Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday Meme: My Seven SL Facts Meme
So, I'm hitching my wagon to the train started by Strawberry Singh, listing a few facts about myself in Second Life which might be unknown or surprising.
1. Deoridhe Quandry is my second account. The first time I joined Second Life, in 2006, I lasted for less than a day. I did manage to try to make long hair, though, and my own dress using one of the water textures. I couldn't figure out how to do anything, and was too shy to approach anyone, and so I quit. When I joined again in 2008, I was shown around by a friend and lasted a little longer. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I stuck around in 2006.
2. I spent my first year or two as a resident at Lico Lico. Due to the bug where the first place you teleported became your home, I literally had my home set there when a friend sent me a limo to join her. It had several camping chairs and I spent hours sitting on them to get some gorgeous Lico Lico clothing, and I used to unpack my boxes on the roof of one of the floors. That started a secondlifelong habit of freebie hunting, though now I put more money into Second Life.
3. My addiction to freebies did, in fact, extend to making an alt for every letter of the alphabet. I slipped in under the wire for last names with all of them, managing to use one of the special websites which allowed last names after last names were ended. That website has since closed, which makes me sad but not surprised. One of my alts got yelled at by a stranger due to using this work around. I also have six Deoridhe's, including my first one - Starr. Each of them have a different standard skin tone and hair tone but the same shape. Deoridhe Starr is a lighter version of Deoridhe Quandry and is human, where Deoridhe Quandry is a faerie. I've been considering making one of the Deoridhe's a petite for a while, but it may end up being one of my letter alts - all of which also have a theme and a look.
4. I am really insecure about whether people like me or not. I often act like I'm not, but really I wonder if anyone would notice if I vanished. I have a couple of people who continuously reassure me by there mere presence, and I deeply appreciate their love. I'd love to have a larger readership with people who commented on my blog, and sometimes contemplate doing silly things to accomplish that end, but I'm too scattered to organize things and somewhat convinced people would be more likely to hate me than want to be around me if I start shilling for attention.
5. I love drama. I joined plurk primarily to try to figure out the drama behind SL Secrets, but have been mostly stymied. I find how people interact with each other, what we become upset about, and how different issues are resolved in a community endlessly fascinating. I also find how different people are really charming. I think most people are like me, but too embarrassed to admit it; my 'How NOT to...' series is my most popular next to hunt pictures, though it doesn't bring me any sustained traffic.
6. I've only been banned from one place, and it was a mistake. I ghosted there after my browser crashed, and was subsequently banned. I live in fear of being banned from places, though, and I will often not be completely honest in my blog due to that fear. I have gotten at least one person banned from two places due to mistreating me, and remain smugly amused by that. This probably makes me a not exactly nice person.
7. I'm a total secret fangirl of a lot of people. There are several people on my blogroll where I squee every time they talk to me, which is not often. I'm also a creator fangirl to the extreme, though I hide it well! I sometimes daydream about doing things to get their attention, but I know way too well how creepy that can come off. I had fangirls and boys in Falln Angel Creation's chat, including one really creepy one, and I still have a bit of a reputation among older members of the chat (though it's really quiet now). Back in the day, I would engage in elaborate roleplays with other people who played with me, including being transformed into a chipmunk and having over fifteen children with Azriel, the store owner (who had become a personal friend by then). Now and then I'll try to start some playing, but no one in the chat ever seems to engage for long, which is a total shame since I really enjoyed that. sometimes think about trying similar things in other chats, but they seem a lot less playful and a lot more conversational, so I never do.
Bonus three, because I forgot it was seven partway thought!
8. I make all of my own shapes, including for my innumerable alts. I aim for different effects with them, and am planning one of the "uglycute" unicorn riders for one because I want to see if I can do it. I am very attached to my shape and freaked out when I tried the mesh head. I love SLink's hands, but I wish she would make other hand types so that I could match my avatar's hands to mine. My avatar is the same height as I am offline, but she has cooler clothes.
9. I still get embarrassed about nudity in Second Life, despite it not being "real." An ongoing joke with one of my friends is him doing panty checks on me; one time he caught me without panties and sent me a picture and I almost died! For a very long time I changed inside a one-way changing planet so that I could see if anyone was approaching and get dressed before they got near me. Now I change so high up in the air that no one can easily see me, which is its own reassurance. I wish nudity wasn't so common in Second Life, as well, because I think it really removes the punch of wearing something teasing or sexy when the baseline is barely-a-skirt and a bra.
10. I'm very judgmental about shapes in Second Life. I find the spider-leg, t-rex arms avatars common in fashionable circles deeply disturbing. I find some instances of the frowny-faced, squinty-eyed, unicorn riders almost charming in their ugliness, but most examples of it just look like the person's taste is questionable. Size eleven, barrel chested, pin-headed males make me giggle, especially since they often seem to think that I should find them irresistible despite the fact I favor slim, gothic or alternative men.
