dream on, the moon is on the wane

There are times with extended illness where we try to hide it as much as possible. Keep things light, laugh it off, downplay it. Dress up for guests so they don't worry.

Other times we sink into it, and the inner becomes the outer in cracked reflection.



I'm at the House of the Crimson Wings, a mixed therian nation/Japanese haunted house, depending on which direction one goes. I've covered it before--I had to go back to 2019 to find the actual post--and now I'm wondering how it's changed, or if it has.



I'm also showing off another /Vae Victis\ product. These are the "Astaroth" Cosmic Glasses, and they have mastered the arch look with zero effort.



This is as close as my cam skills will let me get--the eyeglasses chain? If you look close, they're not chain links, they're eyes.



The house is whispering to me again. And this isn't really the outfit for pinks, but...the pinks must be shown! It's tradition at this point.



And if you just want to completely goth out? There's a black option for all pieces.



There are eleven shades for the lenses, and seven shades each for the other sections. I'm going to have to find more superlatives beyond "gorgeous" and "beautiful", but these really are. I love the eye detail on the chain, and the pen-nib bridge is so clever.



You can find these at the Warehouse event starting January 23rd for L$360!

damaged and broken as I am, I'm trying not to breathe

Another day, and my most challenging product shoot yet: finding a way to make the Abyssal Maw Jaw Brace from /Vae Victis\ fit me. Turns out--it can be done!



Not entirely sure it works on me, but that's a separate issue--the answer is, it can be made to fit. I'm wearing the small variant, unrigged so it can also be stretched a bit, which I did to pop the side braces out of my round cheeks. (Yes, I know. In SL you can be anything, and I still gave my avatar round cheeks. Shush.)



I started off in NuTanis with everything in teal, save for the eye details, which were in bright green.



Why does this come in pastels? I have no clue, but this is it with a pink jaw section, a bright gold cheek section, and silver eyes.



Decided to wander, and found a new building had been added, and laid down for a bit. It's been something of an exhausting day. This is it in the dark gold for jaw (sixth over from the left on the top row of the Jaw section on the HUD), the brighter gold for the cheek brace (fourth over from the left on the top row of the cheek section on the HUD), and black eyes.
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Since I was shooting through a hazy window, I picked brights for this one--aluminum white (second over from the left on the lower row of the Jaw section of the HUD), pure white for the cheek section, and bright purple for the eyes.



And finally, another really impressive HUD to play with. Eighteen shades for the jaw section, eighteen for the cheek section, and eighteen to match for the eye inset details! Phenomenal.

The downside--I pulled this to blog, uh, last month, and while I am technically within the 30 days to blog it, the hold-up means I don't entirely remember what event it was at? But it's in the main store now, and it runs L$450. Comes in full sized and 'small', and also, comes in a full-sized and 'small' BOM version as well.

And I will say--looking at the detail on this, the way it curves, I think my original idea (which, admittedly, I went with, see above) of putting it in a cyber setting doesn't really do it justice. This could go with a medieval look, a dark fantasy look, it could go straight-up, full-on elegant horror--what I'm saying is, the amount of different tints for the sections really make it endlessly functional. Demonic lord of the pit on a thrown of skulls? It'll work. Kawaii gurololi with an eyepatch in pastel pink and blue ruffles? It'll still work. I'm very impressed.

I've lost everything you've ever seen

Picking up where we left off with part I, we now return to New Trails, and the "Cris" tight-braid style.

(from the fashion album)

I'm not entirely sure I like the "Cris" style--while it is very tight braidwork, and excellently done, I never find that there's exactly enough hair to end in complete smooth tips.

(from the fashion album)

How'ver, there are stylists out there who can do this (many of whom employ fine-weave tools, like crochet hooks, to 'tease' the hair into tucking in along the ends), so I'm just going to say that's my experience, YMMV.

Either way, it's beautifully done; this is "Cris" shown in Pillarbox Red, and it comes both in a rigged AND unrigged version. (And this is from the Dark Essentials color pack.)

(from the fashion album)

This is "Cris" from the Light Essentials color box, in Caramel--which, visually, I find very close in tone to the Pillarbox Red. This is from the back, of course--

(from the fashion album)

--and this is from the front. These styles also come with a color-corrected hairbase to wear with them for best effect.

(from the fashion album)

This is "Roni" from the Dark Essentials color pack in Cast Iron, and this one feels more 'natural', I suppose, to my eyes, because of the extended, braided tips.

(from the fashion album)

From the back you can see, it's still a very tight-braided look, but that little bit of length just makes it for me.

