Engine Room: Murder at the Cabaret, 3

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STORYLINE: In life, Giselle had danced for their applause. She had bathed in the warmth of stage lights and the shimmer of champagne dreams, believing desperately that their adoration was real. But now, as a ghost trailing through the damp alleys of the docklands, she saw the truth for what it was: brittle, cold, and gilded in lies.

She had only ever been a distraction. A beautiful puppet in pearls and powder.

Her search for love had led her to Gwendal.

Oh, Gwendal, ...the handsome towering brute with sea-soaked stories and rough hands that once handed her ruby earrings and silk gowns. In his shadowy world, he'd called her "his shining star."

But now, that world reeked of gunpowder that could explode at any moment.

Giselle floated through the curling fog and found him: broad shoulders hunched, loading heavy crates stenciled with the words DYNAMITE onto a carriage. His Havana cigar crackling with flames, hot ash dripping recklessly on the volatile cargo.

Then *she* appeared.

A pirate woman, radiant in her cruelty with a smile like a dagger's curve.

“Giselle is dead,” she said, casually, as if remarking on the weather.

Gwendal froze, cigar almost falling from his lips. “Dead?” The word hit him like a rogue wave.

For a flicker of a moment, Giselle dared to believe he cared. But then, the duo kissed, passionately.

Giselle’s spectral form recoiled as if burned.

“Now what?” the pirate woman huffed, breaking their embrace. “She was our favorite gossip. Who’s going to tell us when the spice ships are docking? Or which crates have the opium?”

“We’ll find someone else,” Gwendal grunted, lifting another crate. “We always do.”

Giselle hovered above them in stunned horror. "I wasn’t his beloved? I was his unwitting spy?"

She turned, fury and heartbreak trailing behind her like smoke. She had no time for that fraud. Those pirates were loathsome con-artists, but they didn’t kill her.

Someone else did.

Was it someone who didn’t like her whispering secrets into dangerous ears?

Giselle raced back to Le Rouge Noir. Her time was bleeding away. The Master of Ceremony’s clock was ticking, each chime louder than the last.

Someone inside that velvet tomb had murdered her.

And soon… she would know who.

Argh, there be trouble afoot.   ...This post was inspired by the Aii Riftwind Mercenary complete outfit set. It comes with fits for men and women, and like other Aii creations, has an extensive texture hud with options to show and hide various elements.   ...Gwendal's ZAO 124 hair is unconventional for a pirate, but somehow that "bratty little sister" vibe side ponytail totally works.   ...His dark tribal makeup is Skara by Rubedo, and light brown animalistic eyes Kairos by Mana.   ... The pirates' guns are Furiosa Fortuna gun is by FOE. It includes pose options, textures, different sizes, and is a fully scripted weapon.  ...Akira as "Mats" is wearing Rosier's Rosetta Dress, paired with the Silvery K Steam Aether Boots.   ...The crates and sticks of dynamite is by Static.   ...And the very cool interactive Animesh Victorian Romance Horse & Carriag by Teegle, is totally drivable. Like other Teegle horses, it's fully animated as it waits patiently for you to board, occasionally giving you a side eye. The carriage comes in single color, or a fatpack to mix and match, and all versions let you change horse and tack textures. You can drive the carriage from the front sitting position, and carry passengers in the back. I love it. Its wonderful.

On Him, Gwendal:
Outfit: Aii Riftwind Mercenary set [mesh](Engine Room)(2,500L)

Makeup: Rubedo Skara, evox 06 [BOM](Engine Room)(240L)
Hair: ZAO 124 Hair m [mesh](Engine Room)(399L)

Gun, pose: FOE x Furiosa Fortuna [mesh](Engine Room)

Eyes: Mana Kairos Eyes, Clear [BOM](Engine Room)(399L) 

Cigar: Linden Labs Single Cigar Attachment, Male [mesh] (SL19B gift)

Eyepatch: C L A Vv. Simple Belted Eyepatch Black [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA CAMDEN Evolution [mesh](3990L)
Body: TheShops [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

On Her, Mathilde (aka Mats):

Guest appearance: Akira Voorhees of The SL Chatterbox blog.

Dress: Rosier Rosetta Dress, Reborn, FAT[mesh](Engine Room)(1,050L)

Boots: Silvery K Steam Aether, Boots, Fat_REBORN[mesh](Engine Room)

Gun, pose: FOE x Furiosa Fortuna [mesh](Engine Room)

Pose: Reve Obscura *!R.O!* Bad Things BENTO Couple Pose (100L)

Setting:

Vehicle: Teegle Victorian Romance Horse & Carriage [Animesh](Engine Room)(899L)

Crates: Static Boompowder Explosives[mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Set: VARONIS Dayport Backdrop Scene [mesh](499L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.

