Fantasy Faire: The Rose

Alia's builds are almost always one of my favorites, and I adored The Rose the second I set foot inside of it. I have a major soft spot for Venice, and this sim really brought that city to mind, from the houses with their stoops ending at the waterline, to the gondola style boats floating on the water. The hues are gentle shades of pink which set off the mint water that was the default windlight beautifully. It grows up rather than out, the outer edges facades while the stores grow up the middle and curve around in a confusing and delighting manner, all the way up to the dance stage on the roof of the central building. I loved the layers and details even while cursing every time I got lost! Rose petals are everywhere, and here and there a black mask lies discarded as if from some party the night before. I was most startled when I crossed a bridge, looked to the side, and realized there was a watery tunnel all the way through! Fantastic!

Fantasy Faire: Kukashi Pasu

I have loved Kakushi Pasu since I watched it slowly rez around me while listening to Seanan McGuire answer questions. Built like a Japanese Tea House, the open wooden walkways surround a rocky core surrounded by bamboo plants, maple trees, and enormous lotus blossoms. It is at once architectural and natural, the sharp lines of dark wood cutting pleasantly through the softer curves of plants and water. The shadows of bamboo leaves is particularly striking, especially complementing the dark red of the maple. The square shape of the walkways, with their small buildings cropping up here and there, invites contemplation of the floating lanterns which never stop moving. There are two notable areas - one an open air meeting room with a stage for readers and stumps for listeners, and the other a tall cliff where the Fantasy Faire Dragon has moored himself and his ship.

Ember's Cauldron: Caught Unawares

Ember's Cauldron is still going on, a grid-wide shopping experience to support Elicio Ember and his father. I'm using things you can get at three different stores - my skin and clothing from Fallen Gods, my pendant from Touryuumon, and the garden I'm flying over from Simply Shelby.

Genre: Regency on the Town

My coat from .Winged. covers up most everything in a delightful manner - with long fluffy sleeves and layered collar. The poof of a hem isn't Regency, but I couldn't resist showing it off with a few more time-specific accouterments from Genre and this is perfect for all of the Lolitas who want something a little warmer in the winter. It's very well rigged in the trouble areas of shoulder and elbow, both of which can get a little plasticine if not well handled, and the cowl neck and hood are textured along the edge, which covers up any rigging issues there nicely. It's also - bless everything! - nicely lined inside and out. With a wide skirt like this that's particularly appreciated, as a lot of the interior will flash as one goes about one's business. It took me a while to layer under it - the lovely swoops of fabric make it clash with a lot of my wider skirts - but I ended up pulling out Circe from Faida and Fallen Gods which allows one to remove both the bodice and the corset, leaving one with only the hip-down skirt; I love this addition to functionality, though I'm sure when it was created the idea of layering it under a coat never occurred to its creators, and I hope more mesh makers will give us the option of wearing parts of their outfits to allow for more creative mixing and matching.

Into the Wilds

Made up of a mixture of wild and mechanical, Into the Wilds is a smooth combination of internal and external spaces, perfect for exploration and spending time with other people. Natural props like a variety of trees and a lovely river system, and human additions, like cars and buildings, meld together in a lovely manner with poses and dance balls scattered for you to find. The color scheme is shades of brown and green with gold and silver highlights, and there's some height in the form of a mountainous region to contrast with the lowlands which predominate. Small buildings dot the landscape, from furnished houses to ruins left fallow in the grass, and include a number of cute, bare buildings on the beach and throughout the woods.

There's life here, too - bears, horses, deer, sheep, and even birds that make their home on a boat waiting at the docks. The creator also made clever use of soundscapes to sell the natural nature, and the added surround for the sim gives the illusion of this being a river-soaked area in a mountainous region rather than the seascape standard to all individual sims. The sheer variety of items means you have significant flexibility in many themes, whether you use the warm sunset windlight set for the sim, or substitute in your own as I did by indulging in my penchant for golds and greens. A note of warning - the sim is set to adult, so adjust your settings accordingly and remember Adult means adult avatars only. I didn't get dropped a notecard of rules when I landed, but there is a group you can join if you want to rez things (small things only, please pick up after yourself) and I'd assume the usual rules of being polite to others and taking responsibility for yourself hold even without explicit rules.

Sunday Squee: Fallen Gods Anniversary Parties

The Sunday Squee is about things that make me happy and excited. From books to movies to television shows to podcasts, I'll highlight less commonly known things as a way to share what I love. If you want to join in the Sunday Squee, please link back to me, magnifying both of our joy.

