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

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

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

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

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

50 Shades of Sexy: Intoxicate Me

This challenge was (heh) a challenge for me until I remembered Absinthe. I'm not a huge fan of dressing up with various alcohols, but somehow absinthe has eclipsed the normal scale of drink into something which inspires the most amazing fashions. I took a small detour for a while before I remembered I was supposed to be in lingerie, and then settled on this amazing set from Dilly Dolls from a twisted Hunt years ago. It was so old it came with those invisible blocks to clear out my feet instead of an invisible layer, but that was something fixed in a moment, and the rest of the set holds up very well despite the years! I stacked one of the two absinth sets from Falln Angel Creations on my head like a hat, tossed on some jewelry from Amorous on my wrists and around my neck, and dragged a very old monocle from Sanu out of the depths of my inventory to give the whole look that historical bent. The final touch was two of about half a million group gifts that Mockie gave us from her brand Mock - I almost wore out my fingers accepting them all! Every couple of months she goes on a gifting spree, and between that and the group clubhouse where you can try on things, there are a lot of advantages to being in her group!

In line with the words I wrote last week on Objectification, the simultaneously subversive and yet not quality of the 50 Shades of Sexy Challenge raised some comment on Shopping Cart Disco's SL Secrets. Using the word "whore," and followed up by a comment saying, "Being a slut/whore/skank/tramp/ect is not fashion style," I have to admit for a long moment I felt ashamed of the pictures I've taken so far. Anyone who has viewed my history of pictures knows I tend to vary my style quite a lot - everything from extremely demure Lolita styles to my new exploration of lingerie through this challenge. Dressing scantily seems to be more common than not, though, for several mostly-female subgroups on Second Life, though, and this fact has sometimes taken me up short.

I remember in particular meeting a woman wearing what amounted to loosely woven mesh who attempted to point me to the store and give me her physics layer so that I could improve my look; in a world where women are valued by our appearance of being available for sex, wearing a lot of clothing can be seriously discomforting. However, I'm more discomforted by being scantily clad - which is part of why I took part in this; being sexually objectified is inevitable when one is female, however Second Life offers and chance and a place to explore the ramifications of that, what it feels like, how we objectify or subjectify ourselves, and the relationship between semi-nudity and personality which subverts the idea of alluring women being blank slates for the sexual desires of others.

( 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
Glass: Sanu, Scribble Monocle
Eyeshadow: Mock, Party All Night / Indifferent Bitter Lime (Group Gift)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Sarah Jane's Bloody Lips (Group Gift)
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Sachiko (promotional item)
Tray: Fallen Angel Creations, Absinthe Set Tray
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Amorous, Antiquarian Absinthe
Outfit: Dilly Dolls, Absynth Adorea (Past Twisted Hunt prize)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Green Fairy Cabaret
Light Settings: AnaLutetia - Studio Lights

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

I Can Haz Promoshunz: Drama and Ennui

One of the most amazing things in Second Life is to discover some new, amazing items, teleport into the store to see things in their natural habitat, and discover the store is simply as delightful and surprising as the items within it. In this case, I was led to Remarkable Oblivion by a crown, ended up picking up a set of headwings there, and couldn't resist taking a few snapshots while I was in the area. It's a small store, with a smattering of different mesh items on offer that are well worth a second look. My one complain would be the limitations of the palette - I'm a faerie addicted to rainbows, and the hues tend to linger around pink, red, black, and the blue shown above. I would love even a gray textured version for tinting so that I can mix and match endlessly. I tucked the wings into this amazing lush style by Underscore, which also has options with a scarf and jewels hanging from it. I love the enormous waves flowing down my torso, but it is a very large hairstyle. I'm looking forward to Underscore spreading into new areas as the brand matures. The cleavage I'm showing off is courtesy of Charlie at De La Soul, and while I know he wants me to slip into his later releases, I'm still enamored with my Aestali skin. Now if only I could convince him to bring Aestali to his petites, and my life would be complete!