( More personal favorites here. )
Monday, March 11, 2013
RFL: Zeus at Olympia
Zeus at Olympia (Teleport Point) is sponsored by Sonatta Morales *8* Vintage Couture.
This statue is forty-two feet tall (14 meters) tall and was carved around 430 B.C.E. by the Greek sculptor Phidias. It was created with gold and ivory panels over a wooden frame, showing Zeus sitting on a cedarwood throne. Contemporaries who saw it in person said it was as if the god existed on earth, and some claimed seeing it would cause one to forget all worries and concerns in the world. When asked what inspired him, Phidias quoted from the Iliad:
- He spoke, the son of Cronos, and nodded his head with the dark brows,
- and the immortally anointed hair of the great god
- swept from his divine head, and all Olympos was shaken.
I'm really hoping this isn't a trend, because I found Zeus at Olympia extremely difficult to navigate. The stores are laid out as a grid, the first row along the path you enter into from Halicarnassus. The second two rows face each other behind the first one, though there are no roads per se, and flank a beautiful pool and what seemed to be an ancient dock with traditional boats facing the event pavilion in the middle. I ended up going up and down the rows once I figured out what was going on, but I really don't have a recommendation for the easiest way to cover everything without getting lost. Each store is lovely, though - designed with open wickerwork sides and flowers hanging down from above, they really are redolent of warm summers in Greece. The small arcade at the base of the hill is lovely, complete with a little market and places to recline and rest during the heat of the day. The staircase up to the temple of Zeus is toward the back of that initial arcade, and the temple - and sculpture - themselves are absolutely gorgeous, surrounded by amazingly textured walls and a beautifully tiled floor.
It was also difficult to find things which suited me in it! The trend of no demos continued, and a lot of the clothing was more modern than I prefer. I finally took a risk on a mesh outfit with no demo, and lucked out; one of the sizes fit me! Yay! I really like the sleeves of this dress by Drama Queens in particular, echoing the deep v front of the dress. The purple was the donation purchase, with a wide variety of other colors available underneath. I love the ruffly edges and how casual and flirty it is. The hair from Dura was also found on this sim, and I really liked the short, sassy style with the tinted ends in front. There are several RFL-only donation releases at Dura, so make sure to check them out. I'm reprising the cosmetics from Pin Me Down, this time in purple, and I really like the rich colors. You can see the full effect much better with this more windswept style from Dura.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow: Pin Me Down, Nacre 3 (RFL Donation)
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Apple Blossom
Hair: Dura, Fashion for Life Hair 3 (RFL Donation)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Maxi Gossamer, Wild Honey Purple (Arcade Prize)
Dress: Drama Queens, Bousey Dress Purple (RFL Donation)
Shoes: katat0nik, Souler Peep Toe Heels
Poses: !bang
Location: RFL: Zeus at Olympia
Light Settings: Phototools, Jessica Light 03
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Labels:
2013 Relay for Life,
Drama Queens,
Dura,
events,
Pin Me Down,
Relay For Life,
Second Life
Relay For Life: Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Teleport Point) is sponsored by Lazuri.
Built by Queen Artemisia to honor her husband/brother Mausolus and as a resting place for both of their ashes, built by many of the great sculptures of the time including Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas and Timotheus. It counts as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and has been replicated in multiple places around the world. All Mausoleums are actually named after Mausolus, because his was so grand it entirely changed how people in the Western world viewed funeral monuments. The Mausoleum is in Halicarnassus because that was Mausolus and Artemisia' capital, created during their lifetime to be both a defensive and remarkable center of government for the territory they inherited from their father and expanded greatly under their rule. Artemisia lived only two years after the death of her husband/brother, but the creators of the Mausoleum continued their work even then, considering it a fitting tribute to their skill and to the reign of Mausolus and Artemisia. It was rendered ruins sometime between 1200 and 1400 by an earthquake, though the exact dates are unknown.
It was a challenge to find my way around the sim representation of Halicarnassus; though the avenues were broad, the multitude of paths through the sim made it difficult to know if I had missed a corner of stores or not, and once I ended up very confusedly retracing my steps! It's build is gorgeous, though, as you can see - very old and elegant with small clusters of flowers here and there to brighten up the stone. The Mausoleum itself is in the center, large pools flanking the bridge into the beautifully appointed building. Statues festoon the ends of the avenues and the sides of entrances, lending a formal majesty to it all. Within the large, second floor room of the Mausoleum the walls are carved with beautiful abstract frescoes which I couldn't resist trying to capture.You can really feel the majesty of Halicarnassus and the Mausoleum to Artemisia and Mausolus, and I'm so glad I got a chance to explore it.
