Most interestingly, the way through to the other end of the sim was actually through two of the stores, with a small courtyard in between where the gacha for that sim were; an incredibly novel, if somewhat confusing, design. I also quite liked the number of faux doors and stairwells, giving it the effect of a much more populated area even while giving the individual store sufficient room for all of their Fashion for Life offerings.

This is my most sim-congruent look; hair, outfit, and shoes all come from Journey, which I think makes it rather fun. The hair which I've been showing off for quite some time is from EMO-tions, this time a lovely windblown style. Their store on Journey is quite lovely as well, with enormous, spinning gears in the floor; I found myself quite entranced by them. I've had a great deal of fun playing with EMO-tions' hair over the past week, and this windswept hair is particularly fine, with narrow strands going wildly. It also includes a mirror style, which would be useful for setting a scene. My gown is one that I have completely loved for ages in other colors, but this black and white confection completely floored me. Likka House (also on Journey) has always made wonderful, unique, interesting gowns, and this Carousel stands firmly amongst my favorite surreal outfits, a category I wish more dress makers aspired to. The corset, skirt, and ponies are all separate pieces and the latter two are not rigged, so they can be adjusted for shorter avatars; I ended up using the resize script included to make them smaller as well, but I'm quite tiny for Second Life. It came with stockings, but since I was indulging in shoes made for SLink feet I substituted a different set of stockings; DressME Designs also has clothing available, but I quite liked these purple shoes with their velvety texture and simple design. I love the puff-nosed pump and the narrow but not spiked heel, and they add a spot of color that was also found on Journey. The other spot of color comes in my nails, once more a fantastic offering from ZoZ, this time crackled color and silver combined; in this look, ZoZ is the odd thing out, since you can find these fantastic nails on Promenade instead.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: EMO-tions, Windblown (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Silent Star
Wings: Cila, Cloud Wings White (Group Lucky Board)
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Urban Silver (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Clothing: Likka House, Carousel (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Shoes: DressME Designs, Anna (Fashion for Life - Journey)

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Fashion for Life: Journey
Light Settings: Places Betham
Water Settings: Phototools, Ship Light

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Voyage

I really have no idea ,beyond the odd hint of wind power, what type of travel is being highlighted in Voyage. It's a lovely sim, though, all gabled roofs and long buildings reaching high into mountainous skies. The buildings are all very old-world - half-timbered buildings with stone infill and bells which sound regularly according to the hours. The bits of ivy surrounding the doors are a particularly nice touch, as are the stone paths here and there between the main path and the little cottage stores. It has all the charm of a country village which never adapted to anything harder-edges than a hoof.

I'm rocking the miniskirts this week, the latest example being findable on Voyage from Mon Cheri. It's a three part dress - the dress part, belt, and sleeves are all separate, and the belt can be recolored via a HUD. I selected a lovely salmon shade to show off, which then meant I doomed myself to struggling for accessories. The pattern and shape is fun and light, and I really like all of the ripples. It has some issues with movement when your legs are at angles, though if you're lucky it can look like a breeze catching the fabric up, and when animated it blends into the general movements pretty well. I love the line along the bodice and the tops of the sleeves as well - it looks smooth and of a piece despite being two different pieces altogether.

My headdress from Zibska was also found on Voyage in the gacha area, and I was lucky enough to land one of the rares - which includes a full texture HUD. It means I can tint it any way I wish, which for a colorphile like myself is a blessing. I paired it with two offerings from Bliensen + MaiTai, available on Wander, which really work with my bohemian charm. The jewelry is a fantastic set of swirls and also come with a color changing HUD with a wide variety of stone and metal options. The inner and outer stones can also be tinted separately, offering up a lot of opportunities for mixing and matching. The shoes are also from Bliensen + MaiTai and are truly lovely - a simple style with a jeweled brooch on the toe. They come in sets of colors - which I think is a charming idea - and this particular shade is the orangest of the pinks. You've seen the hair and nails before, but I couldn't resist using them again. The hair is from EMO-tions on Journey, and my fantastic nails are from ZoZ from Promenade. This is one of my looks I've managed to saturate with offerings from Fashion for Life, which really makes these pictures a lot of fun.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: EMO-tions, Violet (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Headdress: Zibska, Ibis Headdress (Fashion for Life - Gacha)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Love (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Jewelry: Bliensen + MaiTai, Layla (Fashion for Life - Wander)
Clothing: Mon Cheri, Sachi Flare Dress (Fashion for Life - Voyage)
Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai, Bolero (Fashion for Life - Wander)

Pose: Exposeur

Location: Fashion for Life: Voyage
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Cranched
Water Settings: Phototools, Ship Light

