Color Challenge: Week Twenty - Sky Blue

Ahhhh, Sky Blue, and I'm back in my comfort zone again.

For this week I decided to try to fish something out of my explosive "New" folder, which lurks at the bottom of my inventory like a chest of both glorious and terrifying things I've picked up across the grid. It's a little well in the depths of my inventory, full of the detritus of hunts, freebies, lucky chairs, random finds, and the occasional purchase.



The dress was a surprise, though. I have no idea when or how I picked it up from Wretched Dollies, but the tiered skirt in varying shades of blue, and the adorable ruffled sleeves are completely charming. It's shorter than a usual Wretched Dollies outfit, coming in mid-thigh with a pair of knee socks that set it off to perfection. I even love the stripes on the shirt and the peter pan style collar - childlike, but made more mature by the corset.

I ended up pairing it with a find from my dear friend Ro-chan, the Beth Hair from Zero Style. It's curling ringlets seemed like the perfect match to the dress, and after a brief pause for trying on a demo I discovered that, according to Zero Style at least, my head is medium. Does that mean I don't have as much room for brains?



Like my languishing dress from Wretched Dollies, the Florencio sim has left it's landmarky fingers in my inventory for a while, lurking in my notecard folder and popping up now and then when I cleared it out. I'd visited once, planned to take pictures, and gotten distracted. I decided today was the day for wrapping things up, bringing things together, and getting things done.

Built inside a textured dome, Florencio is artistic in design, with a checkerboard pattern on the ground thinned out here and there with water. It has a few stores in place, at least one more coming, and little spots of interest like a pile of dark blocks, or the telephone lines you can walk up like a path.



The sim also has what I'm beginning to really enjoy - a Windlight Setting you can load upon arrival. I do a lot of playing with Windlight, but sometimes seeing things with the settings that the maker meant them to have - to be able to truly walk into someone else's vision - is appealing all in its own right. I won't say I'll always go with that, but in this case I really enjoyed how the bright, simple light set off the textures across the sim.

I especially liked the playfulness of the little findable things - and part of me hopes that as more stores fill in, more little fun spots will pop up to enjoy. I like the feeling of being in a child's play area with some of the toys still left out by an exhausted parent.



( See more pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie Nude
Cosmetics: De La Soul, Harrish Nights Makeup
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling)
Hair: Zero Style, Beth - Blond
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted blue
Dress and socks: Wretched Dollies, Mon Cherie Blue
Shoes: G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - Blue

Poses: Striking Poses
1) Carrie Ann Inaba
2) Brigitte Bardot 2
3) Princess 10
4) Amy Lee Dollarbie

Location: Florencio
Light Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fashion For Life: Bourke White

Bourke White's clothing style is well out of my norm, but the built itself is lovely. A cityscape, like Irving Penn, Bourke is more of a melding of the curvaceous and the angular. The buildings are blocky, as buildings have to be, but the wrought iron embellishments are curved. On one side of the road, Celtic Knot style decorations are on the walls, and the window guards have a gorgeous natural bend to them. On the other side, stone styled arch windows are occasionally guarded by Roman style columns.

The contrast between different styles continues in the light sources, which all look wrought iron and spiraling, and the textured stone of the walkways with their curved road inset. Within the cutout the stone is brick-like and angular; outside of it, on the "sidewalks" it is rounded. It's a build that could only show up on Second Life, where it's a matter of attaching a texture and no longer about cutting stone and putting it in place. The wave is mimicked on the walls here and there as well, tying everything together.



Tall towers and differing heights of buildings make Bourke White truly seem real in a tangible way, too, as well as provide for wonderful photo opportunities. I particularly liked how high I could get, and the amazing building facade along the edges, interspersed with adorable little parks. Once again, contrasting white and medium gray make everything seem variable, and yet harmonious, even as the styles shift to an almost nautical theme on the towers.

Like in previous sims, the clothing is all of a theme. If I were to come up with a name for the style here, it would be modern sexy - with a focus on showing skin and wearing very little or being sort of comfortably casual in a modern, simple way. Not really my style, but likely the style of a lot of Second Life, judging by the Fashion Feeds. This was the first sim where I didn't find much I liked, but I did pick up one free outfit to show - definitely not my usual style - and this latex number that may or may not ever see the light of day again.



