Adieu Year of the Snake

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STORYLINE: Mr. Snake makes one more formal appearance before retiring until the next time he is called to lead a year. Happy New Year Everyone! Get your lucky horse shoe out because on January 24th we start in the Year of the Horse.  

Here's the first gacha goodies from Death Row in 2014, available at the January round of OMG Gatcha. The legs come in rigged male and female, and also as unrigged. I used unrigged above. The nails are for the default avi hand, and horns are an attachment.

On Him, Mr Year of the Snake:

Horns: Death Row Creature horns Bloodred [mesh] (OMG Gatcha)(50L)

Legs, nails, tattoos, horns: Death Row creature legs Satan's vengeance RARE [mesh] (OMG Gatcha)(70L)

Hair: Wasabi Pills Sebastian Mesh Hair - Iceberg [mesh](250L)

Tuxedo: Barerose Black Tuxedo T3 [mesh](190L)

Nose: Barerose Dragon Nose Silver [mesh] (60L)

Shoulder Pet: Barerose White Shoulder Snake, raffle [mesh] (free)

Hourglass: Zelection Hourglass [mesh] (50L)

Tail: Sinful Needs SN Mesh Tail, Spaded, Jewelled with Spines [mesh](500L)

Tongue: S&S Clockworks Petite Forked Tongue (50L)

Skin: Tableau Vivant Damon v.h (Boystown) (800L)

Eyes: Poetic Colors nightfall - night mood [mesh] (100L)

Pants: The Little Bat Rocker Pants - red (past, World Goth Fair)

Gothmas: The Black Poinsettia

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STORYLINE: Every year at 3 am, a dance hall performer known as the Red Poinsettia gives a free performance for all the lost and desolate on Christmas Eve. Some say it was at 3 am on Christmas Eve her husband-to-be was murdered, but no one really knows what turned the Red Poinsettia black.

Lots of great goodies at Gothmas for the ladies. This outfit was inspired by the black poinsettia shoes by Spyralle, and the hair which is a current NWSH hunt gift from Calico. The hair comes a headdress and color change hud. Giving a bit of burlesque is the amazingly versatile Criminal outfit by Violent Seduction that can be either prim and proper, or down-right, umm..., criminal. You can mix and match styles and it also comes with appliers. Burlesque poses are by Theater Chain, I included a mini preview of each one. The lovely purple eyes are by S0NG can you pick them up at RMK Frost Fair. Hurry! Event ends Dev 31st.  Gothmas ends Jan 5th.

On Her, The Black Poinsettia:
Outfit, appliers: Violent Seduction Criminal with appliers [mesh] (Gothmas, Cursed)(400L)
Rings: Eclectica "Catherine" Ringset-Rings in black [mesh] (Gothmas, Sium)(180L)
Shoes: Spyralle Poinsettia Shoe (edit) (Gothmas, Sium) (200L)
Skin: Jalwa Zahida - Coven - Salt (Gothmas, Sium)(199L)
Eyes: S0NG Winter Violet Eye (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)
Hair, Headdress: Calico Eira (NWSH2013 #30) (free)
Stockings: Erratic patterned stockings dots - black )(150L)
Tattoo Black Tears: AKA black tears tattoo free gift (free)
Wrist cuffs: LouLou&Co Bracelet :: CREPUSCULE :: V.2 (250L)
Chest: Lola Tango [mesh] (1750L)
Hands: Slink Hands Relax [mesh] (450L)
Pose: Theater Chain Burlesque pose 1-5 (100L)

Gothmas: Nicoli The All Seeing

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STORYLINE: After 1,600 years, what the world thinks about it’s immortal hero of Christmas differs from the one who inspired the myth. Famous for his philanthropy in the 4th century Byzantine Anatolia, why is Noble Elder Nicoli's power one of the most feared? Could it be the children's song is true? "He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.”

He's making a list and checking it twice on the Baron Von Scarlet's Secretary desk by Noctis which you can pick up over at Gothmas sim Cursed. The picture frame, also by Noctis, comes from the Fortune Teller set. Nicoli is wearing a fantastic outfit Icabod by Harm's Way at Gothmas. To change the collar texture touch it, and choose "more" to scroll for more choices, then "touch" which will bring up the blue menu. The Hat by Harm's Way also changes textures for the hat fabric, hat band, playing card, and feather. The shades have a cool style with side lens, and it can also change colors. Gothmas event ends January 5th, so there is still time to go look at all the cool things there. The skin is a group gift from Tableau Vivant and includes an albino bearded version, plus new a new hairstyle for girls and guys with all the color huds included. To get it, head to the Tableau Vivant store, wear your group tag, and touch the box on the counter. The group is free to join for a limited time, so sign up you guys!

On Him, Nicoli The All Seeing:
Coat, Collar, Vest, Shirt, Pant, Boots: Harm's Way Icabod vest collar, pants &  boot [mesh] (499L)
Shades: Harm's Way D frame glasses texture change [mesh] (99L)
Hat: Harm's Way Top Hat texture change [mesh] (99L)
Gloves: Fatewear Dextor with leather materials [mesh] (300L)
Hair: Tableau Vivant Vlodovic hair - Equinox male [mesh](300L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Lucis - Happy Holidays! - Albino (group gift, Free to join limited for a time )(free)

Setting:
Desk set: Noctis Baron Von Scarlet's Secretary desk [mesh] (Gothmas, Cursed) (355L)
Picture Frame: Noctis Madame Zola's Fortune teller set (edit) [mesh]  (275L)
Cabin: Scarlet Creative The Trilby Dacha Box Set [mesh] (Collabor88) (488L)

RMK Photo Contest Results

The Results are in!  Go to the official blog to read both the English and Japanese versions of the contest results:  http://rmkgothic.slmame.com/e1395614.html

Thank you everyone who participated!