Every year, Fallen Gods has a party. It's really the lastish leg in an ongoing event to celebrate another year of the store being open following a massive photo contest (I totally intended to make a whole post about my image in the vain hope of maybe winning something, but ah well! I missed my chance!) and this year a clever grid-wide hunt via HUD. One of the things I've done for a few years now is take photographs of the dancers, trying to swim through lag to take images of each guest as they arrive and some of the highlights of the event. This year, may I say, I outdid myself - I took almost 100 pictures covering three different events, and I even now and then managed to take something almost artistic.

Dance images are always a challenge to take. First of all there's the impossibility of getting a clean image - an image without a ton of background or with the right amount of background. Secondly, there's catching a clean pose. Dances are notoriously skeleton bending and uneven, and capturing something that changes in seconds is incredibly difficult. It also becomes a really fun challenge to manage something artistic - it flexes a different sort of sense; a different source of inspiration. I'm sharing a few of my favorites out of the hundred here, and I look forward to my next change to capture the moment in such an exciting and dynamic manner.

( Other Sunday Squees. )

( More Images form the Dance Party here. )

Genre: Bride of Hades

The story of Persephone is a troubling one for modern people. A girl, daughter of a god, is desired by her Uncle Hades, who claims her without pausing to ask for her consent. Her mother grieves, drying out the world and making it so that nothing can grow until her daughter is returned. Her plan eventually works, but not until Persephone has eaten some of the food for the dead - in many cases it's implied Hades forced the food on her - and thus is doomed to the depths forever. A compromise is struck, though; for several months Persephone is with Hades based on the number of pomegranate seeds she's eaten, and the rest of the time she comes back to the surface once more - her mother celebrating through an explosion of bounty.

Modern readers often argue that Persephone must have consented in some manner, and the story has even been retold as the secret plot of a girl wanting to escape her overbearing mother. As a story of desire, incest, and the helplessness of women in a world full of people with more power and influence, however, it is a compelling story of loss and compromise for Persephone herself. Robbed of any reasonable choice to determine her destiny, she leverages what power she can to make a life for herself torn between the power of mother, and uncle. Who knows what secrets she holds in order to keep some part of herself for herself in a world dominated by her own family. In the past there were vast cults of people dedicated to each god, and I wonder what the ones who embraced the hard choices of Persephone would whisper to each other in the dark.

Fallen Gods' approach to the Underworld for this Genre is to embrace the pomegranates of Persephone, transforming them into a gorgeous tattoo which begins on the face and curves down ones torso. There is a matching Hades tattoo for men, this time representing the jagged break in the ground he used to abduct her. Both have a lot of versions included; Persephone comes colored and not, and with outlines in a variety of shades appropriate for any skin tone, and Hades comes in five different colors, all of them intense. Covering most of me with modesty befitting Persephone is this hair and veil combination from Anachron. The hair comes either rigged or not - I chose the not-rigged version so that I could fit the hair to match my rounded skull. The hair and veil are both tintable via a HUD, and the latter can be matched to the Greek-style dress Anachron made to match.

I added in a gorgeous mermaid dress from Fission, though, in order to make my personification of Persephone a bit more modern. It comes in four colors, the fabric behind the black mesh shifting into each shade while the black remains consistent. I tinted the gray a rich gold in order to make it match up more effectively with the rest of my accessories, and the effect is striking! Fission also lines the inside of their skirts and rounds the edges of the gown nicely, and it's well rigged despite the mermaid style being tricky around the knees. Finishing out my goldy dark look is a fantastic flowered halo from Souzou Eien. It's well placed, with a large ring and lovely gems tucked into the hearts of each flower. The final detail from Genre is a ring and necklace pair from Bliensen + MaiTai which are actual blinking eyes. It's startling the first few times you're not paying attention and something moves at your neck - definitely a creepy final effect.

Two final points that add a lot to this look - my Glamistry heels are one of their older releases, but they are an amazing combination of straps and chains which are placed with exacting detail and tie in to a band down the arch of the foot. I love them for how brief they are, and for the double layered platform which jogs in under the sole of the shoe. Like all Glamistry shoes they are recolorable via a HUD, and after the initial color is purchase the others can be added via the HUD for a lower price. All of the colors are available for mixing and matching as well, which makes these some of the most versatile shoes on the grid.