The offerings in the sim include a lot of lingerie, some separate pieces, and a lot of casual clothing. I had a difficult time finding things I wanted to wear there, but someone with a more modern casual style might have an easier time of it. The other major problem I ran into was a lack of demos for mesh offerings, which meant I was often reluctant to purchase something, since I'm so far off the standard shapes, especially with some of the purchase prices topping 1700$L! Weirdly, even with other outfits of the same mesh shape in the store, demos were sometimes still missing. In the end I was able to find a few things which suited me, though, including this gorgeous dress from World's End Garden. I still primarily associate World's End Garden with her enchanting sim, not her clothing, but both this and the two other outfits she has out are a delight. This is a simple sheath, but the fabric is bunched and ruched in an entirely natural way, curving over the belly and falling in uneven waves to the ground. I was really charmed by the pattern, as well, large red flowers on a backdrop scattered with pink blossoms and highlighted with gold.The jewelry is also an RFL donation item, from Lazuri Avenue who is sponsoring this sim. It is an amazing color changing set, where different sides of the jewels can be tinted different colors. I was really struck by how versatile that makes them, though I rather wish there were a few more options - like red, for example. Even so, I'm really in love with it's casual, stylish lengths. Finally, I added a nice eyeshadow Donation item from Pick Me Up, brilliantly colored shadows in every color of the rainbow, their colors curving over the temples.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow: Pin Me Down, Nacre 1 (RFL Donation)
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Apple Blossom
Hair: Curio Obscura, Stackable Hair Elegant (Gatcha Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Lazuri Avenue, Spring Necklace Set (RFL Donation)
Dress: World's End Garden, Precious (RFL Donation)
Poses: Glitterati
Location: RFL: Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Light Settings: Phototools, July Light 02
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Sunday, March 10, 2013
How NOT to pick up a chick in Second Life
It's been so long since one of these, I hardly knew what to do! I was wandering around The Wash picking up cheap yet lovely things (see my outfit for some examples, and some more lovely Arcade prizes), when a stranger contacted me. Less than a day old, I have no idea how he found his way to The Wash - maybe those portals in the new starting area? He must have seen me, or something, because he IMed me instead of talking in local chat, but he wasn't near me when I looked for him.
[WhereYouAre?]: hi
Deoridhe Quandry: Hello.
[WhereYouAre?]: where you are
Deoridhe Quandry: Excuse me?
[WhereYouAre?]: oh,sorry,i'm Chinese
Deoridhe Quandry: All right. I don't understand what you asked, though.
[WhereYouAre?]: i just want to make friends
Deoridhe Quandry: Ok.
Deoridhe Quandry: What are you interested in?
[WhereYouAre?]: rap song and listen music
Deoridhe Quandry: You might want to look for a rap club in Second Life, then.
[WhereYouAre?]: what about you?
Deoridhe Quandry: I'm not as fond of rap music, though I like a few select rappers.
[WhereYouAre?]: where are you come from?
Well, that attempt at an actual conversation died fast...
Deoridhe Quandry: Right now I'm at the wash.
Second Life: [WhereYouAre?] has offered to teleport you to their location.
Deoridhe Quandry: No thank you. I'm shopping.
[WhereYouAre?]: i feel dizzy when i walking in the second life
Deoridhe Quandry: It takes a little getting used to.
[WhereYouAre?]: are you American?
Deoridhe Quandry: Is that important?
[WhereYouAre?]: no no no
Deoridhe Quandry: All right, then.
[WhereYouAre?]: but i'm curious
Deoridhe Quandry: All right. I don't share offline information with strangers. You'll have to remain curious.
[WhereYouAre?]: hah,if i can make friends with you
Deoridhe Quandry: I don't understand.
[WhereYouAre?]: i no longer a stranger if i make friend with you
Deoridhe Quandry: That's a very big if, and even acquaintances don't get offline information. If you're willing to wait a couple years to feed your curiosity, though, feel free.
[WhereYouAre?]: i feel sorry
Deoridhe Quandry: Excuse me?
[WhereYouAre?]: yes
Deoridhe Quandry: I don't understand.
And he logged off.