RMK Frost Fair: The Ghost of Christmas Past

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STORYLINE: The Ghost of Christmas Past is throwing a party on Christmas Eve and all her friends are invited.

New release Baby Christmas by RokumeikaN is available in red and black at both RMK Frost Fair and Gothmas by Gaslight. It comes with dress and half bonnet.  Matching the dress is a elegant antique collar by Theater Chain. You can play the gacha at RMK Frost Fair and maybe even win the rare blue Blue Christmas! The hairstyle Swirly by Rosy mood is not to be missed. It's perfect lolita style. And there is a limited edition silver for Frost Fair only 30L!

On her, Ghost of Christmas Past:
Dress, Bonnet: RokumeikaN +RMK*Baby Christmas*+red [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(450L)
Hair: Rosy mood Swirly - copper [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (180L)
Collar: Theater Chain +T*C+Antique Choker - red, gacha [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)
Boots: Lassitude and Ennui Wanderlust boots - oxblood  [mesh](280L)

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I am crazy for Noctis! Mesh! Gothic! Victorian! Nice Textures! What's not to love? Building this set was a real joy, and I am thankful for my friends who helped me because I'm a bit clueless on decorating. lol. The sweet potatoes you find in the Gacha Gazebo at RMK Frost Fair. The nice holiday fireplace you can find in the Noctis booth at Frost Fair. The wonderful dining set includes everything you need to host a diner party, even drunk poses. lol The Christmas Tree is my kind of tree, the angel on the top is a Gargoyle! Seriously. I have a gargoyle collection in my home. If only the guys weren't heavy, they would look awesome on top of my tree. lol  The octagon rug I picked up at the main Noctis store, it works perfectly with the table.

Setting, Christmas Room:
Table, chairs, food, drink, candle: Noctis Von Scarlet chairs & dining table [mesh] (Gothmas, Sium)(355L)
Christmas Trees: Noctis Gothmas Tree [mesh] (Gothmas, Sium) (155L)
Sweet Potatoes: Noctis mashed yam in bowl, Christmas Spread gatcha [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(20L)
Fireplace: Noctis Lilenstil Fireplace Christmas Vendor [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (255L)
Rug: Noctis Versailles aubergine octagonal sculpted (55L)

BONUS IMAGE

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STORYLINE: Jack Frost was the first to arrive at the party. He tends to be cold, but on Christmas eve, even he melts a little.

The chair set in the back with Jack Frost is the current prize at Madpea's Holiday Havoc hunt. It's awesome. The hall shelf is a hunt gift for the Peace of Earth hunt. The little christmas tree from Gothmas is actually shown here the size it comes in. I scaled it up to be my big christmas trees and it worked out great. The stocking on the wall was gift from by friend Azure and inside it was stuffed with wonderful gacha goodies including cute pair of Bastet statues. So epic! Love! Thank you!

Shelf, hat, mirror, umbrella: Noctis [mesh] (POE hunt)(free)

Chair, books, floorlamp, rug, sidetable: Noctis Baron Von Scarlet [mesh] (Madpeas Holiday Havoc)(free)

Stocking: LISP Rumplestiltskin Christmas Stockings Warm Reds (75L)


BONUS IMAGE

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The shelf, mini tree, and gifts are Advent gifts day 24 at Madpeas.  The cabin is from the current round of Collabo88.  It looks wonderful and has a very cool style, but me and all my friends all struggle to move around it. To fix it, I enlarged the cabin and made most of it phantom. 

Shelf, tree, gifts: Noctis Lilienstil christmas table and tree [mesh] (Madpeas Advent day 24) (free)
Cabin: Scarlet Creative The Trilby Dacha Box Set [mesh] (Collabor88) (488L)
Pictures: Noctis Framed Vintage Tiles 2 (35L)

Okay. I'm off to spend Christmas Eve with friends and family!
Merry Gothmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanks for your help decorating the cabin, Azure and Aarya!

RMK Frost Fair: Jack Frost Incognito

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STORYLINE: After Jack Frost froze the Thames last year, he became a local celebrity. As the date of this year's Frost Fair drew near, his adoring fans staked out the river hoping to get a glimpse of him at work. But Jack prefers the solitude of gentle falling snow to squeals of excited teenagers.

The Glaze of Winter crown by Contraption I added a slight cyan tint to. When you see it with materials on, it looks amazing! The crown comes in 3 sizes, and you edit it how you like. Most of my look here is what I wore last year as Jack, but back then you couldn't see under his blindfold. Now you can to see what Jack really looks like, including my eyelash experiment from last year. These lashes by Gaeline Creations were very fast and easy to adjust using a hud. I really would love to see some mesh lashes solutions for the men. Any designers listening?

On Him, Jack Frost The Reluctant Celebrity:
Crown: Contraption Glaze of Winter (edit) [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (125L)
Coat: Junbug [mesh] (Seraphim Social) (450L)
Skin, Tattoo: Flamboyant Alien Femboy - Deltyn (past Femboy Hunt)
Eye shadow, Lip gloss: cheLLe Frosty Winter (100L)
Ears: De La Soul DLS - Glaive Collection - Ears (350L)
Eyes: Sterling Artistry sa Jeweled Eyes, iceblue (65L)
Eyelashes, eyeliner: Gaeline Creations Mesh Lashes Divina [mesh] (180L)

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STORYLINE: Jack wore a disguise and snuck past the crowds to freeze the Thames, but didn't fool anyone for long. He was soon over run by seekers of his icy autograph.