I also couldn't do anything I do without the fantastic poses I buy from pose makers who are often under-appreciated. Grafica is one of my favorite stores, having a wide variety of styles and moods including a bunch of poses from both modern and historic dances. There are floating and leaping poses as well, which make picking what I'll be doing in a given image really a treat! Make sure to check out Grafica when you're looking for a way to move yourself into the best images and I'm sure you'll be happy.

21 Shoe: Lassitude & Ennui

Lassitude & Ennui is offering up some sleek and gorgeous heels for SLink and Maitreya. A matching set of black and white, the large bow which curves high against the heel and falls almost to the base of the heel is color changeable between four colors - black, white, dark red, and lavender. The initial design is simple enough, a very high pump with a slight platform. The bow is a lovely sleek waterfall of color, though, rendered for a smooth fall and realistic hang. I love the color change, and like all Lassitude & Ennui shoes, these can be tinted. The pump and shoe are on different faces, so you can modify to your hearts' content!I especially appreciate this with a white shoe, since I can tint to match or contrast with just about anything.

My body and feet are all from SLink, the latest releases which work beautifully under the skin from Fallen Gods. It's an interesting effect - much smoother than the default mesh and helping to make close ups look more polished in a straightforward shot. Fallen Gods is matching his skin beautifully to the SLink shape, and included a ton of other appliers with his latest mermish release. The SLink applier is particularly nice - converting hands, feet, and body all with a single button.

On the 21st of this month, both of these shoes will be available - two for the price of one. I encourage you to swing by Lassitude & Ennui and pick up a pair!

Fantasy Faire: Odyssey sponsored by Fallen Gods

Odyssey is sponsored by Fallen Gods Inc, and was created by Alia Baroque. It contains 19 stores.

“As you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that your journey be a long one, filled with adventure, filled with discovery.” Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth Konstantinos Kavafis

A reader named Loretta String contacted me about the quote describing Odyssey, and it's from a longer poem called Ithaka from a famous Greek poet named Konstantinos Kavafis; I'm quoting below from the full poem I was linked to.

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Mysteries

I love mysteries, but I get frustrated quickly - it's a problem.

In this case, I ended up in Hestium, a gorgeous little pocket full of well-decorated, adorable houses. There are hints to a greater mystery, and I wandered around a while poking at various corners and peering at various books, clicking everything I could find. One place is marked off limits - I avoided everything I couldn't walk to, and one walled garden; no idea which was the off limits place. I wasn't able to find any secrets, but I did enjoy snapping some shots and encourage you to check out this lovely little corner of the grid.

It's my hair that took me to FaMESHed - a lovely side style from Wasabi Pills with coils of hair over one shoulder, and delicate strands curling down elsewhere. I love how she has begin to use full mesh pieces for the wisps of hair, minimizing the alpha on larger pieces; not only does it minimize alpha occlusion errors, but also it leads to lovely effects like along the edge of the right side of my face, where strands of hair cling and fall in a most natural manner. I paired it with a jewelry set from Cae, bought at the same event, a wonderful necklace and earring set with dangling beads whose color can be changed. The HUD also includes three different areas where the metal can be tinted differently, and options for a short versus long necklace style.

It makes it such fun to pair with outfits, either in matching - or in this case contrasting - colors. The usual contrast for red is green, but when you have a slightly duller pink edging toward a warm orange - like in this dress from Coquet - teal actually works better to play off the color and make both more intense. I fell in love with this dress when I saw it's unusual, contrasting back and the most adorable bow in the world - one which called for a different wing than my usual. I ended up settling on Sway's chibi angel wings, one of the gifts during advent that I cached away for a brighter day. They're a very simple style form someone more known for her furniture than her wings, but the subtle layers and transparency is really fantastic, and I was able to tuck it right under the Coquet bow so that they looked apiece. The final touch were these shoes from Ricielli in a lovely bronze which contrasted beautifully with my gold Sway wings and re-appeared serendipitously in my nails, a hold-over from Fallen Gods' latest skin. I adore how intricate they are, boot in style but with large whorls which echo the whorls of my Cae jewelry. Combining contrasting colors with repeating shapes makes for a balance outfit that seems simple even while being very complicated.

Rusting in the Swamps

I've always loved the image of an abandoned doll.

There's something haunting, sweet, creepy, and profound in it for me - something which tugs at my heartstrings and makes me pause for a long moment, as if listening for the tinkle of classical music.

