The Oddfish : Facebook Newbie

I know....
Most of the world (the bits that matter apparently) are already on Facebook.

I'm late to the party! (I was stuck in TP)
Also I only have 1 friend! :))

Betty No-Mates

The Fashion Fish : Mystique

Shield Maiden

Mystique is a new merchant that I have not blogged about before now though signing up for MFGC news has clued me in to a lot of interesting Fantasy designers I'm glad to say,

Closer up you can see what great leather detail there is in the texturing of this  item

Screen capture of outfit as worn for this shoot.

Vendor image of item in full (a steal at L$299) Go Shopping!
or visit Mistique on MP

Full Credits :

Mistique - Talindra (in brown) Consisting of Underbust corset, Pauldron/Chest Armour Piece and Skirt. (www.flickr.com/photos/134188030@N03/24482874579/in/datepo...)
The textures on this outfit are pretty awesome! While this does fit over Maitreya Lara in this image, the alphas for this mesh body do not match well for the corset part. Particularly at the back where you have a nice lace detail and bare back design, this is problematic. However this outfit comes in three separate parts and is perfect for mix and match. I'm using size M for Armour and Skirt and S for the Corset

Shield and Axe from Poet's Heart (Barbaric www.flickr.com/photos/poets_heart_photography/13492465853...)
Clark Horns Headdress from Pure Poison (Love the details on this neat little Gacha Prize!)
Talon Ringset (fitting Maitreya 10) from ieQED
22769 Shoulder Dragon#3 Creme

Ikon Ascension Eyes (Bronze) worn with Elysium's Rosie Applier and my own first attempt at makeup for Lelutka Mesh Heads.
Hair is Randa from Truth.

Pose: Del May's Kick Off (tweaked a little for this scene using Anypose BVH)

Mistique is part of the MFGC network of merchants across the grid.

Le poisson du jour : Homebase in SL & Machinimation

Good Kitty

Credits : This gorgeous fur coat comes from COCO and is out in Shiny Shabby at the moment.

(Bastet Head from Pixicat (Gacha Prize) together with TSG Good Kitty Collar and KC Shoes)

Bear with me :-)

I'm always finding something new to learn about blogging so this is kind of an elaboration on some of the things I've experimented with.

It's not always easy to blog about a piece of furniture from a practical point of view ie. how is it to use? I think the SL Grid and furniture makers are divided on this point.

On the one you have makers that excel in design and so the furniture looks great but isn't particularly full of animations that can be considered " Useful" in your Second Life experience.

On the other you have makers that excel in imagination but not execution. So perhaps their furniture looks less "chic" but is irrelevant to you from a role-playing/living point of view.

Then of course you have the few who are good at both - but this also comes with a price tag outside what you might be willing to invest in $L for.

Sometimes I live a little in both worlds in my SL experience ie. The highly aesthetic, "glam" world of art and design - and the more "I can imagine this cardboard box is a castle" world inhabited by people who play.

Somewhere in the middle perhaps is where we might find Homebase Furniture.

Coincidentally Homebase in the UK is the brand of a DIY/Sundries/Garden Centre chainstore.

This Lap dance chair from Homebase SL has a pretty worn and simple aesthetic. The shop does not, at this time of blogging , have a comprehensive presence on MP and any information I have managed to glean about them has been hard won! They have a facebook page  and an in world store which is interesting but slightly chaotic to navigate in. That's ok :) my brain is quite like that myself.

Made in 100%  Mesh, the chair comes in Black or Red and is scripted with AV Sitter to seat two persons without the need for messing around with poseballs. The two sitting arrangements can also work independently, with some single sits to choose from if you are in the chair, and a variety of dances to play with; if you are the entertainment. The chair I have featured here is described as Red but depending on your windlight settings, it can appear closer to being a sort of Russet brown.

There are not many simple casual poses in this piece as it dives straight into the action with a menu for Lap Dancing/Slave Dancing and Sex

To better illustrate the sort of animations you might find in the chair,

I've made this little machinima!

It's really quite a fun little thing and I hope it gives you a little tease. <3

It isn't too hefty land impact wise at a relatively slim 4LI with Copy Mod permissions. I can see this being quite good at clubs.

For the price which is $L250 it won't break the bank and the animations are mo cap. Also being scripted with AV Sitter means you can adjust and save your personal settings if you do not quite fit the animations in its default.

Homebase SL is part of the MFGC network of merchants across the grid.

The Fashion Fish : Breeze & Divergent

Dauntless

I've lots to write about really and my flickr stream is happily trickling along with all sorts of images I've made inspired by designers and events across the grid.

I have written a few blogs about Blue Moon Enterprises before and it's truly not hard to do as I find myself inspired by what they create and over such a vast range of items as well! I've been playing movie catchup over on Amazon prime. I'd seen "Divergent" on an aeroplane but never quite invested in its sequel. Still, as far as movies go - if you don't poke too many holes in the already thin plot, it's quite enjoyable.

The outfit in the above images is Breeze by BME  and has been crafted for the Fair Play event. The Fair Play event itself is an interesting one as it sets out to raise funds for Parkinsons and RFL .
This is one area in which  Second Life® might differ from other online "games".

