Culture Shock

Life in the mall was always hectic, not that bright, shiny, piped in music and crowds of happy people clutching plastic sacks of purchases way of malls from the time before. The malls now were the walkways of the sky, only marginally safer than the rubbish strewn streets far below. Even walking through the better zones you were just as likely to get caught in the crossfire of a laser fight between mall militia and gang members as you were to spot a bargain deal in the high priced stores. Illya had had enough for one night. She worked in one of the darker clubs in the sanctioned bar zone, the kind frequented by the rich kids looking for a thrill, one where their richer parents would hate to think of them being, but which held a much lower death rate than others in the lower levels of the mall. Heading away from the pounding headache of noise created by different genres of music all competing within the confined space she moved quickly towards the blue zone.

It was quieter here, the stores mostly winding down in the small hours of the morning, a few, not staffed 24 hours, were shuttered and dark. Smiling to herself as she passed by a couple getting hot and heavy in the shadows she walked on, not disturbing them, her boot heels clicking alternately on concrete and metal gratings, no fine marble down here. Pausing in front of a store window, she checked her reflection in the glass, as a blue light glowed, scanning her head to foot. With a soft hiss the glass panel slid back and to the side, allowing her to step on through. As she emerged again, hair teased high, the piercings replaced on her face. The skimpy work outfit discarded, she was now wrapped in black web, each thread woven with care, fine as silk, harder than steel. She was ready to greet the friends who awaited her, ready to start her own night out in the darkest depths the mall and the streets beyond had to offer.

Culture Shock is back! The “Culture Shock” event in May 2012 (May 4th – May 26th) is a large and important event in Second Life fashion culture. Celebrating trends and trendsetters within our business, and incorporating music and art, all with reflections of our own personal first life cultures depicted in our creations. It is brought to you by CHIC Management (www.chic-management.com) and sponsored by Modavia Productions.

174 store are showcasing their products, including a minimum of 1 new and exclusive item each – contributing 50 – 100% of their profit to charity. While you are there - be sure to check out the amazing artworks decorating the walls on the ousides of many stores.

The charity chosen is Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and is an independent humanitarian medical aid organisation. Committed to providing medical aid where it is most needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or gender and also to raising awareness of the plight of the people they help.

You can find the sim here...

http://slurl.com/secondlife/CHIC/136/131/6

Image 1

Dress :  [*RD*]*Sugar & Cyanide Dress-Black*  150L  50% Profits to Médecins Sans Frontières. 3 Different versions in pack, some more revealing than others, here wearing 'cleaned out' version with pasties.
Hair : ::Exile:: Groove Theory: Blacks -  250L (5 colour pack) 50% Profits to Médecins Sans Frontières. Mesh hair, comes with alpha layer for hiding any pesky bits of head that could show through, as I was also wearing boots that needed an alpha layer - Id suggest using any black hairbase.

Image 2

Outfit, Piercing and Additional hair : ~plank couture~ horoscopae - Leo ad Widowa  Arachniae  250L  50% Médecins Sans Frontières. This outfit also comes with two skirt versions - not shown here, one static, and one animated.

"Further along the Path" at LEA2 - Free of Words

Words… spoken in various languages, reaching out like feelers, looking for another fellow human to touch, to establish contact with. Words… reaching out like tentacles, wrapped around fellow humans, slowly suffocating them. Words… but did she need words so desperately in order to relate? She was slowly moving her fingers now, observing them, discovering the message they were sending out… and her eyes, her face, each and every muscle in her body was talking by now, chattering without speaking, the new kind of message softly filtrating through apparently solid boundaries. She was free of words… and she was smiling. She was free. Irrevocably free.

