we were born and raised in a summery haze

So...I'm confused. Is this supposed to be an ageplay avatar of some sort, or a childrens' avatar? Because it looks child-sized, but it's called the "Bar-B", which tends to imply maturity (even in plastic form).

Then again, we seem to be moving into a weird area on SL in general, these days. For example, wandering Hair Fair last night, I caught this:

(from the bizarre album, because I didn't know where else to put it)

To my eye, these don't look like standard models showing off the hair in the stand. These look like hypersexualized children, overly made up and told to pout in clothes that barely manage to conceal their undeveloped bodies. I mean, isn't this ageplay incarnate? Isn't that still a bad thing on SL?

I'm not going to identify the maker; I really don't want to know where they got that avatar, why they shaped out a twelve-year-old form to do it, and why they wanted that image to burn into the retinas of everyone buying their hair. All I know is it made me feel extraordinarily uncomfortable, which is generally my cue to leave an event, not stay and shop.

Anyway, more Hair Fair coverage. (Part one is here.)

(from the Hair Fair album; Ayashi's "Aiko: hair.)

This is "Aiko" from Ayashi; it's a simple, slightly curving, sleek short cut.

(from the Hair Fair album; Ayashi's "Hanako" hair.)

This is "Hanako", my first slight disappointment of the demo run. The color is a pretty little pastel, it's not that; it's just that both "Hanako" and "Ima" (seen below) looked so much more inviting on the wall than on me. Would it be different if I didn't have a mesh top for the hair to clip through? Maybe, but considering I'm currently dragging myself through avatar updating (because so very many of my outfits are dated beyond all reason), I'm going to start wearing more mesh and less system layers anyway.

(from the Hair Fair album; Ayashi's "Ima" hair.)

And this is "Ima", the second one that looked absolutely gorgeous and desirable in the vendor art, and...just clipped through everything when actually worn. Unfortunate. Both it and "Hanako" are still lovely styles, they're just not lovely styles for me.

You can find Ayashi on Noirette.





And the usual report of what I'm wearing from the Bare Rose sandbox:

Eyes: Crebain's Rathia eyes in Hiacynth; no idea whether they were a hunt gift, or something I picked up full price, but I did acquire them this month, if that helps.
Skin: The Marina group gift from The Sugar Garden; the group's pricey to join, but she makes such lovely things, I think it works out.
Outfit: Bits of the Tokko Fuku Lady C2 from Bare Rose (that won't take you to the main store, but the mesh section on the main sim)--in particular, the chest wrapping and the...un...modified knickerbockers? I have no idea--along with the boots (likely neither of those shown in the pictures above).
Tattoo: Kandy Tattoos' "Achor" chest tattoo (a set of faded blackwork anchors wound with rope that sit just below the collarbone; I'd change the name, but the tattoo came in no-copy, no-mod). It was a find on the May Day hunt path earlier this month.

And I ended up using Nam's Optimal Skin 2 for the Windlight setting, and I've also pushed up my graphics a little to include basic shaders, atmospheric shaders, and the Advanced Lighting Model setting. (It's important to note that even under the relatively stripped-down Singularity viewer, my current drug of choice, that I still can't move with Advanced Lighting on, because of the induced shading, I think.) Anyway, there you go--these shots are not my norm of point-and-shoot standard-midday lack-of-Windlight pics. More to come!