Engine Room: Commodore of the Skies

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STORYLINE: The frontier towns floating in the lawless skies of Venus were full of scavengers, ruffians, and pirates. But that all changed when the Commodore arrived. He was determined to make it safe for the pioneers.

These are the last days of round two of the Engine Room. Be sure to head over and scoop up some badass Steampunk goodies. Shown above is the Commanders coat by Salem. It comes in several base colors. The Gasmask is by The Forge. It comes in black and brown, unrigged and mod so you can adjust it for a good fit. The gun is by Reliquary and comes with a hud to draw, fire, and holster. It has optional textures you load into it. You can also buy a shell caddy for your gun. In the background is the Irongate Wharf by Ex Machina. Its meant for the water, but hey, it can fly too if you give some propellers. lol  Other items I used, The Blackjack rare Airship, and past LindenLab premium gift the Marauder. Gloves, pants, and boots are by Contraption. And adding a little movement is the Cureless Senshi cloth from gacha.

On Him, Commodore:
Top: Salem Commanders Coat Jake, Black [mesh](Engine Room)(199L)
Gasmask: The Forge Atticus Mask, Black [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)
Weapon: Reliquary !R! Enemy Scattergun [mesh](Engine Room)(750L)
Gloves: Contraption Dapper Dandy's Gloves [mesh](350L)
Pants, Boots: Contraption Airship Deck Crew [mesh](400L)
Cape: Cureless Senshi of the End  Senshi Cloth Mars, gacha [mesh](100L)
Collar: Artificial Hallucination +AH+ Belt Collar male [mesh](246L)
Hat: Deathrow DRD- cap unisex [mesh]
Mesh head: Raven Bell James, Bento [mesh] (2000L)
Pose: yzk mens pose 4 hero1

Setting:
Dock: Ex Machina Irongate Wharf v 1.0 [mesh](Engine Room)(987L)
Rocket: D-LAB sky pirates Zucchini rocket [mesh](200L)
Airship: BJK Fantasy machines SHIP Rare, gacha [mesh]
Galleon Airship: Linden Labs Premium Gift - Linden Marauder v1 [mesh]

Sword of the Kōmori Daiyoukai

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STORYLINE: The Nightfang was a powerful sword. He could feel the energy pulsing in it. But like so many things in life, his father's favorite weapon didn't come with an instruction manual. Years would pass as he experimented with the it, trying to tease out its secrets. Then one day while strolling through a battlefield littered with the fallen, a butterfly landed on the sharp edge of the blade unharmed. Then more butterflies came to rest on it as if it was perfectly natural for butterflies to suddenly be smitten with a deadly metal. Thats when he realized those were no ordinary butterflies, they were the Jigokuchō, or the hell butterflies that come to collect the souls of the dead. Surely this was a major clue to Nightfang's ultimate attack.

Japonica is ending soon. Be sure to not miss the great sales, including 50% off for the event. This post continues Kōmori story with fantastic new release by Gabriel, Katahaori. I used a combination of the Enji and Shiro for this outfit, paired with the Enji Geta. Hey, it wouldn't be me if I didn't make a twist to this look; Hot Pink Latex Tabi? Obi on the Shoulder? Have you lost your mind, Dev? Maybe. lol I love how this turned out.  The AIR butterfly gacha is fun, when you walk an exact duplicate of your butterfly will rez around you in a particle effect. Pretty cool. In the set, the screens by katat0nik are mod, so they can all be tinted whatever color you like. The hanging lanterns are by Who What and include animating goldfish inside. .... Speaking of awesome, and japan... the Kagami event has opened. I look forward to seeing you all dressed up for another adventure game this year. See you there!

On him, Son of the Komori Daiyoukai:
Outfit: Gabriel ::GB::Katahaori, enji [mesh](Japonica)(380L)
Wraps: Gabriel ::GB::Katahaori, shiro, Sarashi gray [mesh](Japonica)(380L)
Geta: Gabriel ::GB::Takageta (male) enji [mesh](Japonica)(150L)
Butterfly: Air TefuTefu_6)Purple_CM, gacha [mesh](Japonica)(50L)
Butterfly: Air TefuTefu_9)White_CM, gacha [mesh](Japonica)(50L)
Obi: Naminoke *N*Decoration Obi BlackLily [mesh](Japonica)(200L)
Bento Wings: Linden Labs Elleria - Wings (starter avatar)(free)
Hair: No.Match No One, black pack [mesh](200L)
Katana: Mandala Sakura Dynasty [mesh](387L)
Collar: [CX]&[ContraptioN] Untamed Collar - Black [mesh](250L)
Face Piercings: CerberusXing Chained Bridge - Silver [mesh](300L)
Ears: Illusions Fairy Ears [mesh] (300L)
Skin applier: Soul Emmanuel - Cypher [V1] Special Edition TMP (975L)
Hairbase applier: Dura Omega scalp appliers (free)
Top applier: BareRose Omega AA for ::: B@R ::: Tokio 2069T2 (80L)
Gloves applier: Sn@tch Basic Latex Fingerless Gloves (past lucky board)
Head: 6DOO Human mesh head EKASI-01 Ver.1.02 [mesh](2,600L)
Hand, hand pose: Slink Male Hands Dynamic - BENTO [mesh] (875L)
Feet: Slink Male Feet Flat [mesh] (650L)
Body: Slink Physique MALE Mesh Body V2.9[mesh](1,250L)
Pose: Del May DM - I'm here male (50L)