Today, Friday May 18^th at 1 PM SLT a new art installation, “Further along the Path”, will open to the public at LEA2. The organiser and originator of the project is a household name in the world of SL art, Bryn Oh. In order to know more about the participating artists and the concept, please read her blog entry here: http://brynoh.blogspot.com/2012/05/while-ago-wonderful-group-of-artists.html

Elif Ayiter aka Alpha Auer, the “chief” of Alpha Tribe, is one of the contributing artists. She offers the magnificent “Asemic” avatar as a free gift... and whoever has ever owned or even seen an Alpha Tribe avie in SL will certainly rush to LEA2. Visit “Further along the Path”, allow yourself to be involved... listen, watch, think, enjoy.


Avatar: Alpha Tribe "Asemic" in male and female versions - a free gift at LEA2.
Pose: No Strings Attached "Fred Astaire" - not available any more. 

Surprise in the morning

The sound of the waves was calming but none the less the feeling of dew on her skin wasn't something Martha enjoyed. For some moments she curled together trying to hide her bare feet deeper in the wide pants she was wearing. After some more minutes of uncalm sleep she realized that she was at the wrong place. This was definitly not her or Phil's home. Slowly she pushed herself up. The pain in her head made her regret this. But while pressing her eyes together she forced herself to get on her feet. It wasn't a big surprise that the rest of her body did ache as well. The veil was something which surprised her. There was dirt on it so Martha supposed that she had used it as cushion or blanket. Not that this was important. She was wearing a veil, didn't remember what had happened during the night it was clear that it finding out what happened in the night would be way less fun than those things she forgot.
Miamai's latest relase is a wonderful brideswear collection. Of course it is outstanding,especially the Marlene Outfits. This consits of elegant meshtrousers (in standard sizes) with a frilled top and a big veil and also fitting upper sleeves. The upper part of the veil and the sleeves are made of unrigged mesh so its possible to resize them. The lower part of the veil is made of flexi prim which allows it to move.
The red hair comes from Wasabi Pills. It's the Dragon Hair which is very versatile.
Purple Pose released a set of pinup poses. The pose on the first picture belongs to those.
Adornotropia, the sim where the picture have been taken is not officially open yet. But it is allready possible to visit it. If you have a chance to do so take a ride in the rollercoster.

Outfit: Miamai_WeddingCollection2012_Marlene White (1400 L$)
Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Dragon Mesh Hair (1500 L$ for fatpack 250 L$ colourpack)
1st. Pose:PURPLE POSES - Pin Up Poses (sold at Perfect Wardrobe)

Location: Adornotropia

NSA4 Hunt - Forgotten Doll

She couldn’t recall the name of her owner any more. She remembered that the girl had worn nice frilly starched dresses, Nanny had carefully curled her blond hair every morning so that the corkscrew locks would tumble down on her shoulders, and she had had a pair of big blue innocent eyes. But her name....? Mabel? Victoria? Abigail? Gertrude? Maybe it was Mabel... or was it Maude? All this had happened more than a hundred years ago, after all.

Mabel-or-Maude was a rich and happy child and she used to adore her lovely doll. “She’s almost like a living girl! Look, Nanny! She can move her arms and legs, and her eyes open and close!” – and she gave the doll a hug, or she went to comb its soft, natural hair. All was so idyllic... until one day, when everything suddenly changed. Mabel-or-Maude and her nanny went for a walk but only Nanny came back and she was crying, then everybody in the house was crying, too... then they packed in big trunks everything Mabel-or-Maude had ever owned, including her beloved dolly.

Ever since that day her life had been silence. Now and then she could hear some rumbling noise or maybe some steps in the attic of the huge abandoned house... but soon everything became silent again and all she could do was remembering and waiting... and remembering again.

Doll shape and skin: [dirty.little.secret] “Dolly” – Face Your Phobia Hunt prize (1 L$). The hunt is on until May 31^st.

Outfit: Grim Bros “Flutterby Darlin’” – No Strings Attached 4 Hunt gift (0 L$). It’s a lovely dolly dress that includes the butterfly attachments on the head, shoulders and arms – but this is not everything. Cutea Benelli has shown her customary generousness again and put the petite version of the outfit in the gift box as well. The hunt is on until May 31^st, so go and pay a visit to Grim Bros!

Hair: Laqroki “Camellia” in Black – freebie in the shop (0 L$).