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Excursion

Unlike last year, when each sim was named for the seventh wonder it was for Fashion for Life, this years theme is much more abstract - which can make it harder to tell what type of travel the builder was thinking of when she made her display. Excursion has a watery, old world feel to it which reminds me of the Venician bridges and channels, with the tall buildings on either side, the open palazzos for shopping, and the gorgeous gondolas here and there for getting around. Venice has been called the Floating City, and was known as a city where the wealthy and influential went about masked so that they could do business and still keep a veneer of impartiality. I set my story The Red Sail for Fantasy Faire 2013 there, and it remains one of the places I would love to visit, along with Florence, but which I also acknowledge will never live up to my dreams of it.

I'm wearing gorgeous EMO-tions hair again, this time in a tight ponytail. EMO-tions' Fashion for Life booth is on Journey, which we'll hopefully be getting to soon. It comes with textured hair layers, but I found I preferred it without; the hair line on an avatar skill is always an awkward point. The band is color-changing, and the braid is well rigged so that it looks like it's falling naturally in most poses. My dress is a fun baloon-puff dress from Distorted Dreams that I wanted as soon as I had seen it on Excursion. I love this kind of style and skirt, but it can be difficult to rig due to the shape; Distorted Dreams did an excellent job, from the small ruffle around the thighs, to keeping the voluminous shape even in twisty poses. The texturing is soft and dulled, like the underside of a flower petal, and the bodice is very simple. I would have loved balloon-like sleeves to go with it, perhaps as separate pieces; it would have taken a charming dress and given it just a bit more oomph. I'm wearing nails from  ZoZ again (found on Promenade), and I really love the softer shades which keep their rich tone. Finally, my accessories are another set of cookies from Sweet Thing (found on Meander), this time in the common chocolate shade. I paired them with cookie-half earrings instead of the mixers I used last time, and the effect is totally tasty.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: EMO-tions, Renee (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Hat: 22769, The Roses Crown (Art Hats Event)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips
Lipstick 2: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor
Wings: Illusions, Apsara
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Love (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Jewelry: Sweet Thing, SillyBaking (Fashion for Life - Gacha)
Clothing: Distorted Dreams, Wanderust Dress (Fashion for Life - Excursion)
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Saltarello Slippers

Pose: Don't Freak Out

Location: Fashion for Life: Excursion
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Cheery Cyan
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Monday Meme: Avatar Corpse!

Edie has another challenge for us, this time trading love for death (not quite opposites, but I think an avatar birth would look a lot like gray, clouds, and screaming). I chose less a picture of my corpse, and more a picture of the moment before my actual Second Life death at Bryn Oh's The Singularity of Kumiko. It's easy to forget that even in Second Life there is a Death of Worlds; sims can be set to damage-ok, and sufficient damage to your avatar will send you home, the closest to a reset we have in this world. In this case, Mr. Zippers would glow red and dangerous, and attack until you died - poor Mr. Zippers; he meant so well, and he caused such inadvertent, inverted pain. I was attacked mid-picture taking, and by the time this image was saved, I was home and safe - ready to head back and try to hide from Mr. Zippers more while I vainly snaped shots in the dark.

1. What would you eat for your last meal? If I could have anything, I would want a meal at a Five Star Restaurant - my preference would be the Inn at Little Washington. I've eaten there a few times, at great cost, and the food really is a level above anything anywhere else. My preference would be to include all of my close friends, all teleported in for the event.

2. Where do dead avatars go? I sometimes wonder fi there is an in-between world where they do things when we're not looking, like the dolls that have whole lives while we're out of the room. I'd imagine they go there.

3. Have you ever been to a cemetery in SL? If so, which one(s)? I've been to a few, but I can't name them off the top of my head - outside of the tiny family cemetery on Falln Sanctuary, which has since closed.

4. What would you like them to do at your avatar wake? The same as at my living wake - drink a lot, tell stories about me, and celebrate my life.

5. What would you like it to say on your avatar tombstone? "Press Any Key"

6. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you? Both? Neither? I think the worst is that moment after you inadvertently fell out of touch with people and you're not sure how to pick it up again because you think they might be mad at you, but how can you make up for silence?

7. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today? My friends back East.

8. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? We do things we don't like because we think we should; sometimes we're right. I think we like things we don't do because actually doing them is harder than wishing they had been done.

9. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? You are perfectly valuable simply because you exist.