Setting:
Screens: katat0nik byoubu / shoji screen 2Li [mesh](Japonica)(250L)
Lanterns: who what akari kingyo- {pink} [mesh](Japonica)(80L)
Pavement: xin. ishidatami 3, gacha [mesh]

Tomb of the Kōmori Daiyoukai

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STORYLINE: He inhaled deeply the smoke of the serpent pipe. As he exhaled, the snake at the tip hissed out smoke trails. He watched it lazily meander towards a nearby rockface. The pipe was a prized relic of the Kōmori clan. It was not of this world, it belonged to the spiritworld. It's smoke was being sucked toward a heavy spiritual presence nearby. There must be hidden cave. "Father," he smiled. "At last I found you." Once inside the cave, he discovered the massive fallen skeleton of his father, its batwings still stretched out, as if he might fly away at any moment. Beside it impaled in a pile of skulls, was the gleaming legendary katana of his father. Smoke swirled around it. The pulsing power emanating from the sword gave him goosebumps. He climbed up the pile of bones and lovingly withdrew his birthright. "Nightfang" he whispered to it as it were his lover, "So nice to meet you at last."

The idea of this post was inspired by one of my favorite animes.  The pipe, tattoo, hairsticks, and pants you can find at Japonica. The Bento wings are part of the brand new Linden Labs Bento starter avatars, and the bento tail is by Murder of Ravens. The giant skeleton is part of the Cureless gacha at Epiphany.

For more information on Japonica, go to: https://baroquedevent.wixsite.com/japonica

On him, Son of the Komori Daiyoukai:
Pipe: BOILDEGG :02:Wa Hukimodoshi Snake Silver, gacha [mesh](Japonica)(50L)
Pants: Gild abi-hakama_purpleGradation [mesh](Japonica)(180L)
Hairpins: CerberusXing [CX] Hinotori Kanzashi (Purple) [mesh](Japonica)(150L)
Tattoo applier: U Design Atasushi (Japonica)(300L)
Bento tail: Murder of Ravens [M.O.R] bento demon tail v1.1 [mesh](150L)
Bento Wings: Linden Labs Sauin - Wings (starter avatar, free)
Collar: [CX]&[ContraptioN] Untamed Collar - Black [mesh](250L)
Face Piercings: CerberusXing Chained Bridge - Silver [mesh](300L)
Hair: Dura Dura-Boy*51 [mesh](130L)
Ears: Illusions Fairy Ears [mesh] (300L)
Hand, hand pose: Slink Male Hands Dynamic - BENTO [mesh] (875L)
Skin applier: Soul Emmanuel - Cypher [V1] Special Edition TMP (975L)
Tongue: 6DOO bento basic tongue thin front [mesh](150L)
Head: 6DOO Human mesh head EKASI-01 Ver.1.02 [mesh](2,600L)
Body: NX-Nardcotix David Mesh Body [mesh](1750L)
Bento hud face: Happy Dispatch [HD] bento Facial expression HUD (600L)
Pose: Hot Dive pose beast (30L)

Setting:
Skeleton: Cureless Yokai Chronicles Gashadokuro BONE, gacha [mesh](Epiphany)(75L)
Skull mound: MGSit Store Horror [mesh](420L)
Katana: Mandala Sakura Dynasty [mesh](387L)
Fog: {anc} mist cloud [Heavenlyblue] 1prim sculpt (349L)

Linden Home Challenge 2: Halloween

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Coming soon is the newest Linden Home Challenge in the fall issue of Prim Perfect magazine. What is the Linden Home Challenge? Simply put: Decorate a Linden home with budget of only 117 prim and have cost no more then 1500L. Sure it's hard, but not as impossible as you might think! This time the Linden Home Challenge takes place in an Elfin tree home in the Fantasy Lands of Elderglen. And not to make it too easy, a twist was added for a Halloween theme. My solution was the question, "What if vampires lived in trees?" Inside the issue I give tips and tricks on how you can make a Linden home look beautiful and do it on a tight budget. The new issue of Prim Perfect will be out soon, don't miss it!

