Sword Day, Red Day

Red had traveled under many names, most of them either forgotten by now or branded into myths and legends. Having a mythical name meant these days simply that your parents had played Dungeons and Dragons as youngsters, so she preferred Red.

Horses had changed to bikes, which in general meant they were much easier to fix than their predecessors had been. Sharp pieces of metal had turned to small blunt pieces of metal of beautiful velocity. The ring of swords had become the drums of guns.

In all this time Red had never changed. She was always beautiful, always fiery, always tempting and glamorous. She was glory and fame, power and control, the beauty of fire calling you closer until you burn.

She was all the reasons humanity had ever needed for fighting each other. She was War, and tonight she was riding to town.

New round of A Tattered Page has just started, this time focusing on Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. War is of course one of the Four Horsemen Bikers of the Apocalypse. The boots by Pale Empress and the helmet by Eclectica can be found in the ATP Library.

Scene: The Wastelands

Body: Skin: Jalwa – Gazala Salt Black Brow* | Eyes: IKON – Hope Eyes Leonine | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Exile – Pick Up Lines | Lipstick: Beautiful Freak – Liquid Metal Blood Red* | Hands & Feet: Slink Casual & High | Body Blood Smears: Fallen Gods Inc. – Bloody Flesh 

Outfit: Jacket: Erratic – Tory Cropped Biker Jacket Glossy Red | Pants: Erratic – Zoey Leather Pants Red | Boots: Pale Empress – War Boots* | Helmet: Eclectica – Good Omens War Helmet for ATP Red* | Jewelry: House of Rain – Burn Choker & Rings Ruby* | Sword: Fallen Arms – For the Living Sword* | Particles: Cole’s Corner – Digital Confetti Aura Firey*

Poses: {NanTra} Requiem 3 | !bang Carefree 2 | !bang mini series Overcome 2

The Glass Prison

What brought the curious fauna to the library window of the Nautilus? There was always some sealife in sight, possibly just passing by, possibly trying to figure out what the great metal beast really was.

Did they find the bizarre instruments and objects rare treasures, like the items humans hunt from the bottom of the sea, things that to the sealife are perfectly common and unimportant?

Or were they there to gaze at their captured kin, forever taken from them in their tiny display cells, locked away from the world, all for science?

Or perhaps they were there to say hello, to greet the prisoners and to try and communicate with the strange metal beast, to see if it’d release what it took. Sadly, no matter how well they fluttered and shifted, Nautilus never replied.

A Tattered Page is still diving deep in the oceans with Captain Nemo, this round is focused on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. You can find all the items in the post from A Tattered Page Library.

[Park Place] Captain Nemo’s Library* | Spyralle – Cnidaria Medusas* | [noctis] Nautilus Ceiling Lamp ocean long* | {Roawenwood} Sea Escapes Aquarium Set v1* | BluPrintz – Prized Pearl Pillow, Spyglass Copper, Aronnax’s Research* | *Atomic Faery* Sea Unicorn Horn* | 22769 ~ [bauwerk] Navigation Backstaff, Pair of Compasses* 

Super Maya

Even superheroes have to live with the perceptions of others, with their opinions, with their words and views. All of these are always based on very little knowledge, on snippets of information, ideas, quick glances: often completely wrong.

The opinions of others might feel like a box around you, telling you what you are, defining you. Your own ideas and wishes might begin to appear strange and a bit scary, a dream taking a shape of a nightmare. 

Once you find the courage to ride the dream you will realize that the suffocating box of others views of you is just ignorant guesses telling more about them than you and that you can shrug it all off and ride out to gaze into your own horizon.

It takes bravery to remember that no one knows you better than yourself and that everyone is their own life’s superhero, fighting the unseen battles. It helps to know everyone else has their own villains harassing them and that there are always others willing to join forces with you and to have your back. 

This is a post for and about Super Maya, who is a little six year old girl bullied in school. She dressed up as a superhero just to feel stronger and more able to handle the issue. Axi of Beautiful Freak made these fancy superhero nails just to send Maya a message of courage, and has asked everyone to take pictures of them and to add them in the Beautiful Freak’s flickr pool to send the same message to Maya. The nails are available in Silly 7. The boots by lassitude & ennui are also new and available in Geeks’N’Nerds.