(from the fashion album)

And this is "Roni" in Pearl, from the Light Essentials color pack. This is the front...

(from the fashion album)

And from the back again. You can find Calvin, Roni and Cris here at Discord Designs; but Butler may have been designed especially for the event, as I couldn't find it in the store. And did I mention Miss Kallisti is making eyes now?

(from the fashion album)

These are her "Spinel" Kitten Eyes, part of the Unnaturals color set; each eye (and she makes human eyes too) is currently a single Linden per pair, or you can get everything in those color sets for five Lindens a pack. (I'm not at all embarrassed to say I bought EVERYTHING.)

(from the fashion album)

(And for the full-length fashion rundown: I'm wearing Nomine's 'Hunger' skin in Rue, with elymode's Holiday eyeshadow in pale red [not available past the 8th] and Halcyon "Olivejuice" eyes [Veined variant] from IM Capped's 'Soul Windows' collection; the "Brooke" dress from Kouse's Sanctum [available throughout December from the December 5th Advent calendar box] with the Fated Boots from Rag Dollz in Ruby [currently on sale on the main floor]; and I'm standing in the Winter section of New Trails for all these shots. The gloves and stockings come from Canimal, which has since closed.)

the curtains ran between my legs as we began to sink

The last couple of things for the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue: her luminous eye effects.

In short, each eye set comes with a set of pre-made "highlights", in two sets of three strengths each. There's an iris low-light, an iris mid-light, and an iris highlight. This is the iris highlight with the Scarlet eyes:

(from the Avatars album; the iris highlights)

It's very subtle. I snapped this photo on default Midnight, so trust me, while it is visible, it's more in the nature of a gentle glow.

There's also a set of socket lights, in low-light, mid-light, and highlight. This is the socket highlight with the Scarlet eyes:

(from the Avatars album; the socket highlights)

These are far from subtle, but keep in mind I'm also showing the effects on the eyes at full strength, with the default Midnight setting. There are two other included socket light levels.

And...that's about it. Anyone who's actually read through each one of these deserves a medal, or something.

(Dress is from FallnAngel Designs, the "Rhy" dress in Purple, acquired in the Halloween hunt [now over]. Hair's from Sugarsmack, Kai hair in Ginger-Berri [Hair Fair 2012]. Horns are Rue's "Shaman" horns in TrickOrTreat, part of the Eclectic Desires L$10 skull hunt [no longer available]. DV8 made the Danse Macabre boots in Black [no way to acquire them, DV8's off the grid]. Skin's still from MoMo. The forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it comes with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)

now hush, love, hush. here's your gown. there's the bed; lanterns down.

[21:30] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: Someone is *breaking* a spanker at Doomed Ship.
[21:30] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: gotta love people. :D
[21:30] Emilly Orr: How...does one break a spanker?
[21:30] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: By setting it to spank -way- too many times.
[21:30] Emilly Orr facepalms
[21:31] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: I can't honestly bring myself to believe that they're using it as part of some perverse RP.
[21:32] Emilly Orr: Honestly, is there just a higher percentage of idiots on the Doomed ship than anywhere else? Because I swear, I know some of the people who hang out there, and they all SEEM to have functional brains.
[21:32] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: XD
[21:33] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: I think the sex tentacles help bring'em out.
[21:33] Cxxxx Nxxxxxxx: Even though they removed that whole portion of the ship with the most of them.
[21:33] Emilly Orr: Yeah, exactly. You'd think that would DROP the percentage of dumb, not increase it.

Questions for the ages. Perhaps we lowly mortals are not truly meant to know.

And it's official, people--Oskar Linden has left the Lab.

And if you need ideas for next Hallows--or your next costume party--you could always go greyscale for an evening. (Amusingly, I've been collecting greyscale skins in SL, so I could conceivably do this in-world, too.)

And news of the latest invasion force infiltrating the grid: GIANT MEN IN LEDERHOSEN. Run! Hide the children!

And now for the last bit of eye-centricity: the last set of the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Dryad" eyes remind me of ivy shadows in dim and mossy groves, as the harvest moon (in this case, in triplicate) rises overhead.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Forest" eyes continue this conceit, replacing the ivy with multilimbed, multibarked trees by a green rill.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Hunter" eyes are a strong and sure Loden green, with just a hint of lantern gold.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Meadow" eyes fascinate me. If I'm looking to my left, they're rose, silver and gold will-o-the-wisps, drifting through a green meadow just lightly touched with autumn frost. But if I'm looking to the right, it's all thick moss on green stones dappled by moonlight and wine.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Pear" eyes don't so much remind me of pears, per se, as they do of traditional French pear brandy.