Makeup: Acid and Mala “Maiko Doll” – it’s a previous hunt gift, now the pack containing six makeup versions is available for 60 L$.

Eyes: Avatar Bizarre “Anime Eyes” in Mica – previous Lucky Chair prize currently available for 35 L$.

Shoes: this pair of black mary janes has been sitting in my inventory for years, and now it seems their creator is not in SL any more. All I can tell you that they’re still pretty. :)

Poses: HelaMiyo “Puppet” - the pack contains five poses with a resizeable marionette prop not shown here (200 L$).

The pictures were taken at Noctis, a haunted ship-cum-furniture shop. :) 

NSA4 Hunt - Prickly Rose

Twitty Pitt was tiny but determined... and that was why Mr Maybug, the owner of „Maybug’s Miracle Maggots” preferred her to any other employee. „Withering waterlilies? Drooping daffodils? Call Maybug’s Miracle Maggots, and we sort out your issue! No more undisciplined gardens, no more riotous hedgerows, no more weeds picknicking on your verandah! Our qualified personnel will see to your needs in an instant!” – ran the slogan of MMM, and Twitty Pitt embodied all the promises. She was a born gardener, after all. What else a Rose Fairy could be?

Then, one day, Mr Maybug waved Twitty into his office. “Miss Pitt, we have a problem here!” – said he and looked rather worried. “The owner of a huge junkyard has just called. He’s extremely wealthy and he’s extremely demanding... and he literally needs us to perform a miracle. That desert of waste and dirt must become a green field in 24 hours. Can we do that, Miss Pitt?” Twitty just nodded and flew out of the room, looking as determined as ever.

Mr Maybug felt those 24 hours would never end and Twitty Pitt would never show up again... but indeed she did, a bit dirty but very satisfied. “Mr Maybug, the mission is complete, but you forgot to tell me that the customer wasn’t only rich and demanding, but extremely rude as well! He ordered me around and shouted at me... and he got the green field he wanted... but I’d like to see his face when he finds out those green plants are nettle and poison ivy!” Twitty Pitt cackled, and for a second Mr Maybug couldn’t decide if he wanted to sack her or double her salary.

Outfit: ***Ambrosia*** “Rose Fairy” in Yellow – No Strings Attached 4 Hunt gift (0 L$). The hunt is on until May 31^st. The outfit is breezy and very pretty, with some elaborate details like the belt and the choker made of tiny sculpted roses. It also includes a broad collar decorated with the same yellow roses, an ideal wear for the Fae Folk. :)

Shoes: part of the “Agatha” outfit by Simply Beau – 100 L$ on the Marketplace.

Skin: Dulce Secrets “Hansika” Bitter – Dulce Secrets “Drunken Skin Hunt” gift (0 L$). It’s a sim hunt where you have to look for 34 (!) champagne glasses containing male and female skins. Although the official billboard said the hunt ended on May 10th the glasses are still out, so hurry up and pay a visit to Dulce Secrets until it’s indeed late!

Eyes: Avatar Bizarre “Anime Eyes” in Mica – previous Lucky Chair prize currently available for 35 L$.

Antennae: Vaengi Wings “S Curve Antennae” – sold in a pack containing 7 pairs of fairy antennae (100 L$).

Hair: ARI & Co. “Alera” Blonde – MM Board prize (0 L$).

Wings: Material Squirrel “Giselle” in Light Pink – Lucky Board prize (0 L$).

Manicure: Sterling Artistry “Gold Glitter” – it is a former monthly freebie, but the currently available „Banana Peel” manicure is very similar (10 L$).

Poses: Morgane Batista “Aleida” in the first picture (it’s a previous hunt gift currently available for 75 L$); Olive Juice “For the Lookbook” in the second one (a previous hunt gift not available any more).