Scene: Garden of Dreams – Showcase Snake* | Culprit – Eku~ine Unicorn Midnight

Body: Skin: Pink Fuel – Sora Alabaster Natural | Eyes: ~*By Snow*~ Citadel Eyes* | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Spellbound – Velvet Natural Ombres & Dips | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Odetta Vicious Violet| Hands: Slink | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Super Maya* 

Outfit: Dress: r2 – A/D/E uruwa red | Pants: GALLACTIC – Split Circuit Black* | Boots: lassitude & ennui – Cyberpunk boots red* | Mask: *~*Illusions*~* – Bad Kitty Mask | Bracers: .Enfant Terrible. – Chloes Bracers Black* | Bunny Ears: Remarkable Oblivion – Super Bass Rab8 Headphones Black

Sidekick Bunnies: D-LAB – Flying Bunnies

Poses: Kirin – Florence Pose 2 | Del May – Twisted Arcane 6 Virgo | Kirin – Hera Pose 7

The Detectors of the Station

“Miss Sight, I assume you’re busy at work, but perhaps I could have just a few words…?”

“Friendly greeting, Visitor 9321. Your record shows no trespasses or misconduct, your current stay at the Spiral just reached nine days, one hour, forty-five minutes and counting.”

“Yes, that is correct. Is that what you do, the Detectors of the Station? Keep records of the visitors?”

“Record every arrival, record every departure, keep track of current status.”

“…and if there is a …misconduct?”

“Inform the Gaze. The Detectors are not equipped to deal with misdemeanors, we simply observe and record matters.”

“Ah. …may I ask why… how… the Detectors are… trained, exactly?”

“Specific radar implants, broadcast unit for communication and control. Organic blindness for enhanced vision. Nerve-integration to Broca’s.” 

“…that seems very… complete, yes. I’m sure you do your job perfectly well.”

“Error-margin non-existent. Good day, Visitor 9321. You have seven days, five hours and twenty-three minutes left of your stay.”

A Clockwork Spiral has passed its halfway point, lasting to October 1st. If you haven’t yet indulged in the matters of steam and dieselpunk, now’s the time! The jacket and pants by Pale Empress, boots by House of Rain, hand attachment by Unrepentant, the nails by Pin Me Down and the eyes by !Chop Shop! are all available in the Spiral.

Scene: A Clockwork Spiral

Body: Skin: Pink Fuel – Sora <Alabaster> Natural | Eyes: !Chop Shop! – Vibrant Moonstone | Makeup: Pin Me Down – All about the liner Sapphire, One 1, Tiken* | Hair: A&Y Aeon Hair 2 Black | Hands: Slink | Nails: Pin Me Down – Oscarian Modern*

Outfit: Jacket: Pale Empress – Meteora* | Pants: Pale Empress – Diesel Capri* | Boots: House of Rain – Decadencia Boots Black* | Hand Attachment: Unrepentant – The Deep Oil Spill* | Eye Implant: Remarkable Oblivion – Photographers Eye Closed

Poses: (marukin) [volition] back of a bird | !Picture This! – Artistic Nude 2 Mirror | Exposeur – Back to Black 6 | Kirin – Hera Pose 1

The Captain of the Gaze

“Captain Lupine, I’ve been told that you’re the one in charge of the Gaze, the local law enforcement unit. Is that correct?”

“Yes. You would be the recently arrived journalist, snooping around already.”

“Reporting, Captain. Reporting. Misinformation is a dreadful thing.”

“Granted. But so is rumor-mongering. You have five minutes. Speak.”

 “It seems to me that the Spiral is somewhat… distressed these days. In military fashion. What is going on?”

“That’s classified. The only thing you need to know is that the Gaze will keep all the law-abiding citizens of the Spiral safe.”

 “Ah. I couldn’t help but notice that little emphasis there. What about the …less law-abiding citizens?”

“There’s no such thing in the Spiral, Miss Journalist. No such thing. At least for long.”

 “…quite right, Captain. I see. However- …what’s that! The train is going off the rails, is there-“

“Your five minutes is up. You didn’t see a thing, citizen. If you did, you wish you hadn’t. Off you go, back to shopping, I have work to do.”

“My eyes! My old temporary blindness ailment has returned. Thank you for your time, Captain, I shall go now and write an article about um… knitting. Good day to you!”

A Clockwork Spiral continues turning and twisting and providing the visitors with both the surroundings and the creations to indulge in their own stories. Captain Lupine is wearing a coat by Senzafine, makeup by Pin Me Down, the eye implant, hand cannon and gun by Souzou Eien and the collar from the gacha of The Little Bat.

Scene: A Clockwork Spiral

Body: Skin: Glam Affair – Margot Petal 02 Black | Eyes: !Chop Shop! – The Wolf | Hair: !lamb – Whoop Dee Doo Ink | Hand: Slink | Makeup: Pin Me Down – Tili in black lips & eyes*

Outfit: Jacket: Senzafine – Echelon Jacket Navy Gold* | Pants: Yasum – Space Steam Leggings | Eye Implant, Hand Implant, Gun: Souzou Eien – Serpentine Optics, Hand Cannon, Plasma Distorter Pistol* | Collar: The Little Bat – Abigail Choker Eye-Yellow RARE*

Poses: Exposeur – Back to Black 2 | {Imeka} – Katie-Pose 1 | Kirin – Athena Pose 4

Red Reaper

Almost a superhero name. Or a villain. Depends on which side of the glaive you look at it. This particular reaper might have red-toned skin, sharp horns and armor fitting for any evil overlord’s guard, but maybe she’s changed her ways. Maybe she’s fighting both the preconceptions against demons and the evil overlord?