(from the Avatars album; the Woodland set from the Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

And finally, the "Swamp eyes", which are perfectly reminiscent of peat bogs, deep swamps, with little glowing traceries of swamp gas and eldritch glow. All of these are from the Woodland set.

(And the final style notations: The hair you don't see is from Ploom. Outfit's multilayered, but the fishnets are from Insolence, the boots are from Show Me On the Doll (back when they existed), the high-waist shorts are from 1-800-Bettie's, and the cropped jacket is from Somnia and was acquired during one of Hellbop's cart sales. And the forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it came with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)

the captain howled heave ho, heave ho, and tied me up with sheets

Now we're up to the Vicious set of Cassiopeia eyes, designed by Rue.

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

We start off with "Blood", a swirling, slowly clotting mass of arterial spray in eye form.

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

Next up: "Burgundy", which reminds me strangely of Amsterdam's Red Light district. Maybe it's the tilt-shift towards pink-reds over orange-reds.

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Crimson" is a strangely gleeful shade, bright and effervescent as cherry soda. (Though on my way towards finding a good, clear image, I found something I might have to make this Thanksgiving: sour cream cranberry pie.)

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Malice" eyes, I think because of Discord Designs' hair, I thought would be lividly red, glowing like hellish embers in the darkness. Instead, Miss Ruina took a different tack--concentric rings of dark ash, blackened wood, and smoke, surrounding triple pupils invoking heated filaments, banked fires, and cherry quartz.

I really, really like how these eyes turned out.

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Scarlet" eyes take the slightly pinked nature of "Burgundy" or "Crimson", and alters its path--it's closer to a deep, rich merlot or pinot noir, or mayhap just water strained from a cranberry bog.

(from the Avatars album; the Vicious Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

And we end with the "Violent" eyes, which reminds me of nothing more than the Cheshire cat with his throat slit.

More to come!

(And the dress you still can't see is from FallnAngel Designs, the "Rhy" dress in Purple, acquired in the Halloween hunt [now over]. Hair's from Sugarsmack, Kai hair in Ginger-Berri [Hair Fair 2012]. Horns are Rue's "Shaman" horns in TrickOrTreat, part of the Eclectic Desires L$10 skull hunt [no longer available]. DV8 made the Danse Macabre boots in Black [no way to acquire them, DV8's off the grid]. Skin's still from MoMo. The forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it comes with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)

like Jonah, will be swallowed whole, and spat back teeth and bones

The next set of Cassiopeia eyes, designed by Rue.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

So, more things I had to look up..."Cichlid" is a fish! A small Nigerian fish, they come in several brightly-colored variations, of which one is, apparently, purple. (Being living things, they're also highly variable even in specified shades--I offer this video as proof, because of them is purple and silver, more or less, and the other is mostly silver and vibrant pink, with a thin blued purple stripe.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

"Cobalt" takes the triple-pupil color from "Cichlid", then darkens and flattens the shade. They're still gorgeous, with the interwoven blue and purple strands, but they're not as glossy.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

The actual cornflower is one of the few true blue flowers; how'ver, even knowing that, some variations have been grown that are closer to purple and pink. Midway between these two shades lies the "Cornflower" eyes.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

On the other hand, I had heard of "Damselfish" before, but the trick with these eyes is that, as eyes, they are drenched in color, vibrant and dark, glistening and alive.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

"Delusion" remains--at least on the surface, and the outer ring--blued like the rest of the Twilight set, but inside the rings, it's utter chaos. Black, gold, pink, blue, aqua, teal, brown, rust, salmon, white, yellow, grey, mixing and unmatching on whimsy and whim alone.

(from the Avatars album; the Twilight set of Cassiopeia eyes by Rue)

And we're brought to the end in "Indigo", a rich, nearly murex purple tone, even though indigo dye tends to favor blue tones over purple ones.

Still more on the way!

