Slithering in the White Nights

Sun is returning from its long sleep. These are the nights to be careful when it barely sets, lingering stubbornly around, threatening the night-dwellers with its radiance without a moment of rest.

We become bound indoors: draw heaviest of curtains, head to the basements, perhaps even journey to south where they still have proper nights even in the summer.

Unless one happens to be either extremely adventurous or inexcusably lazy, or a bit of both. Then you can rely on learning where and when the burning rays draw their blazing patterns and which parts of the terrace are safe for a few hours.

The white nights are warm, the light merely a soft haze instead of invading rays. The sensation — or perhaps the promise of danger in the silent air — makes even borrowed blood run faster in the cold veins, makes long cold limbs stretch and slither and bask in the shadow of the sun once more. Just for the summer.

The body suit is a part of an outfit by SAKIDE and the snake jewelry and shoes are by House of Rain, both available in World Goth Fair. The tattoo by Fallen Gods Inc. can be won in a gacha at Fantasy Gacha Carnival.

Scene: Home (Private)

Body: Skin: Pink Fuel – Doll V2 Vamp | Hair: MINA Hair – Selenia Materials | Eyes: IKON – Deadshine Eyes Crimson | Hands & Feet: Slink | Mesh Body: Maitreya | Tattoo: Fallen Gods Inc. – Deathcall, Mark of the Ouroboros Black*

Outfit: Body Suit: [ SAKIDE ] Merula Outfit* | Jewelry & Shoes: House of Rain – Save Your Serpent Bracelets, Necklace & Shoes (Slink High)*

Poses: Part of the Justine divan by ~Libertine~

Within and Waiting

Did you really think we were gone? The phantasms of the night, the grim terrors from under your bed, the dancers in the dark, the seduction of the shadows?

Did you think your rules and laws and denial of your own imagination locked us out? That all your burning mountains of books and censoring of the stories old as time removed us from existence?

You cannot destroy us for there are always those flying on the wings of fantasy, delighting in visions and what-ifs, those who are mortal enemies of the Moral Climates of Realism.

You cannot destroy us for we are within you. Silly human. We are within you and waiting.

I was delighted to find Usher II in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. Not only because of the goth opportunities it provided, although I admit enjoying classic Poe-induced drama within a scifi mindset, but mostly because of its message. Of humankind becoming an enemy of its own imagination and banning all the flights of fancy, all stories that are not strictly based on reality. Now that is a depressing vision of the future and well worth the vengeance Mr. Stendahl so cunningly wove in the story.

The outfit by Pale Empress and the eyes by !Chop Shop! are both from A Tattered Page. There is now a central Library for your shopping convenience, although the items are also available in the main stores.

Scene: *~ by Nacht ~ The Crypt 

Body: Skin: Kooqla – The Queens Black w/o brows | Brows: +Nuuna+ Black Eyebrows | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Odetta Eye Makeup Blood Red* | Eyes: !Chop Shop! – Crystals | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hands: Slink | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Lucrezia ldg2* | Hair: Analog Dog – Tootsie Blacks

Outfit: Gown & Mask: Pale Empress – Usher II* | Jewelry: House of Rain – Horror Holiday Necklace & Earrings*

Poses: {NanTra} – Eternal Beauty 6M | {R} G1 | {NanTra} – Eternal Beauty 2M

The Call of Winter

She was once a daughter of summer, a child of growth and warmth. Beautiful like a sunny day she caught the eye of Winter, who seduced her to step into the silence, into the realm of ice and snow.

There were attempts to save her, of course, but not before she had tasted the berries, red as the blood in her veins. Not before she had bound herself to the realm of her captor.

Did she know what she was doing when she took a bite? Did she know she’d be forever trapped to travel between the seasons? Did the cold light of winter tempt her to stay willingly? She will never tell.

Never tell how it was a relief to drop her garments and duties, the busy sounds of life, the diverse excitement of all things growing and needing her attention. Never tell how the strength of the blinding light called to her with its single-minded focus.

Called to her until she happily lost sight of everything else and stepped forward to meet it, to embrace it, to be caught in its arms. Seduced.

With the outfit name like Persephone I simply had to do a more season-focused twist on her story. Less about Hades and more about Persephone as the explanation for seasons existing, and even more about her own choices within the situation.

Gothmas by Gaslight is held on two adjacent sims: Cursed and Sium. The skin by Jalwa, the outfit by Pale Empress and the tattoo by Fallen Gods Inc. are all available in the event, the straight booth slurls are in the credits.