When you stop laughing and/or rolling your eyes I must admit that she does make an excellent member of the said evil overlord army. I’d imagine her and her company are sent out to finish the jobs the regular army doesn’t get done. Or possibly the job of pruning and punishing the army itself when they screw up. They will screw up, you know the evil overlord’s army always does.

On the bonus side: at least they’ll die looking at something pretty.

The armor by The Muses, the skin by The Plastik and the horns by .{Rue}. are all available in the current round of We Love Role-play Event that just opened today. The mask by [BlackPearls] can be won in the Fantasy Gacha Carnival and the hairdo by Alice Project can be purchased in the very last round of Zodiac. The glaive by [EZ] Weaponry comes with a colour change HUD so you can turn the weapon fit for the less evil characters as well.

Scene: Garden of Dreams – The Tomb*

Body: Skin: The Plastik – Astrali Blood Elf* | Eyes: IKON – Utopia Eyes Dark Red | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Brows: Bilo – Black Eyebrow* | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Obake Red* | Hairdo: Alice Project – Leah* | Horns: .{Rue}. Horns/Pyromancer: Dominion*

Outfit: Armor: The Muses – Penghel Black/Red* | Mask: [BlackPearls] – Spider Mask White | Weapon: [EZ] Weaponry – Glaive of Ulysses Black*

Poses: ::Picture This!: – Jewelry Model 1 Mirror & 2

Take a Bigger Axe

It would solve many problems. At least there are days when it feels like that, isn’t there? Perhaps that is one of the reasons why many roleplaying games feel so liberating: you can solve problems with an axe and not be thrown to jail. Or live with remorse the rest of your life. Most likely you will get a reward, possibly including half a kingdom and hand or some other body part of a royal person. Convenient!

It’s not a bad thing to at least get to emulate such solutions when in reality most of us have to daily just plaster a smile on our faces at people we fervently imagine getting a piece of axe-problemsolving instead. Logging into a virtual world where you can just run around, hack and slash and visibly defeat things is practically a form of therapy.

So truly: when things begin to annoy you the next time, try a game. After a few hours of killing virtual population in inventive ways and being praised for it, the edge of frustration is surely gone. Sometimes taking a bigger axe is the right choice: as long as it’s made of pixels.

The Razivia Valkyrie skin by Fallen Gods Inc., Vale Coat by The Muses and the face chain by .:ellabella:. are all available in the current round of We Love Role-play that has just started. The Axe of Retribution is by [EZ] Weaponry.

Scene: *~by Nacht – The Abbey

Body: Skin: Fallen Gods Inc. – Razivia Valkyrie* | Eyes: Poetic Colors – Aurora | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Alice Project – Willow Low Mirror* 

Outfit: Armour: The Muses – Vale Coat Blood* | Chain Mail Gloves & Pants : The Muses – Rainha Black* | Boots: lassitude & ennui – Edenion black/silver* | Face Chain: .:ellabella:. – Childlike red* | Axe: [EZ] Weaponry – Axe of Retribution (Great Axe)*

Poses: Exposeur – Call the Shots 3 | Olive Juice – True Blood: Sookie Promo 1

Airship Angel

Perhaps from the more gaming style of fantasies than traditional, but still as fantastic as the oldest of them. The airship angel might not be related to any planar realm, but she still flies perfectly fine. Either an airship or with her own wings!

Co-Pilot and Familiar Red Mage Owl comes in handy for navigational instructions and the airship angel managed not to crash into anything while flying! What? Owls have an excellent eyesight to be scouts with, especially magical ones.

Or perhaps the pair simply cheated and never flew at all, simply posed for pictures. Maybe the ship flies with angelic energies and does not even need to be guided, simply willed to travel.

You can become an airship angel and acquire your own airship at Fantasy Faire!

The airship by Garden of Dreams and the dress by Panda Express can be found in Lumenaria, the makeup by Beautiful Freak is in the Crimson Fields, the hair by Analog Dog is available in The DragonSpire and the poses and plushie owl by c( Two Cats ) and the wings by Lemon Tea are in the same shop in Evensong Woods.