UPDATE:  You can read the fall issue of Prim Perfect here: http://primperfect.net/2015/10/30/fall-into-the-new-edition-of-prim-perfect/

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Setting: Center room, The Vampire Tree House:
Location: Linden Labs Elderglen Elven Treehome
Curtains: Death Row Giant curtain left, Phantom gacha, 4li [mesh](75L)
Chandelier: Death Row Chandelier 2 light, Mystery Mansion gacha, 4li [mesh](75L)
Dining set: Death Row VR dining table 4seat, 7li [mesh](pg 699L)
Books: 8f8 35 Stairway to Knowledge, Storyteller's Burrow gacha, 2li [mesh](50L)
Throne: Kalopsia Evil Throne, 7li [mesh](75L)
Pumpkin: Chimeric Arts Lopsided Pumpkin, 2li [mesh](free)
Pumpkin: Chimeric Arts Tall Pumpkin, 2li [mesh](free)
Pumpkin: Chimeric Arts Giant Twin Pumpkin, 5li [mesh](free)
Poster: [ free bird ] Carry Garlic Poster, Halloween Poster gacha, 1li [mesh (50L)
Food: poche smile pumpkin pudding, 8li (free)
Rug: AleyMart Captain Nemos Area Rug, 1li (free)
Fireplace: Dysfunctional Designs DDD Rustic Fireplace, 4li [mesh] (95L)
Location: Linden Labs Elderglen textures (free)

Quick as a Bunny Takeout of the Congo

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STORYLINE: There was nothing quite like racing down the thick muddy waters of the Congo with his pet fennec by his side. Schools of wading waterfowl would squawk loudly their displeasure as his steamplane roared past. Together with an old mate, they formed a takeout restaurant. The food turned out to be a hit with the locals and tourists. And he relished every chance he got to race along the waterways delivering steaming spicy foods.

This post was inspired by the SL12B party held by Linden Labs at the Wilderness sim. It's a multi-sim jungle with lots of fun things to do. For my explorations on the Dark Continent, I'm wearing the new FATEwear Belo camouflage texture shorts. They some with full length pants too. I'm using an unusual bonus color that's in scripted fatpack. The Phillips hoodie is also using a bonus color from it's fatpack. I like the two tone fades. You can wear the hoodie up or down. I'm using several designers for my Steampunk Safari style. The Steampunk boots, belt, and bag by Death Row are in the current round of The Arcade. It's an entire gacha of clothing and accessories for men! Many good pieces can be won.  From Swagga is the awesome animated Flutter robo-dragon pet. He's holding the picnic basket from the Linden Premium member gifts for the beach. The steampunk Bunny Mask is also by Swagga. It was a free gift for the Seraphim's birthday party. The retro mic earphones are by Remarkable Oblivion, as well as the Messenger bag. The adorable Fennec is by Half Deer and it's a gacha at Kustom 9. I love fennecs. They come in various poses, and the one here in the image is the animating rare that walks along with you. The bracelets and rings are by Mandala and they come with a texture change hud.  I used these awesome old school prim socks by Rosem to poke out from the boots. I serious need more things like this. And another thing I need is collar like thing to work on the TheMeshProject body. The hack I used actually a free headband by Modern Elegance I turned into a collar. It has a "don't look under the collar and see my vampire bite" sort of feel and I like it. lol And the last gem to finish off my Steam Safari style is the fun BareRose Steam Hummingbird plane. You wear it and it appears like you are flying around. Love it. It can be won in the raffle by camping out at BareRose.

On Him, Bunny Delivery Boy:
Hoodie: FATEwear Shirt - Phillips - Down Scripted, fatpack bonus color [mesh](1000L)
Shorts: FATEwear Shorts - Belo - Scripted, fatpack bonus color [mesh](1000L)
Bag: Death Row steampunk male Bag, gacha [mesh](The Arcade)(75L)
Belt: Death Row steampunk male Belt, gacha [mesh](The Arcade)(75L)
Boots: Death Row steampunk male Boots, gacha [mesh](The Arcade)(75L)
Mask: SWaGGa I'm a Bunneh Mask [mesh](Seraphim birthday)(no longer available)
Pet flying: SWaGGa Flutter - Cream [mesh](99L)
Pet walking: Half-Deer Fennec Fox - Travel Companion RARE, gacha [mesh](65L)
Picnic Basket: Linden Labs LDPW - Spring/Summer 2015 - Picnic Basket [mesh](Premium gift)
Steamship: BareRose Steam Hummingbird [mesh](raffle, free)
Collar: Modern Elegance MESH Headband Gift White, edit for fit [mesh](free)
Hair: Argrace Ken - White [mesh] (250L)
Bracelet, ring: Mandala LUSTFUL-Jewelry-set male [mesh](437L)
Headphones: Remarkable Oblivion Megahertz Earphones [mesh](249L)
Mag: Remarkable Oblivion Messenger Bag - Cayote Tan MALE [mesh](199L)
Socks: RONSEM Prim Socks (group gift)(no longer available)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Rays Skin - Tone 03 - eyeshadow (990L)
Body skin applier: Tableau Vivant TMP body applier - Tone 3(400L)
Body, hands: TheMeshProject (BETA) Deluxe Body [mesh](5000L)