(Dress is from FallnAngel Designs, the "Rhy" dress in Purple, acquired in the Halloween hunt [now over]. Hair's from Sugarsmack, Kai hair in Ginger-Berri [Hair Fair 2012]. Horns are Rue's "Shaman" horns in TrickOrTreat, part of the Eclectic Desires L$10 skull hunt [no longer available]. DV8 made the Danse Macabre boots in Black [no way to acquire them, DV8's off the grid]. Skin's still from MoMo. The forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it comes with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)

you make me fear, make me fall, make me run for cover

The next set of Cassiopeia eyes, designed by Rue.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Caribbean" starts off the Tides set, with a rich, brilliant melding of blue and aqua, teal and green. It's easy to see the ocean in these eyes.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

For "Deep", don't think deep seas, but Deep Ones, and you'll better understand the shade.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Lagoon", on the other hand, is the early "Caribbean", but seen during a summer heatwave, when the sun is bright and the sand is warm.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Pale Emerald" reminds me less of emeralds--pale or not--and more of chrysoprase. Either way, it's a richly shaded set of eyes.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

When your beach is made of white sand, and the water just meets the shore, "Reef" is the color you'll get. Clear, glimmering shades of blue, aqua, cyan, teal, with three pupil circles of seafoam white.

(from the Avatars album; part of the Tides set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

And the last one in the Tides set, "Turquoise", is reminiscent of the best shifting shades of blue-green stone. Shaded concentric circles of aquamarine embracing that pure streaked turquoise tone, surrounding pale and dark green coloration.

More to come!

(The dress you don't see is from FallnAngel Designs, the "Rhy" dress in Purple, acquired in the Halloween hunt [now over]. Hair--which you only barely see--is from Sugarsmack, Kai hair in Ginger-Berri [Hair Fair 2012]. Horns are Rue's "Shaman" horns in TrickOrTreat, part of the Eclectic Desires L$10 skull hunt [no longer available]. DV8 made the Danse Macabre boots in Black [no way to acquire them, DV8's off the grid]. Skin's still from MoMo. The forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it comes with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)

but I don't want to go to sleep; in all my dreams, I drown

(from the Avatars album; the purple "Rhy" dress from Falln's Hallows hunt)

So, I didn't do a lot of the Falln brains hunt this year, for two significant reasons:

• I had L$13 in Lindens. (Seriously. That's exactly what I started with, at the end of all the upload fees for SEVER.)
• I was dealing with some (perhaps understandable, but also wholly irritating) relationship depression, and just didn't feel like socializing.

How'ver, Azriel changed the Midnight Manias, which have some really fun things for November, and in the process of running around tapping the boards, I picked up a few brains, and answered a trivia question correctly! So I got something terrifying I'll likely be taking pictures of when all the eye entries finish posting, and while I was doing that, I won a couple skins and an outfit just for being in Falln!

Just phenomenal, and it helped elevate my mood, and then I started unpacking a few of the brains, and found this. Which is a beautifully detailed, sari-inspired dress, in sumptuous shades of purple, red, and gold. It has pretty flower details along the waist and bustline, and long lengths of lavender silk that fasten to bright gold bangles that slide over my arms. I love this. I definitely want to find out what other colors of the "Rhys" he's released.

Now, more from the run through the Cassiopeia eyes, from Rue.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

This is a dark shade of "Grass" indeed, midway between Kentucky bluegrass and Black Beauty grass, combined to form a shimmering, nearly glowing green.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

The "Honeydew" eyes are darker than most honeydew melons I've actually seen, but it is nicely reminiscent of Midori liqueur.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Kelly" was another one I had to look up. According to Wikipedia, Miss Ruina's right on target for her definition of "Kelly green". I had that moment of headtilt, though, because I've grown up thinking of the shade as a much darker, muted green than these eyes display.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Leaf" is another strong, glossy green, reminding me of philodendrons and Anubias broadleaf plants, smooth and lustrously green.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Shamrock" makes me think of red clover in the rain. It's multilayered, clean, and clear.

(from the Avatars album; the "Summer" set of Cassiopeia eyes from Rue)

"Viridian" is a lovely word. Specifically, it indicates a cold green that's generally formed from oxide of chromium, but it can also be a descriptive. (Even better, some net research revealed it's also a Magic: the Gathering card, which is amusing.)

Miss Ruina's version glows with strong, eldritch power. They look like they could power a spare reactor, or be used to light someone along their path. They're very bright all on their own.

And that's all for the Summer set. Almost done!

(Dress is from FallnAngel Designs, the "Rhy" dress in Purple, acquired in the Halloween hunt [now over]. Hair's from Sugarsmack, Kai hair in Ginger-Berri [Hair Fair 2012]. Horns are Rue's "Shaman" horns in TrickOrTreat, part of the Eclectic Desires L$10 skull hunt [no longer available]. DV8 made the Danse Macabre boots in Black [no way to acquire them, DV8's off the grid]. Skin's still from MoMo. The forehead jewels are from the Arachnos skin set at Fallen Gods [it comes with spider back-arms and the Arachnos skin as well, and it's no longer available].)