Opposite of Loquacious

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Poses: Elephante Poses (Fit for a Princess)

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Live Stage on Astonish

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

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Cake Stage

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

SL's 11th Birthday: Stages and Events

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2014 Fashion for Life: Promenade

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Pose: Glitterati

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Wander

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

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

Pose: Don't Freak Out

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Parade

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Pose: !bang

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Trek

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Pose: Striking Poses

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Journey

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

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

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2014 Fashion for Life: Voyage

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

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

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

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

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

Pose: Exposeur

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

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only