I wanted to capture the details (and spirit) of Breeze - to show off the great leather/suede textures used together with the almost barely visible celtic pattern on the chest plate. These are things that I really admire and enjoy in creations - the subtle details that someone has thought off which you might hardly notice but that are there if you care to look. I'm very much that way myself.

The full outfit comes in several wearable parts - Skirt, Pants, Bustier and Arm Bracers. This enables you to mix and match your personal style. It is also fitted mesh* (for Slink though I've worn it in these pictures over Maitreya Lara) or to wear in full as in "Dauntless".

I've modelled it here with the Safeguard Necklace from Minimal which is out in Shiny Shabby (Till the new February round starts!) as well as this great new hairstyle (Arya) from Calico Hair for the We <3 RP event . This hair comes in two options for wearing and has a Hud that enables you to change the colours of the accessories in your hair. It also comes in a good range of different colour packs to suit most. It is rigged fairly well as you can see in the above images.

*Whilst this works fine for my photographs it may not wear as well with your AO.

Background for "Dauntless" was shot in Dead End

BME is part of the MFGC Network of Fantasy and Medieval ware merchants in Second Life.
More info on MFGC is on their website

The Odd Fish : Sometimes Naughty Sometimes Nice (On Blogspiration and Sponsorship Deals)

I'm Flexible
(Chair Prop, Bow Leather Gloves)

Quiet Time
(Bookcase, Earrings)

Quite often it's the prop, dress or accessory that will inspire an idea for the images that I make. Lately though I've been thinking about this process and other such ponderings between what makes a fashion photograph different from an art photograph or a blog photograph and so on...
For someone like me, I do try to make images to please myself and often that treads a fine line between what will showcase a product and what will lend voice to my own artistic expressions.

I can certainly understand when sponsors make certain demands of bloggers such as requesting that outfits be shown clearly and in their entirety or similar. Lately there's been a profusion of blogger searches with an upfront list of demands such as :

---

– have a blog that is at least 3 months old

– are able to blog a minimum of 9 items over the course of 3 blog posts for each cycle

– are able to publish at least 1 post, within 3 days of the start of each cycle*

– are able to create high quality blog pictures to showcase the items from our event

or

☆ We are looking for quality reviews of all items in blog content with enticing descriptions and details of any events along with dates, landmarks and store locations.

You will be required to “Report” each blog on a Google Doc

The list goes on and often I feel there is very little empathy or consideration in this proceedings for bloggers as individuals; what their natures are like - how they blog and why and so on and so forth...

---

Bloggers themselves have to review their own integrity, why they might include something in review. I think they often try very hard to be inclusive to all designers in as much as they can be but often not to the satisfaction of Merchandisers.

What is the difference between :

and

For example.

;-) I think I am guilty of overthinking things sometimes - so there are no conclusions here to this blog gentle readers... just a pause <3

The Meme Fish : Black is Beautiful . & ..

..

I came by this challenge from reading about it on Amelie Fravoisse's Flickr ; which I think is superb.

The challenge :

Rules:

• You should take a picture using a black skin, the other components of your look is of your own choosing.

• Name your photo as follows: [Your name] Black is Beautiful Challenge - Photo [1]. You can put this information in the description of the image if preferred.

I wanted to keep the photography simple but to make use of materials and mesh which enables you to really bring out light reflection that is true of real life portraits of this ethnicity - eg :

Coincidentally I could not credit this image properly not knowing where it came from exactly
But having tried to trace its root, I came across this artist

To me that is the beauty of Black skin and it is not something I had truly worked on achieving before although I have featured other similar images in my posts before now.

.

Challenge Complete!

See the images of other people taking up this challenge!

Technical Screen Capture

As you can see, what is captured on my screen is highly saturated colour.
All I've done in my final images is simply to tone this down
in order to bring out more contrast between light and dark.

Credits :

Skin by Pumec  (Alsou in September with Brown eyebrows) 

applied over Lelutka Aria Head on Maitreya Lara Body 

Hair  by Emotions (Alison - Brown) was a free gift at the 2013 Hair Fair!

Eyes are by Dead Apple (Sorrow Eyes - Brown) - I really liked these for their reflective quality.

Makeup by Ys&Ys from Teresa Skin and Makeup Applier for Lelutka (Tone 04)

I absolutely adore the makeup palettes from Ys&Ys as they can be worn with many other skin types.

Dress is the Irving Cutout Dress in Black by RAMA

Accessories

ieQED pirate doubloon hoop earrings (pair) and necklace (rare) from ieQED's pirate coin gacha

Nose chain is a Marketplace Purchase from  BLOKC - simple but well designed with the chain part and nose ring made in two separate mesh pieces to help with adjustability.

The (Fantasy) Fashion Fish : MFGC, BamPu Legacies, Noble Creations

Djinn

Pixie Nap

Last Unicorn

Over on my Flickr stream I've been feeling very inspired by magical folk.

Djinn

The boho style silver jewelry from Rucy Byron @ Aphorism inspired this Arabian Nights fairy tale pictorial. This collection is a gacha that is now on at Shiny Shabby

Pixie Nap

The beautiful and intricate curled metal work combined with roses and pearls by Noble Creations is the inspiration for this tender pictorial

Last Unicorn

Created for Fair Play, this Unicorn Muse headpiece is from BamPu Legacies by Bambi Chique and my inspiration for this fantasy pictorial