Musings on Fantasy Faire

I don’t remember where it was but I had gone to hear a DJ one night and when I got there, he was talking about music. He was explaining something technical and he gave us an example. Instead of more explanation, he started singing in a beautiful operatic voice. Wow! This DJ was Merryjest Starchild. I really enjoyed the show, so when I found that he was doing a performance at Fantasy Faire, I went, and I enjoyed that as well. It was an original work called “Wonders: Crashing the Queen’s Party," about Alice told from the perspective of the Cheshire Cat. Here's a photo of a scene with Merryjest on the left and KariaKae Karu as Alice. You can watch it here: Merryjest’s Wonders: Crashing The Queen’s Party

Justine Johndory is also a live performer. This is a photo of her amazing set when she performed recently at Fantasy Faire. She gave a stirring performance of protest songs ending with a call against injustice.

One of my favorite things about Fantasy Faire is meeting other people who like to customize creative avatars. This year, I particularly like Aii's Naga avatar which debuted at Fantasy Faire. One night Skye McLeod and I dressed up in our finest Naga attire and went to Galerie Gaillard where Aii's store is located. Lots of other Nagas were there. We chatted, took pictures of each other, and had a great time. There was also a werebat and some other creatures who came and went and joined the conversation for a while. Pictured are JemSparkle, Skye, yours truly, and Narfy Delacroix. The Naga avatar is here:  Second Life Maps | Galerie Gaillard

An event this year that spilled over into Fantasy Faire was an elaborate April fools joke that promised a revolutionary new mesh body. It turned out to be a paper doll that was well done and came with lots of accessories. It’s quite popular now, and my friend Star made handbags for it that are available at Fantasy Faire. They are flamingo themed and made for Dinkies and Biggies too. Here I am in my Cardy avatar. Flamingos are always a part of Fantasy Faire so this ensemble seemed appropriate. You can find the flamingo handbags here at Starry Creations: Second Life Maps | Scrunkle Gulch  The Cardy Avatar (by Salt&Pepper) and outfit (by Dead Doll) are available at the "Flat-Out fun Hunt":  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Astralia%20DEAD%20DOLL/161/118/1177

 

Of course, the main reason for Fantasy Faire is to raise money to stop cancer. This last photo was taken at JAdmiral's Disco Party and Fundraiser. Last year FF raised  $122,484 USD. Let's dance!

See more about Fantasy Faire here: Fantasy Faire | A RFL of SL Event

Return of the Little Panda Pirate

The Little Panda Pirate didn't know how it had happened. Her ship, The Hungry Mariner, was ahead of schedule. The Faire was coming up, and this year the little panda pirate was determined to be there early. The wind was in her favor, and the weather was balmy. Stingrabbits were playfully racing the ship like dolphins. The weather changed suddenly, and she sailed right into a squall that split the ship into pieces.  It was pandamonium! Our heroine had managed to cling to the bow and had finally washed up on a small island.

The next morning, she took stock of the situation. What luck! Bamboo was growing on the island, and there was one trunk of waffles, taken from a waffle freighter her crew had boarded a few days ago. At least she would be well fed. She also found a chest of bullion that she was going to donate once she made it to the Faire. Pirates want to stop cancer too! Arrrr!

Our panda pirate really wanted to go to the Faire, but now all she could do was to wait, and wait, and wait.... Well, sometimes she fed bits of waffles to the stingrabbits.

She didn't know how long she'd been shipwrecked, but eventually her luck changed. One day some huge waves went by. Sting rabbits were playing among the white caps. One told her to hop on, they were going to the Faire. She grabbed her sea bag and leapt onto the stingrabbit's back.

Will she make it in time? Will she find her crew? Who are these stingrabbits?

It may seem like a long wait, but it will be worth it. 

Fantasy Faire opens April 18, 2024.  Fantasy Faire | A RFL of SL Event (wordpress.com)

Credits:

Outfit: *DB* DINKIES PIRATE PRINCESS

Tempest Bay Souvenir - Ladies Tricorn Hat

!!!CHARM Dinkies stylish nails

+Half-Deer+ Bear Tail and ears

[FPI] Bamboo Nom

Hair: AD - ciera 

Props: black pearl sim expander, Michigan's Shack

Bamboo garden by Simply Shelby

Pirate chest by Prokofy Neva

Waffles from AleyMart

The Stingrabbit came from a Gacha type machine and was made by Moon Rabbit. The pink one was #11.

The Wave by Hokusai.

Windlight from Jay BattleScars series.