What baffles me about this interaction was how he felt the need to deny something was important despite it clearly being the most important thing to him. I'm not sure what information it would give him if he knew my nationality; I'm not sure why he told me his! Is it simply that so many people don't know how to maintain a conversation and make actual friends? Was there something else he was aiming at? I have no idea, and I doubt I will ever find out. Instead, he vanished offline - likely to never log in again since he didn't get whatever it was he wanted.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Party all night Some kinda Mer (group gift)
Embellishment: Mock, Winter Pink Masque (group gift)
Lipstick: Mock, Opal Lipcolor Dusty Gray
Hair: Curio Obscura, Stackable Hair (Gatcha Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: N@N@, Soko Set (The Wash Event)
Lingerie: Dar Innis, Simple Elegance
Shirt: Somnia, Knit Mess Rainbow (The Wash Event)
Shorts: G Field, Frill Shorts - ash
Fan: Shakeup, Arcade Fan Chic (Gatcha Prize)
Shoes: katat0nik, Candy Rainbow
Poses: Glitterati
Location: Ode
Light Settings: Phototools, Dream Book 4
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Queen of the Animals
This outfit makes me feel so warm and safe. Even though I went to travel where the wild things are, since I'm the Queen of them all, all is right in the world. I like being a little Queen - not a big one. I don't aspire to offline royalty, or even political office. My job is adapting to the mind, needs, wants, and spirits of other people and trying to help them realize their goals, which is incompatible with being a Queen there. Outside of my job, I'm noticed by few and passed over by many, one cog among many, one flower in a garden of blooms. I don't really aspire to be a Queen there, either; I would like more money, but I'd prefer it without any fame; I can't imagine the life of a famous person who could never again be un-famous. "You can be infamous," Dave Chappelle famously said, "but you can never become un-famous." That is a profound loss of control on a scale I can't even imagine, though all of us loose that control on a smaller scale all the time - especially in the age of the internet. As Deoridhe I am, as of right now, unique, and that's it's own kind of fame. The other day someone who had friended me on Facebook found me in Second Life, IMing me with, "You play Sims, too!" I could only answer yes, yes I do. I do a lot of things.
It's an odd thing to blog that one doesn't want attention, though, especially since I watch my tiny crowd of viewers come and go, always spiking around the newbie resources and any hunt posts I do. I've been changing how I tag things, looking for a way to isolate out the different threads of what I'm interested in. Someone who likes my opinions, for example, won't necessarily be so interested in a fashion post. I had originally thought to try to subdivide my interests, but the other blog is just languishing and so I'm thinking of moving things over here, plunk some pretty pictures on it, and somehow meld together me-the-fashionista with me-the-quasi-artist with me-the-philosopher. At the end of the day, I am complex and I contain multitudes.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Lipstick: BCC, Rarara Lip Tattoo (Gatcha Prize)
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Kiki Hair
Crown: Boom, Nature's Crown (Gatcha Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Pyjamas: Aux, Wild Rumpus Romper - Red Fox (Gatcha Prize)
Clinging Animals: D Lab, Fox & Lop Ear & Rabbit (Gatcha Prize)
Fan: Shakeup, Arcade Fan Hydrangea (Gatcha Prize)
Slippers: Conspiracy Theory, Teddy Slipper (Gatcha Prize)
Poses: Glitterati
Location: Zoo World
Light Settings: Phototools, Dream Book 02
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Friday, March 8, 2013
Arcade Exhaustion
So, I finally made it to the Arcade....
I got so much stuff I literally don't know what to do with myself. This is a fraction of my haul, and doesn't include any of the extras that I passed out to my exhausted and sometimes frightened friends list! I absolutely had to start with the Wild Rumpus Romper from Auxiliary, which I managed to trick into giving me every part of the Red Fox rare set! I have the tail, but its stuck under me. The wand in my hand came along with something, though.... I think the tail? I also landed two other rare heads, though I'm not sure what bodies go with the sheep and the panda! So confused. I need a written guide, or something. Since my red fox head lacked a paper crown, I made up for it with one of the millions of gorgeous ones from Boom. I don't have enough words for how much I love these crowns - I ended up picking up almost all the colors I was missing (except for the rares, of course) at the wide variety of yardsales out and about the grid.
I had never seen BCC's cosmetics before, but I got a bunch of really cute colors. I'm not quite sure they suit my face, but I have some alts to pass them off to where it would be perfect! The fan in my hands is from another new-to-me store, Shakeup; I ended up with a half dozen of these, and they're really cute. They have an animation included, but you can over-ride it, which is why I'm all slumped and exhausted! Finally, the cute animals laying all over me are from D Lab, which is known for it's adorable little toys. As an added bonus - when you click them, they begin to move! It is totally adorable in person. Totally. I tucked these slippers from Conspiracy Theory on my toes to round out the romper, and I really think their fluffy cuteness is awesome and fits my general comfortable outlook.