10. What color is your underwear? Red. Sadly, some invisilayers mean some photographic angles show the transparency.

2014 Fashion for Life: Perambulate

Perambulate is a treeish, lotusy park with long walkways, and it wasn't until I saw the sign for a skatepark that I realized the specific type of perambulation intended. The first skatepark was built in Surf City in Arizona, largely in response to skateboarders turning large parts of every city into a sort of shared skatepark with moving obstacles otherwise known as "people going about their day." Some municipalities are also combining art, landscaping, and skateparks to create enjoyable destinations for everyone - much like the loveliness that is Perambulate. Here and there are boxes of gifts - either skates or a skateboard if you want to slide your way along the smooth paths. I love the swoops and swirls inherent to the style, and the lovely embellishments of small pools and gorgeous flowers. I chose a half-light with heavy mists to set of the layered textures of the trees, and just indulged in general.

My dress is from Redux, found on Perambulate. It's beautifully textured in rich colors and two toned - a tight, gold cherry blossom pattern over one shoulder and a looser, artistic fall of pink tinted cherry blossoms along the line of the bodice and down to the skirts. I really like the texturing, a velvety touch with rich gold like illuminated texts, and it works excellently with the collar and sleeve shapes, making it seem elegant and rich. My nails match the color and tone perfectly, a rich crackled shade with solid gold bands. ZoZ (found on Promenade) really does amazing work with color and texture and I loved finding a pink which worked so well with the velvety magenta of my dress.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Ingrid
Flowers: Naminoke, Sakura
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, 13 Lips
Lipstick 2: Buzz, Gem Lips
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Urban Gold (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Clothing: Redux!, Journey to the East (Fashion for Life - Perambulate)
Stockings: Stellar, In Bloom Tights
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Jolenta

Pose: !bang

Location: Fashion for Life: Perambulate
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Fogvari
Water Settings: mirror water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Meander

The second sim for Fashion for Life is Meander, and is based around the Boardwalks of the world - all white wood and bathing boxes. The first boardwalk was in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1870 for practical reasons - hotel owners were tired of their buildings drowning in sand. Over the years it was expanded on and improved gradually until it was seven miles long - though the hand of nature played a roll in setting more modest goals; thanks hurricanes! The golden age was in the 1920s and prohibition not only didn't touch the fun, it contributed to it - since Atlantic City didn't enforce the law, people from all over flocked to the beaches and the bars. The expansion of other forms of transportation and air conditioning contributed to the boardwalk's decline, however, until the legalization of gambling in 1978. Much of the urban poverty was cured by this new influx of entertainment money, but the heights of the Golden Twenties has never been regained.

The gown is from Poute and is available both at Fashion for Life on Meander, and Cosmopolitan Sales.I fell in love with this as soon as I found it, from the adorable butterfly detailing on the back, to the rich colors woven into the dress. It has a lovely style, with spaghetti straps over the shoulders and a short, flippy skirt that is extremely adorable. The invislayer covers most of the middle of the gown, though I'd recommend wearing panties underneath. I'm wearing those amazing Sweet Thing shoes again, found on Meander, and I added a sweet set of jewelry - the necklace is adorable cookie triangles strung on a chain, with brightly colored mixers for earrings. The colors I'm wearing are one of the secret common sets, and I really adore how well they match the saturated shades of my dress. My EMO-tions hair is from another sim - sneaking in from Journey - and it's an adorable updo with lovely hairsticks through the bun. The awesome thing about it is that there is an additional ponytail which comes out of the bun; just touch the hair and it can flow forth in all it's shining glory. Finally, my nails are from ZoZ which is offering up an enormous bunch of shoes as well on Promenade, which we haven't gotten to yet. Her nail colors and styles are simply smashing, though, so expect to see them again.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: EMO-tions,  (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Love Polish (Fashion for Life - Promenade)
Clothing: Poute, Butterfly Essence (Fashion for Life - Meander)
Jewelry: Sweet Thing, Silly Baking (Fashion for Life Gacha)
Shoes: Sweet Thing, Angel Pumps (Fashion for Life - Meander)

Pose: Diesel Works

Location: Fashion for Life: Meander
Light Settings: Sim Default (Time of Day Edited)
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Amble

The Fashion for Life sims are based around traveling motifs this year, and Amble is organized around the concept and memory of Route 66 in all of its glory. It was established in November of 1926 to travel between Chicago and Los Angeles, and in addition to becoming a cultural loadstone for the ideas of traveling in the United States it served as a major migratory path westward during cultural upheavals and brought prosperity along it's route until the new highway system supplanted it in June of 1985. It remains now more myth than actuality, and even while it was a common path of travel it was undergoing constant reworking and revision. It crosses across the often mentioned but rarely focused on at length "midwest," which has been unkindly called the "flyover country," but which includes mazes and warrens of the most incredible things all created by people in lands they saw as new while they supplanted the Native Tribes which had been moved so the descendants of Europeans could take over the land. I also crosses over the Southwest, a place where the narrative of native supplantion was shifted more toward appropriation, usually in the form of art and culture. Route 66 does and can stand for so many things, at a nexus of the ideas of travel, replacement, and pain.