 

Sex, Art, and Fashion

Last night I found this stunning mesh riding habit at We Love Roleplay. The Lady Worsley riding habit is a collaboration between Belle Epoque and Jinx, and the skirt is rigged for Water Horse's drafts and light horses. The riding habit is available in a number of colors. You have to buy each skirt separately: the walking skirt, the light horse riding skirt, and the draft riding skirt. I wish there had been an option to get all three skirts in one package. But what if you have a riding unicorn or one of Cheval d'Or's add-ons? And who was Lady Worsley anyway?

Seymour Dorothy Fleming was an 18th Century aristocrat. She married Sir Richard Worsley when she was 17. She was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in her riding habit, which was designed to match her husband's military uniform. The marriage was unhappy, and she had many lovers. She and her husband separated and when he died, she married her current lover who was 21 years younger than she was. You can read more about her and find out about book and movie versions of her life here.

Reynolds was known for his full length portraits, and was knighted for his contribution to the arts. Here is the portrait:

The mesh version of this riding habit is not the first to be offered in Second Life. Amethyst's Accessories offers it for classic avatars. Her package includes a walking skirt and a side saddle skirt, in addition to the astride skirt which drapes over the horse's back. It is designed to fit AKK horses, and is adjustable. Here is the side saddle version:

The mesh habit is rigged for the Water Horse riding horses. My favorite horse at the moment is the Friesian add-on from Cheval d'Or. It works with the WH riding unicorn. There's no demo of the riding skirt, so does it work? The skirt made for the light horses fits the Friesian fairly well, though a little clipping happens in back. It's worse on the unicorn.

The Friesian is on the left.

What happens if you get the walking skirt and try to ride side saddle in it?

Thankfully there's a demo for the walking skirt. It sort of works, but has an unnatural looking wrinkle in the lap.

Will the draft riding skirt fit the Cheval d'Or add-ons? Not really. Here it is on the Marwari and the fit was similar on the Friesian. The back drape didn't clip at all but it was much bigger than the horse.

The skirts fit well on the horses they are designed for. The gold is shiny, and the outfit is lovely. I'm going to wear it often on my Friesian/Unicorn.

Credits:

Mesh riding habit is now at We Love Roleplay
Classic avatar riding habit is on Marketplace
Cheval d'Or Friesian is also on Marketplace

Update:  I have since acquired Cheval D'Or's Arabian add-on. The Lady Worsley riding habit works beautifully on it.

Back in the Sidesaddle Again

Since I am generally a Victorian lady in Second Life, being able to ride sidesaddle is important to me. As you know, I've devoted several blogs to this topic as methods became available. Now there's a sidesaddle set for the Water Horse Riding Horse. It's made by Mythril. To use, you switch out the animations in the custom tack AO, just like you would change animations in your own AO. The Mythril animations have the same name as the default animations, so you don't have to change the notecard. More animations are supposed to follow in updates, but it's fine for general riding now.

And what to wear? Mesh riding skirts just don't drape as well as some of the old flexi skirts, not to mention the lack of movement. Most of the old outfits with flexi skirts have not been updated for mesh bodies. To get the best of both worlds, I'm wearing a mash up here: a flexi side saddle skirt, a jacket with cravat, and a hat from still another outfit. I'm mashing up the centuries as well, with 18th-century skirt and hat and a steampunk jacket. The skirt is available in a variety of colors, and the jacket has a color change hud. The hat comes in many colors as well. This is an expensive option if you go out and buy three outfits, but I already had two of them. The 18th-century outfit comes with a tricorn hat as well as a walking skirt and a skirt for riding astride. I'm wearing a different hat because it has flowers, and I liked it with the mane.

I'm riding through Caledon Moors in the photo. My horse is wearing a third party mane and tail, as well as alternate tack. The mane and tail are color change and come with a hud. His coat and eyes have also been modified. Which brings us to the credits....

Credits:

Jacket and cravat: Tainted Love from RaMp
Skirt: Brotherhood from Wunderlich (comes in other colors)
Hat: Antoinette from Ladies Pleasure (comes in other colors)
Hair: Kiara 2 from VolutptasVirtalis
Mesh body is Maitreya
Mesh head is Catya from Catwa
Khaly Skin from YS&YS

Warmblood riding horse from Water Horse (there is also a quarter horse)
Flanders mane and tail from Jinx, now at WLRP
Aerith Tack from Jinx (comes in other colors)
Coat: Almost White from Painted Pony
Eye: my own texture
Side Saddle Set from Mythril

Pose set 1from Mythril

Windlights:

Places Wiccan
Phototools Jessica light 4

Sidesaddle!

The Water Horse riding horse is lovely, but the only way to ride it is astride. Consequently, many Victorian ladies were afraid they would scandalize the neighborhood if they bought one. An official sidesaddle is being worked on, but now there's a hud that puts you in the right position. The actual saddle doesn't change, but no one will notice if you wear a big enough skirt.