It was hard to decide what I wanted to be surrounded by, but I started with a small army of cupcakes from Half-Deer marching across my unconscious body. Half-Deer also released antlers (why did I not get the pink rare? Why? WHY????) but I'm not wearing any in this picture. I also set out a couple of the adorable jars from Pixel Mode, which are dedicated to various self-care things. I will admit I actually bought extra of these after I got the rainbow one because I wanted to have them on hand for when my friends had a hard day. The Schadenfreude octopus Tea Set was another set where I cried for rares - the tray and an adorable risen tray of cakes both eluded my grasp, and I simply couldn't keep sending money down her adorable, wonderful, gullet. I landed the bear from Sway I wanted right out of the gate, though! Second play, rainbow bear! The Gatchas LOVE me! The Contraption Gatcha was more elusive, though; I landed one of the rares, but frankly the standard music boxes are so awesome I don't mind at all. That gatcha also has some special thing - I saw it for sale for 2.5K at a yard sale, though I have no idea what it is!
A number of the gatcha prizes also seemed to be harkening back to where I first met gatcha, which was on Japanese language sims. Standby's Bento Boxes were among my favorites of this round of the Arcade; I love how they are whimsical and delicious looking. I taunted a friend when I landed the sake one, but I have to admit I adore every one I got! (Unfortunately, I couldn't find a landmark for Standby's store in either the uploading account, or the account it directed me to, or search, so sorry!) Loft's fantastic dolls in kimonos simply charmed me, and I walked away with a bunch of them, but unlike some of the "collect the whole set" ones, it was relatively easy to not pick up a million extras. The Tres Blah tea set was really adorable, and while I think I'm missing half the pieces, it's so pretty I just love it. I did manage to land a tray of macarons, though, which makes me happy since I can make them offline! I was more unsure about Trompe Loeil's lamps, but the price was so right and I walked away with a couple of awesome ones. I don't have much land, but it will be difficult to resist keeping these in my inventory! I landed this adorable and brilliantly colored poof from Apple Fall, which really made me smile when I rezzed it. I love the bright patterns! Set on top of it is a bit of soft ice cream made by Tee*fy for me, and I think I'll end this extended monologue to reward myself for a hard day's work!
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Lipstick: BCC, Rarara Lip Tattoo (Gatcha Prize)
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Kiki Hair
Crown: Boom, Nature's Crown (Gatcha Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Pyjamas: Aux, Wild Rumpus Romper - Red Fox (Gatcha Prize)
Clinging Animals: D Lab, Fox & Lop Ear & Rabbit (Gatcha Prize)
Fan: Shakeup, Arcade Fan Hydrangea (Gatcha Prize)
Slippers: Conspiracy Theory, Teddy Slipper (Gatcha Prize)
Pose: Long Awkward Pose, Broken Puppet 6
Gatcha Prizes: Half-Deer (cupcakes), Pixel Mode (jars of goodness), Schadenfreude (Octopus Tea Set), Sway (Bear), Contraption (Music Box), Standby (Animal Bento Boxes), Loft (Japanese Dolls), Tres Blah (Flower Tea Set), Trompe Loeil (lamp), Apple Fall (Poof), Tee*fy (Ice cream)
Light Settings: Annan Adored Optima
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
I got so much stuff I literally don't know what to do with myself. This is a fraction of my haul, and doesn't include any of the extras that I passed out to my exhausted and sometimes frightened friends list! I absolutely had to start with the Wild Rumpus Romper from Auxiliary, which I managed to trick into giving me every part of the Red Fox rare set! I have the tail, but its stuck under me. The wand in my hand came along with something, though.... I think the tail? I also landed two other rare heads, though I'm not sure what bodies go with the sheep and the panda! So confused. I need a written guide, or something. Since my red fox head lacked a paper crown, I made up for it with one of the millions of gorgeous ones from Boom. I don't have enough words for how much I love these crowns - I ended up picking up almost all the colors I was missing (except for the rares, of course) at the wide variety of yardsales out and about the grid.
I had never seen BCC's cosmetics before, but I got a bunch of really cute colors. I'm not quite sure they suit my face, but I have some alts to pass them off to where it would be perfect! The fan in my hands is from another new-to-me store, Shakeup; I ended up with a half dozen of these, and they're really cute. They have an animation included, but you can over-ride it, which is why I'm all slumped and exhausted! Finally, the cute animals laying all over me are from D Lab, which is known for it's adorable little toys. As an added bonus - when you click them, they begin to move! It is totally adorable in person. Totally. I tucked these slippers from Conspiracy Theory on my toes to round out the romper, and I really think their fluffy cuteness is awesome and fits my general comfortable outlook.
It was hard to decide what I wanted to be surrounded by, but I started with a small army of cupcakes from Half-Deer marching across my unconscious body. Half-Deer also released antlers (why did I not get the pink rare? Why? WHY????) but I'm not wearing any in this picture. I also set out a couple of the adorable jars from Pixel Mode, which are dedicated to various self-care things. I will admit I actually bought extra of these after I got the rainbow one because I wanted to have them on hand for when my friends had a hard day. The Schadenfreude octopus Tea Set was another set where I cried for rares - the tray and an adorable risen tray of cakes both eluded my grasp, and I simply couldn't keep sending money down her adorable, wonderful, gullet. I landed the bear from Sway I wanted right out of the gate, though! Second play, rainbow bear! The Gatchas LOVE me! The Contraption Gatcha was more elusive, though; I landed one of the rares, but frankly the standard music boxes are so awesome I don't mind at all. That gatcha also has some special thing - I saw it for sale for 2.5K at a yard sale, though I have no idea what it is!