This was a free gift from A&k, called Spank Me. I can't say it's something I would have picked up on my own, but the outfit is well made and I would imagine it might make a stir in a club, revealing just about everything without being entirely naked. The straps over the shoulder are pretty fun, though, and the pushed up nature of the shirt... well, lets just say it looks like I've had fun recently, and leave it at that.


Credits:
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (with blond brow tattoo)
Dress: A&k, Spank Me
Shoes: Favole, Possession
Pose: doll., Faerie 07


The skin, from Kira, is darker than my usual choice but I love the cosmetics around the eyes - green and spiky with dark eyeliner - almost catlike. They go very well with the pink, blushing cheeks and the almost nude lips.

Wrap Me Up, a fun wrapped latex outfit from Vanilla Pleasures, was a total whim purchase. I was struggling to find things I wanted to purchase, and I find the idea of being all wrapped up like a present entertaining. When I put it on, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it covered, and how well the ribbon additions add to the textured latex. There are several bows to undo, and they can actually be clicked on and removed by others - which could make for a fun scenario with the right people. Chances are it will languish in the depths of my inventory, but at least now I know I can wrap myself up like a gift.

Credits:
Skin: Style by Kira, Willow Skin - Fantasy 01J
Outfit: Vanilla Pleasures, Wrap Me Up - Purple
Rose: Nova, RFL Purple Rose
Shoes: Elikatira, Move Pumps - Near Black
Pose: EverGlow, Pose 6

( More Pictures here. )

Credits for all pictures:
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creatons, Sandira II - Mocha Midnight
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black

Location: Fashion For Life - Bourke White: sponsered by Elikatira
Light Settings: [TOR} Eurphoria - Natural High

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fashion For Life: Shulman

Shulman is pure grunge.

Grunge is probably the farthest from my style. Even in gothic styles I tend to remain on the formal, velvet side of things, leaving ripped fishnets for other people. It's not surprising, then, that I found very few things in Shulman for me to buy - in fact, I found exactly one, from SD Wears, and honestly even that was a bit of a stretch.

Trash cans lurk along the sides of a soiled black road, everything distressed and tipped over. Soylent Green canisters spoil the flowers. What trees there are are dead, leafless, and caught behind barbed wire.



It's a desolate ruin of a sim, skillfully and thoroughly created with an epic eye for detail - including broken down buildings and telephone wires where in other sims there had been forests. I can admire the skill and eye for detail even while I find the sim itself... rather depressing.

A while ago, when I lived near a big city, I used to drive through places like this - where the basics were broken down, windows were boarded, homes were abandoned. I can't help remembering that we're still in a bad recession and these places must be growing, homes without people and people without homes. I do some of what I can in the areas I have influence over, but I'm far to often reminded of how little that is, and how fond I am of my comforts and pleasures.



SD Wears' Awaken gown in pink looks more purple to me, but that's the problem with clothing whose colors are on the edges. In any case, it's a dark, rich color and the texturing of the skirt is fun, especially with the tiered layers. I felt rather like a cake, which amused me as I traipsed across broken bottles and toxins from canisters all over Shulman. The curve of the neckline is low without being plunging, and the arm straps curve up smoothly over the shoulders. It's an awesome ball gown for show, but I'm not sure how it would do for dancing since there's no movement in the layers.

( See more pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie Nude
Cosmetics: De La Soul, Harrish Nights Makeup
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Red Queen, Dreams - Blonde
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted purple
Dress: SD Wears, Awaken - Pink
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - grape

Pose: Artistic Taxidermy, Innocent Bones

Location: Fashion For Life - Shulman: sponsered by WoE
Light Settings: [TOR} Eurphoria - Natural High

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fashion For Life: Stieglitz

Stieglitz is a Gothic Wonderland. The building RFyre's store was put into is an amazing tower of gargoyles and spiky towers. Simply gorgeous. I'm not sure pictures can convey the true majesty of the building itself, stabbing into the sky screeching for God's attention. The walls are huge and dark brick, heavily gray.