My gown is for purchase on Amble, an exclusive release by Purple Moon which is simply beautiful - the subtlety of the iconic purple for Relay for Life combined with the elegance of a black and white gown. The gloves come with the gown but not with SLink appliers; I was able to use appliers for another glove set I owned to make the match, though, and the effect is stunning. I love the small train of the gown and how my feet show underneath the hem so that you can see the gorgeous banded heels from Sweet Thing, available on Meander. I bought the solid fatpack, which means you will be seeing these in a wide variety of other shades in the future, I promise. My hair is part of a far more complicated release from EMO-tions on Journey; in totally it includes horns and flexy bits to my ankles, but I wanted to keep it a little more slim and streamlined for this look. It has a fantastic up-built ponytail in pieces, and the head section is editable so that if your head is a bit different from the hair, you can simply edit it to fit. Finally, my jewelry is a release from Bliensen + MaiTai on Wander, and so I've managed spectacularly to cover four different Fashion for Life sims in a single look. It's a lovely, chunky jewelry set with a variety of different gems and metals available in the included HUD; in this case I went for a simple opal and jet to complement the simplicity of my gown, the black metal adding a clean edge to everything.

I'm going to be trying to show nine more looks, one on each of the major sims, before Fashion for Life ends on the 20th. I hope you get a chance to swing by and see the inventive sims and do a little shopping yourself.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: EMO-tions, Mantus (Fashion for Life - Journey)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, 13 Lips
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Clothing: Purple Moon, Drew Gown (Fashion for Life - Amble)
Jewelry: Bliensen + MaiTai, Yasemine (Fashion for Life - Wander)
Shoes: Sweet Thing, Angel Pumps (Fashion for Life - Meander)

Pose: Exposeur

Location: Fashion for Life: Amble
Light Settings: Sim Default (Time of Day Edited)
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Monday Meme: Love

Edie Sedgwick picked up Strawberry's vacation slack this week with a Love Meme, all but startling me out of my shoes, and it wasn't until the next day that I could boss a friend into posing me - though one friend turned into two, and I lured them to my secret lair for pictures. They were very cooperative - jumping on and off of pose balls when I told them too, and I managed to shake this multi-pose from Poise (currently closed). It actually comes with ten poses and a girder, but since it was wonderfully editable (and copyable) I ruthlessly slaughtered it to make it into three poses and a girder for moving people around, and then posed us in front of my favorite Schadenfreude dress forms - a very old purchase from the Arcade.

These are my friends Rofine and Shin, and I love them dearly, and below I'll be answering questions about them both since I met them under very similar circumstances.

1. How did you and the person in the photo with you meet? I met both Ro-chan and Shin through the sim Isle of Amras, where they were first players and then admin. We got to know each other through various hijinks during staff meetings, and hijinks outside of staff meetings, and then when Isle of Amras closed we stayed friends mostly because I IM them a lot, and they lured me to their new RPing sim.


2. How long have you known each other? About two years or so now. Maybe three? I'm bad with time.


3. What do you love about this person? I love how fun Ro-chan is; she's always up for anything, even if we are not really explaining it to her. Also she's a lot of fun to roleplay with. I love how Honest and straightforward Shin is; I always know exactly where I stand, and that's so comforting - especially since Shin likes me. 8D


4. What place in SL do you love? I love my Grove and my Cave, on Imagine. Charlie, who has shown up in previous interviews and suchlike, made them for me to decorate, and it makes me so happy.


5. What clothes or shoes in SL do you love? I have stores I love in particular due to nostalgia - like Silent Sparrow, who hasn't made clothing in ages, but was the first store I ever stalked the Lucky Chair of. My longstanding favorite shoe, the first store I bought fatpacks at, was G Field. These days I wear a lot of katat0nik, Schadenfreude, De La Soul,  Eclectica, Sax Shepherd Designs, Adore & Abhor, Fate,  Sublime Shroud Kreations, and Lassitude & Ennui are among my favorites - but I have so many more.


6. What does love mean to you? Depends on if it is toward a sapient being or not. Toward the non-sapient, it means I enjoy looking at or using it. Toward the sapient it means I want to spend time with them, know them, support them, and take care of them when they need it.


7. What is your biggest regret? I wish I'd returned to school earlier, for an unchangable one. I wish I spent more effort trying to make friends, for a changable one.