A number of the gatcha prizes also seemed to be harkening back to where I first met gatcha, which was on Japanese language sims. Standby's Bento Boxes were among my favorites of this round of the Arcade; I love how they are whimsical and delicious looking. I taunted a friend when I landed the sake one, but I have to admit I adore every one I got! (Unfortunately, I couldn't find a landmark for Standby's store in either the uploading account, or the account it directed me to, or search, so sorry!) Loft's fantastic dolls in kimonos simply charmed me, and I walked away with a bunch of them, but unlike some of the "collect the whole set" ones, it was relatively easy to not pick up a million extras. The Tres Blah tea set was really adorable, and while I think I'm missing half the pieces, it's so pretty I just love it. I did manage to land a tray of macarons, though, which makes me happy since I can make them offline! I was more unsure about Trompe Loeil's lamps, but the price was so right and I walked away with a couple of awesome ones. I don't have much land, but it will be difficult to resist keeping these in my inventory! I landed this adorable and brilliantly colored poof from Apple Fall, which really made me smile when I rezzed it. I love the bright patterns! Set on top of it is a bit of soft ice cream made by Tee*fy for me, and I think I'll end this extended monologue to reward myself for a hard day's work!
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Lipstick: BCC, Rarara Lip Tattoo (Gatcha Prize)
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Kiki Hair
Crown: Boom, Nature's Crown (Gatcha Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Pyjamas: Aux, Wild Rumpus Romper - Red Fox (Gatcha Prize)
Clinging Animals: D Lab, Fox & Lop Ear & Rabbit (Gatcha Prize)
Fan: Shakeup, Arcade Fan Hydrangea (Gatcha Prize)
Slippers: Conspiracy Theory, Teddy Slipper (Gatcha Prize)
Pose: Long Awkward Pose, Broken Puppet 6
Gatcha Prizes: Half-Deer (cupcakes), Pixel Mode (jars of goodness), Schadenfreude (Octopus Tea Set), Sway (Bear), Contraption (Music Box), Standby (Animal Bento Boxes), Loft (Japanese Dolls), Tres Blah (Flower Tea Set), Trompe Loeil (lamp), Apple Fall (Poof), Tee*fy (Ice cream)
Light Settings: Annan Adored Optima
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Labels:
Apple Fall,
Auxiliary,
BCC,
Boom,
Conspiracy Theory,
Contraption,
D Lab,
Half-Deer,
Loft,
Pixel Mode,
Schadenfreude,
Second Life,
Shakeup,
Sway,
Teefy,
Tres Blah,
Trompe Loeil
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Twisted Color Challenge: Week 10 - Wooley Cinnamon
This weeks color combination, Wooley Cinnamon, went in a very not wooley, not cinnamon sort of direction. I started with the basic idea that I wanted to show off something from The White Armory. She gives out a new group gift every week, so I've been collecting for a while, but my inventory backlog is such that I haven't pulled any of them out in ages. I was beginning to feel backlog guilt, so I opened up a ton of boxes and, well... things went a little sideways around the time I found this gorgeous tan dancing dress. I'm not wearing the included empire skirt or wings; instead I dressed it up with corset accessories from Rosal - specifically her Unmei set, with a little visit by her gloves (please release more gloves!). All of her sets come with an amazing tinting HUD which allows you to target each part of the included items and tint them into literally any color you want, which meant it was a cakewalk to set up the orange colorcheme to match up with the tan and accomplish Wooley Cinnamon in a very futuristic weird manner. Like I said... not very wooley, not very cinnamon. An over the top outfit requires an over the top hairstyle, which is how I ended up pulling out this style from Secrets Hair. I also wanted to pass on that the store is having a Fatpack Sale on the Marketplace until March 10th, so go check it out! Lots of styles, lots of colors, only 600$L each.
Further accentuating the over-the-top look I stumbled into, I ended up pulling out some of the stark, stylish, unique cosmetics from Nuuna. The combination of bright colors, stark lines, and both cutouts really makes her cosmetics unique, and I thought they suited the look. An old set of lipsticks from Skinthesis were the perfect balance - I don't think these are for sale anymore, but I still really love them. Finally, after playing with a few different hair accessories, I settled on an old Halloween release from Kouse's Sanctum as both matching the colors and matching the theme; I'm a sort of weird space princess... person... something! Finding a location was thankfully easy. I caught sight of Francesca's monochromatic style and headed off to tint it weirdly orange using windlight. The layering of trees, the isolated spots with little decorations, and the gorgeous castle which resolved into a lonely music hall up front all seemed to fit with this stylized, almost Visual Kei effect. This is not a style I often even approach, so I'm finding my headlong plunge into stark, stylized, over-dramatic effects rather bemusing!