A black and white color scheme really suits the Gothic Style, and the creator here has done a fantastic job adding in quiet hidden spaces with trees, and long row houses for the other stores. Hidden behind the trees are darkly deciduous trees on darker ground. I love the big, chunky walls cutting in between civilized park and wild hidden wilderness.



I found it a challenge to take pictures in, though, simply because of the scale. A little me disappears next to most of the decorations, and finding small gorgeous spots seemed harder here - perhaps due to how partitioned off everything was, with the large, overpowering dominance of stone. The view is amazing, though, and I found myself lingering up high to watch from one sim into the next - amazing mixes of style which simply don't exist anywhere else.

I found myself struck with seeing one sim over another here, a sort of looking back over landscape photography which strikes me as a true tribute to the magpie natures of most goths I know - not the ancient tribes, but the modern people in black and white.



The long views over the sims, taking in the builds of several sims, are simply breathtaking. I may end up doing a post just of them, or you can check them out here without commentary. Having the common theme of color allowed for incredibly variety to exist side by side smoothly, flowing form one to the next carried on a layer of tone.

I must admit, I have a serious soft spot for the Gothic style of Stieglitz, enjoying the sharp piercings into the sky and how the dark heaviness of the architecture caught and captured the imagination. Its the kind of sim where I can imagine a dark, brooding hero catching me up in his arms so we can have a disastrous love affair which will end with one, or both of us, dead.



I love Kouse's Sanctum, so I knew going in exactly what I was going to buy - her gown in purple and a glorious jewelry accompaniment. I love the dual layers - a petal like waist attachment (it must be spring, all the creators are making flower themed clothing) and the longer gown with roses around the waist. The jewelry comes with additional earrings and the crown in different places, one centered and the other offset on the other side. My only complaint is that it's not modify-ok. I understand using resizers to try to protect from copybotting, but when one is in a sim that doesn't allow scripts it can be very frustrating.

Credits:
Dress: Kouse's Sanctum, Faith Gown - Relay
Jewelry: Kouse Sanctum, Lilly Jewelry Set - Relay
Shoes: G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - purple
Pose: Morgane Batista Poses, Katharini Pose




Credits:
Outfit: Caverna Obscura, Djinnie White
Shoes: Grim Brothers, Vie En Rose
Pose: Long Awkward Pose, Fantasy - Dolly

( See more pictures here. )

Credits for all the pictures:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie Cream - Phoenix (with blond brows)
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Miriel, Artist Hair - Wheat
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted to match

Location: Fashion For Life - Stieglitz: sponsered by House of RFyre
Light Settings: [TOR} Eurphoria - Natural High

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fashion For Life: Irving Penn

I am up against a wall, having dragged behind in my photography, so unfortunately the sims might not be available for enjoying when I'm done. I'm sort of sad to see them go; this year they were undeniably lovely, and it was the lowest lag experience I have ever had with a major event, though I wondered if some of that might be that I stayed away in the first flush of opening and spent most of my time here near the end.

Irving Penn, though, is a mood change from Avedon and Arbus. The former two were much more in the fantasy and medieval while Irving Penn is undeniably more modern, though the textures are as lush and detailed as their sibling sims.



Set up like a posh, gated neighborhood, there are little barred in sections of trees beside the stores, which are laid out like open-doored houses along the roads. It has a slightly Victorian feel, with the wrought iron fences and the street lights. I particularly like how some of the buildings are boarded up, making them part of the aesthetics of the sim.

Irving Penn also takes advantage of height, making facades of several stories above the stores themselves. Sadly, they're all phantom, so attempts to hang out on the plentiful balconies are a challenge. A fun challenge, though, and one I'm up for. I just wish there was a way to set your height more precisely - hopping up and down until I get what I want is such a trial!



The gatcha area is little chairs. My only complaint with them is you can't actually sit in the chairs; I went a little emo, but got over it. Otherwise it's a cute idea - settle down with a drink and play a little gatcha with your friends!