Scene: Airship: Garden of Dreams – The Airship

Body: Skin: League – Sia Fair Bloom | Hair: Analog Dog – Scene Again* | Hands: Slink – Mesh Hands (av) Casual | Eyes: NoirOptix – Pale Violet Eyes | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Makeup: Beautiful Freak – Odetta Red*

Outfit: Dress: Panda Express – SteamLust Cyber Relay For Life | Boots: Schadenfreude – Leith Boots | Owl Plushie: c( Two Cats ) – Red Mage Owl Plushie Small* | Wings: {Lemon Tea} Aithein Wings

Poses: c( Two Cats ) – Magical 2 | Magical 4 | Magical 5

Zodiac: Aries

Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac: the one to start things, the one to charge fearlessly ahead, the one with all the energy and enthusiasm. No doubts, no standing still, no wasting time in meaningless details.

Often associated with sports and contests, Aries definitely has a competitive nature. You want something done, tell an Aries you doubt they can do it, the challenge will do the rest. So full of energy they are often about to burst, Aries is not a sign to anger. The ram is already charging as their natural state, you don’t want them to charge at you. Instead invite them to charge with you, they love anything to do with speed and freedom, including vehicles.

Aries lives in the now of things, there never was a sign more fitting to seize the moment. No one needs to tell them to carpe diem, they already own the moment. They also often experience the moments and life like the first time: there’s more to being the first sign than being the one to initiate things. There’s an odd touch of child-like innocence and excitement to them, accompanied with a quirky sense of humour.

They will get straight to the point: brazen, forward, outspoken. If they don’t like you, you’ll know. If they do, you’ll know that as well. Spontaneous, confident and always ready to lead the pack to new adventures, that’s Aries for you.

The new round of Zodiac features all Aries-like things. The skin by Essences, the sheepie by Adore&Abhor, the horns and mask by BOOM, the frames by .lame and all the poses (Exposeur and HopScotch) are available in Zodiac. The jacket and the shirt are from the moving sale of Erratic, which continues to the end of the month.

Scene: House: Greeny Beetle – Raven’s Boathouse | Bike: :~CD~:M&M- Wild Man – Motorcycle | Sheepie: Adore&Abhor – Aries Sheepie Licorice | Horns & Mask: *BOOM* I Am Aries (titanium) mask and horns | Frames: .lame – Bobby’s Frames (MINE)

Body: Skin: Essences – Aries 01 *sunkissed* brunette | Hair: lamb. – Whoop Dee Doo Restaurant Ketchup | Eyes: Poetic Colors – Moon Autumn Bright | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious 

Outfit: Jacket: Erratic – Tory Cropped Biker Jacket Black | Shirt: Erratic – Marney Laser Cut Dress Red | Pants: League – Zipped Leather Pants Dark Red | Boots: lassitude & ennui – Wanderlust boots black

Poses: Exposeur – Call The Shots 2 | HopScotch – Short Tempered 4 | Exposeur – Call the Shots 1 M

Painting the Planes of Sanity

No, it does not make any sense. Very little of this post does, after all. Extremely Unhinged. The gacha festival has started out well and although we’ve gradually ceased dancing about and partying around the clock, there’s plenty of new parties planned for this week! Check the schedule out from here.

The palette and the brush are a part of HANDverk’s releases for November’s FaMESHed. The matching necklaces can be found in the current L’Accessoires. They’re perfect for any artist, sane or less so.

There’s the plane I was referring to! That and the other tiny flying vehicles are for the little skulprit avatars, available in Unhinged Festival. You can locate the bear, easel, plants-in-pants and most of the look from there as well.

Yes, those are tiny skulls hanging from the lashes. Naturally. The lashes, makeup, skin, two of the poses, outfit and the hat are all available in Unhinged. The hair by Alice Project is from Around the World, though. Needed a sleek hat hair for the top thing, after all.

Scene: Easel: Shabby Tabby – SweetSkulls Easel Candy | Pants with Plants: Hanaya – Stuff in the Pants Jungle Book | Teddy: PRIME – Eku Prime Teddy w/Champagne | Vehicles: Skulprit – HotBalloon Totoro, BiPlane Red Barony, Hovercar PoPo

Body: Skin: Skin Monster – Silver 3 | Eyes: Repulse – Cyborg v3 Violet | Lashes & Makeup: Pin Me Down – The Skully Lashes 3 & 7 | Eyebrows: M.O.C.K. Cosmetics – Eyebrows s-30s | Hair: Alice Project – Tiffani*

Outfit: Dress, stockings, armwarmers, boots: {MV} – Jolly Rock Violet | Necklace: HANDverk – Palette Bolo royal purple & silver* | Hat: Faerycat Designs – Top Hat w Fiberoptic Plume Purple Stripe | Palette & Brush: HANDverk – Paint Palette & Paintbrush*

Poses: Astalianda – Freedom Cut | Pose Plastique – Harvester of Hearts Five | Pose Plastique – Ode to Antidote Three