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow 1: Nuuna, Neuro Orange
Eyeshadow 2: Nuuna, Tiia orange
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Skinthesis, Liquid Heat Pipes
Hair: Secrets, Jupiter - Blonde (Promotional Item)
Crown: Kouse's Sanctum, Ambrosia Tiara - Halloween
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Collar: Rosal, Unmei Neck Corset
Gloves: Rosal, Viron-M
Dress: The White Armory, Blythe Dancing Gown (Group Gift)
Corset: Rosal, Unmei Corset
Boots: Rosal, Unmei Boots
Poses: Glitterati
Location: Francesca
Light Settings: Places Abracadabra
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Monday, March 4, 2013
ICHP: Dilly Dolls Free Style
This is the blog post that took two days and an assistant! A very kind person, upon hearing me whinge in group chat, helped me figure out how to reset my avatar so I could add cosmetics - which is why I'm able to showcase this brand new hunt prize from Dare Designs, which is taking part in the horrifically difficult Twisted Hunt. Dilly Dolls is as well, with a white-textured version of the above boots, but these are the very special release for the new FreeStyle Store which opened recently. Everything in it is under 50$L, and quite a few things are 0$L, so it's a good place to send your friendly impoverished or new friends. The FreeStyle version of these boots and the crown are color-changing, so if you aren't prepared to goth it up with black, there's a bright and shiny white version. The dress is not, sadly, available at FreeStyle, but it is a recent release at the Dilly Dolls's store. As always, her clothing comes with a wide variety of colors with a HUD to change the textures, and this dress has an added bonus - you can remove the top, the skirt, or both to wear just the corset, so it's incredibly adaptable. These boots and crown from Dilly Dolls are also mesh, but are not rigged, so they can be very easily resized and fitted. I ended up making the boots a lot larger because I am not a bird! Belying the not-a-bird, I added wings to my head as well as my back - the creator behind Remarkable Oblivion send me a second set of these headwings with a white option, and then I heartlessly used the black texturing instead because I have no gratitude (no, really, thank you!). I have no idea if these are for sale anywhere, or if they're reserved for bloggers who complain - you could try a notecard complaint, too, and see if it works! (No, don't do that, wait... bad idea.)
My hair is an older release from Alice Project, making use of her incredibly versatile HUD which allows you to not only color the hair with fades and tints, but also to tint different parts of the hair with different colors, thus allowing for entirely weird styles like above, where I attempted to put every color in my outfit into my hair. I think it worked pretty well, actually. The collar is a very old purchase from DownDownDown; I had found it during one of the gatcha festivals on the sim her store was on; it wasn't a gatcha prize, but it was reasonable and unique, and I fell in love. The collar has a wire which arches from the back, curving around my body elegantly. One thing I love about shopping malls, and miss now that they've become more rare, is the way that events would introduce me to brand new stores I might have never run into otherwise. To an extent, sales and themed events can do a similar thing, but it often seems like the stores are frequently the same - not that I don't love them, believe me I do, but I sometimes feel more insular than I used to be. That being said, blogs are a great way to find new places to take pictures, and I found the Nitroglobus Gallery through one of the blogs on my sidebar - now I have no idea which one, but thank you! It's an extremely changeable place; the basic idea is simple, mushrooms and a bridge, but the mushrooms have ever-changing textures on them, and there are eyes floating around to look at you, and the final effect is rather creepy. I really like it, especially with the floating lens-flares and mist.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Cosmetics: Dare Designs, Delirium 01 full (Twisted Hunt Prize)
Hair: Alice Project, Grace
Headwings: Remarkable Oblivion, Malificient Head Wings - RGB
Crown: Dilly Dolls, Hearty Crown - Freestyle Edition
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Collar: DownDownDown, Code choker
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: Dilly Dolls, Kasset - Black & Dark
Boots: Dilly Dolls, Matilda Boots - Freestyle Edition
Poses: !bang
Location: Nitroglobus Gallery
Light Settings: In Situ
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Twisted Color Challenge: Week 9 - Lyndhurst Plum
I'm squeaking in under the wire for Lyndhurst Plum, a color which I really struggled to set up a look for until I finally searched through my sorted clothing for this very old dress from The Crystal Queendom (currently closed). I still don't think it's exactly right - the blue is too bright, the purple too shiny - but it's close enough for government work, and I was getting work out! The twisted challenge is definitely a lot harder than just a single color; usually I could match a color pretty well, but sometimes I simply can't find the two different ones in clothing which can be combined. I'm hampered by the fact that I tend to wear full outfits, not separates. It adds a whole different challenge to the whole thing! I paired the dress with a casual new style from Wasabi Pills, showing some of her new curls and little wisps around the ears. I'm really liking the looser style of this new hair; it will be interesting to see how far she takes the curls. The bracelets are an old purchase from Digital Eyes, and they really fit the casual, flirty style I'm working on. I really know that store more for her fans, but these were perfect to step up my look and ad a bit of color to my hands.