Jack caught in the act! It was fun to whip out some special effects in photoshop for this one. The steampunk reindeer mask by Contraption you can pick up at RMK Frost Fair. It's materials enabled and comes with antlers only, mask, mask with antlers, and decoration rez version. While you are the Contraption booth, be sure to pick up the nice freebies too! The outfit is by LOoLOo's is from Gothmas by Gaslight. The pants are system and that works great for my boots. The hair by Wasabi Pills is a lucky iceberg win from a past Arcade.

On him, Jack Frost Incognito:
Mask, horns: Contraption Masks: Bizarre - default A, Antlers (edit) [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (250L)
Tunic, pants: LOoLOo's & Platypus Regiment Royal [mesh] (Gothmas - Sium) (199L)
Claws: [ni.Ju] Tintable White Claws (150L)
Collar: +RokumeikaN+ +RMK*Tailcoat *+White (800L)
Boots: lassitude & ennui Suede mesh boots - M - white [mesh] (280L)
Hair: Wasabi Pills Lory Mesh Hair - Iceberg [mesh] (The Arcade, past)
Pose: Del May (50L)

Location:
RMK Gothic - Thames

RMK Gothic: Christmas Group Gifts

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Group members of RMK Goth SIM and Club RokumeikaN have a special treat released today: two cute new Lolita Christmas outfits!

To get yours, head over to RMK Frost Fair's Gacha Gazebo HERE.
Wear your group tag for either RMK Gothic SIM, or Club RokumeikaN.
Be quick!  These outfits are limited to 100 each.  Hurry Hurry!

Dress left: 
Club RokumeikaN  + RMK * Christmas Gift Santa * + red [mesh] (free to group, 100L to join)

Dress right:
RMK Goth SIM  + RMK * Christmas Gift Santa * + pink [mesh] (free to group, free to join)

Merry Christmas from RMK Gothic!

Gothmas: Vampire Ballet

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STORYLINE: Being creatures with a love for beauty, art, and a good show, the Vampire Ballet Company has been performing their own sinister version of the Nutcracker for almost as long as the original's debut.

No part of Christmas is immune from the dark touch of Gothmas. This image was inspired by the Dark Water Designs outfits for male and female at Gothmas by Gaslight. I'm wearing the Tokyo Dreams jacket above, it also comes with pants. The girl's Ballerina outfit comes with nice mesh point shoes that totally work on the guys too, just scale it up. But I couldn't leave it there, I had to go more extreme with ballet boot thigh highs by ROSAL. Yes, those are rigged for female, but you know what? I had no problem wearing them! Just wear XL and scale down the leg muscle a tad, then hide the heel, and you got yourself a prima ballerina vampire. lol The fur hat is from Milk Motion at the current round of Collabor88 which I edited to make taller. This gorgeous winged monocle by AIR currently on sale at RMK Frost Fair.  It comes in either gold or silver, and includes left and right versions. The hair is Beck by Tableau Vivant and it works perfect for my vampire dancer. The skin is also by  Tableau Vivant, the horror series for Lucis, and the price is not too bad either!

On Him, Nutcracker Prince:
Monocle: AIR Canaan monocle Silver (RMK Frost Fair) (600L)
Jacket: Dark Water Designs Tokyo Dreams - Red Suit [mesh] (Gothmas, Sium) (200L)
Hair: Tableau Vivant Beck Hair - Male - Winter [mesh] (300L)
Hat: Milk Motion faux fur hat - white fox (edit) [mesh] (Collabor88) (88L)
Boots: ROSAL Tueur2 Thigh Ballet Boots (edit) [mesh] (539L)
Ears: Illusions Fairy Ears [mesh] (300L)
Hair: Action Hair Base 04 Veganic - Crow (107L)
Eyeliner: CL-NINE CL9v2l_HeadEyeline01C(bk)(free)
Hands: Slink Male Hands Relax (450L)
Pant: Lapointe & Bastchild "Evolution" Selene  PVC Black Pants (499L)
Eyes: Aii Ugly & Beautiful Designs Kitsune Red Eyes (50L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Lucis Skin -Horror edition 05 C (499L)
Pose: Apple Spice Ballet Pose 009 (40L)

Location:
RMK Gothic - Theater

Gothmas: The Ghost of Jacob Marley

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STORYLINE: Christmas Eve 1836, Jacob Marley,  the wealthy banking partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, was rushing home ahead of a freak blizzard. A homeless man caught out in the open tried to flag him down for help. Rather than stop to give aid, Marley commanded the carriage onward. The desperate man made a sudden move to jump onto the back of the carriage. The horses were spooked, bolted wildly, and slipped on the ice. The carriage fell over London Bridge and crashed into the Thames river. Marley had no friends other than Scrooge. No one noticed he was missing Christmas Day. His body was later discovered entombed in the ice. Now his ghost is condemned forever to walk the Earth weighed down by the chains of selfishness and greed.

It's time to explore the darkside of the biggest holiday of the year with a dash of Victorian elegance, and wink at the wicked. The stellar World Goth Fair gang returns with another fantastic event Gothmas by Gaslight. It's 2 sims of gothic goodness: adult sim Cursed, and moderate sim Sium. Check out the giant list of participating stores: Gothmas Merchant List. Event runs until January 5th.