Scene: Studio Skye – Enchanted Tree Tunnel v2

Body: Skin: Jalwa – Sameena Gothmas Black Brow* | Makeup: Jalwa – Sameena Gothmas Eyes Ice & Gothmas Lips Scarlet* | Eyes: IKON – Utopia Eyes Dark Red | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hands & Feet: Slink | Hair: Olive – The Anna Hair & The Izzy II Hair | Tattoo: Fallen Gods Inc. – Brier Complete full coloured (main look)*

Outfit: Pale Empress – Persephone Gown, Gloves, Crown*

Poses: aDORKable Poses – 17 of 25 2012 | PoseMonster – Behind 3 | an lar [poses] Being Miss Red One (m) | Kirin – Burlesque Poses Cane Pose 2

Skadi Speaks

It is time. The time of darkness lit only by the snow and the wild foxfires across the sky. The time to raise your glass to King Winter and welcome him in.

Let the winds blow and scathe, let the frost bite until all the humans see the wisdom of staying indoors and warming each other. Let the lights blind their eyes until they learn to love the soothing darkness.

Let the frost embrace and cover the world, pulling silence after it like a cloak. Let the snowflakes dance in the air, let the sound of their falling be the only audible thing.

Deep in the frozen silence, where no sound of life dares to emerge, Skadi speaks.

Gothmas by Gaslight opened today and it is held on two sims: Cursed and Sium. The outfit by Pale Empress, pendant by House of Rain, makeup by Beautiful Freak and the two first poses by {NanTra} are all available in the event, the booth slurls in the credits. The hair by Tableau Vivant is from the current round of Collabor88.

As for Skadi that the dress is named after: she’s a Norse goddess of winter, bow-hunting, skiing and mountains, sometimes theorized to be also connected to the darkness. I felt it was just right to let her speak for this one.

Scene: Gothmas by Gaslight

Body: Skin: [KOOQLA] Bisquit . Pure 04 (db) | Eyes: IKON – Spectral Eyes Wight | Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Snowdrift Hair B&W | Hands: Slink | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Dead of Winter Nails* | Makeup: Beautiful Freak – Bitter Winter Makeover Black*

Outfit: Gown & Collar: Pale Empress – Skadi* | Pendant: House of Rain – Daggers Necklace*

Poses: {NanTra} Merry Deathmas 1 (with red goblet)* | {NanTra} Merry Deathmas 4* | Picture This! – Magi 1

Resigned

“Justine shook her head mournfully. “I do not fear to die,” she said; “that pang is past. I leave a sad and bitter world; and if you remember me, and think of me as of one unjustly condemned, I am resigned to the fate awaiting me.” – Frankenstein, chapter 8

Did she feel it, the impending doom in the air? Justine, the maid so dear to the Frankenstein family that she was all but a family member. Perhaps not, perhaps she spent her last days in the contented happiness that the family had provided her, in doting over young William and taking care of the house of her benefactors.

One could hardly blame her for feeling and expressing her gratitude so constantly, for it was the Frankenstein family — especially the late Caroline Frankenstein, Victor’s mother — who had convinced Justine’s mother to let her ignored daughter live at the Frankensteins from the age of twelve.

So it was that Justine’s worry and concern for William, the youngest of the family, became the first step of her downfall. If she had not heard of William gone missing and had not spent so much time looking for him that she had to seek shelter in a barn for the gates of Geneva were closed already, the creature would have never seen her, never felt the bitter twinge for her beauty and therefore would have never placed the incriminating locket in the coat pocket of her sleeping form.

With the locket from around the murdered child’s neck found in her pocket there was no hope for Justine, suddenly seen as the most ungrateful wretch in the world, someone willing to turn against her benefactors in the most dreadful way imaginable. No one seemed to question the logic of this, the only defense laid in the heartfelt pleas of Elizabeth who had only her firm belief in the innocence of Justine on her side.

Justine confessed for the fear of hell, for the threats from her confessor, but in private she still convinced Elizabeth and Victor of her innocence, thus dropping the last of the misplaced guilt off her shoulders. She became the second victim of the creature, albeit indirect, and in doing so: also the second victim of Victor Frankenstein himself.

A Tattered Page is a new in-store event that draws its inspiration from books. The first round focuses on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and you can find the shopping guide from the website. The hair and tears tattoo by Pale Empress, the prison with poses by [Black Tulip] and both dresses — light by .Luminary., dark by Pale Empress — and both necklaces — light by Eclectica, dark by House of Rain are a part of the event.