I still can't take off this Naiad dress from Lassitude & Ennui, and I think you can tell why! I went for a bit of a sleek and sexy effect this time, but every time I try to be edgy - like with this awesome whip from Magnifique - I always feel like I goofily fall short of the mark! In any case, I made an attempt, right? I tried it with thigh high boots, but it simply didn't look right; these sleek heels from Felicity were perfect, though - structured and layered enough to complement the delicate patterning of my dress, but not too overpowering. The chain detailing on the shoes dovetails nicely with the chain edging on the jewelry I'm wearing, a hunt prize from Dragon's Flair. The styling is beautiful and ornate without being two fragile or too flat. One thing I love about hunts is that the really good prizes linger in my inventory like a gift! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the store to see if there was more beauty in the offing. I leave you with a last shot of my demonette faerie; what does she see with her rainbow eyes?

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyeshadow: White Widow, Pisces
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: L. Fauna, Black
Hair: Underscore, Pietra (promotional item)
Headwings: Remarkable Oblivion, Malificient Head Wings
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Dragon's Flair, Midnight Elemental
Dress: Lassitude & Ennui, Naiad sundress
Whip: Magnifique, Whip
Shoes: Felicity, Larissa Stilettos (promotional item)
Poses: Glitterati

Location: Remarkable Oblivion Main Store
Light Settings: AnaLutetia - AvatarOp
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Single Frame Stories: A Retrospective

Several weeks ago, Whiskey Monday said something which stuck with me in response to the Single Frame Stories I've been irregularly participating in:

"There is a inclination to compare our work to others. Especially when our works are practically side by side in the gallery, it would be difficult not to compare them. I’ve found that comparing my work to other art can make me feel discouraged. I see an amazing viewpoint or interpretation of the prompt and I wish I had thought of that.

"It’s important for me (and maybe for us all) to remember that this isn’t a competition. There are no winners or losers here. If we all work to the best of our abilities to create something that shows our own viewpoint, then we’ve succeeded. As a group, our galleries here are impressive and inspiring to others. Individually, each of us brings our own style and perspective, and rather than worry about measuring up to each other, we should worry about inspiring one another."

She also said, [E]ven our most frivolous, clichéd or reflexive work reflects a deep and pervasive web of subconscious stories and associations. Pretty cool, huh?"

That got me thinking about what could be seen in my own string of images, if they were held up side by side, so now and then I'll be doing a retrospective - just a list of all of the images up to a certain date - since I don't always do a post for each one. The next retrospective will pick up where this one left off.


Last Words


Illumination


Depth Perception


Objectification


In Retrospect...


Driven


Surrender


Surrender


Genius


Simple


Shot in the Dark


Critique


Humility


Fall


Secret


Black and White


Black and White


Flight


Service


Anonymous


Switch


Edge

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 8 - Morning Rose

Morning Rose was a combination of pink and a pale green or teal, a combination which never seems like it should work even though it really does! I'm still rocking the Lassitude & Ennui sundress from the Zodiac release for Pisces, and I'm not sure I'll be able to take it off any time soon. I really fell in love with the shape and style - plus pisces! - though today I noticed the butt was a little off for some of the poses, it lined up perfectly int he third image below, so I really can't complain. I think it's just that I tend to have a rather tight, round bum in Second Life, so the tendency for mesh dresses to conform to the larger junk in the trunk trends throw me off. I've been sitting on this hair from Wasabi Pills for a while, always struggling with a look to pull it off, and I think I finally found it. I ended up not using the golden hairbase as it seemed really dark, especially against my skin; instead I took the white hairbase, tinted it my skin tone, and it seemed to give the effect of a shaved skull without being overpoweringly dark.

The jewelry is a set from a very old store, Kyccie's, which closed years ago and yet had such a unique style I still keep it around. With sufficient skill, items in Second Life can continue to flatter the discerning fashionista! Also a much older release but still incredibly well done are my wings from Fancy Fairy, the wings I wear in almost every picture I take, though tinted in different shades. With the advent of mesh, though, I'm kind of hoping I can find a similar mesh effect, so side pictures will be a lot easier; these are still flat textures, if gorgeously done ones. Another of my staples are the hands from SLink; they really finish off my hands in a fantastic way. I don't make much use of the extended gestures, though; the casual hand is so versatile. For a long time I didn't use the blender tattoo layer included, but since I've started using it, it's been a lot easier to take pictures form all kinds of angles. The crowning touch was these gorgeous boots from G Field which I always seem to return too time and time again; I love the delicate green lacing against the pink flowered cuff in particular. Even up close, these boots are flawless.