Now let me tell you a little more about this outfit. The chains and shackles are part of a slave silk set for men by Soedara on sale at We <3 Role Play. The chains that connect the wrists to the ankles are actually a particles effect and it works pretty good following your movements. The suit is all one piece in mesh by Fuubutsu Dou at Gothmas. It's a cool design of a half jacket half vest, with straps on the sleeve, and I love the Victorian style drape at the foot. The bowtie is a separate attachment. This sweet cane is in a gacha by Chaos, Panic, and Disorder and it's 25L a spin at Gothmas. The hair by Ayashi for men comes with cute antlers and you can get it at that RMK Frost Fair. Just click the vendor to scroll through the color packs. The hair is non rigged and can scale xyz. The lantern by LISP is really nice and comes with a pose. You can win it at the current round of The Arcade. The gold eyes are the current group gift at Ikon.

On Him, The Ghost of Jacob Marley:

Outfit, necktie: Fuubutsu Dou GxG- Mens Complete Attire-Black [mesh] (Gothmas, Sium) (200L)

Cane: Chaos, Panic, Disorder Gentleman's Cane - Brass & Ebony, gacha (Gothmas, Cursed) (25L)

Shackles, chains: Soedara Hard Labor (We <3 Role Play) (240L) 40% off

Hair: Ayashi Kai - white set [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (250L)

Lantern, pose: LISP Lantern Pose 1 [mesh] (The Arcade) (25L)

Eyes: IKON Spectral Eyes - Leonine [mesh] (group gift)(free)

Gloves: Ascent Armored Glove 02 (past, Fantasy Gacha)

Shoes: PixelFashion Bradford Shoes Black V [mesh] (390L)

Hat: Cero Style NOPH male Hat (past, Night at the Opera Hunt)

Skin: Tableau Vivant Ryan Sent to destroy 4

Location:
Gothmas - Sium

BONUS IMAGE

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Survey: Improving the Marketplace Search

Linden Labs is looking for input on improving the marketplace search function. I definitely have some thoughts about what would make it better, things like:

1) 100% certified original mesh content!
2) Search by year
3) Remove Demos from results, and Demo only results
4) Top Sellers of the week, month, and year in each category
5) Adding genre sections like Gothic, Anime, Historical, etc.
6) Adding more information like: Materials Enabled, Land Impact, Wear to unpack/rez to unpack

Have some thought you want to share too? Read about the survey here:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Help-Improve-Marketplace-Search-with-Your-Opinions/ba-p/2384033

RMK Frost Fair: The Queen's Arrival

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STORYLINE: Having heard many good things about the RMK Frost Fair, the Queen of Hearts herself took a sleigh ride down to the river to partake in the celebration. Her Majesty must have been feeling rather jovial when she opted to wear a whimsical Christmas Mint Cake hat and Chocolate Peppermint parasol.

The Queen of Hearts is back and wearing a beautiful warm dress coat by Junbug. Check out that tiny waist! The dress coat comes in either blue, red, or green on sale at RMK Frost Fair. The Queen's sleigh is on sale at We <3 Role Play. It has 20 poses for male, female, and couples, comes with milk and cookies, and has only 3 land impact! The Traveler's Chest has 18 poses for male, female, and couples, 3 land impact. The top opens and you can switch what's inside from gold to clothing. The Queen's hat is actually a nommie from the Down Down Down Christmas Goodies gacha at RMK Frost Fair Gacha Gazebo. You can find the Wooden Tree gacha by Frozen Night there too. The umbrella is a freebie from Kawaii Couture. The backside of it has cute peppermint swirl. The pose by Hopscotch I picked up at the current Victorian round of Genre.

On her, The Queen:
Dress: JunBug Lady Anita in Holly [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (450L)
Hat / nommie: DownDownDown December Sweets gacha (RMK Frost Fair) (14L)
Parasol: Kawaii Couture Chocolate Parasol - pink (edit tint)(free)
Hair: booN UPP382 hair red (120L)
Gloves: Adam n Eve AE for SLINK Appliers Hands - Opera Gloves green (150L)
Bangles, Earrings, Rings: Maxi Gossamer Lost Eden - Rebecca - GOLD + OPAL (299L)
Pose: Hopscotch Fancy a walk? (Genre) (10L)

Setting:
Sleigh: VALR Sleigh, milk and cookies [mesh] (We <3 Role Play) (200L) 66% off
Chest: VALR Travelers Chest [mesh] (We <3 Role Play) (150L) 60% off
Wooden Tree: Frozen Night wood craft tree*07, gacha [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair) (5L)

Location:
RMK Gothic Frost Fair

RMK Frost Fair: Arctic Angels

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STORYLINE: Seeing so much lovely ice on the Thames is enough to make a Polar Bear Angel cry.

Another brilliant creation by Beetlebones is the adorable Arctic Friends gacha at RMK Frost Fair. There are two gacha series: land and sea. Land comes with avatar versions or pet versions on Snowshoe Hare, Arctic Fox, and Polar Bear. The Albatross and the rare Snowy Owls are pets. On the sea series, Beluga, Narwhale, Seal, Walrus, and rare Orca and Puffin are pets. On the image above, I am wearing the Polar Bear avatar. He's awesome and comes with AO. My Tundra Posse, lol, are all wearable pets. They animate, walk, run, and fly with you. Included with the pets is a nicely done instruction booklet that even has sound effects. The polar bear wings, halo, and headdress are the prize from Peace on Earth hunt by Inga Winds Clothing. When you fly, the wings flap!