Location:
Wilderness - Piranha Flats

Sad news: After Sony's Aquistion, SL GO will close April 30th

This is a sad day.  I have used and enjoyed SL Go. It made it possible for me to shoot movies in SL, and when under tight deadlines for the blog, SL Go saved the day when otherwise I would be facing hours of crashville roulette. (I crash a lot when shooting for the blog.) I love the Firestorm version of it. And SL Go Mobile with firestorm just launched a few days ago, March 24th. SL Go solved a huge problem in virtual worlds, being mobile by cloud streaming on a server. I had plans to shoot video for Fantasy Faire this month using SL Go. It's not possible now. My account with SL Go has already been deleted.

UPDATE: 4/10/15 Drax Radio Hour #65 Excellent in depth reporting on SL Go & On Live's sale, and more. Highly recommended listening http://draxfiles.com/2015/04/10/show-63-sl-go-sl-gone/

Adventures in Linden Lab's Winter Wonderland

When I heard about Linden Labs' new Winter Wonderland destination, I did a happy dance. This was exactly what I hoped the Labs would do when they asked for suggestions a few months ago. I really enjoyed the Haunted House ride for Halloween. This new addition is even larger! The Linden Portal has become a busy place. Love it!

Winter Wonderland is 4 connecting sims. It all mesh and looks great with advanced lighting and materials. When you land, be sure to accept the Experience Keys when they pop up. In the town zone, there are gifts for everyone, be sure to pick those up. You can catch the fireworks show at the top of each hour. In the snowball fight zone, you can choose from Snow Pistol or Snow Rifle. Members of the premium club have a 3rd choice, the Snow Bazooka. (NOTE: To get the premium gifts, go the Linden sandbox and click the gift vendors. Wear the Ribbon and Medal to get the extra options. Not a member? Right now there is a 50% off sale to join.) The weapons for snowball fight work inside the snowball zone. To use the snow guns outside the sim, you need to wear the gift versions. Over in park zone, The Ferris Wheel has a funny sign. To seat two people it's tricky, but keep trying. One person on the left and the other on the right. There are free skates in the ice rink, and you can customize your skates too. Over on the race track zone, you can choose a snowboard or snowmobile. The snowmobile can seat 2 people. Watch out on the snowboard, it has a jetpack on the back. You can easily fly off the course and land on someone's head. ...Maybe that's why one of them boards looks like a giant bandaid. lol

Go check out the Winter Wonderland!

To shoot the video I used SL Go on firestorm. It makes it possible for me to film with advanced lighting with fast frame rate. I even blazed around the track with no lagging. Sweet! The service is $10 a month. January is currently free for those would were subscribers in December, due a teleport bug on the official viewer. I really loving being able to shoot video now. I hope you guys are enjoying it too! Have fun at Winter Wonderland!

On Him, Devin Vaughn:
Coat, Scarf: FATEwear Harrington - Snow - Scripted [mesh](300L)
Earmuffs: LaGyo Sienna Faux fur earmuffs Black [mesh](88L)
Eyepatch: Likka House Rose Eyepatch -black- gacha [mesh](no longer available)
Hair: Argrace Ken - White [mesh] (250L)
Pants: S O R G O ButlerPants (forShirt+Belt) / DARK [mesh](no longer available)
Gloves: O.M.E.N Black Cruising Gloves [mesh](190L)
Bag: Remarkable Oblivion Messenger Bag - Never Surrender Black [mesh](199L)
Shoes: PixelFashion Bradford Shoes Black V [mesh] (390L)
Eyeliner: CL-NINE CL9v2l_HeadEyeline01C(bk)(free)
Hairbase: Action Hair Base 04 Veganic - Snow (107L)
Eyes: S0NG Winter Violet Eye (50L)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Nathan - tone 1 (990L)

On Her, Aarya Phantomhive:
Guest Appearance: Aarya Phantomhive of the Dark Phantom blog

