Twilight Delights

It’s strange to bid farewell to the cold lights and dark nights. Winter can be many things, but it is always familiar. It always encourages safety and comfort instead of whim and curiosity. It is also blissfully dark, the lights dancing within it more natural decor than a light source.

Then suddenly the nights are not dark anymore, there’s nowhere to hide, the light has invaded and won the world. Even the creatures of the night have their share of the soft illumination, brushing against the pale skins and dark strands of hair.

Cloaks and coats are removed, flower-scented air inhaled, warmth of the night experienced as the miracle that it is. There’s no greater magic than the one that returns life to us every spring.

No greater magic than the one that turns the dark starlit nights into warm haze of twilight delights and brings forth the sun that never sleeps, the Magic of Summer.

World Goth Fair has just opened. This year the event takes place only in Cursed (the event area up in the air). The gown by Pale Empress, cloak by @->~ISD and the poses by [Black Tulip] are all available in World Goth Fair. The skin by Fallen Gods Inc. is a rare in the gacha at Fantasy Gacha Carnival and the crown by lassitude & ennui is available at The Secret Affair.

Scene: World Goth Fair

Body: Skin: Fallen Gods Inc. – Lady of the Shadows, Ivory* | Hair: Exile – Never Time At All | Eyes: IKON – Deadshine Eyes | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hands: Slink | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Romantic*

Outfit: Gown: Pale Empress – Nevermore* | Cloak: @->~ISD Her Breedless Cloak ~ Midnight [FittedMesh+Materials]* | Crown: lassitude & ennui – Foreboding crown silver* |

Poses: [Black Tulip] Lost in the Woods*

The Truth About Fluffzoid 8

“This whole nonsense about sending defenseless tourists into Fluffzoid 8 is insanity. These are no ordinary rabbits, these lagomorphs. They have a vicious streak a standard distance unit wide.”

“They require an expert training hand and unquestioned authority to tame properly and even then they might occasionally… leap and… nibble.”

“The point is that as much as this travel arrangement brings in credits home to Gothulon, it must be organized with extreme care. Obligatory life insurance is not enough, there’s reputation at stake as well.”

“Every expedition must have a trip leader from Gothulon with sufficient authority to keep the cuddle of bunnies at bay and every tourist must be equipped with appeasement carrots. In case of an emergency, remember the distraction power of the light and sound display throwables of Antioch.”

Futurewave has its travel teleports still open until midnight March 1st. If you haven’t visited yet, zoom on over! The jacket by Senzafine, android legs and hands by Star Quality, makeup by Beautiful Freak, eyes by Pin Me Down and the eyeware and data pad by BluPrintz are all available there.

Scene: Futurewave

Body: Skin: League – Sia Fair Bloom | Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Snowbunny hair | Eyes: Pin Me Down: Mecha 16* | Makeup: Beautiful Freak – Circuit Makeover Black*

Outfit: Jacket: Senzafine – Eclipse Womens Jacket Carbon* | Legs: Star Quality – Android Legs Black* | Hands: Star Quality – Cyberhand Black* | Eyeware: BluPrintz – Tech Spaces Moon* | Data Pad: BluPrintz – Data Pad* | Headpiece: @->~ISD – An Alien Cure Headpiece Red*

Poses: :Picture This!: Jewelry Model 1 & Magi 2 Mirror | {NanTra} Eternal Beauty 6M*

Dropping the Masks

If we let our masks drop, Mr. K, and walk into the desert to watch the moons, to swim in the wine-filled canals, to speak to each other in soft melodies, would the fire flowers bloom for us again?

If we abandoned the routines, the rituals, the appropriate behaviour, if all the masks of joviality, stern moments of disapproval, gold and silver and paint, if all of them dropped on the red Martian sand, would we be able to connect again?

If we forgot assumptions and covers, if we opened our minds and bodies to touch once more, reached out toward each other and found ourselves in the telepathic sharing, would you hold me as tenderly as you do the ancient books that sing to you?

If you did, I would not dream of strange metal crafts and white skinned men of Earth. If you did, the calling would be answered by someone else. If you did, our days would be a flight of flame birds across the sky: sparkling fireworks in the heavens.