And beyond the wrought iron and stone walls are these tiny, cute spots of wilderness. Now and there a wild flush of flowers rushes out, too, startlingly natural in a world of brick and iron.



One fun thing about my first two outfits were the varieties possible with them. The Awesome Designs Party Pack actually comes with four different skirts (see the full photoshoot for the other options) including a surprisingly good looking mini skirt and a long formal skirt besides two varieties of the short, floofy skirt. I like the streaks of blue on the formal skirt in particular, and the optional belt really hugs my curves. Since it's all modify-ok, I was even able to fit it with very little challenge despite being a different shape from most fashion makers. I also love the back of it - the smooth curve of the top is really attractive even without wings!

Credits:
Pin: Felicia's Fashions, Cause Ribbon - Blue
Ring: Lapoint & Bastchild, Sugar Skull - Peridot (Gatcha Prize)
Dress and Shoes: Awesome Designs, Divine Party Pack - Blue
Pose: ImpEle, Lolita 3



Epic's Dolly Patches also has options - an optional Bolero top and you can either wear the cute short skirt, or go it alone with a set of adorable bloomers. I found myself moving back and forth as the pictures demanded. The little patches on the stockings are adorable, too, and the G Field heels I put on look like they were made to go with it. This is the kind of outfit I could totally pair with big, fluffy boots or a doll key as well, cute enough to be someone's favorite doll.

Credits:
Ring: Lapoint & Bastchild, Sugar Skull - Peridot (Gatcha Prize)
Dress with Bloomers: Epic, Dolly Pathches Deux - Purple
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - grape
Pose: Pffiou, Murder Doll



Haven Design's Vintage Red is a lovely revelation. I love the sense of simple embroidery on it - the color scheme is simple but elegant, and the length is fantastic. It also falls very well, even when moving, and the line along the chest is modest and sweet. It could be a classy evening out dress, or something fun and flirty for a day in town with friends.

Credits:
Dress: Haven Designs, Vintage Red
Shoes: G Field, Lady Rose Shoes Red
Pose: Long Awkward Pose, Miss Attitude



The Your Sin dress by G Sloan Couture is a wonderful study in contrasts. The texture of it is colorful, playful, free flowing and casual in a manner which implies silk. The bust line has a cute little divot which doesn't take it even close to the realm of risque. The back, though, pluges very low - lower than I normally wear - in a smooth, elegant curve to show off these adorable butt dimples of my De La Soul Charlie skin. I almost didn't buy it, but I couldn't resist and now I'm glad I picked it up. The effect is lovely and fun without being too over the top.

I dressed it up with jewelry from artMEfashion - a driftwood necklace and bracelets. The wood seems to go well, being casual, yet the smooth simplicity of the design really makes them elegant.

The shoes are also a Fashion For Life find - color changing wedges from HOC Industries. You can change multiple parts of it, though the color choices are a little more limited than I'd prefer. I like access to a full rainbow of clothes, and the pallet of the Yay Wedge is more narrow, though it did have a nice yellow to bring out the gold of my dress.

None of these are stores I've checked out before, and while I can't guarantee I'll seek them out soon, given my inventory is bulging with unworn clothes, I'm glad to have found them.

Credits:
Jewelry: artMEfashion, Driftwood Necklace and Bracelets
Dress: G Sloan Couture, Your Sin
Shoes: HOC Industries, Yay Wedge - colorchanged to yellow
Pose: HelaMiyo, Gown 5

I had a lovely time in the narrow streets and enjoying the stone and wrought iron of Irving Penn. I highly recommend you take a moment to check it out yourself - it's well worth a visit!

( More pictures here. )

Credits for all pictures:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (with blond brow tattoo)
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling)
Hair: W&Y, 100 Type B with Flower Addon
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted to match

Location: Fashion For Life - Irving Penn: sponsered by Lapoint & Bastchild
Light Settings: Sim Default Windlight

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Hopes and Prayers for Japan

I doubt there are many who have missed the events in Japan - first the 9.0 Earthquake, then the Tsunami which caused even more damage, and finally the nuclear reactor.