This face of the rusted doll comes courtesy of Fallen Gods, and went round-ear for the experience - the texture being too difficult to match effectively. It's a gorgeous skin, both for the base texture and for the delicate carvings laid on top of it. I particularly liked how it frames the face with delicate curls along the edge of the cheek; with my KOY hair, it looks like the fringe on the wig edges is simply continued in metal. Rust is a gently tumbled skin with a greenish-brown cast, and the sort of shadow-defining edges which really make it unique. Appliers can be bought separately, and if you've already gotten the Materica appliers HUD then just ask for a re-delivery at his store, and Rust shows up there like magic! Now to just convince someone to make ears and ear appliers... The wings I'm wearing are also from Fallen Gods, and were a freebie during the recent Clockwork Spiral event. I love his thematic add-ons deeply, and this is a really awesome melding of key and wings.

My FATE eyes are another awesome release, but no where near as new. When it came out I spent a great deal of time playing with all of the options and am really blown away by how unique these eyes can be. Firstly, the number of options is jaw-dropping - from tinting and adding additions to the sclera, to multiple layers for the iris, to additions on top like the circuitry I'm showing here. There are also multiple iris shapes, though I went with a round to match my clock-face rims, so you can be human, animal, or something completely alien. Each layer is tintable, which means the sky really is the limit, and the HUD comes with a selection of pre-sets to give you a sense of just how wide the variety is. It really has to be played with to appreciate - I firmly believe you could match just about any requirements with this single set of eyes.

My hair is a tight skullcap from KOY which isn't my usual, florid style but which works gorgeously with the rest of my look and is very well made. I love how he is using smaller bits of hair to add verisimilitude around challenging areas like bang-openings and along the nape of the neck - and how the bottom edge of the bangs is unified enough to look like a hairstyle, but has distinct edges and pieces so that it doesn't look too perfect. It's also good hat-and-tall-collar hair, which I think everyone needs in their inventory.

My outfit is a hodgepodge of different stores and times. The bulk of it is a series of editable gacha wins from Remarkable Oblivion, and you really don't want to know the lengths I went to get all but one piece of this particular gacha set. None of the pieces are rigged, which means they can be moved and resized around every body. I ended up scaling the top hat down to a fascinator size, but it and the collar would work as well on a man as they do on me, and with a similar level of Gothic panache. I love the oversized effect of the collar tips, and how they curve over the individual feathers twisting this way and that. The cage skirt is a lovely example of the type, complete with a variety of different bows which makes it seem less uniform and add some whimsy to it, and the garter is simply a fun touch for any look - I think a version should be added in blue for all of the Second Life Weddings out there!

My top a Spring Bunny hunt prize, from Ambrosia, and a lovely example of what quality can be found even from a free event. The checkerboard is very Alice through the Looking Glass, and I thought the shift in texture worked well with the remarkable stripes on Remarkable Oblivion's collar and skirt. It has a fantastic curve along the bust and is cut high on the hips so that a little metal peaks through along the waistband of the cage skirt, giving my whole look a burlesque edge I'm rather fond of. Under the cage skirt I added a set of very cute, rigged shorts from G Field, and then tinted them slightly gray in order to match up the blacks. I've been wearing these shorts on and off since they were released just after the advent of mesh, and they're as solid as they ever were.

Visits from the Depths of the Inventory

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fantasy Faire: Turned to Stone

The Fantasy Faire itself is over, but tendrils of good will and good wishes continue on into the future - not only swinging around to next year, but also in the form of the second half of the Fantasy Faire Hunt (First Half Guide Here) in the Palace of Tears. It also continues in many of the Faire Stores, where Fantasy Faire Donation boards are transplanted when the Fairelands close. My skin was a release for the Faire from Fallen Gods - an amazing stone skin texture which came with an outfit and eyes (not shown). I was so very glad that it included SLink appliers for the skin - the effect is as flawless and wonderful as I had ever hoped, as you can see from my perfect stony fingers above. I don't see a sign of this particular skin at his store, even in an extended Faire Donation Option, but if you like this skin just check out the myriad of wonders he has available to all - and if you meet any noobs, let them know about his Newborn boxes; for the first seven days, you can get a free skin. I layered over the stone rainbow sparkles from Folly, and they look quite lovely and give me a bit of a glow of health - setting me apart from those scary angels who might eat your time. Check out her store for a run on Fantasy Faire Donations - we're still counting up to a final total.