Scene:
Light: Garden of Dreams – The Atelier
Dark: [Black Tulip] A Prison for your Mind*

Body: Skin: !Imabee – Petal Florentien darkB & Eyeliner 1 | Eyes: IKON – Hope Eyes Denim | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Pale Empress – Justine* | Hands: Slink | Tears Tattoo: Pale Empress – ATP Frankenstein Justine’s Tears*

Outfit:
Light: Gown: .Luminary. – Justine Cream* | Necklace: Eclectica – The Frankenstein Miniature*
Dark: Gown: Pale Empress – Justine Dress* | Necklace: House of Rain – Find Forever Gone Locket Closed*

Poses: flowey – a twinge in your heart | Picture This! – Jewelry Model 3 Mirror | [Black Tulip] A Prison for your Mind (poses part of the prison)*

Just Be

They’re always there, fluttering. Thoughts, hopes, fears. What-ifs of past, paths of the future. Choices, estimations, considerations, re-considerations. Neverending. Tempting, condemning, promising, despairing.

They can feel like a burden, a swarm around you, never giving you a moment’s peace, drawing you in different directions, pulling your steps from one side to another, turn from your path forward back and around to the past again, caught in a cycle.

Sometimes you can’t leave them behind, sometimes they will simply turn you around again. Sometimes the fears are so mixed with hopes that you cannot tell them apart, all the paths are blocked with both.

Sometimes there’s no path, sometimes all you can do is be. Face them, dance with them and simply be, see where they will fall in the end.

World Goth Fair is still going on (last day June 1st) to cater more darkness to the grid. The corset, skirt and hat are combined from two different outfits by Aliza Karu’s AD Creations Dollhouse available in Port Seraphine. You can find the boots by Sax Shepherd Designs from the same sim. The necklace by lassitude & ennui and the liner by Beautiful Freak can be found in Sium. The petals by Uncertain Smile are a part of separate cage-based pose set, I just used them with other poses for this. The slink applier gloves and nails are from Severina set by Pale Empress and the slink applier gloves are meant to be worn with long system gloves layers and then mesh sleeves on top of them, I just liked them like this. You can find Pale Empress and Uncertain Smile also in Sium.

Scene: Cursed | Petals: Uncertain Smile – La Fete Triste1 Petals*

Body: Skin: Essences – Clover 01 Pale Dust Brunette | Eyes: Poetic Colors – Classic Frozen Silver Bright | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Analog Dog – Schnapp Natural Black | Blush: Zibska – YesNo Two | Bunny Ears & Tail: +Half-Deer+ Velven Bunny Ears (Darkheart) & Bunny Tail | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Demonia Black*

Outfit: Top: LoveLace – Petit Four Licorice | Corset: [AD Creations Dollhouse] Sophie Corset* | Skirt, Pants & Hat: [AD Creations Dollhouse] – Goth1c | Shoes: Sax Shepherd Designs – Lolita Boots Calavera* | Gloves & Nails: Pale Empress – Severina* | Necklace: lassitude & ennui – Ravenskull necklace black* | Ribbon: *BOOM* – Precious Bow Choker pitch 

Poses: Poise – GA_2 | aDORKable Poses – 13 of 25 2012 | !bang – mini series optimistic 3

Keep Walking

“Of course we come out at daytime as well. No, the sun does not really burn us. No, we do not turn to stone at the touch of sunlight.”

“Parasols are convenient though, even on beautifully soft and cloudy days. …no, not because of the sunlight, didn’t you listen a word I said? They’re convenient to twirl and preen with, the best accessory of them all.”

“Not to mention that if you fold it, you have a sharp poking stick weapon at hand. Just in case. Where was I? Ah yes, the stories about turning to stone at sunlight? Complete myth and fables.”

“Although if I were you surrounded by all these statues paused in play, I’d keep walking. Just… keep walking. While it’s still daytime.”

World Goth Fair continues to provide you with all the things you need for the darker flair of day or night. You can find the blouse and skirt by Senzafine, tights by ~Cannibelle~, shoes and bracelets by Bliensen + MaiTai, skin by Jalwa and the parasols and poses by {NanTra} from Cursed. The makeup by Beautiful Freak and the hair with veil by Redux! can be acquired from Sium. The eyes by Chop Shop! are available in Port Seraphine.