Nothing formally organized has come together yet - numbers point to April - but some individual stores have put out donation items and more seem to appear each day. Here are the ones I've encountered, with landmarks to the stores. Update: SCD has some more information about things being organized.


(Skin) De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Kyoto - PCF Red (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted green (Dress) Likka, Victoria Green (Shoes) G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - dark green (Pose) Long Awkward Pose, Fantasy Faepose 7

The hair, a special red shade for Japan, is on sale at Magika. There are four total for sale, each one by the display for their style. This one above is Kyoto (mirrored), and comes in regular and mirrored style (mirrored shown above). The dress is a gorgeous purchase from Likka House, and is by her new releases.


(Skin) De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling) (Hair) Magika, Kyoto - PCF Red (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted white (Necklace) Katat0nik, Love Japan Necklace (Armband) Little Pricks, Support Japan (Dress and Shoes) Walking Dead Creations, Monochrome Dress (Pose) Long Awkward Pose, M-Lazy Afternoon

This picture is brimming with items. The tattoo on the arm is from Little Pricks, which has a store on the marketplace but not in world. The necklace is from Katat0nik (available in her past notices), and is simply lovely. The hair is Kyoto, from Magika, and the dress is from a new store to me, Walking Dead Creations. The latter is in the process of remodeling, so hopefully the landmark will be near the item!!


(Skin) De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling) (Hair) Magika, Aina - PCF Red (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black (Dress and Shoes) Bare Rose, Shocola - Red (Pose) Long Awkward Pose, Dangle

This amazing outfit from Bare Rose is available in red or brown, and there is a men's outfit as well - quite as skillful and wonderful as Bare Rose always is! This is another of the Magika hairs as well, Aina.


(Skin) De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (Eyes) De La Soul, Luminis - Rising Sun (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling) (Hair) Magika, Aina - PCF Red (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black (Armbands) Little Pricks, Support Japan (Shirt) De La Soul, Sleeveless Turtleneck - Japan Relief Koi (Stockings) Vextra Messing, Opaque Stockings - Black (Pants) De La Soul, Cross Jeans - Red (Shoes) G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - crimson (Pose) Long Awkward Pose, Shoe2-Seated Shuu

And finally, De La Soul has release an amazing assortment of items - including a cosmetic set, eyes, and a shirt. The cosmetics are with and without lip cover, and include a rather amazing looking sun motif.


(Skin) De La Soul, Charlie - Cream (Phoenix) (Eyes) De La Soul, Luminis - Rising Sun (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (sterling) (Hair) Magika, Aina - PCF Red (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black (Armbands) Little Pricks, Support Japan (Shirt) De La Soul, Sleeveless Turtleneck - Japan Relief Koi

( More pictures found here. )

Credits for all pictures:

Location: Fashion For Life - Avedon: Sponsered by Bliss Couture
Light Settings: Sim Default Windlight

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fashion For Life: Arbus

The Arbus build continues the floral theme begun in Mapplethorpe, as you can see. It's a divided sim; you have to jump a secret forest in the center of the sim to go from one side to the other, something I not only did with alacrity, but I also accompanied with pictures!

I love the fact you can fly in second life. Besides nosing around what's in the sky, it lets you bypass all kinds of otherwise annoying things. Like giant walls and lengthy sim crossings. And often times you find things up above and hidden in - like the forest in the middle of Arbus.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted brown (Dress) Salt, Black and Tan Cocktail Dress (Shoes) Baby Monkey, Simone - Nude (Pose) p4p, this is NOT comfortable

There's also a huge pavilion, with it's roof decorations mimicked on top of the buildings all around. The only hitch was - lots of phantom! I ended up floating above things, frantically angling my camera to try to make it look reasonable, cursing my lack of build perms.

The clothing is gorgeous, though. Fairy-like and floaty, or elegant, the style seemed to be that of the faerie type, whether she be elegant, flirty, or unused to human norms of wearing clothing. The theme fit with the fields of flowers around the stores, and the graceful artwork on the walls of each store - look for the variety there, because there's lots to find!