On him, Polar Bear Angel:

Avatar: Beetlebones Arctic Friends Polar Bear Avatar - snow [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)

Wings, halo, headress: Inga Wind Clothing Angel of Peace Male [mesh] (POE Hunt #18)(free)
Pet 1: Beetlebones Arctic Friends Albatross - snow [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)
Pet 2: Beetlebones Arctic Friends Snowshoe Hare - brown [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)
Pet 3: Beetlebones Arctic Friends Seal - smoke [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)
Pet 4: Beetlebones Arctic Friends Narwhal - candy [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)

Location:
RMK Frost Fair

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STORYLINE: Watch out, Mr Fox is quite a thief. Who's hat did he snatch this time? ... Don't worry, he's not some pick pocket working the fair, he's just playful and mischievous.

I have actually seen an arctic fox in real life. They are totally restless, alert, and up to no good not unlike a mischievous ferret. The fox avatar above is from the Arctic Friends land series. The cute hat is one of the gifts at the Contraption booth.

On him, Mr Fox:

Avatar: Beetlebones Arctic Fox Avatar - soot [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(50L)

Hat: Contraption Play's Shako [mesh] (RMK Frost Fair)(free)

Location:
RMK Frost Fair

RMK Frost Fair 2013

RMK Frost Fair 2013 - Begins today!

In England during the Little Ice Age of the 17 century and 18 century, the Thames River froze. People took advantage of this usual event and created a shopping festival on the river called Frost Fair. Inspired by this idea, we created a winter festival named the RMK Frost Fair. You can buy many new and limited products in the romantic Christmas atmosphere! Come join us, Let’s shop and skate! Event runs from Dec 15th to Dec 31st.

Participating stores are:

1 mm, AIR, Ambrosia, Ayashi, Beetlebones, Bubblez Designs, cA chocolate atelier, Contraption, Dark Midday Designs, Down Down Down, Junbug, La Petite Fleur, LIKKA HOUSE, Natural, Noctis, NONKO ROMANKAN, NuDoLu, PopTart, RokumeikaN, Room of AMO, Rosy Mood, Song, SOUP, Theater Chain, WTG

Location:
Thames River at RMK Gothic

New Years in Russia: Father Frost

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In Russia, Father Frost looms large this time of year. In an old Russian folktale, Father Frost showed mercy on an unfortunate unloved step-daughter left outside to die. He gave her warm clothes and jewels. When her wicked step-mother sent her own daughter outside hoping to get more jewels, Father Frost delivered swift punishment. Russian Winter is nothing to trifle with.

New Years is the biggest holiday in Russia and lasts for 10 days. Huge tree-like structures are decorated for New Years. A special New Years address is delivered by the president. Olivier salad is eaten and much champagne is consumed. Gifts of the new year's zodiac animal are exchanged. 2014 is The Year of the Horse. For my friends in Russia, С Новым Годом!

Brrr... Feel that chill in new skin by Fallen Gods, Draco Glacier, at the December round of We <3 Role play. I combined it with the frosty Breeze tattoo hunt prize from Madpea's Holiday Havoc. The cool Eldar Armor Regal armor by The Forge is also on sale at We <3 Role Play. Another fun event for Role Players is the 25L Holiday Bizarre. Many great items for only 25L including the Arcana outfit by The Fallen. I tinted it to match the color of the armor. The Skull Sword by TGW is fully scripted and also 25L. This cool headdress by GizzA is free at the Jewelry & Accessory Expo. Watch out for low hanging branches with this one. lol. And the White Walker eyes are a current gift By Snow.

While you are shopping at We <3 Role Play, don't forget to pick up the gifts and cheapies under the trees in the cabins. The 25L Holiday Bizarre also has many gifts under it's tree. Fun!

On him, Father Frost:

Armor: The Forge Eldar Armor Regal [mesh] (We <3 Role Play) (299L) 25% off

Skin: Fallen Gods  DRACO Glacier male +FGInc.+ Scaled [mesh] (We <3 Role Play) (495L) 50% off

Kilt, Boots: The Fallen Arcana Black Tunic, boots (edit tint) [mesh] (25L Holiday Bizarre) (25L)

Weapon: TGW Skull Sword [mesh] (25L Holiday Bizarre) (25L)

Tattoo: Fallen Gods BREEZE +Fallen Gods Inc.+ LARGE 70% (Madpeas Holiday Havoc)

Eyes: By Snow White Walker Eyes [mesh] (free)

Headress: GizzA XMAS Horns (Jewelry & Accessory Expo)(free)

Hair: Wasabi Pills Teeloh MALE - Iceberg [mesh] (250L)

Hands: Slink Male Hands Relax, Closed (450L each)

Location:

twentyFIRST

Avi Choice Awards

There's still time to cast your ballot for your favorite creators, groups, and events! VOTE here

The Avi Choice Awards is the premier annual awards presentation recognizing the people and talent of SL’s™ amazing creations, completely chosen and voted on by SL™ residents. The Avi Choice Awards will be presented during the Avi Choice Program held at The Christmas Expo, in the Auditorium, on Sunday afternoon, December 15th, at 3pm SLT. NOTE: This is a black tie/formal event.