My hair is another faire donation, this time from Wasabi Pills, one of my perennial favorites. It's a lovely, curving style which I thought set off my stone skin beautifully, and had a lovely braid detail that I simply fell for. I also really liked the forehead line and center part - it really makes me look the part of a stone statue, doesn't it? It's now available at her main store for purchase. My gown is from Sakide, and I picked it up my first day in the faire and then took forever to figure out a look for it - this will be a continuing problem, as my Fantasy Faire Folder is quite brimming with gorgeous things. Sakide has all the RFL vendors out, so you can find a wide variety of options at her main store, including this one. I love the design - from the short skirt, to the sweeping train, to the face that the belt and skirt are color changing between several options - I chose gray here, but there is black, pink, purple, gray and white all available to you. To this final look I added a couple of items from the depths of my inventory. First, a gorgeous set of jewelry from Elemental Earth Designs with a large, chunky quality which I thought looked like something a statue might wear if she got to choose. Secondly, I added these fun shoes from Eclectica which are some of my favorites. I adore the teardrop shapes on the framing of the shoe in particular.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Fallen Gods, Lacrimosa (Fantasy Faire)
Sparkles: Folly, Rainbow Sheen
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Darienne (Fantasy Faire)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Earrings: Illusions, Mystic Chains
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Wings: Deviance, Seelie
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & feet
Nails: A:S:S, Royal Purple
Jewelry: Elemental Earth Designs, Kiowa Set
Clothing: Sakide, Maestitia Dress (Fantasy Faire)
Shoes: Eclectica, Crush Velvet Pumps

Pose: Exposeur

Location: Sanctum
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

The Domination of the Frost

We're entering one of the hardest months of winter, when all of the fluff and shine has begun to harden to ice and sleet; when months of icy cold have frozen spirits; this is when Jackie Frost, the younger and in some ways crueler spirit of winter, comes out to play with people who thought her big brother Jack was bad enough. February was always the whinging month, when what was once fresh and clean, turning the world to a land of clouds, became hard and gray and enough already. Jackie Frost is made of stone, her heart a barren rock formed in the palms of Fallen Gods (now with SLink appliers), impervious to the frost sliding silvery white fingers along her curves and sprouting out curling tendrils of ice which catch the wind and flow in the breeze. Besides the frost, the only nod to clothing she wears are filigree bands holding jewels gathered from the farthest reaches to the north, the shapes inspired by her filigree wings and all bearing the touch of Sax Shepherd Designs.

She's marked her face with frost in narrow bands, like those created by Nuuna, long stripes interspersed with small dots of ice. Cupping her heels are the long fingers of winter made real - disembodied hands from ieQED whose spikes touch the ground and cut through any pretense. They are Surreal (Event) in their formation, unearthly in their function; surely only the stone of her body and flutter of her wings make it possible for them to support feet impossibly high. And yet she walks, her hair (from Wasabi Pills) edged with frost and held up by the breath of icy winds itself. She summons rime out of still waters, and where she steps crystals and death itself are left behind, panting for the warmth of unsuspecting mortals. Fear her when she stalks the nights, taking ever wider routes and seeking doorways that haven't seen her footprints for centuries. Keep windows tightly shut, fire burning brightly; beware the kiss of Jackie Frost.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Fallen Gods, Materica - Black Marble
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Christy
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Cosmetics: Nuuna, Aza White
Wings: Sax Shepherd Designs, Filigree Fae Wings (Soon to be Released)
Hands & Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands & Feet
Jewelry: Sax Shepherd Designs, Winter Fae (Fantasy Gatcha Festival)
Bracelets: Sax Shepherd Designs, Frills ~ Ione Diamonds
Nails: Fallen Gods, Materica Frost
Clothing: Fallen Gods, Ice Crystal Outfit
Shoes: ieQED, Hand Spike (Surreal Event)

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Winter at Icewater Village
Light Settings:
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL Disney Bound – Week Twenty Four: Mushu