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted brown (Hair Flower) Mystic Sky, Purple Hibiscus (Dress) Ivalde, Demi Skyblue Chic Limited (Shoes) Baby Monkey, Simone - Nude (Pose) HelaMiyo, Gown 2

Though, if there's one thing that trying on things from Arbus has show me, it's that I lean heavily toward things that show off my tits. Not other parts of my body - maybe a little leg, very little belly (except for that red outfit I couldn't resist - see below), but tits - oh yeah, there they are.

This is made all the more funny by how often people mistake me for a child avatar due to my height. It's difficult to tell from most of my pictures, I'm sure, but I come up to the chest of the average other avatar - male or female - and the waist of tall avatars.

Yes, this has led to the making of some rather obvious jokes.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black (Dress) Angelwing, Julietta Dress - Cornflower Blue (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - black (Pose) Striking Poses, Camera Candy 4

Height, and the role of child-like avatars in Second Life are fraught matters - oddly, even more fraught than offline. Offline children are expected, and there are means to at least attempt to keep them out of adult areas. A lot of those attempts to shield children from things like sex seem odd to me, though. I absorbed them much like any US citizen might, but once I started studying history, and other cultures, it became obvious that this elevation of childhood to a time of peace and innocence is really quite modern (think Victorian), and requires a certain amount of ignorance to our own lives to accomplish.

My childhood was not a time of pure peace and innocence. I was a wild, emotional creature and the memory of my childhood is more painted in impressionistic emotions than anything more concrete and set in pastels. Even now, my life and mind are brilliant flashes of color held apart by thick walls, like stained glass writ large and in three dimensions.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde
(Hairpiece) Evie's Closet, Secret Garden Wreath (Fan) Solange, Coquette Feathered Fan - Black (Jewelry) Eclectica, Spring Pearls (Dress) Evie's Closet, Amarie's Bower (Shoes) Baby Monkey, Simone - Nude (Pose) Pffiou!, For the Stars

Adults, I think, like to fantasize about the positive, wonderful aspects of their childhood, forgetting the first betrayal, the first death, the first passionate love. This protection of children is thus less about those children (as shown by how disastrous some of the choices can be - insulating children from choice and knowledge simply makes adults who know nothing and cannot chose) and more about adults trying to make and preserve something pure and idealistic within themselves.

It is this I see a lot of child avatars embracing - a time of strong emotions and simple beliefs, when there were those who protected you. Some adults never had that as a child, and so are experiencing it for the first time. Others have lives of darkness, and so childhood may be a valuable escape - especially an idealized childhood of purity and innocence.

Second Life is a place where what appears to be and what is are rarely the same. Take the picture below, for example - I couldn't actually stand on the roof - it was phantom - but doesn't it look like I am? In this way humans become children, fairies, wolves, and more attractive humans.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black (Necklace) Ear Candy, Surfer Necklace with Wave (Dress) Solange, Coquette Gown - Green (Shoes) Baby Monkey, Simone - Nude (Pose) doll., Selene 03

One of the things that I think is often forgotten on the internet, is that when people create whatever they want most - the variety will be immense. Some people desire playing at romance, others desire eroticism, others connecting with others. There are those who seek knowledge, who seek insight, who seek peace, who seek purity. Sometimes these work at cross purposes - those who sexually solicit children, for example, or those whose eroticism is expressed as children seeking sex (one of the few things which is against the rules on second life).

I am, perhaps, too much of a therapist and a post-modernist to set standards. In the absence of people being hurt, I'm more curious about why we express ourselves the way we do, what do we get out of repeating patterns in multiple places, and what can we learn in places where the reality setting is different than in our analog existence. Last night, feeling blue and sick and cranky, I built myself a giant ball pit on a sandbox. I broke physics. I brought in friends and stuck them inside of giant balls, before flinging them wildly around this morning. I awake to the headache of a sandbox enthusiast - a pile of balls returned to my lost and found when the six hour limit clicked over in the sandbox I played in.