It works for both the warmblood and the quarter horse. The right stirrup seems to be rigged to the right leg, and it stays with the leg as it crosses over the horse. You can edit the stirrup to make it transparent, which makes both stirrups disappear. Then, if you want a side saddle stirrup, you can get one that attaches to your foot, so it's always in the right place.

Why would you buy this hud and an extra stirrup when an official sidesaddle is on the way? When you're impatient and these add ons are cheap! You can get both for $57L.

Credits:

Water Horse warmblood

Gaslight riding habit in red from Ladies Pleasure

Sidesaddle hud
Stirrup Add-ons

Magic and love!

I'm posing at Totally Top Shelf today. Their theme is Magic March. I do feel as if I time travelled into a medieval village, to the market where the magical beings shop. Here you can find glowing eyes, crystal balls, and lots of outfits, including the dress I'm wearing.

It's decorated with moons and stars and a silver studded belt, and comes in several colors. I paired it with these fantastic moon boots from the current Steam Hunt, and sparkling celestial jewelry. Details follow in the credits.

I've blogged before about the free Oracul animation pack. This morning, I went to Kuso, and found it had been updated. As if all this wasn't exciting enough, in the Oracul package was something called Kuso Phone V. I put it on to see what it was, and it's a typing AO. It's wonderful. Here's a photo of what it does:

It gives you a cute pink phone with a heart on the back. The phone only appears when you type in local chat. There are two animation included with it. One is the typing or dialing animation in the above photo. The second animation is a talking on the phone animation (below). Both animations have a talking animation that runs at the same time. Particle hearts come out while you use the phone! I just love it.

 I know you'll want to run over and grab one now, so I'll stop talking and give you the credits. :D

Credits:

Phone typer is from Kuso/Oracul (Go in the side that says AX. Click on the blue arrow on the pillar by the door)
Onyx Morgana Dress from Oubliette is now at Totally Top Shelf

Steamy Moon Boots are from Rainy Fae Creations and are prize #070 in Steam XII

Galatea Collection jewelry is from J&W Jewelers

Pichi.Hair is from Nani and is now at Whimsical in a gacha

As usual, I'm wearing the Maitreya mesh body

Vista pro hands

Catwa mesh head, Catya

Catwa mesh eyes with applier from Avi-Glam

Skin from Lara Hurley

Candy Lipstick from Insol

Caledon Tartan nail appliers are here

Windlight: Naminaeko Fairies Sleeping

Harp Nouveau

I've been wanting to do something with the gorgeous scroll head harp from DRD for a long time. It's just hard to get the harp and the harpist in the same frame. Then Virtual Diva had a sale, and I got their Ole pose pack, among other things. The poses seemed to work well with the harp, and with an art nouveau theme.

Another inspiration for this photo shoot is the kimono jacket I'm wearing. I was trying out a new bento AO, and the woman next to me was wearing this jacket. It perfectly suits my bohemian taste. I love to add shawls, scarves, anything with fringe. This jacket has color change fringe. It seemed like the perfect thing to throw on over one's ball gown on a chilly morning.

This wonderful flower crown was in a gacha at Shiny Shabby. It reminded me of a Mucha painting, so I got it in several colors. The long hair reminded me of Mucha too. Here's an example in case you're not familiar with this artist:

He also did the famous Job cigarette paper ad in 1898.

Here's another hairstyle for that Mucha look:

This hair is from Nani, and it's quite long. I also took off the kimono jacket so you could see the gown and jewelry. The gown is mesh, and the train is flexi. It also has appliers for the bit of sheer netting on the chest and back. The necklace and earrings have a hud to change the metal color.

Credits:

Floral crown by Lode. Now at Shiny Shabby

The first hair is Ocean Hair from Letituier. Now at The Secret Affair

Gown is Nouveau from Siss Boom

Kimono jacket is from Addams

Necklace/earring set is Dreamcatcher from Bowtique

Bangles are from Sahova, but may not be available anymore

The second hair is Nehelenia from Nani. 

Harp is from The Victorian Musicroom collection from DRD

Poses from Virtual Diva

As usual, I'm wearing the Maitreya mesh body

Vista pro hands

Catwa mesh head, Catya

Skin by Insol

Lichtbringer

I'm in an art study group that meets Monday nights at 6:00 PM, SLT. Last week we went to an installation called Lichtbringer at LEA2. The LEA sims are awarded to artists who submit a proposal and pass a review. They then have a sim and 6 months to create their environment. You land here and will see some textured spheres to teleport with. There's also a free cinematic camera to pick up. When you wear it, your view is long and narrow like in a movie theater. Explore a bit where you land, and you'll find other gifts. They recommend setting your graphics to ultra, and it's really worth it, if your computer can handle it, even for a few minutes.

