Return to the Fairelands

As the mists lift and the islands come into view we find that the Fairelands have changed once again. I’ve done a quick run around and taken a bunch of pictures that I’ll be posting separately. Unfortunately Aethereum has run into problems (the sim created by Fallen Gods), but I cammed in and got a couple of shots – including one that got me really excited (because I love Apple Fall‘s work). UPDATE: Now that Aetherea is actually up and running, I’ve found out that this isn’t Apple Fall, it’s Artisan Forge. – Ooops!)

I’ll get a post together for each sim, which will probably just be a gallery of pics each time so the following list will soon be a list of links to each post.

• Fairelands Junction
• Aetherea
• Ardessa
• Astrid Nemeton
• Athaeneum Arcana
• Bazaar Dungeon
• Erstwhile
• Falls of Hope
• Halls of Story
• Pools of Ethiul
• Sanoria
• Severina
• The Story Well
• Tiny Town
• Willows of Nienna

The Future Looks Great

You may remember my post about the BBI created Epsilon class ship. In the photos I mentioned that I would explain where I got the clothes from. Earlier this year Second Life ran a Charity Sci-fi Convention in aid of RFL. I visited it and found that one of the creators was Paxwerx. Mostly Paxwerx sells classic STO style ships, but for RFL they were selling Starfleet style uniforms.

I’ve visited the Marketplace store since then and found that they only did the classic style uniforms. I knew that the purple coloured uniforms were only available for the RFL event, but I assumed that I’d be able to get the others later. Thankfully, they’ve now extended the online range and even made some of their RFL outfits available! So head over and grab some great uniforms!

From Risa to Q’onos – Sci-Faire, Sep 2016

The Sci-fi and Fantasy Faire 2016 was great fun, but lasted way too short a time. Thankfully, the organisers have organised another one, this one is pure Sci-fi though and filled with things to buy and RP groups galore!

It’s only open until the 11th – so get down there quick sharp! Here’s the SLURL

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These Are The Voyages

I mentioned previously my love of Black Bishop Innovation‘s static spaceship, the Epsilon. While buying the Epsilon I also bought a couple of shuttles. Well, I say shuttles, but the level of detail and intricacies that I love in the Epsilon are mirrored in the Calliope and the Sojourner.

The Calliope is related to the Delta Flyer made famous in Star Trek: Voyager. I must admit that I found it very difficult to fly, but it looks great sat on the ground, waiting to be used. With its access ramp at the back, two small bunks, a multi-functional seating area (which seats 4),  the total number of seats is 10 plus the two bunks. As I said, I’m not currently using it for flying due to its bulk and difficulties flying it. But it’s sat on my parcel in Sebastian and you’re welcome to come and see it.

It’s the first item that I’ve bought which rezzes from a HUD rather than a rezbox. But even that HUD is breathtaking, allowing you to change the colour scheme, livery, and also the moving parts such as the nacelles, the ramp and even the built in shadow. And my favourite part? The HUD attaches to the top right corner, instead of the usual top left.

This really is one of those things (like all things BBI) that needs to be seen to be believed, so if you want to have a look for yourself, why not visit them in Forsetti?

 

Space… The Final Frontier

As I’ve mentioned before, I regularly have a couple of different styles of parcels running at once. I recently changed my parcel in Sebastian and removed the Ethan Explores offices (I didn’t have many visitors). And was deciding what to do with it. Previously it had Liberty Rising, the location for my blog stories based around Bash Quandry’s space stations.

But (as I mentioned in my blog post about Bash’s amazing work), technology in SL has moved on and now we have mesh. One of Bash’s contemporaries (and someone who works closely with him) is Janey Suen at BBI (Black Bishop Innovation).

After seeing the updated mesh version of the Calliope being discussed in the BBI chat I decided to revisit. I liked the update and did buy one (I’ll be writing about it later). But today I wanted to talk about the Epsilon. This is a decent sized livable static spaceship with auto-rez functions throughout. It’s not available in the Marketplace but it’s right next to the entrance of the mainstore inworld.

It costs L$4499 and weighs in at 532 LI (unfurnished) and 791 LI (fully furnished), and with a 64x48m footprint, you’re going to need at least a 4096m parcel. But if you have one and are looking for a good RP spaceship then I can highly recommend this one! (And don’t worry – I will be covering the uniforms that I’m wearing in a later blog post too!)

BBI (Black Bishop Innovation)
Blog
Marketplace
SLURL

I’m Not One To Skirt The Issue

The Future Has No Gender

I touched on my opinions on gendered clothing back when I wrote about [sYs]. I was a Goth back in the mid 90s and have been gay for most of my life. This meant that I had quite a slap-dash attitude to gendered clothing. I used to wear skirts and dresses, make up and nail varnish. But I was never trans. I didn’t want to be a woman, nor did I want to look like one. I’ve never questioned my gender (I’m a cis-male and am fine with that).

I did however like the look and feel of skirts, I liked the way that make-up could accentuate or detract from my features. I described myself as a gay man in a dress. That was all there was to it. But even in these more open times this demographic isn’t really catered for. (Male clothing in general is extremely poorly catered for in SL, looking at the Marketplace today, out of the 1,715,885 items of gendered clothing available only 262,801 are for men. That’s just 15%!)

But today I found Boys To The Bone (by Jacques Valentine) and Titzuki (by Titzuki Yuitza). These guys have designed some fantastic clothes that cross that line perfectly, allowing me to dress my avatar in the clothes I want to without changing him into a female or making me into a femboy. It’s also meant that I’m starting to get a better idea about my character for Helior Prime.

I still like all the other stuff that I buy, I just like having the choice between suits, jeans, shorts and skirts. So, after buying a bunch of stuff and feeling quite sexy, I dusted off my Exposeur (don’t worry – I’ll be writing about them soon!) pose prop – Red Light Showcase – and pulled together a few photos of some of their work!

Boys To The Bone/Titzuki
Blog (Boys To The Bone (Tumblr)/Titzuki)
Marketplace (Boys To The Bone/Titzuki)
SLURL 
Flickr (Boys To The Bone/Titzuki)

Walpurgis, *Not* Vampire…

I’m in the process of designing a character for Helior Prime, a new Sci-Fi RolePlay sim. It looks interesting, the Sim is beautiful and Sid (the lead GM) has been able to introduce a vampire based character class with a slight twist.

The Sim itself is an LGBT+ but straight-friendly site. I’ll keep you up to date with how I’m doing. But in the meantime, here’s my character peeking out of a tomb!