Far more enjoyable than a hangover.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3 (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished) (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted red (Diadem) Fantasia, Dhalia Diadem (Dress) Earth & Sky, Moonlight Red (Shoes) Baby Monkey, Simone - Nude (Pose) Adore and Abhor, Ides de Mars

( More pictures here. )

Across all Pictures Credits:

Location: Fashion For Life - Arbus: Sponsered by Evie's Closet
Light Settings: Alchemy Immortalis, Fog Lifting

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry

Fashion For Life: Mapplethorpe

Fashion for Life began yesterday.

I remember Relay for Life because it was one of my first large-scale Second Life events that I was aware of, years ago when I joined.

I went for the freebies. Many of the stores had freebies as well as donation items, and I was not a wealthy person at the time. I remember it was way up in the sky, and very little rezzed, and I found the store design sometimes frustrating. Everything seemed jumbled together, and it was all very, very gray.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black; (Dress) Fumiwo, Special Gift for Fashion Fair; (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - Black; (Pose) Del May, Mime/Cat burglar

Years later, on a much faster computer, I find Fashion For Life (which replaced Relay for Life in Second Life - now everyone is on the same team) much more pleasant. Spread across nine sims, there's actually a path you can follow from one area to the next so you walk by each store - something which I must admit I quite love, even though I circumvented it to focus on each sim at a time.

Everything is still gray, but this time it's a design choice - and the stores stand out like brilliant jewels against it - many taking advantage of the greyscale to use single themes of color that set them apart and make their store seem to glow. Even if they didn't do so, the vendor pictures really stand out. The gray is easy on the eyes, too - blending together a wide variety of stores in harmony.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black; (Dress) Cipher, Punk Lolita Mini-Dress ++Lilim++ - Red; (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - Black; (Pose) Elisa, Burlesque6

I began in Mapplethorpe, designed by Eshi Otawara, because it's the sponsored sim of two very dear friends of mine, Azriel Demain and Tomoyuki Batra (yes, I know Tomo has his own lovely store, Little Boy Blue, but I think of them as a pair! And I ran into them together *hand flail* PAIR!). Otawara did all of our graphic cards a huge favor and used only a few textures, so the sim loads incredibly quickly when you arrive and the lack of lag is hugely appreciated. Even with sixteen other people on sim, I was able to easily move around and take pictures.

One of the fun qualities of taking pictures with people around, though, is the inevitable "people standing in the background of my picture - OMG MOVE!" I resisted IMing people, but it took some self-control. In fact, I started writing the blog as I photographed to give me something to do while waiting for the inevitable picture-invader to move!


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted white; (Dress) The Black Canary, Eternal Grace; (Shoes) Nonko, Medical Bondage (without ankle wraps); (Pose) Long Awkward Pose, Emo - Lies, All Lies

I had fun going between posing inside of stores, sometimes on the little displays they had in place to set the ambiance, and poses outside taking advantage of Otawara's spare yet elegant build. I only noticed on the second time through the birds of light going up over the gatcha machines, for example, so it's really worth a few looks at the build as well as for picking through the glorious outfits on sale.

Another random thing which happened was that right as I was about to take a picture near the edge of Mapplethorpe - the sim next door vanished! This is an interesting aspect of things being multi-sim and yet concurrent and cohesive; the world seems to transform when next door changes. I couldn't resist taking a "before and after" set of pictures to show how much the flow from one sim to another matters in how this particular build is done.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted white; (Dress) Bare Rose, Amphitrite RFL - Pale Blue; (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - White; (Pose) Everglow, Gift Pose 2

Mapplethorpe is very Japanese themed, with a lot of Gothic Lolita or Visual Kei inspired clothing. I'm not sure if that was a planned aspect, but it made it easy to bounce around to all of the stores I was familiar with and pick and chose.

Cipher is one of my new addictions - they do their corsets in a slightly complex way, putting them on two prims and in the most recent Punk Lolita outfit using alpha textures as well, but the end result moves incredibly well with different poses, making it seem a lot more realistic. I ended up shrinking my belly for the corset, but I didn't have to do anything else besides increasing the size of the prims (which I often have to anyway, being a plump faerie).