I went full on theatrical for Mushu, but I'm afraid I've long left behind the idea that any of these looks would be casual ones for going out into the community, unless that community was Second Life, in which case I took this look dancing last night. The eyes are a release from Tacky Star that I thought really embodied the draconic spirit; I particularly like how dark the pupils are, like pools deep into my brain. This style is available in a wide variety of colors, too, each of them delicate and crisp, and you can change the size of the iris through clicking the eye itself, as these are prim eyeballs. The lips are from an old Adore & Abhor set which I return to time and again because they're so unique, delicate, and fantastic. I love the effect of layering the smaller lip color over larger lips. It's especially fun in the "toothsmile" setting, where it ends up pulled thin and tight. My skin is a fantastic release from Fallen Gods which I've been sitting on a while, and I'm really struck by the delicate texturing on the face. I like how it gives the illusion of movement even though I'm perfectly still; it looks lace-like in it's delicacy, and the pattern continues, as you can see below, everywhere. I also really, really like the teeth - which fit into the color pallet perfectly while still adding a creepy effect when I smile. The texturing also continues over the hands and feet, but I played a bit of a conjuring trip because I wanted to make use of the SLink hands and feet, and Fallen Gods doesn't (yet?) release appliers for them. I used Orc Inc's arm and leg fades to bring in a similar enough shade of red - you can see the fade point below about mid-upper arm. I sort of wish Orc Inc had included a lower fade, and I may end up playing some more myself with forearm fades to see if I can correct for other fantasy skins; I adore using them, but more often than not they don't release the necessary appliers, and the tones are unusual enough that it can be difficult to find an applier that would work from another skin line.

My hair is a gorgeous new release from Underscore with some new texture options, like this layering of different shades of red which I thought set off my skin so beautifully. I love the lighter bits over the bangs, giving depth to the color. I topped it with roses, this headdress from Glam Affair which got rather a lot of play on the feeds back in the day. I love the simplicity of it, and how well the curved base sits on my hair; it also works well tucked up against an updo. My wings are one of the rares from Deviance's gatcha for the Fantasy Gatcha Event, not available at her main store to suck all of the lindens out of your pockets. I don't have words for how much I love these wings; the simple fact that they effectively haven't left my back since I got them should speak for itself. My outfit is another older release, this time from r2; I had considered looking for a skirt to go under the sheer top, and I may still see what I can find for the other shirt tops as I am certain they'll make their way through this blog. One problem with mesh separates is that they are much harder to layer due to the different shapes people use, and this is made doubly difficult with sheer - but the quality of this top is so high I think the effort is well worth it. You can see how delicately it meets the chest, how elegant it is while being completely alluring. Finally, my shoes - from Syl - are part of an ever-increasing stable of shoes made to complement the SLink feet. I particularly like these because of the unusual shape and the strappy style; you can see them up close in this picture, how well they are shaped and textured, and the open work of the heel. This is the lower platform - there is also a higher platform which might require you to edit your shape to stand taller. I love these sorts of artistic, unusual shoe styles, so when I saw these and thought through my rather extreme stylin for this look, these seemed simply perfect - and I think you'll agree they are.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Fallen Gods, Onyrica Mimic Bordeaux
Hair: Underscore, Chiara S
Hat: Glam Affair, Framed Headdress
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: Tacky Star, Amber Burning
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Silent Star
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe Wings
Hands and Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands and Medium Feet
Nails: Orc Inc, Goth
Arm and Leg Fades: Orc Inc, Blend Red
Outfit: r2, Sheer Shirt & Skinny Pants
Shoes: Syl, Climbstra Platform Sandals

Poses: Grafica

Location: China
Light Settings: Phototools, Lo Light 02
Water Settings: Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Monochromatic

Monochromatic - literally one color - is when the shades of black and white are used in conjunction with a single color to create a rich field of view. These images aren't actually monochromatic, though - the Salamander eyes I chose from Rue's group gifts are of many colors, and that's perhaps why I'm not as happy with these as I might be (I'm already considering alternatives). One funny thing about how I do photoshoots, several pictures in a single location over space and time in a single outfit, is that while I have some artistic pretensions, I don't think about what I'm trying to convey as much as I might. It's more about the look and me, and how we both interact with the landscape; it's less about trying to capture a mood, or share a deeply held emotion, and I think sometimes that's a weakness to what I do. I am terrifically fond of this look, though; I think it's striking, almost overpowering, with subtle implications on oil and wildlife in the combination of Fallen Gods' dripping Coalborn with a much older Feathers skin of his, which I seem to return to now and then when I'm looking for white. My only wish is that he had adapters for the SLink hand system, as I would have loved to have superior hands, but in the end it's a minor point in an amazing look. I did augment the skin with a little cosmetics - lips from Rue and eyes from White Widow - but it was the blotchy dripping of the skin with the silkiness of the feathers which really dictated this black-on-white look.