The second round of A Tattered Page has just started, and it’s focusing on The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The book is a collection of short stories written in 1950, the stories spanning the imagined years of 1999 – 2026 of Mars colonization. The first story, Ylla, features Mr. and Mrs. K, a married Martian couple. Their marriage has faded into familiar routines and rut, until Mrs. K begins having dreams of a strange white-skinned, black-haired man of Earth, arriving in a silver craft. It is my favourite of the whole book, both because it shows the Martian culture most, but also because Ylla is so heartbreakingly easy to sympathize with.

A Tattered Page has a central Library now for your shopping convenience, although the items are also available in the main stores. The skins and eyes by Fallen Gods Inc., the fire flowers by @->~ISD, the masks by Roawenwood and the arm-strap mask by .Luminary. are all from the event.

Mr. K is fittingly represented by Alia Baroque, of course. After photobombing Mrs. K he managed to change the whole direction of where the post was going for the better.

Scene: Garden of Dreams – The Desert* | Fire Flowers: @->~ISD – Martian Fire Flower Pretty Face Pack | Masks: Roawenwood – Moody Martian Masks*

Mr and Mrs. K: Skins & Eyes: Fallen Gods Inc. – Mr. & Mrs. K.* | Hairs: Mrs. K: Exile – Rain Natural Fusion | Mr. K: Exile – Tidal Light Blondes | Arm Strap Mask on Mrs. K: .Luminary. – Peregrine Pauldron*

Poses: :Picture This!: – Dance [Gift] | !bang – carefree 5 | N/A (dance, not a pose)

After the Fall

Day 221, AF549. Woke up to the sounds outside. Screeching. Went to check. Dispersed the swarm, exterminated the stragglers and the stubborn. Light too harsh in mornings, why can’t they ruckus in the night?

Day 235, AF549. The right-side radar implant jams a little. I should have it checked the next time I leave the outpost. With the sunspot storms that’ll be another cycle and a half still. Better calibrate an emergency back-up, just in case.

Day 291, AF549. Performed the obligatory three-cycle scan-and-maintenance on the outer structures. It holds up well, not even a scratch from the screechers. Worth every exchange I did for it.

Day 301, AF549. The light is dimming. If I’m lucky, I might be able to get supplies quarter cycle early. If I’m not, this is just a herald of a new weather change. Or environment. Like that time the radiation rains hit the first time.

Day 336, AF549. Finished all my discs on The Boredom of the Past. I know, I know, worthless fiction, but it keeps me going. Just thinking of a world where everything is mundane and reliable and steady is a relief. Besides, the main clerk is just dreamy.

Almost everything in the whole scenario is from Futurewave. I turned the dress by [ SAKIDE ] and the chaps by .::Aftershok::. into a top and pants combination, although it creates some intriguing cuts in the process, since they really are chaps, not pants. The arm warmers by @->~ISD and the mask by .::Aftershok::. completed the selective covering. The radar eyes from *~By Snow* come with a HUD for selecting colours for everything, including the moving radar and the blips on it. The skin by Pink Fuel has an included layer for face glow amongst gazillion options and I’ll be playing with it more in posts where most of my face remains visible. The poses by {Rook} worked wonderfully with the ray guns by GALLACTIC and [bauwerk] is responsible for the most perfect post-apocalyptic safety outpost ever. The hair by Alice Project is available in The Thrift Shop.

Scene: Garden of Dreams – The Desert* | [bauwerk] – The Outpost*

Body: Skin: Pink Fuel – Sora Alabaster Green + Face Glow* | Eyes: ~*By Snow*~ Radar Eyes* | Lashes: Redgrave – 39 – Luscious | Hair: Alice Project – Danyelle* | Hands & Feet: Slink | Nails: Beautiful Freak – Binary Nails*

Outfit: Dress: [ SAKIDE ] – Virtuality Dress* | Chaps: .::Aftershok::. – Titan* | Mask: .::Aftershok::. – Asunder Mask v.1 Green* | Arm Warmers: @->~ISD – DarkNet Warmers Green* | Ray Guns: GALLACTIC – Ray Gun Black/Grey* | Shoes: Renegade – Climbstra Platform Sandals Black

Poses: {Rook} G5 | G1 | G1 | G4