Coat: NS Mesh Winter Coat 

Outfit: AdN DARK PRINCESS mini top, skirt

Stockings Sheer Tights 28: Torn Opaque Black Lower

Boots: MV Odyssey Onyx

Earmuffs: Argrace  Gift - Ear muff

Hair: taketomi Kokoa_Fatpack

Pet: The Secret Store - Little Rabbit - Aime

Eyepatch: SOMALI Eyepatch-L <C+M>

Piercings: [ni.Ju] Monroe Piercing,1 piercing part A (mouth)

Gloves: CD Bow Gloves White

Backpack: Zenith Leather Patwork Backpack-Black

Lip: The Sugar Garden Lip Tinte' - Vampy NT (Medium; Tone B&D)

Tattoo: The Horror! Bathory 1

Tattoo: :Z.S: Dimpled Cheeks

Tattoo: Plastik Fauxe Makeup:// HeavyMetal

Eyelashes: LovelyAlien StarryEyelashes <Tintable>

Eyes: Shy Girls Group Gift Eyes

Skin: MY UGLYDOROTHY -Special 1L Skin9

The Death of Charity

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STORYLINE: The Ghost of Christmas Future was right, something dark had begun. All over London, those who helped the homeless, cared for the disabled, and gave gifts to orphans were being slaughtered one by one. When their remains were found, they appeared like withered husks much older than they really were. Fear gripped the city. Gatherings were cancelled. Policemen patrolled the streets. Some were even scared to give gifts least the serial killer strike them down too. Who could do such a monstrous thing during the season of goodwill, and why?

Today is the last of 2014. I know you guys have been super busy this December, I have been too, but hopefully you have sometime to scoop up the goodies before ringing in the New year. Pictured above from Gothmas by Gaslight are the Eclectica Nightblooms earring, necklace, and rings. Each item is non-rigged mesh so you can get a good fit. The lovely textured Isadora dress is by Senzafine. The non-rigged Elizabeth ankle boots are by Choas, Panic, and Disorder. Yes, I popped some mesh eyes on the zombie girl, it can be done! These are CandyCane by the Chop Shop. The fur wrap is a gacha you can play at Junbug. The hair is Riko by Ayashi. And of course the Zombie girl avatar is included in your viewer.  The dress didn't quite fit her on the upper back, but for image purposes, it worked out for me here.  The house and furniture are part of the Death Row Humbug gacha at the Arcade. It's great for any Victorian scene, and not just for Christmas! If you haven't played it yet, hop over to the Arcade, and not forget to scoop up all the fabulous gifts under the Christmas tree while you're there.

On her, The Lady Charity:
Earrings, rings, necklace:  Eclectica 'Nightblooms'  [mesh](Gothmas by Gaslight, Cursed)
Eyes: Chop Shop Christmas Ghost Candycane [mesh](Gothmas by Gaslight, Sium)
Dress: Senzafine Isadora Dress [mesh](Gothmas by Gaslight, Cursed)
Boots: Chaos, Panic, Disorder Elizabeth Ankle Boots Red & Green [mesh](Gothmas by Gaslight, Sium)
Hair: Ayashi Riko hair [mesh](250L)
Wrap: Junbug Fur Neck Warmer -Ink, gacha [mesh](50L)
Body: Linden Labs Zombie Sadie - Body [mesh](free)
Pose: Del May Dead To the World (50L)

Setting:
House: Death Row DRD ebenezer house c/m, gacha (The Arcade)(75L)
Suitcases: Death Row DRD ebenezers old chests c/m, gacha (The Arcade)(75L)
Hatrack: Death Row DRD ebenezers coat hanger c/m, gacha (The Arcade)(75L)

 

NEWS: SL11B Robot Avatar

SecondLife's 11th Birthday Party starts June 22nd.
Released today in the marketplace is the SL11B Robot Avatar for free!
He requires an current SL viewer with Fitted Mesh Enabled.
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/SL11B-Robot-Avatar/6105259

Read more about the SL11B avatar release here:
Second-Life-s-11th-Birthday-Limited-Edition-Avatar

Read more about SL11B here: http://slcommunitycelebration.com/

NEWS: Starter Mesh Avatar Update, and Linden Home Survery

NEWS: The Linden Labs starter mesh avatars have been updated. As promised, the shapes are now editable and hover errors are fixed. But in a surprise, Sara, the blond female avatar has gotten a makeover. She has a new hairstyle and new shape.

You can read more here:
Updated Mesh Starter Avatars Are Now Available


NEWS: For SLB11, Prim Perfect is having a survey about what makes a strong community in SecondLife. It appears to me that survey hints that either Linden Labs might be considering a makeover to their Premium homes, or the survey will be submitted to them with ideas on how to improve the Premium homes. This is awesome news!