The hair I all but backed into; a new, spiky, single sided hairstyle from Wasabi Pills. I didn't use the included texture for the skull - it doesn't work around my ears at all - and I think I like it better for being cleanly shaven. One of my favorite mandalas from my college years has a woman curving over the top, the long hair from one side of her head flowing around the circle of the mandala while the shaved other side mutely protests that extravagance. I was aiming for slightly unnerving, and I think the hair helps; it was pure luck there was a streaks addition to it, which enabled me to continue miking black and white as I went. From there, the outfit was obvious; I had picked up this new Moon Priestess silks from Deviance months ago, but never hit on a look which really called for it's opulent spareness. Since I had picked up the fatpack, I had a pick of the litter, and I settled on white, dark silver, and an opal gem texture available only in the fatpack. Something was missing on the ear, though, so I ended up copying and ripping apart one of the necklaces to make this dual-earring - I'm somewhat, but not entirely, pleased with it, but I wasn't in the temper to try to get the curving bands over the ear to work; perhaps another time. I really love the fit around the hips of the silks, though, and since the whole set is color-change on touch, I only had to fit it once. For the final touch of "priestess will cut u", I added this bindi from Souzou Eien after trying a few different options on. I think it well continued the trend of aggressive jewelry, for all that it is very simple.

All of these pictures were taken in world, in a sim with very muted textures which I further muted with the greying windlight I chose - you can see hints of green on the ground here and there, and a bit of other colors, but in general I aimed and cropped carefully. What I didn't do is apply any filters after taking the pictures - these are all possible in Second Life without anything more than cropping. Winter Moon is a fantastic place to try your hand at unedited black-and-white photography, as all of the buildings and such cooperate with a very monochromatic pallet with some nicely patterned trees. The only hitch is the waterfalls, which are plentiful and full bright, so when picking your windlight aim yourself at the waterfalls and make sure they work (or vanish). One thing I'm increasingly annoyed with, though, is the static nature of my expression in all of my pictures - that sort of calm, slightly smiley look which anyone who sees my photostream is well aware of. The actual facial animations available to us often distort and disfigure the face, being very extreme, but subtler effects can be gained by editing the shape, and now that I've adjusted my facial profile, I may start playing around with subtler emotions in the eyes, brow, and mouth to see how I can more subtly convey emotion. Yes, sometimes the snarling face above is fun - and even appropriate - but more often than not our anger and our sadness are concealed and quiet, not loud and distorted.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Fallen Gods, Feathers (promotional item)
Tattoo: Fallen Gods, Coalborn (promotional item)
Eyes: Rue, Pluto - Salamander (group gift)
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: White Widow, Pisces
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Rue, Lip Service - Gothier Than Thou
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Morgan (promotional item)
Bindi: Souzou Eien, Precious Bindi
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Outfit: Deviance, Drown Moon Priestess
Shoes: Schadenfreude, Ivody Cygnette Shoes

Pose: !bang

Location: Winter Moon
Light Settings: Phototools - Mia Light
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Fantasy Faire: Lotus Valley Dream

Lotus Valley Dream is a complete and total gorgeous sim, where from the tiniest details to the largest structures is perfectly poised and balanced. It's Chinese themed, with delicate cranes walking around, and an enormous dragon swirling around a perfect lotus flower brimming with light. There are these lovely little gardens and contemplative spots here and there, as well as a major and impressive build in the middle. What I found most impressive is that it is just as lovely in detail and lit, as backlit and in silhouette - the default windlight of dark, purple, and gold really served as a gorgeous backdrop for the landscapes. Once more, I'm dressed in Fantasy Faire Donation items almost from head to toe, all of them really fun. My hair is from my old favorite Wasabi Pills, a great ear-curving style with a drippy from and back, available in both boobtastic rigged mesh, and mesh for our less endowed sisters. My skin is a gorgeous snakie release from Fallen Gods, the texturing fading from light to dark depending on where on the body, and available with several different face tints, including yellow and red.