8. Which is the one event that has had the biggest impact on you and your life? The death of my best friend when I was in college.


9. What do you love and hate the most about the human race? I love how creative ad expressive we are. I hate how cruel we can be.


10. What color is your underwear? I'm not wearing any. 8O Alpha layers, yo.

MadPea Mini-Quest: The Green Mire

Ten years ago, Tony Lamil and Skip Dares went missing at the Green Mire swamp. A reward is being offered for any information leading to the location and/or safe return of the boys. Join the quest and explore this sim for free goodies and more. ‘

MadPea has opened a new sim - The Green Mire - and as a gift to all of us have a small mystery on hand. The main landing point is in front of their warehouse, where a wide variety of past and present goodies are available - including a pile of group gifts in between the front entrances. The rest of the hunt takes one all over the sim - you get your first hints at what might be wrong at the missing board down the road, but you have to do some hunting to find the old abandoned shack that the two missing boys had turned into their own personal fort. In addition to the journal sitting on the table, there are a wide variety of photographs in there, apparently of the boys and their adventures.

Reading the journal, you find out that the boys, Tony and Skip, found a sort of intergalactic Simon Says with strange symbols on it. They played around with it until they figured out the tones - and it made a hologram. This journal will end up guiding the entire hunt, as it gives strong hints as to what we need to do every step along the way. First, go and hunt down the fallen bridge to find the Simon Says machine - it's fairly easy to find, even if there isn't a small gathering of avatars around it, all taking turns. The tones are straightforward, though I found the last two melded more than expected, so it took me a while (and a helpful other person) to figure them out. At that point the hologram that Tony writes about in his journal shows up - and you get the HUD for this hunt. At this point the parameters are set - three jewels to match the image above the Alien Simon Says.

It initially looks like some sort of alien artifact with a spinning star in the middle of it. Checking Tony and Skip's journal again, they talk about some "shiny stones" that they found following the Holographic HUD, so I figured I'd see if I could figure out there those were. As I moved, so did the HUD, which was a really fantastic effect; I have to admit to spinning now and then to see how it moves. After finding the first one, the color of the gem was added to the HUD as it spun; that gave a nice parameter. I really love this effect with the HUD; it makes wandering all over a huge sim seem a bit more simple than it might have otherwise. It also gave an opportunity for exploration, which I really enjoyed.

The final stop - after finding three gems - was to a center of three statues which all turned to face a pillar. The trick is - and I did this three times before someone gave me a heads up (I'm a little slow) - you stand on the centerpoint as the beams converge. I honestly though that you needed to cause just two of them to go in some manner to get the forth jewel. If you can get on the platform as the beams converge, you will get an alien helmet with which to speak to the aliens - and maybe ask for Tony and Skip back? I'm not sure.

And yes, you can turn the sculptures for other people. I spent a little while doing that, just for fun.

Congratulations! You finally found a way to phone home! Please accept a little gift that enables you to contact our cosmic neighbors at any time. For the moment, this was the final part of the mini game. Thank you for exploring our MadPea Store region. :-)

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

 Location: The Green Mire
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

A Flower Blooms in Concrete

Ambrosia is having a Group-Only Hunt for their 6th Anniversary, and it has - among several prizes - this gorgeous gown and the accessories that go with it. It's going on to the 28th of this month, so you have time, but I couldn't wait.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Ploom, Melon
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Neutraliser: Mock, Mythic Neutraliser
Eyeshadow: Mock, Back to Basics
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Nails: ZoZ, Love Polish (Fashion for Life Donation Item)
Clothing: Ambrosia, Vintage Satin Dress (Group-only Hunt)
Accessories: Ambrosia, Flower Accessories (Group-only Hunt)
Shoes: SLink, Quinn Boots

Pose: Olive Juice

Location: Neverending
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Pleasantrie
Water Settings: mirror water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Fashion For Life: Souvenirs Hunt

There is a little additional quest for Fashion for Life this year, involving a bevy of souvenirs which you can collect and use to stamp your passport and then turn in the passport for one of the above prizes. The passports are available at the landing points for free - just click on the sign and one will be winging your way.

Each souvenir is 50L, and can be found in a standard Relay for Life vendor near the Gacha machines. Each sim has a hard-set landing point, but the links I'm including should give you a marker to where the gacha are in each sim. I by far found finding the gacha areas the hardest part - so hopefully this will smooth your path across so many sims.

You wear the passport, and then wear the souvenir. The souvenirs work once, and after that they are fun and playful souvenirs of the event.

Meander

Perambulate

Excursion


Voyage


Journey


Trek

Parade


Wander


Promenade


Amble