I wasted no time sending my ideas like: 

1) Upgrade the old homes to more modern mesh styles that make less land impact,

2) More texture, color options to customize the mesh Linden homes

3) More public gathering spaces, like in Linden Japan a Hot Spring

4) Game areas of course, for clowning around with your buds

5) A mentoring program. Residents can mentor new users and earn perks, perhaps a Linden Home?

Please take a moment to fill out the survey here:
What makes a strong Second Life Community?

World Goth Fair 2014: Scarlet's Sister

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: The Council of Elders decided it was cruel and unusual punishment to snatch people from their lives for displaying any hint of "darkness" and dumping them here without warning, never to be seen again. They thought it would be "merciful" for one day a year, to open Curse's gates for tourists and the foolhardy. Since there is no bigger holiday in Cursed then World Goth Day, it made sense that would be the day. Two neighboring human cities, Sium and Port Seraphine are also joining celebration. Rumor has it, Scarlet's little sister Elizabeth will be among the visitors.

Sneaking over here is Blogger Bat extraordinaire, Aarya Phantomhive of the Dark Phantom blog. She's wearing the Astarte hair with a widow peak bang by LaNoir Soleil Designs. This fun Miyuki outfit by Fosca de Le I'm sure many of my Lolita readers will love. It's especially cute when you add the Bat garter by Squeek! and match it with the Batwing Ruffle Platforms by The Sugar Garden. These badass Lolita shoes work with the Slink flat feet and are must haves for every EGL. Her arm warmers by Greymoon you can pick up over the WGF Sium sim, and the make up and nails by Beautiful Freaks. The Loli nails texture is awesome, perfect for Lolita style. Adding a little more punk is the spiked headband by Dark Waters Designs. You can find it at the Gacha Pond.

On Her, Scarlet's Little Sister Elizabeth:

Hair: LaNoir Soleil Designs ASTARTE [mesh] (World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(74L) 50% donation
Garter: Squeek! Bat garter (black+silver) [mesh] (World Goth Fair, Sium)(200L) 50% donation
Makeup: Beautiful Freaks BF Divinora eyeliner - vicious violet (World Goth Fair, Sium)(200L) 100% donation
Hairpiece, dress, waist: FOSCA de LE Miyuki dress [mesh] (World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(100L)

Nails: Beautiful Freaks BF nails loli, applier for Slink (World Goth Fair, Sium)(125L)

Headband: Dark Water Designs Spiked Headband Black/Silver, gacha (World Goth Fair, Sium)(30L)
Gloves: Greymoon Corsetted Paisley Armwarmers [mesh] (World Goth Fair, Sium)(100L)

Shoes: The Sugar Garden Batty Wing, Ruffle Platforms - SolidxBlack [mesh](199L)

Lantern, pose: LISP Lantern Pose 1 [mesh]

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Humans and Darks intermingling unsupervised? ...Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?   

You are going to want to bookmark the Gacha pond landmark. That's where you will find a lot of really nice new gothic items at sweet gacha prices. And coming soon, the Officially Licensed Band Shirts will be there too! The gacha machines with purple tentacles equal a 50% donation item for S.O.P.H.I.E., and green tentacles equal a 100% donation. The LOoLOo gacha machine has cute memorabilia for this years World Goth Fair. I couldn't resist dressing up my new favorite toy, the Vampire Beast. The handsome gent is a part the fabulous new Linden Labs's free Vampire avatar collection. You can read more about it here: http://community.secondlife.com

To help you navigate all three sims of World Goth Fair, you can see a map of the sims and a store location list, here: http://worldgothfair.wordpress.com/merchant-list-2/

On Him, the Gargoyle:

Headband: LOoLOo’s WGF 2014 Head Boppers (World Goth Fair, Gacha pond)(50L) 50% donation
Teddy bear: LOoLOo’s  WGF 2014 Holdable Bear (World Goth Fair, Gacha pond)(50L) 50% donation
Bracelet: LOoLOo’s  WGF 2014 Mesh Bracelet (World Goth Fair, Gacha pond)(50L) 50% donation
Necklace: LOoLOo’s  WGF 2014 Unisex Necklace (World Goth Fair, Gacha pond)(50L) 50% donation

Avatar: Linden Labs Vampire Beast Avatar [mesh](free)
Pose: momomuller / 3M 3M_standing16_m_back_001 (40L)

Location:

Siden vampires

NEWS: New Second Life Library Avatar

Linden Labs has now released the new Mesh avatars that new members can choose when they sign up.

WOW I'm loving the Vampire Set so hard! Vampires, Zombies, Wolfman, Werewolf, Werebat, Slayers, Goth girls, and even Blackula! It's Christmas in May! These are all free for members and 100% originals. Wowowowowowow!!!