My dress is another limited edition from Falln Angel Creations, a swirling and sparkly quasi-silks design with fun loops over the hips and a fantastic collar. I found this one very easy to fit, just a little resizing to fit from and back and I could swish my way out into the world. I added some gorgeous jewelry from Lemon Tea, a set of blown crystal bottles that almost vanished against a lighter skin but which show up gorgeously against this darker blue of my Fallen Gods skin. I added some nails from Musa, a celtic design with jewels on them, with recolorable nails in about ten colors; I rarely wear nails, but these were really fun and very easy to fit - they use a HUD based resize which means they're very inventory-friendly. Finally, I added these fantastic boots from Sakide, which have a Chinese Dragon motif near the top which I completely fell in love with. They're velvet platforms, which is really fun and different from all of my other thigh high boots.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Falln Gods, Draco Moonlight/Mithril  (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow Mesh Eyes (promotional item)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Erika (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Nails: Musa, Celtic Nails (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional item)
Dress: Falln Angel Creations, Satiya Dress (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional item)
Jewelry: Lemon Tea, Elixir Jewelry (Fantasy Faire Donation Item)
Boots: Sakide, Appeal Velvet Boots (Fantasy Faire Donation Item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Lotus Valley Dream
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Fifty Shades of Sexy Challenge: Bad Romance

It started as a dalliance - a brief flirtation with the darkness she thought she'd easily be able to give up. A few nights in a dark city, a gift of magic to beings denied even sunlight, a few moments of of bliss and loss of control and then she could return to a world of innocence and light, no one the wiser. But the nights grew darker, the lures more sweet, and before she knew it she was gift wrapped and delivered she knew no where, and finding her way home would be no mean feat.

The clothing, if something this brief can even be called such, was a gorgeous piece from Boudoir that I was waiting for an excuse to pull out, and then once I put it on I wasn't sure this was a good idea, but now that I braved the Second Life wilds in barely any clothing and emerged with pictorial proof, I guess I'm glad I put in the effort. The bite marks come from Fallen Gods; I can't remember exactly the circumstances, but they're an absolute requirement for anyone in a vampiric roleplaying sim. I paired the outfit and bites with jewelry (tinted) and shoes from G Field, keeping the bow theme and adding some thorns for extra bite. I went for an extra-red lip by combining Mock glosses, and then gothed out using a De La Soul eyeshadow. I think I look a right tempting Pomme de Sang... what do you think?

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: De La Soul, Inked
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick 1: Mock, Agua Gloss in Blood
Lipstick 2: Mock, Mizu Venetian Red Gloss
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Cookie Mesh Hair
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: G Field, Rusty Rose Set
Lingerie: Boudoir, Some Like it Hot!
Bites: Fallen Gods, Fangbanger's Delight
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes

Poses: Glitterati

Location: City of Lost Angels
Light Settings: Night Anwar

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Tiny Dryad

So, apparently Petites have now made their one year anniversary! I have to admit I'm amazed it's been such a short time; it felt like they have been around for a lot longer! I still remember the first blush of creation, how a small thing blossomed out of control into many skins and an increasing variety of shapes, and the fun of going about at a third my natural size. The first petites I ever tried were from Fallen Gods, and now I've come full circle with his amazing Dryad petites, released for the Anniversary in the Petite Avatar Kingdom. It comes with "clothing" which might better be described as bits and bobs that might grow on a tree, as it doesn't cover much of the skin! It isn't rigged, which I both like and dislike; on the one hand, it means your body often ends up with interesting extensions as you pose, but on the other sometimes where things fall look very odd. There are PG and Adult versions included in the pack, though, along with four tints for the wood; I show natural and moss above, but there is also a pale gray shade and a leaden dark one. In addition, it comes both without embellishment and without, and the colors of the writing in the wood include teal, green, yellow, and red. Glowing eyes also come with the set, and I think they add a surreal effect. There also v2 of the petites, which means several ear types and the addition of some simple expressions.

I love petites, but I have to admit I wish I could make them look more like "me" in the face. The Deoridhe avatar has larger-than-natural eyes, and an attempt at mimicking my nose and mouth, and the one downside with the petites is that all of that individuation is lost. I'd love to see a v3 where more variation could be introduced somehow - and honestly I wish Second Life itself would step up in allowing custom meshes with the ability to vary them within a narrow set of parameters. It would solve a lot of problems if there wasn't the need to constantly work around the base avatar. to take these pictures, for example, I use a box around my avatar body in order to let me alt-click and angle around myself, but it's a stop-gap and has it's own problems. Some way of modifying the base avatar besides just the male and female meshes would be wonderful, and would allow for much more customization in a wide variety of sizes.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Entire Look: Fallen Gods, Dryad

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Carridwens Cauldron
Light Settings: Phototools, No Light
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only