There are 8 environments to experience. Some are quite psychedelic. You can see in the photo above how the light is projecting on my avatar. I'm in the pictures to give you a sense of scale, and also I'm trying out some Pre-Raphaelite poses. The next photo is at SpaceRocks. It's an environment with giant physical rocks tumbling about. You can sit on some of them and dance around in the chaos.

Here's another shot:

This next photo was taken at Holodeck, where you can do tai chi, among other things.

Here's another view. Notice how the light has changed. Everything is constantly changing. And there's a lot more to see.

Credits:

Lichtbringer information

Lichtbringer landmark

Dress: Noemi from Luas

Hair: Sweetheart hair from Kotte

Necklace and crown from Les Sucreries de Fairy at Cosmopolitan

Waterhouse poses from Alchemy Immortals

Catwa's Catya head

Maitreya body

Vista pro hands
Art Study Group meets here. All are welcome.

Landscape With Owl

It's cold and snowy for me both in Real Life and in Caledon Moors. Snow is still fun this early in the season, and this lovely setting made by Luna Bliss captures the mood well. Like most avatars, I'm collecting Advent gifts. This outfit is from !Go! I'm wearing Valentine pants from Day 2 and Dagna Frill Sweater from Day 12. Most of !Go!'s Advent offerings have been mix and match. The textures are lovely. Look at the sheen on the lace in photo below:

To complete the look, I added Xmas Owl Scarf, a gift from MoonAmore+Cureless. My beret was a gacha prize from offbeat called 'I Believe'. It has an eye in a triangle patch, which I love. :) My Jewelry is from PurpleMoon's Advent Calendar, Day 10. My hair is Mara from little bones. It's available at the current Winter Solstice Event. It comes with hairpins to hold the waves and an animation hud for taking them off or arranging the hair. My boots are from G Field.

These wonderful John Lennon glasses are an Advent gift from Yasum, Day 12. You get several versions with different metal and lens options. My nails are from Nailed It, and came from the KittyCats Advent. My eyebrow applier is Ice Queen from #adored. It came from the Winter Solstice event.

Credits:

Usual Catwa head with Maitreya Body and Vista Pro hands

Wind light: *Starley* Settings 2 and Torley Foggy Fogvari

Another Event Another Outfit

My Grandmother collected teacups, and I have her collection now, displayed on a three tiered table in the parlor. I like to put teacups in the environments I make in Second Life. Sometimes they are up for awhile, sometimes I take them down quickly. Lately I've been working on a giant teacup installation. The teacups spin, of course. You can walk up a teacup/teaspoon trail and have tea at the top, at least you can until I have another idea. My teacup extravaganza is the setting of some of the following photos.

Here I am in the teacup garden. A giant teapot pours tea, and it flows down the hill until it becomes a waterfall of tea, and flows into the riverways of Caledon.

I never wanted to be modern. In my head I'm living in the 1890s. In my grandmother's day, it was the fashion to be pale. Even as a child when my friends were out getting tans, I stayed inside and read books. I went to We Love Roleplay today to try on the skin I'm wearing. It's a very pale gray. Can you tell I like to exaggerate? Another thing I like is birds. Trees too. I had to buy this dress, which has a skirt made of roots with birds flying around my head. I felt I needed a theatrical pose to go with it, something like a circus.

I made the bird tattoo on my head a few days ago. Here I'm trying to fly with the birds in my dress. Up! Up! Through the teacups! They circle me. Teacups spin, birds swoop, terns turn.

Credits:

Fuchsia Crown from Lode (gacha prize) @ Shiny Shabby

Yua hair from Monso

Abadon dress from Zibska @ WLRP

Yarrow shoes from Empire

*YS&YS* Warrior Skin Vamp Tone @ WLRP

Lara Hurley lipstick Gia

Circus Horses with pose from Strike a Pose

Amy head from Catwa

Maitreya body

Location: Trilby's Teacups

Windlight: several from the Torley SciFi series

It's Raining Gifts -- Hallelujah!

Sometimes I like to amuse myself by seeing what outfit I can make from what I buy at one event. The designers at SaNaRae are giving away gifts this round to celebrate SaNaRae's first anniversary. These are by no means all the gifts I acquired, just the ones I could squeeze into one outfit. Here it is:

The Tendril Kitty from *katat0nik* is not a gift, rather it's a gacha prize, and comes in different colors. You do get a tendril kitty with each pull. I'm also wearing Enfer Sombre's Aiko skin, which is from the event, but not free. The freckles that I'm wearing with it, are a gift from Enfer Sombre. Both are Catwa appliers. The pose is a gift from andika. It's nice because you can change the pose with a HUD. There's also a poseball and individual animations.