To get your copies, download the update to the SL official viewer. Select the "People" button in your viewer to see the new selections. (If you don't have this button on, just add it to your tool buttons with the toolbar options.)

You can change the hair, and clothing and replace the shape on the new mesh avatars. You can even try to wear their clothes and hairs if you want. I was able to take the Vampire Slayer's outfit. lol One thing you will miss is the edit options for the face. They also lack facial and hand expressions, and no eye movement. But overall really fun new addition to SL! p.s. The Bat avatar comes with giant gargoyle-like wings not shown in the preview above.

More details here:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/New-Mesh-Avatars-Now-Available-in-Second-Life/ba-p/2720912

Download viewer here:
https://secondlife.com/support/downloads/

New avatar previews here:
https://join.secondlife.com

NEWS: New Linden Labs CEO Ebbe Altberg

The new CEO of Linden Labs has arrived and he's been talking to the community via his twitter account. Awesome! Having an opportunity to speak directly to the new Swedish CEO of LL, of course I could not  pass up the chance to whisper my heart's desire!

DevinVaughn ‏@DevVaughn  20h @ebbealtberg Välkommen, new LL leader Ebbe!
Ebbe Altberg ‏@ebbealtberg  20h @DevVaughn Tack!
DevinVaughn ‏@DevVaughn  20h @ebbealtberg Please Upgrade SL avatar: Higher res default avatar, Improve expression & bending, Male face can morph as cleanly as female. TY
Ebbe Altberg ‏@ebbealtberg  20h @DevVaughn slick new starter avatars coming up next month.

So there you go! I said it! But I don't think he understood what I meant. lol *Grrrrr Twitter word count limits* But hey, some new starter Avatars are coming and that's cool. What some of you don't know is, the male shape is a morph of the female shape, aka Ruth. When I edit the shape, it's adding morphs on-top of male morph of Ruth. The result is ugly things happen on the face, things that don't happen to the female shapes. I want this fixed! *pumps fists* The simplest way to fix this is adding a Male Morph Null for face to the male head shaping options. (The null would be anti-morph of the male morph, it would be like matter and anti-matter canceling each other out. Basically, it would neutralize the male morph verts movement on the XYZ and therefore create a more beautiful face morph without those ugly male nose triangles. Dialed to 100%, with no other morph applied, yeah it would bring back the true pureform of the SL default avatar, aka Ruth face.) When I get super ugly distortions on the nose, I could just dial up the Ruth Null and tame that distortion. And I want I upgraded avatar for 2014, one that doesn't have texture distortions on the inner thighs, one that doesn't have collapsing butt when you sit, one that has a smile that looks like smile instead of astronaut smiling in a windtunnel. If we can have excellent mesh avatars and mesh head with expressions, and appliers to add skintones, and fashion people are quick to adapt to new improvements, why on Earth is Project Avatar 2.0 on stall?  Time to kick start the avatar Mr Ebbe Altberg!

UPDATE:  Jo Yardley passes along my Twitter exchange with Ebbe
http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/new-starter-avatars-coming-to-second-life/

"I have a huge belief that Second Life is just the beginning of something that can be much. much, much bigger. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be here." - Ebbe Atlberg interview

Message from Ebbe Atlberg on the SL Forums, comments and relies:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Hello-from-Linden-Lab-s-New-CEO/td-p/2499571

Interview with Edde Atlberg at New World Notes:
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2014/02/ebbe-altberg-linden-lab-second-life-1.html

Interview with Edde Atlberg by Jo Yardley:
http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/chatting-with-ebbe-altberg-new-ceo-of-linden-lab

Interview with Edde Atlberg by Inara Pey:
http://modemworld.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/ebbe-says-hello-and-sits-down-for-a-chat-with-sl-users

Interview with Edde Atlberg by Daniel Voyager
http://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/ebbe-linden-meet-and-greet/

Drax Radio Hour broadcast about Ebbe Altberg coming to LL, and advice for the new LL CEO:
http://draxfiles.com/2014/02/07/show-5-mr-altberg-goes-to-linden-lab

NEWS: Linden Labs releases Fitted Mesh

News released from Linden Labs:

Fitted Mesh Is Here!

by  Linden Lab ‎02-10-2014 12:09 PM - edited ‎02-10-2014 12:09 PM

Today, we're happy to announce that Fitted Mesh is available in the main Second Life Viewer! As we've previously blogged, Fitted Mesh gives Second Life content creators the power to craft mesh garments that make avatars look their absolute best. We’d like to thank the vibrant community of creators for their thoughtful feedback and help testing this feature.

For more information, check out the video below, then update your Viewer to the latest release and get creative with Fitted Mesh! 

See Video here: 

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Fitted-Mesh-Is-Here/ba-p/2461687

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

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