- from AviChoiceAwards.com

Christmas In The Caribbean

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Last year I did a series on different Christmas traditions around the world to honor my friends. This year, I'm bringing it back! The first image is for my friend from Barbados. He says they make an excellent Black Rum Fruit Cake for Christmas and if you do it right, it will last a whole year! He sent me a link to the song, "Christmas In The Caribbean" by a local Barbados band. (Hey maybe Rihanna should cover this? -^ )

I'm from Florida. So shorts, palm trees, beaches and seagulls are much closer to my Christmas than parkas, Christmas trees, snow, and reindeer! lol. I took this picture at the awesome sims of Las Islas that recreate the feel of the Caribbean. I love it! It feels so much like home to me!

Above I am wearing the cool new dreads and cap by Tableau Vivant available at Collabor88. It comes with a color hud for changing dread and cap color. There is also a smooth textured version that comes in all the standard T.V. colors. The super cool makeup is by Lovely Disarrey from the Invitation Only Hunt. The leather jacket, Dean, comes from FateWear and it includes leather materials. The metal collar is by Rozoregalia. And lastly, for my impractical beachwear needs, the rare dalmatian fur coat from the Curio Obscura gacha. lol

On Him:
Hair: Tableau Vivant Dreadlow Hair [mesh](Collabor88)(188L)
Makeup: Lovely Disarray Slayer (Invitation Only Hunt)(free)
Jacket: FATEwear Jacket - Dean - Void (with leather materials) [mesh](300L)
Collar: Rozoregalia *HYDRA*NECKLACE1 (400L)
Coat: Curio Obscura Luxurious Fur Coat Dalmatian RARE , gacha [mesh] (100L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Nathan - tone 6 - dark (990L)
Eyes: Aii Ugly & Beautiful Designs Kitsune Red Eyes (50L)

Location:
Las Islas

Second Life in News: Spycraft in virtual worlds

The New York Times:
Spies’ Dragnet Reaches a Playing Field of Elves and Trolls

Hamlet from New World Notes reacts:
Of Course the NSA is Spying on Second Life - It Would Only Be Surprise If It Wasn't

Christmas Gifts 3: Saint Lucia

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Today is December 8th. In Sweden that means Saint Lucia Day. In honor of my friends in Sweden, I want to show you really fast this the awesome Saint Lucia outfit at Ginza Jewelry Kohime for today. The dress comes with an option to wear the lace drape or not. Has two Lucia poses for hands. Also, you can buy the Alice Project 2012 advent hairs with color streaks of red and green next to the 2013 advent gifts.

Thanks for the tip Kagemaru!

Christmas Gifts 2

1 - Death Row - new red group gift boots, & past gifts mask and eyepatch. [mesh] free to join.

2 - Coco - reindeer outfit and past santa bunny avatar. free. [mesh] Also, 50% sale going on.

3 - IKON - new mesh eyes with precise huds control system group gift. [mesh] free to join.

4 - Koowlan - find the gacha machine to win Santa Anime Girl avatar. [mesh] Tote bag festival. free.

5 - Chimeric Arts Mask. Invitation Only Hunt [mesh] free.

6 - LockHearts - steampunk X-mas top hat. REVERIE hoodie. [mesh] Steampunk X-mas Hunt. (1L)

7 - Hanaya - skate cabin that gives out free ice skates. Peace on Earth Hunt #164. [mesh] free.

8 - Mudhoney - metal Christmas tree decoration from the Four Walls hunt. [mesh] (20L)

9 - Breeder's Choice - free Donkey avatar for purchasers of BC mesh horse. [mesh] Also under the tree are a huge number of nice gifts for horse fans. free.

10 - Souled Out - Steam Pirate mask. Steampunk X-mas Hunt. [mesh] (1L)

11 - Vitamen - a goodie for the guys at the Gay Archipelago 2013 'Winter Dreams' Festival. Lots of gifts can found in the stores. Events runs Dec 6 -15th. (Note: adult)
BONUS:  tou-Gen-kyo - for the guys, Santa has a naughty gift under the tree for you. (Note: adult)

12 - Never Totally Dead - lantern. Steampunk X-mas Hunt. [mesh] (1L) Mr Poet - Scarf. free.

BONUS:
Rotten Defiance- Closing sale all store items 10L. past group gifts for girls and guys free.

Designers shown in image above:

Aii, Breeder's Choice, Chimeric, Coco, DEATH ROW, Devin Vaughn, Discord Designs, Fatewear, Fruk, Ginza, Hanaya, HOD, HPMD, IKON, Koowlan, LockHearts, Looking Glass, Mr Poet, Mudhoney, Never Totally Dead, Remarkable Oblivion, Rotten Defiance, Sleepy Eddie, Souled Out, Tableau Vivant, tou-Gen-kyo, Vitamen, Yasyn

Thanks for the santa anime girl tip, BlueSkyBerry!