Otawara's style works well with the overall theme, being vary nature focused with a Lotus floating in the center among the gatcha machines. The grasses are lovely, and you can actually walk among them without falling down. The addition of just a touch of water makes everything seem organic despite the spareness of the buildings themselves, which are rather square and open fronted.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black; (Dress) Falln Angel Creations, Avarita Gown - Flame Exclusive for Fasion For Life; (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - Black; (Pose) Ks2cool, Pose82-90

There seemed to be fewer freebies this year, but it's entirely possible that's more about me than them. When my focus was on freebie, not purchase, there was a tendency to look simply for that - entirely focused on the goal. Now, with a focus on freebie, purchase, and photography, my attention is divided enough that any single thing doesn't strongly stand out.

That's the interesting thing about focus - it's always changing with who you are, how you feel, and what your goals are. In many ways, your focus makes the world around you more than anything else.


(Skin) MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3; (Eyes) Tacky Star, Pride; (Ears) Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished); (Hair) Magika, Dharma - Golden Blonde; (Wings) Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted black; (Dress) Likka House, Papagena - pink; (Stockings) Vextra Fashion, Sheer Stockings - Dark Pink; (Shoes) G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - Black; (Pose) Luth, Runway V2 13
( A lot more pictures here. )

Overall Credits:

Location: Fashion For Life - Mapplethorpe: Sponsored by Falln Angel Creations
Light Settings: Alchemy Immortalis, Fog Lifting

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Nineteen - Umber

Two neutrals in as many weeks! I thought I was going to DIE!

I ended up just trying on different outfits in my "brown" folder until one seemed... umberish. I ended up back on G Field - gods do I love that store. G Field and Blue Blood are the only stores where I routinely buy the fatpacks for the clothes I like.

The skin is a gorgeous lucky board find from Styles by Kira - tanner than I usually wear, but the makeup is so cute! I decided to go brown to match the darker skin and the brown dress, and ended up pulling out my Lucia hair, a gift from Calico from the winter holidays. I love the lights in the mouth - so cute!


Pose: pda, Imagination

The location in question, Numbskulla, is less a place and more of a game! Based on the general idea of the Myst games of finding objects and opening doors to solve puzzles, it tells the story of a group of islanders tasked to protect two sacred trees which grew around each other.

You get your information from incomplete journals and notes left around the sim, and have to find keys and different objects in order to get to different places. So far all I'm clear on is I'm looking for shards of pottery from different places. At the moment I'm struggling to find the damn quarry! I have the key, but no clue where the quarry is!


Pose: pda, I'm Waiting for the Man

If any of you happen to come by.... help?

( More pictures can be found here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream - Sakura
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (tarnished)
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Lucia (Gift Hair) Bronzed, with mouthpiece
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted brown
Dress: G Field, Classic Dress "Clea" - brown
Shoes: G Field, Short Lace-Up Boots - brown

Location: Numbskulla
Light Settings: [TOR] Midday - Pleasantrie
Water Settings: [TOR] Eyeballin'

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Lured Back by Minty Goodness

This makes post 70, which means I remained at 69 less than a day.

Typical.

It's all for a good cause, though - Double Rainbow All The Way!


Pose: HelaMiyo, Happiness Is

Twomoons Island is having a Mint Themed special sale spread out all over their sim. There are a few freebies here and there, and some awesome mint-themed clothing and furniture. I also picked up all of the poses used in this photoshoot there (except for the one in situ one).

I was actually in Twomoons Island recently on the Electric Lime photoshoot, which means my Windlight was set to maximize a certain color scheme. Without that lens, the colors built into Twomoons Island really stand out, and they captivated me. I also stumbled across some little, hidden spots where tiny nooks exist to enjoy.



This also serves as a reminder to me to always, always return to places and see them with different light on. Windlight gives us wonderful options for altering the world around us, and the best way to make use of it is in a multiplicity!

( Rest of the pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream - Sakura
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy (silver)
Hair: Magika Hair, Buns - Golden Blond
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings - tinted red
Dress: Rotten Defiance, Apple Steam Dress - Red
Shoes: G Field, Lady Rose Heels - Red

Location: Twomoons Island
Light Settings: [TOR] NIGHT - Brighter
Water Settings: [TOR] Trandshan

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only