I ended up running over to the LEA sims to try to catch Amelia Is Missing before it closed - isn't it amazing how quickly six months has gone? I didn't manage to get as far on my LEA goal of tracking each sim as I'd like, but I get another chance soon! In the mean time, I really enjoyed following the red thread to try to find Amelia through a wistful, sometimes disturbing landscape. The amount of subtle interactivity was fun, too! While sitting on things didn't accomplish much, I did spend entirely too long chasing eeping boxes around a giant room, and I discovered I could - with care - walk on the thread at least part of the way. The light I ended up using was really different from the default windlight, but I think it suits the sim by highlighting the red threads that ran all the way through. My one complaint about the threads would be how difficult it was to follow them; one problem of the camera is that it's relatively difficult to look down as one goes - there were times I got very lost and hat to spend a lot of time panning down to find my way again. That might have been part of the point, though - Amelia is lost, and it will take some effort to track through the clues to the end.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, A Little Drama - blue / lilac
Eyeliner: cheLLe, Cleo Called Navy
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Coral Tree
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Ivette (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress: The Crystal Queendom, Bombay Belle
Bracelets: Digital Eyes, Plastic Bracelets Purple
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes
Poses: !bang
Location: LEA: Amelia Is Missing by Cica Ghost
Light Settings: TOR, SCIFI Gimler gromchi
Water Settings: Glassy
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
Labels:
art,
Digital Eyes,
LEA,
Second Life,
Twisted Color Challenge,
Wasabi Pills
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Almost Over
I was Almost On-time but Almost is Over. I'm almost inundated with almosts - almost well, almost ready, almost completely overwhelmed. Almost always silly. After a week of dragging around, getting the minimum done I can do to get by, I'm almost healthy again - thanks in large part to turning my apartment into almost a jungle, scented with camphor. I managed to visit Lost Town almost before it's going away, and I'm sunk feeling like I've missed almost all of the LEA displays because I was too busy to follow up on almost all of them. This look is almost to discordant to be attractive, but I think I carry it off; the idea came after throwing on the Lassitude & Ennui dress over my lingerie from my last look. I loved the effect, but wanted to carry it off using a different set of undergarments, and I ended up seeking out my old friend katat0nik's stylings, which were almost perfect. I meant to take the pictures ages ago, but I was almost too sick to sit up several nights, and so it dragged out longer than necessary - giving me a chance to slip in Wasabi Pills' new hair for Whore Couture, and giving me a little crow to eat. A topic brought up was personal thoughts on the Whore Couture event, and I said it wasn't my style; apparently I'm almost right - when Wasabi Pills does her hair, I almost always love it.
I think I'm almost having too much fun with using almost way too much, and I can't seem to stop! Comparing my pictures on Lost Town that have me in them, and the ones of the sim alone, I'm really struck by how you almost can't tell how enormous the elephants and circus are in Lost Town. In a few of my pictures of me, you can almost see a leg or a foot in the background, but it's almost impossible to offer a realistic representation of the awesome scale which can occur within Second Life between the avatar and the environment. It almost makes me want to go back in one of the larger mesh forms, just to do a comparison with my smaller me who usually wanders around the grid. Another thing I've really been noticing is how mesh is enabling things to be very precise and beautiful on the micro scale, as well as the macro. Increasingly, sims have these tiny details because it's become feasible to - since mesh items often have less impact on the allotted prims when they are small, suddenly detailed furnishings are more acceptable. I've almost become so used to mesh that I don't even see it's full effect anymore - but even given the ground gained in mesh, regular old prims and texture are doing well. The shoes I'm wearing are a very old set from Lassitude & Ennui, pre-mesh, and they fit perfectly with the mesh dress made years later with not appreciable different in level of skill and beauty. I think it's wonderful that some stores have managed to transcend their creative tools to make lasting, indelible beauty.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Julia (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Dress 1: katat0nik, Ruff Haus
Dress 2: Lassitude & Ennui, Naiad Sundress
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Skully Pumps
Pose: Glitterati
Location: Lost Town
Light Settings: In Situ
Water Settings: Glassy
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
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