Scene: World Goth Fair – Port Seraphine

Body: Skin: Jalwa – Celine – Gold Smoke Eyeshadow* | Hair & Veil: Redux! – Mourning Hair & Veil Shadows* | Eyes: Chop Shop! – Morrigan Blue* | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Demonia Royal* | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Loli Nails* | Hands: Slink

Outfit: Top & Skirt: Senzafine – Belladonna Blouse & Aconite Mini Skirt Sapphire* | Tights: ~Cannibelle~ Lace Insert Tights Black* | Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai – Morticia Black/Black* | Bracelets: Bliensen + MaiTai – Mano Bracelets* | Necklace & Earrings: House of Rain – Love Hurt Bleed Black* 

Parasols & Poses: {NanTra} Promenade* 

Not an Aloe Vera

“Yes, I know they’re beautiful. Yes, I know they invite you for a closer look. Yes, I know the movement is hypnotizing. Regardless: approach at your own risk.”

“I don’t know how much help we’ve already lost trying to tend to them. Look, they are perfectly fine on their own, they don’t need tending!”

“Just leave them be in the darkness with a few candles, possibly some thematic music on the background, a skull or two, some Lovecraft for literature and they’ll be fine.”

“Not all things beautiful can be tamed, and you should look twice where you aim the hedge cutters.”

“For the last time: the thing growing on the pedestal is not an aloe vera.”

The ad text “Not an Aloe Vera” in the Cthulhu Urns from *~by Nacht amused me so much that the whole story developed around it. What can I say, I’m easily amused. The majority of the shinies are of course from World Goth Fair. You can find the furniture from *~by Nacht and liner and lipstick by Beautiful Freak in Sium, the outfit by :{MV}:, jewelry by House of Rain, tattoo by Fallen Gods Inc. and eyes from ~*By Snow*~ from Cursed. The hair by Damselfly and the boots by Sax Shepherd Designs can be acquired from Port Seraphine.

Furniture: *~by Nacht – Cozy Chtulhu Chair Black, Cthulhu Urn, WGF Salon Tentacular Lamp, WGF Salon Chesterfield, WGF Salon Table, WGF Salon Wingback Chair* | Rugs: ~Libertine~ Green brocade rugs*

Body: Skin: League – Sia Fair Bloom | Eyes: ~*By Snow*~ Midnight Eyes II Indigo* | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Demonia Eyeliner Black* | Lipstick: Beautiful Freak – Heavy Metal Violet* | Tattoo: Fallen Gods Inc. – Widow Full 20%* | Hair: Damselfly – Octotavia* 

Outfit: Dress, Gloves, Collar: :{MV}: – Prussian* | Boots: Sax Shepherd Designs – Lolita Boots Calavera WDP* | Jewelry: House of Rain – All Depths of Despair – WGF violet*

Poses: N/A | Part of furniture x2 | Kirin – Florence Pose 5

The Solace of Silence

Silence can be blessed. That quiet sunset of soul when there’s no demanding voices, no distracting noise, no chaotic confusion. That moment of completeness when you can just take a deep breath, let the exhale escape in contentment and feel the peace.

In silence we can hear ourselves: our thoughts, our feelings. In silence we have perspective to achieve, mirrors to face, room to grow.

In silence there is solace, relaxation of the spirit, freedom to simply be with no rush or limits. In silence we hear and face the truths of life.

In silence we learn.

World Goth Fair opened its doors yesterday and although all the three sims are busy, there are plenty of spots where the quiet attitude may touch you if you simply stop and let it flow. The outfit by Pale Empress and the liner by Beautiful Freak can be acquired in Sium and the furniture by 22769 ~ [bauwerk] and the earrings by Eclectica from Cursed.

Furniture: 22769 ~ [bauwerk] – Chtuluh Armchair Black Leather Brocade, The Nevermore Black/Gold, Graphic Chair Octopus, Gothic Gazebo*

Body: Skin: Essences – Clover 01 Pale Dust Brunette | Hair: Sky Everett – Kiera | Eyes: Poetic Colors – Classic Frozen Silver Bright | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Blush: Zibska – YesNo Two | Liner: Beautiful Freak – Divinora Black* | Hands & Feet: Slink | Nails: Pale Empress – Severina (sold with sandals)

Outfit: Pale Empress – Severina Corset, Skirt, Sleeves, Sandals, Collar & Necklace Red* | Earrings: Eclectica – Perenelle Gothic Earrings Red* 

Pose: {Imeka~} Katie-Pose 3 | Part of the furniture.