The pictures were taken at The Junkyard... and before you ask, the actual owner is a very nice person, nothing like the character in my little tale! :D

Dancing fight

There was not much to do for the. All they had to do was waiting not that they had a clue what they were waiting for. They had been told that there would be a sign and then they would need to fight against each other. But they had no clue what the sign would be. Sometimes they thought they missed it. At other days they were sure that it would appear soon. There was nothing else to worry about. Then they found out that they could also do the training for their final fight together. And a bit after that they always used dancing to warm up. Its hard to show all the amazing dances which are being created for sl just by using pictures. So here a video of a dance made by one of my favourite dance creators :A&M MOCAP Animation Workshop. It is called ElectroShuffle and the current groupgift of this store.
Its definitly worth to look a bit around at A&M Mocap as their dances are not only well made but also sorted on a easy understandable way.

Dance:  A&M MOCAP Animation Workshop : ElectroShuffle ( 0 L$ groupgift)

Outfits:
On him:
Pants:  MIAMAI_[BL]_ChodCollection_Begtse Black (500 L$)
Nails:  MIAMAI_[BL]_Isis Nails (200 L$)
 Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Teeloh  Mesh Hair - (1500 L$ for fatpack 250 L$)

On her:
I used this outfit when  being blogged by Geanna on Shoot me SL the antlers are made by ni.ju
.

Danger! Danger! High Voltage Hunt!

Esmerelda tapped a fingertip against the mic in her hand, checking for the soft electrical hiss, the gentle scream of feedback. She always enjoyed this moment the most. Behind the curtain, feeding from the anticipation rising in the crowd beyond. The general hubbub of noise stilled at the sound from the speakers, feet stopped shuffling. Chairs grated against the floor as the audience, in their intimate little enclaves, turned to face the curtained stage, cocktail glasses and larger pint mugs thumping dully onto tables covered in stained velvet. Hands brought together in a slow beat, one that was getting faster and louder, matching the rhythm of the drums that had begun to swell on the stage.  The lights in the auditorium faded to blackness, leaving only a soft glow around the edges of the curtains.

A flash of light blinded the room as the curtains fell away, a hum of electricity filled the space, arcs of power crackling and jumping across the stage like luminous deadly snakes. Her outline shone, black against all this light as the crowd, from stunned silence, burst into screams and applause. Spotlights found her, the air alive with static as she stood in the midst of it all, skin aglow in the lights, the dark ink of its markings seeming alive and moving in the flickering glare. She raised both hands, bending and bowing to the audience, the skintight dress she wore barely covering what it was meant to, she was bringing the microphone to her painted lips, stepping toward the edge of the stage as the first scream of guitars began behind her.. "Are you ready to ROCK?"

The Depraved Nation Gridwide Hunt HIGH VOLTAGE is on! Running May 1st - 31st, it covers 60 stores, with, as ever, some amazing prizes. Usual polite hunt rules are explained and a list of Slurls provided on the Depraved Nation Blog. http://depravednation.com/high-voltage    All hunt prizes are free! Another post with a different look will follow. I hope you like it, because I love this stuff!

Skin :  : S u g a r : -C- :3: Fireball {High Voltage}
slurl.com/secondlife/Insane%20Asylum/45/162/30
Tattoo sleeves :  {:ThirteenTH:} HIgh Voltage Unisex Tattoo Sleeves
slurl.com/secondlife/Mystic%20Paradise/58/131/21

Tattoo (legs) : Endless Pain Tattoos Let them Fly 3 (underwear layer)
slurl.com/secondlife/Sweet%20Reach/175/98/1619

Dress :  ~Sassy!~ Flaunt dress - red
slurl.com/secondlife/Sassy/71/111/34

Boots : ::Duh!:: Unisex High Voltage Boots
slurl.com/secondlife/Coco%20Falls/84/129/896

Eyes : REPULSE - Torn Eyes (gold)
slurl.com/secondlife/REPULSE/181/159/1095

Pose : Juxtapose high voltage 5
slurl.com/secondlife/Meu%20Amor/208/63/23

Hair : [rQ]Grin~SOIL/CHERRY (Not from the Hunt)
slurl.com/secondlife/Magic%20Isle/123/128/31