Christmas Gifts 1: Advents

Pictured above:
1 = Alice Project, 2 = Abranimations, 3 = Kinzart
4 = Coepio, 5 = Madpeas Advent, 6 = Advent Courtyard
7 = Storax, 8 = KittyCats, 9 = Ginza Jewelry Kohime

Advents are so addictive!  Everyday racing to get a gift, meeting other people on the advent trail, opening the gifts to see what's inside, followed by shenanigans with your buds who do things like torture your peppermint bat avatar with their voodoo doll. lol. Here's is my handy of list of cool places to visit:

For Everyone: 
22769 Casual Couture - starts Dec 12th - free
Abranimations - daily only - free
Advent Courtyard - search various stores for hunt object Rudolph - can get past days - free
Akaesha - requires group membership, free to join - random prize drops and gift cards - free

CIRCA - requires group membership, 1L to join - free
Chop Zuey - starts Dec 12th - free plus group membership prizes, 350L to join
DarkMoon Creations - daily only - free (accepting donations for UNICEF)
Elephante Poses - starts Dec 12th - free
Kinzart - daily only - free
KittyCats - daily only - free (Note: limit one gift per IP)
Madpeas - get the clue and hunt the gift at Mad City - group required, free to join - can get past days
Storax - free - can get a few past days
Sway's - must search for stars to gain password - daily only
Yasum - group required, free to join - can get past days

For Guys:
Coepio - requires group membership, free to join - daily only
EMO-tions - group required, free to join - daily only (Note: there are girls and guys gifts each day)\
LeCock - daily only - free (Note: adult)

For Girls:
Alice Project - daily only - free plus group membership prizes
Ginza Jewelry Kohime - daily only - free
JCNY - free gifts under tree, plus lucky board gifts
Virtual Impressions - group required, free to join - daily only - free

For a huge list of Advents, go here: Yermawn

Dance of the Cranes

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This image was inspired by a chance meeting with the sim designer of the snow covered Japanese village, "Yuki No Yume" .. A Dream of Snow. He said his favorite part of the sim was the dancing cranes, and he wished for an image of people dancing with the cranes.  So this is for you, Jac Mornington. Thanks for the cool sim to visit!

Pictured above and below are these awesome rigged mesh feet for guys with bracers by Glam Affair. Feet match Tableau Vivant skins perfectly. Head over to Shoetopia and look around! Shoetopia 1 Shoetopia 2  For more information, go to Shoetopia, ends Nov 30th.

On Her:

Outfit, Hair: BareRose Youko Dayu - lola (edit for hair) [mesh] (200L)
Chest: Lola Mirage [mesh] (1750L)

On Him:
Shirt, armor, gloves, belt: BareRose Kirisitan Paladin [mesh] (180L)
Pants: BareRose NS Kuro Suikan Pants [mesh] (190L)
Ears: Illusions Fairy Ears [mesh] (300L)
Feet: Glam Affair Homme - Vanity Feet - Braces white [mesh] (Shoetopia 1)(530L)
Hair: Sadistic Hacker Kiyohime B white (230L)
Hands: Slink Male Hands Relax(450L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Nathan - tone 1 - blond (990L)
Pose: Del May Fissure (150L)

Location:
"Yuki No Yume" .. A Dream of Snow

(click to enlarge)

Setting:
Art: kisetsu Wall Scroll - Hasu [mesh] (past genre)
Throne: Okami Shogun's Throne - Pani Series (799L)
Thanks for your help Fulli!

One Hell of a Butler

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There is something suspicious about that butler... I wonder what it is?

Ayashi released the new non-rigged mesh hair for men, Sebastian, I knew I had to try and see what I could come up with for a demon butler. The hair comes with X,Y, Z resize script for the perfect fit, and a color set hud. Ayashi has a new store at RMK Gothic! You can find it in the Dark Town section of the sim. Adding an elegant, yet studious, feel is the Angela Glasses by AIR.  You can touch it and change the frame color and the gem stones. The off the shoulder rigged coat is by DIRAM. An alpha hides your arms, and has two fake hands attached to the upper thigh. It comes with a color hud to change the skintone, but I went with a white glove look. The coat in many different colors, I choose a nice English tweed. The vest, shirt, collar and tie are included. The pocketwatch is mesh by House of Rain and has detail of tiny skulls and garnet. The pants are from the Smith suit set by Fatewear. The gloves in the close up are also by Fatewear and include materials that photographed here beautifully. Skin Noctis by Tableau Vivant you can find at the Boystown location. These awesome red eyes are by Aii. I swapped the shirt under the vest with SF Designs' because it had the tuxedo style I was looking for, and also, it's the best free tux in SL, imho. My favorite shiny shiny dress shoes are by PixelFashion. The candelabra I got the October Collabor88, but you can find it at the main store now. Touch the candle to change the color cream, teal, mead, black magic, royal, or brandy. Flames are particles. And my lastly, my current gothic abode is the Ivy Tower by Poetica.

On Him:
Hair: Ayashi Sebastian-Black set [mesh] (250L)
Glasses: AIR ANGELA_M_Charm L_CM (1000L)
Coat, Collar, Tie, Vest, Gloves: DIRAM JASON Coat - Prince de Galles [mesh] (650L)
Pants: FATEwear Smith - Tundra [mesh] (750L)
Pocketwatch: House of Rain HoR Bonedance watch - garnet - silver [mesh] (300L)
Gloves: Fatewear Dextor with leather materials [mesh] (300L)
Shirt: sf design Shawl Collared Tux (free)
Shoes: PixelFashion Bradford Shoes Black V [mesh] (390L)
Eyes: Aii Ugly & Beautiful Designs Kitsune Red Eyes (50L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Noctis skin - bald -Tone 01 (Boystown) (990L)
Candlelabra: Floorplan black magic candelabra [mesh] (175L)
Tower: Poetica Ivy Tower - dark [mesh] (2000L or 1800L)

You can find the AIR store to the right of RMK Castle in the Town section.

NEWS: Making Mesh Garments Fit Better

Big announcement today on what Linden Labs will do for better fitted clothing. Project Deformer is now officially dead, collision bones method is the winner (this is the "liquid mesh" method). The experimental project viewer includes extra collision bones.