( 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, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Adam n Eve, Glitz Groovy Greens c
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, May Lipcolor iCandee
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Aida (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Kyccie's Creations, Hopeful Flower (store closed)
Dress: Lassitude & Ennui, Naiad sundress
Boots: G Field, Long Cuff Boots "Will"

Poses: !bang

Location: Hazardous
Light Settings: Bryn Oh's Virginia Alone
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Identity and Location

A long time ago, Ideas Man, PhD wrote an article about Anonymity, Pseudonymity, and the Internets. Much more recently - as in yesterday - I was linked to it from another discussion about Real Names versus Scary Anonymous People. All of the prior discussions of identity and the internet I'd run into broke along very similar lines - the people who think that if you really believe something your offline identity should be tied to it (with a subset of people who believe anyone unwilling to do this are automatically trolls) and the people who point out that linking your legal identity with outspoken speech can have various serious detraction, including death (with a subset of people trumpeting pseudonymity). In all of the discussions, the issues of identity have been connected with two main things - the level of physicality (online versus offline) and the individual who should/shouldn't be expected to have a single identity.

It is true that in a world of pure anonymity there can be no repercussions for anything that anyone does because there is no consistency. Some people take the chance to be very vulnerable, other people take the chance to harass and insult people. I maintain that the choices are influenced by the anonymity, but only in the sense that they remove consequences from actions more than is usual for people to experience - that is the essential natures of the people remains the same, it's just they feel free to show that nature more honestly when it isn't connected to consequences. Other people claim that anonymity will always engender cruelty; lacking solid evidence either way, for now that will have to remain an abstract disagreement. Pseudonymity in the way I've traditionally discussed it, offers a halfway spot - a person has a consistent identity with a reputation that grows over time, however that identity is not linked to their offline, legal identity so they are afforded some measure of protection from consequences (often mitigated by stable things like IP Addresses and MAC IDs). On the other end is the Facebook and G+ Solution, where people have a single identity and are limited in their ability to express themselves without it, with active work to punish people for the use of pseudonyms or multiple identities.

Ideas Man brings another aspect into focus, though - one which cuts through the distinctions I'm used to when discussing identity and the internet. "Anonymity with a face" is an offline anonymity found in large crowds when names may or may not be shared - when the physicality is present but often without the consequences of sharing an identity. I've experienced both the upside of pleasant conversation with strangers and the downside of being cornered and harassed for my identity - and in the latter case I lied and took steps to conceal my home out of fear of the consequences (namely, someone three times my age harassing, stalking and raping me). I had never thought of this as part of identity, but in retrospect it is clearly an example of the advantages of being anonymous - if he has been able to access my facebook page, for example, he could have easily followed and stalked me.

The other slash across how I've thought about identity and the internet was the concept of "anonymous public space." His focus is on the liminal space created between people in public places, where they are known to only some, catching up with only some, not really professional or personal wholly, where we are talking to a small group but may be overheard by others who don't know us or know us only by name or reputation. He likened it to Socrates' concept of the agora, where philosophical discussion could take place, where the personal could feed into the professional and mix; a place where there might be consequences but they are distant, so more free form discussion can take place. I had not thought about the intersection of place and identity in quite this way, and while a lot of these thoughts are new thoughts, I'm really enjoying the brain shift they engender.

( 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, 05-A
Eyeshadow 1: Cherry, Alura Fairy Makeup (Zodiac Pisces)
Eyeshadow 2: White Widow, Pisces (Zodiac Pisces)
Eyeshadow: De La Soul, Inked
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Glasside Lip - Flame Pea
Hair: Analog Dog, clarity gold
Crown: Cherry, Alura (Zodiac Pisces)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Bracelet 1: G Field, Rusty Rose
Bracelet 2: Nevermore, Chain Bracelet
Dress: Lassitude & Ennui, Naiad sundress (Zodiac Pisces)
Shoes: katat0nik, Bowie Peeptoe Shoes

Poses: Exposeur or !bang (Zodiac: Pisces)

Location: Global Domination Secondary Location
Light Settings: Places Astryls Wild
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
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