My hair is from Cheveaux. The Jackalope on my head is from ~silentsparrow~. The color change pom pom earrings are from Pink Hustler. My necklace is from [sYs], and the mini tattoo just under it is from IGOTIT. It comes as a tattoo layer, and as appliers for Slink, Maitreya, Belleza, and Omega. The blue mesh dress is from MSS (Me Sew Sexy Clothier). You can also get a better look at the Tendril Kitty here, mentioned earlier.

The pink umbrella has it's own holding pose, and is from AMITOMO. The tattoo on my back is from Nanika. The basket on my arm is from Belle Epoque. The bracelet in the inset is from Oxide and has a color change HUD. The beaded bracelet on the arm with the basket is from [ dynasty ]. 

These wonderful kawaii stockings are from Supernatural and have Omega and TMP appliers, but no regular tattoo layer. The shoes are from {Livalle}, and have a blue inset on the side.

Everything is available at SaNaRae. And there's loads more!

Windlight: Places Wiccan

Rain is Real Rain from Brazilian Surf.

Flapper Noir

AB Normal is a brain bot in a jar, capable of learning and speaking. He was a special guest at Mary Shelley's birthday party, and now resides in a steampunk cathedral, Mary of the Moors. He writes much better captions than I do. The one for this photo is, "Send me an icy fantasy, and that purple thing above Trilby." That purple thing is a portrait in Isobel DeSantis's fabulous art deco mansion from Hanging the Moon. It seemed the perfect place to take photos in 1920s attire, even though we didn't quite have permission. We crept inside, late at night, while the Duchess was away.

The headlights from her Isotta-Fraschini roadster lit up the night, and us, as we gossiped in front of the fireplace. "1816 was Sunday, thanks for a brain! The monsters are out of cake!" said AB Normal. We ran for the back door, giddy with gin and our adventure.

The next day, I returned to the scene of the crime. Thankfully we had not been discovered, and I spent the afternoon admiring the Duchess's lovely garden. "Trilby can be any flavor. In joy or sorrow she has the power to see. It's electrifying!" AB knows flattery will get him into my blog. 

Credits:

Special Guests: Skye McLeod (on the right)

Details of her costume are in her flickr

AB Normal

My costume:

Jewelry: TVC Flapper complete jewelry set

Dress: AlaFolie Solange bleue

Shoes: [Breathe] Mandy Heels

Hair: Vanity Hair Pixivor

Eyes: S0ng Nell

Poses from **taisaya**

Windlights: Phototools- Hufflepuff and July Light

Special thanks to Isobel DeSantis, Duchess of Mayfair

Turning Japanese

Today I went to Origami, a Japanese Horror Event. I didn't figure out how to play the game, but there were lots of interesting things to look at and buy. I put together an outfit based on what I got there. I am not Japanese, so please forgive me if I misuse any terms.

The outfit comes in several versions and colors. I liked the red which was bare breasted. I tried it with a corset, which looked ok. Then I thought it might make a lovely beach cover up, with its airy netting.

One reason I got the outfit was so I could wear these high heeled geta's with it. They come with either a black sole or a light wooden one. Different colors are available for each. They are made for slink medium feet, but can be adjusted to move up, down, and sideways. I'm wearing them with Maitreya feet.

Other fun accessories include a very detailed pipe that attaches to the mouth. Instead of smoke, fireworks come out of it. There are several different firework configurations that play. The pipe comes in many colors.

The instrument is called a Sanshin, and is in a gacha. This one is #5. It comes in both male and female versions. It includes the animated playing pose that I'm using in the pictures.

Finally, I got lucky and won this watermelon backpack in a gacha. It's resizable and fits better than most backpacks I've tried.

I paired the outfit with a bikini that's currently free on Marketplace. The texture went with the kimono fabric. Everything else can be found in the credits.

Credits:

Origami: 

++Twilight++: Sanshin

*G-D*: Watermelon Backpack A

(CxC): Fireworks Kiseru

kecho(akago):kokorotayori (outfit)

(CxC): HeelGeta

Ikon: Charm Eyes

Maitreya Mesh Body

Catwa Head Amy

SilentSparrow: Foxlove tattoo (standard avi and Omega appliers)

~TD~ Karla swimsuit

KOSH: Jewelry

Besom: Kaleidoscope

Wind light: Torley SciFi Spiceflow