Copy/Paste news from here:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Making-Mesh-Garments-Fit-Better/ba-p/2336599

Making Mesh Garments Fit Better

by  Linden Lab ‎11-20-2013 09:36 AM - edited ‎11-20-2013 10:31 AM

Today, we are launching an experimental Project Fitted Mesh Viewer with additional collision bones needed to support dynamically fitted mesh garments on all of the avatars. When these changes have been finalized, they will enable garment designers to use the superior capabilities of mesh content creation tools to make garments that adapt to a wide range of Second Life avatars.

Since the introduction of Mesh to Second Life, creators have faced challenges fitting Mesh garments to the Second Life avatar. Because mesh objects are not resizable in as many ways as the avatar itself is, it has been difficult for mesh garment creators to provide garments that adapt to the shape of the avatar in the way that the image-based clothing layers do. While many creators have made heroic efforts to provide products in a range of sizes, and some have collaborated to define a set of standard sizes that work reasonably well for much of the user population, many have found that mesh garments just don't work well enough for their avatars. Mesh garments also don't move with the body parts affected by avatar physics.

Users have developed two approaches to address these problems:

• Rigging garments to the "collision bones" of the avatar skeleton (often marketed as "Liquid Mesh"). This works in current Viewers for some body parts, but there are some avatar shape parameters that do not have corresponding collision bones, so garments do not adapt to fit everywhere on the body.
• The "Mesh Deformer" project added code to the Viewer to dynamically compute how to modify each garment shape by looking at how the vertices of the avatar were changed from that of the female and male base shapes.

The Linden Lab development team has studied both approaches, and compared their effectiveness, maintainability, and performance. Neither approach completely eliminates the occasional need for an alpha clothing layer to prevent small parts of the avatar skin from appearing through garments, but both work quite well at resizing garments so that they fit the avatar and move naturally with it. While the collision bones method requires the creator to do some additional rigging, we have decided that because it leverages more of the existing avatar shape system it is likely to be the more maintainable solution and to perform better for a wider range of users.

We have posted documentation on the wiki describing the full set of collision bones, including the newly added ones. We invite creators to begin experimenting with creating garments rigged to this new skeleton.

At this time, the new skeleton should be considered provisional and subject to change; we do not yet recommend selling or buying garments rigged to it. Since we may find reasons to improve it during this testing process, and any change to the collision bones will likely break garments rigged before the change, we want to make sure that we have a set of bones that we can all live with into the indefinite future before it is widely used.

Creators and other users who participate in testing can provide feedback by filing Jira issues in the Fitted Mesh project.

Reactions:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Breaking-News-Fitted-Mesh-Project-Viewer/m-p/2337927/highlight/true#M24546 

JIRA - Desigenrs: add your feedback to the new collision bones:
https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/FITMESH

RMK Gothic Photo Contest

News mirrored from: RMK Gothic Blog Japan

Image by: +RokumeikaN+

■RMK Gothic Photo Contest■

November 11 was RMK Gothic’s second anniversary.
To celebrate, RMK Sim was renovated and then reopened on the 13th.
RMK is holding a photo contest in fashion and/or landscape photography!
The theme is RMK Gothic style: "lightness and darkness of 19th century Britain."

What is RMK Gothic style?
Gothic, Gothic Lolita, Antique, Victorian, Aestheticism, Decadent, Beautifully Villain.

Also, each area of the sim has it's own theme:
Town: Antique, Classical, Aesthetic, Formal
Dark Town: Mafia, Gothic, Darkness, Blackness, Punk (Note: Mr. Chang is the personification of darkness in RMK)
Forest of Alice: Lolita, Cute, Kawaii, Harajyuku style
Circus of Midnight: Dark Forest, Vampire Castle, and Dark Circus (Note: area still being renovated)

Application period: 11/18/2013 ～ 11/30/2013

How to apply:
• The registration flicker group "+ RMK Gothic SIM + EVENT".
• Write "Entry to the photo contest!" in the image description. Then, fill out the items used in the photograph.
• Please include your SL name in the image description if your name used in Flickr is different from your SL name.

Qualifications:
・ Must be a photograph taken at RMK Gothic SIM.
・ Items used in photo should be the work of a tenant at RMK Gothic SIM. (Regardless if it is product, gift, or from their mainstore location.)
・ Subject should be the photographer themselves. If there are more people in the picture, you must get their approval to participate in the photo contest.
・ Landscape photography is welcome!
・ Photo manipulation is not allowed. No retouching.
・ The number of pictures submitted to contest is limited to 5 total.
・ If you submit pictures to the contest, you also give permission for RMK to use your pictures for publicity and promotion of RMK Gothic, and RMK Events.

Contest judge:
RMK Gothic owner

We look forward to seeing your rich creativity on the concept of RMK Gothic!

Prize:
・ Winner: 1000L $
・ Runner: 700L $
・ RMK Award: 500L $

Note:
· The number of views and favorites on a Flickr image is irrelevant to the contest.
· Please Note: Your submission is not a contest entry unless requirements listed above are satisfied.
· The announcement date of contest results is yet to be determined.
· IMPORTANT: With regard contest submissions, by entering you give RMK Gothic SIM permission to use images for publicity and promotion of RMK Gothic, and RMK Events whether in Japan or abroad.
· If you have any questions, please send them in a notecard only. We do not accept questions via IM.

Submit your contest entry here↓
+RMK Gothic SIM+EVENT